The Film:

After the box office success of the first two films, Blumhouse Productions & Paramount Pictures gave the go ahead for Paranormal Activity 3. The film serves as a prequel to its predecessors, taking place eighteen years before the events in Paranormal Activity 2. The story follows sisters Katie & Kristie, two of the main characters from the previous film, as children, as well as their mother, Julie, and her boyfriend, Dennis. After an earthquake that interrupts Dennis & Julie’s apparent sex tape occurs, Dennis discovers a mysterious figure captured on his camera. The investigation ensues with Dennis posting cameras throughout the house and taking an interest in the identity of Kristie’s supposedly imaginary friend, Toby. As the strange incidents continue, Dennis, along with his assistant, Randy, research demonology, and finally ties the events to an old witches’ coven. The family takes refuge at Julie’s mother’s house, where the film reaches it dramatic conclusion.

Like all the films in this franchise, the cast is composed of relative unknowns, in what I believe to be an attempt at the film’s “found footage” gimmick, because having recognizable faces in the cast would shatter the “illusion.” The film is helmed by directors Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman, produced by Oren Peli, Jason Blum, Steven Schneider, & Akiva Goldsman, and written by Christopher B. Landon.

Now that I’ve gotten the story, cast, & crew out of the way, I’d like to address what works and what doesn’t work in this film. The strongest component to this movie is the story. Being a prequel, this movie gives more depth to the overarching plot of the franchise. The story is better developed and much more cohesive than in Paranormal Activity, making it decent enough as a stand-alone film. However, the story is plagued with clichés, ranging from “the man who has to record everything,” to the “woman who doesn’t believe him,” to the “bumbling, always late assistant,” to the “dumb blonde babysitter,” to the “creepy little girl with the imaginary friend,” etc. All of the above are classic horror movie clichés that in all honesty, should be avoided. If not, you can expect your film to be average and mediocre at best, which unfortunately, is where this film lies. These clichés also lead to the film’s conclusion being excruciatingly predictable. The second the family goes to the grandmother’s house, I knew exactly how the film was going to end. And I was right.

Another problem the movie has is its use of “jump scares.” Jump scares are implemented just to get an initial reaction from the audience, without ever really establishing a lasting sense of fear or terror. This film, like its predecessors, and almost every American horror movie nowadays, uses this cheap tactic in order to claim that it is a horror film, when it fact, it isn’t. It’s a comedy at best.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video The video is fine, but the dialogue is much too low, and the sound effects are too loud. I typically keep my TV volume between 10 & 20, but when watching this film, I had to increase the volume to between 60 & 70.

Special Features

Lost Tapes – includes a scare montage and one deleted scene.

The Film Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

The Film:

I bet you never thought you would live to see the day when Hollywood would create Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots the movie did you? Okay, so Shawn Levy’s Real Steel isn’t based upon the property, but that’s how the trailers have made the film look. Well, Real Steel is soo much more than just two robots beating each other to scrap  in a boxing ring, its got heart.

The film takes place in the future where robots have replaced humans in the boxing ring. Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is a former boxer that now works to try and make a living in robot boxing. He finds out he’s got a son Max Kenton (Dakota Goyo) that he doesn’t want. After loosing a match with his latest robot, Charlie and Max head to the junk yard, and find an old robot, Atom. After fixing “him” up, Max and Charlie then find out there’s more to Atom than meets the eye.

So, despite a little wink to the Transformers series, there’s so much more to Real Steel than just shiny robots. In fact, unlike Michael Bay’s Transformers films, this film is filled with emotional moments. When we’re first introduced to Charlie Kenton, he’s desperate to make money off robot boxing, and wants nothing to do with Max. The same can be said for Max as well. However, the two learn to love each other and are brought together by Atom. Of course, this may have been expected from the same guy who madeNight At the Museum not long ago.

While the film’s strength is mainly in its story, the action is another draw. For the most part, the action in Real Steel is rather standard to most boxing films, such as Rocky. However, they’re far from boring. Being a fan of Bay’s Transformers films, I’m no doubtedly interested in seeing two bots slug it out in a boxing ring. But Charlie, Max, and Atom use strategy during their fights, and make it a team effort. Even in a fight that was almost literally described as David vs. Goliath in the film. It doesn’t fall victim to most big problems with VFX films, and doesn’t just make the fights a mess where it’s difficult to tell what’s going on.

Overall, Real Steel does come off as cliched at times, but its heart and soul make it a contender. Its Rocky, but with robots.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Visual

The DTS-HD MA 7.1 lossless soundtrack is simply amazing, and the video quality is great as well.

Special Features

Making of Metal Valley: A cool feature that chronicles the creation of the junk yard of old robots used in the film.

Building the Bots:  A look at what goes into creating the bots.

There are also three more features, deleted scenes, bloopers, a DVD copy, and Digital copy of the film in this packed set.

The Film Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Toho’s Godzilla franchise has become the longest running franchise since debuting in 1954 with Ishiro Honda’s masterpiece Gojira. Since then, 29 films (including Roland Emmerich’s remake, and Legendary Pictures attempting to bring the King of the Monsters back to the big screen), comic books, novels, video-games, trading cards, and of course, toys. The franchise has become looked down upon as campy, cheesy monster films by the majority of people as the film came to the States, and was heavily edited down. However, many are unaware of how dark and serious Honda’s original film has always been.

Gojira starts out with a series of mysteries shipping incidents that has left many puzzled as to what could be causing these disasters. Villagers of Odo Island, near where the disasters took place, believe a sea-god known as Gojira (or Godzilla as it was came to be known in the States) is behind everything. Professor Yamane, his daughter Emiko Yamane, and Hideto Ogata take a research team to survey the island. It is there the mighty monster makes his first appearance to the world. Godzilla then finds his way to Japan, and the JSDF is struggling to find a way to destroy the beast. However, all their hope lay with Dr. Serizawa’s new mysterious invention.

After reading a premise like that, you could probably assume that Gojira is just you standard “monster on the loose” flick. However, unlike soo many of the Godzilla films in the late ’60s throught the Heisei and Millineum series, there is soo much more to the film’s story. Actually, I would even go on to say the strongest selling point about this movie is the incredible story. The main focus of Gojira was to give a strong anti-nuclear message, and that’s exactly what Ishiro Honda delivers. From start to finish, the film never loses its dark tone. Many times directors put some comedic relief in a film to shed a little bit of light on a dark film, but Honda never loses focus about what message he’s trying to express. Honda even makes references to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a means to propel the story forward. Unfortunately, alot of that was lost when the film came over to the States edited down, and was turned into your standard “monster on the loose” film.

