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HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE SURROGATES FROM IMDB.

People are living their lives remotely from the safety of their own homes via robotic surrogates -- sexy, physically perfect mechanical representations of themselves. It's an ideal world where crime, pain, fear and consequences don't exist. When the first murder in years jolts this utopia, FBI agent Greer discovers a vast conspiracy behind the surrogate phenomenon and must abandon his own surrogate, risking his life to unravel the mystery. Written by Touchstone Pictures

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE SURROGATES FROM DVDTALK

Every couple films, I've noticed something really odd about Touchstone Pictures. I'm not attacking the studio; they've made plenty of good movies and will undoubtedly make more, yet sometimes I feel like they have a computer hidden away on their lot with a fill-in-the-blank interface for "blockbuster" movies. Just type in a mildly clever idea, add some actors (at least one megastar), press "Start" and out pops a pre-packaged motion picture, sealed neatly in clear cellophane, ready to be delivered to audiences with a minimum amount of effort. Surrogates is one of those movies. The idea of a future where people experience life through mind-controlled androids is just good enough to trick innocent filmgoers into thinking it's enough to float a movie, and Bruce Willis has exactly the right kind of broad appeal to draw in any stragglers who aren't quite convinced, but there's no movie here -- just a shell, motivated by the bottom line.

One of the most disheartening things about the film is how disinterested Bruce Willis seems by the endeavor. Playing Greer, the same Tired Movie Policeman from thousands of his other movies, the actor sleepwalks through Surrogates, hitting each emotional note with the lowest amount of required energy possible. I've seen plenty of lame-duck films where Willis' sense of humor and line delivery were enough to elevate the project entire grades at a time, but even at a measly 88 minutes, Surrogates proves too large a bland mass for the actor to overcome. Even Bruce's few moments of clarity are a letdown; they're so infrequent, brief and unrelated, they feel less like a reprieve and more like the film dangling a pipe dream in front of the audience. Curiously, almost all of these moments occur while we're seeing Greer as his CGI-enhanced surrogate rather than the man himself. It's ironic that a movie arguing for real, human emotions over ones experienced via electronic proxy is almost completely ruined by the opposite problem.

Aside from Willis, most of the other actors here are shoved to the side by the film's brief running time. Willis is briefly reunited with his Pulp Fiction co-star Ving Rhames, but Rhames has a thankless role that never develops. Radha Mitchell's character Peters seems less predestined towards two-dimensionality, but there's no room amongst the film's tired murder plot for any backstory on her character's real-life persona. Worst of all, disappointingly, is veteran character actor James Cromwell, barely inhabiting a hackneyed role with even the slightest bit of life. During Cantor's first major scene in the film, he meets with Greer and Peters through a special surrogate, and I'd much rather have watched that actor (who I can't concretely pick out on IMDb) give 110% than see Cromwell giving 0%. The only notable thing about Cromwell's entire participation is how much he resembles James Cameron. Only Rosamund Pike gets enough screen time to create anything for the audience to latch onto, but two of her moments are marred by the movie's goofy science fiction (scoring inappropriate laughter from the audience).

Some elements of the idea are great. Dr. Canter invented the concept of surrogacy with medical intentions, to allow the disabled or injured to experience day-to-day life again, yet the public seems to have adapted it to its current purpose. The film also touches on alternate, feeling-free models of surrogates, how a surrogate can allow people to live a double life (it's the anonymous internet chatroom of the future!), and the tumultuous co-existence of the machines and people who find living through a machine to be an abomination. Screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris have other things in mind, however, and the film focuses on twists and turns that might be more tired and worn-out than Bruce. If there are any grizzled, slightly old-fashioned cops out there without tragic pasts, please report to Hollywood immediately.

For the longest time, I've been defending director Jonathan Mostow's Terminator 3, which I'd thought had plenty of good action, a fun story and a knockout ending (the film certainly sits in the shadow of its predecessor, and it's probably unnecessary, but it's far more entertaining than it gets credit for). Aside from Mostow, Brancato and Ferris also wrote T3, and the fumbles of Surrogates feel like an attempt to recreate the formula. The film's one beam of light is that the action sequences are pretty good, but there are only two of them, and the rest of the direction ranges from mediocre to embarrassing (watching a rack-focus on Greer staring at a symbolic baseball glove actually made me want to groan out loud). As far as a "knockout ending" goes, the film's trailer gives too much away, although the information has been cleverly re-arranged; even the knowledge that the ad features some spoiler-riffic shots won't mean anything until they actually limp on-screen.

Surrogates is a movie that was made from the outside in. At all times it looks like it cost millions of dollars, and never once does that flashy gloss add up to anything creative or interesting. It's a bad sign when the most interesting thing about your movie is that it features actor Devin Ratray, the once and always Buzz McCallister from the Home Alone movies in a cameo as a computer guy. Ratray actually seems enthused to be in the movie, investing a little energy into his two-scene role. I guess he didn't get the memo: this one's just for show.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE SURROGATES.

11/16/2009 02:29:00 AM
Categories: Movies Starting with S. Author: kevin

Here is the summary for the movie Star Trek from imdb

In the year 2233, the USS Kelvin investigates a lightning storm in space, which the crew soon realizes is a black hole. A massive vessel the Narada emerges, creating an alternate timeline. The Narada opens fire on the Kelvin, inflicting heavy damage. The Narada's captain, Nero (Eric Bana), hails the outmatched Kelvin and demands that its captain, Richard Robau (Faran Tahir), come aboard the Narada via shuttlecraft. Captain Robau agrees and hands command of the ship to his first officer, George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth). Robau orders Kirk to wait fifteen minutes for his signal or else evacuate the ship.

Robau is taken to Nero while the crew of the Kelvin monitors him. It is the Romulan captain's first officer, Ayel (Clifton Collins Jr.), who interrogates him first about a particular ship, which Robau does not recognize, and then about the whereabouts of Ambassador Spock, with whom Robau is also unfamiliar. Upon citing the stardate, Robau is impaled with a teral'n, a pronged blade weapon, by Nero, and the display of his vital signs on the bridge of the Kelvin instantly flatlines; Robau is dead. Kirk orders the Kelvin to open fire. As the situation worsens and he realizes that the damage to the Kelvin is compromising the lives and safety of everyone, he orders the crew to escape pods and shuttles, including his wife Winona (Jennifer Morrison), who is about to give birth.

Kirk tries to plot a collision course with the Narada, but autopilot navigation is offline; he will need to control the Kelvin himself. He orders his wife to leave on the shuttle without him. She protests, but Kirk knows that he has no choice but to stay behind and continue the attack in order to protect the others who are leaving on escape pods. On the shuttlecraft, Winona Kirk gives birth to a baby boy. As the Kelvin destroys the missiles aimed at the shuttles, Kirk can hear his newborn's cries, realizing that he will never meet his son. Just before the Kelvin is about to collide with the Romulan vessel, Kirk asks Winona what they should name their son. She suggests naming him after George's father, but he laughs the suggestion off and says that Tiberius isn't much of a first name. They decide to name him Jim, after Winona's father. Communication is cut off as the Kelvin smashes into the Narada, crippling it for a while and giving the shuttles time to escape.

Approximately ten years later, a young James T. Kirk (Jimmy Bennett) is in Iowa, having taken his stepfather's antique car and racing it down the road while blasting 20th century music. As a policeman (Jeremy Fitzgerald) on a flying motorcycle chases after him, Kirk heads for a quarry and jumps out of the car, moments before it speeds over the edge.

Around the same time on Vulcan (Jacob Kogan), a young Spock is being tormented by bullies (Lorenzo James Henrie, Colby Paul, Cody Klop) who tease him about his mixed heritage, calling his father a traitor for marrying a human mother, whom they call a whore. The three have previously failed to invoke an emotional response in Spock by stirring his human side 34 times before, but this time they take it too far. Their plan backfires, and Spock knocks one of the older boys into a learning pod and beats him in an emotional rage. He is later admonished by his father, Sarek (Ben Cross), who is disappointed at his son's lack of emotional control and tells him that he has a path to choose and that only he can make the decision.

Several years later, Spock (Zachary Quinto) is conflicted about whether he should participate in the Kolinahr the Vulcan ritual aimed at purging all emotions. He talks to his mother, Amanda Grayson (Winona Ryder), about this, and she states that she will always be proud of him, no matter what he decides. Later, Spock stands before a committee on Vulcan. The chairman (Akiva Goldsman) comments on Spock's perfect record in his attempt to gain entry to the Vulcan Science Academy and that his only flaw is that he also applied to Starfleet Academy. Spock explains it was logical to explore all options, which the others agree was logical but unnecessary. They accept him into the Vulcan Science Academy despite his "disadvantage" of being half human. Upon hearing this, Spock declines the appointment and states that he will enter Starfleet Academy instead. Commenting on the fact that he is the first Vulcan to reject an appointment to the Vulcan Science Academy, he sardonically tells the committee that their record is still perfect since he is, in fact, part human.

Meanwhile, in a bar in Iowa, a young Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana) meets up with some friends, and while ordering drinks, James Kirk (Chris Pine) introduces himself to her and offers to buy her a drink. He unsuccessfully tries to determine her first name and flirts with her, even though she is not very interested. Kirk reveals he is intelligent, which is more than meets the eye, but another Starfleet recruit (Jason Matthew Smith) has concerns for Uhura. He and three other recruits get into a fight with Kirk and beat him up before a senior officer, Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), ends the fight. Pike sits down with Kirk and tells him that his own dissertation was on the USS Kelvin. Pike attempts to talk some sense into the rebellious young man and to persuade him to join Starfleet, firmly believing that he can do more with himself than be "the only genius-level repeat offender in the Midwest." Kirk does not want to hear it and laughs at the idea of joining Starfleet. However, Pike reminds him that his father saved 800 others, in just 12 minutes of command, and challenges Kirk to do better. Pike also predicts that Kirk could attain the rank of captain and have his own ship in only eight years.

