Today, we find ourselves in a familiar position – another Blu-ray release of
The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy and another video presentation controversy. This time, fans get the coveted extended editions of the films, which while Director Peter Jackson has emphatically proclaimed as not being a true
Director's Cut, but rather a version for fans of the original texts. What fans also get, however, is a presentation with a distinct cyan push that only as recently as yesterday was proclaimed by the studio as
accurate to the original presentation.
The important thing to remember, dear fans, is that these are still the same films that are beloved by millions and are representative of some of the best film every created. The series has generated revenue in the billions and continues to gross annually what some films which they could do just once. The presentation is not perfect (and we'll likely see a third HD version of the films in 2014 after the release of
The Hobbit), but it's the best available, and much better than anything released before. In short, the films have not lost their majesty because they have a case of "the blues" (in fact, some scenes are much improved).
For the
The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Blu-ray review , staff reviewer Kenneth Brown commented, "Assuming [the films'] new color grading has made its way to Blu-ray exactly as Jackson and Lesnie intended, Warner's Extended Edition Blu-ray release is a strong one. Its highly detailed, notably more filmic video transfer rights many of the wrongs of the previous theatrical cut's presentation; its DTS-HD Master Audio track is, in my estimation, perfect; its supplemental package goes on and on and on; and the film itself remains as powerful a fantasy epic as ever."
Zack Snyder quickly became one of the hottest directors in Hollywood – geeks loved his affection to comics and graphic novels, and jocks loved his cinematic style of overly graphic action sequences. It almost seemed as if he could do no wrong. And then came
Sucker Punch. Where as
300 and
Watchmen both had detailed worlds created by other writers,
Sucker Punch was Snyder's attempt to write his own story, and to say it bombed at the box office would be too kind. Fortunately, he is directing the next Superman reboot
Man of Steel, which brings him back to his comic book roots.
Staff reviewer Kenneth Brown commented in his
Sucker Punch Blu-ray review , "Sucker Punch lost me early on and never managed to pull me back in. Snyder calls it female empowerment, but I call shenanigans. At least its Blu-ray release makes the most of its namesake. Its dazzling high definition video transfer is terrific, its DTS-HD Master Audio track is aggressive and absorbing, and its supplemental package -- well, its Maximum Movie Mode experience -- is far better than the film itself."
Another box office bomb (seeing a trend here – no one wants to release against
The Ring), the Nicolas Cage film
Season of the Witch is out today on Blu-ray. A train wreck of a film that cannot really be defined because it never succeeds in defining itself. Pulling in just over half of its estimated budget domestically (it fared much better overseas where – obviously – they love them some Cage), don't expect a sequel anytime soon.
For the
Season of the Witch Blu-ray review , staff reviewer Jeffrey Kaufman commented, "This film never rises above standard issue sword and sorcery fare, despite a strong cast and a promising premise. The best things about this film are its elegant and distinctive look and its aggressive sound design."