[Feature] Blu-Rays We Want to See

While more and more obscure titles are released on Blu-ray every week, there are still plenty of great (sometimes classic) films that are still not available on this wonderful high-definition format. What gives?

If you're like me, a HD snob, you probably have plenty of visually arresting movies that you want to revisit, but refuse to watch in standard definition (yes, yes... first world problems, I know).

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Under the Flag of the Rising Sun

As of this date, most of Kinji Fukasaku's filmography has yet to see a Blu-Ray release. However, if there were only one Fukasaku film I could have on Blu then it would have to be Under the Flag of the Rising Sun. Sachiko Hidari, a war widow, has spent twenty-six years searching for the truth about her husband's death. Was he executed? Was he a deserter? Was he a hero? As the government adheres to the official, flawed version of events, the stubborn woman seeks her answers by speaking to the men who served with her husband. The stories told by these damaged soldiers comprise the bulk of the movie and accounts complicated by each man's "truth."

Criterion Films, this is right up your alley. I don't know what you have to do, but do whatever it takes to get this masterpiece under your label so we can have a Blu-Ray version.

Braindead / Meet the Feebles / Bad Taste

Okay, okay, I'm cheating a little by lumping these three together. So sue me already. Long before he was making films about the Hobbits of Middle Earth, Peter Jackson made his name with three cult-classic schlock fests. Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, and Braindead have rightfully gained cult classic status, so what gives Peter Jackson? Why haven't these awesome films seen the light of day in glorious 1080p HD?

Granted, we did come close to seeing a local Australian release of Braindead courtesy of local distributors Cinema Cult. However, it was halted due to licensing issues. Word has it that Peter Jackson's Wingnut Company has bought the rights for all three films and as such, they are planning on doing full restorations for each film. Fingers crossed that we might finally see these films sometime within the next year.

Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey

Strange things are a-foot at the Circle-K. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure already has a Blu-Ray release and yet Bogus Journey remains relegated to DVD? Doesn't make a lot of sense now does it? Perhaps it's just me, but I believe Bogus Journey stands neck-to-neck with Excellent Adventure and deserves better treatment. After all, this is a teen comedy that dares to reference Ingmar Bergman and The Seventh Seal, a joke that I'm willing to bet went completely over the audiences head at the time (granted, it went over my head as a kid as well). Keanu Reeves has consistently teased the prospect of doing a third film. If that third film should ever see the light of day, then why not release Bogus Journey on Blu beforehand to capitalize?

Ikiru

A quiet, but incredibly poignant film. Kanji Watanabe is a clerk who has lived a dull, unsatisfying life working in the government's offices diagnosed with cancer and given only a year to live. He tries to enjoy his days by picking up a former co-worker and taking her out on the town. She finally convinces him that this is not the way to spend the rest of his life. He soon realizes that he has a strong desire to do something with his life so that it will not have been a total waste. Therefore, he begins to work in cooperation with the people... accomplishing something that nobody in the office had the nerve to do before.

Ikiru is a radical departure for Director Akira Kurosawa, a man best known for his Samurai films. It's as low as low-key can be. It is a meditation on the very essence of life and what it is to live. Well deserving of HD Treatment.

JSA: Joint Security Area

Long before Park Chan-Wook was making a worldwide name for himself with his blood soaked Vengeance trilogy, he made a film that became one of the highest grossing films in Korean history. I speak of the 2000 Political-Thriller JSA: Joint Security Area.

JSA is a powerfully moving and keenly intelligent analysis of the confusing political situation between the two opposing governmental systems. It was the highest grossing film of 2000 in its native homeland, so how in the blue hell hasn't this been released on Blu-Ray yet? In South Korea, a Blu-Ray release was teased but has still yet to come to fruition. Here's hoping it will come soon rather than later.

Johnny Got His Gun

Perhaps one of the greatest anti-war films ever made continues to be criminally overlooked and unjustly mis-treated.Johnny Got His Gun was, of course, best known for its implementation into the video clip for Metalica's ever popular metal anthem, One. A fantastic use of the film, no doubt, but even on its terms Dalton Trumbo's film is a hauntingly devastating masterpiece. It's a film that will rattle you right down to your core and leave you wanting to become a pacifist. A story that authentically imparts the loneliest possible consciousness, one where the subject can't even be sure whether or not he's alive as he subsists in a living death. Distributors everywhere I beg of you, please do this film justice and give it another restoration.

Trick or Treat

Here's an overlooked 80's horror-comedy that is just dying to get some love from a distributor such as Shout Factory. When an awkward-bullied teen plays the record of his favourite hair-metal band backwards, he inadvertently releases the spirit of an evil psychopath rocker. Trick or Treat is a cheesy yet terrifically funny horror-comedy. In a time where Heavy Metal was indicted as being the music of devil-worshippers by overly concerned PTA members, the evil spirit Sammi Curr was an amalgam of every parent's worst nightmare at the time.

