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movie special 10 cinematic icons on DVD and Blu-ray
Four decades of the ultimate action star Kubrick
Your guide to his best (and worst!) Spielberg
Box-office classics you must own
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Spider-man Sam Raimi’s finest hour?
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Movie icons
Every edition of Home Cinema Choice features a new Home Cinema Hero – plus reviews of the hottest discs on Blu-ray and DVD and the best home cinema Hardware. Subscribe on p14
Let’s hear it for the heroes of home cinema – the stars and directors who make our hearts beat faster when the house lights dim… Join us as we reveal the best (and worst!) movies – on DVD and Blu-ray – featuring cinema’s biggest names. If you’re a film fan and disc collector, the following pages will hopefully inspire and amuse you. It’s time to plug the holes in your collection, or try something new! 24 06 10
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Contents 4 Sam Raimi
14 Arnold Schwarzenegger
6 Steven Spielberg
16 Clint Eastwood
All hail the maverick director who went from helming one of the most notorious ‘Video Nasties’ to bringing Spider-Man to life on the big screen
He’s Hollywood’s most influential filmmaker, and the man responsible for shaping the world of the modern blockbuster. But can you name his best movies?
Long before he was the Governator, Arnie was the king of the box office – but with over 25 movies to pick from, which make it onto our Must Own list? Do you feel lucky punk? You should, as here’s your chance to relive the best of Hollywood’s most ornery, gun-toting, gravel-voiced septuagenarian
8 Danny Elfman
20 Stan Winston
10 Nicolas Cage
22 Sylvester Stallone
12 Stanley Kubrick
24 Jet Li
Even if the name doesn’t ring a bell, we’re sure you’ll still be able to hum along to some of this legendary composer’s most memorable film scores
How the brightest light of the indie film scene transformed into Hollywood’s undisputed king of cool and a blockbuster icon What other filmmaker could illustrate 4million years of evolution in a single shot, turn nuclear war into a laughing matter, and make a tricycle the scariest thing ever?
What good is a sci-fi star with nothing to fight? Meet the special effects guru responsible for bringing the Alien Queen and Predator to life
From Rocky to Rambo, we chart the career of the only ‘80s action star still kicking ass and taking prisoners
A Hong Kong cinema martial arts legend – and a Hollywood movie star, too. We reveal Jet Li’s best and worst
Editor: Steve May. Written by: Rik Henderson, Mark Craven, Anton van Beek. Designed by: John Rook. Heroes of Home CInema © Future Publishing Ltd, 2009 To subscribe to a Future title, visit www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk
4 Spider-man ➜ Evil dead ➜ darkman
Homea Cinemes Hero
No.1
Time to trawl through Spider-Man helmer Sam Raimi’s archive
Play it again, Sam W Three’s not enough: Rumours persist that Raimi will direct Spider-Man 4
ith three Spider-Man films under his belt, Sam Raimi is now one of Hollywood’s A-list webslingers. But this should come as little surprise to those who have been following his career since his no-holds-barred entry into the industry in 1981. Along with friends (including long-time collaborator Bruce Campbell) Raimi made short movies throughout college, a lot of them slapstick affairs heavily inspired by the Three Stooges. However, it was a quick visit to the horror genre in ‘78 with Within the Woods which got the ball rolling. Based on the cinematic flair that filled the frame in this 32-min short, Raimi was able to finance a feature-length reworking of the concept. Titled The Evil Dead, the film garnered the endorsement of horror scribbler Stephen King and some notoriety in the UK after being caught up in the ‘Video Nasties’ scare of the early ‘80s. His second film, Crime Wave (1985) suffered from studio interference and sank without a trace, but did sow the seeds of a
long lasting friendship between Raimi and the Coen brothers (which would eventually lead to his co-writing The Hudsucker Proxy with them). Heading back to what he knew best, Raimi returned to horror with Evil Dead II, a bigger budget remake/expansion of the original. The film helped Raimi build a loyal fanbase that fell in love with the irreverent humour and wild camera tricks he consistently deployed, one that would clearly be perfectly suited to a bigscreen comic book adaptation. His first attempt at the genre was foiled when he couldn’t get hold of the rights to The Shadow, so he reworked his premise into the brilliantly demented Darkman. This was quickly followed by a third and final visit to the Evil Dead universe with the Harryhausen-esque Army of Darkness and his cartoonish western The Quick and the Dead. Both cult classics, but not mainstream hits. Ironically, it was TV that was to rocket Raimi’s profile into orbit. His interpretation of Hercules and sister show Xena Warrior Princess proved huge hits. Self-evidently, the time was right for Raimi to take on Spidey. The rest, as they say, is history...
5
Quintessential Raimi… Classic camera madness from The Evil Dead...
1 Time to die
2 Inside out
3 Going Dutch
4 Over the top
The carefully built tension reaches a crescendo as clock hands start spinning faster and faster
A pendulum crashes across the screen in extreme close-up during a loony POV shot from inside the clock
Raimi’s camera fun continues with serious Dutch-tilts accompanying an all new aural assault on the senses
For his final trick Raimi’s camera moves from behind our hero, over his head, to stare into his face
Evil Dead 2
Darkman
A Simple Plan
Spider-Man 2
Anchor Bay ➜ R1 DVD Book of the Dead ➜ £20 (www.movietyme.com)
Universal ➜ HD DVD £14 (www.movietyme.com)
Paramount ➜ R1 DVD ➜ £10 (www.amazon.com)
Sony Pictures ➜ R2 2-Disc DVD £25 Approx
The perfect distillation of Raimi’s directorial flourishes and excesses, this horror sequel-come-remake tones down the gore (slightly), amps up the gags and in the process transformed actor Bruce Campbell into a cult superstar... Go to 34.31: Laughter attacks from every side as Bruce Campbell is mocked by inanimate objects 41.46: The restored picture is so sharp you can even see the wires holding up the soon-to-be-swallowed flying eyeball!
Melding elements of Phantom of the Opera and superhero comics, Raimi created a cinema experience so in tune with the genre’s sensibilities that it’s almost impossible to believe Darkman didn’t exist in comic book form before reaching the silver screen... 19.35: Dr Peyton Westlake dies and Darkman is born in an explosion that works well to show off the new Dolby True HD and Dolby Digital Plus mixes. 58.55: More visual lunacy as Darkman goes crazy for a stuffed pink elephant
More akin to a Coen brothers movie than his earlier films, Raimi reigns in the madness for a low-key thriller about stolen money that shows off his more serious side, while Bridget Fonda delivers a career-best performance as Bill Paxton’s scheming wife... 6.42: The vibrant red flowers against the crisp snowy background showcase the impressive transfer 102.02: Raimi cranks the tension as Bill Paxton frantically fumbles his bullets in the build-up to the finale
Never before has a film adaptation so perfectly captured every aspect of the comic book that inspired it. Every aspect of the production is perfect, from the casting to the story, and the small character-beats to the epic FX-laden action... 34.35: Dynamic audio demo material at its very best, as Otto Octavius begins his fusion reactor demonstration 91.18: It’s the greatest superhero slugfest in movie history as Spidey and Doc Ock go at it on top of a train
Must own…
Worth seeing…
The Quick and the Dead Sony Pictures ➜ R2 DVD £6 Approx
Raimi strips the Western genre down to its most basic elements, and gives us a female gunslinger to root for. The result is a series of spectacularly staged shoot-outs, each more outlandish and visually-arresting than the one before... 44.42: Raimi mixes image and sound to breathtaking effect as Sharon Stone is plagued by nightmarish flashbacks. 76.41: A real 5.1 showcase as rain pours through the roof as Sharon Stone and Russell Crowe, ahem, get it on
Army of Darkness: Director’s Cut Anchor Bay ➜ R2 2-Disc DVD £20 Approx
The final part of the Evil Dead trilogy is at its best when seen in Raimi’s original cut. It’s a fun but flawed film, full of Three Stooges gags and great stop-motion effects, but the restored scenes have definitely seen better days... 30.20: The added footage is so soft you’d think it had been mastered from an old VHS tape! 52.44: This mix of live- and stop-motion footage shows just how sharp and detailed the film can look
Avoid…
Spider-Man
For Love of the Game
Sony Pictures ➜ R1 Deluxe Edition DVD £13 (www.movietyme.com)
This cracking origin movie showed that Raimi can work comfortably in side the Hollywood system without losing the touches that made his earlier films so memorable. It’s just a pity that they went and turned the Green Goblin into a bleedin’ Power Ranger 61.43: The opening shot of the parade is about as colourful and detailed an image as you could hope for in SD 100.50: A bone-crunching, bassheavy crash through a wall kick-starts Spidey and Green Goblin’s final fight
Universal ➜ R2 DVD £10 Approx
Raimi allowed his love of baseball to overwhelm his filmmaking instincts with this boring Kevin Costner flop about a man torn between the woman he loves and the game he lives for. For superior Costner sporting action, check out Tin Cup instead 15.43: The use of the surrounds brings the Yankee Stadium to life 63.16: The exterior night scene looks surprisingly soft in places compared to the rest of the transfer
Volume one heroes of home Cinema
6 Steven Spielberg
s Heroe a Cinem Home
No.2
Heroes of Home Cinema dissects the movie legacy of Hollywood’s biggest player
Spielberg’s List W
War monger: As well as directing Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg produced the WWII TV series Band of Brothers
ith liberal use of aliens, monsters and Nazis, Steven Spielberg has done more to shape the modern movie world than anyone else – and that includes his buddy George Lucas. The Star Wars helmer has grossed billions, and evolved the concept of digital cinema, but he can’t match the sheer quantity and quality of output that Spielberg has attained. And, without Jaws, the notion of a ‘summer blockbuster’ might never have happened. While his colleague Lucas has embedded himself so deeply in the Star Wars universe he probably thinks he’s a Jawa, the 24 feature films that Spielberg has so far directed – The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn will be his 25th – span a variety of genres. There are sci-fi flicks (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, A.I, Minority Report, War of the Worlds, E.T.), historical dramas (Amistad, Munich, Schindler’s List, Empire of the Sun, Saving Private Ryan, The Colour Purple), monster movies (Jaws,
Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park) and rip-roaring adventure (the Indiana Jones trilogy, and, er, Hook).