“I can’t believe that Godzilla was the only surviving member of its species… But if we continue conducting nuclear tests… it’s possible that another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world again.” - Professor Yamane

The human  characters in Gojira also have a big influence on the film’s story as well. You have Professor Yamane who is fascinated at the emergence of Godzilla and how a creature like that can survive with all the radioactivity it had absorbed. And despite how much the beast destroys Japan, he wants to study it as opposed to destroying like the military is adamant about doing. Then you have Ogata who feels Godzilla should be destroyed for the very reason Yamane is fascinated it. But if there’s any character that is the most interested and conflicted, then it would be Dr. Serizawa, a scientist who was left scarred during WWII. He has the only means to defeat Godzilla as the military hopelessly tries to stop it. However, his fear of his new invention is what prevents him from revealing his research. But he’s also sitting by while Godzilla ravages the country.

But the main driving force behind of Gojira is obviously the creature itself. Even before the beast makes his presence known, it is able to fill everyone with fear. When Godzilla finally does appear, it throws the whole world into a stake of fear. Japan is no stranger to nuclear devastation, and now there’s something even worse, a living nuclear weapon. And like any nuclear weapon, Godzilla doesn’t let its destructive power go unnoticed. Honda was able to potray the Godzilla’s devastation of Tokyo as an allusion to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is that face which puts the entire country into a state of fear. Unfortunatley, much of this is lost in the later films as Godzilla became less and less of an allegory, and more and more of a superhero bent on protecting Japan.

Gojira also makes great use of suitmation and miniatures. That’s become of style that many fans would get accustomed to throughout the frachise. It wasn’t until Roland Emmerich’s remake and the films of the early-2000s that Godzilla was portrayed with CGI. However, that only used in certain scenes for the latter. But this is also a style the films have become somewhat notorious for outside the fanbase.

Speaking as a life-long fan of this franchise,  Gojira is easily the best of them all. Not just of this franchise, but of the Kaiju genre. However, it’s unfortunate that soo many are unaware of how dark and serious this film is compared to the many later entries.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: One of the biggest complaints about Classic Media’s Blu-ray release of the film was that it wasn’t restored or upgraded to HD quality. Of course, there’s only soo much you can do to restore a film that was released in 1954, but CM put no effort into it. Well, that’s not the case with Criterion’s release. Some of the darker scenes from CM’s release have been made clearer and we’re given a great, sharp transfer of the film. Gojira never looked soo good.

Criterion also fixed a couple of the audio problems that were present in CM’s release. The film sounds just wonderul. All the way from Godzilla’s monstrous roar to Ikira Ifukube’s amazing score.

Photographic Effects: This features focuses on some of the tricks the VFX artists used to make certain scenes from the film.

Tadao Sato: This is perhaps my favorite featurette of them all. Japanese film critic Tadao Sato gives his thoughts about Gojira, and its impact on culture.

The Unluckiest Dragon: This is an interesting featurette about the crew of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Luky Dragon No. 5) that were affected with radiation from an H-bomb test near the Bikini Atoll. The incident was the inspiration for Gojira.

Other special features include the American edit of the film Godzilla, King of the Monsters, information on the cast and crew, and the theatrical trailer for the film.

In conclusion, THIS is the release that we should have gotten from Classic Media.

The Film Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Flick:

Steven Soderbergh is a director that isn’t afraid to take chances. Sometimes those chances pay off, and sometimes they don’t. With Traffic his ability to follow his gut no matter what the box office outcome definitely payed off. Traffic won four Academy Awards, including Best Director.

The film follows multiple cast members in a captivating and complex interwoven storyline. There is a Mexican cop (Benicio del Toro) tackling the drug trade, a judge (Michael Douglas) moving up in the political arena waging a war on drugs, two cops (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman) working to take down one of Los Angeles’ larges suppliers, said supplier’s wife (the yummy Catherine Zeta-Jones), and the drug addicted daughter of the judge (Erika Christensen). Don’t worry, it sounds confusing, but Soderbergh is a master storyteller, and the plot-lines flow together with grace.

Traffic is one of those films that sticks with you long after it’s over. It grabs hold of your gut and doesn’t let go even after repeated viewings. It’s beautiful and for its time, quite experimental. Its look is nothing short of breathtaking. The grainy colored haze that bleaches each scene serves the plot perfectly by separating each storyline. It contains some of the most impressive cinematography I’ve ever seen, and a cast that is impossible to forget.

Based on the British series Traffik, Soderbergh took the material and transformed it into a brilliantly executed story about a time in our nations history that changed the American landscape forever. This is a killer film should be mandatory viewing for everyone over the age of 17.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video

Presented in a director approved aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with a DTS-HD 5.1 audio, and a beautiful 1080p transfer Criterion has exceeded expectations and created a viewing experience that is nearly flawless. It looked and sounded so beautiful on my home theatre I watched it two days in a row. Simply stunning.

Special Features

Commentary: There are multiple tracks on here including, Steven Soderbergh, Steven Gaghan, Cliff Martinez, Laura Bickford, Marshall Herskovitz, Edward Zwick, Tim Golden, and former DEA chief of Intelligence Craig Chretuen. Most of these are standard issue, but listening to Soderbergh talk is always a treat.

Deleted Scenes: There are a ton of deleted scenes on this disc. Some are worth watching, and some are just filler. Either way, if your a fan of Soderbergh’s work I’d recommend checking them all out.

There are a number of features that cover the look of the film, the editing process, and more. It’s pretty extensive stuff and worth checking out.

Additional Footage: There are four uncut scenes presented in raw form that are pretty great. Well worth watching.

Trailers: Believe it or not there are seven trailers and TV spots included on this disc.

Booklet: There is a small booklet that lists the cast and crew and contains an essay from film critic Manohla Dargis called Border Wars.

The Flick Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Flick:

I am a HUGE Malcolm McDowell fan and was very excited I was asked to do this review. The cover art alone made my day! Three hot chicks barely dressed and a picture of Malcolm, with the caption “These students are hooked on learning.” AWESOME, right?? Well kind of.

