Outlander Blu Ray Review

Released in 2008, Outlander had limited release and didn’t receive too much attention. It was a shame more people didn’t get to watch this very entertaining movie. I recently had chance to watch this film in Blu ray and because I didn’t know too much about this movie, I expected B grade movie. Instead of SyFy channel grade movie, Outlander turned out to be very well made science fiction movie. It had high production feel to it as well as very good acting.

The tag line of “Beowulf meets Predator” is a very apt for Outlander. The story takes place in Viking kingdom of Herot in 709 BC. A spacecraft crash lands in the middle of the Viking kingdom. The sole survivor of the crash, Kinan, does not know that one of the fierce alien life form called Moorwen has secretly hitched a ride with him. Moorwen are a creature that inhibited a world that Kinan’s race took over for mining purpose. In a fierce battle, Moorwen destroyed the colony and left Kinan as sole survivor. Kinan tried to go home but crashed on Earth without knowing that Moorwen was on board. Once he lands on Earth, he befriends the local people and to find his way home. But, Moorwen starts to kill off the inhabitant one by one. Determined not to let Earth fall victim to Moorwen, Kinan decides to help the Vikings kill Moorwen.

This is without a doubt a great science fiction movie. The lack of wide release in 2008 is puzzling as it should have seen a wide release. The movie is simply too good to be released in limited basis and go straight to DVD/Blu ray. James Caviezel and Sophia Myles as the two main characters are pretty amazing together. The ancient setting for a battle between advanced civilization alien and some type of Alien monster is a fantastic idea. Every science fiction fan should watch this movie. The lack advertisement and promotion does not mean a B grade movie.

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Invictus Blu Ray Review

Two Hollywood legends team up to tell the story of Nelson Mandela’s involvement with Rugby match. In Invictus, Clint Eastwood directs Morgan Freeman in the story about Mandela’s drive to bring the country together through the 1995 Rugby World Cup. To be honest, I did not need any prodding or selling to watch this film. I would watch a movie about paint drying if Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman were involved. It’s no secret Eastwood wanted to direct a story about Nelson Mandela. However, there are so many chapters of Mandela’s life that it would be close to impossible to tell life story of Mandela in a movie. So, Eastwood settled on Mandela’s involvement in the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

Based on true story, Invictus tells story of Nelson Mandela and the captain of South Africa’s Rugby team to unite the newly formed government in South Africa. After finally achieving a free election, President Mandela faced a tough task of bringing together the divided country in the wake of apartheid. Even with the end of apartheid, the mistrust between minority whites and majority blacks were just as prevalent. To bridge the gap, Mandela decides to push for the unity via backing of the South Africa’s national rugby team in the upcoming Rugby World Cup.

As stated earlier, the life story of Nelson Mandela couldn’t possibly be told in one movie. But, Clint Eastwood does admirable job of telling the overall story. While focusing on the Rugby World Cup, Eastwood does not forget the background setting. While you are interested in the Rugby World Cup, there is no mistake what the real story is. It is about Mandela and his drive to forgive and forge a new nation. You get glimpse of Mandela’s past and his marital problem. Eastwood does not shy away from both subjects. While there were some changes made from the real story, the overall story and plot does not stray far from the actual event. Overall, it’s a definitely a must see film.

What do you think about this movie? Please leave your thoughts below.

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Avatar Blu Ray Review

James Cameron’s last film, Titanic, was the highest grossing film in the history. Cameron’s latest film eclipsed Titanic at the box office. Taking in over 2 billion dollars, Avatar has become the highest grossing movie of all time. Like Titanic, the big budget and overly hyped, Avatar had some worried that it might bomb at the box office. However, like Titanic, Avatar raked in massive amounts of money across the globe. James Cameron waited over 10 years since his last film to work on Avatar. As soon as you watch Avatar, you understand why he waited so long. 10 years ago, technology didn’t exist to create all the effects shown in Avatar. More than half of the movie is done purely on computer generated form. In the past, you could tell CG from reality in distinct form. Watching Avatar, you forget that you are watching CG.

In terms of plot, there isn’t too much to distinguish itself in originality. A lot of people have compared to Dances with Wolves and rightly so. The plot is not much different from Kevin Costner’s epic western movie. The story opens up with Jake Sully taking on a mission previously assigned to his twin brother. His twin brother was to go to Pandora on a project to get to know the natives through the usage of avatar. The natives, Navi, are resisting the mining company that intends to mine for a highly valuable ore. The avatars are made to look like the native Navi. The controllers are connected to their avatars and are able to control them. While getting to know the Navi, Jake Sully come to respect and love them. Thus, he sides with Navi to fight the evil corporation.

While not completely derivative, Avatar does borrow heavily from other movies. But, in terms of technical achievement, there is no equal. Even with known plot line, Cameron does excellent job of telling the story. The movie’s appeal is not just aesthetic, the story as well as the actors all make for a great entertainment. James Cameron’s patience has paid off. While we have seen some great CG effects in the past movies, none have come close to what Avatar has achieved. Avatar has blurred the line between real actors and computer generated actors. While real actors provide the basis, Avatar is one step closer to a completely generated actors on big screen.

What do you think about this movie? Please leave your thoughts below.

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