Movie mogul His second career as a producer means his name pops up all over other populist popcorn flicks, too. Back to the Future, Gremlins, Twister, Men in Black, Shrek and the Transformers franchise all bear his influence. Of course, with the amount of power the Spielmeister wields in Hollywood, he could easily have followed the likes of Stanley Kubrick into an abyss of artistic nonsense. But just when you think he’s started to take his filmmaking too seriously, he pulls another no-holds barred blockbuster out of his beard. Schindler’s List was followed by Lost World: Jurassic Park; Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade came hot on the heels of Always. And the final reason why he’s a genuine home cinema hero? He delivers what we, his audience, want. From the tripod attacks of War of the Worlds, to the epic beach-battle scene in Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg sure knows how to serve up a spectacle!
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Quintessential Spielberg… The T-Rex finally shows up in Jurassic Park
1 Call the NSPCC!
2 Tasty snacks
3 Oooh... pretty!
4 Playing with fire
As the power goes out in Jurassic Park, so begins another trademark bout of child endangerment
The T-Rex continues to terrify the cowering kids, rolling their car over and trying to bite her way in
Thankfully, Sam Neill is on hand to wave around a flare and play ‘fetch’ with the easily-distracted dinosaur
Jeff Goldblum tries to do the same, but forgets to let go of the flare... Cue chasey-chasey time
Jaws
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Saving Private Ryan
The first, and best, of the Indy flicks, Raiders... perfectly captures the feel of the movie serials that inspired it. Harrison Ford at his sardonic, whip-cracking best, plus evil Nazis and a supernaturally-tinged, explosive conclusion add to the fun. Unrivalled entertainment from start to finish. 08.58: Indy flees from an iconic boulder, leading to some of the best surround effects and room-shaking bass in the soundtrack.
Probably not the masterpiece many claimed it to be on its original release, but still a great World War II adventure movie, the kind that hasn’t been made in decades – albeit one with a serious message at its centre. 04.33: Still the choice demo sequence for enthusiasts, the beach landing is a tour de force of aggressive sound design. 55.16: Check out the immense image-detailing in the storm sequence.
Must own…
Close Encounters of the Third Kind Sony Pictures Blu-ray ➜ £18
Spielberg set out to top Jaws with this tale of mysterious alien visitors . The resulting film had a massive effect on the public, helping boost the number of people who believe that something – or someone – is up there watching us. 20.23: Roy Neary’s truck is bathed in blinding light; an encounter like none seen in cinema before. 93.49: Musical communication with the mothership provides some of the film’s most dynamic audio.
Universal Pictures ➜ R2 30th Anniversary Edition DVD ➜ £20
There have been few Summer blockbusters since Jaws that can better the quality of the original moneymaker. Superb characterisation, a gripping story, a surfeit of tension and a memorable score make this a movie to revisit over and over again. 07.16: This first daytime exterior scene shows signs of minor print damage. The movie needs remastering! 77.45: Scare yourself silly when Roy Scheider, idly dropping chum, finally meets the killer shark face-to-face.
Paramount ➜ R2 DVD Trilogy Box Set ➜ £45
Paramount ➜ R2 60th Anniversary Edition DVD ➜ £25 Approx
Worth seeing…
E.T: The ExtraTerrestrial
Universal Pictures ➜ R2 Three-Disc Collector’s Edition ➜ £30
Arguably the definitive Spielberg movie, E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial brings together all of the key elements of his blockbuster sensibilities – children in peril, mawkish sentiment, life as an outsider and child-like wonder. It’ll make you cry, dammit. 28.07: The hazy backlighting in the bedroom leads to some obvious artefacting. 95.53: The climatic bike chase ushers in the most dynamic audio moments.
Avoid…
Munich
Schindler’s List
Hook
Universal Pictures R2 DVD ➜ £20
Universal Pictures R2 DVD ➜ £25
Sony Pictures ➜ R2 DVD £6 Approx
Having proved he was still a force to be reckoned with in the world of Summer blockbusters with his version of War of the Worlds, Spielberg then surprised audiences with this very adult yarn following an Israeli hit squad. The result was one of the best thrillers of 2006. 62.28: You want dramatic audio? You’ve got it with this explosion. 77.39: Characteristic cinematography. The bright greens and whites of the garden provide a counter-point to the dark palette of the rest of the film.
This true story about a war profiteer who saved more than 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust has become one of the most honored films of all time. Many see it as the pinnacle of Spielberg’s career to date. 65.25: The small, yet pristinely rendered, wash of red on the young girl’s coat bursts out of the black-andwhite photography. 82.31: The labour camp metalworks bustles with poignant life and ambient sound thanks to the skilled audio mix.
It’s hard to think of a happier marriage than Spielberg and Peter Pan, which is why it came as such a major surprise that this flick – about an older Pan who forget who he once was – turned out to be such a stinker. 48.21: The transfer is good enough to highlight plenty of detail in the diminutive Tinker Bell. 77.34: The child food fight, with an army of kids gunking Robin Williams, is Spielberg’s lowest point. It’s like a big-budget version of Noel’s House Party.
Volume one heroes of home Cinema
8 Danny elfman Danny Elfman, right, in the studio with Tim Burton
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No.3
From Batman to Bartman, this tunesmith has scored them all
Oogie boogie man T
Jumping Jack: Danny Elfman provided the singing voice for the King of Halloweentown
here’s magic in the music. While most movie soundtracks rarely stray beyond the perfunctory (anyone remember Lady Hawke?), the very best achieve a synergy with the visuals, and turn story into art (step forward Jaws). Of these, a rare few are assimilated wholesale into pop culture, becoming part of a shared heritage of home entertainment. Ask anyone to hum the themes from Star Wars or Superman: The Movie, and they’ll do it instantly. Of all the contemporary songsmiths currently at work in Hollywood, few have scored quite as many of these pop culture bullseyes as Danny Elfman. Best-known for his movie collaborations with Tim Burton and Sam Raimi (our first Home Cinema Hero), Elfman is unique in providing the musical accompaniment to an entire generation of genrerelated TV and film material. Quite
apart from the familiar blockbusters that bear his signature – and that Simpsons theme – the Elfman portfolio is bursting at the seams with oddities and surprises. For instance, hands up if you knew that he scored the soundtrack to Clive Barker’s Nightbreed? Or that he was Oscar-nominated for composing the score of Good Will Hunting?
