Randy Miller III's DVD Talk DVD Reviews https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/list/DVD Video DVD Talk DVD Review RSS Feed en-us 24 Frames: Criterion Collection (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73586 Tue, 15 Jan 2019 19:36:23 UTC Recommended

Promotional image courtesy of The Criterion Collection (click to enlarge)

Celebrated Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami is no stranger to The Criterion Collection, considering their releases of Taste of Cherry, Certified Copy, Close-Up, and Read the entire review

]]> The Puppet Masters: Special Edition (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73574 Mon, 14 Jan 2019 17:11:17 UTC Recommended

Based on Robert A. Heinlein's hugely influential 1951 sci-fi novel of the same name, Stuart Orme's The Puppet Masters (1994) should feel a lot more original and unique than it actually is. Here's the problem: its source material had already been borrowed from liberally (in films and TV shows like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Outer Limits) or at least loosely (Jack Sholde...Read the entire review

]]> When Harry Met Sally... (30th Anniversary Edition) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73571 Thu, 10 Jan 2019 20:15:12 UTC Highly Recommended

Perhaps the best romantic comedy of its era or since then, Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally... (1989) remains enduring and iconic 30 years later. At its center is an outstanding script by the late, great Nora Ephron, further tightened by the strong chemistry and improvisational skills of its stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. It's been called "the best Woody Allen film he never made" for obvious reasons: full of letter-perfect dialogue, memorable New York locations, and on hell of an ending, it deftly avoids clichés that usually hamper modern "rom-coms" and presents fully-realized, relatable characters ...Read the entire review

]]> True Stories: Criterion Collection (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73562 Wed, 09 Jan 2019 22:41:20 UTC Highly Recommended

Promotional image courtesy of The Criterion Collection (click to enlarge)

Developed after the success of Jonathan Demme's Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense, David Byrne's True Stories (1986) is unequal parts travelogue, musical, comedy, and satire that pays tribute to the fictional town of Virgil, Texas and its upcoming 150th anniversary. Along...Read the entire review

]]> Waterworld: Limited Edition (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73564 Wed, 09 Jan 2019 22:41:20 UTC Highly Recommended

Typically overshadowed by its bloated budget and troubled production, Kevin Reynolds' Waterworld (1995) was the butt of almost every joke immediately following its theatrical release. Although remembered as a box-office flop (it wasn't, at least taking into account foreign markets and home video profits) and maligned by critics, this post-apocalyptic drama managed to maintain a decent fanbase and, during the last 20+ years, keep its head above water. I hadn't seen it in quite a while but remembered enjoying its sweeping action, ambitious scope, and...uh...that one scene.

Originally envisioned as...Read the entire review

]]> The Orville: Season One DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73542 Mon, 31 Dec 2018 15:02:38 UTC Highly Recommended

Almost universally panned by critics after its FOX debut last September, Seth MacFarlane's The Orville (2017- ) was better received by audiences during its twelve-episode first-season run through the end of that year. This long-gestating series was seen as a dream project for the highly successful MacFarlane, a lifelong fan of Star Trek who would later appear in two episodes of Enterprise and even record an audio commentary for Next Generation ...Read the entire review

]]> Willie Dynamite (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73535 Wed, 26 Dec 2018 17:27:10 UTC Recommended

The blaxploitation genre boasts at least a dozen entries whose titles alone should be recognized by even the most casual movie lovers, from Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song to Blacula, Dolemite, Super Fly, Shaft, The Mack, Read the entire review

]]> Learning To See: The World Of Insects - Special Edition (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73530 Mon, 24 Dec 2018 15:52:04 UTC Rent It

If you judge a movie by its cover, Jake Oelman's Learning to See: The World of Insects (2016) looks like a standard nature documentary about...well, bugs. Yet the write-up and short text introduction reveals a more personal film: it's about Jake's father Robert, who became dissatisfied with his career as a psychoanalyst and, in the early 1990s, moved to Columbia -- the South American republic, not the city -- after reading Love in the Time of Cholera. After purchasing a hillside home and surrounding farmland for roughly $40,000, he befriended a local family and took up macro photography. This eventu...Read the entire review

