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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > Boxing > Urban > Sequel > Spin-off > Martial Arts > Video Game > Superhero > Origins > TV > Satire > Spo > Creed II 4K (2018/MGM/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Double Dragon (1995/MVD Blu-ray)/Krypton: The Complete First Season (2018*)/Once Upon A Deadpool (2018/Marvel/Fox Blu-ray)/Reign Of The Supe

Creed II 4K (2018/MGM/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Double Dragon (1995/MVD Blu-ray)/Krypton: The Complete First Season (2018*)/Once Upon A Deadpool (2018/Marvel/Fox Blu-ray)/Reign Of The Supermen (2019 w/DVD/*both DC Comics/Warner Blu-ray)



4K Ultra HD Picture: A Picture: B+/B/B/B+ & B-/B+ & B- Sound: A/B/B/B+ & B-/B+ & B- Extras: B/B/C+/D/B Main Programs: B/C/C+/B/B



Here's a big dosage of franchise releases...



To everyone's surprise, the Rocky spin-off Creed did very well, so well that we now have a sequel. You can check out our review of the previous Creed film in 4K here...


http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14279/Creed+(2015+Rocky+spin-off/MGM/Warner)/In+Th


It leads to even more thoughts on the film in a link to an older review.



Now, the Rocky Balboa saga continues with Creed II (2018), which reunites stars Sylvester Stallone as Rocky and Michael B. Jordan as heavyweight champion Adonis Creed. Also featuring Dolph Lundgren and Tessa Thompson, the film is heavily reminiscent of earlier installments of the Rocky saga, and centers around Adonis Creed facing off against Viktor Drago (son of Balboa's infamous foe Ivan Drago).


Directed by Steven Caple Jr. (The Land), Creed II follows the Rocky storytelling formula as one would expect: training montages, slow mo sequences, etc. However, it's about more than just the fight inside the ring, but how much pain and endurance one must face in order to become a champion. While there aren't many surprises here, the film is fine for the sports movie that it is, but don't expect it to necessarily be anything too innovative.


After his previous loss in the first film, Adonis Creed claims the title as Heavyweight Champion, meanwhile changes are happening in this personal life. Confessing his love to the woman he loves, singer/songwriter Bianca (Thompson), Creed gets a shock when he is called into the ring to fight Viktor Drago - whose father was responsible for the death of his father, Apollo Creed. Despite his vigorous training, Adonis discovers that not even Rocky Balboa (Stallone) himself is willing to step back into the ring with a Drago, and so he must go in himself to battle the beast. While he goes through many ups and downs, there's a lot of interesting things going on here in this well written film co-written by Stallone himself.


Creed II is presented in 2160p HECV/H.265, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image with a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and tracks in Dolby Atmos 11.1 lossless and DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless, the presentation here is very impressive. Enhanced with what we now con sider earlier HDR10 (vs. new HDR 10+), the beautifully photographed film shines through during its intense boxing matches and slow motion sequences in particular. Also included is a 1080p high definition Blu-ray of the film with similar specs, but more compression in the image.


Special Features include...


From Father to Son, Blood Runs Hot featurette

Finding the Authentic featurette

The Women of "Creed II" featurette

The Rocky Legacy featurette

and Deleted Scenes



The early '90s before digital effects were commonplace, was an interesting time for Hollywood and saw many more martial arts based films than we have now due to the success of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and 3 Ninjas movies. At this time, Hollywood was also experimenting with turning video games into movies and had a few really bad eggs including the infamously bad Super Mario Brothers movie (which still has yet to be updated to HD). Around the same time, Double Dragon (1994) came out and remains to be one of the silliest, campiest, and over the top video game inspired movies ever made.


Around the time this film came out, I was just a young boy and I remember seeing it in the theater with my Dad, and both of us scratched our heads afterwards not sure of what we just saw. Seeing it again as an adult, it reminds me a lot of the Canon Films made in the '80s that are 'so bad they are good' (but more emphasis on the bad). There's plenty of mutants, explosions, and karate chops to make this worth a revisit even if it's cheesier than most sandwiches at a deli. It rips off countless other movies including Blade Runner and Mad Max, but still manages to be its own thing.