Sing when you’re winning The composer also provided the singing voices of the Oompa-Loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (all of them), and, most famously, Jack Skellington’s warblings in the classic stop-motion animation Nightmare Before Christmas. Elfman was also the lead singer of Oingo Boingo, the 1980s American New Wave band perhaps best-known for the title song from Weird Science. The smallscreen also continues to benefit from his deft touch. From TV themes such as Desperate Housewives, to videogames such as Xbox classic Fable, Elfman’s evocative songwriting comes in many shapes and forms. In short, he’s a prolific music maestro who thoroughly deserves the accolade of home cinema hero
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Quintessential Elfman… The intro sequence to Batman Returns
1 Child abuse
2 Baby in a basket
3 Bat’s all folks
4 Pick up a penguin
Mr and Mrs Cobblepot dump their hideously deformed kid in a river as the film’s title music swells...
As little Oswald’s journey into the sewers continues, Elfman’s composition slowly builds towards...
... the title reveal, accompanied by the signature horns from the now iconic Batman theme.
And it all ends with baby Oswald being found and adopted by a waddle of penguins. Perfection.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Mission: Impossible
Midnight Run
As a genuine classic that plays effortlessly across two holiday seasons, Tim Burton’s fantasy benefits from a series of wonderful musical sequences with lyrics and music provided by Elfman. The composer provides the singing voice for the lead character Jack Skellington. 13.04: A swirling vortex delivers some excellent 5.1 effects, and leads into one of the movie’s most memorable songs – What’s This?
Brian De Palma’s cracking spy flick marked a period of transition for Danny Elfman as he channelled the acclaimed work of Lalo Schifrin. The upshot is a more low-key, suspenseful and edgy score that’s more in keeping with the tone and themes of the film than his earlier work might indicate. 22.35: As Ethan races to the scene of his mentor’s murder, the swelling score mixes classic spy movie motifs with typical Elfman percussive excitement.
Must own…
Mars Attacks! Warner Home Video ➜ R2 DVD ➜ £20
Inspired by the lurid and controversial 1962 trading card series of the same name, Burton’s homage to ’50s sci-fi B-movies is a riot of burning cows, disintegrated bodies and epic destruction. Ack-ak-ak indeed! 01.21: Mixing themes from old sci-fi flicks with extra theremins and trademark Elfman moments, the opening score sets the tone perfectly for the chaos that is to come. 72.16: Martians tear up the streets as the attack on Vegas gets under way.
Walt Disney ➜ R2 Special Edition DVD ➜ £13
Universal Pictures ➜ R2 DVD ➜ £7 Approx
Paramount ➜ HD DVD Trilogy Box Set ➜ £45
Worth seeing…
Robert De Niro’s exemplary action comedy is made all the more memorable by Danny Elfman’s piano, trumpet and guitar blues score. The movie is an underrated gem from the 1980s, and director Martin Brest (Beverly Hills Cop) hasn’t managed anything as brilliant since. 89.50: When the 30-strong car-chase begins, Elfman’s horn section kicks in, ramping up the onscreen excitement. As mayhem ensues, the score becomes even more frenetic.
Avoid…
Men in Black
Hulk
The Simpsons
Columbia Tristar ➜ R2 DVD Men in Black I & II Box Set ➜ £25
Universal Pictures ➜ HD DVD ➜ £20
20th Century Fox➜ R2 Season One DVD Box Set ➜ £40
Planet of the Apes
Adapted from a comic book (like a healthy slice of the movies Elfman has scored), Men in Black is a hoot. Will Smith has rarely turned in a better comedy performance and his on-screen chemistry with co-star Tommy Lee Jones is superb. The soundtrack is full of sci-fi influences and Elfman’s trademark flourishes, consistently setting the tone as odd and interesting. 35.49: In a Batman-esque way, a rising arrangement announces Smith’s first appearance in the trademark suit.
Dividing audiences right down the middle, Ang Lee’s CGI blockbuster Hulk is either a thoughtful character study balanced with superhero action scenes or a load of pretentious waffle with not enough ‘Hulk Smash’ scenes. At least we can all agree that Danny Elfman’s arrangement is wonderful. 56.10: The aural dynamics provide the perfect accompaniment to Hulk’s first onscreen transformation. 94.15: Hulk takes on a quartet of tanks in the movie’s best action set-piece.
Easily Elman’s most well-known composition, the opening theme to The Simpsons is as instantly identifiable as Homer himself and contains many of the key elements and embellishments that crop up across the composers extensive ouvre. 00.01: The angelic choir that greets us at the start of the second episode (Bart the Genius) marks the beginning of the first appearance of the full-length Simpsons opening credits accompanied by Elfman’s theme tune.
20th Century Fox ➜ Blu-ray £20 Approx
The usually unbeatable combination of Danny Elfman and Tim Burton finally come a cropper with this misguided and ludicrous remake of the ’60s classic. Despite occasional moments of inspiration, even Elfman’s score feels like by-the-numbers action fodder for the most part. 18.03: The intro to Ape City is accompanied by an eclectic musical arrangement that feels like a retread of the composer’s work on Nightbreed.
Volume one heroes of home Cinema
10 nicolas cage After making The Wicker Man, Cage finally found the bullet with his name on it
s Heroe a Cinem Home
No.4
Hollywood’s former king of cool, Nic Cage, is now the boss of the box office
Born to be wild I
Tomb raider: Cage created a new action franchise blockbuster with his role in National Treasure
t’s strange how an actor’s career changes. Back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s Nicolas Cage was hailed as one of the most talented and daring actors of his generation, thanks to his turns in films like Raising Arizona and Wild at Heart. However, it was the 1989 horror comedy Vampire’s Kiss that cemented his reputation as a true method actor, when he waived the option of using special effects in favour of eating a live cockroach on camera. ‘Every muscle in my body didn’t want to do it, but I did it anyway,’ said the then 25-year-old. With major Hollywood studios paying him more attention during the ‘90s, Cage branched out. In addition to completing a series of feel-good comedies and dramas like Honeymoon in Vegas, Guarding Tess and It Could Happen to You, he continued working on smaller projects, like the Barbet Schroeder thriller Kiss of Death and his Oscar-winning performance in the magnificent Leaving Las Vegas. Little did fans know this was a mere pre-amble to the arrival of ‘Nic
Cage: Action-Superstar’, in 1996’s The Rock. Sharing the screen with Sean Connery and Ed Harris, this Michael Bay epic saw Cage toting guns and doing stunts. While not totally abandoning the quirky nature that he brought to previous flicks, The Rock proved that Cage’s name could open a major Hollywood blockbuster – and his everyman nature was just what audiences – tired of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme – were looking for. The Rock transformed Cage’s career. Two further actioners Con Air and Face/Off followed in quick succession; the former indie kid was now the leading action star of the ‘90s. His biggest role never came to pass, though. A vocal comic book fan, Cage was determined to star as Superman when the franchise reboot was first mooted in the late ‘90s. The project eventually fell apart, but he did eventually get to play a superhero in last year’s Ghost Rider. Cage finds time to show fans that he’s still a gifted actor, thanks to the likes of Adaptation and Bringing Out the Dead, but remains a defining member of the blockbuster elite. And our movie collections are all the better for it!
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Quintessential Cage… The Ghost Rider makes his presence felt...
1 Smokin’!
2 Burning sensation
3 That’s gotta hurt
4 Flaming hell
The transformation into Ghost Rider gives Nic Cage the chance to really cut loose on screen.
Thanks to some seamless CG we get to see Cage’s skin crack and the first burst of Hellfire emerge.
The final pieces of his flesh are consumed by fire in this stunning mix of live action and visual effects.
And finally we get to meet Ghost Rider himself in all his CG-enhanced fury!
Face/Off
The Rock
Wild at Heart
Walt Disney Home Entertainment Blu-ray ➜ £25 Approx
Walt Disney Home Entertainment Blu-ray ➜ £25 Approx
MGM ➜ R1 DVD Special Edition £9 Approx
Leaving Las Vegas
Wanna see Nic Cage playing John Travolta and John Travolta playing Nic Cage? Then check out this hi-octane action flick about an FBI agent and a criminal who end up swapping faces. It sounds daft, but it’s easily director John Woo’s best American film. 06.20: Prime Nic Cage gurning in action as he cops a feel of a sexy choirgirl while dressed like a priest. 72.16: Slow-motion ultra-violence set to the musical stylings of Somewhere Over the Rainbow? That’ll be John Woo.
Cage’s mild-mannered chemist must team up with an ex-con (Sean Connery) to prevent renegade soldiers from launching a nerve-gas attack from Alcatraz. Yikes. 44.11: Tyres squeal and rubber burns as one of the most pointless, yet hugely entertaining, car chases in Hollywood history begins. 125.05: Never before has a man carrying two flares and running in slow-motion looked as cool as Nic Cage does in this climactic sequence.
