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Category:    Home > Reviews > Comedy > Martial Arts > China > Giant Monster > Action > Science Fiction > Telekinesis > Horror > Australi > Big Brother (2018/Well Go Blu-ray)/Godzilla (1998 remake/TriStar/Sony 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Patrick (2013 remake/Umbrella Region B Import Blu-ray)

Big Brother (2018/Well Go Blu-ray)/Godzilla (1998 remake/TriStar/Sony 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Patrick (2013 remake/Umbrella Region B Import Blu-ray)



4K Ultra HD Picture: B Picture: B-/B/B Sound: B/B & B-/B Extras: C-/C-/C- Films: C/D/C



PLEASE NOTE: The Patrick Import Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment in Australia, can only play on Blu-ray players that can handle Region B locked discs and can be ordered from the link below.



Here's a set of releases we'll dub 'when genre films do not work' so you know what to expect.



We'll start with Kam Ka Wai's Big Brother (2018) with Donnie yen as a teacher who knows martial arts and tries to help his new students with that... sort of. Is this a comedy? No. Action film? No. Part of the cycle of teachers get tough Hollywood created years ago? No. A drama teaching us a life lesson? No. So what it is? A hodge podge of cliches that try to cover everything and hope it all holds and the audience will like it. Instead, it is bizarre up to its ending and even Yen seems out of his element. See it if you really care and don't operate heavy machinery.


A few trailers are the only extra.



Though it bombed, Sony continues to show its support for one of Roland Emmerich's worst films, his 1998 Godzilla 1998 remake. First, we covered the remake on Blu-ray, which is included in this set and I am part of the majority audience who was not happy with the film at all...


http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9394/Godzilla+(1998+Revival/Sony+Blu-ray)


Then Sony issued a basic Blu-ray edition from its new 4K scan of the film, though it was part of a series of regular Blu-rays before the 4K format was launched and this writer actually liked the film...


http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12774/Godzilla+(1998):+Mastered+in+4K+High+Definitio


Even I thought that looked and sounded a bit better, but only made it clearer how much the film did not work. Now we have an actual 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version and it is not looking that great, but the sound has been upgraded to 12-track sound. Thus, more on that below, but this set has no new extras and offers the old extras from the old Blu-ray.



Finally, Mark Hartley's remake of the classic-enough Australian thriller Patrick (2013) has a decent cast starting with Charles Dance (Alien 3, For Your Eyes Only, et al) about the bed-ridden, vegetative title character (a barely credited Jackson Gallagher, so you know we're in trouble) being taken care of by Dance as a smart doctor and Rachel Griffiths as a main nurse taking care of Patrick when a new nurse (Sharni Vinson) shows up and starts to arouse him and his murderous telekineses.


Too bad the film is too visually dark and a bit too cliched to work and the lack of color is odd. The actors are trying, but the pace and lack of suspense of naturalism kills the film in the end, which is why you probably not heard of it, so it is for completists only. See for yourself if you are really interested.


Extras include a Feature Length Audio Commentary with Mark Hartley (Director), Garry Richards (DOP) and Justin King (Writer), The Spit, The Stunts, The Sex, The Gore - Making-of featurette (27 mins), Cast and Crew On-Set Interviews (56 mins), Mark and Garry's Production Diary (29 mins), VFX Before and After Showcase (5 mins), the Patrick (1978) and Patrick (2013) Theatrical Trailers, a Behind the Scenes piece and a Stills Gallery that show that they were at least trying. You can also read our previous coverage of the original in its Blu-ray release...


http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12604/Patrick:+35th+Anniversary+Edition+(1978/Umbrell


Or DVD before that...


http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8283/Patrick+(1978/Umbrella+PAL+Region+Zero/0/Impor


I liked the original a little more than this one, but not by much.



All three films are in the 2.35 X 1 frame and the 2160p HEVC/H.265, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Godzilla 1998 is one of the oddest and poorest I have seen in the format after viewing a few hundred such releases. The 4K remaster on regular Blu-ray was not bad, but this has noise and dated CGI visual effects throughout and Video Black is not all that good. Oddly, this was issued in 35mm dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor prints at the time in select theaters when the company revived their great process, but this is NOT that print. The old regular Blu-ray included looks watery (more than ever) and is only here for the extras.


Brother is an HD shoot that has some motion blur and detail issues here and there, but that';s minor, though a look is hardly developed, while Patrick was shot on HawkScope lenses and you can see a look trying to develop. However, it never takes.


The 4K Godzilla is the sonic champ by default with its Dolby Atmos 11.1 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 for older systems) finally unleashes the original 8-track Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS) mix that has never appeared on home video with this upgrade and it has its moments, but not enough for me to site any demo moments. The old Blu-ray retains its weak Dolby TrueHD 5.1 that is best avoided. That leaves the other two films with competent DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes that are not bad and have consistent soundfields, but not much else.



You can order the Patrick remake Umbrella import Blu-ray at this link, which also offers the original film and many more hard to find releases:


http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/



- Nicholas Sheffo


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