Reviews by Members

Star Wars Blu Ray Collection Review

Ian Lawther - 12 Oct 2011

Moved 19th Jan 2012 by Damien Mocata

The wait is over! The Star Wars saga has finally been released on Blu Ray in an all new 9 disc set.

I sometimes think to myself how many times am I going to by Star Wars? I've bought videos, laser discs, DVD's and now Blu Ray at £65. I told myself that I didn't need another Star Wars set. well I held out for two weeks! 

I've now watched every disc all the films, features and commentaries and over all I have to say I was impressed. It was so fantastic to watch the original trilogy or should I say the new original trilogy complete with even more new tweaks from George Lucas. Even so all I can say is awesome! The prequels don't hold up as well. Don't get me wrong the picture and sound quality is fantastic however some of the effects just don't look right.

The Phantom Menace was the last Star Wars film to be filmed on 35mm film. It can be difficult to convert film into HD so this could explain episode 1 but I don't know what happened to episode 2 and 3? We also have over 40 hours of features with the highlight being new cast and crew commentaries taken from interviews and never before seen archive documentaries from when the original films were made. 

Overall if it wasn't for the features I would say just buy the original trilogy but unfortunately you only get the commentaries but none of the other features. So overall I think it’s a great set worth having. I just wish the prequels held up as well in HD as the originals. 

4 out of 5

Batman Live Review

Neill Stringer - 12 Oct 2011

Moved 19 Jan 2012 by Damien Mocata

Holy Stage Productions Batman! Yes it's the oldest cliche in the book when it comes to starting any review on a Batman production. A live stage production based on DC Comic's greatest hero, Batman, could have went to the camp tone of the sixties series with Adam West. However, fortunately it did not.  

In fact the tone of Batman Live was very reminiscent of the Animated Series I loved so much from the 1990s. Not surprising as it was written by Alan Burnett, who had written for that wonderful show.  

Batman Live has a lot of wonderful Circus Acrobats and a little bit of illusion in it, and although this might sound like it is moving away from Batman, several of the main parts are set in a circus and therefore it was great that the Live show was a new take on the origins of Robin.  

The aerial work with the stunts such as Batman flying with his cape open was fantastic. The fight sequences, apart from one with Catwoman, were brilliantly chereographed.  

Performances all around were excellent, especially from the performers playing The Joker and harley Quinn. Very reminiscent of Mark Hamill's performance on the Animated Series and Harley Quinn was pitch perfect from the Animated series counterpart. Joker was a touch more camp than the more recent Heath Ledger interpretation but I feel the one on the show feels true to how I see Joker as Mark Hamill's one is one of the definitive takes on The Joker.  

I found the story engaging and the aerial work fantastic. The computer graphics on the back wall worked great to move the story along.  

A great show that every Bat fan needs to see. 

Super 8 Review

Ian Lawther - 08 Aug 2011

Moved 19 Jan 2012 by Damien Mocata