Region: 1
Discs: 3
Publisher: WWE Home Video
Length: 9 hrs
Video: 1.33:1
Audio: Dolby Digital English
Subtitles: none
UPC: 741952929734
Release Date: August 25, 2009
MSRP: $34.95 US

PROS:

• interesting story covered
• interviews with legends of the business
• plentiful, valuable bonus features

CONS:

• heavily biased
• surprising omissions
• time wasted on axe-grinding
• shallow coverage

MAIN FEATURE

In the mid-1990s, professional wrestling was the hottest thing on cable television. This was mostly due to an all-out war between the two biggest companies in the business: WCW (World Championship Wrestling, owned by Time Warner) and the WWF (World Wrestling Federation, owned by Vince McMahon, now called WWE). At the height of the war, WCW was doing especially well for itself — it became a household name, dominated its adversary in the ratings for over a year and a half, made hundreds of millions of dollars, and nearly drove the WWF into bankruptcy.

Just three years later, WCW was dead, sold to the WWF in a fire sale for a mere $4 million.

The story of WCW’s demise is one that should be studied by any wrestling fan, of course, but also by anyone with a general interest (or a job) in the entertainment business. It is an object lesson in what happens when a cultural product is placed in the hands of executives who neither understand nor appreciate it, when some of the talent is given too much creative freedom while others are given none at all, and when fans are treated as a nuisance or ignored altogether. It’s a story that remains relevant today; WWE’s main competitor, TNA (Total Nonstop Action), seems determined to make as many of the same mistakes that killed WCW as they possibly can these days.

However, if you are not yet familiar with this story, The Rise & Fall of WCW is probably not the best place to learn about it. History, as the saying goes, is written by the conquerors — in this case WWE, who produced and released this DVD. For that reason alone, the documentary cannot help but be heavily spun in WWE’s favour.

Many important factors are either glossed over or ignored completely. There is, for example, surprisingly little mention of Vince Russo, the booker (i.e. scriptwriter) whose work was so thoroughly rejected by WCW fans that the company lost $60 million in the one year of his employ. The title reign of David Arquette, possibly the single biggest error in judgment the company ever made, is likewise underplayed. And there is, of course, no mention of how thoroughly WWE botched the “Invasion” storyline upon their purchase of WCW, one which should have been a license to print money.

Wrestler Jeff Jarrett receives about as much coverage as Russo and Arquette do. In Jarrett’s case, however, it’s far too much, as Jarrett was never a major player in the company and most fans do not even recall that he was its champion at one point. He is trashed for one reason in this doc: at the time it was made, Jarrett was in command of TNA. This kind of petty axe-grinding is common in wrestling, but does nothing to improve this DVD.

The documentary is not without some merit. It features many exclusive interviews with the men behind WCW at various points in its history, such as Bill Watts and Dr. Harvey Schiller, who offer up inside information and new perspectives. For the most part, though, The Rise & Fall of WCW is content to skim the surface of these events without digging any deeper than it has to.

BONUS FEATURES

As with most WWE DVDs, the set is packed with bonuses. It contains two full discs of important matches from WCW’s history. Most of them are truly outstanding, probably worth the purchase price by themselves. There are also some interesting snippets of interviews covering such subjects as the marketing of Bill Goldberg and Eric Bischoff’s controversial practice of giving away spoilers of WWE shows on live television.

A/V

While some of the footage in this documentary is 20 years old or more, the overall show looks and sounds fine. It’s doubtful that any of the classic matches in the Bonus Features were cleaned up for this release, but they too are acceptable by current standards.

PACKAGING

The set uses a gatefold Digipak with an insert listing the disc contents.

OVERALL

The Rise & Fall of WCW tells a fascinating story, but never really sinks its teeth into it. The definitive work on this series of events has already been written: The Death of WCW, by Bryan Alvarez and R. D. Reynolds. This DVD makes an excellent companion to the book, but should not be considered an acceptable substitute for it.

