Blu-ray Movie Reviews

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Family Guy: It's a Trap! (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Dec 23, 2010  |  0 comments
The Family Guy alliance is in for one last outer-space adventure, as Han Solo (Peter), Chewbacca (Brian), and Princess Leia (Lois) battle against the Evil Empire. Meanwhile, Darth Vader (Stewie) and the Emperor (Carter) try to recruit Luke (Chris) to the dark side of the Force with free tacos and T-shirts.

Just like its two predecessors, this parody is crude and obnoxious and occasionally funny. I would have preferred to have seen the TV version to eliminate the "F" word, which I don't particularly care for in this context.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fanboys (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jul 26, 2010  |  0 comments
Four estranged buddies embark on a road trip across the country in a last ditch effort to reclaim their friendship. Star Wars fans since childhood, their goal is to break into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch in an attempt to see a rough cut of Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace before its worldwide theatrical release in 1999.

My name is David Vaughn and I have been a Star Wars fanboy since 1977. Yes, I stood in line for more hours than I would like to admit to see The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi when I was an adolescent. Furthermore, I did the same in 1999 at the ripe young age of 30 in order to be one of the first to see The Phantom Menace.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Dec 01, 2010  |  0 comments
Initially released by Walt Disney in 1940 as a "road show" release, Fantasia has gone on to become one of the most popular movies of all time. Featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski, the film has eight musical pieces set to wonderful animation and is narrated by Deems Taylor. (Interestingly, while the music was recorded by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the on-screen musicians seen in silhouette between the musical selections were members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and UAV editor Scott Wilkinson's grandfather was one of them.)

Fulfilling Walt Disney's original vision of continuing to create unique fusions of animation and classical music, Fantasia 2000 picks up where the first one left off with seven completely new segments and the return of the popular "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." Roy E. Disney orchestrated a collaboration of more than 1200 artists and technicians to present this tour de force.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fantastic beasts and Where to Find Them
Avi Greengart  |  Jul 07, 2017  |  0 comments
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In the Harry Potter universe, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a school textbook. The movie of the same name provides the back story of its author. I hope there is no test, because I found the movie long and overstuffed.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Chris Chiarella  |  May 29, 2014  |  0 comments
In 2009, one of the kings of quirky dramedy, Wes Anderson, managed to surprise us again with a star-studded, fully stop-motion-animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s deliciously absurd Fantastic Mr. Fox. This laid-back bad boy has settled down with his wife and pup, but can a fox ever really change his nature?
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsA/V Veteran
Farscape Far Away
Thomas J. Norton  |  Dec 23, 2013  |  0 comments
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If you’re a fan of science fiction and haven’t heard of the TV series Farscape (1999-2003) you don’t get out much. If you’re not a sci-fi fan, this series might just make you one. It offers more compelling characters, action, humor, drama, weird plot twists, sudden mood shifts, poignancy, and stunning performances than any other dozen TV shows you might name.

It all begins when astronaut John Crichton encounters a wormhole on an experimental mission. He’s flung to a distant quadrant of the galaxy, encounters a gigantic vessel nearby, and docks with it. It turns out to be a living ship, know to the locals a leviathan, operated by a bonded pilot. The ship’s occupants are alien prisoners escaping from their captors. The latter, the Mr. Bigs in this area of space, call themselves the Peacekeepers, and from all appearances (externally at least) appear indistinguishable from humans.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fast & Furious
David Vaughn  |  Jul 29, 2009  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/fastfurious.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>When tragedy brings fugitive ex-con Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) back to Los Angeles, his long-dormant feud with FBI agent Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) threatens to reignite&#151;until they discover a common enemy. Unfortunately, this film is about six years too late&#151;Vin Diesel should have been in the first sequel rather than skipping to the third&#151;but it's quite the demo showpiece. The video encode has excellent shadow detail with bright colors, and the first-rate DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track exhibits outstanding surround imaging and impressive frequency response.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
Roger Kanno  |  Jan 17, 2020  |  0 comments
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The titular characters in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw were introduced in earlier Fast & Furious films, but you don't have to know much about their backstories to enjoy this film, an extremely serviceable action-comedy that leans heavily on the charm and chemistry of its stars, Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fast Five
David Vaughn  |  Oct 07, 2011  |  0 comments
Former cop Brian O'Copnner (Paul Walker) and his girlfriend Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) hookup with her fugitive brother Dom (Vin Diesel) and head to South America to elude the authorities. Tired of running, they assemble an elite team of top racers to help pull off one last job in order to secure enough cash for retirement, but when a hard-nosed federal agent (Dwayne Johnson) shows up in Rio de Janeiro, their job goes from hard to nearly impossible to complete.