Shakespeare Professor, Noah Melville (McDowell) is the most well-liked professor at Barden College, and for very, very good reason; he provides scholarships to sexy hot coeds in exchange for pimping them out to some of the most respected high-brow people in town including The Mayor, Chairman of the School board and Chief of Police to name a few. Dee Wallace (a Horror movie Icon in her own right) plays the manipulative College Dean, a role that is kind of pointless, but it’s great seeing her and McDowell in a movie together again (Rob Zombie’s Halloween). Then one of Melville’s girls turn up dead after a “date,” and the new detective in town alcoholic, Patrick Kelly (Angus Macfadyen) and his aggressive boss Sergeant Rebecca Ferraro (Elizabeth Rodriguez) begin an intense investigation that can ruin the lives of everyone in the “club.” This becomes a game of accusations, cover-ups and who did it. Money and power are the ultimate monopoly here and we all know the story of who usually wins those battles (politics anyone??).  After the Chief of Police closes the case Kelly takes matters into his own hands.  Melville is about to be taken down so he decides to flee from his long jail sentence so Kelly goes after Melville and they battle it out.

Of course there are plenty of scenes showing the ladies “earning their scholarships” but those scenes are filmed in a grainy/documentary style. I don’t get why director Tamar Simon Hoff chose to film it that way but it doesn’t matter at this point.  This movie was ok, but being a fan of McDowell is the only reason I would recommend this one. The filmmakers could’ve chosen any unknown b-list actor to play his part, but I’m glad they didn’t.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive
Sound: DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround English, DTS-HD MA Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH

Special Features

Two trailers for the movie under the titles ‘Pound of Flesh’ and ‘Progressive Education’

Outtakes: Standard issue, but with an intro from writer/director Tamar Simon.

Interview with actor Malcolm McDowell: About 9 minutes long and my favorite part of the whole disc.

Making of Pound Of Flesh: With comments from Director/Writer Tamar Simon Hoffs and Malcolm McDowell.  Pretty much has the same stuff from the interview with McDowell.

The Flick Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Flick:

Quigley down under is a pretty cool western, not to be confused with the great John Wayne or Clint Eastwood classics but this one came out in 1990 and I don’t believe it is claiming to be a classic. This movie stars Tom Selleck (a very underrated actor) and takes place in Australia’s Outback.  Selleck plays Quigley a sharp shooter who answers an ad in the paper to be employed to shoot dingo. But there’s a twist, his boss Elliot Marsten (Alan Rickman) wants him to kill off any and all Aborigines that step foot on his land. Quigley gets pissed that he was lied to and goes after Marsten, but his boys beat the shit out of Quigley and then dump him in the middle of nowhere in the outback beside a beautiful but crazy prostitute Cora (Lara San Giacomo).

The Aborigines get word of the man who tried to do right by them and take Quigley and Crazy Cora under their wing and that’s when the real battle begins. The good guys vs. the bad guys, here we go! There are a few sub plots (how Cora became crazy and why she keeps calling him Roy), a little romance and pretty cool gun slinging shoot em’ up scenes. The cinematography by David Eggby is gorgeous. It’s different seeing a western take place in Australia but pretty cool too. Selleck is one of the coolest actors that should’ve been a big time movie star a long time ago, but maybe that’s what’s even cooler about him. This is a very entertaining movie (a little long running at 120 minutes) but it has everything you need- action, romance, revenge and great scenery.

The Blu-ray

Special Features:

The Rebirth of the Western Documentary: Behind the scenes feature and interviews.

There are also, TV spots, a few other features, and a theatrical trailer.

Audio/Video

The video transfer is pretty impressive for a film now 22 years old. Blu-ray did it justice; I remember seeing this on VHS. The prairies and outback are as clear as day.

The sound is pretty bad ass, the dialogue is crisp and clear, the gun shots wrap around you and the sounds of the outback is set perfectly.

The Flick: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

THE FLICK:

Based on the 1973 John Godey novel of the same name, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is an intense classic 70’s thriller (released in 1974) about the highjacking of a New York subway train with outstanding, kick-ass performances by several Hollywood Legends.  Although this movie came out 2 years before I was born, it does take place in my home state. I dig the whole 70’s era, so I was visually hooked by the first scene that shows the old school taxis, the way people dressed, and the whole gritty vibe of New York City.

It begins with four men entering the train wearing disguises and carrying mysterious cases. They also use code names- Mr. Green (Martin Balsam); Mr. Grey (Hector Elizondo); Mr. Brown (Earl Hindman); and the leader of the pack Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw); definitely the inspiration to Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. They bombard the engineer forcing him to stop the train then unhook all the cars and take the eighteen passengers aboard hostage. The passengers are an eclectic mix of everyday New Yorkers, pimps, prostitutes, etc. While all this is going on Lieutenant Zachary Garber (Matthau) is giving a tour of his station to a group of Japanese transit workers not knowing what’s going down that is until a call comes in. This is when shit gets crazy! Garber (always making hysterical, crazy and off the wall comments) winds up becoming the negotiator to the extremely psychotic and armed villans who just want one million dollars within an hour or they will kill one of their hostages each minute the payment is late and they fucking mean it. Just to prove their point they straight up blow the subway station manager “Fat Caz” into pieces because he decided to enter the train.

The mayor (Lee Wallace who also plays the mayor of Gotham City in Tim Burtons Batman) is an idiot (and resembles former NY mayor Ed Koch) who is more worried about getting re-elected then the hostages. The best  thing about the highjackers is that we never find out why they are doing this. More entertaining is Shaw’s witty one liners (by far his best performance). I don’t want to give away the ending but I will say the last scene with Matthau’s face is priceless! I saw the 2009 remake before I saw the original and wish I hadn’t. The remake sucks, doesn’t compare and kept wondering why did they even bother… twice (the other was a made for tv movie which is just stupid)?? The original is just as effective today as I’m sure it was 40 years ago. Great film!

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1, Audio: English Mono DTS-HD MA, Spanish Mono, French Mono,

Subtitles: English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, French

The audio is awesome and very clear and I couldn’t believe I was listening to a mono mix. The video is great for being 40 years old, it is grainy but for me that is an added bonus because it gives it the New York 70’s feel it deserves.

Special Features

HD Trailer: Disappointing because I want more!

The Flick: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Series:

Science Fiction is a genre full of hit or miss movies, television shows, direct-to-DVD releases, literature. Thankfully cream always rises to the top. Farscape is definitely at the top of the science fiction ladder.

