The UMD Juggernaut Continues To Roll On

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With this year's projected box-office revenue set to fall far short of expectations and with theater attendance on a gradual decline, Hollywood studios are certainly blessed to find a reliable revenue stream in the form of DVD sales. Nowadays, movies that bombed in their theatrical runs usually are able to recoup some profits from both DVD rentals and sales. But hold on. DVD is not the only kid on the block anymore. With the recent release of Sony's Playstation Portable (PSP) game system, its proprietary UMD (Universal Media Disc) format has surprisingly emerged as a new and viable moneymaker for the major movie studios. Not only is the PSP built for games, it is also a remarkable device for displaying movies, thanks to its outstanding 4.3" 16x9 (1.78:1 ratio) TFT LCD screen. With the LCD screen's impressive image resolution of 480 x 272 (480 pixels per line & 272 lines from top to bottom) and its ability to display 16.7 million colors, the PSP's potential as a new portable movie watching system is immense.

After Sony started the ball rolling by including a free UMD copy of the "Spider-Man 2" movie in the first one million PSPs sold in the United States, other studios gradually climbed on board as well. One of the early adopters of the UMD format is Buena Vista/Disney (which owns Touchstone Pictures and Miramax). Back in May, I reviewed Disney's first five UMD releases. Since then, the studio has released a slew of other movies on UMD. Here are brief reviews of nine of those releases:

Sin City
There is no doubt in my mind that Robert Rodriguez is a visionary filmmaker. The unique comic book style and look that he has created for the action adventure film "Sin City" must rank as one of the most literal and amazing rendition a comic book ever had in its jump to celluloid. The technical achievements in this film are just exceptional, bringing to life in spectacular noir fashion, legendary artist Frank Miller's comic book of the same name. This film version is based on three of Miller's "Sin City" comic books, "Sin City: The Hard Goodbye", "Sin City: The Big Fat Kill" and "Sin City: That Yellow Bastard". Sensationally and graphically violent from beginning to end, "Sin City" never lets up on the action, propelling its three slightly connected stories forward without stopping to catch a breath. Here, the heroes are as flawed as the bad guys, providing a fascinating and complex examination of the duality of each of the characters' motivations and sense of good (or bad). For example, one minute you see the indestructible Marv (Mickey Rourke) beat up everyone on both sides of the law with the rage of a marauding T-rex and the next minute he is sadly lamenting (in a voiceover) the murder of the one girl that he has ever loved, vowing to rain down destruction on the people who committed that despicable deed.

Proving that the old-fashioned concept of good versus evil is well, never too old, "Sin City" forces us to take a cold and dark look at the essence of our own humanity, wrapped within the confines of a fictional and appalling landscape, bringing fascinating tales of loyalty, love and revenge to life in the most brutal way. "Sin City" benefits greatly from its ensemble cast that features some of the most established action stars in Hollywood. Get ready to be charmed by the likes of Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Benicio Del Toro, Nick Stahl, Elijah Wood, Rutget Hauer, Michael Madsen, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Devon Aoki, Michael Clarke Duncan and many more.

Rodriguez's critical decision to follow as closely as possible the black and white "look" of Miller's comics is the best thing about this movie. "Sin City" is in fact one of the best and most literal and faithful translations a comic book has ever gone through in its transition from paper to film. It's like you are watching subsequent panels of a comic book coming to life. On the PSP, the mainly black and white images of "Sin City" look absolutely gorgeous, with fine details translating well to the PSP's LCD screen. "Sin City" is framed in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Although this ratio is slightly smaller than the 1.78:1 ratio of the PSP's display, virtually the entire screen is filled. The only bonus material on this UMD is the same "Behind-the-Scenes" featurette found in the DVD version, which features interviews with Rodriguez, Miller, Tarantino and some of the actors. This UMD offers captions in English for the hearing impaired and Spanish subtitles and it opens with sneak peeks of "From Dusk Till Dawn" and the two "Kill Bill" movies (which can be skipped).

UMD Value: 9

Kill Bill Volume 2
Like his good friend and fellow director-in-arms, Robert Rodriguez, style is never a problem for maverick filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. His exciting conclusion to "Kill Bill Volume 1" practically oozes with his signature style of violence and is as explosive and even more enjoyable than the first one. A revenge movie to end all revenge movies, "Vol. 2" continues the remarkable saga of the Bride (a very nimble and buff Uma Thurman), as she claws, kicks, slashes and shoots her way through all the members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad to get to the ultimate prize, Bill (David Carradine). Definitely more engaging than the first movie, "Vol. 2" delves headlong into the complex relationship between the Bride and Bill. Through the use of flashbacks, the audience is given a clear sense of the ups and downs in the relationship between a master and his student, which finally ended (or started) with Bill putting a bullet into the Bride's head on her wedding day. Obviously, she survives through that hellish ordeal and is now hell-bent on revenge. Tarantino's clever use of retro Hong Kong martial arts-type moves, storytelling and editing imbue both movies with such a unique sense of style that would certainly be the envy of many directors.

