Special Mention for TV Series Blu-rays:  Justified: The Complete First Season, Louie: The Complete First Season (Review HERE), Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (Review HERE), The Walking Dead: Season 1 – Special Edition

10. Kung Fu Panda 2 – A wonderful sequel to an already great first film.  This new adventure features Po and the gang taking on the malevolent Lord Shen and his newfound weaponry for the sake of saving kung fu.  As this was both stunning in terms of its story and in its action and animation, the Blu-ray for the film does amazing justice to the film.  Fantastic picture and audio quality highlight both the brightly colored animation and show off the wonderful action choreography on the small screen, accompanied by the great score and kung fu sound design.  Add to that a plethora of extras that detail both the production of the film, while also providing additional fun features for younger audiences, and all new stories for everyone to enjoy.  A very impressive package that will help you find inner piece.

“Tell those musicians to start playing action music, because it is on!” (Order HERE)

9.  Criterion Tie: Blow Out, Broadcast News, The Killing, Kiss Me Deadly – Once again, it is always tough to narrow down between the many great Blu-ray releases from The Criterion Collection, so I feel I have no choice but to narrow it down to a few of my favorites.  Criterion always delivers and the movies I have chosen are all fantastic.  Their Blu-rays are all designed to look and sound great, while also informing the viewer of the film’s history with brand new special features on the disc and the little booklets always included in the package.  The picks I have listed include a comedy, two classic film noirs, and a De Palma thriller, all the variety one would need to really enjoy what Criterion has to offer.

“I think we have the kind of friendship where if I were the devil, you’d be the only one I would tell.” (Order HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE)

8.  The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy – Extended Editions – I am not the biggest ‘Ringer’; I have not even read the books.  However, I do admire the acclaimed motion picture trilogy that is The Lord of the Rings and the work that Peter Jackson and his entire team had put into these films.  I had not seen all of the ‘Extended Edition’ versions of these films up until this year, where I got to experience the Blu-rays in action, projected onto a movie theater screen.  Even regardless of my opinions on each of the films (they get better as the progress for me), these films look and sound great.  Along with the wonderful cinematography, the fantastic effects work by WETA still holds true and the audio presentation is there to match.  All of the special features previously available on the DVD versions are here as well; unfortunately all in SD, but it is still an all-encompassing look at the creation of these films.  A great package for anyone desiring a near definitive Lord of the Rings set.

“All our hopes now lie with two little hobbits, somewhere in the wilderness.” (Order HERE)

7.  The Big Lebowski – Another release of The Big Lebowski is always a time to celebrate.  With the number of releases of The Big Lebowski that have come out so far, we may never get a definitive one, but at least it is now available on Blu-ray.  It helps that the film is among my top films of all time, because it is not as fantastic a video and audio presentation as some of the other films on this list, but it is very good and the disc even manages to pack in all of the old special features and a few new ones.  Honestly, I would rather just stop talking about the Blu-ray and just quote this constantly hilarious film, but I will make a shout out to all the other Coen Brother films, which are now almost all available on Blu-ray.  The Coen’s have always had a keen eye when it comes to cinematography, and ‘Lebowski’ is no exception, as it is a very good looking film to watch on Blu-ray, let alone a great one to hear all of the memorable quotes in wonderful lossless DTS-HD.  Far out man.

“That rug really tied the room together.” (Review HERE and Order HERE)

6.  X-Men: First Class – I am still very pleased with how this all managed to come together.  Despite the rushed production schedule (and I still believe another few months could have made this film near flawless), X-Men: First Class was a very exciting film matched with great direction from Matthew Vaughn, an impressive handling on the source material, and of course the secret weapon that is Michael Fassbender.  The Blu-ray that this film is available on is also quite exciting, as it boasts stellar sound and video, along with a terrific documentary that goes over the making of the film.  Given that I tend to check out the extras on superhero movies almost immediately when they come out, I was quite happy to feel so involved with the making of this film, based on the quality of the extras.  First Class certainly passes the test.

“Listen to me very carefully, my friend:  Killing will not bring you peace.” (Review HERE and Order HERE)

5.  The Social Network – One of the best films from last year (review HERE) will now receive a bit more praise this year due to its fantastic Blu-ray presentation.  Director David Fincher’s films have continued to receive wonderful treatment when it comes to their home releases (with the exception of The Game), and The Social Network is no different.  It is a fantastic looking film, with a fantastic score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and this is all very well captured on Blu-ray.  Add to that a lengthy documentary that goes over the production of the film, additional behind the scenes footage, and two commentary tracks, and this is everything you would want out of a film that was already great.  Click “Like” on this Blu-ray.

