My Favorite DVDs

Updated 9-2-05

 

Watching a movie is one of my favorite forms of entertainment. The following is a list of some of my favorite DVDs, along with a brief explanation of their greatness and notes on multiple versions available. While I may not own some of the following movies, I have at least checked them out and found them worthy of my (and possibly your) time. And please, watch in Widescreen, if possible. There are exceptions, but those are rare.

Warning: some of these movies are rated R, NC-17 or unrated due to violence and such, and are not suitable for kids. Sorry. If you're underage, wait a few years, these ones are worth the wait. Enjoy!

 

Horror

The Evil Dead movies are my favorite horror flicks. Evil Dead is a wonderfully low-budget movie, with some cheesy effects and lots of gore. As the budget increased, so did the comedy. Evil Dead II invents the "splat-stick" genre, and Army of Darkness is hilarious, though less of a horror movie.

The extras on the discs are great, with Bruce Campbell's commentaries being a real hoot. In addition, the Evil Dead: Book of the Dead edition is contained in the coolest DVD case I've seen to date. ED2 was once available in a groovy limited edition tin case. AoD: Boomstick Edition is the same as the previous limited edition release from a few years ago, and contains both the theatrical version and the "official bootleg edition".

Warning: the first 2 movies are quite gory, and not for children or those with weak stomachs. Also, Evil Dead was originally filmed in fullscreen, although the version listed below has been remastered from the original negatives to create a widescreen presentation.

Recommendations:
Evil Dead: Book of the Dead (Anchor Bay)
Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn (Anchor Bay)
Army of Darkness: Boomstick Edition (or Limited Edition) (Anchor Bay)

 

While there are many versions of this classic zombie movie available, the 2 best are available from Elite Entertainment. The Millennium Edition has the same amazing video quality as Elite's other release, but contains more extras. To see how Elite cleaned up the image, watch the movie, then watch the original trailers included. The restored video is MUCH clearer. This is one movie that is meant to be seen in fullscreen. Another low-budget horror movie, NotLD was filmed near my hometown. I'll be sure to add pictures from the cemetery it was filmed in when I get the time (the picture at the left is one of mine). Avoid the 30th Anniversary Edition at all costs - while the video is supposed to be second only to the Elite versions (most versions are quite grainy), the film has been altered with new footage, and some old footage was removed.

Recommendations: Night of the Living Dead: Millennium Edition (Elite)

 

The second movie in the Dead trilogy is a little less claustrophobic than Night was. Four survivors hide in an abandoned shopping mall (the Monroeville mall - about an hour from my hometown), and things are good until a biker gang breaks in. Dawn shows us that the zombies are us, and that we are destroying ourselves. There is still hope however, and the ending is less depressing than the one in Night of the Living Dead. This DVD also uses a new Divimax transfer, and the image is quite good for a late-seventies movie. There will be a multi-disc set later in '04 that contains both the theatrical and director's cuts, but the single-disc version has an acceptable amount of extras. There are 2 "Easter eggs" on this disc as well, including a funny interview with special effects guru Tom Savini.

 

The third entry in Romero's zombie trilogy, Day of the Dead was filmed in the Gateway Commerce Center in Wampum, which is very near to my hometown. While it is a bleak movie, Day is in color, though it is also extremely claustrophobic. The latest DVD release is Anchor Bay's "Divimax", with a new transfer. The result is very impressive for a low-budget film that is approaching 20 years old. Some people have complained that the colors aren't correct with the new transfer, and others claim that some of the dialog has been altered, but this DVD is still worth picking up.

Very gory and realistic looking. Tom Savini is a real master when it comes to gore - this movie is not for the squeamish.

