While the cultural phenomenon of Batman ushered in a wave of comic book adaptations throughout the 1990s, the Caped Crusader’s own movie series burned out quickly and none of his imitators caught fire in quite the same way. As the new millennium approached, the genre waned once again, almost to the point of fading from… Read More What Would You Prefer, Yellow Spandex? | X-Men (2000) Blu-ray
In the fall of 1992, I was deep into a phase of Clive Barker fandom. I’d read all of the author’s books available to that point and watched both Hellraiser and Nightbreed often enough to put serious wear on my VHS copies. When a new movie based on a short story from one of Barker’s… Read More What’s Blood for If Not for Shedding? | Candyman (1992) Unrated Cut Blu-ray
Walter’s Hill’s 1979 The Warriors was a box office hit and has grown to become an even greater cult classic over the years, but was released to considerable criticism and controversy at the time. Unfortunately, that reputation led Hill, decades later, to create a Director’s Cut in 2005 that attempted to water down the content… Read More Miracles Is the Way Things Ought to Be | The Warriors (1979) Arrow Video 4K Ultra HD
Arnold Schwarzenegger was already a celebrity by the early 1980s from his bodybuilding career, TV appearances, and featured screen time in the popular documentary Pumping Iron, but his attempts at acting didn’t really take off until he landed the lead in Conan the Barbarian. A screen vehicle well-tailored to both his strengths and limitations, the… Read More Days of High Adventure | Conan the Barbarian (1982) Arrow Video 4K Ultra HD
At the end of 2023, collectors of the 1980s G.I. Joe toy line received a wonderful gift in the form of a huge coffee table book documenting The Art of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (reviewed here previously). Supporters of that project’s original Kickstarter campaign were additionally promised a supplemental Blu-ray set to follow… Read More Snap-On, Stay-On | The Art of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Blu-ray Digipack (2024)
A couple weeks ago, a local community event space put up a makeshift screen and hosted a viewing of Luc Besson’s 1997 sci-fi epic The Fifth Element in my neighborhood. Although admittedly not, on a technical level, the best cinematic experience I’ve had in my life, and certainly not up to my usual home theater… Read More A Visual History of The Fifth Element (1997) on Home Video
Two decades following its debut, the 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers saw its reputation elevated from a cheesy B-movie to a respected science-fiction classic. What Hollywood saw in that was an opportunity for a remake. Of course, the inherent irony of remaking a famous story about evil clone duplicates practically begs for dismissive comparisons… Read More Can’t Stay Awake Forever | Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Arrow Video Blu-ray
Likely the quintessential 1950s sci-fi B-movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers could easily have disappeared into obscurity if not for the efforts of producer Walter Wanger and director Don Siegel. Hired by the studio to churn out quick and cheap filler for a forgettable double feature, the creators instead delivered a film with such a… Read More They’re Already Here! | Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) 4K Ultra HD
While technically his third feature film as director, Terry Gilliam’s 1981 Time Bandits was only his second outside of Monty Python and, in most fans’ eyes, the first that truly marked him as an auteur in his own right. As a surprise box office smash (a top-ten money earner for the year on the short-list… Read More You Stick with These Boys, You Have a Great Future | Time Bandits (1981) Criterion Collection Blu-ray
Upon its belated release in this market in 2004, Zhang Yimou’s Hero set a milestone as the first foreign-language film to open at the top of the American box office. That achievement was notable in a few respects, not least of which is that the movie was already two-years-old by that point and a good… Read More How Swift Thy Sword | Hero (2002) ViaVision Imprint Asia Limited Edition Blu-ray
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