Indiana Jones fever pitch

 

Well, the fever’s running high – have you caught it?  The trailer’s out, and we all know this is probably the last of Indiana Jones, the intrepid, dashing anti-hero we all love.  Here’s some recent scoops: 

 

From CNN.com Entertainment, updated 8:49 a.m. EST, Mon March 3, 2008

‘Indiana Jones’ trailer a hit — everywhere

 LOS ANGELES, California (AP) – Times sure have changed in the 19 years since Harrison Ford last donned the signature fedora of thrill-seeking archaeologist Indiana Jones. The viral spread of the trailer for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is proof of that.

Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf star in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” 

The trailer for the May 22 release has drawn highly enthusiastic responses in theaters. But it may have had its biggest impact online, on a younger audience that may not think of Ford, 65, as equal to today’s spry action heroes.

After premiering February 14 on “Good Morning America,” Lucasfilm and Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures sent the trailer to the Web, plus movie theaters and TV stations around the world. Paramount estimates the trailer was seen more than 200 million times worldwide in the first week alone.

Harry Knowles, who runs the movie fan site AintItCool.com (his official title is Head Geek), says he first saw a bootleg version of the trailer online, then the official version online, and then saw it twice in theaters. Watch the whip-cracking trailer here »

There were cheers in the theater when the familiar theme song kicked in, Knowles said, and comments on his Web site have been positive. “People generally really, really loved the trailer,” he said. “Some people think it’s a little more cartoonish-looking compared to the prior (films), with him whipping the lights and swinging on them and stuff. But at the same time, it seems that everyone is extremely excited that there’s a new ‘Indiana Jones’ film. The excitement for it is palpable. It’s much more aggressively anticipated than anything else that’s coming out right now.”

“The trailer caught on like wildfire, around the world, in all mediums,” said Gerry Rich, Paramount’s president of worldwide marketing, who’s targeting moviegoers “from 8 to 80. The response has been sensational and it shows what technology can do when you have material that is so appealing to audiences.”

Older audiences certainly remember Indy, but that’s not the prime ticket-buying demographic. Thus the aggressive online campaign, which included what Paramount says is a record 4.1 million views on the Yahoo movie site in the first week and 2.6 million on the official IndianaJones.com site, the most ever for the studio.

“It looks to be THE highly anticipated movie of the summer,” said Mark Mazrimas, marketing manager for independent theater chain Classic Cinemas. However, “this hasn’t been on the screen for so long, (the challenge) is capturing the youth.”

The brainchild of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, the franchise kicked off with “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” in 1981, followed by “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” three summers later. “The Last Crusade” was released in 1989, boosting the worldwide box office total to $1.2 billion.

Now, with the buzz sparked, Rich — who declined to make opening weekend predictions — just wants to keep fans’ attention: “The (only) negative comment from people was that they have to wait until May to see the movie.”

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/03/film.indianajonestrailer.ap/index.html?iref=werecommend

Release Date: US (wide): May 22, 2008, UK: May 22, 2008, AU: May 22, 2008

Produced By: George Lucas

Written By: David Koepp, Jeff Nathanson

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Genre: Action

Other Genres: Adventure

Studio: Paramount Pictures

Production Company: Lucasfilm Ltd.

Language: English

Special Effects Company: Industrial Light & Magic

Music By: John Williams

http://movies.ign.com/objects/033/033714.html 

And from Vanity Fair:

Hollywood

Keys to the Kingdom

Between them, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have made 13 of the 100 top-grossing movies of all time. Yet they struggled for more than a decade with the upcoming fourth installment of their billion-dollar Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Annie Leibovitz gets exclusive access to the set, while Lucas, Spielberg, and their star, Harrison Ford, tell Jim Windolf about the long standoff over the plot, why critics and fans will be upset, and how they’ve updated Indy.

by Jim Windolf February 2008

George Lucas, Harrison Ford, and Steven Spielberg on the set of the new film in Los Angeles. “Neither of them is ashamed of making audience films,” Ford says of his partners. Photographs by Annie Leibovitz.

When we last saw him, nearly 19 years ago, everybody’s favorite archaeologist was literally riding off into the sunset after having found the Holy Grail. This seemed as though it had to be the end of the adventure series that had gotten its start with Raiders of the Lost Ark, the big summertime blockbuster of 1981. But then, on the morning of June 18, 2007, Steven Spielberg, the director of the Indiana Jones movies, and George Lucas, who came up with the idea for the franchise, found themselves facing cast and crew on an empty piece of land in Deming, New Mexico. “How time flies,” Spielberg said, raising a flute of champagne, in a moment captured on video, which ended up on YouTube. “No one’s changed, we all look the same. I just want to say: Break a leg, have a good shoot, do your best work, and here’s looking at you, kids.”

Before the day was out, the temperature had reached 97 degrees. Probably no one felt the heat more than the star, Harrison Ford, who, at age 65, was back in his distinctive costume. “It’s a very bizarre costume, when you think about it,” Ford says. “It’s this guy sporting a whip, who’s off usually for someplace really hot in his leather jacket.” He says he got right back into the role once he suited up. “There’s something about the character that I guess is a good fit for me, because the minute I put the costume on, I recognize the tone that we need, and I feel confident and clear about the character.”

After 79 first-unit filming days, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a wrap. Like the earlier movies, it is a Lucasfilm Ltd. production distributed by Paramount Pictures. Aside from the New Mexico location, the film was shot in New Haven, Connecticut; Fresno, California; and Hawaii, with significant work taking place on lots built at Downey Studios, in southeast Los Angeles.

On May 22, the movie will hit approximately 4,000 U.S. theaters. The story is set in 1957, and this time Dr. Jones goes up against cold-blooded, Cold War Russkies—led by Cate Blanchett in dominatrix mode—instead of the Nazis he squashed like bugs in previous installments. Making a return alongside Ford is Karen Allen, as Marion Ravenwood, Indy’s pugnacious true love, last seen in the first film (since retitled, rather inelegantly, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark). Rising star Shia LaBeouf joins the cast in a role that no one connected with the film will confirm is the love child of Indy and Marion.

Once the final cut is locked, it will be dubbed into some 25 languages for an ambitious international release. The masses—lately thrilling to the lethally blank Jason Bourne, the totally out-to-lunch Jack Sparrow, and that earnest wand waver Harry Potter—will be asked once more to embrace a fedora-wearing hero of the 1980s with roots in the jungle serials of the 1930s.

It’s not a bad bet. Lucas, 63, and Spielberg, 61, have made 13 of the all-time 100 highest-grossing movies, in terms of worldwide box office, either separately or as a producer-director duo. They are big-time spellbinders in a league with P. T. Barnum, Walt Disney, and the Wizard of Oz. The Indiana Jones series alone has grossed more than $1.18 billion worldwide—and that’s before you add in the comic books, young-adult novels, and figurines.

But once upon a time, in the faraway 1960s, Lucas and Spielberg were upstarts banging at the palace doors. Hollywood was run by men who were the age they are now, tough guys who weren’t going to give way without a fight. At age 18, Spielberg sneaked away from the tram route of the Universal Pictures tour and stepped onto a soundstage. He was a movie-crazed kid who had already made a full-length feature, Firelight, an 8-mm. sci-fi extravaganza starring his sisters, and he wanted in.

The next day he showed up on the lot wearing a suit, his dad’s briefcase in hand. It was a disguise good enough to get him past the guards. He settled into an empty office and “worked” at Universal all through that summer of 1965, making himself known to the cinematographers and directors, creating for himself an unofficial, on-the-fly internship. While attending California State University, Long Beach, Spielberg continued to visit the lot. On weekends he shot a 23-minute 35-mm. movie about two young hitchhikers, called Amblin’. He won a real job on the strength of it, as a director in Universal’s television wing. So there he was, a boy wonder among grizzled veterans, turning out episodes of Night Gallery, Columbo, and Marcus Welby, M.D., honing the craft he would put to use in a career spanning everything from The Sugarland Express (1974) to Munich (2005).

Lucas was more of an accidental filmmaker. As a skinny diabetic kid growing up in the dusty Northern California town of Modesto, he wanted to be a racecar driver—in those days driving fast and fixing cars were his chief talents—but his dream died soon before his high-school graduation, when he flipped over in his own Fiat Bianchina. The wreck almost killed him. After two years of community college, he applied to the University of Southern California’s film school. He moved downstate against the wishes of his strict father (who considered the film industry vile), and soon made a name for himself with a series of prizewinning experimental shorts. His U.S.C. films earned him a paid Warner Bros. internship that led him to the set of Finian’s Rainbow, a musical being shot by just about the only young director back then, 28-year-old Francis Ford Coppola, who pushed Lucas to learn how to write scripts and create accessible movies. Lucas went on to do just that on a grand scale, and he pulled it off largely outside the system. With his considerable winnings he built Lucasfilm, his very own, leaner version of Hollywood, now based in San Francisco’s Presidio and on a large property in rural Marin County.

In 1967, Spielberg had seen a Lucas short, Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, at a student film festival held at U.C.L.A.’s Royce Hall. “I met George backstage,” Spielberg recalls. “I was blown away by his short film, and Francis Coppola introduced us.” They met again in the early 1970s, when Lucas was in L.A. to cast his second feature, American Graffiti. A gang of young cinéastes was gathering at a Benedict Canyon hovel that had been Lucas’s home in his U.S.C. days, and where he was staying again while in town. Among the group was Spielberg, who was working on his script for The Sugarland Express. “I’d come in at night after casting all day,” Lucas says, “and that’s when we became friends.” As the decade rolled along, blockbusters by Spielberg (Jaws) and Lucas (Star Wars—now called Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope) changed the industry.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/02/indianajones200802

And from First Showing.net, back in January:

The Best Indiana Jones 4 Photos and Interviews Yet!

January 2, 2008
Source: Vanity Fair
by Alex Billington

These are undoubtedly the best Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull pictures you’ll see – thanks to world-renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz. Vanity Fair has published an extensive article on the new film and nabbed Leibovitz’s exclusive photos from the set, including our first look at Cate Blanchett as Agent Spalko. They all look absolutely gorgeous and are more than worth checking out simply for the visual quality alone. Vanity Fair also has one of the best articles I’ve ever read about a movie and the story behind it, including great quotes from Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg. We’ve included a few of the better quotes for your reading pleasure, though I suggest you read the entire thing.

The following excerpts are courtesy of Vanity Fair’s article Keys to the Kingdom.

“I’m in my second cut, which means I’ve put the movie together and I’ve seen it,” Spielberg says. “I usually do about five cuts as a director. The best news is that, when I saw the movie myself the first time, there was nothing I wanted to go back and shoot, nothing I wanted to reshoot, and nothing I wanted to add.”

Rather than update the franchise to match current styles, Lucas and Spielberg decided to stay true to the prior films’ look, tone, and pace. During pre-production, Spielberg watched the first three Indiana Jones movies at an Amblin screening room with Janus Kaminski, who has shot the director’s last 10 films. He replaces Douglas Slocombe, who shot the first three Indy movies (and is now retired at age 94), as the man mainly responsible for the film’s look. “I needed to show them to Janusz,” Spielberg says, “because I didn’t want Janusz to modernize and bring us into the 21st century. I still wanted the film to have a lighting style not dissimilar to the work Doug Slocombe had achieved, which meant that both Janusz and I had to swallow our pride. Janusz had to approximate another cinematographer’s look, and I had to approximate this younger director’s look that I thought I had moved away from after almost two decades.”

The Bourne movies, the last two of which were directed by United 93 virtuoso Paul Greengrass, have made an impression on Lucas also. The series seems to have become the new action-movie gold standard, or at least a widely admired point of reference in filmmaking circles. Lucas says he appreciates the Bourne movies for their relative believability. “The thing about Bourne,” Lucas says, “I would put that on the credible side, because he’s trained in martial arts and all that kind of stuff, and we know that people in martial arts, even little old ladies, can break somebody’s leg. So you kind of say, O.K., that’s possible. But when you get to the next level, whether it’s Tomb Raider or the Die Hard series, where you’ve got one guy with one pistol going up against 50 guys with machine guns, or he jumps in a jet and starts chasing a car down a freeway, you say, I’m not sure I can really buy this. Mission: Impossible’s like that. They do things where you could not survive in the real world. In Indiana Jones, we stay just this side of it.”

The script, Spielberg says, can provide the blockbuster pace. “Part of the speed is the story,” he says. “If you build a fast engine, you don’t need fast cutting, because the story’s being told fluidly, and the pages are just turning very quickly. You first of all need a script that’s written in the express lane, and if it’s not, there’s nothing you can do in the editing room to make it move faster. You need room for character, you need room for relationships, for personal conflict, you need room for comedy, but that all has to happen on a moving sidewalk.”

“What it is that made it perfect was the fact that the MacGuffin I wanted to use and the idea that Harrison would be 20 years older would fit,” Lucas says. “So that put it in the mid-50s, and the MacGuffin I was looking at was perfect for the mid-50s. I looked around and I said, ‘Well, maybe we shouldn’t do a 30s serial, because now we’re in the 50s. What is the same kind of cheesy-entertainment action movie, what was the secret B movie, of the 50s?’ So instead of doing a 30s Republic serial, we’re doing a B science-fiction movie from the 50s. The ones I’m talking about are, like, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Blob, The Thing. So by putting it in that context, it gave me a way of approaching the whole thing.”

“The fans are all upset,” Lucas says. “They’re always going to be upset. ‘Why did he do it like this? And why didn’t he do it like this?” They write their own movie, and then, if you don’t do their movie, they get upset about it. So you just have to stand by for the bricks and the custard pies, because they’re going to come flying your way.”

I really encourage you to go read the full Vanity Fair article – it’s definitely worth it. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arrives in theaters this summer on May 22nd!

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/01/02/the-best-indiana-jones-4-photos-and-interviews-yet/

There were pictures released in February of the “skull”, but they were removed at the request of Paramount – they had been leaked, and were in violation of the strict “code of silence’ that surrounds this film, like most of Spielberg’s projects.

And for your enjoyment, here is the final poster:

From FirstShowing.net:

Final Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Poster!

March 9, 2008
Source: USA Today
by Alex Billington

“[The] new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Poster poster, as drawn by Drew Struzan. Like its predecessors …, the poster features a great mural including all of the cast and scenes from the film.

In addition, the article [from USA today] includes a little snippet about the plot consideration and the alien crystal skull that we posted previously. Although we were forced to remove that photo of the skull, you can now see it prominently “glowing” in the middle of the poster.

‘The new poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the CrystalSkull confirms something alien is afoot.

The first poster for the film (due May 22) featured part of the title relic, but there was always something odd about the eye socket. In the follow-up, also by sci-fi/fantasy movie artist Drew Struzan, it’s clear the skull is not at all human. Add to that the recent trailer, with its shot of a crate labeled “Roswell, New Mexico 1947,” and you don’t need to be a professor of archaeology to put the pieces together.

Other clues: Looks as if our hero will face his least-favorite animal and the locals at some Maya ruins. Karen Allen (who also was in 1981’s original) seems to be enjoying herself, though.’”

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/03/09/final-indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull-poster/

So we will have to wait, and wait, and wait….

WordPress.com Tags: movies, Indiana Jones, adventure

Drool Fest: latest news on Sci-Fi flicks/shows not yet in the can…

Starting out with the most recent one coming, this month, but somehow I missed it on the last go-around is CJ7, a new Stephen Chow film, debuting March 6, 2008:

CJ7

Stephen Chow new film CJ7 trailer

And if that isn’t enough, here are the cute aliens:

“Visit the official site at www.CJ7-movie.com
A fantasy tale featuring state of the art visual effects, CJ7 is a comedy about a poor laborer father played by STEPHEN CHOW and his young son. When a fascinating and strange new pet enters their lives, they learn a poignant lesson about the true nature of family and the things money can’t buy. CJ7 is the fifth feature directed by Stephen Chow.”

Watch the trailer for CJ7

See also: http://www.sonypictures.net/movies/cj7/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CJ7

THE BOX

First found on Sci Fi Wire, but reported in USA Today:

First look: Thriller ‘The Box’ contains plenty of challenges

Warner Bros. Pictures – Life-and-death decision: James Marsden and Cameron Diaz star in the mystery.

By Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY, 2/26/08

HAMPTON, Va. — Filmmaker Richard Kelly prides himself on thinking so far outside the box that major chunks of the Internet are devoted to deconstructing his intentionally murky movies.

His desire to bewilder has earned him a certified cult classic (2001’s Donnie Darko) and an unmitigated flop (2007’s Southland Tales), but no direct hit.

PHOTOS: Get an exclusive look at what’s inside ‘The Box’ [requires Adobe FlashPlayer]

For his third big-screen feat, the 32-year-old USC film-school grad is not only thinking inside the box. He is actually making The Box, complete with his first major studio (Warner Bros.) and an A-list star (Cameron Diaz) on board.

“God bless Cameron Diaz. The second she signed on, our lives changed in a great way,” Kelly says on location at NASA’s Langley Research Center. Wrapping up the film’s final week, he spent a long day shooting inside a cavernous wind tunnel and atop a gantry, a 240-foot-high erector-set-style structure once used to train Apollo astronauts.

Unlike his previous efforts, the sci-fi-tinged thriller is a breeze to summarize. Its plot hook is inspired by a 1986 Twilight Zone episode that haunted Kelly as a kid: A couple (Diaz and James Marsden) open their door to find a box containing a button. If they push it, they will receive $1 million. The catch? Someone they don’t know will die.

Kelly settles back to reflect on what he calls his “first grown-up film,” whose opening date is yet to be determined.

“We made Donnie Darko when we were 25, so obviously that has an innocence about it,” he says of his unnerving high-school fable made with producer pal Sean McKittrick. The political satire Southland Tales, on DVD March 18, “is punk rock and rebellious. We love that about it.” Still, the film was barely in theaters, grossing only $273,420 on a nearly $18 million budget. “There is no place for small movies to catch fire,” he says. “We got with Warner Bros. as a means of survival.”

He is ready to go commercial. “With The Box, I hope to make a more mainstream popcorn film.”

Of course, nothing is ever quite that simple in a Richard Kelly film. Richard Matheson’s [I am Legend, among others] original 1970 short story, Button, Button, is just a jumping-off point for the $30 million morality tale. Embellishments include ’70s kitsch, teleporting and the 1976 Viking mission to Mars.

“We don’t feel like we are watering ourselves down,” Kelly assures.

The man who delivers the title container? Masterfully creepy Frank Langella. “Richard is in a league of his own,” the veteran actor says. “He has sort of an extraterrestrial creature running around in his head. That is what Steven Spielberg was like as a young boy.”

Namely, someone who knows how to push an audience’s buttons.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-02-26-the-box-main_N.htm

And while we wait for the next one, you can get a cat:

VAHALLA RISING

Director Nicolas Winding Refn that indicates his Viking pic, called Valhalla Rising” and starring Mads Mikkelsen is a little farther off than hoped. Though Valhalla Rising is still on track to go later this year.

An Interview from Reverse Shot.com:

RS: “Can you tell us a little bit about your next project, Valhalla Rising, starring Mads Mikkelsen?”

NWR: “Valhalla Rising came out of me working on a horror film that I just couldn’t solve. I just got so fed up, that I went back to an old idea I had about the discovery of America by the Vikings and that was suddenly a very easy story for me to develop, and I’ve learned that if it’s easy, go with it, and so I focused completely on that one. It’s going to be about a mute man who doesn’t know where he’s from, and about the Vikings discovering America. But, I’m not a big fan of Vikings, and I’m definitely not a big fan of costume films. So it occurred to me while making Pusher III, and thought, what if I took this way of making a movie and made a film set in the year 800? Once I got the technical concept, and then I got the story down, then I needed the overall view of the story. It’s the discovery of America, so what? It’s science fiction. For the Vikings, it must have been science fiction…it’s Valhalla. And of course I’ve always wanted to do an action film.” http://www.reverseshot.com/article/refn_interview (fall 2006)

And a little more from Sterling’s in-flight magazine:

“I’m doing a Viking movie called Valhalla Rising with Nicholas Winding Refn,” he says proudly. “I play a Viking slave who’s like a gladiator. Once a month he fights those sent to kill him as entertainment for the Vikings, but all the time he’s chained to a pole. The film will be a mixture of Pusher and Sergio Leone, but set in the 10th century. Of course, I escape and we all end up in America, which is historically correct. There was always an idea that the Vikings settled in America 500 years before Columbus and now there’s proof. Scandinavians have always been great travellers.” http://sterling-magazine.com/2006/11/01/mads-mikkelsen/

And from Norway: The Official Site in the UK (News and Events):

Edinburgh, 07/03/2007 :

Vahalla Rising

Scotland will again be taken over by Vikings in Nicolas Winding Refn’s new historical feature film “Valhalla Rising”.

The movie will promote the theory that an expedition of Vikings from Scotland reached North America centuries before Christopher Columbus. Most historians now accept that Vikings beat Columbus to the New World. Voyages are described in Norse sagas and evidence has been found to prove their presence on the continent. “Valhalla Rising” will though be shot as a fictional movie, in Nicolas Winding Refn’s documentary style.

The Danish director Refn is the man behind the “Pusher”-trilogy and just as violent and almost as successful “Bleeder”. His films are quite violent, and Karen Smyth, the Scottish co-producer, said to The Scotsman: “The way Nicolas will shoot is in a gritty, realist documentary style. It’s not Gladiator – there will be no big set pieces. It’s a great project, which will play big with the 16 to 25-year-olds. It’s quite a violent film in that it reflects the time in which these guys lived.”

Main actor will be Mads Mikkelsen, who played the villain in the latest James Bond movie “Casino Royale”. The Norwegian author Roy Jacobsen has written the script for the ambitious historical feature film, which has a budget of £4 million. “Valhalla Rising” will involve some of the most elaborate scenes ever filmed in Scotland, The Scotsman reports. The producers intend to commission a full-scale, 80ft replica of a Viking longship, and take over a small west coast harbour, possibly Stranraer.

Filming is scheduled to begin in August, with six weeks in Scotland and nine in the U.S. The Scottish parts of the movie will be shot in the Glasgow area, according to Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. The parts that are situated on U.S soil will be shot in Louisiana.” [spelling corrections made]http://www.norway.org.uk/edinburgh/events/valhallarising.htm

And for a synopsis, from Twitchfilm.net:

Detailed Synopsis For Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Vahalla Rising’

Posted by Todd Brown at 8:34pm.

Stalled about a year while the production team was assembled Pusher director Nicolas Winding Refn’s viking epic is finally ready to go before cameras in early 2008 and a detailed synopsis has been added to the website of the Danish Film Institute. Originally slated to shoot in both Denmark and Canada – though I suspect that may have changed since the secondary funding is coming from the UK and Scotland rather than Canada – the film stars Mads Mikkelsen as a mute viking warrior on a voyage to the New World. Here’s the synopsis:

For years, One-Eye, a mute warrior of supernatural strength, has been held prisoner by the chieftain Barde. Aided by a boy, Are, he kills his captor and together they escape, beginning a journey into the heart of darkness. On their flight from bounty hunters, One-Eye and Are board a Viking vessel for Norway, but the ship is soon engulfed by an endless fog that first disintegrates as they sight an unknown land. As the new land reveals its secrets and the Vikings meet a ghastly fate, One-Eye discovers his true self.

http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/detailed-synopsis-for-nicolas-winding-refns-valhalla-rising/

And here’s a film, from Harry’s Ain’t it Cool Website, that’s a pet favorite – my daughter and I read the books, and loved them!:

CITY OF EMBER

Harry’s look at Gil Kenan’s CITY OF EMBER at Skywalker Ranch!

Hey folks, Harry here… I just got back from Skywalker Ranch… yeah, Skywalker Ranch. I’m writing up an entirely separate article that is about that journey and experience, but what I wanted to write up first, was the main purpose of that trip. To chat with Gil Kenan and get a first look at a movie that doesn’t have a lot of buzz going quite yet, but that I’ve been following called CITY OF EMBER.

Last Fall, Yoko and I were going to fly over to Belfast and explore a bit of Ireland and drop in on the set of CITY OF EMBER… ever since Gil Kenan and I chatted about MONSTER HOUSE when he brought the film to Austin early… we’ve exchanged emails – and well… frankly – he’s a geek. A very talented one.

When we first sat down to lunch, he brought up CITY OF EMBER to me. It was the project he was working on in advance of MONSTER HOUSE – a live-action… possibly Post-Apocalyptic story involving children.

Around the end of Summer 2007 – I had a surprise package on my doorstep, the script to CITY OF EMBER as written by the amazing Caroline Thompson – based upon Jeanne Duprau’s novel. I have to admit, that as much as I loved MONSTER HOUSE – I was more eager to read a new Caroline Thompson script. With her skills upon EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, HOMEWARD BOUND, THE SECRET GARDEN, NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, BLACK BEAUTY and CORPSE BRIDE… Well… Hot Damn – turn the pages.

The script, like most of her work, is not traditional Hollywood fare – it’s a story that builds… slowly, consistently to a fever-paced conclusion. There is no BIG beginning, instead it really plays out, less like a Post-Apocalyptic film – and more like a Post-Apocalyptic Fairy Tale… That said… I didn’t devote much thought to the world of Ember. At the time, I was going to end up visiting it… in the building where the TITANIC was created (the real ship, not the movie) and I was anxious to just see the entire town that was going to be housed in that giant space.

Not long before the trip, my father had a stroke – and plans like Ireland and a cool movie set – well – there’s a scale to life – and in this case… Ireland and the film evaporated from my reality.

Months passed.

In fact – until last week I really hadn’t thought of CITY OF EMBER. I knew it was shooting… well, had been shot – but I really didn’t know where in the process the film was. It opens around the 10th of October… that’s pretty far off – and these days I’m more concerned about the upcoming Summer crop of films than the Fall and Holiday slates… but a little over a week ago – I was awoken by a phone call by Gil Kenan asking me if I’d like to go to Skywalker Ranch at his invitation to see some of CITY OF EMBER and watch them mix some of the film in the William Wyler mixing room.

Well, I quickly answered to the affirmative. There’s all sorts of reasons – I could finally break my Skywalker Ranch cherry… and it’d give all of you the first real set of eyes on a film that wasn’t really on anyone’s radar. Besides… who knew what else was going on out there… right?

So Wednesday morning at 5am, I headed to the airport to begin my journey. Approximately 6 hours later – I was sitting on a sofa in the Wyler room watching Gil and his sound crew mixing the temp music track for a test screening later today – somewhere on planet Earth.

They were working on a scene in reel 1 of CITY OF EMBER where Saoirse Ronan (Lina) and Harry Treadaway (Doon) exchange their positions in life. I took Father Geek along and told him nothing about the story – he only knew it was the second film from the director of MONSTER HOUSE. In this early minute to two minutes of film we were watching – it was a designed universe. There was a hint of German Expressionism to the buildings. And at first thought – you’d think the “sky” was to be added later – but you see… in Ember… large lights in the sky that you would think were placed by the crew – but as those that have read this wonderful book know… they’re there because this world is very strange indeed.

After about an hour of mixing on reel one – we went to see around 45 minutes of CITY OF EMBER – and it was there where I finally was able to put this movie together in my mind. Essentially – what Gil has made is a film that is LOGAN’S RUN, CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, GOONIES and METROPOLIS blended all together in one wonderfully unique vision.

The opening credits are startling – a group of rushed men carrying a box with 3 LED windows on the front. They say, “Set it for 200 years” – and then hand it off to a person and it becomes part of the secret tradition of the mayors of Ember… You see the box handed from aged hands to younger hands that age – to then hand the box to the next set of hands… quickly… fluidly – showing us in human generational terms – the passage of the years and as we see the countdown reach 47… a mayor dies prematurely… having not passed the box on. And we find the box… stuck in a closet, forgotten and counting down till it finally ceases to countdown – and it opens, only nobody is there to see it.

Now how long was it open till we see the start of the film? Nobody can tell – but as we start our story – it’s with Lina, and a graduation ceremony… technically called ASSIGNMENT DAY – where this selection of who you are to be… for the rest of your life in Ember, is chosen… at random… from a paper bag.

The kids all have their hopes, their dreams – but no matter how well they might want to be in a different position – if they can’t convince another person on Assignment Day to switch jobs… they’re stuck.

The man with the bag? Well, he’s the Mayor of Ember, played by Bill Murray… a dash of whimsy – and an ever so nice taste of warmth… Bill offers hope and encouragement to the children’s choices… helping them to feel good about it. All except Lina, she got PIPEWORKS – apparently – that’s not a good job.

Then – as we move forward we begin to find out more… you see every person in the film is needed for the City of Ember to exist. To them – they are the last light in the world. The generator is the pulsating heart of their existence. The electricity is their life and at night – they shut it down and the lights go out and until that generator kicks back on, their world is darkness.

The atmosphere is palpable. The society living in this city of Ember… had taken on an amazingly different vision of the future. No doubt they’re living underground… or in something. And the people in there are many generations removed by the incident that put them in this city. The city itself has begun to run down. Supplies are recycled. And it is starkly designed – based in part upon Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS – but not a direct lift – it has echoes of that world – this film doesn’t deal with the class warfare – here – the people serve the city because the city is all there is to serve. Nobody wonders about the outside world – instead – they do their job and everyone worries about the day the lights go out.

In fact that’s the plot line of the film. You see – everyone knows that the generator could be failing and that they have a finite amount of power. When Lina and Doon stumble upon the pieces of the past from the box… they try to unlock the mystery of their town that had been lost to the ravages of time.

This is a particular cast in the adult realm… folks like Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau, Toby Jones, Liz Smith and Mackenzie Crook. Moreso – the townsfolk of Ember continue that sort of character to their faces. Odd and unique.

I saw a sequence towards the end of the film that takes place in the great Generator room… a room with amazing gigantic Mechanical Age pistons and water wheels… the closest thing to its look is that great sequence inside the Engine room in TITANIC. The effects were far from done, but it really has a potential to be jaw-dropping when finished.

As for the performances – the cast speaks for itself – and young Saoirse Ronan is fantastic, we will see a lot more from this young lady. And young Harry Treadaway – who you may have seen in the amazing film, BROTHERS OF THE HEAD as half of the Siamese Twins in that film – is great as the curious boy that believes he’s destined to help solve the problem with the Generator. There’s almost a panic to his desire to make it all work.

This is a remarkable project – and I can not wait to hear responses from the screening later on today. CITY OF EMBER is a film to take notice on… it has elements of some of the best in science fiction and fantasy film – without being strictly derivative of any of those films. Instead it echoes that which came before while becoming something new on its own.” http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35808

DARK MATTER

“A trailer for a new film called Dark Matter has appeared online. According to it’s official synopsis, Dark Matter follows a Chinese science student in the United States in the early 1990s. Driven by ambition, yet unable to navigate academic politics, then, drama un-folds.”

Dark Matter Trailer

Note: This may or may not be the trailer referred to below.

This Dark Matter Trailer is Scientifically Inaccurate

By Phil Owen, 02/28/08

I’m assuming, based on the trailer, that Dark Matter is one of those films that, like, say, Primer or Proof, wants to be extremely dense through the use to sciencespeak. As the title indicates, the film revolves around the study of dark matter, which is something with which most people are not too familiar. Focusing so heavily on something like dark matter allows the filmmakers to use it as a MacGuffin, because most people won’t have a clue about what the characters are discussing.

That said, at the beginning of the trailer, which can be seen exclusively at ComingSoon, Liu Ye (Curse of the Golden Flower) has this line: “I’m looking at the dark matter. 99% of the universe. Dark matter.” A quick glance at NASA’s website reveals this statement to be untrue. The film is set in the early ‘90s, I thought the filmmakers might be using what was known about dark matter from that time. Nope. The film’s writer (Billy Shebar) says on the film’s website that it is currently believed that dark matter makes up over 90% of the universe. As movie folks are often wont to do, I’m guessing they’ve combined dark matter (25% of the universe) and dark energy (70% of the universe) into one concept.

The rest of the trailer is pretty intriguing. It shows Liu Ye’s character, Liu Xing (that means “shooting star!”), as a Chinese student studying at a university in the US. He’s working to unravel the mysteries of dark matter, but he is foiled by departmental politics and begins to become despondent. It’s all very atmospheric.

Thankfully, the trailer doesn’t even hint at the film’s ultimate destination. Dark Matter is based very loosely on Gang Lu’s time at the University of Iowa studying physics, which ended with him shooting some folks before offing himself. Perhaps there will be a scene in the film where we see Liu Xing training on Duke Nukem.

Scientific issues aside, Dark Matter looks pretty solid from that trailer. I’m a big fan of this type of character study, one that attempts to deconstruct a mental breakdown. And it’s much better that they took that approach rather than the “important school shooting movie” approach.

Dark Matter, which won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at Sundance 2007, is helmed by Chinese stage director Chen Shi-Zheng. The film stars, along with Liu Ye, Meryl Streep and Aidan Quinn. If you live in New York or LA, you can check it out April 11.

http://chud.com/articles/articles/13828/1/THIS-DARK-MATTER-TRAILER-IS-SCIENTIFICALLY-INACCURATE/Page1.html

ComingSoon.net’s article, and the trailer:

Exclusive: The Dark Matter Trailer

Source: First Independent Pictures, February 28, 2008

ComingSoon.net is exclusively debuting the trailer for director Chen Shi-Zheng and screenwriter Billy Shebar’s Dark Matter today. The drama, starring Liu Ye, Meryl Streep and Aidan Quinn, opens in theaters on April 11.
Dark Matter delves into the world of Liu Xing (Chinese for “Shooting Star”), a Chinese science student pursuing a Ph.D. in the United States in the early 1990s. Driven by ambition, yet unable to navigate academic politics, Liu Xing is inexorably pushed to the margins of American life, until he loses his way.
You can watch the trailer using the player below. For more info on the film, click here. [go to the site below to view the actual trailer discussed.]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=42331

BLACK HOLE

David Fincher To Make Completely Awesome Comic Book Movie

By Devin Faraci, published 02/20/2008,

I am so filled with excitement that I can almost not type these words. Variety is reporting that David Fincher has signed on to direct the adaptation of Charles Burns’ incredible graphic novel Black Hole, which currently has a screenplay by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary*. Alex Aja had been attached, and while his take on the grotesque characters of the book (more on that in a moment) would have been fascinating, I am so psyched that Fincher is on board that I cannot explain.
Black Hole is set in the suburbs of Seattle in the mid 70s, and it’s about a group of teens who contract an STD that turns them into subtle mutants and hideous monsters. What’s most interesting about Black Hole is the way the story itself mutates, which is partially because of the fact that it was a serialized tale in 12 parts told over ten years, but it never quite works out the way that you think it will, and in the end coalesces into a truly moving and beautiful story about becoming an adult. It’s a seminal work of graphic fiction or comics or whatever you want to call it – the important thing is that the next time you see someone trying to convince a non-believer that comics can be art with some f’ing superhero book, smash that person over the head with the hardcover edition of Black Hole.

Black Hole is a story that is highly detailed and intricately visual story; I would never have pegged Fincher for the adaptation, but after Zodiac he just makes so much sense. This news has me so happy that I’m going to pull Black Hole off the shelf and read it again. Charles Burns is going to be signing copies of the book at Skylight Books in Los Angeles on the 29th – you should go by and say hi to him.
You know what? I needed news like this. We write about too many comic book stories lately, and I find myself more and more depressed about the form I used to love. My new roommate is a big comic reader and I’ve been catching up with DC Comics through him, and most of these books are beyond terrible – awful stories, ridiculous art, banal characters, a general sense of malevolence towards the tragic figures shelling out for them by the month. Black Hole is what comics can be, and it’s nice to be reminded that not every comic book movie has to be about male adolescent repressed homosexuality packaged for bloodthirsty, misogynistic, obsessive compulsive 30-40 year olds who can’t move past their childhoods.
*Strength

http://chud.com/articles/articles/13732/1/DAVID-FINCHER-TO-MAKE-COMPLETELY-AWESOME-COMIC-BOOK-MOVIE/Page1.html

SERENTIY SEQUEL??