 

This is a very strange movie, and a very good start for writer/director Lucky McKee. May is the story of a social outcast's descent into madness while trying to "make a friend". This could have easily been a laughable movie, but you end up feeling sorry for May, and the last 30 minutes are truly disturbing. May's doll - her only "real" friend - is also disturbing. There isn't a lot of gore onscreen, but it's still not for squeamish viewers or kids. Some people have compared May to Carrie (and Angela Bettis played Carrie in the TV remake), although May lacks the supernatural element of Carrie. The acting is consistently good for such an unknown movie, especially Miss Bettis' portrayal of May. My only real complaint about the DVD is a severe lack of extras - only a commentary track and trailers for other Lion's Gate movies are present. Once again, an independent horror movie has proven to be more entertaining than the typical Hollywood horror flick - but you know I still loved Freddy vs. Jason!

 

Hail to the King, baby! Bruce Campbell is Elvis, though not as you remember him. Here, Elvis is in a rest home in Texas, battling an ancient mummy with some help from JFK - a black JFK. Yup, it sounds ridiculous, but this is one of the most entertaining movies I've seen this year. I included this DVD in my horror section, but it's also quite funny, as well as being a touching drama. While Bubba Ho-Tep didn't have a very large theatrical run, it's now available on DVD, and you don't have any excuse to not see it any longer. And what a DVD it is - great video and audio quality, and even plenty of extras. Not too shabby for a very low-budget movie. Pick this one up. You'll thank me.

 

Blame Canada! Or maybe Artisan, or whoever they are now. In its homeland of Canada, Ginger Snaps is available on a wonderful DVD, with an anamorphic widescreen transfer, 5.1 audio and a few good extras. In the States, however, there is the awful fullscreen release, with soft video, 2-channel audio and a trailer being the only extra feature. The movie itself is quite good, too. Ginger and Brigette Fitzgerald are disturbing young women who fake death scenes and have a suicide pact. When Ginger is bitten by a wild animal, she finds herself becoming a werewolf. And yet this isn't a typical teen horror movie - it's smart, funny, and has Katherine Isabelle (ok, so did Freddy vs Jason... but she was grossly underused in that one). And Mimi Rogers scares me now. Definitely worth a rent, though I can't recommend buying the American DVD release. I tracked this Canadian DVD down on eBay for a reasonable $17 or so. The first sequel - Ginger Snaps: Unleashed - was released straight to video in the US, and has a better DVD, although it can't quite match the original for originality. And Katherine Isabelle is underused again (though it nicely focuses on Emily Perkins' Brigette)... oh the horror!

 

A straight-to-video horror flick (in the U.S., at least) from Canada. Doesn't sound promising, eh? Don't let it fool you, this one's much better than you might think. Unleashed picks up where Ginger Snaps leaves off. To avoid spoiling either movie, I won't say much more about the plot. The sequel is much darker, and more straightforward than the original, but it still has its moments. The adorable Ghost (Tatiana Maslany) creeps the heck out of me, far worse than Mimi Rogers did as Mrs. Fitzgerald in the original. The American DVD release is much better than its predecessor, though I hear the Canadian release is better still. And just to do something different again, Unleashed was followed by Ginger Snaps Back, which is set in Canada's early days, but uses the same actresses and character names. It, too, is direct-to-video in the States.

 

In some ways, this is the most conventional of the three Ginger Snaps movies. When I saw the previews online, it reminded me of Sleepy Hollow - not a bad start. After watching it, I was still impressed, although it can't quite compete with the original Ginger Snaps. The real surprise in this one was Emily Perkins - she really steals the show here. Katherine Isabelle plays Ginger pretty much as she has in the first two movies, despite the movie being set in the 19th century. The two girls - "The Red and The Black" - play off of each other well, and they are quite convincing as sisters. The DVD is pretty good as well. The images are dark, but detail is still good. Not a bad effort by Lions Gate, and a far better one than we got from Artisan for the first movie. The extras are decent for a low-budget, straight-to-video (in the U.S.) horror movie. We could use a few more independent movies like these in theaters. At their worst, they're still more entertaining than the bloodless, soulless, often PG-13 crapfests I've seen lately. (While Resident Evil was decent, I kept asking where the blood and scares were - it's a zombie movie!) At their best, the Ginger Snaps movies are inspired, funny and gory. Ginger Snaps Back really lets the blood fly in the last act, and the werewolves get far more screen time in this installment.  Overall, this was a good end - and beginning - to a great trilogy. I just hope to see Katherine and Emily in other movies, even if they're not in danger of being attacked by wolves, dealing with killer clowns or being squashed by telekinetic freaks.

