Minority Report Blu Ray Review

Released back in 2002, Minority Report is perhaps the second best movie based on Philip K. Dick’s novel or stories. I’m not sure if any movie can compete with the greatness of the Blade Runner. But, Minority Report gives it a good run as far as the overall story and acting. Combine great story, acting, and a legendary director in Steven Spielberg makes this a must watch for any science fiction fan. Like most of Philip K Dick’s stories, the movie makes you think long after the end of the movie. Also, like other Philip K Dick’s stories, the story involves the advancement of technology and how humans interact with the new technology. However, the story also involves little bit of super natural element outside of pure science.

In the year 2054 A.D. all of the crime is eliminated with the formation of Precrime unit. Precrime unit is able to see any crimes before they happen. Anyone caught by the Precrime unit are sentenced according to the crime they will have committed. To foresee the crimes, Precrime units use genetically altered humans called Pre-Cogs that have special power to see crimes in the future. Leading the Precrime unit is the John Anderton. The real story begins when Anderton is seen committing a crime in the future. Anderton goes on the lam and tries to figure out a way of his predicament.

The morality of predestination is the main theme of the movie. The movie asks question whether we have power to change the future if we know the one outcome. We see how John Anderton follows the trail of minority report and figure out the real purpose of his supposed murder. The trail leads to John’s sad past as well as the future of Precrime. This is one of the best science fiction films of the decade. Few science fiction films can match the action and plot. Steven Spielberg does masterful job of converting the short story into a very watchable and though provoking film. This is a must for any Blu ray movie collector.

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Blu ray movie review of Ninja Assassin

Produced by Wachowski brother and Joel Silver, Ninja Assassin is predictably an action packed movie. This isn’t to denigrate the movie or downgrade it compared to other cinema. Instead, we know what to expect from the people involved in this movie. While this movie won’t make you think long after the movie is over, it will give you a very satisfying and entertaining 100 minutes. If you grew up watching anime, you will most likely love any movie involving ninjas. The iconic anime movie Ninja Scroll could have been the inspiration behind the bloody Ninja Assassin. Like the anime, Ninja Assassin is very violent and action packed. While the setting and characters aren’t carried over from the anime movie, the overall tone and feel of the movie is generally accurate.

The plot is not overly complicated. Razio is trained to be a deadly assassin since his childhood. As an orphan, Razio was trained by the Ozunu clan. He endures his friend being murdered at the hand of Ozunu clan. But, once he is asked to murder a young girl, he turns on Ozunu clan. Through mutual hatred of Ozunu clan, Razio teams up with Europol investigator named Mika. Both of them end of fighting for their lives in order to bring down Ozunu clan.

The straight forward plot is nothing to be excited about. It’s not really original or inventive. However, it’s not the plot that drives this film. Instead, it is the action and the gore. The over the top action sequence and the way body parts fly around the screen is simply entertaining. And, the whole ninja fighting against other ninja in modern setting is incredibly fun to watch. The Korean entertainer Rain does well as the vengeful Razio seeking revenge on Ozunu clan. While he won’t win any plaudits for his acting chops, he does display good skills in martial arts. Overall, this is really a fun movie to watch if you can stomach weak plot.

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2012 Blu Ray Review

Only thing you need to know about 2012 is that it was directed by Roland Emmerich. You get the entire Roland Emmerich experience in the movie 2012. That is to say, you get exciting CGI, End of the World scenario, shallow character development, shallow plots, and things blowing up every other minute. If you have watched Independence Day and Day After Tomorrow, you will have good idea of what to expect from 2012. This isn’t to totally disparage Roland Emmerich’s film. He does good job with the End of the World scenarios with the help of heavy CGI. What he fails to achieve is good plot and good character development. You watch The Day After Tomorrow or 2012 and you realize you’ve just watched bunch of explosions and catastrophes in epic proportion. But, you fail to sympathize or get a good sense of each character’s development.

