DVD Reviews - Page 3

FLASHPOINT is a drama which depicts the emotional journey into the tough, risk-filled lives of a group of cops in the SRU (inspired by Toronto's Emergency Task Force).  It's a unique unit that rescues hostages, busts gangs, defuses bombs, climbs the sides of buildings and talks down suicidal teens.  Members of a highly-skilled tactical team, they're also trained in negotiating, profiling and getting inside the suspect's head to diffuse the situation to try and save lives.

Twenty years after this six-part British miniseries won an International Emmy, a newly remastered version brings it to life more vividly than every before. The riveting thriller also inspired Steven Soderbergh’s Oscar-winning film.

Filmed on location in Pakistan, Hamburg, and London, TRAFFIK lays bare the international drug trade by tracing three intersecting lives: Jack, a British government minister who finds the scourge of heroing striking too close to home; Helen, a woman who embarks on a daring survival strategy after her husband’s arrest; and Fazal, a Pakistani peasant who works for a menacing drug lor. Starring Bill Paterson , Lindsay Duncan, and Julia Ormond in her extraordinary film debut.

DVD special features include an interview with writer Simon Moore and producer Brian Eastman, extended UK broadcast version of episode 6, photo gallery, production notes, and cast filmographies. Closed Captioned courtesy of Acorn Media.

The feature-length mysteries in MIDSOMER MURDERS SET 13 have not aired in the US and are available to US audiences for the first time with their DVD release. Continually reaching new heights of popularity, MIDSOMER MURDERS counts Johnny Depp and even Queen Elizabeth among its ardent fans. Millions agree: the cleverly conceived mysteries and subtle humour make it one of Acorn’s top-selling titles, year after year.

Inspired by the novels of Caroline Graham, modern master of the English village mystery, MIDSOMER MURDERS combines quirky characters and surprising mysteries with postcard-perfect English village setting and the ever-charming John Nettles as the steady, unfailingly decent Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby. Jason Hughes also stars as his earnest, efficient protégé, Detective Sergeant Ben Jones. Guest stars include an endless array of extraordinarily talented character actors.

The Mysteries:

DANCE WITH THE DEAD – A young man asphyxiates in a vintage automobile, setting off a search for his mysterious girlfriend.

THE ANIMAL WITHIN – A mischievous old coot goes missing just before a visit from his niece – a woman who supposedly died in a plane crash three years earlier.

KING’S CRYSTAL – At an artisan glassworks, Barnaby delves into possibly murderous family rivalries.

THE AXEMAN COMETH – The Midsomer music festival brings out the bluesman in Barnaby. Unfortunately, it also brings out someone keen on murdering old rock stars.

Closed Captioned courtesy of Acorn Media.

Two 17-year-olds, Werner Holt and his best friend Gilbert, are pulled out of school and into Hitler’s army.  While Gilbert becomes a fanatical soldier, Werner, fighting on the front line, begins to understand the senselessness of war, and ultimately takes his revenge.  The Adventures of Werner Holt was a huge success in East Germany, where its unflinching look at the toll war takes on youth found great resonance among the public.  A political and artistic masterpiece, it is considered one of the most important German films of all time.

German with English subtitles.

Examine the eerie prediction of history’s greatest prophet in this doomsday-themed collection from HISTORY. Nostradamus’ apocalyptic visions and other ancient prophecies that promise a major – and perhaps catastrophic – change to life as we know it are explored in two exciting and insightful documentaries. Many people have believed that we are approaching a year of unprecedented, and even deadly, upheaval. Are there real, verifiable connections between the prophecies of the past and what is happening in the world today? Are the signs of the apocalypse happening before our eyes? More importantly, could the ancient prophecies of a coming apocalypse be realized today? THE NOSTRADAMUST FILES collection includes LOST BOOK OF NOSTRADAMUS and NOSTRADAMUS 2012.

Bonus features: Feature-length documentary: Nostradamus: 500 Years Later; Additional footage: The Sun; The Egyptians; End of Time; The Hopi; The Masons

Synopsis:

Rick Castle is a world-famous crime novelist whose stories come to life when a copycat killer follows his literary blueprint.  Enlisted to help the NYPD stay a step ahead of the murderer, Castle realizes working with the police can also supply him with a slew of ideas for his next book.  The relationship gets a little more complicated--and a whole lot more fun--when he is paired with the attractive Detective Kate Beckett, who doesn't appreciate Castle's unorthodox style.

Widescreen 1.78:1

Dual Layer Single Sided

Audio
English Dolby 5.1

Subtitles
English
French
Spanish

Synopsis:

The time: Today.  The stakes: all our tomorrows.  A nascent AI, assisted by deadly cyborgs, continues to edge toward world domination and the ruin of humankind.  It accepts no limits.  It fears no one.  Except John Connor.  The machines know John, now 16, is the future leader of the human resistance.  They know he is growing in capabilities.  They must find and terminate him.  But Sarah Connor is there, protecting and instructing her son as he becomes the man he is destined to be.

Widescreen 1.78:1

Dual Layer Single Sided

Audio: English Dolby Surround 5.1, Portugese Surround Stereo

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Thai, Portuguese

Synopsis:

L.A. continues to be the land of plenty for the relocated plastic surgeons of McNamara/Troy.  An aspiring rapper wants some more booty to shake so would the doctors please put some junk in her trunk?  Can would-be vampires have those nasty neck wounds concealed?  Can a yoga expert with a giant, uh, appendage have it shortened?  Yes to all of the above.  And maybe everyone, even the doctors, should have a check up from the neck up.

Dual Layer Single Sided

Widescreen 1.78:1

Audio: English Dolby Surround 5.1

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Synopsis:

A prank show that is designed to scare the living wits out of the persons on whom the pranks are played.  Elaborate scenarios are constructed while hidden cameras capture the "victims" either horrified expressions or fits of laughter.

Full Frame 1.33:1

Dual Layer Single Sided

Audio: English Mono

Subtitles: None

Synopsis:

Experience all the challenges, changes and second chances found in the sizzling hit drama "Private Practice:The Complete Second Season"--from ABC's Golden Globe-winning creator of "Grey's Anatomy".  Check in on the health and welfare of Oceanside Wellness Group's neo-natal surgeon Dr. Addison Montgomery and her perpetually single colleagues as they learn what the phrase "Physician, Heal Thyself" really means.

Widescreen 1.78:1

Dual Layer Single Sided

Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Subtitles: Spanish, French