Brandon’s Blu-ray Wishlist – June 26, 2014
June 26th, 2014 by Brandon Peters
I’m gonna go with comedy again this week to finish out the month of June. And I’m digging into that of the teen variety, picking one of my favorites of that subgenre from the 90s. Its a film I kind of have a nostalgia for and I think is a solid film that not many people probably got a chance to see in the 90s. It also made a whopping $309 at the box office (costing $15 million).
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I’ll be the first to admit, when Scream Factory announced they were doing Lake Placid, I was kinda like “Hmm”. For one, it was a newer film (weird to call a 15 year old film that), but as we’ve seen they are starting to explore late 90s and early 2000s films. I remember watching it back when it came out on video and not really caring for it. I haven’t seen it since. It’s spawned some straight to SyFy Channel sequels over the years though. What’s great is that I get to revisit this film with fresh eyes and an older, wiser mind. I don’t think I fully grasped or appreciated films like this back when I was 17, so I feel I obviously went in realizing it was probably on me last time and I may have not been on the same wavelength as this film on my initial outing. 
Image Entertainment, an RLJ Entertainment (NASDAQ: RLJE) brand, brings you All Cheerleaders Die, available on Blu-ray and DVD on July 22, 2014. Co-Directed and Co-Written by Lucky McKee (May, The Woman) and Chris Sivertson (Brawler), the film stars Caitlin Stasey (CW’s “Reign”), Sianoa Smit-McPhee (Showtime’s “Hung”), Brooke Butler, Amanda Grace Cooper, Reanin Johannink and Tom Williamson. All Cheerleaders Die is available on Blu-ray.
As everyone knows, I’m a big fan of these VHS to Blu-ray releases. No DVD? No problem. I don’t like films to be lost, missing or unavailable in the physical formats. I also take pure joy in seeing what a film was originally intended to look like when all I’ve had to reference for years was a ratty VHS copy. The Final Terror is a double bonus because its also an early 80s slasher film and I take much joy in watching and collecting them. Scream Factory doesn’t give it a collector’s edition, but it does show this edition plenty of love. Heck, I almost think some of this “smaller” releases they do have enough bonus material on them that I think they could get away with calling them a “collector’s edition” and nobody would raise a finger. Just having it to the format with a trailer and a commentary might be special enough for some of these cult items alone. 
Wow, we’re almost nearing the end of getting all the Star Trek: The Next Generation seasons out on Blu-ray. Quite an incredible journey its been through the three seasons of the original crew and now six with TNG. Nine seasons of television with a tenth on the horizon. This sixth season faced a brief delay as it was originally scheduled to come out earlier in the month, but no bother, a couple weeks isn’t much to wait. As per usual, this season is accompanied by a separate, more “sampler”-esque or collector’s item Blu-ray that only contains the in-season two parter, Chain Of Command parts I and II. This penultimate season might be known a bit more for the guest appearance of original series cast member James Doohan reprising his role of Montgomery Scott for an episode. 
1982 is one of my favorite years in movie history. Not only was I born that year, but we got a lot of goodies that we look fondly back at and revere as “classics” now, even if some may not have been back then. The film we’re talking about today isn’t really one of those I’d be referring to, but like the rest, has achieved success as a cult classic since its rather uninspiring opening and lackluster critic and audience appreciation. Deadly Eyes (also known as Night Eyes according to the print of the film and also elsewhere simply as Rats) is definitely a fun little production that after a few years marinating and from its relevancy becomes a pretty enjoyable film of the midnight movie variety. With a group of the right friends and the right vibes, this one easily can please given the scenario. Dogs in rat suits. What’s not to love? 
Hot on the heels of The Protector 2 coming to Blu-ray, why don’t we just toss Tony Jaa’s other franchise in a box set and put that on Blu-ray too! Good? GOOD! I’m wondering with the timing of these movies and the month they are getting released, if they weren’t strategically placed a while back in order to cash in on Fast & Furious 7 which was supposed to come out in July and they just ended up saying “screw it, release them anyway”. Who knows? What I do know is that this is awesome news and those of you who have not checked out Tony Jaa’s work should start right here with this series. Below is a bit of information from the studio as well as the Amazon pre-order link. 
I was late to the Portlandia party, but once I began I couldn’t stop and rifled through the first 3 seasons as quick as I had the time for them. I didn’t manage to watch Season 4 as it aired, but alas, here it comes on DVD for me to check out. This show consists of some incredibly funny sketch comedy, rivaling that of the legendary Mr. Show series in its style and execution. There’s some really great guest spots and super fun recurring characters that populate this show’s depiction of Portland, Oregon. It’s coming to that former top format DVD on August 26. Pre-order now and read the details of this release from VSC when you scroll down. 
Olive Films releases
Not too long ago I had a feeling this may or may not happen. And here it is, the Leprechaun collection is hitting Blu-ray this fall. You may remember it as the star of my 
Sci-Fi deep sea cult classic LEVIATHAN is hitting Blu-ray in the “Summer Of Fear”, and you’re in luck because Scream Factory is taking the reigns. Its not getting the Collector’s Edition treatment, but rest assured this film is going to look better than ever and it does have itself some new interviews. LEVIATHAN is a movie that just scream awesome at me on paper. It has Robocop, Trautman, Winston, Jenny Summers, Marv the wet bandit…from the director of First Blood Part II, guys who wrote Blade Runner, Die Hard and The Fugitive, with effects from Stan Winston! Pretty cool. Below you’ll see the details for the release as well as the option to pre-order this sucker to have when it comes out! 
I dig Tony Jaa’s style quite a bit. I’m looking really forward to him joining in on Fast & Furious 7 when that drops next April. When I saw his breakout film Ong-Bak, I was pretty blown away by his furious Muay Thai style and many of the fresh action sequences that beheld before my own eyes. His follow up, The Protector, I wasn’t as fond of, but man did it have that one sequence going up that restaurant floor by floor, room to room in one take that just had my jaw drop. It was one of the best action sequences of the last decade. Jaa has returned to this film with a sequel that has been buzzing around VOD and will now hit Blu-ray on July 29. Below is all the information you’ll need as well as the pre-order button. I’m sure there’ll be at least one action sequence in the film worth the price of purchase! 
Happy days! I just got word that one of my favorite shows on television is coming to Blu-ray only 5 days before my birthday. It’s no wonder why the month of August absolutely rocks! That’s right folks. AMC’s The Walking Dead: The Complete Fourth Season is walking onto the Blu-ray format August 26th in two distinct different sets, the regular one and a limited edition tree walker set. If you want the full scoop, I have you covered. Check out the press release provided to me by the best PR person in the entire expanded universe and make sure you pre-order today. And of course…get your Hornady Z-Max zombie ammo ready! 
