Blu-Ray Spotlights

This week we have spotlight reviews for two Blu-Ray releases that I previously reviewed on DVD. Because of that, I won't be dealing with the movie as much as how the Blu-Ray disc differs from the DVD release.

The Invisible - Blu-Ray Edition - Buy from Amazon
The original DVD review can be found here, but for a quick recap... I didn't find the mystery engaging or suspenseful while the moody lead character gave me no reason to care about his plight.

The question here is whether this DVD is worth the extra $5.00 it costs to buy the Blu-Ray version over the DVD version. To answer that question you have to look at the picture quality and extra features. With The Invisible, I never thought the visuals were screaming for the high definition treatment. It was moody and high definition fog looks pretty much the same as standard definition fog. Looking at the movie showcase, which is there to show off the Blu-Ray technology, I wasn't struck by any of the three scenes being significantly more impressive than the DVD version. Granted, I watched the DVD with upconversion on my Blu-Ray player so the does have an effect. However, if you don't have a Blu-Ray player, the question of buying the Blu-Ray disc is moot, unless you want to upgrade your home theater system to high definition, but The Invisible is not a film worth upgrading for.

As for the bonus extras, there are none. Yes, the Blu-Ray version does have all of the extras from the DVD, but that should go without saying. If the high definition version doesn't, someone needs a stern talking to. (I'm looking at you, HD-DVD release of Top Gun. I'm still pissed at that.)

I couldn't recommend the original DVD for anything more than a rental. However, if you've already decided to buy the movie, I can't recommend the Blu-Ray over the DVD. This movie doesn't demand the high definition treatment and there are no additional features so it isn't worth the extra $5 to purchase.

The second Blu-Ray spotlight is...

Meet the Robinsons - Blu-Ray - Buy from Amazon
The original DVD review can be found here. I enjoyed this movie enough to recommend picking it up if you had kids, but adult collectors of digital animation will probably be fine with a rental.

Speaking of digital animation, I think it will be these films that help convince more and more people to join the high definition movement. Because they are created digitally, they really pop wit the high definition treatment. Granted, this movie's style is cartoony and a more realistic art style would benefit more from the extra resolution, but I was still happy enough with the improvement that I wouldn't consider it a mistake to upgrade on that point alone.

As for bonus extras, they have all of the DVDs features as well as an extra game. Normally set tops games are a waste of space, but this action game is actually very well done. It is certainly better than what you could do with a regular DVD player and showing off the technology is important in getting people to pay more for the high definition discs.

With visuals that benefit from high definition more than most movies, and additional bonus material, I can say that Meet the Robinsons is worth paying the extra $5 to $7 to get the - Blu-Ray version. So far most high definition releases feel like shovelware, so it is nice to see a - Blu-Ray release that is worth it.

C.S.I.: Miami - Season 5 - Buy from Amazon
The C.S.I. franchise is not my favorite when it comes to police procedural shows, and I consider C.S.I.: Miami to be the worst of the three.

The original is, well, the original and it has that going for it. Also, I find the chemistry between the characters to be superior. C.S.I.: New York is at least somewhat different in terms of tone, but this one feels like a clone of the original, just without the same level of interesting characters and very little chemistry between them. And good god, David Curuso overacts. Watching the show infrequently on TV is one thing, but sitting down and watching 4 or five hours in a row to do this review is another. The dramatic removal of the sunglasses, the squinting, the squatting; it was all too much and I had to take a break.

Last week I reviewed NCIS and it makes for a great comparison and it emphasized all the problems I have with this show. On C.S.I.: Miami the mysteries are not as interesting, the editing techniques are distracting, and there are far too many extraneous shots. If you tell me you can read the solvents on the paper, I believe you; I don't need to see it up close on the microscopic level. Or if you are going to show me super close-ups of evidence, don't do it four, five, six times an episode. These flashy techniques might work if used sparingly, but I've grown tired of them long before this season. Hell, I grew tired of them before C.S.I.: Miami was first spun off. Speaking of Miami, where are there two or three minutes of aerial shots of Miami each episode? Are they afraid the people will forget C.S.I.: Miami is set in Miami? And what is with all the slow motion? The jump cuts? Split screen? Split screen with the same image on the screen twice? The multitude of cheesy screen effects? This isn't style; this is pretentiousness masquerading as style. I swear, if you got a real editor to handle this show, and you could get the running time of the average show down at least 10 minutes without hurting the narrative in the slightest. Hell, since the 'style' is distracting, it would improve the show dramatically.