You can buy this DVD from Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk

Review written by forum member MegaHentai.

Region: 1
Discs: 6
Publisher: Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc.
Length: 650 minutes
Video: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0, Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles: English
UPC: 704400086755
ISBN: 1421016621
Release Date: August 25, 2009
MSRP: $69.98 US

PROS:

• excellent horror
• unique story structure
• clever art style juxtaposition
• creepy, yet beautiful, soundtrack

CONS:

• initially confusing
• too violent for some viewers

MAIN FEATURE

With Halloween fast approaching, many of you will be deciding which horror movies to watch to get ready for the day. For those who are looking for something better than mere special effects jumping out at you and shouting BOO!, allow me to make a recommendation: the newly-released eleven-hour box set of When They Cry.

Keiichi Maebara has moved from a big city to the small, close-knit community of Hinamizawa. At school, he falls in with the Games Club, a quartet of cute girls with a penchant for low-stakes gambling, and quickly befriends all four. Everything’s coming up roses for Keiichi until a visiting photographer clues him in to the town’s dirty little secret: a series of murders and abductions which take place every year during the annual Cotton Drifting festival, and which seem to have something to do with an abandoned dam construction project and a local legend known as “Oyashiro’s Curse”. Within days, more people are dead, and a cop is hinting that he suspects Keiichi and/or his friends.

What makes When They Cry so unique is that it tells this story three times. While the above details remain the same each time, everything else changes. Clues to the mystery are provided in each story arc, though it is unlikely that first-time viewers will correctly catch all of them. Following these three stories, three more give the answers to the mysteries. If anything, the answers are often even more disturbing than the questions.

Like the manga and video games on which it is based, When They Cry makes use of an unusual clash of art styles to increase the tension and terror. Most of the series makes heavy use of the kawaii aesthetic — the cute, bouncy style most commonly associated with anime. This creates extra unease in the viewer when things start going badly for any of the characters and the style suddenly shifts into jagged lines and grotesque features. It’s a crude technique, but a highly effective one. Imagine a version of Nightmare on Elm Street in which any scene not featuring Freddy Krueger is filmed in the style of The Doodlebops, and you’ll have an idea of the effect.

BONUS FEATURES

None, unless you count several trailers.

A/V

Both audio and video are high-quality by DVD standards. The music is especially wonderful — I actually watched the opening credit sequence in its entirety for all 26 episodes, which is a rarity.

PACKAGING

The box set contains six discs in three double-sided slimpacks, all contained in a slipcase. The cover art on the slimpacks seems to replicate that of the single-volume releases from last year.

OVERALL

When They Cry will haunt your dreams for days. Anime and horror fans alike will find it an interesting experiment in their respective genres. A second series and three OAVs have been made; here’s hoping they receive an English release very soon indeed.

Review written by forum member MegaHentai.

You can buy this release from Amazon.com and Amazon.ca

Pros:

• It’s the third part of a series that isn’t complete crap. It managed average and should be bought by fans/horror hardcore only. I think that’s a pro?
• Original stereo soundtrack.

Cons:

• It’s the softer TV version.
• Could’ve done with a more atmospheric 5.1 upmix to complement the stereo track.
• Just a trailer? Would’ve liked a featurette about the problems on set meaning two directors fusing their work together.
• It’s just a joke of itself.

The Film:
After the success of Prom Night and Prom Night II, it was only a matter of time before a third installment was unleashed amongst the cult following of the first two. The third film of the series follows high school student Alex (Tim Conlon) who aspires to become a medical student and achieve his dream of one day becoming a doctor. One problem though. He’s an average student. He’s of average height. He even has the average sized feet. Nothing is particularly great about Alex’s life apart from his relationships with his girlfriend Sarah (Cyndy Preston) and his best friend Shane (David Stratton). However, these relationships quickly deteriorate as the film progresses forming a nice sort of sub plot. Why do they deteriorate? Well, Mary Lou is back from the dead and helping Alex become an honour role student, a star of the football team and a bit more popular. One minor problem. To do this, Mary Lou is killing anyone that stands in Alex’s way and then using her sexual prowess in order to get Alex to dispose of the bodies. But things get worse. Much worse. With ‘Prom Night’ fast approaching, his parents buy him a motorcycle to celebrate his continued success with his schoolwork but both his girlfriend Sarah and best friend Shane cut themselves off to him. When the bodies are discovered, Alex decides to dump Mary Lou which just infuriates her and her homicidal tendencies.