“I’m talking about taking the entire social experience of college and putting it online.” (Order HERE)

4.  The Incredibles – My favorite Pixar film (well it’s tied with two others, but I’ve watched this one the most) finally came to Blu-ray this year and it is, of course, incredible.  Pixar always delivers wonderful looking films that continue to look great at home and this Blu-ray provides a fantastic audio and video presentation.  This is great for a film that has so much going on in terms of the action/adventure plotting of the film and the wonderful music and sound effects that carry on throughout.  Further supporting the quality of this Blu-ray, the entire assortment of great special features previously available are seen on this disc (in HD!), as well as a few new ones, including a very entertaining retrospective for the film.  The Incredibles is as a great a film as always and finally having it in a superior format to view the film in is super.

“No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again.” (Review HERE and Order HERE)

3.  Evil Dead 2 (25^th Anniversary Edition) – Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy is my favorite horror franchise and Evil Dead 2 is one of my favorite films of all time.  Anyone familiar with this series is aware of the many many releases that these films seem to get, but decide to buy anyway.  Well now we have the 25^th Anniversary of Evil Dead 2 and it is awesome.  This film probably looks about the best it ever will on Blu-ray, which is still quite good, given the low budget nature of this series.  Additionally, there is a brand new, fantastic feature length documentary that goes over everything about the film.  It’s a very well made extra that is enough for me to buy on its own, if that were an option to begin with.  There are also several other new special features, along with the extras previously available on the other releases.  Evil Dead 2 is a wonderful, off-the-wall, horror comedy camp classic and I am glad I have what is hopefully the definitive version of this film in my possession.

“Groovy” (Order HERE)

2.  Pulp Fiction/Jackie Brown – No, I can’t separate these.  I love both of these films too much to have one out rank the other in my eyes.  Regardless, what puts these two films near the top of the list (beyond the fact that they are near the top of my list for all time favorite films) is the fact that they boast two of the best video transfers I have ever seen on Blu-ray.  Notably along with North by Northwest, of all films, these are the movies that completely show me what Blu-ray is all about in terms of making the picture look absolutely fantastic.  The audio is of course very good as well, but the picture truly stuck out to me and it is great to see that Tarantino put a lot of care into making these films come out right.  Given how much of a film nerd he is, I am sure his heavy involvement (his seal of approval is on the box) did really help the final product.  There are also a few new extra features along with all the old ones available on the disc.  So yes, it is a Tarantino tie for my number 2 spot, with only one logical choice remaining to take the crown…

“It’s like a wax museum with a pulse.” (Reviews HERE and HERE and Order HERE and HERE)

1.  Star Wars: The Complete Saga – I cannot say that this was a “without question” decision, but after thinking about it, it only seemed logical.  This is Star Wars on Blu-ray we’re talking about!  It is the biggest film franchise of all time and bitch about the prequels others may do all they like, I am a lifelong Star Wars fan.  Getting all (yes, all) of these films on Blu-ray is something fans have been clamoring for since Blu-ray’s inception and September, 2011, was the time we were all rewarded with a high def presentation of the Star Wars saga.  It was a bit curious/annoying to see that the first two prequels did not boast the best video quality in comparison to the original trilogy, but they still look pretty damn good (and the originals look great), but the audio on all of them is quite fantastic.  Add to that a giant assortment of extra features that covers every chapter, along with a lot of additional bonus extras that detail all sorts of Star Wars related material and you have a pretty expansive Blu-ray package.  The force was with this one for sure.

“I suggest a new strategy, R2. Let the Wookiee win.” (Order HERE)

Honorable Mentions: Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, Black Swan (Review HERE), Bridesmaids (Review HERE), Citizen Kane, Do the Right Thing, Fast Five (Review HERE), Insidious (Review HERE), Jurassic Park Trilogy, The Lion King (Review HERE), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Review HERE), Super 8 (Review HERE), Taxi Driver, Tree of Life, Tron: Legacy (Review HERE), True Grit (Review HERE)

Film

The movie opens with a young girl named Penny (Miley Cyrus) and her dog Bolt (John Travolta) chasing some bad guys while evading other ones.  Bolt  appears to have superpowers that he uses to help Penny in her quest to save her father that’s been kidnapped by the evil Doctor Calico (Malcolm McDowell).  What Bolt doesn’t realize is that his entire existence is just a television show that’s being filmed surreptitiously.  It’s kind of like the Truman Show meets James Bond.  During the filming of an episode, Penny seems to be kidnapped and Bolt (not knowing that’s it’s all fake) escapes to rescue her but accidentally knocks himself out when he hits his head on a window and falls into a box of styrofoam packing material which is mistakenly sent to New York with him in it.