Nic achieved iconic status when he teamed up with Laura Dern to play a pair of young lovers on the run in David Lynch’s stylish Wild at Heart. 03.42: Cage’s character Sailor demonstrates his uncontrollable temper when he violently dispatches a man sent to kill him. 22.35: ‘Those toenails about dry yet, sweetheart? We got some dancin’ to do.’ Sailor and Lula head out to a club for a spot of dancing, fighting and singing love songs.
Must own…
Worth seeing…
National Treasure
Walt Disney Home Entertainment R2 DVD ➜ £20 Approx
Forget Lara Croft. When it comes to treasure hunters, the best in the business is Ben Gates (Cage), who must steal the Declaration of Independence. Why? Because it’s got a secret map hidden on it, of course! 79.33: Breathless action as Gates flees his pursuers across rooftops. 99.01: The perilous descent into the final tomb is a tour-de-force audio experience that makes superb use of any surround sound system.
Momentum Pictures HD DVD ➜ £25 Approx
Cage gave an astonishing, awardwinning performance in this boozy drama from director Mike Figgis. Alcoholic screenwriter Ben Sanderson loses his job and heads off to Las Vegas so he can drink himself to death. The weird thing is, you’ll end up cheering him on. 78.32: Ben is such a consummate alcoholic that he doesn’t even stop supping from a bottle when he’s sat at the bottom of a swimming pool.
Avoid…
Con Air
Lord of War
The Wicker Man
Walt Disney Home Entertainment Blu-ray ➜ £25 Approx
Momentum Pictures ➜ R2 DVD Limited Edition ➜ £18 Approx
Lions Gate ➜ R2 DVD Director’s Cut £16 Approx
Sure, it’s incredibly stupid. But the combination of cartoonish violence with Nic Cage and John Malkovich involved in a scenery-chewing competition makes this a treat for pop-action junkies. 61.27: ‘Ah said... Put the bunny... back in the box’. Nic Cage gets ready to kick some serious ass. 80.11: Demonstrating his true action man credentials, Nic runs away from an explosion as if it it’s an everyday occurrence. Which it probably is.
Few others could bring the right amount of detached smugness and amorality to the screen as international arms dealer Yuri Orlov. Cage faces up to the moral consequences of his actions – we gorge on the visceral set-pieces. 01.27: The imaginative credits sequence let’s you experience the life of a bullet, from manufacturing right through to being fired into somebody’s head. Now, that’s a first. 99.46: A weapons deal goes wrong for Orlov’s younger brother. Bang!
Controversial filmmaker Neil Labute remade the cult ‘70s horror flick – and got pretty much everything wrong. He even pulls an excruciating performance out of its leading man. 81.40: Nic Cage dresses in a bear costume and punches a woman in the face. Seriously. 88.07: ‘What is that? What is it? Oh no... not the bees! Not the bees... Aaaarrrgggghhhh.... They’re in my eyes! My eyes... Aaaarrrgggghhhh.... Aaaarrrgggghhhh!’
Volume one heroes of home Cinema
12 Stanley kubrick Stanley Kubrick on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey
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No.5
Celebrating Stanley Kubrick – four decades of cinematic controversy
Clockwork genius N
Full Metal Jacket: The only Vietnam movie to be shot entirely in London
ot only does 2008 mark the 40th anniversary of sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it would also have seen director Stanley Kubrick celebrating his 80th birthday – had he not shuffled off this mortal coil back in 1999. So what better time to celebrate the work of this cinematic pioneer? Kubrick was a man dedicated to transforming cinema into art, and in the process pushing at the boundaries of film and the technology. Yet, despite making films in one form or another since the early ‘50s, he only made 15 movies before his untimely death. Seven of those were shot during the 1950s, and three were documentary shorts. He was hardly, then, prolific... Even so, his body of work is generally exemplary and wide-ranging, from the deliberate comedy of Dr Strangelove to the chilling horror of The Shining. A photographer before he made the move to filmmaking, it was Kubrick’s 1957 adaptation of Humphrey Cobb’s Paths of Glory that saw him find material worthy of his talents. It also
gave him the chance to work with a major Hollywood star (Kirk Douglas), who then suggested Kubrick as a replacement director for Spartacus (1960) after Anthony Mann was removed from the project. While that film went on to become a celebrated epic, the 167-day shoot wasn’t a happy one. A strong dislike of the shooting script and several run-ins with cinematographer Russell Metty led Stan to vow that he would only ever make films he had complete control over. 1962’s Lolita, then, marked the turning point in Kubrick’s career. From that point forward he made far fewer films, each strictly prepared and controlled, even if it meant doing 127 takes of a single shot (which he demanded of blubbering actress Shelley Duval during the making of The Shining). This control over every aspect of his works makes Kubrick’s films worth watching. While sometimes emotionally cold, the meticulous nature and interest in the smallest details ensures a sense of documentary realism – even amidst the madcap comedy of Dr Strangelove or bomb-ravaged wilderness of Full Metal Jacket
13
Quintessential Kubrick… 2001 does four million years in a single cut..
1 Monkey business
2 Back to the future
3 Flying high
4 Evolution in action
Guided by an alien intelligence, humanity’s ape-like predecessor uses a bone to kill his rival
Needing to move the story forward to the future, Kubrick has the ape-man throw this first ‘tool’ in the
Across a series of shots, the camera follows the bone as it spirals into the air. Then it cuts to...
... a matching shot of a satellite. Moving us from man’s first ‘tool’ to his latest in a matter of seconds!
2001: A Space Odyssey
Spartacus
The Shining
Universal Pictures ➜ R2 DVD Special Edition ➜ £20 Approx
Warner Home Video ➜ R2 Special Edition DVD ➜ £16 Approx
It might not have been one of Kubrick’s personal favourites, but his signature style is evident throughout this remarkable historical epic and we love all 196 minutes of it. 135.37: The outstanding quality of the restored 1991 Super Technirama print is most clearly seen in this detail-packed shot of Spartacus addressing his thousands of troops. 160.33: One of the most famous (and imitated) scenes in film history begins with the cry ‘I’m Spartacus!’.
Horror writer Stephen King didn’t much like Kubrick’s adaptation of his haunted hotel story. But he was clearly wrong (have you seen the awful TV miniseries he did approve?). Probably one of the most unnerving films ever made. Redrum. Redrum! 49.36: Prowling Steadicam shots. Evil, scary twins. It’s enough to turn your stomach. ‘Come and play with us...’ They must be kidding. 78.32: Jack Nicholson gives a performance as big as the hotel itself.
Must own…
Dr. Strangelove Sony Pictures ➜ R2 DVD Collector’s Edition ➜ £20 Approx
Possibly the only film that will ever make you laugh out loud about the end of the world. Dr. Strangelove finds Kubrick at his satirical best, commenting on the futility of nuclear war, while Peter Sellers gives no less than three different standout performances! 37.37: ‘Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here. This is the war room!’ 61.01: The film could clearly do with another remaster as the aerial footage suffers badly from shimmering.
Warner Home Video ➜ R2 Special Edition DVD ➜ £16 Approx
What is there unsaid about this science fiction masterpiece? Now hailed as one of the greatest films ever, 2001 examines the influence an alien artifact had on human evolution, and then catapults us into the future on a quest to learn the reason why. 56.05: This remarkable jogging scene, accomplished with a revolving, cylindrical set, shows the lengths Kubrick would go to in order to get the shot he was looking for.
Worth seeing…
A Clockwork Orange
Warner Home Video ➜ R2 DVD Special Edition ➜ £16 Approx
Another controversial outing for Kubrick. This adaptation of Anthony Burgess’ novel came under fire from people blaming it for a rise in gang violence, resulting in Stanley himself removing the film from distribution in the UK, where it remained unavailable until after his death. 79.33: Kubrick continues to develop and refine his use of music in film, as seen in this riverside fight set to Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie...
Avoid…
Lolita
Full Metal Jacket
Eyes Wide Shut
Warner Home Video R2 DVD ➜ £20 Approx
Warner Home Video ➜ HD DVD Deluxe Edition ➜ £25 Approx
Warner Home Video ➜ R2 DVD Special Edition ➜ £16 Approx
Kubrick wisely played up the comedy and kept the more overt and risque elements firmly off-screen in this study of sexual obsession based on Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel. 02.03: One of only two of the films he made for Warner not to have been remastered for a new DVD release, Lolita’s transfer shows its age in this grainy grab. 16.40: James Mason’s Humbert Humbert is won over by a sunbathing Lolita’s charms. Dirty old git.
