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Item Type: BLU-RAY DVD Movie
Item Rating: PG13
Street Date: 01/27/09
Wide Screen: yes
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
Language: ENGLISH
Foreign Film: noSubtitles: no
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: no
Re-Release: no
Packaging: SleeveMarvel Animated Features premieres two all new action-packed films together on one release - Hulk vs. Wolverine and Hulk vs.Thor. Hulk vs Wolverine: Alberta, Canada. The Incredible Hulk has been tearing a line across the Canadian countryside, leaving a swath of destruction in his wake. He has to be stopped, and there’s only one man up to the job. He’s the best there is at what he does, but what he does isn’t very nice. He’s Wolverine, an elite agent of Canada’s top secret Department H, and he’s been put on Hulk’s trail with a single objective: stop the green goliath…at all costs. Hulk and Wolverine are about to enter the fiercest battle of their lives. Hulk vs. Thor: Asgard, realm of the gods. For ages, Loki the trickster has sought a way to bring defeat to his accursed stepbrother, Thor. But for all the battles Thor has fought, in all the nine realms, only one creature has ever been able to match his strength - a mortal beast of Midgard known as The Incredible Hulk. Now, with Odin, the almighty king of the gods, deep in a regenerative sleep, and the forces protecting Asgard at their weakest, Loki is finally ready to spring his trap. In an epic battle that will pit gods against monsters, that will test a hero’s limits more than ever before, only The Mighty Thor can hope to prevail.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Hulk vs Wolverine & Thor
I enjoyed the DVD all the way man! I wish the Hulk vs Wolverine could have been 1hr of bashing and clawing. I can watch Hulk & wolverine fight for days! Maybe next time it will be a fatal 3-way fight to the finish. They should make Hulk vs Woverine 2, Hulk vs Abomination, Hulk vs Juggernaut, Wolverine vs Deadpool, Hulk & Wolverine vs everybody! I will watch them all like a little kid on Saturday morning!!!!!!

5 Stars An excellent Marvel animated feature.
I’ve watched several of the recent Marvel animated movies (Ultimate Avengers 1 & 2, Next Avengers, Doctor Strange, Invincible Iron Man) and this was by far the best. Although it could have been a bit longer both of the stories were compelling and interesting. I preferred the Hulk vs. Wolverine a bit more than Hulk vs. Thor however both were very entertaining to watch. This was basically because I was more familiar with Wolverine’s back story than I was of Thor. In any case this Blu-ray gets top marks. Here are my thoughts;

Pros

- Decent adult scenes of animated violence and blood. Especially on Hulk vs. Wolverine.

- Interesting (although somewhat predictable) storylines.

- Nice behind the scenes “making of” extras.

- Brilliant musical score by Guy Michelmore (he’s scored most of the other recent Marvel animated features as well).

- Amazing voice acting cast. Deadpool in particular was brought to life extremely well in this feature.

Cons

- A bit short, even with 2 stories.

- Not as enjoyable if you’re not entirely familiar with all the characters in the Marvel Universe. I had this problem with the Hulk vs. Thor portion of the story.

- Somewhat unbelievable that The Hulk can best Thor, who is a god. Yes I understand it’s a comic book setting but it still seems a bit unrealistic, if that’s possible.

All in all an excellent animated film. I rarely purchased Blu-ray discs immediately when they’re released but this one got my money. I just wish the total playtime would have been a little bit longer. If you love the Hulk, Wolverine or Thor, this is a must have DVD.

4 Stars Great on the verge of being awesome
Hulk Vs is a great video true to the Marvel style of story telling. Hulk takes on Thor and a comic favorite Wolverine. The Thor battle was great at first, but they made Thor look like a wimp when Hulk was in a rage. I would think that Thor would fare a little better seeing that he is a Norse God and has gone toe to toe with Superman. The Artwork is excellent! It would have been great to see Thor and Loki team up to send the Hulk back to earth instead of Hela.

The Wolverine section was excellent! It almost put too much into the plot, but it was a good move to blend in some of Wolvie’s old foes. It was cool to hear “OK, Bub, let’s try that again.” and “Hulk smash little man!” they made sure to include. I could’ve done without the various flashbacks. It’s the Hulk vs Wolverine, you really dont need any flashbacks. Great ending though!

5 Stars Excellent
By far one of the best animated comic dvd’s out… just as good as Superman’s Doomsday. Not for kiddies though, this dvd gets right down to business; alot of brutal fighting! As an older ex-comic collector (80’s) this dvd rocks! You will not be dissapointed.

4 Stars Good…but not that good
When do we will see a non childlish adaptation? I mean, both stories are good but they could’ve been a lot more exploited.

We need more drama people!!!

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His life changed history. His courage changed lives. Academy Award winner Sean Penn stars in this stirring celebration of Harvey Milk, a true man of the people. Based on the inspiring true story of the first openly gay man elected to major public office, this compelling film follows Milk’s powerful journey to inspire hope for equal rights during one of the least tolerant times in our nation’s history. With a stunning all-star cast, including Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsh, Diego Luna and James Franco, it’s the emotionally charged story that was proclaimed the Winner of The New York Film Critics Circle Best Picture Award!When a famous person, like the nation’s first openly gay male city supervisor, inspires an acclaimed book (The Mayor of Castro Street) and Oscar-winning documentary (The Times of Harvey Milk), a biopic can seem superfluous at best. Taking over from Oliver Stone and Bryan Singer, Gus Van Sant, whose previous picture was the more experimental Paranoid Park, directs with such grace, he renders the concern moot. Unlike Randy Shilts’ biography, which begins at the beginning, Dustin Lance Black’s script starts in 1972, just as Milk (Sean Penn, in a finely-wrought performance) and his boyfriend, Scott (James Franco, equally good), move from New York to San Francisco. Milk opens a camera shop on the Castro that becomes a safe haven for victims of discrimination, convincing him to enter politics. With each race he runs, Harvey’s relationship with Scott unravels further. Finally, he wins, and the real battle begins as Milk takes on Proposition 6, which denies equal rights to homosexuals. He does what he can to rally politicians, like George Moscone (Victor Garber) and Dan White (Josh Brolin). While the mayor is willing, the conservative board member has reservations, and after Milk fails to back one of White’s pet projects, the die is cast, leading to the murder of two beloved figures. If Van Sant’s film captures Harvey in all his complexities (he was, for instance, a very funny man), Milk also serves as an enticement to grass-roots activism, showing how one regular guy elevated everyone around him, notably Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), the ex-street hustler who created the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial. Released in the wake of Proposition 8, California’s anti-gay marriage amendment, Milk is inspirational in the best way: one person can and did make a difference, but the struggle is far from over. –Kathleen C. Fennessy

Get to Know the Cast From Milk

Sean Penn (Harvey Milk)

Josh Brolin (Dan White)

James Franco (Scott Smith)

Beyond Milk on Blu-ray

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Stills from Milk (Click for larger image)

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Interesting and Well Done
I thought this was a very good movie. I like the way it was shot. Sometimes it almost had a documentary type feel to it. All the actors were excellent and it was a very interesting story that I knew very little about.

