Maybe it says something that Doom’s biggest highlight is an extended first-person sequence. While a technical marvel, the homage to the video game is entirely superfluous to the story. Everything in it, with the exception of the Pinky Demon, has been seen before. The audience knows of the creatures and the infection spreading through this Mars research facility, so it feels like a sequence that exists to show off.

On second thought, maybe it is important. The audience is given brief flashes of the enemy throughout the film, and the first-person sequence offers the best viewpoint. Much of Doom is filled with the characters walking down barely lit hallways, flashing their guns at the camera, and walking forward while the audience waits.

You have to feel sorry for editor Derek Brechin who was probably given nothing but similar looking footage of Dwayne Johnson to sort out and make sense of. Doom is oppressively boring at times, especially for a film aimed at action-hungry gamers. The slow build to generate tension can work, but not when it is done the same way each time.

The game Doom tells the story of a marine sucked into hell to fight demons. That’s it. Translating it to the movie screen doesn’t change much.

Characters are given the well planned, thought out names such as Sarge, Goat, and The Kid. As you can guess, The Kid (Al Weaver) is the rookie, and destined to die from the opening frames.

Doom is filled with grisly violence, even an autopsy on one of the mutated scientists. At least that is one aspect of the game kept true, especially considering the outcry towards the video game when it was released. Everything else is a waste of celluloid.

Movie ★★☆☆☆ 

Universal uses the what seems to be the same VC-1 encode from the HD DVD release of Doom for this Blu-ray effort. That leads to outstanding black levels, critical considering the low lighting used throughout the film. Image depth is truly spectacular. What appears to be black crush is undoubtedly a result of the lighting (or lack thereof) and the deep, black suits worn by the rescue team.

Definition is generally consistent, bringing out excellent detail and textures. Clearly defined beads of sweat, pores, and hair are exceptional. Clothing carries a clean, crisp texture. The mutation autopsy is wonderful for its gross-out factor, heightened by the clarity of this transfer. Every ridge of the prop is visible, along with glistening blood.

Despite all of the positives, Doom struggles with noise, especially against brightly saturated blues (watch around the 26:00 minute marker, amongst some others). Also, the dim nature means textures are barely visible at times, no fault of the transfer but of the intentionally non-existent light. It also gives the image a soft quality.

Video ★★★★☆ 

Doom’s DTS-HD mix is constantly aggressive from the opening logos. The early zoom-in shot of Mars completely obliterates the subwoofer, as do many shots later. Gunfire is immensely powerful, with the clean highs of used shells falling to the floor to the explosions from the barrel.

Ambiance is spectacular, including the opening scenes with helicopters flying around in the surrounds. Later, echoes dominate a sewer investigation, with dripping, falling water and screams. An animal lab is eerie, aided by the loud cries of caged animals.

The first-person sequence is a complete audio experience, with loud, blaring music, minimal dialogue, and lots of gunfire. With all of that going on, the mix handles it all audibly, cleanly, and effectively.

Audio ★★★★★ 

Extras follow the same pattern of previous DVD and HD DVD releases, with the sole exception of typical BD-Live support. This means there are four featurettes on the movie itself, including one dedicated to the FPS scene. Another on the suit work involved is exceptional as well. Less interesting pieces include the military training actors always go through for these movies and another on the Rock’s brief make-up in the film.

Doom Nation is a fine piece on the video game, including its history and recollections from various industry insiders on what it meant to gaming. Game-on is now terribly dated, spouting off tips for Doom 3 the game.

Extras ★★★☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Doom Review

Halo Legends is best digested in pieces, not as a two-hour whole. This seven story piece of animation tells some fantastic tales within the Halo universe. Seeing the Covenant Elite Arbiter at home, with a wife discussing his rebellion is a side of this series that remains unseen. These are the stories that develop the deep, rich science fiction that many would wrongly write off as video game fodder.

Near the mid-way point, Daisuke Nishio, known for the Dragonball series, takes over with his spin on the series with Odd Man Out. This is where Legends comes crashing to a halt, with an absurdly ridiculous tale of Spartan 1337 (*groan) fighting a super Brute and a dinosaur (!) along with two kids who are apparently pulled from the Street Fighter series. While the franchise is known for its oddball humor at times, this is so far from home that it comes off as parody, clashing with the otherwise serious style of the other pieces.

Things do eventually come around in segments like The Babysitter, which despite the off-putting animation, tells a wonderful story of the ODST troopers clashing with the newly introduced Spartans. The mixture of animation, ranging from the unique living watercolor of The Duel to the crisp, clean stylings of Homecoming blend surprisingly well, with limited distractions.

It is interesting to see a Halo franchise envisioned by those in another country, especially in one where the first-person shooter series never gained much of a following. That may be Legends strong suit, offering not only different stories beyond those focused on shooting things, but delivering it in a way that can open a gamer’s eyes to the possibilities of this universe.

