Shoot Out

Starring:Gregory Peck, Patricia Quinn (II), Robert F. Lyons, Susan Tyrrell, Jeff Corey, James Gregory, Rita Gam, Dawn Lyn, Pepe Serna, John Davis Chandler, Paul Fix, Arthur Hunnicutt, Nicolas Beauvy, Willis Bouchey, Lane Bradford, Arthur Space, Elizabeth Harrower, Karen Klett
Director: Henry Hathaway
Studio: Good Times Video
Product Type: DVD

The Devil's Rejects (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Dirty, dusty, bloody, ugly, brutal, vulgar...
Yes, this movie is so bad that even the devil rejected it!
Zombie's Creative Genius
Not Pleasant but
another rob classic

The Devil's Rejects (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Sid Haig , Bill Moseley , Sheri Moon , William Forsythe , and Ken Foree
Director: Rob Zombie
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Slasher Flicks | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

House of 1,000 Corpses
Hostel (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
Land of the Dead (Unrated Edition)
The Hills Have Eyes (Unrated Edition)
High Tension

ASIN: B000AXWHSA
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Amazon.com

Homicidal maniacs have a field day in Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects, an ultraviolent spin-off from Zombie's critically reviled 2003 debut, House of 1,000 Corpses. As Zombie continues to cultivate his name-brand variety of extreme horror and splatter-film homage, he definitely takes his place among connoisseurs of carnage. In the case of The Devil's Rejects, several characters from 1,000 Corpses return for another marathon of mayhem, as the murderous Firefly family (led by Sid Haig as the maniacal "Captain Spaulding") turn their bloody wrath against hostages in a fleabag motel, while the local sheriff (William Forsythe) plots revenge against them for the killing of his brother. Before their inevitable showdown, Zombie has plenty of fun--perhaps a little too much fun--indulging his penchant for sick, sadistic humor and gruesome atrocity. Clearly, Zombie fancies himself as horror's answer to Quentin Tarantino, but he lacks Tarantino's gift for riveting plots and escalating tension. Instead, The Devil's Rejects is just raw, rampant excess from start to finish, paying visual tribute to gruesome classics from the '70s and guaranteed to earn the cult status that Zombie is all too obviously aiming for. He's an unabashed horror buff who's carving a niche in the genre he loves, shamelessly satisfying a small but loyal audience of sicko-phants. --Jeff Shannon

Description

From the visionary mind of acclaimed musician Rob Zombie comes Lions Gate Films' THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, the gritty, violent follow-up to Zombie's smash horror hit, HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES. Written and directed by Zombie, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS reunites the homicidal members of the Firefly family, tracing their bloody flight from an outlaw sheriff hell-bent on revenge... Ambushed at their isolated home by Sheriff Wydell (William Forsythe) and a squad of armed men, the Firefly family wakes up one morning with guns blazing - yet only Otis (Bill Moseley) and his sister, Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie), manage to escape the barrage of bullets unharmed. Hiding out in a backwater motel, the wanted siblings wait to rendezvous with their errant father, Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig), killing whoever happens to stand in their way. But as the body count mounts higher, Sheriff Wydell decides to take the law into his own hands, paving the way for one of the most depraved and terrifying showdowns in cinematic history.

Customer Reviews:

Dirty, dusty, bloody, ugly, brutal, vulgar..........2007-06-17

Essentially, Rob Zombie brings back the B-movie tradition of the 70's/80's-style slasher-flick, utilizing aesthetics with a combination of influences from 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', 'Friday the 13th', even 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' {particularly in the resemblence of 'Tiny's mangled face to Freddy Krueger}. These personages are based on Marx Brothers characters in name only - these are entirely "hellbilly" in countenance, consisting primarily of Captain Spaulding, Otis, and Baby Firefly, with a couple of side characters, who are veritably 'awakened' from their slumber by vengeful Police from the massacres in the previous film House of 1,000 Corpses". Mama Firefly is taken into custody, and Tiny is nowhere to be found...

Set in the Texas desert, this white-trash family, each with their own neurosis, bounce their particular insanities upon eachother, experiencing the joys and dangers of life on a caveman level of existance. After all, a family of wolves can at one moment enjoy a freshly slaughtered rabbit or deer together, happily tearing limb from limb, then go off to later play together.

After another shootout, the pursuit begins again and they are on the run, pulling all their resources together at the expense of others, calling upon the evil clown to accompany Otis and Baby in this latest predicament. So after Spaulding accesses a car in the name of "important clown business", the three are reunited, spreading terror upon all those they encounter, usually ridiculing, humiliating, mutilating, and otherwise raping their victims before finally killing them.

Along the way they meet up with pimp 'Charlie Altamont' {Ken Foree, whom you may recognize from 'From Beyond'} and have one hell of a time in wordly pleasures, until he pulls a veritable "Lando Calrisian"*, betraying the group to the crusading Sheriff. Charlie has more of a moron than an imbecile in a henchman named 'Clevon' {played by Michael Berryman: 'The Hills Have Eyes'}, engage in a particularly amusing scene while purchasing chickens from an inbred cletus.

Sheriff Wydell, who fancies himself a "devil slayer", readies himself for a 'final confrontation' - a veritable "apocalypse" in his mind, employing the aid of a couple of nefarious bounty hunters called "The Unholy Two", comprised of imposing bikers 'Rondo' and 'Billy Ray Snapper', who interrupt the festivities and construct arrangements to Wydell's specifications. Continuing with his revenge-fueled righteous christinsanity, besides photos of victims being stapled to their chests, Otis is actually nailed into his chair a-la the nazarene {the fact that he has long hair and a beard added to the effect greatly}, and are set to burn alive in a literal "Hell". Now the punctilious "hunter becomes the hunted" scenario transgresses. "The Angel" is let loose to be pursued by the wolf on her heels receiving a taste of her own medicine, but in one of those unexpected 'twists', just when all seems finished, a mysterious ally appears...

With the odds stacked against them, the movie ends in a hail of bullets to a final end...?