2 Stars Not all that
Finally broke down and watched this flick. Almost everybody I know said it was a great film. It obviously did well at the Oscars and with such a stellar cast, I added all of the above together and figured this was a cant miss movie.

First let me say that I am male and I am straight. But I do believe in equal rights for all so my negative feelings about this movie are just that..feelings about this movie, not the movement for equal rights.

The pro’s of this movie were few imo. The acting was absolutely stellar. Sean Penn never ceases to amaze me. I can not say enough about how well Penn played the role of Milk. Franco was excellent as well and they did do a good job in the film of showing why their relationship deteriorated yet how and why they still stayed so ‘close’ after they ’split up’.

I would love to say I thought Brolins acting was stellar as well but I cant and that is a major negative to this movie. I cant say Brolins acting was bad either…again, a major negative. The fact is, Brolin was a CRITICAL character in this movie obviously, as he is the one who killed the Mayor and Harvey, yet we barely even got to know his character. Very little screen time for him and again, such a critical character, yet they did not let us get to know this character very well or let his character ‘develop properly’ so viewers had a better idea of what was driving his character. Very disappointed that Brolin got such litle screen time and viewers really did not ‘get to know the character, his ideas, views and etc’. In fact, I cant really think of any movie in which one of the most critical charcaters was left so ‘undeveloped’ in the script/movie.

The other pro’s were it was nice to see plenty of real life clips from the 70’s and from the areas in the film…You almost felt like you were time warping back to Castro Street in the 70’s……

The cons. I can see why Penn may have been nominated for some awards as his acting was simply stellar, but why did this movie get so much acclaim? Yes, I know it is a true story, but they could have made this less ‘boring’ somehow. Run time is approx 2 hours. When I was about 30 - 45 minutes in, it felt more like 2 or 3 hours. After an hour I found myself questioning why everybody loved this film as every minute seemed like and hour. Boring is what it was, imo, but I do realize I am in the minority here as judged by the reviews, oscar nominations and etc….but yes, I found this to be very boring and wishing the end would hurry up and get here.

Since it was true and since I personally never knew harvey milk, I must assume that Penn did a good job or portraying who he was in real life..how he acted and etc….With true stories you cant change the character in to something different, as it then becomes not true. But if that is really how harvey milk acted in his real life, I can only say he was a cooky nutcase and although it is awesome he was the first gay public officer voted in to office, the guy was a nut..a cooky guy..and if I had known him, I would not have voted for him..again, nothing about the equal rights thing..I just think we have some serious issues with who we vote in to public offices and milk was a bit nutty to garner my vote.

Great acting…cool flashbacks to the 70’s….but far too boring for me. Not a movie I would watch a 2nd time so no need to own it. Worth a watch, but borrow it or rent it before buying..if you loved it..then buy it…if you found it to be too boring and will never watch it again, why buy it unless you get it in the ‘bargain bin’ as I did for $2.

5 Stars Stellar biographical film of a great man.
Harvey Milk was a hero, for both the gay and civil rights movements. As an African American lesbian, I thought that Harvey Milk’s progressive political stance, was particularly relevant to those like me. He was willing to put everything on the line, to fight for all oppressed people. It seemed to me that when Milk was fighting for justice in the 70s and 80s, politicians were way more committed to their constituents, than they are today. This was certainly the case, with the political activism of Harvey Milk.

Harvey Milk let nothing stand in his way, in his pursuit of his ideals. We desperately need more politicians like him, in our very troubled era. Rights for minorities, gay and lesbians, women, working people, etc., have been under attack by the right-wing political machine, in recent years. The time is right, for another progressive leader, to take a serious stand on civil rights for all, like Harvey Milk had the courage to do when he was alive.

Sean Penn’s performance as Harvey Milk, is a prime example of his superb talent as an actor. Penn shows a real finesse, for conveying Harvey Milk’s mannerisms, passionate political convictions, and dedication to the cause for justice, for the underdogs in society.

Josh Brolin as Dan White, turns in a muted, yet deeply resonate performance. Though not as marvelously talented as Sean Penn, Brolin has a terse, brooding charisma, that can’t be ignored.

Harvey Milk was a bold, brave man, who deserves to be remembered as such. This film does justice to Harvey Milk’s memory, and to those that want to see the honorable man that Harvey Milk was, and what he stood for.

4 Stars van Sant gets a year’s supply of free cookies for this one.
Milk (Gus van Sant, 2008)

When I started watching Milk, Gus van Sant’s biopic of San Francisco city supervisor, I wasn’t quite sure about it. The film opens with Milk (Sean Penn) dictating, essentially, his memoirs onto a series of cassettes in case he is assassinated. I wasn’t quite sure how van Sant was going to work the time factor into this (given how the movie ends–and we all know how it ends, right? If not, be warned, this review may contain spoilers), but he ended up doing it quite well. One can never be quite sure what one is going to get with a Gus van Sant film, but Milk is far closer on the sliding scale of quality to Drugstore Cowboy than it is to Psycho. (And as Captain Peacock was wont to say, “Thank Heaven for that.”)

The first half of Milk traces the final years of Harvey Milk’s life, from his relocation to San Francisco with partner Scott Smith (An American Crime’s James Franco) through his days as a political activist to his election as city supervisor. The second half zeroes in on the final weeks, as Milk tries to play politics with rabid antigay conservative Dan White (No Country for Old Men’s Josh Brolin), elected supervisor for the next district over on the same day Milk rose to power. Along the way, we get to know the backstories of a number of others instrumental in Milk’s rise to power, including Cleve Jones (Speed Racer’s Emile Hirsch), who would go on to create the AIDS quilt; Jack Lira (Y Tu Mama Tambien’s Diego Luna), whom Milk dated after Smith left him (and who was, in many ways, the impetus for the events of Milk’s final days); and Anne Kronenberg (Allison Pill, recently fo Dan in Real Life), who is still involved in San Francisco politics to this day.

While the movie does have a plot (and a more compelling plot than a lot of recent movies not based on true stories), it never fails to remain aggressively character-driven, and because of that the movie lives or dies by the performances of the actors involved. Every time I’ve seen Sean Penn offscreen for the past decade or so, he seems more and more like a personal train wreck (his Oscar speech accepting the Best Actor award for this film was horrifyingly incoherent), but it’s been impossible to deny his power as an actor for close to thirty years now. I’ve loved many of Penn’s performances, from Fast Times at Ridgemont High to Mystic River, but for me his landmark performance has always been in the 1983 prison drama Bad Boys. This is the first time I’ve seen him eclipse that. He absolutely, positively nails this role to the wall. On the flip side of the coin is Josh Brolin, whose career has been the polar opposite of Penn’s, from the woeful The Goonies through some of Hollywood’s worst disasters in recent memory (Hollow Man, The Mod Squad, Into the Blue). No Country for Old Men was a revelation where Brolin was concerned, and Milk just ups the ante. While saying Brolin has never given a performance this good would be damning with faint praise, I don’t mean it like that at all; he is almost as powerful as Penn here. The rest of the principals are equally good at making us love or hate them, depending (Diego Luna is just loathsome here, as he was meant to be). The main cast are helped out by a slew of phenomenal performances from actors in minor roles; 21 Grams’ Dennis O’Hara reunites with Penn here as John Briggs, Milk’s biggest public nemesis, while Legally Blonde’s Victor Garber couldn’t be better as George Moscone, the mayor of San Francisco. And they’re just the tip of the iceberg; this isn’t Cecil B. DeMille, but it’s at least a cast of hundreds, and everyone with a speaking role is fine here.