While the final third of the movie (when the action moves to the battlefield) doesn’t live up to the heights of his earlier war film Paths of Glory, the first two acts – a kind of thinking man’s Police Academy – are simply magnificent. And R. Lee Ermey’s drill instructor is one of the most terrifying characters to ever grace the silver screen. 01.27: The 5.1 mix comes to life as the soldiers find themselves facing a sniper amongst burning ruins.
Despised by some and loved by others, Kubrick’s last film was, really, all about sex. Scientologist Tom Cruise stars as a New York doctor embarking on a night-long journey of naughtiness after becoming jealous of his wife’s own sexual fantasies. 79.25: The tour of the rather silly and overblown orgy begins – but at least here it’s presented in all its naked glory (without the CG extras placed in front of the ‘action‘ in the original American edit).
Volume one heroes of home Cinema
14 arnold schwarzenegger The new face of L’Oreal was sure to court controversy
s Heroe a Cinem Home
No.6
How the Governor of California made the 1980s more bearable
He won’t be back! F
Death sentence: John Matrix (left) kills 81 people during Commando
or most of the 1980s, Arnold Schwarzenegger was everyone’s favourite action hero. Between 1982 and 1988, the Austrian Oak barely put a bicep wrong, punching, shooting and quipping his way through two Conan... movies, The Terminator, Red Sonja, Commando, Raw Deal, Red Heat, The Running Man and Predator. Forget his Planet Rock buddies Bruce Willis and Sly Stallone – Arnie was the real deal. In 1988, though, it all started to go a bit wrong for Schwarzenegger’s legion of fans, when the former Mr Universe decided he wanted to be a comedy star. The resulting flick, Twins, saw him wear laughable outfits and ‘act’ alongside Danny de Vito. It made money at the box office, but was targeted firmly at family audiences – not gun-loving action junkies. From then on, Schwarzengger alternated between tame comedies and more of his traditional fare. Twins was followed by the excellent and ultra-violent sci-fi mind-bender Total Recall, which in turn was followed by Kindergarten Cop. The latter
movies meant that, in the space of six months, cinema-goers could watch Arnie snap peoples’ necks and use an innocent bystander as a human shield – and then witness him being overrun by four-year-olds. Weird. Total Recall was the last truly bloodthirsty film he made. There were still good outings to come – James Cameron’s classic T2, plus True Lies and Last Action Hero, but the 1990s was the decade when Arnie stopped mercilessly killing people. Perhaps he was already aware that the kind of guy who crushed heads with his bare hands (Conan the Barbarian) wasn’t likely to be elected Governor of California.
Nothing clean. Right. Of course, even the likes of Jingle All The Way can’t stop Arnie gaining a place in our roll-call of home cinema heroes. There are enough flicks in his canon that offer up what we like – big noises, breathtaking set pieces and lashings of gore. Ignore the final decade of his career, ignore Batman and Robin and End of Days. Instead, wick up your amp, spin that Predator platter and enjoy
15
Quintessential Arnie… Proving he’s the most dangerous game in Predator
1 Out for the count
2 Run away, run away!
3 Face to face
4 Filthy business
Even falling down a huge waterfall can’t save you from the Predator – it just keeps coming and coming
A mud-covered Arnie starts backing away from certain death at the hands of his unseen foe
With its invisibility technology ruined by water the Predator is finally revealed to Arnie and the audience...
...But it can’t see Arnie, because the mud he’s smothered in has obscured his heat signature!
Predator
The Terminator
20th Century Fox ➜ R2 Special Edition DVD ➜ £20 Approx
MGM ➜ R2 DVD Definitive Edition ➜ £13 Approx
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Two great films squeezed into one. The first half is a compact retread of great ‘80s action films like Commando, while the second sees him go head-to-head with one of the best movie monsters ever created. 04.35: It’s Pumping Iron all over again as Arnie and Carl Weathers try to out-muscle each other while shaking hands. 45.47: Blain’s death leads to a real surround sound treat as the rest of Arnie’s squad unleash hell on the jungle
The signature Schwarzenegger movie. James Cameron’s sci-fi classic makes the most of the actor’s physical presence and limited linguistic skills, and delivers a kick-ass tale of killer robots to boot. 16.56: New Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mixes are all well and good, but when they sound as thin and artificial as it does during this future war flashback, you’ll wish they’d included the original mono track on the disc as well. 57.09: ‘I’ll be back’.
Must own…
Conan the Barbarian
20th Century Fox ➜ R2 DVD Special Edition ➜ £10 Approx
While it doesn’t quite capture the full majesty of Robert E Howard’s original stories, this first big-screen outing for the famous barbarian is still a classic of fantasy cinema. And it was co-scripted by Oliver Stone! 22.56: Conan reflects on the good things in life. ‘To crush your enemies, see them driven before you and to hear the lamentation of their women’. 73.51: Conan tears a hungry vulture’s throat out with his teeth!
Momentum Pictures ➜ HD DVD £25 Approx
With its cutting-edge special effects and epic scale, T2 has quickly become a favourite film with all home cinema enthusiasts. This Studio Canal-sourced HD DVD is currently the best-looking available, but there are no extras – something the forthcoming feature-packed German HD DVD Special Edition looks set to correct. 76.22: A nuclear explosion never looked this spectacular on film before.
Worth seeing…
Avoid…
Pumping Iron
Total Recall
True Lies
Batman & Robin
HBO Video ➜ R1 DVD 25th Anniversary Edition ➜ £20 Approx
Momentum Pictures HD DVD ➜ £25 Approx
Universal Pictures ➜ R2 DVD ➜ £10 Approx
Warner Home Video ➜ R2 DVD Special Edition ➜ £16 Approx
The documentary that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a household name around the world. This 1977 box office smash follows the 28-year-old five time Mr Olympia as he competes for his sixth title. A fascinating look into the world of professional body-building. 10.01: Arnie explains the meaning of ‘the pump’ and shows off his freakishly large biceps at the same time. 69.21: The Mr Olympia finals begin and a host of muscular men start flexing and posing for the noisy crowd.
Okay, so it’s nothing like the original Philip K Dick story. But under the guidance of director Paul Verhoeven, it is a gloriously violent and spectacular sci-fi action epic. But is it all a dream? 44.52: This HD DVD version is the best-looking edition to date, as evidenced by material like this superb model shot of the exterior of the Mars colony. 65.20: ‘Consider that a divorce’. Arnie teaches duplicitous Sharon Stone a lesson with a bullet to the head...
Arnie parodies James Bond and tackles terrorists in this fast, flashy and funny action film that reunited the box office superstar with director James Cameron. 03.39: From wetsuit to tuxedo in a matter of second. Even 007 wasn’t this smooth when it came to infiltration. 110.58: Hooray, it’s a Jamie Lee Curtis vs Tia Carrere cat fight! Shame about the dodgy digital compositing though. 122.42: When a simple gun won’t do the job, Arnie uses a Harrier jet instead! Now that’s classy.
Jingle All The Way, Eraser, End of Days, Collateral Damage... None of these movies are as bad Batman & Robin – a lurid, neon-coloured pantomime that pretty much killed the franchise for the best part of a decade. Simply awful. 04.01: Why is everything coloured with horrible blues and pinks? And why does Arnie look as tacky as a Christmas decoration? 94.48: ‘Tonight... hell freezes over’, says Mr Freeze, echoing our thoughts of ever watching this abomination again!
Volume one heroes of home Cinema
16 Clint eastwood Trinny and Susannah had their work cut out
s Heroe a Cinem Home
No.7
Heroes of Home Cinema salutes Hollywood’s ultimate hard man
The Unforgotten I
Sharp shooter: The pistols used in The Outlaw Josie Wales are Colt Walker 1847 Dragoons. So now you know
f you’re anything like Team HCC – and if you’re not then you’re probably reading the wrong magazine – then you’ve got a soft spot for Clint Eastwood. He’s cool and chomps stogies. He has a voice like gravel. He often plays characters who get to shoot lots of guns... Hell, watching movies packed with lots of guns is what home cinema is all about. He’s the ultimate macho movie icon. The good news for cinephiles is that Clint has been shooting up multiplexes for well over 40 years, releasing a steady stream of flicks across his key three movie genres: rollicking war, wild-and-weird Western, and crazy cop. And while there are a few mediocre offerings that only the most devoted Eastwood aficionado would want to shell out for (Firefox? Schmirefox!), it’s not too difficult to programme an entire weekend watching Clint flicks without encountering a dud. We’d recommend opening with Sergio Leone’s groundbreaking ...Dollars trilogy, eating lunch with the best of the classic
Dirty Harry canon, spending an afternoon with a few rip-roaring ’70s WWII actioners and slurping dinner off a laptray while gorging on a few latter-career thrillers. It’d be your lucky day.
