The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (Russell Mulcahy, 2008)

Region 1 Universal (USA)
NTSC, 2.35:1 16x9 enhanced
109 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 Spanish, DD 5.1 French
Subtitles: Optional English SDH, Spanish, French
Extras: previews for other movies; Deleted Scenes; Gag Reel; The Making of The Scorpion King 2; Fight Like an Akkadian; Becoming Sargon; On Set with the Beautiful Leading Ladies; Creating a Whole New World; The Visual Effects of The Scorpion King 2

Released: 19 August 2008
keepcase

Universal drove its current Mummy franchise into the ground a long time ago The Scorpion King, but the studio wanted to see if it could squeeze out two last drops of juice from the fruit. That’s why there was a third Mummy theatrical release and this straight-to-video The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior. The Scorpion King 2 is no more than a glorified home-made movie.

In The Mummy Returns, the Scorpion King was introduced as a villain. However, in the grand tradition of Terminator 2, the bad guy became the good guy in another movie because the actor playing the character had become a star. Thus, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson fought the baddies in The Scorpion King even though his character becomes the villain in The Mummy Returns.

The chronology of the series is more interesting than the actual movies themselves.

1) The Mummy (1999)--re-make of a 1932 feature
2) The Mummy Returns (2001)--sequel of a re-make
3) The Scorpion King (2002)--prequel spin-off of a sequel of a re-make
4) The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)--second sequel of a re-make
5) The Scorpion King 2 (2008)--prequel of a prequel spin-off of a sequel of a re-make

“Origin stories” are all the rage these days, so The Scorpion King 2 shows us Mathayus as a teenager on his first adventures. This has to be the most pro-longed introduction in recent Hollywood annals. In The Mummy Returns, there is a brief sequence introducing the Scorpion King as he became cursed. The Scorpion King depicted his glorious rise long before his fall from grace. What is The Scorpion King 3 going to cover--Mathayus in diapers? Maybe he fought some bacteria in his mother’s womb.

The directing, the writing, the acting, the action choreography, the costumes, the sets, the music, and the CGI all look and sound terrible.

This is beyond beating a dead horse. The carcass is already unrecognizable as a one-time horse.

Video:
Much of the movie takes place inside dimly-lit interiors, so the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen image frequently looks muddy and undefined. The source master is generally free of debris, though some shots of the desert have an abundance of mosquito noise.

Audio:
The primary DD 5.1 English audio track is the expected loud, busy affair with little subtlety or wit. The subwoofer and all the speaker channels are quite alive, but it’s not difficult to fill the air with a bunch of noise.

You can also watch the movie with DD 5.1 Spanish and DD 5.1 French dubs. Optional English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles support the audio.

Extras:
The DVD boasts a full complement of bonuses. This is rather surprising because straight-to-video fare is usually meant to pad the bottom line with sales to video-rental stores, not sales to collectors.

The movie opens with previews for other movies.

Next up are some deleted scenes and a gag reel. The gag reel is the best thing about this disc.

“The Making of The Scorpion King 2” is a brief overview of the production. “Fight Like an Akkadian” shows the male actors learning their choreography. “Becoming Sargon” is an interview with Randy Couture, brawler-turned-actor. “On Set with the Beautiful Leading Ladies” shows the female actors learning their choreography. “Creating a Whole New World” covers the set and costume designs. “The Visual Effects of The Scorpion King 2” takes a look at the awful, awful CGI.

--Miscellaneous--
You also get a cardboard slipcover.

From what I can observe based on the available information, the Blu-ray version has no extras beyond a bookmarking function.