While the "Vol. 1" UMD had all the exact bonus materials ported over from the corresponding DVD version, "Vol. 2" only features the one "Deleted Scene" that is similar to the one from its DVD cousin. This excised scene is actually a very well made fighting sequence that exudes the same high quality as the rest of the movie. It's just too bad that it did not make it into the final cut of the film. "Vol. 2" is displayed in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, which means that you will see black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. This is good news for anyone who is a stickler for preserving a film's intended aspect ratio. This UMD also offers English subtitles and captioning for the hearing impaired.


UMD Value: 9

From Dusk Till Dawn
Before "Sin City", Robert Rodriguez's cozy relationship with Quentin Tarantino dates all the way back to the mid-1990's when the duo collaborated on projects like "Four Rooms" and this film "From Dusk Till Dawn", an exhilarating action-horror black comedy that brought together the acting talents of Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Cheech Marin, former Raiders defenseman Fred Williamson, John Saxon and the ever-seductive Salma Hayek.

This film is such a fun romp from start to finish, with Tarantino shining in his most devilishly psychotic role as the rampaging headcase, Richard Gecko. Countering Tarantino's violent crackpot criminal mind is levelheaded brother Seth, played by Clooney. Also worth mentioning is Lewis, who practically reprises her career-making role from "Cape Fear", oozing with a disturbingly innocent sexuality as the preacher, Jacob Fuller's (Keitel) daughter, Kate. Through some unfortunate circumstances, this disparate group of travelers is brought together as the Gecko brothers try to make a run for the Mexican border, with their journey ending up at a tough biker bar called the Titty Twister. However, this is no ordinary watering hole--as the sun sets, the real monsters, in this case, hideous blood-sucking vampires, come out to play. What ensues is a darkly funny, gruesome and violent battle between man (and girl) and the legion of the undead.

The version on this film on UMD is based upon the 2-disc Collector's Edition DVD, from the use of the same front cover art down to some of the bonus extras. Obviously, the lack of disc space forces Disney to pick and choose which of the DVD version's bonus material goes on the UMD. In the end, we got the following features: "Hollywood Goes to Hell", "Deleted Scenes and Alternate Takes" with director's commentary, "On the Set" and two music videos, "After Dark by Tito & The Tarantulas" and "She's Just Killing Me by ZZ Top". Framed in its original widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, this UMD version of "From Dusk Till Dawn" never looked so good, with displays of exceptional clarity even during the really bright and dark scenes. Also included on this UMD are English captioning for the hearing impaired, subtitles in English and Spanish and Sneak Peeks of "Dark Water" and both the "Kill Bill" movies.

UMD Value: 8

Hostage
Ever since "Die Hard", Bruce Willis has been widely recognized as the quintessential action movie star. Throughout his movie career, the popular Willis has made sprouting witty one-liners while in the face of ridiculous adversity, his signature style. After a double dose of comedy in "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and "The Whole Ten Yards", Willis returns to his action roots in 2005's "Hostage", playing what else but an underdog cop. Following a very familiar script, Willis plays Jeff Talley, a former hostage negotiator who is now the chief of police in a small idyllic California town with little or no crime to speak of. Nothing ever happens here, right? Wrong! Obviously trouble comes calling, in the form of Mars (Ben Foster), Kevin (Marshall Allman) and Dennis (Jonathan Tucker), who breaks into a home and through some unfortunate run of events, end up killing a policewoman and holding the family in the house hostage, bringing a large contingent of law officers to surround them. But wait, there's something else going on here. Walter Smith (Kevin Pollack), the wealthy owner of the house is somehow connected to some bad elements from the outside and his unexpected imprisonment puts a major crimp on their plans.

This film could have ended up being your run-of-the-mill hostage rescue scenario but an unknown factor is thrown into the mix that puts the lives of Talley's own family in extreme jeopardy. However, even with this so-called "twist", "Hostage" could not climb out of the mediocre hole that it had already dug for itself. As usual, doing what he does best, Willis once again carries this film on his able shoulders, making it more tolerable than it deserves.

The anamorphic widescreen video on this UMD is an exact port of its DVD cousin, which means that its images are clear and richly detailed and the colors natural. "Hostage" is displayed in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with black bars at the top and bottom of the PSP's widescreen. This UMD version contains all of the bonus material from the DVD release except for the audio commentary. Look for the featurette "Taking Hostage Behind the Scenes", six deleted scenes and two extended scenes (all in anamorphic widescreen). Also included are English captions for the hearing impaired and Sneak Peeks of "Dark Water", "Sin City" and "From Dusk Till Dawn".