This one has some serious question marks all over it, but here’s the scoop, because if it turns out to be true, we Browncoats can rejoice!:

Rumor: Serenity Sequel on the Horizon Realistically?! It Can’t Be!

October 4, 2007, Source: Moviehole.net, by Alex Billington

I know this is beating a dead horse, but another rumor has been kicked up out of the dust and this time it may be a bit more reliable, and I just can’t resist. The guys over at Moviehole.net have a quote from Alan Tudyk (who plays Wash) where he claims that the recent buzz regarding the re-release of the Serenity DVD is causing Universal to consider making another one. There are so many questions: How recent is this interview? Is Alan just poking fun for the heck of it? Will it be direct-to-DVD or not?

I trust what Alan has to say, it’s that I’m not sure this can be counted as fully legitimate. Maybe he was just saying this for the heck of it and his quote got taken out of context. Or maybe this was not too recent and can’t be counted as something real, just a far-fetched “rumbling” at Universal. Anyway, here’s Alan’s ever-so-important quote.

“They had to put [the new DVD] out because they’ve been selling out of the other one and so Universal’s like ‘So, let’s do another one’. And now… there’s now a chance there’s going to be another movie.”

“Everybody in the Firefly crew – and that includes the ones who died in the movie – are excited about the prospect of doing another.”

Update: Clint, the writer who conducted the interview over at Moviehole, has informed us in the comments below that this is all up-to-date and completely real. It’s all just in Universal’s hands now, as Alan makes it sound like they’re very interested.

Being a website that focuses purely on theatrical releases – I’ve got to hope that it will be theatrical. However the current “thought” is that it just won’t be. Serenity was a massive financial flop at the box office and I don’t think they’re smart enough to realize that if they actually marketed it correctly, it could easily be a success. More and more fans join the legion of Browncoats every day – and that alone should be enough to warrant another in-theater sequel.

For now I’ll keep dreaming and hope that Universal realizes their mistake on the first film and comes around on this second one. Need a prime example of a film that’s doing just that? How about Fox’s Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem??

http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/10/04/rumor-serenity-sequel-on-the-horizon-realistically-it-cant-be/

Then this appears:

Sorry, The Serenity Sequel is Not Happening

October 24, 2007, Source: MySpace Blog, by Alex Billington

Sorry Browncoats, but it just ain’t so. This rumor all started a few weeks back when Alan Tudyk made some comments that were taken out of context and presumed to be talk of a sequel. Some other speculators were claiming that it was just a big, confusing rumor to begin with anyway and apparently that was the case. The update comes from the girl who plays Kaylee, named Jewel Staite in real life, who wrote a blog update (via CinemaBlend) about the whole fiasco.

Here’s Jewel’s update from her blog on MySpace:

Lets address these Serenity 2 rumors before anything else. I have no idea what you people are talking about! Seems to me someone (with a name that starts with A and ends in LAN) said something in an interview that was misconstrued as the sequel being greenlit, which is not the case at the moment. I will never say it will never happen, because that’s just blasphemy in my opinion, but it’s not happening at the moment… no matter what you read on the internet. You know better than to believe everything you read, anyway! (except this blog… cuz it’s all true.)

Unfortunately now I must say “that’s that”. I was really hoping the rumor was going to turn out to be true, being a huge fan myself, but alas I just knew it couldn’t be so. Unless Universal is keeping this secret from even one of the middle actors in the series, but that’s probably just as ridiculous as this rumor to begin with.

Now the question that remains is if there was the right emphasis from the right amount of people (say, Browncoats?), could Universal actually be smart enough to do a sequel? And if they did, would it actually succeed? If they made a sequel for 2009, that would be four years after the first movie and six years after the end of the series. Would another sequel that late and that far away from the hype actually do well? What do you think?

And then a forum response, which I think clears it up nicely:

From xardoz, Oct 26, 2007

“Can’t you people read? Jewel has merely said that a sequel has not been greenlit, not that there will be no Serenity 2. Alan got his info from Nathan, and all that was is that they (read Universal) are talking about a possible (key word) sequel, depending on the sale of the Collectors Edition of the DVD. Alan never said it was greenlit, NO ONE has said it was greenlit. The ONLY authoritative voice on this is Joss Whedon himself. He is aware of Alan’s comments and has remained silent – keep in mind he’s been quick to squash false rumors in the past. It’s been over 20 days since the Moviehole interview appeared. Alan has come out and confirmed his comments on video:
http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=6456819566538173305&hl=en-AU
It isn’t over yet, Browncoats. It ain’t over until Joss tells us so.”

http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/10/24/sorry-the-serenity-sequel-is-not-happening/

LEGION

Paul Bettany Grow Wings

By Russ Fischer, published 02/13/2008

Don’t tell Precious Moments, but that terrible angel wave crested and crashed on the beach of pop culture a long time ago. Don’t tell Paul Bettany either; he’s set to play the archangel Michael in Legion, the feature directorial debut of effects guy Scott Stewart. It’s a Screen Gems project so don’t get your hopes up too high, but the premise is entertaining.

Via Variety:
Story follows what happens when God loses faith in humanity and sends his legion of angels to wipe out the human race for the second time. Mankind’s only hope lies in a group of misfits holed up in a diner in the desert who are aided by the archangel Michael.

Stewart penned the script with Peter Schink; the result sounds reflective of Neil Gaiman’s classic Sandman story ‘24 Hours’ by way of all those right wing nutjob fictions that get made into movies with Kirk Cameron.

Bettany dons wings when the flick rolls in March.

http://chud.com/articles/articles/13643/1/PAUL-BETTANY-GROWS-WINGS/Page1.html

And about the same from ComingSoon.net:

Bettany is Part of Screen Gems’ Legion

Source: Variety, February 13, 2008

Paul Bettany is set to star in Legion, a Screen Gems thriller that marks the feature directorial debut of Scott Stewart, says Variety. Stewart wrote the script with Peter Schink.

The project was hatched by Bold Films, whose David Lancaster and Michel Litvak will produce. Gary Michel Walters will be executive producer.
The story follows what happens when God loses faith in humanity and sends his legion of angels to wipe out the human race for the second time. Mankind’s only hope lies in a group of misfits holed up in a diner in the desert who are aided by the archangel Michael (Bettany).

Stewart is a co-founder of visual effects house The Orphanage.
Production begins in New Mexico in March.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=41917

THE HOBBIT

From First Showing.net

Sound Off: Who Should Direct The Hobbit? – Guillermo vs Raimi

December 21, 2007, by Alex Billington

Over this last week an enormous amount of news and rumors surrounding The Hobbit have arisen. On Tuesday, Peter Jackson announced that all legal issues between him and New Line had been resolved and that he would only produce the films. On Thursday, speculation began as to who could and who is in the running to direct The Hobbit, and two names appeared. Sam Raimi, of Spider-Man and Evil Dead fame, seems to be clearing up his schedule. And Guillermo del Toro, of Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy fame, has expressed an interest in directing as well. Until an official announcement is made, let’s consider the options and discuss which would be a better choice.

In our article about Sam Raimi’s upcoming schedule (which doesn’t include Spider-Man 4), it was explicitly mentioned by Variety, an official news outlet, that it’s likely Sam Raimi is directing The Hobbit. While this isn’t confirmed, Raimi has previously mentioned that he’d be interested in directing it as long as Jackson had also said that he would NOT be interested in directing – as Raimi wouldn’t want to tread on Jackson’s territory.

As for Guillermo del Toro, SlashFilm ran a piece yesterday with some recent quotes from Guillermo, where it was mentioned that he had “heard some rumblings, but nothing official.” So now Guillermo is in the running, too. As this project moves on, the choice of the director will probably be the biggest decision anyone at New Line will ever make. And with two of the world’s greatest directors in the running, it’s a very tough decision to make. The problem is I don’t know who I would side with, because of all directors out there, Raimi and del Toro are probably my two personal favorite directors. This is like choosing with of my two kids I would have to kill to stay alive myself.

I’m going to kick this off by defending Sam Raimi. A number of comments on yesterday’s article were condemning Raimi primarily because of Spider-Man 3, a movie that by now most people have recognized as being pretty bad. I’m not trying to defend a movie that I also think wasn’t great, but I am going to defend Sam Raimi, who is still one of the greatest directors out there despite Spider-Man 3. First off, the person who created Spider-Man 2, no matter how much they screw up elsewhere, cannot be regarded as an all-around bad director at least because they created what is (arguably) the best superhero movie ever made.

Back when Spider-Man 3 was coming out, I attended a press conference with Sam Raimi. I listened to Raimi speak and answer questions for 20 minutes and by the end I had realized that Spider-Man 3 wasn’t his fault. It was partially Avi Arad and partially the other outside pressures that forced him to include Venom. Sure, it was Raimi who ended up making the movie, but after hearing the things he had to say, there is no way he could’ve made this bad of a movie if he would’ve done the exact story he wanted. Avi Arad and the producers came in and forced him to include Venom and forced a re-write on the script to turn it into a pile of crap.

Lastly, Raimi is the least “Hollywood-ized” director out of anyone I’ve met. He’s still so down-to-earth and still a geek himself. He would rather chat with you about movies and Spider-Man at the end of a press conference than be whisked away. He has no “spoiler” filter, he just loves talking about things like an excited geek. The more I listened to him and the more I looked back at Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, Darkman, Spider-Man, and Spider-Man 2, the more I realized Raimi is still an incredible director who was screwed over with Spider-Man 3. In my mind, he is and always will be a phenomenal director and is still the perfect choice for The Hobbit.

With Guillermo del Toro, I probably love him almost as much as Raimi. Hellboy is my absolute favorite comic book movie and Pan’s Labyrinth is a incredible film, and I just love his filmmaking style and fanboy nature as well. However, I almost feel as if he has too dark of a style for it to work with The Hobbit. But at the same time, if he took on the project, he would be as perfect of a choice as Sam Raimi. I can’t decide, so it’s up to you.

Who do you think is the best director for The Hobbit? Sam Raimi or Guillermo del Toro?

But it seems to have been answered, maybe. From ComingSoon.net:

The Hobbit

Release Date: TBA 2010
Studio: New Line Cinema
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Screenwriter: Not Available
Starring: Not Available
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
MPAA Rating: Not Available
Official Website: TheHobbitBlog.com
Review: Not Available
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available
Movie Poster: Not Available
Production Stills: Not Available
Plot Summary: The two “Hobbit” films – “The Hobbit” and its sequel – are scheduled to be shot simultaneously, with pre-production beginning as soon as possible. Principal photography is tentatively set for a 2009 start, with the intention of “The Hobbit” release slated for 2010 and its sequel the following year, in 2011. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh will serve as Executive Producers of two films based on “The Hobbit.”

http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=40304

But see this, from the same site:

Guillermo del Toro on The Hobbit Films

Source: Empire Online, February 14, 2008

Empire caught up today with Guillermo del Toro, who told the magazine that he is still not fully signed for The Hobbit and its sequel.

“I wish it was definite, but it isn’t,” he said. “It’s still in talks, there are still a lot of ‘T’s to cross and ‘I’s to dot. It’s certainly not certain yet…But, as far as I’m concerned, [if it was definite] I would be packed in ten seconds.”

He’s not worried at this time about the lawsuit that was revealed earlier this week, but he did say he would love to bring back actors from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy whose characters appear in the new films.

“Yeah, absolutely. I’ve been pretty much incredibly open about the things that I love and don’t love in the past. I’ve turned down huge franchises in the past because there are parts of that world I don’t gel with. The reason I took ‘Blade II’ is because I love the characters that Stephen Norrington created and the actors he used. That times ten is the reason why I’m interested in ‘The Hobbit.’”

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/hobbitnews.php?id=42017

The movie seems plagued by problems. A suit by Tolkien’s estate tried to block further use of his works, and now New Line is going under, but The Hobbit will remain. From The Hollywood Reporter.com:

Tolkien Trust sues New Line

By Leslie Simmons, Feb. 12, 2008

Just when two new movie versions of “The Hobbit” seemed on track, another legal roadblock has been thrown in their path.

On Monday, J.R.R. Tolkien’s estate — a British charity called the Tolkien Trust — filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against New Line seeking a court order terminating any rights the studio has to any of the author’s works, including “Hobbit.”

The Tolkien Trust and the author’s original publisher, HarperCollins, claim that New Line has committed “accounting chicanery” by, among other things, inflating the cost of each film in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy by more than $100 million and refusing to allow an audit of the second and third films in the “Rings” series.

The plaintiffs allege that New Line and Peter Jackson’s Katja Motion Picture Group owe them at least $150 million in gross profits from the billion-dollar “Rings” trilogy, which has grossed $6 billion worldwide, a figure that encompasses both boxoffice and DVD sales, according to the complaint.
New Line declined to comment on the allegations.

As a result, the plaintiffs claim that New Line has breached the original 1969 agreement assigning rights to make films based on Tolkien’s literary works to United Artists. Although the agreement has passed hands over the years — from United Artists to Saul Zaentz to Miramax and then New Line — it remained unchanged.

Late last year, New Line reached an agreement with MGM to co-produce and co-finance two films adapted from the “Hobbit” book, with New Line handling North American rights and MGM handling overseas distribution. Jackson, after reaching his own settlement with New Line over a profit dispute, is to executive produce the movies with his partner Fran Walsh.

The first of the two films, set for a 2010 release, is to go into production next year.

The latest flap in New Line’s on-going “Rings” saga comes as the studio, headed by Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, has come under the scrutiny of parent company Time Warner. The entertainment conglomerate is looking at ways to cut back costs at New Line, which could lead to some or all of the studio’s functions being taken over by Warner Bros.

According to the new lawsuit, New Line denies the plaintiffs have any right to terminate the rights, so they seek the court’s input on the controversy. Although New Line could go forward with “Hobbit” projects, it faces the risk of losing the rights later if the court rules in the plaintiffs’ favor.

“This case presents an extraordinary example of how enormous financial success can breed unabashed and insatiable greed,” the lawsuit states. “Despite the nearly $6 billion in gross revenues, New Line has crafted a fantasy tale of its own, making the stunning assertion that it has not received sufficient money to pay plaintiffs a dime.”

The case is the latest against New Line over “Rings” profits. Jackson first filed suit against the studio in a contentious court battle that resulted in the December settlement. The Saul Zaentz Co. filed his second suit late last year also alleging New Line’s failure to pay profits. In 2004, Zaentz had filed a previous suit over moneys he said were owed him; that was settled in 2005.

Jackson’s settlement paved the way for back-to-back films based on “Hobbit.” Although his schedule made it impossible for him to direct, Jackson agreed to exec produce the pair of films, with approval over creative elements, including the script. Guillermo del Toro is in talks to helm.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ia5690166f1f371d41c6947b619ef2fc8

Bewkes nukes New Line

By Borys Kit and Georg Szalai, Feb. 29, 2008

UPDATED 7:43 p.m. PT Feb. 28
After a four-decade run that saw its transformation from an upstart indie company exploiting rude John Waters movies and gory horror flicks to a mini-major winning Oscars and billion-dollar worldwide grosses with the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, New Line is being absorbed into parent company Time Warner’s Warner Bros. Pictures.

As part of the cost-saving consolidation ordered by TW’s new CEO Jeff Bewkes, New Line co-chairmen and co-CEOs Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne are leaving the company they founded in 1967, though Bewkes said they are in talks encompassing “a number of alternatives” and could end up producing films for New Line or Warners.

New Line will remain more than just a production label within Warners, though. It will retain its own separate development and production, marketing and distribution operations … Bewkes said New Line, in turn, must “focus on being an indie, rather than being halfway to a major.”

In recent years, as New Line’s ambitions have grown, it has taken on more risk. The three “Rings” movies, released between 2001 and 2003, resulted in a boxoffice bonanza. But New Line hasn’t maintained that momentum. Although it scored two $100 million-plus hits in 2007 with “Hairspray” and “Rush Hour 3,” most of its lineup failed to ignite, and its pricey “The Golden Compass,” though a hit abroad, fell flat in the U.S.

NEUROMANCER

Hayden Christensen, New Romancer, er, Neuromancer

By Russ Fischer, published 01/8/2008

William Gibson’s proto-cyberpunk novel Neuromancer is one of those books I have no real wish to see lifted to the screen. Not to preserve my own love for the book, which has finer points, but isn’t any significant favorite. Rather, like past efforts to make Gibson’s stuff come alive onscreen, it’s that a Neuromancer film seems likely to miss the point with such blatant glee that the deficiency would be obvious to any audience. Really, outside of Philip K Dick is any body of speculative fiction more likely to come out bland and homogenous?

But the details of the current potential film version, which JoBlo has reported on a few times, are interesting. Made more or less as a $70M indie with Torque director Joseph Kahn in charge, this is a weird beast. Cursory checks show nothing like a finalized script or even credited screenwriter, so even if this is happening, it’s now a ways off.

Which makes it a bit odd that JoBlo’s source is now pegging Hayden Christensen as the star of the flick. He’s been a non-entity since Shattered Glass and may continue to be so after Jumper opens, so how is this happening? Or is that what we said when Keanu was cast in Johnny Mnemonic?

I don’t recall enough of the book to say that Christensen is specifically a good or bad fit for Case, the original hacker protagonist, but since Christensen has generally proven a bad fit for anything that involves expression, this might not be a popular choice.

http://chud.com/articles/articles/13201/1/HAYDEN-CHRISTENSEN-NEW-ROMANCER-ER-NEUROMANCER/Page1.html

Hayden a Neuromancer
Jan. 7, 2008, Source: JoBlo.com, by: Mike Sampson

You may have already heard the news about the NEUROMANCER movie. What you didn’t hear was who would be starring in this ambitious adaptation of the cyberpunk classic. JoBlo.com sources have told us that Hayden Christensen will star in NEUROMANCER as Case, the former hacker at the center of the story. I’ll be honest and admit I’ve never read NEUROMANCER and my rudimentary attempts to try and understand the plot have only confused me. But it seems very much a precursor to the Matrix with the book even referring to “the matrix.” Joseph Kahn (TORQUE) is directing the film, which is essentially set up as an indie film with a big budget. It is not set up at a studio but still carries an impressive $70 million budget. It’s unclear when filming would begin but it could be later this year. Christensen can be seen next in the Fox action flick JUMPER, which hits theaters in February.

Extra Tidbit: If you really want to learn more about NEUROMANCER, check out this detailed study guide [guide to the 1984 Gibson novel].

http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=19257

And from First Showing.net:

William Gibson’s Neuromancer Finally Coming to the Big Screen!

May 18, 2007, Source: Variety, by Alex Billington

Finally a great science fiction novel is getting adapted for the big screen! Well, not that there hasn’t been a great selection of other sci fi novels in the past (like anything by Isaac Asimov or Philip K. Dick), but I have a certain affinity for William Gibson’s books. His bestseller novel that was first published in 1984, Neuromancer, is being brought to the big screen by indie producer Peter Hoffman. The project will get a $70 million budget with Joseph Kahn currently set to direct. Kahn has only directed one full length feature so far, the motorcycle film Torque, but he may be better known for directing Britney Spear’s music video for “Toxic”. I think all the excitement I just had flew out the window.

And get this, the project is being fast-tracked to replace the next Paul Verhoeven project The Winter Queen, a tough blow for the filmmaker behind one of my own all time favorite sci fi films – Starship Troopers. However, it’s not because this is a better script, it’s because Verhoeven’s film is waiting for Fifth Element star Milla Jovovich to have her baby.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the fantastic novel Neuromancer, (from Wikipedia) it tells the story of Case, an out-of-work computer hacker hired by an unknown patron to participate in a seemingly impossible crime. The novel examines the concepts of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, genetic engineering, multinational corporations overpowering the traditional nation-state, and cyberspace long before these ideas became fashionable in popular culture. In addition to tackling these hot topics in the film, producer Hoffman stated “there’ll be a sort of love interest as well.” Quite unnecessary, but that’s Hollywood for you these days.

Now they just need to work on bringing my own favorite Neal Stephenson novel Snow Crash to the big screen, too, as I think if done right it could nearly be another fascinating and revolutionary sci fi film… if done right. In the meantime, or at least for the year or so it’ll take to film and edit, I suggest you pick up a copy of Neuromancer, or anything by William Gibson or Neal Stephenson, and become immersed in his wonderful world of science fiction.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/05/18/william-gibsons-neuromancer-finally-coming-to-the-big-screen/

AKIRA

From First Showing.net:

It’s Official – Live-Action Akira Confirmed Already for 2009!

February 20, 2008, Source: Variety, by Alex Billington

Back in October last year, we reported a rumor that the Japanese anime classic Akira would eventually be getting a live-action remake. We finally have official confirmation today that says there will not only be a new adaptation, but that it is being split into two movies! Warner Brothers has re-acquired the rights and is putting the first film into production right away, aiming to release the first movie by the summer of 2009. However, the film is primarily going to be adapted from anime artist Katsuhiro Otomo’s graphic novel more than the original 1988 anime movie.

Warner Brothers exec Greg Silverman, who previously brought the studio 300 and Batman Begins, brought them Akira and encouraged them to obtain the rights. Although the studio let go of the rights a few years ago, they fought to gain them back in a bidding war, ending up paying in the seven-figures. The studio is describing the film as “Blade Runner meets City of God“, which is a fairly fitting description for the story. Each movie will be based on three of the six volumes from Katsuhiro Otomo’s graphic novel that was first published in 1982.

The two films will be directed by Irish filmmaker Ruairi Robinson who is making his feature debut after directing a number of short films and commercials. You can watch his 2006 short titled The Silent City on his website here. The script for the two films is being written by first-time screenwriter Gary Whitta.

Akira is a six-volume manga that was later adapted into an anime movie in 1988. The manga takes place in a vastly larger timeframe than the film and involves a far wider array of characters and subplots. Through the breadth of the work, Otomo explicates themes of social isolation, corruption and power. The original anime and and manga was set in Tokyo, but reports are saying this version will take place in “New Manhattan”, a metropolis that was rebuilt after being destroyed 31 years ago. This isn’t fully confirmed and we’re doing our best to see if this is actually the case.

Kaneda is a bike gang leader whose close friend Tetsuo gets involved in a government secret project known as Akira. On his way to save Tetsuo, Kaneda runs into a group of anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military leader. The confrontation sparks off Tetsuo’s supernatural power leading to bloody death, a coup attempt and the final battle in Tokyo Olympiad where Akira’s secrets were buried 30 years ago.

I said it before when talking about the rumor, but this is going to make for one awesome live-action movie. Not only am I a big fan of the anime movie, but there are so many great action scenes, like the futuristic motorcycle chases, that could be amazing in the movie. I’m only concerned that they won’t give this duo of films the proper budget that they really need, especially with a first-time feature filmmaker working on them. Whatever the case is, I’ll hope for the best!

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/02/20/its-official-live-action-akira-confirmed-already-for-2009/

STARFIGHTER – A SEQUEL TO THE LAST STARFIGHTER?

From First Showing.net

The Last Starfighter is Getting a Sequel, Too?!

February 28, 2008, Source: Cinema Blend, by Alex Billington

Yesterday it was just a rumor, but today it’s pretty much confirmed – The Last Starfighter is getting a sequel. Like The Lost Boys before it, they’re now revisiting classic 80’s movies and ripping everything good out of them and then turning them into modernized Hollywood piles of crap. Our friends at Cinema Blend have been hard at work uncovering all of the details about this sequel, and it doesn’t sound too good, but who am I to say that this early in the game? One thing is for sure – we’ve officially entered the era of the 80’s revisited in Hollywood. With Transformers turning out to be a huge hit, they’re out finding every last nostalgic 80’s “whatever” and revisiting it again, from G.I. Joe to The Last Starfighter to Akira.

Josh Tyler over at Cinema Blend initially picked up a scoop on the sequel, supposedly titled Son of the Starfighter, from an anonymous emailer, but wasn’t sure whether it was just a big rumor. The scooper reported that a production company called George Paige and Associates was already in pre-production on the film with shooting scheduled to begin next month. He also added that “it involves original director Nick Castle, writer Jonathan Betuel and actor Lance Guest. It’s your basic Son of the Starfighter storyline and actually sounds pretty cool.” Lance Guest did appear in the first movie as the teenager Alex Rogan, so it would make sense that they’d want him back, especially if they’re considering a story involving his son.

After first hearing about the project, Josh seemed to be a bit skeptical (as were we), pointing out that George Paige and Associates isn’t exactly a big or reputable production company and that this whole project seems a little bit far fetched, even for them. However, the project does show up officially on their website and also lists Universal Pictures and Warner Brothers as the distributors, along with Relativity Media as the additional production company. Considering Relativity Media and Universal Pictures just signed a big four-year deal, this could actually be legit.

How is it, in my many years of childhood, that I happened to miss the glorious 80’s sci-fi classic The Last Starfighter? I really do not know. The movie is about an arcade video gamer who is recruited by an alien defense force in order to put his skills to use defending the galaxy from an invasion. This wonderfully brilliant cinematic classic made a whopping $28.7 million at the box office in its 1984 debut. Why this is prime choice for a sequel in 2008, I don’t know. Maybe someone who’s a big fan of this movie can help with that explanation.

Until we get some official confirmation, most of this is a rumor. However, it is confirmed that this sequel is actually in production, but that doesn’t mean any of the names previously mentioned are actually attached. Josh also mentions that this would be getting a theatrical release with a mid-range budget at least, so if he’s right, you can be certain that this won’t be a forgettable revival in the years to come.

Does The Last Starfighter really need a sequel, modernized or not?

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/02/28/the-last-starfighter-is-getting-a-sequel-too/

2012

From First Showing.net again:

Roland Emmerich (Almost) Explains What Happens in 2012

March 3, 2008, Source: Collider, by Alex Billington

Back in February, blockbuster director Roland Emmerich revealed that his next big movie would be one titled 2012, a disaster movie that takes place in the year of the title. Emmerich’s next finished movie is actually 10,000 B.C., which hits theaters this coming Friday. Our friend Steve from Collider caught up with Emmerich last weekend while he was promoting 10,000 B.C. and tried to get him to reveal what exactly happens in 2012, but still had no luck – he’s keeping a very tight lip. But if you’re interested in trying to guess what it might be or just want to know exactly what Emmerich said, read on. And considering this is the next big $200 million epic summer blockbuster, we’re sure you’ll want to know.

The script for 2012 is apparently so good, that the studios started a bidding war for distribution, with Sony ending up the winner. Now it’s heading into production for a July 10th, 2009 opening. Emmerich has said previously that “it will be very expensive, you see the whole world go to shit” and other sources reported that the “project has more going for it than the big idea that studios love,” but what exactly that means yet, no one knows. All that we do know is that 2012 is the year that the Mayan calendar (pictured to the right) ends and many others have predicted that it will be the apocalyptic end of the Earth. What Emmerich is depicting, however, is a “natural disaster” of some sorts.

Before we get into the juicy details, Emmerich explains his inspiration for the movie, and how he convinced himself, after saying he’d never do another disaster movie, to do 2012.

“…This whole movie I’m doing next was inspired by just the phenomenon of the internet when you type in Google, ‘2012′, you get 240 million hits. That’s a lot. And it’s just, so many people write about it, believe it, that our world comes to an end in 2012. I said wow. I kind of said before I will never do a disaster movie again. I said, for this idea I have to do it again.”

When Collider asked Emmerich whether this would achieve a new level of “blowing things up”, Emmerich responded with “it’s not blowing up, it’s something else.” And when prodded further to explain himself, Emmerich almost gave it away: “This time there’s no blowing up. It’s a natural disaster. Well, actually yeah, like a… I’m not saying it! I’m giving things away.” Damn, too close! If only he just finished his sentence…

To be honest, Emmerich has done such a great job of teasing 2012, that I’m getting into it almost as much as Cloverfield, where it’s become all about figuring out “what it is” more than anything else. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait until we see the first teaser trailer or hear reports from the set to get to that point. Emmerich goes on talking to Collider about how “undoable” this is, especially considering they’re going to, basically, destroy the entire world. Check out what he had to say!

“Yes, it will be very expensive, but I think it will be for a price because people who read the script said this is undoable. And I said, well but we’ll do it. I mean, it’s one of these things that everybody says it’s undoable because it’s like, you see the whole world go to shit… It’s kind of one of these things when I write a script, and I wrote it again with Harald [Kloser] together, we just said no, we’ll not think if it’s doable or not, we’ll just write it. We’ll just come up with it. And then we’ll figure out how we’ll do it. I think it’s worth doing it because it’s also when you have something where you have adrenaline because you are nervous about it, that’s good. That’s a little bit like… it’s good when actors have this adrenaline when they go on stage. I think they do their best work, and for us it’s the same thing…”

I love the way he thinks – don’t write it with “is it doable?” in mind, just write it, and then figure out how to do it. And even be nervous about it, challenge yourself – that’s awesome. As much as we all know that Emmerich is a filmmaker who writes/directs films that are nothing but storyless blockbusters, at least they’re entertaining. And although I’m not that excited for 10,000 B.C., I’m already very excited for 2012. I’m really wondering what the hell is going to happen, and how the entire world is going to get destroyed! This should be fun!

Any guesses as to what kind(s) of natural disaster(s) will be destroying the Earth in 2012?

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/03/03/roland-emmerich-almost-explains-what-happens-in-2012/

3D TRON SEQUEL

12:00 AM, 03-MARCH-08

3-D Tron Sequel Due In ‘11?
Disney plans to release a 3-D sequel to its classic SF movie Tron in spring 2011, Dark Horizons reported. The Digital Disney 3-D movie reportedly will be directed by Joseph Kosinski.

The studio also has Cars 2, National Treasure 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 4 scheduled for that year, the site reported.

Other reports suggest the fourth Pirates movie may focus on one character to downsize the budget. Other reports talk of a hyper-budget, ultra-fantastical feature, meaning anything from dinosaurs to Jules Verne-esque floating fortresses, the site reported.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=49631

From The Hollywood Reporter site:

Kosinski will program Disney’s ‘Tron’ sequel

By Borys Kit, Sept. 11, 2007

“Tron”

TORONTO — Commercial director Joseph Kosinski is in final negotiations to develop and direct “Tron,” described as “the next chapter” of Disney’s 1982 cult classic. Sean Bailey is producing via the Live Planet banner, as is Steven Lisberger, who co-wrote and directed the original film.

Kosinski, who last month signed on to helm the remake of “Logan’s Run” for Warner Bros. Pictures, will oversee the visual development of the project and have input on the script, which is being written by “Lost” scribes Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Story details are being kept secret.

The original, about a computer programmer thrust into a computer and forced to fight in games he helped create, is remembered for its sci-fi gladiator-style battles and groundbreaking special effects. It was the first movie to use computer-generated images instead of models and other optical effects in conjunction with live action. The arcade game based on the movie was so popular that it earned more than the movie.

When making the original, in order to convince the studio to take a chance on a first-time director, Lisberger shot a test reel, financed by the studio, involving the deadly Frisbee battle. In a case of historical synchronicity, sources said one of the things Kosinski will be doing is working on a sequence involving the movie’s Light Cycles to work out his vision for the movie. Sources also said visual effects personnel, for many of whom “Tron” was an inspiration to enter the business, already are jockeying for pole position to work on the sequence.
Brigham Taylor is overseeing for Disney.

Kosinski is a former architect whose specs caught the attention of director David Fincher, who convinced Kosinski to move to Los Angeles, where he joined the director at commercial house Anonymous Content. Kosinski then moved quickly up the ladder, eventually directing award-winning spots for Nike, Apple and Nintendo that gained notice for their use of computer technology that erased the lines between reality and CGI.

Kosinski is repped by Endeavor and Michael Sugar and Bard Dorros at Anonymous Content.

http://crivablog.blogspot.com/2007/10/tron-sequel-confirmed.html

MOON

From First Showing.net (where all the good news seems to be coming from):

Sam Rockwell Tells of Sci-Fi Movie ‘Moon’

February 7, 2008, Source: MTV, by Alex Billington

A week ago we speculated that the fashionable new beard that actor Sam Rockwell was sporting at Sundance was for Gentlemen Broncos, Jared Hess’ next film. Alas, we were wrong. MTV actually had the guts to ask Rockwell what he had the beard for, and got a response that even gets me excited. You see, Sam Rockwell is one of my favorite actors working these days that still somehow remains under-the-radar. He’s great because he isn’t an A-list actor but he gives A-list performances and that’s what really counts. He explained that the beard was actually for a sci-fi movie titled Moon that he’s working on next. Want to know more?

Moon is being directing by Duncan Jones, also known as Zowie Bowie, the son of David Bowie. Jones is a former ad exec turned filmmaker with only one film under his belt, a sci-fi short from 2000 called Whistle. If this project is anything like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which was director Garth Jennings’ first feature film, a sci-fi nonetheless, then I may even be more excited, if that’s possible.

Rockwell explains, “I’m doing a sci-fi movie where I’m stranded on the moon for three years. That’s why I have the beard.” That’s apparently all that’s known about the story, with the addition of some “what if” scenarios. “What if Neil Armstrong had to wait until Apollo 12 to come back home? And what if he had a freaking awesome beard?” I’ll tell you what if – we’d have an awesome movie on our hands!

Anyone who has been reading here for a longtime knows that I’m a huge sci-fi nut, so anything sci-fi I’m usually all for. Especially when it involves Zaphod Beeblebrox from The Hitchhiker’s Guide, another sci-fi role that Sam Rockwell nailed. And considering the concept and story, this could be both hilarious and awesome. I’m already giving Moon a thumbs up without even knowing who wrote the script or the status of the production, because with Rockwell cast, at least I know it’s in good hands! And now the mystery of the beard has been solved.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/02/07/sam-rockwell-tells-of-sci-fi-movie-moon/

QUANTUM OF SOLACE

From MTV, again, not Sci-Fi, but close, and appeals to fans of the genre usually, comes the new James Bond flick:

‘James Bond: Quantum of Solace’ Plot Revealed!

Published by Larry Carroll on Friday, February 29, 2008 at 3:27 pm.

What is “Quantum of Solace”? James Bond screenwriter Paul Haggis might not have any idea, but if MGM was kind enough to cc him on their latest press release, the Oscar-winner will gain a drool-inducing insight into the film’s plot, right alongside the rest of us.

Below is the spankin’ new, studio-approved plot summary of Bond’s 22nd flick. Does it leave you shaken, or stirred? Oh, and at the risk of sounding like a cheesy guy in an IROC is driving past us: “Spoiler alert!”

“‘Quantum of Solace’ continues the high octane adventures of James Bond (Daniel Craig) in ‘Casino Royale.’ Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal.

Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M (Judi Dench) interrogate Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), who reveals the organization which blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined. Forensic intelligence links an MI6 traitor to a bank account in Haiti where a case of mistaken identity introduces Bond to the beautiful but feisty Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a woman who has her own vendetta.

Camille leads Bond straight to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a ruthless business man and major force within the mysterious organization. On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy and South America, Bond discovers that Greene, conspiring to take total control of one of the world’s most important natural resources, is forging a deal with the exiled General Medrano (Joaquin Cosio). Using his associates in the organization, and manipulating his powerful contacts within the CIA and the British government, Greene promises to overthrow the existing regime in a Latin American country giving the General control of the country in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of land.

In a minefield of treachery, murder and deceit, Bond allies with old friends in a battle to uncover the truth. As he gets closer to finding the man responsible for the betrayal of Vesper, 007 must keep one step ahead of the CIA, the terrorists and even M, to unravel Greene’s sinister plan and stop his organization.”