With a relatively all-star cast, there will be some recognizable familiarities from time to time. Herein is one Priscilla Barnes {'Terri Alden' from 'Three's Company'}, being slapped around, fondled, deceived, and stabbed. Geoffrey Lewis, who has one of those faces materializing from many formative evocations. Also amusing is the manner in which the last victim at the motel is dispatched - by pure horror. The skin from the face of her own husband is placed upon hers, where she is left dangling on the back of the door to be found by the screaming maid. She inadvertently does herself in.

This film displays, in an albeit base level, the might is right dynamic, and that man is a vicious animal in his most primal state, where so-called principles of 'good and evil' are completely subjective terms, where the clever and ruthless prevail, manipulating where necessary to gain selfish ends, moving the world according to what is placed into action. Perceptions will sometimes be tested in what one perceives is supposed to happen, and what actually can, and does happen.

_________

* Interestingly, it is noted that some scenes contain subtle 'Star Wars' references from time to time, from a mention of having a Princess Leia fetish, to the subsequent betrayal akin to Calrisian's on Han Solo for Darth Vader.

Yes, this movie is so bad that even the devil rejected it!.......2007-06-12

Thil film depicts ultra violence and gore. It tries to scare the audience with brutal ways of killing people
but the acting was so bad it's laughable. For example, in one scene a person was being killed with an ax. The
killer hit his victim at least three times with an ax. The victim screamed and moaned but he continued
to talk! His face was covered with blood but it showed no pain at all. The make-up looked absolutely fake.
It's so boring that I rejected it from the player after finishing two-third of it.

There are much better horror movies which made me shudder. They are: Slither, Cabin Fever, 28 days later,
Pet Semetery and the Grudge.

Zombie's Creative Genius.......2007-06-01

Amazing. Rob Zombie did an amazing job with the campy yet creepy House of 1000 Corpses, but the sequel is superior is so many ways. This movie is more detailed than the first and also more striking. The scene where Otis murders Banjo and Sullivan is beautiful against the bright blue of the sky and dirtiness and blood-soaked foreground. The music is also impeccable. Esp. Zombie's choice of Terry Reid- whose music sounds exactly like the movie looks. There;s also some really great more popular songs on the CD. "Free Bird" is now only assocaited with me the ending scene- with is the only sort of redemption and saddening part of the film. There are not heros in this movie but you come to adore many of characters you are supposed to hate.

Not Pleasant but.......2007-05-18

I haven't seen "House of a 1000 Corpses" however, this is an interesting film - would have been 3 and a half stars for me.

The violence is very unpleasant and there is also quite a lot of nudity (women of course) and inferred sexual violence as well. But don't watch it if you're easily upset by these things.

Unlike some previous reviewers I disagree about the acting and the directing. Some of the cutting/editing was very clever and most of the time the acting was pretty good. There is an edge of very black comedy (ala the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre) in this film. OK it is very black and I didn't actually laugh but I assure you it is there. This is helped by a classic soundtrack of 70's rock (the film is set in 1978), which provides a very strange contrast to the extreme violence being portrayed.

The murderous family are quite believable, and there continual bickering with each other has a ring of truth about it. Look out for Geoffery Lewis a veteran of the two Clint Eastwood "Every Which..." films.

In all honesty you don't really care what happens to the people in the film, but it is strangly compelling viewing.

another rob classic.......2007-05-17

rob has done it again i like his style of music and hes just as good making movies although i liked house of 1000 corpses a little better this was a great movie great style great story

Average customer rating:

I love John Wayne Movies
Better than I was expecting
Farewell, my friend, farewell !
Rio Lobo - Seller/product review
Not one of the Duke's better movies

Rio Lobo
Starring: John Wayne , Jorge Rivero , Jennifer O'Neill , Jack Elam , and Christopher Mitchum
Director: Howard Hawks
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

All Titles | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video

1970s | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video

Westerns | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( R ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

El Dorado
Rio Bravo
Chisum
The War Wagon
McLintock! (Authentic Collector's Edition)

ASIN: B00008CMR6
Release Date: 2003-04-29

Amazon.com

The final film by the legendary director Howard Hawks, released in 1970, found him paired with longtime leading man John Wayne in a story slightly similar to their more familiar Rio Bravo and El Dorado. Set at the end of the Civil War, the story finds Wayne playing a Union army colonel who recovers some stolen gold and roots out a traitor. Though a little creaky (Hawks had been making films since 1926), Rio Lobo nevertheless has his trademark, crackling dialogue, appealing characters, and ensemble spirit among the cast. This was a worthy finish to a fantastic career by a first-rank filmmaker. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

I love John Wayne Movies.......2007-05-12

My review title says it all. I have always loved John Wayne movies. I have never seen one I have not liked. Some are better than others, but all are enjoyable. Rio Lobo is one of my favorite westerns of his. The great thing about his movies is that I can watch them with my 2 grandsons and do not have to worry about them seeing something inappropriate for their young age unlike movies made today. We recently purchased a LCD HDTV so we can enjoy them like they were shown in theaters which makes them even more enjoyable to watch.

Better than I was expecting.......2007-05-08

I was under the impression this movie wasn't very good and it really is better than some of the reviews given about the movie. It also was different than Rio Bravo and El Dorado despite what had been said. It is a great addition to any John Wayne movie collector.

Farewell, my friend, farewell !.......2007-01-25

Rio Lobo was the swan's song of Howard Hawks. And you may realize how the personages are handled with such accurate blend of humanity, tenderness, kind manners and a good taste loaded of farewell.

The dialogues are incisive and snappy, John Wayne is an old wolf who will put order in a town submitted by an abominable gang with the consent of a corrupt sheriff.

And the rest of the plot runs for you. Under any circumstance you should not miss this unforgettable and very touching Western.

Rio Lobo - Seller/product review.......2006-11-05

I couldn't be more pleased with the results of this purchase. The item was in great condition, the service was prompt and efficient and the price was great!

Not one of the Duke's better movies.......2006-10-30

As many other reviewers have noted, Rio Lobo is not one of John Wayne's better western tales. Overall, it is pretty entertaining, but there is not much new to offer. In fact, the Duke kind of seems over the hill in this one.

The plot is pretty simple to follow, and there are some pretty good gun fights. But, the acting is pretty lacking. Therefore, I do not recommend watching this movie, unless you are a pretty big John Wayne fan. If not, check out some of his earlier Westerns.

