US Blu-ray and DVD Releases: Darkman, The Last Castle, The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, OSS 117, King: A Filmed Record, Godard Cinema and more

Well, it’s not the biggest week this week, but we do have a major theatrical blockbuster, two highly underrated catalogue titles debuting on 4K Ultra HD, and some cult and foreign cinema, so it’s a nice mix of titles. Read on for the full breakdown!

The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

The Movie: I’ve been a huge fan of The Hunger Games as a franchise since the very first book came out back in 2008. I waited with baited breath for the movies to come out, and while I like the series as a whole, I found it to be a little uneven (the same goes for the books, if I’m being honest.) Still, when author Suzanne Collins published The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in 2020 after a several year hiatus, I couldn’t wait to read it, even though I’m not usually a huge fan of prequels. But the book, which chronicles the beginnings of young Coriolanus Snow’s journey to becoming the president of Panem, is easily my second favorite in the series. And the new movie adaptation, which was a huge hit at the box office, is probably my second favorite film in the series. It is an incredibly faithful adaptation of the book as we meet young Coriolanus Snow, at first a very sympathetic character. He’s tasked with mentoring the magnetic Lucy Gray Baird in the Hunger Games, and I won’t spoil how things go there for you. But then we get to see the aftermath, and we see how Snow begins to morph into the man we know in the original trilogy. Tom Blyth is terrific as Snow, and Rachel Zegler, already a powerful presence in movies, nearly steals the show as Lucy Gray. With Peter Dinklage and Viola Davis adding some star power, the film never feels as long as its 2-hour-45-minute running time, and I absolutely loved it.

The 4K Audio/Video: Overall the video presentation for Ballad is very good. There are some incredibly dark scenes in the film where the action is a little obscured because everything is in the shadows that I hoped would be brightened up by the transfer, but I suspect it’s more a filmmaking choice than an issue with the 4K quality. Other than that, color saturation is strong and the image clarity is impeccable. The surround soundtrack has a lot to work with and makes the most of it, giving us action in all of the speakers and a powerful low end channel that nicely bolsters the action.

The Special Features: While the number of extra features doesn’t look impressive per se, there’s a lot more going on here than you might think. In addition to an audio commentary with director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson, there’s also an 8-part documentary called Predator or Prey that runs two-and-a-half hours total and serves as a feature-length making-of documentary. There are a few additional little goodies sprinkled in as well.

The Wrap-Up: The Hunger Games movie franchise may not be perfect but they are largely enjoyable films, and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is one of the best offerings yet. If this is the last film in the series, it’s a great way to go out, and if there are more planned in Snow’s journey, I’m here for it.

Darkman: Collector’s Edition (4K Ultra HD)

The Movie: Sam Raimi is a fan favorite director, having helmed the Evil Dead trilogy and the original Spider-Man trilogy, but I’m much more hit or miss with his films than a lot of people. Darkman, however, one of his earliest films (and starring a pre-famous Liam Neeson), is still the Raimi I like best. This is a horror-tinged-superhero movie, made before they were in vogue, and not based on a pre-existing character. Neeson plays a scientist who is left for dead (and horribly disfigured) by criminals, but he uses his synthetic skin invention to impersonate people and save the city. It wasn’t a giant hit but it’s definitely become a cult classic, spawning two direct-to-video sequels and an occasional comic book adaptation. Now the original film has been rereleased on home video courtesy of Scream Factory, making its debut on 4K Ultra HD as one of the studio’s usual terrific Collector’s Editions.

The 4K Audio/Video: The audiovisual upgrade for Darkman on 4K is definitely noticeable, even if the film does show its age a fair amount. Imagery is nice and clear with strong shadow delineation (a must-have for a film where large portions of it occur in the dark — it’s literally called Darkman!), while colors are vibrant and clarity is terrific. The surround soundtrack won’t win any awards, but it does create a nice, tense atmosphere throughout the film.