The plot of 2012 is fairly similar to The Day After Tomorrow. Like The Day After Tomorrow, we witness the beginning of epic disaster at the start of the movie. You watch cities get razed and massive number of people dying within short span of time. The 2012 takes this to next level compared to The Day After Tomorrow. Somehow, the Earth gets “cooked” and the disasters start with earthquakes and massive volcanoes. We primarily follow a writer named Jackson Curtis as he stumbles across some information and sees the impending doom. He desperately tries to save his family including his ex-wife’s husband. What he fails to recognize is the fact that the governments have known about the impending doom and have started creating massive ships akin to Noah’s ark to save the humanity. Curtis must race against the time to reach the ships to save his family.

The overall premise sounds very exciting. And, the trailers and sneak peeks were all amazing. Until you watch the actual film. You go from one disaster to another with very little character development. Also, the trailers and sneak peeks are half of the movie. You can just watch them without having to miss too much of the plot. However, the movie does boast impressive CGI and great casts. John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover and Chhiwetel Ejiofor are all excellent actors. If there was some better character development and little better plot, the movie could have surpassed The Day After Tomorrow in every aspect. Instead, we get a shallow sequel to that movie.

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Blu ray movie review of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

There have been countless movies and television series about Robin Hood, the legendary figure in British lore. While I have not watched every single Robin Hood movie, I can safely say that Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is easily the best version in my opinion. This isn’t to say that the movie is Oscar worthy masterpiece. However, as an adventure/action film, this is a very satisfying movie regardless of its subject. This is the kind of movie you will almost always re watch when it is on a cable station on a lazy Saturday afternoon. You will just flip through channels and settle on watching this film again because it is still satisfying watch after all these years.

Almost everyone should be familiar with the Robin Hood story. While the exact facts and details are not known, it is generally understood that there was in fact a person who is associated with Robin Hood. The general premise is that he stole from the rich and gave it to poor peasants. This was accomplished with the help of his gang known as the “Merry Men.” As with other Robin Hood movie or television series, Prince of Thieves adds its own little twists and story to the overall lore. The story starts with Robin Hood captured by the Turks during the Crusades. He manages to escape with a Moor anmed Azeem and return to England. Upon his return, he learns of his father’s murder by Sheriff of Nottingham. He vows to avenge his father with the help of Azeem and his new friends.

Even if you know the story of Robin Hood, you will enjoy this version’s story. Kevin Costner as Robin Hood is pretty convincing even without the British accent. And, Morgan Freeman as Azeem can’t possibly be bad in any role he plays. Mary Elizabeht Mastrantonio as Maid Marian is the best movie she has done along with Abyss. With the impending release of the new version by Ridley Scott, this version will seem outdated and somewhat tame. Even so, you should be able to enjoy and appreciate this version that’s now available in high definition. Overall, this is an excellent and enjoyable film.

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Blu ray movie review of The Hurt Locker

I’ve always enjoyed Kathryn Bigelow’s movies including the not so great K-19: The Widowmaker. She has great sense for action movies and it shows in her films. The Hurt Locker is no exception. She takes a very sensitive subject in Iraq war and makes a non political film. This is particularly refreshing as the liberal Hollywood tends to have very strong anti war messages in most of the war films. Instead, Kathryn Bigelow focuses on the character and the job he is entrusted to carry out. There is no political message on why we invaded Iraq or whether it was right or wrong.

The story is about soldiers who have to disarm bombs. This military job is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Imagine walking toward the bomb when everyone else is running away from it. On a job to disarm a roadside bomb, the soldier assign to disarm it dies when the bomb goes off. Sergeant James is brought in as replacement. James has reputation for being reckless and wild. His approach is not appreciated by his subordinates at the beginning. The two subordinates think James is borderline suicidal. They go from one incident to another and face some incredibly dangerous situations.

Unlike some other movies, there is no one true evil villain in this movie. The movie portrays the dangerous job and the men who undertake the job. It’s part character study and part action movie. At the end of the movie, we don’t get the satisfaction of watching a cruel villain die or captured. Instead, we see the heroic efforts of our soldiers doing their best to survive and complete their jobs. While this might sound boring, the movie is anything but boring. The scenes are packed with suspense and action. There is not a single boring minute in the movie. I can honestly say this is one of the best war film I’ve ever watched in my life.