Average customer rating:

It's SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT
Very original
incomplete
Southern-Fried Film Noir
A THRILLER WITH AN INTERESTING PREMISE!!

Southern Comfort
Starring: Keith Carradine , Powers Boothe , Fred Ward , Franklyn Seales , and T.K. Carter
Director: Walter Hill
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Thrillers | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery & Suspense | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Deliverance
Extreme Prejudice
The Long Riders
White Lightning
Death Hunt

ASIN: B000059TGE
Release Date: 2001-05-22

Amazon.com

More than merely Deliverance in the Louisiana bayou, Walter Hill's taut little tale of weekend-warrior National Guardsmen on swamp exercises reverberates with echoes of Vietnam. Powers Booth brings a hard pragmatism to the "new guy" in the unit, a Texas transplant less than thrilled with his new group. "They're just Louisiana versions of the same rednecks I served with in El Paso," he tells the levelheaded Keith Carradine.

The barely functional unit of city boys and macho rednecks invades the environs of the local Cajun trappers and poachers, "borrowing" the locals' boats and sending bursts of blank rounds over their heads in a show of contempt. Before they know it the dysfunctional strangers in a strange land are on the losing end of a guerrilla war. The swamp rats kill their commanding officer (Peter Coyote) and terrorize the bickering bunch as they flee blindly through the jungle without a map, a compass, or a leader to speak of.

Hill directs with a clean simplicity, creating tension as much from the primal landscape and the Cajuns' unsettling reign of terror as from the dynamics of a platoon of battle virgins tearing itself apart from rage and fear. Ry Cooder's eerie and haunting score and the primal, claustrophobic landscape only intensifies the paranoia as the city boys splinter with infighting (sparked by a bullying Fred Ward), blunder through booby traps and ambushes, and finally turn just as savage as their pursuers in their drive to survive. --Sean Axmaker

Description

From the director of The Long Riders comes this eye-widening, gut-wrenching tale of backwoods terror that draws you into the eerily beautiful Louisiana bayou...then has you running for your life (Pauline Kael, New Yorker)! Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe and Peter Coyote lead a first-rate ensemble (Newsweek) in this exciting, arresting and tautly told suspenser (Variety). When nine National Guardsmen enter the Louisiana swamp for routine training, they are unaware that just a handful of their ranks will make it out alive. Through an error in judgment, they incite an all-out war with some angry Cajuns who know the territory like the backs of their hands. Armed with a precious few bullets, and confused by the dimly lit, moss-covered maze into which they ve stumbled, the innocent guardsmen know they'll be picked off one-by-one...until they come up with a solution using the only resources they have left'themselves.

Customer Reviews:

It's SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT.......2007-06-22

If you have watched Platoon, you'll see a great similarity here. The plot was about a group of soldiers killed one by one by unseen enemies. In Platoon, it's the Viet Cong who killed the American soldiers. In Southern Comfort, it's the Cajuns who murdered the National Guardsmen.

What supposed to be a suspenseful movie turned out to be a bland picture. The acting look stiff, fake and unemotional. I was never scared during the whole film. In one scene, a Guardsman, was so frightened that he went crazy. He cut and painted himself just like an Indian who was going to war. And yet the act did not stir up any suspense or emotion at all. On the contrary, the similar scene in Predator is truly gripping.
I prefer The Hunt for Red October and U571. They're greatly suspenseful and entertaining.

If you want to watch this movie, please rent it. Do not buy it. The purchase of this DVD cost me only ten dollars but I still think it's a waste of money.

Very original.......2007-05-30

This is one of the most original movies I ve seen !
One of Walter Hill s best movies!

incomplete.......2006-11-10

Unable to review this movie as at this stage have been unable to play it on our dvd player.....however, we can play it on our computer but have not viewed the complete movie yet!!!

Southern-Fried Film Noir.......2006-09-05

This film came out just as I was finishing a six-year stint with the Louisiana National Guard, so I eagerly went to see it soon after its release. I enjoyed it so much then that I bought a copy on DVD when reminded of it after I bought "Deliverance".
Though there are surface similarities, Southern Comfort is not Deliverance Louisiana-style, though it may have attracted much the same viewers.
I won't rehash the story to a great extent, but I want to point out a few errors in the film before singing its hosannahs. First of all, if the Guard unit started its exercise in the Catahoula swamp and was supposed to pass through the Great Dismal Swamp (they called it the Great Primordial Swamp in the film) to a rendezvous with another unit, there would have been precious few Cajuns as those swamps are north of the Red River. Most Cajuns live south of that river and west of the Mississippi. Secondly, the interstate which "Casper" kept referring to would have been Interstate 20, 100 miles to the north and they'd have crossed many other roads before that. The type of swamp the unit was in would be far more likely south of Interstate 10, 100 miles to the south of where the movie placed them. Finally, there would probably have been at least a couple of the troops who could speak Cajun French. My unit, based at Pineville LA, had a good mix of North Louisiana "rednecks" as Cajuns referred to them and South Louisiana "coon-asses" as the Cajuns called themselves. A lot of the Cajun guys were fluent in Cajun French. As for the troopers themselves, we did have one guy in our unit reminiscent of the wild-eyed punk in the film who got the real trouble started by firing blanks at the Cajun trappers, but beyond that they were a decent bunch of men and women.
With that straightened out, lets talk about the movie. This is a great story about men under stress, how they interact and how they respond to fear. Some keep their heads, some snivel and whine, while others go berserk. You have prototypes of all three in this film. Texas Guard transferee Powers Boothe is the most level-headed of the group, you somehow know that he is going to make it.
The Cajuns themselves are shown as pretty one-dimensional characters until the end, but that's because these particular Cajuns live life in the shadows and are involved in many activities of questionable legality. Only at the end, when Boothe and Carradine seemingly have saved themselves and find themselves in the middle of a real Mardi Gras, is the fun-loving devil may care side of the Cajun soul bared.
That one-armed Cajun trapper who was captured and tortured by the guardsmen spared Boothe and Carradine near the end and gave them directions out of the swamp, but probably only because Boothe had saved him from further torture and he recognised that both guardsmen were essentially decent men. But, as the trapper warns them, the others are not as nice as he is.
Apart from the unlikely storyline itself, you will be transfixed by this Southern-Fried Film Noir. You have people from the outside world pitted against an insular and seemingly peculiar minority. You have the unrelenting gloom of the setting, whether it be in the swamp and all its clues of impending doom, or at the bayou-side Mardi Gras with all sinister symbolism that keeps up the suspense and the viewer on edge. The dark and gloomy atmosphere is sustained by the brooding and mysterious soundtrack by Ry Cooder.
I heartily recommend Southern Comfort to anyone who enjoys dark action films, to those for whom the swamps of Louisiana stir a mixture of curiosity and dread, and for anyone who has not been to backwoods Louisiana who might like to see what a real Cajun party sans tourists may be like.

