Australia DVD Review

This old-fashioned, 165-minute homage to director Baz Luhrmann’s home continent depicts an Australia that is both over-the-top and filled with drama at every turn.

The romantic action-adventure epic film is set in a 1930’s/early 1940s Australia pre-World War I where an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) joiners down under to visit the large ranch she has inherited. She meets a rugged cattle driver known only as the “Drover” (Hugh Jackman) and they team up (along with a ragtag group of misfits) to herd cattle through the harsh landscape and thwart the evil plans of the local beef baron (Bryan Brow) and his evil lieutenant (David Wenham) as they attempt to take over Lady Ashley’s land.

The plot of Australia is overly riddled with melodrama, old-school climaxes and frantic glee. Those who enjoy this kind of un-ironic corniness may enjoy Luhrmann’s attempt at broad comedy, even without any discernable chemistry between Kidman and Jackman. The story, however, is moderately enjoyable if you can sit through its punishing 165 minute running time.

Fans of the film will enjoy the Australia DVD release as it includes a number of special features such as directors commentary, deleted scenes, trailers and more.

Twilight DVD Release Review

The DVD version of the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s bestseller Twilight is loaded with special features for hardcore fans who simply can’t get enough of their mystical brooding, pale, undead Prince Charming in all his forms.

The special features of the Twilight DVD release include an audio commentary with director Catherine Hardwicke and leading couple Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. There’s some grumbling and moaning from Stewart about her parts (one gets the impression she is actually quite similar to her reserved, self-conscious character in the film), some standard behind the scenes observations from Hardwicke and a lot of awkward, self-critical remarks from Pattinson, such as during their big kiss he states: “This is quite difficult, ‘cause I have a really flat head, and so it’s quite difficult to get a correct angle.”

What is really enjoyable about the audio commentary is when Pattinson stumps Hardwicke with simple plot questions she is unable to answer, such as “Why doesn’t James just kill her [Bella when she’s packing the house]?” Both Hardwicke and Stewart attempt to answer, but Pattinson seems less than satisfied.

There is also a great deal of extended and deleted scenes, including an additional dream-sequence kiss and more footage of Victoria (Rachelle Lafevre). The seven-part documentary looks at the development of the film from many stages, and the involvement of the author.

Madagascar 2 DVD Review

Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa is the much-anticipated sequel to the hugely successful animated film, Madagascar. In the second instalment, audiences get more of everything they loved in the first movie, including the evil, manipulative penguins, more of crazy Julian, king of the lemurs, more musical bits of classic rock by exotic animals, and many, many more zebras, hippos, giraffes and lions.

In the first Madagascar film, the coddled quartet of zoo animals found themselves shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar in a misguided attempt to find their home in the wild. Madagascar 2 sees the funny foursome fail their attempt to fly back to the New York Zoo with Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) in an animal reservation on the African continent, accompanied by the four lunatic penguins, the deraged lemur king (voiced by Sascha Baron Cohen).

While in Africa, it dawns on Alex that in wild coincidence, they are stranded on the country where Alex was born – and where his father is still the alpha lion – and where he evil uncle plots to take over.

New Kids Movies on DVD

There are many new kids movies being released to DVD all year round, with some bringing enjoyment to adults as much as they do to children. Here are the most popular new kids movies on DVD according to Amazon.

WALL-E – stars Ben Burtt and Jeff Garlin
This Disney-Pixar film depicts a robot that says nothing for a whole 25 minutes but somehow endears himself to the audience almost immediately. Read more