]]> Starman: Collector's Edition (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73528 Thu, 20 Dec 2018 20:54:29 UTC Recommended

Few directors are as synonymous with their prime decades as 80s-era John Carpenter. Sure, his most iconic production came out several years earlier, but one look at the man's filmography from 1980-89 reveals an almost embarrassingly bulletproof lineup. Yet one of his very best films, Starman (1984), sits quietly behind less subtle fare like The Thing (my personal favorite), Read the entire review

]]> Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73526 Thu, 20 Dec 2018 16:49:59 UTC Recommended

Don't let the pandering cover and oddball premise fool you: Richard Lanni's Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2018) is an enjoyable and effective movie that you probably didn't know even existed until now. It's a CGI production about a cute li'l doggie that inadvertently ends up fighting alongside "our boys" in WWI and earning a medal or two in the process, thanks to his street smarts and ability to salute commanding officers -- a story that would be ridiculous if it weren't actually true. Yet even ignoring the real-life historic...Read the entire review

]]> Sawdust And Tinsel: Criterion Collection (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73523 Thu, 20 Dec 2018 16:49:59 UTC Recommended

Promotional image courtesy of The Criterion Collection

Reviled by critics and audiences alike upon its theatrical release, Ingmar Bergman's Sawdust and Tinsel (1953) has since become a much more respected part of the director's deep filmography. Its story follows the travelling Alberti Circus, a motley crew led by Albert (Ake Gronberg, above) that also includes his mistress Anne (Harriet Andersson), along with Frost the clown (Anders Ek) and his wife Alma (Gudrun Brost). Not coincidentally, Albert and his group arrive in a small town where his estranged wife Agda (Annika Tret...Read the entire review

]]> Sheryl Crow: Live At The Capitol Theatre (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73508 Wed, 12 Dec 2018 15:15:15 UTC Recommended

Sheryl Crow is the type of musician who, despite a solid discography peppered with multi-platinum albums, has been largely out of the public eye for over a decade. Case in point: I own several of her earlier albums up until 2008's Detours but had to double-check to see if she was still releasing music. The offering of Live at the Capitol Theatre (2017) offers a firm reminder that she's still alive and kicking: it's peppered with songs from that year's album Be Myself but features more than a few chart-topping hits that even the most casual fan would recognize. Her backing band for this show in...Read the entire review

]]> Benji's Very Own Christmas Story (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73501 Fri, 07 Dec 2018 20:03:22 UTC Rent It

Its intentions are pure, but Benji's Very Own Christmas Story (1978) is one of the least essential holiday specials of its era. The main culprit is a 25-minute running time: our story is too slight to leave any kind of lasting impression, as it plays out like several scenes from a longer production that was left unfinished. Here's how the story goes: Mary and Cindy (Patsy Garrett andCynthia Smith) are guests of honor in Switzerland, where their lovable pup Benji will be featured as grand marshal of the upcoming holiday parade. During their brief stay, they meet up with Kris Kringle (Ron Moody), who's nursi...Read the entire review

]]> MacGyver: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73496 Tue, 04 Dec 2018 18:42:54 UTC Recommended

Forgive the brevity on this one...but with a show like Lee David Zlotof's MacGyver (1985-93), what you see is what you get. Almost immediately popular with audiences for its international locales, adventure, and the undeniable charisma of star Richard Dean Anderson, this series served as the lead-in for ABC's Monday Night Football during six of its seven seasons and is still firmly anchored in American pop culture. Even if you've never sat through a single episode, you've likely heard the phrase named after its main character: MacGyver is synonymous with using creative, resourceful solutions ...Read the entire review

]]> Star Trek: Discovery - Season One DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73483 Thu, 29 Nov 2018 16:26:53 UTC Recommended