Transformers Blu-ray Disc (Michael Bay, 2007)

Paramount (USA)
2.35:1 1080p
143 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: audio commentary by director Michael Bay; HUD PIP; BD Live Web features; The Story Sparks; Human Allies; I Fight Giant Robots; Battleground; Rise of the Robots; Autobots Roll Out; Decepticons Strike; Inside the AllSpark; From Script to Sand: The Skorponok Desert Attack; Concepts; Trailers; Easter Eggs

Released: 2 September 2008
Blu-ray slim double case

Transformers is...Transformers. I admit that the idea of vehicles that can change into giant robots is still fantastic and sexy to me while I’m in my late-20s, but like so many other ideas, Transformers is better as a concept than it is as a movie. To be fair, what can one expect of morphing machines? It’d be an utter waste to have a movie about Transformers who sit around for two hours talking about relationships, metaphysics, and oil-and-gas prices. Yet, all-out action movies that make no attempt at commenting on reality are utterly boring despite all the movement and noise.

As brain-dead as something like The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift may be, there are popcorn action flicks that have some semblance of heart and emotional turmoil. Transformers puts two very attractive ladies on center stage, but the movie generates much less heat than Tokyo Drift or Mission: Impossible 2. It’s not enough to show some skin...you gotta show a pulse, what makes people tick. (Just check out John Woo’s pairing of Spanish flamenco beats with slo-mo shots of Thandie Newton to see what I mean.)

Maybe I just want to be in the driver’s seat.

Video:
Although the folks at Paramount have talked about creating a new video transfer to take advantage of Blu-ray’s potential, the Blu-ray video transfer is only a slight improvement upon the excellent HD DVD video transfer.

The 2.35:1 1080p is technically flawless, but this isn’t the best I’ve seen from a high-def source. The problem lies in director Michael Bay’s visual style. Bay likes to swing cameras wildly, so you already have extreme motion blur. The computer-generated visual effects are impressive, the resolution is nowhere near as high as the original film elements captured in the real world. Thus, much of the rapid action looks smudged. Also, many scenes featuring the robots take place at night. Therefore, one never really gets a good look at the Transformers, which was disappointing for me.

Audio:
Paramount and Universal attracted a lot of flak for giving new releases “only” Dolby Digital Plus audio and no lossless options (especially for action movies). Well, here we have Transformers on Blu-ray with a Dolby TrueHD track. Is this a definite improvement? To be honest, I can’t really hear a difference between this TrueHD track and the HD DVD’s DD+ flavor. There are plenty of articles and debates about lossless/lossy audio that you can read on the Internet, so I’ll spare you the details. Yet, there is one thing that I have yet to read...is it possible that uncompressed and lossless audio simply have information that humans can’t hear/perceive? Thus, a well-encoded lossy track may well offer a qualitatively similar experience to a lossless one.

At any rate, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English track is powerful and overwhelmingly immersive. The sound design piles on the demolition and destruction as if Michael Bay wanted to squeeze the life out of your ears. Dialogue does get buried sometimes, so if you live in an apartment, be prepared to keep fidgeting with the volume control.

You can watch the movie with DD 5.1 French and DD 5.1 Spanish dubs. Optional English, English SDH, French, Spanish, and Portuguese subtitles support the audio.

Extras:
--Disc 1--
Disc 1 has an audio commentary by Michael Bay. Bay is obviously enthusiastic about helming a live-action adaptation of iconic 1980s toys, and he provides a lot of solid technical information. However, he didn’t convince me that he made a great movie.

The “HUD (Heads Up Display)” is a picture-in-picture video stream with behind-the-scenes footage and vignettes about how certain sequences were shot. You need at least a Profile 1.1 Blu-ray player for this option.

You can access the Internet for additional special features. These may be of interest to some viewers, though I find fidgeting with a remote to be very tedious.

You can also bookmark your favorite moments.

If you let the movie play through all of the End Credits, you’ll be able to watch a trailer for Iron Man, a trailer for Transformers, and a music-video-style montage of clips from the movie.

--Disc 2--
Disc 2 is divided into three sections: “Our World”, “Their War”, and “More Than Meets the Eye”.

In “Our World”, “The Story Sparks”, “Human Allies”, “I Fight Giant Robots”, and “Battleground” cover the movie’s genesis as well as early production phases. You get to see some early animatics that resemble the finished product quite a bit.

In “Their War”, “Rise of the Robots”, “Autobots Roll Out”, “Decepticons Strike”, and “Inside the AllSpark” shed light on the toys, the movie’s robots, and the complicated actions sequences both during and after principal photography.