Early the next day, Kirk heads to Riverside Shipyard, where the USS Enterprise is being built, and thinks about what Capt. Pike had told him. He makes the decision to join Starfleet. Pike is surprised to see Kirk turn up to join the new recruits. Giving his motorbike away to the first person who compliments it, Kirk passes Pike, saying he'll graduate in three years instead of four. He enters the recruit shuttle, surprising Uhura, and the recruits who beat him up, the night before. Another man, Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban), also boards the shuttlecraft. Sitting next to Kirk, the somewhat nervous doctor starts ranting about what could physically happen to them should anything go wrong with the shuttle's systems. Kirk is amused and tries to remind him that Starfleet works in space. McCoy explains that he has nowhere else to go, having lost everything he had in a divorce, the only thing he has left are his bones. The two become friends.

Three years later, the Narada is waiting at an unknown part of space. Nero who has lost part of his right ear since his arrival in the past is called to the bridge by Ayel. Suddenly, a black hole temporal disturbance appears and a small starship flies out of the anomaly. Nero recognizes and welcomes the appearance of Ambassador Spock.

Meanwhile, at Starfleet Academy, Kirk is telling McCoy that he is taking the Kobayashi Maru test again the next day, and is certain he will pass it, this time. McCoy is shocked, as nobody passes it, and nobody even repeats it, much less takes it a third time, as Kirk is about to. Kirk then leaves to "study", which actually involves sexual foreplay with an Orion cadet named Gaila (Rachel Nichols) in her dorm room. Suddenly, Gaila's roommate enters, and Kirk is snuck under the bed. Her roommate is Uhura, who talks about a message she decoded about a giant spaceship destroying dozens of Klingon warships. Uhura then hears someone under the bed and outs him. Angry that her roommate brought yet another guy to their room, and even angrier that it's Kirk, she kicks him out.

The next day, Kirk, McCoy, Uhura and a few other Starfleet recruits are in the simulator room, undergoing the Kobayashi Maru test on Kirk's third attempt. Kirk takes a comically casual approach to the test, much to everyone's bewilderment. Everything goes as planned when, unexpectedly, the power systems momentarily fail, and then the attacking Klingon ships' shields go down, and they are promptly destroyed. From the viewpoint above the simulator room, a technician asks someone how Kirk was able to beat this test. The man turns, revealing himself to be Spock.

During an official inquiry, the Starfleet Academy brass informs Kirk that they have received evidence that Kirk entered a subroutine into the computer making it possible for him to win in the simulation, and accuse him of cheating. While Kirk faces his accuser, Spock, and tries to defend himself, the hearing is suddenly interrupted when the committee is informed that the Federation has received a distress call from Vulcan. With the primary fleet occupied in the Laurentian system, Starfleet is forced to commission the Academy cadets and dispatch ships immediately to begin a rescue mission.

Cadets are assigned to ships based on their aptitude, with the most capable cadets assigned to the USS Enterprise, a ship completed so recently that it hasn't even been christened yet. Uhura is originally assigned to the USS Farragut, but complains directly to Spock, citing her numerous commendations and recommendations (many from Spock himself) and insisting she had earned an assignment to the USS Enterprise. Spock suggests that he did not want to suggest impropriety for some reason, but ultimately relents, and re-assigns Uhura to Enterprise. Kirk has been grounded pending a ruling on his inquiry, and is not allowed to board the shuttles and join the mission. However, McCoy takes him to the medical bay, where he injects him with a vaccine, which will temporarily make him ill. Consequently, he is allowed to take Kirk up to the Enterprise on medical grounds.

The Enterprise leaves for Vulcan, but not before helmsman Hikaru Sulu (John Cho) standing in for McKenna, who is ill disengages the external inertial dampener, which had been stopping them from going to warp. Pavel Chekov (Anton Yelchin) uses the comm system to inform the crew about their first mission. There is a massive lightning storm above Vulcan's upper atmosphere, followed by strange planet-wide seismic disturbances. Their orders are to investigate the seismic disturbance, and aid in evacuation of the planet if necessary. After hearing the announcement, Kirk suddenly realizes that the "lightning storm" detected near Vulcan is exactly the same occurrence the Kelvin encountered two decades earlier. Realizing that they are running straight into a Romulan trap, Kirk rushes through the ship to Uhura, despite suffering a bad reaction to the vaccine McCoy gave him: big, swelled up hands and a numb tongue. He asks her about the Klingon distress call she had deciphered earlier, and she confirms that the attackers were Romulan.

Kirk then rushes to the bridge to inform Captain Pike of this. Pike is at first skeptical, but after hearing about the call Uhura picked up, Spock concludes that Kirk's logic is correct. Uhura is placed at the communications console at the bridge as, unlike assigned communications officer Hawkins, she can distinguish Romulan from Vulcan. As they disengage warp drive, the Enterprise finds itself in a debris field of the other seven Starfleet ships which arrived shortly before they did. On direction of Pike, Sulu is able to navigate his way through the debris field with minimal damage. The Narada attacks the Enterprise, which takes heavy damage on the first volley of torpedoes, destroying the sickbay and reducing shields to 32%. But just as they are about to fire again, Nero realizes which ship he is firing at.

He hails the Enterprise and identifies himself. Pike, seeing a Romulan, accuses him of an act of war, but Nero states he stands apart from the Romulan Star Empire. He pointedly greets a confused Spock, and orders Pike to come aboard via shuttlecraft, just like he told Robau. Pike asks if there are any hand-to-hand combat-trained officers on the bridge. Sulu volunteers. Pike gathers Sulu, Spock and Kirk, and begins on his way to the shuttle bay.

Pike promotes Spock to Captain and puts him in charge of the Enterprise. He also commissions Kirk, naming him First Officer, much to Spock's chagrin. Pike outlines his plan to do two things at once: on the shuttle en route to the Narada he will drop Kirk, Sulu and chief engineer Olsen (Greg Ellis) into an orbital skydive. They will land on Narada's drill platform, which is deployed into the Vulcan atmosphere and firing a drilling beam cutting into the planet, causing the seismic disturbances that prompted the original distress signal. They will disable the drilling beam, which is also disrupting transporter operation and communications, and then contact Starfleet to inform them of the incident. If all else fails, they are to fall back to the primary fleet at the Laurentian system. If Pike doesn't come back, they will also need to come get him.

Spock returns to the bridge and checks in on sickbay. He is surprised to hear Dr. McCoy instead of Dr. Puri, the chief medical officer, who was killed in the attack. Spock officially named McCoy the chief medical officer, a fact McCoy had already assumed as he works in the sickbay, heavily damaged and inundated with casualties. Pike arrives on the Narada as the three begin their descent. Sulu opens his parachute first, followed by Kirk. An over-enthusiastic Olsen, wearing a red space suit, waits too long to activate his parachute, and he falls underneath the drill, incinerated by the beam. Kirk lands safely on the platform, and proceeds to fight the first Romulan who attacks him. He reaches for his phaser pistol, but the Romulan quickly knocks it out of his hand, forcing Kirk to use his helmet as a weapon. As Sulu approaches the platform, a second Romulan with a disruptor rifle emerges, and Kirk grapples with him. The resulting disruptor fire shoots holes in Sulu's chute, and he too nearly falls victim to the drill. He uses the parachute's repacking mechanism to pull himself onto the platform, and uses his retractable sword to cut it off to avoid getting pulled onto a flame vent and incinerated. Sulu then swordfights with one Romulan, while the other goes hand-to-hand against Kirk, who is knocked over and left hanging on the edge of the drillhead. Sulu knocks his adversary onto the vent, incinerating him. He then stabs the other one with his sword, and pulls Kirk back to safety. Olsen had the charges they were going to use to destroy the platform, so they take the Romulan's disruptor rifles and proceed to fire on the drill, disabling it.

Ayel reports the drill's incapacitation, but tells Nero that the drill had reached Vulcan's core. Nero orders the release of the "red matter", and the return of the drill. Chekov discovers what the "red matter" is doing: creating a black hole in the middle of the planet. Vulcan will be destroyed in a matter of minutes. Just as Kirk and Sulu are to be beamed off, the drill moves and Sulu falls. Kirk jumps after him. Catching up, Kirk activates his parachute but unable to take the weight of two people, it snaps off. As they can't get a transporter lock, Chekov races to the transporter room and mathematically works out how to do so. The two officers are rescued just before they hit solid rock.

Right after Kirk and Sulu are beamed aboard, Spock beams down to save the Vulcan Council, which includes Sarek and his mother, Amanda. They were taking refuge in a cave which they could not simply beam through. Several of the elders in the Council are killed by falling rocks and statues, but Spock gets five of them to safety, including his parents. As the transporter is about to pick them up, the rock his mother is standing on collapses, causing the transporter to miss her. Spock stands on the transporter pad in shock, having lost his mother.

The Enterprise crew watch in horror as Vulcan implodes into oblivion. Spock records his log entry, stating that over six billion Vulcans were killed, and only around 10,000 remain. He notes he is now a member of an endangered species.

