We've already announced our individual picks for the Best
Blu-rays of 2011 So Far. [teaser]Now, we take a look at the releases
that had us stumped, befuddled, and down right perturbed.
It's a look at the worst the format had to offer.[/teaser]
These are the releases
that didn't live up to expectations, movies which are so bad
we wonder how they even got released, and films that look
like no one took the time to care for them like they should
have.
With the good come the bad. We all expect the world of
Blu-ray to put out its fair share of ugly, unattractive
discs. You've been warned. Picking up these releases could be
hazardous to your health and your movie collection.
The worst Blu-rays of 2011 is meant to be a warning for
people looking to buy any of these titles. Think twice before
you plunk down your hard-earned cash for these stinkers.
Aaron Peck
'Secret
of NIMH' and
'All Dogs Go to Heaven'
My dreams had been answered when we found out that a few
Don Bluth animated films would be headed to Blu-ray. My hopes
were raised when I saw how good 'Anastasia' turned out and
hoped that 'Secret of NIMH' and 'All Dogs Go to Heaven' would
be just as good. I was wrong. Really wrong. Those two classic
Bluth films, especially 'NIMH' deserved a proper remastering,
but all they got was a dirty, grimy transfer that looked as
if it had just been ported over from the DVD. Yes, Bluth's
animation isn't as crisp or colorful as the Disney animated
films we're used to, but these films deserved so much more.
This got me to thinking, at least for 'NIMH,' how much we
need Criterion to pick up that title and give it a complete
overhaul. I'd be behind that all the way. As for now though,
we're stuck with two Bluth Blu-rays that failed to live up to
expectations.
'Passion Play'
Meghan Fox has wings, Mickey Rourke has sex with her, and
Bill Murray slums it as an idiot gangster. The audio and
video presentations are average, but this movie is so bad
that it drags itself into the gutter without hardly trying.
It's painful to watch actors like Murray take on a role like
this. You have to wonder what they're thinking and why he
wouldn't want to spend time making something better, like, say
'Ghostbusters 3'.
'Birdemic: Shock and Terror'
This is one of those movies that you just have to wonder
why money was spent bringing it to Blu-ray. People fend off
attacks from killer birds. It's as crap-tastic as they come.
B-movie schlock all the way. When it comes to the audio and
video, well there's just no comparison. It's probably the
worst you've ever heard and seen on the format. The ultra-low
budget makes it look like the birds were cut and pasted on
the screen. It's a dismal presentation and a terrible movie.
Although it may be fun to watch with the RiffTrax that was
made for it.
'Fire on the Amazon'
Yuck. Sandra Bullock makes steamy, sweaty, and apparently
sticky love to some dude who looks like he stepped right out
of a David Bowie music video. I'm sure that Bullock would
love if this movie never again saw the light of day, but
unfortunately someone had the bright idea to bring it to
Blu-ray. Which means I had to watch it. Which in turn means
that it made this list.
'Blood Out'
Some people complained about my review of 'Blood Out,'
saying that it wasn't really a review. Well, that's true.
It's because a movie as bad and stupid as 'Blood Out' defies
the reviewing process. Instead I wrote a live-blog about the
idiotic things happening on screen. A movie that features 50
Cent telling a story that ends with "…and she swallowed the
evidence," is a movie that doesn't deserve a thought-out
review. It deserves to be pummeled into the earth so no one
will ever, ever see it.
Luke Hickman
'Bad Boys' (1983)
Never being much of a fan of both the gritty '80s street
gang and prison genres, I was surprised when a co-worker
forced me to watch this movie and I actually enjoyed it. We watched
an old DVD copy that he found in a local Walmart's five-buck
movie bin. Let's just say that the Blu-ray release doesn't
look all that different from the DVD. The only
consistency in the 'Bad Boys' Blu-ray is how bad it looks. It
is foggy, unfocused and pretty much unwatchable.
'Teen Wolf'
Before Jason Bateman donned the furry suit, and much
earlier than MTV's tragically awful re-imagining of the
teenage werewolf, Michael J. Fox was the original teen wolf.
Although shot prior to 'Back to the Future,' 'Teen Wolf' was
released just months after Fox's time-traveling adventure
flick. People who loved him 'Back to the Future' went to
'Teen Wolf' expecting more of the same – my family was one of
them. Boy, were we wrong. But we all forced ourselves to like
it anyway. Marty McFly could do no wrong. And 'Teen Wolf'
became a guilty pleasure in our household – but the Blu-ray
transfer is of lower quality that the movie itself. For the
first time, I actually believe the DVD is better than the
Blu-ray – it lacks sharpness, depth and clarity.