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/02/29/james-bond-quantum-of-solace-plot-revealed/

KNOWING

2:00 AM, 04-MARCH-08

Byrne Joins Cage In Knowing
Rose Byrne has landed the lead role opposite Nicolas Cage in the SF thriller film Knowing for Summit Entertainment and Escape Artists, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Byrne (Sunshine) will play the daughter of a woman who buried a 1962 time capsule bearing the dates of the assassinations of historical figures, the hotel fire death of the wife of a professor (Cage) and an imminent world apocalypse. After the professor discovers its contents and alerts her, the initially skeptical Byrne begins remembering strange incidents from her childhood.

Alex Proyas (I, Robot) will direct the screenplay by Ryne Douglas Pearson, with script revisions by Juliet Snowden, Stiles White, Stuart Hazeldine and Proyas.
Production is set to begin March 25 in Melbourne, Australia. http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=49731&type=0

And here’s a “little” more from ComingSoon.net:

Knowing

Release Date: TBA
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Director: Alex Proyas
Screenwriter: Ryne Pearson, Stiles White, Juliet Snowden, Stuart Hazeldine, Alex Proyas
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
MPAA Rating: Not Available
Official Website: Not Available
Review: Not Available
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available
Movie Poster: Not Available
Production Stills: Not Available
Plot Summary: Cage will play a teacher who examines the contents of a time capsule unearthed at his son’s elementary school. Startling predictions in the time capsule that have already come true lead him to believe the world is going to end at the close of the week and that he and his son are somehow involved in the destruction.
Trailer:
Coming Soon!

http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=40137

PATHOLOGY

Although not a Sci-Fi flick, it IS a medical thriller, and looks interesting, à la Robin Cook:

From First Showing.net:

Boring New Pathology Teaser Trailer Hits

February 29, 2008, by Alex Billington

I’ve been looking forward to Pathology since we were first shown the original trailer at last year’s Comic-Con. I’d say I’m much more curious than I am excited, but either way it’s definitely a movie I am very much looking forward to seeing. After Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor arrived on the scene with Crank, I’ve been anxious to see what their follow-up would be. Although Pathology isn’t directed by them, they did produce and write it, so it does have their “touch”. I don’t know what to make of this trailer, though – I’d rather see more of the actual movie than this, but oh well for now… This is all we’ve got for the moment.

Watch the trailer for Pathology:

NOTE: I don’t know if this is the trailer mentioned, but it is an official one

Some say that Pathology is a window to God. As doctors, they see the perversion and corruption of the flesh by all means unnatural…by violence…by toxin…by madness…to determine the cause of death. As a result they are the experts in all signs of foul play and the best in the field can uncover all means of killing, even those that are seemingly undetectable.

When med school student Ted Gray (Milo Ventimiglia) graduates top of his class he joins one of the nation’s most prestigious Pathology programs. With talent and determination Ted is quickly noticed by the program’s privileged and elite band of pathology interns who invite him into their crowd. Intrigued by his new friends he begins to uncover secrets he never expected and finds that he has unknowingly become a pawn in their dangerous and secret after-hours game at the morgue of who can commit the perfect undetectable murder. As Ted becomes seduced into their wild extracurricular activities the danger becomes real and he must stay one step ahead of the game before he is the next victim.

Pathology is directed by German filmmaker Marc Schoelermann and written by Crank writers/directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. The film arrives in theaters on April 18th. Make sure to check it out!

ASTROBOY

2:00 AM, 29-FEBRUARY-08

Highmore Flies To Astro Boy
Freddie Highmore has been signed for the title role in IMAGI Studios’ computer-animated Astro Boy movie, the studio announced.

Highmore (The Spiderwick Chronicles), 16, will voice the character, based on Osamu Tezuka’s manga and 1960s TV series.

Here’s how IMAGI describes the movie: Set in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist to replace the son he has lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving father’s expectations, Astro Boy embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators before he returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the man who rejected him. Astro Boy will be released worldwide in 2009.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=49570

And from First Showing.net:

Exclusive: AstroBoy Concept Art and Director Interview

November 12, 2007, by Alex Billington

The beloved Japanese manga series AstroBoy is getting a big screen adaptation courtesy of the CGI gurus at Imagi Animation, the same studio that made the CGI movie TMNT earlier this year. Although the film is quite far from completion, aiming for a 2009 release, FS.net exclusively interviewed director Colin Brady and was given the very first concept art photo which can only be seen here. Die hard AstroBoy fans and newcomers alike will definitely be excited at what ILM and Pixar animation supervisor and Toy Story 2 co-director Colin Brady has to say about helming his first feature film and what we can expect in a full featured AstroBoy CGI movie.

Back in October we ran the first look photo at the CGI version of AstroBoy but we were asked to remove it as it wasn’t a final version. Although Colin and everyone at Imagi is still working hard on the final look of a CGI Astro, we have an exclusive concept art photo of the new and improved AstroBoy which you can check out below. Our interview with director Colin Brady follows below the photo.

(c) 2007. Tezuka Productions Co. Ltd. / Imagi International Holdings Ltd.
Click for full size version.

AstroBoy (via Wikipedia), which debuted back in 1952 originally as a cult Japanese manga and eventually as a TV anime series, tells the story of a powerful robot boy created by a brilliant scientist in the image of the son he lost. Our hero journeys to find acceptance in the human world and ultimately discovers true friendship as he uses his incredible powers to help others and save Metro City from destruction.

Colin Brady is an immensely talented animation supervisor who has worked previously at Pixar, Rhythm and Hues, and Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). Brady was also a director of the animated film Everyone’s Hero and co-directed Toy Story 2. In our interview, he talks about his past career and introduction to AstroBoy, as well as a lot of what we can expect in the film from the story to what it’s likely to be rated – PG. Read on to hear what Colin says about the project below.

FS.net: What drew you to the AstroBoy project? Why did you decide to direct this CGI film?
I first met with Paul Wang, Executive VP of Development at Imagi Animation Studios, about 18 months ago. He felt AstroBoy was a good fit for me. My experience at Pixar and ILM directing characters like Buzz Lightyear, the Hulk, and E.T. seemed to make AstroBoy a good fit because his character has some elements of each. I am very drawn to power of Anime’s sense of mythology, whereas a lot of American animation is full of fluff. AstroBoy is an icon, packed with action and full of heart.

FS.net: What will the story focus on / what adventures will AstroBoy get involved in? Will it start with his origin and go from there?
Similar to Spider-Man or the first Superman, it makes sense to start with the origin story. Although I admit that I thought it would be fun to simply start with the sequel. AstroBoy is kind of a dark Pinocchio story, but unlike Pinocchio, Astro never can become real flesh and blood. Astro’s journey of self discovery and acceptance is directly linked to the hardcore killer robot fights, and to the rejection by his creator, Dr. Tanner.

FS.net: Will this AstroBoy be aimed purely at kids or will it have a grungier, tougher aspect for older fans? (e.g. what rating are you going for?)
We’re going for as hard PG as we can. Luckily robot violence is less disturbing than humans fighting each other with guns.

FS.net: What kind of voice actors will you be considering? Will they be completely from scratch or any from the series?
We’re mostly looking at a mix of popular American and Japanese actors. But certainly they have to be right for the part.

FS.net: What are you bringing to AstroBoy that will hopefully allow this version to succeed whereas the relaunch of the series recently in the US “failed”?
We will present Astro’s story as more of an epic Sci Fi fantasy. Although Astro is a robot, there’s a deep dark human struggle that we’re exploring. In bringing Astro to CG we’re trying to create a texture and beauty similar to the original Star Wars films. We’re extremely influenced by Hokusai, Noguchi, and Miyazaki. We’re very careful to stay as true to the original design as possible but at the same time aging up his voice and the overall tone.

FS.net: Are you trying to modernize him or do anything to create a more widespread appeal beyond just the fans?
The challenge is to appeal to the non fans while not upsetting those who grew up with this character. Every step of the way we are including Tezuka Studios to ensure we’re being respectful to one of Asia’s most recognizable icons.

Thanks to Colin Brady and Imagi Animation! I think AstroBoy has a strong chance of ringing true with fans, just as TMNT did with all the fans of that franchise. The film sounds like it is in some incredibly capable hands and although it may be Brady’s first feature film, his character animation history shows that he will bring a certain needed dynamic to the character of AstroBoy. Keep watch for more updates as the project continues production.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/11/12/exclusive-astroboy-concept-art-and-director-interview/

TRANSFORMERS 2

2:00 AM, 28-FEBRUARY-08

Transformers 2 Unfazed By Strike Prospect
The prospect of an actors’ strike in late June isn’t stopping Michael Bay, who plans to begin production on Transformers 2 for a June 26, 2009, release, Variety reported. DreamWorks would like to get underway with production of Transformers 2 in early June.

But Bay told the trade paper that the labor cloud has made the process harder. “If there is a strike, we shut down, but shutting down isn’t that big a deal,” Bay said. “You make accommodations, you make a deal with vending houses on equipment and on the stages where you are shooting. You hope for the best, but you can’t be incapacitated by the possibility that there will be a strike. We’ve got to get this town back to work. I can’t imagine anyone wants another strike; we’re all tired. Hopefully clearer heads will prevail.”

Bay said that the sequel is still recovering from the writer’s strike, and that he’s playing catch-up after getting back his trio of writers, Ehren Kruger, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.

“They did a detailed outline before the writers’ strike, and now they are in Michael Bay jail, holed up in a hotel and working feverishly,” Bay said. “We’re paying for a beautiful suite, and they are getting a lot of work done. Hiring three writers was unusual, but it has been a godsend in getting us to where we need to be. Somehow you find a way to get it done.”

Meanwhile, several studios are setting additional plans for summer production starts, based on the assumption that the Screen Actors Guild contract talks will be resolved without the kind of work stoppage that crippled the film industry during the 100-day writers’ strike, Variety reported.

Warner Brothers has already pushed forward on George Miller’s Justice League to begin shooting in mid-July.

Warners revealed earlier this week that it will begin shooting Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins on May 5.

Twentieth Century Fox, for instance, has scheduled August as the start date for The Tooth Fairy, a fantasy comedy that will star Dwayne Johnson.
Sony will begin shooting its Da Vinci Code sequel, Angels & Demons, in Rome on June 5.

Sony’s 2012, a $200 million Roland Emmerich-directed disaster epic, is slated for a summer 2009 release.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=49490

TERMINATOR SALVATION: THE FUTURE BEGINS

From ComingSoon.net:

Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins

Release Date: May 22, 2009
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Director: McG
Screenwriter: John Brancato, Michael Ferris
Starring: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
MPAA Rating: Not Available
Official Website: Not Available
Review: Not Available
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available
Movie Poster: Not Available
Production Stills: Not Available
Plot Summary: “Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins” will reinvent the cyborg saga with a storyline to be told over a three-movie span. The film is set in the future, in a full-scale war between Skynet and humankind.

http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=20443

And:

More Terminator Salvation Plot Details

Source: SCI FI Wire, January 7, 2008

SCI FI Wire talked to Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins associate producer James Middleton, who revealed more details about the new trilogy.
“It’s set after the events of ‘Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,’ where we see the nuclear exchange at the end of the movie, and we show what the world is like after this event, and we show how people try to deal in a post-apocalyptic world,” Middleton said. “And we introduce a new character, who becomes very important to the resistance and to John Connor, a new hero. It’s really about the birth of a new hero.”

He added that John Connor will certainly be a central character in the film as well. “I would look at him as a character that is introduced and that will grow in the second and third movies of the trilogy,” he said about the character, to be played by Christian Bale.

Middleton also mentioned that Arnold Schwarzenegger is not expected to make a cameo in any of the three new films as long as he is a governor.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=40744

And from First Showing.net:

Sam Worthington Cast in Terminator 4 via James Cameron’s Suggestion

February 14, 2008, Source: Variety, by Kevin Powers

With at least a year until its release, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins is slowly taking shape bit by bit, most recently with casting announcements. Last week we brought you the rumor that Josh Brolin might step in as the new Terminator, and before that, Christian Bale was announced as the new adult John Connor. The news is promising on its face, but there’s been a lot of discussion whether the director McG can really do the iconic storyline justice, what with his extreme lack of cred in this space. I mean, Charlie’s Angels… or “Fastlane”…? However, McG might just be getting the endorsement he needs with James Cameron, who directed the first two Terminator movies, influencing the selection of one of the new film’s main characters: Sam Worthington as Marcus, a presently unknown character who will serve a primary role in the new trio of Terminator films.

Of course, I think we all need to accept the sad reality that nothing Terminator-related will ever live up to Cameron’s original two. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines wasn’t half-bad, and the director, Jonathon Mostow, had a similar dearth of sci-fi experience as McG. But with the recent news, does this mean that Cameron might, in fact, be sneaking around in the background? That would be great, of course, but I’m not yet convinced Salvation will have enough of a Cameron influence to make us think this could be the next real Terminator movie.

Worthington is actually working with Cameron on his upcoming sci-fi epic Avatar. Why McG and Cameron spoke recently wherein Cameron recommended Worthington for a role in the new series is a bit unknown. Was Cameron so inspired by Worthington and interested in Salvation that he felt it necessary to give McG some recommendations? If it went down like that, will the recommendations cease or will Cameron continue to whisper in McG’s ear?

As for Worthington and his suitability for the role, that’s a bit unknown as well. The actor isn’t exactly recognizable, though he does have the stern brow and chiseled jaw to make him right home amidst a decimated Earth.

Personally, I’m more interested in Bale. McG confirmed recently that despite rumors to the contrary, Bale’s role as Connor is a “major player” in the film. I hated Nick Stahl’s incarnation of the future leader in Terminator 3. The question with this, however, is when and how Bale will exit the upcoming three-picture series; we all know he dies at some point, but it would suck to remove him too early, since he’s done such a cool job helping to reinvigorate the Batman franchise.

I guess we’ll see how Cameron’s involvement (or lack thereof) plays out over this year. I’m hesitant to say his recommendation of Worthington is a sign of great things to come. After all, McG, the captain of this project, said recently in reference to finding someone for the Terminator role: “I’m looking for credible actors. We’ve already got Christian Bale, who is one of the greatest actors of his generation. I’d love to get Daniel Day-Lewis, but I don’t know if he goes in for this kind of movie.” With that kind of misguided thinking, he could use all the help Cameron can give him.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/02/14/sam-worthington-cast-in-terminator-4-via-james-camerons-suggestion/

9

2:00 AM, 27-FEBRUARY-08

Glover Goes Long In 9
Quirky character actor Crispin Glover told SCI FI Wire that he’s looking forward to the expansion of Shane Acker’s Oscar-nominated animated short 9 into a feature-length production. Glover voices a creature who steals souls in the feature movie, which is set in a post-apocalyptic world.

“I have finished with all of my work on it, but I don’t know what exactly is happening with that,” Glover said in an interview. “The work I did on that was very different from Beowulf, because in that one I did go on and do my voice and didn’t have a chance to interact with other actors.”
Glover voiced the monster Grendel in Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf, which dropped on DVD on Feb. 26.

The animated 9 short is available online. Glover said the movie version will change things dramatically. The short “was a silent film,” he said. “There was no dialogue in the short, 10-and-a-half-minute film. So this post-apocalyptic nightmare is what the director’s vision is all about, and my job was to just get across what he wanted me to do. You’ve got to interpret the character and rebirth it his way, and when it’s edited, it may be completely different from what you put forth as an actor. I’m glad we’re working with the director who did the original short.”

Written by Monster House screenwriter Pamela Pettler, 9 features the voices of Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau and Elijah Wood.

9 is expected to be released later in the year. http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=49371

THE MEGAS

12:00 AM, 27-FEBRUARY-08

Mostow Developing Megas

Jonathan Mostow will partner with Virgin Comics to develop a feature from The Megas, an alternate-universe graphic novel just published by Virgin based on a Mostow idea, Variety reported.

The graphic novel, scripted by John Harrison and drawn by Peter Rubin, presupposes an America that has a ruling class called the Megas, for whom there is a special set of laws. A detective who believes in the monarchy rethinks his position after investigating a crime that reveals ugly truths about the elite society.

It’s unclear whether Mostow will write the script or direct the feature adaptation; he and Virgin Comics chief creative officer Gotham Chopra and chief executive officer Sharad Devarajan will begin shopping the project shortly.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=49431

And from ComingSoon.net:

The Megas

Release Date: TBA
Studio: Not Available
Director: Not Available
Screenwriter: Not Available
Starring: Not Available
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: Not Available
Official Website: Not Available
Review: Not Available
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available
Movie Poster: Not Available
Production Stills: Not Available
Plot Summary: Based on the Virgin Comics graphic novel, written by John Harrison and drawn by Peter Rubin, presupposes an America that has a ruling class called the Megas, for whom there is a special set of laws. A detective who believes in the monarchy rethinks his position after investigating a crime that reveals ugly truths about the elite society.
http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=42388

STAR TREK

From ComingSoon.net:

Star Trek

Release Date: May 8, 2009
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Director: J.J. Abrams
Screenwriter: Roberto Orci, Alex Kutzman
Starring: John Cho, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Winona Ryder, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, Eric Bana, Leonard Nimoy, Marlene Forte, Jimmy Bennett
Genre: Sci-Fi
MPAA Rating: Not Available
Official Website: StarTrekmovie.com | NCC-1701.com
Review: Not Available
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available
Movie Poster:

Production Stills: View here
Plot Summary: From director J.J. Abrams (“Mission: Impossible III,” “Lost” and “Alias”) and screenwriters Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (“Transformers,” “MI: III”) comes a new vision of the greatest space adventure of all time, “Star Trek,” featuring a young, new crew venturing boldly where no man has gone before.

http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=15645

Star Trek XI – Trailer #1 TRUE-HD

From io9: Strung Out on Science Fiction comes this rumor:

A new rumor has surfaced about J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movie: it doesn’t deal with time travel at all, but rather with visiting different alternate realities. (Actually, I thought it featured time travel, which created alternate realities.) In one alternate timeline, we’ll get to see a very different version of the U.S.S. Enterprise, in which it’s a warship. (And will Spock have a cool goatee again?) Some of the movie will also take place in the Next Generation era, which makes sense since Leonard Nimoy is playing Old Spock.

Meanwhile, Anton Yelchin, who plays Chekhov in the new movie, appears to have confirmed the movie will feature Klingons. Or else he was just talking metaphorically when he said he has to look at a greenscreen scanner and pretend he’s looking at Klingon warships. Rumor has it the Klingons will be somewhat redesigned. [Screenrant]

http://io9.com/351995/crazy-new-star-trek-movie-rumors

AVATAR

For the latest update, from First Showing.net:

James Cameron’s Updates on Avatar Status

February 21, 2008, Source: AICN, by Alex Billington

One of the few people we’re desperately in need of an update from is James Cameron, who is currently working on his sci-fi 3D movie Avatar. Thankfully Harry from AICN got in touch with him just yesterday and he talked about all the latest with Avatar, including how technically complex and time consuming it is, and also how groundbreaking it just may be. This sounds like an animated Pixar project – they’re already two years in and have a year and a half to go of actual work as they prepare for its release in December of 2009. With every new day and every new update on Avatar, I get that much more excited for what this movie will bring.

A few days ago a bland and boring new photo from Avatar was revealed, but Cameron confirms that it isn’t from him and isn’t actually related to the movie. He goes on to explain that while they’ve finished principal photography, Steve Quale is out shooting second unit footage and they still have more performance capture work to do with Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Stephen Lang that could last until April or May. And even with Lang, who is the last on Cameron’s schedule to shoot, he explains that the scene “is so technically difficult it will take us until then to figure out how to do it.”

Things are going well on Avatar, or at least as well as can be expected on such a ridiculously complex project. We’ve wrapped principal, and most of the live action portion of the movie is already cut. It’s starting to look and sound like a movie. I’m ecstatic with the performances and the look. The cast chemistry worked out perfectly.

When working on a movie like this, that involves both extensive principal live-action photography and motion capture, as well as groundbreaking 3D and CGI work, time is the most essential aspect. Cameron has previously said that “the film will be composed of 60% computer-generated elements and 40% live action, as well as traditional miniatures” and is a hybrid movie that’s based on a full live-action shoot combined with computer-generated characters and live environments. While I wish I could better explain what exactly Cameron is doing, there really is no way to even guess at any of what we’ll see come December of ‘09.

You can see how spread out the schedule is — it’s just the nature of this type of CG animation/live action hybrid. Most of my time now is spent editing, because on this type of film you edit every CG scene twice — once to edit the raw performance capture, before it goes to virtual camera, and then again when you have the virtual camera shots, you do the final edit of the scene. It’s very complex and taxing, but the result is amazing. The Weta animators are ON FIRE, and seeing the world and the creatures come to life is what keeps us going. There’s a spirit on this film, an esprit de corps amongst the virtual team, that comes from knowing we’re doing something absolutely groundbreaking. It’s why people still have good morale after working on this thing for two years or more. And we still have more than a year and a half to go. I don’t know if this will be a good film, great film, awful film, but I can say with absolute certainty that you will see stuff you’ve never imagined, and that the process of making this film will generate a lot of interest within the technical side of the biz.

Although they’ve been working for two years, Cameron explains that the actual CGI and final frames won’t be rendered until next year, where they’ll go into an all out “frenzy” to render everything by the release date. This filmmaking process and animation process has evolved quite a bit even in just the two years of time that he’s been working on it, and I can only imagine the doors it will open once the film arrives. I’ve previously heard other big name directors like Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have stepped into the studios to check out the technology and have been amazed by it. That’s certainly impressive to hear, not to mention the enthusiasm Cameron has when talking about it.

Avatar is the last film listed on the 2009 Release Schedule, and it’s a relief because thankfully that gives us the time we need to get through every other anticipated movie in the way. When December 18th, 2009 rolls around, be ready to experience something truly breathtaking, groundbreaking, and possibly life-changing. I already can feel it coming and I’m already anxious for it, even 22 months out.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/02/21/james-camerons-updates-on-avatar-status/

And for a little more, although possibly rumors, on Avatar, from Market Saw: A Blog Focused on 3D Motion Pictures:

Friday, February 29, 2008

James Cameron’s “avatar” Secrets Revealed: Warning Spoilers!

UPDATED (March 4th): Just wanted to clarify that until Cameron comes out and states otherwise, the original thought was that “Avatar” would be about 60% CGI. You can see the outdoor green screens here and here; they look ENORMOUS. However, there is a large live action component as well that Cameron must feel deserves the detailed set treatment – mainly interior shots it appears. Also it wouldn’t take much to move the Biolabs from inside to the exterior green scene to create the environment. I also wanted to say that we don’t know if they are creating life sized plants for this movie – though it would make sense to do so in some cases. Many flora shots would be CGI – my source was referring to “how others had the whole communication thing explained to them” by the powers at be. So whether it is exposed to the audience in a scientific way (sort of how in “Jurassic Park” they explained how they retrieved the DNA from dinosaurs) or whether they plan on “suspending belief” of the audience (i.e. unexplained) remains to be seen. Either way, it is an awesome premise and BEGS my curiosity. One thing is certain – science plays an interesting role in this movie; whether they keep the “theory” behind various communication techniques in a black box or expose it like in Jurassic Park is a guess at this point! My conjecture would be that Grace (Sigourney Weaver) explains it to someone and the audience (of course) listens in. If you want the details, highlight the white text below as it does contain spoilers.

Well I told ya it was coming and here it is. Exclusive Avatar news you can’t get anywhere else. Now a small caveat here: These notes are from a while back and some things may have changed during filming, but what has been noted DID EXIST at one point and these notes are authentic:

Got some VERY interesting news from one of my “Avatar” sources that was involved with getting this 3D motion picture made. AWESOME news in fact. In fact, you may not want to read this as there are definite mini-spoilers in this that may affect your viewing pleasure.

**SPOILERS BELOW** Highlight the white text below to read the contents:
My source was very clear on a number of things including some of the basis for the movie as well as how things looked inside the production buildings:

1. “Avatar” production set:

ON SHIPS:
There were hundreds of workers building the sets for Avatar – MDF was being thrown around like candy to make the sets as realistic as possible – and it was very successful. The transport ships for instance achieved a “matte steel appearance” that was undetectable. Those transport ships look pretty much like the new Battlestar Gallactica transports, but much bigger – like ten times bigger. These sets filled the interior of the set buildings in Wellington – to the rafters. All very real looking and NOT scaled down – it was all life size.

ON THE MESS HALL BUILDING:
This is mainly where the security forces interior scenes were shot. It was large (30 x 30 feet) made to look like steel construction with only a few windows to view the outside world. The feeling that was conveyed with this structure was that the soldiers were trying to bring their own home with them to this alien planet Pandora, and ignore what was happening outside – kind of like what happens when soldiers are deployed overseas today and they set up coffee shops, etc to keep from feeling terribly homesick. On the wall of the mess hall was a large US flag that takes up half the space – something like 10 x 15 feet) – this could indicate political overtones for the movie.

ON OTHER BUILDINGS:
There were other buildings being made that were for science related things. My source only saw these labs from the outside and they seemed very true to their nature. I spoke to some other workers and they said that they look like typical laboratories – one larger lab (about 30 x 30 feet) and one mobile lab (which was about 6 x 15 feet). Sigourney Weaver’s character who plays Grace in “Avatar” spends a lot of time in a control room in the bigger one.

2. “Avatar” Story Basics:

ON THE ANIMALS:
Apparently the animals can communicate with the plants of Pandora, but my source was kind of hazy on that. Not only that, but the native Na’vi inhabitants take their own hair and weave it into the hair of Pandora’s animals and can communicate that way to them!

ON THE PLANTS:

Many workers were talking about how they are using LED lights to show how plants “talk” to other plants on the planet. They use these lights to show how electrons move back and forth between plants through their root system. Again – my source didn’t know much more than that. However, if you examine the plants in the photo here – you can see the luminosity that is being spoken of that seems to be present not only in the plants but also in the Na’vi natives of Pandora.

ON THE AVATARS:
A lot of speculation was taking place on the set about how the Avatar chambers work. This is where humans link up with their native avatars to kind of take over their bodies. The chambers were really very cool and if you can picture the cryo chambers in the Alien movies, take those and put them upright with a darker appearance. I suspect that Sigourney Weaver’s Grace plays a key role in discovering the crucial communication methods and applying them to humans.

One can see a progression here of humans encountering this awesome alien communication system and then taking that idea, studying how it is done in the labs and then applying it to human to Na’vi avatar communication. At least that is my thoughts on it. Wow. This movie is going to really redefine the theater going experience! A great story, awesome effects and all in 3D. Man am I psyched. I also want to add that taking photos of the sets was impossible – so none are available (so far anyway).

Hopefully we will see some exciting new promo materials from Jim Cameron as also exclusively uncovered by my “Avatar” sources in the coming weeks…
As always, I will post new info as I receive it – unless the sensitivity is too extreme and my source asks me to hold back somewhat. This post for instance is missing some truly cool stuff but I cannot divulge it due to the fact it would closely label just who my source in this case is. Let’s put it this way: I am smiling a lot more today…

First two images courtesy of HDVideoPro http://marketsaw.blogspot.com/2008/02/james-camerons-avatar-secrets-revealed.html

DOLLHOUSE

And as for TV and Whedon fans from io9:

First Description of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse!

6:00AMon Tue Mar 4 2008, By Charlie Jane Anders

Here’s the production notice which Fox sent out along with the casting call for Dollhouse, Joss’ new show:

The drama stars Dushku as Echo, a member of a group of men and women who are imprinted with different personalities for different assignments. In between tasks they are mind-wiped, living like children in Dollhouse, a futuristic dorm/lab. A group of people, known as “Actives” (or “Dolls”), have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas and hired out for particular jobs, crimes, fantasies and occasional good deeds. When not imprinted, the Actives live, childlike and unremembering, in a hidden facility nicknamed “The Dollhouse”. Although the Actives are ostensibly volunteers, the operation is highly illegal, and under constant threat from a determined federal agent on one end and an insane rogue Active on the other. The story hinges around a greater and more subtle threat: Echo, a female Active, begins, in her mind-wiped state, to become self-aware.

[SpoilerTV]

http://io9.com/363362/first-official-description-of-joss-whedons-dollhouse

Meet The People Who Give Eliza Dushku Her Brain Modules

10:10am on Fri Feb 29 2008, by Charlie Jane Anders

Just because Eliza Dushku will be an amnesiac with occasional false personalities in Joss Whedon’s new TV show Dollhouse, doesn’t mean she won’t have friends.

A new casting sheet for Dollhouse includes a whole raft of morally gray characters, including friends, mentors, bosses and a love interest. Click through for a list of the show’s characters.

A new Fox network show starting as soon as next fall, Dollhouse stars Eliza Dushku as Echo, a “doll” who can take on any personality — including memories and abilities — she needs to complete a mission. When she’s not on a job, Echo sits in her “dollhouse” in an amnesiac state. And here are her supporting cast. None of these parts have been cast yet (as far as we know), but here are the characters Joss has come up with:

• Adelle Dewitt, the forty-something ice queen who runs the Dollhouse where Echo and the other “dolls” stay while they’re blanked out between missions. It sounds like she’ll be creepy and unsavory.
• Paul Ballard, a thirty-something G-man who will become a sort of love interest for Echo (although will she remember him between gigs?).
• Boyd Langton, who’s Echo’s “handler” and a sort of father figure to her. Sort of the Giles to her Buffy.
• Topher Brink, the geek who programs Echo and the other “dolls,” and may enjoy his mind-[effing] work a little too much.
• Sierra, one of Echo’s fellow “dolls” and the closest thing to a friend she has
• Victor, another “doll,” who’s amazingly handsome and who has to “play” everyone from Errol Flynn to Robert DeNiro on missions.
• November, another “doll,” who’s chubbier and more goofy. (She’s compared to Tracy Turnblad from Hairspray.)
• Dr. Claire Sanders, a gorgeous older woman whom Topher is in love with.

So now I’m more confused than ever about how the world of Dollhouse will work, since apparently the “dolls” do form human relationships despite the constant “reprogramming” interspersed with amnesia. It’ll be interesting to see how Joss pulls it all together. Dushku image by Wenn. [Ausiello Scoop] http://io9.com/362179/meet-the-people-who-give-eliza-dushku-her-brain-modules

And from The Hollywood Reporter.com:

Fox, Whedon in ‘Dollhouse’

By Nellie Andreeva, Nov. 1, 2007

Eliza Dushku (Getty Images photo)

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator Joss Whedon is returning to television with “Dollhouse,” a new sci-fi project starring “Buffy” alumna Eliza Dushku that has received a seven-episode commitment from Fox.

“Dollhouse,” from 20th Century Fox TV, is Whedon’s first TV project since his 2002 Fox drama “Firefly.”

The drama, whose license fee is said to be in the $1.5 million-$2 million-per-episode range, stars Dushku as Echo, a member of a group of men and women who are imprinted with different personalities for different assignments. In between tasks they are mind-wiped, living like children in Dollhouse, a futuristic dorm/lab. They have no memories of their previous lives, until Echo begins to try to find out who she was.

“Joss has been my favorite friend, genius, ally and confidant in the business since I was 17,” said Dushku, who also will serve as a producer on the project. “It’s incredible how much energy and excitement I have for this; I can’t wait to be this Echo character.”

“Dollhouse” came out of a lunch between Whedon and Dushku in September, shortly after the actress had signed a development deal with 20th TV and Fox. Whedon was giving her advice about writers and types of shows that might be good for her but wasn’t interested in venturing into TV himself because he was trying to get a couple of movie projects off the ground at the time.

“In the middle of the conversation, I went, ‘Oh, God. I thought of the show, and I had the title,’ ” Whedon said. Dushku came on board immediately. Within a week, the show was set up Fox and 20th TV.

Broadcast networks had been pursuing Whedon for years, but he had been focused on features.

“It was a really welcomed surprise,” Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly said of getting Whedon’s pitch for “Dollhouse.”

Reilly and Fox entertainment chairman Peter Liguori called the decision to pick up the show “a layup.”

“Joss is not only one of the more innovative show creators out there, he is an unbelievably accomplished showrunner,” Liguori said. “It was a creatively inspired idea, and the fact that he wanted to do it with Eliza was the cherry on a sundae.”

Whedon met with Reilly and 20th TV chairman Dana Walden for several hours Tuesday afternoon talking about “Dollhouse.”

“You can imagine a really exciting, timely, emotional show that will be packed with his signature storytelling involving humor, emotions and themes that are relatable,” Walden said after the meeting.

Although an agreement on the project was reached a month ago, the deal didn’t close until this week, so writer/executive producer Whedon hasn’t started writing it. With a writers strike considered imminent, he might not be able to finish it any time soon.

“I’ll hit the ground running, and I’ll work until I’m supposed to, then I’ll stop dead in my tracks and will pick up my picket signs,” he said.

Although it interferes with his work on “Dollhouse,” Whedon is in favor of a strike.

“I think the issues are extremely serious, and I think the studios are extremely entrenched,” he said. “No one wants a strike, but it has to happen because (the studios) would not listen. I support it and will do anything to fight for the creative rights that the people deserve.”

Whedon is repped by CAA and attorney Sam Fischer. Dushku is repped by Gersh.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ifabb1526bf6484225d52aeaedf6f1ea1

AFI TOP 50 SCI-FI MOVIES

And as a secondary note, the AFI has put out it’s list of the 50 top Sci-Fi movies of all time:

“The American Film Institute has come up with a list of 50 SF films that it deems among the best ever; it will pick 10 as the best SF movies of all time for a TV special that will air on CBS in June … The AFI defines “science fiction” as a genre that marries a scientific or technological premise with imaginative speculation. It has selected the following 50 movies as contenders for the best, in alphabetical order (in the case of movies that have been made more than once, we’ve designated by date which version the AFI has selected):

A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Alien, Altered States, The Andromeda Strain, Back to the Future, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, Blade Runner, Children of Men, A Clockwork Orange, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Cocoon, Contact, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Destination Moon, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Escape From New York, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Fantastic Voyage, The Fly (1986), Forbidden Planet, Frankenstein (1931), The Incredible Shrinking Man, Independence Day, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Invisible Man (1933), It Came From Outer Space, Jurassic Park, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, The Matrix, Men in Black, Minority Report, Planet of the Apes (1968), Repo Man, RoboCop, Rollerball (1975), Silent Running, Soylent Green, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Star Wars: Episode IV–A New Hope, Starman, The Stepford Wives (1975), Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Them!, The Thing From Another World, The Time Machine (1960), Total Recall, Tron, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The War of the Worlds (1953), Westworld”

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=48610

SciFi.com made it’s own poll for the top ten, and here are the results:

Star Wars Tops Wire Poll
“SCI FI Wire readers have spoken, and the Force is with them: Readers picked Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope as the top SF movie of all time.

Following a close second was Ridley Scott’s 1982 dystopian SF noir movie Blade Runner.

The results were tabulated from hundreds of e-mails readers sent with their picks for the top 10 SF movies of all time, drawn from the American Film Institute’s list of the 50 best SF movies.

The original Star Wars movie drew 7.8 percent of the total votes for top pick. Blade Runner received 7.5 percent.

The rest of SCI FI Wire’s top 10 SF movies, in descending order: The Matrix, Alien, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet and the original Planet of the Apes.”

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=49611

So, get out the comfy chair, and a good book, maybe Neuromancer, because it’s going to be a long wait….

WordPress.com Tags: Movies, SciFi, Science Fiction, Fantasy, TV, Television, Movie News

The Ultimate SciFi DVD Boxed Set Collection – Part II

This is Part II of the Ultimate Sci-Fi boxed set collection. This includes some lesser known shows, and some hard to find ones, but the links on the show’s name all lead to places you can obtain them. Some are British, some from the 70s. I tired to stay within the Sci-Fi genre, but some paranormal/fantasy ones just begged to be included. I will do a later post on just Fantasy/Paranormal, as there are plenty of those that are great, and deserve mention.