A THRILLER WITH AN INTERESTING PREMISE!!.......2006-07-17

I highly recommend this film to fans of thrillers, as well as fans of action films! It was a suspenseful movie with lots of action and an interesting premise!
The movie keeps you waiting for what is going to happen next and makes you laugh a few times along the way.
Do yourself a favor and see this nerve-inducing thriller!!!

Average customer rating:

The Duke Gives A Tough, Gruff...And..Touching Performance

The Cowboys [HD DVD]
Starring: John Wayne
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

HD DVD | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video

General | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video

Drama | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video

Westerns | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Rio Bravo [HD DVD]
The Road Warrior [HD DVD]
The Untouchables (Special Collector's Edition) [HD DVD]
Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [HD DVD]
Letters from Iwo Jima (Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B000P6XU5Q
Release Date: 2007-06-05

Description

A veteren rancher risks everything when he recruits schoolboys to man a dangerous cattle drive. One of John Wayne's solid twilight hits, co-starring Bruce Dern and Colleen Dewhurst. Year: 1972 Director: Mark Rydell Starring: John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Bruce Dern

Customer Reviews:

The Duke Gives A Tough, Gruff...And..Touching Performance.......2007-05-10

From 1971,THE COWBOYS finds our guy,The Duke, as an aging rancher who must hire 11 young boys to help him on a 400 mile cattle drive. He's tough and gruff, but really has a way with the kids,(only The Duke can cure a boy's stuttering in less than 2 minutes!), and soon finds himself acting as both trail boss and father to the group. The drive is rough for all and has the added suspense of some bad hombres led by Bruce Dern who are out to rustle The Duke's cattle.

Wayne, who by this time, just awed us with his on screen presence, turns in a touching performance and if it was up to me, would have recieved an Oscar for this role. It's one of my all time favorite films. Dern is the baddest of the bad as he goes after our hero. The film is not short on talent, Directed by Mark Rydell, it includes Roscoe Lee Brown, a young A. Martinez, and a small but meaty part for the wonderful Colleen Dewhurst.

Important: This DVD is an "HD DVD" and per notice on product page... "is compatible only with HD DVD players." For a regular Region 1 edition you'll find it here:The Cowboyswith some very nice features(see my review of that edition for details. Also available, collectors of Wayne may find it more economical to purchaseThe John Wayne Collection (The Cowboys/The Searchers/Stagecoach) Spanning 30 years of his career, it's a wonderful selection.

For more info in HD DVD click on the link to the buying guide near the top of the product detail page.

Saddle up and enjoy the ride...
Happy Trails.....Laurie

Average customer rating:

The Cowboys [Blu-ray]
Starring: John Wayne
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: Blu-ray

Blu-ray | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video

General | Blu-ray | Formats | DVD | Video

Drama | Blu-ray | Formats | DVD | Video

Westerns | Blu-ray | Formats | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Rio Bravo [Blu-ray]
Letters from Iwo Jima [Blu-ray]
The Road Warrior [Blu-ray]
Battle of the Bulge [Blu-ray]
Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl [Blu-ray]

ASIN: B000P6XU60
Release Date: 2007-06-05

Description

Ultimate Fighting Championship, Vol. 69: Shoot Out

Average customer rating:

Good...but not great
Great! But With A Little Bias *Spoilers Ahead*

Ultimate Fighting Championship, Vol. 69: Shoot Out
Starring: Ufc 69
Manufacturer: First Look Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

General | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Ultimate Fighting Championship, Vol. 68: The Uprising
Ultimate Fighting Championship, Vol. 67 - All or Nothing
Ultimate Fighting Championship, Vol. 66 - Liddell vs. Ortiz, Vol. 2
Ultimate Fighting Championship, Vol. 64: Unstoppable
Ultimate Fighting Championship, Vol. 65: Bad Intentions

ASIN: B000QQG2W8
Release Date: 2007-08-28

Description

April 7 2007 - Live from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, UFC 69 was the first UFC event ever held in the state of Texas. The card was headlined by heavy favorite Georges St. Pierre defending his welterweight title against The Ultimate Fighter 4 welterweight winner Matt Serra. The co-main event was a rematch held between top welterweight contenders Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez

Under Card
Welterweight bout: Luke Cummo vs. Josh Haynes
Welterweight bout: Marcus Davis vs. Pete Spratt
Middleweight bout: Thales Leites vs. Pete Sell
Heavyweight bout: Heath Herring vs. Brad Imes

Main Card
Middleweight bout: Kendall Grove vs. Alan Belcher
Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs. Mike Swick
Lightweight bout: Leonard Garcia vs. Roger Huerta
Welterweight bout: Josh Koscheck vs. Diego Sanchez
Welterweight Championship bout: Champion Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra

Customer Reviews:

Good...but not great.......2007-07-02

I ordered this PPV live, so this review is being done after only seeing one undercard match. The main event was shocking and exciting, but ended very quickly. Koscheck and Sanchez totally ruined the PPV. Their match was not only a letdown, but a travesty for two guys who hate each other and have so much talent. Kos even has the nerve to say it was boring, I don't care, I won, pretty much sticking it to the fans. This is one time that the Pride yellow card system could have helped. All that aside...