It combines breathtaking visual effects, muppets, solid acting, and witty dialogue to create one of the most memorable shows ever. When astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder) reluctantly departs on a mission in an experimental spacecraft, he is catapulted through a wormhole into the middle of a space chase involving alien races that fly around in space ships he had previously only seen on late night television.

It doesn’t take long for Crichton to get his bearings and join his new alien friends in their search for home and battle for survival. Their efforts to find their way home are often thwarted by the peacekeepers, a group of human-looking militants that always get their man, or alien.

As it plays out Farscape introduces a host of interesting characters and villains. Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) is by far one of the best bad-guys to ever grace the boob tube with his personal brand of evil, and Chiana (Gigi Edgley) is one sexy alien.

The partnership between SyFy and Jim Henson proved to be fruitful. The muppets are lifelike, scene stealers, and nothing about the show is anything less than stellar. The only complaint I have is the seres’ ending. It leaves a lot of questions unanswered. It would be nice if SyFy made a motion picture out of this amazing show like with the other top notch show, Firefly.

If you already own the series in the previously released season sets, you probably won’t want to pick this set up. If, however you don’t own the previous releases, or even if you only own a few of them, or just want to rock this impressive blu-ray I would highly recommend picking this set up. Farscape: The Complete Series is absolutely a killer series.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video

The audio tracks are loud and clear and deliver a solid home theater experience. The video however isn’t quite as solid. The first three seasons of the show were shot and presented in fullscreen and the rest was shot and presented in widescreen, so this is an up-conversion to HD. I know that’s the way the show was made, but it was slightly irritating. Also, the clarity of the images could have been better. Quite a bit of quality was lost when the show was compressed into a box set.

Special Features:

Commentaries: There are a crazy amount of commentary tracks in this collection. I’ll state right now that I didn’t listen to them all, but I did scan all of them and they where very entertaining.

Making of a Space Opera: A really solid featurette that charts the creative process of the show.

Listening In with Composer Guy Gross: My Three Crichtons: A killer feature that shows how Gross creates a score. One of my favorite features on the disc.

I listed three solid features, but I haven’t even scratched the surface of these discs. There are twenty or more features per disc and most of them worth watching. If your a real Farscape fan, then do yourself a favor and pick this set up. Even with its flaws it’s an unbelievable collection and a must have for fans of the show.

The Series: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Series:

Soul Eater is an anime series mostly focusing on Maka Alburn and her weapon Soul Eater, both students at the DWMA (Death Weapon Meister Academy). The series is directed by Takuya Igarashi, also produced by Aniplex and Bones and released in America by Funimation. The series is mostly based off the manga of the same name, and they stay the same until a big battle then the two plots diverge. This review covers the first Blu-ray Box Set, episodes 1-26.

Maka is a Meister and Soul is her Weapon. As students at the Grim Reaper’s Death Weapon Meister Academy, their study habits couldn’t be more different. But in battle against the supernatural forces of evil, they’re a freakin’ lethal team. That’s when Soul transforms – literally – into a razor-sharp scythe, and every defeated wicked soul he sucks down makes him more deadly. That’s when Maka unleashes the merciless slayer within, wielding her partner and dropping monsters. Seriously. Monsters. Like the witches, werewolves, and zombies that lurk in the shadows and feed on the souls of the innocent. Every freakish ghoul Maka and Soul take out strengthens their bond, and fighting alongside their fellow Meister/Weapon classmates, Maka and Soul are the world’s last line of defense against evil.

Soul Eater opens with three prologue episodes about the 3 pairs of main characters that the series will focus on. The series also follows the three as the attend school and how they learn to be better slayers of those with impure souls. When these Meisters are not at school, they’re hunting impure souls to prevent them from becoming “Demon Gods”. In their first run in with true bad guys, Maka and Soul confront the witch Medusa and the Meister Crona Wielder of the demon sword. After a fierce battle, little is seen of Medusa, but all the while she plots behind the scenes to revive the only sealed Demon God beneath the DWMA. In a final push Medusa and a team of bad guys rush the DWMA, and despite the frantic efforts of Maka, Black Star and Kid. They fail to stop the Demon God’s rival. Now as the world slowly starts to plunge into madness cause by the Demon god, what will the DWMA do to stop it?

Conclusion:

Soul Eater draws people in with its wide array of character personality types that people can sympathize with and see themselves in that role. Wither your just trying to act cool, if you’re afraid of people and situations, shy/reserved, or just wanting to be at center stage; there is a character that anyone can relate to. To me the greatest thing the series does is, finding funny in a dark place. All of this save the world business is going on, or even just in mid battle, somehow the characters find a way to crack a joke or just act insane. My only issues with the series are very minor, first off I listened to both audio tracks, and The Grim Reapers and Black Star’s voice just sounded more fitting in the Japanese than in English. Also in the Japanese they call the DWMA, Shibusen; which just sounds cooler. My other issues are with Funimation more than anything because they didn’t include episode 22 of the Soul Eater late show. Secondly, the disks end during the direct middle of a fight scene, I know it’s the center of the series but they could have backed it up one episode so viewers weren’t left hanging.

Those issues aside, Soul Eater is a action packed hilariously dark story with characters that you will love and wonder what kind of crazy thing they are going to get into next. If you watch it in English make sure you use the second English subtitle option, it will show the subtitles during the parts when Japanese is shown on the screen.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Visual

Audio and video are both extremely high quality for a Blu-ray disks, both a crisp and perfectly done. The language options include English or Japanese with English subtitles.

Special Features

The special features include, a Soul Eater Late Show that was only shown during late night runs of the series (basically it’s the voice actors making fun of themselves and different random things). Commentary on Episode 1 and Episode 23, textless songs, and a few trailers.

The Series Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Show:

Season 6 had some really good scheming going on. Mac and Dennis came into some money, about $2,000, from a website they started, and they decided to buy a boat. The only boat they had money for was a run down boat that needed a lot of work. Dennis and Mac decided that Charlie, Frank and Dee would be the ones doing the brunt of the work while they went out buying supplies. Suffice it to say, nothing went the way it should have and by the end the boat was no longer in their care. It’s what happens during this time that’s just over the top and for any normal person, would not happen. Everything that could go wrong did.