The direction is equally stunning. Van Sant’s passion for the source material is evident in every frame (he’s been trying to get an adaptation of Randy Shilts’ biography, The Mayor of Castro Street, off the ground for almost twenty years; it looks as if that may actually happen now). People often say that attention to small details doesn’t make a difference in a movie. Maybe in some cases they’re right, but I think in this case it’s indicative of Van Sant’s dedication to the source material; his use, for example, of the real Castro Camera and Harvey Milk’s actual apartment may only contribute to the film in an intangible way, but I think those intangibles are reflected in the performances of the actors. (As well, a number of the actual people portrayed in the film have cameos, including Dan White’s son Chris, Cleve Jones, and Danny Nicoletta). That has to have some effect on what happens behind the scenes, don’t you think? In any case, it’s hard to argue with success, and whatever the reason, Milk gives us both a director and a stable of actors who are all on top of their collective game here. Almost unanimously named by critics as one of the best movies of 2008, and I’m inclined to agree. ****

5 Stars sad and wonderful story
this movie tells a true story of what happened in the 1970’s. its sad but true and marked a great movement in america’s history. i think every one should see this at lease once in there life.

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Bluray DiscSaw II brings back many features of the original Saw: elaborate sadistic scenarios designed to “test” the victims’ will to live; Tobin Bell as the Machiavellian (yet doomed) serial killer Jigsaw; Shawnee Smith as Amanda, a survivor of one of Jigsaw’s “games”, forced to play again; Dina Meyer (Starship Troopers), whose role as a detective is considerably expanded; and the stunningly godawful dialogue of screenwriter Leigh Whannel. The set-up this time is even more preposterous than before, as a rough-and-tumble cop named Eric (Donnie Whalberg, Band of Brothers) watches, on video monitors, his son trapped in a house filled with nerve gas and a handful of other victims, all of whom are mysteriously connected. Eric has captured Jigsaw, but the implacable killer refuses to reveal where the cop’s son is being held… unless Eric will play by Jigsaw’s rules. Fans of Saw will love Saw II, as the tortures are more gruesome than before; viewers who found Saw either detestable or laughable won’t like Saw II either, as the characters rarely behave like actual people (even when a moment’s explanation would solve a conflict, no one bothers to communicate, even though their lives are on the line). It’s a festival of body fluids, agonized grimaces, and shrieks of pain–and if that’s your thing, this is your movie. –Bret Fetzer

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Want to play a game? Again..
This movie had a lot going for it. It also had a lot to live up to. It still had the feel and suspense of the first one. I wish they would have kept Jigsaw in the shadows more. Some of the suspense of the character was taken away from all of the screen time. This movie didn’t have the individualized traps like the first one. The group had to take on the challenges together. It was still a good movie, but it didn’t have the same amount of intensity the first one did. It tried to create it by using the nerve gas as a ticking time bomb, but the feel of this movie is just not up to the scope of the first one. I didn’t care for Doonie Wahlberg’s character. He seemed like a jerk, not as good of a character as Detective Tapp in the first one. There’s no outside force on these characters like the first one. There is the nerve gas, but you never know how much time they have left. The characters aren’t as developed, and they don’t seem to grow as the movie unfolds. There are a few interesting traps, but they seem to hate each other instead of Jigsaw. The ending was a little predictable, unlike the first. The addition of the assistant is not my favorite, but it doesn’t hurt this movie, it does hurt the movies that follow. Overall a nice sequel, unfortunately the movies will only decline from here.

3 Stars ENOUGH OF THE DOUBLE, TRIPLE DIPPING!!!
This isn’t so much a review of the “Saw” series itself as it is my gripe about the franchise release on Blu Ray disc. When I first got into the series, I bought the DVDs, only to see a subsequent “unrated cut” released shortly thereafter and even, in some cases (as was with “Saw III”), a “director’s cut.” Being the fan that I am, yes, I bought whatever newer version came out and took the older versions to the used CD stores… What is the studio waiting for with regards to “Saw: Uncut Edition,” “Saw II: Special Edition,” and “Saw III: Director’s Cut”? Enough is enough! My all-time favorite movie trilogy is “The Lord of the Rings,” but as tempted as I am to get the upcoming Blu Ray release (as I know it will be visually stunning), I refuse to shell out one dime until the extended editions make it to Blu Ray. The same applies to the “Saw” series and any other franchise.

4 Stars I like this one too…
When the first one ended, I was positive the series was gonna be good. Plus the back story on Jigsaw was a nice touch. Seeing someone learning to help him with his work was a nice one too. Other than that I don’t have much else to say about this one, mostly good things if I did though.

4 Stars “The Knowledge Of Death Changes Everything”
When it comes to filming sequels there’s a strong tendency to proceed with the philosophy “more is better”. More gore, more special effects, more characters in jeopardy, etc… In doing so one takes the risk of losing that intangible element that made the first film a success. Well the film ‘Saw II’ did just that, more of everything. But you know what? It worked beautifully!

‘Saw II’ was successful in taking all the successful elements from the first film; expanding the cast, improving the effects, intensifying the psychological angst and physical gore while maintaining a strong narrative continuity with the original movie. Even more impressive was the manner in which they were able to have so many new things going on and still add psychological depth and breath to an already great protagonist (Jigsaw played by Tobin Bell).

There are a lot of clever and unexpected twists and turns in this one that really leave an already strong storyline up to many more sequels to come!

Almost forgot, I loved Shawnee Smith in the role of Amanda.

5 Stars Love it!!!! But the picture quality dipps here and there.
After seeing the first SAW movie and being blown away, I didn’t think it was possible to make a sequal that will be even half as good as the original! Boy was I wrong! In this movie you will get to know the the Jigsaw character (Played by the brilliant Tobin Bell) even more and see what motivates him to put people in those sick and twisted games. Infact to me, the best part of the movie is when Tobin Bell and Donnie Wahlberg are in diolog togehter. It really gets you thinking and in a way justifies what Jigsaw does. It hits every level, from taking life for granted to forgiving everyones wrong doing when faced with death, just pure brilliance! Wahlbergs performance as Eric Matthews is also extremly good! The superior wahlberg brother in my own opinion! The traps are great and the story it self is engaging and smart. Saw movies are not just about mindless killing like other horror movies. It’s a smart film and has a twist in the end that will shock you as much as the first film did. I suggest seeing the original before seeing this sequal if you havent already. There are a few problems with this bluray release though. The HD quality seems to dip from HD to standerd quality from scene to scene. It does not happening all the time but it is noticable and a bit irritating. Other than that the film looks great, and has a decent amount of extras to keep you entertained after the movie. I just wish the HD dipps didn’t happend at all. Over all though this is one of the best in the series and higly recomend it!

