US Blu-ray and DVD Releases: The Crow, Ocean’s Trilogy, Madame Web, Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker, The Devil’s Honey and more

The Crow

Well, it’s not the biggest week this week, but it’s big for ME! That’s because one of my favorite films ever is making its 4K Ultra HD debut this week, and I couldn’t be more excited. There are also some other noteworthy releases, so read on to see what’s out there!

The Crow (4K Ultra HD Steelbook)

The Movie: I’m not the best at keeping accurate rankings of how I feel about movies, but The Crow is currently ranked at #16 on my Top 50 movies of all time list. All. Time. That’s a pretty high ranking. And even more than some movies that rank higher than The Crow technically, there’s a connection that I have to this movie that is stronger than many other films on the list. I first read James O’Barr’s The Crow comic books in the early 90s, and they had a profound impact on me. I think The Crow, when taken as a single story, is one of the greatest graphic novels of all time. So you know a movie adaptation can’t live up to that, right? Except somehow, it did. The combination of Alex Proyas’ groundbreaking directorial style and Brandon Lee’s iconic performance, coupled with the tragedy of Lee’s death on set, somehow give this film a power to seep into your soul unlike most any other movies I’ve seen. For the film’s 30^th Anniversary, Paramount has released a new 4K Ultra HD Steelbook edition of the movie. Seeing as how it’s 30 years old and one of the greatest cult classics of all time, I’m guessing I don’t have to summarize the plot for you, but suffice it to say it’s an epic tale of love, revenge, crime, and – once again – love. I think that’s why the movie has always affected me so much; at its heart, it’s a truly great love story, and that will never be replaced as the core of the film for me. The fac that it’s also one of the most kick-ass action movies of the ‘90s is just what puts it over the top into truly immortal status.

The 4K Audio/Video: I was really hoping that Paramount wouldn’t phone in the A/V portion of this release, and I’m pleased to announce that they didn’t. Usually when I review a 4K disc, I focus a lot on color saturation, as it’s one of the format’s best features. However, The Crow is practically a black-and-white film at times, or at least most of it is very dark. But here, shadow delineation is terrific, making sure that the onscreen action is never swallowed up by the dark. Contrasts are strong, blacks are deep, and the colors that are on screen do look vibrant and lifelike. The surround soundtrack isn’t the most nuanced I’ve ever heard, but it does combine some decent surround effects, a thumping low end bass channel, and high-fidelity music to capture the feel of the film as it was made. This is a great A/V presentation overall.

The Special Features: First off, let me mention the Steelbook case the film comes in. It is, easily, one of the most beautiful Steelbooks I’ve seen yet. I’ve seen many badly photoshopped or generic looking Steelbooks, but this one was clearly designed with love and care, and it’s a beauty to behold. The most exciting part of the extras are the two brand new bonus features. The first one is called Shadows & Pain: Designing The Crow, and it’s a three-part making-of feature that runs about 25 minutes and looks at the creation of the film’s iconic designs and its production. The second is Sideshow Collectibles: An Interview with Edward R. Pressman, which is unfortunately little more than a commercial for an upcoming high-quality Crow figure (even though it runs over 10 minutes long.) The rest of the extras are carried over from previous releases but are still noteworthy: two audio commentaries (including one with director Alex Proyas), a 16-minute making-of, a half-hour long profile of Crow creator James O’Barr, a collection of extended and deleted scenes, and the movie’s trailer.

The Wrap-Up: The Crow is essential viewing for any film fan, and I think it’s an essential entry into any movie lover’s home video collection as well. This new 4K Ultra Steelbook is without a doubt the very best release of The Crow to date, and I think it will be some time before anyone can top it. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!

Ocean’s Trilogy 

The Movies: Sometimes distance can really help films, and sometimes it can hurt them. This is not a groundbreaking philosophy I’m spouting here. There are some movies that just don’t age well, and there are some that being able to revisit and reevaluate after several years results in a whole new perspective on said film. I think Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Trilogy benefits from age. It’s certainly not because the technology in the movies holds up all that well, but rather because it’s a lot easier to see the films now for what they were: enjoyable heist romps. Ocean’s Eleven featured a huge all-star cast and was a box office juggernaut, which led to the requisite sequels. And as they came out one-by-one, audience reactions became more and more mixed. (Ocean’s Thirteen really wasn’t all that well received at the time.) After all, it’s hard to repeat a formula two extra times without feeling repetitive or derivative. But watching the films now, a decade-plus later, it’s easy to do away with the hype and expectations and just enjoy the movies as silly, lighthearted heist movies that aren’t really aiming to be anything more than that. The casts – which include George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Elliott Gould, and Al Pacino, among others – were unbeatable collections of the biggest movie stars of the time, each of them turning their charm and star wattage up to eleven. I still think the first film is the best and the second film is the weakest (with the third one falling somewhere in between), but there isn’t one of the three that I can say that I don’t enjoy. This week, Warner Bros. has finally collected all three films into one collector’s set on 4K Ultra HD, which makes revisiting the entire trilogy super convenient (and fun!)