Never fear though, as Legends contains plenty of action, with the majority saved for the finale. The Package is the most familiar to fans, with fully rendered animation from Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed) that brings Master Chief into the realm of animated film.

The Package contains “that” moment, as if the prior pieces were a tease. Chief, having just blasted a hole in a Covenant space cruiser, lands on the deck with two other Spartans, bubble shield deployed. Enemy troops begin surrounding them as they wait for the shield to drop. When it bursts, Martin O’Donnell’s spectacular theme music blares, the guns fire, headshots are landed, first-person views are common, and it encompasses everything Halo is famous for. It’s a shame Odd Man Out nearly ruins it all.

Movie ★★★☆☆ 

Warner provides a VC-1 encode for Legends, one with problems entirely dependent on the source animation, with the sole exception of some extensive banding in the backgrounds, and a slight stretch to fill a 1.78:1 frame (noticeable whenever planets are on screen). The first two parts, titled Origins, suffer from heavy aliasing and flickering, enough to be a distraction.

Most of the animation contains an intentional bloom effect, likely hiding many of the flaws. However, Homecoming is typically crisp, and the bold, saturated colors are nothing short of beautiful. Few flaws are noted here, in direct contrast to Odd Man Out which suffers extensive aliasing and ringing. The final piece, The Package, seems to have been rendered at a lower resolution than 1920×1080, especially notable on the doctor’s hair and the fine lines on Master Chief’s armor.

At their peak, black levels are superior, adding dimensionality to a traditionally flat animated affair. Colors, where allowed to show through, can carry a jaw-dropping level of vibrancy. Origins contains a war sequence bathed in noise, and the encode handles this intentional effect with no adverse artifacting. Something like this is incredibly difficult to judge, but given the apparent accuracy to the source material, credit is due for this generally fine presentation.

Video ★★★★☆ 

Warner skimps on the audio, providing only a compressed Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, which oddly begins with a 2.0 musical affair during the opening credits. Sadly, O’Donnell’s awesome score never comes alive as it should, feeling restrained without proper room to breathe. The same goes for the gunfire, which carries a punch, but not one that Blu-ray viewers are now accustomed too.

That said, despite somewhat flat quality the outdated compression method applies, this is an appropriately loud, aggressive mix when it needs to be. Action is permeated with bullets, plasma shots, vehicles tracking all through the sound field, and explosions that catch the subwoofer with a satisfying shot of bass. Cortana’s voice during the opening animation has an immersive, enveloping echo quality in the stereo channels and surrounds.

The Package of course delivers, with a ridiculous level of action, explosions, and cries of pain as Grunts are blasted away by shotguns. The score is lost slightly behind it all, but not enough to ruin the impact.

Audio ★★★★☆ 

A commentary from directors Frank O’Connor and Joseph Chou begin the extras, followed by a fine look at the franchise as a whole in Gaming Evolved. The Story So Far is the entire Halo saga narrated to bring anyone up to speed on the complex backstory. The latter two featurettes run around 22-minutes each.

A making-of is split into eight parts, each focusing on a different story (including an introduction to make it to eight). In total, they run just shy of 55-minutes, covering the basics, influences, and the conceptions of each tale. Trailers, including a teaser for the upcoming final game in the series, Halo Reach, remain.

Extras ★★★★☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Halo Legends Review

Twelve minutes into Dante’s Inferno, Dante comes across a living boat that will help him cross into the next circle of hell. Dante looks at his partner Virgil and proclaims, “I don’t like the looks of this.”

To put that line into context, you need to understand what happened before. Dante’s love Beatrice is killed, and she is sucked into hell by Lucifer himself. Dante follows into the underworld, only to have a bunch of tentacles stitch a cross into his chest. He fends off zombie/demon things with a huge sickle, splitting them into bloody debris.

So, why does a giant boat with a talking head suddenly make his cautious? This inept, ridiculous dialogue permeates Dante’s Inferno, and it doesn’t help that the acting is delivered like a free digital comic that belongs in the bonus features. The sheer amount of religious babble is enough to offend everyone, and not because of the discussion of the Crusades or the slaughter of non-believers. No, this is offensive to anyone who wants to appreciate a story, and not an excuse for more incomprehensible action. Claiming this plays out like the poem it is based off is rather ludicrous.

Released as tie-in for the Electronic Arts video game, Dante’s Inferno feels rushed, with wildly inconsistent animation and zero structure or flow. It is laid out like the game itself, each new circle of hell given a place card as if a new level has been entered. Dante cuts through some minions, a brief flashback occurs, some type of boss is fought, and he moves on.

This is little more than overly gory promotional drivel, released to sucker someone in who thought the cover art appealed to them. It makes no serious attempt to draw anyone in, and after the first ten cries of, “Beatrice!” no one watching will likes the look of this either.