Prom Night III is a very average film. During the late 1980’s the whole teen slasher thing was starting to wind down (before being resurrected in the late 1990’s) and unfortunately, this film is one of many second rate sequels that came out in this time. The film does it’s best to mix comedy and horror, which, when done right, can make way for a great and entertaining film. The comedy here, however, just makes you groan. The film would’ve been better had it followed the same styling as the first film (which starred Jamie Lee Curtis in her ‘glory’ years) but unfortunately, it would rather try and make fun of itself. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a watchable enough film, but it’s just not a true slasher. The second problem for me, are that several scenes seem to be shot in different styles. This is probably a problem stemming from the usage of two directors (who aren’t brothers) who more than likely had different ideas and different visions for the film.

As a whole, I would recommend this film to the horror hardcore, or those looking for a night in with mates and a few beers. Those looking for a serious horror film, will be deeply disappointed.

The DVD:

Video:
Network DVD have presented the film in the original aspect ratio of 4:3. The picture is pretty average and there are no unwatchable parts on the print. The first scene comes across as very grainy but after that, it’s a decent enough print. The colours are clear (though ever so slightly dark), but it is a lot better than the extremely poor VHS quality picture of the American release.

Audio:
Only one audio track to report of, but it’s the original English stereo track which is fine by me. A 5.1 track would’ve been nice for the creepy atmospheric music for the film, but not absolutely neccessary. Dialogue is clear throughout and at a constant level. Again, distinctly average.

Extras:
Network have given us more than what you normally get for a horror sequel from the late 80’s. A trailer. Unfortunately, that’s the lot, although the trailer is pretty entertaining and doesn’t give away the major plot points of the film. An audio commentary or some interviews would’ve been nice.

You can purchase this release from Amazon.co.uk

Region: 1

Discs: 2

Publisher: ADV Films

Length: 325 minutes
Video: Anamorphic 1.78:1
Audio: English 5.1, Japanese 5.1
Subtitles: English
UPC: 702727206429
ISBN: 9781413905243
MSRP: $39.98

PROS:

• dark, gripping story
• excellent music
• attractive artwork
• clever use of tropes and conventions

CONS:

• inferior packaging
• no bonuses
• uneven English dub
• occasional underage nudity
• series incomplete

MAIN FEATURE

Elfen Lied is disturbing, vicious, gory, glum, and relentlessly dark. And it’s beautiful.

The series revolves around the Diclonius, a species of humanoid mutants who may represent the next phase in evolution and seem to be genetically programmed to exterminate and replace humankind. A secret organization has vowed to wipe out the Diclonius before they can achieve these goals, and keep a few captured specimens in a facility. One of the more powerful ones, Lucy, fights her way to freedom, but not before a sniper’s bullet erases her memory.

Lucy, now a childlike amnesiac, encounters Kohta and Yuka, two cousins who share a house. They call her Nyu, since it’s the only word she can say, and bring her to live with them until they can find her actual home. This puts them squarely in the sights of the anti-Diclonius faction. Kohta has a number of repressed childhood memories which threaten to resurface whenever he is around Nyu. On top of all that, Lucy’s true personality occasionally resurfaces, drawing other Diclonius toward her in a series of brutal battles.

