Blu-ray Movie Reviews

The Walking Dead, The Complete Fourth Season Limited Edition (Starz/Anchor Bay)
Rick & Co, have settled into a workable groove within the walls of the West Georgia Correctional Facility, but we just know that can’t last. Disease, the dead, and that pesky Governor wreak havoc on the survivors in Season 4, leading some to seek sanctuary in a place called Terminus. Video quality is outstanding once again, the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack is just as strong, and the extras are more than ample. While I wouldn’t ordinarily put a single-season set in a Gift Guide like this, Starz/Anchor Bay has created another collectible package that demands a spot on fans’ library shelves. The “Tree Zombie,” first spotted by Carl and Hershel in the episode “Isolation,” has been painstakingly reproduced by the twisted masterminds at McFarlane Toys to stand guard over our Blu-rays. He has no motor or batteries but a clever mechanism ensures that he won’t be ignored.

Sherlock, The Complete Seasons 1-3 Limited Edition Gift Set (BBC)
The BBC original series, Sherlock (not to be confused with its similar American contemporary, Elementary) pairs It-Boy Benedict Cumberbatch (intriguingly quirky and apparently catnip to the ladies) as Holmes and Hobb-It-Boy Martin Freeman as Dr. Watson in modern-day London. The “consulting detective” and his cohort bring an irresistible chemistry as they ably assist both the elite and regular blokes on a variety of cases, some cleverly reimagining the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes’ relationship with nemesis Jim Moriarty also grows more treacherous over the course of these three edgy series from 2010-2014, three episodes each (compact movies, really) plus a bridging mini-episode to kick off the third series. (Series Four is expected to arrive sometime next year.)

This brilliant show has only gotten smarter, more engaging and more popular, the most recent episodes ranking among the highest-rated TV shows in the UK in over a decade. So it’s no wonder that BBC Home Entertainment is celebrating with this eminently giftable box that collects all of the Blu-ray/DVD combo sets thus far and an exclusive bonus disc (also Blu-ray + DVD) with interviews from 2010, a deleted scene, gag reel, and two in-depth studies of Series Three. Audio commentaries have now been added to two of the third-season episodes as well. A pair of pretty little art cards captures the likeness of the two stars in colorful style, but even more striking are the two faux-bronze busts of Holmes and Watson, an appropriately sophisticated tribute to the legendary British crime-solving duo.

Halloween, The Complete Collection Deluxe Edition (Anchor Bay Entertainment/Scream Factory)
The ten films in the long and storied annals of the Halloween franchise were released by several different studios. So it took the combined efforts of Anchor Bay and Scream Factory (the specialty horror label of Shout! Factory), both experts in rescuing hard-to-find movies for hungry audiences, to finally pull a complete set together for the very first time. And oh my, what a set. There are 15 discs, mostly Blu-rays, with five of them exclusive to this mega-set. It would probably take until next Halloween to detail all of the treats in here, so I’ll just give you the highlights:

The original Halloween is now better than ever with 7.1-channel audio as well as the original mono, DP Dean Cundey-approved remaster, a new-new commentary to join the recent John Carpenter/Jamie Lee Curtis track, these in addition to the archived Carpenter/Curtis/Debra Hill commentary found on Disc Two. There are other newly recorded commentaries, a long list of new featurettes joining the vast port of previous supplements, while four of the movies are also presented in alternate cuts. This includes a “Producer’s Cut” of The Curse of Michael Myers, a spectacular new transfer that also drastically transforms the entire movie. And in case you missed it, Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake is also a standout. This massive, meticulously curated box, surely one of the best of this or any year, is a happy Halloween indeed.

Twin Peaks, The Entire Mystery (CBS/Paramount)
In short, this one box contains both seasons of the infamously weird TV series plus the feature film Fire Walk with Me, now all in 1080p, thanks in large part to the personal involvement of Mr. David Lynch. It’s a fairly stunning remaster, also graced with a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1-channel remix, and they work remarkably well for a TV show almost a quarter-century old, and for the 1992 feature film. Twin Peaks was so far ahead of its time, even revisiting it now I find it hard to believe that it was picked up for a full second season, on network TV yet. Heck, I still have weird dreams about the backwards-dwarf dude. The set begins with both versions of the pilot, including the much-longer international cut, released separately as a feature film overseas. There’s also a vast amount of bonus material spread across the ten discs, new and recent interviews, and reunions and mini-documentaries in HD alongside archival bibs and bobs in SD. But perhaps most exciting are the more-than-an-hour-and-a-half of deleted/extended Fire Walk with Me scenes in full quality. Nirvana for the many serious fans, it’s almost like a whole other movie. It might not answer all our questions about Laura Palmer and the other cagey denizens of Twin Peaks, but it sure is a blast to finally watch.