Two words: Roger Huerta! Although he was more skilled than his opponent, every single fight he is in is spectacular. Huerta saved this PPV from being a total letdown. Kendall Grove was impressive and the fight was entertaining. Mike Swick really did give it his all in his home town, but Okami has the strength of some light heavyweights. They put Cummo vs. Haynes on television, and it was an entertaining fight also. I hear that Heath Herring got back to his old self in this PPV, so I am sure that is good as well. Thats all I got...for the shock factor of Matt Serra winning alone this is worth watching. Hope this helps.

Great! But With A Little Bias *Spoilers Ahead*.......2007-06-24

To be honest, I give this 5 stars because Matt Serra is one of my favorite fighters, has been for a long time. He went from winning The Ultimate Fighter 4: Comeback reality show (not yet on DVD) to get a WW Title shot. Most people thought it was a waste, neither he or Lutter stood a chance, and their title shots were just stopping us from seeing the real fights that should be happening with the "top contenders". I admit even though I am a huge Serra fan, I was counting him out a little.

Then at UFC 67, a worn down Travis Lutter (from weight cutting gone bad) still almost beat Anderson Silva, knee surgery or no. (It is said that Anderson Silva had both knees operated on weeks before the fight) When this happened, I thought just maybe Serra could pull it off.

He does in stunning fashion, by favorite UFC moment by far, up there with Couture vs Sylvia.

If it wasn't for that, I'd honestly give this UFC 3 and a half stars.

Middleweight bout: Kendall Grove vs. Alan Belcher - Good fight

Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs. Mike Swick - Alright fight, nothing special

Lightweight bout: Leonard Garcia vs. Roger Huerta - A war, must see

Welterweight bout: Josh Koscheck vs. Diego Sanchez - Let down fight

Check out the Luke Cummo vs Josh Haynes fight for some interesting talk on how drinking your own urine is healthy, Cummo & Rogan are some crazy guys. I'd never drink that.

Life After Death: The Movie - Ten Years Later

Average customer rating:

Life After Death: The Movie - Ten Years Later
Starring: Life After Death: the Movie-Ten Years Later
Manufacturer: Spire Candidate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

Description

The Notorious B.I.G. was shot and killed on March 9, 1997, two weeks later his album "Life After Death" was released and went on to sell over 18 million records. Ten years later, "Life After Death: The Movie" chronicles the music family he left behind from 1997-2007 in an epic story of friendship and betrayal. After B.I.G.'s death, his right hand man, D-Roc manages Lil' Kim and Junior Mafia through a decade of triumph and tragedy as they live, work, and travel the world together ending with the infamous Hot 97 New York City radio station shootout that landed Lil' Kim and D-Roc in Federal Prison.

Average customer rating:

Great Movie!
Best unknown Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn Western
GENDER-BENDER IN THE OLD WEST
A pretty exciting law and order Star Western...,
Spirited, Thoughtfully Entertaining Western

Warlock
Starring: Richard Widmark , Henry Fonda , Anthony Quinn , Dorothy Malone , and Dolores Michaels
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Action & Adventure | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Hour of the Gun
The Bravados
Broken Lance
Seven Men From Now (Special Collector's Edition)
The Last Wagon

ASIN: B0007PALQG
Release Date: 2005-05-24

Amazon.com

Warlock is a fascinating yet frustrating CinemaScope Western, almost unique in the genre for being based on a literarily respectable novel--Oakley Hall's 1958 recasting of the Wyatt-Earp-in-Tombstone legend. As adapted by TV dramatist Robert Alan Aurthur, the tale focuses on three men: the elegant gambler/gunfighter/lawman-for-hire Blaisdell (Henry Fonda in the Earp part); his lethal partner and creepily possessive best friend Morgan (Anthony Quinn as a variation on Doc Holliday); and Johnny Gannon (Richard Widmark), a ranch cowboy more burdened with scruples than his fellow rowdies, who have made the silver-mining town of Warlock their violent playground. To reclaim their community, the townsfolk strike a bargain with the devil they don't know--Blaisdell--in hopes of being delivered from the devil they do, the cowboys and their cold-blooded boss McQuown (former MGM juve Tom Drake in the Ike Clanton role).

Fonda's and Widmark's characters evolve intriguingly; Blaisdell affords Western aficionados early hints of Fonda's badman Frank in Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, while Widmark's Gannon reforms, becomes town deputy, and has to go up against not only his old cronies but the hired marshal. Sad to say, despite its three strong leads and a script full of shootings, sadism, and no end of betrayals, the movie keeps bogging down from too much undigested backstory, too much talk, and Edward Dmytryk's flatfooted direction. Even the redoubtable cinematographer Joe MacDonald, who so stunningly shot John Ford's Earp-in-Tombstone classic My Darling Clementine 13 years earlier, disappoints with bland, featureless lighting better suited to a TV show. Speaking of which, future Star Trekker DeForest Kelley plays the only other McQuown rider with a conscience. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

In this Classic Western, Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn clean up a lawless town, only to discover there's even more unfinished business.

Customer Reviews:

Great Movie!.......2007-03-16

Well, this is a real great western movie with great stars and surprise ending. Only too much talk and dull lighting. Don't miss it!

Best unknown Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn Western .......2007-03-08

I have been waiting for years for this film to finally be released on DVD format so that I could add it to my library. This Western not only has all of the elements of a great western but of a wonderful story. Gun slinging shoot outs, back shooters, bad guy trying to go good and shade of gray good guys who are real bad customers make this a well spun story. If you have never seen Henry Fonda play a tuff, no nonsense, tortured, dark character you must see this film. Anthony Quinn is brilliant as ever and to combine him with Fonda was inspired casting. Richard Widmark, and Dorothy Marlone turn in very tight performances, thou slightly stylized for the time. And Deforest Kelley as a sort of gun slinging kick about is wonderful to see before the days of his type cast role as "Bones" in the first "Startrek" series. I think that this film was never recognized because of the fate of it's producer and director Edward Dmytryk - one of the infamous "Hollywood Ten." The HUAC actually threw Dmytryk in prison for refusing to cooperate, and after several months he decided to name names. Thus marking him for the rest of his life and probably why this film is so unknown. You can rent this film I'm sure, but why bother when you will want to buy it to add it to your library. Trust me.