Go on punk, make my day Some miscreants might argue that many of Clint’s films lack the boom and bombast associated with the most visceral home movie experiences, and that’s true – no Eastwood epic has ever got close to the AV spectacle of, say, Transformers (except, perhaps, the misfiring Space Cowboys). But the occasional scratchy stereo mix or ropey transfer shouldn’t put you off – all that macho posturing, steely-eyed determination, and sharp-shooting pistol-prowess should prove ample compensation. The more discerning might prefer to consider Eastwood in terms of his directorial career. He’s been working behind the camera since the days of Play Misty For Me in 1971, hitting artful heights with The Bridges of Madison County, and he continues to do so even now – but for this celebratory outing we’ve saved his directorial efforts for another day and another accolade. Our sights are fixed firmly on Eastwood the action man’s action man!
17
Quintessential Eastwood… Clint wonders how lucky you’re feeling, punk!
1 Stop, or he’ll shoot!
2 Water way to go
3 Did he fire six shots?
4 Or only five?
Don’t bother trying to escape from Harry. His .44 Magnum can even take out a car...
…which results in another scene of carnage and public endangerment on the streets of San Francisco
‘This is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off…’
‘…You’ve got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?’
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Unforgiven
Kelly’s Heroes
Warner Home Video ➜ Blu-ray £26 Approx
Warner Home Video ➜ R2 DVD £14 Approx
Eastwood’s triumphant return to the genre that made him a star looks at the passing of an era and the price men have to pay for the violence they commit. The result is the perfect epilogue for the Western as a whole. 42.30: Lawman Little Bill (Gene Hackman) shows how the town of Big Whiskey greets gunfighters by brutally beating the visiting English Bob (Richard Harris). 110.27: Hell comes a-calling as Eastwood’s character gets his revenge.
Clint gathers together the likes of Telly Savalas and Donald Sutherland to sneak across enemy lines and steal a stash of Nazi gold in this action-packed World War II comedy. And it’s much better than Three Kings, which ripped it off 29 years later. 64.04: ‘It’s still up...’ BOOM! ‘... No it ain’t!’ Those nasty Nazis blow up the bridge Clint’s gang were hoping to use. 121.52: Eastwood spoofs his spaghetti Western heritage in this hilarious sequence.
Must own…
Dirty Harry Warner Home Video ➜ R2 DVD £14 Approx
The first and best of Eastwood’s Harry Callahan movies. Sadly, the DVD itself is getting on a bit and there are no extras. However, the good news is that Warner has confirmed that a new Special Edition will be coming to both DVD and Blu-ray later this year! 22.43: While colours are vibrant, darker scenes such as this are lacking in detail. That hi-def remaster can’t come soon enough! 91.32: Harry takes a wild ride on the top of a school bus.
MGM ➜ R2 Special Edition DVD £20 Approx
Not just the best of Eastwood’s collaborations with director Sergio Leone, but also one of the finest spaghetti Westerns ever made. 143.20: Listen out for the LFE impact delivered by the spectacular destruction of a bridge. 156.54: Blondie puts a rock on the ground, Ennio Morricone’s score begins to swell, and so begins the brilliantly orchestrated, unbearably tense, fiveminute build up to the final shoot-out.
Worth seeing…
The Beguiled Universal Pictures ➜ R2 DVD £10 Approx
Eastwood continued to stretch himself and destroy his heroic image in the early 1970s with this exceptional Gothic melodrama. The story follows an injured Union soldier recuperating at a girls’ boarding school behind enemy lines, whose fate lies in the hands of the increasingly jealous and deceitful all-female staff and students. 03.06: The opening sepia-coloured visuals set the tone of the film perfectly. 72.24: This gory improvised surgery wouldn’t look out of place in Hostel.
Avoid…
Where Eagles Dare
Million Dollar Baby
Boy’s Own-style WWII adventure flick that finds Eastwood joining Richard Burton on a mission to rescue an American general before he spills the beans to his Nazi captors. 14.57: While the DVD transfer is generally fine, these dark exteriors suffer from excessive grain. 65.20: Eastwood and Burton (aided by some appalling back-screen projection) weave through explosions on a motorbike and sidecar.
Eastwood’s hardened boxing trainer – against his initial predjudices – becomes the mentor and manager for Hilary Swank’s 31-year-old former waitress. Oscar-grade drama. 48.38: Forget ‘foxy boxing’, this is tough and brutal stuff. The killer 5.1 mix delivers each and every impact. 122.36: Hankies at the ready! It’s the scene that makes HCC’s news editor cry like a baby whenever he watches it.
Warner Home Video ➜ R2 DVD £14 Approx
Space Cowboys Warner Home Video ➜ Blu-ray £26 approx
Entertainment in Video Blu-ray ➜ £25 Approx
Clint Eastwood, Donald Sutherland, Tommy Lee Jones and James Garner are the old fogeys sent into space to fix an ageing Russian satellite in this clunky sci-fi flick. It continues to be a popular demo disc with AV manufacturers everywhere, though. 75.42: The engines ignite and the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix kicks into gear as the rocket lift off begins. 86.41: Ooh... pretty. The superb 1080p transfer really shines in this shot of Clint’s helmet. Space helmet, that is.
Volume one heroes of home Cinema
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20 stan winston Stan Winston is only the second SFX artist with a Hollywood Star
s Heroe a Cinem Home
No.8
Stan Winston is the man who put the special into SFX
Mr monster maker Iron Man: The iconic suits of the Marvel blockbuster are another Stan Winston creation
H
orror is my middle name. That’s how special effects wizard Stan Winston introduced himself in an interview recorded for the DVD Dead & Buried. Even if his name doesn’t ring any bells, you’re sure to know his work from a succession of blockbusters, including Terminator, Aliens and Jurassic Park. Surprisingly, given how he refered to himself, Winston never really made a point of specialising in gore effects; instead he found a niche as a ‘creature creator’, which in turn led to work on more mainstream films. Winston is still only the second SFX artist to be honoured with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Stars (he joins Star Wars’ Dennis Muren). Born in 1946, Winston studied painting and sculpting before moving to Hollywood in 1969 to try and become an actor. He started a make-up apprenticeship at Walt Disney Studios, thinking that it might work as a day job. Soon, though, his natural talent for FX work allowed him to strike out on his own, picking up an Emmy award for the 1972
telefilm Gargoyles. During the ‘70s Winston also worked in the Star Wars universe – albeit creating Wookie costumes for the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special.
Rising star With Hollywood calling, Winston established his own studio and moved onto bigger projects, getting his first Academy Award nomination for the 1981 sci-fi rom-com Heartbeeps. In 1984 he teamed with James Cameron on The Terminator – a film that would create a lasting friendship between the two visionaries and elevate Winston into the upper echelons of the industry. The great man even dabbled behind the camera, directing the 1989 monster movie Pumpkinhead and kid’s flick A Gnome Named Gnorm (1990). While the former is, well, kinda great, the latter... isn’t. Who cares, though? With Aliens (1986), Predator (1987), Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Batman Returns (1992) just a few highlights in a career dominated by big-budget genre films, nothing was going to stop Stan going down in history as the man who put the special into ‘special effects.’
21
Quintessential Winston… Stan and crew re-invent the ‘chestburster’
1 We’ve got a live one
2 Oh no you haven’t!
3 That looks painful
4 Ow... Ow... Ow!
The colonial marines think they’ve found a survivor in the Alien hive on LV-426...
... but Ripley (and the viewers) know better. Especially when the victim starts convulsing in pain.
No wonder the troops are looking on in amazement – this sequence is just as memorable as the one in Alien...
...and the new chestburster is much more life-like, thanks to Winston’s advanced animatronic puppet.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Predator 2
Pumpkinhead
20th Century Fox ➜ R2 Two-Disc Special Edition DVD ➜ £23 Approx
Tartan Video ➜ R2 DVD £6 Approx
A real rollercoaster ride of a monster movie, Predator 2 trumps the original by cutting straight to the chase and allowing the much-improved Predator design to take centre-stage from the start. It’s f***in’ voodoo magic, man! 24.28: ‘Shit ‘appens’ as the Predator interrupts a voodoo-style gang killing. 80.13: ‘You’re one ugly mutha....’ The helmet is removed and we get our first close-up of the revised Predator face. 93.05: Look, it’s the Predator’s trophy room, complete with Alien skull. Cool!
