This hugely entertaining comic book adaptation about Tony Stark (Downey Jr.), a smarmy and sarcastic narcissist of a billionaire playboy who comes from a long line of weapons manufacturers who donates those weapons to the war effort.  But when Tony is captured and held captive in a terrorist camp for three months, he plans an escape by constructing a suit of iron equipped with some nifty devices and an assortment of weapons.  After being rescued, Tony returns home with a renewed set of morals and a fresh new purpose: he wants to protect the people he put in harm’s way by modifying his original suit design.  But Tony is soon swept up in a plot being orchestrated by his shady business partner Obidiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), who wants to use Tony’s suit design for more sinister purposes.

This 2-Disc DVD is jam-packed with bonus features, starting with a slew of deleted/extended scenes that are good to say the very least, but while watching them it’s obvious why they were cut.  Most of these scenes are extended versions of scenes in the final cut, such as more interaction between Tony and Rhodes (Terrence Howard) at Caesar’s Palace and on the plane ride to Afghanistan.  However, there are some entirely new scenes that are pretty nice, including more Iron Man action from the film’s finale and a scene in which Obidiah Stane chastises his workers for not building his own suit quick enough.

But the bulk of the bonus features are on the second disc.  Things really kick off with an elaborate 7-part making-of documentary entitled “I Am Iron Man”.  This documentary chronicles every single part of the process of bringing “Iron Man” to the big screen; it certainly takes a while to get through, but it’s still a worthy special feature.  Another one, “Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man”, gives us a gander into how the filmmakers created the impressive special effects of the movie, as the title would suggest.  “The Invincible Iron Man” is another multi-chaptered documentary, this one a 6-parter which details the history of the character Iron Man, from the initial conception to what he has now become.  Also included is Robert Downey Jr.’s Screen Test for the film, a short feature entitled “The Actor’s Process”, still galleries and more.  This Special Edition DVD is the type collectors dream off: full of quality features that showcase the hard work put into a really good film.

Of course, Paramount has also released a standard one-disc edition which includes only the film and the deleted/extended scenes, but this is the version more deserving of your money.

Movie Rating: 4 stars

DVD Rating:  4.5 stars

The film takes place over the course of one terrifying night, when Manhattan is abruptly attacked by an enormous creature that looks like a cross between a praying mantis and a spider.  We follow a group of twenty-somethings who happened to be throwing a “Going Away” party for their best friend Rob as they embark upon a rescue mission to save Rob’s true love, Beth.  Of course, everybody knows that the movie was filmed in a unique way, namely from the perspective of the viewfinder of an extremely jiggly video camera, one being manned by Hud.  It’s obvious that this idea was inspired by “The Blair Witch Project”, which was another revolutionary thriller during its time because it too employed the use of of the shaky cam.

There were many complaints from people who saw “Cloverfield” during its theatrical run about how the film’s constant camera movements caused uneasiness where their stomachs were concerned, but I personally didn’t have that problem, so I can’t really say if watching the movie on a regular T.V. screen makes a difference where that issue is concerned.  “Cloverfield” is presented in its original theatrical exhibition of the 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio, and the transfer is pretty well-handled.  However, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a guy who pays attention to the sharpness of a movie’s digital transfer, so suffice it to say that for the most part the picture looks good.

The extras on the disc include a feature commentary by director Matt Reeves, deleted scenes and alternate endings, multiple “making of” featurettes, and looks into how the film’s visual effects were done.  The deleted scenes aren’t really that special; just extra fluff that easily leant itself to editing.  The two alternate endings aren’t any better, as they just include the same ending in terms of what happens to the characters, but here the very last scene before the credits is changed.  However, the making of features are particularly interesting, as they show exactly how the monster was conceived and constructed, in addition to how the movie itself was filmed.  Believe it or not, the filmmakers actually let the actor portraying Hud hold the camera as they filmed everything.  Also included is a link to a website called www.cloverfieldfiles.com, which contains some extra secrets about the film.