Star Trek Voyager – The Complete Seasons 1-7

Product Details

• Actors: Star Trek Voyager
• Format: Box set, Color, Dolby
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 47
• Rating:
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: December 21, 2004
• Run Time: 7782 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
STAR TREK VOYAGER details the adventures of the Starfleet’s most adventurous starship, the U.S.S. Voyager, as it is led by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Mulgrew) on missions into deep space.

Star Trek Enterprise – The Complete Seasons 1-4

Product Details

• Actors: Star Trek Enterprise
• Format: Closed-captioned, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 27
• Rating:
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: November 1, 2005
• Run Time: 4223 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Set in the 22nd century, a hundred years before James T. Kirk helmed the famous starship of the same name, ENTERPRISE takes place in an era when interstellar travel is still in its infancy. Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) has assembled a crew of brave explorers to chart the galaxy on a revolutionary spacecraft: Enterprise NX-01. As the first human beings to venture into deep space, these pioneers will experience the wonder and mystery of the final frontier as they seek out new life and new civilizations.

Star Trek Deep Space Nine – The Complete Seasons 1-7

Product Details

• Actors: Rene Auberjonois, Michael Dorn, Alexander Siddig
• Directors: Rene Auberjonois, Michael Dorn, Alexander Siddig, Corey Allen, Reza Badiyi
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 48
• Rating:
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: October 26, 2004
• Run Time: 8006 minutes

Amazon Customer Review

“Star Trek Deep Space Nine will always be the cult within the cult. Although not as popular as the other Star Trek spin-offs(even the anemic Voyager who had the benefit of the UPN network behind it), it has the diehard follwing of Trekker Niners who’ll easily attest that DS9 was the best Trek show ever.

Unlike the other spin-offs,the show as well as the characters evolved in its seven seasons. Notably the lead character Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) who started as a brooding arbitrator of a rundown space station. In the later seasons, the character was injected with the same passion that fueled Kirk and Picard,becoming a great Captain as well as accepting his role as the Bajoran’s Emissary and in the end, joined the Bajoran prophets.Sisko’s crew includes first officer/Bajoran liaison Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor),Trill science officer Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell), Chief Medical Officer Dr Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), Chief of Operations Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) and changeling Security Chief Odo (Rene Abourjonios). Station residences includes Ferengi Barkeeper Quark (Armin Shimmerman), Cardassian Tailor, former spy Garak (Andy Robinson) and Sisko’s son Jake (Cirroc Lofton).

Although known as the darkest of all the Trek shows (despite having some of the most humorous episodes in the entire franchise) DS9 has the most complex storytelling ever to come out of Gene Roddenberry’s universe.

In season one we have the humble beginnings of the station formerly known as Terok Nor. Sisko was more of an administrator than the passionate individual he is to become, Kira Nerys is unsettlingly fiesty, Julian Bashir rates high on the arrogent meter, and Jadzia Dax comes off as somewhat aloof. The shakedown season still plays better than the latter seasons of any of the following Trek Series(Voyager,Enterprise). The standout episodes include Past Prologue, Captive Pursuit, Progress, In The Hands Of The Prophets, and Duet, which in many opinion, is the best ever DS9 episode.

With the final season of TNG over shadowing,as well as the upcoming Voyager series in the wings, DS9 was trying to find it’s footing in the second season. Besides character development,we see the seeds of events begin to evolve, including the rise (and eventual downfalls) of Kai Winn & Gul Dukat,the re-introduction of The Original Series “Mirror, Mirror” Universe, as well as the dreaded Dominion.

The standout episodes includes Cardassians, Whispers, Blood Oath, The Maquis, The Wire, and The Collaborator. Season two ends with the ominous The Jem’hadar, preparing us for a direction never seen in Star Trek.

With the Dominion threat, and the introdution of the battleship,Defiant, DS9’s third season was finally coming into it’s own.

Along with more character development in the lead as well as the supporting cast(Garak, Dukat, Kai Winn, Rom & Nog), the writing was even stronger than before with great episodes such as House Of Quark, Civil Defense, Second Skin, Visionary, Past Tense, and Explorers. Also introduced in this season are Leeta, Ishka (“Moogie”), Brunt, Shaakar, and Lt. Commander Eddington.

Unfortunately with Star Trek Generations hitting the big screen, and Star Trek Voyager’s big premire, DS9 was lost in the shuffle. But it would use it’s underdog status to emerge as the greatest Trek series the following season.

The final ingredient that was needed in DS9, Worf becomes a member of the crew in the fourth season, and it will never be the same again.

Not only it was Starfleet’s Klingon officer’s introduction, but Way of the Warrior was DS9’s most exciting episode (it’s the equivalent of TNG’s Best Of Both Worlds), dealing with the Federation-Klingon Empire relation being strained and underminded by the Dominion, which concluded with the greatest battle scenes ever seen on televised Trek.

Sisko, promoted to Captain in the previous season, finally emerges as a commanding presence, in part to his image makover including a bald head & goatee.

Many classic episodes including WOTW, The Visitor, Little Green Men, Our Man Bashir, Rejoined, The Sons Of Mogh, Bar Association, Hard Time, and Broken Link which concludes with a surprise ending for the season.

This is the season where the writers & producers realise that the show will never come close to being the success that TNG was, and decided to make the show something to be proud of and making it’s place be known in the Star Trek Universe.

DS9’s fifth season proves there is so much more to the show once described about a station that didn’t “go anywhere.” When most TV shows wear out their welcome by season five,ST-DS9 just kept getting better. One of the factors is the strong writing, as well as the characters evolution (Worf & Dax’s romantic relationship, Bashir’s genetic enhancement secret) and such classic episodes as Looking For Par’Mach In All The Wrong Places, The Ship, Children Of Time, By Inferno’s Light/In Purgatory’s Shadow, and Trials and Tribble-ation (featuring the original ST crew).

The season ends with the beginning of the Dominion War which has been building up since Season Three.

In the sixth season, you come to realise that it’s far removed from the premise of a darker edgier Trek of the first two seasons, only to emerge as the greatest Trek show of all time.

The writing had become more ambitious than any other latter day Trek Series (TNG, VOY, ENT),and it was only the penultimate season. The six-part Dominion War Arc (including classic episodes A Time To Stand, Rocks & Shoals, The Sacrifice Of Angels) showed the producers going for broke as well as establishing DS9 as a show that’s not afraid to take chances.

The best season six episodes are too many to list(….Cordially Invited…, Waltz, Far Beyond The Stars, Inquisition, His Way, Reckoning, The Valient), but it’s In The Pale Moonlight that is the highlight of the entire season (as well as my 3rd favorite episode behind season one’s “Duet”,and four’s “The Way Of The Warrior”) as Captain Sisko wrestles with his conscience as Garak helps him to dupe the Romulans into joining their efforts in the war. The season ends on a dark tone with “Tears Of The Prophet” in which Jadzia Dax is killed by a Pah-Wraith possessed Dukat.

Although season six staked DS9’s claim as Star Trek’s best ever show,the seventh, and finale season of DS9, coming after a three season winning streak, hits a bump during the season, yet it was still superior than any other show of it’s genre.
The death of Jadzia Dax somewhat took the wind out of the series, and the new Dax, Ezri(Nicole DeBoer) an unprepared new Trill host, was written as”Ally McTrill,” only to emerge as more comfortable with the roll as the show wound down.
Some episodes ranged from mediocre (Prodigal Daughter) to downright weak (The Emperor’s New Cloak, Extreme Measures). Aside from the Finale Arc (including Penumbra, Strange Bedfellows, Tacken To The Wind & Dogs Of War), Take Me Out To The Holosuite, The Siege at AR 558, Chimara and Inter Arma… ranks as some of DS9’s greatest episodes. The ten part finale arc which ended with What You Leave Behind closed the show on a fitting yet premature ending.

Paramount released the DVD sets throughout 2003 (the tenth anniversary of DS9) as well as insatiate the many fans of this brilliant yet overlooked show (hopefully a series of TV movies in the future), reminding us of how great DS9 was, and that hopefully we’ll return to her someday.
Ten Favorite Episodes
1.Duet (first season)
2.The Way Of The Warrior (fourth season)
3.In The Pale Moonlight (Sixth Season)
4.The Visitor (Fourth Season)
5.The Seige at AR-558 (Seventh Season)
6.Trials and Tribble-ations (fifth season)
7. …You Are Cordially Invited(sixth season)
8.Looking For Par’Mach In All The Wrong Places (fith season)
9.Take Me Out To The Holosuite (seventh season)
10.Far Beyond The Stars (sixth season)”

Star Trek The Animated Series – The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek

Product Details

• Actors: Majel Barrett
• Directors: Bill Reed
• Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating:
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: November 21, 2006
• Run Time: 526 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Star Trek: The Animated Series is often referred to as Star Trek’s “fourth season” because it was created in 1973, four years after the third and final season of the original series, and because most of the original cast provided the voices. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, and Majel Barrett reprised their characters, and some contributed other voices as well. The only major omission was Walter Koenig’s Chekov, who was replaced at the navigation console by Lieutenant Arex, the three-armed alien who most prominently represented the series’ freedom to create non-humanoid characters. (Koenig did write an episode.) And while the animation is crude at best, the stories are solid sci-fi (penned by some of Star Trek’s veteran writers including DC Fontana and David Gerrold, all of whom received prominent opening credits), explored the Star Trek mythos, and elevated the series above typical Saturday-morning fare. For example, “Yesteryear” goes back to Spock’s early years on Vulcan, continuing some explorations from the original series’ “Journey to Babel,” and offers the familiar voice of Mark Lenard as Sarek. “One of Our Planets Is Missing” raises some interesting philosophical questions about the value of life, and “More Tribbles, More Troubles” and “Mudd’s Passion” revisit favorite characters. Star Trek: The Animated Series lasted just barely over one season, but it won the franchise’s only Emmy (for Outstanding Entertainment Children’s Series in 1975) and some of its ideas were embraced by future series. Trekkers who know it only by reputation will find it a valuable part of the Star Trek canon. In addition to the series’ 22 half-hour episodes, the DVD set includes “Drawn to the Final Frontier: The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series,” a 24-minute featurette including interviews with the producers and writers (but not actors) on how the series was created and why it still holds up; “What’s the Star Trek Connection?”, a glossary of characters and themes common to the animated series and other series; a storyboard gallery; and a brief text history. Writer David Gerrold and producer David Wise contribute audio commentaries on three and one episode, respectively, and the ever-reliable Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda provide text commentary on three other episodes.

Product Description
Boldly continuing where Star Trek: The Original Series left off, these animated adventures chart the progress of Captain Kirk and his crew in a universe unconstrained by “real-life” cinematography! With all characters voiced by their original actors, join Kirk, Spock, Bones and the crew for 22 new adventures: to boldly go where no animation has gone before!

V – The Complete Series

Product Details

• Actors: Duncan Regehr
• Directors: Victor Lobl, Earl Bellamy, Ray Austin, John Florea
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating:
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: July 27, 2004
• Run Time: 897 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
They came for water. And for food. And as it turned out, we were the food. But humanity bravely resisted – a struggle seen in the hit miniseries V and V: The Final Battle. Yet the war continues. The heroic conflict comes to a surprising outcome in V: The Series, presented complete and uncut in this 3-disc, 19-episode set. Once again, Earth is the main battleground. But now the aliens whose human guise hides their true reptilian natures are wiser. They believe the secret to their survival on Earth lies in the DNA of the newly born half-human, half-spaceling Starchild. They intend to capture her. But that’s something the world’s Resistance Fighters cannot allow.

The Complete UFO Megaset

Product Details

• Actors: Complete UFO Megaset
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 8
• Rating:
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• DVD Release Date: October 28, 2003
• Run Time: 1352 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
UFO was Gerry Anderson’s first live-action TV series after a decade of producing such children’s animated classics as Stingray (1963) and Thunderbirds (1964). The premise of UFO, which ran for a single season of 26 episodes in 1970, was like a more serious version of Anderson’s Captain Scarlet (1967): in the near future of 1980, a high-tech secret organization, SHADO, waged covert war against mysterious alien attackers. Ed Bishop played the American head of SHADO–he had been previously featured in Captain Scarlet and Anderson’s Doppelganger (1969)–though in all other respects this was a thoroughly British production. As with all Anderson series, UFO evidenced remarkable technological inventiveness and groundbreaking production values, coupled with startling lapses in fundamental logic too numerous to list.

Much more adult in story and content than earlier Anderson productions, and surprisingly dark with its pragmatic view of human nature and downbeat endings, the show now seems like a forerunner of The X-Files and the equally short-lived Dark Skies (1996). Barry Gray’s memorable theme and atmospheric music greatly enhanced the overall impact. Stylishly made, though terribly sexist by current standards and featuring eye-catching costumes more fitted for a campy dress party than the front line of a futuristic war, this cult classic eventually evolved into Space: 1999 (1975).

The UFO DVDs have been beautifully designed and produced. The mono sound is exceptionally strong, and the restored and remastered picture is almost unbelievably good for a 1970 TV show. With barely a flaw anywhere, the episodes look so clear, colorful, and detailed that they could have been filmed last week. This eight-disc megaset features all 26 episodes.

Voyagers! – The Complete Series

Product Details

• Actors: Meeno Peluce, Jon-Erik Hexum
• Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating:
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: July 17, 2007
• Run Time: 972 minutes

Amazon Customer Review

“This is a blast from the past from 25 years ago–I remember it very fondly! Phineas Bogg is a Voyager–a person who is supposed to travel through time and give history a push from time to time so that the proper things take place. The machine that he uses malfunctions a lot, he doesn’t have a lot of knowledege about history, and he accidentally ends up in the bedroom of a boy named Jeffrey Jones in 1982, an orphan who knows a lot about history. He ends up traveling with Bogg, going from one adventure to the next. Not as heavy handed and preachy as Quantum Leap (which I loved, too)–a fun series, great family entertainment, kids should like it.

One thing I remember is that whenever Meeno and Jon-Erik did interviews, they always spoke as if they were an equal team. Jon-Erik never spoke of Meeno as just a kid. On screen, they had a very nice relationship. The kid’s cute, the guy’s hunky, and the adventures are fun.

Generally in each episode, the voyagers drop into one scenario, leave at the first commercial break to another, solve the second problem, then take knowledge from that second scenario back to the first to solve the initial problem. Some of the links are that of situations (Spartacus and Tubbman have slavery in common), and others involve learning a trick to get out of the first (Salem and Houdini).

Here are the episodes–title and topic:
Pilot–Time Traveler and orphan meet
Created Equal (Spartacus and Harriet Tubman)
Bully and Billy (Teddy Roosevelt and Billy the Kid)
Agents of Satan (Salem witch trials and Harry Houdini)
Worlds Apart (Lawrence of Arabia and Thomas Edison)
Cleo and the Babe (Cleopatra is brought to 1920s New York/Lucy Luciano)
The Day the Rebs took Lincoln (Civil War and London/Dickens)
Old Hickory and the Pirate (War of 1812/New Orleans)
The Travels of Marco Polo…and Friends (1930s New York/Isaac Wolfstein)
An Arrow Pointing East (Lindburgh then Robin Hood)
Merry Christmas, Bogg (George Washington then Samuel Gompers)
Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakely Play the Palace (Queen Victoria)
The Trial of Phineas Bogg (Bogg is on trial back home)
Sneak Attack (Pearl Harbor plus young Bill Cody/Pony Express)
Voyagers of the Titanic (plus rabies and Pasteur)
Pursuit (WWII/Werner von Braun)
Destiny’s Choice (FDR in 1924 Hollywood)
All Fall Down (1938, boxing, Joe Louis)
Barrier’s of Sound (1890s Texas, Ike’s mom)
Jack’s Back (Jack the Ripper)

Some guest stars: Ed Begley, Jr., Gregory Itzin (twice!), Lance LeGault, Tricia O’Neil, Michael Fox (the reason M. J. Fox had to add the J?), Jonathan Frakes, Anne Lockhart, Dana Elcar, Frank Marth, and Julia Duffy.”

Earth 2 – The Complete Series

Product Details

• Directors: Janet Davidson, Félix Enríquez Alcalá, Frank De Palma, Daniel Sackheim, Joe Ann Fogle
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating:
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: July 19, 2005
• Run Time: 1025 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A science-fiction series with an ecological theme, EARTH 2 only ran for one season on NBC, and all 22 episodes of the program are collected here. In the distant future, the surface of the Earth has been largely destroyed, and mankind lives in space stations orbiting the planet. A group of space colonists, led by Devon Adair (Debrah Farentino) and John Danzinger (Clancy Brown), are sent to a far off planet to prepare it for colonization by the surviving population of Earth. But a mishap sends them careening off-course, crash landing thousands of miles from the proper camp site. EARTH 2 follows the band of colonists as they traverse the planet, encountering dangerous aliens and other humans who view them with distrust and suspicion. By tackling issues like ecology and colonization, EARTH 2 engages important ideas and themes in an entertaining fashion.

The Prisoner – Complete Series Megaset (40th Anniversary Edition)

Product Details

• Actors: Patrick McGoohan
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Collector’s Edition, Color, Original recording remastered, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 10
• Rating:
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• DVD Release Date: July 25, 2006
• Run Time: 884 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video
If a top-level spy decided he didn’t want to be a spy anymore, could he just walk into HQ and hand in his resignation? With all that classified knowledge in his head, would he be allowed to become a civilian again, free to go about his life? The answer, according to the stylish, brilliantly conceived 1960s British TV series The Prisoner, is a resounding no. In fact, instead of receiving a gold watch for his years of faithful service, our hero (played by Patrick McGoohan) is followed home to his London flat and knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he finds himself in a picturesque village where everyone is known by a number. Where is it? Why was he brought here? And, most important, how does he leave?

As we learn in Episode 1, Number 6 can’t leave. The Village’s “citizens” might dress colorfully and stroll around its manicured gardens while a band plays bouncy Strauss marches, but the place is actually a prison. Surveillance is near total, and if all else fails, there’s always the large, mysterious white ball that subdues potential escapees by temporarily smothering them. Who runs the Village? An ever-changing Number 2, who wants to know why Number 6 resigned. If he’d only cooperate, he’s told, life can be made very pleasant. “I’ve resigned,” he fumes. “I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. My life is my own.” So sets the stage for the ultimate battle of wills: Number 6’s struggle to retain his privacy, sanity, and individuality against the array of psychological and physical methods the Village uses to break him.

So does he ever escape? And does he ever find out who Number 1 is? “Questions are a burden to others,” the Village saying goes. “Answers, a prison for oneself.” Within this complete 17-episode set (which contains the entire series), all is revealed. Or is it? –Steve Landau

Product Description
Patrick McGoohan’s classic 17-episode British TV series, THE PRISONER, has been mesmerizing American viewers since its CBS debut in the summer of 1968. Now, just in time for its 40th anniversary A&E presents this definitive collector’s edition of the cult classic series. Fully restored and digitally remastered, THE PRISONER is presented in the fan-preferred episode order, offering a chronological interpretation of perhaps the most unusual and challenging television series ever filmed. After resigning from a top-secret position, a man is abducted from his London home and taken to a mysterious place known only as The Village. Residents of The Village, known only by numbers, are held captive on account of their valuable knowledge. The Prisoner–Number Six–must protect his mind in order to preserve his humanity while he struggles to discover the identity of Number One and achieve freedom by escaping from the repressive grasp of his captors. Set includes all 17 complete color episodes: Arrival / Free For All / Dance of the Dead / Checkmate / The Chimes of Big Ben / A, B, and C / The General / The Schizoid Man / Many Happy Returns / It’s Your Funeral / A Change of Mind / Hammer Into Anvil / Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling / Living In Harmony / The Girl Who Was Death / Once Upon a Time / Fall Out DVD Features: Ultra-rare original footage of the 1966 location shooting, accompanied by commentary with Bernie Williams; Bonus Program: THE PRISONER VIDEO COMPANION; Rare, Alternate Version of the Episode “The Chimes of Big Ben”; Rarely Seen “Foreign File Cabinet” Footage; Rarely Seen “Textless” Intro & Outro; Original Broadcast Trailers; Original Series Promotional Trailer; Gallery of Original Production and Promotional Materials; Production Stills Galleries; Interactive Map of the Village; Prisoner Trivia; Interactive Menus; Scene Selection NEW LIMITED EDITION COLLECTOR’S BOOKLET: 60 Fully Illustrated Pages; Hidden Mysteries Surrounding THE PRISONER; Complete Series Guide of All 17 Episodes; Detailed Color Fold-out Map of The Village.”

Space 1999 – 30th Anniversary Edition Megaset (17DVD)

Product Details

• Actors: Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Barry Morse, Nick Tate, Catherine Schell
• Directors: Kevin Connor, Val Guest, Bob Brooks (III), Robert Lynn (II)
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 17
• Rating:
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• DVD Release Date: July 31, 2007
• Run Time: 2496 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
When it was first broadcast in 1975, there had never been a more lavishly produced science fiction TV series than Space: 1999, a British production whose budget for the first of its two seasons ran an astounding £3.25 million. What keeps us fans enthralled after all these years has only partly to due with the first-rate production values, the plausibly constructed spaceship models, and expert special effects. The tone of the show is one of scientific dispassion, setting it apart from its TV sci-fi predecessors such as Star Trek, whose mood was more convivial. Our heroes here are in dire circumstances that require cool heads as a survival trait. Those circumstances: the 311 crew members of Moonbase Alpha experience a cataclysm that causes the moon to break away from Earth’s orbit and travel endlessly through space, turning our heroes into unintentional explorers. No TV series has created a more palpable feel of hard science fiction than this.

Of course the show is not without its detractors; it has been soundly lambasted for its many scientific errors. No less august a figure than Isaac Asimov criticized the show for its premise in the opening episode, “Breakaway,” which had nuclear explosions on the “dark side of the moon” somehow propelling it out of Earth’s orbit and flying through space without regard to any physical laws. In “Earthbound,” aliens traveling to Earth state it will take them 75 years to reach their destination, making one wonder why it didn’t take the moon that long to encounter the aliens. While these are serious complaints, fans tend to remember the scientific seriousness of the series and the sense of awe created by the many strange creatures and phenomena that the crew members encounter on their journey through the galaxy.

The Space: 1999 30th Anniversary Mega Set collects all 48 episodes broadcast over the show’s two seasons, contained on 17 DVDs that include vintage interviews, production stills, TV promotional spots, and interactive menus, and some material that was not seen in the original U.S. broadcasts has been restored. The episodes do not use the 2005 high-def remasters, so this is essentially the same as the 2002 Mega Set, but at a fraction of the shelf space (the Thinpak packaging is nicely compact) and a fraction of the price. –Jim Gay

Product Description
All 48 episodes of this acclaimed space adventure are contained in this complete collection, digitally remastered from the original 35mm film, plus bonus footage, featured extras, and much more! With its progressive plotlines, an outstanding cast, and astonishing special effects from Oscar® winner Brian Johnson (Alien, The Empire Strikes Back), SPACE: 1999 has secured its place as one of the most thought-provoking series of the 21st century—and beyond.

Alien Nation – The Complete Series

Product Details

• Actors: Gary Graham, Eric Pierpoint, Michele Scarabelli, Lauren Woodland, Sean Six
• Directors: Kenneth Johnson, Harry Longstreet
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: January 3, 2006
• Run Time: 989 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
As Newcomers — fugitive slaves from the planet Tencton — Detective George Francisco and his family face prejudice and intolerance as they struggle to assimilate to life on their adopted planet. Together with his human partner, hard-edged Detective Matt Sikes, George walks the beat in Slagtown, Los Angeles, a Newcomer slum teeming with vice and corruption. More than just another cop show or science fiction show, Alien Nation utilizes a unique and exciting blend of action, suspense, humor, and social drama to explore the sociology of what it means to be an outsider striving to fit in.

Alien Nation – Ultimate Movie Collection

Product Details

• Actors: Alien Nation-Ultimate Movie Collection
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: April 15, 2008
• Run Time: 447 minutes

Amazon Customer Review

“Dark Horizon is on its own disc. The other four movies are on 2 flipper discs–one movie per side. All the movies have a Ken Johnson commentary track. The first four movies have “Making of” featurettes that are a bit dry, but have some great nuggets. The first four also have gag reels. All the movies have a wide of array of stills in a photo gallery.
The last movie’s disc side includes a 25-minute reunion taped at Johnson’s home in January 2007. Everyone’s there except for Sean Six/Buck. It’s amazing! I got a warm feeling just watching! It opens with candid meet and greets and sitting down to a meal. They gather in a circle next, and really start to talk. The actors talk about being cast, about make-up, about the movies, and about the reaction from various ethnic groups, among other things. There are some great behind-the-scenes shots from the original series that I’ve never seen anywhere else.

Dark Horizon is fine, but man, were they hitting on all four cylinders for the second movie–Body and Soul. It features an excellent story and script, a satisfying Matt and Cathy story, and a few twists and turns that you won’t expect. Everything that made the series great is on display in the second movie–the comic timing, the chemistry between the actors, the jokes, the names, you name it, it’s there–it’s like a time machine back to the good old days of the show’s weekly run. The last three are just as good–the atmosphere and feeling of the season is there in full force. I wasn’t crazy about George’s promotion at the end of the original series because it wrecked the detectives’ dynamic, but found that they dealt with it very well in the movies for both characters.

Buck and Emily don’t have much to do in the first two movies, but they come into their own in the last three. Cathy and Matt’s romance evolves beautifully throughout. If you think of the five movies as 10 episodes of Alien Nation–it’s like a whole half season.

Pocket put out 8 Alien Nation novels and novelizations back in the day, so we had those to get over the cliffhanger when the complete series set came out a couple of years ago. But that wasn’t good enough, frankly. Thank goodness these are on dvd at last! Now we really have the complete series available on dvd.”

1. “Dark Horizon”- 1994
2. “Body and Soul”-1995
3. “The Enemy Within”- 1996
4. “Millennium”-1996
5. “The Udara Legacy”-1997

Roswell – Seasons 1-3

Product Details

• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• DVD Release Date: November 14, 2006

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Opening with a Dido theme song and featuring character-driven, sweet-natured melodrama, Roswell was a show with a surprisingly dedicated fandom, who twice won it reprieve from cancellation. One of its main strengths was, of course, the extent to which its premise–alien teenagers trying to sort out their identities while emotionally involved with their human contemporaries–was a free-floating metaphor for race and sexuality issues. Another was the strong ensemble that its cast developed: you believed in the strangeness of the alien trio and the well-intentioned normality of their three human friends. Jason Behr gave the alien Max a quiet authority and Majendra Delfino took the sidekick role of Maria and gave it both intensity and fine comic timing. It was also a show in which you were never sure which adults you could trust–William Sadleir trod a fine line of ambiguity as the local sheriff and Julie Benz was silkily sinister as an FBI agent. Anyone who ever loved this show will want these DVDs–and many others may want to find out what the fuss was about.

Roswell is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The special features include commentaries by writer Jason Katims, the directors, and various cast members as well as featurettes. The commentaries are unusually insightful on the casting process, and the discs also include the auditions for the part of Tess as well as deleted scenes and a music video. –Roz Kaveney

Steven Spielberg Presents Taken

Product Details

• Actors: Julie Benz, Catherine Dent, Jason Gray-Stanford, Tina Holmes, Michael Moriarty
• Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rating:
• Studio: Dreamworks Video
• DVD Release Date: October 21, 2003
• Run Time: 885 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Steven Spielberg’s alien abduction opus Taken is what happens when you cross-breed Close Encounters of the Third Kind with The Waltons. Obviously flushed with the success of the TV miniseries Band of Brothers, Spielberg’s Dreamworks studio has created an equally epic 10-part story chronicling 50 years of habitual abduction over several generations of three American families. Beginning with the most notorious alien cover-up in U.S. history, the 1947 “crash” at Roswell, New Mexico, Taken introduces the “Greys” and the families they routinely abduct, probe, and, in a couple of cases, impregnate over the course of the ten 90-minute episodes. The three families are: the Keys, from which first Russell, then his son Jessie, then grandson Danny, are all abducted; the Clarkes, who are descended from a liaison between lonely put-upon housewife Sally Clarke and one of the Roswell crash survivors; and the Crawfords, the ruthless G-men who are committed to uncovering the purpose behind the alien visitations at any cost.

It’s this question that forms the main thread of the story: but even though the Greys’ actions are at best ambiguous and at worst hostile, the viewer can’t help feeling that after all this systematic abuse of their human test subjects the aliens will in the end present them with a cure for cancer. In fact, Taken is Spielberg at his most touchy-feely: for all its science fiction trappings it’s basically a soap opera, lacking the sinister undercurrent of either Dark Skies or The X-Files. Nevertheless, it’s an engaging series with decent performances–most notably Joel Gretsch as psychotic Owen Crawford–good special effects, and an engaging enough storyline to make it entertaining, if somewhat disposable, TV.

The Ray Bradbury Theater – Complete Series (65 Episodes)

Product Details

• Actors: William Shatner, Jeff Goldblum, Leslie Nielson, Peter O’Toole, Eddie Albert
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rating:
• Studio: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: January 11, 2005
• Run Time: 1571 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Featuring 65 Episodes! Entranced by magicians, comic strips, and science-fiction magazines, Ray Bradbury began “educating” himself at the Los Angeles Library three to five times a week. By twenty-seven years of age he “graduated,” having written over several million words. In his early twenties, he supported himself by selling newspapers on street corners and writing for radio programs such as Suspense, Escape, CBS Radio Playhouse, and X Minus One. Bradbury has now written over one thousand short stories–400 of which have been published in such magazines as The New Yorker, The New Republican, The Saturday Evening Post, Amazing Stories, Colliers, Dime Detective and McCall’s. He has also written for Alfred Hitchcock Presents and for Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. And now, showcased in this 5 DVD set are some of Ray Bradbury’s finest works.

Threshold – The Complete Series

Product Details

• Directors: Norberto Barba, David S. Goyer, John Showalter, Tim Matheson, Peter Hyams
• Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating:
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: August 22, 2006
• Run Time: 555 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
THRESHOLD is a suspenseful drama about a team of experts who are assembled when the U.S. Navy makes a chilling discovery: an extra terrestrial craft has landed in the mid-Atlantic ocean. Dr. Molly Anne Caffrey (Carla Gugino) is a government contingency analyst whose job is to devise response plans for worst-case scenarios. In a single instant, her life changes when one of those plans–THRESHOLD–is activated by Deputy National Security Advisor J.T. Baylock (Charles S. Dutton). Armed only with her hypothetical strategy to address the appearance of aliens on earth, Caffrey now finds herself thrust in the midst of a global crisis. She hand-picks a team of eclectic specialists to prepare for first contact: Dr. Nigel Fenway (Brent Spiner), a disillusioned NASA microbiologist; Lucas Pegg (Rob Benedict), a brilliant but neurotic physicist; Arthur Ramsey (Peter Dinklage), an expert in languages and mathematics; and Cavennaugh (Brian Van Holt), a highly trained covert operative with a mysterious past. Together, they decipher the intention of the craft, the fate of the ship’s crew and begin preparations for the possibility of a crisis situation–an alien invasion.

Land of the Giants – The Full Series (The Giant Collection)

Product Details

• Directors: Sobey Martin, Harry Harris
• Format: Box set, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 9
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: July 24, 2007
• Run Time: 2658 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Premiering on ABC in 1968 and lasting just 51 episodes before its cancellation in 1970, Irwin Allen’s fantasy series Land of the Giants has built a sizable (if you’ll pardon the pun) fan base in subsequent decades thanks to its mix of adventure, science fiction, and camp; now those dedicated fans can enjoy the entire series in an impressive set that features a wealth of extras. The template for Giants is remarkably similar to that of Allen’s Lost in Space; here, the passengers and crew of the commercial spacecraft The Spindrift encounters a mysterious energy force en route to London and finds themselves on a planet which parallels Earth in every way save one – its inhabitants are twelve times the size of the marooned crew. The protagonists are less tightly knit than Space’s astronaut family Robinson – in fact, pilots Gary Conway and Don Marshall regularly butt heads with architect Don Matheson and entertainer Deanna Lund – though all seem to agree that orphan Stefan Arngrim is cute as a button and Kurt Kasznar is as much a pain in the neck as Dr. Smith (amusingly, Jonathan Harris turns up in this set in the episode “Pay the Piper”). But The Spindrift castaways’ adventures are less juvenile than those of the later Lost in Space episodes, and the special effects (which cost the network a record-setting $250,000 per episode) are impressive for the period. The nine-DVD set for Land of the Giantscontains the series’ entire network run, as well as the unaired pilot, which offers a similar take on the debut episode, “The Crash,” minus John Williams’ jazzy theme and other elements. Most of the surviving cast members (Kasznar passed away in 1979, and Heather Young is not included) is featured in interviews about their experiences on the show, and there are several home videos of producer Allen directing the program and interacting with the over sized props and sets. Also featured on the discs are galleries of publicity shots, episodic photos, show merchandise and of the photogenic Ms. Lund, and the MAD Magazine parody. Meanwhile, buyers can also pursue a reproduction of the comic book adaptation and a booklet with more cast interviews and photos, and check out a set of trading cards, a Spindrift key chain and crew iron-on patch – all of which is contained in the set’s clever carrying case, which reproduces a wooden cage that held the Giants‘ heroes in one episode. Though casual admirers may balk at the Giant Collection price tag, diehards will undoubtedly appreciate having the entire set and quality extras at their disposal.

Product Description
After their sub-orbital space craft is drawn into a space warp, the passengers and crew of the Spindrift, crash into a planet where everything is 12 times its normal size!

Starhunter 2300: The Complete Series

Product Details

• Directors: Roger Gartland, Colin Bucksey, David Wheatley
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rating:
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: November 23, 2004
• Run Time: 1050 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In the 23rd century, humanity has spread to the stars and planets in Earth’s solar system. Civilization is a patchwork of a hundred worlds, most with weak governments and weaker laws. It is a golden age for criminals who exploit this lawlessness and use the incredible technology of the future to prey on others. A former luxury space liner, the Tulip, is now a bounty-hunting vessel commanded by Travis Montana (Sunset Beach’s Clive Robertson) who searches the galaxy in search of his father. He’s joined on his quest by comic hunter Rudolpho, plucky Percy, holographic first mate Carvaggio, sexy special services officer Callista and bad boy Marcus. Now the fight for justice is set among the stars? and the showdown is about to begin. Perfect for Fans of New Sci-Fi TV Favorites Farscape, Stargate SG-1 and Babylon 5! Episodes include: Rebirth, Star Crossed, Biocrime, Chasing Janus, Spaceman, Becoming Shiva, The Third Thing, Torment, Painless, Skin Deep, Supermax Redux, Pandora’s Box, Stitch in Time, The Prisoner, Kate, Rivals, Heir and the Spare, Just Politics, Negative Energy, License to Fill, Hyperspace I & II.

The Crow (Collector’s Series Boxed Set)

Product Details

• Actors: Brandon Lee, Rochelle Davis, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, Ling Bai
• Directors: Alex Proyas, Bharat Nalluri, Tim Pope
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating:
• Studio: Dimension
• DVD Release Date: March 20, 2001
• Run Time: 294 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The collection includes THE CROW: Legendary Brandon Lee plays Eric Draven, a rock guitarist who, along with his finacee, is killed by a ruthless gang of criminals. One year after his death, Eric returns — watched over by a hypnotic crow — to seek revenge. THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS: The murder victim (Vincent Perez) of an evil drug cartel is brought back to life by a mysterious crow to exact revenge on his killers one by one! THE CROW: SALVATION: Wrongly executed for the murder of his girlfriend, Alex Corvis (Eric Mabius) returns to find the real killer — aided by his girlfriend’s sister (Kirsten Dunst) … and the mysterious crow!