Trick or Treat has everything you could want. Including a rocking soundtrack, courtesy of Eddie Clark, ex Motorhead. Special Effects courtesy of effects maestro Kevin Yagher. An abundance of action, loads of laughs, a totally ridiculous plot and the most wonderful '80's stereotypes as characters. Including appearances from both Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons, what more could you want?

At one point in time, Anchor Bay were set to re-release the film on DVD way back in 2006, but the DVD was halted due to certain copyright issues with the soundtrack. I don't know what it would take to get those issues cleared, but it would be nice to see this underappreciated 80's horror-comedy get a new lease of life.

Heidi: The Girl of the Alps

For years, I've wanted to see Director Isao Takahata's pre-Ghibli television series Heidi: The Girl of the Alps. But, unfortunately, it's been a near impossible task as the series was never released on DVD with English subs. With all the recent speculative talks of Ghibli closing shop, then what better time for someone to pick up the rights and give this series a much-needed dose of English friendly Blu-Ray love.

Before Sunrise / Before Sunset

I adore these films and I make no apologies in saying that out loud. I honestly believe that Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy crafted the finest love story ever told on film with this trilogy. So, it's criminal to me that I have the final instalment of this trilogy (Before Midnight) sitting on my Blu-Ray shelf, yet the first two instalments are limited to a stingy, cheap, bare bones double DVD pack.

It's time for perhaps the greatest on-screen love story ever told to receive the grand treatment. I'm talking commentary tracks, retrospective featurettes. Hell, box all three films together in one nicely designed digipak if you have to. Just give me these two films on Blu-Ray already so I can complete the trilogy.

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What do you think? Which films would you like to be released on Blu-ray? Let us know in the comments below!

(This Feature Was Originally Published Over at Neon Maniacs on 11/08/14 by yours truly)

--Daniel M

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[Blu-Ray Review] Wolf Creek 2

It's hard to believe that it's been almost ten years since we were first introduced to the villainous Anti-Dundee Mick Taylor. It was nine years ago that then first time Director Greg McLean stepped into the limelight with his shocking and unsettling horror debut Wolf Creek. Being both an avid Horror fan and of Australian descent, it was utterly thrilling to watch the birth of a new horror icon that we could proudly call our own. Now, nine years have past, and Greg McLean is ready to take us back into the terrifying wilderness of the Australian Outback with the much anticipated followup, Wolf Creek 2.

The scenario is much the same. A pair of European backpackers venture deep into the heart of the Australian Outback. Lulled by its beauty yet completely oblivious to the murky unknown danger that awaits. Soon enough, the infamous pig hunting psychopath (John Jarrett) shows up in his infamous truck. At first, Mick tries to sweet talk the couple with his larrikin charm but when he notices that they see right through his fake visage then, all hell breaks loose.

The genius of the original film boiled down to its masterfully constructed oppressive atmosphere of dread and unease. The first film managed to spend significant time establishing its characters, thus giving you victims who you could feel empathetic for in their hour of despair. With its gritty documentarian framing and its establishment of sympathetic characters, it was a sadistic little horror film that teetered on the knife edge of acceptability. You just didn't know how far it would go. Further made all the more unsettling thanks to the mysterious nature of the beast, Mick Taylor, himself. You never knew where he would pop up or just how far he would go in tormenting his victims.

Right from the offset, as Mick Taylor lay waste to a couple of corrupt cops in the opening scene, it's quickly apparent that Wolf Creek 2 is an entirely different beast. Mick Taylor is no longer that familiar yet frightening omnipresence that he was in the first film, rather he is the headlining star of the piece.

This time Mick Taylor is but a caricature of his former terrifying self. John Jarrett revels in making the character his own once again as he spews his heavily laced xenophobic rants before with devilish glee. Jarrett pushes the character even further over the thin line of acceptability, but with that said, it does come at the expense of Taylor's foreboding menace.

Like most sequels, Wolf Creek 2 ups the ante in every way imaginable. Director Greg McLean trades the gritty oppressive documentarian feel for a much wider and more playful canvas. Allowing the film to become a rollicking B-Movie in the process. The Australian Outback is once again framed quite beautifully by Cinematographer Toby Oliver and as such, it is very much its own character in the film. Meanwhile, the kill's are more explicitly gruesome, and the thrills more spectacularly elaborate and visceral.

The centerpiece being the chase sequence along the deserted back roads of the outback, where Mick Taylor -- driving a Semi-Trailered Truck -- plays a devilish game of cat and mouse with his prey. A scene which quite obviously takes much of its inspiration from Steven Spielberg's classic thriller Duel. It's a superbly crafted nail-biting chase sequence that also manages to throw in an unexpected dash of darkly laced slapstick for good measure.

Greg McLean clearly has a love of genre cinema and isn't afraid to show it. There's a little taste of The Hitcher sprinkled in, and there's also a little bit of the Australian classic Wake in Fright thrown in for good measure. But most notably, it owes a significant debt of gratitude towards Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.

If the first film was Australia's answer to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, then Wolf Creek 2 is the answer to its sequel. Greg Mclean does away with the overpowering oppressive tone that permeated the first movie and instead, opts for a tongue-in-cheek sensibility, albeit a severely black humoured sensibility. As such, there has been a fair amount of criticism leveled towards the film in that it was too removed from what made the original successful.

I can't agree with such criticism. As I think, it would have been an even greater mistake to attempt to replicate the original beat-for-beat. Simply because it would be impossible to successfully replicate that same oppressive dread to the same effect. Pushing it even further into the realms of rollicking B-Cinema has at least allowed McLean and co-writer Aaron Sterns some creative liberty.

With that said, Wolf Creek 2 is far from perfect. The lack of empathetic victims detracts from the experience as a whole, as there's just no one to care or root for outside of Mick Taylor himself. The conclusion is also too abrupt and ultimately misjudged. Furthermore, there is an overly-long point in the midsection where the film loses some of its own momentum.

But, with all of that said, it still makes for a fun, if not overly routine, outback slasher. Whether or not it was a mistake to embrace the iconography of Mick Taylor as a classic Horror villain remains debatable. But still, as is, it's a well made rollicking B-Movie that should cater genre fans well enough.

Blu Ray Extras

-Deleted Scenes

- Creating a Monster: The Making of Wolf Creek 2

- Directors Commentary

★★★

(out of five)

- Daniel M

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[DVD/Blu] Out this Week (26/06/14)

Last year I was writing this feature over at Neon Maniacs on a semi-weekly basis, but I temporarily abandoned it due to numerous reasons. Let's just say my life was overtaken by my normal 7 to 5, five days a week job. I felt slack for abandoning it, but I didn't have much time to indulge in my hobby. So now I'm going to attempt to resurrect it. Just for the hell of it. So without further ado, let's just dive head first into this edition of "Out this Week"

Oh and a quick side note, these release dates pertain to Australia only.


In Cinemas

Transformers: Age of Extinction
Director: Michael Bay

Should You Care?: Maybe

Michael Bay dominates Cinema's this week with the fourth instalment of the lucrative Transformers series. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this series. I liked the first movie, and I hated its sequel. The third film left the taste of 'eh' in my mouth. But, with that said, I am looking forward to seeing Age of Extinction this weekend. Even if the plot turns out to be completely forgettable, at the very least I know I'm in for some stylish, mindless, and tremendous looking set pieces as is the normal tradition with Michael Bay. But I do have some faith in Michael Bay. As always, here's hoping for the best from Transformers: Age of Extinction.



DVD/Blu-Ray Releases

Wolf Creek 2: The Directors Cut
Director: Greg McLean

Should You Care?: Yes

The Australian Tourism Committees' worst nightmare returns for another dose of bloodshed and mayhem. That's right, the Anti-Dundee himself, Mick Taylor, is back to take another stab at those "pesky foreign vermin scum" festering in the outback. I admired the hell out of Wolf Creek. It was essentially Australia's answer to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, playing on the fear of venturing into the unknown only to be hunted down by the whims of a madman. Subsequently, it also gave our country a Horror Icon of its very own.

The sequel is more of the same. A new set of victim's venture into the outback, only to find themselves hunted by a madman. Although, this time around, it's far more of a rollicking B-movie in the vein of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Check back in a couple of days for a full review of the extended Directors Cut.

Special Features:
- Directors Cut Exclusive to Blu-Ray
- Directors Commentary
- Deleted Scenes
- 'Making Of' Featurette

Nymphomaniac Volume 2
Director: Lars Von Trier

Should you Care?: Yes, if you like Lars Von Trier, that is to say.

I finally got around to watching the first half of Lars Von Trier's Nymphomaniac this past week, and I liked what I saw. Von Trier's case study of a woman and her Hypersexuality turned out to be far more amusing than I had expected. Backed by terrific performances from Stellan Skasgard and Charlotte Gainsborg. However,  I reserve my right to a full judgement until I've seen Volume 2, which I plan to buy and watch this week. So check back later for full thoughts once I've seen Volume 2.

Special Features:
- N/A

True Detective: Season 1

Should you care?: Yes, Very Much, Yes

The much raved about HBO police procedural drama finally makes its way to Blu Ray this week. Both Matthew Mcconaughey (continuing his resurgence) and Woody Harrelson are beyond excellent as the two lead detectives who become entangled in a 17 year hunt for a Serial Killer in Louisiana. Combine two brilliant top-of-their-game performances with a moody neo-noir atmosphere and you have the most utterly compelling and enthralling TV dramas of the year, so far.

Special Features:
- Audio Commentaries
- 'Making of' featurette
- Up Close and Personal with Matthew Mcconaughey and Woody Harelson - Interview
- A Conversation with Nic Pizzolatto and T Bone Burnet
- Inside the Episodes - Short 'Making of' vlogs
- Deleted Scenes




-Daniel M

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