 

This has got to be one of the most intriguing horror movies I've seen lately. The entire film was shot in a single 14'x14'x14' room. The lights projected against the walls make it appear to be one of thousands of different rooms, however. Claustrophobic, creepy, and sometimes gory, this Canadian film was extremely interesting. Some of the acting is a little off, but I highly recommend Cube. The video is a bit grainy but anamorphic, which is a big improvement over the previous non-anamorphic DVD. For $10, I was extremely impressed.  While Cube 2: Hypercube and Cube 0 have received fair or poor reviews, I'm willing to give them a shot.

 

This is an overlooked classic. I can't say too much about the plot, other than there are some mysterious murders in a "town the size of a postage stamp". Dead & Buried felt like a great, expanded episode of The Twilight Zone. Blue Underground has become one of my favorite DVD companies lately. While the video is often a bit grainy, most of the movies I've seen them release have been almost 25 years old. Also, the extras are decent, and most of their DVD sets are numbered limited editions with 2 discs. I highly recommend this set, especially if you find it packaged with Two Evil Eyes (a retelling of 2 Edgar Allan Poe stories, directed by George Romero and Dario Argento), as I did for $22.

 

Sci-Fi

This new version of T2: Judgment Day is a two-disc set with improved video quality (compared to the previous 2-disc set) and some new extras. The second disc contains a high-definition transfer of the theatrical version of the movie. While not a true HD-DVD, the quality is impressive. Unfortunately, you need at least a 2.5GHz processor (3.0GHz is recommended) with 512MB of RAM, and a better graphics card than my computer contains. With a 2.4GHz chip and 1GB of RAM, the video was quite choppy, but the picture quality was excellent. The first disc contains the extended version of the movie, though the theatrical version is available by finding an "Easter egg" on the disc. The movie itself has held up well despite its age. Most of the special effects are still quite impressive.

Recommendations: T2 Extreme Edition

 

The Alien Quadrilogy is one of the coolest DVD sets I've ever seen. The only thing cooler is the Japanese release of The Alien Quadrilogy, and that's because it comes packaged in a plastic Xenomorph head. Evil Dead: Book of the Dead has finally been dethroned. *Moment of silence, please.* With 9 discs and a 5' long Digipak, the Quadrilogy is one of the most impressive DVD sets in my collection. I have yet to sit through all of the extras, but I look forward to watching them in the future. In addition, an alternate cut of each movie is included. Alien and Aliens are excellent sci-fi/horror movies. Alien3 wasn't bad, and I've heard the extended cut is much better than the theatrical cut that I watched. Alien Resurrection was decent too, though it can't compete with the first two movies. Actually, not many other sci-fi movies can. Alien has influenced many lesser movies, such as Jason X and Starship Troopers 2. To top it off, the DVDs look great too. Even Alien looks as good as or better than some newer DVDs I've watched lately. This set is very highly recommended.

 

Action

This was a real surprise. I expected a generic action flick, and I came away impressed. Great video and audio quality, an entertaining story, and some great stunts. Five minutes into it, a friend commented that this was definately my type of movie, and he was right. While the soundtrack is nothing I'd listen to on my own, it certainly suits the movie, much as with The Matrix. In this case, it's OK to open the package, if the package contains this DVD. Watch it in Widescreen though!