The Crow: Stairway To Heaven – The Complete Series

Product Details

• Actors: Mark Dacascos
• Directors: Bryce Zabel
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rating:
• Studio: Arts Alliance America
• DVD Release Date: July 24, 2007
• Run Time: 968 minutes

Amazon Customer Review

“The Crow: Stairway to Heaven” takes its place on the “Canceled To Soon” list. It really was a wonderful story that put a new perspective on the “Crow” mythos. In this show, Eric Draven’s story became one of redemption and Mark Dacascos played him beautifully. The show also featured wonderful performances by Marc Gomez (as Albrecht), Katie Stuart (as Sarah), and Sabine Karsenti (as Shelly). People have been waiting for this show to come out on DVD for a long time (the show ran for one season from 1998 to 1999), so it’s great that it’s finally here. I look forward to revisiting the episodes and seeing what extras come in this 4-disc set.”

Jim Henson’s Fantasy Film Collection – (Labyrinth / MirrorMask / The Dark Crystal)

Product Details

• Actors: Jim Henson’s Fantasy Film Collection
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating:
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: September 5, 2006
• Run Time: 298 minutes

Amazon Customer Review

“Of course, we all remember Jim Henson for bringing us those fuzzy, adorable animal puppets and their variety show.
But Henson also produced some very memorable, intriguing fantasy films, and after his death his production company has continued that tradition. “The Jim Henson Family Film Collection” brings together three classic films from Henson and his company, as well as an accompanying book of unknown content.
“Labyrinth” becomes a problem for teenage Sarah, who is stuck babysitting her crying baby stepbrother. But when she idly wished that the goblins would steal him, she never expected it to happen — or that the Goblin King Jareth (David Bowie) would challenge her if she tries to get her brother back.
Now Sarah has only thirteen hours to navigate a changing, hazardous maze, with Jareth’s castle at the center of it. To find her way, she will have to befriend strange creatures and avoid lethal bogs, nasty fairies, head-jugglers, and finally Jareth himself — or her brother will be turned into a goblin himself.

“The Dark Crystal” is the heart of this movie, where on another world, there are two strange races — the enormous, gentle, peaceful Mystics, and the nasty, vulture-like, vicious Skekses. They are somehow connected to a massive crystal that was broken long ago, and now a shard is missing from it. What’s more, three suns are about to come into conjunction, and the shard has to be back in place.

The Mystics have cared for one of the last Gelflings, an orphan named Jen. As the conjunction approaches, they send him out to find the lost shard. Along the way, Jen finds new friends who assist him in his quest, including another Gelfling. But can they avoid the Skekses? And what will happen when the suns line up, and the crystal is completed?
These movies were created in whole by Jim Henson, and even in the darker moments, they have his unmistakeable stamp. More recent — and quite different in tone — is “Mirrormask,” which instead has the stamp of writer Neil Gaiman, and seems like a warped “Alice in Wonderland.” But Henson’s production company does a great job with all the weird special effects.

In “Mirrormask,” we’re introduced to Helena (Stephanie Leonidas), a young circus girl who longs for a “normal” life, and makes elaborate, otherworldly drawings. But one night her mother collapses, and needs life-saving surgery. The guilt-ridden Helena is suddenly whisked into a world that looks very like her drawings, where everyone has a mask — and the beautiful queen of light (who looks a lot like Helena’s mom) is in a coma.

Helena is determined to wake the queen, and gets juggler Valentine (Jason Barry) to accompany her on her quest for the mysterious Mirrormask. But the stakes become higher when the forces of darkness — and their eerie queen — target Helena, and she finds that a dark duplicate of herself has taken over her life. Now Helena must somehow defeat the dark forces, with her mother’s life — and her own — hanging in the balance.

All three of these movies are classics of one type or another, and each embraces a different kind of fantasy. One is about wanting to be swept into an idyllic fantasy life. One is entirely of another world. And one is about the dangers of the other world.

To top it off, three are coming-of-age stories, whether for a teenage girl or a Muppet Gelfling — they all focus on someone pursuing something that can save what is important to them, and growing as a person along the way. The scripting tends to be tight and a little wry. Sometimes it gets goofy, but well-acted (and in Bowie’s case, well-sung).
What’s more, the styles of each movie change: “Dark Crystal” is very fantastical and serious, even with some gross, dark parts, while “Labyrinth” is more kiddy-friendly and Muppety, with the little chivalrous fox (though Bowie’s tight pants are a BIG distraction). And “Mirrormask” has a different style altogether, with lots of shadowy buildings, eerie lighting, fleshy masks, wide bodies and tentacle-like limbs.

The “Jim Henson Fantasy Films” are a good collection of films, showing off Henson’s more fantastical side. Definitely worth seeing.”

Millennium – Seasons 1-3

Product Details

• Format: NTSC
• Number of discs: 18
• DVD Release Date: November 14, 2006

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Millennium – The Complete First Season
Millennium marked the second major television series created by Chris Carter, who’d already made his name as the brains behind The X-Files. And, like its predecessor, it shares a lot of the same themes–it’s a crime thriller that gradually unfolds into a grand conspiracy involving the government and the fate of the entire world. Agent Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) is a former FBI agent who has transplanted his family from Washington, D.C. to Seattle, after suffering something of a breakdown. He’s an expert criminal profiler–arguably the best, thanks to his ability to “see” into the minds of killers–and he fears for the safety of his wife and young daughter. In Seattle, he joins the mysterious Millennium Group, an agency of freelance crime-busters who investigate particularly brutal crimes. As a result, Millennium is downright bleak viewing, as Black jumps from horrific slaying to horrific slaying. Moreover, there’s a growing sense of unease about the workings of the Millennium Group, so that in typical Chris Carter fashion, you don’t know who to trust. With its pre-Y2K angst and overwhelming darkness, as well as its general humorlessness, Millennium hasn’t dated as well as The X-Files. Still, thanks to Carter’s vision and Henriksen’s compelling take on the tortured Black, it’s difficult not to get hooked.

Millennium – The Complete Second Season
The groundbreaking show Millennium was about to take a new, visionary direction in its second season. Millennium could have continued its successful formula of introducing new, apocalyptic “Se7en-esque” serial killers for Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) to hunt down. But as any viewer can attest, it was the exploration of the mysterious “Millennium Group” and Frank Black’s role that held the key to the show’s potential longevity. And who better to build a mythos for the Millennium than the minds behind The X-Files: producer/writer team Glenn Morgan and James Wong. Stepping in when Chris Carter stepped aside, Morgan and Wong immediately began to focus season 2 not on the killers and their impact on Armageddon, but on Frank Black and his struggle for his personal stability and sanity. The Millennium Group, whose identify and function was never really explored in season 1, now becomes a central entity in season 2 complete with its own Masonic-like mythology.

Millennium – The Complete Third Season
In the third season of Millennium, we find Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) a widower and a single father who is completely disillusioned with the Millennium group and their evil intentions. Hell-bent on revenge, Frank rejoins the FBI, gets a new partner, Special Agent Emma Hollis (Klea Scott), and launches a personal crusade to dismantle and expose the Millennium Group. Interestingly, the visionary, quirky, X-Files mythos-like direction in which the producer-writer team of Glenn Morgan and James Wong took Millennium in season 2 didn’t sit well with many fans. Now that a good chunk of the Earth’s population had been wiped out by the Group’s killer plague, which also claimed Frank’s wife Catherine (Megan Gallagher), Chris Carter decided to take the helm once again and redirect season 3 back to the dark, apocalyptic crime-fighting genre in which it was intended. The mythos element is still present, but season 3 is a definite return to the look and feel of season 1 where most of the episodes are individual dark crime stories. The scripts in season 3 are consistently sharp (especially Ken Horton’s and Chip Johannessen’s), and the interesting, new dynamics introduced could have easily carried the show onward for many more seasons. Sadly, it was never meant to be. Like an apocalyptic metaphor, one of the best-written, best-produced, and most-influential shows of the 1990s would be canceled at the end of season 3, less than one year before the year 2000. Fans were left to wonder about the future of Frank Black, Jordan, and the success of his personal vendetta. Fortunately, The X-Files was still going strong at the time and fans got a bit of closure with The X-Files’ season 7 tie-in episode “Millennium” (included on this DVD set).

NOTE: The following movie sets are not Sci-Fi as such, but because of their paranomoral elemenets and the “essential” nature of them, I am including them here, rather than in the Fantasy/paranormal group. My call…

The Exorcist – The Complete Anthology (The Exorcist/ The Exorcist- Unrated/ The Exorcist II: The Heretic/ The Exorcist III/ The Exorcist: The Beginning/ The Exorcist: Dominion)

Product Details

• Actors: Stellan Skarsgård, Gabriel Mann, Clara Bellar, Billy Crawford (II), Ralph Brown
• Directors: Paul Schrader, John Boorman, Renny Harlin
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rating:
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: October 10, 2006
• Run Time: 700 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Here it is. The scream of the crop. The fear is here. And so is the hope. Because at their center are intrepid souls who dare to look evil in the eye and vanquish it. From The Exorcist (presented in its Original Theatrical Version and the 2000 Version You’ve Never Seen) to the shocks and surprise of Exorcist II: The Heretic and The Exorcist III to the two versions (by two different directors) of Dominion/The Beginning, this DVD set comprises the scariest and most fascinating collection of movies in modern horror.

The Exorcist (25th Anniversary Special Edition) Product Details

• Actors: Jason Miller, Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn
• Directors: William Friedkin
• Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating:
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: December 1, 1998
• Run Time: 197 minute

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential video
Director William Friedkin was a hot ticket in Hollywood after the success of The French Connection, and he turned heads (in more ways than one) when he decided to make The Exorcist as his follow-up film. Adapted by William Peter Blatty from his controversial bestseller, this shocking 1973 thriller set an intense and often-copied milestone for screen terror with its unflinching depiction of a young girl (Linda Blair) who is possessed by an evil spirit. Jason Miller and Max von Sydow are perfectly cast as the priests who risk their sanity and their lives to administer the rites of demonic exorcism. Ellen Burstyn plays Blair’s mother, who can only stand by in horror as her daughter’s body is wracked by Satanic disfiguration. One of the most frightening films ever made, The Exorcist was mysteriously plagued by trouble during production, and the years since have not diminished its capacity to disturb even the most stoic viewers. The film is presented in letterbox format on digital video disc, with a remastered soundtrack that’s guaranteed to curdle your blood. The 25th-anniversary Special Edition DVD of The Exorcist is packed with bonus features, including a 74-minute documentary titled The Fear of God: The Making of The Exorcist, which includes interviews with cast and crew, audio commentary by William Friedkin and author William Peter Blatty, a special introduction by Friedkin, theatrical trailers and TV spots, and DVD-exclusive coverage of the film’s storyboards and production design.

Product Description
An innocent girl is evilly possessed — and a doubting priest becomes her last hope. Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn in the two-time Academy Award(R) winner that shocked the world.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Separate Commentaries by Friedkin & Blatty
Other:“Fear of God” 3 trailers Nwe Interviews
TV Spot:6 TV Spots: “Beyond Comprehension”, “You Too Can See The Exorcist”, “Between Science and Superstition”, “The Movie You’ve Been Waiting For”, “Nobody Expected It”, “Life Had Been Good”

The Exorcist (The Version You’ve Never Seen)

Product Details

• Actors: Jason Miller, Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn
• Directors: William Friedkin
• Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: French, Portuguese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating:
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: December 26, 2000
• Run Time: 132 minutes

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential video
Director William Friedkin was a hot ticket in Hollywood after the success of The French Connection, and he turned heads (in more ways than one) when he decided to make The Exorcist as his follow-up film. Adapted by William Peter Blatty from his controversial bestseller, this shocking 1973 thriller set an intense and often-copied milestone for screen terror with its unflinching depiction of a young girl (Linda Blair) who is possessed by an evil spirit. Jason Miller and Max von Sydow are perfectly cast as the priests who risk their sanity and their lives to administer the rites of demonic exorcism, and Ellen Burstyn plays Blair’s mother, who can only stand by in horror as her daughter’s body is wracked by satanic disfiguration. One of the most frightening films ever made with a soundtrack that’s guaranteed to curl your blood, The Exorcist was mysteriously plagued by troubles during production, and the years have not diminished its capacity to disturb even the most stoical viewers. Don’t say you weren’t warned! –Jeff Shannon

DVD features
Although it was endorsed by director William Friedkin (reportedly with some reluctance), this “new” version of The Exorcist was criticized by many as a marketing ploy, and now exists for perpetual debate among horror fans. In addition to a few more subtly inserted “subliminals” of demonic imagery, 12 minutes of previously unseen footage focus on four new scenes: the series of physical tests (spinal tap, etc.) that Regan (Linda Blair) must endure; a post-ritual scene between priests Karras (Jason Miller) and Merrin (Max von Sydow), in which Merrin postulates that Satan is targeting them in order to make them despair and doubt their faith; a different version of the famous “spider-walk” scene (shown as an outtake in the previous special edition DVD’s making-of documentary), in which Regan eerily walks down stairs in an upside-down, crablike movement, with blood dripping from her mouth; and a new ending, in which Father Dyer (Rev. William O’Malley) meets Lieutenant Kinderman (Lee J. Cobb) and the two of them share a casual chat about movies, echoing Kinderman’s earlier talk with Father Karras. This final change was viewed by many as the most egregious, destroying the closing note of the original version. Fans and critics alike found much more to praise in the spectacular remixing and remastering of the film’s original soundtrack, which is now scarier than ever in Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound.

Forbidden Planet (Ultimate Collector’s Edition)

Product Details

• Actors: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly
• Directors: Fred M. Wilcox
• Format: AC-3, Box set, Closed-captioned, Collector’s Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating:
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: November 14, 2006
• Run Time: 98 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video
This 1956 pop adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest is one of the best, most influential science fiction movies ever made. Its space explorers are the models for the crew of Star Trek’s Enterprise, and the film’s robot is clearly the prototype for Robby in Lost in Space. Walter Pidgeon is the Prospero figure, presiding over a paradisiacal world with his lovely young daughter and their servile droid. When the crew of a spaceship lands on the planet, they become aware of a sinister invisible force that threatens to destroy them. Great special effects and a bizarre electronic score help make this movie as fresh, imaginative, and fun as it was when first released. –Amazon.com

On the DVDs
Nestled in a metal collector’s box decorated with variations of original promo art, the colorfully designed 2-disc 50th Anniversary Edition of Forbidden Planet (also available separately) comes in a slip-covered fold-out case accompanied by a pocket of 17 miniature lobby card reproductions (eight for Forbidden Planet, nine for the 1957 companion movie The Invisible Boy). On disc 1, Forbidden Planet is presented with a new digital transfer from restored picture and audio elements, with soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, offering considerable improvement over the film’s previous DVD release. A selection of deleted scenes were taken from a faded and scratchy 16-millimeter “work print” that had originally been viewed by composers Louis and Bebe Barron as they were creating the film’s unique electronic score; they consist of full or partial scenes cut from the final film–mostly for good reason, but collectors (and those who first saw this rare material on the original Criterion Collection laserdisc) will welcome their inclusion here. The “lost footage” is crude special-effects test footage, again primarily of interest to sci-fi historians and aficionados. Given the fact that the original “Robby the Robot” cost over $100,000 to build in 1955, it’s easy to see why MGM wanted to get their money’s worth: An excerpt from the 1950s TV series “MGM Parade” shows Forbidden Planet star Walter Pigeon appearing briefly with Robby, and the popular robot gets even more attention as a guest star in “The Robot Client,” an episode of the Thin Man TV series (starring Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk) that originally aired on Feb. 28, 1958. Disc 1 also includes a gallery of seven science-fiction movie trailers dating from 1953’s The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms to 1960’s The Time Machine.

Disc 2 begins with 1957’s The Invisible Boy, a still-enjoyable B-movie that served as Robby’s post-Forbidden Planet showcase. Here, filmdom’s favorite automaton plays sidekick to a young boy (Richard Eyer) who turns invisible when he gets caught up in a super-computer’s scheme of global domination. Also included are three documentaries, all of them very good to excellent: In addition to reuniting the surviving cast members of the ‘56 classic (including Leslie Nielsen, Anne Francis, Richard Anderson, Warren Stevens, and Earl Holliman), “Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet” is an appreciative tribute to Forbidden Planet with some of Hollywood’s foremost sci-fi fans including special effects masters Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett, SF movie expert Bill Warren, and others. “Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon” is a featurette about the robot’s design, creation, and pop-cultural history, featuring original “Robby” designer Robert Kinoshita, Bill Malone (current owner of the original Robby), and Fred “The Robot Man” Barton, a lifelong robot fanatic builds fully authorized, full-scale Robby replicas for sci-fi fans with deep pockets. Closing out disc 2 is “Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us,” a 2005 documentary from Turner Classic Movies, written and directed by Time magazine critic Richard Schickel. It’s a thoroughly comprehensive survey of ’50s sci-fi and its influence on the next generation of film directors, including engaging interviews with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Ridley Scott and James Cameron.

Last but certainly not least, the Ultimate Collector’s Edition of Forbidden Planet comes with a highly detailed three-inch tall die-cast replica of Robby the Robot. Should you display it proudly on your toy shelf or keep it in its cellophane wrapper? That’s a tough call for devoted Robby fans… so you’ll just have to decide for yourself!

Product Description
This 1956 cult classic, regarded as one of the most influential science fiction movies ever made, now has an all new Ultimate Collector’s Edition featuring remastered film and audio. Loaded with hours of bonuses, vintage memorabilia, a Robby the Robot replica, and collectible packaging, this all new edition is ready for the Sci-Fi fanatic.

Neon Genesis Evangelion – Perfect Collection

Product Details

• Actors: Yûko Miyamura, Kôichi Yamadera, Tomokazu Seki, Tetsuya Iwanaga, Junko Iwao
• Directors: Kazuya Tsurumaki, Hiroyuki Ishidô, Hideaki Anno
• Format: Animated, Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 8
• Rating:
• Studio: Adv Films
• DVD Release Date: April 9, 2002
• Run Time: 650 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video
A benchmark series in the history of anime, Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most widely discussed in anime. It’s not the first series to combine mecha (futuristic machines, especially robots) with theology and a character-driven story, but it does so exceptionally well. The designs of the robots by Ikuto Yamashita are strikingly original; the questions raised about the future of the human race stimulate viewers’ imaginations and the characters show a depth of personality rare in anime. The story is set in 2015, 15 years after a cataclysmic explosion in Antarctica that caused the ice cap to melt, killing a large portion of the Earth’s population. Although it was reported as a meteor impact, the explosion was caused by human interaction with Adam, the first of a series of powerful, sentient creatures known as “Angels” to appear on Earth. To defend against their depredations, humans rely on NERV, a secret agency dedicated to destroying the Angels with their gargantuan robot suits called Evas. Only teenagers with special psychic powers can pilot the Evas, and the best pilot is the repressed 14-year-old Shinji Ikari, who is a more interesting, believable character than standard mecha pilots. The two final chapters of the Evangelion series (which originally ran in 1995-96) are highly philosophical ruminations that satisfied neither Anno nor the viewers. The episodes were remade as the theatrical features; however, only the original 26 episodes appear in this set. Not rated; suitable for ages 14 and up: Brief nudity, violence, sexual humor, and complex adult themes.

Crime Traveller: Complete Series

Product Details

• Actors: Crime Traveller
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating:
• Studio: Bfs Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: January 15, 2008
• Run Time: 390 minutes

BBC Review

“A year on from Paul McGann’s ill-fated 1996 Doctor Who revival, the BBC presented a new time-travelling series for Saturday nights. Created by Anthony Horowitz, it followed the exploits of detective Jeff Slade (Michael French) and time machine-owning forensic scientist Holly Turner (Chloë Annett). Together the duo ventured back to the recent past to bust crime.

The show’s comic approach masked some smart plotting and involved thinking about the mechanics of time travel. Trips to the future were outlawed (“It doesn’t exist”), while meeting yourself in the past was prohibited lest it caused a “temporal schism”. Most importantly, travellers had to be back in front of the machine at the moment they’d embarked on their journey, or be caught in a “loop of infinity”. Cue numerous mad dashes at the climax of each episode.

Despite a cheeky cameo by a police box in episode six, Crime Traveller was lampooned by critics for not being Doctor Who – and cancelled after just one series.”

Space Academy: The Complete Series

Product Details

• Actors: Brian Tochi
• Directors: Arthur H. Nadel
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating:
• Studio: Bci / Eclipse
• DVD Release Date: January 16, 2007

Amazon Customer Review

“Who could forget that the year Star Wars blasted its way across cinemas that Space Academy launched on CBS Saturday mornings? The SA was a man-made planetoid built upon a large asteroid in space that was navigated by way of an interstellar star drive and commanded by Lost In Space’s Dr. Smith, Jonathan Harris, who played 300 year-old Commander Isaac Gampu. The SA contained several really cool space shuttles or “Seekers” that allowed them to take off-campus expeditions to nearby planets. The Seekers were basically designed after the Ark II vehicle (minus the wheels) which had been Filmation’s previous live-action Saturday morning sci-fi entry. The culturally diverse and co-ed students attending the SA included Lt. Adrian played by Maggie Cooper, Lt. Laura Gentry played by Pamelyn Ferdin (the voice of Lucy from the Peanuts and Sally on Sealab 2020) and her brother Captain Chris Gentry played by Ric Carrott, Lt. Paul Jerome played by Ty Henderson, Tee-Gar Soom played by Brian Tochi (the voice of Leonardo in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films), and Loki played by Eric Greene along with a funky robot named Peepo (voiced by She-Ra Erika Scheimer) who looked as though he could have been the distant cousin of Buck Rogers’ Twiki. The students each had some kind of special skills and abilities like telekinesis and invisibility which were attributes used to overcome hostile situations and the stories generally involved plots that included some kind of moral for kids by teaching them the consequences about making the right choices but who really cared? For its day, this show boasted some of the best visual effects on television (cheezy by today’s standards of course) with detailed scale models and stop-motion aliens. What kid wouldn’t be intrigued by this show at that age? Bell-bottoms and blue-screens never looked so passe but for those of us who were glued to the television every Saturday morning in the 1970’s should find this old-school fun and a somewhat embarrassing nostalgic trip down memory lane.

In 1978, Space Academy was revamped into the successful spin-off serial Jason of Star Command starring Craig Littler as Jason and Sid Haig as the evil space pirate Dragos and it recycled the Space Academy sets and models which became Star Command under the command of Star Trek’s James Doohan and the Seekers were “upgraded” into the sleeker Starfire crafts. It was mentioned that Star Command was actually a special secret section of Space Academy although there was never any crossover between the two shows.

It’s hard to believe that after 30 years BCI-Eclipse will finally release the complete series on DVD featuring all 15 episodes of this rarely-seen vintage 70’s Saturday morning show on 4 discs including audio commentary on two episodes “Phantom Planet” and “Countdown” with Filmation producer Lou Scheimer and stars Ric Carrott, Brian Tochi, Eric Greene, and Special Effects Supervisor Chuck Comisky, and hosted by Andy Mangels. Special features also include:
* Featurette – “Back to School with Space Academy”
* Behind-the Scenes photo gallery
* Cast Reunion photo gallery with interview clips
* Memorabilia photo gallery with interview clips
* Promotional photo gallery
* Booklet with Episode Guide and Trivia
* All 15 Scripts (DVD-ROM)
* Series Bible (DVD-ROM)
* Easter Eggs
* Trailers – Ink & Paint Previews
All 15 Episodes:
1. The Survivors of Zalonm
2. Castaways in Time and Space
3. Hide and Seek
4. Countdown
5. There’s No Place Like Home
6. The Rocks of Janus
7. Monkey Business
8. The Phantom Planet
9. Planet of Fire
10. Life Begins at 300
11. The Cheat
12. My Favorite Marcia
13. Space Hookey
14. Star Legend
15. Johnny Sunseed

Ark II: The Complete Series

Product Details

• Actors: Ark 2
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English, Spanish
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating:
• Studio: Bci / Eclipse
• DVD Release Date: November 7, 2006

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The 1970s children’s show ARK II reflected that decade’s ecological concerns with the sci-fi adventures of three human scientists–leader Jonah (Terry Lester) medic Ruth (Jean Marie Hon) and tech genius Samuel (Jose Flores)–who along with their talking chimpanzee Adam travelled in their high-tech vehicle to right the wrongs of the environmentally ravaged 25th century. This collection presents the fun conscientious and charmingly dated series in its entirety for a total of 15 episodes.

Space Above and Beyond – The Complete Series

Product Details

• Directors: Félix Enríquez Alcalá, Charles Martin Smith, Thomas J. Wright, Winrich Kolbe
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: November 8, 2005
• Run Time: 1032 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The science fiction series Space Above and Beyond, which enjoyed a brief run in the 1995-96 season, was created by X-Files producers Glen Morgan and James Wong as a revision of the classic war series Combat!. Set in the not-too-distant future, Space Above and Beyond follows the adventures of five inexperienced Marines of the 58th Squadron, who are involved in a war against the Chigs, a race of aliens bent on conquering the Earth. Morgan and Wong gave their main characters intriguing personalities–Nathan West (Morgan Weisser) has joined the Marines to save a girlfriend captured by the aliens, while Rodney Rowland’s Cooper is an artificially created human whose service is inspired by a desire to escape the violent prejudice he faces on Earth. The action and stories are gritty and dramatic, and put a fresh spin on traditional wartime stories–highlights include “The Enemy,” in which the 58th is stranded behind enemy lines; “Toy Soldiers,” in which West’s younger brother is serving under a dangerously reckless lieutenant; and the two-part “If They Lay Us Down to Rest…” and “Tell Our Moms We Done Our Best,” which brought the series to a close with the Earth on the verge of peace talks with the aliens as the military launches a perilous operation. Commentary by Morgan and Wong and the cast would have been welcome, especially if the plans for the unseen second season could’ve been revealed, but unfortunately, no supplemental features are included in this slickly produced, no-frills set.

Product Description
This 5-disc DVD set includes all 23 episodes including the two-part pilot episode! Its the year 2063. After 150 years of deep space exploration, the people of Earth feel certain they are alone in the universe. Then word comes that two Earth outposts light-years away from home have been brutally attacked by an advanced alien civilization. Now the new young recruits of the United States Marine Corps Space Aviator Calvary are heading for the front lines of space in the toughest battle the world has ever faced. Thrust into an intergalactic war beyond imagination, these untested fighter pilots suddenly find themselves waging a life-and-death struggle to protect Earth and to save mankind from total annihilation.

Starhunter – The Complete Series

Product Details

• Actors: Starhunter
• Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating:
• Studio: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: May 29, 2007
• Run Time: 1056 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This Complete Sci-Fi Series in a Deluxe Foil 4-Disc Package Features 22 Episodes on Four DVDs and Includes Unrated Bonus Footage! The year is 2275. Earth has colonized the entire solar system, but things are dangerous out there. Enter Dante Montana (Michael Paré, BloodRayne, Crash Landing), a reluctant bounty hunter haunted by his past, who, along with his crew, travels the universe in pursuit of dangerous interplanetary criminals, including The Raiders–an evil force that Dante believes kidnapped his son. Meanwhile, covert forces are waging a desperate war to unlock the secrets of the Divinity Cluster–powerful knowledge that in the wrong hands would mean universal domination…

Seaquest DSV – Season One

Product Details

• Directors: Bill L. Norton, Casey O. Rohrs, Gabrielle Beaumont, James A. Contner, Bruce Seth Green
• Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating:
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: December 26, 2005
• Run Time: 1096 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
An enormously ambitious television series from executive producer Steven Spielberg and series creator Rockne S. O’Bannon (Farscape, Alien Nation), seaQuest DSV made a valiant attempt to present a thoughtful and socially conscious science-fiction series on par with Star Trek to a ’90s audience (which had already latched onto Star Trek: The Next Generation), but struggled with mediocre scripts and special effects for most of its three seasons (1993-96). The first season, however, embodies much of the ambition and scope its producers envisioned, starting with the two-hour television movie to introduces retired officer Cmdr. Nathan Bridger (a grim-faced Roy Scheider) to the crew of the underwater vessel seaQuest DSV. The pilot feature is well helmed by Scheider, and offers an agreeable mix of fiction and fact (oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard served as technical advisor for the series), as well as considerable action and excitement for an expensive network series. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the cast (which included Stephanie Beacham as the ship’s fetching doctor and the late Jonathan Brandis as a teen science whiz), the show’s momentum faltered under the weight of corny embellishments such as its talking dolphin, Darwin (a genetically engineered human with gills would join the fray in the show’s second season) and episodes like “Knight of Shadows,” which offered a hoary possession storyline, or “Photon Bullet,” which hinges on underwater computer hackers. The series would alternate between intriguing stories (like the suspenseful “Games”) and ill-advised ones for much of its remaining seasons, which also saw cast changes (most notably, the departure of Scheider) in an attempt to revive audiences’ flagging interest. All 23 episodes of the first season are included on this four-disc set, as well as a decent selection of deleted scenes from nine episodes, including the pilot.

Product Description
Travel to the spectacular undersea world of seaQuest DSV as all 23 groundbreaking episodes from the epic first season surface on DVD. The amazing adventure begins in the mid-21st century, as humankind expands its undersea colonization efforts and a tenuous world peace is enforced by the United Earth Oceans (UEO). In order to protect the fledgling underwater colonies from unknown dangers and hostile invaders lurking in the depths of Earth’s last frontier, the UEO recruits Captain Nathan Bridger (Roy Scheider) to command the high-tech battle submarine seaQuest and its diverse and eclectic crew. Along for the ride are a roster of stellar guest stars, including Charlton Heston, William Shatner, Seth Green, Kellie Martin and Kent McCord. Now on DVD for the first time ever, with exclusive never-before-seen footage, the Emmy® Award-winning seaQuest DSV is sure to make waves with thrill-seekers everywhere!

Seaquest DSV: Season Two

Sliders – The First and Second Seasons

Product Details

• Directors: Allan Eastman, Jim Charleston, David Livingston, Colin Bucksey, John McPherson
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rating:
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: August 3, 2004
• Run Time: 1019 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Though often and unfairly dismissed as a Quantum Leap clone, the Fox TV series Sliders earned a substantial fan base thanks to its intriguing central premise–the existence of multiple alternate realities–and impressive special effects, both of which get a fine showcase in this six-disc DVD set. Jerry O’Connell leads the appealing cast as a college student who accidentally discovers a portal into alternate dimensions; with the help of his professor (Lord of the Rings‘ John Rhys-Davies), a spunky Girl Friday (Sabrina Lloyd), and a soul crooner (Cleavant Derricks), O’Connell encounters a host of strange parallel Earths, including a British-ruled United States and one where dinosaurs roam a national park. All nine episodes of the 1995 debut season and the 12-episode second season from ‘96, as well as the pilot from ‘95, are included in the aesthetically impressive set; extras, however, are limited to commentary by creators Tracy Torme and Robert K. Weiss on the pilot episode, and a making-of featurette with O’Connell and Derricks.

From the Back Cover
Quinn (Jerry O’Connell), a brilliant grad student, has created a device that opens a wormhole to an infinite number of parallel universes where history has taken a different paths. His first test trip goes awry, stranding his physics professor, Arturo (John Rhys-Davies), his friend, Wade (Sabrina Lloyd), and a bystander Rembrandt “Crying Man” Brown in parallel San Francisos.

Now this foursome of Sliders must travel from one alternate reality to another in the hope of somehow finding their way home.

Sliders – Third Season

Sliders: The Fourth Season

Quantum Leap – The Complete First Season

Product Details

• Directors: Chris Ruppenthal, John Cullum, Paul Brown (III), Bob Hulme, Stuart Margolin
• Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating:
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: June 8, 2004
• Run Time: 428 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
They’ll be dancing (well, leaping maybe) in the streets now that the first season of Quantum Leap, voted one of the 25 best cult series ever by TV Guide, has come to home video, a decade after its final year (1994) on the air (the pilot episode was released on DVD in ‘98). And why shouldn’t they? This is a show, called “an imaginative diversion” by one critic, with a good premise that’s cleverly and skillfully conceived, written, acted, and produced–ample evidence of which is spread out over three discs, each containing three episodes (plus some fairly meager extras) from the first season.

Scott Bakula, in the role that made him a star, plays Sam Beckett, a scientist who’s part of a time-travel experiment that “went a little… ka-ka.” Unable to return to his own time, and aided only by Al (Dean Stockwell, whose rapport with Bakula is one of the series’ most appealing elements), his cigar-smoking, peculiar-dressing, sex-obsessed, holographic “enabler,” Sam “leaps” unpredictably from one time period and person to another, usually completely out of his element (as a pilot, a boxer, a cowboy, an English lit professor, even an elderly black man in segregated ’50s Alabama) and always in a situation that needs to be “made right” before he can leap onward. Generous helpings of humor, drama, physical action, and sentimentality (this is TV, after all) keep things moving, as do references to many other classic films and genres (Driving Miss Daisy in “The Color of Truth,” Casablanca in “Play it Again, Seymour,” boxing in general in “The Right Hand of God”) and what creator Donald Bellisario calls the occasional “kiss with history” (Sam crosses paths with the young Buddy Holly and Michael Jackson, among others). It doesn’t all work, as Quantum Leap occasionally becomes too cute and facile for its own good. But that and the set’s paucity of bonus material (limited to one passable featurette and brief episode intros by Bakula) are the only real shortcomings of a boxed set that will likely earn multiple spins in the DVD player.

Product Description
Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and Vanished…He woke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.

Quantum Leap – The Complete Third Season

Quantum Leap – The Complete Fourth Season

Quantum Leap – The Complete Fifth Season

Lost in Space – Seasons 1 – 3

Product Details

• Format: NTSC
• Number of discs: 5
• DVD Release Date: March 25, 2008

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com [Season One]
Lost in Space began life in 1965 as a science-fiction take on The Swiss Family Robinson. Produced by Irwin Allen, then in the midst of his run of spectacular-but-childish TV sci-fi (before he became the master of big-screen disaster movies), the show featured a family of all-American space colonists cast away on a mysterious planet. Gradually the whole thing devolved into a silly (but sometimes fun) exercise in childish camp. This boxed set includes all 29 black and white episodes from the first season (with a burst of color at the end of the last show–a foretaste of the garish look of the remaining two seasons) along with “No Place to Hide,” the expensive pilot show that sold the series but prompted Allen to revamp the whole premise in comic mode when network execs responded best to its unintended humor.

“No Place to Hide” has action scenes that cropped up in the first six regular episodes but is missing several of the show’s trademark aspects, most notably that infectious theme from Johnny Williams (later, John Williams of Star Wars fame) and the scheming presence of Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) and his alternately menacing and comical robot (“It does not compute”). As the series progresses (or degenerates, depending on your taste), Harris’s Smith changes from pantomime villain, a saboteur who is trying to kill the family, into pantomime idiot whose foolishness, cowardice, and avarice are an endless source of plots. It mostly makes do with the regular cast plus an array of shaggy-suited, snarling aliens, but you do get sterling ham from visiting astronauts such as Warren Oates (“Welcome Stranger”), Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet (“War of the Robots”), and a very young Kurt Russell (“The Challenge”). Stories about surviving on an alien world give way to lifts from fairy tale, myth, and old movies as Smith gets hold of a wishing cap, becomes a giant, is chosen as a sacrificial king, turns the children over to an alien zoo, squeaks in fright as a werewolf approaches, or is cursed with a platinum Midas touch.

Knight Rider Seasons 1 – 4 Bundle DVD Set

Product Details

• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Subtitles: French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Number of discs: 12
• Studio: Universal Studios

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Complete Seasons 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Knight Rider on DVD. US Version. Region 1. Factory Sealed. /// Michael Long is a crimefighter who is seriously wounded during his work. Nursed back to health by a mysterious benefactor (chairman of the Knight Industries), he regains consciousness a new man with a new face and a new name: Michael Knight. His mysterious benefactor (through the guise of associate Devon Miles) provides Michael with equipment and support so that he can continue his crime fighting work. The most notable piece of equipment supplied, is “KITT”, a high-performance sports car fitted with artificial intelligence.