Elfen Lied is not for everyone. There is a fair amount of extremely graphic violence. People are decapitated, dismembered, and even torn in half with astounding regularity. The series takes a very dismal view of humanity, often ceding the moral high ground to the homicidal mutants. Also, most of the female cast members — not all of them legal-aged — appear in the nude from time to time, though rarely in a sexualized manner.

You needn’t be an anime fan to enjoy this series. If you are, though, there is an added level of enjoyment to be had, as Elfen Lied subverts many of the tropes of the medium. The harem, the clumsy-but-well-meaning gal with a crush on her boss, the characters who meet as children but forget, the cousins in love, the tween who moves in with the older kids, just about any anime cliche you can think of… they’re all here, and they all go horribly wrong.

All this is my way of explaining to you why Elfen Lied is one of my favourite series, animated or otherwise, of the new millennium — which, in turn, is why I’m so disappointed in ADV for allowing this subpar edition to be released.

First of all, the title is a bald-faced lie. Here’s a little Marketing 101: if you’re going to put the words “Complete Collection” in the title of a DVD set, you kinda have to collect the complete series. Yes, all 13 broadcast episodes are in this edition, but the DVD-exclusive 14th episode is not. Given that ADV has had the English-language rights to this episode since 2006, I can think of no explanation for its absence here. Even if it would have cost too much to dub, a simple subtitle track would have been better than nothing.

Speaking of things that are missing…

BONUS FEATURES

None. Seriously, none whatsoever, unless you count the two Anime Network promos and the six trailers for other ADV releases. Earlier editions of Elfen Lied had features like textless credit sequences, artwork, and packaging inserts with interviews on them. Only in anime, it seems, does the de facto Special Edition come out first, followed by a bare-bones version after the first one goes out of print.

A/V

The picture and audio are both excellent. If you have a decent sound system, the opening theme is like hearing angels weep.

PACKAGING

Another baffling decision. Elfen Lied: Complete Collection comes in a keepcase about two inches thick, with an extra-long hub on which all three discs are stacked on top of each other like a spindle of DVD-Rs. If I wanted to design a DVD case almost guaranteed to lead to damaged discs at some point, this is precisely what I would come up with. It was bad enough four years ago, the last time I saw this done, and I assumed the idea had been abandoned by the home video industry. To release something like this in 2009 is just thoughtless.

OVERALL

Elfen Lied is a marvelous series. If you don’t offend easily and don’t require your entertainment to be upbeat and cheery, I recommend it to you very highly indeed. However, if you have the means, you may well be better off tracking down used copies of the previous box set (called The Diclonius Report) or the four-volume original release. Then go watch the missing episode on YouTube.

Review written by forum member MegaHentai.

You can purchase this set from Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk

Distributor: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Other: Region 1 (USA) – NTSC

PROS:

• Excellent performances from the four principle actors in the film.
• Gives insight to the fears of modern day immigrants in our country.

CONS:

• If you’re an ultra right wing conservative, the message in the film will soar miles above your head.

MAIN FEATURE

The Visitor (2007)
4/5 stars

Normally, an obscure, independent film such as this would have probably slipped beneath my radar screen, unless I happened to catch it late night on IFC. But many years ago, my wife lived in Providence, R.I., and by chance, lived next door to an unknown, but up and coming actor from the Trinity Repertory Company – Richard Jenkins. So every time she heard about him getting a role in a feature film, there would be no doubt that we would either go to the Cineplex or rent the film when it was released for home video. When she read that The Visitor would be Jenkins’ first leading role, it was a foregone conclusion that we would see this film on the big screen.

Now if you read the synopsis on the back of the DVD, you’d probably think that this film is a sure fire cure for insomnia. But quite the contrary, it is a deep and rich examination of the parallel environments and misunderstood paranoia’s of the multicultural melting pot that is New York City, post 9/11. Richard Jenkins plays Walter, a middle aged widower whose life has devolved into a somnambular sojourn meandering through his mundane day to day existence. His livelihood, that of a professor of third world economics at a Connecticut college, offers no hope of ever regaining the spark of life he may have one time felt in his youth. But Walter’s passion for living is about to be re-kindled by a chance meeting with two illegal immigrants who have been duped in a real estate scam involving Walter’s apartment in New York City.

