“Dante’s Peak” on BLU RAY – A Review

"...Second-Best Place To Live In America..." - Dante's Peak on BLU RAY

Setting aside the ludicrous premise of a magmatic eruption in rural USA - "Dante's Peak" (if you'll forgive the volcanic pun) - is a real blast. And it's a looker on BLU RAY too.

Pierce Brosnan plays Harry Dalton of the United States Geological Survey who is sent to the sleepy town of Dante's Peak - overlooked by a dormant volcano. Four years earlier Harry lost his ladylove Mary Ann to a blast he and his pick-up truck couldn't outrun - so his bosses think him good at his job - but also over-zealous when it comes to predictions.

Harry meets the town Mayor Rachel Wando (Linda Hamilton) and her family of two kids (Jamie Renee Smith and Jeremy Foley as Lauren and Graham) and soon forms a bond with them. But Harry also finds that the town has recently been awarded the "...2nd Best Place To Live In The USA..." - and the council is eager to keep the $18 million investment of an incoming conglomerate called Blair Industries. Unfortunately they are also a little too willing to overlook the Geologist's warnings that something is going on with the wizened trees, dead wildlife and rising acidity levels in the lake beneath the waking giant. And on it goes to a jug of water shaking on a table at a town meeting and all Hell then breaking loose...

When the big bang/property destruction finally does arrive - Dante's Peak disintegrates with real special effects style and believability - Director Roger Donaldson delivering on set piece after set piece. Brosnan looks fantastic - as does Hamilton - and there's convincing chemistry between them, the kids and Nanny Ruth (Elizabeth Hoffman). Right up to the end - the tension and drama is poured on - danger coming in lava flows through the kitchen, boat trips across sulphuric acid lakes, clouds of molten ash in rotary blades and finally to a crushed car in a disused mine.

Given a budget in excess of $100 million in 1997 - the BLU RAY picture is excellent - especially when it goes to the picturesque town and surrounding mountains (idyllic). The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 rattles your speakers with explosions that will wake the neighbours. Other Audio includes French, Italian, German, Spanish and Japanese DTS-Surround 5.1 - while Subtitles include English SDH, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Korean, Latin American Spanish, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, and Traditional Mandarin.

"Dante's Peak" is a properly entertaining movie on BLU RAY with a great cast and effects that impress to this day. Boil your bottom on this little hottie...

“Married Life” – The Movie. A Review of the 2008 Film on BLU RAY.

“Did We Build Our Happiness On The Unhappiness of Others…?”

Name-checking the top grade cast in "Married Life" - a sort of 40's/50's film noir tale of marital shenanigans - will be enough to draw most movie lovers in. And while Patricia Clarkson and Rachel McAdams are typically lovely, deep and believable in their roles, it's the two men - Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper - who really get to shine.

Its directed by IRA SACHS (pictured below) and adapted by him and ORAN MOVERMAN from the 1953 book by JOHN BINGHAM called "Five Roundabouts To Heaven".
Narrated by Richard (Brosnan's character), you just know you're going to enjoy this story when you hear him casually say, "I always thought marriage was a mild kind of illness...like the Flu or Chicken Pox...to which I was safely immune". Brosnan's tone throughout the narration changes - at first it's sly and laidback and suave - so you're not sure if he's the good guy or the bad guy - or both - and nor do you want to know - because in this clever and beautifully revealing film, the finding out is half the fun...

And who out there in movie land doesn't want to see a film with Chris Cooper in it? Harry (Cooper's character) is in a stagnating but not entirely loveless marriage to Pat (Clarkson). Then along comes the young, alive and beautiful Kay (McAdams) who stirs Harry's very soul - but alas also grabs the loins of the caddish Richard (Brosnan) - his lifetime buddy and pal. Friendships are tested, plots are formed and everyone drinks loads of scotch and smokes acres of cigarettes and acts as if nothing is wrong...