'Billy Madison'
After his first few comedies, Adam Sandler's movies sure
started to tank. His latest ones are basically unbearable.
But his first pair – 'Billy Madison' and 'Happy Gilmore' –
are still pretty funny to date. While 'Happy Gilmore'
received a decent Blu-ray transfer, 'Billy Madison' didn't.
Nate Boss's Blu-ray review sums up my feelings exactly:
“'Billy Madison' is a constant reminder of what a bad catalog
title looks like...”
'Skyline'
How fitting - one of the worst movies of last year
received one of the worst Blu-ray transfers of the year.
Considering 'Skyline' is a major science-fiction alien
invasion action epic that was made for only $10 million,
could you really expect anything better? I'm not certain
whether the terrible picture quality is fault of a crappy
Blu-ray transfer or if it just looked that bad to begin with.
Not screened for the press, I didn't see it in theaters – but I
believe it was the latter. While some low-budget flicks like
this have the potential to earn cult status for being so bad,
'Skyline' is just too bad to be the slightest bit enjoyable.
Better picture quality, sharper images and more realistic
special effects have been seen in video games and SyFy
original movies.
'Harry Potter Years 1-7 Part 1 Giftset'
If this isn't the most ridiculous and worthless Blu-ray
set any studio has ever put out, I don't know what is. Who in
their right mind would buy an expensive seven-movie set of an
eight-movie series? Don't get me wrong, I'm a lover of the
'Harry Potter' film franchise (with the exception of the
trainwreck known as 'The Goblet of Fire') – but this is simply absurd. This gift set sounds like the perfect gag
gift to give to somebody. “Here you go – you get the majority
of the 'Harry Potter' series, except for the epic conclusion.
It's got the first half of the finale – the slow half where
they camp a lot – but not the action-packed superbly-crafted
climax. You have to buy that for yourself – and, no, it will
not fit inside this sweet collectors case. Enjoy!”
Nate Boss
'From Dusk Till Dawn' (and Echo Bridge in General)
I could fill this entire list with the Miramax dumps from
Echo Bridge, but one slot should be enough. Yes, we can
blame whoever gave the lame duck company such crappy material
to work with, yes, they're more than certainly implicit in
all this. However, entire waves of pure garbage? That takes
talent. Double features on a single layer? Those are
instant suckfests. Wrong aspect ratios, wrong technical info
on packages, random ass stereo mixes on films that had 5.1
tracks on DVDs from ten years ago? Sorry, but they have
earned every single gripe that I've published about them, and
then some.
'RED'
Now, I know what you're thinking, the review here wasn't
all that negative towards the technical aspects of 'Retired,
Extremely Dangerous,' so what gives?!? Well, there were two
releases of this snoozefest of a "film," the one that got
reviewed, and then, the less expensive version, a movie only
edition that Summit Entertainment decided to deliver with a skimped
out audio track. Lossless apparently costs more to author on
a disc. Who knew?! This release earns a spot solely on
principle. Movie only edition does not mean rip us off edition.
'The Life and Times of Harvey Milk'
Wait, wha?!?!?! You read that right, a Criterion
Collection release earns a slot on the worst releases of the
year list. Why? Well, that review I've been trying to
complete for a month (or two...) will spell that out more
clearly, but never has a release from this studio looked or
sounded this awful. The film is quite good, really, that has
nothing to do with it being on this list. The price tag
versus quality sure does, though.
'The Venture Brothers: Season 4'
This last slot was a tough one to fill, as I really wanted
to smack the 'A Clockwork Orange' double dip,
the dreadful 'Fire on the Amazon,' or the 'Galaxina/The
Crater Lake Monster' double feature. Instead, I'll go for
the release that most represents the polar opposite of the
'30 for 30' release I praised in the first list. One disc
for an entire season of a show. That's kinda pushing it, and
the video qualities on here show. This earns a spot on the
worst of the worst solely because it didn't have to be like
this. It's not that hard to put content across two discs.
This is just cheap and lazy.
'Dead Space: Aftermath'
I think my review sums up my feelings on this pile
just fine. I don't want to talk about it anymore, and bring
back those painful memories. A pure garbage release if
ever there were one.
Steven Cohen
'The Hit List'
This is essentially a poor man's 'Collateral.' A
very, very poor man's 'Collateral', that unfortunately joins
Cuba Gooding Jr.'s ever expanding library of DTV misfires.