Movie ★☆☆☆☆ 

There are numerous problems with this AVC encode from Anchor Bay, the most prevalent being extensive, irritating banding. At times, it becomes so bad, vertical lines are evident on every character, and backgrounds are littered with artifacts. The black, smokey title cards announcing a new level are rife with posterization. The sepia-like flashbacks are the worst, especially with Dante’s father beating his wife.

An odd, possible encode error at 46:53 has a bright red line running down the left side of the screen for no apparent reason. Many shots carry an intentional haze or blooming, robbing the picture of depth and sharpness. Those that appear pristine, besides the compression problems, show some aliasing on the generally simply animation.

Colors are muted, certainly appropriate for the subject matter, although some can be quite rich. Blood is vibrant, and the molten orange innards of the gargoyles during the boat attack is quite vivid. Greed takes place in a room filled with gold, shining bright and effectively. Black levels are typically flat, and backgrounds are usually soft, lacking definition.

Video ★★★☆☆ 

Not surprisingly, for as loud and aggressive as this animation can be, the TrueHD mix (the only audio option) is fairly impressive. The only lacking aspect is the bass, which is not only wildly inconsistent, but rarely deep when it is utilized.

Surrounds capture quite a bit of activity. In the beginning, wolves howl in the surrounds. Once into hell, falling souls are a constant source of rear and stereo activity. Numerous traveling audio effects are used, cleanly progressing from one channel to the next. Demons chasing Dante screech in the appropriate channels.

Blood splatters freely, and the effect is sold through the audio. Swords clanging during a brief visit to the battlegrounds of the Crusades are impressive. Plenty of scenes offer positional dialogue, well prioritized in the specific channel.

Audio ★★★★☆ 

Special features include five scenes presented as animatics, and a trailer for the video game. Sloppy, the presentation deserves flack, not allowing subtitles to be turned on with the subtitle button, but requiring the pop-up menu selection.

Extras ★☆☆☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic Review

Maybe it is time for critics to come clean: We were wrong. Terribly wrong.

Steven E. de Souza’s 1994 adaptation of video game Street Fighter was never intended to be a good movie. Everything about this movie is cinematic cheese to the extreme, from the corny, campy one-liners to the visual props used in the story. Just about everyone completely missed the point and took this seriously.

How? When M. Bison (Raul Julia) is detailing his plans for a world-dominating government center, he tells his architect to, “Make the food court bigger.” No one writes that line, in which a power mad dictator is suddenly concerned with something as trivial as restaurants, without their tongue so firmly planted in cheek it nearly pierces through.

The same goes for Zangief (Andrew Bryniarski), watching TV as it shows a truck loaded with TNT starts barreling towards his location. His response? “Change the channel.”

There are others, but the numerous visual nods are many as well. Bison uses a full replica of the Street Fighter arcade game’s control panel to set off mines in the area around his complex. Guile (Jean Claude Van Damme) breaks up an underground fighting ring by driving a missile launcher through the front door.

It has apparently taken over a decade for this one to sink in. At the time, fans were furious their beloved video game characters were so tragically butchered by this script. For every one De Souza got right (such as Vega), three others were in an entirely different ballpark in a different country that exists only in an alternate dimension.

The hilarity of paying attention to how the script tries to rationalize their costume changes is priceless too, particularly with Dhalsim (Roshan Seth). Previously seen as a high-class scientist, he suddenly shreds his lab coat for an Indian neck ring. Did he come to work with that thing every day, waiting for an opportunity to show it off to his captors?

Come to think of it, even if critics were wrong and missed the intended purpose of Street Fighter, it doesn’t change much. This is a terrible movie, filled with weakly choreographed, boring fights, a dreadfully long finale, and plotline that is ludicrous at best. Even if the intent was incorrectly gauged, Street Fighter remains an appalling attempt at recreating the video game. It exists to laugh at, not with, and that seems to be the key problem.

Movie ★★☆☆☆ 

Issues with Universal’s VC-1 encode seem to stem from the use of an older, dated master. Artificial sharpening has been applied with drastic results. Edge enhancement is generally thick, outlining characters and backgrounds with halos. Grain has been elevated, giving it a harsh, unnatural appearance.

Some artificial brightening seems to have performed as well, causing hefty grain spikes, even in dark areas of the screen. The encode also struggles to keep up, leading to noticeable, frequent artifacting.

Colors have been saturated as well, shades now giving off a neon-like quality. The ferns of Bison’s island paradise radiate with a neon green, and Chun-Li’s red dress bleeds significantly. Flickering/shimmering is noted on window bars and car grills.

Close-ups show some limited facial detail, although not completely resolved due to the processing. Deep black levels are generally fine and stable. Crush is a minimal problem. Shadow delineation is typically satisfactory.

Video ★★★☆☆ 

As with the video, the DTS-HD mix sounds wholly hollow and artificial. Ambient audio sounds louder than it should be, drowning out dialogue. Listen to the conversation Guile has walking through an infirmary, with people yelling and babies crying split in the stereo channels. While character dialogue is audible, the split fronts are too strong, with the background audio as loud as the story-based chatter.

