For years, we've read in audio magazines about the quest for the finest this, the biggest that, and the most expensive such-and-such. If it were 2005, I'd probably be addressing that subject right now. But in 2009, it seems rather ludicrous to be writing about extravagant audio baubles while one sits at an Ikea table in a $10 Old Navy polo shirt drinking coffee from Smart and Final.
Video: 4/5
Audio: 3/5
Extras: 4/5 Freeways are clogged. Terror stalks our cities. At shops and restaurants, the customer is seldom right. Pressures of big-city life can anger anyone. But Bill Foster is more than angry. He's out to get even. Foster abandons his gridlocked car, license plate D-FENS, on the hottest day of the year and walks straight into an urban nightmare both absurdly funny and shatteringly violent. Michael Douglas is Foster, an ordinary guy at war with the frustrations of daily life. Robert Duvall is the savvy cop obsessed with stopping Fosters citywide rampage. This spellbinding thriller is their story, asking "Are we falling apart?".
Video: 4.25/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3/5 Korean War vet and retired autoworker Walt Kowalski doesn't much like how his life or his neighborhood has turned out. He especially doesn't like the people next door. Hmong immigrants from Southeast Asia. But events force Walt to defend those neighbors against a local gang that feeds on violence and fear.
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 3.75/5
Extras: 3.75/5 When drug lord Franz Sanchez exacts his brutal vengeance on Bond's friend Felix Leiter, 007 resigns from the British Secret Service and begins a fierce vendetta against the master criminal. Bond won't be satisfied until Sanchez is defeated, and to accomplish this aim he allies himself with a beautiful pilot and Sanchez's sexy girlfriend. But Bond, relegated to outlaw status, must battle agents on both sides of the law as he discovers the horrifying extent of his prey's resources. In order to bring Sanchez down, Bond must survive a ferocious boat chase, a mid-air brawl over the controls of an out-of-control airplane, and an action-packed confrontation in the Mexico desert.
Video: 3/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Extras: 3.5/5 Kevin Costner triumphs as the legendary Sherwood Forest outlaw leader in this epic adventure bringing a 12th-century medieval world to spectacular screen life. Enhancing the fun are 12 added minutes of footage not seen in theatres, especially more juicy malevolence of Robin Hoods archenemy, the Sheriff of Nottingham. Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio also star in this lavish production lensed in Britain and France, where historic structures, majestic forests and vividly realistic recreations of Olde England combined to create a world at once ancient and ageless.
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 4/5 Prepare to boldly go where no man has gone before with the "Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection", an action-packed box set featuring the six films in their original theatrical versions starring the U.S.S. Enterprise's legendary crew.
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 4/5 When his estranged daughter is kidnapped in Paris, a former spy sets out to find her at any cost. Relying on his special skills, he tracks down the ruthless gang that abducted her and launches a one-man war to bring them to justice and rescue his daughter.
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 4.25/5 Based on the incredible true story of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his ingenious assassination plot targeting Adolph Hitler, this engrossing thriller reenacts the daring operation to eliminate one of the most evil tyrants the world has ever known.
Video: 3/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 2.5/5 The year is 1942 and the Nazis are cutting a deadly swath through Russia. Under the leadership of Kruschev, the citizens of Stalingrad are mounting a brave resistance, spurred by the exploits of their local hero, Vassili Zaitsev. An expert sniper, Vassili's deeds have become legendary - thanks to propaganda produced by Vassili's best friend, a political officer named Danilov. To stop Vassili, the Germans dispatch their best sniper, Major Konig, to Stalingrad. When Vassili and Danilov both fall in love with a beautiful soldier, Danilov deserts his friend, leaving Vassili to face his German counterpart alone. As the city burns, Vassili and Konig begin a cunning game of cat and mouse, waging a private war for courage, honor and country.