UMD Value: 6

Armageddon
Now, what good is a summer action flick if Bruce Willis is not in it, right? Well, that was probably what Michael Bay was thinking when he cast Willis in his 1998 space action adventure film, "Armageddon". This time, instead having to carry another film on his own, Willis gets lots of quality acting support from the likes of Billy Bob Thornton, Steve Buscemi, Michael Clarke Duncan, Will Patton, Ben Affleck (yes, him too) and Liv Tyler. In a year that featured two movies--"Deep Impact" and "Armageddon"--with very similar end-of-the-world scenarios, the latter movie takes a more exaggerated and entertaining approach to the subject matter and in my opinion, comes out slightly on top. Over-the-top is a very apt description for any number of director Michael Bay's films and "Armageddon" is certainly no exception. Where else would you find NASA hiring a ragtag group of the country's best oil well drillers, shuttle them to the surface of an incoming killer asteroid to drill into its core in order to blow it up with a nuclear bomb? Where else indeed!

In the two region 1 DVD incarnations of "Armageddon"--one a Disney release and the other a Criterion one--neither one features an anamorphic video image. For this UMD release, "Armageddon" is finally getting a video makeover in the form of an anamorphic widescreen presentation, preserved in the film's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Frankly, "Armageddon" on UMD has never looked better on any home video format, with highly detailed images and rich, natural colors. Unlike the DVD versions, this UMD does not carry any bonus features. Finally, only optional English subtitles are offered on this UMD.

UMD Value: 7

The Rock
Another one of Michael Bay's summer blockbusters, 1996's "The Rock" introduced us to an unlikely Nicolas Cage as an action star. And boy, what an explosive introduction he had! With the help of action stalwarts like Sean Connery, Ed Harris and Michael Biehn, Cage's exciting and successful transition to this genre prompted him to go on to star in many other action-oriented films like "Con Air", "Face/Off", "Snake Eyes", "Windtalkers" and "National Treasure". Armed with only a sliver of logic in its story, "The Rock" manages to entertain through the sheer audacity of its thrilling non-stop action sequences and good chemistry between its two main stars, Cage and Connery.

General Frank Hummel (Ed Harris) and his crack team of Marines have taken over Alcatraz (also known as the Rock, hence the movie's title) and is threatening to fire rockets armed with deadly chemicals into the city of San Francisco unless the government pays reparations to the families of soldiers, whose deaths in a covert operation was never acknowledged by the country's military establishment. In steps the reluctant Stanley Goodspeed (Cage), the FBI's chemical weapons expert, who has to work with an imprisoned former British spy, John Patrick Mason (Connery), to break into Alcatraz and disarm the weapons. You see, Mason is the only known person to have escaped from the Rock and his expertise is needed to break into the impenetrable prison and neutralize the General and his cohorts. What follows is a series of breathtaking action sequences coupled with periods of humor and yes, even emotion. If it's a fun popcorn movie that you are looking for, you could never go wrong with "The Rock".

Like all the other UMD movies that I've had the pleasure to review, the anamorphic widescreen presentation of "The Rock", preserved in the movie's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, is stunning in its clarity and color reproduction. This UMD also offers optional English captions for the hearing impaired and Spanish subtitles, together with Sneak Peeks of "Flight Plan", "National Treasure" and "Hostage".

UMD Value: 7

Cursed (Unrated & Extended Version)
The creative team behind 2005's "Cursed" has a resume that would make any horror movie junkie rubs their hands in gleeful anticipation. Directed by legendary horror master Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson ("Scream", "I Know What You Did Last Summer", "The Faculty"), "Cursed" seems like a movie destined for creepy greatness. Or so it would seem. Maybe we are all just so jaded by the one-dimensional horror films that Hollywood constantly churns out to even care anymore. The idea jar is so empty that Hollywood is now looking to Asia for fresh horror movie ideas. Seriously, films based on the premise of vampires and werewolves just do not excite us anymore, let alone scare us. "Cursed", for what it's worth, is (drum roll, please) a werewolf movie. And just like any werewolf film, "Cursed" jumps into familiar territory every step of the way, producing cliché after cliché.

Let me just sum up this movie for you: boy gets bitten by werewolf and turns into one himself, attractive young people gets their guts ripped apart, people get hunted down in dark wax museum, silver bullets, severed heads, etc. In fact, come to think of it, "Cursed" would probably have fared better if the studio had marketed it as a comedy instead. There are scenes that are so ridiculous that one just can't help but laugh. Even its main star, the dark and highly talented Ms. Christina Ricci could not save this film from the curse of yet another bad effort by the Hollywood horror establishment. Come on people! Get with the program. We need original stories that would at least scare us instead of yet another rehash of old ideas.