Pike, still a prisoner of the Romulans, is officially listed as a hostage of a "war criminal". Nero asks Pike for the security codes to defense systems around Earth, but Pike refuses to give them to him, disgusted by Nero's act of genocide on Vulcan. Nero speaks about how the Narada, in his time, was a mining ship, and he was laboring to support his wife, who was expecting his child, before they were killed when Romulus was destroyed. He placed blame on the Federation for doing nothing, and accused Spock of betraying them, promising himself retribution. Pike pleads that Romulus still exists, but Nero only knows that his world the Romulus of the future was destroyed, and he intends to destroy every world of the Federation, so that others will know his pain. Forcing a Centaurian slug down Pike's throat which will help coerce Pike to give out the security codes, Nero orders the Narada to continue to Earth.

Spock, now in command of the Enterprise, leads the bridge crew in trying to brainstorm what happened. They have determined that the Narada is heading for Earth. Judging from their "black hole" technology, Spock reasons that the Narada must have travelled back in time from the future. He states that they must regroup with the fleet, but Kirk says that in order to stop Nero they must go after him first. Kirk believes that any delayed action will result in Earth being destroyed. This culminates in an argument which ends in Spock ordering Kirk's removal from the bridge, but Kirk fights off his security escort. Spock ends it by delivering the Vulcan nerve pinch to Kirk, before placing him in an escape pod. The pod is launched and Kirk awakens to find himself on a snow-covered world, known as Delta Vega, another planet in Vulcan's system. Picking up his gear, Kirk heads for the Starfleet station 14 kilometers away. He is chased down by a "polarilla" which is in turn is attacked by an even larger insectoid animal. It chases Kirk into a cave, and when it finally attaches a tendril to catch him, trying to consume him, it is spooked off by an elderly man wielding a lit torch. The man reveals himself to be Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Kirk's old friend, but the latter is skeptical.

Spock melds with Kirk so that he understand why he is here. He explains that 129 years in the future, in the year 2387, an impending supernova of the star Hobus threatened to destroy the home worlds of the Romulan Star Empire and throw off the political balance of the galaxy. Spock developed a stockpile of "red matter", a substance that can be ignited to form a singularity, a black hole that would mop up the matter of the supernova. However, the star exploded while he was en route, and Romulus was destroyed. Spock launched the red matter from his ship, the Jellyfish, to prevent further damage. Immediately, Spock was confronted by a surviving Romulan mining vessel, the Narada, captained by Nero. Spock tried to escape, but fed by the mass of the supernova, the resultant black hole captured both the Jellyfish and the Narada, creating a disturbance in the space-time continuum which sent both ships into the past. The Narada exited over 150 years in the past, where it confronted the Kelvin. Spock's ship entered moments later, but what appeared moments to him, were 25 years after the Narada had entered. Nero then captured Spock's ship, but kept Spock alive, marooning him on Delta Vega, so that he could witness the destruction of his own home planet, Vulcan, just as he had to witness the destruction of Romulus. Kirk explains he was left on the planet by the Spock he knows, who is in command of the Enterprise. The elder Spock is surprised, knowing that Kirk should be in command of the ship. It is then that Spock realizes that when Nero exited the wormhole and confronted the Kelvin, he altered history and created an alternate reality.

Kirk asks Spock whether his father lived in the original timeline. Spock confirms that George Kirk saw his son take command of the Enterprise. Spock leads Kirk to the Starfleet base where they meet this timeline's Montgomery Scott (Simon Pegg): a transporter genius, who was also "exiled" to Delta Vega along with his alien assistant, Keenser (Deep Roy), after beaming Admiral Archer's beagle to an unknown location during a transporter experiment. Spock informs Kirk that he must relieve the Vulcan's younger self of command by provoking him and showing everyone that Spock is too personally and emotionally compromised to lead the mission and captain the ship. Giving Scotty the formula for "transwarp beaming" an operation originally devised by the older Scott Spock sends Kirk and Scotty back to the Enterprise. Not too long after they are transported to the Enterprise, the two are spotted and eventually captured by security personnel, led by the one who got into a bar fight with Kirk three years previously.

They are taken to the bridge where an astounded Spock attempts to find out how the two were able to transport on board the ship while it was in warp. Kirk refuses to answer and recommends Scotty do the same, and then proceeds to ask why Spock doesn't feel any anger or have any emotion over the destruction of his planet and the death of his mother who was murdered. He keeps pushing and provoking Spock until he finally snaps, starts beating on Kirk, then strangling him to the point of nearly killing him, before he is stopped by Sarek. Realizing how far he has gone, Spock relieves himself of duty and leaves the bridge. Kirk assumes command.

Following his outburst, Spock returns to the transporter room, where Sarek talks to him. Spock feels a rage he cannot control over the death of his mother. Sarek says that his mother would have said not to bother controlling it, and admits that he married Amanda because he loved her. Meanwhile, on the Bridge, Chekov figures out a plan to get the Enterprise close to the Narada without them noticing: they can follow the Narada and stop at Saturn's system, remaining undetected by its magnetic field. Spock returns, confirming the logic of Chekov's plan, and offers to beam over to the Narada to get the "black hole device" and save Earth, the only home he has left. Kirk says he will go as well, to rescue Pike.

The Romulan ship deploys its drilling rig directly over San Francisco, and begins to drill its hole near the Golden Gate Bridge. Warping into Titan's atmosphere, the Enterprise indeed remains undetected, and Kirk and Spock beam over to the Romulan ship. Scotty thought he would be beaming them to a remote part of the ship, but it turns out to be an occupied portion. After a brief firefight, Spock uncovers the location of the black hole device and Captain Pike by melding with an unconscious Romulan. When they board the Jellyfish, it recognizes Spock as its captain, and the Vulcan finally figures out what is going on, as the ship's computer confirms its origin stardate as 2387. As Spock commandeers the Jellyfish and blasts its way out of the Narada, Kirk runs into more trouble as he finds the Romulan's "bridge", where Nero and Ayel are waiting. Spock destroys the drilling rig before it can reach Earth's core, then goes to warp, and Nero orders pursuit. Kirk manages to gain control of Ayel's disruptor during a brief fight and kills him. He then heads off to rescue Pike.

The ships drop out of warp, and the Jellyfish turns to intercept and collide with the Narada. Nero orders all weapons to be fired, even though the ship still has "red matter" on it; with his plan for revenge ruined, now he only wants to kill Spock. The Enterprise arrives on scene and destroys the missiles, allowing Spock to carry through with his plan to ram the Narada. Inside the Narada, Kirk finds Pike, alive but injured due to his earlier torture. Scotty successfully beams back Kirk, Pike and Spock from their two different locations, right before the Jellyfish collides with the interior hull of the Narada and explodes.

The explosion of the Jellyfish ignites the entire stockpile of "red matter" on-board, creating a black hole. Kirk offers Nero to rescue the Narada, but Nero refuses, saying he'd rather watch Romulus die a thousand times, than accept his help. Kirk opens fire, blowing the ship apart with phasers and photon torpedoes. The Narada is finally destroyed, but the gravitational pull of the black hole begins tugging on the Enterprise, keeping it from escaping, even with its engines running at warp speed. Scotty ejects the warp core and detonates it near the black hole. The resulting explosion pushes the Enterprise to safety, and the black hole implodes.

On Earth, Kirk is commended and given command of the Enterprise. He relieves Pike, who has been promoted to Admiral and is now in a wheelchair. The elder Spock meets with his younger self and tells him that he helped Kirk directly so the two would form a friendship. The older Spock raises his hand in the familiar position, but notes that the unusual circumstances do not lend themselves to the famous mantra of the original series, so he simply wishes his younger self "Good luck". As the elder Spock leaves to help the remaining Vulcans establish a colony, the younger Spock returns to the Enterprise and asks Kirk if he can serve as his new first officer, to which Captain Kirk agrees and the Enterprise warps away.

Here is a review for the movie Star Trek from dvdtalk

I remmeber sitting in a theater in 2001, watching Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring and thinking that even though I was watching the scene on screen for the first time, I was going to end up seeing it again and again throughout the rest of my life. It wasn't necessarily a personal investment in the movie -- I like Lord of the Rings, but I haven't watched it in a couple of years -- but just an automatic sense that the movie had the right kind of accessibility and skill that would allow it to endure as a true blockbuster. It will be decades before I know if I was really right or not, but I felt the same way watching J.J. Abrams' reboot of the Star Trek franchise, which is action-packed, relentlessly paced, reasonably character-driven, and won't alienate anyone who isn't a hardcore fan of the long-running series.

Such as, well, myself. Until I sat myself in a theater seat to see the new movie, I'd seen about ten minutes of anything Trek in my entire life. Perhaps I was subliminally worried that it'd stack unfavorably atop my already tragic movie-nerd status, but now I'm thinking I've got no choice: one of the best things about the movie, which follows the first voyage of the Enterprise and its intrepid crew, is how it cleverly blends the old with the new; you'll walk out wanting to go see the original series. Sure, the film's central plot device (which I won't ruin) is a catch-all, but the movie makes it feel organic. Fans will find things to nitpick about it (they always do, and, well, already have), but on the whole, it allows the new to be the new and the old to be the old in a way that should at least calm any fires of indignant fury even if it can't extinguish them.

If I had to pick something I was most pleased or impressed by, it was how well-defined the characters are. Obviously, 43 years of history will do that to a franchise, but it's still refreshing how much of the movie's development is aided by strongly defined characters. There are a lot of characters on the bridge, but you'll never confuse Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban) with some incidental background character. Certainly, a lot of them cough up some catchphrases that have been burned into pop culture ("Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a scientist!" and "I'm giving it all she's got, Captain!", among others) to help give each one of them a unique stamp, but the story still gives each one of them a reasonably significant part to play that makes sense and doesn't require any excess exposition.