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Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) finally has the girl of his dreams, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), and New York City is in the throes of Spider-mania! But when a strange alien symbiote turns Spider-Man¿s suit black, his darkest demons come to light changing Spider-Man inside as well as out. Spider-Man is in for the fight of his life against a lethal mix of villains - the deadly Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Venom (Topher Grace), and the New Goblin (James Franco) - as well as the enemy within himself.

How does Spider-Man 3 follow on the heels of its predecessor, which was widely considered the best superhero movie ever? For starters, you pick up the loose threads from that movie, then add some key elements of the Spidey comic-book mythos (including fan-favorite villain Venom), the black costume, and the characters of Gwen Stacy and her police-captain father. In the beginning, things have never looked better for Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire): He’s doing well in school; his alter ego, Spider-Man, is loved and respected around New York City. And his girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), has just taken a starring role in a Broadway musical. But nothing good can last for Spidey. Mary Jane’s career quickly goes downhill; she’s bothered by Peter’s attractive new classmate, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard); and the new Daily Bugle photographer, Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), is trying to steal his thunder. Enter a new villain, the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), who can transform his body into various forms and shapes of sand and who may be connected to Peter’s past in an unexpected way. There’s also the son of an old villain, Harry Osborne (James Franco), who unmasked Spidey in the previous movie and still has revenge on his mind. And a new black costume seems to boost Spidey’s powers, but transforms mild-mannered Peter into a mean and obnoxious boor (Maguire has some fun here).

If that sounds like a lot to pack into one 140-minute movie, it is. While director Sam Raimi keeps things flowing, assisted on the screenplay by his brother Ivan and Alvin Sargent, there’s a little too much going on, and it’s inevitable that one of the villains (there are three or four, depending on how you count) gets significantly short-changed. Still, the cast is excellent, the effects are fantastic, and the action is fast and furious. Even if Spider-Man 3 isn’t the match of Spider-Man 2, it’s a worthy addition to the megamillion-dollar franchise. –David Horiuchi

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Stills from Spider-Man 3 (click for larger image)

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Spider-Man 3
Spider-man 3 is a good movie story wise. I thought all the acting was pretty good and there certainly is humor. I think this film captures some of the issues Peter Parker had in the comics balancing his personal life and his super hero alter ego. The blu-ray looks very good. The sound however, is just slightly anemic.

5 Stars spiderman even better with blu-ray
Loved this movie before I saw it on blu-ray, loved it even more after viewing it on blu-ray.

4 Stars better Spider-man sequel
Rented Spider-Man 3 this weekend.

Spiderman-3 ties up the loose ends from the first two Spider-man movies.

Overall I found it to be a stronger sequel than Spider-man 2.

2 Stars Misfire 3
The classic sequel formula poured out again: More villains, bigger sets, more special effects, more falling objects, longer time to watch - and of course, it’s all superfluous. We’ve seen Mary Jane saved from a falling death in the last two films. Why does this have to be like this again? It gets really stale after awhile. The parts where Peter turns mean after putting on the Venom suit are unintentionally hilarious. Suddenly Peter’s hair is black and Goth, and he scowls a lot, acting more like a real New Yorker would. He then has an urge to dance at a local bar. SP3 gets way off track here. Just more evidence of a fat, overdone flop that leaves us (like Star Wars 3, Matrix 3, et al.) sad and wondering why directors have to screw their own public over and tarnish their original work.

And that’s why they’re doing Spider Man 4.

4 Stars Triple Trouble for Spider-Man Drags Film Down, but Also Delivers Some Real Coolness
It’s triple trouble for Spider-Man in this third installment in the mega franchise.

Life is good for Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire). He’s got the girl, about to propose, making bucks, the good people of New York love their Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man like it’s their job–yeah, everything is smooth sailing.

As if.

Suddenly, a mysterious new villain shows up out of nowhere: the New Goblin (though he doesn’t refer to himself as such in the film). Quickly, we find out it’s Harry Osborne (James Franco), Peter’s once best friend out for revenge because he thinks Peter murdered his dad.

One villain Peter can handle, especially since his first altercation with the suped-up Harry Osborne ends rather quickly. But no, things quickly get worse for our favorite Wallcrawler when fugitive Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) gets himself trapped in a molecular blaster thingy and becomes the shape-shifting Sandman. Also adding to Peter’s troubles is ultra-hungry photographer Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), who wants nothing more than to make a name for himself in the newspaper business.

Unbeknownst to Peter, while he and Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) are on a date in a NY park, a mysterious meteor lands from the heavens, leaking a strange black goop that follows Peter home and eventually latches onto him, transforming him into someone darker, meaner and more spider-powered than ever before. When Peter finally realizes his new black suit is slowly destroying his life and he’s alienating everyone he’s ever cared about, he manages to ditch the suit in a cool church belltower scene that screams Peter’s search for redemption, but also Eddie Brock’s search for revenge. The black goop lands on Brock, carrying a copy of Peter’s spider-powers with it, transforming Eddie into the menacing Venom.

It’s Black Spider-Man versus three villains in this web-slinging rollercoaster ride that scratches Spider-Man fans right where they itch!

The good:

The spider effects keep getting better with each installment, especially in the area of you feeling like you’re right there with Spider-Man zipping through the air. That scene where Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard) falls off that building and Spidey has to cut through the air between falling debris to save her? Pure good.

The story had some good twists, especially building up the suspense while we waited for the black symbiote to latch itself onto Peter. Same with Peter proposing to MJ. The whole “it not working out” thing was well done.

James Franco played the villain wonderfully. I genuinely hated him after a while, the big tip of the hat being to when he fooled Peter into thinking he was his buddy again only to screw him over bigtime later on.

Topher Grace was easily the best actor in the film. He was funny, cocky, yet at times you sincerely felt bad for him.

The fight scenes were great. The symbiote effects for the living suit were fantastic, too.

The ending with Harry Osborne–even after all he did during the film–made tears prick the corners of my eyes.

The not as good:

One would think a major lesson had been learned from Batman & Robin: too many characters is just plain stupid. Unfortunately, Spider-Man 3 didn’t take that warning to heart. The film had way too much going on. I know they had to wrap up some story threads as established in the first two movies, but when all was said and done, things just felt way too rushed and I know I’m not the only fan to think so. If it were me, I would have left it at two villains: the New Goblin and Sandman. Or just do Venom and leave it alone. (And if anyone knows the Venom story, from the comics or the 1990s Spider-Man cartoon, you know that Venom’s mythology is more than enough for a feature film.) I really felt short-changed regarding Venom. So much time was spent building up to him–the origin, Peter going dark, Eddie Brock’s character, both before and after he inherits the suit–that by the time Venom showed up, there wasn’t much time left in the movie for him to really be the bad guy fans know him to be.

There’s really not much to complain about with this movie other than it feeling very rushed and cluttered. Over all, it still was a solid flick, but my least favorite of the three.