GENDER-BENDER IN THE OLD WEST.......2007-01-16

If you've read the other reviews, you know the story, which borrows heavily from the Life and Legend of the Wyatt Earp/Doc Holliday friendship. Oakley Hall and TV dramatist Robert Alan Aurthur revamp and clean-up what could have been the best of the umpteenth fictional retellings of the Wyatt Earp/doc Holliday drama of a lost art, friendship and loyalty, were it not for the innuendo and the wonder at WHY? What is the glue that holds these two guys together, because it didn't seem to be brotherly love? Is it gambling and cover up? Is it the joy of superior skills amidst little competition at slinging lead? If not, then What?

The clues are there, even in the film. In the novel version the binding force of the friendship is a bit more transparent than in this movie, shampooed version.

If the underlying theme were exorcised, the structural elements in the hands of a John Ford, or George P. Cosmatos, or Martin Ritt, or Sam Peckenpaugh, we would have seen and understood more easily. In the hands of Peter Medak (Zorro, the Gay Blade), or Mel Brooks- (Robin Hood; Men in Tights) it would have been R-rated and Anthony Quinn's full-time job as gambler/Wyatt Earp gun slinging, team member would have been augmented by a part-time job as a hairdresser or Interior decorator.

The thinly disguised nature of The Blaisdale/Morgan relationship as homosexual, sort of cluttered ups the original idea. Whether the warp was because the writer was a homosexual sympathizer, or member, is unclear, but there are people who are unable to comprehend true brotherhood and loyalty and must muddy the water with another explanation of the bonding, or maybe they thought it would just be more novel a gossip the way it is-hard to tell.

Before the movie is too far along, one hopes that Widmark's Town sheriff can beat the Old Testament condemned Duo, not because of any prejudice against their gender-gap-unification, but because of the smarmy, scummy nature of their seeming fascistic characters otherwise. For kids or naive' adults missing the point, except for the poor lighting (too soap opera Clear and sunny) and the directorial cluelessness, it is an enjoyable six-gun, quick draw feast. For those who have eaten of the Tree of Knowledge knowing of the original premise of the tale, it's fresh-faced; old west lead slinging is a bit spoiled by that burden/baggage.
Forgetting the underlying covertness, the lighting and weak direction, not a bad adventure film. 3.5 Stars

A pretty exciting law and order Star Western..., .......2006-11-09

The Colt revolver was a tool and the more you study the men who used it at a high professional level the more it becomes obvious that they were also tools, sometimes unwittingly, sometimes (according to Western films) quite the opposite... Necessary tools, necessary men in a very compressed package of American history... They have their brief moment on the stage and then it's time to take their leave, preferably with their boots on, knowing, or not knowing that they've done the job that history actually required, but that history, in fact, won't thank them for it...

Fonda--a quiet dominant personality in Westerns--puts this over perfectly in Edward Dmytryk's 'Warlock,' unpretentious Western... Here Fonda is a professional hired gun brought in specially, and most temporarily, one always feels, to calm down a town plagued by cowboys, some of them with outlaw affiliations...

Every word he says ('I'm a simple man, handy with Colts'), every calculated ploy, shows that he's marvelously clear-eyed about his situation--that today he's wanted, that tomorrow he won't be--because he's an old professional and it's all happened before...

Spruce as spry as ever, Fonda is Clay Blaidsdell, a legendary gunfighter, the ideal professional gunman with great expectations... He is hired, temporarily, by the citizens of Warlock to clean up their town from the outlaws... The movie focuses on his rise when he succeeds in removing the bad guys in a spectacular confrontation, and his fall when he is forced to face his best friend in a showdown...

Fonda brings with him his hero-worshiping right hand and conscience, the ex-killer Tom Morgan (Quinn), who challenges his one-man rule, one vindictive old girlfriend and one loving new flame... When the pair defeats the San Pedro gang, one of its members, Johnny Gannon (Widmark), stays behind and volunteers to become Blaisdell's deputy...

As an uneasy peace settles onto Warlock, the relationship between Blaisdell and Morgan deteriorates when the marshal finds romance with a local girl, Jessie Marlow (Dolores Michaels). Gannon, meanwhile, becomes involved with Lily Dollar (Dorothy Malone), who at one time had been Morgan's mistress and now hates both Blaisdell and him for killing a man she had hoped to marry...

Blond for the only time in his career, Quinn - curious and different as the complex, clubfooted gambler-gunman whose relationship with Clay, leans rather strongly toward homosexuality - made Dmytryk's multi-plotted film somewhat daring for its time... Its complicated story line, working at various levels, and its shadowy psychological innuendos, turned off critics and audiences alike, and from several corners came concern that Dmytryk had carried the 'new convention' Western too far too fast... Nevertheless "Warlock" remains a typical law and order Star Western, well written, pretty exciting, and entirely in the classic mold...

Spirited, Thoughtfully Entertaining Western.......2006-10-12

Warlock is just a great all-around Western, boasting the talents of a great director (Edward Dmytryk), great cast (Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, Anthony Quinn, Dorothy Malone), and great writing. It has a lot more emotional content than many Westerns, even though it has plenty of action and tension.

Warlock takes its name from the town where all the action takes place. It's a town where a gang of outlaws has taken over, riding in from a nearby town to run roughshod, if not kill the lawmen who are trying to keep the peace. Desperate to restore law and order, the town leaders bring in Fonda and Quinn, a famous pair of gunmen obviously modelled after Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Fonda is the cool, collected lead, and Quinn is the hard-drinking, hot-tempered, club-footed sidekick. Fonda and Quinn's characters make a living out of going into towns like Warlock and cleaning them up. This seems like just another stop in a long line of towns they come in and cleaned up.

But several complications arise. Fonda's character meets beautiful Delores Michaels, a town leader who begins by loathing Fonda, but then her loathing turns into admiration, then love, which Fonda reciprocates. An old flame of Quinn's shows up, one who has a grudge against both Fonda and Quinn because of the death of a boyfriend at Fonda's hands. And Widmark plays a member of the terrorizing gang who decides to reform and tries to convince his younger brother, played by Frank Gorshin, to do the same.

This movie always has a lot going on, but it's not hard to follow, and it is enjoyable to see how the plot develops. Everyone performs well, and the story has both satisfying and tragic turns. Warlock is well worth a Western-lover's time.

