When Tim Burton announced his plans to revisit the childhood tale of
Alice in Wonderland, many felt it was a good fit for the director of such twisted films as
Edward Scissorhands and
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. As far as children's tales go, Lewis Carroll's LSD-induced story is one of the more fanciful in existence, and has always been a prime target for an even darker interpretation (partially because of American McGee's successful manipulation of the material).
Unfortunately, the film failed to live up to expectations. In his
Blu-ray review of Alice in Wonderland, staff reviewer Casey Broadwater commented, "…the film lacks the sense of wonder implied by its title and inherent in Lewis Caroll's books. Perhaps it's partly because we're already so familiar with Alice's dream world, but I think it's mostly because we expect more…" Regarding the outstanding Blu-ray presentation, he continues, "…the tech specs on this Blu-ray are superb—a vivid picture, pristine sound—which may be enough to sway some to a blind buy."
In the first few years of Blu-ray,
Planet Earth, with its breath-taking visuals of nature, quickly became a favorite title for those earlier-adopters looking for a reason to buy an expensive player. After being so wildly successful, the same BBC team set out to duplicate their effort with
Life, which makes its Blu-ray debut today. To confuse matters a bit, there are two versions out today – so make sure you pick up the Attenborough-narrated BBC version.
Staff reviewer Kenneth Brown commented in his
Blu-ray review of Life (Oprah Winfrey version), "One gripping documentary series, two different releases. While Warner Brothers is fielding the original BBC broadcast (complete with David Attenborough narration and 1080p video), the Discovery Channel is offering the US version of the series (narrated by Oprah Winfrey)." He continues, "Its 1080i video transfer is quite striking, its DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1 audio track holds its own, and its generous supplemental package features nearly three hours of content."
Remember when Will Smith made action films? Remember when Martin Lawrence was funny? Today, Sony releases the Michael Bay action film
Bad Boys on Blu-ray, which is one of the most highly anticipated action catalog releases in recent memory. Some will criticize the film for being your typical mindless action film, but sometimes, that is exactly what you want (just ask the millions of people who enjoyed
Transformers).
In his Blu-ray review of
Bad Boys, staff reviewer Martin Liebman commented, "Bad Boys looks good, sounds good, and captures that 1990s Action movie spirit to perfection, but all the spit-and-polish, humor, and action can't mask that the story is a complete retread of similar films past." He continues, "…while it's not a technical standout, Sony's latest release boasts a good -- not great -- high definition presentation and a handful of extras."