When he awakens he spies a cat named Mittens (Susie Essman) who he believes is an agent of evil who works for Doctor Calico since he has been taught that all cats are not to be trusted.  While Mittens isn’t evil per se, she isn’t very nice to the local pigeons who she’s forced into servitude through threats.  Bolt who still believes that this is just another mission, forces Mittens into leading him to where Penny is being help by Doctor Calico.  Although Mittens has no idea what he’s talking about, she still tells him that a restaurant map will lead them to Penny in Hollywood so he doesn’t beat her up.  Back in Hollywood, Penny is extremely sad about Bolt being missing but reluctantly accepts working with a replacement dog so the production isn’t shut down which would put a lot of people out of work.

As Bolt and Mittens make their way across the country, Bolt starts to realize that none of his superpowers seem to be working anymore but he believes that it’s because of the styrofoam from the box he was shipped in has sapped his powers.  Once Mittens learns that he’s afraid of styrofoam she tries to win her freedom while wielding a piece of the hated styrofoam but Bolt is able to defeat her.  They both accept that they will need to work together since they both are hungry so Mittens teaches Bolt how to beg for food.  They soon run into a hyperactive hamster named Rhino who happens to be an avid watcher of Bolt’s show and who proclaims himself to be his number one fan.

When Bolt and Mittens are captured by Animal Control but Rhino is able to free Bolt before the they reach their destination but not before Bolt finally realizes that Mittens is right about him not having any superpowers, and not before Mittens is saved.  Now convinced that he is worthless, Bolt has to be convinced by Rhino that he can still save Mittens.  When they manage to save Mittens, the group finally becomes friends and Mittens shows Bolt how to act like a normal dog and what activities they like to do.  Bolt is overjoyed at these revelations and enjoys every minute of playing fetch and sticking his head out of moving cars.  Things are going so well that Mittens believes that they will remain where they are and make a good life there.  Bolt disagrees because he still wants to find Penny while Mittens tries to convince him to forget about her.  Since they can’t agree on a course of action, Bolt leaves to continue his trip to Hollywood with Rhino following behind him and Mittens stubbornly remaining behind.

When Bolt finally makes it back to the studio where the show with Penny is filmed, he discovers that he’s been replaced by another look alike dog which crushes his spirit.  Dejected, he begins to leave and completely misses Penny telling her mother how much she misses Bolt.  Fortunately for him, their exchange is seen by Mittens who has returned to help Bolt and she tells him what he missed.  At the same time, during filming within the sound-stage, the replacement dog panics during filming and accidentally starts a fire that quickly engulfs the entire sound-stage.  Bolt realizes that it’s up to him to save Penny and he jumps into action once more.

Bolt doesn’t have the deepest plot or the most original story-line, but it is a lot of fun and the actors bring a lot to their roles especially John Travolta.  The movie is fast paced and has a good balance of action and comedy.  The characters are well defined and play off of each other well.  Of course there is no way that a show like Bolt could ever be filmed as was shown, but if you can overlook that, this movie has a lot going for it with its easygoing charm and humor.

Video

3D Video

Both of these 1080p (1.78:1) transfers are very impressive which isn’t really a surprise when it comes to Disney releases.  The 3D is very effective, especially during the opening action packed scene during the filming of an episode of the show.  From the electrical currents that dance across the henchmen’s hands every time they try to capture Penny and Bolt, to the many close ups of the animals that reach out from the TV, Bolt offers an excellent 3D presentation that works even better since it was originally conceived for 3D.  Both versions have vibrant colors, suitably dark black levels, and a considerable amount of fine detail.  The 2D version looks flawless as does the 3D version with the exception of the frequent appearance of ghosting which is fairly constant but it never becomes a serious issue but I do feel that I need to mention it.  Overall, both versions look amazing and fans of the movie will be very pleased.

Audio

Bolt’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is also astounding from the very beginning of the movie with the street chase played out across all of the channels.  All of the explosions and the roar of the motorcycles, trains, and more fill the room and completely surround the listener.  The directional effects are extremely accurate as they dance across the channels to create a very immersive experience.  Dialogue is also very clear and delivered well from the front channels.  The LFE output is a constant presence and it delivers every explosion in an extremely satisfying way.  This incredible surround mix sets another high water mark for Disney.

