The Transporter Blu ray
Frank Martin (Jason Statham) is the best as what he does: transporting dangerous or illegal goods with no questions asked. But his last shipment, a beautiful young woman kidnapped by international slave traders, brings deadly complications to his delivery plans. Now Frank must kick into overdrive in a nonstop action-packed fight to save his precious cargo – and his life.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Jason Rocks in this role
A new Bondish franchise in the making. This flick is almost a parody of them, with great action scenes, the comradie of a villian, and a highly charismatic performance from Jason Statham. Steathem is ripped and flexible, scary tough, even though the most violent scenes are almost cartoonish at times. Decent storyline. What I liked most was his role, the good guy bad guy. In fact, he would be perfect as the next Bond (if they go back to the old style script), as the last two put out were serious flops in my view.
3 Stars 2.5 stars out of 4
The Transporter:
Reasonably enjoyable, if completely forgettable, The Transporter rides on the charm of lead Jason Statham and delivers pretty much what could be expected from its bare-bones plot.
4 Stars It’s on Blu-ray!
This movie really brought the action genre back during a time when when the movie biz was catering to tweens and their love paper-thin plotlined romatic comedy garbage.
This movie put a bicycle pedal on it’s foot and kicked the box office in the throat! So the weak story and cheesey lines coupled with great fights and car chases are the reasons I really enjoy this one! When I’m in the mood to see a car chase and some hand to hand combat this has always been an enjoyable ride.
A great transfer to HD. I liked this movie a lot when it came out – which should make my disdain for the others in the series more palpable. The action is crisp and clean, fewer blurs than the standard definition. The care chases are that much more exciting. If you’ve seen this and are a repeat watcher of the movie then this is a purchase you won’t regret.
A notable improvement from the standard definition version you’ve likely seen. If you’re not fan then don’t spend the money on it.
4 Stars Action For The Action Seeker
There is romance in this movie. But this is not the movie to watch for romance. Their is a story in this movie. But this is not the movie to watch for a story. Their is intrigue in this movie. But this is not the movie to watch for intrigue. Their is action in this movie and plenty of it. This movie has action done perfectly. The choreography is great. Jason Stratham as Frank Martin is excitement personified. One fight scene after another mixed with bullets, bombs and car chases. If one took the time though, their wasn’t an unnecessarily high body count though. Didn’t matter in this one. It added or took nothing away from this movie. The “marose, cold , steele willed” protagonist (Martin) gets too involved with a client and delivery package sparking all the action, and from that point on the action never stopped. The oil fight scene was the only bit of humor, and was funny enough. The story was good, though it really wasn’t preaching. So the story wasn’t a big player. The romance was minimal, but appropriate. Could have been a little more of it, to explain more of Martin’s concern for his love interest, whom he just met. The intrigue was also minimal. This will not go down as one of the greatest movies of our time, with a mystery unlike any other. Not necessary. This is all about a foot to the face and a hiyaaa! across the neck. Well Done. Very Well Done. Stratham is an action star I plan on watching in many more such films.
PS. The concept of the movie, transporting unknown merchandise, was a welcome, new, fresh catalyst for the events in the movie. The possibilities are endless with that scenerio/plot. I look forward to several sequals.
4 Stars Quirky and entertaining: Statham is a new action star
In The Transporter, British action star Jason Statham plays Frank Martin and gets more than he bargained for when he breaks one of his own rules. As a transporter, he gets paid lots of money to deliver packages between parties that aren’t very nice. One rule is to never look in the package. Martin breaks this rule when he discovers he is transporting a live body. Martin delivers the girl, then on his way home the people who took the girl try to kill him. Frank doesn’t like this, so he returns to the home where he delivered the girl and wipes them out. Frank wants to be done with the situation but the girl (beautiful Taiwan actress Qi Shu) wants him to help her find out what the bad guys are up to.
This is a quirky action film. The fight scenes are set to original music that turns the martial arts laden fights almost into comedic opera. Statham’s Martin is an interesting character, but almost too subdued for a viewer to sympathize with. Action films can still be entertaining without strong character development or story. This is one of those movies. The plot exists to go from one fight scene to another.
The Transporter was obviously successful enough to spawn to sequels, and Jason Statham has gone on to star in many movies. Still, this movie isn’t close to a Bond or Bourne film. This is a good movie to rent to see if you’ll like its type of Hong-Kong martial arts-type action. Then, maybe, you can move onto the sequels.