After the slow-burning fizzle of Enterprise during the early 2000s (no doubt a direct result of franchise over-saturation the previous decade), Star Trek smartly stayed off the small screen for a full twelve years. The overwhelming success of all three reboot films in 2009, 2013, and Read the entire review

]]> Windtalkers: Two-Disc Ultimate Edition (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73459 Tue, 20 Nov 2018 19:29:57 UTC Rent It

John Woo's critical and commercial failure Windtalkers (2002) isn't quite as bad as you remember, but it's by no means a good movie. This WWII drama stars Nicholas Cage as Sergeant Joe Enders, whose most recent assignment is to protect Private Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) from Japanese forces. Ben's importance? He's part of a select few Marines serving as Navajo code talkers, who are uniquely able to confuse the enemy by sending and receiving messages in their native tongue. Not surprisingly, it turns out that the code is more important that Ben's life: if he's in danger of being captured, Sergeant Joe has bee...Read the entire review

]]> Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73445 Fri, 09 Nov 2018 22:10:59 UTC Rent It

If not for the existence of a little franchise called Star Wars, Steven Hahn's Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (1985) probably wouldn't exist at all. It owes almost as much to George Lucas' original film as Grizzly does to Jaws, a near carbon copy that doesn't feel like it has any right to exist. But somehow, it's still a fun adventure: billed as one of the ...Read the entire review

]]> Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis: Steelbook Edition (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73442 Thu, 08 Nov 2018 22:30:30 UTC Rent It

A visually ambitious slice of futuristic drama, Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis (2001) is kinda-sorta based on his 1949 manga and Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film...but not really. The spirit is the same, though: like most stories rooted in science fiction, Metropolis attempts to predict the future by borrowing concepts from different time periods, inventing a few new ones, and hoping to reveal something meaningful about our current time in the process. It doesn't fulfill all those promises, but at least stays afloat on pure visual strength: with its impressive combination of hand-drawn animation and CGI elem...Read the entire review

]]> How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Ultimate Edition (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73440 Wed, 07 Nov 2018 17:18:15 UTC Recommended

Essentially an upgrade of the 2011 collection Dr. Seuss: Holidays on the Loose, this year's questionably-titled How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Ultimate Edition is almost identical to its previous release with the addition of two loosely-related specials: Halloween is Grinch Night (1977) and The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (1982), both of which have been newly restored for their Blu-ray debut.

Based on Dr. Seuss' beloved 1957 children's book, How the Grin...Read the entire review

 ]]> 12 Monkeys (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73432 Mon, 05 Nov 2018 18:40:06 UTC Highly Recommended

Perhaps one of the industry's most singular talents, Terry Gilliam has directed some of the most unique and compelling films of the last twenty years. He may be remembered first for Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Fisher King, or even Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas -- but the cynical, off-center, science...Read the entire review

]]> Nick Jr.: Snow Awesome! DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73406 Fri, 26 Oct 2018 17:14:39 UTC Recommended

Themed DVD collections have been Nick Jr.'s bread and butter for more than a decade now: they've all but abandoned chronological season sets, so the recent appearance of their new winter-themed collection Snow Awesome is hardly surprising at this point. Six episodes (11-22 minutes each) from three of their female-led shows are included on this one-disc release, which is a nice change-up. Oddly enough, two are advertised as "all-new holiday specials" but, according to episo...Read the entire review

]]> Saved By The Bell: The Complete Collection DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73405 Thu, 25 Oct 2018 20:55:11 UTC Highly Recommended

Originally created by TV writer Sam Bobrick and developed by producer Peter Engel, Saved by the Bell (1989-93) outgrew humble origins to quickly become an enduring and popular teen sitcom -- which, at the time, was a genre that didn't exist. First envisioned as a teacher-focused series called Good Morning, Miss Bliss in 1988, it was retooled for younger audiences with a bigger spotlight on the (mostly new) students and a more fun and colorful atmosphere. Both were necessary with the show's new timeslot on NBC: Saturday mornings, where it was head-to-head against cartoons that had dominated the landscape for ...Read the entire review