The video and audio are average, and there are no supplements,
though in this case that's actually a blessing. Trust me. A
lackluster disc for a terrible movie.
'Sons of the City: New York'
An incredibly dull, brief, and totally
uninteresting look at some of basketball's greats. Filled
with meaningless commentary and low quality archive footage,
even the music is painfully annoying. The only saving grace
here is some decent supplements, though they definitely don't
make up for the rest of this subpar package.
'The Terminator' (Digibook)
The movie is great but this release is just plain
offensive. It's simply a repackaging of the same old
disc from 2006 that we've seen time and time and time and time again. The video
transfer is painfully outdated and supplements don't even
match up to the DVD. The digibook case might be kind of cool,
but it certainly can't save this lazy, money grabbing effort.
'Chawz' (2010)
While not a terrible film, this horror/comedy flick about
a giant killer boar is still a pretty bad one. Video is ugly,
lacking any kind of depth and audio is mostly front loaded.
While there are some supplements, they don't really offer
much in the way of substance.
'Muay Thai Giant'
A truly bizarre attempt at action/comedy, 'Muay Thai
Giant' isn't quite horrible but it is quite incompetent.
Video is a bit smeary looking and audio is pretty basic. On
the plus side though, there are few unintentionally funny
moments -- and then there's that whole drinking soda out of a
plastic bag thing... on second thought, that alone might save
this disc from making the list...
Tom Landy
'From Dusk Till Dawn' (Echo Bridge)
Canadians actually have had access to this early Robert
Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino vampfest on Blu-ray since October
of 2008, and while that barebones release isn't spectacular
by any means, the Alliance disc still delivers a fairly
decent hi-def presentation. Now 'From Dusk Till Dawn' has
finally made its long-awaited U.S. debut courtesy of Echo
Bridge, but sadly it's not much more than a malformed clone
of the canuck edition. There's still no features, it has the
same MSRP, and remember all those stars for video and audio it
had? Well, this mutie's audio/video DNA is only about half
complete. I hate having to trash this fan favorite of mine,
I really do, but the truth is one of the most anticipated
titles from the Miramax catalog deserved so much better.
From Dusk Till Dawn / From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (Echo Bridge)
Okay, so how do you make an order of Echo Bridge's 'From
Dusk Till Dawn' leave an even fouler taste in your mouth?
Simple: add a side of 'From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood
Money.' To be fair, the technical differences between the
standalone 'From Dusk Till Dawn' and the one found on this
double feature are negligible, despite two films cohabiting
on a single-layered BD-25 disc. But with that said, answer
me this... Is the addition of a crappy
sequel/prequel/whatever-the-hell-it's-supposed-to-be that
looks and sounds as if VHS is desperately trying to make a
comeback really something you'd say is worth the extra
$5 price tag? Yep, I didn't think so. Blood money, indeed.
'Equilibrium' (Echo Bridge)
Can you imagine a dystopian future where showing any
emotion is punishable by death? A society where
police-clerics patrol the streets and arrest anyone who
laughs, cries, or throws a
manic temper tantrum on the set of one of their movies?
That world exists in 'Equilibrium' -- an often
underappreciated cult classic starring pre-anger management
Christian Bale and a lean mean Sean Bean that only seems to
get better with each viewing. Well, unless of course said
viewing happens to be on of the butchered North American
Blu-rays. For no good reason, both the U.S. and Canadian
editions have cropped the film's original 2.35:1 aspect
ratio, but Echo Bridge sinks even lower with their phoned-in
video and lazy two-channel audio. Not that I have anything
against 2.0 tracks, but when the first DVD release of
'Equilibrium' has a more engaging 5.1 mix and the newer
technology doesn't, something is seriously wrong.
The Crow: City of Angels (Echo Bridge)
Truth be told, I can't help feeling a little sorry for
poor 'The Crow: City of Angels.' I mean, it had it bad
enough just being 'The Crow: City of Angels.' But then after
getting drunk on its sorrows, it awakens the next morning
only to find a shiny new tattoo on its ass that says "Echo
Bridge." Talk about getting kicked square in the nads while
you're already down. The sludgy video easily ranks among the
fugliest of the year (it's also in 1080i and not
1080p as the packaging falsely indicates), and to top
it off we have another case of a lowly lossless stereo
soundtrack that is bested by a decade old DVD. Seriously, it
couldn't get much more embarrassing than this.
