Armchair Commentary

Amazon exclusive: "The Mission" on Blu-ray

Right now you can pre-order The Mission on Blu-ray, exclusively at Amazon.  It's an epic drama, starring Jeremy Irons as an 18th-century Jesuit missionary in South America and Robert De Niro as a mercenary taken in by Irons who later chooses to defend the mission against opposing forces.  Directed by Roland Joffe (The Killing Fields) and also featuring Liam Neeson early in his career, The Mission might be just as famous for its Ennio Morricone score as it is for its plot. One theme in particular, "Gabriel's Oboe," has become a favorite in concert halls for its lyric beauty.  In the first clip below, Irons' character, Father Gabriel, calms a tribe of Guarani warriors with the tune.  In the second clip, Morricone conducts his own music in concert.  --David

Clash of the Titans: The classic on Blu-ray

The Blu-ray edition of the original Clash of the Titans movie is a bit of a mixed bag. Some scenes look exceptionally good in high definition, while others are pretty grainy, especially night scenes. I assume this is due to the source material, because the movie never really looked that great on DVD either--this is probably as good as we're ever going to see it. The uncompressed DTS-HD sound is good but only in 2.0 (probably another source limitation--there is a good back-speaker effect approaching Medusa's lair). The packaging is quite nice: a book with stills from the movie, pictures and biographies of the cast (the Ursula Andress photo is a stunner) and special-effects creator Ray Harryhausen, and pictures and descriptions of the creatures. There are two bonus features, both in standard definition: A 2002 12-minute interview with Harryhausen in which he describes his work on the film, and short segments in which he describes each of six creatures. There's also a five-minute preview of the 2010 Titans remake. You can compare the original film's trailer and two behind-the-scenes featurettes from the new film below. --David

Blu Monday: "With my Blu-ray, I will stop--the world"

Coming May 25 is the Blu-ray edition of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, one of the most entertaining shows I've seen in the last year or so. Neil Patrick Harris stars and sings as Dr. Horrible, a self-esteem-challenged villain battling superhero Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) and pining for the hand of Penny (Felicia Day). Joss Whedon created this web series as an independent project during the 2008 writers' strike along with his brothers Zack and Jed, and Jed's then-fiancee Maurissa Tancharoen, and it's a marvel of dry wit and singable music. Watch the trailer below and read Joss Whedon's celebrity blog about the original DVD. --David

Blu Monday: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

Arriving on Blu-ray tomorrow is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth movie in the series. See below for a preview of the Blu-ray features, including information on the Live Community Screening taking place with Daniel Radcliffe and director David Yates on December 12. The disc will also include an advance look at the next movie in the series, part 1 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Note: The Blu-ray combo with DVD and Digital Copy will be available for a limited time only. --David

Blu Tuesday: "Harry Potter 6" and "Terminator Salvation" available for pre-order

It seems like a long time since they were in theaters, but two of the biggest Blu-ray releases of the year are now available for pre-order. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince arrives December 8 in a Blu-ray/DVD combo disc with a Digital Copy, BD-Live features, and Maximum Movie Mode.  Terminator Salvation hits a week earlier, on December 1. It has both the theatrical cut of the film and a new director's cut, a Digital Copy of the theatrical version, BD-Live features, Maximum Movie Mode, DTS-HD sound, and more. I enjoyed Harry Potter in theaters but never caught up with Terminator.  Reviews of the latter were mixed, but I'm a fan of the franchise, and I'm guessing that Blu-ray will be the next-best way to see it--maybe even better depending on the director's cut.  --David

Blu Monday: "Crackin' Blu-ray, Gromit!"

William Wallace, meet Wallace and Gromit.  My yin-yang is getting a kick out of pairing these two Blu-ray pre-orders:  Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection and Braveheart.  I've watched the three Wallace and Gromit short films--A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, and A Close Shave--many times (the middle is my favorite) and yeah, I already own three different DVDs with the first three films on them, but this collection has the 2008 film A Matter of Loaf and Death, which I haven't seen, and it's their first time on Blu-ray.  I love Nick Park's humor and old-school clay animation.  Braveheart I've also seen a number of times--or at least parts of it, as the later stages are pretty tough.  Say what you will about Mel Gibson, but he made a passionate, moving film about Scotland's quest for independence.  I'm planning to pick up both of these.  --David