In another episode, Dee announces she’s pregnant. Frank, Charlie, Mac and Dennis have to go over the Halloween party they had in order to figure out which one knocked Dee up. With each telling of the story, it changes dramatically with the storyteller, until they think they figure out who the father is. In a 2 episode arc, Dee become a substitute teacher, while Charlie becomes a janitor in the same school. The gang then have to reconnect with an old friend to take over for Charlie in their group. Jason Sudeikis (who would later star with Charlie Day in Horrible Bosses) plays the friend. René Auberjonois, the wonderful character actor, plays the teacher that Dee is subbing for. Wackiness then ensues.

If you’re looking for a show that’s 30 minutes of just off the wall fun, this is certainly the show for you. There really are no storylines to follow, outside of a 2 to 3 episode arc here or there, so if you come in cold, you can enjoy it. It fills the void that so many Seinfeld fans have been wanting to fill since it ended.

The Extras:

The Sunny Flip Cup Challange – This is a blu-ray exclusive. It’s an interactive game you play with your remote. It’s made up of 3 rounds of trivia about season 6, and the questions get harder to read with each of the 3 rounds, do to the game making it seem like you have been drinking. There are then 4 other games to play on random between each trivia round. One is an 8 bit video game where you guide Frank and Charlie through the sewers of Philadelphia on the boat the gang buys. There is one where you have to shoot a puck, like another episode, at a hockey goal. There are 2 other games that I never got to play due to the randomness of the choices.

Lethal Weapon 5 Extended Cut – There is a story arc in a couple of episodes where this movie is talked about Mac and Dennis made their own version of a Lethal Weapon movie with Frank as the bad guy and Charlie as the many henchmen. This is a wonderful short and very, very funny. Worth checking out for sure.

Dennis and Dee’s Podcasts - Another episode of the show has Dennis and Dee trying their hand at making a podcast. This is a few of said podcasts. This isn’t anything that great. It has a few funny moments, but nothing too great.

Blooper Reel – Short but has a few funny moments. Typical on a set like this. Nothing too great, but still pretty good.

Deleted and Extended Scenes – There weren’t many of these, but they were great. Mainly cut and changed do to time constraints, but this was still fun to watch.

Commentary on Select Episodes – Only on a few episodes, but it was still a good, entertaining listen. The gang’s here and they are having fun with this.

Audio/Video – The picture quality is perfect. From season 5 on, the show was shot with HD cameras, so nothing is lost here. The audio is just as good as if you watched it originally on television.

Final Verdict – If you’ve been missing the great sitcom in the last 15 years, then this is a must see show. It’s witty, smart and very, very funny. Every member of the gang is dumber than the other and it’s fun watching them fail at everything they do. Each episode is about 22 minutes (30 with commercials) and it flies by.

The Show Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Extras Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Film:

The presentation of the film is fine with the picture being a bit grainy, in one scene you can notice the picture changing from cut to cut. The sound is booming during the music montage and fight scenes; the dialogue comes off low at times but not so much that the next scene would blow my ear drums out. I will not go into the film too deep as it was already reviewed on this site by Jon Peters (Here). Simple synopsis would be of two estranged brothers Brenden played by Joel Edgerton and Tommy played by Tom Hardy who have each been handed a crappy hand in life and the solution to that…. Enter the MMA Grand Prix Tournament called Sparta with a Grand Prize of 5 million dollars.  The tying bond between the two is their father Paddy played tremendously by Nick Nolte. Paddy’s early life missteps in alcoholism and abandonment have caused his sons to be weary of him even though he is 1,000 days sober and has found a new direction in life by following the Bible. Brendon is a normal eveyday family man who is forced to enter the tournament because of the bank foreclosing on his home. Tommy is the silent “nice” bad guy who has gone AWOL from the military and his only reason to enter the tournament is to do right by a fallen comrade’s family. With the explosion of MMA in the last 10 years this film uses the sport as a backdrop for the emotional story of a broken family. This is definitely an uplifting story that will have you cheering these brothers on till the final buzzer.

The Blu-ray:

• Full Contact: Blu-Ray Enhanced Viewing Mode – An In-Depth Original and Personal look at Warrior with the Cast and Crew

Similar to a commentary track this a picture in picture presentation headed by director Gavin O’Connor with various cast and crew. The guests alternate throughout with the set inside a octagon ring located at the TAPOUT headquarters. Along with showing their commentary the footage cuts to still photos taken during production and behind the scenes footage.The only actors taking part in this is Nick Nolte and Maximiliano Hernández, who played Tom Hardy’s handler in the film. Nolte, who says he still has not seen the film in whole yet, seems like a odd ball at times and maybe that’s why he’s the one featured less throughout but his comments about the character Paddy are well worth listening to. He breaks down emotions and what Paddy would feel and how he would get “there”, meaning physically and emotionally. Hernández comments more on the overall story and building of characters; one aspect he keeps mentioning is the Production Design in the film; especially the work put in to making “Fitzy’s Gym” where Tom Hardy’s character trains. Made from an empty loft it looked and smelled so real they were constantly having visitors on set asking if they could join the gym. Notable crew would be members of the Sound Team who went over getting the right snipets and mixes for the fight scenes. Another nice insight was the making of the training montage scene. Gavin goes over how it was the last thing done on the film as far as editing and how he did not want it to be your traditional cut back and forth scene. He discuses how the sound mix works heavily in the scene transitioning from one part to another like a jig saw puzzle. The music plays heavily in the film as Gavin mentions before they started writing, the song that begins and ends the film, About Today by The National, laid the foundation for the tone of film and when they went to their music composer they told him this song has to be in the film; the composer listened to track and the rest of the music in the film follows that same direction. Another guest is fight coordinator/trainer Fernando Chien who offers insight in getting Joel Edgerton prepared for the role and how he was completely committed to the part; as well as preping real fighters Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and Nate “The Great” Marquardt for the fight scenes. Chien’s details to the film and how certain parts were made based on real MMA fighters and fight moments is definitely an intriguing part for any MMA fan. Tapout Founders Punkass and SkySkrape round out the guest list and offer their insider view in getting started with Gavin when introduced by their late member Charles “Mask” Lewis Jr. It transitions into how Gavin got a deeper understanding of the emotion and pyschology involved in being an MMA fighter, especially with the assistance from world renowned trainer Greg Jackson.

