Our Recommendation of the Week comes courtesy of The Criterion Collection, the re-release of Guillermo del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone. Like all Criterion Collection re-releases The Devil’s Backbone comes with a variety of documentaries, commentaries and plenty of other extras.
First Release
- G.I. Joe: Retaliation (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Assault on Wall Street (DVD and Blu-ray)
Re-Release
- The Devil’s Backbone (2001) (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Fog (1980) (Blu-ray)
- Niagara (1953) (Blu-ray)
The Devil’s Backbone (2001) (DVD and Blu-ray) *Recommendation of the Week*
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Written by Guillermo del Toro, Antonio Trashorras, David Muñoz
Starring: Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi, Fernando Tielve, Íñigo Garcés
The Spanish-Mexican movie The Devil’s Backbone is one of Guillermo del Toro’s most celebrated and praised movies. This gothic-horror tells the story of Carlos (Fernando Tielve), a 12-year-old orphaned by the Spanish Civil and taken a remote orphanage which harbors some terrible secrets.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 91% (excellent)
Metacritic Rating: 77/100 (very good)
Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.5/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: New 2K digital film restoration, approved by director Guillermo del Toro; Audio commentary featuring Del Toro; Video introduction by Del Toro from 2010; New interviews with Del Toro; Que es un fantasma, a 2004 making-of documentary; Spanish Gothic, a 2010 interview with Del Toro about the genre; Interactive director's notebook, with Del Toro’s drawings; Four deleted scenes, with optional commentary; New featurette about the Spanish Civil War as evoked in the film; Program comparing Del Toro’s thumbnail sketches; Selected on-screen presentation of Del Toro's thumbnail sketches; Trailer; New English subtitle translation
Amazon Price: $20.97 (DVD), $27.59 (Blu-ray)
It is a light week of DVD and Blu-ray releases and re-releases, with the highlights being G.I. Joe: Retaliation, the latest animated adaptation of a DC Comics storyline and the re-release of John Carpenter’s The Fog.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation (DVD and Blu-ray)
Directed by Jon M. Chu
Written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Adrianne Palicki, D.J. Cotrona, Byung-hun Lee, Jonathan Pryce, Channing Tatum, Bruce Willis
G.I. Joe: Retaliation was both a sequel and a reboot of the G.I. Joe movie franchise, but its release date was delayed due to Channing Tatum’s sudden stardom, forcing reshoots. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson takes over the lead role as he is tasked to revive another franchise.
After the events of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Cobra has taken over the American Presidency by having one of their agents, Zartan take the identity of the President and hold the real president (Jonathan Pryce) hostage. With his presidential power he is able to wipe out the Joes and only three are left to stop Cobra’s evil plans.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 28% (bad)
Metacritic Rating: 41/100 (poor)
Entertainment Fuse Score: 4.5/10 (read our review)
DISC DETAILS
Amazon Price: $16.96 (DVD), $19.96 (Blu-ray), $24.99 (3D Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 3.5 stars, Video 5 stars, Audio 5 stars, Extras 4 stars, Replay 2 stars (out of 5). Recommended.
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (DVD and Blu-ray)
Directed by Jay Oliva
Written by Jim Krieg (screenplay), Geoff Johns, Andy Kubert (comic)
Starring: Justin Chambers, Kevin McKidd, Michael B. Jordan, C. Thomas Howell
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is the latest animated movie by Warner Premier. Based on Geoff Johns’ DC Comics Crossover event about The Flash (Justin Chambers, Grey’s Anatomy) accidently creating an alternative reality when he changed an even in the past and is in a world where Atlantis and Amazon are at war with each other.
DISC DETAILS
Amazon Price: $12.99 (DVD), $13.99 (Blu-ray)
Assault on Wall Street (DVD and Blu-ray)
Written and directed by Uwe Boll
Starring: Dominic Purcell, Erin Karpluk, Edward Furlong
Uwe Boll’s assault on film continues with his latest flick Assault on Wall Street, a movie about Jim Baxford (Dominic Purcell, Prison Break), an average New Yorker who loses everything due to the incompetents of the banks, so goes on the rampart against the people who wronged him. A timely commentary about the financial crisis and the Occupy Movement.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 14% (awful)
Metacritic Rating: 24/100 (awful)
DISC DETAILS
Amazon Price: $10.93 (DVD), $14.93 (Blu-ray)
The Fog (1980) (Blu-ray)
Directed by John Carpenter
Written by John Carpenter, Debra Hill
Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Houseman, Janet Leigh, Hal Holbrook
Following the success of Halloween John Carpenter’s follow up movie was neo-gothic ghost horror movie about the town of Antonio Bay in Californian which is about to celebrate its 100th Anniversary. But a dark secret in the town’s past has led to a strange fog that hides ghosts who want vengeance.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 69% (good)
Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.0/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Audio Commentary With Writer/Director John Carpenter And Writer/Producer Debra Hill; New Audio Commentary With Actors Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Atkins And Production Designer Tommy Lee Wallace; New Interview With Jamie Lee Curtis; Tales From The Mist: Inside The Fog Featurette; Fear On Film: Inside The Fog Featurette
Amazon Price: $19.59 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 4.5 stars, Video 4.5 stars, Audio 4.5 stars, Extras 4 stars, Replay 5 stars (out of 5). DVD Talk Collector Series
Niagara (1953) (Blu-ray)
Directed by Henry Hathaway
Written by Charles Brackett, Richard L. Breen, Walter Reisch
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotton, Jean Peters, Max Showalter
Niagara is a film noir style thriller about Rose Loomis (Marilyn Monroe), a newly married woman who plots to murder her new husband (Joseph Cotton): but of course her plot does not come to plan.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 80% (very good)
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Restoration comparison; Stills gallery
Amazon Price: $16.79 (Blu-ray)