The boys as you can imagine - given meaty material - are great. Warm, cold, up, down - Cooper layers his performance - and he slyly fools you too by doing so. Brosnan is still great eye-candy and effortlessly charming - caddish one moment - genuine the next - he plays his character both ways - and does it very, very well. McAdams is enough to make most grown men weak at the knees and Patricia Clarkson - who probably has the least likeable of roles - makes you empathize with here character as a real person - a great performance from a genuine class act. In fact, you can just 'feel' how all the actors are rising to the slyness in the story - and you suspect they thoroughly enjoyed both working off each other and making this intelligently written little gem.

Visually it's period Americana - were in MAD MEN territory here - it's gorgeous to look at - and very "Shawshank" in places on the outdoor scenes - an absolute blast to view on Blu Ray.

The real unexpected pleasure, however, comes in 3 fully realised Alternate Endings that are almost as enjoyable as the entire movie - and without spoiling it - they take the story to other places - and brilliantly too. Brosnan - in particular - is exceptionally good.

There's a commentary by director and co-script writer Ira Sachs, but it's a damn shame there isn't an on-set segment - because here's actors and a movie you admire - and that would have been just great to get the writer and director's perspective too outside of hearing the entire film commentary

Not a masterpiece for sure, but a great little watch nonetheless and one that deserves your attention.

"Did We Build Our Happiness On The Unhappiness of Others...?" Brosnan asks towards the end of his voice over - watch this 'classy' little noir thriller to find out...

"Seraphim Falls". A Review Of The Movie On BLU RAY.

“…Let Him Bleed…”

Both Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson have been putting in superb performances in their last few movies, and the first pairing of them in "Seraphim Falls" is proof that both are now genuine class acts - only getting better with age and skill. Brosnan is a revelation in Seraphim Falls (as he was in “The Matador”) just as Neeson was in “Batman Returns”, “Kingdom Of Heaven”, and especially his Oscar-winning turn in “Kinsey”. In their latter years, each has acquired a grizzly realism that is serving them both well and their choices in movies.

The story is fairly simple - two ex Civil War soldiers of varying rank are locked into a Frontier manhunt in 1868. The relentless pursuance takes them from the snowy slopes of Ruby Mountain down through freezing rivers and into open pilgrim-filled ranges. It continues through homesteads and finally to a desert area that in many ways resembles both of them - arid, empty, drained and dry. Brosnan is the hunted and Neeson the pursuer, but we only find out as the movie slowly moves on, ‘why' Neeson’s character Carver is so obsessed with hunting Brosnan's character Gideon - and not just killing him either - but making him bleed and hurt as much as possible (dialogue above). It's essentially a cowboy chase movie, but done with such style and intelligence, that it grips you for the first hour like a Terminator that just won't stop. The support cast is all uniformly excellent too, but it's the two leads that hold it together.

The cinematography is spectacular and the look and dialogue just right. But it's let down as some reviewers have quite rightly pointed out by an odd last twenty minutes - that in many ways spoils the great journey you just made with these two essentially good men locked into the horrible aftermath of war. Very old fashioned in ways, but hugely enjoyable - I'm reminded of "Jeremiah Johnson" from 1971 with Robert Redford and "Black Robe" from 1991 by director Bruce Beresford (Tender Mercies and Breaker Morant) - two fantastic frontier 'story' films that are rarely seen, but worth every second of your time seeking them out.

The BLU RAY is now only a fiver new on Amazon - which is some kind of bargain on a format that isn’t exactly chockers with them. As you can imagine the image is superb and adds a great deal to your enjoyment of the movie. The BLU RAY also carries over the short but informative “Making Of” from the original DVD issue – it has interviews with all the principal leads – clearly enjoying themselves and drawn by a good script and great locations. There’s an audio commentary with Pierce and Director David Von Ancken and Production Designer Michael Hanan. Subtitles are in English for the Hard-Of-Hearing only. But it’s the driving story and picture quality that will keep you coming back.

Having sat through some truly appalling films of late, “Seraphim Falls” was like a breath of fresh air to me - and I wish I'd seen at the movies.

Recommended.