Max Payne Blu ray
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars “I believe in pain…I believe in fear…I believe in death…”
My rating: 3.75 out of 5
The Good Things
*Video/sound quality is awesome.
*Includes both the PG-13 and unrated cuts of the movie.
*Includes some featurettes, commentaries, some picture-in-picture stuff, and a digital copy.
*There are quite a few excellent action scenes and special effects. Was very happy to see one awesome bullet-time effect (although a little dissapointed that there weren’t more of them). Some of these scenes are downright gorgeous (in a dark gothic manner).
*Fans of the game will recognize many similar things between the game and the movie.
*Photography is excellent.
*Storyline is not bad. Remains largely true to the original video game, and even bears many of the same sequences.
*Music is good (although not as much rock/metal as there was in the game).
The Bad Things
*Some slow parts.
*Some things don’t seem to be fully developed. Also, even though many things are true to the game, some things remain missing. I found it particuarly dissapointing that the story’s main villian was so strong in the game, but seems weak in the film (and they didn’t even get to kill her. Will they make a second movie?).
The Questionable Things
*The characters are okay, but nothing to scream about (it’s particuarly dissapointing since the characters in the game were so great, emotional, and well-developed).
*The movie ends with a “what, that’s it?” kind of feeling.
First of all, this resembles less of an action movie and more of a crime drama. Some may even call it film-noir (but I don’t think it captured the spirit if film noir as effectively as the game). Secondly, as I may have said over and over, many things are just not as good as from the original game (which was incredibly awesome, both as a violent shooting game and as a respectable story). With all this in mind, I found this film to be pretty respectable. It is well-made and has its share of awesome scenes. If you can forgive this movie of its flaws, it’s good in its own right and would reccomend it to anybody looking for a stylish film-noir crime drama. But, fans of the game and fans of extreme action may be dissapointed.
1 Star With comatose and sterile acting, this is one clunker to avoid
I remember seeing the trailer for this movie and still not having a clue what it was all about, I was confused by it but then saw the movie anyway because my boyfriend really wanted to, bad mistake…after the movie was finished even he though that Max Paine was a pain to watch.
With flaws up to the kazoo, it’s hard to pin point why this movie sucks. I have never played the game but that shouldn’t be the reason why it was unclear what the heck was going on. Mark Wahlberg played Max Payne so passionlessly that it ached to watch, he was flat and lifeless. I understand that in the film he went through trauma since his wife and kid were killed but did it kill his acting too? He wasn’t the tough guy he was portraying, he was a zombie, not to mention the lame casting; Nelly Furtado ( short part but still) and Ludacris? Really, are there no actors left to do their craft? Mila Kunis got her twitchy eyes fixed but still looked like a pug in makeup, not to mention Olga Kurylenko who played Mona Sax, literally wearing the same nightie she wore as a dress in her other movie “Hitman” I was appalled that she had to play the exact same character, her outfit and makeup was exact, and of course she had to act like a monkey in heat, once was enough but to see her do it twice in two movies where it was almost identical was maddening, grrrr!
At first the story was intriguing, the secret that seemed to bind people and then cause them death looked cool, not to mention they all had wing tattoos on their wrists; the wing of a Valkyrie, the Norse mythological deity that took those who died a violent death to heavens….Pretty soon we get to see dark winged creatures ripping people to shreds, later we find out that perhaps its all a hallucination, well at the end I didn’t know what it was and I watched the whole movie. The mystery sucks if all the ends are loose and the secret isn’t so shocking, some parts were obvious and some weren’t even surprising, just a poor choice of conclusion and overall I thought the movie had nothing to say, even the ending was hollow and unimpressive. Overall really disappointing!
- Kasia S.
4 Stars Good action
If you like good action,the likes of ‘Wanted’ ‘Shoot em up’ even ‘Matrix’ (to some extent) then this Blu Ray with mind blowing DTS sound is for you..this Blu Ray carries both the Theatrical aswell as the Unrated version..don’t expect too much from the unrated version (just 3 minutes extra),there is also a digital copy of the unrated version included. The special features are nothing to shout about, nevertheless this movie is good fun and had some really great “WOW”action scenes.
