Daimajin
Trilogy (1966/MVD/Arrow
Blu-ray Box Set)/His Dark
Materials: The Complete Second Season
(2020/HBO*)/Lucky
(2020/DVD**)/Seance
(2021/Blu-ray/**both RLJ)/Those
Who Wish Me Dead
(2021/*both Warner Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+/B+/B-/B+/B+ Sound: B+/B+/B-/B+/B+ Extras: B/B/C+/C+/C-
Main Programs: B- B- B/C+/C+/B/B
Here's
a rich, extensive new set of genre releases to consider....
Arrow's
new box set for the Daimajin Trilogy (1966) is simply
marvelous. The box and disc art is top notch and the films are an
intriguing companion to other Kaiju movies and a distant cousin of
Godzilla. A statuesque demon god that is awakened by the
carelessness and ignorance of mankind in order to save villages in
despair. The main theme of the films is simply - respect the Gods or
they will reign down upon you! I think these films were likely under
many American fans radar since they are older and a bit more obscure,
but hopefully thanks to this new exposure from Arrow Video more
people will now be able to experience them. If you are into the
older Godzilla films or Kaiju films of the like then I would
definitely suggest watching them.
All
three films, Daimajin (1966), Return of Daimajin (1966)
and Daimajin Strikes Again (1966) are now fully restored and
presented here the way they were meant to be seen. While watching
the one thing that constantly went through my head was that I
couldn't believe they were all made within the same year! Each film
had predominantly the same crew but different directors for each
film. The Directors included Kimiyoshi Yasuda, Kenji Misumi, and
Issei Mori. The special effects for the time are pretty impressive
and in color.
The
films feature Shiho Fujimura, Chikara Hashimoto, and Hideki Ninomiya
as the leads.
The
Daimajin Trilogy is presented here in 1080p high definition on
Blu-ray disc with a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and paired
with lossless original Japanese and dubbed English mono audio for all
films with optional English subtitles. There have been a few other
releases of the films over the years, but none compare to the clarity
of this new Arrow scan, which hopefully will see 4K UHD in future
years.
Special
Features:
Illustrated
collector's 100 page book featuring new essays by Jonathan Clements,
Keith Aiken, Ed Godziszewski, Raffael Coronelli, Erik Homenick, Robin
Gatto and Kevin Derendorf
Postcards
featuring the original Japanese artwork for all three films
Reversible
sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt
Frank
DISC
ONE - DAIMAJIN
Brand
new audio commentary by Japanese film expert Stuart Galbraith IV
Newly
filmed introduction by critic Kim Newman
Bringing
the Avenging God to Life, a brand new exclusive video essay about
the special effects of the Daimajin films by Japanese film historian
Ed Godziszewski
Alternate
opening credits for the US release as Majin - The Monster of
Terror
Trailers
for the original Japanese and US releases
and
an Image gallery
DISC
TWO - RETURN OF DAIMAJIN
Brand
new audio commentary by Japanese film experts Tom Mes and Jasper
Sharp
My
Summer Holidays with Daimajin, a newly filmed interview with
Professor Yoneo Ota, director of the Toy Film Museum, Kyoto Film Art
Culture Research Institute, about the production of the Daimajin
films at Daiei Kyoto
From
Storyboard to Screen: Bringing Return of Daimajin to Life, a
comparison of several key scenes in Return of Daimajin with the
original storyboards
Alternate
opening credits for the US release as Return of the Giant Majin
Trailers
for the original Japanese and US releases
and
an Image gallery
DISC
THREE - WRATH OF DAIMAJIN
Brand
new audio commentary by Asian historian Jonathan Clements
Interview
with cinematographer Fujio Morita discussing his career at Daiei and
his work on the Daimajin Trilogy
Trailers
for the original Japanese release
and
an Image Gallery
This
set is awesome and as mentioned, the box art and supplements and
everything are all beautifully put together and is definitely going
to be on many critics' Top Ten box sets of the year.
The
hit HBO fantasy series, His
Dark Materials,
continues in its second season based on the bestselling book series
that is in the same world as the novels by Philip Pullman, which
includes The
Golden Compass.
This Complete
Second Season
(2020) is full of more creatures (known here as Daemons) and more
epic fantasy thrills than season one and the budget looks a bit
higher as well. I haven't heard as much buzz about this show has one
would expect with it being a major fantasy property, but I think it's
pretty fun and definitely better as a longer HBO series to cover more
material from the book than just a few feature films could.
Season
Two series regulars include stars Dafne Keen (Logan), Ruth
Wilson (The Affair), Amir Wilson (The Secret Garden),
Ariyon Bakare (Life), Andrew Scott (Sherlock, Fleabag),
Will Keen (The Crown), Ruta Gedmintas (The Strain) and
Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton). Joining the cast this season
are Terence Stamp (Superman), Jade Anouka (Cleaning Up)
and Simone Kirby (Notes on Blindness).
