Blu-ray Movie Reviews

In the first 15 minutes of Pompeii, I wondered if it was heading toward a mashup of Gladiator and The Horse Whisperer. But the horsey part turned out to be just a minor plot (such as it is) driver. The lead character had been a slave since childhood, begins as a star sword-to-hand fighter in a backwater Britannia arena, has a seething grudge against the Romans for killing his family, soon becomes a gladiator in Pompeii, pals up with another gladiator (a big African, natch), and together they score a major victory in the arena against a faux Roman army in front of a vile, powerful Roman senator. Sound familiar?

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/poseidon.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>The cruise ship Poseidon is on its way from London to New York on New Year's Eve when it's suddenly struck by a rogue wave turning it upside down in the water. The Captain (Andre Braugher) tells everyone in the main ballroom to be calm and patient, but a band of survivors led by Dylan (Josh Lucas) and Robert (Kurt Russell) have their own plan of escape.

When the US loses a diplomat over enemy lines, Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his covert military team are sent to find them and get out of dodge without being detected. Once on the scene, they find some special forces personnel skinned alive and wonder who or what could have done it.

The 1980s had its share of sci-fi/horror classics and Predator is one of the best and spawned a number of sequels including the upcoming theatrical release of Predators. Schwarzenegger is outstanding as the action hero and director John McTiernan takes a promising concept and delivers the goods with plenty of action and intensity.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/pretty.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>In this contemporary Cinderella story, a streetwise prostitute, Vivian (Julia Roberts), meets no-nonsense billionaire Edward Lewis (Richard Gere), who hires her to be his companion for a week. Their business arrangement turns into something more when the couple discovers they are a match made in heaven.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/primal.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Ambitious and famed defense lawyer Martin Vail (Richard Gere) volunteers his services to Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton), a Kentucky teenager charged with the murder of a Chicago archbishop. Vail uncovers evidence that the archbishop was involved in a corrupt land scheme and may have molested young parishioners. The case is further complicated by a psychologist's diagnosis that Stampler suffers from multiple personality disorder.

It's a race against time when a rogue prince (Jake Gyllenhaal) reluctantly teams up with a rival princess (Gemma Arterton) to safeguard a magical dagger that gives its possessor the power to reverse time and rule the world.

Adapting a video game into a feature film is a challenging task, but producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Mike Newell actually pull it off here. Sure, the story isn't very thought-provoking, but there's plenty of action and enough comic relief from Alfred Molina to entertain the family for a couple of hours. The demo-worthy DTS-HD MA soundtrack features everything you'd want from an action movie—impressive dynamics, ample bass, and 360-degree envelopment.