The LAST ACTION HERO Makes it to Steelbook

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to everyone’s home entertainment library in a very cool Steelbook 4K Ultra HD Bluray from director John McTiernan and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the LAST ACTION HERO.

Danny (Austin O’Brien) is a young kid who lives in the part of New York City that is not exactly walking down the street friends. Living with mom Irene (Mercedes Ruehl) who is widowed, Danny spends his time watching movies. His favorites are about a cop named Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who is almost invincible.

He hangs out at the local theatre helping the projectionist, Nick (Robert Prosky). As kind of a thanks, Danny gets a ticket to see the early Jack Slater IV film. The story behind the ticket is that it once belonged to Harry Houdini. While watching the film, Danny finds himself IN the film! As the boy recognizes characters like Whiskers the cat detective (voiced by Danny DeVito), he tries to tell Slater that there are people he cannot trust.

When Slater’s boss Lt. Dekker assigns Danny as his partner, they start investigating Tony Vivaldi (Anthony Quinn) and Mr. Benedict (Charles Dance). Curious how they knew where to find them, they follow Slater and Danny home where daughter Whitney (Bridgette Wilson) is waiting and also manages to get the golden ticket. He also learns what it can do!

Danny finally tells Slater the reality of the situation once they reach Danny’s side of it all where he meets Mom Irene. Benedict, also in Danny’s world makes plans to deal with Slater by taking out the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. That is when it becomes time to terminate the bad guys!

O’Brien as Danny is such a strong kid and has no problem telling it like it is. He is a character we can all relate to finding escape in the movies. We have all done that and we have all found characters that we embrace so we absolutely are with this young man every step of the way.

Schwarzenegger as Slater (and himself) gives us the characters he came to be known for. Strong of course but also stubborn, relentless, and even funny. Here he is once again a cop with an opinion about everything thinking he knows what is best. This is a character we 80’s fans ‘grew up’ with so to speak and anytime there was a Schwarzenegger film in theatres, the lines were packed to get in.

Quinn as Vivaldi gets a chance to play a role that is filled with a great story and a bad guys, not that he has not done it in his previous roles – this one is just a tad twistedly different. Dance as Mr. Benedict is as amazing as ever and, like Schwarzenegger, can give a bad guy everything needed without really using a bit of muscle. He has sharpened his career with these roles and will always be ‘my dear brother Numsee’ (look up THAT reference kids).

Other cast include Tom Noonan as the Ripper, Frank McRae as Lt. Dekker, Ryan Todd as Andrew Slater, and F. Murray Abraham as Salieri. Cameos by Sharon Stone, Tina Turner, Robert Patrick, Mike Muscat, Maria Shriver, Little Richard, Leeza Gibbons, Jim Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Ian McKellen.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment encompasses motion picture production for television, digital content and theater releases. The studios include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films and Sony Picture Classics. To see what is coming to theaters and to home entertainment please visit www.sonypictures.com.

4K Ultra HD Special Features include Newly remastered in 4K resolution from the original camera negative with HDR 10, All-new Dolby Atmos audio plus the original theatrical ADDS mix presented as 5.1+ original theatrical stereo audio, Audio Commentary with Director John McTiernan, Deleted & Alternate Scenes (presented in 4K with HDR10), Alternate Ending, “Big Gun” Music Video by AC/DC, Original Behind-The-Scene Featurette and Theatrical Teaser.

Let us be honest with one another, the LAST ACTION HERO is on the list on any 90’s film fan because that time brought us some amazing and memorable films. It is a time when movies were actually put on the screen to entertain us in ways that had us leaving the theatres laughing and repeating our favorite lines – not so much anymore. Seems now all the films are full of lectures and telling us repeat stories from original films we refuse to emotionally let go of.

LAST ACTION HERO is fun, funny, entertaining, makes us cheer, jump, laugh and root for the underdog with every fiber of our being. It was a theatrical experience then and with the fantastically large flat screens and sound bars we have in our homes now – this is one film that can feel like it is the 90’s all over again and truthfully, that is not a bad thing.

Having LAST ACTION HERO in a very cool Steelbook is an absolute bonus and adds to its coolness from the 90’s to 2021.

In the end – the oddest pairing will save both our worlds!

 

The Legend of the IRON MASK

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Blu-ray from Lionsgate Home Entertainment and writer/director Oleg Stephchenko is the story of the IRON MASK.

Miss Dudley (Anna Churina) is miserable since the day her father Lord Dudley (Charles Dance) chased off the love of her life Jonathan Green (Jason Flemyng).Still receiving letter from him, she learns he is in Russia making maps for Peter the Great (Yuri Kolokolnikov) - or so he thought. Ending up in jail, Jonathan also meets Cheng Lan (Yao Xinglong) who is kind to him.

Receiving word to let Jonathan go, he makes one request and that is to take the young Lan with him. Their run on the road takes them to China where Lan is free to fight for the cause of her people. In an English prison, jailer James Hook (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has a mysterious Master (Jackie Chan) and a masked man Peter. Fighting for freedom, the two come together to find a way to escape but it is Peter who runs free.

Agreeing to take a medallion to the master's daughter, another journey takes place only to discover that Jonathan and Lan are already there, along with the surprise of Miss Dudley! The medallion is needed to take on a Princess who wants the medallion to rule the world.

But not if those who fight for the people can help it!

