VIDEO GAMER X's DVD REVIEWS

I had held off for quite sometime on purchasing a DVD Player because I was waiting for the Playstation 2 to release, and I figured since it plays DVD's it would be a waste of my money to buy a DVD player for this function alone. Now that I have Playstation 2, I have begun purchasing DVD's. The one thing I like about DVD's is the fact that they are virtually eternal. I could be buried in the ground 80 years from now and that DVD will still work (If there's a player to play it in). This is the advantage of digital storage media. Gone are the days when I have to trash a VHS because the magnetic tape is beginning to degrade and it gets snow on the movie, the sound wavers, and the colors are washed out and dim. DVD's seem to also have many bonuses over standard VHS with often times extra footage, documentaries about the making of the films, directors tracks, extra features and games and even the ability to open up interactive capabilities available on a PC. The following constitute some of the DVD's I've purchased since getting my Playstation 2, I may periodically update this list with an additional movie title as I get more.

TRON (Sci-Fi) - Back in the early 80's I remember watching this movie when I was a little tyke, and I was mesmerized back then by how futuristic is seemed, and sure enough TRON was the first movie to employ CGI as part of the live action sequences. With the DVD Release in January of 2002, I watched it again and was taken aback by how forward thinking this film's special effects were during a time when CGI was unheard of. The premise of TRON is the characterization of people in the real world and their cyber avatars as "programs," and the connection between the two. The major direction of the plot of the film involves the conquering of an artificial master intelligence called the Master Control Program. The MCP seeks total domination of all computer systems and programs worldwide, and to ultimately control humanity or "the users." In the real world a once computer programmer seeks to regain stolen video game software. Long before the Matrix and Swordfish this movie shows the cavalier rebelliousness of a hacker, Flynn, who is subsequently demolecularized by a laser and drawn into "cyberspace" by the MCP, where he is forced to play video games with other encaptured programs. He meets another fighter program for the independance of all programs, TRON, a creation of his user Alan-1. Tron seeks communication with his "user" and learns the way to disable the MCP for good and bring peace and tranquility back to the domain of the digital world. The same actors play roles in the real world and the computer world lending to the dual connection between program and user. Compared to today's video games the CGI in TRON may seem primative, but when it appeared in 1981, this was at the very cutting edge of something not ever done before. I laughed when I saw all the non shaded lined polygons making up the environments, but interestingly enough it worked out well, fitting the ambiance of the film. If you watch the documentary on the second disc, you'll learn how innovative and new this was when this film was being produced. In many ways TRON reminded me of Japanese themes and cinematic animation, long before such Anime's as Akira, Robotech, and Armatage III appeared. A good comparison to make, showing the progression of technological capability from two decades ago and today is to watch TRON, and then Final Fantasy: The Spirit's Within, keeping mind, both movies were crafted within the realm of the computer. The only drawback I have to nail Disney on, is the fact that after about 25 minutes into the movie, the video gets messed up on the Playstation 2 creating an screen filling array of small orange squares that don't go away unless you reset it. I thought the DVD had a bad burn, until I returned it and the one that I got to replace the last one did the same thing. The only way to work around it, is to play the movie up to that point, reset the PS2, and start from the very next section past that part. That's just shoddy encoding right there, and Disney can only blame it's production on that one.

Ah! My Goddess (Japanese Animation)

Pearl Harbor (Drama/Historical) -

Memento (Drama/Esoteric)

Jurassic Park III (Sci-Fi/Action)

Serial Experiments Lain: Reset (Japanese Animation/Esoteric) -

Star Trek: The Motion Picture Directors Edition (Sci-Fi) -

Apocalypse Now: Redux (Drama) -

Princess Monuke (Japanese Animation) -

Samarai X (Japanese Animation) -

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (Sci-Fi) -

Akira (Japanese Animation) -

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (Action) -

2001: A Space Odyssey (Sci-Fi)

The Shining (Horror) -

The Cell (Sci-Fi) -

Dune (Sci-Fi/Fantasy) -

Braveheart - (Drama/Period)

The Matrix (Sci-Fi/Action) - Who doesn't like this movie? I don't care what you say but the Matrix is up there with a tie between a few others as one of the greatest movies ever made. It kicks ass! Keanu Reeves' (Neo) epiphany that he is the savior of mankind and the fact that the human will to survive can overcome the limitations of oppression and self-doubt make this a worthwhile Sci-Fi plot although not too original. It did manage to work this plot device well into the whole ambiance of the film. This movie is filled with action, and superb special effects and film techniques. The Matrix slowdown is kind of a new camera trick that has since been copied by other films, but The Matrix started it first. There are some lines in that movie that do have profound implications. Morpheus says, "What is real? How do you define real? Is real what you can see, smell, taste, hear or touch? These are only electrical impulses processed by your brain." I've thought about that concept before, but I don't think I've seen a movie that touched upon it as well as the Matrix. This movie probably has a bigger appeal with Generation Y, and computer/internet age young people like myself. I can't wait for the sequel and I often wonder what an awesome kick ass video game this movie could be. I saw some things similar to the Matrix in Resident Evil: Code Veronica and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, but I can't tell you how much I would drool over a game based upon this movie. I've been checking the gaming sites for this but found nothing. :( The Matrix DVD comes with the Making of the film and you can also listen to the Directors talking while you watch the film. Would you take the red pill?