In “More than Meets the Eye”, you get a detailed breakdown of one of the action sequences, a video gallery of artwork, and trailers. You can watch three trailers.

Finally, there are some easy-to-find Easter Eggs. In each of the subsections, move the cursor until a hidden robot head is highlighted. The first Easter Egg is a fake commercial for a Michael Bay Transformers toy. The second Easter Egg has footage of Michael Bay acting in front of a blue screen. The third Easter Egg shows footage of dogs. For the fourth Easter Egg, go to the Trailers section and move the cursor to the left of the words “More Than Meets the Eye” to see a woman losing her dress.

--Miscellaneous--
Like the two-disc SD DVD and HD DVD releases, you get a transparent slipcover. An insert provides information about accessing online features. There’s also a $10 rebate coupon for folks who bought the SD DVD and are upgrading to Blu-ray.

Human Lanterns (Sun Chung, 1982)

Region 1 Image Entertainment (USA)
NTSC, 2.35:1 16x9 enhanced
99 minutes
Audio: DD 2.0 mono Mandarin Chinese
Subtitles: Optional English, Spanish
Extras: Shaw’s Baby Doll; The Skin Peel Scene (alternate take); Production Stills Gallery; trailers

Released: 10 June 2008
transparent keepcase

Human Lanterns is an odd mish-mash of the martial-arts, slasher-horror, and serial-killer genres. The story begins with two rich and powerful noblemen who bicker in public about who will win the lantern festival competition. Both noblemen are idiots as neither one makes his own lantern (they just pay professional craftsmen for the actual work). One of the noblemen commissions a former martial-arts rival to create an exceptional lantern, and the rival kidnaps women who are near and dear to the two noblemen in order to use their skins for his masterpiece.

The movie is not particularly scary or even gross. The villain’s histrionics are rather silly, and the martial-arts choreography is second rate. Moreover, the characters’ moralizing is trite and out-of-place. Made during the early 1980s, Human Lanterns came long after the Shaw brothers’ heyday.

Video:
The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen image looks very clean, and the colors are very vivid. The picture is generally sharp and detailed, though scenes shot with soft focus are understandably weaker than scenes shot with “normal” focus.

Audio:
The DD 2.0 mono Mandarin Chinese audio track is surprisingly robust compared to other pre-1985 mixes. The sound isn’t muffled, though some loud music (such as the opening Shaw Brothers fanfare) can be harsh.

Optional English and Spanish subtitles support the audio.

Extras:
“Shaw’s Baby Doll: An Interview With Shawn Yin Yin” and “The Skin Peel Scene (alternate take)” are self-explanatory.

You also get a Production Stills gallery as well as a huge selection of trailers for this and other movies.

--Miscellaneous--
An insert booklet advertises other DVDs.

Shine a Light Blu-ray Disc (Martin Scorsese, 2008)

Paramount (USA)
1.78:1 1080p
121 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DTS-HD 5.1 English, PCM 2.0 English
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras: Behind the Scenes; four deleted songs

Released: 29 July 2008
Blu-ray case

As famous as he is for gangster movies, Martin Scorsese has varied interests. For example, he directed an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, a movie without a trace of overt physical violence, and he also directed Kundun, a sometimes abstract biography of the Dalai Lama. Scorsese has also been involved with documentaries about musicians and musical events.

Shine a Light is a fairly straightforward presentation of a Rolling Stones concert. The movie begins with a brief look at the preparations for the event as well as Scorsese and the rockers discussing logistics. The concert was attended by Bill and Hillary Clinton, who get a meet-and-greet session before Bill introduces the Stones to the audience.

As I mainly listen to classical music, I’m not familiar with the Rolling Stones. Still, I enjoyed this movie. The Stones are no longer crazy, rebellious youths, so their on-stage behavior trends towards the mellow. However, Mick Jagger is still a charismatic stage presence, and the audience’s enthusiasm is infectious. The obvious highlights are “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Satisfaction”.