]]> Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956): Signature Edition (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73398 Tue, 23 Oct 2018 15:09:53 UTC Highly Recommended

It's hard to believe, but the now-commonplace sci-fi trope of "pod people" originated with Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), itself based on Jack Finney's three-part serial released earlier in the decade. Our story takes place in fictional Santa Mira, California -- a location later used in over a dozen movies and TV shows, including Halloween III and Memoirs of an Invisible Man -- where a number of strange incidents have been, more often than not, written off as "mass hysteria". Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) has witnessed a few first-hand, with patients claiming that fr...Read the entire review

]]> Cartoon Roots: Halloween Haunts (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73391 Thu, 18 Oct 2018 16:02:55 UTC Recommended

Tommy Jose Stathes' Cartoon Roots series is an ongoing anthology of classic early animation, and its third installment is Halloween Haunts. Featuring 15 shorts originally released between 1907 and 1936 from the likes of the Fleischer brothers, Walter Lantz, and even Walt Disney, there's a good cross-section of mostly silent-era shorts with a few "talkies" thrown for good measure. The running theme is obviously all...Read the entire review

]]> A Raisin In The Sun: Criterion Collection (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73383 Tue, 16 Oct 2018 17:11:38 UTC Highly Recommended

Promotional image courtesy of The Criterion Collection

The first filmed adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's landmark Broadway play, Daniel Petrie's A Raisin in the Sun (1961) still rings true for all the right and wrong reasons. It stars Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, and Claudia McNeil as three divided members of a Chicago family who'd love nothing more than to escape their cramped apartment...but they all have different ideas on how to do it. Their plans all come from the same source: a $10,000 life insurance check issued to matriarch Lena Younger (McNeil) after the recent death ...Read the entire review

]]> Mountain (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73382 Mon, 15 Oct 2018 20:50:56 UTC Rent It

At just 74 minutes in length, Jennifer Peedom's Mountain (2017) doesn't sound like the kind of epic documentary that its subject matter promises. Yet the film's construction proves otherwise: scored by a live orchestra at the Sydney Opera House (conducted by Richard Tognetti) with narration by Willem Dafoe, this collection of beautiful, historical, and at times terrifying footage manages to create a hypnotic spell more often than not. Created in collaboration with at least a dozen cinematographers (including mountaineer and photographer Renan Ozturk, with whom Peedom collaborated with on her last docu...Read the entire review

]]> 12 Monkeys: Special Edition (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73375 Fri, 12 Oct 2018 20:57:12 UTC Highly Recommended

Perhaps one of the industry's most singular talents, Terry Gilliam has directed some of the most unique and compelling films of the last twenty years. He may be remembered first for pictures like Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Fisher King, or even Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas -- but the cynical, off-c...Read the entire review

]]> The X-Files: Season 11 (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73346 Mon, 01 Oct 2018 16:11:07 UTC Highly Recommended

As one of the most memorable TV shows of its era, Chris Carter's landmark series The X-Files delivered atmosphere and imagination in spades. Seamlessly blending sci-fi, drama, suspense, and horror with solid storytelling, great performances, and striking visuals, the ongoing adventures of FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) enjoyed massive worldwide success during the bulk of its initial nine-year run from 1993-2002, even spawning the feature-length films Read the entire review

]]> Leave No Trace (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73351 Mon, 01 Oct 2018 16:01:24 UTC Recommended

Released to massive acclaim -- which includes, as of this review, a perfect rating on Rotten Tomatoes -- Debra Granik's Leave No Trace (2018) is an arresting and effective family drama with a unique, captivating atmosphere. Ben Foster stars as Will, a war veteran struggling with PTSD, who's been living in vast public parks near Portland, Oregon for quite some time. He's not alone: Will has a teenage daughter, Tom (Thomasin McKenzie), who has been raised to survive their unique environment. They operate like a well-oiled machine, mostly living off the land but occasionally hiking into town for groceries or a...Read the entire review