All in all, I’d say the “Cloverfield” DVD is definitely worth buying for those who liked the movie.  It’s certainly interesting to see how such a unique monster movie was pieced together, and the glimpse of all the behind-the-scenes magic makes you appreciate just how creative this chilling film really is.

Movie Rating: 3.5 stars

DVD Rating: 3 stars

The IRON MAN Ultimate Edition two-DVD set is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. Total runtime is 125 minutes. Bonus features include

Disc 1:

* Feature film
* Deleted/Extended Scenes

Disc 2:

* I Am Iron Man
o The Journey Begin
o The Suit that makes the Iron Man
o The Walk of Destruction
o Grounded In Reality
o Beneath the Armor
o It’s All in the Details
o A Good Story, Well Told
* The Invincible Iron Man
o Origins

o Friends & Foes
o The Definitive Iron Man
o Demon in a Bottle
o Extremis and Beyond
o Ultimate Iron Man
* Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man
* Robert Downey Jr. Screen Test
* The Actor’s Process (scene rehearsal with cast)
* The Onion “Wildly Popular Iron Man Trailer to be Adapted into Full Length Film”
* Image Galleries

Soaring Hi-Def Features on Blu-ray: One of the most anticipated releases of the year, the IRON MAN Blu-ray presentation offers even more exclusive content for an incredible entertainment experience including a “Hall of Armor” that allows fans to enter the Stark database to zoom in on any of the three Iron Man suits - or Iron Monger. They can then activate the digital 3-D schematics to check out every weapon and the full high-definition renders let users fly around each suit to explore each of the armors in comprehensive detail.

The “Iron Man IQ” is a user-friendly web application that lets users create and share new multiple choice quizzes based on clips from the film. Fans can also download other users’ challenges via BD-Live.

The IRON MAN Ultimate Edition two-disc Blu-ray is presented in 1080p High Definition with English 5.1 Dolby True HD, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. Bonus features include:

Disc 1:

* Hall of Armor
* The Invincible Iron Man (HD)
o Origins
o Friends & Foes
o The Definitive Iron Man
o Demon in a Bottle
o Extremis and Beyond
o Ultimate Iron Man
* Deleted/Extended Scenes (HD)
* BD Live:
* Iron Man IQ

Disc 2:

* I Am Iron Man (HD)
o The Journey Begins
o The Suit that makes the Iron Man
o The Walk of Destruction
o Grounded In Reality
o Beneath the Armor
o It’s All in the Details
o A Good Story, Well Told
* Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man (HD)
* Robert Downey Jr. Screen Test (HD)
* The Actor’s Process (scene rehearsal with cast) (HD)
* The Onion “Wildly Popular Iron Man Trailer to be Adapted into Full Length Film” (HD)
* Theatrical Trailers (HD)
* Image Galleries

Single-disc DVD: The IRON MAN single-disc DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. Bonus features include the deleted and extended scenes.

Which one will you purchase? I for one will only get the Blu-Ray!!

We meet Harry in New York as he runs from the police and into a screen test. This takes him to Los Angeles where he meets, and becomes the student of, Gay Perry(Val Kilmer) a private eye/acting coach. While in L.A. Harry hooks up with former class mate and life long crush Harmony(Michelle Monoghan). The couple, along with Perry, become entangled in a string of murder, mystery, and crazy twists.

Be not afraid of Shane Blacks past, credits include Lethal Weapon 1 and 2, Last Action Hero, and The Last Boyscout. This film is more grown-up and wittier than his past works. Any fans of deadpan humor with a little nostalgia mixed all up in your movie will enjoy this film.

Across the Universe is a visually stimulating musical set in the tumultuous Vietnam Era. Using Beatles songs, director July Taymor relays a typical Hollywood love story with Jude(Jim Sturgess), a dock worker form Liverpool, and the innocent American girl he falls in love with, Lucy(Evan Rachel Wood).

After an initial meeting, Jude moves to New York with Lucy’s brother Max(Joe Anderson). Lucy’s fiance dies in combat in Vietnam, she moves to New York, and falls in love with Jude. The two love birds experience total love then the eventually falling apart and separation when Jude is deported back to Liverpool. But don’t worry, like any predictable love story, they do get back together at the end in a spectacular musical number.

