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Category:    Home > Reviews > Animation > Superhero > Action > Supernatural > Western > WWII > Russia > Drama > TV Series > Spy > The 355 (2020/Universal Blu-ray w/DVD)

Catwoman Hunted 4K (2022/4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray*)/Ghost Riders (1987/MVD Blu-ray)/The Pilot (2021/Well Go Blu-ray)/Stargirl: The Complete Second Season (2021 Blu-ray Set/*both DC Comics/Warner)/The 355 (2020/Universal Blu-ray w/DVD)



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



Now for more action and suspense, genre style....



DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation shake up the slate with a new animated Catwoman film, Catwoman: Hunted 4K (2022), which features other familiar faces in Gotham such as Batwoman, Solomon Grundy, Black Mask, and Leviathan amongst others. The film is definitely inspired by the Japanese anime style of animation in some regards and is influenced heavily by the Cowboy Bebop series. In fact, the opening title sequence is a pretty big rip off of Bebop's iconic opening. There's also a predominate jazz soundtrack which was done originally in that animated show as well. It fits fine and doesn't really detract from anything, but eagle eye fans will certainly take notice.


The film starts with Catwoman infiltrating a masquerade where many others are dressed as iconic Batman villains. She sneaks in and steals a very valuable jewel (with a cat name of course), and narrowly escapes. But it was all a setup as Batwoman takes center stage and soon the duo are fighting The League of Shadows together and the villains mentioned above. Batwoman and Catwoman are a pretty good pair and there's even a scene with a bit of sexual tension. In the end, the film is pretty fun and doesn't have the Dark Knight himself popping up anywhere, although he is mentioned of course.


The voice cast includes Elizabeth Gillies, Stephanie Beatriz Jonathan Banks, Steve Blum, Lauren Cohan, Keith David, Zehra Fazal, Jonathan Frakes, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Kelly Hu, Andrew Kishino, Eric Lopez, Jacqueline Obradors, and Ron Yuan.


Catwoman: Hunted 4K is presented in upscaled 2160p on 4K UHD with an HEVC / H.265 codec, HDR10, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless soundtrack. The animation has a digital and traditional look in both regards and is done nicely all around. The presentation is flawless in 4K with the HDR pumping up the colors and contrast nicely and overall a quite satisfying presentation. There's also a lesser quality 1080p Blu-ray disc with similar specs.


Special Features: When The Hunter Becomes The Hunted featurette and Catwoman: The Feline Femme Fatale: Watch the documentary on Catwoman's history.


Catwoman Hunted 4K is a fun surprise from DC that I would certainly recommend fans check out!



Ghost Riders (1987), which has nothing to do with the Marvel Comics' character Ghost Rider, has finally arrived on Blu-ray. In this '80s western adventure is a fun ride even if it never quite lives up to the coolness of its cover art. The film revolves around a group of western outlaws who come back from the dead decades later to inflict terror in the descendants of their enemies. The film has a low budget and a bit of an old style of shooting about it, but the concept and the characters are interesting. If you're a fan of westerns and the supernatural, this is worth checking out!


The film stars David Miller, Bill Shaw, Gerald Stewart, Bill Shaw, and Jim Peters.


Ghost Riders is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and an English LPCM 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit) that rounds out a nice HD transfer that's up to standards. The film has an old fashioned style about it and does what it can with its limited budget and limited special effects for the time in which it was made. Overall, the restoration to disc here is up to par.


Special Features:


Audio Commentary with director of photography / producer Thomas L. Calloway, writer/producer James Desmarais and moderator Steve Latshaw


"Bringing Out the Ghosts: The Making of Ghost Riders" (new original documentary)


Reissue trailer


"Low Budget Films: On the Set of Ghost Riders" (vintage documentary)


Movie Stills & Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery


and an Original Theatrical Trailer.


If you're a fan of Ghost Riders, then this is the ultimate edition!



Renat Devletyarov's The Pilot (2021) is a Russian-made WWII drama about the title fighter (popular lead Pyotr Fyodorov) battling the Nazis in the air in some interesting sequences (I liked the ideas of the sound effects in particular) until he lands up grounded in enemy territory. It goes from a sort of action film to something like The Revenant, though not as good, memorable or involving. This runs 106 minutes and feels longer than that. Too bad they did not have a stronger script, but the actors are trying.