• Redemption: Bringing Warrior to Life Documentary

“Intervention in the Cage” is the term director Gavin O’Connor uses for his story of two brothers working out their emotional differences; something he knows first hand as Gavin and his brother were seperated when younger. Him and Co-Writer Anthony Tambakis constantly mention that this is a throwback story with character development and simple issues such as those involved between a father and his sons. Gavin talks about the minimal time he had to prep the project, just under 8 weeks, and a budget that kept getting lower and lower when the writers insisted they didn’t want big names and wanted to keep the reality aspect to it. Changing the film from the west to east coast was the first issue due to budget constraints and the next hurdle was casting the brothers. It took almost a year to cast Edgerton and Hardy as the Conlon Brothers but it shows the commitment the filmmakers had in bringing the best talent to their project and in my opinion definitely paid off. What I enjoyed most was the training process for everyone involved. Edgerton had previous MMA experience which was a slight help but Hardy on the other hand was a complete novice. Several months of training took place to get the two actors in top conidition and the work was not light. They trained with professional gyms and fighters and the injuries they endured were tough: broken toe, broken finger, cracked ribs, torn ligaments. It was a very rough process not only for the actors but also for Gavin who was working 6/7 day weeks, scouting locations while shooting, and not even seeing all the footage till after it was all shot, all 1million ft of footage.

• Philosophy In Combat: Mixed Martial Arts Strategy

This is a sit down interview conducted in August 2011 with MMA trainer Greg Jackson and actor Frank Grillo who played Frank Campana in the film. Grillo discusses the rigorous training that the fighters and actors took part in at Jackson’s camp in New Mexico. This delves more into Jackson’s mentality behind the coaching, taking ideas and strategies from other people you wouldn’t think putting together with MMA, the family/team atmosphere the gym’s fighters have with each other opposed to other combat sports. They discuss how in MMA anything can change in an instance and that the classical music which is vital in the film plays a pivotal role in training with timing and getting the groove of the rhythms between the rhythms. At the end Jackson offers his insights to different fighting styles and how they compliment each other from striking, grappling, wrestling and jiu-jitsu.

• Simply Believe: A Tribute to Charles “Mask” Lewis, Jr.

Mask was influential to this film as he was the person that helped Gavin O’Connor reach his MMA connections and broaden the scope of the film. Unfortunately Mask passed away in 2009 before shooting began when he was run off the road. He had a strong passion to live his dream and bring MMA to the forefront. He wasn’t just a brand name he wanted to bring world wide recognition to the sport and the people involved. He was very lively and wanted to be a part of any aspect concerning the film. There is footage from Mask’s funeral where Gavin conducted a eulogy, talking about how he thought he was a dreamer but upon meeting Mask he knew he kicked his ass in that department. The tribute ends with a quote from Mask “It only takes one idea to change everything but you have be willing to go after it no matter how crazy it is. It only sounds crazy cause no one else has done it yet.You gotta go up there and get that whatever it is.”

• Cheap Shots: Gag Reel

Definitely didn’t expect this as an extra but it has a few laughs mainly due to comedian/fight commentator in the film Bryan Callen. Runs no more than 5 minutes but lets you see this gritty, fighter’s flick had some fun behind it while shooting.

• Brother Vs. Brother: Anatomy of a Fight

This is a picture in picture presentation of the final fight between Brenden and Tommy. Lower right portion shows the fight in its entirety while the upper left alternates between story boards, fight reherasals and quick tips from Greg Jackson on how to approach the coaching parts. It’s an interesting 12 minute piece that lets you see the different steps taken to put this complicated scene together.

• The Diner: Deleted Scene with Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte (w/ Optional Commentary)

This is a scene between father and son where Nolte is trying to relate to Tommy by telling him his own stories from the war. Nolte goes into the layout and feelings he had as a 18 year old who never left home. This scene shows Paddy trying to reconnect with his son even if it is not over the best things in their lives. Watching it with commentary you realize they did not like cutting the scene because by itself it is a great scene but overall as most deleted scenes are, it did not go well with the flow of the film.

• Feature Audio Commentary with Filmmakers and Actor Joel Edgerton

Co-Writer/Director Gavin O’Connor, Co-Writer Anthony Tambakis, Editor John Gilroy and actor Joel Edgerton join in on the commentary track. Unlike other commentaries where the filmmakers are open about making the film and give details which viewers may not have noticed, Gavin admits he is not fond of them because he feels it takes away from the magic of cinema. They mention in the beginning how they weren’t aware of how strong the film comes out of the gate starting with the reunion scene between Tommy and his father Paddy. It helps pave the road for the characters and their relationships; something Gavin and Anthony paid heavy attention to while writing the script. Gavin and Anthony admit the opening title card is definitely an omage to the one that is in ROCKY.The longer the commentary goes you get a genuine feeling of how humble, grateful both Gavin and especially Anthony are for being able to make this film. Referred to as “The National Treasure” Nick Nolte was an actor Gavin and Anthony wanted to play Paddy since day one. Everyone has nothing but respect for him and Gavin mentions that after the first scene was shot with Nick, the whole crew stood up and applauded; something he had never seen. Another actor payed many compliments is Jennifer Morrison who plays Tess. Gavin and Anthony admit that after her first audition they didn’t need to see anyone else; she took the role and put it in her pocket that day. One thing that was mentioned above in the Enchanced Viewing section and talked about again is the horror of making the training montage, something Gavin refused to call it; he did not want the tradition montage ala ROCKY that has been done to death. It was the final piece edited for the film and editor John Gilroy mentions how to have the viewer follow multiple stories at once with scenes floating pass each other and the mixing of sounds was deinately a work horse task. When we reach the tournament fights Gavin opens more up about shooting the scenes and how they flow; stating that in the first fights you watch more from the outside and by the time you get to the final fight between Brenden and Tommy we are completely immersed in it. Most of the comments made during the tournament are repeatitve if you’ve watched the other features. There are some tid bits that Gavin offers about the breakdown round to round during the fights and the story being told in each. Once again you can hear it in Gavin’s voice how passionate he was about this film especially the ending when Brenden has to “kill” his brother Tommy in order for everything to be right.

The Film Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Flick:

Up all night and sleep all day seems like the norm living in Las Vegas. I should know being a local for 14 years, but in Craig Gillespie’s Fright Night there’s a whole new explanation – VAMPIRES, and not the romantic, soft spoken, sparkly vampires we are used to seeing today. These are the fast, bad-boy, bloodthirsty vampires reminiscent of the ones portrayed in The Lost Boys. I know what you’re thinking, ANOTHER REMAKE! I said it too, but this one is worth the watch. It’s not a direct remake but a funny/scary modern day spin on the 1985 cult classic.

