Flash's DVDs > DVD reviews by Flash

Speed Racer races across the screen

Posted : 7 months, 3 weeks ago on 11 April 2009 12:41 (A review of Speed Racer)

Although the theatrical run of this movie didn't do well, the DVD is well done and a good addition to your family film collection. The action is fast paced and the colors pop off the screen as you watch the movie. The whole family will enjoy watching this one.

The movie follows Speed Racer as he moves up in his racing career following in the footsteps of his dead brother. The problem he faces is whether or not to keep to his family roots or join with the corporate big boys and take their money. Speed makes his choice and finds out that the racing game is not what he thought it was made out to be. Things go on behind the scenes that he wasn't aware of at the time. Now he has to figure out how to stay on top of his game and keep winning races.

The Wachowski brothers have followed the Matrix films with another cgi gem. The animation and cgi scenes are amazing in the movie. The colors grab you in every scence and the cgi is crisp and clean. This movie will entertain the whole family and be a welcome addition to you DVD collection.

Flash

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Prince Caspian on Blu-ray

Posted : 7 months, 3 weeks ago on 11 April 2009 12:22 (A review of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Two Disc and BD Live) [Blu-ray])

This sequel keeps the story of Narnia moving forward that will keeps fans glued to their seats. The action is exciting and the special effects are amazing. The Blu-ray edition is crytal clear like you would expect and is wonderful to watch on your big screen at home. With two discs, you can spend hours looking at behind the scene footage. The discs also have menus that the kids will love also.

Although the film makers chose to go out of order from the book series, I don't think anyone will really notice unless you are a diehard fan of the books. This time the siblings go back to Narnia and things are much different. Even though they have only aged days compared to Narnia which as seen hundreds of years pass. Nothing is the same as the children remember from their previous visit to Narnia. The Telmarines have taken over Narnia and the Narnians have gone into hiding.

The Children are brought back by Caspian when Caspian blows a horn left by the children from their last visit. The four join sides with the Narnians to try to take Narnia back from the Telmarines. The action and battle scenes were very well done. The battle scenes are as violent as the first movie, but their isn't any bloodshed.


This movie is a must for your family film collection. Everyone will enjoy watching the movie and taking a look at the extras. The quality is excellent and the viewing wonderful. Enjoy!

Flash


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Great independent movie

Posted : 10 months ago on 5 February 2009 02:07 (A review of The Big Empty)

This movie was a wonderful find when I was looking for movies to buy at my local friendly used movie store. I looked at the back of the box and couldn't believe all the actors that had gathered together to make this movie. (John Favreau, Bud Cort, Sean Bean, Adam Beach, Kelsey Grammar, Joey Lauren Adams, Daryl Hannah, John Gries, and Rachel Leigh Cook. I found out from watching the extras on the DVD that this was Steve Anderson's first feature film. I thought he did a wonderful job making the movie on what had to be a shoestring budget.

The movie is a dark comedy that follows the comedic misadventures of Favreau. He is an out of work actor down to his last dime. In comes Cort offering him enough money to pay off all his debts for only delivering a suitcase to Baker, CA. No offence to the people of Baker, but I wouldn't have wanted to stay in Baker for the amount of time that it took to make the film. Baker isn't exactly a place to visit where you would expect to find a lot of entertainment. Favreau ends up spending a few days in Baker and ends up having a few bizarre episodes during his stay.

The opening scene with Cort that is worth watching all by itself. Kelsey Grammar is also very funny in the scenes that he has playing an FBI agent. If you like to find "diamonds in the rough", you may want to check out this movie. It was very entertaining and fun to watch. If your lucky like me, you may find it at your favorite used movie store for a very cheap price. :)

Flash

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Springer wannabe

Posted : 10 months, 4 weeks ago on 8 January 2009 03:20 (A review of Little Black Book)

Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, oops wrong review, sorry!!! When I bought this DVD I thought it would be another Brittany Murphy romantic comedy. Well it is but with a twist. The twist is what I didn't like about the movie.

Brittany and Holly Hunter worked very well with each other. They had a very good on screen chemistry and had some funny scenes together. The twist that I didn't like about the movie was "reality live talk show" back drop of the movie. I don't watch and don't like what these shows do to people. Now I will admit if you volunteer to go onto one of these talk shows, you have to pay the piper. But in this movie, the players don't have this option and that rubs me the wrong way.

If you like talk shows and seeing people get humiliated, then you will probably like this movie. It has a few very funny scenes that you will enjoy. If you are like me and don't care for people being put into these situations, you may want to pass on this one.

Flash

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Well packaged Blu-ray

Posted : 10 months, 4 weeks ago on 8 January 2009 02:54 (A review of I Am Legend [Blu-ray])

I am kind of new to the world of Blu-ray DVDs, but I really loved this one. The crystal clear imaging of Blu-rays are wonderful to watch on HD TVs. I was lucky and got this one pretty cheap used. What I loved about it was that this DVD was loaded with the extras that you hear being touted that can be put onto the Blu-ray format.

There is a short documentary about viruses that was really informative and interesting to watch. I made my kids watch it and they even were engrossed in the segment. I love to see how movies are made. I really get amazed at all that goes into putting together what we see on the big screen. This DVD had about 12 featurettes on how different parts of the movie were put together. For curious minds this was like discovering a gold mine.

