After the critical success of his first film
Moon, director Duncan Jones has gone on to prove that he is not only the sun of a famous musician, but also an accomplished director. Today's Blu-ray release of
Source Code doesn't hit the same sci-fi level of his previous outing, but behind the drama and the action is true science fiction that plays more to the general moviegoer than
Moon ever will.
For the
Source Code Blu-ray review , staff reviewer Martin Liebman commented, "Source Code is an imperfect but nevertheless enthralling Science Fiction film that's more or less equal parts thinking man's picture and general crowd pleaser." He continues, "Summit's Blu-ray release of Source Code yields, as expected, stellar video and audio, but fans might be slightly disappointed with the limited selection of extras."
Universal is releasing a pair of Blu-ray releases today that encompass the best work by one of the funniest men of all time – John Belushi. Upon each viewing of the now comedy classics
The Blues Brothers and
National Lampoon's Animal House, it is a tragic reminder of how the personal demons of some comedians cause us to laugh as they silently destroy a human being. Not the first (nor the last) comedian to have his life cut too short, John Belushi will always be remember for his work, most especially two films presented on Blu-ray today.
Staff reviewer Kenneth Brown commented in his
The Blues Brothers Blu-ray review , "Landis' musical comedy is as much a part of the blues as the blues is a part of it; the two are as inseparable as any film and its inspiration can be." He continues, "Universal's Blu-ray release stands tall as well, even if it's supplemental package has merely been recycled from the 2005 25th Anniversary Edition DVD. Its video transfer is outstanding (and approved by Landis to boot) and its DTS 5.1 audio, while a lossy mix, is a 768kbps treat."
Kenneth Brown also comments in his
National Lampoon's Animal House Blu-ray review , "Animal House may not be for everyone, but it remains a late '70s comedy classic, an early milestone in the gross-out subgenre and, for some, one of the funniest comedies of all time." Continuing, "It isn't so hard to expect more from a Blu-ray release, though. Universal's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is a success, but the quality of its video transfer decreases as edge enhancement and noise reduction increase, and its supplemental package comes up short."
Digging a little deeper into today's release line-up, some of you may notice that Fox is releasing
Donnie Darko: 10th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray, which is a double-dip on the cult classic. Now, the film is one my favorites of all time (as I'm sure it is to some of you), but heed this warning from staff reviewer Casey Broadwater in his
Donnie Darko Blu-ray review, "This new "10th Anniversary Edition" of Donnie Darko contains the exact same Blu-ray disc as the 2009 "Collector's Edition," which will surely come as a disappointment to fans hoping for a remastered high-definition transfer. He continues, "What differentiates the "10th Anniversary Edition" is the inclusion of an on-disc digital copy, as well as a copy of the original 2002 DVD, which contains a few (inessential) special features that weren't included with the 2009 Blu-ray."
Conclusion: If you already own the original Blu-ray release, don't bother with this one. If you don't, or have yet to see this wonderful film, dig in to the new release.