5 Stars NeoNoirFilm Wallpaper Visuals Sonic Treats BD Tops
Although it seemed like a snack from the SPIRIT, I enjoyed The PAYNE and it was a great A/V experience. These discs get better every time; the BD quality that is! The film is electronic also. I think that it is trying to look like a Detective film from the 40s or 50s and looks like the New York City of that period. A Digital Noir Game Graphic novel film with a less obtrusive, more casual ‘look’ than “Sky Captain’ & ‘Sin City’ also, less creativity and still has a plot and low key and likable characters plus a gothic sci-fi twist. And it will rattle your windows.
1 Star Ungodly awful
A big-screen take on Max Payne had been in the works for some time, and now that it has finally come to fruition, we should all be wishing that it never did in the first place. Mark Wahlberg plays the title character; a down and out cop who hasn’t been the same since the deaths of his wife and child. Could a strange drug that’s hit the streets have something to do with it, as well as far ranging conspiracy involving an evil company? You bet! What made the Max Payne video game so good was its noir-ish undertones, graphic novel-esque presentation, and blood-pumping moments of action. The Max Payne movie has little to none of the aforementioned, and instead settles for some atrocious acting, terrible dialogue, watered down action, a confusing story, and an overabundance of CGI-animated winged creatures that end up not amounting to much of anything to do with what’s going on; and the end result is a film that bears little to no resemblance to the video game other than the uses of character names. Wahlberg is just awful as Max Payne, which is what’s probably the most disappointing. The man can act, just watch The Departed, Invincible, or Boogie Nights, but you’d never know that it’s the same guy here. The rest of the cast, including Beau Bridges, Chris O’Donnell, Ludacris, Bond girl Olga Kurylenko, Donal Logue, The Wire’s Jamie Hector, and a mis-cast Mila Kunis as Mona Sax; are either equally bad or just plain wasted in their roles. The sad part is that this flick had potential to be one of those ever so few good video game adaptations, but alas, this is what we get. All in all, no matter how much of a fan you may be of the video game, the Max Payne movie is not only massively disappointing, but is a just plain awful flick that isn’t worthy of your time or attention.
Appaloosa Blu ray
Studio: New Line Home Video Release Date: 01/13/2009 Run time: 116 minutes Rating: R
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars the western returns in a realistic manner
This is a more realistic western with a good story and attention to detail. The actors really pull off a great movie in this one. Jeremy Irons is a excellent villian who seems to escape justice. Has he reformed or is he as bad as ever? That’s for the viewer to decide and one thing we don’t have to decide on is that Ed Harris needs to direct more movies like this one. Whatever time period he decides to set his next movie in.
The lead actress also takes a person that is too easy to judge and makes her seem very sympathetic to a degree. After all in the old west, women without a alpha male protector were in extreme danger. Especially of finding themselve; due to poverty of being confined to absolute prostitution. At least until the rule of law and civilizing of all the boom towns took place. This usually was a 2 to at most 4 year period for most towns.
Everything works well in this movie and in blue ray the picture shines with a great print and excellent mastering. If you like westerns or a a good story about a lonely man who falls for a flawed woman but understands why she is the way she is , then you will enjoy this great movie.
5 Stars REAL DEAL
If you’re looking for the 3:10 to Yuma then catch another train. Appaloosa is a slower and character driven movie. When the shooting starts it’s done in an authentic manner with no hollywood fast-draws out of modern day low slung holsters. The attention to historic detail is fantastic. As a resident of New Mexico I was happy to see many familar areas used in the filming. Also I was pleased that much of the dialog between Cole and Hitch was straight from the pages of the book. This movie might not be for everyone but if you are looking for an authentic western and well told story this one works just fine.
3 Stars Some good + some bad = average movie
First, to any reviewer, add the word SPOILER to your title if you are going to spelling out major plot points.
As for the movie, the gun fights were to fast, the love story developed way to fast and I just couldn’t in anyway like Rene’s character. The movie is strongest at the beginning and the end.
4 Stars Excellent Western that relies on characters rather than action
Once, which seems like ages ago now the Western was the most popular genre in film; it seemed like every major release was a Western and like most genres there might come a time to where the genre film might have weak sales, but than bounce back. The Western though has never really made a comeback. The Western seems like something of the ghost of Hollywood past. Every so often a Western will be made and some have been decent sized hits it seems most break even or flop. There just isn’t a market for these movies anymore and nowadays it’s the modern day Western being made; the modern day Western takes the elements of a Western, but obviously set in modern day.