It’s rather interesting seeing what the Stones have become. In the “Behind the Scenes” featurette, the rockers are rather rude and abrasive in some archival interviews. Now, they do meet-and-greets with politicians. Even the Stones have succumbed to the Establishment.

Video:
The movie features a variety of mixed-media footage, all framed at 1.78:1 1080p. The quality also varies widely, from gritty black-and-white backstage footage to pristine color renderings of the concert itself. Much of the movie has a “high-def” sheen that is quite pretty.

Audio:
As expected, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English and DTS-HD MA 5.1 English tracks are energetic and boisterous. The subwoofer gets quite a workout, though the surrounds are rather muted compared to the front speakers.

You can also watch the movie with a PCM 2.0 stereo English track (for those of you who prefer listening to music with only two channels instead of “engineered” mixes). Optional English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles support the audio.

Extras:
All of the Extras are presented in high-def.

The “Behind the Scenes” featurette is basically a compilation of deleted scenes rather than a true look at the production’s development. For example, in the finished product, a phone conversation between Scorsese and the rockers consists of shots of Scorsese and a phone. In the “Behind the Scenes” featurette, we see the camera trained on Mick Jagger for the same phone conversation. We also see more footage from the meet-and-greet involving Bill Clinton.

You also get four deleted songs.

Shine a Light (Martin Scorsese, 2008)

Region 1 Paramount (USA)
NTSC, 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced
121 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English, DD 2.0 stereo surround English
Subtitles: Optional English, French, Spanish
Extras: Behind the Scenes; four deleted songs; previews for other movies

Released: 29 July 2008
keepcase

As famous as he is for gangster movies, Martin Scorsese has varied interests. For example, he directed an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, a movie without a trace of overt physical violence, and he also directed Kundun, a sometimes abstract biography of the Dalai Lama. Scorsese has also been involved with documentaries about musicians and musical events.

Shine a Light is a fairly straightforward presentation of a Rolling Stones concert. The movie begins with a brief look at the preparations for the event as well as Scorsese and the rockers discussing logistics. The concert was attended by Bill and Hillary Clinton, who get a meet-and-greet session before Bill introduces the Stones to the audience.

As I mainly listen to classical music, I’m not familiar with the Rolling Stones. Still, I enjoyed this movie. The Stones are no longer crazy, rebellious youths, so their on-stage behavior trends towards the mellow. However, Mick Jagger is still a charismatic stage presence, and the audience’s enthusiasm is infectious. The obvious highlights are “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Satisfaction”.

It’s rather interesting seeing what the Stones have become. In the “Behind the Scenes” featurette, the rockers are rather rude and abrasive in some archival interviews. Now, they do meet-and-greets with politicians. Even the Stones have succumbed to the Establishment.

Video:
The movie features a variety of mixed-media footage, all framed at 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The quality also varies widely, from gritty black-and-white backstage footage to pristine color renderings of the concert itself. Much of the movie has a “high-def” sheen that is quite pretty.

Audio:
As expected, the DD 5.1 English track is energetic and boisterous. The subwoofer gets quite a workout, though the surrounds are rather muted compared to the front speakers.

You can also watch the movie with a DD 2.0 stereo surround English track (for those of you who prefer listening to music with only two channels instead of “engineered” mixes). Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles as well as optional English closed captions support the audio.

Extras:
Upon loading, the disc plays several previews for other movies.

The “Behind the Scenes” featurette is basically a compilation of deleted scenes rather than a true look at the production’s development. For example, in the finished product, a phone conversation between Scorsese and the rockers consists of shots of Scorsese and a phone. In the “Behind the Scenes” featurette, we see the camera trained on Mick Jagger for the same phone conversation. We also see more footage from the meet-and-greet involving Bill Clinton.

You also get four deleted songs.

--Miscellaneous--
An insert advertises merchandise related to Shine a Light.

