
Rare
Breed
(1966/Universal/Umbrella Region Free PAL Import DVD)/Poison
Rose (2019/Lionsgate
Blu-ray)/Slaughterhouse
Rulez
(2019/Sony DVD)/T-36
(w/DVD*)/Unity Of Heroes
(*both 2018/Well Go Blu-rays)
Picture:
C+/B-/C/B & C+/A- Sound: C+/B-/B/B & C+/B Extras:
C-/C/D/C-/D Films: C+/C/C+/C/B+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Rare
Breed
Import DVD is now only available from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment in Australia, can only play on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K
Blu-ray players that can handle the PAL format, is Region Free and
can be ordered from the link below.
Now
for more action and adventure, sometimes with comedy...
As
we previously
reviewed years ago as a U.S. DVD from a Jimmy Stewart box set, The
Rare Breed
(1966) pairs Stewart with Andrew V. McLaglen, who often directed
Westerns helming this tale of in the 1880s when a new kind of cattle
succeeded Texas Longhorns (English Hereford) as the cattle of sales
choice and consumption. It is an interesting story, told well and
backed by a cast that includes Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Juliet
Mills, Gregg Palmer and Don Galloway. This film was shot in real
anamorphic Panavision and three-strip, dye-transfer Technicolor,
offered on this Umbrella
Region Free PAL Import DVD
in anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1. The original trailer is
included and the color on the actual film is slightly better than the
U.S. DVD. Guess a Blu-ray is not far behind?.
George
Gallo's The
Poison Rose
(2019) is an interesting attempt to do a variation of the gumshoe
detective film with John Travolta as that man, sometimes recalling
his Pulp
Fiction
work, but also shades of Blow
Out
and the supporting cast includes Morgan Freeman, Famke Janssen, Peter
Stomare, Robert Patrick and someone I miss seeing, Brendan Frazier.
This is going straight to video, but I was happy to see how ambitious
it was.
At
the same time, it has trouble starting and never exactly takes off
despite moving on with energy no matter how many off moments it has.
Some parts just try too hard, but others show the potential if the
makers had just thought this out a bit more, including what could
have been a new comeback for Travolta. Taking place in Galveston,
Texas, it is an underutilized place, but they do not make it enough
of a character either. Still, those interested should give it a look
for what does work.
Extras
include Digital Copy, feature length audio commentary by Gallo &
Writer/Producer Richard Salvatore and a trailer gallery.
Don
Wallace just got sent to Slaughterhouse private school for England's
future rich, powerful and elite. There, he learns there are those
who are groomed for power and success and others are just fodder for
the slaughter. When fracking in the school woods causes a gigantic
sinkhole and release a monster, both students and teachers have to
learn how to fight and survive against giant subterranean monsters in
Crispian Mills' Slaughterhouse
Rulez
(2019).
Wallace
just got sent to the Slaughterhouse, there he finds himself in house
Sparta, the lowest of the low houses in which everyone gets bullied,
beaten, pick on and made fun of by the other houses. His only solace
is the beautiful Clemsie, of girl's house Andromeda. But all that
comes to a sudden end when he learns of the headmaster's illegal
fracking on the school woodland, causing giant sinkholes, smelly,
explosive gases ...and giant mutated creatures. Now the boys of
house Sparta have to use whatever means they can to survive and stop
the horror they unearthed.
This
was like a horrible mix of Harry Potter and Animal House
with survival (torture porn) horror. British students versus giant
rat-like monsters. While it had many well know (and even famous)
actors, the entire movie makes fun of British private schools and the
horror movie genre, it was hard to take seriously. Asa Butterfield,
Finn Cole, Hermione Corfield and Michael Sheen star, with appearances
by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, who co-produced. Extras include
trailers.
Alexey
Sidorov's T-36
(2018) is another one of the occasional new big Russian productions
somehow making it to the U.S. that pits Russia (or in this case, the
former U.S.S.R./Soviet Union) against the Nazis in a war action film
about how the tanks of the title including recruiting P.O.W.s to
fight and how evil the Nazis were. There is also some money in this
one and it has a few good moments, but too much of it was forgettable
despite the efforts of the actors.
Though
I was not looking for Soviet/Russian cinema stereotypes, it never
plays or feels like it is authentic and the biggest reason is that
the film bends over backwards to emulate a Hollywood formula film
from the Reagan 1980s down to the music and that is a total
contradiction on so many levels of anything Russia and its former
empire ever looked like, sounded like, stood for or had any goals
thereof. Thus, the film has to minimize Soviet Communist history
(the ideology is never even noted) and lads up making any historical
authenticity ring hollow that it is a big dud. The digital work is
poor too. Only the very, very curious should apply.
A
trailer is the only extra.
And
finally, a new era in Hong Kong begins, flooding it's streets with
foreigners and martial art masters all looking to make a name for
themselves. The only man keeping the peace, law and order is Wong
Fei Hung (Vincent Zhao, reprising this role), but when a new drug
hits the streets turning martial arts masters into mindless
assassins, Wong Fei Hung investigates into the case soon discovers it
involves the foreigners and the Chinese government has turned a blind
eye. Wong Fei Hung must single handily stop the foreigners from
taking over the city he loves and protects in Lin
Zhenzhao's Unity
Of Heroes
(2018).
Wong
Fei Hung is the number one martial art master in Hong Kong, a
medicine man, local militia trainer and the town hero/legend. But
with the changing times Hong Kong is flooded with new challengers,
Westerners, trade, hopes, dreams ...and crimes. A new super opium is
flooding the streets giving it's users super strength and turning
them into mindless drones. Secretly the foreigners are human testing
the drug to use to control the various martial artists/schools and
taking over Hong Kong. Wong Fei Hung must deal with all the super
charged martial art artists and stop the source of the drug along as
well as dealing with Aunt 13 (the love of his life) who is trying to
'modernize' and Westernize him.
This
was a remake on the classic hero immortalized by Jet Li in his "Once
Upon a Time in China" movies. Along with plenty of cool
fight scenes and endless martial art artists, it is an updated
version to the story with modern cinematography, choreography and
special effects. It is the usual story of the Chinese versus the
'evil' Westerners and how one man stands against foreigners from
corrupting Chinese values and destroying it's culture and traditions.
Extras include trailers.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Rose
is a bit on the soft side too much beyond styling from its HD shoot,
even if you do get some good shots here and there, problems that
kills any attempts to emulate Noir. Color is decent and the name
actors still look good, though.
The
anamorphically enhanced image on Rulez is softer and more
problematic than expected for a new production and though it might
the format, this should look better, but the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1
mix is well recorded and actually comes across much better despite
the limited codec.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on T-34
is the second best-looking release on the list despite some bad
digital CGI work and slight flaws in the HD shoot, even looking
decent in its anamorphically enhanced DVD edition with its passable,
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mixdown. The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital
High Definition image transfer on Unity is just better with
more style, if not better all around color.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on Rose,
T-34
and Unity
tie for best sound and soundmixes on the list, well recorded enough
and all having consistent soundfields.
To
order The
Rare Breed
Umbrella import PAL DVD, go to this link for it and other hard to
find releases:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo and Ricky Chiang (Rulez,
Unity)