Special Features

While there seems to be a decent amount of extras here, it’s not as good as it looks since all of these are extremely short.  I wish as much effort was put into the extras as there was the video and audio quality.

• Super Rhino – A short but funny cartoon where we see what would happen if Rhino had superpowers.
• Bolt’s Be-Awesome Mission Game – An interactive game for kids that includes three levels to play.
• In Session with John Travolta and Miley Cyrus – A quick look at the recording session with the two stars recording “I Thought I Lost You.”
• Music Video - “I Thought I Lost You”  Miley Cyrus and John Travolta sing the song for this music video. video.
• Creating the World of Bolt – A short look at the stylistic decisions of the directors Chris Williams and Byron Howard and the direction they went with the film that differed quite a bit from the original concept.
• A New Breed of Directors – Directors Chris Williams and Byron Howard talk about directing their first film and what they tried to accomplish with this movie.
• Deleted Scenes – There’s seven minutes of storyboard sequences included in an uncompleted form.
• Act Speak! The Voices of Bolt – A look at the recording sessions with the actors, the directors, and some comments from Executive Producer John Lasseter.
• Bolt Art Gallery – There’s four different galleries devoted to character designs, visual development, storyboards and the music.
• DVD – A DVD of the film is included.
• Digital Copy

Final Thoughts

This is a very enjoyable movie which is made even better by this excellent Blu-ray set.  The 3D is very good with only minor but frequent ghosting present, and an amazing surround mix.  While the extras could have been better, this is still a great Blu-ray to pick up and one that the whole family will enjoy!

Order your copy today!

A pair of low-rent hit men, Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), are sent out to collect a stolen briefcase for their mob boss employer, Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). Having proven himself worthy, Wallace then entrusts Vincent to entertain his wife, Mia (Uma Thurman), while he is out of town. Meanwhile, Wallace has paid off aging boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) to throw his next fight. The lives of these wildly entertaining characters intertwine with unexpected and violent consequences.

Film

Pulp Fiction changed movies forever.  Even now, seventeen years later, it is still imitated and referenced which is somewhat appropriate since the movie itself is full of references to other movies and TV shows.  The difference between Pulp Fiction and all of its imitators is that Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary combined all of their influences into something new, while the others were content to just essentially attempt to clone Pulp Fiction.  Tarantino and Avary won a well-deserved Oscar for their Pulp Fiction script that is full of dark humor and a circular narrative that forced audiences to not only pay attention, but also to participate as well.  By telling three different stories in a non-linear way and then intersecting them at different points, Tarantino is able to comment on  and set up past and future events.  As he later said, “”I got the idea of doing something that novelists get a chance to do but filmmakers don’t: telling three separate stories, having characters float in and out with different weights depending on the story.”

The three main story-lines focus on three different leads even though all of them play a part in each story-line.  The first act focuses mainly on Vincent Vega (John Travolta) who is a low key hitman that loves Amsterdam and drugs.  Vincent has recently returned from Amsterdam after staying there for several years enjoying the relaxed drug-related laws.  Now that he’s back, he likes to regale his partner Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) with tales of the differences that exist between Europe and America, such as how McDonald’s quarter-pounder is called a Royale with Cheese.  Vincent has been asked by his mob boss Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) to take his wife Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) out for some fun, much to the amusement of Jules and others.

Vincent and Jules are sent by Wallace to retrieve a suitcase that was appropriated by some young guys who clearly didn’t know who they were messing with.  After debating whether or not a foot massage is grounds for being tossed off of a four story building, Vincent and Jules enter the apartment to get the briefcase.  The dialogue that follows is both hilarious and scary, since Jules likes to recite bible passages before executing people and isn’t above killing someone to make a point.  When an armed assailant bursts out of the bathroom and fires repeatedly at Vincent and Jules and misses them completely, Jules believes that it’s a sign from God while Vincent thinks it’s just luck.  Jules is so convinced that it was a message from God that he starts to rethink his life much to Vincent’s annoyance.

