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New in Blu: 'Raging Bull' and 'Piranha'
MGM may not be in great shape as a modern day studio, but that's certainly not hurting the continued release of some of their most cherished films on Blu-ray. This week offers up new Anniversary Editions of Raging Bull and Dances With Wolves, the latter of which is available for the first time in HD (in the US, at least). The specific features found on these respective sets is outlined below, but they're comprehensive enough that they're worth checking out even if you're not particularly a fan of the films themselves (here's looking at you, Dances With Wolves).
If heavy dramas aren't up your alley, however, Piranha 3D hits shelves this week (in both 2D and 3D flavors). It's by no means a great movie, but it delivers on everything you expect from a movie called Piranha 3D. And then there's Robinson Crusoe on Mars on Criterion Blu, which is a welcome blast from the past.
Oh, and some movie called The Social Network comes out on Blu-ray this week. Have you heard of it?
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Top Shelf
Raging Bull: 30th Anniversary Edition (MGM, $19.99)
The Movie: I'm in no position to declare Raging Bull to be Martin Scorsese's most personal film, but it certainly feels that way. The whole production just heaves with the kind of passion and fury you only see when a filmmaker cuts a piece of themselves off and makes a film out of it. And I realize that's a strange thing to say considering this is a biopic about the life of boxer Jake LaMotta, a man whose easily riled temper and inarticulate nature is the exact opposite of Scorsese's, but every delivery found in Raging Bull - be it from the mouth of an actor or from the movement of the camera - feels as though it was anguished over. This is a film that just sweats exasperation.
But it's not an angry film. Its cinematic fervor isn't a condemnation of the beast that is LaMotta; it's not a seething portrait of a man out of control. No, Raging Bull is a fascinating, superbly crafted study of man as a modern day animal. It's also one of the very best films of Scorsese's career.
The Features: And what a set of features MGM have put together for this 30th Anniversary Edition. It carries over all of the supplementals from the previous Blu-ray release (themselves holdovers from DVD), but it also comes with five new featurettes, four of which were produced just for this release (the fifth being Cathy Moriarty's appearance on The Tonight Show to promote the film) and are available in crisp HD. Of the new features, the highlight is certainly "Marty on Film," a one-on-one wherein Scorsese explains the importance and strength of film as an art form and what made him fall in love with it. The rest of the exclusive new features are mainly of the self-congratulatory kind, but they don't come off as so self-serving thanks to interviews with various filmmakers who are all eager to heap praise on Raging Bull and explain how it helped shape their films.
But even with those new features, and even with three separate commentary tracks, the real treasure of the disc (aside from the film itself, of course), is an 82-minute making-of that goes into great depth with all involved. If you already own previous Raging Bull releases, chances are you've already been exposed to its four parts, but it's still a must watch for anyone who loves the film.
Who Should Buy It: That's simple: Scorsese fans. Even if Raging Bull doesn't rank as one of your favorites, the amount of quality special features on this set essentially form a love letter to Scorsese.
Click here to buy 'Raging Bull'
Robinson Crusoe on Mars (Criterion, $27.99)
The Movie: You've got to admire a blunt title. This is Robinson Crusoe. On Mars. Simple enough, really, which is why it's great that Byron Haskin's film (or the Daniel Defoe novel from which it was adapted) isn't simple at all. Sure, it goes beat-for-beat through the classic story of a castaway who has limited resources and a lot of time (he even has a pet monkey and still befriends a native who he names Friday), but what makes this such an interesting film isn't its faithfulness to the source material despite the transported setting, it's how unabashedly sci-fi it all is.
Robinson Crusoe on Mars hails from an era of science fiction that just simply doesn't exist any more. Its ideas are prescient, its production design is exuberant, and it honors everything with the utmost respect no matter how silly it is. There are no goofy Martians to fight, no grand mysteries to unravel; Cmdr. Draper (the Crusoe character) isn't a genius that can McGuyver together a spaceship. He's just a stranger in a strange land who has to make do. I miss that kind of sci-fi.
The Features: I also miss sci-fi with this breed of profound color palette, which looks absolutely heavenly thanks to Criterion's pristine Blu-ray transfer. Beyond a beautiful presentation, however, Criterion's collection of goodies (all of which are carryovers from their DVD release of the film a few years back) are all worth your time. Of particular interest is the "Destination Mars" ~20 minute featurette, that does a great job of expressing how all of the sci-fi elements that may seem silly by today's standards - such as removing your helmet on Mars - were perfectly in-line with the believed science of the day, and how some of the film's ideas (Draper's suborbital landing vehicle) were even ahead of their time.
