Author: Robert Greenberger

Given that it was the first to wrap its season, it makes perfect sense that Warner Home Entertainment would unleash the complete second season of the CW’s iZombie on disc ahead of the superheroes coming in August. The 4-disc DVD set is coming on Tuesday while Warner Archive will be simultaneously releasing iZombie the Complete First Season and iZombie the Complete Second Season on Blu-ray.

The series is loosely based on the Chris Roberson and Michael Allred Vertigo series and is a quiet success, garnering solid ratings and reviews but without the sturm and drang of its fellow DC properties. In the hands of executive producers Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) and Diane Ruggiero-Wright (The Ex List), they keep the mood light, the characters quirky, and the plots engaging.

While the short first season set everything up and explored what it means to be Olivia “Liv” Moore (Rose McIver), required to feast on the brains of the deceased to survive but in the eating, gains the dead’s memories and skills, heading off to tidy up unfinished business. The would-be doctor winds up working in the Seattle coroner’s office with Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti (Rahul Kohli), the only one fully aware of her condition and he’s working on a cure, but we don’t want him to hurry.

Rather than deal with the angst inherent in her plight, Liv decides she should embrace her situation and make the best of it, similar to Veronica Mars, providing us with another quirky, positive role model for its teen audience. She plays with a diverse set of supporting players including detective Clive Babineaux (Malcolm Goodwin), who may be the straight man in the ensemble.

As Season Two begins, Liv’s ex-fiancé and love, Major (Robert Buckley), is reeling from recent events and the knowledge that Liv is a zombie, and finds himself allied with Vaughn Du Clark (Steven Weber), ostensibly assassinating zombies but locking them away instead, with consequences for his actions.

Meanwhile, Blaine – now human – struggles to maintain his zombie world; Clive searches for Blaine and suspects Major’s involvement in the Meat Cute massacre; and Ravi remains devoted to finding an antidote to the zombie virus. On the other hand, Blaine (David Anders) is adjusting to life as a human again, but we know that isn’t going to last for long. All along, Thomas and Ruggiero-Wright are tightening the various storylines so by the season’s end, things all naturally brought together while the threat from Stacey Boss (Eddie Jemison) becomes increasingly evident.

Still, Olivia continues to embrace her new roles and this season she sampled being a coach, a stalker, a costumed vigilante (she’s on the CW, its required) or a tough stripper (the inevitable role). There’s plenty of humor to wring from each persona and the cast makes the most of the scenarios, regardless of how preposterous, spooky, or dangerous they appear to be.

Not every episode worked and it’s clear some plot threads were dropped because they weren’t working as planned so the season isn’t perfect. It’s a little ragged here and there, notably, the development of Blaine’s arc, much like a Zombie’s gait.

The second season brings things to a nice boil as Major is arrested, believed to the Chaos Killer. Liv’s only way to save him is to tell Clive of the Zombie threat and reveal her own secrets. This alters the status quo for the third season, due in early 2017, and gives us new ground to explore. That Du Clark becomes an increasing threat is nicely developed and Weber is having a ball in this over-the-top role.

The discs contain all 19 second season episodes, the 2015 Comic-Con Panel, and a handful of fun but non-essential deleted scenes. The high definition transfer to Blu-ray is just fine from an audio and video standpoint. They certainly stand up while being watched a second time. The first season also looks pretty spiffy on Blu-ray and the 2014 Comic-Con panel and deleted scenes are included as special features.

If it takes a village to raise a child, it seems to require an international village to kill a terrorist.  In the contemporary military thriller Eye in the Sky, the moral and legal issues resulting from the decision to launch a drone strike against three of the most wanted causes discussion,  consternation, and a lot of hand wringing. Out Tuesday from Universal Home Entertainment, the movie is available as a blu-ray combo with Digital HD.

Helen Mirren is the woman in the center of the action, orchestrating the American done opeeators, consulting with Alan Rickman, safe at headquarters,  and desperate to take these enemy combatants out. The problem: they are readying suicide bombers in a residential neighborhood so collateral damage is a given so limiting it becomes the challenge as they race against the clock.

Director Gavin Hood wrings as much tension out of the situation for 92 minutes, but he is hampered by the reality that the key players are never together.  Instead, we watch reaction shots and debates occur and really, editor Megan Gill gets all the credit for sustaining the tension.

Mirren’s desperation grows as every time she is ready to give the kill order, everyone wants to run the risk assessment again and higher up the chain of command.  Aaron Paul and Phoebe Fox are in the bunker, controlling the drone and he actually refuses an order to fire at one point, seeking verification about a little girl selling bread next to the target. According to a consultant who watched with me, he was in the wrong especially in front of a junior officer.

The reliance on technology and law protects hut hampers the efforts and brings up interesting themes for post-viewing discussion, the film itself, though, has lots of the right elements and several solid performances but is less than the sum of its parts. It just doesn’t hold together and sustain interest.

The high definition tansfer is crisp as is the audio.  The film comes with a mere two electronic press kit packages about the themes and totally underwhelms. Considering this is Rickman’s final film, I just wish it was overall a better experience.

Home Video fans have a lot to look forward to as Paramount Home Entertainment releases a variety of Star Trek material this year. First up and arriving Tuesday, just days after its 34^th anniversary is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut. This is the first time director Nicholas Meyer’s version of the now-classic film is available on Blu-ray.

There’s little left to say about just how good the film is and looking back, we can easily see the affection both cast and crew put into the production. There was a gamble in bringing in Harve Bennett to produce and Meyer to direct only because neither had been a part of Trek previously and Paramount needed the film to be a major success to salvage the franchise.

Thankfully, Bennett understand the genre and Meyer was a gifted novelist and filmmaker so got down to the core elements. He let the characters age and made that a theme of the film along with the story of revenge using Ricardo Montalban’s driven Khan Noonien Singh. Additionally, Meyer moved away from the bright, sterile Enterprise that Robert Wise envisioned in the first feature. It was darker with, as he put it, “more winkie blinkies”, the lights that made the bridge feel purposeful.

We warmed immediately to the film in part because from the outset the ensemble was present, active, and demonstrating the camaraderie we came to love about the original series. James Horner’s nearly pitch perfect score added an emotional depth coupled with ILM’s cutting edge computer effects.

The Director’s Cut restored three minutes of bits of business and reframed some scenes but didn’t include everything and I still miss the exchange between Spock and Saavik that revealed her to be a Romulan-Vulcan hybrid. The pacing and tension remains intact and the film still rivets you to the seat and brings a lump to your throat as you watch Kirk and Spock say goodbye.

The high definition transfer is solid, working from the original negatives. If anything it’s a little dark and you’re conscious of the film stock’s grain but these are minor quibbles for an older film.  The 7.1 Dolby True HD audio track is a fine complement.

All the original extras from the DVD edition are intact including Meyer’s Audio Commentary on the Theatrical and Director’s Cut, Meyer and Manny Coto’s commentary on the Theatrical version, and Michael & Denise Okluda’s text commentary on the Director’s Cut. Additionally, you get Captain’s Log (27:00) comprised of Designing Khan, Original Interview with DeForest Kelley, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Montalban; Where no man has Gone Before, The Visual Effects of Star Trek II, and James Horner: Composing Genesis.

The Star Trek Universe portion contains looks at Collecting Star Trek’s Movie Relics; A Novel Approach as buddies Greg Cox and Julia Ecklar discuss the Pocket Books program; and Starfleet Academy: The Mystery Behind Ceti Alpha V. You also get Farewell, Meyer’s tribute to Montalban who died in 2009; Storyboards, and the Theatrical trailer.

New to the disc is a 30 minute featurette, The Genesis Effect: Engineering the Wrath of Khan. Here, Meyer, producer Robert Sallin, producer Ralph Winter, and journalists Mark Altman and Larry Nemecek walk you through a condensed version of how the second film in the series was made. Sadly, this was produced after both Bennett and Nimoy passed away last year although Adam Nimoy briefly fills in for his father and Sallin gives Bennett his due. A handful of others, including The Big Bang Theory’s Bill Prady, discuss repeatedly sitting in the theater and reacting to the film, notably Spock’s death. It’s a nice tribute to a wonderful film.

Is it worth owning for the high definition version and 30 minutes of talking heads? That’s purely your choice but for me, I was transported and delighted, sucked in all over again.

Game of Thrones has certainly become a cottage industry, spewing forth all manner of collectible and universe expansion, all attempting to profit while filling the void as everyone awaits the sixth volume from writer George R.R. Martin. The next such offerings come from HBO Home Entertainment as they release the steelbook editions of seasons three and four on June 7.

Like the first two seasons, already available, these offer up a few bonuses for collectors or audiophiles. First, the Blu-ray sets are entirely the same as the already available sets with the one difference being that they have all been remastered to offer up Dolby Atmos, the immersive sound system. While PR surrounding the release says you need specific Atmos-enabled AV receivers, other models do access the new soundtracks to full effect (or so the experts tells me).

All ten episodes per season are present along with all the extras. If you don’t care about the Atmos soundtrack, then consider the steelbook packaging, complete with collectible plastic magnets. Consider this, the standard Blu-ray combo pack comes with the DVD and Digital HD copies listing for $50.99 while the steelbook version, without the DVD version, retails for $79.98. Now, yes, they will be heavily discounted but consider what you want as part of your video library.

Season Three, The Twins, comes with the sigil of House of Frey which is appropriate since this was the season of the memorable Red Wedding, drawn from the first half of A Storm of Swords.

The Wall, the Fourth Season, focuses on the Night’s Watch and the magnet here features a crow and Jon Snow’s sword, Longclaw. This season drew its material from the second half of A Storm of Swords, along with elements of A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons.

For the record, seasons one and two came out in November and offer the sigils of House Stark and House Lannister. All four magnets and the steelbook covers are all derived from the immensely watchable opening credits as designed by the Emmy Award-winning firm Elastic. Inspired by the maps that were found in each book of the series, designed by Jonathan Roberts, each episode spotlights different portions of the world that are featured in that episode. There are rules for their usage as outlined by the producers and a complete list of which countries appear on which episodes can be found at the Game of Thrones wiki.

The series certainly bears rewatching to enjoy the performances and relive thrilling moments. The story is rich enough that you can enjoy the foreshadowing and clues laying the ground work for what follows.

Twenty years ago, our summer films were big budget and fun, with just a dollop of seriousness to give them weight. They didn’t take themselves too seriously and more often than not delivered good performances, fine special effects, and plenty of bang for the buck. In many cases, they were original efforts that weren’t serialized or drawn from comic books despite their “comic book” feel.

One of the best of that bunch was Independence Day which, honestly, didn’t hold up to a lot of examination but gave us popcorn thrills and was really a 1950s disaster pic updated for the ‘90s. It’s a guilty pleasure and one we invariably stop to watch whenever we find it on television. A lot of credit goes to cowriter Dean Devlin and cowriter/director Roland Emmerich. It was well cast and kept moving, interweaving numerous threads that culminated in a terrific dog fight across America.

Looking back, we adore Bill Pullman’s rousing “let’s win one for the Gipper” speech right before the climactic battle or Will Smith punching out an alien and saying, “Welcome to Earth” before chomping on a stogie. You have fun character bits from Judd Hirsch and Harvey Firestein and this catapulted Viveca A. Fox to notoriety and a blossoming bromance between Smith and quirky Jeff Goldblum.

Does it hold up to story scrutiny? Considering the alien threat is stopped by a human-written computer virus delivered via an Apple laptop, I would say no.

Does it hold up watching 20 years later? Yep.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment serves up a remastered 1080p high definition transfer and two Blu-ray discs worth of goodness. The film is a treat to see with fresh eyes as the colors pop and all the details are evident. This is clearly the best it has looked since the theater.  Promises of better aside, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless track that accompanies the visuals is just what you want.

Disc one comes with the theatrical release and an extended cut, clocking in at 2:33:33. The special features carry over many of the elements from the previous Blu-ray edition such as the dual audio commentaries.

The second disc does come with Independence Day: A Legacy Surging Forward (30:40) which reunites cast and crew to look back and reminisce. You also get Original Theatrical Ending (4:16), showing how Russell Casse (Randy Quaid) saves the day. We also receive a Gag Reel (2:05); Creating Reality (29:19); ID4 Invasion (21:57), with fake news coverage, The Making of ID4 (28:29), Jeff Goldblum guides us on  a behind-the-scenes look; Combat Review (Random Destruction Clips) — AWACS Plane (0:14), Welcome Wagon (0:12), Los Angeles (0:36), New York (0:24), Washington, D.C. (1:12), Los Angeles Tunnel (1:19), Dogfight 1 (1:27), El Toro (0:17), Canyon (0:56), Dogfight 2 (0:42), Russell the Kamikaze (1:21), Mothership (0:18), and Random Destruction; Monitor Earth Broadcasts (Video Playback Newscasts), News clips created for the film — Static Report (1:35), Blue Acolytes (0:44), Sky News Russian (3:05), Team 1 Russian (3:46), Vox News Germany (0:47), Katja Scholl, Berlin (2:45), Farsi Report (2:52), Fields/Dunphy (2:54), Press Conference 1 (2:05), Press Conference 2 (1:38), Chinese Broadcast (1:40), Post-Conference (1:00), Engel on Fox (2:44), Hal Live: Modelmaker (2:48), Traffic Report (1:30), Russell Casse Arrest (1:58), U.N. Report (2:30), Alien Lovers (1:07), Rooftop Parties (0:35), Fields/Engel Debate (3:40), Welcome Wagon Report 1 (4:35), and Welcome Wagon Report 2 (4:40).

There are extensive Galleries covering Welcome Wagon Storyboard Sequences, Destruction Storyboard Sequences, Biplane Ending Storyboard Sequences, Alien Beings Conceptual Artwork, Alien Ships Conceptual Artwork, Sets and Props Conceptual Artwork, and Production Photographs.

Finally, we have three Teaser Trailers and the Theatrical Trailer followed by the various TV Spots — Super Bowl TV Spot (0:32), Apple Computer TV Spot (0:32), 15-Second TV Spot (0:17), 30-Second TV Spot 1 (0:31), 30-Second TV Spot 2 (0:30), 30-Second TV Spot 3 (0:31), 30-Second TV Spot 4 (0:31), and 30-Second TV Spot 5 (0:31).

Regardless of whether or not you liked the film, Deadpool and 20^th Century Fox delivered the best marketing campaign in years, from initial teasers right up to the Cialis spoof for the Blu-ray release, which came out this week.

Let me say up front that I was never a fan of the Merc with a Mouth from his introduction in 1991 through his overexposure in the comics the last few years. He’s the answer to DC’s Ambush Bug and breaks the fourth wall so often that you just can’t take or his adventures seriously. Seeing him operating an Avenger today is staggering since it forces him to be a grounder player which operates against where he works best.

The film recognizes this and treats him as a live action Wile E. Coyote so there’s a manic feel from the first frame to the last. Everything is there short of the Acme anvil. Was Ryan Reynolds born to play this role? Probably not but he took a supporting role in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and made us pay attention. After a detour to space sector 2814, he’s back in costume and wreaking havoc.

The film takes nothing seriously or for granted and has a great time deconstructing the tropes of the super-hero film and summer blockbuster formula. That it opened in February seems to be part of the joke except the joke was turned on competitors as it owned the box office for weeks. For an R-rated film featuring a relatively obscure character for the non-comic reading masses, this was pretty audacious.

Deadpool also features Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapičić) so we’re grounded in 20^th’s corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But even there they make fun so at one point, Deadpool is being taken for counseling by Charles Xavier, he asks “Stewart or McAvoy?” It even comes with a silly villain, Ajax, a.k.a. Francis Freeman (Ed Skrein) who was birthed at the same Weapon X program that turned Wade Williams into Deadpool.

Director Tim Miller and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick make us feel for Williams as he is horribly disfigured and has his life turned upside down. He takes on Blind Al (Leslie Uggams) as an unconventional roommate and continues to pine for Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), the hooker who got away.

The high definition transfer is deadly serious, seriously good and captures the film’s images just swell using an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1.  The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track may be even better so this will stand up to constant rewatching at home.

The special features don’t quite live up to the film’s expectations but they do not disappoint. As one would expect, you have Deleted/Extended Scenes (19:14) complete with optional commentary from Miller. And there’s a Gag Reel (6:12); along with the appropriate From Comics to Screen…to Screen (1:20:00), five highly entertaining featurettes;, a Gallery with Freeway (1080p; 00:20), X-Mansion Hangar (00:20), Workshop (00:55), Shipyard (00:35), Costumes — Deadpool (00:50) Ajax (00:15), Colossus (00:25), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (00:15), Angel Dust (00:15); Storyboards — Freeway (16:56) En Route to Shipyard (3:50) Shipyard – Mercenary Fight (22:11) Shipyard – Aftermath (11:00) Pre-Vis (7:08) Stunt-Vis Shipyard (2:03). Deadpool’s Fun Sack (23:54) features Mario Lopez interviewing Ryan Reynolds and among silliness.

There are multiple commentaries that offer amusing insights in the production process and are worth a listen. You can try “Wade”/”Deadpool”/Producer Ryan Reynolds and Screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick or Director Miller with Deadpool Co-Creator Rob Liefeld.