On Blu-ray this week: July 13 to 19, 2008
Recently we’ve had an extra helping of Batman in his animated (Western and anime) and live-action incarnations. Now, a group of Saiyans – yes, those powerful aliens with unbelievable hairstyles – are taking the spotlight this week, as well as a good dose of horror, drama, and family-friendly comedy. Check out this week’s Blu-ray releases in the full article.
You may still be reeling from the Batmania that dominated last week’s Blu-ray releases, but you better get ready because taking Batman‘s spot is a cast filled with ultra-powerful aliens sporting gravity-defying hairstyles.
Yep, we’re talking about the Saiyans from Dragon Ball Z, and they’re going to topbill this week’s batch of Blu-ray releases filled with conspiracies, Asian-flavored horror, and explosive dance numbers.
Anime fans will be delighted to know that they are going to get not one, but two Dragon Ball features in a single disk: The History of Trunks and Bardock: The Father of Goku.
The first one is an interesting what-if scenario where Goku dies of a disease, and all the other Z-warriors except for Gohan gets killed by the then-sociopathic androids. In this feature, viewers will be able to relive the events that prompted the time-travelling Trunks to change the world and try to veer it away from the catastrophic future that he came from.
The second, Bardock: The Father of Goku, offers a detailed look on Goku’s lesser-known father, Bardock, and their home planet Vegeta (not to be confused with it’s Prince of the same name). The back story of how Goku ended up on Earth, as well as the near-extinction of the Saiyan race in the hands of Frieza is revealed in this animated film.
If you aren’t that much of an anime or Dragonball fan, you still have other choices to pick on for this week’s new Blu-ray releases. Those rather partial towards great heist films like Ocean’s Eleven (or Twelve, or Thirteen) will like the two-disc special edition release of The Bank Job.
This movie stars Jason Statham as Jerry, a washed-up car salesman whose towering debts allow him to be coaxed into robbing a bank by his girl friend Martine (played by Saffron Burrows).
Despite the ingenuity of his plans on bank robbery, all doesn’t go well for Terry when he finds himself getting caught in a web of conspiracies that involve the British royalty. Aside from it’s interesting and critically-acclaimed premise, the main draw of The Bank Job is that it is actually taken from real-life events, or so the people behind the film claim.
But if a clever bank heist flick doesn’t tickle your interest as much as a thought-provoking film, then you may want to take a gander at the award-winning movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The film, which was shown in the 1970’s, chronicles the life of anti-authoritarian Randle P. McMurphy (played by Jack Nicholson) as he willingly submits himself into a mental ward.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest centers around the power struggles between Randle and Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), the custodian of the “cuckoo’s nest,” as well as how the protagonist touches the lives of other inhabitants of the mental institution. The film is much-celebrated by critics, and managed to nab all five Major Academy awards, a very rare distinction indeed.
Those who’d prefer to watch pretty young people dance over observing insane people (or those who pretend to be insane) battle over dominance in a mental ward will most certainly welcome Step Up 2 the Streets: Dance-Off Edition. The movie follows Briana Evigan’s portrayal of Andie, a girl who yearns to belong to a group of street dancers.
Of course, like most other dance flicks the story takes the backstage in favor of the more showy elements, such as the energetic dance moves. Step Up 2 the Streets: Dance-Off Edition also includes bonus features that includes outtakes, deleted scenes, the mandatory music videos (of course), and other nice extras.
After watching Step Up 2 the Streets: Dance-Off Edition, you may want to get more dosage of feel-good movies, and Disney‘s College Road Trip will no doubt fill that need. Raven-Symoné, as Melanie Porter, is a teenager who is planning on embarking on a girl’s only road trip to check out various colleges.
Her plan is foiled by Melanie’s overprotective father (played by Martin lawrence), who doesn’t like the idea of his precious little girl embarking on a trip without him, and moving out of the house. College Road Trip is a good comedy that should be a good choice if you’re planning to watch a movie while bonding with your family.
But if horror flicks satiate the inner movie connoisseur in you, then Shutter will most probably pique your interest. Based on an Asian horror movie of the same name, Shutter is about a newly-wed couple who moved to Japan where the husband, Ben (played by Joshua Jackson) works as a photographer.
His pictures eventually show mysterious lights believed to be spirits; with the help of a psychic, Ben’s wife Jane (Rachael Taylor) finds out that the spirit is of Ben’s deceased ex-girlfriend, Megumi. The movie has it’s own share of plot twists, go check it out if you need a movie to watch late at night.
Well, that’s it for this week’s releases. Stay tuned for the next update! In the meantime, here’s the complete list of new Blu-ray features for this week:
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