MOS DEF
And the hits just kept on coming! 2012 was a strain on the pocketbook with a bountiful array of amazing Blu-ray debuts as well as some double and triple dips worth taking the plunge. So here’s my round-up of the best of the year on Blu…
“I am arrogant enough to claim that these films have made one of the greatest contributions to the cinema in 50 years” – Dr. No director Terence Young
It’s hard to believe the only gentleman secret agent with a license to thrill has turned 50. With Dr. No’s debut now five decades ago, 007 still looks as good as when he first donned a black tuxedo and we first saw him casually sitting at a baccarat table uttering the immortal words, “Bond, James Bond.”
Over the years, I’ve bought the James Bond movies in a variety of formats ranging from VHS to laserdisc and then numerous times on DVD, but there has simply never been a set that comes close to matching this ultimate BD collection. Bond 50 includes all 22 official Bond movies as well as an empty space for Skyfall (coming on disc early next year), along with virtually all the copious bonus materials that have been created over the years ranging from the giant Goldfinger and Thunderball laserdisc special editions to the original DVD box sets from a decade ago.
[Editor's Note: You can meet Mark Altman (along with Bits editor Bill Hunt and contributing editor Dr. Adam Jahnke) this weekend at WonderCon in Anaheim where he will be moderating several panels and autographing at the Femme Fatales booth with cast and crew from the hit Cinemax TV series.]
Another year, another column...
Sorry I've been away so long, but I'm thrilled to be back compiling the bits to render judgment on another year of home entertainment. Unfortunately, the biggest takeaway from 2011 and the flaming out of the home video juggernaut that kept the studios awash in big bucks for decades is the fact that the studio's just aren't spending the money to create new bonus features for their discs. The days of being awed by hours of in-depth and eye-opening supplements are clearly over and even the best of this year's Blu-ray featured largely re-purposed content from previous editions. Even when Universal would re-cycle their old laserdisc docs on DVD, it wasn't totally disappointing because the bonus features on those old CAV laser sets were incredible. Jaws, anyone?
Hey, sorry I've been on hiatus for so long, but given all the love letters, it's nice to know I've been missed. All I can say is I've been busy and I'll tell you more about that later this year. First though, let me say, I'm going to change the format a little bit to free me up to discuss whatever I want, whenever I want, which will make it more fun for me and, hopefully for you. Secondly, I'm going to skip over a lot of discs because I refuse to review anything that I'm not sent for free. It doesn't mean I don't own them, it just means I'm not doing the studios any favors for cheeping out. You really don't need some other putz pontificating about bitrate and artifacting anyway. The only artifact I care about is the lost ark on Blu-ray, anyway. That said, before resuming this column already in progress, let's take this return from hiatus to do a quick Top 10 of 2010 before charging into 2011, the year after the year we make contact.
THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3 (Sony) 91% (Blu-ray), 78% (Film)
It's obscene to me that this third-rate remake of the original classic 70s nail-biter is on Blu-ray, but the Robert Shaw/Walter Matthau is MIA. Regrettably, the remake of Pelham seemed on paper to be a great idea. Tony Scott, a stylish and reliable director with a strong commercial sensibility, directing Denzel Washington and John Travolta seemed like a can't-miss notion. But unfortunately, like a poor marksmen, he keeps on missing the target. The new film is as bad as the original is good. The only thing it has going for it is the tech credits for the new BD are all excellent with near demo quality video and audio and the supplements are terrific, including a nice package on filming in the New York Subway System. But where the first film is a tight, clever, pressure-cooker with a memorable David Shire score, the remake is just big and dumb adding a ludicrous new twist to Travolta's caper that is absolutely absurd along with an over-the-top performance from the former Barbarino that is the opposite of the seething, silent menace of Robert Shaw in the original.