Not only does this underrated 1988 horror boast yet another memorable Stan Winston monster, but the man himself actually stepped behind the camera to make his directorial debut. The present DVD is barebones, but rumours indicate a feature-packed Special Edition may be on the way in America later this year! 53.52: Our first good look at Pumpkinhead in all his monstrous glory. 66.56: Winston proves his directing chops with this scene in a ruined church.
Must own…
Aliens 20th Century Fox ➜ R2 Definitive Edition DVD ➜ £13 Approx
How do you follow up the most influential and acclaimed sci-fi horror movie of the ‘70s? By bringing in a platoon of soldiers and pitching them against a horde of Stan Winston creations, including redesigned Alien warriors and one of cinema’s most memorable monsters, the Alien Queen! 70.03: The Aliens reveal themselves and the bullets start flying as the rescue mission goes wrong. 139.41: ‘Get away from her you bitch!’ Powerloader Ripley vs the Alien Queen!
Universal Pictures ➜ R2 DVD £15 Approx
The HCC Ed’s favourite Jurassic Park movie provides an even more seamless mix of CG dinosaurs and Winston’s spectacular full-scale animatronic models than its predecessor. Even if the story doesn’t always make sense, the dino action is exceptional. 52.13: A pair of angry T-Rexes want their baby back, and will take a truck apart to get it! 82.54: Rustling grass and screams surround you as the raptors attack.
Worth seeing…
Galaxy Quest
Dead & Buried
DreamWorks ➜ R2 DVD £16 Approx
Anchor Bay ➜ R2 DVD £17 Approx
Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver star in this fab Star Trek homage that finds the cast of an old sci-fi TV series kidnapped by aliens who have mistaken the show for ‘historical documents’. Winston and his team are on hand for some wild and wacky alien designs, including the diabolical General Sarris and his army. 38.21: It might be a comedy, but Galaxy Quest still boasts some excellent AV moments like this space-ship battle. 62.07: More magnificent creature FX from Winston and his team.
A rare chance to see Stan do gross-out gore effects. This 1981 shocker from Alien writers Ronald Schusett and Dan O’Bannon not only showcases some of the SFX guru’s early work, but the two-disc DVD boasts a lengthy interview with Winston himself. 29.19: As if being burnt alive wasn’t enough, now this poor chap has a syringe stuck in his eye. Ouch! 56.51: The infamous mortician scene is a tremendous demo for Winston’s astonishing visual flair.
Avoid…
The Monster Squad
End of Days Warner Home Video ➜ R2 DVD £20 approx
Lionsgate ➜ R1 20th Anniversary DVD ➜ £10 Approx
Winston finally got the chance to try his hand at recreating the classic Universal horror icons (including Dracula, the Wolf Man and Frankenstein’s monster) in this entertaining Goonies-meet-themonsters flick. 24.55: The gang’s all here, as the creatures gather together to revive Frankenstein’s monster. 55.09: ‘Wolf Man’s got nards!’ The age-old debate is finally answered as the Wolf Man is kicked where it hurts.
This hellish thriller finds a woefully miscast Arnold Schwarzenegger going head-to-head with the devil for the fate of the world. Yes, End of Days is every bit as awful as it sounds, and Winston was responsible for designing the devil for the film – an oddly uninspired and lacklustre creation rendered even less interesting by being brought to life via awful CG imagery. 108.07: A bombastic 5.1 soundscape heralds the arrival of the main creature in all his CG ‘glory‘. Boo!
Volume one heroes of home Cinema
22 Sylvester stallone Sylvester is comfortable behind the camera too, and often works closely with his directors
s Heroe a Cinem Home
No.9
The rise, fall and rise again of Sylvester Stallone
The Italian Stallion Snake charmer: The cobra reminded Sylvester of one of his earlier roles
U
ntil 1977, Sylvester Stallone was, essentially, Subway Thug #1, Youth in Park or Man Dancing in Club. Then along came Rocky, a yarn about a small-time hood enforcer with a penchant for pugilism. Stallone wrote the screenplay and starred. It won three Oscars and was nominated for seven more. And while Sly himself didn’t get his hands on one of the wee golden fellas, he would at least get a speaking role from then on in. Actually, he got much more than that, because the 1980s happened; a decade defined by Stallone, the action hero. Suddenly he became one of the world’s biggest stars – in box office terms if not height, being only 5ft 10in. Sequels to Rocky came thick and fast (with only the fifth film, in 1990, being a dud in an otherwise enjoyable franchise), and our hero starred in happy-go-lucky and often violent classics such as Tango & Cash, Cobra and Lock Up en route. But it was perhaps the invention of another five-letter-named
character, beginning with ‘R’, that cemented Sly’s place alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger as (probably) the greatest action hero of the time...
You gotta become war Rambo was, and still is, the embodiment of ‘80s-style action movies; all pecs and gore, outrageous killings and even more outrageous hairstyles. And while The Terminator may have had more of a plot, and Die Hard more wit, the Rambo trilogy outbid the rest with its kills, spills and exploding arrows. ‘Nuff said. Unfortunately, though, while Stallone could, seemingly, do no wrong in the ‘80s, it all wasn’t as plain-sailing in the decade that followed. For every Demolition Man or Cliffhanger, there was a Stop! or My Mum Will Shoot. For every Cop Land, there was an Assassins. And the noughties have, until very recently, been even less memorable. Thankfully, following the success of his revamped Rocky and Rambo movies, Stallone, at the ripe old age of 63, is assuredly back on track. And he’s giving us a taste of what made him so popular in the first place. Altogether now: ‘Aaaddddriannn...’
23
Quintessential Stallone… Sly single-handedly thwarts the Nazi war effort
1 Das ist ein penalty!
2 Under the stares
3 Save of the century
4 Take that, Hun!
It’s 3-3 between the POWs and the German army, and the partisan ref awards a pen in the last minute.
The only thing in the way of a crushing Nazi-victory – a 5ft 10in yank with no knowledge of ‘soccer’.
Regardless, with a grimace previously reserved for a punch in the gut by Apollo Creed, Sly saves...
...and the French crowd rush onto the pitch, enabling Sly, Pele, Bobby Moore, et al to ‘Escape to Victory’.
Cliffhanger
Copland
Rocky
First Blood
Momentum Pictures ➜ R2 DVD £20 Approx
Buena Vista Home Entertainment R2 DVD ➜ £16 Approx
MGM Entertainment ➜ Region A Blu-ray ➜ £18 Approx
Lions Gate ➜ HD DVD £15 Approx
Coming after a couple of appalling ‘comedies’ including Stop or My Mom Will Shoot! this quality actioner was relatively unexpected. Stallone stars as Gabe Walker, a former mountain ranger forced by a gang of thieves to recover some lost loot in the Rockies. Murders and outlandish stunts ensue… 09.41: ‘You’re not gonna die,’ Sly grunts as he grasps a woman hanging over a precipice. She does. 69.57: Our hero benchpresses a bad guy onto a stalactite. N-ice!
The first movie since Rocky that showed Sly as a true thespian. Alongside a superb ensemble cast, including Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Ray Liotta, Stallone steals the movie with a virtuoso performance that will most likely go down as a career best. The Special Edition DVD release does the film justice. 97.15: After a gun goes off next to his ear, Sly gradually goes deaf – an experience we share thanks to excellent use of ringing surround effects.
Superb for its pacing, realism and restraint, this is the sports movie that should stand as a benchmark for all others. It is everything that The Mighty Ducks is not. Check it out on imported Blu-ray if you want the best picture quality. 73.13: Rocky’s training regime involves pummelling sides of beef, eating raw eggs and chasing chickens. 86.49: Yep, it’s THAT montage sequence. Philadelphia has never looked so iconic.
The best of the Rambo trilogy doesn’t actually have Rambo in the title (or, at least, not originally). Sylvester dominates as the ex-Vietnam war veteran who enacts violent, visceral revenge on a small town’s police department after ill-treatment. 29.56: Rambo sews up a gaping hole his own arm after a plummet through some trees. 76.15: When we said, ‘John, shoot up the town and get us a loaf,’ we didn’t mean it literally! And he forgot the loaf.