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Gamer Blu Ray Review

The overall premise of Gamer is similar to Death Race or Japanese classic Battle Royale. Gamer is not the first movie to deal with “prisoner sport“ genre. You can even trace the idea back to The Running Man starting the current California governor. While the overall concept is nothing new, Gamer does manage to add little twist. In Gamer, the prisoner/combatants are controlled by other humans who control them like video game. This little twist does little to update the overall plot or story line from the Running Man or other similar movies.

Like The Running Man, the protagonist is wrongly accused and convicted. Kable, played by Gerald Butler, is wrongly accused of killing his friend. Sent to jail, he has little choice but to participate in a real life combat sport called Slayer. In Slayer, each combatant is controlled by other human via an interface implanted on the combatants. Once they reach certain number of games, they are released from the prison. However, none has managed to survive the game.

The plot is rather simple and predictable. You have the evil guy who put Kable into the prison for his purpose. And, you can tell that Kable will eventually get out and kill this evil guy. There’s nothing surprising about the plot. The action sequences are pretty good as expected from a polished Hollywood production. You can tell that the movie is geared toward the gaming generation who like to play the first person shooter games like Doom or Modern Warfare. While it’s not as bad as some video game movies, Gamer doesn’t stand out particularly well as a thriller or even action movie. It’s 100 minutes of mindless diversion at best.

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Inglourious Basterds Blu ray movie review

As a big fan of Quentin Tarantino, I was little bit disappointed with his last two films. Kill Bill and Death Proof was a letdown compared to his earlier movies like Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. Nevertheless, I was excited to watch his latest film, Inglorious Basterds. Tarantino takes his shot at a World War 2 film in Inglorious Basterds. Inglorious Basterds is a different type of war movie. It is dark, violent, funny, and has tint of alternative fiction element. You really would not expect a conventional film from Tarantino. The overall premise borrows from previous war films for over all framework. However, Tarantino adds his own flavor to the movie.

The movie takes place in Nazi occupied France. The Nazis track down any French that harbor the Jews in order to exterminate them. In one such occurance, Jewish family harbored by their neighbor is slaughtered in the opening scene. Shosanna is the only survivor who runs away from Colnel Hans Landa’s atrocity. Years later, Shosanna plots her revenge when her theater is selected to show a film featuring a German hero. The high ranking Nazi officers and the Hitler himself is announced to attend the event. Meanwhile, Lt. Aldo Raine assembles a group of Jewish-American guerilla force to harass the German forces in France. They hear of the movie event and decide to take down Hitler and his officers.

The plot doesn’t sound like much. However, it’s Tarantino’s dark humor and style that makes the movie such a great experience. There are only small numbers of violent scenes. But, the scenes are funny and cringe worthy at the same time. The violent bar scene is one of the best action sequences in a war movie. The scene contains no CG or crazy explosion. Instead, the comical build up right before the violence and subsequent mayhem is pure Tarantino. Brad Pitt deserves some award for his portrayal of redneck Lt. Hell bent on killing Hitler. Overall, any fan of Tarantino should not miss this film.

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Public Enemies Blu ray movie review

The combination of John Dillinger and Michael Mann should have produced a blockbuster film. Michael Mann has consistently delivered satisfying action movie like Heat and Miami Vice. You can argue few can match Mann’s action flicks. While other directors like Bay are known for action movies as well, they can’t match the story telling and superior directing evident in Michael Mann’s movies. This is why I was very excited to watch his latest film about John Dillinger. On the surface, John Dillinger’s biography sounds like a perfect match for Michael Mann. However, that is not the case for me. While the movie undoubtedly polished and slick, it’s about 30 minutes too long too little action for my taste.

John Dillinger was a famous bank robber in the 1930s. The movie picks up with the prison escape orchestrated by John Dillinger. After the escape, he goes back to bank robbing without the fear of authorities. He openly robs bank and laughs in the face of FBI and local law enforcement agency. During all the mayhem, he manages to meet and date Billie Frechette. To bring down the outlaws, FBI turns to Melvin Purvis. He is charge of tracking down Dillinger and his gang. Purvis is directed by the J. Edgar Hoover himself to uphold FBI’s image and reputation. Most of us are familiar with John Dillinger story and know how it all ends.