His
Dark Materials: Season 2 features seven episodes spanning two
Blu-ray discs and includes The City of Magpies, The Cave, Theft,
Tower of the Angels, The Scholar, Malice, and Aesahaettr.
The
series is presented in 1080p on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC
codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.00 X 1 and audio mixes in
lossless English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1. The series looks and
sounds fine on Blu-ray disc and is comparable to the original HBO
broadcast.
Special
Features include all these featurettes:
Noble
Rogue: The Legend of Lee Scoresby
Exploring
His Dark Materials: Panserbjorne
Exploring
His Dark Materials: Daemons
Exploring
His Dark Materials: Portals & The Multiverse
Exploring
His Dark Materials: Witches
His
Dark Materials: Bringing Daemons and Bears to Life
His
Dark Materials: Exploring Cittaagazze
His
Dark Materials: Worlds Collide
The
Powerful Mrs. Coulter
Lyra
and
The Subtle Knife
I'm
not sure how many more seasons His Dark Materials will play
out on HBO, but I think these two seasons so far have been pretty
entertaining. If you're a fantasy fan then you will want to check
them out.
From
Shudder and RLJE comes Lucky
(2020), the horror/suspense film stars Brea Grant, who is pretty
solid in her leading lady role here. The film is a slasher of sorts
mixed with other genre elements with Grant starring as a self help
book author whose house is broken into by a masked killer nightly.
Despite attacking and killing him night after night he keeps coming
back. Is time travel involved? A social commentary of sorts, the
film has a nice look and some experimental filmmaking moments, and
some interesting ideas that make it worth checking out.
The
film also stars Kausar Mohammed, Dhruv Singh, and Yasmine Al-bustami.
The film is directed by Natasha Kermani.
Lucky
is presented in standard definition, anamorphically enhanced DVD with
a 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio and a lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital sound
mix. On an up conversion on a 4K UHD TV, the film doesn't look too
bad on the aging format, but you can tell it was shot digitally. No
flaws in the presentation make it distracting in any way. Nice job
by RLJE here.
Special
Features:
Filmmaker
Commentary
and
a Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery.
Also
from RLJE / Shudder comes Seance
(2021) a film in the same vein as The
Craft
or any college based horror slasher/ thriller but with a new dark
spin that makes it more interesting than most modern thrillers.
While at first I thought it may be a bit cheesy, after watching it I
found it to be a dark and pretty well crafted thriller that wasn't
what I was expecting. The story centers on a group of sorority girls
that conjure a demonic spirit of a former student that ends up
killing them off one by one, but things get pretty wild the deeper
the film goes.
The
film stars Suki Waterhouse, Madisen Beatty, Ella-Rae Smith, Iranian
Sarkis, Seamus Patterson, and Marina Stephenson Kerr.
Seance
is presented in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect ratio
of 2.39:1 and an audio mix in a lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
mix. The film looks and sounds high end and the presentation doesn't
have any flaws that pop out to me personally. RLJE has high
standards for presentation and this title isn't an exception! The
overall look is a bit dark even one scenes that would typically be
brighter, but it works for the material and tone of the film.
Special
Features include:
Director's
Commentary
Behind
the Scenes Featurette
Outtakes
Deleted
Scenes
Decapitation
Pre-Vis
and
a Photo Gallery
Seance
is a surprisingly enjoyable watch.
Finally,
Those
Who Wish Me Dead
(2021) is
the exciting new thriller starring Angelina Jolie that pits her up
against the violence of wild fires. The film is intense from frame
one as we are put inside her mind remembering a very violent loss she
experienced in past fire fight. This loss makes her character a bit
reckless and willing to do anything for a thrill or pain. But when
she meets a young boy (Finn Little) who is being pursued by two
assassins after his Father was involved in a coverup, the two become
unlikely allies and she must use her skills of survival and
leadership to help save the boy's life.
Jolie
is fantastic in the film and the supporting cast is nothing to frown
at either with Tyler Perry (in a cameo), Medina Senghore, Jon
Bernthal, Jake Weber, Aidan Gillen, and Nicholas Hoult. The film is
directed by Taylor Sheridan (Wind River).
Those
Who Wish Me Dead is presented in 1080p high definition with a
widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and an MPEG-4 AVC codec with a
lossless English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mix. The film is
beautifully photographed and even the digital fire looks pretty good
here. As far as Blu-ray is concerned, this presentation is top
notch.
Special
Feature: a Making of Featurette.
Sadly
no 4K UHD release at this time, but I hope in the future. The film
was pretty underrated when it came out, but at least made it to
theaters (and HBO Max), but it may have flown under your radar, and
so now that it is on disc it is definitely worth checking out!
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/