NOTE: The Red Dwarf series comes from the BBCAmerica store, but I believe it can be found on Amazon.

Red Dwarf: The Complete Collection

Red Dwarf: Series I & II

The Complete Series One and Two! A radiation leak wipes out the crew of the mining ship Red Dwarf, leaving Dave Lister as the only survivor and after 3 million years in suspended animation, the last human in the universe.

DVD Fullscreen

Red Dwarf: Series III & IV

Ge ready for more crazy antics and wild chaos from outer space with the crew of the mining ship Red Dwarf!

DVD Widescreen

Red Dwarf: Series V & VI

Female droids…evil doppelgangers…and a cactus in a very private place! The slobbiest, most wacked-out bunch of spacebums ever to set foot in an alternate reality is back for more crazy antics and outer-space chaos.

DVD Fullscreen

Red Dwarf: Series VII

After a temporary bout of deadness, the Dwarfers find themselves solving one of the biggest conspiracy plots of all time, before Ace Rimmer drops in with the challenge of Rimmer’s life.

DVD Fullscreen

Red Dwarf: Series VIII

The nanobots have populated the ship with its original crew. This is especially good news for Rimmer, who is now a lot less dead, but is extremely bad news for everyone else.

DVD Fullscreen

These that follow don’t come from Amazon, but from http://www.dvdavenue.tv/themes/sci-fi.html and one other site, so the information is presented in a slightly different format, and I have had to make slight corrections in grammar, etc..

Witchblade – Seasons 1-2

DVD SPECS
Video Format: Normal Screen
Special Features: None
Menu’s Yes (Interactive Menu for quick and easy
episode selection)
Commercials: None
Language Tracks: English
Subtitle Tracks: None
Rating: Not Rated
Product Packaging: Standard DVD Cases with
Professional, Full Color Artwork
Region Code: 0 (Region-Free – Plays Worldwide)
DVD Format: Format-Free DVD-R (Plays in both
PAL and NTSC DVD players

Witchblade was premiered on the 1st of June 2001 and lasted on the 1st of August 2002. The series was created by Marc Silvestri and J.D. Zeik and it has two (2) seasons with twenty-three (23) episodes. It follows the exploits of a police detective who fights crime with the help of an ancient and powerful weapon.

Sara Pezzini portrayed by Yancy Butler, a homicide detective for the New York Police Department (NYPD) and while finding justice she came into contact with a very powerful, ancient, intelligent weapon known as the Witchblade. Kenneth Irons portrayed by Anthony Cistaro, the evil mastermind. Other characters are Jake McCartey portrayed by David Chocachi; Ian Nottingham portrayed by Eric Etebari; Danny Woo portrayed by Will Yun Lee; Gallo portrayed by Conrad Dunn; and many others.

• Witchblade DVD is a collection of 12 DVDs in a 3 box set as shown above, all episodes are organize from pilot to finale.
• With custom artwork and episode guides so you can find your favorite episode at anytime
• The Witchblade DVD collection are formatted region free so they will play on any DVD player, DVD-ROM X-Box or PS2 Worldwide
• All DVDs are presented in full screen, commercial free and unedited. Exactly the same as it was shown in American television.
• Presented in English
• This item has not been rated

7 Days – Seasons 1-3

DVD SPECS
Video Format: Normal Screen
Special Features: None
Menu’s Yes (Interactive Menu for quick and easy
episode selection)
Commercials: None
Language Tracks: English
Subtitle Tracks: None
Rating: Not Rated
Product Packaging: Standard DVD Cases with
Professional, Full Color Artwork
Region Code: 0 (Region-Free – Plays Worldwide)
DVD Format: Format-Free DVD-R (Plays in both
PAL and NTSC DVD players)

7 Days was premiered on the 7th of October 1998 and lasted on the 29th of May 2001. The series was created by Christopher and Zachary Crowe and it has three (3) seasons and sixty-six (66) episodes. It follows the exploit of a man who can travel back in time seven days before the disaster had happened.

United States National Security Agency developed a time traveling device known as Project Backstep. The project allows a person to back step exactly seven days before the disaster happened and for him to prevent it from happening. U.S. Navy lieutenant Francis Parker, also known as Frank, (portrayed by Jonathan LaPaglia) was the project chrononaut. He qualified for the job because he has high tolerance for pain, he has a good memory, and has had a psychiatric problem that gave him a very flexible mind set. He was joined by Dr. Bradley Talmadge portrayed by Alan Scarfe as the head of the Project Backstep; Nathan Ramsey portrayed by Nick Searcy as head of security of the Project Backstep; and Captain Craig Donovan portrayed by Don Franklin as the backup chrononaut.

• 7 Days DVD is a collection of 15 DVDs in a 3 box set as shown above, all episodes are organize from pilot to finale.
• The 7 Days DVD collection also includes custom artwork and episode guides so you can find your favorite episode at anytime.
• 7 Days DVD collection are formatted region free so they will play on any DVD player, DVD-ROM X-Box or PS2 Worldwide”
• All DVDs are presented in full screen, commercial free and unedited. Exactly the same as it was shown in American television
• Presented in English
• This item has not been rated

Time Traxx – Seasons 1-2

DVD SPECS
Video Format: Normal Screen
Special Features: None
Menu’s Yes (Interactive Menu for quick and easy
episode selection)
Commercials: None
Language Tracks: English
Subtitle Tracks: None
Rating: Not Rated
Product Packaging: Standard DVD Cases with
Professional, Full Color Artwork
Region Code: 0 (Region-Free – Plays Worldwide)
DVD Format: Format-Free DVD-R (Plays in both
PAL and NTSC DVD players)

Time Trax debuted on the 20th of January 1993 and ended on the 3rd of December 1994. The series was created by Harve Bennett, Jeffrey Hayes, and Grant Rosenberg and it has two (2) seasons with forty-four (44) episodes. It follows the exploits of a police officer from the 22nd century who goes back to the present time and chases the fugitives who travel to our time using a time machine called Trax.

Darien Lambert, portrayed by Dale Midkiff, was a detective sent back to 1993 to get as many fugitives from their time as possible. He was assisted by SELMA, a powerful computer and disguised as a MasterCard. He encountered fugitives such as Dr. Mordecai Sahmbi, Charlie Burke and Sepp Dietrich among others.

• The Time Trax DVD is a collection of 11 DVDs in a box set as shown above, all 100% in chronological order from the pilot to the finale
• The Time Trax DVD collection also includes custom artwork and episode guides so you can find your favorite episode at anytime
• The Time Trax DVD collection are formatted region free so they will play on any DVD player, DVD-ROM X-Box or PS2 Worldwide
• Presented in full screen format – exactly as it was shown on television
• Presented in English
• This item has not been rated

War Of The Worlds – Seasons 1-2

DVD SPECS
Video Format: Normal Screen
Special Features: None
Menu’s Yes (Interactive Menu for quick and easy
episode selection)
Commercials: None
Language Tracks: English
Subtitle Tracks: None
Rating: Not Rated
Product Packaging: Standard DVD Cases with
Professional, Full Color Artwork
Region Code: 0 (Region-Free – Plays Worldwide)
DVD Format: Format-Free DVD-R (Plays in both
PAL and NTSC DVD players)

War of the World debuted on the 10th of October 1988 and ended on the 14th of May 1990. The series was created by Greg Strangis and it has two (2) seasons with forty-two (42) episodes. The series follows the exploits of a team who fight against the aliens who want to invade the Earth.

The group that was formed by the government consisted of: Dr. Harrison Blackwood, portrayed by Jared Martin, a astrophysicist who led the team, (they were named The Blackwood Project). Dr. Suzanne McCullough, portrayed by Lynda Mason Green, a microbiologist and a single mother with her daughter named Debi. They were also joined by the computer genius and a friend to Blackwood named Norton Drake, portrayed by Philip Akin, and Lt. Col. Paul Ironhorse, portrayed by Richard Chaves, a very conservative native American military man.

War of The Worlds DVD is a collection of 8 DVDs in a box set as shown above, all 100% in chronological order from the pilot to the finale

War of The Worlds DVD collection includes custom artwork and episode guides so you can find your favorite episode at anytime

War of The Worlds DVD collection are formatted region free so they will play on any DVD player, DVD-ROM X-Box or PS2 Worldwide

All DVD’s are presented in full screen. Exactly the same as it was shown in American television.

Presented in English

This item has not been ratedJake 2.0

DVD SPECS
Video Format: Normal Screen
Special Features: None
Menu’s Yes (Interactive Menu for quick and easy
episode selection)
Commercials: None
Language Tracks: English
Subtitle Tracks: None
Rating: Not Rated
Product Packaging: Standard DVD Cases with
Professional, Full Color Artwork
Region Code: 0 (Region-Free – Plays Worldwide)
DVD Format: Format-Free DVD-R (Plays in both
PAL and NTSC DVD players)

Jake 2.0 was an American television series about Jake Foley, a computer technician for the super-secret National Security Agency (NSA) and became a secret agent after a freak accident at the Agency. Jake was exposed to a liquid containing top-secret nanites, which are now giving him mind-boggling powers. He possesses superhuman strength, lightning-fast speed, heightened hearing, razor sharp vision and telepathic abilities to communicate with computers.
Jake 2.0 was originally aired from September 10, 2003 until December 17, 2003 on the UPN network. The story centered on Jake Foley as he straddles two different worlds: his life as the world’s mightiest secret agent, and keeping his secret from the outside world, including his friends, family and congressional staffer, Sarah Heywood, for whom he secretly pines.

• Jake 2.0 DVD is a collection of 3 DVDs in a box set as shown above, all 100% in chronological order from the pilot to the finale
• Jake 2.0 DVD collection also includes custom artwork and episode guides so you can find your favorite episode at anytime
• Jake 2.0 DVD collection are formatted region free so they will play on any DVD player, DVD-ROM X-Box or PS2 Worldwide
• Presented in full screen format – exactly as it was shown on television
• Presented in English
• This item has not been rated

First Wave – Seasons 1-3

DVD SPECS
Video Format: Normal Screen
Special Features: None
Menu’s Yes (Interactive Menu for quick and easy
episode selection)
Commercials: None
Language Tracks: English
Subtitle Tracks: None
Rating: Not Rated
Product Packaging: Standard DVD Cases with
Professional, Full Color Artwork
Region Code: 0 (Region-Free – Plays Worldwide)
DVD Format: Format-Free DVD-R (Plays in both
PAL and NTSC DVD players)

First Wave premiered on the 9th of September 1998 and lasted to the 28th of February 2001. The series was created by Chris Brancato and it has three (3) seasons with sixty-six (66) episodes. It follows the exploits of a security specialist who was once a thief and was now part of an experiment to test humans.

Lawrence Kincade Foster or much known as Cade, has a great life after being a thief before; he is now a security specialist with a beautiful wife and nice house. Unfortunately he was used as subject 117 in an experiment against the Gua aliens without him knowing it and being the subject of the experiment, his life will be ruined (which includes his wife’s murder and Cade being framed for it). The Gua intend to enslave humanity and to conquer and finally destroy the human race. Cade was to stop the three waves intended by Gua. With the help of Eddie Nambulous, a computer hacker and Joshua, one of the Gua but who does not believe that the invasion of the Earth was necessary, and so he helps Cade and Eddie to stop his people from the invasion itself.

• The First Wave DVD is a collection of 8 DVDs in a box set as shown above, all 100% in chronological order from the pilot to the finale
• The First Wave DVD also includes custom artwork and episode guides so you can find your favorite episode at anytime.
• The First Wave DVD collection are formatted region free so they will play on any DVD player, DVD-ROM X-Box or PS2 Worldwide
• First Wave DVD is presented in full screen format – exactly as it was shown on television
• Presented in English
• This item has not been rated

Tek War – Seasons 1-2

DVD SPECS
Video Format: Normal Screen
Special Features: None
Menu’s Yes (Interactive Menu for quick and easy
episode selection)
Commercials: None
Language Tracks: English
Subtitle Tracks: None
Rating: Not Rated
Product Packaging: Standard DVD Cases with
Professional, Full Color Artwork
Region Code: 0 (Region-Free – Plays Worldwide)
DVD Format: Format-Free DVD-R (Plays in both
PAL and NTSC DVD players)

Tek War debuted on the 23rd of January 1994 and ended on the 9th of February 1996. The series was based on the novels written by William Shatner and it has two (2) seasons with twenty-two (22) episodes. It focused on a computerized mind-altering drug known as Tek.

Jake Cardigan, portrayed by Greg Evigan, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. He was framed for dealing with the addictive drug, Tek, four years before. But fortunately he was released earlier that the 15 years sentenced.

• Tek War DVD is a collection of DVDs in a box set as shown above, all 100% in chronological order from the pilot to the finale
• Tek War DVD collection also includes custom artwork and episode guides so you can find your favorite episode at anytime
• Tek War DVD collection are formatted region free so they will play on any DVD player, DVD-ROM X-Box or PS2 Worldwide
• Presented in full screen format – exactly as it was shown on television
• Presented in English
• This item has not been rated

Time Cop – Season 1

DVD SPECS
Video Format: Normal Screen
Special Features: None
Menu’s Yes (Interactive Menu for quick and easy
episode selection)
Commercials: None
Language Tracks: English
Subtitle Tracks: None
Rating: Not Rated
Product Packaging: Standard DVD Cases with
Professional, Full Color Artwork
Region Code: 0 (Region-Free – Plays Worldwide)
DVD Format: Format-Free DVD-R (Plays in both
PAL and NTSC DVD players)

Time Cop premiered on the 22nd of September 1997 and lasted on the 18th of July 1998. The series was created by Mike Richardson and Mark Verheiden, and it had only one (1) season with only nine (9) episodes. It follows the exploits of an agent who tracked down criminals who were trying to change the past.

Jack Logan, portrayed by Ted King, was the best agent of the Time Enforcement Commission or TEC. They were formed to tracked down time-criminals who had plans to change the past. He was joined by Captain Gene Matuzek, portrayed by Don Stark; Dale Easter, portrayed by Kurt Fuller as the historian; and Claire Hemmings, portrayed by Cristi Conaway as the science/tech advisor.

Blakes 7 – Seasons 1-4

DVD SPECS
Video Format: Normal Screen
Special Features: None
Menu’s Yes (Interactive Menu for quick and easy
episode selection)
Commercials: None
Language Tracks: English
Subtitle Tracks: None
Rating: Not Rated
Product Packaging: Standard DVD Cases with
Professional, Full Color Artwork
Region Code: 0 (Region-Free – Plays Worldwide)
DVD Format: Format-Free DVD-R (Plays in both
PAL and NTSC DVD players)

Blake’s 7 debuted on the 1st of January 1978 and ended on the 1st of December 1981. The series was created by Terry Nation and has four (4) seasons with fifty-two (52) episodes. It follows the exploits of a group of reluctant rebels fighting against the forces of the totalitarian Earth Federation.

Roj Blake, portrayed by Gareth Thomas, was one of several convicted and sentenced to deportation to a penal colony on a remote planet. But he and the others escaped while being transported and they obtained an advanced alien spacecraft named the Liberator, which they used to strike back against the Federation. Unfortunately the other convicts are reluctant to follow Blake’s plan. The other rebels are Kerr Avon, portrayed by Paul Darrow, the computer genius; Jenna Stannis, portrayed by Sally Knyvette, the beautiful smuggler; Vila Restal, portrayed by Michael Keating, the thief; Olag Gan, portrayed by David Jackson, the murderer who killed his girlfriend; Cally, portrayed by Jan Chappell, an alien and with telepathic and psychic abilities; and Zen, voiced by Peter Tuddenham, the master computer in the Liberator spacecraft.

• The Blake’s 7 DVD is a complete collection, all episodes are organize from pilot to finale.
• Blake’s 7 DVD collection also includes custom artwork and episode guides so you can find your favorite episode at anytime
• The Blake’s 7 DVD collection are formatted region free so they will play on any DVD player, DVD-ROM X-Box or PS2 Worldwide
• All DVDs are presented in full screen, commercial free and unedited. Exactly the same as it was shown in American television.
• Presented in English
• This item has not been rated

Dark Skies – Season 1

DVD SPECS
Video Format: Nomal Screen
Special Features: None
Menu’s Yes (Interactive Menu for quick and easy
episode selection)
Commercials: None
Language Tracks: English
Subtitle Tracks: None
Rating: Not Rated
Product Packaging: Standard DVD Cases with
Professional, Full Color Artwork
Region Code: 0 (Region-Free – Plays Worldwide)
DVD Format: Format-Free DVD-R (Plays in both
PAL and NTSC DVD players)

Dark Skies premiered on 21st of September 1996 on NBC and was later return by the Sci-Fi Channel. The series was created by Bryce Zabel and it had only (1) season with (19) episodes. It follows that the history we know was just a lie.

John Loengard and Kim Sayers attempt numerous plans to thwart the alien’s hive, most of which are tied to historical events and figures. The pair must stay one step ahead of a covert government agency, Majestic-12 – their task is to maintain the conspiracy of silence while fighting the aliens.

• The Dark Skies DVD is a collection of 3 DVDs in a boxed set as shown above, all 100% in chronological order from the pilot to the finale.
• The Dark Skies DVD collection also includes custom artwork and episode guides so you can find your favorite episode at anytime.
• The Dark Skies DVD collection are formatted region free so they will play on any DVD player, DVD-ROM X-Box or PS2 Worldwide.
• All DVDs are presented in full screen. Exactly the same as it was shown in American television.
• Presented in English
• This item has not been rated

Salvage

DVD SPECS
Video Format: Normal Screen
Special Features: None
Menu’s Yes (Interactive Menu for quick and easy
episode selection)
Commercials: None
Language Tracks: English
Subtitle Tracks: None
Rating: Not Rated
Product Packaging: Standard DVD Cases with
Professional, Full Color Artwork
Region Code: 0 (Region-Free – Plays Worldwide)
DVD Format: Format-Free DVD-R (Plays in both
PAL and NTSC DVD players)

Salvage 1 was a science fiction series that premiered on the 20th of January 1979 and lasted to the 28th of May 1979. The series, produced by ABC, has sixteen (16) episodes.

The story started with Harry Broderick’s (Andy Griffith) dream to build a build a spaceship, go to the moon, salvage all the junk that’s up there, bring it back and sell it. Harry Broderick owns the Jettison Scrap and Salvage Company. To make his dream real he invited Addison “Skip” Carmichael (Joel Higgins) a former astraunaut and and Melanie “Mel” Slozar (Trish Stewart) a NASA fuel expert to establish a team.

The team created a spaceship and called Vulture and that is where all adventures of the team started.

• Salvage 1 DVD is a collection of DVDs in a box set as shown above, all 100% in chronological order from the pilot to the finale
• Salvage 1 DVD collection also includes custom artwork and episode guides so you can find your favorite episode at anytime
• Salvage 1 DVD collection are formatted region free so they will play on any DVD player, DVD-ROM X-Box or PS2 Worldwide
• Presented in full screen format – exactly as it was shown on television
• Presented in English
• This item has not been rated

Tripods

The Tripods, a revolutionary cult TV series by BBC, aired on September 1984 to December 1985, and was based on the science-fiction books of John Christopher. The story is about how humanity has been conquered and enslaved by the “Tripods,” huge metallic-looking aliens. The series also featured other non-humanoid aliens.

• Tripods DVD is a collection of 41 DVDs in a 6 box set as shown above, all 100% in chronological order from the pilot to the finale.
• Tripods DVD includes custom artwork and episode guides so you can find your favorite episode at anytime.
• The Tripods DVD collection is formatted region free so they will play on any DVD player, DVD-ROM X-Box or PS2 Worldwide.
• All DVDs are presented in full screen. Exactly the same as it was shown in American television.
• Presented in English
• This item has not been rated

DVD SPECS
Video Format: Normal Screen
Special Features: None
Menu’s Yes (Interactive Menu for quick and easy
episode selection)
Commercials: None
Language Tracks: English
Subtitle Tracks: None
Rating: Not Rated
Product Packaging: Standard DVD Cases with
Professional, Full Color Artwork
Region Code: 0 (Region-Free – Plays Worldwide)
DVD Format: Format-Free DVD-R (Plays in both
PAL and NTSC DVD players)

Starman (series)

DVD SPECS
Video Format: Normal Screen
Special Features: None
Menu’s Yes (Interactive Menu for quick and easy
episode selection)
Commercials: None
Language Tracks: English
Subtitle Tracks: None
Rating: Not Rated
Product Packaging: Standard DVD Cases with
Professional, Full Color Artwork
Region Code: 0 (Region-Free – Plays Worldwide)
DVD Format: Format-Free DVD-R (Plays in both
PAL and NTSC DVD players)

Starman is a sci-fi tv series that premiered on September 19, 1986 and ended on May 2, 1987. This series originally came from 1984 film of the same title. Starring Christopher Barnes and Robert Hays, under the direction of John Carpenter.

Set 15 years before the film, in the series, the alien returns to find and assist the child he fathered 15 years before on his visit to Earth When he arrives, he takes on the identity of Paul Forrester, highly paid freelance photographer with a rather wild reputation killed in a helicopter accident. He finds the child (Scott Hayden) and his mother (Jenny) have been separated. Paul convinces Scott to help him to locate Jenny, his friend from his first visit to Earth. Unfortunately, their search is plagued by George Fox, a paranoid government agent who feels Paul and Scott are dangerous and wants to capture, examine, and probably kill them.

• Starman DVD is a collection of DVDs in a box set as shown above, all 100% in chronological order from the pilot to the finale
• Starman DVD collection also includes custom artwork and episode guides so you can find your favorite episode at anytime
• Starman DVD collection are formatted region free so they will play on any DVD player, DVD-ROM X-Box or PS2 Worldwide
• Presented in full screen format – exactly as it was shown on television
• Presented in English
• This item has not been rated

Space Rangers

• Running Time: 278 mins
• Region: 2
• Main Language: English
• Product Number: 665967
• Production Years: 1993

In the year 2104, new worlds have been discovered and civilisations have been established all across the galaxy. On the frontier, the Space Rangers, a group of volunteers, have agreed to help uphold the law and protect the innocent from the threat of the “Banshies.” Led by Captain John Boon, the Rangers are a mixture of characters, including: Doc, Jojo, Kincaid and the alien Zylyn. Features all six episodes: Fort Hope, Banshies, The Replacements, Death Before Dishonour, The Trial and The Entertainer.

Starring:

Jeff Kaake, Marjorie Monoghan, Cary-Hiroyuli Tagawa, Jack McGee, Clint Howard, Danny Quinn

Directed by:

Ben Bolt, Thom Eberhardt, David Burton Morris, Mikael Salomon

Happy Viewing and watch out for the next part – the collection grows…

The Ultimate Sci-Fi DVD Boxed Set collection, part I

This is of course, my own idea on what is the ‘ultimate collection,” but I think I’ve covered most of the best here. This is a dream list – there are less expensive sets, and or copies of some of these movies and TV series, but this IS the ultimate collection! Much of it is TV, although there is a nice smattering of movies collected together or as add-ons to series. Since I already covered most of the regular movies in my Sci-Fi Movie Night posts, I will refrain from repeating those, unless they “add” to a collection, or are very special editions – Like the Blade Runner one – of course, Mark Harris said it best in his Future Schlock article on whether Sci-Fi is dead (EW – 1/11/08) – “Personally I’m holding out for a Super Platinum Deluxe Psychotic Edition, which will arrive in a crate containing 47 discs and Ridley Scott himself, who will hang out with you and then rewire your home sound system.” Sometimes, it seems all to true, as the editions get bigger and glossier, and contain more and more bonus material and different versions, etc. One of them listed in this three part piece contains, I believe, 5 editions of the same movie! Unless noted, all comments are from Amazon, and thus I will not use Quote marks, or attribute each piece to them. I have added a few comments of my own below, but this is about the DVDs, not my opinions! Some of these I hadn’t heard of, others I have watched all my life, over and over.

So sit back, get your Visa ready, and dream…

Alien Quadrilogy (Alien/ Aliens /Alien 3 /Alien Resurrection)

Product Details

• Actors: Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser
• Directors: James Cameron, David Fincher, Ridley Scott
• Format: DTS Surround Sound, Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: English, Spanish
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 9
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: December 2, 2003
• Run Time: 145 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video
“The Alien Quadrilogy is a nine-disc boxed set devoted to the four Alien films. Although previously available on DVD as the Alien Legacy, here they have been repackaged with vastly more extras and with upgraded sound and picture. For anyone who hasn’t been in hypersleep for the last 25 years, this series needs no introduction, though for the first time each film now comes in both original and “special edition” form.

Alien (1979) was so perfect it didn’t need fixing, and Ridley Scott’s 2003 director’s cut is fiddling for the sake of fiddling. Watch it once, then return to the majestic, perfectly paced original. Conversely, the special edition of James Cameron’s Aliens (1986) is the definitive version, though it’s nice to finally have the theatrical cut on DVD for comparison. Most interesting is the alternative Alien 3 (1992). This isn’t a “director’s cut”–David Fincher refused to have any involvement with this release–but a 1991 work-print that runs 29 minutes longer than the theatrical version, and has now been restored, remastered, and finished off with (unfortunately) cheap new CGI. Still, it’s truly fascinating, offering a different insight into a flawed masterpiece. The expanded opening is visually breathtaking, the central firestorm is much longer, and a subplot involving Paul McGann’s character adds considerable depth to story. The ending is also subtly but significantly different. Alien: Resurrection (1997) always was a mess with a handful of brilliant scenes, and the special edition just makes it eight minutes longer.

The Alien Quadrilogy offers the first and fourth films with DTS soundtracks, the others having still fine Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. All four films sound fantastic, with much low-level detail revealed for the first time. Each is anamorphically enhanced at the correct original aspect ratio, and the prints and transfers are superlative. Every film offers a commentary track that lends insight into the creative process–though the Scott-only commentary and isolated music score from the first Alien DVD release are missing here.

Each movie is complemented by a separate disc packed with hours of seriously detailed documentaries (all presented in full-screen with clips letterboxed), thousands of photos, production stills, and storyboards, giving a level of inside information for the dedicated buff only surpassed by the Lord of the Rings extended DVD sets. A ninth DVD compiles miscellaneous material, including an hourlong documentary and even all the extras from the old Alien laserdisc. “Exhaustive” hardly beings to describe the Alien Quadrilogy, a set that establishes the new DVD benchmark for retrospective releases and looks unlikely to be surpassed for some time.”

Blade Runner (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition)

Product Details

• Actors: Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Rutger Hauer
• Directors: Ridley Scott
• Format: Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rating:
• Studio: Warner Bros.
• DVD Release Date: December 18, 2007
• Run Time: 578 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video
When Ridley Scott’s cut of Blade Runner was finally released in 1993, one had to wonder why the studio hadn’t done it right the first time–11 years earlier. This version is so much better, mostly because of what’s been eliminated (the ludicrous and redundant voice-over narration and the phony happy ending) rather than what’s been added (a bit more character development and a brief unicorn dream). Star Harrison Ford originally recorded the narration under duress at the insistence of Warner Bros. executives who thought the story needed further “explanation”; he later confessed that he thought if he did it badly they wouldn’t use it. (Moral: Never overestimate the taste of movie executives.) The movie’s spectacular futuristic vision of Los Angeles–a perpetually dark and rainy metropolis that’s the nightmare antithesis of “Sunny Southern California”–is still its most seductive feature, an otherworldly atmosphere in which you can immerse yourself. The movie’s shadowy visual style, along with its classic private-detective/murder-mystery plot line (with Ford on the trail of a murderous android, or “replicant”), makes Blade Runner one of the few science fiction pictures to legitimately claim a place in the film noir tradition. And, as in the best noir, the sleuth discovers a whole lot more (about himself and the people he encounters) than he anticipates…. With Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah, Rutger Hauer, and M. Emmet Walsh. –Jim Emerson

Product Description
“Visually spectacular, intensely action-packed and powerfully prophetic since its debut, Blade Runner returns in Ridley Scott’s definitive Final Cut, including extended scenes and never-before-seen special effects. In a signature role as 21st-century detective Rick Deckard, Harrison Ford brings his masculine-yet-vulnerable presence to this stylish noir thriller. In a future of high-tech possibility soured by urban and social decay, Deckard hunts for fugitive, murderous replicants – and is drawn to a mystery woman whose secrets may undermine his soul. This spectacular 5-Disc Set includes all five version of the legendary Sci-Fi film from Director Ridley Scott – the definitive Final Cut with all new 5.1 audio, three additional versions of the film, and the rare Work Print version – in addition to the in-depth feature length documentary “Dangerous Days”, and one complete disc of bonus content including over 80-minutes of never-before-seen deleted scenes. The Ultimate Collector’s Edition is packaged in a limited edition, numbered “Deckard” briefcase and features rare and collectable memorabilia such as a Spinner car replica, Unicorn figurine, Illustration and Photo cards, and a lenticular Motion Film Clip in lucite. This is the ultimate collection that no fan should be without! Also available in HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Disc.”

The Lord of the Rings – The Motion Picture Trilogy (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)

Product Details

• Actors: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Sean Bean
• Directors: Peter Jackson
• Format: Box set, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 12
• Rating:
• Studio: New Line Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: December 14, 2004
• Run Time: 681 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
“The extended editions of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings present the greatest trilogy in film history in the most ambitious sets in DVD history. In bringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s nearly unfilmable work to the screen, Jackson benefited from extraordinary special effects, evocative New Zealand locales, and an exceptionally well-chosen cast, but most of all from his own adaptation with co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, preserving Tolkien’s vision and often his very words, but also making logical changes to accommodate the medium of film. While purists complained about these changes and about characters and scenes left out of the films, the almost two additional hours of material in the extended editions (about 11 hours total) help appease them by delving more deeply into Tolkien’s music, the characters, and loose ends that enrich the story, such as an explanation of the Faramir-Denethor relationship, and the appearance of the Mouth of Sauron at the gates of Mordor. In addition, the extended editions offer more bridge material between the films, further confirming that the trilogy is really one long film presented in three pieces (which is why it’s the greatest trilogy ever–there’s no weak link). The scene of Galadriel’s gifts to the Fellowship added to the first film proves significant over the course of the story, while the new Faramir scene at the end of the second film helps set up the third and the new Saruman scene at the beginning of the third film helps conclude the plot of the second.

To top it all off, the extended editions offer four discs per film: two for the longer movie, plus four commentary tracks and stupendous DTS 6.1 ES sound; and two for the bonus material, which covers just about everything from script creation to special effects. The argument was that fans would need both versions because the bonus material is completely different, but the features on the theatrical releases are so vastly inferior that the only reason a fan would need them would be if they wanted to watch the shorter versions they saw in theaters (the last of which, The Return of the King, merely won 11 Oscars). The LOTR extended editions without exception have set the DVD standard by providing a richer film experience that pulls the three films together and further embraces Tolkien’s world, a reference-quality home theater experience, and generous, intelligent, and engrossing bonus features.”

Product Description
“This critically acclaimed epic trilogy follows the quest undertaken by the hobbit, Frodo Baggins, and his fellowship of companions to save Middle-earth by destroying the One Ring and defeating the evil forces of the Dark Lord Sauron. With new and extended scenes carefully added back into the film, the 12-disc set also includes hours of bonus features. “

Twilight Zone: The Complete Definitive Collection

Product Details

• Actors: Twilight Zone
• Format: NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 28
• Rating:
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: October 3, 2006
• Run Time: 4524 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com [from Season One]
Submitted for your approval: The Twilight Zone’s inaugural season, all 36 episodes complete with Rod Serling’s original promos for the following week’s episode, not seen since their original broadcast. To discuss television’s greatest anthology series whose title has become pop culture shorthand for the bizarre and supernatural is to immediately become like Albert Brooks and Dan Aykroyd in Twilight Zone: The Movie; a can-you-top-this recall of famous shocks and favorite twists. Several essential episodes hail from this season, among them, “Time Enough at Last” starring Burgess Meredith as a bespectacled bookworm who is the lone survivor of an atomic blast; “The After-Hours” starring Anne Francis as a department store shopper haunted by mannequins; and the profoundly disturbing “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” in which fear and prejudice turns neighbor against neighbor (and, by the by, whose alien observers inspired Kang and Kodos on The Simpsons).

From an unsettlingly persistent hitchhiker to a malevolent slot machine, The Twilight Zone’s first season did plumb “the pit of man’s fears.” One forgets how moving the series could be. Three of this season’s most memorable and enduring episodes are the poignant and primal “stop-the-world-I-want-to-get-off fantasies, “Walking Distance,” “A Stop at Willougby” and “The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine,” in which desperate characters seek refuge in a simpler past. Serling’s few stabs at comedy (“Mr. Bevis,” “The Mighty Casey”) have not aged well, but the series finale, “A World of His Own,” starring Keenan Wynn as a playwright whose fictional characters come to life, has a brilliant capper. The episodes are more deliberately paced than one might remember. Less patient younger viewers might be anxious to get to the payoffs, but once they settle into the rhythm, they will savor the literate writing and the performances by such veteran actors as Ed Wynn, Everett Sloan, and Ida Lupino, and newcomers such as Jack Klugman. The extras, including the unaired version of the pilot episode, “Where is Everybody?”, audio commentaries and recollections, and a Serling college lecture, truly take this six-disc set to another dimension. –Donald Liebenson

Product Description
For the first time ever find all 156 complete episodes of Rod Serling’s groundbreaking series in one box set packed with exciting extras! Travel to another dimension of sight and sound again and again through these stellar remastered high-definition film transfers.Extras include the fascinating Serling bio-documentary Submitted for Your Approval compelling interviews with the show’s writers the series’ unaired pilot audio commentaries with Martin Landau Leonard Nimoy Cliff Robertson and much much more!

Twilight Zone – The Movie

Product Details

• Actors: Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Doug McGrath, Charles Hallahan
• Directors: Joe Dante, Steven Spielberg, George Miller (II)
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Portuguese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating:
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: October 9, 2007
• Run Time: 101 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
A highly anticipated release for fantasy fans in the summer of 1983, Twilight Zone: The Movie presents three adaptations of classic episodes (and one original story) from Rod Serling’s anthology series by a quartet of the biggest directors in Hollywood. With Stephen Spielberg (also the film’s co-producer), John Landis, George Miller (The Road Warrior, Happy Feet), and Joe Dante behind the camera for this portmanteau feature, one might expect Serling’s episodes to positively gleam with star power, but the truth is that Twilight Zone: The Movie is a hit-and-miss affair. Landis opens with an amusing nod to the original series’ pop-culture appeal with Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks riffing on their favorite episodes before a hair-raising shock finale; unfortunately, his second offering is a bland morality plan about racial tolerance that will forever be overshadowed by the accident that claimed the lives of star Vic Morrow and two child actors during shooting. Spielberg’s take on George Clayton Johnson’s “Kick the Can” looks lovely and is well performed by its cast (especially Scatman Crothers), but it struggles to bear up under the weight of treacley sentiment so common to the director’s films at the time. Dante’s version of Jerome Bixby’s “It’s A Good Life” (about a boy with monstrous powers) is rife with his trademark energy and black humor (and his cast of regular players, including Kevin McCarthy and William Schallert, strike the right balance of terror and comedy). But it’s Miller’s revamp of Richard Matheson’s legendary “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” that delivers the biggest payoff, thanks to John Lithgow’s super-charged turn as a nervous airline passenger who’s convinced he’s seen a monster tampering with the plane’s wing. Burgess Meredith (himself a veteran of the original TZ) provides narration; the widescreen DVD features no extras save for the original trailer and a remastered digital transfer. –Paul Gaita
Product Description
Four short horrorific tales are anthologized in this film as a tributeto rod serling and his popular tv series.

