Bluray Round Up!

This is going to be a new feature here that I want to try out. Now that Bluray is taking off studios are rapidly releasing a lot of catalog films. Rather than do a full fledged review on each release, I'll group them together and mini-reviews on the discs themselves. This feature will mainly be reserved for Catalog releases, meaning older lower profile releases of films. It allows me to get some great info out to you guys about a lot of different releases without inundating the site with large reviews on films that you may or may not be interested in.

Thankfully, the films we're discussing today are all three pretty interesting films that you might want to check out. Another bonus? They're running pretty cheap right now!

Click the Rawr! and read about today's featured titles: The Kite Runner, A Mighty Heart, and Things We Lost In The Fire


The Kite Runner
Written by: David Benioff.
Based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini
Directed by: Marc Forster
Starring: Khalid Abdalla, Atossa Leoni, Shaun Toub,Sayed Jafar Masihullah Gharibzada, Zekeria Ebrahimi, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada, and Homayoun Ershadi

Bluray Specs:
1080p High Def
English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD/French 5.1 Dolby Digital/Spanish5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English/English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Bonus Features: Commentary with Marc Forster, Khaled Hosseini, and David Benioff, Words from The Kite Runner, Images from The Kite Runner, Theatrical Trailer in HD.

Based on the brilliant novel, The Kite Runner is the story two inseparable young boys who's friendship is shattered by a horrible event. Years later, one of them will return to his home to right his past wrongs and hope he can be redeemed for his actions. This is a truly incredible story brought to the screen pretty well by Marc Forster.

The film, while good, doesn't compare to the novel. That's pretty much the standard when it comes to adaptations. The acting is fine and the direction from Forster is great I just didn't get the same connection from the film as I did with the book.

The Kite Runner looks and sounds great on bluray but features wise it's pretty weak, and this is a problem with all three films we're covering today. There is really nothing of note offered in terms of features. It's a perfect opportunity to do some features on the people and the culture of the region and to dispel some of the stereotypes. Some historical footage of the Russian invasion (assuming there is any) would have been interesting as well.

Fans of the book will be pleased with the film and while it's not quite as good as the book, it is still worth the watch. The disc is currently $14.99 at amazon so even with the small amount of features, you'll get a great deal on it.

A Mighty Heart
Written by: John Orloff
Based on the book by Mariane Pearl
Directed by: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Archie Panjabi, Mohammed Afzal, and Daud Khan

Bluray Specs:
1080p High Def
English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD/French 5.1 Dolby Digital/Spanish5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English/English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Bonus Features: "A Journey of Passion: The Making of A Mighty Heart", Public Service Announcement, Committee to Protect Journalist, and the Theatrical Trailer (HD)

A Mighty Heart is also based on a book, but this one is a true story, one that is rather recent and one that was very much in the public eye. We all know the story of Daniel Pearl and we all know the outcome but A Mighty Heart takes us deeper and shows us a more personal side as a wife searches frantically for her husband.

This was one of a few war themed films that failed to capture America's eyes when it arrived in theaters. I guess as a country we just didn't want to see what happening on our news when we went to the movies. That is unfortunate because that means this rather well done film was missed by a lot of people.

This isn't really a film about a war so much as about a wife who has lost her husband who was covering a war. He is a victim of the war for sure, but it's not really the central theme here. That would be the strength and courage of this woman, played wonderfully (albeit miscast) by Angelina Jolie.

Unfortunately, this film is also light on special features. It seems like a missed opportunity to touch on some important subject matter regarding the region or even more info on war zone journalists. It would have been a great idea to include the HBO documentary on Daniel Pearl here but I'd guess the red tape would prevent that from happening.

This isn't a must see by any means, but it is a well made adaptation of a tragedy that no one should have to endure. It is a true testament to the strength, faith, and courage Mariane Pearl had during this time. It's a gripping and emotional film that is certainly worth checking out.

Things We Lost In The Fire
Written by: Allan Loeb
Directed by: Susanne Bier
Starring: Halle Berry, Benicio Del Toro, Alexis Llewellyn, Micah Berry, John Carroll Lynch, Alison Lohman, and David Duchovny

Bluray Specs:
1080p High Def
English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD/French 5.1 Dolby Digital/Spanish5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English/English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Bonus Features: A Discussion about Things We Lost In The Fire, Seven Deleted Scenes, and the Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Things We Lost In The Fire is about a family dealing with the tragic loss of a father and a husband and the connection formed with his childhood friend. It is a very emotional moving film that does at times come of a bit cliched. The biggest surprise here is Halle Berry. Now, to be honest, I find her to be excruciatingly uneven as an actress. At times she is rather good but mostly, she seems well, bad. Thankfully, she turns in a great performance here. She is sublte and restrained and brings a true sense of realness to the character. As for Benecio Del Toro, well, the guy is brilliant in everything he does.

Despite it's predictability and typical Hollywood blueprint, I found myself deeply enjoying the film. It really portrays a family reacting and dealing with grief and showcases how human connections are established during these tragedies rather poignantly.

Out of the three blurays we're featuring here, Things We Lost In The Fire has the fewest features. In fact, what it does have can barely be described as features at all. Deleted scenes, a trailer, and a featurette. Surely, there was more in the vaults to beef up this set with?

That said, the film does stands on its own. It's a touching little film that has some truly memorable performances and while the bluray isn't bursting with bonuses, the film does speak for itself.

The Kite Runner, A Mighty Heart, and Things We Lost In The Fire are all available now on bluray and each of them are going for the extremely great price of $14.99 at amazon. Totally worth it for each of them. You're getting three great examples of dramatic film making and while they're pretty light on bonus features, they are still worth checking out.

We have a lot more bluray reviews coming up including Doubt and The Day The Earth Stood Still. The next round up will feature the upcoming bluray releases of Grease and Ferris Bueller's Day Off!