MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL
(2011)
* * * (B)
Directed by Brad Bird
Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, Michael Nyqvist
Paramount//Rated PG-13//Action//133 minutes
Available on: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
Cruise returns to the role of Ethan Hunt for this fourth installment of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise raking in a half billion per film. Lavish globe-trotting action depicts the Kremlin blown to bits and Cruise in Dubai, scaling the world's tallest building. After Ethan and his IMF crew are framed and branded as terrorists, they attempt to clear their names by hunting down a European baddie (Nyqvist) who plans to launch a nuclear holocaust. To fully immerse the viewer, director Brad Bird filmed the action sequences in IMAX, yielding exquisite detail. Cruise, 49, performs his own stunts -- including one placing him 1,000 feet in the air when Hunt scales a glass and steel edifice. If you've got it, flaunt it. DVD features: Impossible Missions, The Sandstorm, Props, Deleted Scenes with optional director commentary, French, Spanish, and English language tracks. 2-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack features same plus: Film on both DVD and Blu-ray, Mission Accepted, Heating Up In Dubai, Vancouver Fisticuffs, Alternate Opening, Trailers, plus Portuguese language track. 3-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack features same plus: Suiting Up In Prague, Art Department, A Roll of Film, Life Masks, Stepping into the Storm, Dubai Car Crash, Lens on the Burj, Composer, Trailers.
THE DIVIDE
(2011)
*1/2 (C-)
Directed by Xavier Gens
Starring Rosanna Arquette, Michael Biehn, Courtney B. Vance, Milo Ventimiglia, Lauren German, Ivan Gonzalez, Jennifer Blanc, Michael Eklund, Abbey Thickson, Richard Thomas
Anchor Bay//Unrated//Horror//122 minutes
Available on: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
"The Divide" is essentially post-apocalyptic, torture porn. Depicting a nuclear bomb detonating in New York, director Xavier Gens stylizes the attempted escape by the residents of one apartment building. Moments after the bomb goes off, a fortunate few are admitted into the Mickey's (Biehn) basement apartment, a place he has fortified to double as a bomb shelter. As the days wear on, no one is allowed in or out, causing dissension within the group. Well armed attackers try to enter, spurring Josh and Bobby (Ventimiglia and Eklund) to become increasingly warlike. Eventually, these young men unleash a reign of terror upon those locked in with them, turning a distraught mother (Arquette), and a nice young woman (German) into sex slaves. They do far worse to others, including viewers roped into this nasty, pointless story that fails to justify its existence. Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack features: film on both Blu-ray and DVD, English, French and Spanish language tracks.
BORN TO BE WILD
(2011)
* *1/2
Directed by David Lickley
(2011)
Directed by Brad Bird
Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, Michael Nyqvist
Paramount//Rated PG-13//Action//133 minutes
Available on: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
Cruise returns to the role of Ethan Hunt for this fourth installment of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise raking in a half billion per film. Lavish globe-trotting action depicts the Kremlin blown to bits and Cruise in Dubai, scaling the world's tallest building. After Ethan and his IMF crew are framed and branded as terrorists, they attempt to clear their names by hunting down a European baddie (Nyqvist) who plans to launch a nuclear holocaust. To fully immerse the viewer, director Brad Bird filmed the action sequences in IMAX, yielding exquisite detail. Cruise, 49, performs his own stunts -- including one placing him 1,000 feet in the air when Hunt scales a glass and steel edifice. If you've got it, flaunt it. DVD features: Impossible Missions, The Sandstorm, Props, Deleted Scenes with optional director commentary, French, Spanish, and English language tracks. 2-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack features same plus: Film on both DVD and Blu-ray, Mission Accepted, Heating Up In Dubai, Vancouver Fisticuffs, Alternate Opening, Trailers, plus Portuguese language track. 3-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack features same plus: Suiting Up In Prague, Art Department, A Roll of Film, Life Masks, Stepping into the Storm, Dubai Car Crash, Lens on the Burj, Composer, Trailers.
THE DIVIDE
(2011)
*1/2 (C-)
Directed by Xavier Gens
Starring Rosanna Arquette, Michael Biehn, Courtney B. Vance, Milo Ventimiglia, Lauren German, Ivan Gonzalez, Jennifer Blanc, Michael Eklund, Abbey Thickson, Richard Thomas
Anchor Bay//Unrated//Horror//122 minutes
Available on: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
"The Divide" is essentially post-apocalyptic, torture porn. Depicting a nuclear bomb detonating in New York, director Xavier Gens stylizes the attempted escape by the residents of one apartment building. Moments after the bomb goes off, a fortunate few are admitted into the Mickey's (Biehn) basement apartment, a place he has fortified to double as a bomb shelter. As the days wear on, no one is allowed in or out, causing dissension within the group. Well armed attackers try to enter, spurring Josh and Bobby (Ventimiglia and Eklund) to become increasingly warlike. Eventually, these young men unleash a reign of terror upon those locked in with them, turning a distraught mother (Arquette), and a nice young woman (German) into sex slaves. They do far worse to others, including viewers roped into this nasty, pointless story that fails to justify its existence. Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack features: film on both Blu-ray and DVD, English, French and Spanish language tracks.
BORN TO BE WILD
(2011)
* *1/2
Directed by David Lickley