The most well-defined of them all are of course James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto), whose competitive relationship is at the heart of the movie. Their performances are both impressive; despite this being both actors' first big movie, they're engaging and natural. It would be easy for the hotshot pilot and intelligent logician to become either annoying or comedic in their execution, and it could have been hard to reconcile their differences in a way that didn't feel necessitated by the mechanics of the movie, but you want to see them work together and become a team because you understand their relationship so well. The movie's opening includes scenes with the characters as children which are much less effective (and probably completely unnecessary -- you could have just cut them entirely and I wouldn't have missed them), which is another testament to Pine and Quinto's charisma.

The rest of the cast is uniformly excellent. I particularly liked Bruce Greenwood as Captain Christopher Pike, who brings a noble, understated sense of strength to the character. It's more than easy to believe that not only is he a Starfleet Captain, but that even a hothead like Kirk would be willing to listen to him. I also came to enjoy Urban's performance as McCoy. At first, he seems a little goofy; his accent seems like one element too many, but as the movie goes on, he grows into it, and he makes a strong impression despite being less prominent in the movie's second half. Anton Yelchin is memorable as Chekov, especially when the character gets a heroic moment. I'd also like to see more of John Cho's Sulu and Simon Pegg's Scotty in future installments (I liked them because I liked the actors, but the characters don't get a lot of time to make an impression).

All this character doesn't make the movie slow, either; this film is wall-to-wall action. There are space battles, chases, bar fights, skydiving, hand-to-hand combat, shootouts and more, all packed efficiently into 126 minutes. Admittedly, Abrams still resorts to shaky-cam techniques every once in awhile (seriously -- I hear this complaint, and make it, about almost every action movie that comes out these days, and filmmakers still use it), but it's a blast nonetheless. It's all very well timed, too, thanks to expert editing by Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey. I can't think of a movie I've seen in a long while that used its time more efficiently than Star Trek. Anyone directing summer movies for 2010 should take note.

I might get flak for saying this, and I hate to compare the two, but bear with me. Star Wars isn't a great film because you learn something about the human condition, the direction is groundbreaking or because it represents some sort of meticulous standard of fine art, but because it's universally entertaining, has memorable characters, and it leaves you wanting more. This new version of Star Trek may very well be that film for the new millennium, with a whole new dimension: that sense of respect and homage it has for the source as they take the franchise in new directions. Sure, it's not an absolutely perfect masterpiece -- depending on which you'd rather hear, the series' Wrath of Khan/Empire Strikes Back has yet to be made -- but it is a pretty flawless summer blast that will undoubtedly be revisited for years to come. As with Lord of the Rings, it will be a long time before I know if I'm right, but right now, I hear Leonard Nimoy speaking those classic lines: "Space: the final frontier", and I'm ready: ready to boldly go wherever Abrams and his crew want to go next.

Here is the direct download for the movie Star Trek.

6/27/2009 12:53:00 AM
Categories: Movies Starting with S. Author: kevin

Here is the summary for the movie State of Play from imdb

On the morning of a new Congressional hearing led by popular congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) the lead Research Assistant falls in front of a train on her way to the hearings. Old style news reporter for the Washington Globe Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe), investigating a shooting of a petty thief thinks there may be a connection because his seasoned hunches as a reporter just tell him so. His old college roommate Congressman Collins is taking a high-profile position as a champion against a private corporation called PointCorp which will have taps on the entire workings of American phones, e-mails, and all private information. As the story breaks of the death of the Research Assistant so does the congressman break in public, shedding tears and generating rumors that he was having an affair with the young thing from Minnesota. When the Washington Globe's blogger newbie college grad Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) approaches McAffrey for an opinion about his former dorm buddy Collins, she is immediately told to get lost by the old-school reporter, but after looking over the coincidences, McAffrey pulls Frye into his investigation and reporting of how murder and PointCorp may be threatening Collins. As the two get deeper into the facts they realize that there is a structured network of former soldiers that have been trained into a mercenary group-for-hire and now are employed by a division of the corporation Collins is questioning in Congress. As Della learns how to get a story from the inside from the old pro McAffrey the story develops and exposes corruption on a much deeper level than was initially seen. What is more shocking is that a murderer is attempting to keep the story from breaking and McAffrey and Frye are in his sights.

Here is a review for the movie State of Play from dvdtalk

Adapted from the six-hour-long 2003 BBC miniseries, "State of Play" manages to compact meaty portions of intrigue and thrills into two snappy hours. A study of political power plays, calamitous sexual impulses, and the twilight of newspaper journalism, "State of Play" is riveting, sublimely acted, and sincerely intelligent...at times.

When Sonia Baker (Maria Thayer), a pivotal research assistant and lover to Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck), is murdered, the mysterious death triggers a series of potential high-profile news stories for hardened journalist Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe), employed by the deteriorating Washington Globe newspaper. Sharing a personal history with Collins and his wife Anne (Robin Wright Penn), McAffrey is conflicted over the type of story he wants to tell, leading him to team up with political blogger Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) to help sort out the mess of rumors, deceptions, and further bloodshed. As McAffrey plunges further into the investigation, he finds his long-standing methods of reporting are counterproductive to the changing world of profitable journalism, pushing the writer to shape the story quickly, at the risk of alienating old friends.

"State of Play" is a knotty thriller that almost seems ashamed of itself, fearful of losing the greater audience by holding tight on wordy, flinching acts of investigation to fuel a majority of its tight narrative twists and turns. Director Kevin Macdonald ("The Last King of Scotland") is seeking to mold a film that might appeal to those in dire need of brain food at the multiplex and those who like their mystery spoon-fed. It's a troubled cocktail of intent, marring an otherwise gripping mystery inspired by the great paranoia/journalism thrillers of the 1970s.

While "State of Play" loses itself to occasional spasms of on-the-nose screenwriting, snarling Bruckheimerish assassins, and unbecoming sequences of gunplay, the film is an exceptionally taut concoction overall. Arranging a parade of colorful characters and diverse motivations, Macdonald finds chess-like timing for the story, keeping his cast on the move as the mystery of Sonia Baker unleashes a torrent of Washington D.C. revelations and double-crosses. While remaining topical with a crucial subplot concerning the development of privatized armies profiting from a war-happy government, Macdonald seems more enchanted by the unseemly side of the case, and the intricate personal history that clouds McAffrey's raw investigative judgment.

Performed with beautiful timing and believable fatigue by the cast (including Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels, and Helen Mirren), "State of Play" is at its most darkly rapturous when fixed on the exploratory maneuvering of the journalists, observing these professionals execute remarkable pulls of information as the mystery intensifies. The film is truly a compelling team effort, but as the de facto lead character, Crowe reawakens himself with this performance, lugging himself out of a string of misguided motion pictures to find a role that fits him and his hardened screen instincts well. As the dumpy but gifted reporter, Crowe rumbles around the frame performing a spellbinding ballet of dog-eared curiosity and suspicion, elevating the ensemble's game with his leadership. Affleck also registers strongly as the besieged politician, playing a crucial role with interesting shades of internal conflict.

As much as "State of Play" is a murder mystery, it's also substantial elegy for the newspaper business, underscoring the tension with forceful scraps of lament as McAffrey finds his prolonged methods of reporting are no longer welcome in the reader-hungry, blogosphere world of modern journalism. It's a concept Macdonald nurtures throughout the feature, spotlighting the combustible relationship between McAffrey and Frye as one of tidal newsprint change, though he ultimately sides with the shifty practices and unshowered tenacity of the seasoned, unkempt reporter lifestyle. Perhaps this guarantees that "State of Play" will receive a gushing review from any critic currently working for a newspaper or in the midst of pursuing a journalism degree.

"State of Play" doesn't always trust its own instincts, leaving sections of the film absurdly overcooked to drive easily telegraphed plot points home; nevertheless, the picture still clicks as an eager suspense piece, offering a smattering of proper armrest-gripping moments and mouth-agape revelations to stand itself upright and deliver the goods.

Here is the direct download for the movie State of Play.

5/28/2009 05:44:00 PM
Categories: Movies Starting with S. Author: kevin

Here is the summary for the movie Street Fighter 2 from imdb

The movie opens with Chun Li narrating her experience growing up aspiring to be a concert pianist. As a child, she moves from San Francisco to Hong Kong with her family. There, along with piano, she learns Wushu from her father, Xiang, who is a well connected businessman. One night, her home is attacked by Bison and his henchman. Chun Li's father fights them off until Balrog grabs a hold of a young Chun Li, forcing him to surrender. As Bison and his men are leaving with Xiang, Chun Li's mother tries to stop them. Balrog just punches her.

Years later, Chun Li grows up and becomes a talented concert pianist. At the end of one of her concerts, she receives a scroll written in Ancient Chinese text. On her way home, she sees a mysterious homeless man getting assaulted by street thugs. After the thugs leave, Chun Li tends to him and notices a spiderweb tattoo on his hand. Meanwhile, Xiang is shown working for Bison as a prisoner. In return for his services, he is allowed to view pictures of his daughter all grown up. Back home, Chun Li's mother finally loses her battle to cancer as Chun Li and her servants mourn her loss at a funeral

Elsewhere, we see Nash and Maya investigating a murder of several heads of criminal syndicate families in Bangkok. Chun Li on the side is meeting with a wise old lady in town who studies the scroll and tells her to find a man named Gen in Bangkok, revealing to her an image of the same spiderweb she saw tattooed on the homeless man's hand. With a new goal in mind, Chun Li leaves her home and heads to Bangkok. After weeks of searching for Gen without any luck, she sees a man being assaulted in an alley by thugs. Chun Li comes to his rescue and fights them. After a long battle ended by finishing them with a Bike Rack Drop Ultra move, Chun Li collapses in exhaustion. There, we see Gen pick her up to take her to his home.