Rumor has it that Spider-Man 4 is getting back to basics so I’m eagerly anticipating that one.

Also stars: J.K. Simmons, Bruce Campbell, Rosemary Harris, James Cromwell, Ted Raimi, Bill Nunn, Willem Dafoe, Dylan Baker, Stan Lee and others.

A.P. Fuchs

Canister X

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David Lean focused all his talent as an epic-maker on Boris Pasternak’s sweeping novel about a doctor-poet in revolutionary Russia. The results may sometimes veer toward soap opera, especially with the screen frequently filled with adoring close-ups of Omar Sharif and Julie Christie, but Lean’s gift for cramming the screen with spectacle is not to be denied. The streets of Moscow, the snowy steppes of Russia, the house in the country taken over by ice; these are re-created with Lean’s unerring sense of grandness. The movie is so lush and so long that it becomes an irresistible wallow, even when logic suffers–like Gone with the Wind before it and Titanic after. Sharif, who achieved stardom in Lean’s previous film, Lawrence of Arabia, mostly looks noble, but the supporting cast is spiky: Rod Steiger as a fat-cat monster, Tom Courtenay as a self-righteous revolutionary, and Klaus Kinski and Alec Guinness in smaller roles. Geraldine Chaplin, in her adult debut, plays the doctor’s compliant wife. Robert Bolt’s screenplay won one of the film’s five Oscars, with another going to perhaps the most immediately recognizable element of the movie: Maurice Jarre’s romantic music, with its hugely popular “Lara’s Theme” weaving in and out of a swooning score. –Robert Horton

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Doctor Zhivago
I first saw this film in Cinerama® at a local theater in the 60s. I have been wanting to see it again since then. I wish I could see it in Cinerama® again. A truly poignant story by a great Russian author.

5 Stars GREAT MOVIE
I am happy to see this movie rereleased.

However I would like to know why the run time is stated at 191 mins. when the original run time was 197 mins. What was cut? Would like to pre order but I want the full movie not a cut version.

5 Stars Doctor ZHIVAGO REVIEW
Tis is probably the best film directed by David Lean, bringing to life the great novel by Boris Pasternak. Superb in every way.

5 Stars Dr. Zhivago
Timely delivery, in great condition. Content exactly as advertised. Excellant value.

great transaction.

5 Stars What a thrill to finally own this classic movie!
My DVD of Dr Zhivago is just wonderful! It came is excellent condition and will be enjoyed many times over the years to come.

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Bluray DiscEvery action movie has a moment so over the top you have to laugh; Shoot ‘Em Up consists of nothing but these moments. A carrot-eating, lone wolf kind of guy named Smith (Clive Owen, Children of Men, Inside Man) steps in to protect a pregnant woman from a gunman–and finds himself, with the aid of a lactating prostitute (Monica Belluci, The Matrix Revisited), defending the newborn child from a sleazy contract killer Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti, American Splendor, Sideways) and his army of thugs. That’s pretty much the plot, but story is beside the point. Writer/director Michael Davis (Monster Man) has a keen sense of what matters in an action movie. The rapid-fire editing is scrupulously coherent; you always grasp what happened in every shoot-out, even if it flagrantly violates the laws of physics or basic plausibility. Explaining how Smith survives a four-story fall–even if that explanation is beyond ridiculous–demonstrates both a sense of wit and a winking respect for the audience’s imagination. As a result, Shoot ‘Em Up is ten times more entertaining than the likes of Transformers or Rush Hour 3, movies so self-satisfied with special effects or movie stars that they forgot to be fun. (Shoot ‘Em Up’s only weakness is a sliver of misogyny, the one action movie cliche that it’s not clever enough to transcend.) –Bret Fetzer

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Stars Got to be kidding-can’t go lower than one star ?

This was the worst movie I have ever seen. From start to finish it was totally rediculous. The humor was poor, the action was really poor and so far fetched. The only ones who would think this would be possibly entertaining would be people who get off on watching people get shot. No suspense at all. Just mindless shooting. Would not recommend this movie. It went straight in the trash !.

There should be a A, B,C, D, F raiting. One star is not acceptable at all to review this movie.

It is a total “F”

1 Stars I only lasted 20 minutes and that was enough
Well i only lasted 20 minutes with this crap. It was so over the top and rediculous that it wasn’t worth watching beyond 20 minutes.

Ummm…..jumps through a glass window holding a baby and noone gets hurt. You’ve got to be kidding.

So all i know is someone is after this woman and her newborn child. I know not why and i don’t care.

5 Stars wild, outrageous and fun
One of my early Blu-ray purchases. From the first 30 seconds to the end, it’s a wild ride. Outrageous and fast paced. Paul G, Clive O and of course Monica B. What more do you need? Oh yes, tons of shoot-em-up action. Great guy flick. So , glad I bought it. Will watch it with friends again and again.

5 Stars Shoot ‘Em Up
Basically, this movie is very good. Awesome soundtrack to compliment the over-the-top (and at times unbelievable) action sequences. Very entertaining.

1 Stars horrible - walked out of the theater
This movie was absolutely horrible. I walked out of the theater after 10 minutes. I never walk out of theaters. The movie starts with a really generic guy saves girl scene and part of this involves clive owen taking some guy out with a carrot. so stupid. wow. huge waste. do yourself a huge favor and don’t waste one second of your time or 1 cent of your money on this terrible movie.

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“She is society’s worst nightmare, an antisocial misfit convicted of murder and sentenced to die. But a covert government agency may be able to transform her into a sleek, cool-as-ice assassin. Bridget Fonda (Single White Female, Jackie Brown) stars as Maggie in this thriller directed by John Badham (WarGames, Stakeout). Dressed to kill, trained to survive, shes set loose in a deadly world where unexpected romance complicates things even more. Gabriel Byrne, Dermot Mulroney, Anne Bancroft and Harvey Keitel also star.Point of No Return is one of those Hollywood remakes of a European hit in which one can visualize a committee of studio executives sitting around and saying, “Okay, we know what made the original film unique and different and fun. How can we make that same movie and do exactly the opposite?” For-hire director John Badham (Saturday Night Fever) took La Femme Nikita, Luc Besson’s undeniably sexy, original, and kitschy French film about a female assassin, and translated it into a calculating, mechanistic American thriller with no distinctive style. Bridget Fonda gamely plays the willowy street punk who becomes a high-society killer, but once that provocative irony is in place, the movie is pretty much a series of by-the-numbers action set pieces. Until, that is, Dermot Mulroney shows up as a love interest; but even that twist can’t save this film. You’re much better off with the original, subtitles and all. –Tom Keogh

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars A Must See!
If you haven’t seen the movie yet, make it a point to! GREAT movie!

5 Stars More than a mindless action flick
“Point of No Return” is a 1993 American remake of the 1990 French film “La Femme Nikita,” which spun a tv series that ran from 1997-2001. There’s also a Hong Kong version made in 1991 called “Black Cat.” My only familiarity with this franchise is that I vaguely remember seeing one of the tv episodes with Peta Wilson many moons ago. Hence, this review will be based solely on the merits of “Point of No Return” itself (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing since fans of original films tend to be excessively critical of remakes).