Average customer rating:

fbi murders
Good Police Training Tool
Finally Out On DVD
great made-for-TV movie
Intense and very well made tv movie.....

In the Line of Duty: The FBI Murders
Starring: Ronny Cox , Bruce Greenwood , Michael Gross , Doug Sheehan , and David Soul
Director: Dick Lowry
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Drama | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( I ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

44 Minutes
The Siege at Ruby Ridge
Waco - The Rules of Engagement
In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco
Rough Riders

ASIN: B000CBCWKS
Release Date: 2005-12-13

Customer Reviews:

fbi murders.......2007-06-21

I am so happy with my purchase. This is the only site that had what I was looking for.

Good Police Training Tool.......2007-05-15

The FBI blamed this tragedy on a single 9mm Silvertip bullet, that failed to immediately drop the rifle toting bad guy. They fail to mention, the bullet performed exactly as designed, and the wound was a mortal one.

Truth be known, it was very poor tactics that caused the single most deadly day in FBI history. It began with the agents failing to use good vehicle position when making a felony stop, and progressed to learning never just bring a handgun, when the bad guys have a military caliber rifle, with high-capacity magazines. David Soul plays the Ruger Mini-14 armed bank robber, and his acting is excellent. He truly is creepy, and lends a lot to the character.

In the end, the bravery of one badly wounded agent, saved the day. However, not before several were agents were killed, and the rest gravely injured.

This movie is a good police training tool, concerning an incident that every law enforcement officer has heard about. Unfortunately, it is one that shows what NOT to do, rather graphically.

Finally Out On DVD.......2007-01-29

Finally out on DVD, fans of true crime dramas and action films will really enjoy this 1988 made-for-television production. Based on actual events in Miami, Florida (I'm not sure how embellished), "In the Line of Duty: The FBI Murders concerns a pair of military trained bank- robbers and the FBI task force who attempted to identify and apprehend them. This is a far cry from the fictional movies that attempt to glorify G-Men or violent criminals.

Both sides are portrayed in their real life bumbling glory as the robbers act stupidly and recklessly and the task force basically stumbles into them and is ill prepared for the confrontation. But this makes the story quite fascinating and if you connect with it you will probably want to watch it several times.

The film is structured as two parallel stories and what suspense there is stems from the viewers knowledge that the two stories will eventually intersect with each other, you just don't know how or when it will occur.

The strength of the film (besides its real life feel) is the characterization of the two robbers, played by David Soul and Michael Gross. Although their backgrounds are fragmentary, it appears that they bring out the worst in each other and their crime spree continues more for the adrenaline rush it provides. They begin to really get off on the violence and power, their crimes are almost random which tends to work in their favor as the investigation can find little logic or pattern behind their activities.

The film's weakness is the parallel story of the task force. This was a far cry from a cerebral Sherlock Holmes type investigation so you eagerly wait for them to cut back to Soul and Grace. The characterizations are generally shallow and weak so almost all viewers will end up identifying with the two criminals; even though they have a lot of mad dog qualities. Doug Sheehan is quite effective as the task force commander, but the Bruce Greenwood - Ronny Cox pairing (rookie and veteran) never really connects. Greenwood has gone on to do some amazing stuff under Atom Egoyan's direction, he obviously has far more talent than he shows in this role.

The violent climax is worth waiting for, although the violence is in real time, the confrontation has the slow-mo feel of a Sam Peckinpah production.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

great made-for-TV movie.......2007-01-05

I have been searching for this movie forever, finally being able to find it. Great writing, decent acting from everyone.Includes future star Bruce Greenwood,(Thirteen Days)and great evil character played by Michael Gross.
Humor comes from watching it now, due to the 80's fashion,etc..
Next to 'Merlin', this is a standout as far as TV movie filmmaking goes.

Intense and very well made tv movie............2006-05-29

Based on the actual events that took place in 1985, The FBI Murders chronicles the events leading up to the largest FBI casualties ever suffered at one time in the history of the agency. Two well trained ex Green Beret buddies (played by David Soul & Michael Gross) team up and start robbing armored cars in Florida. Eventually they raise the stakes and start killing people during these robberies. The FBI tails these two and while attempting to arrest both men, one of the worst shoot-outs in law enforcement history ensues. When it's all over, several FBI agents are dead, there are several agents wounded and both suspects are shot and killed. This movie is made-for-tv, but it is still one of the hardest, most intense I've seen on network television. The ruthlesness and violence of these men is not toned down at all as in one scene, David Soul literally walks around looking for the surviving/wounded FBI agents and begins executing them on the ground. Highly recommended for fans of true stories or crime.

Average customer rating:

Obscure battlefield accurately depicted
western classic
Faux Historical Epic; Nevertheless Engaging Entertainment!
FAUX HISTORICAL EPIC - FLASHY BUT INACCURATE
CALAMITY JANE

The Plainsman
Starring: Gary Cooper , Jean Arthur , James Ellison , Charles Bickford , and Helen Burgess
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Epic | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Westerns | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Distant Drums
Along Came Jones
Drums Along the Mohawk
Unconquered (Universal Cinema Classics)
The Gary Cooper Collection (Design for Living / The Lives of a Bengal Lancer / Peter Ibbetson / The General Died at Dawn / Beau Geste)

ASIN: B0001FVDWS
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com

Just maybe the most shamelessly enjoyable of Cecil B. DeMille's pseudo-historical epics, this rumbustious frontier saga offers a three-for-one Western legends combo--Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Calamity Jane, all cutting up in the 1870s, with George Armstrong Custer and Abraham Lincoln thrown in for good measure. (Wait a minute, Lincoln was assassinated in 1865--oh, never mind.) Truth to tell, Buffalo Bill doesn't really pull his weight, since (1) he is hopelessly distracted by virtue of having recently married and (2) he's played by James Ellison, an eternal juvenile normally relegated to second-banana duty in Paramount's Hopalong Cassidy series. However, Gary Cooper's Wild Bill and Jean Arthur's Calamity supply enough star power to light up the Dakotas and parts of Missouri.

Every once in a while, DeMille and his small army of writers stumble upon an actual historical fact. Bill Cody did fight to the death with an Indian chief named Yellow Hand. George Custer and James Butler Hickok did both buy the farm in the summer of 1876. (Custer's Last Stand is handled imaginatively, if cheaply, as a vision narrated by a wandering Cheyenne warrior--none other than C.B.'s son-in-law Anthony Quinn in one of his earliest screen appearances.) Jack McCall (veteran weasel Porter Hall) did find himself in Deadwood, South Dakota, at the same time Wild Bill was drawing aces and eights in a poker game ... though McCall was not necessarily affiliated with DeMille's favorite villain, Charles Bickford, in the business of running guns to the Indians. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews:

Obscure battlefield accurately depicted.......2006-06-20

As someone who has actually been to the hard-to-find Beecher's Island battlefield site (in the badlands of NE Colorado), I was pleasantly amazed to note how accurately the terrain is depicted in "The Plainsman." I have been to the sites of other notable Indian fights, including both the Fetterman Massacre and Little Big Horn, and although distinctive in their own ways, they are basically just dusty hills in barren grasslands. Beecher's Island was different. It occured near a rare shady spot along a "river" which now is usually nothing but a dry shallow gulch running through some private grazing land; at the time of Major Forsyth's engagement with the Cheyenne under Roman Nose the Arikara River was a formidable obstacle with a few spits of sandy ground--the "island"-jutting up in the middle. At one end of the gulch/river bed there is a bluff some fifty feet or so high from behind which the Cheyenne formed, launched their charges, and rallied. At the summit of the bluff lies Roman Nose, killed in the battle, his lonely grave marker still (as of the mid-1990s) faithfully tended by unknown locals. The "island" itself looked completely unlike any other battlefield of the Plains Indian Wars, being tiny, made of sand, and strewn with dirftwood, which Forsyth and his little band formed into a sort of breastworks.

Almost all of this terrain is faithfully recreated in "The Plainsman." Obviously DeMille didn't shoot this in the Colorado Badlands; there was a contemporary pencil sketch in Harper's Weekly, and perhaps they based the scene on that. Whatever the reason, I was impressed. Now, if only they had had the Buffalo Soldiers rescue Forsyth's party, as they did in reality (a monument to them is present at the battlefield). . . .

I would be curious to know if anyone else has some insight into this?

The three stars are a compromise: 4 for entertainment value, 2.5 for historical accuracy.

western classic.......2006-03-11

it is a classic western with legendary western
characters such as wild bill hickock, calamity jane,
george custer, and buffalo bill cody. it is also
one of the better films with gary cooper where his
natural charm comes through. it does not disappoint
fans of westerns.

Faux Historical Epic; Nevertheless Engaging Entertainment!.......2005-03-06

TRANSFER: Considering the vintage of the film, this is a moderately appealing transfer, with often clean whites and extremely solid blacks. There's a considerable amount of film grain in some scenes and an absence of it at other moments. All in all, the image quality is therefore somewhat inconsistent, but it is never all bad or all good - just a bit better than middle of the road. Age related artifacts are kept to a minimum and digital anomalies do not distract. The audio is mono but nicely balanced.

EXTRAS: Forget it. It's Universal!

BOTTOM LINE: As pseudo-history painted on celluloid, this western is compelling and fun. Just take its characters and story with a grain of salt - in some cases - a whole box seems more appropriate!

FAUX HISTORICAL EPIC - FLASHY BUT INACCURATE.......2004-06-02

"The Plainsman" represents the directorial prowess of Cecil B. DeMille at its most inaccurate and un-factual. It sets up parallel plots for no less stellar an entourage than Wild Bill Hickok (Gary Cooper), Buffalo Bill Cody (James Ellison), Calamity Jane (Jean Arthur), George Armstrong Custer and Abraham Lincoln to interact, even though in reality Lincoln was already dead at the time the story takes place. Every once in a while DeMille floats dangerously close toward the truth, but just as easily veers away from it into unabashed spectacle and showmanship. The film is an attempt to buttress Custer's last stand with a heap of fiction that is only loosely based on the lives of people, who were already the product of manufactured stuffs and legends.
TRANSFER: Considering the vintage of the film, this is a moderately appealing transfer, with often clean whites and extremely solid blacks. There's a considerable amount of film grain in some scenes and an absence of it at other moments. All in all, the image quality is therefore somewhat inconsistent, but it is never all bad or all good - just a bit better than middle of the road. Age related artifacts are kept to a minimum and digital anomalies do not distract. The audio is mono but nicely balanced.
EXTRAS: Forget it. It's Universal!
BOTTOM LINE: As pseudo-history painted on celluloid, this western is compelling and fun. Just take its characters and story with a grain of salt - in some cases - a whole box seems more appropriate!

CALAMITY JANE.......2001-11-03

On September 17, 1868, while fording the south fork of the Republican River in what is now Colorado, General "Sandy" Forsyth was ambushed by 600 Cheyennes and Arapahoes. Outnumbered ten to one, Forsyth and his troops took refuge on a brushy island in the middle of the river and for nine days stood off one of the fierest charges in the history of Indian wars. The ten years which followed this gallant episode saw the final defeat of the Indians on the Northern half of the Great Plains. Some 300 battles were fought, chiefly against the Sioux and Cheyennes. In 1876, the two nations rallied to wipe out General Custer's regiment on the Little Big Horn. By 1880, Indians were no longer a power on the plains. Cecil B. DeMille, the producer of super-colassal spectacles of the thirties and forties goes the American West for THE PLAINSMAN. The film opens with a prologue shot of President Lincoln and his Cabinet, from then on compresses many actual events in the history of the Great Plains. Its hero and heroine are two of the most famous characters of the West "Wild" Bill Hickok and "Calamity Jane" ably portrayed by Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur (whose Calamity is decidedly more glamourous - with rouge and mascara applied - than was the real Martha Jane Canary!) In one segment, the Cheyennes ambush Buffalo Bill for twelve minutes ; it was considered quite an exciting climax to 1937 audiences.

DVD:

DVD

DVD: The Yakuza Papers, Vol. 4 - Police Tactics

Maná - MTV Unplugged