Double Dragon stars Robert Patrick, Mark Dacascos, Scott Wolf, Kristina Wagner, and Julia Nickson. The film is directed by James Yukich.


A mystical dragon medallion holds unbelievable power in Double Dragon. Broken in half, one half belongs to the Lee brothers (Dacascos and Wolf) and the other half stolen by Koga Shuko (Patrick), who hopes to use it for evil. The Brothers must set out to get it back and battle plenty of formidable foes along the way. Set in 'New Angeles' after 'The Quake' which wiped out most of humanity, Double Dragon pulls all the punches!


The film is presented in 1080p on Blu-ray disc with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and a newly remastered mix in lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo. This is the first time this film has been released in HD, and needless to say it looks better than ever. Colors are vibrant and crisp and there's more detail than the also included anamorphically enhanced, standard definition DVD, which has similar specs. As with the other titles in the MVD Rewind library, a lot of attention has been paid to make these all but forgotten films look their best for today's market. So far they've done a bang up job!


Special Features include...


"The Making of Double Dragon" (full length documentary featuring interviews with stars Scott Wolf and Marc Dacascos, writers Peter Gould & Michael Davis and producer Don Murphy)


"Don Murphy: Portrait of a Producer" featurette


Archival ''Making of'' featurette


Behind the Scenes featurette


1993 Double Dragon Animated Series Pilot Episode #101: "The Shadow Falls"


Storyboard Gallery


Press Photos, Marketing and Behind The Scenes Photo Galleries


TV Spots


VHS Home Video Trailer


Original Theatrical Trailer


Collectible Mini-Poster


and Reversible Sleeve Featuring Alternate Artwork


Don't expect your life to be changed after watching Double Dragon again, even though it has been nicely restored... but it does truly takes me back to the VHS era, which makes it the perfect addition to the MVD Rewind Collection.



Next up is the latest pre-superhero prequel series following hits like Smallville and Gotham. Krypton: The Complete First Season (2018) stretches back to when Superman's grandfather (Cameron Cuffe as Seg-El) was a teenager. Think 40+ years ago plus whatever Superman's age is lately, yet it plays like a recycle of the last few years and everyone had a British/English/Irish accent for some reason. David S. Goyer is behind the initial 10 episodes, but they are a very mixed bag.


Those hoping for a deep look at the planet's early past will be met with cliches, bad melodrama, predictability, bad jokes and many moments of people fighting and punching out each other. That may be hip and commercial, but also condescending and wastes too much time. DC universe twists include Brainiac (Blake Ritson) on his way for Kandor and the worst iteration of Adam Strange (poor Shaun Sipos) one could have ever expected. When not trying to be Star Wars, the Battlestar Galactica revival or Blade Runner, there are signs of how good this show could have really been, but it is made for a younger audience and is too broad for its own good.


Krypton the planet is the most filmed, brought to life and portrayed fictional planet ever, but the new series disappoints. Too bad too because the actors are not that bad.


The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image has some minor issues, but looks good, even as the show's look is often derivative of non-DC/Superman sources and lacks color, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix sometimes has dialogue and soundstage quirks, but is good enough.


Extras include a brief paper episode guide and Digital HD Copy for PC, PC portable and other cyber-capable devices, while the Blu-rays add Deleted Scenes, Gag Reel, 2019 Comic Con panel and two Making Of featurettes: Bringing The Home World to Life and A Lost Kingdom: Life On Krypton.



Deadpool 2 was one of the biggest films of 2018 and earned its R-rating without question. This somehow gave a studio exec (or maybe Ryan Reynolds himself) the hair-brained idea of cutting the movie into PG-13, shooting a wraparound story that's a parody of The Princess Bride with that film's (now adult) star Fred Savage, and releasing it in theaters in the Holiday 2018 season. This new hybrid is Once Upon a Deadpool (2018). Originally a two week limited engagement in theaters, the film is now available on Blu-ray from Fox.


As a forgiving comic book film fan, I tend to treat this release as a novelty as that's obviously what it is, and an interesting experiment on behalf of Fox, however, I'm not sold that it was a fully 'successful' experiment. Unless you're a sheltered teenager who just wants to see Deadpool 2 and your mom won't let you... then maybe this would work.