]]> PAW Patrol: Halloween Heroes DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73336 Tue, 25 Sep 2018 19:36:09 UTC Rent It

PAW Patrol continues to be Nick Jr.'s most popular show in recent years, packed with all the harmless action and cornball jokes that kids and most parents can't help but snicker at. Halloween Heroes is the newest themed collection of PAW Patrol episodes on disc; it doesn't really change anything about the show's formula or characters but doesn't have to. Most episodes go like this: the six PAW Patrol canines (klutzy firefighter Marshall, aquatic expert...Read the entire review

]]> Grizzly DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73307 Wed, 12 Sep 2018 15:47:37 UTC Skip It

Well-remembered as the first of many knockoffs of Steven Spielberg's game-changing Jaws, William Girdler's Grizzly (1976) was more nightmare fuel for anyone whose parents were tricked (again?) by the film's soft PG rating. Long story short: humongous bear terrorizes peaceful campers, devouring his victims after swatting off claws and other body parts like a hot knife through butter. Warnings to close the park are ignored, victims pile up, and the pros are finally called in to slay the savage beast. Even the ending is cribbed di...Read the entire review

]]> The Tree of Life: Criterion Collection (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73306 Tue, 11 Sep 2018 15:20:46 UTC Recommended

The theatrical cut of Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life (2011) is a film bursting with contradictions. It's too short and too long. It's verbose and not talkative enough. It's strikingly personal and distant. It's fiercely uplifting and almost casually cynical. Not surprisingly, these elements made The Tree of Life one of that year's most polarizing films -- but also one filled with the director's particular brand of hypnotic visuals. A jaw-dropping level of beauty is on display here, from sun-soaked Texas fields to cleverly constructed images of deep space. The Tree of Life's lyrical, n...Read the entire review

]]> Mind Game (2004) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73296 Fri, 07 Sep 2018 15:37:02 UTC Recommended

20-year-old manga artist Nishi has gone more than a decade without professing his love for childhood friend Myon, who now lives with her older sister Yan and is pledged to be married. Myon's fiancée Ryo meets them at her father's restaurant, where they're bullied by a huge yakuza thug. Myon is assaulted, Nishi is shot and killed (it gets dark in a hurry, folks), and he meets an ever-changing God in limbo. Regretting his life as a coward, Nishi somehow dodges fate and returns to Earth a changed man: he shoots the thug with his own gun, flees the scene with Myon and Yan, they're pursued by yakuza members, get swallo...Read the entire review

]]> Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji: Special Edition (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73295 Thu, 06 Sep 2018 18:43:40 UTC Recommended

Relatively unknown to most American audiences, Japanese director Tsunejiro "Tomu" Uchida helmed almost 60 films during a career that spanned six different decades. His dense filmography can be divided into two distinct halves, with 1955's Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji being the obvious middle point. Bloody Spear ended a 15-year hiatus for Uchida around World War II, during which time he ended his association with Japan's Nikkatsu studio, failed to establish his own production company, and spent nine years in Manchuria during the Chinese Civil War, giving lectures and even working in a coal mine (it's a ...Read the entire review

]]> Rapid Fire (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73294 Wed, 05 Sep 2018 21:21:25 UTC Recommended

Brandon Lee's penultimate film appearance before his untimely 1993 death, Dwight H. Little's Rapid Fire (1992) offers the most well-rounded and enjoyable showcase of his considerable talent. It's a well above-average action film whose story is more than just an excuse to string together fight scenes (imagine that!), while the lead role was written specifically with Lee in mind. And though the impressive, cleanly shot brawls still manage to outshine everything else by a comfortable margin, there's still more than enough substance to make Rapid Fire more "pleasure" than "guilty".

Our story follows st...Read the entire review

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