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Posted by DVD Verdict on 11/01/05 09:25
Today, DVD Verdict posted reviews of BEWITCHED, THE DEER HUNTER:
LEGACY SERIES EDITION, DOMINION: PREQUEL TO THE EXORCIST, HAMMETT,
HEIGHTS, KILL!: CRITERION COLLECTION, LE SAMOURAI: CRITERION
COLLECTION, MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, OFFICE SPACE: SPECIAL EDITION
WITH FLAIR, REBEL SAMURAI: SIXTIES SWORDPLAY CLASSICS: CRITERION
COLLECTION, SAMURAI REBELLION: CRITERION COLLECTION, SAMURAI SPY:
CRITERION COLLECTION, SWORD OF THE BEAST: CRITERION COLLECTION, and
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953):
BEWITCHED (reviewed by Ryan Keefer, overall score 66/100):
"You know how when you watch a trailer to a movie, like it, then you go
see the movie? At what point do you realize that the trailer contained
not only the best moments of the film, but the only entertaining moments
of it? For me, it was shortly after the second act of Bewitched."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/bewitched.php
THE DEER HUNTER: LEGACY SERIES EDITION (reviewed by Joe Armenio, overall
score 81/100):
"Russian roulette is such an apt metaphor for the randomness and horror
of war that I'm surprised it hasn't been seized on as a dramatic device
many times before."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/deerhunterlegacy.php
DOMINION: PREQUEL TO THE EXORCIST (reviewed by Adam Arseneau, overall
score 79/100):
"Though something of a letdown, Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist
nevertheless represents a stronger foray into the Exorcist canon than
its ill-fated brother, with some genuinely creepy moments to boot."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/dominion.php
HAMMETT (reviewed by James A. Stewart, overall score 87/100):
"American B-movies, including the noir tales Hammett evokes, were a big
part of German director Wim Wenders' life. Thus, it was no surprise that
the New German Cinema figure made his American directorial debut with
this movie."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/hammett.php
HEIGHTS (reviewed by Joel Pearce, overall score 83/100):
"The success of stage play adaptations counts on believable scripting
and good acting to impress the viewers. There are no special effects
here, no complex and long-running stories to tell. Fortunately, the
acting is uniformly impressive."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/heights.php
KILL!: CRITERION COLLECTION (reviewed by Dan Mancini, overall
score 87/100):
"Okamoto's movie is entertaining not only for its switchblade humor (in
one fight sequence, the staging and crisp editing somehow make a severed
finger funny), but also for its wit in throwing a dense melange of
chambara cliches at us (feuding local bosses, tea house prostitutes, a
farmer longing to rise to the samurai class) while twisting the
perspective enough to make it feel fresh."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/kill.php
LE SAMOURAI: CRITERION COLLECTION (reviewed by Rob Lineberger, overall
score 85/100):
"Le Samourai single-handedly birthed the 'cold gentleman gangster with a
scrupulous code of behavior' icon."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/lesamourai.php
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (reviewed by David Johnson, overall score
82/100):
"For all its corniness, Masters of the Universe remains for me a loud,
entertaining blast from the past. Just the fact that these guys were
able to adapt a coherent live action feature film from one of the
looniest cartoons ever should be worth something."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/mastersuniverse.php
OFFICE SPACE: SPECIAL EDITION WITH FLAIR (reviewed by Patrick Naugle,
overall score 92/100):
"I love Office Space. Love it, love it, love it. I realize that praising
the film is like saying the Lord of the Rings trilogy is really good --
well, duh."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/officespacese.php
REBEL SAMURAI: SIXTIES SWORDPLAY CLASSICS: CRITERION COLLECTION
(reviewed by Dan Mancini, overall score 85/100):
"This radical overhaul of the style and substance of the chambara
became a tool which young directors like the four represented here --
Masaki Kobayashi, Hideo Gosha, Masahiro Shinoda, and Kihachi Okamoto --
used to examine the radical overhaul of Japanese culture in the wake of
World War II."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/rebelsamurai.php
SAMURAI REBELLION: CRITERION COLLECTION (reviewed by Dan Mancini,
overall score 89/100):
"Kobayashi didn't merely talk radical politics, he lived by and
suffered for his own deeply held beliefs about the role of the
individual in society."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/samurairebellion.php
SAMURAI SPY: CRITERION COLLECTION (reviewed by Dan Mancini, overall
score 80/100):
"Samurai Spy opens on the gloriously epic scene of the Battle of
Sekigahara as the picture's political landscape is established in voice-
over narration. The scene is staged and shot impressively, samurai
clashing on foot and horseback in the foreground and stretching all the
way to distant hills on the horizon."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/samuraispy.php
SWORD OF THE BEAST: CRITERION COLLECTION (reviewed by Dan Mancini,
overall score 85/100):
"With its opening shots of the dirty feet of ronin Gennosuke (Mikijiro
Hira, Rampo), followed by his randy conversation with a slatternly
whore, followed immediately by the first of the film's many sword fights
-- all of it backed by a score that mixes the timbre of the shamisen
with hep cat clarinet and bongos -- it's obvious from the get-go that
Sword of the Beast is a pure pulp cocktail of past and present. "
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/swordbeast.php
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953) (reviewed by James A. Stewart, overall
score 85/100):
"The 1953 movie, made in the wake of World War II, works hard to give
the Martian attacks the epic scope of a world war. Despite some cheesy
moments, it does this with surprising effect. A $2 million budget
doesn't sound like much, but it went a long way back then. The 2005
movie has big-budget set pieces, but returns the story to its roots;
like the original H.G. Wells novel, it's a personal account seen through
one man's eyes."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/warworlds1953.php
Mike Jackson
Editor & Webmaster, DVD Verdict
www.dvdverdict.com
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