Moving onto the extras, there is a good selection with audio commentary tracks on five episodes and five featurettes on the 6-disc set. However, while the quantity is high, the quality is not. The audio commentary tracks are mostly good, but sometimes are on the dry side. More technical and less entertaining. The best involved Eva La Rue as she talked about the episode, Darkroom, and how an event in her life helped inspire it. On the other hand, the featurettes were usually too short to give us much information. Rio Grand: CSI Miami Goes to Rio runs just under 8 minute and doesn't give enough information on the shoot in Brazil to have much in the way of replay value. If Looks Could Kill - Special F/X Makeup is self-explanatory and runs 13 minutes. Again, it is interesting, but with limited replay value. On disc four is the nine-minute long featurette, Turning Up the Heat: The Look of CSI Miami and it examines the look of the show. On Disc Five we find Dressing the Part, which is also rather self-explanatory and runs 6 minutes. Finally, Disc Six gives us The Real MDPD with Jonathan Togo; it runs 25 minutes and is easily the meatiest featurette on the set. Again, the name gives a good description as we see the real life examples of pretty much every aspect of the show.

A really good police procedural show should draw you and make you care about the case, and not just solving it but the process. Too often while watching this show, I only cared about the outcome. And sometimes, I stopped caring about that well before the show was over. There is simply too much style and not enough substance to hold my attention. On the other hand, fans of the show will likely enjoy the 6-disc set and should pick it up.

Caligulia - 3-Disc Imperial Edition - Buy from Amazon
Caligulia stars Malcolm McDowell, Peter O'Toole, Helen Mirren, Sir John Gielgud, and based on a screenplay by Gore Vidal. This could have been an impressive look at a time in history. If the movie stuck with the truth and gave us a look at the political intrigue and Roman way of life, it could have been a good film.

Unfortunately one of the producers was Bob Guccione, of Penthouse magazine, who decided it would make a great porno. The mixing of the two was the biggest mistake of the production, but even if you just look at the film as a piece of historial fiction, it's a bloated mess. Everything seems overdone and the few scenes and aspects that do work seem diminished by the mere size of the film. In the end, it really only works as a curiosity, but even as a train wreck, it did not hold my attention.

On a side note, the debauchery depicted in the movie is mostly fiction. There are very few historical records from the time, and most of the truly bizarre accusations against Caligulia were not written until years after his death by people trying to discredit his reign. The same is true of Emperor Nero. In fact, a lot of this movie suffered from historical inaccuracies, which wouldn't be such a big deal except people kept defending this film saying it is an accurate depiction of the times.

As for the three-disc set, it is well done and will satisfy those who want to check out the movie out of curiosity or whether they are a fan of the film in whatever capacity that is. Disc one contains the international version that runs more than two-and-a-half hours including extended scenes, mostly involving hardcore sex but there are some scenes with more graphic violence. Disc two has the 1979 theatrical, which is just under two-and-a-half hours. This version can also be viewed with one of three audio commentary tracks, the first with Malcolm McDowell, the second with Helen Mirren, and the third with Ernest Volkman. The first two are much more interesting, while the third is done over the phone and the audio quality is quite weak. In addition, there are a dozen deleted / extended scenes of version quality, none that really add much to the movie.

Finally, there's a third disc with several featurettes starting with interviews with John Steiner, (Longinus), Lori Wagner, (Agrippina), and Tinto Brass, (the director). In total these three interviews run nearly 90 minutes long. Additionally, there is a two part making of featurette called, The Making of Caligula, and it runs a combined 1 hour and 10 minutes. It is interesting to see the perspective from the 1970s when the film was made and the perspective now. It is clear that most people are more or less resigned to the mess Caligulia turned into.

It can't be overemphasizes that the film's production was a mess. In fact, the story of the production is a lot more interesting that the final product. Even watching it as a train wreck, I found the movie couldn't hold my attention. Hearing the audio commentary tracks and the interviews does give an interesting perspective on the film, but I can't image a lot of causal film buffs giving this film more than 12 hours of their life, which is how long it would take to watch the movie and all of the extras. As a movie, I can't recommend Caligulia for anything more than renting. But without the extras, you don't get a true sense of the movie and it would take more than one sitting just to get through the entire 3-Disc Imperial Edition. This makes it nearly impossible to come up with the final rating.

All I can say is rent it, but make sure you have the weekend free to get through it all.