Rocky I-VI Ultimate Knockout Collection (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
Rocky movies mean the world to me. I know…I know. I sound like a broken record the number times I have said this now. The Rocky films are sacred to me and have personally got me through some tough times in life, which I’ll elaborate on in a moment. However, is the price of admission here to get these films on the 4K UHD Disc format worth it? I think that’s the more relevant question to be addressed here. Truth be told when these were announced I didn’t even get excited especially after how botched up The Rocky Knockout Collection was last year (see HERE). I’ve been so disappointed with the quality of some of the catalog films I have seen recently on 4K Disc that I just wasn’t whet with anticipation here. But come on man! We’re talking Rocky Balboa. So let me do this. Let me set aside some of the problems I have with the last “Knockout” release for the moment and tell you about my love for the Rocky and now Creed film franchises. Deal? Don’t worry. We’ll get to any beefs I may have soon enough.
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A long, long time ago I would watch The Fall Guy TV show each week with my dad. I secretly had a crush on Heather Thomas at a very young age. That bikini she wore in the opening credit sequence each week…ooh la la. The Fall Guy is also special to me because it’s the very first TV show I ever recorded on a VHS tape. We were poor growing up so one day my grandfather gave my dad a brand new VHS deck. I was over the moon. I couldn’t believe it. We went home later that evening and I recorded that night’s episode of The Fall Guy. I was so in awe of the fact that I could record something and watch it back any time that I think I viewed that episode three more times that very same evening. Therefore, one can kind of come to the conclusion that The Fall Guy was responsible for my love of home media products and technology. That sounds good to me! 
Chances are that if you’re at whysoblu.com, you know we are likely similar. I bet you have some sort of home theater setup and no doubt, you, like me, have been waiting for a 4K UHD Blu-ray release of Twister. That day has come and rejoice, because it’s a doozy. A real F5 if you will. Join Jo, Bill, Melissa and the gang for this still wild ride which finally gets the treatment it deserves! Be sure to order yourself a copy by clicking the cover art at the end of the review! Gale force winds can’t stop you!
Taxi Driver is a benchmark of 1970s cinema. The film is dark, gritty, grimy and shocking. Travis Bickle is the man we witness descending into the bowels of his mental health. Desperate for some clean normalcy, but dragging himself into other more torrid directions, we travel the darkness of 1970s New York with him and we begin to feel his paranoia. And now, nearly 50 years later, we are given this film in a 4K UHD Blu-ray package that was once only available in Columbia Classics Vol. 2’s set of 6 films. Are there any improvements to the transfer included there? Anything new? Read on below and if you don’t have it already, be sure to click the cover art at the end to get yourself the new Steelbook!
Over the years, Alex Gardner has pushed the visual boundaries of whatever genre he is playing in. If we were fearing AI in Ex-Machina, or extraterrestrials in Annihilation or zombies in 28 Days Later, Garland was delivering. The next real threat? The government is now authoritarian, and regions of the US are now grouping together to rebel. In, Civil War, we are seeing something almost too real. I also could not look away. Find out more about Civil War below. Does it live up to the hype or does it fizzle under the over-expectation of good reviews? Be sure to click the cover art at the end if you feel so inclined to order a copy for yourself!
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy celebrates it’s 20th anniversary this year. It’s quite hard to believe considering how fresh and ever-referenced it is now. We even have a sequel that somehow managed to continue the good times almost ten years after the original. Now, realistically, today, this movie could not be made the same. For that, I’m grateful it came out in 2004. We live in a time where comedies like this just don’t exist anymore, and now, we have these 2000s classics to revel in, just before the film industry seemingly lost its sense of humor. Read on about Anchorman below, including a link to my colleague Brian White’s 2013 review, and my retrospective thoughts, along with the usual tech review! As always, you can get your copy of Anchorman by clicking the cover art at the end of the review!
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire marks the 6th installment in the Ghostbusters franchise. The first film also celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Not to be outdone, this newest entry in the series sees some callbacks to the original and may satisfy fans of the old and the newcomers too! But what do I think? Discover the ghostly details below and see if this newest film about bustin’ made me feel good… OK, even that was too cheesy for me… but, I digress. Read on in depth and as always, feel free to click the cover art below to order yourself a copy of Ghostbuster: Frozen Empire.
Purple Rain remains one of the most iconic moments in 80’s history. Maybe even music history at this point. 1984 was a huge year for music and for films and to put the two together in such an excellent way was unheard of at the time unless you had a popular musical. Prince was already an established musical multi-hyphenate, with talent unmatched until his untimely death. 40 years later, how does Purple Rain stand up to other films like it? Go down memory lane with me about Purple Rain below and be on the lookout for the 4K UHD Blu-ray on June 25th! You can get a copy by clicking the cover art at the end of the review, too!
Do you ever see an anniversary of a film or album you have seen a lot and think of how old you are now that those films are celebrating that milestone? It came with some utter shock when I learned that South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut was celebrating it’s 25th year. The show came out a mere 2 years before the film, and like wildfire had taken TV audiences by storm. Sophomoric, gross and totally inappropriate for kids, the controversary and the praise has kept South Park going ever since. But now, 25 years after my first viewing, how does the film hold up? Read more about the 25th Anniversary 4K Blu-ray edition of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut below and be sure to order yourself a copy by clicking the cover art at the end!
Guy Ritchie is a director we see a lot of films from, but at least for me, I don’t see a lot of people mentioning the variety of his work. From crime capers like Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, or The Gentlemen to historical (using the term loosely) fare like King Arthur (something I liked despite it getting 0 praise…) to war films like The Covenant (an underseen excellent film), Ritchie excels at making medium scale films. Even when hes given bigger budgets for films like Sherlock Holmes or The Man from U.N.C.L.E., you can tell Ritchie is making movies he’d probably love to watch too. They are crowd pleasing, fun and never boring. So how does The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (or TMOUW) stack up to the rest of his films? Find out below and order yourself a copy by clicking the cover art at the end!
Dev Patel came seemingly out of nowhere with his directorial debut Monkey Man. Based off of the Hindu tale of Hanuman, the film shows us a darker side of India than we have been shown before. This side features exploitation, violence, drugs and horrible human beings. All of this makes for a very interesting ride for movie fans. Read more on Monkey Man below and click the cover art at the end to order a copy of this action-filled romp!
Bring up Chinatown to any fan of movies and you’ll most likely get an “I love that movie” as a response. Yes, Chinatown is that good, and has been widely praised in the 50 years since it was first released. Now we have a new 4K UHD Blu-ray edition of Chinatown to collect and for some, this will be an incredible experience of seeing the film for the first time. Read more about my own love for Chinatown below, and also of course my thoughts on this new presentation! Clicking the cover art at the end of the review will take you to a paid link to order a copy too! “Forget it Jake, you’ll wanna order Chinatown”