Action scenes are lively, but also overcooked. As people are tossed through walls, splintered wood shatters cleanly in all channels, although little directionality exists. Gunfire is muffled and flat. Any bass from massive explosions is muted and lost in the mix. Oddly, the easiest way to explain this mix is that is sounds compressed, despite that not being the case.

Audio ★★★☆☆ 

Extras are carried over from a Special Edition DVD, with some additional (now dated) promos for the game Street Fighter IV. A making-of is purely a promotional blip, running for less than six minutes. Outtakes are a collection of raw footage from the set, not the expected bloopers. Two deleted scenes are followed by two storyboard sequences. Two clips from the video games showcase how the Guile/Bison battle played out there.

Two sections in Cyberwalk go unexplained, one some kind of training manual for working in Bison’s camp, and the other is an extended news report. Archives provides stills of toys, posters, set pictures, and trailers. A solo commentary from Steven E. de Souza is fine, and typical BD-Live support is included.

Extras ★★☆☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Street Fighter Review

The characters in Resident Evil Degeneration love jumping out of the way of things. In fact, aside from shooting zombies, it seems to be their second best talent. Whenever debris gets in their way, they jump out of the way. When there is an explosion behind them, they jump towards the camera. When a zombie closes in, they jump out of the way.

Degeneration is mundane enough that this is the type of thought process you go through while watching it. In fact, it is one of the few notable things in the film, a rather poor attempt by Capcom to expand their video game franchise outside of Sony Picture’s hands and Milla Jovovich.

This is undoubtedly one for the fans, as all character development is based on the games. The history of the different viruses, how they were made, what happened in Racoon City, and various other details are left to the wind.

Degeneration takes place in two locations. The first is an airport, where a zombie infestation causes a jet to plow through the terminal in admittedly spectacular fashion. Conveniently inside is Claire Redfield, former Racoon City cop who survived that zombie assault. When this new infestation begins, in comes her former partner Leon Kennedy to save the day. Yes, it is as generic and contrived as it sounds.

The second locale is inside an extravagant drug corporation, who seems to have designed their headquarters elaborately just because. Here the secrets of the various viruses are revealed, and while they may be told to the characters, their blunt explanations are directed to the audience.

Characters are plastered on-screen, the worst being an impossibly clueless senator who states the most idiotic things for no reason other than to establish him as a jerk. Who walks up to a complete stranger and tells them they hate children, especially when your career rides on your public image? Someone in this movie apparently.

Animation is stiff, and the character models are under detailed. Voice work is appallingly bad, and there seems to be no attempt to lip-synch any of this dialogue. One would assume the Japanese animations had trouble with the dialect, but this is hardly even close.

The lackluster animation makes the action pedestrian. If you’ve seen one zombie shot in the head, you’ve seen it all. There is rarely tension or sense of danger.

Degeneration also contains about seven different endings. Every time you suspect a cut to the end credits, another scene starts. The final fight comes against Curtis, a protester who inexplicably injects himself with the virus, turning into a hulking monstrosity fans of the Resident Evil 2 video game will recognize.

Despite countless assault rifles from a team of military, Curtis won’t die. Leon crushes the mutation with debris, which still isn’t enough. He rises yet again, falling to his death… but magically hangs on at the last second. Leon shoots the beast in the head, which apparently the thousands of rounds fired at the creature earlier were unable to do. It’s a shameless, dull extension to the final chapter, one the film certainly didn’t need.

Given that the storyline takes place between Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, this is a blatant and expensive marketing tool, nothing more. It is a disappointment, particularly after Hollywood took a drastically different approach with their series. One would think Capcom would care, but apparently not.

Movie ★★☆☆☆ 

Degeneration was supposedly rendered at 720p, which is this transfers hurdle. Aliasing is constant. It fails to handle any fine lines, from glasses, to hair, to fences, to clothing, to hair, to the guns. Everything appears blocky.

A hallway around the 18-minute mark shows significant banding. Black levels are excellent, and the contrast is finely tuned. Sharpness is fair, although it fails to reach the usual standard of computer-generated work in hi-def. The animation itself is also flat and undetailed, which doesn’t help the look, although not a fault of the transfer.

Video ★★★☆☆ 

A TrueHD mix packs some mild punch. Bass is weak, particularly as the plan crashes through the airport. Surrounds are consistently engaged, carrying excellent positional dialogue and tracking. Debris from the various explosions is impressive as it falls around the viewer, and various scenes of fire deliver crackling in all channels.

However, things do become muddy. As Curtis is fighting off the military troops, a loud rock anthem plays with the action, but is lost in the shuffle. Specific audio cues seem missing or bleed together. It’s hard to hear, more of a mashing of audio than discrete effects.