The second story-line involves an aging prize-fighter named Butch (Bruce Willis) who has been ordered to throw a fight by Wallace.  Butch agrees to do it and takes the bribe money but uses the money to bet on himself to win.  Instead of throwing the fight in the fifth round as instructed, Butch not only wins the match but accidentally kills his opponent.  Knowing that Wallace and his men will be looking to get even, Butch has sent his girlfriend Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros) to retrieve his clothes and the watch that was passed down to him from his father.  In a very funny flashback, we learn that Butch’s father died from dysentery in a POW camp in Vietnam from his close friend and fellow prisoner Captain Koons (Christopher Walken)  and that both men hid the watch in their rectum to make sure it reached Butch as it was his birthright.  When Butch learns that Fabienne forgot to bring the watch, he decides to risk returning back to his apartment to get it.

Meanwhile, after surviving their close encounter with death, Vincent accidentally shoots their informant Marvin (Phil La Marr) in the face which presents a serious problem for the hitmen since there’s blood all over the car windows.  Jules decides to hide the car at his friend Jimmy’s (Tarantino) house so they can get cleaned up and remove the blood from the car.  When he hears what happened, Wallace sends an underworld clean up specialist, Mr. Wolfe (Harvey Keitel) to fix the situation.  Vincent eventually takes out Mia Wallace to Jack Rabbit Slims where they win a trophy for their dancing and things are going so well between them that Vincent has to remind himself not to get involved with her.  That proves to be a problem when Mia overdoses on some drugs she found in his jacket.  Desperate to keep her alive for her own sake and his, Vincent races to his drug dealer (Eric Stoltz) for help.

All of these stories collide in the third act when Vincent is sent alone to Butch’s apartment, a den of rapists is discovered the hard way, some one will be run over by a car, people will die, and a pair of inexperienced thieves (Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer) learn that they are in way over their head when they come face to face with a professional killer.  Tarantino weaves all of these stories together masterfully, as he jumps around in time with scenes starting and stopping out of order which gives an extra charge to the movie as you have no idea what’s about to happen.  This movie is the cinematic equivalent of a roller coaster ride that leaves you exhilarated and happily drained when it’s over.

The movie gods smiled on this movie when the cast was assembled.  I remember how shocked everyone was when superstar Bruce Willis agreed to be in the movie since that just wasn’t done before this movie.  Thanks to his faith and courage to star in the low budget film, Willis started a new wave of stars looking to get some “indie cred” in between their usual blockbusters.  Willis’ participation also ensured a lot of foreign investment in the movie and attracted other actors to the project.  This movie also revitalized John Travolta’s career and gave him a role that showed off his range which put him on a new career path.  As good as Willis and Travolta are in the movie (and they are very very good), the real star of the movie was Samuel L. Jackson in a career defining performance.  The entire movie is imminently quotable, but the lion’s share of the great lines in the movie belong to Jackson and his iconic delivery of those lines has been indelibly burned into our minds. The est of the cast is also great with Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Eric Stoltz, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Ving Rhames, and a blink and you’ll miss it cameo from Steve Buscemi as Buddy Holly.

Video

This 1080p (2.35:1) transfer offers the best presentation of this movie that I’ve ever seen including its theatrical run.  The detail is amazing and the clarity is so good that I noticed things that I had never noticed before.  Black levels are solid and the contrast is excellent.  Textures are well-defined and offer a level of detail that blows away the previous DVD release.  Flesh tones are natural and consistent and just wait until you see the extreme close ups that allow you to see every detail in the actor’s faces.  This is a stunning transfer that was approved by Quentin Tarantino himself.

Audio

Pulp Fiction’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is just as incredible as the picture quality.  This is an extremely active mix that surrounds the listener with a continuous sonic wave.  Gunshots, squealing tires, and more are brought to life with this mix in a startling way.  Dialogue is crystal clear throughout the movie and the various music tracks sound incredible.  There’s so much immersion with this mix, that I kept looking over my shoulder to see if what I was listening to was from the movie or something else.  This is a demo-worthy disc!

Special Features

This is a pretty good mix of new and old extras.  The new stuff is in high definition while the old stuff is in standard definition.