The 4K Audio/Video: The Ocean’s Trilogy looks and sounds terrific in 4K, featuring realistic and vivid colors, terrifically sharp imagery, and deep, rich black levels. The prints, of course, are devoid of any blemishes or debris. These were slick-looking films when they came out and that feel is replicated here in the 4K experience. The surround soundtrack isn’t going to win any awards, as it rightfully focuses a lot of its attention on the dialogue and music (which both sound impeccable), but there is some surround activity when called for, and overall, the soundtracks are nice and immersive.

The Special Features: Ocean’s Eleven features two audio commentaries, four making-of features that run an impressive hour in total length, and an additional featurette on the original Ocean’s 11 film from the 1960s. Ocean’s Twelve includes an audio commentary track, two making-of featurettes that run about 40 minutes combined, and almost a half an hour’s worth of deleted scenes. Finally, Ocean’s Thirteen features an audio commentary, three making-of features that run about 40 minutes total, and a 45-minute program about some famous real-life heists.

The Wrap-Up: I’ve never been a big Steven Soderbergh fan; I find many of his movies to be overrated and underwhelming, but I like the Ocean’s Trilogy because he put his pretentious airs in the backseat and just made movies that were meant to entertain; you know like movies should. This is a terrific set that’s well worth picking up for a really good time in your home theater.

Madame Web

The Movie: I really wanted to be the guy who came out and said, “I loved Madame Web! It was great!” Alas… I will not be that guy. I thought the trailer for the movie was really good, so I was actually excited to see it. And then… it just… isn’t… great. It’s also not completely terrible. Much like Morbius, which the internet decided was the worst movie ever when it was far from that (although tellingly it is by the same writer… maybe stop hiring that guy, Sony!), Madame Web isn’t completely awful. Dakota Johnson is perfectly good in the lead role, and the trio of Spider-Women played by Sidney Sweeney (in classic “We’ll make her look nerdy by putting glasses on her and pretending she’s unattractive!” mode), Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor are all actually quite endearing and the foursome have a good onscreen chemistry. No, where the film falls apart is in the script and the villain. The villain is so uncompelling, so forgettable, and so bland – and with murky-at-best motivations for being a bad guy in the first place – that the film really lacks any sense of urgency or danger. The other problem is the script (by aforementioned writer Matt Sazama, who also penned The Last Witch Hunter, and Gods of Egypt in addition to Morbius – not a great track record), which is just so pedestrian and boring, and is just such a by-the-numbers approach to a mid-level superhero movie that there’s literally nothing interesting about it. Heck there’s not even a single line of clever or funny dialogue. It’s just bland, bland, bland. That said, the cast is game, and the climactic action sequence is pretty darn cool. It gives us a glimpse of what might have been if the movie didn’t flop hard enough to ensure we’re never going to see a sequel in my lifetime.

The Special Features: Three making-of featurettes run a little over 20 minutes total, while there’s also an additional five-minute piece about Madame Web’s comic book origins. You also get a gag reel and a deleted scene.

The Wrap-Up: Ultimately, while Madame Web is far from good, it is at least watchable. But it has so many flaws, it’s impossible to ignore them. File this one under “hugely disappointing” for me.

Art of Invincible: Season 1 

The Book: Once in a while I get items for review that aren’t a movie or TV home video release but are instead related to a movie or TV release. This week, I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of Skybound’s awesome new Hardcover book, The Art of Invincible: Season 1. Focusing on the first season of Amazon Prime’s smash hit animated series, Invincible (which is, in itself, based on the hit Image comic book by Robert Kirkman), this book is really a visual companion to the first season, providing concept and design art, animation art, and more. There’s a lot of focus on characters, but you also get in-depth looks at locations/settings, backgrounds, vehicles, and more. There are interviews with various showrunners as well as Robert Kirkman himself and comic artist Cory Walker, and Robert Kirkman also provides a new introduction. I’m a huge fan of these TV/movie “Art Of” books, but some of them are definitely better than others; I’m glad to report that this is one of the good ones. Not only is the artwork itself amazing, but the book strikes the right balance of text and imagery, so there’s enough to read that it’s just pictures with no context, but not so much text that it feels like a school textbook.

The Specs: This hardcover book is a whopping 11×12 inches, and it comes in at 200 full-color pages. It is written by Mark Sumerak with an introduction by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics/Skybound. It weighs almost four pounds.

The Wrap-Up: The Art of Invincible: Season 1 is a beautiful art book that is a must have for any fans of the show or the comic books. There’s already a Season 2 book in the works, so this could be the beginning of a gorgeous reference library for Invincible fans.