Along with the main story, there are several different sub plots involved in the movie. The most outstanding was the love affair between JoJo(Martin Luther) and Sadie(Dana Fuchs), a guitar player and singer; respectively. JoJo comes to NY by way of the south after the death of ???(we are never really told) a young boy, during a violent altercation between civil rights protesters and National Guardsman. This, too, follows the typical meet, fall in love, separate, get back together kind of story line.

Interspersed in the story is, of course, many popular Beatles songs. The music is the backbone of this movie, and the real only selling point. The arrangements brought new light to many of the classics, such as a somber rendition of “Let It Be” performed during the civil rights altercations and resulting the funeral of the young boy. At times, though, I felt that some scenes and characters were there just to justify the song making an appearance in the film. Prudence(T.V. Carpio) is a shining blunt example of this.

Prudence, a lesbian from the mid-west, sings “I Want to Hold Your Hand” while pining for a straight cheerleader, then hitches to New York. Next we see her she is crawling in through a bathroom window(Get IT!?!), and then quickly falls for Sadie, who is obviously involved with JoJo. Next, Prudence locks herself in a closet and the cast serenades her with “Dear Prudence” in an attempt to lure her out. That is essentially the whole role of Prudence in this film. She was there for two songs and a waste of a good 15 to 20 minutes.

Though the story is stale and over done, the acting was good as well as the singing. The visuals and effects were bright and well done, but at times seemed forced, including unnecessary scenes with a lot of dancing, singing, and animation. All in all I found it hard to enjoy this movie because of the diversions of unnecessary characters and scenes. The music was great, though, and I will be investing in the soundtrack.

Sunshine, from creative team behind 28 Days Later, is a good science fiction movie. In fact, it’s a pretty great science fiction movie. It takes familiar aspects of the genre (the brash and unlikable soldier, the inspiring captain) and messes with them, so while the movie does have a few cliches to rest on, it mixes them up enough to make it feel fresh.

The basic story is the plot synopsis for The Core, minus the annoying characters, shitty story, and the earth’s core. The sun is dying, and a group of space cadets must journey to the massive star and reignite it. Everything seems to be going smoothly, until a distress beacon from a ship is found. The ship that went to the sun seven years before this mission. The intrepid Capa (Cillian Murphey) is elected with the responsibility of choosing whether or not to go the ship. He chooses the former, and, of course, shit goes down.

The plot may seem a bit simplistic and cliched, but the movie actually benefits from its seeming simplicity. The movie’s first hour focuses on the actual crew, so while they may have seemed like stock characters initially, the movie takes the time to explore their intricacies. Mace (Chris Evans) seems unlikable and cold in his actions at first, but we understand where he’s coming from. The movie takes these seemingly generic characters and slowly shapes them into real people, and that’s quite a feat in the sci-fi genre.

One of the movie’s biggest achievements is its cinematography. There were at least a dozen moments where I was literally shocked by the visuals on screen, and it’s amazing to see what Danny Boyle was able to accomplish with only a 40 million dollar budget. The CG and visuals rival blockbusters like Spider-man 3 on many occasions, and goes to show what a strong vision can do for a movie.

The movie has gotten some flack, though, for its final act. I won’t give any of it away, but the movie dips in and out of the sci-fi and horror genres all throughout the last third of the movie, and, to my surprise, I enjoyed it. The movie gets tense without getting hokey, and what takes place ties together the entire theme of the movie (science vs. religion). I thought that Boyle and Garland fucked up the last act of 28 Days Later, with that military camp or whatever the hell, but I think they pulled off the sharp change in story well here. It was a risky choice for an ending, but I think it was handled extremely well.

Overall, Sunshine was one of the better movies of ‘07, and by far the best sci-fi movie in years. It’s got a great cast, brilliant cinematography, and an insightful, tense story. If you’re a sci-fi guy (or gal, we’re politically correct here at Atomic Popcorn), then you have to see this. Everyone else should give it a watch as well, but if you don’t like sci-fi, then I wouldn’t bother. If you don’t like sci-fi, though, you probably should go dance in traffic, as well.