 

Kill Bill has everything - action, anime, martial arts, buckets of blood (the spurting red stuff is on par with the Evil Dead trilogy, especially the geyser of blood in AoD) and lots of energy. You can tell Quentin Tarantino really enjoyed making this one. I haven't seen Vol. 2 yet, and probably won't until it's available on DVD. The extras on this first DVD are pretty slim, but the quality of the disc is high. Unfortunately for the buying public, the Kill Bill DVDs will be released in many different versions. The first discs of each part will be the theatrical versions. Future discs may contain the movie as other regions saw it (in full color during the big fight scene, etc), or may contain both volumes. And I'm sure they'll contain more extra features. Just don't be surprised when this happens. And if you want the newer DVDs in a few months, there's always eBay for your older ones.

 

While Volume 1 is a wild ride, Volume 2 is more sedate. That is not to say that the second half of Tarantino's film is boring. Kill Bill is still one of the more entertaining action movies I have seen in a while. Again, the DVD is pretty spare, although Mirimax has promised more extensive DVD sets in the future.

 

I think this is my favorite super hero movie so far. I'm a big fan of director Sam Raimi's Evil Dead films, as you may be able to tell, and there were several instances in this movie that reminded me of his brilliant work in those low-budget movies. The camera angles, the abuse dished out to the hero, and the use of a chainsaw to remove (or attempt to remove) body parts. While it's good to see that Mr. Raimi has not forgotten his roots, it's even better to see he knows the roots of the source material. If only directors of video game-based movies showed such attention to detail, maybe we'd have a scary Resident Evil movie. The DVD is pretty impressive as well. The video quality is improved over the original Spiderman disc, and the CGI in the movie has improved as well. The extras are interesting, and there seem to be plenty of them. Overall, I'm very happy with this set.

 

Disclaimer: the original Sin City DVD is a barebones release. The only thing unique about this disc is the animated menu system. The background morphs from scenes in the graphic novels to the corresponding clip from the movie. While this is going on, the awesome instrumental version of The Servant's Cells is playing in the background. If you've seen the trailers for this movie, you've heard the song. I was worried this disc would be a disaster - the movie's almost entirely black and white, with brief flashes of bright colors. Given the sad state of many other Dimension DVDs, I expected this to suffer from horrible video quality. Fortunately, they got the audio and video quality perfect. As great as Sin City's presentation is, director Robert Rodriguez has promised an amazing special edition that should be released soon. Extra footage will make the individual stories even more faithful to the source material. This will be the version that I purchase. Until then, rent this DVD and prepared to be blown away by the gorgeous visuals. As with Rodriguez's Mariachi series, this one is not for the young ones in the family. A video store clerk mistakenly called this a Tarantino movie when I rented it - and  I suppose they can be forgiven, as he did direct a small part of Sin City, and the overall feel is similar to Kill Bill.

 

Animated

Here's one for the whole family. The story's great, the video quality and animation are amazing, and you know you love Buzz and Woody! As of early 2003, the Toy Story movies were being sent back to the Disney Vault, so grab your copy before they become rare and the price goes up. Most of Disney's best movies have been coming from Pixar lately. While these movies have been wonderful, Disney's traditional 2D animated movies have been lacking - mostly unnecessary sequels to the classic Disney movies. Anyway, I hope Disney continues to make movies that both parents and kids will love - like Toy Story.

Recommendations: The Ultimate Toy Box: Toy Story and Toy Story 2

 

This is one of my favorite traditional animated movies. The plot is quite similar to that of Hamlet, although I don't recall a singing meerkat and warthog in the Bard's tale. The animation looks beautiful on the DVD, although some DVD players will stumble when you watch the added musical sequence in the extended version (it worked fine on my Toshiba). I wish Disney would learn that quantity doesn't mean quality when it comes to extras. While kids may enjoy the additional games and such, I would have enjoyed some more technical extras, as on other Disney DVDs. Then again, it is a kids movie - but one that appeals to people of all ages. Once this disc goes into "The Vault", it probably won't be available on DVD or video again until after '06, or whenever HD-DVD becomes available.

