Man, I have been on a long spring break. I was out of town on maybe the biggest blu ray release day ever so let's go over some of the recent releases. If you are a Digital Bits reader if you go check their "rumors" section, you will see two of these new releases were being worked on back in 2013. Glad they finally made it. Also, I had to depend on the Amazon man to bring me all but one of these titles. Stores are not carrying much physical media anymore, but we will get to that another time.
The Abyss- A civilian diving team is enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and faces danger while encountering an alien aquatic species. It has been over twenty years since I have watched this movie. I tried to watch it on DVD once and it was an awful non-anamorphic copy so I stopped it and waited for the blu ray. And waited, and waited…If you check the Digital Bits site their last rumor for this and True Lies to come out on blu was back in 2013! Anyway I am glad James Cameron decided to take a break from writing about blue aliens and giving us proper blu rays of his films. This is a gripping under water action movie that had spectacular special effects at the time that still hold up well. Be sure to watch the extended version of this, it is far superior.
True Lies- A fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used-car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States. See above but at least for this movie I had a Spanish region free import that I have watched for the last few years. This is a good action movie with great action sequences and Arnold and Jamie Lee Curtis together makes this a lot of fun.
Aliens- Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring. The first Alien movie was a balls out horror movie and this one was a balls out action movie. Glad to see Cameron’s also had something to do with this release. I will buy this again. Also, be sure to watch the extended version.
The Iron Claw- The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. The feel-good movie of the year! Not. I grew up in Dallas so these events were on the local news as they happened but nice to see this in a movie finally. Zac Ephron does an outstanding job in this bio.
The Shootist- A dying gunfighter spends his last days looking for a way to die with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity. This is the one John Wayne movie besides The Alamo I have been waiting for on blu. Nice to see Arrow got put this out so it will be really good. This was a fitting final movie for The Duke.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom- Black Manta seeks revenge on Aquaman for his father's death. Wielding the Black Trident's power, he becomes a formidable foe. To defend Atlantis, Aquaman forges an alliance with his imprisoned brother. They must protect the kingdom. I liked the first one and I love Mamoa as the lead and it will be the last time we see him in the role so sit back and enjoy.
Paint Your Wagon- Two unlikely prospector partners share the same wife in a California gold rush mining town. OK, beside Ambush at Cimarron Pass this is the only other Clint Eastwood movie I have not seen in its entirety. I use to watch bits of it on cable long ago but never the whole thing. When Dirty Harrys starts singing, I got turned off by it back in those days. I will add this to the collection and give it a whole spin soon.
Ferrari- Set in the summer of 1957, with Enzo Ferrari's auto empire in crisis, the ex-racer turned entrepreneur pushes himself and his drivers to the edge as they launch into the Mille Miglia, a treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy. This is from the great Michael Mann but there was absolutely no marketing for this movie during its holiday season release and it bombed hard. The critics were kind to this so it will be interesting to see how this movie is looked upon in a few years. Bring on Heat 2!