I would have been one pissed off man if this transfer was anything less than out of this world (heh), and thankfully, Fox opted to reach for the stars (heh). The transfer has nary an artifact, scratch, or anything that would diminish this brilliantly filmed movie. The cinematography comes in crystal clear, and I couldn’t find a thing wrong with this one. Some scenes don’t have that “pop”, but this is about the best the movie is going to look. Nice job Fox.

While this audio track isn’t as good as the video, it’s still a commendable effort. The bass and surround effects are put to work here, but in some cases, the voices sound a bit too quiet. It’s jarring to turn the volume up initially to hear the folks speak, only to be blown away by the booming effects used for the ship. Overall, though, it’s a solid effort.

The Blu-ray comes with a fair amount of features, and thankfully, most are worth your time.

First up are two audio commentaries, one from Danny Boyle, and one featuring the film’s technical advisor Dr. Brian Cox. I actually enjoyed the latter a great deal, as he goes into the specifics about the logic behind the movie. Both are a good listen.

Next up are seven deleted scenes (in SD), plus four more for Blu-ray, and aren’t really that interesting. Most are just alternate takes. Nothing too earth-shattering (heh).

Also included (which I was very glad about) are the original Web Production diaries that were put up before the film released. They are in SD, but offer a pretty interesting and candid look at the making of the movie. I enjoyed these when they originally aired, and they’re still just as fascinating.

Two Short Films are also included, but they don’t have anything to do with the movie. Just two directors who got a break.

“A Brilliant Vision” is an IME type special feature. Not too frequent, and it kind of repeats info, but still a nice gesture. I’ve seen better on HD-DVD, but Blu-ray is just starting on these. Not horrible, but not that good.

“Journey into Sound” is a neato feature that lets you see how much use surround sound has. It’s pretty unique, but I can’t see myself using it again.

Also included is the theatrical trailer in HD.

Conclusion:

What else is there to say? This is one of the best movies of 2007, and this Blu-ray does it justice. Great PQ/AQ and some solid bonus features make this one to own.

Movie: 9.5 out of 10
Picture: 9 out of 10
Audio: 8 out of 10
Bonus Features: 8 out of 10

Overall: 9 out of 10

Sunshine [Blu-ray]

Dragon Wars, or D-War (no “s” here, kids!), is about some good dragons, who can shape shift into people, who pass on their power to other people to guard their dragon artifacts, who in turn, must thwart evil dragons who shape shift into humans who only come out every 500 years and then who gives a fucking shit. This movie essentially tries to take all the good aspects from American Movies™ and tries to meld them into some sort of cinematic abortion, while having a star studded cast of 2 “I know that guy” actors and a bunch of wood blocks carved into actors, who apparently can read off of cue cards. The movie’s script, plotting, setting(s), and characters are inept on so many levels, it’s astonishing that anyone would allow this crap to go into production; apparently, Korea could pour millions of bucks (or whatever the hell currency they have) into a CG fest, but couldn’t find something other than an 8th grader’s fanfic to turn into a story.

To the movie’s credit, the CG is decent in places, but I honestly couldn’t give two shits about what was happening. Apparently, there have been major advances in Dragon technology, so they are now born with turret shoulders. Oh, and they wear helmets. Yes, folks, 100 foot long, quadrupedal dragons wear helmets. Thanks, Korea. The dragons look like something Tolkien would diarrhea.

You know, I’m really trying to find something positive to say about this movie. It almost works on a so-bad-it’s-good level, but when you’re paying 30 bucks for a Blu-ray, it’s better to just watch Sc-fi Channel. Oh, some guy got hit by a car twice in the span of about 45 seconds. That was pretty funny. And, uh… oh, my roommate told me a joke he heard a couple of days ago while I was watching this. It was a pretty good one.

So honestly, if you’re looking for a good monster movie, don’t watch this. Don’t watch this at all, unless you can find the Blu-ray for about 10 bucks. If you’ve got a hankering for some monster-attacking-city stuff, go buy The Host. It’s infinitely better than this.

The video for this is fairly decent. There aren’t any real problems with the transfer; detail is sharp throughout and colors seem to be accurately represented. It doesn’t have that “pop” that the best HD transfers are known for. There really isn’t much to say for the video on this one; it’s well done, which is more than this movie deserves. This is the best dog shit will ever look.

The audio somewhat subpar. Delivered in a Dolby TrueHD track, the sound is decent, but much less than what is expected from an action movie such as this. Dialogue is clear, but the surround sound isnt handled very well, with very few rear channel effects. Also included is a French TrueHD track, but I assume it’s the same as the English. Except, you know, in French.

Extras are somewhat meager. There no director’s commentary to be found, so I’m assuming he either didn’t want to talk about his epic or, and more likely, doesn’t speak a word of English.

What is included is an 18 minute featurette called 5,000 Years in the Making. This is mostly in Korean, and goes over the making of the movie. It has a few interesting bits, and gets a bit funny when the director talks about how great the movie is, but this is fairly standard stuff. Note, this is not in HD.

Also included is a 11 minute storyboard comparison that is presented in HD, but uses SD clips. Not really that interesting.

The Concept Art shows a fair amount of sketches, and show how the movie may have been good.

Conclusion:

What is there to say? This movie is garbage. Everything in this movie is pretty terrible, and this is coming from someone who loves a good bad movie. There are little to no redeeming qualities in this movie. If you want to save 30 bucks, go google horse shit. Stare at the first image that comes up for 30 minutes. There. I saved you an hour and 30 bucks.

Movie: 3.5 out of 10
Picture: 7.5 out of 10
Audio: 6 out of 10
Bonus Features: 3.5 out of 10

Overall: 4.5 out of 10

Dragon Wars - D-War [Blu-ray]

3:10 to Yuma, like most remakes, is a remake of an movie that came out some years ago. The original movie, in my eye, was a mediocre flick, offering up a generic western tale, with a clichéd happy ending. Sergio Leone’s stuff was better, but his stuff is better than sex, so I suppose that’s an unfair comparison. The basic setup for this “retelling” (note that I didn’t actually quote that from anywhere) is that Russell Crowe is a notorious outlaw and Christian Bale is an Average Joe trying to support his family. Russell Crowe gets caught by an obvious setup, and Christian Bale, along with other stock Westernites, need to take him to the 3:10 train to Yuma, where he’ll be hanged. Hilarity ensues.

What really separates this from other Westerns is that fact that the characters aren’t merely heroes and villains. It actually goes into the gray areas of the law, and the way it’s handled is pretty fascinating. The Proposition also explored the gray areas of morality, albeit with a much darker tone, but 3:10 to Yuma fills its little world with plenty of realistic people. Christian Bale is top notch as always, and even though I’m not a huge Russell Crowe fan, he was rocking the shit in the movie. Each of them are set up as the standard Western archetypes, but become more and more three dimensional by the time the tale is told. Also thrown in are Alan Tudyk, who is great as always, and an incredible Ben Foster. The only thing that I really remember Ben Foster from was his stint as the retarded kid on Freaks and Geeks, so to see him in this was a huge surprise. I’ll even go as far to say that he had the best performance in the movie as Russell Crowe’s soulless, but loyal, underling in crime.

The movie never lulls, either, which is something that I was a bit surprised with; I thought that Mangold’s Walk the Line lulled in places, so I was surprised that this flick kicked ass all the way through. The action scenes are set up pretty well, without being too over the top. Even the end, which dealt with honor and such, didn’t seem too preachy.

There really weren’t any major problems with the movie; I know a lot of people have issues with the ending, but I think it came together fairly well. I honestly couldn’t think of another way of ending the movie without it being a cliché, so kudos to all involved for mixing it up with the conclusion. Overall, this is one of the better movies of the year, and one of the best westerns in years. Not that it’s had any real competition.

This is one Blu-ray that I’ve been looking forward to, and I was mostly happy with the transfer of the movie. The image has the “no way, 3D” look in many places. There were a few scenes where the sharpness of the picture seemed a bit, resulting a look that was a tad soft, but I was mostly pleased with the image. I wouldn’t say that it’s top tier material, but it’s a solid B+/A- effort. Kudos to Lionsgate.

Hell yes. Lionsgate rocks all the speakers in their 7.1 PCM track, and I couldn’t be happier. Gun shots boom and sound spectacular, with plenty of surround effects for good measure. Voices seem a tad quiet, but it’s only a minor fault in the audio. Also included are a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX track, and some Spanish subs. Overall, I’d put the sound just a notch above the picture quality, which was already spectacular. Nice job, Lionsgate.

This release has a fair amount of bonus materials, with some Blu-ray exclusives tossed in to compensate for the extra 15 bucks we pay for HDM. It should be noted that all of these features are in HD, which leads me to want to have the child of Lionsgate.

First up is an audio commentary by the director James Mangold. This track was a bit on the quiet side, as are most that have only the director, but he did have a fair amount of information on the making of the movie. I kind of wish he went further into the ending, since it tends to split people who have seen it. Overall, though, it’s a decent track, but I can’t really see myself listening to it again.

The Destination: Yuma Featurette is a pretty good little behind the scenes piece running 20 minutes going over the whole movie. It has some good info in it, going over finding the the locations and how the actors got into their characters and whatnot, but some parts felt a little too EPK-ish. Overall, it was mildly interesting.

Outlaws, Gangs, and Posses goes over real life outlaws, gangs, and posses. Who gives a shit.

An Epic Explored is a 6 minute piece about westerns in general, going over the different themes that westerns deal with. It’s mildly interesting, but has a few too many movie clips.

3:10 to Score is the oh-so-cleverly titled piece going over the film’s music. Talks about what they were going after, and why music is so important to westerns.

From Sea to Shining Sea is a 20 minute piece on how the west came to be, mostly dealing with the railroads. They got a few experts to come in and talk. Seems like it should have been the History Channel or something, but it’s nice that it’s there.

A Conversation with Elmore Leonard is a 5 minute featurette about the author Elmore Leonard. He goes over why he enjoys writing westerns. I care.

The Guns of Yuma is a piece on the guns used in the movie. Interesting to see, and thankfully doesn’t go on too long, running at 6 minutes.

Historical Timeline of the West is an interactive timeline running from the 1860’s to the 1890’s. Kind of an interesting feature, and has plenty of info on the west, if that’s your thing. This is text based, not video.

Also included is a IME-esque Inside Yuma feature. It can play the storyboard image or script pages along side the movie, while the director’s commentary runs. Pretty cool feature.

Also included are 7 deleted scenes. They aren’t too bad, but I can understand why they were cut. The trailer is also included.

Conclusion:

3:10 was one of the greats this year. This Blu-ray is equally great. The PQ/AQ are both mostly fantastic, and there are a good amount of special features, all in HD. Lionsgate did a great job on a great movie.

Movie: 8.5 out of 10
Picture: 9 out of 10
Audio: 9 out of 10
Bonus Features: 9 out of 10

Overall: 9 out of 10
3:10 To Yuma [Blu-ray]

“Batman: Gotham Knight” will be a collection of 6 differet short anime films filling in the story lines between “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”, and it will be released on DVD around July of this year (before the new movie). The films will be produced and directed by Bruce Timm, who is the man behind “Batman: The Animated Series” (the best non-comic representation of the character until Christopher Nolan stepped in), “Batman Beyond” and many other excellent animated shows and features. Each film will be written by a different writer, featuring the talents of David Goyer (”Batman Begins” and one of my all-time favorite films “Dark City”), and Batman comic writers Greg Rucka and Brian Azzarello among others. Each film will have a different look altogether due to the fact that they will all be done by different animators, utilizing some of the most respected animators in the field.

Oh yeah, Christian Bale will be supplying the voice of the Caped Crusader!

I’m no fan of anime, but I’ll certainly be picking this one up.