 

Musical

Brightly colored musicals can really show off the capabilities of the DVD format, and Chicago doesn't disappoint. While a lot of Chicago is dark, the black levels are solid, with little grain. The reds and blues looked very nice as well. My only real complaint about this movie is the decision to cast Renee Zellweger as Roxie. While Roxie is supposed to be less glamorous than Velma, I think they could have made a better choice. Oh well. Still a great movie.

 

A strangely wonderful movie, with lots of bright color and modern music, set in 1899 Paris. You really need to see it to appreciate it. Moulin Rouge certainly isn't your typical musical movie.

 

TV Boxed Sets

These are some of the funniest TV shows I've ever seen. The writing is sharp, the animation is good, and it's got Dr. Zoidberg! Some of the Futurama DVDs suffer from video errors, although it's not awful unless you're watching on a computer and have the window expanded to fill the entire monitor. Most of the time, these discs look and sound great, however. These sets also include some funny Easter Eggs for you to find, and have some good extras. I highly recommend these DVDs. And if you disagree, you can take Bender's advice and "Bite my shiny metal..."

 

I love these '80s TV show DVD sets! First, The Dukes of Hazzard, and now Knight Rider. I've wanted a black Trans Am for about 20 years now, and a large part of that is probably because of KITT. The video is surprisingly good for such an old show, and the sound is fine for 2.0 mono. I haven't yet gotten to the extras, but this set also includes the Knight Rider 2000 TV movie. My only complaint, which also applies to The Dukes set, is that the discs are double-sided, dual-layered DVDs instead of using 5 or 6 single-sided, dual-layered discs. I don't care for flipping discs, especially when the cost isn't significantly less than using more discs. I wish more studios would follow Fox's lead by using single-sided discs in thin, individual cases (curses to Fox for the gargantuan 9-disc Digipak for Alien Quadrilogy though!).

 

My favorite show currently on the air. 'Nuff said.

OK, since you asked nicely... Nip/Tuck is one of the most interesting shows on TV today. While it does push the limits of what you can see on TV, it is also a well-written and filmed show following two friends through their lives as plastic surgeons. What really makes it worth watching, however, are scenes that don't involve gore, strong language or nudity. The struggle to stay together - whether as a family, friends or business partners - is what really makes this show great. And the discs are pretty great too. The audio and video are very good for a TV show, and the extras are pretty decent too.

 

I'm sure it's getting old, but I'm going to criticize Fox again. This time, for canceling another good show prematurely. Firefly was Joss Whedon's third TV show (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel being his first 2). Unfortunately, the show was cursed from the start. First, it had a horrible timeslot - Friday nights. Now I used to love when the X-Files and Millennium were on at 9pm on Fridays, but nothing Fox has placed in that spot since has been able to survive. Granted, most of the target audience for these shows is not home at that time, so it's a poor choice. Since no one watches, it's far cheaper to put on an unscripted reality show. Next, Fox execs decided they didn't like the pilot episode, so the series started with the second episode. Then, the episodes were postponed and shown out of order. While showing a sitcom out of order may not affect it much, Joss Whedon's shows tend to have a long story arc that must be seen in the right context. So, as you can see, Firefly was doomed. Fortunately, fans of the show - the Browncoats - became vocal online and used this wonderful DVD set to spread the word about Firefly, and it has received a second chance. Serenity - a movie continuing the series - will hit theaters in late 2005. Until then, watch this DVD set. It's got some good extras, a funny easter egg or two, and it's anamorphic widescreen. Not bad for a cancelled TV show. The video quality is good, though grainy in dark scenes (and there are a lot). Part of this is intentional, as the show is very gritty and best described as a "space western". While you've probably heard that description for other shows, this one takes it far more literally. OK, now you're all going to rush out and borrow or buy this DVD set, and join us Browncoats in theaters in September 2005. Right?

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