Blu Monday: "Friday the 13th" Killer Cut

This weekend I took a spin through the "Extended Killer Cut" of Friday the 13th. I had actually planned to watch the theatrical cut, but the Blu-ray disc defaults to play the Killer Cut (which is 106 minutes compared to 97); if you want the theatrical cut, you have to select it on the special-features menu. Doing a quick comparison after the fact, though, I can't really imagine choosing to watch the theatrical cut.  In addition to some more of Amanda Righetti and of Jason, the extra nine minutes is mostly more gore in the gory scenes and more sex in the sexy scenes.  If you're squeamish you might not want those things, but if you're that squeamish you probably don't want to watch Friday the 13th in the first place, right?  The longer cut will give you more of the stuff that you probably watch this movie for.  But the theatrical cut is on the disc if you want it, as well as a couple of 11-minute featurettes on the new movie and the franchise, three deleted scenes (a different version of Jason getting his mask, the police response to the phone call, and a revised climax), and "The 7 Best Kills," which provides behind-the-scenes info on key deaths.  A commentary track, which combines movie and franchise trivia with picture-in-picture footage of crew members discussing the film, is pretty sporadic (it tends to appear more frequently on the important scenes) and repeats some of the info in other features (which is pretty common).  There's also a second disc with a Digital Copy of the film (I haven't downloaded it yet to tell which cut it is) and additional features on BD-Live, which I'll take a look at next.  And if you buy the Blu-ray disc at Amazon, in addition to getting the two versions of the movie and the Digital Copy, you can also instantly watch the movie on Amazon Video On Demand on release day. See our page for details.  --David

Movies & TV Trade-In Store Launches with 5,000+ Eligible Titles!

Today we are pleased to announce the beta launch of Amazon Movies & TV Trade-In, www.amazon.com/moviestradein. Amazon Moves & TV Trade-In is a new service that enables you to trade in your movies and TV on DVD, Blu-ray, and HD DVD for an Amazon.com Gift Card. 

Trade-In is as easy as 1,2,3. Go to www.amazon.com/moviestradein and search for movies & TV that you want to trade among thousands of titles. Once you’ve found your items, print off a prepaid shipping label (no cost to you), drop it in the mail, and you’re done. Once items are received and verified, an Amazon.com gift card will be deposited into your Amazon.com account. You can spend that Amazon.com gift card towards the purchase of millions of eligible items at Amazon.com

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(And by the way, since this is a beta launch, you can expect two things: 1) our trade-in store will continue to evolve over time with increased selection of eligible titles and 2) we’re interested in your feedback on how we can improve it. Please share your thoughts via our feedback form here.)   

Check out our Video Games trade-in store that launched in March. Since then the selection has expanded to now include over 2,500 eligible games for trade-in.

--Angela

Blu Tuesday: "True Blood" Blu-ray sneak peek

Starting May 4, HBO On Demand will be showing the first episode of True Blood: The Complete First Season in the Blu-ray's "True Blood Enhanced Viewing" mode with four types of original, interactive picture-in-picture, pop-up features:

• LAFAYETTE: viewers can get the scoop on everyone in Bon Temps with True Blood's flamboyant and outspoken Lafayette, who dishes up everything from secrets about Tara's crush on Jason to the history of the Stackhouse family in over 80 clips
• VAMPIRE HISTORY: viewers intrigued by the vampire characters can learn more about how their favorites were “made”
• HINTS AND FYIs: viewers get to unravel the mysteries surrounding the entire series through helpful hints and FYI pop-ups
• ANIMATED MAPS: viewers get to explore colorful locations in Bon Temps through animated maps

For a sneak peek of the Blu-ray enhanced-viewing mode, watch below, or go to our Blu-ray page for the trailer and cast interviews. Other Blu-ray bonus materials listed in the press release include a documentary that chronicles the integration of vampires, "Tru Blood" beverage ads that market the synthetic blood to “out of the coffin” vampires, and "Vampire Rights" PSAs.  --David

Blu Monday: "Gran Torino" goes Blu on June 9

It seems like forever ago since Gran Torino hit theaters in December and generated Oscar buzz for director-actor Clint Eastwood and his "get off my lawn" story of a Korean war veteran confronting his Hmong neighbors.  In the meantime, it got completely shut out of the Oscars, but at least it's finally coming out on Blu-ray and DVD on June 9, at least two months after most of the Oscar contenders.  Why the wait?  I don't know, but we do know some of the advance specs, which don't appear to be spectacular:

• Behind the Story: The Eastwood Way, Manning the Wheel
• Gran Torino: More Than a Car
• Digital copy of the film
• BD-Live

In other Blu news, Netflix told its subscribers today that Blu-ray access will increase their monthly fees by $1 to $9 depending on their plan.  They had previously charged an extra dollar for Blu-ray, so this is a steeper hike.  --David