Out on Blu-ray today are two films which - at very least - had a part in the beginning to two current Hollywood trends that either have you begging for more, or pleating to stop. '
X-Men' - released today individually or as part of the '
X-Men Trilogy' - is, arguably, the beginning of the current string of Marvel comic book film hits while '
Sin City' - also out today in its uncut form - can be noted as the beginning of graphic novel adapted films.
For the first time, the popular trilogy is available to fans in high definition from Fox, with all the bells and whistles you would expect from a release with this amount of anticipation. And for those of you are too insulted to buy The Godfather III-esqe boondoggle of '
X-Men: The Last Stand' (Brett Ratner strikes again!), Fox is also offering all three titles individually.
Disney's release of '
Sin City: Unrated, Recut & Extended', which, for the first time in high definition, allows you to watch the three stories as Hollywood never intended you to see them - as three separate stories. A novel idea, I know, but this version restores the film to the way filmmakers Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez intended the film to be seen, and is vastly superior to theatrical version (though, that version is available as well). Disney provides an absolutely stunning Blu-ray presentation that Staff Reviewer Kenneth Brown
proclaims "a jaw-dropping, reference level video transfer, a powerful DTS-HD Master Lossless Audio track, and a slew of supplemental materials culled from the film's standard DVDs." He continues, "Suffice to say, any nitpick I can muster seems laughably insignificant in lieu of the high quality of Disney's thrilling 2-disc release."
Although snubbed at this year's Academy Awards, the dramatic revival of actor Mickey Rourke in '
The Wrestler' is almost stuff of legend. While not completely removed from Hollywood's scope, Rourke was no longer one of its top properties even though his passion for acting continued. Luckily for him, director Darren Aronofsky saw a fit and delivered a film that Staff Reviewer Martin Liebman
called "one of the best movies of the decade."
Another Oscar-nominated film '
Frost/Nixon' is being released today by Universal on Blu-ray. While Director Ron Howard has proven his ability to make some of the best films of all time, he has also given fans plenty of material to make you doubt his skills. Fortunately, this historic drama is another hit, and is definitely worth seeing, even if the only Milhous you know has blue hair. Universal delivers another strong Blu-ray release.
I have to make a special mention of Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of '
Hellraiser'. I am generally not a fan of horror films, but some - including this film and '
The Exorcist' - end up becoming some of my favorite films. Even over 20 years later, 'Hellraiser' remains one of the most disturbing and horrific films of all time, and Anchor Bay has done an absolutely wonderful job with this Blu-ray release. The picture is the best its ever looked, and audio sounds great. No, the incredible mastering work hasn't made this film look like a big-budget Hollywood flick, but then again, it was never meant to look that way.
For a complete listing of all the Blu-ray titles released today,
click here.