THE STORY: Maggie (Bridget Fonda) is a drug-addicted loser who gets the death penalty for being a cop-killer. There’s a ‘burial’ but she mysteriously wakes up in a secret governmental institution and is offerred the opportunity to live; the catch is that she must now perform the government’s dirty work as an assassin. She spends numerous months learning the skills and social graces necessary. After training she takes the code name Nina and re-enters society living in Venice Beach, CA. There she discovers normalcy (compared to her past life) and love. The consequence of becoming whole and civilized is that Nina develops a conscience and comes to resent being a nasty tool of the government. Unfortunately her controller (Gabriel Byrne) informs her that there is no ‘out’ and dissenters automatically get a bullet in the brain.

“Point of No Return” is one of those films that I didn’t expect much from and wasn’t overly impressed with the first half hour, but when Nina passes her final ‘test’ and re-enters society the film caught my interest and wholly captivated until the end.

The movie plays like a mish-mash of “The Mechanic” (1972), where Charles Bronson plays an assassin, and secret agent flicks like James Bond, but it lacks the goofiness and silly gadgets of many Bond films and the characters have more depth. For instance, the viewer comes to care about Nina and her plight; this is basically a story of redemption and we want her redemption to be successful but how can it be when she’s conscripted to kill people? Did I say ‘conscripted’? Enslavement is more like it since Nina HAS to obey orders or die; and the secret agency can get away with it because to all intents and purposes she doesn’t even exist.

Late in the story Harvey Keitel has a small and entertaining role as ‘The Cleaner’. He effectively portrays an emotionless, lifeless person who’s completely hardened his heart in order to perform his ultra-violent work.

Here’s an interesting point brought up by reviewer Richard Ballard: The Armed Forces labor to instill esprit de corps and comradeship amongst their members, e.g. ‘We are strongest as a team and nobody gets left behind.’ By contrast the three Nikita films and the tv series share a common weakness: How can a threatening organization expect quality performance and loyalty from its agents? Continuous internal threats would naturally weaken agents’ morale. When crisis occurs threatened agents cannot run to the threatening organization. Even though agents are under the threat of death and, in a sense, have nowhere to run, the threatening nature of the agency itself naturally creates disloyal dissenters who will eventually seek escape, unless of course they’re total mindless automatons like ‘The Cleaner’.

A few criticisms: Some scenes are formulaic and therefore predictable, like the end of the Hotel scene and the hoodlum sequence in New Orleans, plus Dermot Mulroney isn’t always convincing as Nina’s boyfriend, also some of the action is too over-the-top (e.g. the restaurant scene); but I consider these minor flaws in light of the film’s overall compelling force.

The picture runs 109 minutes and was shot on location in Washington DC, Los Angeles, Culver City, Venice Beach and New Orleans.

FINAL SAY: I was expecting another dumb action flick like “Speed” but instead got something that drew me in and really wowed me. “Point of No Return” is an engrossing action film with depth.

GRADE: A-

4 Stars Point of No Return
A punk female murderer is transformed into a bourgeois assassin by an underground government agency. This is a really brutal movie. I think Gabriel Byrne is what made this movie. He was great as Bob and the chemistry between him and maggie/Nina was overwhelming. I think this was a movie made good by the cast. I thought Fonda and Byrne were incredible. Still it’s a good movie, I think besides the incredible chemistry between Byrne and Fonda the story was moving and makes you want to know what happens next.

1 Stars No Point To It At All
I just saw this movie (again) two days ago, I had seen it many years back when it first came out. Unfortunately at the time I had not seen La Femme Nikita and my sister recommended the original. I was stunned! Up until this point I had no idea that Hollywood actually copied material in this manner (honestly I didn’t). As I watched the original I became more and more disgusted with this American version.

I really wonder though if I should blame the American people or Hollywood for this travesty. I am not put off by sub titles and if you look at “The Passion of the Chirst” people clearly will pay money to see a movie with not a single English word spoken. So is Hollywood really “forced” to remake great movies in order for us to see them, or is Hollywood underestimating us by feeding us this remade junk? As some have pointed out, this movie is scene for scene a remake of the original - and to me it is a horrible remake.

You know, I can actually bring up another example. There is an English show called “Coupling” which they tried to duplicate here. I saw an original episode and then a remade episode. The American remade episode - even though it was identical scene for scene just wasn’t funny. The same is true of this movie - the drama and everything else that went with it, just wasn’t there.

The scenes are truly not idential and even those little differences were better in the original. Mind you, I saw the original AFTER I saw this junk of a movie. You would think that I would be swayed by this movie because I saw it first - nope. The fact is that the world out there makes some great movies, but we can’t enjoy them the way they were meant to be. We have to be dumbed down and spoon feed with an American actor, english words or we are just too far out of our comfort zones to care. I think in the end that is not true because if it was then there wouldn’t be so many people here pointing to the original and proclaiming how much the original one is to this one.

2 Stars Another Blu Ray Hall-of-Shamer…
*** BLU RAY 2009 REVIEW ***

If ever a disc was a textbook example of how NOT to present BLU RAY, then “Point Of No Return” (called “The Assassin” in Europe) is it.

The print is awful almost the whole way through. There’s blocking everywhere, blurriness and clearly no attempt to restore the film. Depressingly this release on BLU RAY only accentuates how badly filmed it was in the first place - in short its worse on this format than it was on DVD. It’s not as bad as “The French Connection” or “2010″ on BLU RAY (see reviews), but it’s close. There are no extras either. Personally, I’ve always liked the movie, but I wanted a better copy of it - and this is NOT it.

This shoddy release only reconfirms the worst fears of movie fans - film companies are throwing any amount of crap at the BLU RAY wall at the moment to bolster up the sales numbers - and it’s being done without any care being given to the release.

Even if you’re a lover of the movie, hire it first before you buy - 20 minutes in and you’ll be too disappointed to reach for the credit card…

“The Assassin/Point of No Return” on BLU RAY is a very real reason as to why Amazon reviews exist.

One to avoid I’m afraid.

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From director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg comes a thrilling battle between the heroic Autobotsr and the evil Decepticonsr. When their epic struggle comes to Earth, all that stands between the Decepticonsr and ultimate power is a clue held by young Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). Unaware that he is mankind’s last chance for survival, Sam and Bumblebee, his robot disguised as a car, are in a heart-pounding race against an enemy unlike anything anyone has seen before. It’s the incredible, breath-taking film spectacular that USA Today says ”will appeal to the kid in all of us.””I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot. Who knew?” deadpans Sam Witwicky, hero and human heart of Michael Bay’s rollicking robot-smackdown fest, Transformers. Witwicky (the sweetly nerdy Shia LaBeouf, channeling a young John Cusack) is the perfect counterpoint to the nearly nonstop exhilarating action. The plot is simple: an alien civil war (the Autobots vs. the evil Decepticons) has spilled onto Earth, and young Sam is caught in the fray by his newly purchased souped-up Camaro. Which has a mind–and identity, as a noble-warrior robot named Bumblebee–of its own. The effects, especially the mind-blowing transformations of the robots into their earthly forms and back again, are stellar.

Fans of the earlier film and TV series will be thrilled at this cutting-edge incarnation, but this version should please all fans of high-adrenaline action. Director Bay gleefully salts the movie with homages to pop-culture touchstones like Raiders of the Lost Ark, King Kong, and the early technothriller WarGames. The actors, though clearly all supporting those kickass robots, are uniformly on-target, including the dashing Josh Duhamel as a U.S. Army sergeant fighting an enemy he never anticipated; Jon Voight, as a tough yet sympathetic Secretary of Defense in over his head; and John Turturro, whose special agent manages to be confidently unctuous, even stripped to his undies. But the film belongs to Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and the dastardly Megatron–and the wicked stunts they collide in all over the globe. Long live Transformers! --A.T. Hurley

More Than Meets the Eye

The Original Movie

Transformers Mania

The Soundtrack

Transformers Image Gallery (click for larger image)

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars If you don’t have it by now, roll out.
If you’re reading this review, chances are you are not a huge Transformers fan. This being a week after the movie was released and you’re waiting for my golden words to tell you if you should see it or not. That’s fine with me, you are my target audience, non-fan, because I am one as well. I never had anything against the cartoon, it just missed me somehow when it was taking over America. Luckily I don’t think a Rainbow Brite movie is on the horizon for me to pretend not to be excited about.

So this week’s Movie Of The Summer is here. And to just lay it out there for you, dear reader, it’s not a bad way to spend a summer afternoon. The movie is fun, well shot, has good music, and it has a really good sense of humor about itself. This is good because had it taken itself seriously at all I think I would have hated it, given its origins.

In addition to being an adaptation from an 80’s pop culture icon, the script reeks of stolen property from attempted franchise films past, most notably Independence Day, and Small Soldiers. On the Independence Day front, the alien menace attacks a military base, destroying it and leaving the majority of the personnel dead. The pentagon studies the signal from the threat but it takes a civilian computer hacker to crack the code, though in this one our hackers are hired by the government as opposed to a guy who works for the cable company. And oddly enough there’s a secret branch of the government that has known about the presence of the aliens and has been keeping a crash-landed specimen in a hidden bunker since the 40’s, a bunker so hidden even top levels of the administration don’t know about it.

Then we have Shia LeBeouf, as an awkward teenager who discovers his new toy, in this case a Camarro instead of an action figure, is alive, and is in a state of war against another group of toys. He also enlists the aid of a girl from school he has a crush on in his attempt to help his friends the Gorgonittes… I’m sorry, the Autobots, in their efforts to defeat their enemy. The movie even went so far as to cast Kevin Dunn in the role of the boys father.

LeBeouf however more than holds his own as the closest thing the movie has to a protagonist. I have a feeling this kid is becoming a punchline simply because of the amount of movies he has been in recently, but he’s got some chops. More props however go to John Turturro who is just awesome as a takes-him-self-too-seriously government agent.

The only thing I didn’t like about it speaks less about this movie and more towards a general resentment I’m starting to feel towards Hollywood blockbusters, which is that I find CGI-on-CGI fights to be boring. It’s why I didn’t like the fight sequences that much in King Kong, but why I loved the ones in Lord of the Rings, which also used miniatures and loads of extras. The big pitch of this movie was “let’s take that cartoon and make it live action,” but at the end of the day, when all the impossible stuff is being made on a computer, isn’t it just a cartoon with a real-world background?

4 Stars bluray
watched it once, it was a bit skippy. dont know if it was that the disc was new and first time but still excellent comparable to bluray quality!

5 Stars Nice image and sound quality
I primarily bought this item after being dissapointed whith my first interaction with a blu-ray moovie quality in my 46″ Bravia Full HD HDTV (Spideman moovie) and than i looked for something visually stuning and with an excelent sound effects quality. If you want to see your brand new home theater blast your room, put these and turn up the volume!

Good: Image and sound, excelent orerall quality, funny…

Bad: The film theme may not interest your wife as much as you and your kids… (Be sure you are into action and fiction moovies and you ‘ll be fine.

4 Stars Nice Deal
The price of this off Amazon at my time of purchase (18 bucks) is typically the same as watching it with a friend at the movies once. Not only does it look just as AMAZING on Blu-ray, but you can watch it as much as you want with bonus features If you wanna see some quality visuals in HD, this movie is well worth it!

4 Stars Typical summer blockbuster, but exemplary CGI and lots of action; good blu-ray edition
3.8 stars

We got this for a Friday night mind-numbathon, expecting nothing. I saw part of its sequel in a multi-plex last year before walking out, and was hoping this was better. It was.

Certainly no masterpiece, it does however have a ton of action, some good humor, and maybe the best CGI I’ve ever seen. The Transformers work perfectly and never seem fake; they are in fact amazingly realistic. LaBouef is good in his part, Fox lives up to her name, and Turturro is quite funny. Voight hams it up a bit too much, but this movie never takes itself too seriously, its saving grace.

I’ve watched few of Bay’s movies; haven’t even seen Armageddon, The Rock, or most of the others. This may be just like them, in which case I’ll give them a shot next time I want to stop thinking and just see some flashy eye candy. The blu-ray did look very sharp, with good depth and colors, certainly one of the better transfers I’ve seen. Lots of extras too, for the true Trans fans. I never even saw the original cartoon, so have no idea how faithful this is, but coming in cold I did enjoy this movie, cheese and all.

The funniest parts are the pathetically obvious GM product placements. The bad guys show up as planes, etc, but the good guys always arrive in a convoy of GMC vehicles (no doubt getting 10 mpg) to save the day. Of course, in reality their cars would have broken down halfway there and the company would have gone bankrupt, but oh well, take that product placement money while you can!

Hardly any work of genius, except for the guys who CGI’ed the Transformers themselves, this flick nonetheless overcomes its occasionally daft script and is a fine choice for a colorful, action-filled couple hours of suspending disbelief and being amazed at how far CGI has come in the last decade.

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Comic genius Jim Carrey stars with Jennifer Aniston and Morgan Freeman in the entertaining comedy hit of the year that critics are applauding as a “laugh a minute” (Jim Ferguson, FOX-TV). Bruce Nolan (Carrey) is a TV reporter who believes the entire universe is stacked against him. In a life-altering encounter, the Big Guy Upstairs (Freeman) endows Bruce with all His divine powers and challenges Bruce to take on the big job to see if he can do it any better. Bruce Almighty is the wildly funny comedy featuring “Jim Carrey at his best” (Leonard Maltin, Hot Ticket).

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars great
Awesome service! Arrived quickly and in great shape. Would be happy to do business again with this seller. Thanks

3 Stars I can do anything better than you.
No you can’t.

Yep Bruce is really down on his luck, and we are reminded of that old saying,” never hit a man when he is down, Kick him it is easer.”