• Not the Usual Mindless Boring Getting to Know You Chit Chat – An all new retrospective with the cast and crew where they talk about how they got the job and how the movie’s success affected their careers.  This is a very candid discussion with Travolta talking about how much he appreciates Tarantino casting him for this movie and how it resuscitated his career.  Another surprising confession from Samuel L. Jackson who shares that when he as told the part of Jules was written for him, just read it impassively which almost cost him the part to Laurence Fishburne.  When he found out that his role was in jeopardy, he came back and blew them away with his audition of the restaurant scene.  From then on, the part was his.
• Here are Some Facts on the Fiction – Elvis Mitchell, Scott Foundas, Stephanie Zacharek, Tim Lucas and Andy Klein discuss the merits and impact of the film.  This is kind of interesting but basically it doesn’t really cover any new ground.
• Pulp Fiction: The Facts – A look back in time at one of the previous featurettes that is one of the few places  you will get to hear Tarantino’s thoughts since he didn’t participate in the new retrospective.  While this isn’t as detailed as the new one but there’s some good bits in here.
• Deleted Scenes – Tarantino introduces the deleted scenes and declares that there will never be a director’s cut since he does it right the first time.  The scenes are pretty good but not really needed.
• Behind the Scenes Montages – A look some behind the scenes film of  “Jack Rabbit Slim’s” and “Butch Hits Marsellus.”
• Production Design Featurette – A talk with the film’s Production Designer David Wasco and the Set Decorator Sandy Reynolds-Wasco.
• Siskel & Ebert At the Movies: The Tarantino Generation – This is a segment of Siskel & Ebert At the Movies that was devoted to Tarantino and his films.  It’s great to see the late Gene Siskel again and to watch their interplay once again.
• Independent Spirit Awards – A short interview of Tarantino by filmmaker Michael Moore.
• Cannes Film Festival – Palme D’Or Acceptance Speech
• Charlie Rose Show- The most in depth interview with Tarantino on the disc where he talks about his influences and childhood.
• Marketing Gallery- Includes a ton of the marketing materials used for the movie’s advertising:
  • U.S. Theatrical Trailer
  • UK Theatrical Trailer
  • French Theatrical Trailer
  • German Theatrical Trailer
  • Japanese Theatrical Trailer
  • Question TV Spot
  • Electrifying TV Spot
  • Event TV Spot
  • Reaction TV Spot
  • Nominations TV Spot
  • John TV Spot
  • Question/Review TV Spot
  • Review TV Spot
  • On the Move TV Spot
  • Movie Event TV Spot
  • React/Review TV Spot
  • Academy 7 TV Spot
  • Travolta Academy TV Spot
  • Posters
  • Academy Award Campaign and Trade Ads
• Still Gallery
• Enhanced Trivia Track

Final Thoughts

This is my favorite Tarantino movie and one of my all time favorites period.  The chemistry between the cast especially between Travolta and Jackson is fantastic.  The movie’s non-linear story-telling always keeps the movie fresh as does the witty and darkly comic script.  All of the elements came together perfectly for this movie and I can’t recommend it highly enough!

Order your copy today!

Be Cool

Film

This sequel to Barry Sonnenfeld’s very funny Get Shorty was a long time coming.  The first movie took place in Hollywood and told the tale of a mob enforcer named Chili Palmer (John Travolta) who was tired of his profession and wound up getting mixed up in a situation in Hollywood where he ended up becoming a movie producer.  At the start of this movie, he’s already disillusioned with the movie industry and its reliance on sequels.  His friend Tommy (James Woods) tries to convince Chili to stay in the business and make a movie about him and the record company that he and his wife Edie (Uma Thurman) started but he’s unfortunately killed in front of Chili by some Russian gangsters.  When Chili realizes that the shooter is out of bullets he steps out to face him which allows him to identify the shooter which also marks him as a witness to the hit and a target for the Russians.

The prospect of being target doesn’t really faze Chili.  In fact, he’s used to people trying to kill him and always manages to remain cool.  He visits Tommy’s widow Edie and offers to help her with her music business and discovers that Tommy wasn’t the best business man and that the company was in trouble not only with the Russians but also that it owes $300,000 to a producer named Sin Lasalle (Cedric the Entertainer).  Sin and his gangsta rap group Weapons of Mass Destruction aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty despite their financial success.   They threaten Edie about the money but Chili is able to buy them some time to pay it back.

Chili has an ace up his sleeve as he has discovered a talented singer named Linda Moon (Christina Milian) who he believes can be a star if given a chance.  He convinces Edie to record her but the only problem is that Linda is under a contract by the very politically incorrect but hilarious Raji (Vince Vaughn) who likes to believe that he is black and even dresses and talks like how he thinks a pimp would.  Raji is so annoying that he would get continually beat on if he didn’t have Elliot Wilhelm (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) as his bodyguard and his partner Nick Karr (Harvey Keitel) handling their business.  Nick barely tolerates Raji and shows him little respect while Elliot tries to be supportive of him despite Raji’s constant insults and abuse towards him.  Elliot wants to be an actor but Raji does his best to shatter those dreams since he doesn’t want to lose his bodyguard.