Planet of the Apes – The Legacy Collection (Planet of the Apes [1968] / Beneath the / Escape from the / Conquest of the / Battle for the)

Product Details

• Actors: Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Natalie Trundy, Severn Darden, Lew Ayres
• Directors: J. Lee Thompson, Don Taylor, Ted Post
• Format: AC-3, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, THX, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: March 28, 2006
• Run Time: 605 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video [From the original movie]
Many early science fiction films are now, quite inadvertently (and in most cases undeservedly), objects of camp attention: we laugh at the silly makeup, tin-can special effects, and the naive “high-tech” dialogue. Planet of the Apes is no such film. Its intelligent script, frightening costuming, and savagely effective conclusion (which needs no big-budget special effects to augment its impact) remain both potent and relevant. When Colonel George Taylor (the fabulous Charlton Heston) crash lands his spacecraft on what seems to be an unfamiliar planet, he is captured and held prisoner by a dominant race of hyperrational, articulate apes. However, the ape community is riven with internal dissention, centered in no small part on its policy toward humans, who, on this planet, are treated as mindless animals. Befriended and ultimately assisted by the more liberal simians, Taylor escapes–only to find a more terrifying obstacle confronting his return home. Heavy-handed object lessons abound–the ubiquity of generational warfare, the inflexibility of dogma, the cruelty of prejudice–and the didactic fingerprints of Rod Serling are very much in evidence here. But director Franklin Schaffner has a dark, pop-apocalyptic sci-fi vision all his own, and time has not dulled the monumental emotional impact of the film’s climactic payoff shot. If you don’t know what I’m talking about here, you owe it to yourself to check out this stone classic, and even if you do, see it with fresh eyes; and don’t be surprised if you get the chills all over again… and again… and again. –Miles Bethany

Product Description
Disk 1: *Planet of the Apes (‘68)

Disk 2: *Escape from the Planet of the Apes

Disk 3: *Conquest for the Planet of the Apes

Disk 4: *Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Disk 5: *Beneath the Planet of the Apes

Disk 6: *Behind the Planet of the Apes (bonus disc) *Documentary ”Behind the Planet of the Apes” *Planet of the Apes trailer *Beneath the Planet of the Apes trailer *Escape from the Planet of the Apes trailer *Conquest of the Planet of the Apes trailer *Battle for the Planet of the Apes trailer *Planet of the Apes Cross Promotion trailer *TV Spot for Behind the Planet of the Apes *Fox Interactive Presents: Behind the Scenes of the Planet of the Apes game

Planet of the Apes (Special Edition)

Product Details

• Actors: Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti
• Directors: Tim Burton
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: February 11, 2003
• Run Time: 124 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Billed as a “reimagining” of the original 1968 film, Tim Burton’s extraordinary Planet of the Apes constantly borders on greatness, adhering to the spirit of Pierre Boulle’s original novel while exploring fresh and inventive ideas and paying honorable tribute to the ‘68 sci-fi classic. Burton’s gifts for eccentric inspiration and visual ingenuity make this a movie that’s as entertaining as it is provocative, beginning with Rick Baker’s best-ever ape makeup (hand that man an Oscar®!), and continuing through the surprisingly nuanced performances and breathtaking production design. Add to all this an intelligent screenplay that turns Boulle’s speculative reversal–the dominance of apes over humans–into a provocative study of civil rights and civil war. The film finally goes too far with a woefully misguided ending that pays weak homage to the original, but everything preceding that misfire is astonishingly right.

While attempting the space-pod retrieval of a chimpanzee test pilot, Major Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) enters a magnetic storm that propels him into the distant future, where he crash-lands on the ape-ruled planet. Among the primitively civilized apes, treatment of enslaved humans is a divisive issue: senator’s daughter Ari (Helena Bonham Carter) advocates equality while the ruthless General Thade (Tim Roth) promotes extermination. While Davidson ignites a human rebellion, this conflict is explored with admirable depth and emotion, and sharp dialogue allows Burton’s exceptional cast to bring remarkable expressiveness to their embattled ape characters, most notably in the comic relief of orangutan slave trader Limbo (played to perfection by Paul Giamatti). Classic lines from the original film are cleverly reversed (including an unbilled cameo for Charlton Heston, in ape regalia as Thade’s dying father), and while this tale of interspecies warfare leads to an ironic conclusion that’s not altogether satisfying, it still bears the ripe fruit of a timeless what-if idea. –Jeff Shannon
Product Description
After a spectacular crash-landing on an uncharted planet, brash astronaut Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) finds himself trapped in a savage world where talking apes dominate the human race. Desperate to find a way home, Leo must evade the invincible gorilla army led by ruthless General Thade (Tim Roth) and his most trusted warrior, Attar (Michael Clarke Duncan). Now the pulse-pounding race is on to reach a sacred temple that may hold the shocking secrets of mankind’s past – and the last hope for it’s salvation!

Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series

Product Details

• Actors: Planet of the Apes-TV Series
• Format: Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: October 3, 2006
• Run Time: 696 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
After their spacecraft travels through a time warp, two astronauts (Ron Harper, James Naughton) from 1981 crash-land back on Earth in the year 3085 – a time when intelligent apes rule and humans have been reduced to servants or pets. Captured by the apes and sentenced to death, they are saved by a curious chimpanzee name Galen (Roddy McDowall). But now all three are on the run, trying to keep one step ahead of the gorilla army led by General Urko (Mark Lenard), who is determined to kill the renegades.

OR if that isn’t enough:

Planet of the Apes – The Ultimate DVD Collection

Product Details

• Actors: Estella Warren, Ralph Winter, Paul Giamatti, Rick Heinrichs, Colleen Atwood
• Directors: Thomas C. Grane, J. Lee Thompson, David Comtois
• Format: AC-3, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, THX, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 14
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: March 28, 2006
• Run Time: 1564 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
While provoking neither the decades of spin-offs of the Star Trek franchise or the cultural staying power of the Star Wars universe, Planet of the Apes nonetheless lives in the hearts of many a Sunday afternoon TV-watcher. A high water mark for prosthetic movie magic, this primate-vs-man epic–spanning four movies, a TV series, and an animated series–was as integral to the 1970s as Led Zeppelin or muscle cars. So how to properly pay tribute to a science fiction franchise about intelligent apes roaming a post-apocalyptic earth?

In a freaking ape head boxed set, man.

It’s true. 20th Century Fox packaged the entire run–movies, TV series, animated series, and the 2001 Tim Burton remake–in Caesar’s head. Actually, the 14 discs are efficiently packaged in a fold-out book that slides into the bust’s back. The bust is smartly dressed in green canvas, with zippers that don’t actually lead to pockets. The hair is a luxurious mane that could have been wasted on at least three toupes. Put this masterpiece of DVD packaging on a shelf and watch it catch the gaze of everyone who walks into the room. Unfortunately, the set does not come with any supplemental reading material; an essay or two on the impact of Planet of the Apes would have been nice. The set is limited to 10,000 copies and comes with a numbered certificate of authenticity. For those who don’t want to commit to the full ape head experience, most of the discs in this set–sans the animated series, TV show, and Tim Burton remake–can be had in the Planet of the Apes Legacy Boxset –Ryan Boudinot

Back to the Future – The Complete Trilogy (Widescreen Edition)

Product Details

• Actors: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, Thomas F. Wilson
• Directors: Robert Zemeckis
• Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating:
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: January 25, 2005
• Run Time: 342 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis topped his breakaway hit Romancing the Stone with Back to the Future, a joyous comedy with a dazzling hook: what would it be like to meet your parents in their youth? Billed as a special-effects comedy, the imaginative film (the top box-office smash of 1985) has staying power because of the heart behind Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s script. High schooler Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox, during the height of his TV success) is catapulted back to the ’50s where he sees his parents in their teens, and accidentally changes the history of how Mom and Dad met. Filled with the humorous ideology of the ’50s, filtered through the knowledge of the ’80s (actor Ronald Reagan is president, ha!), the film comes off as a Twilight Zone episode written by Preston Sturges. Filled with memorable effects and two wonderfully off-key, perfectly cast performances: Christopher Lloyd as the crazy scientist who builds the time machine (a DeLorean luxury car) and Crispin Glover as Marty’s geeky dad. –Doug Thomas

Critics and audiences didn’t seem too happy with Back to the Future, Part II, the inventive, perhaps too clever sequel. Director Zemeckis and cast bent over backwards to add layers of time-travel complication, and while it surely exercises the brain it isn’t necessarily funny in the same way that its predecessor was. It’s well worth a visit, though, just to appreciate the imagination that went into it, particularly in a finale that has Marty watching his own actions from the first film. –Tom Keogh

Shot back-to-back with the second chapter in the trilogy, Back to the Future, Part III is less hectic than that film and has the same sweet spirit of the first, albeit in a whole new setting. This time, Marty ends up in the Old West of 1885, trying to prevent the death of mad scientist Christopher Lloyd at the hands of gunman Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson, who had a recurring role as the bully Biff). Director Zemeckis successfully blends exciting special effects with the traditions of a Western and comes up with something original and fun. –Tom Keogh
Product Description
Experience theiComplete Trilogy!
Presented by Steven Spielberg, directed by Oscar® winner Robert Zemeckis and starring time travelers Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, the phenomenally popular Back To The Future films literally changed the future of the adventure movie genre. Now, this unprecedented Back To The Future DVD Trilogy immerses you in all the breathtaking action, outrageous comedy and sheer moviemaking magic of one of the most brilliantly inventive, wildly entertaining motion picture triumphs in Hollywood history!

Buffy The Vampire Slayer – Collector’s Set (40 discs)

Product Details

• Actors: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, Anthony Head, James Marsters
• Directors: Joss Whedon
• Format: Box set, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 40
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: August 1, 2006

Amazon.com
From its charming and angst-ridden first season to the darker, apocalyptic final one, Buffy the Vampire Slayer succeeds on many levels, and in a fresher and more authentic way than the shows that came before or after it. How lucky, then, that with the release of its boxed set of seasons 1-7, you can have the estimable pleasure of watching a near-decade of Buffy in any order you choose. (And we have some ideas about how that should be done.)

First: rest assured that there’s no shame in coming to Buffy late, even if you initially turned your nose up at the winsome Sarah Michelle Gellar kicking the hell out of vampires (in Buffy-lingo, vamps), demons, and other evil-doers. Perhaps you did so because, well, it looked sort of science-fiction-like with all that monster latex. Start with season 3 and see that Buffy offers something for everyone, and the sooner you succumb to it, the quicker you’ll appreciate how textured and riveting a drama it is.

Why season 3? Because it offers you a winning cast of characters who have fallen from innocence: their hearts have been broken, their egos trampled in typically vicious high-school style, and as a result, they’ve begun to realize how fallible they are. As much as they try, there are always more monsters, or a bigger evil. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the core crew remains something of a unit–there’s the smart girl, Willow (Alyson Hannigan) who dreams of saving the day by downloading the plans to City Hall’s sewer tunnels and mapping a route to safety. There are the ne’r do wells–the vampire Spike (James Marsters), who both clashes with and aspires to love Buffy; the tortured and torturing Angel (David Boreanz); the pretty, popular girl with an empty heart (Charisma Carpenter); and the teenage everyman, Xander (Nicholas Brendon).

Then there’s Buffy herself, who in the course of seven seasons morphs from a sarcastic teenager in a minidress to a heroine whose tragic flaw is an abiding desire to be a “normal” girl. On a lesser note, with the boxed set you can watch the fashion transformation of Buffy from mall rat to Prada-wearing, kickboxing diva with enviable highlights. (There was the unfortunate bob of season 2, but it’s a forgivable lapse.) At least the storyline merits the transformations: every time Buffy has to end a relationship she cuts her hair, shedding both the pain and her vulnerability.

In addition to the well-wrought teenage emotional landscape, Buffy deftly takes on more universal themes–power, politics, death, morality–as the series matures in seasons 4-6. And apart from a few missteps that haven’t aged particularly well (“I Robot” in season 1 comes to mind), most episodes feel as harrowing and as richly drawn as they did at first viewing. That’s about as much as you can ask for any form of entertainment: that it offer an escape from the viewer’s workaday world and entry into one in which the heroine (ideally one with leather pants) overcomes demons far more troubling than one’s own. –Megan Halverson
Product Description
*Seasons 1-7 on each disc

Bonus Disc: **Introduction by Joss Whedon **Back to the Hellmouth: A Conversation with Creators and Cast **Breaking Barriers: It’s Not a Chick Fight Thing **Love Bites: Relationships in the Buffyverse **Evil Fiends **Buffy: An Unlikely Role Model **Buffy Cast and Crew: Favorite Episodes

Angel – Complete Series Collector’s Set

Product Details

• Actors: David Boreanaz
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 30
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007

Editorial Reviews [For Season one -the complete boxed set didn't have a review listed]

Amazon.com
He’s hunky, he’s brooding, he’s a do-gooder, and he was Buffy’s first boyfriend. Angel, the tortured vampire destined to walk the earth with a soul, got his own series after three seasons on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and did what any new star might do: he moved to L.A. (the City of Angels–get it?) and set up shop. Angel (co-created by Buffy mastermind Joss Whedon) finds the titular vampire (David Boreanaz) as a kind of supernatural private investigator, fighting evil one case at a time and, like his ex-girlfriend, keeping the world from getting destroyed by vengeful demons and such.

A darker, more film noir version of Buffy, Angel lacked the peppy humor that permeated Sunnydale but more than made up for it in its soul-wrenching gravitas, and it elevated Boreanaz to leading-man status, a role he filled out ably and then some. Initially, the stoic vampire was paired with Irish demon Doyle (the late Glenn Quinn) and fellow Sunnydale transplant Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), but Angel finally found its footing when Doyle was dispatched (giving his powers of precognition to Cordelia) and replaced by Buffy alum Wesley (Alexis Denisof), a fallen watcher who, like his friends, was hoping for a new start in L.A. However, pesky law firm Wolfram and Hart (a front for the demon mafia, as it were) reared its ugly head and discovered Angel’s presence, thus setting the stage for a battle of good and evil–and if you’re a regular Joss Whedon fan, you know that it’s a never-ending war.

This first season features guest appearances by various Buffy characters, including werewolf boy Oz (Seth Green), rogue slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku), deliciously evil vamp Darla (Julie Benz), and Buffy herself (Sarah Michelle Gellar), all of whom helped get the show off and running in style. –Mark Englehart
Product Description
HIS TIME HAS COME . . . Now you can own the entire first season of ANGEL. All 22 classic episodes are available for the first time in this exclusive 6-disc collector’s edition. From “City of,” “In the Dark” and “I Will Remember You” to “Hero,” “Sanctuary” and “To Shanshu in L.A.,” these Season One episodes are a must for every Angel and Buffy fan.

Product Description [for the complete boxed set]
ANGEL SEASON 1 (6 DISCS) ANGEL SEASON 2 (6 DISCS) ANGEL SEASON 3 (6 DISCS) ANGEL SEASON 4 (6 DISCS) ANGEL SEASON 5 (6 DISCS)

**COMPANION BOOKLET **LETTER TO FANS FROM JOSS WHEDON

Firefly – The Complete Series

Product Details

• Actors: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin
• Directors: Joss Whedon, Tim Minear, Vern Gillum
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: December 9, 2003
• Run Time: 675 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

As the 2005 theatrical release of Serenity made clear, Firefly was a science fiction concept that deserved a second chance. Devoted fans (or “Browncoats”) knew it all along, and with this well-packaged DVD set, those who missed the show’s original broadcasts can see what they missed. Creator Joss Whedon’s ambitious science-fiction Western (Whedon’s third series after Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) was canceled after only 11 of these 14 episodes had aired on the Fox network, but history has proven that its demise was woefully premature. Whedon’s generic hybrid got off to a shaky start when network executives demanded an action-packed one-hour premiere (“The Train Job”); in hindsight the intended two-hour pilot (also titled “Serenity,” and oddly enough, the final episode aired) provides a better introduction to the show’s concept and splendid ensemble cast. Obsessive fans can debate the quirky logic of combining spaceships with direct parallels to frontier America (it’s 500 years in the future, and embattled humankind has expanded into the galaxy, where undeveloped “outer rim” planets struggle with the equivalent of Old West accommodations), but Whedon and his gifted co-writers and directors make it work, at least well enough to fashion a credible context from the incongruous culture-clashing of past, present, and future technologies, along with a polyglot language (the result of two dominant superpowers) that combines English with an abundance of Chinese slang.

What makes it work is Whedon’s delightfully well-chosen cast and their nine well-developed characters–a typically Whedon-esque extended family–each providing a unique perspective on their adventures aboard Serenity, the junky but beloved “Firefly-class” starship they call home. As a veteran of the disadvantaged Independent faction’s war against the all-powerful planetary Alliance (think of it as Underdogs vs. Overlords), Serenity captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) leads his compact crew on a quest for survival. They’re renegades with an amoral agenda, taking any job that pays well, but Firefly’s complex tapestry of right and wrong (and peace vs. violence) is richer and deeper than it first appears. Tantalizing clues about Blue Sun (an insidious mega-corporation with a mysteriously evil agenda), its ties to the Alliance, and the traumatizing use of Serenity’s resident stowaway (Summer Glau) as a guinea pig in the development of advanced warfare were clear indications Firefly was heading for exciting revelations that were precluded by the series’ cancellation. Fortunately, the big-screen Serenity (which can be enjoyed independently of the series) ensured that Whedon’s wild extraterrestrial west had not seen its final sunset. Its very existence confirms that these 14 episodes (and enjoyable bonus features) will endure as irrefutable proof Fox made a glaring mistake in canceling the series. –Jeff Shannon

Product Description
Five hundred years in the future there’s a whole new frontier, and the crew of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity is eager to stake a claim on the action. They’ll take any job, legal or illegal, to keep fuel in the tanks and food on the table. But things get a bit more complicated after they take on a passenger wanted by the new totalitarian Alliance regime. Now they find themselves on the run, desperate to steer clear of Alliance ships and the flesh-eating Reavers who live on the fringes of space.

Serenity (Collector’s Edition)

Product Details

• Actors: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin
• Directors: Joss Whedon
• Format: AC-3, Collector’s Edition, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating:
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: August 21, 2007
• Run Time: 187 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Serenity offers perfect proof that Firefly deserved a better fate than premature TV cancellation. Joss Whedon’s acclaimed sci-fi Western hybrid series was ideally suited (in Browncoats, of course) for a big-screen conversion, and this action-packed adventure allows Whedon to fill in the Firefly backstory, especially the history and mystery of the spaceship Serenity’s volatile and traumatized stowaway, River Tam (Summer Glau). Her lethal skills as a programmed “weapon” makes her a coveted prize for the power-hungry planetary Alliance, represented here by an Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who’ll stop at nothing to retrieve River from Serenity’s protective crew. We still get all the quip-filled dialogue and ass-kicking action that we’ve come to expect from the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Whedon goes a talented step further here, blessing his established ensemble cast with a more fully-developed dynamic of endearing relationships. Serenity’s cast is led with well-balanced depth and humor by Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds, whose maverick spirit is matched by his devotion to crewmates Wash (Alan Tudyk), Zoe (Gina Torres), fun-loving fighter Jayne (Adam Baldwin), engineer Kaylee (Jewel Staite), doctor Simon (Sean Maher), and Mal’s former flame Inara (Morena Baccarin), who plays a pivotal role in Whedon’s briskly-paced plot. As many critics agreed, Serenity offered all the fun and breezy excitement that was missing from George Lucas’s latter-day Star Wars epics, and Whedon leaves an opening for a continuing franchise that never feels cheap or commercially opportunistic. With the mega-corporate mysteries of Blue Sun yet to be explored, it’s a safe bet we haven’t seen the last of the good ship Serenity. –Jeff Shannon
Product Description
Serenity, the action-packed event that delivers thrilling non-stop adventure, incredible battles in dangerous worlds and spectacular visual effects, is now available in a Special 2-Disc Collector’s Edition containing all-new bonus content and never-seen-before footage! With over 30 minutes of all-new special features and special collectible packaging, the Serenity – Collector’s Edition is a must own for all true Sci-Fi and Joss Whedon fans! All-new 2-disc edition will include 6 completely new bonus elements including cast & filmmaker commentary. Will also include all bonus features from previous release.

All New Bonus Features:
-Extended Scenes (6:45)
-Take A Walk on Serenity (4:00) Cast and Crew take us on a special tour of the Serenity space ship
-A Filmmaker’s Journey (19:49) Take A Journey with Joss Whedon from script to the big screen
-The Green Clan (3:03) An expose on Cinematographer Jack Green and his team
-Sci-Fi Inside: Serenity (21:41) Hosted by Adam Baldwin, an in-depth look at the film that was resurrected from a cancelled television show, as well as its supportive culture.
-Session 416 (7:52) These internet pieces document a portion of River’s participation in a psychological study and her interactions with her therapist.
-Feature Commentary with Director Joss Whedon and Cast Members Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, and Ron Glass

Jurassic Park Adventure Pack (Jurassic Park/ The Lost World: Jurassic Park/ Jurassic Park III)

Product Details

• Actors: Rona Benson, Blake Michael Bryan, Laura Dern, John Diehl, Bruce French
• Directors: Joe Johnston
• Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating:
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: November 29, 2005
• Run Time: 349 minutes

Amazon.com
Jurassic Park
Steven Spielberg’s 1993 mega-hit rivals Jaws as the most intense and frightening film he’d ever made prior to Schindler’s List, but it was also among his weakest stories. Based on Michael Crichton’s novel about an island amusement park populated by cloned dinosaurs, the film works best as a thrill ride with none of the interesting human dynamics of Spielberg’s Jaws. That lapse proves unfortunate, but there’s no shortage of raw terror as a rampaging T-rex and nasty raptors try to make fast food out of the cast. The effects are still astonishing (despite the fact that the computer-generated technology has since been improved upon) and at times primeval, such as the sight of a herd of whatever-they-are scampering through a valley. –Tom Keogh

The Lost World – Jurassic Park
In the low tradition of knockoff horror flicks best seen (or not seen) on a drive-in movie screen, Steven Spielberg’s sequel to Jurassic Park is a poorly conceived, ill-organized film that lacks story and logic. Screenwriter David Koepp strings along a number of loose ideas while Jeff Goldblum returns as Ian Malcolm, the quirky chaos theoretician who now reluctantly agrees to go to another island where cloned dinosaurs are roaming freely. Along with his girlfriend (Julianne Moore) and daughter, Malcolm has to deal with hunters, environmentalists, and corporate swine who stupidly bring back a big dino to Southern California, where it runs amok, of course. Spielberg doesn’t seem to care that the pieces of this project don’t add up to a real movie, so he hams it up with big, scary moments (with none of the artfulness of those in Jurassic Park) and smart-aleck visual gags (a yapping dog in a suburb mysteriously disappears when a hungry T-rex stomps by). A complete bust.–Tom Keogh

Jurassic Park III
Surpassing expectations to qualify as an above-average sequel, Jurassic Park III is nothing more or less than a satisfying popcorn adventure. A little cheesier than the first two Jurassic blockbusters, it’s a big B movie with big B-list stars (including Laura Dern, briefly reprising her Jurassic Park role), and eight years of advancing computer-generated-image technology give it a sharp edge over its predecessors. While adopting the jungle spirit of King Kong, the movie refines Michael Crichton’s original premise, and its dinosaurs are even more realistic, their behavior more detailed, and their variety–including flying pteranodons and a new villain, the spinosaurus–more dazzling and threatening than ever. These advancements justify the sequel, and its contrived plot is just clever enough to span 90 minutes without wearing out its welcome.

Posing as wealthy tourists, an adventurous couple (William H. Macy, Téa Leoni) convince paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and his protégé (Allesandro Nivola) to act as tour guides on a flyover trip to Isla Sorna, the ill-fated “Site B” where all hell broke loose in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. In truth, they’re on a search-and-rescue mission to find their missing son (Trevor Morgan), and their plane crash is just the first of several enjoyably suspenseful sequences. Director Joe Johnston (October Sky) embraces the formulaic plot as a series of atmospheric set pieces, placing new and familiar dinosaurs in misty rainforests, fiery lakes, and mysterious valleys, turning JP3 into a thrill ride with impressive highlights (including a T. rex versus spinosaurus smack-down), adequate doses of wry humor (from the cowriters of Election), and an upbeat ending that’s corny but appropriate, proving that the symptoms of sequelitis needn’t be fatal. –Jeff Shannon

Stargate SG-1 – The Complete Series Collection

Product Details

• Actors: Stargate Sg1
• Format: Full Screen, Surround Sound, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 54
• Rating:
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: October 9, 2007
• Run Time: 9900 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com [From Season One]
Hollywood’s film archives overflow with the carcasses of dismal movies based on lame ’60s and ’70s television shows, a syndrome that shows no sign of abating. But here’s evidence that the reverse effect, turning a movie into a TV series, can have surprisingly positive results. Indeed, based on the 21 episodes produced for the first season of Stargate SG-1, it could be argued that this show is significantly better than the 1994 feature it’s derived from.

The central conceit of the original Stargate–the existence of an artificially created “wormhole” through which one can travel to different worlds light years away from Earth–was an intriguing one. In seizing on the obvious possibilities for expanding on that premise, series executive producers-writers Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright have smartly retained some of the film’s basic elements (its amalgam of myth and theoretical hokum, or the ongoing clash of wills between scientists and soldiers), while adding a variety of fresh ideas (including new characters, new locations, and a welcome dose of humor, much of it supplied by Richard Dean Anderson, MacGyver himself, who replaces Kurt Russell in the central role of Colonel Jack O’Neill). The result is a show with multidimensional heroes and villains and consistently compelling story lines (many of them introduced in the pilot and carried forward through subsequent episodes) balancing excellent special effects and production values. All this and full frontal nudity, too (at least in the aforementioned pilot). Who can resist?

The first season is spread out over five DVDs; the 100-minute pilot shares the first volume with two other episodes, while discs 2 to 5 contain anywhere from three to five shows each. Sound and visuals (in widescreen format) alike will take full advantage of any home system’s capabilities. But aside from language and subtitle options, bonus features are limited to brief featurettes that play like commercials and provide little in the way of background information or insight (there are no features at all on the first disc). Then again, if you really want to know what that symbol on Teal’c’s forehead means, or why the nasty, parasitic Goa’ulds look a lot like the fledgling stomach monsters in the Alien series, there is no doubt a Web site out there just for you. –Sam Graham

Amazon.com [From Season Ten]
If this five-disc, 20-episode, tenth season set really is the end of Stargate SG-1–and considering the number of reprieves the show has already had and the rumors of various movie spin-offs, not to mention the fact that the final installment is entitled “Unending,” who knows?–then the folks responsible for this durable sci-fi series can be proud that they finished it off in style, with a run of episodes that are for the most part highly entertaining, exciting, and fun, offering resolution if not complete closure. And if sharks were jumped, at least they were small ones. As was the case in Season 9, and to a large extent in Season 8 as well, original series star Richard Dean Anderson is little in evidence here. Portraying Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell, Ben Browder, who came to Stargate SG-1 from the underrated Farscape, is now entrenched as leader of SG-1, the Stargate project’s ace team in the field, joining series veterans Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, and Michael Shanks (as Samantha Carter, Teal’c, and Daniel Jackson, respectively). Most notably, fellow Farscape alum Claudia Black has an ever-expanding role as Vala, whose cheeky wit and irreverence bring a consistent spark to the proceedings. The big, bad villains known as Ori are back as well. We still can’t see them–they are, after all, “ascended beings,” represented by the blind, monk-like Priors, who roam the universe intoning “Hallowed are the Ori” and ensuring that all will submit to their will (the element of scary religious fanaticism remains as relevant as ever). But the Ori are also still the most implacable, irresistible force our heroes have ever encountered; nothing less than the fate of the entire galaxy is at stake (again)! And now there’s an added twist: the Ori have a frontwoman, if you will, whose powers make the Priors look like pikers. Known as Adria (or “the Orici” to believers), this beautiful young woman (played by Morena Baccarin) also happens to be the daughter of Vala, whom the Ori chose to bring their demon seed into the world; the uneasy (to say the least) Adria-Vala relationship provides many intriguing moments. On the minus side, the show tends to break its own rules (for instance, for a character who’s supposed to be invincible, Adria often seems awfully, well, vincible), and the commingling of Arthurian legend, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian myth, magic, and other sources is occasionally over-the-top, even for this franchise. Some episodes are plot-heavy, bogged down by too many characters (past bad guys like the Goa’uld, and Ba’al reappear, as do several Stargate Atlantis principals in one episode) or excessive techno-rap about time dilation fields, flux capacitors, and something called the Clava Thessara Infinitas (don’t ask). Episodes in which the writers move away from the central Ori theme are less than stellar; “200″ exists mostly as an opportunity to make fun of the TV business and is as irrelevant and silly as “Citizen Joe,” the worst episode from Season 8. And finally, without revealing details, suffice to say that “Unending,” which offers a possible fate for our heroes before totally pulling its punches, may frustrate some longtime adherents. By and large, though, Stargate SG-1 has all the elements–humor, action, great effects, good story-telling and acting, characters you care about–to more than justify its ten-year run. It will be missed. Special features are again bountiful, including audio commentary on all episodes, various featurettes, and five “directors series” entries devoted to particular episodes. –Sam Graham

Product Description
Episode Description: Disc 1- 5: Stargate SG-1 Season 1 Disc 6-10: Starage SG-1 Season 2 Disc 11-15: Stargate SG-1 Season 3 Disc 16-20: Stargate SG-1 Season 4 Disc 21-25: Stargate SG-1 Season 5 Disc 26-30: Stargate SG-1 Season 6 Disc 31-35: Stargate SG-1 Season 7 Disc 36-40: Stargate SG-1 Season 8 Disc 41-45: Stargate SG-1 Season 9 Disc 46-50: Stargate SG-1 Season 10

Disc 51: Bonus Disc 1 **Ark of Truth Promo **Continuum Promo **”Stargate SG-1: The Lowdown (SG-1 Season 7)” **From Stargate to Atlantis: The Lowdown (SG-1 Season 8 & Atlantis Season 1) **Behind the Stargate: Secrets Revealed (SG-1 Season 8 & Atlantis Season 1)

Disc 52: Bonus Disc 2 **”Sci Fi Inside: Stargate SG-1’s 200th Episode (SG-1 Season 10)” **”Behind the Mythology of Stargate SG-1 (SG-1 Seasons 1-10)” **Stargate SG-1: True Science

Disc 53: Bonus Disc 3 ***Season Three: **Timeline to the Future **Part 1: Legacy of the Gate **Part II: Secrets of the Gate **Part III: Beyond the Gate

***Season Four: **SG-1 Video Diary: Teryl Rothery **”Stargate SG-1 Season 5: Gateway to Adventure ” **Stargate SG-1: The 100th Episode

***Season Five: **SG-1 Video Diary: Don S. Davis

***Season Six: **”SG-1 Directors Series: Smoke and Mirrors” **SG-1 Directors Series: The Changeling **SG-1 Directors Series: Memento **SG-1 Directors Series: Prophecy **SG-1 Video Diary: Richard Dean Anderson Paradise Lost”

Disc 54: Bonus Disc 4 ***Season Seven: **SG-1 Directors Series: Revisions **SG-1 Directors Series: Heroes **SG-1 Directors Series: Resurrection **”Behind the Scenes: Journey Inside Lost City” **The Storyboard Process **”Bra’tac vs. Ronan: Designing the Fight” **Stargate Magic: Inside the Lab **Richard Dean Anderson: “My Life as a Mime”

***Season Eight: **”Beyond the Gate: A Convention Experience with Amanda Tapping” **”Beyond the Gate: A Convention Experience with Michael Shanks” **SG-1 Directors Series: Threads **Profile On: Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie **The Last Day of Teal’C **SG-1 Directors Series: Moebius **”Stargate SG-1 Alliance: The Making of The Video Game”

Stargate – The Ark of Truth

Product Details

• Actors: Ben Browder, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Michael Shanks, Claudia Black
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating:
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: March 11, 2008
• Run Time: 97 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Blasting off where the Sci-Fi Channelâ??s longest running show, Stargate SG-1, left off, this thrilling feature thrusts the Stargate team â?” Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), Vala (Claudia Black), Tealâ??c (Christopher Judge), Sam (Amanda Tapping) and Cam (Ben Browder) â?” into their biggest challenge yet. In search of an Ancient artifact they hope can defeat the oppressive Ori, the team not only learns that the Ori are set to launch a final assault on Earth, but a double-crossing I.O. operative is aboard the Odyssey! Also starring Beau Bridges, this pulse-pounder is loaded with enough suspense, humor and action to fill a galaxy!

Stargate (Ultimate Edition)

Product Details

• Actors: Kurt Russell, James Spader, Viveca Lindfors, Alexis Cruz, Mili Avital
• Directors: Roland Emmerich
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating:
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: February 17, 2003
• Run Time: 119 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Before they unleashed the idiotic mayhem of Independence Day and Godzilla, the idea-stealing team of director Roland Emmerich and producer-screenwriter Dean Devlin concocted this hokey hit about the discovery of an ancient portal capable of zipping travelers to “the other side of the known universe.” James Spader plays the Egyptologist who successfully translates the Stargate’s hieroglyphic code, and then joins a hawkish military unit (led by Kurt Russell) on a reconnaissance mission to see what’s on the other side. They arrive on a desert world with cultural (and apparently supernatural) ties to Earth’s ancient Egypt, where the sun god Ra (played by Jaye Davidson from The Crying Game) rules a population of slaves with armored minions and startlingly advanced technology. After being warmly welcomed into the slave camp, the earthlings encourage and support a rebellion, and while Russell threatens to blow up the Stargate to prevent its use by enemy forces, the movie collapses into a senseless series of action scenes and grandiose explosions. It’s all pretty ridiculous, but Stargate found a large and appreciative audience, spawned a cable-TV series, and continues to attract science fiction fans who are more than willing to forgive its considerable faults. –Jeff Shannon
DVD features
Nothing beats a sci-fi movie with wall-shaking sound, and the Stargate Ultimate Edition delivers the goods with 6.1 DTS ES and 5.1 Dolby Digital EX. Yes, Stargate has been released on DVD numerous times, but this 2003 version is the best yet, with improved sound and a generally clean picture that’s now anamorphically enhanced for widescreen televisions. Note: The current Stargate Ultimate Edition is a stripped-down version with only a featurette and commentary track. The Ultimate Edition originally released in 2003 included the combination of the theatrical cut and director’s cut (nine minutes longer), and a 23-minute making-of feature that concentrated on the film’s design and production. –David Horiuchi

Stargate Atlantis – The Complete Seasons 1 and 2

Product Details

• Format: NTSC
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• DVD Release Date: March 20, 2007

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Stargate Atlantis – The Complete First Season: It’s not a franchise on the order of Law & Order, CSI, or Star Trek–not yet, anyway–but with Stargate Atlantis, a more than worthy successor to SG-1, Stargate is becoming a nice little cottage industry in itself. The premise, in a nutshell: The Ancients, the greatest race the universe has ever known (or something like that), abandoned Earth millions of years ago, taking Atlantis with them; they then sunk the entire city in order to escape the clutches of the dreaded Wraith, an implacable bunch of villains who nourish themselves by sucking the life from humans. Now, as the two-hour “Rising” pilot details, a new team has gained access to the legendary city. Once they arrive, Atlantis loses the power to sustain its protective shield and rises to the surface, and thus begin the team’s adventures (i.e., using the stargate to travel to other planets in the Pegasus galaxy, encountering aliens both hostile and friendly, and trying to defeat the Wraith, or at least stay out of their way).

Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), SG-1’s driving force, is missed, but Atlantis has a strong replacement in Major John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), easily the most charismatic member of the new team. Like O’Neill, Sheppard is a wiseacre and a loose cannon, as well as a superb pilot with an innate understanding of the Ancients’ arcane technology. His humor, humanity and conscience provide a welcome contrast to the other characters, especially brilliant-but-neurotic Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) and ultra-serious project leader Dr. Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson), who has little to do but give orders and stand up for her people. The Wraith, who resemble a vampire mutation of the albino blues guitarist Johnny Winter, are the focus of most of these 19 episodes (including the pilot). These bad boys will stop at nothing–nothing, I tell you!–in their quest to snack their way through every galaxy in the universe, with Earth their ultimate feeding ground. And while the final four episodes, dealing with the Wraith’s massive attack on Atlantis, end with an unsatisfying cliffhanger (basically, nothing is resolved), earlier shows effectively keep their ominous presence in the forefront. The episodes in which the Wraith play little or no active role are often compelling as well, including “Thirty Eight Minutes” (one of our heroes’ “puddle jumper” spacecraft gets stuck in the stargate), “Childhood’s End” (we meet a race whose members are convinced that only ritual suicide is keeping the Wraith at bay), and “The Eye” (a planet-size hurricane/tsunami bears down on Atlantis). As is the case with SG-1, the visual effects work, especially by TV standards, is excellent; in fact, one might wish for bit more cool sci-fi action and less talk in some of the episodes. Special effects include commentary (by directors, writers, and/or actors) for every episode, as well as the occasional behind-the-scenes featurette. –Sam Graham

Stargate Atlantis – The Complete Second Season: If Stargate Atlantis isn’t the coolest sci-fi series on television, this five-disc, 20-episode box set from the second season (2005-06) offers ample evidence that it’s right up there. The writing is good; the stories are intriguing, and the science part of the equation is credible enough to justify our suspension of disbelief. The characters are for the most part well-defined, and the acting, while perhaps not Emmy-caliber, is just fine. The action is exciting, the effects work impressive, the costumes and sets first-rate. But what Atlantis really has going for it is the presence of some of the baddest bad guys in the cosmos: the Wraith.

With their flowing white locks, cat-like eyes, pale, almost translucent skin, and teeth so bad they’d make the British blush, the Wraith rock. They also have a constant need to feed–on humans, of course–and are a serious threat not only to Atlantis but to the entire known universe, including good ol’ Earth. And although there are occasional diversions, the producers and writers have wisely kept the focus on these implacable antagonists; in fact, the newest member of the team, one Ronon Dex (played by the dreadlocked and hunky Jason Momoa), is a “runner” who escaped the Wraith’s clutches, was a fugitive for years before being found by our heroes, and specializes in dispatching the villains with cold precision. In the course of the season, via single episodes and several multi-parters, the Stargate team, commanded by Dr. Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson in the show’s least interesting role) and led by insouciant Major John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), with genius-neurotic Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) handling the scientific intricacies and yet another doc, Carson Beckett (Paul McGillion, affecting a Scottish brogue), overseeing medical matters, deals with the enemy on many fronts. Lt. Ford (Rainbow Sun Francks) defects after assuming Wraith-like characteristics. The team experiments with a “retrovirus” designed to turn Wraiths into humans (the results are decidedly mixed). They encounter a human who raised a Wraith female from childhood and insists she’s just like us (she’s not). They’re captured and imprisoned on a Wraith “hive” ship. And in the final episode, the humans and the Wraiths even form an alliance of supposedly mutual convenience (the episode is a cliffhanger that awaits resolution until Season Three, but anyone who thought this “partnership” was a good idea for our side clearly hasn’t been paying attention). As was the case with the Season One set, bonus materials are generous, including audio commentary (by actors, directors, and others) on every episode, various featurettes, photos, and more. Now if only there were a few Wraith interviews… –Sam Graham

Stargate Atlantis – The Complete Third Season

Stargate Atlantis – Rising (Pilot Episode)

Product Details

• Actors: Joe Flanigan, Torri Higginson, Rachel Luttrell, Rainbow Francks, David Hewlett
• Directors: Martin Wood
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating:
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: June 7, 2005
• Run Time: 88 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
There are those who may regard it as old wine in a new bottle, but that doesn’t mean that Stargate Atlantis doesn’t have something to offer to both newcomers and fans of Stargate SG-1, the franchise from which it evolved. Co-creators and executive producers Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, both of whom worked on the earlier show, have concocted an appealing premise for this spin-off, in which the so-called Ancients abandoned Earth millions of years earlier, taking their city (i.e., Atlantis) with them. Now, a new team has gained access (via the Stargate, the “wormhole” our heroes use to travel to different worlds) to the legendary sunken city, where new adventures and deadly new enemies await. Stargate SG-1 stars Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks make appearances in this series premiere, but the focus is on the new characters. Of these, Joe Flanigan excels as the insouciant Major John Sheppard, an Air Force pilot unexpectedly recruited for the new mission because of his preternatural ability to interface with the Ancients’ wondrous technology. The new leader is Dr. Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson), a role that is neither especially well-written nor well-played. The new monster-villains, replacing the trusty old Goa’uld, are the Wraith, whose name is actually cooler than they are; they may eat humans, in addition to being all-powerful (natch), but they tend to come off like refugees from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Overall, the production values and special effects remain top-notch, especially for television, and the story itself is OK. But while Stargate Atlantis is certainly promising, it has a ways to go to equal its predecessor, which remains one of the best-made, most compelling sci-fi programs on television. –Sam Graham
Product Description
When SG-1 discovers what it believes to be the remnants of the Lost City of the Ancients ? the originators of the Stargates ? Stargate Command launches an investigation. A new team of explorers, headed by civilian Dr. Elizabeth Weir, travels to the distant Pegasus Galaxy, where it discovers an advanced but deserted city on the ocean floor, a group of nomadic humans and a deadly enemy that feeds on humans as an energy source!

The X-Files: The Ultimate Collection

Product Details

• Actors: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson
• Directors: Chris Carter
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 61
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: November 6, 2007

Amazon Customer Revuiew

“This product, according to Fox, gathers together all nine seasons, the film, and the Mythology Threads featurettes off the Mythology collections. The nine seasons are thankfully in the original release format, with all special features included. The feature film appears to have the same contents as the current DVD release as well. As for the featurettes, they appear on a disc of their own.
For a box set this big (61 discs), it’s priced fairly reasonably as opposed to the 9-season collection that can be found elsewhere on Amazon. However, Fox needs to make sure this is the last time they re-dip the series; maybe they should release it on Blu-Ray to make the HD fanboys happy.
Be warned: if you bought the initial season-by-season releases (not the slimpaks) and the movie separately, there’s nothing new here. The featurettes on the last disc are also nothing new, as they appeared on the pointless Mythology arc sets that were released on DVD a while back. However, for anyone new to the series or anyone who’s been hesitating to buy the series on DVD, this is a great pickup for its price.”

The Ultimate Matrix Collection (The Matrix/ The Matrix Reloaded/ The Matrix Revolutions/ The Animatrix)

Product Details

• Actors: Ray Anthony (III), Christine Anu, Andy Arness, Alima Ashton-Sheibu, Helmut Bakaitis
• Directors: Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 10
• Rating:
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: December 7, 2004
• Run Time: 618 minutes

Amazon.com essential video [The Matrix]
By following up their debut thriller Bound with the 1999 box-office smash The Matrix, the codirecting Wachowski brothers–Andy and Larry–annihilated any suggestion of a sophomore jinx, crafting one of the most exhilarating sci-fi/action movies of the 1990s. Set in the not too distant future in an insipid, characterless city, we find a young man named Neo (Keanu Reeves). A software techie by day and a computer hacker by night, he sits alone at home by his monitor, waiting for a sign, a signal–from what or whom he doesn’t know–until one night, a mysterious woman named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) seeks him out and introduces him to that faceless character he has been waiting for: Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). A messiah of sorts, Morpheus presents Neo with the truth about his world by shedding light on the dark secrets that have troubled him for so long: “You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.” Ultimately, Morpheus illustrates to Neo what the Matrix is–a reality beyond reality that controls all of their lives, in a way that Neo can barely comprehend.

Neo thus embarks on an adventure that is both terrifying and enthralling. Pitted against an enemy that transcends human concepts of evil, Morpheus and his team must train Neo to believe that he is the chosen champion of their fight. With mind-boggling, technically innovative special effects and a thought-provoking script that owes a debt of inspiration to the legacy of cyberpunk fiction, this is much more than an out-and-out action yarn; it’s a thinking man’s journey into the realm of futuristic fantasy, a dreamscape full of eye candy that will satisfy sci-fi, kung fu, action, and adventure fans alike. Although the film is headlined by Reeves and Fishburne–who both turn in fine performances–much of the fun and excitement should be attributed to Moss, who flawlessly mixes vulnerability with immense strength, making other contemporary female heroines look timid by comparison. And if we were going to cast a vote for most dastardly movie villain of 1999, it would have to go to Hugo Weaving, who plays the feckless, semipsychotic Agent Smith with panache and edginess. As the film’s box-office profits soared, the Wachowski brothers announced that The Matrix is merely the first chapter in a cinematically dazzling franchise–a chapter that is arguably superior to the other sci-fi smash of 1999 (you know… the one starring Jar Jar Binks). –Jeremy Storey

Amazon.com [The Matrix Reloaded]
Considering the lofty expectations that preceded it, The Matrix Reloaded triumphs where most sequels fail. It would be impossible to match the fresh audacity that made The Matrix a global phenomenon in 1999, but in continuing the exploits of rebellious Neo (Keanu Reeves), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) as they struggle to save the human sanctuary of Zion from invading machines, the codirecting Wachowski brothers have their priorities well in order. They offer the obligatory bigger and better highlights (including the impressive “Burly Brawl” and freeway chase sequences) while remaining focused on cleverly plotting the middle of a brain-teasing trilogy that ends with The Matrix Revolutions. The metaphysical underpinnings can be dismissed or scrutinized, and choosing the latter course (this is, after all, an epic about choice and free will) leads to astonishing repercussions that made Reloaded an explosive hit with critics and hardcore fans alike. As the centerpiece of a multimedia franchise, this dynamic sequel ends with a cliffhanger that virtually guarantees a mind-blowing conclusion. –Jeff Shannon

Amazon.com [The Matrix Revolutions]
Despite the inevitable law of diminishing returns, The Matrix Revolutions is quite satisfying as an adrenalized action epic, marking yet another milestone in the exponential evolution of computer-generated special effects. That may not be enough to satisfy hardcore Matrix fans who turned the Wachowski Brothers’ hacker mythology into a quasi-religious pop-cultural phenomenon, but there’s no denying that the trilogy goes out with a cosmic bang instead of the whimper that many expected. Picking up precisely where The Matrix Reloaded left off, this 130-minute finale finds Neo (Keanu Reeves) at a virtual junction, defending the besieged human enclave of Zion by confronting the attacking machines on their home turf, while humans combat swarms of tentacled mechanical sentinels as Zion’s fate lies in the balance. It all amounts to a blaze of CGI glory, devoid of all but the shallowest emotions, and so full of metaphysical hokum that the trilogy’s detractors can gloat with I-told-you-so sarcasm. And yet, Revolutions still succeeds as a slick, exciting hybrid of cinema and video game, operating by its own internal logic with enough forward momentum to make the whole trilogy seem like a thrilling, magnificent dream. – Jeff Shannon

Amazon.com [Animatrix]
Matrix writer-directors Larry and Andy Wachowski commissioned seven artists from Japan, America and Korea to make nine short films set in the world of their feature trilogy. Some of the top anime directors contributed to this anthology, including Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll), Koji Morimoto (Robot Carnival), and Shinchiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop). Some of the films tie directly into the narrative of the live-action movies. Drawn in a style reminiscent of Jean “Moebius” Giraud, Mahiro Maeda’s The Second Renaissance (Part I & Part II) depicts the human-machine wars that caused the enslavement of humanity and the creation of the Matrix. The duel between two flamboyantly costumed Kabuki warriors in Kawajiri’s Program is an expanded version of the cybernetic training Neo (Keanu Reeves) undergoes in the first Matrix film. Watanabe evokes the look of old newspaper photographs in A Detective Story, which falls outside the storyline of the features. Fast-paced, violent and grim, The Animatrix is an uneven but intriguing compilation that represents a new level in the ongoing cross-pollination between Japanese animation and American live action. (Not rated, suitable for ages 16 and older: considerable violence, violence against women, grotesque imagery, brief nudity, alcohol use) –Charles Solomon

Product Description
The definitive ten-disc DVD set, The Ultimate Matrix Collection features all three films in the trilogy together for the first time ever with a newly remastered picture and sound for The Matrix. Also included is the companion piece The Matrix Revisited and the best-selling The Animatrix, plus five entirely new DVDs packed solid with brand-new supplemental materials that encompass every aspect of the Matrix universe, including two new audio commentaries on each film, Enter the Matrix video game footage, 106 deep-delving featurettes/ documentaries and much more!

DVD Features:
Additional Scenes:Filmed for Enter the Matrix video game
Audio Commentary:The Philosophers: Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber; The Critics: Todd McCarthy, John Powers and David Thomson
DVD ROM Features
Documentary
Easter Eggs
Featurette
Introduction:by the Wachowski Brothers
Music Video
Photo gallery
Storyboards
TV Spot
Theatrical Trailer

Harry Potter Years 1-5 Limited Edition Gift Set

Product Details

• Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
• Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Color, Limited Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 12
• Rating:
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: December 11, 2007

Product Description
The Harry Potter Limited Edition Giftset includes Harry Potters Years 1-5, a Harry Potter DVD game Hogwarts Challenge, along with a bonus disc containing over 2 hours of enhanced content, an exclusive “Harry Potter’s Bookmark Collection”, and collectible trading cards.

Star Wars Trilogy (Widescreen Edition with Bonus Disc)

Product Details

• Actors: Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, James Earl Jones, Harrison Ford
• Directors: George Lucas
• Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, THX, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, Spanish
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating:
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: September 21, 2004
• Run Time: 388 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Was George Lucas’s Star Wars Trilogy, the most anticipated DVD release ever, worth the wait? You bet. It’s a must-have for any home theater, looking great, sounding great, and supplemented by generous bonus features.

The Movies

The Star Wars Trilogy had the rare distinction of becoming a cultural phenomenon, a defining event for its generation. On its surface, George Lucas’s story is a rollicking and humorous space fantasy that owes debts to more influences than one can count on two hands, but filmgoers became entranced by its basic struggle of good vs. evil “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” its dazzling special effects, and a mythology of Jedi knights, the Force, and droids. Over the course of three films–A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983)–Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and the roguish Han Solo (Harrison Ford) join the Rebel alliance in a galactic war against the Empire, the menacing Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones), and eventually the all-powerful Emperor (Ian McDiarmid). Empire is generally considered the best of the films and Jedi the most uneven, but all three are vastly superior to the more technologically impressive prequels that followed, Episode I, The Phantom Menace (1999) and Episode II, Attack of the Clones (2002).

How Are the Picture and Sound?

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Thanks to a new digital transfer, you’ve never seen C-3PO glow so golden, and Darth Vader’s helmet is as black as the Dark Side.

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In a word, spectacular. Thanks to a new digital transfer, you’ve never seen C-3PO glow so golden, and Darth Vader’s helmet is as black as the Dark Side. And at the climactic scene of A New Hope, see if the Dolby 5.1 EX sound doesn’t knock you back in your chair. Other audio options are Dolby 2.0 Surround in English, Spanish, and French. (Sorry, DTS fans, but previous Star Wars DVDs didn’t have DTS either.) There have been a few quibbles with the audio on A New Hope, however. A few seconds of Peter Cushing’s dialogue (“Then name the system!”) are distorted, and the music (but not the sound effects) is reversed in the rear channels. For example, in the final scene, the brass is in the front right channel but the back left channel (from the viewer’s perspective), and the strings are in the left front and back right. The result feels like the instruments are crossing through the viewer.What’s Been Changed?
The rumors are true: Lucas made more changes to the films for their DVD debut. Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) has been added to a scene in Jedi, Ian McDiarmid (the Emperor) replaces Clive Revill with slightly revised lines in Empire, Temuera Morrison has rerecorded Boba Fett’s minimal dialogue, and some other small details have been altered. Yes, these changes mean that the Star Wars films are no longer the ones you saw 20 years ago, but these brief changes hardly affect the films, and they do make sense in the overall continuity of the two trilogies. It’s not like a digitized Ewan McGregor has replaced Alec Guiness’s scenes, and the infamous changes made for the 1997 special-edition versions were much more intrusive (of course, those are in the DVD versions as well).

How Are the Bonus Features?

Toplining is Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, a 150-minute documentary incorporating not only the usual making-of nuts and bolts but also the political workings of the movie studios and the difficulties Lucas had getting his vision to the screen (for example, after resigning from the Directors’ Guild, he lost his first choice for director of Jedi: Steven Spielberg). It’s a little adulatory, but it has plenty to interest any fan. The three substantial featurettes are “The Characters of Star Wars” (19 min.), which discusses the development of the characters we all know and love, “The Birth of the Lightsaber” (15 min.), about the creation and evolution of a Jedi’s ultimate weapon, and “The Force Is with Them: The Legacy of Star Wars” (15 min.), in which filmmakers such as Peter Jackson, Ridley Scott, and James Cameron talk about how they and the industry were affected by the films and Lucas’s technological developments in visual effects, sound, and computer animation.

The bonus features are excellent and along the same lines as those created for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Each film has a commentary track, recorded by Lucas, Ben Burtt (sound design), Dennis Muren (visual effects), and Carrie Fisher, with Irvin Kershner joining in on the film he directed, The Empire Strikes Back. Recorded separately and skillfully edited together (with supertitles to identify who is speaking), the tracks lack the energy of group commentaries, but they’re enjoyable and informative, with a nice mix of overall vision (Lucas), technical details (Burtt, Muren, Kershner), and actor’s perspective (Fisher). Interestingly, they discuss some of the 1997 changes (Mos Eisley creatures, the new Jabba the Hutt scene) but not those made for the DVDs.

There’s also a sampler of the Xbox game Star Wars: Battlefront, which lets the player reenact classic film scenarios (blast Ewoks in the battle of Endor!); trailers and TV spots from the films’ many releases; and a nine-minute preview of the last film in the series, Episode III, Revenge of the Sith (here identified by an earlier working title, The Return of Darth Vader). Small extra touches include anamorphic widescreen motion menus with dialogue, original poster artwork on the discs, and a whopping 50 chapter stops for each film.

“The Force Is Strong with This One”
The Star Wars Trilogy is an outstanding DVD set that lives up to the anticipation. There will always be resentment that the original versions of the films are not available as well, but George Lucas maintains that these are the versions he always wanted to make. If fans are able to put this debate aside, they can enjoy the adventures of Luke, Leia, and Han for years to come. –David Horiuchi
Product Description
Includes:
* Episode IV, A New Hope
Commentary by George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher
* Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back
Commentary by George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher
* Episode VI, Return of the Jedi
Commentary by George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher

* “Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy,” the most comprehensive feature-length documentary ever produced on the Star Wars saga, and never-before-seen footage from the making of all three films
* Featurettes: The Legendary Creatures of Star Wars, The Birth of the Lightsaber, The Legacy of Star Wars
* Teasers, trailers, TV spots, still galleries
* Playable Xbox demo of the new Lucasarts game Star Wars Battlefront
* The making of the Episode III videogame
* Exclusive preview of Star Wars: Episode III

Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda: Slipstream Collection

Product Details

• Directors: Philip David Segal
• Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Widescreen, Closed-captioned
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 50
• Rating:
• Studio: A.D.V. Films
• DVD Release Date: October 3, 2006
• Run Time: 5500 minutes

Amazon Customer Review

“I was pleasantly surprised by this. The product details don’t mention it at all, but this IS a “thinpaks” release. The set contains all episodes of seasons 1-5 on 50 discs in 25 dual-disc thinkpaks, packaged in a sturdy, cardboard box. The box is much smaller than the Amazon product photo makes it appear. Placed sideways on your bookshelf it will take up less room than the First Season box set. The artwork on the outer sleeves of each thinpak is the same as previous releases. Artwork on the spines of all thinpaks, when viewed together, portray the Amdromeda Ascendant comin’ at ya! The discs in this collection are single-sided, unlike the double-sided discs in the 2-5 season box sets. The content and episodes on the discs are the same as in previous releases. If you already own the previous releases, this may not interest you much. However, if you didn’t like the double-sided discs of the season 2-5 sets and would like the space this set will save on your shelves, it IS worth getting.”

Battlestar Galactica – The Complete Epic Series (Limited Edition Cylon Head Packaging)

Product Details

• Actors: Battlestar Galactica
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rating:
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: October 21, 2003
• Run Time: 1161 minutes

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover
In the deepest reaches of space, the fight to save all human life from extinction has begun in this science fiction adventure that launched the Battlestar Galactica phenomenon! Hopeful for lasting peace following centuries of intense warfare, the Twelve Colonies gather to sign a treaty with their dreaded enemies, The Cylons. But after an act of treachery on the eve of the ceremony, the Cylons launch a devastating surprise attack, destroying the Colonies’ home planets and most of their military strength. A lone flagship battlestar, the Galactica, remains to aid the surviving colonists on their epic journey for a new home to a far-off legendary planet -Earth. They must survive the pursuing Cylons in a series of epic battles that will determine the fate of the human race in this non-stop action-packed classic filled with cutting-edge special effects by John Dykstra (“Star Wars,” “Spider-Man”).

Battlestar Galactica (2003 Miniseries)

Product Details

• Actors: Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis
• Directors: Michael Rymer
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Miniseries, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating:
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: December 28, 2004
• Run Time: 183 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Despite voluminous protest and nitpicking criticism from loyal fans of the original 1978-80 TV series, the 2003 version of Battlestar Galactica turned out surprisingly well for viewers with a tolerance for change. Originally broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel in December 2003 and conceived by Star Trek: The Next Generation alumnus Ronald D. Moore as the pilot episode for a “reimagined” TV series, this four-hour “miniseries” reprises the basic premise of the original show while giving a major overhaul (including some changes in gender) to several characters and plot elements. Gone are the flowing robes, disco-era hairstyles, and mock-Egyptian fighter helmets, and thankfully there’s not a fluffy “daggit” in sight… at least, not yet. Also missing are the “chrome toaster” Cylons, replaced by new, more formidable varieties of the invading Cylon enemy, including “Number Six” in hot red skirts and ample cleavage, who tricks the human genius Baltar into a scenario that nearly annihilates the human inhabitants of 12 colonial worlds.

Thus begins the epic battle and eventual retreat of a “ragtag fleet” of humans, searching for the mythical planet Earth under the military command of Adama (Edward James Olmos) and the political leadership of Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), a former secretary of education, 43rd in line of succession and rising to the occasion of her unexpected Presidency. As directed by Michael Rymer (Queen of the Damned), Moore’s ambitious teleplay also includes newfangled CGI space battles (featuring “handheld” camera moves and subdued sound effects for “enhanced realism”), a dysfunctional Col. Tigh (Michael Hogan) who’s provoked into action by the insubordinate Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), and a father-son reunion steeped in familial tragedy. To fans of the original BG series, many of these changes are blasphemous, but for the most part they work–including an ominous cliffhanger ending. The remade Galactica is brimming with smart, well-drawn characters ripe with dramatic potential, and it readily qualifies as serious-minded science fiction, even as it gives BG loyalists ample fuel for lively debate. –Jeff Shannon

Battlestar Galactica – Season One

Product Details

• Actors: Edward James Olmos, Jamie Bamber
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rating:
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: September 20, 2005
• Run Time: 756 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Battlestar Galactica’s Edward James Olmos wasn’t kidding when he said “the series is even better than the miniseries.” As developed by sci-fi TV veteran Ronald D. Moore, the “reimagined” BG is exactly what it claims to be: a drama for grown-ups in a science-fiction setting. The mature intelligence of the series is its greatest asset, from the tenuous respect between Galactica’s militarily principled commander Adama (Olmos) and politically astute President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) to the barely suppressed passion between ace Viper pilot “Apollo” (a.k.a. Adama’s son Lee, played by Jamie Bamber) and the brashly insubordinate Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), whose multifaceted character is just one of many first-season highlights. Picking up where the miniseries ended (it’s included here, sparing the need for separate purchase), season 1 opens with the riveting, Hugo Award-winning episode “33,” in which Galactica and the “ragtag fleet” of colonial survivors begin their quest for the legendary 13th colony planet Earth, while being pursued with clockwork regularity by the Cylons, who’ve now occupied the colonial planet of Caprica. The fleet’s hard-fought survival forms (1) the primary side of the series’ three-part structure, shared with (2) the apparent psychosis of Dr. Gaius Baltar (James Callis) whose every thought and move are monitored by various incarnations of Number Six (Tricia Helfer), the seemingly omniscient Cylon ultravixen who follows a master plan somehow connected to (3) the Caprican survival ordeal of crash-landed pilots “Helo” (Tahmoh Penikett) and “Boomer” (Grace Park), whose simultaneous presence on Galactica is further evidence that 12 multicopied models of Cylons, in human form, are gathering their forces.

With remarkably consistent quality, each of these 13 episodes deepens the dynamics of these fascinating characters and suspenseful situations. While BG relies on finely nuanced performances, solid direction, and satisfying personal and political drama to build its strong emotional foundation, the action/adventure elements are equally impressive, especially in “The Hand of God,” a pivotal episode in which the show’s dazzling visual effects get a particularly impressive showcase. Original BG series star Richard Hatch appears in two politically charged episodes (he’s a better actor now, too), and with the threat of civil war among the fleet, season 1 ends with an exceptional cliffhanger that’s totally unexpected while connecting the plot threads of all preceding episodes. To the credit of everyone involved, this is frackin’ good television.

DVD features
The fifth disc in Battlestar Galactica’s season 1 set is highlighted by eight comprehensive featurettes covering all aspects of the series, from its miniseries origins to standard surveys of production design, visual effects, and particulars of plot and character. For hardcore fans and anyone interested in TV production, nine out of 13 episodes, plus the disc 1 miniseries, are accompanied by intelligent and informative commentary originally provided as BG website podcasts, mostly by series developer and writer Ronald D. Moore, who provides tantalizing clues about developments in season 2. The “Series Lowdown” is a cast-and-crew promotional program originally broadcast to attract SciFi Channel viewers who were initially reluctant to embrace a “reimagined” Battlestar Galactica. The strategy worked: First-season ratings left no doubt that the new BG was as good as–and in many ways better than–the original. –Jeff Shannon

Battlestar Galactica – Season 2.0 (Episodes 1-10)

Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.5 (Episodes 11-20)

Battlestar Galactica – Season Three

Battlestar Galactica – Razor (Unrated Extended Cut)

Product Details

• Actors: Edward James Olmos
• Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating:
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: December 4, 2007
• Run Time: 101 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Battlestar Galactica: Razor was an oasis for BSG fans–when the double-length episode aired in November 2007, it was the only new material broadcast during the 12-month gap between seasons 3 and 4. But although it sets up some events in season 4, chronologically Razor is a prequel taking place within season 2, when Galactica had unexpectedly met up with a fellow Battlestar, Pegasus. The central character is new, Kendra Shaw (Stephanie Jacobsen), who becomes the XO after Lee Adama (Jamie Bamber) takes command of the Pegasus. Shaw’s promotion is controversial among Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) and others because Shaw learned the trade under the previous commander of the Pegasus, Admiral Cain (Michelle Forbes), who lived by her own wartime rules. The central conflict in Razor involves the Pegasus trying to rescue a Raptor crew from the Cylons. During the mission Shaw flashes back to 10 months earlier, and her experiences in the immediate aftermath of the Cylons’ wipeout of Caprica influence how she handles this mission and its implications of a new Cylon-human hybrid. Razor is a riveting adventure, full of the top writing, great acting, and dark end-of-humanity vision that makes Battlestar Galactica the best show on television (that is, when it’s actually on). Fans will also enjoy the appearance of old-school Cylons, and the revelation that Gaius is not the only one who fell for the wiles of Number 6 (Tricia Helfer).

The unrated and extended DVD runs 103 minutes, about 16 minutes longer than the Sci-Fi Channel broadcast. There’s a brief bit of extra gore from Admiral Cain, and young William “Husker” Adama’s (Nico Cortez, nicely channeling Edward James Olmos) mission in the last days of the first Cylon war is now 10 minutes instead of 5, including a spectacular aerial battle. In another new sequence, at the moment when Cain tells Shaw “Sometimes we have to leave people behind so that we can go on,” there’s a flashback to Cain’s experiences in the first Cylon war. Among the bonus features is the complete 19-minute minisode version of Husker’s Cylon encounter (previously viewable on Sci-Fi Channel’s website) and two deleted scenes. Featurettes include “The Look of Battlestar Galactica” and “My Favorite Episode So Far” (“33″ gets a lot of mentions from the cast and crew), and there are a trailer and 2.5-minute “sneak peek” at season 4 (mostly interviewing people who don’t know what’s going to happen, though Tricia Helfer mentions a new version of herself). In a commentary track for the extended edition, executive producer Ronald D. Moore and writer Michael Taylor discuss how the episode came together (they refer to Razor as episodes as 1-2 of season 4) amid some serious restructuring and bits of trivia, such as how they cast Stephanie Jacobsen in the pivotal role even though she had never watched the show. –David Horiuchi

Battlestar Galactica 1980 – The Complete Epic Series

Product Details

• Directors: Vince Edwards
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating:
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: December 23, 2007
• Run Time: 481 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Galactica 1980 lands on DVD for the first time ever! With all ten thrilling episodes on two discs, see what happens when the original Battlestar Galactica crew finally makes the long-anticipated descent to Earth. With time running out and the Cylons closing in on their trail, Commander Adama and the Galactica must work harder than ever before to help Earth create the technology necessary for battle. Along for the action-packed fight are such stellar guest stars as Dirk Benedict, Brion James, Dennis Haysbert and more! It’s an epic adventure unlike any other, and an absolute must-have for any Battlestar Galactica collection!

Star Trek The Original Series – The Complete Seasons 1-3

Product Details

• Actors: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 22
• Rating:
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: December 14, 2004
• Run Time: 4117 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The facts have become legend. Star Trek, the NBC series that premiered on September 8, 1966, has become a touchstone of international popular culture. It struggled through three seasons that included cancellation and last-minute revival, and turned its creator, Gene Roddenberry, into the progenitor of an intergalactic phenomenon. Eventually expanding to encompass five separate TV series, an ongoing slate of feature films, and a fan base larger than the population of many third-world countries, the Star Trek universe began not with a Big Bang but with a cautious experiment in network TV programming. Even before its premiere episode (“The Man Trap”) was aired, Star Trek had struggled to attain warp-drive velocity, barely making it into the fall ‘66 NBC lineup.

The series’ original pilot, “The Cage,” featured Jeffrey Hunter as U.S.S. Enterprise captain Christopher Pike–a variation of the role that would eventually catapult William Shatner to TV stardom. Filmed in 1964, the pilot was rejected by NBC the following year, but the network made a rare decision to order a second pilot. “Where No Man Has Gone Before” was filmed in 1965, and only one character from the previous pilot remained–a pointy-eared alien named Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy), whom Roddenberry had retained despite network disapproval. The second pilot was accepted, and production on Star Trek began in earnest with the filming of its first regular episode, “The Corbomite Maneuver.”

Never a ratings success despite a growing population of devoted fans, Star Trek was canceled after its second season, prompting a letter-writing campaign that resulted in the series’ third-season renewal. It was a mixed blessing, since Roddenberry had departed as producer to protest the network’s neglect, and Star Trek’s third season contained most of the series’ weakest episodes. And yet, the show continued to “to explore strange new worlds…to seek out new life and new civilizations…to boldly go where no man [a phrase later amended to "no one"] has gone before.”

There were milestones along the way. The first interracial kiss on network primetime TV (between Shatner and series co-star Nichelle Nichols) furthered a richly positive and expansive view of a better, nobler future for humankind. The series offered a timelessly appealing balance of humor, imagination, and character depth. And at least one episode (Harlan Ellison’s “The City on the Edge of Forever”) ranks among the finest science fiction stories in any popular medium. Beloved by long-time fans in spite of its cheesy sets and costumes, and the now-dated trappings of late-1960s American culture, “classic Trek” has aged remarkably well, and its sense of adventure and idealism continues to live long and prosper. –Jeff Shannon

The three 2004 DVD sets collect all 79 episodes of the show, including “The Cage” in both a restored color version and the original, never-aired version that alternates between color and black and white. Each set is supplemented by over an hour of featurettes incorporating new and old interviews with Shatner, Nimoy, other cast members, and producers, and there’s also some vintage footage of Gene Roddenberry. Accompanying the 20-minute seasonal recaps (“To Boldly Go…”) are a number of interesting featurettes: “The Birth of a Timeless Legacy” examines the two pilot episodes and the development of the crew; “Sci-Fi Visionaries” discusses the series’ great science fiction writers; Nimoy debunks various rumors in “Reflections of Spock”; “Kirk, Spock & Bones: The Great Trio” focuses on the interplay among Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley); and, in what is probably his last Star Trek appearance, James Doohan (Scotty), slowed by Alzheimer’s but still with a twinkle in his eye, recalls his voiceover roles and his favorite episodes. As they’ve done for many of the feature-film special editions, Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda provide a pop-up text commentary on four of the episodes filled with history, trivia, and dry wit. It’s the first commentary of any kind for a Star Trek TV show, but an audio commentary is still overdue. The technical specs are mostly the same as other Trek TV series–Dolby 5.1, English subtitles–but with the welcome addition of the episode trailers. The plastic cases are an attempt to replicate some of the fun packaging of the series’ European DVD releases, but it’s a bit clunky, and the paper sleeve around the disc case seems awkward and crude. Still, the sets are a vast improvement both in terms of shelf space and bonus features compared to the old two-episode discs, which were released before full-season boxed sets became the model for television DVDs. –David Horiuchi
Product Description
Space. The Final Frontier. The U.S.S. Enterprise embarks on a five year mission to explore the galaxy. The Enterprise is under the command of Captain James T. Kirk. The First Officer is Mr. Spock, from the planet Vulcan. The Chief Medical Officer is Dr. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy. With a determined crew, the Enterprise encounters Klingons, Romulans, time paradoxes, tribbles and genetic supermen lead by Khan Noonian Singh. Their mission is to explore strange new worlds, to seek new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Complete Series

Product Details

• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 49
• Rating:
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: October 2, 2007
• Run Time: 8085 minutes

Amazon.com
After Star Wars and the successful big-screen Star Trek adventures, it’s perhaps not so surprising that Gene Roddenberry managed to convince purse string-wielding studio heads in the 1980s that a Next Generation would be both possible and profitable. But the political climate had changed considerably since the 1960s, the Cold War had wound down, and we were now living in the Age of Greed. To be successful a second time, Star Trek had to change too.

A writer’s guide was composed with which to sell and define where the Trek universe was in the 24th Century. The United Federation of Planets was a more appealing ideology to an America keen to see where the Reagan/Gorbachev faceoff was taking them. Starfleet’s meritocratic philosophy had always embraced all races and species. Now Earth’s utopian history, featuring the abolishment of poverty, was brandished prominently and proudly. The new Enterprise, NCC 1701-D, was no longer a ship of war but an exploration vessel carrying families. The ethical and ethnical flagship also carried a former enemy (the Klingon Worf, played by Michael Dorn), and its Chief Engineer (Geordi LaForge) was blind and black. From every politically correct viewpoint, Paramount executives thought the future looked just swell!

Roddenberry’s feminism now contrasted a pilot episode featuring ship’s Counsellor Troi (Marina Sirtis) in a mini-skirt with her ongoing inner strengths and also those of Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) and the short-lived Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby). The arrival of Whoopi Goldberg in season 2 as mystic barkeep Guinan is a great example of the good the origina