Chan as the Master once again plays a quiet character who does not have much to say, but rather takes everything in and then makes the call. Chan has the chance to give us a little martial arts action as well watching feats of drawer checking heights. Of course, having the final scene with Schwarzenegger, he gets the chance to lament truths that are universal.

Schwarzenegger as Hook is the ruler of an English prison but, according to some, has a heart. Translated that means if you can beat him and get to the top of the ladder - well, you are free. When you are as big as Hook, you must give points for bravery at whoever tries it. This seems like a fun role for Schwarzenegger and it shows.

Flemyng as Green is a map maker and a artist that has been away from Miss Dudley a little too long. From England to Russia to China, he sees fantastic creatures as well as how people in power treat one another. Churina as Miss Dudley knows only one thing, she wants her man back and nothing is going to stop it from happening.

Xinglong as Cheng Lan know the culture and mythology of her people and has spent her years trying to bring back what has been lost. Lan's travels are equally as extensive as Jonathan's and fate bringing them together is just what they both needed to get to their destination. Kolokolnikov as Peter has been long away from his own home, but he is not about to return without helping those who made his freedom possible.

Lionsgate is a global leader in motion picture production and distribution for theatres, television, home entertainment and more. Theatre franchises include THE HUNGER GAMES, and DIVERGENT along with JOHN WICK. Now, adding this film to its 16,000-motion picture and television titles you can see everything coming soon as well as available now at http://www.lionsgate.com.

IRON MASK is a fantasy film filled with creatures, martial arts and a mixture of mythologies. As with many films from Asia, the film is colorful and filled with flights of fancy. There are secrets and twists that weave this tapestry of storytelling with a cast that is as vast as the miles the story puts on the screen. There is also a moment to see Rutger Hauer giving us a look at his final performance.

It is actually fun to try and pick out the places the characters are, the creatures and their story as well as the final place and the story behind the dragon! Being a fan of dragons in all their guises, IRON MASK gives us a beautiful story about them and the loyalty of those who protect theirs.

In the end - sometimes you just need to really see the beauty of the world!

WONDERS OF THE SEA is Stunning on 4K and Bluray

 Jeri Jacquin

On magnificent 4K Ultra HD and Bluray from director Jean-Michel Cousteau and 3D Entertainment Films comes a piece by the most trusted name to talk about WONDERS OF THE SEA.

The Cousteau family is a name synonymous with the ocean beginning with Jacques Cousteau who was a French Naval Officer who became a conservationist and filmmaker studying life under the sea. Many people might not know, as I didn't, that Cousteau also helped to develop the aqua-lung allowing for longer and deeper ocean dives. Through his research he wrote books and brought the ocean into our living rooms with a series I saw growing up called The Undersea world of Jacques Cousteau.

Now his son Jean-Michel and his children Celine and Fabien are following in their father's scuba-steps to show us more of the fascinating creatures that live under the sea. Narrated by Arnold Schwarzenegger who is himself an professed environmentalist, the film follows the Cousteau's from Fiji to the Bahamas (and even a stop at Catalina Island), the film is "an important educational and ecological component, which is emphasize throughout [the film] in a subtle and non-aggressive manner".

The idea is put forth that without the ocean we cannot live because 50% of the oxygen on the earth is provided by the sea and it also absorbs thirty percent of all the man made Co2. Cousteau says, "When you protect the ocean you protect yourself and future generations."

All of this is incredibly important and this documentary allows viewers to see the wonder, beauty and even comedy of the creatures that depend on the ocean for their survival. They are colorful, mystical, hilarious, endearing and so stunningly beautiful that it is impossible to not want to pick up every piece of anything floating in the ocean. I tell my granddaughter on our walks along the shore when we see trash, "how would you like to live with that in your home?" and she understands the importance. It may seem a small thing but if everyone did a small thing it would easily become a big thing!

The Cousteau's bring to us all the wonder that is the ocean but they also bring something else - a bit of themselves. Talking through the documentary, each telling their story along with Schwarzenegger, the viewer has a chance to know these conservationists on a family level and discover what motivates them to continue with Jacques Cousteau's original work.

The bonus features of the disc include Interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Making of WONDERS OF THE SEA, and Music Video: Heart of the Ocean.

WONDERS OF THE SEA is eighty one minutes of information and visuals that are absolutely clear, colorful and tell stories about the creatures we know so little about. It is a way to understand why people are concerned with what is happening below the water line. We all tend to take the ocean for granted, especially where I live because it's right in front of me daily. People walk along the sand, fish, swing and surf never truly taking a moment to realize the life that is below and the effect that climate change and pollution have.

I truly believe this documentary should be shown in schools everywhere as a teaching tool to introduce students at a young age to a bigger, wetter world. There is a generation that is coming into their own about the world around them and this is a chance to see how many of them might see themselves in a wet suit swimming alongside a Cousteau in the future!

On a side note, in 1975, singer/songwriter John Denver wrote a song Calypso after Jacques Cousteau's mini-craft and the lines of the song says, "To sail on a dream on a crystal clear ocean, To ride on the crest of a wild raging storm, To work in the service of life and living, In search of the answers to the questions unknown, To be part of the movement and part of the growing, Part of beginning to understand, Aye Calypso the places you've been to, The things that you've shown us, The stories you tell, Aye Calypso, I sing to your spirit, The men who have served you so long and so well". I couldn't have sung it better myself!

In the end - there is so much to wonder about in the sea!