Listed on the box as sporting an anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, "Cursed" looks great even though most of the movie happens under the cover of darkness. Except for the four scene-specific audio commentaries, the other bonus features from the DVD release of "Cursed" are imported over to this UMD version intact. They are "Behind the Fangs", "Cursed Effects", "Creature Editing 101" and "Becoming a Werewolf". Also included on the UMD are English captions for the hearing impaired and Sneak Peeks of "Dark Water", "Sin City" and "Hostage".

UMD Value: 4

Shaolin Soccer
Long before American audiences got a glimpse of his comedic genius, Hong Kong's unrivaled master of movie parodies has been Stephen Chow (or Chow Sing Chi). Once known only in Asia, Chow's years of hard work has finally paid off when he produced his first international breakout film, "Shaolin Soccer", which combines Chow's love for martial arts with the world's most popular sport. "Shaolin Soccer" is really a breath of fresh air coming out of Hong Kong cinema, which is more prone to producing triad crime dramas and period martial arts films than laugh-out-loud comedies. Fortunately, "Shaolin Soccer" is not just a collection of mindless, recycled comedic routines that we see so much of in Hollywood these days. It has heart and most importantly, it has Stephen Chow. Like the early Jim Carrey that we know and love, Chow brings a visceral and an almost-perfect sense of comedy to what can only be described as profoundly juvenile situations, without having to stoop down to the lowest common denominator. Using CGI effects that are seldom employed in Asian films, "Shaolin Soccer" successfully meshes the high-tech with the decidedly low-tech humor and the audience is able to come away with plenty of laughs.

Unlike the DVD release which offers both the original 112-minute Chinese version and the hideously-edited American Miramax version that runs for a mere 89 minutes, this UMD release only offers the lesser of the two. That was the bad news but now for some good news. The anamorphic widescreen video images, displayed in its original ratio of 1.85:1 stays true to the great UMD video quality that I've seen so far. The transfer is clean and the colors, vibrant. Audio options include English or Cantonese with English captions for the hearing impaired and optional English or Spanish subtitles. My real disappointment with this UMD is the absence of any bonus material (mirroring its DVD cousin) even though the movie is short and there is plenty of disc space left. As a consolation, you get Sneak Peeks of "Hero", and both the "Kill Bill" movies.

UMD Value: 7

Coyote Ugly: Special Edition
There is absolutely no redeeming value to the 2000 film, "Coyote Ugly". Not the story, not the music and certainly not the acting. What it is though, is a shameless stunt to get guys into the cinemas by teasing them with images of a group of beautiful women, wearing revealing outfits, dancing on top of bars and pouring alcoholic beverages to a bunch of rowdy and drunk imbeciles. Small town lass Violet (Piper Perabo), an aspiring songwriter decides to leave her boring life behind and try to make it in the music business in the big bad city of New York. She goes through the typical initiation of big city living and ends up disillusioned and broke. Luckily for her, she gets a job pouring drinks with a group of independent women at a nightclub called what else but the Coyote Ugly. Anyway, to make a short story much shorter, yada, yada, yada, girl fulfils her dreams and girl gets guy. End of story. Thank God!

Although labeled as a "Special Edition", this UMD version of "Coyote Ugly" contains the same version as the recently released "Unrated Extended Cut" of the film. Displayed in anamorphic widescreen measuring 2.35:1, the video images on this UMD is clear and detailed with slight grain visible in the darker scenes. This UMD offers pretty much most of the same extras that can also be found on the DVD version. They are "Coyote 101", "Action Overload", five "Additional Scenes" and a music video of the song "Can't Fight the Moonlight" by Leeann Rhimes. Also on this UMD, you have the option of turning on English captions for the hearing impaired, French or Spanish subtitles and a look at trailers for "Flight Plan", "Sin City" and "Hostage".

UMD Value: 3

Final Analysis:
Unlike the Paramount UMD releases that I had the chance to review recently, Disney, as much as possible, tries to preserve the original aspect ratio of its movies when translated to the UMD format. Disney also makes the effort to add value to its UMDs by squeezing as much bonus material from the corresponding DVD releases into the UMDs (in its few releases so far, Paramount has filled its UMDs with nothing but just the movies). This is certainly a great start for Disney but there would come a time when studios need to think about and come up with special UMD-specific extras that would add value to its UMD movie releases over its DVD counterpart. Until then, here's hoping that Disney continues its good work on future UMD releases.

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