All of these stories collide when everyone’s interests become intertwined as the Russians keep trying to kill Chili, the gangsta rappers press for their money, and Nick and Raji become more desperate to keep Linda Moon under contract that they actually hire a hit-man (Robert Pastorelli) to kill Chili.  Chili has a plan of course on how to navigate all of this and a lot of the fun is to see how he avoids getting killed, getting Steven Tyler and Aerosmith to help Linda,  how he helps Elliot fulfill his acting dream, and how his relationship with Edie  turns out.   Much like in Get Shorty, there’s a lot of twists and turns in achieving all of those goals but no matter what happens, Chili will always be cool.

I loved the first movie and I loved this one too.  While I missed seeing Gene Hackman and Rene Russo from the first movie, we do get to see Danny DeVito reprise his role as Martin Weir.  While Hackman is missing, we do see some movie posters for Mr. Lovejoy (the movie he was trying to make in the first movie), and we also see that Martin has already made a sequel to Get Leo called Get Lost which are some nice nods to the first movie.  While I preferred Chili to be in the movie business since that’s of more interest to me, the music industry is also ripe for humor with all of its excesses too.  It all about images for them with Sin living in the suburbs  and trying to remain low profile until his gangsta posse including his main man Dabu (a funny Andre 3000) arrives at his house in a fleet of black Hummers .  Another good example would be Raji and his pathetic attempt to be something he’s not.

Everyone in this movie is very good in their roles but my favorite duo was Vince Vaughn and The Rock who both hit it out of the park.  Much of Raji’s dialogue was improvised by Vaughn and he is extremely funny in the role.  I don’t think there’s been a role with as much potential risk in it until Robert Downey Jr. played the dude playin’ the dude, disguised as another dude in Tropic Thunder.  The Rock also took a huge gamble with his persona as he played a gay wannabe actor who has a tendency to sing songs written for women and to do monologues from Bring it On, where he plays both cheerleader parts.  I think this is the role that really showed his range as an actor and he even sang and danced for the role.  He can do action movies like The Rundown in his sleep, but this was the first time we saw a different side to him which was later emphasized in other movies like The Other Guys and his appearances on Saturday Night Live.

The only aspect of the film that I could have done without are the characters played by Uma Thurman and Christina Milian who I think had too much screen time.  With Uma being involved in this movie along with Travolta, it became too much of a Pulp Fiction love letter, especially when you factor in Harvey Keitel as well.  In fact, it almost becomes too self-indulgent to the point that they even do another dance together for really no other reason that director F. Gary Gray wanted to see them dance together again on screen.  That’s not to say that Travolta and Thurman don’t do good work in this because they do, but their story-lines felt like they belonged in a different world than this one and that when combined with the Linda Moon subplot with its extended cameo from Steven Tyler, it just went on too long and made you impatient to see one of the supporting cast which is a testament to the casting of this movie.

Video

The film’s 1080p (2.40:1) transfer looks very sharp and is a vast improvement over the previous DVD version.  Colors are nicely delineated and there’s a lot of nice detail to be found during close-ups and in the textures of the  character’s clothes.  Flesh tones are natural for the most part but they do occasionally get a little warm.  Black levels are suitably dark and the contrast is excellent as well.  There is a layer of grain present but it’s not too heavy and it hasn’t been scrubbed away which leaves it looking appropriately film-like.

Audio

Be Cool’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is a very good one for a comedy movie.  Usually for these kind of movies, they are largely front speaker only affairs, but Be Cool manages to utilize the rear and satellite speakers for certain scenes like the hit on Tommy, the crows at a basketball game, and the live performances by Aerosmith, The Black Eyed Peas,  and more.  The score by John Powell is well represented as well but I missed the original movie’s catchy music by John Lurie.   Dialogue is always clear and the music by This is a pretty dynamic mix and I thought it sounded really good for a comedy.

Special Features

All of these extras have been ported over from the previous DVD release and they are good ones but I wish they had at least gone back and done a new documentary that allowed the cast to look back and reflect on the movie.  All of these are also unfortunately in standard definition except for the trailer.