Gladiator (Drama/Action/Period) - Probably up there with The Matrix this movie is bad ass. It is an action oriented movie with sweeping epic battles and intense events. The realism is definitely there with Roman Legions battling it out with enemy states, and "in the arena" violence depicted true to form right down to the bloodiest detail. There were times I often felt like I was back in the Roman era watching the bloodsport itself. The plot itself does compel the story the central character's trials, tragedies, betrayals, triumphs, and ultimate fealty to Rome. There are two DVDs that includes many extras including deleted scenes, documentaries about the History of Roman Arena fighting, the making of the movie and more. This is beyond epic and I think they should have emulated this in something like Zelda or Final Fantasy somewhere.

Full Metal Jacket - (Drama) Now this isn't a new release or anything (I think it came out in 1980), but this is the kind of movie that is not only scathingly funny at times but it delivers a very realistic and serious depiction of what it was like to be drafted during the Vietnam War and the horrors that often faced young men as they were plucked from society and placed into an unpopular war, trained to become killers. I wouldn't recommend this to small children, rather it is more suited for teenagers. I first saw it when I was 13, so I guess I could handle it at that age, but it probably wouldn't have affected me if I saw it when I was younger, violent movies just never influenced me when I was a kid. The movie contains extreme yet witty profanity and derrogatory belittlement on a regular basis. For example the Drill Seargent says, "How tall are you private!" Private answers, "Sir, 5'9 sir!" He replies, "I didn't know they stacked s**t up that high! Are you trying to get an inch in on me boy!" "Sir no sir!" "It looks like to me that the best part of you ran down the crack of your momma's ass and ended up as a brown stain on the matress!" (or) "Where are you from numbnuts!" "Sir Texas Sir" "Texas! My god, only steers and queers come from Texas maggot!" "It looks like to me you're not a steer so that narrows it down a bit!" It depicts prostitution, suicide, violence, murder, death, and war. By these things alone it could be easy to judge this film as just a worthless shock film but it's not. There are very sobering issues addressed about society and the controversial Vietnam War historically seen though the eyes of those who served. Directed by Stanley Kubrick it's portrayal of military life is stunningly real, and the characters very distinct. I would recommend this one for a good laugh and a good scare. I don't think the DVD came with any extras on this one though.

Titan AE (Sci-Fi/Animation) - I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into when I bought this one. I wasn't sure if it was an Anime or a Computer CGI film, but what I discovered was a rather interesting melding of both. Athough the animation style seems to lean more on what we might see from Disney, this is integrated with computer 3-D effects and rendering that make it interesting to watch. It's a great movie for the kids to watch. As a matter of fact I used it to quiet a bunch of squrming and noisy kids so that's testimonial enough to express my point. It has an adequate plot but don't expect anything amazingly new or innovative there. At least it's not Mighty Morphin Power Rangers or Pokemon. It's just another Sci-Fi that grabs it's premise from things that have been done before. It comes with a documentary of how the film was made, you can listen to the directors talking about the film while you watch it, and the DVD includes extra features.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Sci-Fi) - This movie was awesome when I was a little kid and still is. Arguably, this is Arnold Swartzenegger's most distinctive role as the Terminator, a killing machine sent from the future year 2029 to prevent young John Conner from being killed by another more advanced Terminator, the T1000. There are some bad ass effects on this movie that were pretty groundbreaking for 1991, like the morphing metallic polymemetic alloy of the T1000, and the many explosions and fantastic actions sequences that permiate this film. The DVD contains the Theatrical Version and the Special Edition which contains more than 20 Minutes of new footage I had never seen originally. Geez, I wish they had kept all that in there because it was cool, like when they unscrewed the Terminator's head and took out the CPU from his brain to reset him into Read/Write mode. This is one of those Sci-Fi contemporary classics that deserve to be part of any library. The DVD is double-sided and contained loads of extras including a second ending! There were documentaries on how they made the film, on the Terminator 3-D ride at Universal Studios, and many referance footage and material related to the movie, just about everything but the kitchen sink was on that disc. I do believe you can even put it in a PC as a DVD-ROM and access even more bonus features. Awesome movie, and worth a second go around on DVD.

BladeRunner (Sci-Fi) - This movie was one of those Sci-Fi's like Dune, that isn't always talked about or referanced like other films, yet it was an admirable film for it's time depicting an overindustrialized world and the confrontation between a man's feelings and his orders as well as the finality of a sentient android's existance. The movie tends to have a very bleak ambiance to it, and it exists in the darker corners of sci-fi. It starred such actors as Harrison Ford, and Daryl Hannah. The special effects are very well done for the time this film debuted and the attention paid to detail and the expression of the world in 2019 is very vivid however slightly unrealistic for that timeframe. There aren't really much extras on the DVD besides some information how the film was made, and the director talking about how he made the film when you enable that feature. I talk to people and they usually have a glazed look over their face when I mention this movie, but if you haven't seen it, it's worth it to check out.