Posted Tue Jul 19, 2011 at 01:45 PM PDT by:
Aaron Peck
'Marley & Me: The Puppy Years' Blu-ray Retailer Exclusive[teaser]The direct-to-video puppy prequel will send Blu-ray to the doghouse this August. [/teaser] In an early press announcement, 20th Century Fox has just revealed 'Marley & Me: The Puppy Years' for a Blu-ray release on August 16 exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. Filmed on location in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia (where the tax breaks are crisp and refreshing), and directed by Michael Damian ('Flicka 2,' 'Moondance Alexander'), this touching side story to the original $240 million global box office smash 'Marley & Me' introduces us to Marley as the lovable pint-sized pup. Fall into puppy love with “the world’s worst dog,” who now has a frisky voice and an attitude to match. Join Marley for his mischievous puppy years, as he and his summer pal, Bodie Grogan, wreak havoc on a neighborhood dog contest. Marley outwits Dobermans, Shepherds and Collies, while stealing hearts in his own unique and lovable way. Get your paws on 'Marley & Me: The Puppy Years' and fetch big laughs for the whole family! The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements will include Marley & Me: The Puppy Years Goes to Training Camp, Part of the Family, and My Favorite Moments. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Marley & Me: The Puppy Years' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it is indexed under August 16.Posted Wed Jul 20, 2011 at 12:00 PM PDT by:
NAD Intros a New Receiver[teaser]The T 575 features a modular design and features designed at getting the best possible audio. [/teaser] When looking at low and mid-range receivers, you'll find a lot of features like streaming PC audio, internet radio, iPhone control and other bonuses. Once you get into the high end, some of those things start to disappear. The NAD T 575 doesn't do any of that, but it does promise pristine, high quality audio. It handles the latest audio formats and decodes with the help of a high-speed DSP. It offers a second zone output, EARS technology that turns stereo sound into surround and Music First Audio sound quality. NAD's T 575 is built around Modular Design Construction (MDC) which ensures that you'll be able to upgrade the receiver should the need arise. The T 575 can be had for a price of $1,599. Source: eCousticsPosted Wed Jul 20, 2011 at 11:00 AM PDT by:
'Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale' Blu-ray Announced[teaser]The acclaimed Finnish holiday horror film will be going down Blu-ray's chimney this October. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Oscilloscope Laboratories says 'Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale' is coming to high-definition on October 25. The film was nominated for seven Jussi Awards and won for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Music, Best Sound Design and only didn't win for Best Picture. Specs and supplements have yet to be revealed, but the release will be a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under October 25.Posted Wed Jul 20, 2011 at 10:00 AM PDT by:
DLNA Boasts Inclusion on 1,000 Different TVs in Q1 2011[teaser]That's 1,000 sets worldwide - more than the first four years of DLNA's inclusion. [/teaser] If you're not familiar with it, the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is a group that aims to allow the sharing of video, audio and pictures across a range of devices like game systems, Blu-ray players and TVs. A DLNA certified product will play nice with the files that the DLNA supports without issue. While DLNA is limited in its abilities, the ease of use is certainly attractive. It's so attractive, in fact, that DLNA capabilities have been included on 1,000 new television sets in the first quarter of this year. That puts the number to over 4,000 worldwide. "In just the first three months of this year, we saw an exponential increase in new television model certifications," says DLNA chairman Nidish Parikh. "Consumers are demanding connectivity amongst all of their home entertainment products and require the flexibility to share content between products developed by a variety of manufacturers." Source: Home Media MagazinePosted Wed Jul 20, 2011 at 09:00 AM PDT by:
'How to Make It in America: The Complete First Season' Blu-ray Dated and Detailed[teaser]The first season of the HBO dramedy series will have a September Blu-ray release. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, HBO is preparing to release 'How to Make It in America: The Complete First Season' on Blu-ray on September 20. In the bohemian subculture of downtown NYC, two 20-something friends plot a series of entrepreneurial strategies to short-circuit the traditional route to success – and achieve the American Dream on their own terms. Bryan Greenberg and Victor Rasuk star in an all-new HBO comedy series from executive producers including Stephen Levinson and Mark Wahlberg ('Entourage'): 'How to Make It in America.' The Blu-ray will be a two disc set with 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements will include: The Get By - Making it on the streets of NYC; Deleted scenes; The Legend of Wilfredo Gomez featurette; Hustle Stories featurette; and 8 audio commentaries - Featuring cast members Bryan Greenberg, Victor Rasuk, Lake Bell, & Luis Guzman, creator/executive producer Ian Edelman, and executive producers Rob Weiss and Julian Farino. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is set at $79.98. You can find the latest specs for 'How to Make It in America: The Complete First Season' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it is indexed under September 20.Posted Wed Jul 20, 2011 at 08:00 AM PDT by:
'Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]The acclaimed film featuring the renowned cinematographer is coming to Blu-ray in August. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Strand Releasing will release the documentary 'Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff' on Blu-ray on August 9. A star-studded documentary about one of the greatest Oscar®-winning cinematographers to capture the beauty of such stars as Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren in such memorable classics as 'The African Queen,' 'The Red Shoes,' 'Barefoot Contessa' and 'Black Narcissus.' With a career spanning more than 80 years, this passionate documentary reveals the craft of one of cinema's most indelible image-makers, Jack Cardiff. Specs have yet to be revealed, but supplements will include Interview with Craig McCall by Ian Christie, Jack's Actress Portraits, Jack's Behind-the-Scenes Movies, Cinematographer and Director Relationship, Working with Three-Strip Technicolor, Photo Galleries, Original Theatrical Trailer, and Other Strand Releasing Trailers. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $34.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under August 9.Posted Wed Jul 20, 2011 at 06:00 AM PDT by:
High-Def Digest Picks The Worst Blu-rays of 2011 So Far...We've already announced our individual picks for the Best Blu-rays of 2011 So Far. [teaser]Now, we take a look at the releases that had us stumped, befuddled, and down right perturbed. It's a look at the worst the format had to offer.[/teaser] These are the releases that didn't live up to expectations, movies which are so bad we wonder how they even got released, and films that look like no one took the time to care for them like they should have. With the good come the bad. We all expect the world of Blu-ray to put out its fair share of ugly, unattractive discs. You've been warned. Picking up these releases could be hazardous to your health and your movie collection. The worst Blu-rays of 2011 is meant to be a warning for people looking to buy any of these titles. Think twice before you plunk down your hard-earned cash for these stinkers. Aaron Peck 'Secret of NIMH' and 'All Dogs Go to Heaven' My dreams had been answered when we found out that a few Don Bluth animated films would be headed to Blu-ray. My hopes were raised when I saw how good 'Anastasia' turned out and hoped that 'Secret of NIMH' and 'All Dogs Go to Heaven' would be just as good. I was wrong. Really wrong. Those two classic Bluth films, especially 'NIMH' deserved a proper remastering, but all they got was a dirty, grimy transfer that looked as if it had just been ported over from the DVD. Yes, Bluth's animation isn't as crisp or colorful as the Disney animated films we're used to, but these films deserved so much more. This got me to thinking, at least for 'NIMH,' how much we need Criterion to pick up that title and give it a complete overhaul. I'd be behind that all the way. As for now though, we're stuck with two Bluth Blu-rays that failed to live up to expectations. 'Passion Play' Meghan Fox has wings, Mickey Rourke has sex with her, and Bill Murray slums it as an idiot gangster. The audio and video presentations are average, but this movie is so bad that it drags itself into the gutter without hardly trying. It's painful to watch actors like Murray take on a role like this. You have to wonder what they're thinking and why he wouldn't want to spend time making something better, like, say 'Ghostbusters 3'. 'Birdemic: Shock and Terror' This is one of those movies that you just have to wonder why money was spent bringing it to Blu-ray. People fend off attacks from killer birds. It's as crap-tastic as they come. B-movie schlock all the way. When it comes to the audio and video, well there's just no comparison. It's probably the worst you've ever heard and seen on the format. The ultra-low budget makes it look like the birds were cut and pasted on the screen. It's a dismal presentation and a terrible movie. Although it may be fun to watch with the RiffTrax that was made for it. 'Fire on the Amazon' Yuck. Sandra Bullock makes steamy, sweaty, and apparently sticky love to some dude who looks like he stepped right out of a David Bowie music video. I'm sure that Bullock would love if this movie never again saw the light of day, but unfortunately someone had the bright idea to bring it to Blu-ray. Which means I had to watch it. Which in turn means that it made this list. 