Must own…
Worth seeing…
Avoid…
Cobra
Antz
Death Race 2000
Get Carter (2000)
Warner Home Video ➜ R2 DVD £14 Approx
Dreamworks Home Entertainment R2 DVD ➜ £20 Approx
Optimum Home Entertainment R2 DVD ➜ £16 Approx
Warner Home Video ➜ R2 DVD £14 approx
From the mirrored aviator glasses and laser-sighted machine pistol, to the chewing of a matchstick, this is the film equivalent of beef jerky. And, despite playing a character called Marion, Stallone oozes machismo. 10.13: The first great line of many: ‘I’ll blow this whole place up,’ says random bad guy in a supermarket. ‘Go ahead,’ snarls Sly, ‘I don’t shop here!’ 65.50: Pure genius! Sly sprays hot lead into to a swathe of rabid bikers from the back of a flatbed truck.
A cunning bit of casting, offsetting the paranoic Woody Allen lead with Sly’s tough-talking, über-confident soldier ant, Weaver. Better, and funnier, than Pixar’s A Bug’s Life, which came out at roughly the same time. 25.43: As a beefy soldier ant in a worker’s role, Weaver wields a pickaxe in each hand, putting his colleagues to shame. 51.36: Even a cartoon insect can still be the Sly we know ‘n’ love. ‘I ain’t telling you nothing,’ he spits under torture.
Not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but a true cult classic. Contestants, including Stallone as Joe Viterbo, have to run down pedestrians in their cars for points in a satirical look at reality TV. 14.47: The first kill of the race is chalked up to ‘Machine Gun’ Joe. A front-mounted knife to the knackers of a road worker. Ouch. 59.22: In case you didn’t know that he’s a bad’un, Stallone reverses into his own pit crew to score points.
While the idea of remaking Mike Hodges’ 1971 tale of revenge isn’t dreadful in itself, this ham-fisted bludgeoning through the script by cast and crew alike is tantamount to sacrilege. There are few redeemable features and even Sly himself looks bored. 40.36: Sylvester meets Michael Caine for the very first time and, bizarrely, doesn’t apologise for effectively urinating on the memory of one of his best-loved films.
Volume one heroes of home Cinema
24 Jet Li
Hai-ya! Be it period pieces or modern day actioners, Jet Li’s done it all s Heroe a Cinem Home
No.10
After Fearless, Jet Li said he wouldn’t be making any more period martial arts movies. He was lying
Salute the master Jet, set, go: Li’s Hollywood career to date has been hit and miss
W
hen action-blockbuster The Forbidden Kingdom hit cinemas in 2008, it marked the first onscreen pairing of two of the biggest martial arts superstars in the world – Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Of the two, it’s always been Chan who’s garnered the most attention. His Keaton-esque humour and stunts have made him a household name around the world. Yet, for lovers of traditional martial arts action, it’s the work of the sublime Jet Li that deserves greater focus. Li hasn’t had the same level of commercial success when it comes to Hollywood – thanks to a few clunkers like Cradle 2 the Grave – but check out his homegrown films and you’ll see why Jet Li should be revered as a true home cinema hero.
Me ol’ China Li began studying martial arts when he was eight years’ old, and won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team in 1974, at the age of 11. His first brush with fame outside of China occurred in the same year, when he performed at the
White House as part of celebrations to mark the reopening of diplomatic relations between the US and China. Li retired from tournament fighting at 17 and promptly started work on his first film, The Shaolin Temple, notable for a breathtaking three-minute wushu showcase. Released in 1982, the flick was a huge success in China and Hong Kong, and has been credited with re-igniting interest in the real Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng. Since then Li’s movie career has gone from strength-to-strength. He’s worked with the best fight choreographers in the business on both sides of the Pacific and delivered some of the most mind-blowing fight sequences ever committed to celluloid. Yet despite butt-kicking appearances in films like Lethal Weapon 4 and War, Li remains famous for his period martial arts epics. In the Once Upon a Time in China he made the legendary martial artist and healer Wong Fei-hung character his own, even though more than 100 movies have been made about Wong’s life. For our money, Li just looks better in flowing, feminine robes, but we’d never say it to his face...
25
Quintessential Li… The martial arts star takes snakes ‘n’ ladders to a new level...
1 Call health & safety!
2 Mind your head
3 Spinning ladder kick
4 Back to basics
Once Upon a Time in China’s finale sees Li and foe scrapping on some precariously balanced ladders
As well as having to balance on the rungs, Wong Fei-hung (Li) is forced to break the ladders thrown at him!
Li then grabs an upright set, spinning it around to give more power to a roundhouse kick...
... which is enough to force his foe down to solid ground and get a more traditional fight going
The Shaolin Temple
Once Upon a Time in China 2
Fearless
Hero
Universal Pictures ➜ HD DVD ➜ £5 Approx
Buena Vista Home Entertainment R2 DVD £10 ➜ Approx
The Shaolin Temple is the movie that launched Jet Li’s film career and made him a superstar. The price of this now-deleted R2 release keeps going up, despite the fact the picture quality is little better than VHS. 09.44: A spot of physical comedy as the monks try to catch a frog. 45.27: The centrepiece of The Shaolin Temple is Li’s stunning wushu demo set against a backdrop of changing seasons. Hiii-ya!
The best film Jet Li ever made, this is the Godfather Part II of his career. Exceptional fight scenes, and an epic story about the impact of foreign forces on late 19th century China, make it simply unmissable. 16.41: Wong Fei-hung rescues Aunt Yee from angry nationalists and gives them a good pounding in the process. 97.50: Two martial arts masters come to blows as Jet Li and Donnie Yen face off in the film’s breathtaking climax.
Promoted as his last traditional period martial arts film, Fearless found Li bowing out of the genre in style with a magnificent retelling of the life (and death) of Jin Wu Sports Federation founder Huo Yuanjia. The HD DVD is the best-looking version around at the moment; an R1 DVD Director’s Cut is coming soon. 18.26: Huo becomes ‘Champion of Tianjin‘ after this epic tower fight. 88.14: The final duel gives Li one last chance to show just what he’s made of.
A visually-ravishing martial arts movie, Hero also boasts a number of stunningly choreographed fight scenes and an intriguing, layered performance by our home cinema hero. 33.20: Asian stunners Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi fight it out amongst the swirling Autumn leaves in this remarkable sequence. 76.15: Li causes chaos with a sword and stacks of scrolls in a scene that continues to find favour as one of the top Dolby Digital 5.1 demos around.
Must own…
Eastern Heroes ➜ R2 DVD £30 Approx
Hong Kong Legends ➜ R2 DVD Triple Pack ➜ £23 Approx
Worth seeing…
Kiss of the Dragon
20th Century Fox ➜ Blu-ray £29 Approx
While his US films have divided fans, one of the highlights is this entertaining English language flick produced by Luc Besson. Here he plays a cop caught up in a deadly conspiracy on the streets of Paris. 10.13: ‘You wanna play?’ This grenade-in-a-laundry-chute scene will give your subwoofer a real workout. 82.31: It’s the film’s best scrap as Li takes on a bleach-blonde European fighter with some great kicking skills.
The Last Hero in China Metrodome Distribution R2 DVD ➜ £10 Approx
Li returned to the role of Wong Fei-hung (but not in the Once Upon a Time in China series) with this slightly more comedic entry about kidnapped women and dragon dances. 04.57: Wong Fei-hung tries to keep Aunt Yee’s flowers safe while battling a trio of thieves at a ferry station. 92.15: It’s Iron Rooster versus Giant Centipede in a truly bizarre martial arts ruckus. Li might look a bit stupid, but his moves are pure gold.
Avoid…
Unleashed
The One
Universal Pictures HD DVD ➜ £5 Approx
Sony Pictures ➜ R2 DVD £15 approx
Another English language triumph finds Li playing a man raised as an attack dog by a gangster(!). He escapes his captors, learns about his past, and finally understands why he’s so good at kicking butt in the first place. 12.09: Bob Hoskins’ nasty gangster lets Danny the Dog (Li) off the leash, and the result is some spectacular Jet Li-style ultra-violence. 79.42: The bad guys arrive and threaten Danny’s lovely new family. Cue the pain...
It’s never a good idea when an action star plays two roles in the same film. Ample proof comes from this high-concept fantasy about a nasty Jet Li who kills off all of the other Jet Lis in parallel universes, growing stronger as each dies. It should be good, but quickly falls apart under the weight of its love of special effects. 05.16: The one scene that shows any promise and delivers a top-notch AV experience is when evil Li kicks around a bunch of cops in Bullet-Time.
Volume one heroes of home Cinema
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