Christian Bale, Johnny Depp, and Marion Cotillard round out the top notch cast. You can’t find and fault in their acting as they are all top notch actors. The movie itself is very polished and have high production look. But, the overall pace and the story didn’t hold my attention throughout the movie like other Michael Mann movies. The action sequence seemed tame compared to other movies. I know the movie is set in 1930s. However, the action scenes were rather sedate and boring for most part. Also, the story could have been shortened by 30 minutes or more. There were some scenes and story line that were not particularly relevant or needed in the film. Overall, this is my least favorite Michael Mann film. If you want good old school gangster film, watch Road to Perdition.

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Terminator Salvation Blu ray movie review

After three Terminator movies, the franchise finally moves into the future and the battle between Skynet and surviving humans. The end of third Terminator alluded to inevitable Judgement Day and the eventual confrontation between the machines and surviving humans. The third movie was definitely a letdown compared to the first two directed by James Cameron. While I didn’t expect that type of excellence, I did expect a better film than the third film. Terminator Salvation comes close to being good. But, it could have been much better movie and launched the franchise in new setting and story line. There was so much wasted potential in this movie and the franchise.

When the movie starts, the setting is well after the Judgement Day. The battle for the survival of human species is well under way. We meet Marcus Wright in 2003 where he agrees to donate his body to research while imprisoned. In 2018, John Connor survives an ill fated attempt on Skynet. However, during the attack, he discovers that Skynet is working on a new model called T-800. Meanwhile, Marcus runs into Kyle Reese and they attempt to locate the resistance stronghold. Once they do find the location of John Connor and the resistance, he is revealed to be a machine. This sets off suspicion and mistrust toward Marcus. Marcus however, cannot believe he is an actual machine. Even though he accepts that he is a machine, he agrees to help John Connor and resistance against the Skynet.

The atmosphere and dark and gritty setting of the future was very fitting for the movie. The overall acting and special effects were excellent as well. Christian Bale and Sam Worthington are both great as the two leads in the movie. However, movie falls little short on the plot and overall story line. The whole machine and humanity aspect of Marcus was little cliché and Kyle Reese was way under used in the story line. The Terminator franchise finally moves into the actual war and it feels like this movie failed to take advantage of the fresh start and the abundant lore in Terminator universe. Even so, I am looking forward to more Terminator movies if there will one a fifth installment in this iconic series.

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Star Trek Blu ray

Mired in a funk, Star Trek franchise desperately needed a big boost from the latest movie. Once a can’t miss franchise, the Star Trek suffered some setbacks with their last two television series and lack luster success at the box office. Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine were great success compared to Voyager and Enterprise. Enterprise was cancelled after four seasons. The movies based on The Next Generation crew steadily failed declined in box office revenue from movie to movie. With some hiatus, Paramount decided to reboot the franchise with J.J. Abrams at the helm. With so many big movie franchises getting a successful reboot, Paramount was hoping for a similar success.

The problem with rebooting Star Trek is deep and rich history. Unlike other reboots like Batman, Star Trek faced some problem tinkering with the story line. The plot and details had to be consistent with the Star Trek universe. Also, the writers had to come up with new cast or use the existing character from Star Trek universe. The writers chose to go with the old school characters from the original Star Trek. This caused some trepidation from fan base as the characters from original Star Trek are so revered. There was also problem of disrupting the history of the characters. To get around the history line of the characters, the writers used the time travel convention to get around the set history. While this sounds like a cop out and easy way out, it is pretty refreshing to see “what if” development in the new time line.

The story starts out with a Federation ship encountering a Romulan ship from the future. Nero, the Romulan captain comes from a future where his world is destroyed. He is seeking revenge in the past in hopes of saving his home in the future. In the future, Spock is unsuccessful in trying to stop the destruction of Nero’s home world. This leads to Nero seeking revenge in the past against the Federation. Upon the first encounter, George Kirk assumes the command of the ship and dies while protecting the survivors. This sets up new time line where James T Kirk’s father is dead and new threat is encountered. The new casts are all capable actors. While the story line mainly revolves around Spock and Kirk, the other characters such as Sulu and Scotty are well represented. Overall the reboot was a very successful and I am looking forward to the next movie.

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