'Blood Out' Some people complained about my review of 'Blood Out,' saying that it wasn't really a review. Well, that's true. It's because a movie as bad and stupid as 'Blood Out' defies the reviewing process. Instead I wrote a live-blog about the idiotic things happening on screen. A movie that features 50 Cent telling a story that ends with "…and she swallowed the evidence," is a movie that doesn't deserve a thought-out review. It deserves to be pummeled into the earth so no one will ever, ever see it. Luke Hickman 'Bad Boys' (1983) Never being much of a fan of both the gritty '80s street gang and prison genres, I was surprised when a co-worker forced me to watch this movie and I actually enjoyed it. We watched an old DVD copy that he found in a local Walmart's five-buck movie bin. Let's just say that the Blu-ray release doesn't look all that different from the DVD. The only consistency in the 'Bad Boys' Blu-ray is how bad it looks. It is foggy, unfocused and pretty much unwatchable. 'Teen Wolf' Before Jason Bateman donned the furry suit, and much earlier than MTV's tragically awful re-imagining of the teenage werewolf, Michael J. Fox was the original teen wolf. Although shot prior to 'Back to the Future,' 'Teen Wolf' was released just months after Fox's time-traveling adventure flick. People who loved him 'Back to the Future' went to 'Teen Wolf' expecting more of the same – my family was one of them. Boy, were we wrong. But we all forced ourselves to like it anyway. Marty McFly could do no wrong. And 'Teen Wolf' became a guilty pleasure in our household – but the Blu-ray transfer is of lower quality that the movie itself. For the first time, I actually believe the DVD is better than the Blu-ray – it lacks sharpness, depth and clarity. 'Billy Madison' After his first few comedies, Adam Sandler's movies sure started to tank. His latest ones are basically unbearable. But his first pair – 'Billy Madison' and 'Happy Gilmore' – are still pretty funny to date. While 'Happy Gilmore' received a decent Blu-ray transfer, 'Billy Madison' didn't. Nate Boss's Blu-ray review sums up my feelings exactly: “'Billy Madison' is a constant reminder of what a bad catalog title looks like...” 'Skyline' How fitting - one of the worst movies of last year received one of the worst Blu-ray transfers of the year. Considering 'Skyline' is a major science-fiction alien invasion action epic that was made for only $10 million, could you really expect anything better? I'm not certain whether the terrible picture quality is fault of a crappy Blu-ray transfer or if it just looked that bad to begin with. Not screened for the press, I didn't see it in theaters – but I believe it was the latter. While some low-budget flicks like this have the potential to earn cult status for being so bad, 'Skyline' is just too bad to be the slightest bit enjoyable. Better picture quality, sharper images and more realistic special effects have been seen in video games and SyFy original movies. 'Harry Potter Years 1-7 Part 1 Giftset' If this isn't the most ridiculous and worthless Blu-ray set any studio has ever put out, I don't know what is. Who in their right mind would buy an expensive seven-movie set of an eight-movie series? Don't get me wrong, I'm a lover of the 'Harry Potter' film franchise (with the exception of the trainwreck known as 'The Goblet of Fire') – but this is simply absurd. This gift set sounds like the perfect gag gift to give to somebody. “Here you go – you get the majority of the 'Harry Potter' series, except for the epic conclusion. It's got the first half of the finale – the slow half where they camp a lot – but not the action-packed superbly-crafted climax. You have to buy that for yourself – and, no, it will not fit inside this sweet collectors case. Enjoy!” Nate Boss 'From Dusk Till Dawn' (and Echo Bridge in General) I could fill this entire list with the Miramax dumps from Echo Bridge, but one slot should be enough. Yes, we can blame whoever gave the lame duck company such crappy material to work with, yes, they're more than certainly implicit in all this. However, entire waves of pure garbage? That takes talent. Double features on a single layer? Those are instant suckfests. Wrong aspect ratios, wrong technical info on packages, random ass stereo mixes on films that had 5.1 tracks on DVDs from ten years ago? Sorry, but they have earned every single gripe that I've published about them, and then some. 'RED' Now, I know what you're thinking, the review here wasn't all that negative towards the technical aspects of 'Retired, Extremely Dangerous,' so what gives?!? Well, there were two releases of this snoozefest of a "film," the one that got reviewed, and then, the less expensive version, a movie only edition that Summit Entertainment decided to deliver with a skimped out audio track. Lossless apparently costs more to author on a disc. Who knew?! This release earns a spot solely on principle. Movie only edition does not mean rip us off edition. 'The Life and Times of Harvey Milk' Wait, wha?!?!?! You read that right, a Criterion Collection release earns a slot on the worst releases of the year list. Why? Well, that review I've been trying to complete for a month (or two...) will spell that out more clearly, but never has a release from this studio looked or sounded this awful. The film is quite good, really, that has nothing to do with it being on this list. The price tag versus quality sure does, though. 'The Venture Brothers: Season 4' This last slot was a tough one to fill, as I really wanted to smack the 'A Clockwork Orange' double dip, the dreadful 'Fire on the Amazon,' or the 'Galaxina/The Crater Lake Monster' double feature. Instead, I'll go for the release that most represents the polar opposite of the '30 for 30' release I praised in the first list. One disc for an entire season of a show. That's kinda pushing it, and the video qualities on here show. This earns a spot on the worst of the worst solely because it didn't have to be like this. It's not that hard to put content across two discs. This is just cheap and lazy. 'Dead Space: Aftermath' I think my review sums up my feelings on this pile just fine. I don't want to talk about it anymore, and bring back those painful memories. A pure garbage release if ever there were one. Steven Cohen 'The Hit List' This is essentially a poor man's 'Collateral.' A very, very poor man's 'Collateral', that unfortunately joins Cuba Gooding Jr.'s ever expanding library of DTV misfires. The video and audio are average, and there are no supplements, though in this case that's actually a blessing. Trust me. A lackluster disc for a terrible movie. 'Sons of the City: New York' An incredibly dull, brief, and totally uninteresting look at some of basketball's greats. Filled with meaningless commentary and low quality archive footage, even the music is painfully annoying. The only saving grace here is some decent supplements, though they definitely don't make up for the rest of this subpar package. 'The Terminator' (Digibook) The movie is great but this release is just plain offensive. It's simply a repackaging of the same old disc from 2006 that we've seen time and time and time and time again. The video transfer is painfully outdated and supplements don't even match up to the DVD. The digibook case might be kind of cool, but it certainly can't save this lazy, money grabbing effort. 'Chawz' (2010) While not a terrible film, this horror/comedy flick about a giant killer boar is still a pretty bad one. Video is ugly, lacking any kind of depth and audio is mostly front loaded. While there are some supplements, they don't really offer much in the way of substance. 'Muay Thai Giant' A truly bizarre attempt at action/comedy, 'Muay Thai Giant' isn't quite horrible but it is quite incompetent. Video is a bit smeary looking and audio is pretty basic. On the plus side though, there are few unintentionally funny moments -- and then there's that whole drinking soda out of a plastic bag thing... on second thought, that alone might save this disc from making the list... Tom Landy 'From Dusk Till Dawn' (Echo Bridge) Canadians actually have had access to this early Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino vampfest on Blu-ray since October of 2008, and while that barebones release isn't spectacular by any means, the Alliance disc still delivers a fairly decent hi-def presentation. Now 'From Dusk Till Dawn' has finally made its long-awaited U.S. debut courtesy of Echo Bridge, but sadly it's not much more than a malformed clone of the canuck edition. There's still no features, it has the same MSRP, and remember all those stars for video and audio it had? Well, this mutie's audio/video DNA is only about half complete. I hate having to trash this fan favorite of mine, I really do, but the truth is one of the most anticipated titles from the Miramax catalog deserved so much better. From Dusk Till Dawn / From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (Echo Bridge) Okay, so how do you make an order of Echo Bridge's 'From Dusk Till Dawn' leave an even fouler taste in your mouth? Simple: add a side of 'From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money.' To be fair, the technical differences between the standalone 'From Dusk Till Dawn' and the one found on this double feature are negligible, despite two films cohabiting on a single-layered BD-25 disc. But with that said, answer me this... Is the addition of a crappy sequel/prequel/whatever-the-hell-it's-supposed-to-be that looks and sounds as if VHS is desperately trying to make a comeback really something you'd say is worth the extra $5 price tag? Yep, I didn't think so. Blood money, indeed. 'Equilibrium' (Echo Bridge) Can you imagine a dystopian future where showing any emotion is punishable by death? A society where police-clerics patrol the streets and arrest anyone who laughs, cries, or throws a manic temper tantrum on the set of one of their movies? That world exists in 'Equilibrium' -- an often underappreciated cult classic starring pre-anger management Christian Bale and a lean mean Sean Bean that only seems to get better with each viewing. Well, unless of course said viewing happens to be on of the butchered North American Blu-rays. For no good reason, both the U.S. and Canadian editions have cropped the film's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, but Echo Bridge sinks even lower with their phoned-in video and lazy two-channel audio. Not that I have anything against 2.0 tracks, but when the first DVD release of 'Equilibrium' has a more engaging 5.1 mix and the newer technology doesn't, something is seriously wrong. The Crow: City of Angels (Echo Bridge) Truth be told, I can't help feeling a little sorry for poor 'The Crow: City of Angels.' I mean, it had it bad enough just being 'The Crow: City of Angels.' But then after getting drunk on its sorrows, it awakens the next morning only to find a shiny new tattoo on its ass that says "Echo Bridge." Talk about getting kicked square in the nads while you're already down. The sludgy video easily ranks among the fugliest of the year (it's also in 1080i and not 1080p as the packaging falsely indicates), and to top it off we have another case of a lowly lossless stereo soundtrack that is bested by a decade old DVD. Seriously, it couldn't get much more embarrassing than this.Posted Tue Jul 19, 2011 at 01:45 PM PDT by:
'X-Men: First Class' Dated for Blu-ray![teaser]Class begins on Blu-ray in early September, and if you're a good student you could score a free T-shirt![/teaser] Crave Online is reporting that 20th Century Fox is preparing to bring 'X-Men: First Class' to Blu-ray on September 9. Director Matthew Vaughn ('Layer Cake,' 'Kick Ass') tells the true origins of the multi-billion dollar film franchise, guiding exceptional performances by Golden Globe®-nominee James McAvoy ('Atonement'), Michael Fassbender ('Inglourious Basterds'), and Golden Globe®-winner Kevin Bacon (“Taking Chance,” 'Mystic River'). A “rare movie event that balances an intelligent story with solid performances, first-rate action and top-of-the-line special effects” (Ben Lyons, E!), 'X-men: First Class' has drawn an impressive $150 million at the domestic box office and nearly $350 million worldwide. Before Charles Xavier (McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Fassbender) took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time, working together to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. The film features a star-studded supporting cast, including Academy Award®-nominee Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone), January Jones (“Mad Men”), Rose Byrne ('28 Weeks Later'), Zoë Kravitz (“Californication”), Nicholas Hoult ('A Single Man'), Lucas Till ('Walk the Line'), and Emmy Award®-nominee Oliver Platt (“The West Wing”). The first 1000 fans who pre-order the release during San Diego Comic Con (running July 21-24) will also receive a free T-shirt for the side they support: Professor X or Magneto. Which side will you choose? Team Erik: Team Charles: The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements will include 10 X-Men digital comics (including one all-new backstory), a Cerebro Mutant Tracker Interactive Video Database, Children of the Atom eight part behind the scenes featurette, X Marks the Spot scene specific interactive feature, extended and deleted scenes, isolated score, trailer, a digital copy and more! Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.99. You can find the latest specs for 'X-Men: First Class' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under September 9.Posted Tue Jul 19, 2011 at 12:35 PM PDT by:
'Supernatural: The Anime Series' Blu-ray Detailed[teaser]Full details are in for the hit CW series following monster-hunting brothers Sam and Dean Winchester entering the anime realm at the end of the month. [/teaser] As previously reported, Warner Brothers says 'Supernatural: The Anime Series' is headed to Blu-ray on July 26. The anime series (which is currently available on Blu-ray in Japan) is developed by the original's creator Eric Kripke and Madhouse Studios ('Batman: Gotham Knight'). This set includes 22 episodes that will remake some of the most popular stories from the live-action show's first two seasons as well as provide new tales that will dig deeper into the Winchesters' past. The Blu-rays will feature 1080p video, a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements include: The Making of Supernatural: The Anime Series 2-Part Featurette; Interviews with Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Series Creator Eric Kripke, Directors Shigeyuki Miya and Atsuko Ishizuka and Voice Actors Hiroki Touchi and Yuuya Uchida; Episode Introductions by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles; and Trailers and TV Spots. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $54.97. You can find the latest specs for 'Supernatural: The Anime Series' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it is indexed under July 26.Posted Tue Jul 19, 2011 at 12:00 PM PDT by:
Yamaha Launches Four New Aventage Receivers[teaser]Streaming, iPhone connectivity, and front USB ports are among the new additions. [/teaser] The Aventage receiver line is an important one for Yamaha. It's a new design and a different way of looking at receivers for the company. They've just announced the second generation of those receivers and there's plenty new to love. Yamaha brought plenty of features to the line, and introduced what used to be high-end features to all of the receivers in the series. Every one of them can stream music from a PC, bring up internet radio and they all feature front USB ports for iPhone and iPod connections. The two high-end receivers in the line offer something new to the Aventage line - 9.2 channel audio. The rest of the receivers push out either 7.1 or 7.2 audio channels. Yamaha's new receivers will be available in August and September at prices starting at $649. Source: TWICEPosted Tue Jul 19, 2011 at 11:00 AM PDT by:
