Author: Robert Greenberger

You have to begin by asking yourself, do we really want an origin story for Peter Pan? J.M. Barrie certainly didn’t seem to think we needed it when he first wrote the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up in December 1904. The book we’re more familiar with, Peter and Wendy, didn’t arrive until 1911.

However, we have been conditioned to expect to understand everything there is about a character and too often we’re given origin stories that dilute the action. So, one has to wonder why Warner Bros and director Joe Wright felt we needed Pan.

The overwrought, over-produced production got bumped from summer to fall only to flop big time and is out now on Combo Pack from Warner Home Entertainment.

The idea of the boy who never grew up, who had wild escapades in Neverland should be sufficient lure for audiences. It certainly worked for Disney and Mary Martin but today, that’s not good enough.  Rather than a story to enchant children, this is aimed squarely at those of us to achieve adulthood and long for simpler days of youth.

The action is, we’re told, tamped down for younger audiences but it’s still in your face with a riot of colors, sounds, and frenetic energy that diminishes a script by Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift) once considered so strong it made the infamous Black List of great, yet-unproduced screenplays.

Working from the familiar set pieces we’ve come to love, Fuchs takes the youngster Peter and sets him on the classic hero’s journey taking way too many liberties from the source material to satisfy.  Young Peter was abandoned by his mother, Mary (Amanda Seyfried), leaving him to be raised by the cruel Mother Barnabas (Kathy Burke).  Even though Barrie’s story was set at the turn of the century, we’re somehow told its World War II and the London Blitz is on. Peter (Levi Miller), now 12, and his friend Nibs (Lewis MacDougall) find out Barnabas has been hoarding food and there’s a letter from Mary foreshadowing how “special” Peter was meant to be.

Peter escapes the Nazis, snatched up Bishop (Nonso Anozie), aboard his flying pirate ship. The man is collecting orphans to work as slave labor. Upon arrival, Peter meets the infamous Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman), the mine’s overseer. Now Fuchs wrote the part for Jackman and used the pirate because Barrie established it was he who trained Hook – so what’s a sea-faring man doing in a mine? Jackman’s plays the part as if it were a Broadway production, chewing his beard or the scenery.

What are they mining? Pixum, or crystalized fairy dust. Uh huh.

We quickly meet the other denizens including Princess Tiger Lily (Mara) and her father (Jack Charles). Then there’s James Hook (Garrett Hedlund), cast in the swashbuckling role one expects from true pirates of yore. Hook is not Peter’s arch enemy yet but all the warnings are in place.

You get the idea. The movie is overstuffed with sets, characters, and anachronisms galore which spoils the sense of wonder the movie should have created. Wright’s a capable director but not here. Instead of something special, like Peter was meant to be, this movie can’t make up its mind what it really wants to be and who its audience should be. As a result, it leaves children overstimulated and parents shaking their heads in disappointment.

The Blu-ray transfer is just lovely, which is needs considering the visuals.  The 1080p, AVC-encoded result maintains the rich colors just fine. There’s a 3D version but this was not screened for review. The Dolby Atmos soundtrack is strong.

For a film boasting so much effort, the special features prove disappointing. You start with Wright’s commentary which shows his head and heart were in the right place, although his defense of using “Smells Like Teen Spirit” fails to convince. There’s also Never Grow Up: The Legend of Pan (10:50), which does a nice job showing us how Barrie’s story grew from stage to book; The Boy Who Would Be Pan (6:07) introduces us to Miller, who at least looked age appropriate for Pan; The Scoundrels of Neverland (5:49), explores the pirates and Blackbeard’s origins; and, Wondrous Realms (5:01), a promotional tour of Neverland.

Say what you will about Tom Cruise as a person but as an actor and producer, he is one of the strongest performers in Hollywood. For the last 19 years, he has been responsible for Paramount Pictures’ Mission: Impossible franchise and has turned it into a goldmine. The fifth installment, Rogue Nation, arrives tomorrow in a combo pack from Paramount Home Entertainment just as people worry about the granddaddy of espionage franchises, James Bond.

I was not alone in feeling disappointed by Spectre, a lax story, a waste of Monica Bellucci, and boring set pieces. In comparison, the three major action sequences in Rogue Nation are fresher, more exciting, and still works on repeated watching.

Cruise set out at the beginning to honor Bruce Gellar’s creation but also add new flavors by insisting someone different direct each movie.  Brian DePalma set the stage and satisfied fans while John Wu had a misfire but then they came back with J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird, and now Christopher McQuarrie. The latter, it seems, was an uncredited writer on the previous film, Ghost Protocol and has been a frequent collaborator with Cruise so seemed a natural to become the next director. It should be noted that the film was so successful McQuarrie will be the first repeat director.

Whereas M:I 4 isolated Ethan Hunt and the IMF team because of things going awry in Russia, the new film takes things a step further, echoing Spectre’s thread that such agencies have outlived their usefulness. Without government support, Hunt cannot hope to uncover their shadowy duplicate agency, Spectre, er, the Syndicate despite the global consequences for failure.

The team is fractured as Hunt recruits Benji (Simon Pegg) to leave his dead end desk job and join him in Europe. Meantime, when Hunt and Benji go silent, IMF Chief William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) seeks out Luther (Ving Rhames) to come to their aid. In the mix is Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who may be working for the syndicate, some other agency, or out for herself. All Hunt knows is that she’s very good at what she does and comes to trust her when others remain suspicious.

The story, credited to Drew Pearce and McQuarrie, takes us around the world, uses inventive technology, and rarely lets up the pace while leavening the drama with some genuine humor and warmth between the characters. If there’s flaw, it is that Hunt remains a bit flat as a character, especially without any hint of his private life, which made Mission: Impossible III, a richer experience.

McQuarrie does a great job moving things along and the action sequences – Hunt on the airplane, the mandatory car/motorcycle chase, and the underwater computer bit – all work. While newcomer Ferguson has garnered the majority of the raves, a deadpan Alec Baldwin as CIA Director Alan Hunley should be credited with keeping things interesting. The final moments with the downfall of Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) is pitch perfect, replicating how many of the classic episodes ended.

The Blu-ray transfer is just swell, perfect for revisiting the film at home matched well with the Dolby Atmos soundtrack.

The film comes with several featurettes, all just long enough to give you the basics without getting boring. In some cases, I wish there was more, especially about the franchise as a whole but I suppose leaving them wanting more is better than boring us.

We open with Audio Commentary from Cruise and McQuarrie and you can sense how comfortable they are with one another, which transfers neatly into the film itself.

Lighting the Fuse (5:57) focuses mainly on McQuarrie’s involvement, as partner and director; Cruise Control (6:33) shines the same spotlight on Cruise’s role in the filmmaking process; Heroes… (8:06), profiles the recurring IMF agents plus Ilsa; Cruising Altitude (8:23), so how did they film that plane sequence; Mission: Immersible (6:45) is all about the underwater sequence with emphasis on the physical training required; Sand Theft Auto (5:35) explores the high speed vehicle chases; and, The Missions Continue (7:08) where cast and crew reflect on the franchise’s staying power.

The combo pack comes with a DVD and Digital HD code.

Marvel’s Ant-Man, which was an international box office smash this summer, is also a schizophrenic movie demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of working within a shared universe. Where James Gunn was given a corner of the universe to play with the Guardians of the Galaxy allowing him to be cheeky and amusing while introducing cosmic threats that will dovetail in future films, Edgar Wright’s original ideas were too comedic and “out there” to fit in the terrestrial threads already in place.

Despite Wright working on this for years and coming close to bringing his vision to the Avengers’ world, it ultimately fell apart when too many compromises were demanded in order to fit in more closely with the tone and feel of those films. Wright walked and was replaced by director Peyton Reed, best known for the fresh-feeling Bring it On.

Reed did a more than serviceable job in bridging that gap, delivering an entertaining, at time thrilling, feature film that fits nicely within the evolving Marvel Cinematic Universe.  The film is now available for live-streaming via Disney Movies Anywhere and related services with the Blu-ray combo pack coming out December 8.

Paul Rudd is well cast as Scott Lang, a convicted criminal who is having difficulties reintegrating into society since most companies won’t give ex-cons a chance. He’s in a strained relationship with his wife Maggie (Judy Greer) and her new husband, a cop Paxton (Bobby Cannavale). Of course his young daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) is the only one to see him as the hero he is.

Lang’s family issues and struggle for a fresh start lead us to his being lured into the home of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), where we learn Pym has been keeping an eye on Lang, hoping to recruit him as an agent of change, helping him prevent his protégé, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from making some very bad choices. Of course there is the grief felt for the missing Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp, and the strain between father and daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) that is predictable but well-delivered. This thread is engaging, emotionally-packed, and very much the origin story of a hero.

Wright’s influence remains in the other half of the film, led by former cell mate Luis (Michael Peña) and assorted misfits. They provide a lot of the comic relief in the film but every time they are on screen, it feels like an entirely different film and this half does not satisfactorily mesh with the other half as we build to the climax.

The “Marvelization” of Ant-Man is also evident in how many of the story beats between Pym and Cross are replicated from the Tony Stark and Obadiah Stane beats seen in the first Iron Man, right down to the Ant-Man versus Yellowjacket battle. What saves it, though, is the visual verve brought to the battle in Cassie’s room as we go from terrifying objects being hurled to a real scale vision of a toy train harmlessly smacking against a wall. Overall, it needed to be fresher.

Where the creative committee’s contributions are welcome is found in the opening scene showing a younger Hank Pym quitting his Ant-Man work for S.H.I.E.L.D. with Howard Stark (John Slattery) in place, fitting this in with the overall timeline. Also, Anthony Mackie’s lighthearted turn as the Falcon also established this as being a piece in the Avenger’s overall arc.

The visual effects are top-notch, giving the world of the Ant-Man and the microscopic world he finds himself trapped in are simply wonderful. So the various parts are largely fine, but taken together, creates an unevenness that ultimately disappoints. With luck, the recently announced Ant-Man and the Wasp sequel can find fresh ground to tread.

The Digital HD version reviewed looks great and sounds equally fine. Obviously, this deserves to be enjoyed on a big screen with a good sound system.

There are an assortment of special features that are interesting but not compelling. We start with Making of an Ant-Sized Heist: A How-To Guide (14:34), which is a too-brief look at the film’s background; Let’s Go to the Macroverse (8:06), exploring the technology behind the effects; four WHIH NewsFront — Promo (1:21), Vista Corp Heist (1:49), Darren Cross Interview (2:36), and Scott Lang Live (3:25) – all with reporter/anchor Christine Everhart (Leslie Bibb, last seen in Iron Man 2); pay attention to the ticker at the bottom; Deleted & Extended Scenes —  Fixing the Cable (3:11), Hank Vaults the Suit (0:31), Paxton and Gale (0:22), Qubit Defense Matrix (0:31), Scott and Cassie (0:40), Wish Fulfillment (0:24), The Future of Pym Particles (1:38), and The History of Ant-Man (1:19), all with optional commentary by Reed and Rudd; and of course the Gag Reel (3:25).

Not part of the digital streaming is Reed and Rudd’s audio commentary, which can be heard on disc.

Every time a four-color property moves from print to other media, changes are made, mostly a result of the different medium being employed. Sometimes the changes stagger the imagination while others are subtle and acceptable. Warner Animation has more often than not been incredibly faithful to the source material, resulting in some of the most satisfying comics-to-screen adaptations.

As a result, the anticipation for a Blu-ray release of the excellent Justice League Unlimited has been high and finally, last week, Warner Archive released the show in a three-disc collection. The series, which ran July 31, 2004 – May 13, 2006, is the follow-up to the equally wonderful Justice League.

While the original series focused on the traditional original members of the JLA, the new series expanded its roster to just about every hero from the DC Universe. For many viewers, it was the first time they were exposed to many of these colorful characters. For we fanboys, it was a sheer thrill to see the obscure (Aztek) to the fan favorite (Doctor Fate) finally make it to television.

The episodes were entertaining and were largely standalone as we saw varying combinations of heroes go into action while the backgrounds were filled with cameos galore. The orbiting headquarters felt like a club for heroes, a chance for them to relax between fights. There was the occasional meta-arc such as the shadowy Project Cadmus (thank you Jack Kirby) and the how-could-they-not Secret Society of Super-Villains.

Thankfully, the series benefitted from a stellar array of voice actors who brought verve to the characters, anchored by Kevin Conroy’s Batman but scanning the credits its fun to see who was popular in geekdom when the shows were produced. Today we see Morena Baccarin on Gotham but back then the Firefly actress was also busy voicing Black Canary giving her deeper ties to DC Comics. And Adam Baldwin double-dipped in both well cast parts as Hal Jordan and Rick Flagg.

What we didn’t know was that this would be the final series set in the expanded, semi-interconnected animated universe and we can look back on those shows with great fondness and boy, do they hold up well. Credit for that starts with Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett, aided and abetted by an army of writers, artists, and animators. It helped tremendously that comic book veterans were recruited to pen episodes, so the adaptations were less jarring.

Some of the best loved comic stories made it to the screen, such as J.M. DeMatteis’ adaptation of Alan Moore’s “For the Man who has Everything”. And the animated series did not shy away from some mature themes, such as drumming Huntress out of the league for attempting to kill a man, regardless of her justification. Hawkgirl’s return, after betraying her teammates in the previous series, is back and has to deal with the repercussions of her actions. The stories span time and space, switching from action-packed to light-hearted to downright romantic. It also tied up loose ends from other series in the brilliant “Epilogue”, which closed out the second season, touching on Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and the JLU.

The transfer to high definition is clean and crisp with excellent sound. The special features which appeared on the previous DVD releases are back here including creator’s commentary on the episodes “This Little Piggy” and “The Return”; “And Justice for All”: a featurette on the process of revamping the series with new characters and a new creative direction; “Cadmus Exposed”: Mark Hamill and series creative personnel discuss this popular series story arc; “Justice League Chronicles”: The series’ writers, producers and directors discuss their favorite moments among final season episodes.

If you haven’t experienced these you should. If you watched them previously, you want these.

Amy Schumer has become quite the comedienne, taking the stage, television, and now film by storm. Trainwreck, her starring vehicle for director Judd Apatow, was my first sustained exposure to her and thought the fresh eyes could glean what the fuss is all about. Still trying to figure it out.

The story is about a woman who is professional star and a personal wreck who meets and falls for a guy, only to screw it up at much the same time she screws up her relationship with her sister, and loses her job. That it is about a woman and not a man has garnered a lot of buzz but the overall story is tired and predictable.

Apatow’s previous films have offered up fresh takes on old themes along with sharply delineated characters that avoid the clichés and bring with them a tremendous amount of heart. In The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and This Is 40 were all written by him and perhaps he should have been allowed to give Schumer’s script a pass.

We’re told that Amy Townsend is the star writer for S’nuff, a magazine that makes Maxim and FHM seem tame. She is assigned to interview a sports doctor despite disliking athletics of all kinds. Her boss, Dianna (Tilda Swinton) holds out the Executive editor’s post as a carrot for taking on the work. Meantime, she is avoiding emotional entanglements, drinking, dancing, and having a series of one-night stands which seems to stem from words of advice given to her and her sister Kim (Brie Larson), by their crude father Gordon (Colin Quinn). On the other hand, she has a warm spot for dear old dad, now confined to a nursing home given his multiple sclerosis.

She finally seems to settling into a relationship with the musclebound and possibly closeted Steven (John Cena). Despite being rude and crude, he gets his heart broken when Steven discovers Amy has been sleeping around and tells her she’s not a nice person and honestly, she isn’t.

That starts to change when she beings to interview the near-perfect Aaron Conners (Bill Hader) and a softer side seems to emerge. Over a period of time, she falls for the doctor and they begin to date and she’s having her first genuine adult relationship. She doesn’t want to screw it up but of course does, triggered in part by her father’s sudden death. She spirals downward just as one would expect towards the end of Act Two.

Everything comes crashing down around her until she finally hits bottom and rebounds making amends first with Kim then with Aaron. Her final over-the-top act comes out of the blue and is intended to be a showstopper when it just stops. They still kiss and all will be well. Awww.

Amy and Aaron, though, are deeply under-developed characters and you are not emotionally invested in either nor is there real warmth and chemistry between the performers. In fact, Aaron seems more himself with his patients including LeBron James, who provides as adept with comedy as he is with a basketball, stealing every scene he’s in.

Schumer may be a gifted talent but it’s not on display her since Amy is unlikable, the humor is tame, and nothing feels new and different, just tired and by the numbers. None of the supporting characters feel fleshed out, spoiling a rich ensemble.

Universal Home Entertainment has released the film in a combo pack that includes Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD. Additionally, both discs come with the theatrical version and a four-minute longer unrated version. From what I can tell, there’s just more, nothing earth-shattering and special.

The film comes with a nice assortment of Special Features including additional Deleted and Extended Scenes; a two-part Gag Reel; Lin-o-Rama, where several actors are shown ad libbing for scenes; a traditional Behind-The-Scenes featurette; Directing Athletes: A Blood Sport , a more scripted than not look at working with James, Tony Romo, and Amar’e Stoudemire; The Dogwalker, the complete film-within-a-film starring Daniel Radcliffe and Marisa Tomei; and finally, from Comedy Central, the Trainwreck Comedy Tour Featurette.

There was a wonderful science fiction romance in James Cameron’s original 1984 film The Terminator. It had a touch of everything: time travel, killer androids, romance, and hints of a technology gone haywire. It was shot on a modest budget with a familiar but not star cast, anchored by the hulking presence of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Ever since, though, the sequels have tended to eschew the original themes in favor of retreading immortal lines of dialogue, action pieces, and the eternal struggle between man and machine. With the exception of the first sequel, which introduced the world to the joys of CGI, they have been a middling mess. Even Fox’s The Sarah Connor Chronicles had more to do with a terminator trying to kill Sarah and/or John Connor than the large themes of man versus technology.

Therefore, it was refreshing to get back to basics in this summer’s Terminator Genesys.  The property is now in the hands of Paramount Pictures that wanted to refresh and reinvigorate the franchise. The reboot, out Tuesday on disc from Paramount Home Entertainment, does not ignore what came before it, but does also carve out a reality of its own. Right there is one of the more confounding aspects of the premise, since it starts in a parallel timeline merely paying lip service to the prime timeline (a similar conceit occurred in 2009’s Star Trek, also from Paramount). By presupposing you know the core elements, it defeats the fresh start aspect, keeping new audiences from falling in love with the T-800, Sarah, John, and Kyle Reese.

The script from Patrick Lussier (Dracula 2000) and Laeta Kalogridis (Birds of Prey, Bionic Woman) requires a flow chart to determine which characters and elements belong to which timeline. We have a final showdown with Skynet in 2029, which has the human resistance accessing their time travel device. John Connor (Jason Clarke) sends his best friend Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 in order to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) from the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) he knows will be sent to kill her. However, Reese arrives to see a T-1000 (Lee Byung-hun) on the attack and the Sarah he meets already knows her future. And more, she’s protected by an aging T-800 she calls “Pops”.

The timelines are altered the moment Reese is sent back in time and he crosses paths with his younger self who passes on the message, “Genesys is Skynet”. He knows what he needs to do but it immediately puts him at odds with Sarah, who hates feeling trapped by fate, reminded regularly by Pops that she is destined to mate with Kyle in order to produce John. He convinces her to come with him to 2017 to prevent Genesys, the killer app that will totally connect everyone and every device (I guess Linux, iOS and Windows) in one massive network. It would also give rise to the artificial intelligence that becomes Skynet (and takes shapes as Matthew Smith) and will determine humanity must be eradicated.

Then things blow up a lot.

By the exhausting conclusion, people and things are put into place establishing a new status quo, a timeline not beholden to anything that came before. As a reboot, it’s fine. As a movie, it lacks some of the needed warmth and reason to exist. The post-credit scene hinting at a sequel was entirely superfluous and given the dismal box office, Paramount’s sequel plans are on indefinite hold. Producer Dana Goldberg admitted last month that they are taking time to find out what didn’t work for audiences so they can retool and try again. They’d better hurry since Arnold is already 67.

Emilia Clarke makes for a marvelous Daenerys on Game of Thrones but frequently lacks the steeliness we expect from Sarah, as previously depicted by Linda Hamilton and Lena Heady. On the other hand, she brings a warmth and humanity to Sarah not seen since the first film. Her chemistry with Schwarzenegger is strong, allowing us to enjoy his performance, which can border on self-mockery.

Courtney and Jason Clarke are far too earnest and saddled with stiff dialogue, robbing them of chances to be real people rather than archetypes.

Still, the scene stealer throughout the film is J.K. Simmons as a cop who witnessed the events in 1984 and is the only one to believe Sarah and Kyle in 2017.

Visually, Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) does a nice job with the sets, special effects, and action sequences. He’s less successful with people which is odd considering he cut his teeth on the character-heavy series Homicide, Oz, The Sopranos, and even Thrones.

The movie looks terrific on screen with a nice high definition transfer.  The Dolby Atmos sound track is even better so the hoe viewing experience is a strong one.

There are various versions to pick from including the standard Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD combo which was reviewed. The Blu-ray comes with just three bonus features: Family Dynamics, a look at the casting process as the crew extolls their various virtues; Infiltration and Termination, which explores the location shooting in San Francisco and New Orleans; and Upgrades: VFX of Terminator Genesis. No deleted scenes, commentary, or even gag reel.

James Bond endures, with the 24^th film, Spectre, scheduled to open November 6. The sinister organization has plagued 007 from the earliest films but have yet to rear their hoary heads in the current incarnation with Daniel Craig as Bond.

For those who are new to MI-6 and international espionage, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment want you to come up to speed. To that end, they have released seven of the films in special edition Blu-rays, DVDs and collectible box-sets.

The Limited Edition Blu-ray Steelbooks spotlight the six films featuring the SPECTRE organization (From Russia With Love, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, For Your Eyes Only) and the three recent features (Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall) each featuring packaging inspired by the films’ iconic opening title sequences.

For those who own these in some other high definition incarnation, you won’t need these. They contain the same special features although they do come with Digital HD codes.

The Steelbooks are solid, durable and visually attractive. Each one is distinctive just like their title sequences, carrying on the Maurice Binder tradition.

So, how do the films hold up? Sean Connery set the tone all others have attempted to match with varying degrees of success. The Cold War tensions infuse Russia along with some thrilling, authentic action sequences. A real sense of spectacle can be found on Thunderball, given all the aquatic Deering-do. Ernst Stavro Blofeld, played by a variety of actors, menaces Bond time and again but the worst may well be in On Her Majesty’s Secret service, the once-reviled George Lazenby vehicle. It is far better than its rep and packs an emotional wallop.

Roger Moore’s more erudite and comical Bond shows up in For Your Eyes Only and is among the best of his outings.

It is currently up to Craig to carry on the tradition and despite looking nothing like Ian Fleming’s prose descriptions, he brings the right danger and gravitas to the role as the franchise received an overdue freshening. The rebirth cycle took three films with Spectre tidying up loose ends.

If you don’t want the entire 23 films (and some are clearly lesser offerings), the Steelbooks are not a bad sampler to have.

If you missed Bond 50, there is also The Ultimate James Bond Collection features all 23 films together in one Blu-ray box-set, which includes a 24th space for Spectre. This one also offers “Everything or Nothing”, a 90-minute documentary on the untold story of 007 and a pocket-sized James Bond 50 Years of Movie Posters book including the best posters from Dr. No through to SPECTRE.  This collection will is exclusively available at Amazon.com.

Too often filmmakers interpret or reinterpret works from other media, nowhere near often enough creating new characters and situations. Look at Tim Burton, for example, he started off taking Pee Wee Herman and producing a feature version of his television series. He returned with the original and still funny Beetlejuice before tackling his version of Batman. Since then, he has not given us anywhere near enough original fare but all can be forgiven if you pause to consider Edward Scissorhands. Thankfully, 20^th Century Home Entertainment has seen fit to cause us to consider the film since it has released Edward Scissorhands: 25^th Anniversary on Blu-ray.

When it opened a quarter century back, I adored it, calling the Johnny Depp vehicle as a modern day fairy tale and it still holds up. I last watched it two years ago, showing it to my 9^th graders as part of a film unit. They were taken by the visuals and the story, the timeless look of suburban America and the universal theme of fear of the unknown.

Up on the mountain outside the small community, an inventor (Vincent Price) has created life but lacked the ability to complete the boy (Johnny Depp), giving him a variety of shears for hands. In time, just before he could apply the hands as a birthday gift, the man dies of old age and Edward lives in the musty castle all alone. That is, until local Avon saleswoman Peg Boggs finds him and decides to bring him home to live with her family: husband Ed (Alan Arkin), shy daughter Kim (Wynona Ryder), and son.

Once they and their neighbors see Edward can use his bizarre appendages to design gorgeous topiary, they flock to be near him. He goes on to become a much-desired hair dresser, revealing new aspects of each woman’s personality. Along the way, he continues to long for Kim, who is freaked out by him, and prefers the company of her stoner, small-minded friends.

Then things take a turn for the worst and suddenly Edward is haunted, haunted, and literally run out of town for being too different. It is very much representative of the 1950s mindset although the pastel color scheme has a more timeless feel. The lovers are separated by fear and hatred giving us a bittersweet ending, without a happily ever after.

The film is narrated, much like a good old fashioned fairy tale, by a grandmother, and frames the tale as something magical.

Visually, the movie has Burton’s usual quirky sensibilities but they’re strong and totally appropriate to the subject matter. The Danny Elfman score is also pitch perfect.

Fox has remastered the film and it sparkles in its AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1.  The DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 track is a match to the visuals and it is a joy to watch.

Given the film’s age, there’s little surprise that the special features are a meager lot. It starts with a standard EPK package (4:39). We also have Theatrical Trailers (4:17).  There are commentaries on separate tracks from Burton and Elfman, which can be interesting but far from revelatory. An anniversary package deserves a little more TLC so it’s a wee bit disappointing but overall, this is well worth having.

Given its setting during the Christmas season and with “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” playing as the credits rolled, Die Hard rapidly became a beloved Holiday classic. So, it’s no surprise to see 20^th Century Home Entertainment kick off the Holiday gift giving season with the release of Nakatomi Plaza: Die Hard Collection. All five films in the series along with a bonus disc are packed into the base of a plastic replica of the famous locale of the first film. The structure measures 15″ high, mounted on a base which measures 7 1/8″ square and will stand proudly atop your mantle or bookshelf, a reminder of the series; enduring popularity despite the premise wearing thin with each installment.

The first, with Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis), attempting to stop terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) from killing everyone at a holiday part attended by his ex-wife (Bonnie Bedelia), is riveting, taut, and filled with some wonderful human moments from the major characters. McClane is world-weary everyman merely trying to survive, risking all to save the woman he still loves, encouraged by a lone cop (Reginald VelJohnson) via walkie-talkie.

Adapted by Steven E. de Souza and Jeb Stuart from Roderick Thorp’s Nothing Lasts Forever and The Detectives, the film was expertly directed by John McTiernan. The critical and box office success led 20^th Century Fox to order up a sequel.

Set in a deserted airport terminal, McClane is called to do the impossible a second time and with less satisfying results although it was nice seeing Dennis Franz play a different kind of cop.

The third installment followed the then-popular trend of mismatched buddies and they wisely paired Willis with Samuel L. Jackson, playing a different kind of everyman. They ran from one end of Manhattan to another, avoiding a sniper who turned out to be Gruber’s brother (Jeremy Irons), seeking revenge.

The last two focus more on John and his children, one at a time, in increasingly hard to swallow premises, made good only by the interplay between father and offspring.

So, if you already own either the wonderful Die Hard Collection, Die Hard: 25th Anniversary Collection or the Die Hard Legacy Collection, do you need this one? Well, do you have room for the tower? Do you want the bonus disc with an hour of stuff? The box containing the discs also comes with a 32-page booklet with some BTS photos and there are collectible cards featuring the antagonists.

For the record, the box contains the Blu-ray versions of Die Hard, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Die Hard: With A Vengeance, Live Free or Die Hard (includes Unrated Version), A Good Day to Die Hard (includes Unrated Version) and a code for their digital HD versions.  The bonus disc is not available digitally.

Decoding Die Hard (1:47:01) contains seven featurettes: Origins – Reinventing the Action Genre; John McClane – Modern Day Hero; Villains – Bad to the Bone, Sidekicks – Along for the Ride, Fight Sequences – Punishing Blows, Action – Explosive Effects; and, The Legacy – The Right Hero for the Right Time. All of these are repurposed from the Die Hard: 25th Anniversary Collection.

The collection in one form or another is well worth having as Bruce Willis is always fun to watch regardless of how preposterous the premise.