Tai Chi Master (Yuen Wo-ping, 1993)

Region 1 Genius Products (USA)
NTSC, 1.85:1 16x9 enhanced
96 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 Cantonese Chinese, DD 2.0 mono Cantonese Chinese, DD 5.1 English
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, Spanish
Extras: audio commentary by Bey Logan; Interview With Chin Siu Ho; The Birthplace of Tai Chi; Meditations on the Master; Twin Warriors; home-video trailer

Released: 29 July 2008
keepcase

Harvey and Bob Weinstein imported numerous Asian and European movies to the U.S. during their time at Miramax under Disney’s aegis. The good news was that Americans got to see a lot of interesting fare. The bad news was that the Weinsteins cut out a lot of material without consulting the original moviemakers. Thus, the brothers became known as Harvey and Bob “Scissorhands”, though Harvey usually got the brunt of the attacks since he’s usually more visible than Bob.

The Weinsteins have been making amends for their past sins. They are now in the habit of supporting “director’s cuts” (such as the three-hour version of Cinema Paradiso), and instead of butchering martial-arts movies with new titles and dubs-only audio, the Dragon Dynasty line is presenting movies as intact as possible. Furthermore, the Weinsteins are going the extra mile of creating new extras to enhance viewers’ understanding of Asian fare.

Tai Chi Master is the latest “rehabilitation”. The movie was released by Disney and Dimension as Twin Warriors, suffering the aforementioned indignities like many other titles. This is the first domestic release with the movie’s full running time and original Cantonese mono mix.

In Tai Chi Master, Jet Li plays one of two monks who are expelled from their temple because they’ve been learning martial-arts on the sly rather than under official tutelage. Jet Li remains faithful to a monk’s ways (vegetarian diet, abstinence, avoidance of violence, etc.), though his friend decides to indulge in meat, women, and power-mongering in a bid to rid himself of poverty for good. Jet Li joins forces with Michelle Yeoh to defeat his one-time companion. The enemy is much stronger than Jet Li, so he devises Tai Ji Quan, a method that turns an opponent’s force against him.

There was a time when I enjoyed movies with well-choreographed fights and little else, but those days have passed. I now like movies that offer thought-provoking ideas or stories. Tai Chi Master certainly has amazing stunts, but the actions sequences eventually blur into one another.

Video:
Although Tai Chi Master was released in 1993, it looks like it was made during the 1970s or 1980s. The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen image is dirty, damaged, and faded. It looks little better a Hong-Kong disc of this movie that I used to have. Due to the problems with the source print, sharpness and detail are understandably lacking. Mosquito noise abounds.

Audio:
You can view the movie with its original mono track (DD 2.0 mono Cantonese Chinese) or with a boosted DD 5.1 Cantonese Chinese re-mix, though the 5.1 isn’t much different from the mono. Dialogue is muffled, and there’s little separation. Bass response is also flat.

You can also watch the movie with a DD 5.1 English dub. Optional English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles support the audio.

Extras:
Once again, Bey Logan provided an excellent audio commentary. He may not have an advanced academic degree like the fellows who contribute commentaries to Criterion’s DVDs, but his in-depth research and knowledge about genre films is no less impressive when compared to any other “expert”.

Next up is an interview with Chin Siu Ho, who played the movie’s villain.

“The Birthplace of Tai Chi: On Location in Chen Village” is a brief excursion to the town that is purported to be where Tai Ji Quan was developed.

You also get two gaseous featurettes with director Brett Ratner and critic Elvis Mitchell talking about Yuen Wo-ping, Jet Li, and Michelle Yeoh. Ratner and Mitchell don’t have much of substance to say, and they’re even illogical and incomprehensible at times.

Finally, you also get the home-video trailer that was created for the movie’s U.S. bow as Twin Warriors.

--Miscellaneous--
An insert advertises other Dragon Dynasty DVDs.

ST: TOS, S2 Re-mastered Update

The CBS PR rep kindly sent me another copy due to the general damage sustained by my original review copy. Unfortunately, the second copy was also damaged. The two halves of the outside case were knocked apart, and some of the disc trays were shattered. Therefore, I had to combine the best elements from both copies in order to have one "good" set.