The Special Features: New to this edition are a collection of deleted scenes and an audio commentary with filmmaker and Darkman superfan Josh Ruben. Archival extras also include an audio commentary with cinematographer Bill Pope and a half dozen interview featurettes, including ones with Liam Neeson (yay!), Frances McDormand, and Larry Drake, among others. Finally you get vintage making-of materials from the time of the film’s release, trailers, and a stills gallery. It’s a terrific compilation of bonus features.

The Wrap-Up: Darkman is not without its flaws, but this is a movie I have a true affinity for, and I’m glad to see Shout Factory’s excellent Scream Factory imprint release it on 4K Ultra HD for the first time. If you’ve never seen Darkman before, I urge you to track this excellent new edition down!

The Last Castle (4K Ultra HD)

The Movie: Sometimes movies come out that are small independent features that just never get the audience they deserve. And sometimes there are big-budget, high profile movies from major studios that bomb and become infamous flops. But once in a while, there’s just a good movie that’s really well-made that never gets the attention it deserves, and The Last Castle is one of those films. The Last Castle stars Robert Redford as a decorated Army general who is sent to prison for disobeying orders. He arrives at a prison where James Gandolfini is the warden, a man who studies military history but has never seen any real war action. Gandolfini wants respect, Redford wants the men imprisoned there to be treated like human beings. And when the two clash, Redford goes into military leader mode and stages an uprising. It’s am utterly riveting movie that has great characters, intense action, and strong drama, and I’ve been a fan of it ever since it came out. With a terrific supporting cast that includes Mark Ruffalo, Clifton Collins Jr., Robin Wright, and Delroy Lindo, there’s no shortage of star power driving the film. This week it’s been released on 4K Ultra HD, courtesy of Kino Lorber, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have it.

The 4K Audio/Video: The Last Castle looks and sounds terrific in 4K, featuring realistic and vivid colors, terrifically sharp imagery, and deep, rich black levels. The print, of course, is devoid of any blemishes or debris. The surround soundtrack has a lot to work with and it doesn’t waste any opportunities to fill your living room with activity, but it also makes sure the quieter moments and the dialogue ring true and clear. There’s also a nice low end bass channel that gives some of the climactic scenes an effective rumble that you’ll feel in your chest. This is the kind of movie I love to watch in 4K.

The Special Features: While all of the extra features included are archival, that doesn’t take away from the fact that you get a nice collection of materials. First off is an audio commentary with director Rod Lurie, followed by an interview featurette with the director. There’s an HBO making-of special, as well as a featurette focusing on the alternate ending of the movie. Finally you get a collection of deleted scenes (with optional commentary by Lurie) and the film’s trailer.

The Wrap-Up: The Last Castle is one of those movies that just never got the attention it deserved, but I can’t recommend highly enough tracking down this terrific new 4K Ultra HD release and adding it to your collection.

OSS 117: Five Film Collection

The Movie: Although the OSS 117 French spy film franchise officially got its start in 1957, it wasn’t until after the success of the first James Bond movie in 1962 that the franchise was revived and thrived enough in the mid-60s to give us five films in the series. This new Blu-ray collection from Kino Lorber collects five OSS 117 movies from the 1960s: OSS 117 Is Unleashed; OSS 117: Panic in Bangkok; OSS 117: Mission For a Killer; OSS 117: Mission to Tokyo; and OSS 117: Double Agent. Interestingly, whereas the James Bond franchise only changed actors when it had to — usually every half dozen films or so — the OSS series couldn’t seem to keep a consistent lead actor, with the titular spy being played by three actors in five films over half a decade: Kerwin Matthews, Frederick Stafford, and John Gavin. I remember catching some of these films when I was young, but this was the first time I’ve ever seen the films as an adult, and I have to say, they’re pretty enjoyable. They’re a product of their time and not as audacious or memorable as the James Bond movies, but they do have their charms. I suspect that — like Bond — everyone has their own favorite Agent de la Bath, but I think I enjoyed OSS 117: Mission for a Killer the best, in which John Gavin plays the lead role and infiltrates a political assassination organization to bring it down from within.

The Special Features: Unfortunately, aside from trailers for the movies, there are no extra features.