Generally speaking, sequels tend to pale in comparison to the original, but here's a case where the fifth film in the series is actually the best. It all boils down to the screenplay, which has more of an Ocean's 11 tone than a racing-centric plot found in the previous films. Regardless, it's a lot of fun to watch and the spectacular audio and video help keep you on the edge of your seat.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Faster (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Feb 25, 2011  |  0 comments
Revenge is a dish best served cold, and for Driver (Dwayne Johnson), he's been waiting 10 years behind bars to avenge the murder of his brother. Now a free man, he can have his revenge but the hunter is also the hunted with two men trailing him. The first is a cop (Billy Bob Thornton) who's just days from retirement and the other is a young hitman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) who's happy to come across such a worthy adversary.

Maybe I'm getting too old, but I'm really getting tired of gratuitous violence that's so prevalent in today's films. I like an action movie just as much as the next guy, but does the violence need to come along for the ride? That aside, the action is pretty intense and well choreographed, but Johnson and Thornton's characters are hard to root for and I couldn't wait for this one to end.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Feb 05, 2010  |  First Published: Feb 06, 2010  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/fearloathing.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Based on the book by Hunter S. Thompson about a journalist (Johnny Depp) and his lawyer (Benicio Del Toro) in search of the American dream while gallivanting around Las Vegas for 48 hours high on drugs. Along the way they meet a cast of real life characters including Tobey Maguire, Ellen Barkin, Gary Busey,, Christina Ricci, Mark Harmon, Carmon Diaz, and Lyle Lovett.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fearless—Director's Cut Fearless—Director's Cut
David Vaughn  |  Dec 15, 2008  |  First Published: Dec 16, 2008  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/fearless.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>When an ill-advised fight destroys the reputation of renowned martial-arts champion Huo Yuanjia (Jet Li), his family pays the ultimate price. Shamed and disgraced, Huo must look within himself to find inner peace and discover what his mission in life should be.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Blu-ray) Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  May 05, 2009  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/ferris.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Ferris Bueller (Mathew Broderick), his best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck), and his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) ditch school for the day and frolic around Chicago in a Ferrari. Although Ferris's parents think he's the ideal child, his sister Jeanie (Jennifer Grey) and principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones) know better and would like nothing more than to catch Ferris in his shenanigans.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Field of Dreams (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jun 04, 2009  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/fod.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Iowa corn farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) questions his own sanity when he hears a voice whispering, "If you build it, he will come." Eventually, a vision of a baseball field appears in the distance, planting the seed of a most unusual idea. With the help of his supportive wife Annie (Amy Madigan), Ray tears up a portion of his crop and constructs a baseball diamond, leading to the appearance of Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) and seven other White Sox players from the disgraced 1919 team. Play ball!

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fifty Shades of Grey
Fred Kaplan  |  Jul 16, 2015  |  1 comments
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Are you curious? Really? OK then. Yes, Fifty Shades of Grey is a lousy movie, every bit the stinker that you probably expect: dull dialogue, vapid characters, no chemistry either from or between the actors. Here’s what you really want to know: Is the movie hot? Is it at least a little bit funny? And (since you are reading Sound & Vision) how does the Blu-ray Disc look and sound? Here’s the skinny, in that order. The actors who play Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele (the most improbably famous S&M couple on the planet) are very attractive; Dakota Johnson, as Ana, is hot; but their sex is pretty tame soft porn, even by Cinemax standards. (Showtime’s Masters of Sex is way sexier.)
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