Audio ★★★★☆ 

Two pop-up feature are available, the first offering a glimpse of motion capture, storyboards, and animatics. The second is a basic trivia track. The Generation of Degeneration is a fairly in-depth look at the making of the film running 30 minutes. Oddly, subtitles are not on by default, and they need to be.

Voice bloopers are not funny, and neither is the horrible dubbed interview with Leon’s motion capture actor. Character profiles offer text information on the characters, and specific clips. Two Resident Evil 5 promos confirm the movie’s purpose, along with numerous other trailers. BD-Live support takes you Sony’s generic splash page.

Extras ★★★☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Resident Evil Degeneration Review

Many of the recent American film disasters have been based on video games. While Max Payne may not lower itself to the level of a House of the Dead, there’s still very little to recommend about this sluggish and oftentimes confusing film translation.

An unclear narrative is an immediate turn-off. The rapid-fire story flies by with little explanation, lackluster character development, and an unclear narrative. For fans of the game, they’ll be disappointed that Max Payne isn’t a pain killer-popping depressed cop. While on edge throughout, a significant piece of the character is lost.

That’s no fault of Wahlberg who plays the character fine, although hearing the name “Max Payne” in legitimate dialogue seems cheap. It conjures up thoughts of the classic Simpsons episode in which Homer becomes Max Power. The style and tone don’t fit quirky names like that.

Mila Kunis plays Mona Sax, although it’s hard to get anything from her. You know her motivation, but that’s as deep as her character goes. All of these performances are fine actually, as it becomes a pacing issue. Nothing feels settled before moving forward.

The script does offer a few nice twists that are hard to spot even if that little voice in the back of your head knew all along. The snowy outdoors make for an interesting visual on par with the game, although a few shots where the visual effects take over for effect can fall flat (such as fly-bys of the city). That said, director John Moore delivers some wonderful camera work, especially during a bathroom brawl.

Being Max Payne, this should be about copious amounts of action. This may catch people off guard as the action is mostly confined to a few sequences. They overload the viewer with bullets and explosions to make up for downtime. Payne is apparently able to dodge an entire swat team firing at him simultaneously in a confined office, but in the sense of an action movie, it’s almost forgivable… almost.

The story revolves around the murder of Payne’s wife and son, but also dabbles in drug-enhanced super soldiers. This is where the film begins to lose itself, especially with odd hallucinations born from Viking mythology. While they are explained, their visual style doesn’t fit in a film trying to take itself seriously. Instead of being frightening, they come off as cheesy apparitions in the wrong movie.

When the video game was released, one of its key selling points was bullet time. It was the first game to utilize it as a critical gameplay mechanic a few years after The Matrix crafted it as a fine art. It’s hard to avoid comparisons, but the few times Payne puts it to work, it is done with flair. One in particular, that of a winding shotgun blast in the midst of enemy fire, is a spectacular sight.

First time writer Beau Thorne tries to make this winding police tale more than it needs to be, and the film suffers for it. If you come expecting non-stop action, you’ll be disappointed. When it finally starts to work, especially in the third act, you end up with a middle-of-the-road cop drama that looks sharp while lacking substance.

Movie ★★☆☆☆ 

Max Payne is a dark film, and this hi-def transfer captures this well. Black levels, with a mild level of (likely) intentional crush, create tremendous depth in the image. Sharpness is excellent throughout. Detail tends to come and go, at times blotted out by a blooming, hot contrast. Color is at a premium, although the brighter hues are wonderfully saturated.

Video ★★★★☆ 

Reference audio? Absolutely. If you need to test a subwoofer, Max Payne will suffice. Every gunshot, every explosion, and every moment of slowdown pounds the low end with incredible power. The surrounds are masterfully engaged throughout, of course at their best when the guns are blazing. The office shootout around the hour mark is awe-inspiring for incredible clarity, positional audio, and beefy bass.

Audio ★★★★★ 

Extras are slim on the back of case, but are surprisingly rich. An active commentary from director John Moore, production designer Daniel Dorrance, and visual effects supervisor Everett Burrell is satisfying. The hour long documentary entitled Picture either makes Moore come off as honest or a jerk. Still, it is a refreshing change of pace from the usual promotional junk disguised as a making-of. This is how behind-the-scenes docs should be done.

Two picture-in-picture features are here. The first offers tips and cheats for the game which could readily be found easier elsewhere. The second is also available separately from the main menu (as all PiP tracks should be). These random snippets with the director from the set total about 30 minutes. An animated graphic novel details the murder of Max Payne’s wife. D-Box support and trailers remain.

Extras ★★★★☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Max Payne Review

Legend of Chun-Li revolves a young girl whose father is kidnapped at a young age. Now a star piano player, she receives a mysterious scroll, which forces her to investigate Shadaloo, an evil corporation run by Bison (Neal McDonough). The young girl is Chun-Li (Kristen Kreuk), and she’s aided by Interpol on her quest to find her father.