Gen tells Chun Li that he knows how to find her father and that Bison has him, but that she also needs anger management. In response, she goes to an internet cafe and logs onto shoryuken.com to find out more about Bison, who is now holding the families of property owners hostage in order to force them to sign their property over to him. Upon leaving, one of the owners is asked to hand over the rights to a docking harbor, allowing the shipment of the "White Rose". Chun Li overhears this. Meanwhile at Interpol, Nash figures out that Bison's headquarters are right across the street from the Police Station.

Later that night, Cantana, one of Bison's secretaries, goes to a nightclub. Chun Li spies on her and notices her jocking the girls in the club. Chun Li moves in and seductively dances with her before casually walking away into the bathroom. Cantana, sex driven, follows her and locks the bathroom window. There, Chun Li beats her into giving out the location of the White Rose. Cantana's bodyguards come back and Chun Li escapes after a brief shootout.

We are then told of Bison's origins. He is the son of Irish missionaries. He grew up an orphan having to steal fish from people in Thailand. In order to lose his conscience, he forced his daughter out of the womb of his wife prematurely. This somehow transferred his conscience into her. Back at Gen's home, Bison's henchmen come after Gen and Chun Li. Gen fights them off until Balrog blows up his house with a rocket launcher. With Gen gone and nowhere to be found, Chun Li runs off. She is then attacked by Vega, who she defeats soundly and hangs upside down since his claws weren't sharp enough to cut rope.

Chun Li then heads to the harbor and interrogates an employee into telling her the arrival time of the White Rose. Later that night, this turns out to be a trap as several Shadaloo soldiers capture her. Chun Li is then taken back to Shadaloo headquarters and is reunited with her father. Bison tells her that Xiang outlived his usefulness and breaks his neck, killing him. Bison and Balrog leave Chun Li to the henchman to finish off. Chun Li however escapes when they try to swing her around from the ceiling like a pinata. As she runs away, she is shot in the arm by Balrog. Before Balrog could recapture her, the crowd begins throwing durians at him. This scares Balrog as he drives off in his Benz. Chun Li meanwhile, is rescued again by Gen, who survived the explosion.

Chun Li approaches Nash and tells him she needs backup to take down Bison. Nash and Maya oblige as Chun Li approaches the dock employee who set her up last time. The employee tells her that he was forced into deceiving her and tells her the real arrival time. Chun Li doubts him at first, but he points to the white board at the arrival time, proving that it is true. At the dock later that night, Interpol agents engage in a shootout with Shadaloo soldiers. On a ship, Chun Li finds a girl asking where her father is. Meanwhile, Gen fights Balrog and kills him by stabbing him with a pipe spraying nitrogen. We later find out that the girl is Bison's daughter and her name is Rose, making her the White Rose. Bison takes her in and welcomes her warmly.

Bison walks into his office where he is ambushed by Gen. Gen however is no match for him. Sensing his daughter in danger, Bison goes back to his daughters room, where he finds she is gone. Gen shows up again and ambushes Bison, getting beaten up again. Chun Li then comes in and fights Bison. After a long battle, she hits him with a bamboo pole a couple times and drops some sandbags on him, making him dizzy. She then charges up a Kikoken and shoots it at him, knocking him off the scaffolding they were fighting on, then jumping on his neck and twisting it, killing him.

Back home, Chun Li is settled down as Gen pays her a visit. He shows her an ad for a Street Fighter tournament, telling her about a Japanese fighter named "Ryu something". Chun Li declines, saying that she's home for now.



Here is a review for the movie Street Fighter 2 from dvdtalk

If memories could be dialed back to the dark ages of the mid-1990s for a moment, recall that the last time the "Street Fighter" video game empire was adapted for the big screen, it concerned a cartoonishly costumed Jean-Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue trying to save the world from the demonic clutches of an infirmed Raul Julia. Unsurprisingly, the film tanked. Now 15 years later, a new challenger has arrived with "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li," and this production is armed with a few clumsy television actors, Chris Klein, and a member of the Black Eyed Peas. This is not progress.

A criminal mastermind of the highest order, Bison (Neal McDonough) rules the streets of Bangkok with his right hand man Balrog (Michael Clarke Duncan), along with assassin Vega (Taboo) and corporate vixen Cantana (Josie Ho). With Bison's vicious Shadaloo syndicate placing the city into a state of panic, it's up to a highly trained warrior, Chun-Li (Kristin Kreuk, trying for earnestness and failing), and her unwavering dedication to justice to infiltrate Bison's underworld and battle to save the city. On Chun-Li's trail is Interpol agent Charlie Nash (Chris Klein), a man equally driven to stop Bison, rising above the law to join the lady brawler as she sets out to squash evil.

The pie crust of the "Legend" failure was shaped early on by the producers when they hired Andrzej Bartkowiak to direct this fresh attempt to merge the video game world with big screen heroics. Here's a list of the director's achievements: "Doom," "Exit Wounds," "Romeo Must Die," and "Cradle 2 the Grave." Not the most inspiring of filmographies. Certainly the new, hardened tone for "Street Fighter" requires a visionary who once helmed three DMX motion pictures, but his limitations as a storyteller and architect of foot-first action once again crumbles a promising feature film. However, Bartkowiak's numerous directorial blunders are only but a toe dipped into the pool of "Legend" futility.

With only a few characters and elements adapted from the video game series that began its reign of quarter munching over 20 years ago, the new "Street Fighter" picture is a distinct departure from the 1994 event movie failure, removing an overall cartoon atmosphere for a grittier tone concentrating on straightforward revenge scenarios, Eastern mysticism, and adding a dab of verisimilitude to once colorful characters. The screenplay by Justin Marks is surprisingly straight-faced, aggressively attempting to assign new mythos to these famous characters that will generate a sprawling fight saga to be feasted upon over several sequels and assorted gaming tie-ins. The ambition is brave, but the execution is the pits, turning the beloved "Street Fighter" legacy into a cruddy, smalltime Sci-Fi Original production, perhaps too serious for its own good.

While I do use the word "serious," "Legend" is far from Masterpiece Theater. At its core, the picture is still a crude martial arts demonstration reel, only Bartkowiak fumbles the heated encounters with ripsaw editing and clumsy choreography that exposes the actors counting off the moves in their head. It's impossible to kick back and embrace the violence when it's all made a blur, occasionally punctuated by a famous "Street Fighter" finishing move or special effect. The action is largely routine, PG-13 filler, but so is the entire movie, lamely lurching from conflict to conflict in a programmed manner. At this point, I'm positive Bartkowiak wouldn't know nail-biting tension even if it came up and bit him on the nose.

The only joy of "Legend" is watching the actors struggle to rise above the mundane details, only to spectacularly fail without assistance from behind the camera. Chris Klein takes the cake here, assuming a strange mix of Clint Eastwood and metrosexual pedophile as he swaggers around the locations trying his damndest to come across as a tough guy. It's hilarious to observe his cheese, especially in the presence of the other actors, who I swear are holding back giggles. Neal McDonough also deserves a fair share of raspberries for his acting, slipping on a goofy Irish accent to play pure Bangkok evil. Of course, why an Irish baby orphaned as an infant in Bangkok would retain a thick brogue in his adulthood is not explained, but very little of the film is, preferring the catchall Eastern locations to play ball any way it likes.

"Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" is more numbing than awful (though a lesbian dance-off sequence with Chun-Li and Cantana pushes the needle into the red), and with a lack of gaming tributes and spectacular brawling, it's difficult to understand why the feature was even made in the first place. The end promises a sequel that appears to right several wrongs, but after this installment, I doubt enough audience members will be eager to endure another round with this mishandled franchise. I'll take Jean-Claude Van Damme and his powder blue beret any day over this insipid, clunky, and joyless motion picture.

Here is the direct download for the movie Street Fighter 2.

3/06/2009 05:56:00 PM
Categories: Movies Starting with S. Author: kevin

Here is the summary for the movie Seven Pounds from imdb

An IRS agent with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.


Here is the direct download for the movie Seven Pounds.

12/17/2008 12:45:00 PM
Categories: Movies Starting with #, Movies Starting with S. Author: kevin

SOUTH PARK MOVIE IMAGINATION LAND NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE SOUTH PARK IMAGINATION LAND FROM IMDB

The doors of a whole new dimension are thrown open and the boys of South Park walk right in. It all begins with Cartman's quest to find a leprechaun and in turn win a bet with Kyle that would force him to suck Cartman's balls. The kids have just arrived in Imaginationland a wondrous magical place when terrorist's attack unleashing all of mankind's evil imaginary forces upon the world. With imaginations running wild the government steps in and prepares to nuke Imaginationland thus eliminating further attacks on the country's most vulnerable spot. A crisis faces the nation and Stan and Butters remained trapped in Imaginationland. Kyle pleads with the Pentagon for his friends' lives and Cartman goes all the way to the Supreme Court to get justice for his dry balls.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE SOUTH PARK IMAGINATION LAND.

12/10/2008 03:18:00 PM
Categories: Movies Starting with S. Author: kevin

Here is the summary for the show South Park from imdb

South Park is an animated series featuring four foul-mouthed 3rd graders, Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman. The show is set in the Colorado town of South Park where weird things keep happening, whether its being abducted by aliens or avoiding Kyle's little brother Ike. The show is based on the short film by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, "The Spirit of Christmas". Written by Losman {losman@express-news.net}

Here are the episodes for Season 12 of South Park

Episode 1.

Episode 2.

Episode 3.

Episode 4.

Episode 5.

Episode 6.

Episode 7.

Episode 8.

Episode 9.

Episode 10.

Episode 11.

Episode 12.

11/14/2008 12:36:00 PM
Categories: Movies Starting with S. Author: kevin

Here is the summary for the movie Saw V from imdb

Forensics expert Hoffman goes on the hunt in order to protect the secret that he is the newest person to carry on Jigsaw's legacy.

Here is a review for the movie Saw V from dvdtalk

There's a certain part of me that's envious of the average "Saw" fan. I truly wish I could appreciate this horror franchise on a more visceral level, screaming along with the rest of the crowd as mayhem arrives, lives are ended, and Jigsaw's legacy is twisted further into a mind-bending puzzle only the most patient out there have kept up with. It's criminal that I refuse entrance into the club, but, then again, when I view a "Saw" movie all I can see are bargain-basement production values, abysmal acting, and a soggy narrative that's spun completely out of control. The only elements holding the franchise together at this point are the blind enthusiasm of horror nuts, truckloads of distraction, and the forgiving nature of the Halloween season.

Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is being prepped for hero status after his takedown of Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), thus ending the string of crude murders that plagued the city. The only person alive to challenge Hoffman is Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson), who barely survived a Jigsaw trap and is now ready to uncover the truth behind Hoffman's clandestine activities. Chasing the clues, Strahm gets closer to the horrors of Jigsaw's legacy, while Hoffman ventures back into his own past and the events that introduced his evil ways.

Not to rock the boat here, but I consider last year's "Saw IV" to be the finest installment of the series so far, contorting itself hilariously into a shell game of a motion picture, perhaps best titled "Saw 3.5" for comfort. With a genuine actor (Patterson) slapping the film awake and director Darren Lynn Bousman taking a few minor chances with the plot, "Saw IV" was garbage, but not a hideous proposition quite like the other volumes of this rancid franchise. For "Saw V," Bousman is off to directorial purgatory, replaced by series production design vet David Hackl, who sticks uncomfortably close to the "If it ain't broke..." motto during his face time with Jigsaw.

It's actually somewhat startling to watch "Saw V" behave more like a dopey detective story than the hardcore horror extravaganza fans have come to expect. Either the mythos of Jigsaw is becoming too complicated to shoehorn in some gore sequences or perhaps the producers are finally growing weary of repeating themselves with increasingly ridiculous torture devices. Either way, "Saw V" is a sedate feature film, spending more screentime tracking Hoffman's footsteps with Strahm than snuggling up to bloody entrails. The change is refreshing, as is the loss of Bousman, but the restraint only lasts for a few breaths. After all, there's a legacy of blood to protect here.

A sophisticated Jigsaw trap subplot weaves throughout "Saw V," returning to the "Saw II" aesthetic of strangers (including Meagan Good and Julie Benz) duking it out for precious remnants of life. How it ties to the rest of the story is spoiler territory, but it's clear imagination is running low for the death set-pieces, with explosions and low-light executions replacing the splatterfest that once was.

"Saw V" feels like a transitory piece to clear a way for next year's "Saw VI." Hackl chucks in plenty of inexplicable material ready to be explored a year from now, teasing the audience with characters and props that feed the haphazardly constructed arc being assembled by the producers, who resort to time travel once again to pad out the running time to 85 minutes. Not only is "Saw" losing its taste for blood, it can't stay in the present, leaping back and forth through the sequels to shake the audience off the narrative's trail. A trail, mind you, that doesn't actually lead anywhere in "Saw V" except to absurd backstory and the chance to spend more time with Bell as Jigsaw (pass).

"You won't believe how it ends" is the official tagline for "Saw V," but the real question is, will you care? Admirers will undoubtedly fling themselves at the feet of anything the producers dream up, but more careful viewers might be starting to question the validity of this ongoing story: a five-film-too-long journey that has never felt more arbitrarily plotted than in the final 10 minutes of "Saw V."

Here is the direct download for the movie Saw V.

11/14/2008 12:17:00 PM
Categories: Movies Starting with S. Author: kevin

Here is the summary for the movie Sex Drive from imdb

Eighteen-year-old Ian Lafferty sets out on a cross country drive with his best friends Lance and Felicia in order to lose his virginity to a red-hot babe he met on the Internet. But the journey, filled with hilarious misadventures and raunchy escapades, teaches all three more than they expected about life and love. Randy, raucous and unexpectedly romantic, Sex Drive follows three friends on the road trip of a lifetime! Ian Lafferty (Josh Zuckerman) can't seem to catch a break. He's taunted by his cocksure older brother Rex (James Marsden), shown up in the romance department by his 14-year-old younger brother and humiliated by his job at a mall donut shop. But Ian's biggest problem is that he's about to start college as a virgin! Getting nowhere with the girl of his dreams and longtime best friend Felicia (Amanda Crew), Ian resorts to the Internet for dates. He soon hooks up with Ms. Tasty, a flaming hot blonde who can't wait to get busy. The only catch: Ian has to drive 500 miles from Chicago to Knoxville to consummate the deal. Egged on by his devil-may-care pal Lance (Clark Duke), Ian risks life and limb by appropriating The Judge, Rex's prized vintage Pontiac GTO. With Lance and Felicia in tow, he hits the road for a one-time rendezvous that will rock his world! Car trouble, a stint in the pokey, a buggy tow with an Amish farmer (Seth Green) and an afternoon at a roadside carnival all complicate Ian's journey. As he presses on to get to Knoxville before Ms. Tasty gives up and goes home, the trio's trail of mayhem closes in on them with hilarious consequences. Will Rex find Ian before he reaches Nirvana? Will a cuckolded husband exact revenge on Lance just as he seems to have found true love? Will Ms. Tasty live up to her Internet profile? Will Ian realize what he really wants? And most importantly, Will Ian, Felicia and Lance survive the bumpy road to adulthood with all its unexpected twists and turns?

Here is a review for the movie Sex Drive from dvdtalk

The curse of "American Pie" strikes again with "Sex Drive," a dreary teen comedy that attempts to pass off an endless series of bodily function jokes as a screenplay. It's dated, humorless, and miscast all around, not to mention homophobic, ineptly written, and on top of all that holds great disdain for its characters. It's the latest in a long string of teen sex comedies where the audience just might find themselves rooting for the STDs.

Ian (Josh Zuckerman) is a high school loser, unable to lose his virginity while watching his slovenly friend Lance (Clark Duke, officially the 10,000th young ironic hipster actor working today) nail all the ladies. Meeting a willing girl online, Ian finds his chance to reach out to the opposite sex, electing to steal his bullying brother's (James Marsden) vintage car and travel with Lance and crush Felicia (Amanda Crew) across a few states to reach his destiny. Hitting the road, everything that could possibly go wrong in fact does go wrong, leading the trio on a Midwestern adventure interacting with sarcastic Amish folk (Seth Green), interstate street racers, and jealous rednecks.

Yes, "Sex Drive" uncomfortably mirrors the 1985 Rob Reiner film "The Sure Thing." It's a rather unabashed lift, but even comparing Reiner's mischievous film to bottom-feeding malarkey like "Drive" is insulting. "Drive" is a teen comedy on auto-pilot; it's a paint-by-numbers directorial effort from Sean Anders, who cobbles together bits of Hughes, Reiner, and a whole lotta Weisz to fashion an unimaginative decent into the fears and urges of a young man's virginal soul.

Truthfully, there's not a moment here the audience hasn't seen before in bawdier, better films. "Drive" is lazy with its naughty bits, going for shock value over careful orchestrations of humiliation, and blunt obscenity over generous writing. Glory hole encounters? Radiator-cooling urination? Embarrassing semen messes? Anders can be as lascivious as he likes, but at least be funny with this parade of clichés. "Drive" is the type of film that doesn't just allow exposed elderly testicles to creep out the room, there must be an extreme close-up of said testicles as well. That aesthetic consumes the direction, robbing the picture of any mischief. Subtlety is not an Anders specialty.

With the film in constant pursuit of bathroom humor to exploit, the cast is left to carry most of the "heart" Anders and co-writer John Morris lazily write their way toward. It isn't enough to call the "Drive" screenplay predictable: it's a veritable photocopy of previous teen hits. The romantic dynamic between Ian, Felicia, and Lance is as contrived as can be, only half-heartedly sold in the finished film with a few googly eyes, some trendy emo rock (Fall Out Boy cameos), and a bizarre bonding point (a rural "shoe" tree) to make the loving connections and, more accurately, the contractual page count.

Also of mild annoyance are the references peppered throughout the film. A few ("Top Gun," Steve McQueen) that feel mighty false in a world of characters born in 1991.

Surely if "Drive" had better actors, the results might've been less plastic. With Zuckerman doing his "everyteen" Hollywood casting call impression, Crew unenthusiastically trying to communicate adoration for these nitwit men her character has to choose from (guess which one she picks), and Duke merging irksome Stifler one-liners, loathsome Rainn Wilson deadpan, and unintentionally hilarious Carol Brady hair into the least believable playboy the screen has witnessed since McLovin, "Drive" is drained of its last hope for imagination.

It's the mission of "Sex Drive" to be juvenile, stupid, and relentlessly horny, and there's nothing explicitly wrong with that. However, we live in a world with a thousand films just like it. "Sex Drive" is monotonous genre leftovers, a lethargic film coasting on the triumphs of previous horndog celebrations, without any distinctive personality to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Here is the direct download for the movie Sex Drive.

11/12/2008 06:19:00 PM
Categories: Movies Starting with S. Author: kevin

Here is the summary for the movie Soul Men from Imdb

Two former backup soul singers, Louis (Samuel L. Jackson) and Floyd (Bernie Mac) who have not spoken to each other in 20 years reluctantly agree to travel across the country together to a reunion concert to honor their recently deceased lead singer (John Legend). Cleo (Sharon Leal), a beautiful young woman who is believed to be Floyd's daughter, accompanies them as a new singer.

Here is a review for the movie Soul Men from dvdtalk

While not his last feature film, the late Bernie Mac is served well by the comedy "Soul Men," putting in a feral performance that brings out the old Mac we all fell in love with long ago. It's a shame the movie can't live up to his spirit, trading comedic momentum for a story nobody is going to care about. Still, the laughs are plentiful for 45 minutes, and that's all this movie needs to please.

As 1970's R&B sensation The Real Deal, Louis (Samuel L. Jackson) and Floyd (Bernie Mac) ruled the radio backing up star Marcus Hooks with their velvety vocals. Decades later, Floyd is retiring and Louis is trying to keep out of prison, with both men still nursing resentment over their awful breakup. When Hooks dies, a memorial concert is booked, with a request for the The Real Deal to reunite and perform. Sensing an opportunity to relive their glory years, the cranky old men agree to team up, crossing the country by automobile to make a date at the Apollo Theater. Along the way, Floyd and Louis find themselves reconnecting through the music and stage moves of yesteryear, soon encountering a possible daughter in Cleo (Sharon Leo), the love child of a former group member.

Director Malcolm D. Lee is perhaps best known as Spike Lee's cousin, only the more serious statements of race and world relations elude his touch. This Lee loves his slapstick, and "Soul Men" is an amusing offering of the silly stuff, using the ample gifts of the leading men to land some big smiles.

It should come as no surprise that Mac and Jackson work beautifully together. With both actors skilled at extracting laughs and firing rounds of profanity in increasingly inspired ways, the duo makes "Soul Men" a welcome prospect. Just how much chemistry they share is the real surprise of the film. Playing round after round of verbal tennis, Mac and Jackson form a believable bond without help from the bland screenplay, using Lee's patience with screen mischief to get to the core of partnership that makes up the heart of the feature. After years of Cosby domestication, the old Bernie Mac erupts in "Soul Men," showcasing the actor back to his old wild-eyed, forked tongue self. Jackson matches Mac well, embracing his own soul-patched brand of contempt and bravado, which bounces well off Mac's sensitive insanity. Even better, the two actors don't embarrass themselves onstage, busting out some smooth Temptations-inspired moves and tentative vocals that maintain the illusion of a once mighty music industry force.

With Lee allowing "Soul Men" to chase bawdy antics for the boys, especially the Viagra-chomping Floyd and his string of sexual partners (including Jennifer Coolidge and, of all people, Vanessa del Rio), the mindlessness of the film is hospitable, broadly playing up road trip setbacks and brotherly communication problems between Floyd and Louis. It's only a matter of time before Lee shoehorns a story into the film, using a question mark of paternity, medication misdirection, and pursuit by Cleo's thug boyfriend to embellish what should rightfully be a wafer-thin comedy. The new weight of contrivance is deadly to the film's essence, stopping the laughs for excess characterization that isn't welcome. Had the writing worked into edgier, smarter terrain over formulaic dribble, perhaps the journey of The Real Deal might've been something to cheer for.

"Soul Men" treats the music genre with respect, and a nice cameo from Isaac Hayes lends the proceedings a jolt of royalty, even if the aftertaste is a bit ghoulish (a scene with Mac trapped in a coffin is equally uncomfortable). This is a funny picture, just not a consistent one, starting Bernie Mac's good-bye tour on a delightfully rowdy note, while reminding the viewer that as hilarious a man as he was, Mac had lousy taste in screenplays.

Here is the direct download for the movie Soul Men.

11/11/2008 06:09:00 PM
Categories: Movies Starting with S. Author: kevin

Here is the summary for the movie Star Wars A New Hope from imdb

Part IV in a George Lucas epic, Star Wars: A New Hope opens with a rebel ship being boarded by the tyrannical Darth Vader. The plot then follows the life of a simple farmboy, Luke Skywalker, as he and his newly met allies (Han Solo, Chewbacca, Ben Kenobi, C-3PO, R2-D2) attempt to rescue a rebel leader, Princess Leia, from the clutches of the Empire. The conclusion is culminated as the Rebels, including Skywalker and flying ace Wedge Antilles make an attack on the Empires most powerful and ominous weapon, the Death Star. Written by P. Wong {pwong@nt.net}

In a galaxy far, far away, a psychopathic emperor and his most trusted servant - a former Jedi Knight known as Darth Vader - are ruling a universe with fear. They have built a horrifying weapon known as the Death Star, a giant battle station capable of annihilating a world in less than a second. When the Death Star's master plans are captured by the fledgling Rebel Alliance, Vader starts a pursuit of the ship carrying them. A young dissident Senator, Leia Organa, is aboard the ship & puts the plans into a maintenance robot named R2-D2. Although she is captured, the Death Star plans cannot be found, as R2 & his companion, a tall robot named C-3PO, have escaped to the desert world of Tatooine below. Through a series of mishaps, the robots end up in the hands of a farm boy named Luke Skywalker, who lives with his Uncle Owen & Aunt Beru. Owen & Beru are viciously murdered by the Empire's stormtroopers who are trying to recover the plans, and Luke & the robots meet with former Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi to try to return the plans to Leia Organa's home, Alderaan. After contracting a pilot named Han Solo & his Wookiee companion Chewbacca, they escape an Imperial blockade. But when they reach Alderaan's coordinates, they find it destroyed - by the Death Star. They soon find themselves caught in a tractor beam & pulled into the Death Star. Although they rescue Leia Organa from the Death Star after a series of narrow escapes, Kenobi becomes one with the Force after being killed by his former pupil - Darth Vader. They reach the Alliance's base on Yavin's fourth moon, but the Imperials are in hot pursuit with the Death Star, and plan to annihilate the Rebel base. The Rebels must quickly find a way to eliminate the Death Star before it destroys them as it did Alderaan. Written by Derek O'Cain

Luke Skywalker stays with his foster aunt and uncle on a farm on Tatooine. He is desperate to get off this planet and get to the Academy like his friends, but his uncle needs him for the next harvest. Meanwhile, an evil emperor has taken over the galaxy, and has constructed a formidable "Death Star" capable of destroying whole planets. Princess Leia, a leader in the resistance movement, acquires plans of the Death Star, places them in R2D2, a droid, and sends him off to find Obi-Wan Kenobi. Before he finds him, R2D2 ends up on Skywalkers' farm with his friend C3PO. R2 then wanders into the desert, and when Luke follows, they eventually come across Obi-Wan. Will Luke, Obi-Wan, and the two droids be able to destroy the Death Star, or will the Emperor rule forever ? Written by Colin Tinto {cst@imdb.com}

Princess Leia is held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to take over the Galactic Empire. Venturesome Luke Skywalker and dashing Captain Han Solo team together with the lovable robotic duo, R2-D2 and C-3PO, to rescue the beautiful princess and restore justice in the Empire. Written by Robert Lynch {docrlynch@yahoo.com}

In a distant galaxy eons before the creation of the mythical planet known as Earth, vast civilizations have evolved, and ruling the galaxy is an interstellar Empire created from the ruins of an Old Republic that held sway for generations. It is a time of civil war, as solar systems have broken away from the Empire and are waging a war of rebellion. During a recent battle techical schematics for a gigantic space station, code named The Death Star, have been unearthed by Rebel spies, and a young woman who is a dissident member of the Imperial Senate, under the cover of a diplomatic mission to the planet Alderaan, is trying to smuggle these plans to the Rebellion. But her spacecraft is attacked by a vast warship of the Empire and seized. The dissident Senator is captured, but the plans for the Death Star are nowhere to be found. While soldiers of the Empire search the nearby planet Tatooine, a series of incidents sweeps up a young desert farmer with dreams of being a fighter pilot in the Rebellion, as he winds up with the Death Star plans and also the assistance of an elderly hermit who once served as a warrior of an ancient order whose chosen weapons were powerful energy swords known as light sabers. The pair recruit a cynical interstellar smuggler and his outsized alien copilot with an ancient freighter heavily modified for combat to help them reach Alderaan - but the planet is obliterated and now the foursome must rescue the young woman held prisoner by the Empire and lead an attack by the Rebellion against the Death Star before it can annihilate all hope of restoring freedom to the galaxy. Written by Michael Daly

Here is a review for the movie Star Wars A New Hope from dvdtalk

The Movie:

NOTE: The top screenshots are from the 'special edition' on disc one and the screenshots on the bottom are from the 'theatrical cut' on disc two. They might not match up perfectly but they serve the purpose of showing the difference in quality between the two discs contained in this set.

In 1977 George Lucas had the novel idea of basically setting the old serials/adventure stories that kids enjoyed years before and placing one in outer space. The film that came out of this idea was, as we all know, Star Wars and with it, George Lucas made history. Ever since then Star Wars has been less of a blockbuster film than a part of the world's pop culture psyche. Everyone in the modern world knows what Star Wars is – they can't help it. It's everywhere around us, from movies to video games to comic books to toys to clothes to any kind of spin-off or merchandising tie in you can imagine. There are fan conventions, online communities, costume contest and even plenty of Star Wars tattoos around – people take the film and it's sequels/prequels very seriously and it stands as the most successful science fiction film franchise of all time, bar none.

So why then, since making history in 1977, has George Lucas been constantly re-writing it? Well, in his defense, these are his films and so he is free to do what he wants with them. That being said, the fans are what made the series the success that it is and what the fans wanted was not the versions of the movies that Lucas has altered to suit his current vision but the theatrical cuts that we all fell in love with in the first place. When the original trilogy was released as a deluxe boxed set two years ago, Lucas said that the 'special editions' (referring to the altered versions of the three original films in the series) were all that we'd ever see again. Fans bought it regardless, Lucas made a bunch of money off of it, and now – surprise surprise – he's given us the option of re-buying the 'special edition' films as single releases (two discs each) to get the original theatrical versions that he should have released in the first place.

Why the change of heart? Only he knows for sure. Granted, no one is forcing us to buy these but the fact that since the advent of DVD technology there have been countless bootlegs of the original theatrical versions making the rounds (some sourced from the laserdiscs, others from VHS tapes) what probably happened is that Lucas decided to make some of that money back for himself with the least amount of effort possible. IF this were being done 'for the fans' then the issues with the audio and video quality on the theatrical cuts (see below) wouldn't be issues at all. If Lucas cared about those who have made him a wealth and powerful figure in Hollywood he'd have done the set right the first time and not pulled a fast one on the Star Wars faithful by dumping out rather unimpressive versions of the theatrical cuts he had previously said we'd never see again. Don't be fooled – this is not a favor to those who have helped Star Wars become the phenomena that it is, this is a cash grab. Lucas wants your money and he knows that a lot of you will give it to him.

With that said, Star Wars is a great film. Not a masterpiece in the same way that something like Citizen Kane is or The Godfather is but for pure, unadulterated action/sci-fi entertainment the first film to debut in the franchise holds up really well almost thirty years since it was born. Luke might be a little too corn-poke for his on good in some scenes and some of Leia's dialogue is a little tough to swallow but there's no denying the sheer coolness of Han Solo and Chewbacca and Darth Vader is still one of the greatest cinematic bad guys of all time. Peter Cushing and Alec Guiness bring a whole lot of class and charm to the film and their experience and professionalism gives Grand Moff Tarkin and Obi-Wan Kenobi some genuinely impressive screen presence while Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker do a fine job of providing the comic relief in the form of C-3P0 and R2-D2 respectively – the Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy of outer space. When the Death Star blows up that first planet it's still shocking even if we know it's all going to work out in the end and the cantina scene that takes place on Tattooine is still fantastic with more alien creatures in it than you can shake a stick at. We can still snicker when Obi-Wan tells the Stormtroopers that 'these are not the droids you're looking for' and we can still get a little misty eyed when Darth Vader strikes him down.

The action and adventure is still rich and exciting, the heroes are still likeable and the villains are still sinister. The outer space battles and chase scenes remain exciting and the film is one of those rare movies that is literally fun for the whole family – you can watch it with your kids and your grandparents in the same room and it's almost a sure thing that everyone will get a kick out of it. One of the most beloved space epics of all time and a cultural behemoth was born with this film, it's difficult not to love it particularly if you grew up on the material as so many of us did.

The crass exploitation of the film movie and its fans does not take too much away from the enjoyment that Star Wars still offers those who love a good adventure story. It might hurt to see a part of your childhood that you do sincerely love used in commercials and merchandising tie-in's at fast food restaurants or reissued in various home video formats over again but when the opening scrawl tells us about that 'It is a period of civil war' the nostalgia and fun do come rushing back, particularly when Han shoots first.

The question lies not in whether or not you should fork out the cash for the original theatrical cut of Star Wars, but when you should. Having already lied about making these films available one has to wonder if next year, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the film, if we won't see a proper release. Though there's been no official announcement Lucas' track record indicates that at some point there will be yet another release, possibly a boxed set of all six films with the theatrical cuts of the original trilogy included – who knows. This release, along with the releases of The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi are supposedly going to be available for a limited time only – if you don't get them know you run the risk of not owning the original cuts on DVD (or having to make do with the bootleg releases which isn't ideal at all). On the other hand, if you buy them, you run the risk of having to (or at least wanting to) upgrade down the road if and when proper releases emerge. With that in mind, what is the consumer to do? It's a fairly underhanded marketing strategy designed to milk Star Wars fandom for all its worth and obviously it all comes down to personal choice and how bad you want the original cut of the film. You've also got to take into account the technical specifications of the presentation, and with that in mind…

The DVD

NOTE: For the record, the 'star ratings' to the right of this review reflect the second disc which contains the original theatrical cut of Star Wars, the reasoning behind this being that the inclusion of this version is really the only reason anyone is interested in it in the first place, which is why that version of the movie is not being included in the Extras section of this review.

Video:

The 'special edition' of Star Wars contained in this two-disc set utilizes what is essentially the same transfer that was included in the boxed set release from two years ago, which is fine as it looks great. We already know that it's a fantastic transfer and that some would even go so far as to call it reference quality. It's been painstakingly cleaned up, it's got a lot of really nice fine detail in both the foreground and the background of the image and the color reproduction is gorgeous. Going into any more detail would be redundant – the tinkered with version of the movie looks great.

So what about the theatrical version? In a nutshell, it's not bad for what it is, but unfortunately what it is happens to basically be the laserdisc slapped onto DVD. The image is presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35.1 but no one has seen fit to give it anamorphic enhancement, which, to a lot of us, is a very big deal. Let the record show that the movie is perfectly watchable here but the differences between the loving restoration afforded the 'special edition' version compared to the theatrical cut is definitely very, very noticeable.

Going into a bit more detail, the first thing that you're likely to notice is the grain. While it's all but been completely removed on disc one, on disc two it is very noticeable. Some scenes suffer from this more than others do, but one need only to look at the scene where the Millennium Falcon takes off from Tattooine to see it in all its glory. The colors are also fairly uneven. Some scenes are pretty bright, others look flat and almost dead in spots.

The amount of grain coupled with the lower resolution stemming from the non-anamorphic transfer directly results in a significantly less detailed picture. Depending on how large your set up is, results are obviously going to vary a fair bit. For comparisons sake, the disc was sampled on a 20" set, a 32" flat screen tube set and a 78" screen by way of a projector and – though this should go without saying – the flaws were definitely more noticeable on the larger sets than the smaller ones, particularly the print damage and the over saturated reds in a few scenes. It's never overpowering and the movie is watchable even on a larger display but the fact of the matter is that this version of this movie deserved better than this. The video quality is okay, when really it should have been as good if not better than the 'special edition' version. These transfers were fine in the laserdisc days, but those are long gone and by today's standards they are just not up to where they should be.

Sound:

The 'special edition' of Star Wars on disc one has a fantastic Dolby Digital 5.1 EX Surround Sound mix in English and Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround mixes in English, French and Spanish with optional subtitles available in English. The 5.1 mix is very active and makes excellent use of all channels. The subwoofer gets some serious action during the combat and space battle scenes although there are a few spots where the dialogue fluctuates a little bit. Even with that said, this is still a nice mix, even if it isn't quite perfect.

One disc two, the theatrical version of Star Wars contains Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround mixes in English, French and Spanish with optional English subtitles. The same fluctuations in the dialogue that are on the first disc are here as well though they don't seem to be as pronounced. There's some nice channel separation contained throughout and even with the ups and downs of the dialogue there aren't any problems understanding what anyone says at any given time. A true surround sound mix would have been nice to see here, but again, this is basically the laserdisc on DVD and in defense of Fox/Lucas, it's close to the original mix that played in theaters decades ago - so flaws or not, that's a good thing.

Extras:

The first disc, which represents the 'special edition' of Star Wars contains only the audio commentary that was provided on the last DVD release that came out via the boxed set release in September of 2004. The participants on the track include George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher and if you haven't heard it, it's a pretty decent discussion even if you can tell that they weren't all sitting in a room together and were likely recorded completely separately from one another. Regardless, their collective comments have been edited together quite nicely and we do get a well-rounded talk about the history of the film, what it was like on set, where some of the location shooting was done and how some of the effects were pulled off. Lucas has a bit more to say than anyone else, which makes sense as this really was his baby from the start (whether we like it or not!) and what you get out of this track will directly relate to your tolerance for the man. There isn't a whole lot of enthusiasm to be found in his comments, and that can be a bit off putting. One can't help but be left thinking that the commentary could have been stronger than it is, but on the flip side, it could have been a lot worse. There's also a web-link included here for those who care to put the disc into their DVD-Rom and be whisked away to the official Star Wars website.

The only extra feature included on the second disc which houses the theatrical cut of the film is a playable demo and a trailer for Lego Star Wars II game, which admittedly looks very cool but is nothing more than an advertisement. Aside from that we get chapter stops and a menu screen. It might irritate some to learn that the menus for the theatrical version don't match those designed for the special editions and the three prequels and oddly enough, though the feature isn't anamorphic the menus are. Figure that one out, kids.

Inside the packaging is an insert that contains chapter stops for both discs and some nice artwork from the movie in addition to an advertisement for other Star Wars DVDs.

Final Thoughts:

It's hard to recommend a release like this when it seems like such an obvious cash grab. Granted, by non-anamorphic standards the unaltered Star Wars doesn't look bad here but there's no excuse for the lack of enhancement on such a popular and important film and the fact that fans are pretty much being forced to re-buy the 'special edition' version of the film in order to get the theatrical cut is, quite frankly, lame. Unless you're a completist, rent it.

Ian lives in NYC with his girlfriend where he writes for DVD Talk and for AV Maniacs. He spends a lot of time wandering around exploring and generally wondering what to do with himself.

Here is the direct download for the movie Star Wars A New Hope.

9/27/2008 11:42:00 AM
Categories: Movies Starting with S. Author: kevin