Reluctantly, Walter agrees to speak at a global conference on economics at New York University, the topic being a paper he half-heartedly co-authored with a contemporary in Connecticut. When he enters his seldom used apartment, he stumbles upon Zainab (Danai Gurira), a Senegalese woman who is taking a bath. As the two make eye contact, Zainab starts to scream, perceiving Walter as an intruder. At this point, Zainab’s Syrian boyfriend Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) enters through the front door and confronts Walter. Warding off Tarek’s protective blows, Walter blurts out that it is his apartment, and that they are the unwanted guests. Tarek apologizes and the couple explains how they had paid to sublet the apartment. Realizing that the young couple had been taken advantage of, and had meant no harm, Walter allows them to collect their things and move on. After the couple leaves, Walter is quietly settling in, when he peers out the window and witnesses the couple in a somewhat heated exchange over the incident. A feeling of pity comes over him at evicting them with nowhere to go, and he rushes downstairs to offer them a roof for the night, or at least until they find a place to stay.

Over the course of the following days, the trio becomes more comfortable with each other and Walter comes to befriend Tarek, who is outwardly, his opposite. Tarek, a musician, plays the Djembe, an African drum shaped like a large goblet, known for its deep bass tones. As Walter watches him practice, he is taken by the unique sound and Tarek offers to teach him to play. Slowly, through music, Walter begins to emerge from the stilted, lifeless existence he’s been leading. One day, he follows Tarek to Central Park, where Tarek performs in an outdoor free form jam with other musicians who share his passion for the unique instrument. Tarek motions to Walter to join the jam session and Walter sheepishly complies. Walter finds himself submerged in a new found musical freedom and the two friends forget that Tarek has promised Zainab to meet her at her sidewalk shop to help her close it down for the day. The two rush down into the subway, hurrying to catch a train to keep to Tarek’s commitment, but are hindered by a malfunctioning subway turnstile. In his haste, Tarek jumps the turnstile and is arrested. Soon, the authorities realize that he is an illegal alien and he is sent to a detention center for deportees.

The rest of the film now delves into the frustrations and bureaucracy that relatives of illegal immigrants must face in a post 9/11 society, where racism and Patriot Act paranoia fuel the divisions between cultures. Walter, having re-emerged from his torpor state of life, is equally enraged and disgusted in a system that thwarts his every effort to help his new found friend. By the films end, I too felt angry at the blind bureaucracy that led to the inevitable conclusion of the story. The Visitor is a rare commodity in film, a thought provoking drama that on one hand can make you feel optimistic about the possibilities of new cultural friendships, but juxtaposing that optimism with the irrational fear that besets many of our fellow countrymen and purveys society’s modern ideology.

A/V

For a Standard Definition release, the colors are rich and luminous with no instances of bleeding seen. The contrast is sharp with blacks not overpowering the nighttime scenes. Overall, A- for the visual. Audio is standard 5.1 Dolby digital, with the surrounds mainly employed in ambient city sounds. It is crisp and clear without any problems understanding the dialog. Same rating for the Audio.

BONUS FEATURES

Two featurettes, one on the making of the film and one on playing the Djembe. The former is the standard mini documentary detailing the behind the scenes machinations of the film making process, while the latter is a short, interesting piece on playing the unique drum featured in the film. Who knows, its unique and haunting bass rhythms may pique your interest as they did Walter.
A commentary track with the director Tom McCarthy and Academy Award nominee Richard Jenkins is included and there is also a Trailer for the film, plus Deleted Scenes.

OVERALL

I highly recommend this film to anyone who prefers substance over style when it comes to film making. Its message is not at all preachy and in its characters you can find heartwarming qualities that will endear you to the narrative.

Review written by forum member Antares.

You can purchase this release from Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk