Author: Robert Greenberger

I was ten when I was taken to see 2001: A Space Odyssey for a friend’s birthday. I was coming to love all things science fiction by this point, but the film both dazzled and baffled me. I got most of it up until the final twenty minutes or so and was left utterly confused. I next encountered it at college and appreciate it, as a filmmaking milestone but still didn’t love it, largely because I realize how cold and sterile the future was when I wanted something to look forward to. The star child ending was, thankfully, less a conundrum.

I haven’t seen it all the way through since then, but Warner Home Entertainment changed that with the gorgeous new release, lovingly restored and available in a deluxe 4K, Blu-ray, and Digital HD boxset. There are two Blu-ray discs, one for the film and one for the bonus material plus a small booklet with stills and several gorgeous cards.

The film’s influence on the genre and filmmaking cannot be underestimated since so many revere director Stanley Kubrick’s vision and meticulous approach to production. Where many SF films go from concept to screen in a year or two, this took four and involved the brilliant Arthur C. Clarke, building off his short story “The Sentinel”.

We are taken from the Dawn of Man to the bright future and the evolution of man. Present throughout the millennia are black Monoliths and when one is found on the Moon, broadcasting a signal to Jupiter, things get interesting. The Discovery is sent to explore the newfound alien object and we’re off.

Interestingly, Kubrick and Clarke were trying to be as realistic in examining how space travel in the near future would work as the same time producer Gene Roddenberry was looking a century or two further ahead with vastly different results. Of course, Kubrick had Hollywood film money and Douglas Trumbull on his side while Roddenberry had to feed the weekly prime time maw. (Still, Roddenberry did beat them at the computer going mad four months earlier than the film in “The Ultimate Computer”, take that HAL.)

We follow astronauts Frank Poole and David Bowman (Gary Lockwood and Keir Dullea) resemble the NASA ideal as they exercise, work, and recreate aboard the giant, white spacecraft. Their interactions with HAL 9000 look fanciful a decade or more earlier and today look entirely plausible (thank you, Siri).

I wish the characters were wearer and more human but that was not Kubrick’s style (the same could be said for his final outing as well). DO I better understand the final sequence? Sure because in the intervening years it’s been written about extensively. I still possess the ten year old’s sense of awe at the sheer spectacle of the film even if it is not my favorite SF film of all time.

The new 4K editions was scanned from the original camera negative in 8K resolution reduced to a brilliant 4K in the proper 2.20:1 aspect ratio, graded for high dynamic range in both HDR10 and Dolby Vision. The time and effort that went into perfecting the visuals makes this edition a far cry superior to the one overseen a few years back by Christopher Nolan. The fine detail captured here along with the superb color balance makes this an entirely new film watching experience (I envy those with a nice home theater to watch this in).

The audio comes as a pair of 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless mixes, the 1999 restoration and re-mix and the original 1968 6-track 70 mm theatrical audio. Both are wonderful to hear and make you appreciate the classical sore all the more.

The Blu-ray version is remastered from the new source making it a quantum leap better than the previous edition, alone making it worth purchasing.

The sole bonus feature on the 4K disc is the 2007 Audio Commentary from Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, which you can also find on the Blu-ray. The second disc contains a plethora of materials gathered from the various previous releases. These include 2001: The Making of a Myth (43:08), Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001 (21:25); Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001 (21:31); 2001: A Space Odyssey – A Look Behind the Future (23:11); What Is Out There? (20:42); 2001: FX and Early Conceptual Artwork (SD – 9:33); Look: Stanley Kubrick! (3:15); 11/27/1966 Interview with Stanley Kubrick (76:31), and Theatrical Trailer (1:51). Material from the MGM video release is not present.

Spider-Man unknowingly wearing an alien symbiote was perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of Secret Wars but it also thrust the character into a decade of increasingly unfortunate stories as Venom inexplicably proved a popular monster, giving us the even worse Carnage. As a result of the commercial interest in the character, Sony insisted the third film from Sam Raimi include Venom but when the director is told to include something he’s disinterested in, the results are rarely good. With a renewed Spider-Man franchise, Sony is back to milking the cow and offers up a Venom solo film that lacks everything that made Spider-Man: Homecoming so welcome.

The violent, messy film has arrived on disc from Sony Home Entertainment including the popular 4K, Blu-ray, and Digital HD combo pack. Ruben Fleischer directed, which makes sense given the tonally similar Zombieland with a script by Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg, and Kelly Marcel (never a good sign).

We get journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), now relocated from New York in the comics to San Francisco, where his failure to interview billionaire Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) somehow costs him both his job and his relationship with fiancé DA Anne Weying (Michelle Williams). Instead, he stumbles across an even bigger story: alien symbiotes are on Earth and one bonds with Brock, turning him into Venom.

Brock has to warn the world of the threat while Venom has other ideas until they come to a meeting of the minds. Meantime, there are symbiotes aplenty, chaos, mayhem, and wanton destruction by the ton.

The only reason any of this works is Hardy, who never gives less than 100 percent to a role and while he’s less interesting here than he was as Mad Max, at least gives us a Venom to care about. He pairs okay with Williams who took on a superhero franchise to push herself as a commercial actress and should have considered other roles despite her desire to be a she-Venom in the inevitable sequel. Speaking of which, we sadly get foreshadowing of Carnage (Woody Harrelson, who should know better) in the mid-credits sequence.

The 4K disc shines with great detail for Venom, thanks to superb SFX and you get to enjoy every byte of mucous and slime. The film overall is adequate with solid Dolby Vision (making San Francisco shine) in the HDR transfer at a 2.39:1 aspect ratio; and Dolby Atmos and core 7.1 Dolby TrueHD Master Audio tracks, but not overly superior to the Blu-ray disc (for the budget conscious).

The Blu-ray contains the various special features, pretty much by-the-numbers behind-the-scenes material. The best part is “Venom Mode”, essentially a pop up trivia track when watching the film a third or fourth time.

That said, “From Symbiote to Screen” does have 20 minutes of fan love thanks to the involvement of Kevin Smith, so you can get much of the background you’d want. Then there’s “The Anti Hero” (10:00), “Lethal Protector in Action” (9:00) focusing on stunts; “Venom Vision” (0:00) with Fleischer discussing directing the movie; “Designing Venom” (5:00); “Symbiote Secrets” all about the comic book Easter Eggs; two music videos: “Venom” by Eminem and “Sunflower” by Post Malone, Swae Lee (from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse); and four deleted and extended scenes (the best being the mid-credits sequence). For those who purchase the iTunes version of the movie, you get the exclusive bonus “Friends of Venom” (7:00) with Smith talking about the supporting players.

The 4K disc does have one neat bonus: the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse post-credits scene.

You have to love Venom or Hardy or be a collector to genuinely want this on your shelf. Otherwise, it’s a fairly standard comic book adaptation at a time when the stakes have been raised considerably.

When it ran on CBS, Mission: Impossible had zero internal continuity. Missions came and went, agents were tortured, battered, and bruised and the next week they’d be hale and hardy, ready for the next assignment.

Since the film franchise began in 1996, the movies have gone in the opposite direction with film to film connectivity, just enough to show the films have consequence but work on their own so you don’t need one of DK Publishing’s patented guidebooks to understand what’s happening.

You’d almost think there was some grand plan and strategy ala Marvel for these films since everything builds to a head in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, out today on disc from Paramount Home Entertainment.

Recently, the first film, from director Brian DePalma has been making the rounds on cable and I was reminded of how much larger and richer the cast of agents were. Since then, there has been precious little mention made of operatives other than the core cast that seemingly winnows per film. There was the pre-credit nod to the past with Keri Russell in M: I III.

So, here we are again with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), the only holdovers from the beginning, with the addition of Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), who interestingly joined in M:I III. That’s it. The IMF apparently has faced attrition and budget cuts. Cruise and Director/Producer/Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie have stitched together elements from all the films to create a taut, suspenseful and ultimately very satisfying sixth installment in the series, which has yet to run out of steam.

We pick up with the remnants of Solomon Lane’s (Sean Harris) The Syndicate (a wink to the anonymous organization Jim Phelps battled almost weekly on television), The Apostles. They are searching for three plutonium cores and when the first gambit fails, are stuck with political shenanigans between the CIA in the form of Erica Sloane (Angela Bassett) and the IMF, now championed by Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin). With trust absent, she insists August Walker (Henry Cavill) work with Hunt’s team.

As they seek the cores, the encounter “The White Widow” (Vanessa Kirby), a black market arms dealer and the returning Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who finds herself allied with and in competition with Hunt. There are the usual death-defying car chases, running and jumping, and mass mayhem but leavened with some deadpan humor.

We see Hunt and Walker fight in the trailers so we’re not sure if the CIA shadow is a good guy or turncoat but his stiff, diffident performance pretty much gives things away. Cavill can be easy on the eyes, but he really needs to loosen up to remain interesting on screen.

Everything builds up to Lane threatening more than the world; he’s targeted Julia (Michelle Monaghan), Hunt’s one true love. The climax in Kashmir may be drawn out, but is pulse-pounding and emotional. The status quo has been modified for future installments and viewers will be fine with a repeated viewing at home.

The film is available in the usual formats including the 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and Digital HD package. As one would expect, the 2160p resolution displays a native 4K image in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio, although there are exceptions with two opening sequences having been shot in a 1.90:1 IMAX ratio. Given the scenery, notably the Kashmir section, we are treated to fine detail, clarity, and sharpness, superior to the Blu-ray. The Dolby Atmos audio track is strong and pairs well with the 4K disc.

A glossy, full color booklet titled Stunts: Raiding the Bar is included inside the embossed case, featuring slight commentary regarding several key sequences.

The 4K disc comes with Audio Commentary: in three flavors: McQuarrie and Cruise, McQuarrie and Editor Eddie Hamilton, and Composer Lorne Balfe. As is increasingly common on 4K releases, we’re treated to an Isolated Score in Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.

The Blu-ray disc with the feature carries the same bonus features but then there’s a second Blu-ray disc with an additional hour’s worth of goodness. The majority of the disc is filled with the seven-part Behind the Fallout (53:32) which exhaustively covers the film’s development and production. Broken down, these include Light the Fuse (11:10), giving you an overview; Top of the World (10:48), all about the HALO jump sequence; The Big Swing: Deleted Scene Breakdown (3:44);  Rendezvous in Paris (7:21); The Fall (5:57), all about how a man falls from a helicopter and lives to tell the tale; and The Hunt Is On (11:08), a spotlight on the helicopter chase; Cliffside Clash (4:02).

Rounding out the disc are Deleted Scenes Montage (3:41), complete with optional commentary by McQuarrie and Hamilton; Foot Chase Musical Breakdown (4:50); The Ultimate Mission (2:51), Cruise on his love of the series; Storyboards, and the Theatrical Trailer (2:33).

It feels as if Mark Wahlberg is casting about for a franchise to call his own. The actor, who recently bailed on the remake of The Six Million Dollar Man, may have found it in his fourth outing with director Peter Berg, Mile 22.

This action-adventure film, out now from Universal Home Entertainment, introduces us to CIA operative James Silva (Mark Wahlberg). He’s been tasked by Overwatch leader John Malkovich with bringing an asset, police officer Li Noor (Iko Uwais), to the secret Mile 22 facility so they can extract the life-threatening secrets he holds about the whereabouts of several radioactive cesium isotope dirty bombs. With that thin, familiar set-up, he’s off and running and we’re breathless trying to keep up.

We travel to interesting locales (Colombia filling in for Indonesia), have one set piece after another, watching Jason Bourne/Ethan Hunt/James Silva avoid being blown up, shot, stabbed, or beaten to death. The action is decorated with all the latest surveillance tools and cybersecurity wizardry so it looks good.

Lauren Cohan plays Alice Kerr, Noor’s handler who was wounded prior to the film’s main story and is seen dealing with the after effects and repercussions. Her arc is surprisingly good and helps ground the film from floating away at warp speed. Her performance and Uwais’ make the film more enjoyable than it should be.

One has to credit Lea Carpenter, in her debut screenplay (doctored by Graham Roland) for providing us with the template for adrenaline-filled adventure with a likeable lead. If only he weren’t so cardboard – maybe next time.

The movie comes as a Blu-ray DVD, Digital HD multiscreen extravaganza and has a fine high definition resolution and audio track

The picture in its 2.39:1 aspect ratio and DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 sound quality on the Blu-Ray are solid as expected and the special features include interviews from the premiere on the red carpet with the cast, six behind the scenes featurettes along with soundbites and B-Roll.

The Blu-ray special features are as lightweight and forgettable as the film they support. These include: Overwatch (1:36), detailing the para-military division in Mile 22; Introducing Iko (1:48): shining the camera on international action star Iko Uwais; Iko Fight (1:47), more or less continues the previous piece focusing on his training and choreography; Bad Ass Women (1:44) has actors Lauren Cohan and Ronda Rousey and writer Lea Carpenter, celebrate female empowerment; BTS Stunts (1:56); Modern Combat (1:56) shows what goes into making one of these films, which requires multiple cameras and carefully planned cinematography to capture the death-defying stunts; and finally, Colombia (3:45), a travelogue of sorts.