For those not in the know, Chun-Li’s backstory in the video game is simple: Her father was murdered by Bison, and she becomes a cop to infiltrate Shadaloo and secure her revenge. Why then is Legend of Chun-Li such an incomprehensible mess? Why is Chun-Li a piano player? It has zero significance on the plot, is totally unnecessary, and makes it harder to believe she’s the fighter with outrageous fighting moves.

On the villain side, Bison is given an even worse backstory, one that has him pulling babies out of his wife’s stomach with his bare hands. Seriously. There’s something going on with his soul, but it’s never explained clearly. His goal is to find his daughter, the same kid he ripped out of the womb and apparently dumped off in the middle of nowhere. What’s his plan? Have her hauled in on boat inside a metal shipping crate.

Seriously.

Never mind the fact that Bison is incredibly wealthy and could have chartered a flight. Never mind the fact that his daughter completely accepts the father who abandoned her as a child. Never mind the fact that Bison was brought up in Thailand as an orphan yet has a small Irish accent.

The story is nothing short of sheer stupidity from one scene to the next. This is also the second Street Fighter movie to shy away from the mystical aspects, briefly bringing in the concept of fireballs, but there are only two characters with this ability. With the weird, cringe-inducing backstory on Bison, one would think this would lead to using some of his abilities from the game on screen, yet his one fight ends up being with a bamboo stick.

Chris Klein and Moon Bloodgood are hilarious as Interpol agents… and they’re not here for their comedy. Klein doesn’t deliver a single line with a shred of believability, at one point seemingly calling forth his best Jim Carrey impression. Their investigation is useless, as the audience knows everything they do long before they become aware of it. Every minute they’re on screen is a waste of time. The height of their dialogue?

Klein: “What orders?”
Bloodgood: “Orders, Nash.”

All of that still doesn’t come close to the infuriating ending. Chun-Li’s mentor Gen (Robin Shu) who is revealed in flashbacks that assumes the audience is incompetent, hands Chun-Li a note. It’s the beginning of the Street Fighter tournament. If that’s the case, why not start the movie with the tournament, and explain this simple “Bison killed my father” development in five minutes of dialogue? Why force audiences to sit through this excruciating movie to get there?

Here’s a tip to Capcom: Remake Enter the Dragon and call it Street Fighter. Wow! That was hard. This is twice the company has tried to break this beloved gaming franchise into film, and twice it has fallen flat on its face. The best part of Legend of Chun-Li? The fan service Capcom logo that comes before the movie starts. Ouch.

Movie ★☆☆☆☆ 

Legend of Chun-Li suffers from two problems on Blu-ray: Noise and contrast spikes. Both are severely detrimental to an otherwise fantastic looking AVC encode.

One past the opening pan shots of the city which have extensive aliasing, the problem is eliminated from further shots. That leaves a razor sharp, heavily detailed transfer that mostly pleases. Black levels are strong with convincing depth and shadow delineation. Flesh tones are occasionally bronzed depending on the lighting situation, likely the director’s color timing choice.

All of the problems are sporadic. There is for an instance a shot of a forest at the 53:30 mark that appears to be a JPEG it is so low in quality. Following that is an especially noisy effects shot at 58:20. Then there are the blinding contrast spikes, washing out detail on backgrounds and faces. It is a typical modern film, although what is done here is especially bothersome. Still, the wonderful amount of texture in the transfer easily makes up for the inconsistencies.

Video ★★★★☆ 

A DTS-HD Master mix is simply booming, delivering incredible low-end thumps no matter how ridiculous they are. Every punch rattles the subwoofer with ferocity. It is powerful and clean, certainly an effective way to test equipment, if not the most logical in terms of the movie.

The surrounds are more than capable of tracking, including well-done ambiance and debris collapsing around the viewer during fights. Market scenes are lively with chatter, and a club sequence feels authentic as it envelopes the viewer. Dialogue is well integrated, clear and sharp throughout.

Audio ★★★★☆ 

Extras kick off with a commentary from producers Patrick Aiello and Ashok Amritraj coupled with actors Chris Klein and Neal McDonough. A pop-up trivia track tosses out quips about the game, movie, and characters. Fourteen deleted scenes run just over 15 minutes.

A sneak peak at the upcoming downloadable re-release of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is obviously promotional, although anyone who sees the movie will have their feelings on the franchise severely injured. Three featurettes offer details on the making of the film, the game series, Chun-Li herself, and various other small tidbits. All together, there is about 36 minutes of content, with much it being standard studio advertising fluff.

A couple of galleries, including one that compares the actors to the their in-game counterparts is hilarious in showing how far off the film was. Also note the unrated cut of the film is included, adding mere seconds of additional blood and gore.

Audio ★★☆☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li Review

Why make a video game movie if you’re barely going to acknowledge anything in said video game? That’s been the problem with the Resident Evil franchise from the start as it picks pieces from the game and crafts a completely random story around them. Extinction offers the best action of the three, but the story is uninteresting and the characters meaningless.