• Be Cool, Very Cool - A featurette that features the cast and crew talking about the movie along with a lot of clips from the film.  This is pretty good but I wish it was longer and didn’t have so many clips included to pad out the running time.
• Deleted Scenes – Fourteen deleted or alternate scenes that vary in quality.  Some of them are entertaining and some of them were cut for a reason.
• Gag Reel – This wasn’t as good as I thought it would be since most of the funny stuff was already included in the movie.  I really didn’t need to see repeated shots of a car stalling while Uma attempts to drive it.
• Music Video: The Rock as Elliot Wilhelm, “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man” – The full version of the funny music video of The Rock doing his cowboy woman’s anthem.
  
• Close-up: Dance Partners - A look at the dancing scene between Travolta and Thurman.  As I said earlier, this comes off as extremely self-indulgent and this extra just emphasizes that.
• Close-up: The Rock – A short featurette devoted to The Rock and his great performance.
  
• Close-up: Andre 3000 – A short featurette devoted to Andre 300 and his performance as the jumpy Dabu.
• Close-up: Cedric the Entertainer – A short featurette devoted to Cedric the Entertainer and his performance as the refined yet dangerous Sin LaSalle.
• Close-up: Christina Milian – A short featurette devoted to Christina Milian and her performance as Linda Moon.
• Theatrical Trailer
  

Final Thoughts

John Travolta is ably supported by an all star cast that proves to be just as good as he is in the movie.  While I loved the performances by Vince Vaughn and The Rock the most, everyone in the movie did a fantastic job and made the movie a lot of fun to watch.  If you liked Get Shorty, you will most likely enjoy this movie too and I hope there will be a third one someday!

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Two-time Academy Award® nominee John Travolta and three-time Golden Globe® nominee Jonathan Rhys Meyers join forces in the high-octane action thriller, From Paris With Love.  Hailed as “one of the best action movies this year,” (Los Angeles Examiner) From Paris With Love arrives as a 2-disc Blu-ray Set which includes Digital Copy – and is also available as a separate DVD and as a digital download.  Both the DVD and Blu-ray Disc are loaded with bonus materials including numerous featurettes highlighted by a “making-of,” audio commentary or picture-in-picture commentary (on the Blu-ray) with Director Pierre Morel plus a Trivia Game.

Trigger-happy special agent Charlie Wax (Travolta) leads rookie James Reese (Rhys Meyers) on a high-speed shooting frenzy through the Parisian underworld during a high-stakes CIA mission to foil a terrorist attack planned on the city.  Before Reese realizes he’s bitten off more than he can chew, the duo discovers that he’s a target of the same crime ring planning the attack.  With only 48 hours to save the city, there is no turning back and only one deadly way out.  Pack your bags and get ready for a serious adrenaline-rush of adventure!

Don’t over-think this one, folks.  This movie is heaping order of pistol porn and plenty of over-the-top action that rocks it out shortly after starting through the very end.  Myers plays James Reece, an American CIA operative, living and working in the city of Paris, trying to increase his status within the secretive government organization.  He’s currently at the lowest rung, doing barely dangerous and very light jobs delivered to him via impromptu phone calls from a mysterious boss we never see.  Still, the end of the day is always a payoff as he returns home to his beautiful French girlfriend, Caroline (Kasia Smutniak)…then comes the call.  Reece is deemed ready for the big time and is ordered to pick up Charlie Wax as his new partner.

Wax (Travolta) is an ultra-confident, super-capable CIA spook whose unorthodox methods often bring results, but with an abundance of mayhem and a whole lot of spent casings.  The two are an odd couple to be sure.  Think of them as Mathieu and Lemmon, but armed to the teeth.  Travolta carries this film from the moment he makes his entrance to when the credits roll.  Myers makes for a good sidekick and holds his own, but the pistol-packing disco king is who will be winning over audiences here. 

As for the film’s content, the dialogue is shoddy at times, inducing comments of ‘oh god’ and ‘please’ muttered under the breaths of cinema patrons throughout the theater.  Myers’ and Travolta’s verbal ping pong is well placed for the most part, and it doesn’t take long for the two actors to develop their partnership chemistry.  The film’s action is not entirely believable, though it’s delivered in a manner that’s just plain fun with a nearly relentless fast pace.  The plot is nothing new; kill the bad guys, but it’s also a timeless formula so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!  You will even find a pretty smart and rather unexpected plot twist once or twice during the 92-minute runtime of From Paris with Love. 

Sit back and watch the bullets fly in this small arms free-for-all that contains a bit of espionage, a fair share of comedy, a little suspense and a few good booms.  This is a release-day buy on Blu-ray for me when the time comes and while it may not make the list for best films of the year, it was certainly an entertaining one.  Mission accomplished.