Severin Films Spotlight

The Movies: For almost 20 years, Severin Films has been releasing cult movie on DVD and Blu-ray. Just recently, they decided to branch out into 4K Ultra HD releases with a quartet of genre titles that are being released exclusively through the distributor’s website, SeverinFilms.com. The four movies making their 4K Ultra HD debuts are Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker, The Devil’s Honey, Cathy’s Curse, and The Great Alligator. Now, the first thing I want to mention is the packaging on these releases. Each of the four 4Ks comes with an outer slipcover. There’s a black-oriented design theme to each of them, but they’re made of what I would call “double walled cardstock;” Essentially, they’re thicker and have a different finish to them than standard slipcovers do, and it’s a really noticeable difference. These feel like special releases. Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker is described by the studio as a “psychosexual grindhouse shocker” that came out in 1981. It stars Jimmy McNichol and Susa Tyrell but is probably more notable for featuring the great Bill Paxton and Newhart’s Julia Duffy in supporting roles. The film sees McNichols living with his aunt, who will basically go to any ends to keep him under her control, and it goes to some pretty weird places. It’s a trippy film, and seeing a young Paxton and Duffy is a lot of fun. The Devil’s Honey is an erotic thriller by popular giallo director Lucio Fulci. The film has been described as “sleazy” in more reviews than I can count, and I’m going to add one more to the list. This is a film that isn’t shy or reserved about anything and isn’t scared to portray sex and nudity on screen. While it’s not a horror movie per se, there are some disturbing elements to it, and Fulci’s touch is anything but subtle. Cathy’s Curse, meanwhile, is a 1977 horror movie about a young girl possessed by the spirit of her dead aunt, who died tragically three decades before. Not surprisingly, people around her start to die. This was probably my least favorite of the four films, as it feels like a low-budget horror movie with a narrative that barely makes sense; there’s just nothing that memorable about it for me. Finally, we have my favorite movie in the batch, The Great Alligator, a 1979 Italian horror movie (with American stars) that is a fun ‘70s era creature feature. Mel Ferrer and Barbara Bach star in the film as we see the opening of a tropical resort under attack by not only local natives but also a giant alligator that seems to be on a mission to eat every guest at the hotel. I’m always a sucker for giant creature movies, and this one is the right amount of cheesy, gory, and fun. All four releases come in top-notch packaging as mentioned above, and they all come loaded with extra features as well.

The 4K Audio/Video: Each of the four films come with both a 4K Ultra HD disc and a Blu-ray disc, which I applaud. Each film also comes from either the 1970s or 1980s, and the ensuing audiovisual presentations are along the lines that you’d expect. The soundtracks are mostly mono or stereo affairs rather than immersive surround sound, but you can only work with the source material you have. The transfers are what I would call standard 4K upgrades. Now I’ve never seen any of these films before, admittedly, but each movie looks nicely crisp in detail, solid in terms of color saturation, and a minimal amount of any film blemishes or artifacts. I have to imagine they look better than any DVD release would have looked, so while they don’t hide the films’ ages, I can’t imagine that movies like these could look much better than they do here.

The Special Features: Each disc is absolutely loaded with extra features. They also each come with the aforementioned beautiful slipcovers and reversible artwork for the amaray case. Here’s the breakdown of each disc:

• Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker – Three different audio commentaries (including one with lead actor Jimmy McNichol), three interview featurettes with cast and crew, additional interviews with cast and crew, a trailer and a TV spot.
• The Devil’s Honey – Audio interview (archival) with Lucio Fulci, four cast interview featurettes, two interviews with the composer and the producer, an audio essay, an alternate oping, and the trailer.
• Cathy’s Curse – Audio commentary, an interview with the director, two cast and crew interview featurettes, trailers, and a collector’s booklet.
• The Great Alligator – Six interview featurettes with crewmembers and filmmakers, a video essay about the films and its religious undertones, production drawings, and the trailer.

The Wrap-Up:

Obviously, these releases are aimed at cult classic film fans (as is most all of Severin Films’ output), but if you are one of those fans, you really couldn’t ask for more than what you get here. New 4K transfers, gorgeous packaging, and loads of extra features, all for a group of films that most average moviegoers have never even heard of. That’s pretty impressive.

The Fragile King

The Movie: This 2022 film hails from South Africa, which admittedly I don’t get a ton of releases from, although they do cross my desk from time to time. The film follows Gerald King, an older gentleman who finds himself suddenly saddled with a fifteen-year-old grandson when the boy’s mother dies in a car accident. As is to be expected, it’s a case of oil and water at first, and the two have to learn to come to terms wit their new situation, and each other. The film is set in the Northern Cape of South Africa, which I didn’t realize is a truly stunning countryside. There’s some amazing scenery and cinematography here for sure. The drama set in the middle of it, however, is not as stunning. The Fragile King is a technically proficient movie and it’s a solid drama, but I didn’t find it overly compelling. The performances are solid but none of them blew me away, and the characters are interesting enough to watch but not so much so that I felt especially connected to any of them. I think there’s an audience out there who will enjoy this dramatic film more than I did, but it’s not like it’s a bad movie. It’s a solid entry in the drama genre, but dramas also aren’t my favorite genre to begin with.

The Special Features: As is often the case with foreign films on DVD, there are no bonus features.

The Wrap-Up: The Fragile King is a decent entry in the foreign film category, and if you’re the kind of person who seeks out international cinema, you will likely enjoy it. It is beautifully shot and the story is probably a relatable one for many viewers.