Filled with long shots of characters walking slowly through buildings searching for supplies, Extinction is the slowest starting film in the franchise. Story development is sparse. Pointless action scenes, such as Milla Jovovich’s encounter with zombie dogs, don’t help. These feel forced, misplaced, and illogical in terms of the script.

Gone is Jill Valentine from the prior Resident Evil movie, Apocalypse. Replacing her is Claire Redfield, played by Ali Larter. The characters are interchangeable, which says something about the scripting here. While the character names are pulled from the game series, they’re completely different in terms of their place in the story.

Going even further off line from the game, and delving deeper into a pit of lackluster ideas for the movie, are Jovovich’s growing powers. Apparently, she can now harness the force from Star Wars and lift rocks with her head. This leads to a number of contrived outcomes where she realizes an easy out just in time to save herself or others.

The main action sequences rank above the others in this franchise. The infected bird assault is spectacular, and the truck/zombie mow down is exactly what audiences came to see. The finale is ruined by an anti-climatic ending that comes from nowhere, and of course the inevitable set up for the fourth movie.

Those few pieces can’t come together to make Extinction a decent movie. It’s a mundane zombie thriller with boatloads of gore and no regard for the source material. How this made it to a third installment is anyone’s guess.

Movie ★★☆☆☆ 

Finely detailed is the first impression of this Blu-ray transfer. Certain scenes typically carry a heavy grain, though it’s purely intentional for gritty effect. Black levels can be uneven, shifting into murky gray. Contrast is otherwise excellent. Superbly sharp, the diluted color tones of the film translate into incredible and noticeable detail, down to fine grains of sand on clothing.

Video ★★★★☆ 

Audio is flawless, aside from the occasionally low mixed dialogue. Surrounds are put into use effortlessly, tracking every bullet or zombie that moves into the rears. The LFE channel is effective throughout, with a solid jolt of bass with every gunshot (without sounding overbearing). The bird assault in the desert is one of the finest examples of home audio you’ll find.

Audio ★★★★★ 

A three-way commentary from Paul W.S. Anderson, director Russell Mulcahy, and producer Jeremy Bolt deliver a well-rounded discussion of all aspects of filming from their perspectives. Eleven deleted scenes greet the viewer once out of the movie and run for about eight and a half minutes.

Beneath Raccoon City is an above-average documentary about the aspects of the film, including a nice look at the miniature work. A trailer for the upcoming CG effort Resident Evil – Degeneration is included, and a pointless option that lets you play the special features in a certain order is a Blu-ray exclusive.

Extras ★★★☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Resident Evil Extinction Review

The follow up title to the massively successful Dragon’s Lair, Space Ace landed in arcades in 1984. The reaction was positive, though the game never managed to pull in the numbers of its predecessor. Part of the problem is the intensity of the action, cutting out everyone but the most skilled (or least financially challenged) players. The other issue is the novelty wearing off as arcade goers have been in this territory before.

There’s little to complain about in Space Ace. It’s no different than Dragon’s Lair, only with a change of setting. Players wait for cues to make a simple move (or button press) to reach the next piece of animation. Miss and death is sure to follow.

Dexter is a fun hero to follow, and lead villain Borf is equally enjoyable (though his screen time is limited). The energetic animation and creature designs are a step above, showing marked improvement. There are also some calmer moments of focused dialogue tossed in to develop some type of a story however simple it may be.

Still, one can’t deny that this is the exact type of game that killed an entire platform a few years later, the Sega CD. Chastised for its glut of full-motion video titles, Space Ace is, from a game play perspective, no better than any of those. Its production values and the Don Bluth animation make it look superb, yet this is all a charade for the simplistic memorization required to play it. Being able to play with a remote is more evidence of how archaic this really is.

As opposed to the bland and flat DVD edition, this Blu-ray edition of Space Ace is a marked improvement. As a game, it falters and fails. However, it’s doubtful many will spend the money to actually play this eight-minute game. Most will simply enjoy spotting details they’ve never seen thanks to the incredible clarity, and that’s worth the price alone.

Movie ★★★☆☆ 

The restoration to the game is nothing short of spectacular. Video is remarkably clear, and the colors have never been this vibrant. A layer of grain is evident and intact. The transfer has trouble when it comes to bright reds and blues, bringing out some noticeable compression artifacts that detract from the otherwise pristine presentation.

Video ★★★★☆ 

The remixed 5.1 audio is robust in terms of its rear speaker activity. Lasers and enemies fly through the sound field as if the audio track was produced with modern audio equipment. Sadly, the soundtrack is almost lost. Not only does it come off flat (as do the explosions), it doesn’t carry the fidelity of the sound effects.