After assessing the situation he comes to the conclusion that his situation is the direct results of gross negligence on the part of his maker. He makes the monumental decision to express his thought. Naturally in the tradition of the “Oh God” movies, only this time Morgan Freeman is god, Bruce is challenged to see if he could do any better. This time instead of, “Death takes a Holiday” (1934), God takes his. Now that Bruce has a chance to be in charge. What changes will we see? Was Bruce’s assessment of the situation correct or a tad jaded from the situation?

Of course this is a formula movie with the outcome determined before we start. Jim Carrey relies on his “Carrey faces” to carry the movie. These facial expressions were cute in “Once Bitten” (1985) but get a little long in the tooth by now. Jennifer Aniston, of “Office Space” (1999) fame, does an excellent supporting role.

Once Bitten

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Hang onto your helmet and get ready to break away from the pack! Ellen Page scores huge laughs as Bliss Cavendar, a small-town teenager with a big dream: to find her own path in the world. Tired of following in her family’s footsteps of compliance and conformity, Bliss discovers a way to put her life on the fast track…literally. She lands a spot on a rough-and-tumble roller derby team and becomes “Babe Ruthless” — the hottest thing on eight wheels! Co-starring Drew Barrymore (in her feature film directorial debut), Marcia Gay Harden, Juliette Lewis, Daniel Stern and Jimmy Fallon, Whip It is a triumphant, free-spirited comedy loaded with high-speed action and nonstop fun!

• Audio: English: 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio / Spanish: 5.1 Dolby Digital / French: 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Language: Dubbed: English, French & Spanish / Subtitled: English, French & Spanish
• Theatrical Aspect Ratio: Widescreen: 2.40:1

Drew Barrymore makes her bow as a director with this Roller Derby coming-of-age number, which shares the spirit of so many of Barrymore’s movies: it’s loosey-goosey, cheerful, and buoyant in waving its “Girls Rule!” flag. On screen, Barrymore relegates herself to a slapstick supporting role, handing the lead to Juno gal Ellen Page. Page plays a Texas teen with a yen to join Austin’s Roller Derby squad, complete with new professional moniker Babe Ruthless, but she’ll have to keep the side career secret from her beauty-pageant-obsessed Mom (Marcia Gay Harden) and football-watchin’ Dad (Daniel Stern). A coming-of-age tale emerges between bouts of skating on the RD track (Jimmy Fallon plays the goofy Derby announcer), with a dash of romance added in the form of a generic Dude in a Band. Kristen Wiig does surrogate-mom duty as a teammate, Juliette Lewis is appropriately out-there as a track rival, and Andrew Wilson (bro of Owen and Luke) gets some hilariously poker-faced lines in as the team’s coach. All the pleasant stuff makes you almost overlook how ramshackle the movie is, and how standard-issue the parental tensions (even if Harden is a total pro, as always). Ellen Page doesn’t offer the innate audience-friendly cuddliness of Barrymore herself–thus her apt casting as Juno’s brittle heroine–but her rapt focus is something to behold. “Babe Ruthless” indeed. –Robert Horton

Stills from Whip It (Click for larger image)

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Great movie…lack of special features hurt.
Saw the movie in the theater…thought it was pretty good even though I haven’t seen a banked track in roller derby since the 80’s. Got the DVD and really did enjoy it again. Since it’s off season for the local derby team right now it’s a great way to get keep the derby spirit alive. My only complaint about the dvd and it’s a small complaint is the lack of special features. I saw that the Blu Ray version has a short making of feature…the standard DVD just has a single disk with a few outtakes. Would have been nice had they taken the time to maybe put a making of feature on the regular version too…and also maybe a history of the sport itself would have been really cool. seemed to be a pretty high priced dvd for what little was included in the disk.

5 Stars LOVED IT SOOOO MUCH!!!
I’ve never rated anything on Amazon before, but I had to with this…I just loved it

2 Stars A cold and dull Hollywood Product
If you pour heavy cream into a cold bowl and add sugar, vanilla and air, you get one of the tastiest concoctions known to man. If you mix water, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, some flavors, gums, and glues, and freeze it, you get something that looks like whipped cream but bears no other resemblance.

This film aspires to be whipped cream, but is tepid whip at best. Start with every teenager-as-protagonist cliche: overbearing, obsessive mother, browbeaten father, cute-as-a-button-little sister, no-one-understands me teen. Add quirky best friend. Stir in newly-met sexy person of opposite sex who looks trustworthy, but, oh well. Mix in a bunch of wild and crazy supporting characters (and make sure one of them drives a cool 60’s car, MG if possible, but Karmann Ghia will do in a pinch.) Seen this film a hundred times before?

After the viewer is thoroughly bored, pour in a healthy dose of plodding action. Now, I’ve been to lots of roller derby bouts. They can be very exciting. But those I’ve attended looked nothing like the action shown here. These were both too fast, as our little inexperienced skater scooted through huge crowds effortlessly, and too slow, as the camera tried to create action where there was none. The failure of the roller derby scenes would not doom the film. Heck, this could be a stage play with some Equus-style skating. But since they went to the effort to try to create it, it did not work.

OK, so by now you’ve got a cliche-riddled tepid mixture of overcooked and bland ingredients. But then, just to show your culinary skills, drop in the most silly and outlandish “Lose your virginity” scene ever filmed. Toss in the requisite “parents coming to the teen’s point of view” conclusion, and you have created Bland Whip. Follow your heart, straight to your grocer’s freezer.

5 Stars Babe Ruthless…..
“Whip It” is the most fun I’ve had all month!

An outstanding cast starring Ellen Page Juno as Bliss Cavendar a.k.a. Babe Ruthless, produced by Drew Barrymore 50 First Dates starring as Smashley Simpson . Also starring -

Jimmy Fallon … ‘Hot Tub’ Johnny Rocket Fever Pitch & Late Night w/ Jimmy Fallon

Kristen Wiig … Maggie Mayhem Adventureland & SNL

Zoe Bell … Bloody Holly Death Proof

Eve … Rosa Sparks Barbershop & Barbershop 2: Back in Business

Juliette Lewis … Iron Maven The Other Sister & From Dusk Till Dawn

A very smart comedy that will keep you smiling & laughing throughout.

Great cast, smart writing, alot of fun and a outstanding soundtrack, what more could you ask for?

Ellen Page is a major star, she shines bright in every movie she is in & I look forward to her next one!

“Whip It” is based off the novel by Shauna Cross - Whip It, which was originally released as “Derby Girl”!

Enjoy~

2 Stars I must have seen another movie!
I really wanted to like this, but I just never warmed up to it. Three big problems: script, casting & directing. The script falls so flat - how can a movie about women’s roller derby be so lethargic? And yet, it is. Most of the action scenes are destroyed by the horrible casting of Jimmy Fallon who’s play-by-play banter is just plain annoying and grating and … bad. Page is good, but her brittle, smarty-pants schtick is showing it’s limitations in a role that calls for more warmth. Wiig and MGH fare best. Then the directing: She tries, but the energy never gets to where it should be. Especially when the off-track scenes go nowhere you haven’t been 30 million times before. Take a pass. Too bad, really.

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