High-School senior Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) used to be a geek hanging out with “Evil” Ed  Thompson (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and other geeks back in the day until he ditched that world and became one of the cool kids, and started dating the hottest girl in school; Amy (Imogen Potts) while living it up with his flirtatious mom (Toni Collette) in a quiet suburban town in Las Vegas. What can go wrong? Jerry Dandridge (Colin Farrell) moves in next door. The mysterious and seductive, night construction worker immediately wins everyone over except for Ed who is certain Jerry is a vampire and responsible for the disappearance of his friend and is determined to blow his cover. When Charley is finally convinced his only hope may be Vegas show headliner Peter Vincent (David Tennant), an international magician and illusionist who is a cross between Chris Angel and Russell Brand. But is Peter the real deal or just another illusionist playing make-believe? Only time will tell and Jerry is pissed.

I really enjoyed this movie and wish I would’ve seen it in 3D when I had the chance. It is funny and loaded with  lots of blood and really good scares. It does not slow down at all, and believe it or not the introduction to the characters and the big reveal is all within the first half hour and then it’s pure mayhem. I really like how they kept true to the Vampire rules that we all know and love; no sunlight, wooden stake, invite only, crosses, etc. I was even happy to see in one scene a backpack filled with the very same weapons that Buffy would’ve carried. If you look close enough there is even a cameo by the original Jerry (Chris Sarandon).  What I didn’t like about this film was the CGI, there wasn’t a whole lot of it but I thought the filmmakers could’ve reached a more natural look by hiring an incredible make-up artist. That is all.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video

The audio track on the disc is crazy good. It sounded like I was in a movie theater for the flick’s entire runtime, and all I’ve got is a small Sony home theatre system. The video is also pretty amazing, with extreme clarity in the blacks and bursting colors during the daylight scenes.

Special Features

The Official “How to Make a Funny Vampire Movie” Guide: A short feature that has the cast and crew talking about the making of the film. Good, but short at just over eight minutes.

Peter Vincent: Come Swim in My Mind: An odd feature that has Peter Vincent giving the lowdown on his show Fright Night as if it were real. Also, very short at just over two minutes.

Deleted Scenes: A bunch of scenes that were cut out for a reason. Not a great feature, but worth checking out once, and you guessed it, it’s really short.

Squid Man: Extended & Uncut: The short film from the movie in its entirety.

There is also a small Blooper Reel, Music Video, and DVD Copy of the film as well.

The Flick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Flick:

Scrooged is a 1988 comedy, a modernization of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The film was produced and directed by Richard Donner, and the cinematography was by Michael Chapman. The screenplay was written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O’Donoghue. The original music score was composed by Danny Elfman. The cast includes Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Bobcat Goldthwait, John Forsythe, Carol Kane, John Houseman, and Robert Mitchum. Murray’s brothers, Brian, John, and Joel also appear in the film.

Scrooged opens with Frank Cross, the cynical television programming executive, watching promos for the station’s Christmas Specials. Frank seems to have a different vision for advertising and marketing. He would rather shock and terrify the audience into watching, even if he has to scare them to death. When one of his employees, Eliot Loudermilk attempts to question is antics, Frank fires him. Although, Frank seems to be on top of the world, he is forced into realizing the error of his ways when the ghost of his former boss, Lew Hayward, visits him. Lew warns Frank that he’ll be visited by three ghost before Christmas is over and the first ghost will appear at noon the next day. When Frank doesn’t believe him, Lew decides to give him a wake up call, that Frank is sure to remember. Frank being a little shaken up still manages to forget about it the next morning. When his boss Preston Rhinelander, invites him out to lunch to meet his new assistant, the weaselly sycophant Brice Cummings who’s obviously after Frank’s job, he accepts. Once they’re at lunch, Frank notices that it’s noon and freaks out when he starts hallucinating, excuses himself to get some air and grabs a cab. This is not your average taxi driver, it’s the ghost of Christmas past and he’s here for Frank.

After a trip into the past Frank starts to realize that he’s missing the things that matter; family, friends, and his true love, Claire. When he gets back to the present he decides to visit Claire. After Frank talks to Claire he begins to feel that she’s needs to be more aggressive, even though she’s a very giving and caring individual that manages a homeless shelter. Shortly after that Frank is visited by the ghost of Christmas present, an abusive fairy. She beats Frank up and takes him to his secretary, Grace Cooley’s house, where he finds out that her husband was shot and one of her son’s witnessed the whole thing. Grace’s son hasn’t spoken a word since the murder. Frank also visits his brother’s house, whom he hasn’t seen in years. The ghost of Christmas present leaves him in an ally with a homeless guy, Herman, that he met at the shelter when he was visiting Claire. To Frank’s surprise Herman froze to death. Once Frank returns to the present in a very abrupt manner, he’s acting weirder then before. So he returns to his office to try and relax. To his surprise, Eliot busts down his office door and is carrying a shotgun while intoxicated. As Frank attempts to escape he runs into the ghost of Christmas future. He gets to see what happens to Grace’s son, Claire, and himself. Frank is so terrified that when he get back to the present, he decides to give Eliot his job back with double his pay on one condition, he holds the control station hostage so Frank can interrupt the station’s live presentation of Scrooge. Frank has something to say and he wants to share it with the whole world.

Conclusion:

Scrooged is one of my favorite holiday movies! I love that it’s a modernization of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. It’s a new twist on an old classic. Even if it was made in 88′ and everyone is drinking Tab soda. The message still can hold true in today’s society. There’s plenty of corporate scum bags out there that could afford to turn their lives around just like Frank Cross did. Every time I watch this movie, I’m still taken back by the special FX. Shout out to Thomas Burman and Rolf John Keppler! Terrific job on Lew and the Ghost of Christmas Future’s make up! Another great thing about this movie is there’s so many quotable lines. Bill Murrary is amazing, but then again, he’s always amazing! A fantastic performance by Bobcat Goldthwait as well! All I have to say is this: Best Christmas Movie Ever. If you haven’t seen this flick, what are you waiting for!

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Visual

The audio came in loud and clear and the video looked sharp and colorful. Better than ever!