You can check out my previous review of Deadpool 2 on 4K UHD disc unrated elsewhere on this site:


http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15243/Cinderella+Liberty+(1973/Fox*)/Deadpool+2+4K


Deadpool 2 stars, of course, Ryan Reynolds as Mr. Pool and co-stars Josh Brolin as Cable, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, Julian Dennison, and Zazie Beetz.


Deadpool (Reynolds) is back in action and this time he's reading a kidnapped Fred Savage his abridged version of Deadpool 2, which he proclaims is a 'family film'. After an epic attempt at suicide, Deadpool's dream girl accidentally gets killed, he then goes on a spiritual (sort of) journey to find his true calling with the X-Men, forms his own super team, and crosses paths with Cable (Brolin) who is on a time traveling mission to kill a young Mutant boy before he turns into a sinister grown up and takes away his family from him.


Now imagine all of the gross out humor, naughty language, and nonstop violence (all the things fans love about Deadpool movies) cut out of Deadpool 2 and you get a sense of what you're about to see in Once Upon a Deadpool... and, of course, the added ten minute or so wraparound story I mentioned earlier. The result is... disjointed and weird. Especially having seen the unrated second film several times before, it's hard to get it out of your head when you're watching it here much like watching Goodfellas on cable censored. Still, if you're a big time Deadpool fan and want to see the new bits then this is worth checking out... maybe just fast forward through the re-cut Deadpool 2 parts.


Once Upon a Deadpool is only available in this Blu-ray/DVD combo and not (at least of this writing) available on the 4K UHD format. The film is presented in 1080p on Blu-ray disc with a 2.39:1 widescreen aspect ratio and an English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 7.1 lossless mix, both of which are of a high standard for the format. While not as impressive as the 4K UHD obviously, there's plenty of detail in the image here and there isn't anything hindering the presentation. Also included is an anamorphically enhanced, standard definition DVD with an anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Compression issues are way more evident on the DVD and it barely looks better than the also included digital copy.


No extras on this release surprisingly. Even the menu screen from the previous release of Deadpool 2 is the same.



Finally, what's better than Superman? Multiple Supermen! The 34th DC original animated movie Reign of the Supermen (2019), brings together different imaginings of the classic character in combat with one another. While it sounds a little weird at first, the animated film is pretty fun at a brisk 75 minute run time. The animation and visual style is comparable to other titles in the DC animated library as of late such as Justice League: Throne of Atlantis and Batman: Gotham at Gaslight. This one isn't as dark and violent as the previous Constantine or Suicide Squad films (reviewed elsewhere on this site), and is a follow-up to The Death of Superman. While I don't think we will see a live action version of this anytime soon, there's plenty of fun to be had here and adults are likely to enjoy it even more than kids.


The impressive voice cast includes Jerry O' Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Rainn Wilson, Patrick Fabian, Charles Halford, and Cameron Monaghan.


Metropolis mourns the death of the real Superman who was defeated by the sinister Doomsday, now several "replacement" heroes step forward to take over the title of Man of Steel. There's the genetically altered 'Super Boy' whose on Lex Luthor's tight leash, a robotic-like Superman with a heavy metal hammer named Steel, there's The Eradicator whose quite powerful, and of course Cyborg Superman whose not to be messed with. As these titans face off against one another and encounter the Justice League in the process, some shocking truths are revealed... and is the real Superman really dead?


While there is a 4K UHD version on the market that we hope to catch soon, we are covering the 1080p Blu-ray edition here. Comparable to other DC animated films of recent, with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and a nice sounding track in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 and tracks in French and Spanish. The animation is modern and clean with a wide color palette that reminds me of the Batman animated series from the '90s a bit. Also included is a standard definition, anamorphically enhanced DVD version of the animated film with a 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio and a lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital audio mix which is of the norm for the format.


Special Features include...

Featurette: Lex Luthor - The Greatest Nemesis

A Sneak Peek at the next DC Universe Movie, Justice League vs. The Fatal Five

From the DC Vault: Superman: The Animated Series, "Heavy Metal"

and also From the DC Vault: Justice League Unlimited, "Panic in the Sky"



- Nicholas Sheffo (Krypton) and James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/


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