Audio ★★★☆☆ 

On Blu-ray, the option to simply watch instead of play the proceedings makes it easy to appreciate the work that went into creating it. The full video commentary includes everything, including all deaths and flipped frames to pad the running time. Don Bluth, Rick Dyer, and Gary Goldman reminisce about their time making the game, though tend to dwell on the HD aspects for too long, and then spend additional time discussing Dragon’s Lair.

A section on the disc features creator interviews, and this seems like snippets cut from the commentary. This runs for about six minutes. A progression reel includes comparisons of the HD versions to others, including lower editions like the Amiga. Not all versions are covered, but this feature does get the point across. Options in terms of play include setting the number of lives, choosing the original or widescreen version, and setting the difficulty (tip: the game is always brutally hard).

Extras ★★★☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Space Ace Review

Thanks to a dip in profits while the arcade industry suffered massive losses, it was eight years between Dragon’s Lair and Dragon’s Lair II: Timewarp. While the ‘90s arcade scene will undoubtedly be remembered for fighting games, Dragon’s Lair II still offered something no other game could: Don Bluth’s animation.

Whereas the first game was set solely in a castle in which adventurous Dirk the Daring tried to rescue Daphne, the sequel turns into a mind trip, sending Dirk to a number of locations that defy description.

Take the Beethoven sequence, in which a shrunken Dirk is met with resistance from a hungry cat. Beethoven furiously plays his piano with Dirk struggling to avoid being smashed. Unexplained, the piano rises into the air, swirling musical note become deadly projectiles, and that cat defies all physics as it continues to swipe at the hero.

For all of its bizarre tendencies during a brief 10 minute run time, Dragon’s Lair II delivers some wonderful animation. Inside an Egyptian pyramid, the player must swing around on ropes carrying a mummified Daphne, when another mummy bursts from its coffin confines to grab her as a mate. Another sequence is a significantly disturbing take on the garden on Eden, including Eve as you’ve never seen her (or wanted to).

Taken as a game, Dragon’s Lair II doesn’t change itself. Players must still react inhumanly fast to guide Dirk around the screen when prompted. Using the term “game” is loose at best as it’s no more in-depth than the flood of full-motion video games of the era on the Sega CD.

The difference is the animated touch, and skilled hands of Don Bluth. Where other FMV games of the era used corny sets, no-name actors, and cheap technology, Dragon’s Lair is flashy, colorful, and a joy to watch or play. While it’s not necessarily more “fun” than any of those other games, taken as an animated short (as you can on this Blu-ray), this is a lively piece of Bluth animation, whimsical and incoherent.

Movie ★★★★☆ 

Digital Leisure has chosen MPEG-2 for a compression codec, and while there are no comparisons, a more advanced codec (AVC) might have cleared up some of the problems with this transfer. Simply put, MPEG-2 can’t handle the fine grain structure, leading to noise and artifacting. The worst is undoubtedly on Beethoven’s blue-ish/purple coat, which is a mess of blocky pixels instead of film grain. The bright reds of the card segment are also a problem.

Despite the artifacting, this is a wonderful restoration, and the game has been given new life in HD. Colors burst off the screen with a richness the game has never previously been afforded. Clarity is remarkable, and brief dips in sharpness are rare (and minor). The print contains a sparse number of damage specs, hardly noticeable given the pace of the action. Both the original 4×3 and stretched 16×9 versions are available. Video problems occur in both.

Video ★★★★☆ 

Sticking with a compressed Dolby Digital 5.1 track, Dragon’s Lair II sounds fair. Fidelity is better than expected given the age. The LFE channel is left alone, leaving the animation sounding flat. The surrounds track poorly, coming through as more of a jumbled mess than an accurate representation of what’s on screen. The card battle is a perfect example, where the all of the effects are loaded into every speaker, instead of individually delivering positional audio.

It’s almost a shame there isn’t an option for the original audio. The remix included here is fair in terms of clarity, but the effect of updating it is lost.

Audio ★★★☆☆ 

A picture-in-picture video commentary from Don Bluth and Gary Goldman is nicely informative. It’s a change of pace from Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace where they spent most of their time gushing about how great the animation looked in HD. There are little production anecdotes, talk of how Bluth wanted alternate endings, and their concept for the sequel.

What’s odd is that the commentary contains all of the death sequences, whereas if you choose to watch the film by itself from the menu, it excludes them. An original attract sequence is also used for commentary, bringing the running time up to 14 minutes.

An interview with the commentary participants repeats a slight amount of information, but does offer deeper insights into the reason for a five-year production hiatus, why the deleted scene was deleted, and player response. A progression reel has been on each Digital Leisure release, comparing previous releases to the new hi-def edition. Obviously, there is no comparison in terms of which looks the best. An animatic for the deleted pirate ship sequence is followed by some trailers.

Extras ★★★☆☆ 

Full disclosure: This Blu-ray was provided to us by Digital Leisure. This has not affected the editorial process. For more information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Dragon’s Lair II: Timewarp Review