Every couple of years the Western returns and mostly they break even or are moderate hits; Appaloosa was a movie that I really wanted to see, but it only got a limited release and while it was playing in my City it was rather far out from where I live so I didn’t get a chance to see it, which was probably a good thing. Based on the previews one would think Appaloosa is a shoot `em up since the trailer shows mostly action, but that’s hardly what Appaloosa is. The action scenes are very brief and would probably only add up to maybe a minute of the running time. Had I seen the movie upon its release I probably wouldn’t have liked it since I’d be expecting something totally different. I’m not really sure why Appaloosa got an R-rating. I’ve seen plenty of PG-13 movies made the last couple of years that feature far more violence than Appaloosa.
Appaloosa is very much a character driven movie and doesn’t rely on action to advance the movie and thankfully the characters in Appaloosa are excellent as are the performances by the cast. I’ve never read the novel the movie is based upon so I cannot compare the two or how true the movie stays to the book.
The screenplay was written by Robert Knott & Ed Harris and the script was very solid and is quite simple and that’s why it works so well; there’s nothing really spectacular about the characters, but they all work well for the most part and the main characters Virgil Cole played by Ed Harris and Everett Hitch played by Viggo Mortensen are two great characters and they work so well because they are simple characters and very likeable and noble. What makes Virgil and Everett work so well is they aren’t the typical heroes. I think it was a great change of pace than the norm. Knott & Harris really do a solid job with the screenplay and the fact it’s a simple straight forward story makes it even better.
Besides co-writing and starring Ed Harris also directed Appaloosa and this is his 2nd feature film and I really hope Ed Harris does some more directing. He’s a terrific and underrated actor, but he’s also an excellent director. The pacing of the movie is slow, but never boring and the story is always moving forward I do think a few minutes could have been edited to help the pacing a little more, but again it’s never boring. The action scenes are very brief, but they work well. Don’t expect a long and drawn out action scenes; they’re brief, but work well, but I do feel the final showdown was slightly anti-climatic, while it worked, but this was the one action scene that could have been slightly longer. Ed Harris clearly has an eye for Westerns and he makes one of the better ones over the last few years.
Like I said earlier don’t go in expecting a shoot `em up; this isn’t anything like the remake of 3:10 to Yuma. Appaloosa is more of a character study and the plot set up seems like the typical Western with Everett and Virgil brought into Appaloosa to clean it up of the outlaws, but despite the plot again Appaloosa features little action and more focus on the characters. Ed Harris is great as Virgil Cole, Harris gives a terrific offbeat performance and Viggo Mortensen is quickly moving up the ranks as one of my favorite actors. This role is a lot more laid back compared to his recent roles, Everett is a man of few words, but Viggo once again delivers a knockout of a performance as does Ed Harris and the two actors work amazing together.
Jeremy Irons as Randall Bragg makes for an excellent if not underused villain. Irons plays a good part in the movie, but I would have liked to have seen a bigger part in the movie. Like I said Jeremy Irons makes for a good villain, but the part wasn’t big enough for the viewer to really dislike him. Renee Zellweger does well in the role of Allison French, but I did feel her character didn’t really add much. Had her scenes could have been mostly edited out it wouldn’t hurt the movie one bit. Not that her scenes hurt the movie or anything, but her character was the least interesting of the lot.
Sadly Appaloosa only got a limited release and in the age of big special F/X this movie will probably get lost in the shuffle and be forgotten about. And the fact it features very little action your average moviegoer will probably be bored. But with that said Appaloosa is an excellent Western that’s driven by the characters rather than the action. If you want a big shoot `em up check out the excellent 3:10 to Yuma, but if you want more of a crime/drama with some suspense and comedy thrown into the mix Appaloosa is worth a viewing. In my opinion Appaloosa was one of the top films of 08 and hopefully finds its audience.
The Blu-ray looks beautiful; the transfer is top notch and the sound quality is amazing. I haven’t seen the DVD so I don’t know how it looks, but the extra features are the same
4 Stars Successful book to movie transfer
The book was good, same for the movie. That alone is a feat not usually seen. The same laconic tough guys kick butt. The plot changes some, but it feels the same. A mean and lean western. One hopes the sequel can follow the book sequel.
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