Special Features

The only special feature on this disc is the films theatrical trailer.

The Flick Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

The Flick:

While on the island Ferdinand falls in love with Prospera’s daughter, Miranda. At this same time, Caliban comes across Alonzo’s butler and his jester, Stefano (Alfred Molina) and Trinculo (Russell Brand) resepctfully. Together, the three make a plot against Prospera.

The story for The Tempest is a very interesting one and is quite great. Shakespeare really knew what he was doing when he wrote this play. It has great intrigue, is funny and has edge of the seat drama. The only problem here is that it’s not a very good movie. After working on Titus, Julie Taymor decided to tackle this piece of work. It’s a site to behold as it looks stunning, the acting is fantastic as this is a real top notch cast that also includes world class actors such as Alan Cumming, along with those listed. The problem lies in the fact that it’s really a bland movie to watch. The special effects really work well, but the directing leaves a lot to be desired. At a run time of 1 our and 50 minutes, the movie moves at a pretty good pace, but does feel a bit boring at parts. If you have a hard time understanding the writing of Shakespeare, beware that this movie uses his dialogue. That too might be a turn off to some.

The Extras:

Los Angeles Rehearsal — Features Julie Taymor, Dijmon Hounsou, Russell Brand & Alfred Molina: This was a bit interesting, as it is exactly what the title says, it’s rehearsal with some of the cast. You can watch the movie and get the same results. It is interesting, though, to see certain parts played out without the use of special effects.

Raising The Tempest — Julie Taymor Documentary About The Making Of The Movie: This was very, very interesting. This might have been better than the actual movie. It’s a making of the movie with interviews from Taymor and some cast and crew. It goes into the history of Taymor and the play. This is one of the must see aspects of the disc.

Julie Taymor Audio Commentary: Some stuff from the Making Of is repeated here. Goes a little more into the making of and other stories from the set.

Annotated Shakespeare — View The Tempest With Audio Commentary By Renowned Shakespeare Experts Virginia Vaughan & Jonathan Bate: This was a very interesting commentary. Stories about the play and various other trivia is brought to the forefront here.

“O Mistress Mine” Music Video: A music video of one of the songs, O Mistress Mine, that was used in the movie. It’s short and can really be missed.

Russell Brand Rehearsal Riff: It’s only slightly amusing, but fans of the not so funny many might enjoy this more.

Overall, the extras are a mixed bag. Some really good, while others leave a lot to be desired, much like the movie itself.

Audio/Visual: If the movie was even slightly better than average, this would be a must own for the visuals. The disc looks beautiful. Taymor uses the landscape of Hawaii, where the movie was shot, the best that almost anyone could have done. The special effects look wonderful.

The audio on the other hand is another story. I had to raise the volume on my television more than it normally is to hear the dialogue. Lines are mumbled at times. This proves again how inconsistent the movie is. The video looks wonderful and the audio is not up to par.

Movie Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Extras Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Series:

First off, let it be said that if you do not like tons of blood, violence, and excessive “fan service” aka panty shots and lots of boobs jiggling, then don’t watch this series. This series was requested by @nhales80 from twitter. High School of the Dead is an anime horror television series based on the manga of the same name by author Daisuke Sato and artist Shoji Sato. The series was serialized in the September 2006 issue of Fujimi Shobo’s Monthly Dragon Age, and the first volume was released by Kadokawa Shoten in March 2007, with a total of seven volumes available in Japan. The anime adaptation produced by Madhouse aired in Japan from July to September in 2010.

The series is set in the present day, beginning as the world is struck by a deadly pandemic that turns humans into zombies. The story follows Takashi Komuro the main male character of the series that is later voted the leader. There’s also three main females characters that have feelings for him. Rei Miyamoto the main female character, who liked Komuro then dated someone else but, likes him again. Saya Takagi who is a self-proclaimed genius, daughter of a politician and childhood friend of Komuro that also has feelings for him but always denies them. Saeko Busujima is a sword master in both wooden and metal. She’s calm and cool but, enjoys fighting and inflicting pain. It’s hinted that she’s crushing on Komuro, as well. Kohta Hirano is a devoted gun nut, and always will to protect Saya. He even has little bit of MacGyver in him. At one point he is able to craft a nail gun rifle that fires using gas cartridges. The school nurse Shizuka Marikawa, has a rather ditsy personality and her large tits are often used as a comical element in the story. Then there’s Alice Maresato, a 7 old girl and her dog Zeke, that was rescued by Komuro. She seems to have a cheery attitude, as Komuro and Saeko comment how she has “done well” in coping with the loss of her family.

While the students are trying to survive in a zombie apocalypse, they‘re actually aware of what zombies are and how to kill them. Komuro even says at one point, “We’re being attacked by corpses, but this is no movie or video game.” Which has always been my biggest issue when it comes to any zombie series or movie. I’ve never enjoyed when characters are ignorant to zombies or they act confused because they don’t want to believe they’re living in and experiencing the zombie apocalypse. The characters already know that head shots are the most effective way to kill them, which is a plus. Later, Saya Takagi experiments on some zombies and confirms that they are also attracted to sound. The group escapes the school and finds an apartment to stay in for the night. I found it convenient that the apartment was owned by Shizuka’s friend who’s an illegal gun owner and a world class sniper that saved Alice and Zeke with some fancy wall walking balance moves. Then they escape to Saya’s house, where they camp out for awhile and the season ends with them in front of police station.

Conclusion:

The plot is not very deep but, as for the zombie apocalypse storyline, the flow makes sense. These things could actually happen and the actions are not outrageous for the characters to come up with. So it gives the whole thing some realism, which is one of the reasons why fans like it so much. Zombies, fan service, decent plot, fantastic animation all make for one of the best zombie animes you’ll ever see! My biggest complaint is this: When is the second season coming out? I’ve heard that the creators were talking about a second season but, no word on when it will come out.

There is also an OVA but, I am not sure when it takes place during the series. This OVA does not add to the plot, it is just 25 minutes of hot sexy fan service. The ending of the OVA is hilarious, definitely worth the watch. On a side note I would give the OVA 3 Stars, I am all for fan service but give me some plot!

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Visual

Sound quality is amazing and the animation is stimulating. The format is in widescreen and the language options include English or Japanese with English subtitles.

Special Features

There is a clean opening and closing animation, along with some trailers and previews.

The Series Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray Rating: 5 out of 5 stars