Death Sentence (Region 2) DVD Review

death_sentence_2d.jpg

 As a plain revenge trip Death Sentence does very well at keeping you entertained. After seeing his son murdered at a gas station average Joe Kevin Bacon goes hunting. While he just starts out by killing the gang member who killed his son things soon turn more serious as the rest of the gang retaliate against him. While Death Sentence is not a high profile movie it is a high quality one with some really good chase scenes and a long shootout at the end. In short it’s the Punisher done right. The only criticism is that the movie would have had a better ending if it ended about 13 seconds earlier. When you see it you will understand.

As far as DVD extras are concerned there is a ‘Making of Death Sentence’ featurette and that’s all in this case.

Verdict: +

Blood Ties – Season One (Region 2) DVD Review

bloodties_slipcase.jpg

 Blood Ties is a TV show based on a series of modern day books about vampires. The story follows Vicki Nelson (Christina Cox) a former cop who is now a private investigator as she investigates cases of the bizarre and unusual. Think a grown up version of Buffy with the standard monster of the week that comes with it.

While investigating the cases she joins up with former partner cop Mike Celluci (Dylan Neal) and vampire Henry Fitzroy (Kyle Schmid). The show in essence uses the same formula as Angel where a monster is encountered and then the vampire is sent in to fight it. There is more to the story though in even a full season set there is only a single bad episode. The rest are stories about vampires, exorcisms, haunted paintings and the list goes on.

Even though the show does sound rather generic on paper with the vampire sidekick and romance storyline that shows it type of book origins it is a good show. It takes a while to get used to and the DVD has no extras but the show is excellent and takes repeat viewings.

Verdict: +

CSI Las Vegas Season 7 Part 1 (Region 2 DVD) Review

csi-71size.JPG

This 7.1 set is a real high point as far as the quality of the episodes is concerned. You have a few action and a few drama with a number of interesting plot points added for later. An interesting point is the addition (at least for a while) in the last episode of the set of Liev Schreiber as a new CSI. For those of you who dont know the name he played Cotton in the Scream movies and was also in Sum of all fears. He is also expected to be the bad guy in the new Wolverine movie.

As far as the extras go though this is a real low. There are no features or even featurettes to mention and after the huge number of extras on the last boxset its somewhat of a shock. If your looking for a good few interesting episodes to see that the show is still going strong then you should see this but if your after something more than what you would get from watching the show on TV then this isnt it. Good as a TV show but bad as a DVD. Lets just hope that the second half of the season is where the extras are.

Verdict: –

CSI Las Vegas Season 6 Part 2 (Region 2 DVD) Review

csi_62_3d_v2.jpg

The set for the second half of season six provides a great deal of extra material. These include things such as segments about the technology seen on screen used by the characters and a look back at how the season has progressed. If anything the extras on this one set are better than the actual episodes where none really stand out enough from the crowd.

Verdict: +

That Mitchell & Webb Look – Season 1 (Region 2 DVD) Review

3d_tmwl_packshot.jpg

It’s never easy to describe comedy but its easy to say that Mitchell & Webb are a British comedy double act and that the Mitchell and Webb look is a comedy sketch show. While their comedy hasn’t transferred to the States yet you could describe them as the UK’s answer to Andy Dick. Popularity wise.

The show involves a few really good frequently used sketches such as The surprising adventures of Sir Digby Chicken Caesar a homeless guy dressed as Sherlock Holmes with his parter a Watson wannabe in tow. The comedy can be described as semi lowbrow. There is one frequently used sketch that’s just plain annoying called Numberwang. In short is a game show where people call out random numbers. It’s supposed to be funny but thankfully once you know its coming the ever faithful fast forward button comes to the rescue. Mitchell & Webb is a very hit and miss show with a few classic sketches and a large number that take only a single viewing.

There are a number of extras including outtakes, unseen sketches (20 minutes) and a making-of (32 mins). In short it’s better as a rent than as a purchase for the actual comedy sketches but as a documentary piece on making comedy the making of is a really well done thing. Its one of those cases where the extras outshine the material.

Verdict: +

CSI Las Vegas Season 5 Part 2 (Region 2 DVD) Review

csi_52_dvd_flat.jpg

After a very so so beginning to the 5th season the second half of 5 is where things get interesting. If you don’t know CSI and want to catch up you can read the story basics on the previous release reviews on this site. This 5.2 set totals three discs.

The stories include the usual with a number of single episodes and longer storylines. What makes this set stand out from the rest is the inclusion of the two part season ending directed by Quentin Tarantino. That story is about how CSI Nick Stokes gets abducted at a crime scene and buried alive with the other characters trying to find him. At the time this was a new idea but has been copied to death since by shows like Fox’s Bones. It does start out slow but turns into a really good episode and a show highlight. There is only a single scene that shows Tarantino’s involvement in suitably gory style. Apart from that its business as usual.

Extras on the set are numerous in number and include commentary tracks and three featurettes. These are CSI: Season Five a Post Mortem, a talking heads piece with lots of clips. Then there is CSI: Procedures on the Scene and in the Lab. The last called CSI: Tarantino Style is all on Tarantino’s two parter described earlier. All are informative to a point but could be longer.

Verdict: +