Who Should Buy It: Fans of vintage science fiction. The premise may seem silly, but the film isn't, and anyone who longs for a revisit a time when astronauts might as well have been superheroes will get a lot of value out of this set.
Click here to buy 'Robinson Crusoe On Mars'
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Middle Shelf
Dances with Wolves: 20th Anniversary Edition(MGM, $19.99)
The Movie: No need to beat around the bush: Dances with Wolves is boring. If you don't think so, good on ya', but I have a hard time sitting through such inefficient storytelling (made only worse by all of the redundant narration/journal reading). There are aspects of Kevin Costner's ambitious directorial debut that I admire - the entire underdog nature of the production, the supporting cast, the cinematography, the scope; even the on-the-nose morals of the story are admirable - but unfortunately it's just such a slog to sit through. It certainly doesn't help that this 20th Anniversary set only offers the nearly four-hour director's cut of the film, with no options to watch the original (cough, Oscar winning) three-hour cut.
The Features: But if, like me, you find Costner's film to be a reliable nap-inducer, perhaps you'll get more out of the special features on this set than you do the film proper. Most of the extras here are held over from the two-disc set MGM issued in 2003, but there are a few new items exclusive to the Blu. One is a true-false quiz that pops up a the bottom of the screen throughout the film, which is an interesting concept that's executed quite well (you can simple advance to the next questions instead of watching the entire film to get them all), though it's of more value to civil war historians than it is Dances with Wolves aficionados.
Who Should Buy It: Those who believe that Dances with Wolves really is a better film than its fellow Best Picture nominee, Goodfellas.
Click here to buy 'Dancing with Wolves'
Piranha (2010) (Sony, $19.99)
The Movie: I had an absolutely blast with Alexandre Aja's Piranha remake at the tail end of last summer. In fact, it was one of my favorite theatrical experiences of the year, but I also saw it under the most ideal circumstances possible: At an Eli Roth-introduced midnight screening at the Alamo Drafthouse with a theater full of genrehounds. You simply aren't going to find a better, more energized and receptive crowd for a movie like Piranha 3D than that.
At home, by yourself and in 2D, however, Piranha is just...boobs and blood poorly edited together with some outstanding practical effects and some not-so-outstanding CGI. The second half of the movie, which features a most glorious bloodbath, is still a highly entertaining, highly lunatic creature feature, but without the added benefit of 3D and a rowdy crowd, the first half is just a glorified Syfy movie with Grade A nudity. And that's coming from someone who eats up junky Syfy.
The Features: Haven't seen them, but the disc comes with a feature commentary and a host of deleted scenes in a variety of flavors-- excised completed scenes as well as never-shot storyboards with and without commentary.
Who Should Buy It: Fans of C-grade B-movies; Kelly Brook stalkers.
Click here to buy 'Piranha'
The Social Network (Sony, $16.99)
The Movie: There have been a lot of accolades pinned to The Social Network in a very short time, but instead of merely adding to the cacophony of deserved praise for what the film is, let's talk about what it isn't: a film that defines a generation. As outstanding as it is, David Fincher has not made the definitive film about the online generation. Why? Because it's not about the online generation. It's about a very smart but unlikeable man who did unlikeable, selfish things to become very rich, very quickly. On that front, it's an expertly told story with several of the best performances of 2010, and there's no doubt that anyone but Aaron Sorkin will be taking home the Best Adapted Screenplay nomination this year, but it's just not generation-defining.
The Features: Dueling commentary tracks, a solo with David Fincher and one with Aaron Sorkin and select cast members; a feature-length making-of documentary; content-specific making-ofs for the visuals and score.
Who Should Buy It: Fans of damned good American cinema. It may not be generation-defining, but it's still a career highlight for one of America's most talented filmmakers and one of the best films of 2010.
Click here to buy 'The Social Network'
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All the Rest
Alpha and Omega (Lionsgate, $20.99)
Click here to buy it
Army of Shadows (Criterion, $27.99)
Click here to buy it
The Great Debaters (Vivendi, $16.99)
Click here to buy it
Once Upon a Time in America (Warner Brothers, $18.99)
Click here to buy it