The DVD also has two versions of the movie. The theatrical version of course is available. We watched the alternate ending and I liked it better than the one seen in theaters. When we were watching it a couple of scenes that were in the theatrical version made more sense in the alternate version. One scene was when he captures the female and the male stands in the doorway and howls at Smith. The alternate version gives a new appreciation of that scene. (You'll have to watch it to find out why.)

If your into the world of Blu-ray, I would say that this is one to buy. The DVD is loaded with enough to keep you busy for a few hours. Enjoy.

Flash

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Watch your funny bone

Posted : 10 months, 4 weeks ago on 8 January 2009 02:36 (A review of Blind Date)

This movie was made when Bruce Willis was still doing his slap stick comedy. I got this DVD for my daughter who is too young to have seen him when he was doing comedy on TV. My kids don't always trust me when I tell them these older movies are really good. I told them they would bust a gut when they watched this one. I could tell that they were kind of humoring me when we started to watch the movie.

The movie starts out slowly and I think they thought my humor meter had left the building, but as soon as Kim Basinger starts to drink her first cup of champagne they changed their minds. This is where the movie takes off and the humor really begins. Kim can't handle her liquor very well and this leads to very funny consequences. Needless to say, Bruce can't be outdone by her and gets his payback.

As the pace of the movie picked up, the laughter of my kids did also. There was a continuous stream of laughter from our sofa as the movie progressed. The timing and delivery of the comedy scenes between Bruce and Kim are classic. I got this DVD in a two pack very cheap. It was well worth the money spent to listen to my kids laugh and have a great time.

Flash

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Gun Play

Posted : 1 year ago on 9 November 2008 02:56 (A review of Equilibrium)

The cover of the DVD compares this movie to The Matrix. There are some similarities but this is no Matrix. The world of Matrix was more developed because of the trilogy, but Equilibrium does a very good job of creating its own future world. The idea of this world is that humans can't have feelings and emotions any more. Once this has been established then there won't be any more war and death. (I don't know how they were supposed to have relationships and children but they managed this somehow.)

To do this there is a special force that seeks out an underground movement that is trying to preserve the old way of life. Christian Bale is the lead enforcer and is very efficient in his work. He takes out the opposition without any emotion or remorse. The plot in the movie takes hold when he stops taking the drug that suppresses emotions. This causes him to second guess his mission in life and thickens the plot. He starts to feel for his victums and really doesn't put his heart into his job any more.

The action in this movie is very well crafted and choreographed. The Gun-fu fighting scenes are fast and furious. The extras section on the DVD talks about how the concept came to be and put into the movie. If you are an action junky, I think you will be pleased with this movie. A lot of bullets fly and in turn a lot of bodies will fall. Enjoy!

Flash

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Don't blink

Posted : 1 year ago on 9 November 2008 02:38 (A review of Vantage Point (Single-Disc Edition))

This thriller has more twists and turns then a Tarantino movie. Once you start this movie you don't want to get up without pausing first. If you do, you may miss a key piece of the puzzle and have trouble following the rest of the movie.

The movie follows the point of view of the main characters of the movie. Each one of their view points is shown for the assassination. The only problem with this is that you get to see the assassination over and over again. As each character is followed, another layer of the plot is revealed leading up to an explosive conclusion. The ensemble cast that was brought together for the film is amazingly strong. This leads to a lot of strong performances.

This was a fun movie to watch in the theaters and at home on my small screen. The extra features aren't anything to write home about, but my family had a lot of fun watching this one.

Flash

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An unusual robbery

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 8 July 2008 12:19 (A review of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead)

This movie has an amazing cast that works wonderfully together. The emotions and feeling the characters have towards one another really shine through in the performances. This acting is needed to pull off the emotionaly roller coaster ride that the story takes you on during the film.

The movie revolves around two brothers (Hoffman and Hawke) that are are having money problems. They come up with an idea getting easy money. The idea revolves around stealing money from a small jewelry store. Great idea but of course everything doesn't go according to the plan.

Once their problems start, they keep growing larger and larger like a snowball rolling downhill. This keeps you in suspense as you want to see what will happen to these two. Sydney Lumet is a master film maker and this one is definantely worth watching. You will think your watching a film from a fresh new director that is experimenting with new ideas. Instead you are watching a wiley old veteran that is beautifully crafting a marvelous film.

Note: This is an adult film. The children shouldn't be watching it with you unless they are older. It contains nudity, sex, and hard core drug useage.

Flash

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A few twists and turns

Posted : 1 year, 7 months ago on 3 May 2008 01:08 (A review of Awake)

This was an interesting movie to watch. It is basically a suspense thriller that tries to keep you guessing its outcome. Once I heard that it had twists in the plot it was pretty easy to guess what would happen. I wasn't too thrilled to watch a guy awake on an operating table for two hours. It really was interesting watching the plot play out. The scenes cut in and out of the operating room and the pace of the film kept moving. Even though I figured out the twist, it was still fun to watch. It is worth a rental price for an evenings entertainment.

Flash

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