Earth
II (1971/MGM/Warner
Archive Blu-ray)/Penguin
4K (2024/DC Comics/Warner
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray set)/Severance
(2022/Apple+/Fifth Season Ent. Blu-ray set)/Shameless:
The Complete Series (U.S.
Version/2011-2021/Warner DVD Set)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B/X/B/C+ Sound: B-/B+/B/C+
Extras: C-/B-/D/C+ Main Programs: C+/B-/B-/C
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Earth
II
Blu-ray is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Now
for some of the more interesting TV you'll see...
Tom
Gries' Earth
II
(1971) was MGM's attempt to capitalize on their own success with
Kubrick's 2001:
A Space Odyssey
(1968) which was a moderate hit, then kept getting played, played and
replayed in theaters as audiences started to catch up more with it.
Here, that film's Gary Lockwood heads a cast in a Cold War thriller
about some East Bloc agents trying to sabotage the space race and the
Chinese (still a closed society when this was made) have a nuclear
weapon on space, but its also the other elements and a solid cast
that keep this one interesting.
In
a supporting cast that just got better with age, you also get Anthony
Franciosa, Scott Hylands, Mariette Hartley, Lew Ayres, Gary Merrill,
Inga Swenson, Hari Rhodes, Bob Hoy, Diana Webster and an uncredited
James Hong. They are the kind of actors you always see from movies
and Tv of the time, even if you cannot name them and some you might
be able to.
Director
Gries was
also a solid journeyman filmmaker and his son Jon (Napoleon
Dynamite,
Real
Genius)
became as successful a character actor.
Also helping is the
teleplay by
Allan Balter and William Read Woodfield, who wrote some of the best
scripts for the first three seasons of the original Mission:
Impossible
TV series, which they also produced on, along with producing work on
Voyage
To The Bottom Of The Sea,
The
Six Million Dollar Man,
the two Reb Brown Captain
America
telefilms and The Powers Of Matthew Star, which they also created.
Even when everything they did did not always work, at least they
tried and took risks. It pays off here more than not.
The
only extra is an Original Theatrical
Trailer for its European release.
The
Penguin 4K
(2024) is the unexpected sequel TV series to the 2022 Batman
movie we reviewed in 4K at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16125/The+Batman+4K+(2022/DC+Comics/Warner+4K+Ultra
Continuing
where the film ended and without the Caped Crusader (et al,) it
focuses on the title character (Colin Farrell, managing to move
around well under all that make-up) and tell the ugly tales of
gangster life in Gotham City. It does a good job, stays dark and
manages to make it through its 8 episodes despite the actual gangster
genre being so played out at this point. Ironically, when the 1960s
Batman series was on, Burgess Meredith's Penguin was the most popular
villain, so no surprise he gets his own TV series decades alter,
albeit as a much rougher character, the kind that would never have
passed standards and practices on ABC.
I
only recommend you see the previous 2022 film or even watch it again,
or you might get lost checking this out.
Extras
include 'Inside
Gotham'
featurettes for all eight episodes (50 minutes+), 'Introducing
The Penguin'
(5 min), 'The
Origin Of Oz'
(4 min), 'Welcome
To Gotham'
(4 min), 'Gotham
Re-Envisioned'
(5 min), 'Becoming
The Penguin'
(3 min), 'Hearts
Of The Penguin'
(4 min), 'A
Tale Of Two Gothams'
(4 min), 'Who
Is The Hangman: A Portrait Of Sofia Falcone'
(4 min) and 'Victor
Aguilar: The Making Of A Henchman'
(7 min).
Severance
(2022) is a tech mystery series where people are being asked to (or
is it pushed to) get some kind of separation of themselves as two
variants of themselves, a corporate self and non-working self, though
it describes this all differently and though it does not always work
and has a few flaws (which requires a separate essay, plus the show
is not over yet) is about as interesting as fans and critics who like
it claim.
Of
course, glorifying mindless surrender (and issue with the Demi Moore
hit The
Substance)
has its issues, but there is enough here to watch this debut season
and Adam Scott leads a decent cast. To say any more would be to ruin
and confuse the reader, even if they are watching, so I will stop
short there, but definitely check out this season first.
There
are sadly no extras.
Shameless:
The Complete Series
(U.S. Version/2011 - 2021) is getting a new DVD set release for fans
and those who prefer the older format. We have reviewed the first
season of the original U.K. Series (which I liked better) and several
of us covered over the years, as you can see at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/new/viewer.cgi?search=shameless
Not
as big a fan of this version, I said in my coverage of Fifth
Season that it was overly gross, did not use Chicago in the best
way and now, just felt it ran on and on and on and on and on. Of
course, the other writers liked it more than me, so you can compare
and see for yourself. Why not Blu-ray variant of this release, who
knows, but people like it enough, so you can see why this is being
issued.
Extras
repeat the extras from the previous DVD sets, which is nice because
some Warner TV on DVD reissues (Welcome
Back Kotter,
for instance) do not.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.00 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on Penguin
4K
follows the look of The
Batman
well enough, but not
as good as the feature film overall. Still, it is impressive for a
TV show of any kind at any price to pull this off and it retains its
atmosphere throughout. The lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1
mixdown for older systems) is also well done and the combination is
effective.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Earth
II
can sometimes show the age of the materials used, but this is far
superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film and looks
better than you might expect. The new scan of the original 35mm
negative looks good, even when the visual effects look dated and the
MetroColor is fine. Director of Photography Michel Hugo, A.S.C.
(Night
Stalker
with Darren McGavin, Bug,
Trouble
Man,
Model
Shop,
The Monkees in Head)
makes this look good and more than its budget allowed. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is
as good as this will ever sound, also with its interesting Lalo
Schifrin score. The combination is fresher and more pleasant than
expected.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on the
Severance
episodes have
a consistent, vivid look as intended and expected, with mostly fine
clarity, detail and depth. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless
mix is well done, though the lossless PCM 2.0 Stereo mix is not bad
either. Wonder how this would work in 4K, but its impressive here.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the Shameless
episodes are the same transfers from the previous DVD releases,
though they are passable, they do not look as good as the 1080p
Blu-ray versions that we sometimes covered. The same of the lossy
Dolby Digital 5.1, fine for an older codec, but it sounds better in
lossless mixes on the Blu-ray editions.
To
the
Earth
II
Warner Archive Blu-ray, go to this link for it and many more great
web-exclusive
releases at:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20
-
Nicholas Sheffo