The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is an all-HD shoot with some good shots, but more dated-on-arrival CGI than one would have liked, though some money is here in practical production. We also get more softness and motion blur than I would have liked, but the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is more consistent and has a decent soundfield throughout.


Trailers for this and three other Well Go releases are the only extras.



Stargirl: The Complete Second Season (2021) has been released in a three disc set. The series revolves around high school student Courtney Whitmore (Bred Bassinger) whose stepfather (played by Luke Wilson) was formerly Starman's partner. Once the original Star Man dies, he seeks to pass on the torch... which ends up in the hands of young Courtney. Able to wield the powers of the deceased superhero, she becomes Stargirl, who is an unstoppable force in the face of a villain uprising... but whom also has the daily struggles of being a seemingly normal teenager as well.


The series also features Yvette Monreal (Rambo: Last Blood), Anjelika Washington (Young Sheldon), Cameron Gellman (Heathers), Trae Romano (Robbie), Jake Austin Walker (Fear the Walking Dead), Hunter Sansone (Safety), Meg DeLacy (The Fosters), Neil Jackson (Absentia) and Christopher James Baker (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), with Amy Smart (The Butterfly Effect).


13 episodes span three discs and are 13-parts of the Summer School tales.


Stargirl is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.20:1, and lossless, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) mixes. Commercial free and free of network watermarks and interruptions, the series plays out well on disc.


The series is a bit lighter than Batwoman, of whom also has a series of her own now and is reviewed elsewhere on this site, and the addition of Luke Wilson helps bring in some humor. There's some cheesy elements to it, but it's not bad for a young adult comic book series. The special effects are pretty good, and overall it is pretty easy to watch, even if it never really does much that we haven't seen before.


Special Features:

Never Alone: Heroes and Allies

Gag Reel

Thank You, Georgia: Stargirl



Lastly, Simon Kinberg's The 355 (2020) is a spy action film with Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong'o, Bingbing Fan, Edgar Ramirez and Sebastian Stan and despite all that great acting talent, is a huge disappointment with an awful, choppy, unoriginal, problematic screenplay that never adds up to anything as everyone goes after the latest top secret weapon and spends over two hours doing hardly anything with it.


Allegedly based on work by someone who worked on the Jason Bourne films, this exercise has zero suspense, the director shoots this like he never saw a spy film before and it is trying to land on the action side, so it is not a serious realistic spy film like The Ipcress File or Spy Who Came In From The Cold, so forget about it working that way. Its not a comedy, intended (Austin Powers) or not, so forget that too. It is just the most failed package deal with the most missed opportunities I've seen in years. If the producers were things of a franchise, they can even forget that too.


Too bad, because here have been many successful female spies from Mata Hari in real life to the best in spy fiction history, the late, great Diana Rigg's original Mrs. Emma Peel on the original British TV classic The Avengers. I really, really wanted this to pick up and work, but it never did, so see it at your own risk if REALLY curious, because I am surprised this was even released as it stands. Wonder if any cut scenes could have helped somehow?


The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is an all-HD shoot with more motion blur than I liked, plus too much shaky camera movement that is annoying and gets in the way of this working at all, playing even more annoyingly on the anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on the DVD. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on the Blu-ray has an inconsistent soundfield and odd editing and mixing choices, which also gets in the way of the narrative, again made worse on the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on the DVD. How unfortunate overall.


Extras include Digital Code, while the disc (per the press release) adds DELETED SCENES,

  • CHASING THROUGH PARIS: Cast and filmmakers discuss the first day of shooting on THE 355 and how the choreographed chase sequence through the Parisian arcade set the tone for the entire production.

  • ACTION THAT HURTS: A behind-the-scenes look at the stunts featured in the film's centerpiece action sequence.

  • RECONSTRUCTING MARRAKESH: From footage of construction to a set tour with Production Designer Simon Elliott, we'll come to understand why the cast was so blown away by the accuracy of the Moroccan set.

  • CHAOS AT THE CITY OF DREAMS: Cast and filmmakers deconstruct the film's final set piece, from exploding ceilings to major shoot-outs, to the ultimate show-down fight between Jessica Chastian's and Sebastian Stan's characters.

  • and VFX BREAKDOWNS.



- Nicholas Sheffo (Pilot, 355) and James Lockhart

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



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