THE EPITAPH VOL. 6 - THE WARNER BROS. EDITION!
THE MATRIX TRILOGY (1999-1993) - THE MEG (2018) - THE QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE (1958) - TEEN TITANS GO! AT THE MOVIES (2018)
THE MATRIX TRILOGY (1999-2003) arrives on 4K Ultra HD release from Warner Bros.. It had been a long while since I watched the sequels, so it was quite nice revisiting them in 4K Ultra HD with Dolby Vision and HDR, plus an immersive pulse-pounding Dolby Atmos audio presentation that rocked my house - and probably my neighbors too! The first film still pulls me right into it, a blend of noir and sci-fi that stands on its own, but the sequels less so in my opinion. There's no denying however that the sequels are a visual delight with loads of fighting-action and sci-fi wonder. I've always found the middle to be a bit of a placeholder, setting up the third and better final film, which delivers the goods with a massive sentinels assault on Zion, which is a mighty spectacle! We also get Neo facing off against the increasingly viral Agent Smith with an epic fist-fight that will ultimately decide the fate of The Matrix. I don't think the sequels live up to the promise of the original film, but it is a dazzling ride and it looks awesome in 4K Ultra HD, these films have never looked better, so fans of The Wachowskis epic sci-fi trilogy are n for a real treat, this comes highly recommended. Sadly, this set does not include The Animatrix anthology and is missing a couple of the extras that were on The Ultimate Matrix Collection Blu-ray set. However, most of the extras are ported over here for fans, including the Philosophers Commentaries for all three films, which is if you want to get real deep about the deeper spiritual themes of the series are amazing. Each film is presented on 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo in it's own 4K Ultra HD black keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork housed in a Slipcase, it's not as deluxe as The Ultimate Matrix Collection Blu-ray set, but does look great on the shelf, but I wouldn't sell-off that previous set yet f you're a completest. Noteworthy, the accompanying Blu-ray versions of the film have also been restored, oftentimes these 4K releases just include the previous Blu-ray versions with no upgrade, so it's nice that WB have upgraded the Blu-ray presentations as well.
Real-big shark movie THE MEG (2018) arrives on Blu-ray+DVD+Digital from WB, it's a big, dumb, fun, PG-13 adaptation of the '97 book Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror, starring man-of-action Jason Statham (Ghosts of Mars). Here we have a group of scientist working in an underwater research station funded by annoying billionaire Jack Morris (Rainn Wilson, House of a 1000 Corpses). On the maiden voyage to the bottom of the ocean to explore uncharted waters a research submersible and a trio of scientist on board become stranded when an unknown creature of unusual size attacks them. They call in deep sea rescuer Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham, Crank) who just happens to be the ex flame of the submersibles pilot, and who also has had his own strange deep sea experience with an enormous creature years earlier. Yup, it turns out what we are dealing with here is a 75-foot long, long-thought-extinct, Megalodon, a big ass shark that eats whales for breakfast. The film has some fun action beats, lots of broad comedic performances, a cool-looking giant shark. For a PG-13 shark movie the film still manages to offer up some decent carnage and big-action, leaning more towards action than carnage, so if you're looking for a bloodbath you will be disappointed. Originally Eli Roth (Hostel) was attached to direct the film, I sort of wish he had stayed on, it would have been bloodier and I really wanted this to be a bloodier movie, I craved more carnage, but as a big, dumb action film about a gigantic shark terrorizing a beach in Singapore it's a fun watch.
From Warner Bros. cult and classic arm the Warner Archive comes QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE (1958) - a real gem of schlocky 50's sci-fi. Here we have a space crew in the then-futuristic year of 1985 on rocket headed to a space station when the station is blasted to bits by a space-ray of unknown origin. The same ray is used against the ship as well, knocking them off course, crashing them onto the planet Venus, which contrary to popular belief is covered in lush multi-colored vegetation and a breathable atmosphere similar to Earth's. It's inhabited by gorgeous high-heeled women in short skirts! The men are captured by the gorgeous Venusians who are ruled by the cruel Queen Yllana (Laurie Mitchell, The Girl who Knew Too Much), who believes that Earth is an imminent threat to Venus, planning to use her destructive space-ray to destroy it! Not all the women of Venus are Earth-hating hotties though, enter the gorgeous and compassionate scientist Talleah (Zsa Zsa Gabor), who plots with the imprisoned Earthlings to overthrow the tyrannical queen! This slice of 50's schlock offers up some very pleasing vintage sci-fi visuals, wisecracking sexist characters and some campy bad-acting, a real delight for lovers of b-movie magic. If you love vintage sci-fi this colorful CinemaScope cult-classic from yesteryear is a must-own. The disc is light on extras but includes a trailer and a fun audio commentary from star Laurie Mitchell that is moderated by film historian Tom Weaver, both offering some great anecdotes about the production of the film.
As a forty-plus old guy kiddie-friendly superhero stuff is not my bag, but watching TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES (2018) was not without a certain cartoonish charm. The flash-animated series has been a favorite of my grandson's for a while now, but I've always found it slightly annoying, but it's not really aimed at me either. This feature-length theatrical version of the cartoon is more of the same, but maybe a bit more meta with with it's referencing of the DCU, here we haveTT-leader Robin being frustrated by the fact that he has not yet had a movie made about him, the tipping point is when he sees a trailer for a film about Batman's butler Alfred is on the way. Fed up with this slight the team head to Hollywood hoping to get a movie made about Robin and the Teen Titans. It's still a bit too kid friendly for me to really sink my teeth into but I did enjoy the meta references, with the film taking the piss out of the Green Lantern film and other DCU properties, riffing on how Slade is really a poor man's Dead Pool, plus we get many cameos from other DC character including Swamp thing, Jonah Hex and the Green Lantern Corps. It's not for me, but I can tell you that the room full of kids I watched it with were bonkers for it!
All of these titles were provided by Warner Bros. to us for the purpose of review.
From Warner Bros. cult and classic arm the Warner Archive comes QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE (1958) - a real gem of schlocky 50's sci-fi. Here we have a space crew in the then-futuristic year of 1985 on rocket headed to a space station when the station is blasted to bits by a space-ray of unknown origin. The same ray is used against the ship as well, knocking them off course, crashing them onto the planet Venus, which contrary to popular belief is covered in lush multi-colored vegetation and a breathable atmosphere similar to Earth's. It's inhabited by gorgeous high-heeled women in short skirts! The men are captured by the gorgeous Venusians who are ruled by the cruel Queen Yllana (Laurie Mitchell, The Girl who Knew Too Much), who believes that Earth is an imminent threat to Venus, planning to use her destructive space-ray to destroy it! Not all the women of Venus are Earth-hating hotties though, enter the gorgeous and compassionate scientist Talleah (Zsa Zsa Gabor), who plots with the imprisoned Earthlings to overthrow the tyrannical queen! This slice of 50's schlock offers up some very pleasing vintage sci-fi visuals, wisecracking sexist characters and some campy bad-acting, a real delight for lovers of b-movie magic. If you love vintage sci-fi this colorful CinemaScope cult-classic from yesteryear is a must-own. The disc is light on extras but includes a trailer and a fun audio commentary from star Laurie Mitchell that is moderated by film historian Tom Weaver, both offering some great anecdotes about the production of the film. 