The Wrap-Up: The OSS 117 franchise was revived in 2006 with The Artist star Jean Dujardins in the lead role (and he’s starred in several sequels since), showing that this series really is France’s answer to James Bond. For my money, this is a great collection of classic spy films from the ‘60s that I enjoyed quite a bit.

King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis

The Movie: This amazing documentary was originally produced in 1970, just a few short years after Martin Luther King was assassinated. It was briefly released in theaters and then largely forgotten, until Kino Lorber brought it out on DVD several years. Now, the studio has given it new life once again by releasing a new Blu-ray version of the film. Coming in at just over three hours, this documentary follows King’s life and career from 1955 to 1968, but the filmmakers let King do most of the talking; much of the movie is made up of newsreel footage, films of his speeches, and the like, giving it a real fly-on-the-wall feel. His iconic “I have a dream” speech is presented almost in its entirety, and there’s footage of Dr. King marching on the town of Selma (which has been the subject of its own movies). It’s really an incredible documentary in that it goes beyond being just a film and is literally documenting history by showing it, rather than just giving us interviews about it from people who weren’t even alive at the time. There are cameo appearances in some of the footage by celebrities of the time, and watching Dr. King give speeches is so much more powerful than just hearing about them.

The Special Features: Two trailers make up the entirety of the extras, but the meat of the material here is in the film itself anyway, so this isn’t a case where extra features were particularly necessary.

The Wrap-Up: Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most important historical figures of the 20th century, and while theres’s no shortage of programming about him, King: A Filmed Record is the kind of movie that should be shown in schools. Powerful stuff.

Godard Cinema

The Movie: The second powerful documentary this week focuses on a different important historical figure: influential French filmmaker Jean Luc Godard. There’s a scene in Godard Cinema in which an interviewee points out that the purpose of Godard’s films was to answer the question, “What is the purpose of cinema?” And I think that’s one of the most succinct ways yet I’ve heard to describe the director’s oeuvre. I’m not a scholar, and when I watch a Godard film, even though I know there are probably layers of subtext and commentary that I should be picking up on, that’s just not how I watch films. Instead, I see his movies as loose narratives portrayed through visuals that are gorgeous. As for deeper meaning… well, I’m sure there are smarter people than me to tackle those ideas. This new documentary film uses interviews and film clips with Godard himself from throughout his career (as well as interviews with many of his colleagues and contributors) to explore the director’s raison d’être, as well as his works. It’s an intriguing exploration of cinema and the man who questioned it, and honestly, I found it more interesting than some of his actual films.

The Special Features: The highlight here is Trailer of the Film That Will Never Exist: “Phony Wars,” a 20-minute ephemeral short film that was set to be Godard’s latest film and instead serves as his final work. You also get a couple of trailers and an interview with Godard’s regular film editor.

The Wrap-Up: A lot of Godard’s filmography is way too artsy even for me, but fans of the director’s work — especially his French New Wave classics — hold him up as one of the most influential and talented directors ever. Godard Cinema is a terrific appreciation of the director and his talent.

Peacock 

The Movie: If you read the review right above this one, you’ll see that I mentioned how I’m not so good at watching movies for contextual metaphors and subtext and things like that. So I’m going to do my best to describe the South African horror film Peacock to you, but I’m going to go ahead and say there’s a lot of stuff going on here that I just didn’t get. The film sees our lead character, Anna, being punished for her dalliances into lesbian activity by being sent to an old foreboding house to server as the caretaker for the aging man who lives there. He’s not entirely sane, the house is creepy, and there are weird parallels to her own life that keep popping up. Plus, there’s a peacock being kept in a cage in the garden. As the film progresses, it gets less narratively cohesive, and the end result is one of those ambiguous movies that has tons of atmosphere and tension, but maybe not quite enough plot for a viewer like me.

The Special Features: Unfortunately, there are no extra features on the Blu-ray Disc.

The Wrap-Up: Peacock is a visually interesting film and it features some fine performances, but it wasn’t really my cup of tea. Fans of more atmospheric, dreamlike moviemaking who want to see that paired up with a horror flavor would do well to check out Peacock.