VIOLENT COP -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 10/2/16

 

When I ‏first heard of VIOLENT COP (1989), Japanese actor and comedian "Beat" Takeshi Kitano's debut as a film director, I expected something along the lines of Abel Ferrara's BAD LIEUTENANT with Harvey Keitel.  However, Takeshi's character, police detective Azuma, isn't "bad" as in "unscrupulous" or "corrupt."  He's actually an honest, conscientious cop.  He's just tired of endlessly going through channels and doing things the proper way when a little well-placed violence can get straight to the heart of things.

Takeshi was already a well-known TV star in Japan for such shows as "Takeshi's Castle" (1986-1990), which became a comedy hit in the U.S. when redubbed as "MXC" or "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" for Spike TV (most of us remember the catchphrase "Right you are, Ken!"), and had acted films for nine years. 

With his familiar deadpan expression which seems to reveal more the longer the camera lingers upon it, Takeshi's violence-prone cop has elements of both his Sgt. Hara of MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE (1983), dispassionately dishing out punishment as a matter of course, and his fed-up school teacher in the much-later BATTLE ROYALE (2000), whose disillusionment with the rules and due process of the system has turned him into an emotionally-warped creature of base impulse. (Still, Azuma is hardly the sadistic brute of 2010's underworld thriller OUTRAGE.)

Azuma is humanized by the fact that he tenderly cares for his simpleminded sister at home, but even here he kicks an amorous suitor down the apartment steps and sends him away aching and shaking.  His later pairing with a nervous rookie named Kikuchi (Makoto Ashikawa) and their borderline-hilarious (but still thrilling) auto pursuit of a suspect on foot provides the film with its one slender vein of sardonic humor. (Partially because Azuma, who walks everywhere--apparently because he can barely drive--insists on taking over the wheel from the rookie and then is unable to turn off the windshield wipers.)

I had to laugh again later when Azuma's harried boss asked him if it was necessary to run over the guy twice in order to arrest him.  He also seems to keep an ample supply of "apology" forms for Azuma to fill out after his more egregious acts in the interests of law enforcement.

For the most part, however, VIOLENT COP is a lean, mean cop thriller whose story kicks into gear when Azuma, conflicted by the discovery that an old friend on the force may be involved in drug trafficking, goes on the familiar one-man crusade against the underworld kingpin behind it all.

This shadowy businessman is supposedly untouchable behind his throne-like desk, with a ruthless, sadistic bodyguard-slash-assassin who loves to kill people (Shirô Sano racks up a decent body count as "Yoshinari").  The driving force of the film is Azuma's bloody war against them in which his disregard for his own personal well-being leads to several acts of sheer reckless abandon.  Interrogations involve guns, knives, fists, and dangerous ploys; confrontations are bloody, savage, and intensely personal. 

As in DIRTY HARRY or DEATH WISH, we know these bad guys are bad, so we want to see them get what they deserve even if its just a good, sound beatdown.  Although here, Azuma is more akin to the dogged veteran cop in THE FRENCH CONNECTION or the renegade rule-basher of TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. Both of those, incidentally, are William Friedkin films, with the latter being a favorite of Takeshi and seemingly an inspiration not only to his Azuma character but also to VIOLENT COP's fatalistic ending and overall pessimistic aura. 

As a first-time director, Takeshi--who says he's now embarrassed to watch this "learning process" of a film--displays a combination of lean, straightforward storytelling with a keen and sometimes slightly askew sense of style.  City settings both sprawling and squalid are used to good advantage. A cool, languidly jazzy score by Daisaku Kume works its magic throughout. 

The Blu-ray from Film Movement Classics is in 1.85:1 widescreen and stereo with a Japanese soundtrack and English subtitles.  The bonus featurette "That Man is Dangerous: The Birth of Takeshi Kitano" is a compelling look at the man as an entertainer and filmmaker. Also included are trailers for this and several other Film Movement releases, and an attractive illustrated booklet containing an essay by author and Asian film expert Tom Vick.

The ending is tense, visceral, and bleak, with the potent aura of a brashly impudent Friedkin hovering over it, so don't expect this bloody misadventure to leave you with that "feelgood" smile.  I did smile, though, because I'd just seen a movie called VIOLENT COP that had lived up to its intriguing and somewhat exploitation-tinged title quite nicely.  

THREADS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 2/4/18

 

One of the most rigidly uncompromising and dramatically brutal films you'll ever see, the BBC production THREADS (Severin Films, 1984) is the result of director Mick Jackson and writer Barry Hines' desire to present the effects of thermonuclear war on humanity in the most harshly realistic manner, both visually and thematically, as possible. 

It was beaten to the airwaves by the American Broadcasting Company's TV-movie THE DAY AFTER (directed by STAR TREK: THE WRATH OF KHAN's Nicholas Meyer), a film I like a lot but which, in comparison, only went about halfway in conveying the true horrors of an utterly ravaged post-nuclear society.

Now, of course, THREADS is rightly recognized as the true pinnacle of its kind, presenting, despite a budget of only half a million pounds and a shooting schedule of little over two weeks, what is with little doubt the most nightmarish, frightening, and ultimately disheartening film ever produced for television. 

Elements contributing to this include a cast of unknowns and a shooting style reminiscent of the British "kitchen sink" drama, showing everyday people going about their lives before and after the catastrophe which obliterates the very civilization upon which they depend for their survival.

Much early emphasis is placed upon simple comforts and joys of modern life, shot in extreme close-up inserts--a colander of fresh peas rinsed in clean water, a tin of cat food being opened, a handheld video game, a cold glass of milk, crocheting, etc.--things which we take for granted until they're all gone.

Everyday life itself is depicted through two families--one lower class, the other well-to-do--joined together by the love of a son, Jimmy Kemp (Reece Dinsdale), for a daughter, Ruth Beckett (Karen Meagher), engaged to be married due to her unexpected pregnancy. Their playful romance and optimistic plans for a simple but happy life together are darkened by an impending world-crisis situation growing increasingly troubling as constantly portrayed on TV and radio news. 

With the situation reaching a flashpoint, we see how local government and civil defense measures would be activated in the event of a nuclear attack.  Nobody really knows what they're doing and it all seems rather ineffectual, as will soon be proven out.  Meanwhile, the expected run on supermarkets and inevitable price gouging heighten the sense that the threads of civilization are in the first stages of unraveling at the seams.

As THREADS begins to weigh more heavily on the viewer, a dispassionate narrator delivers exposition concerning inexorable world events and the effects impending nuclear war will have on resources, infrastructure, utilities, and basic human needs. 

Even the teletype sound effect that accompanies the on-screen text becomes more and more unsettling. Before long, the film has established a sense of foreboding that increases with every new scene of panic and desperation as people grasp in vain for ways to avoid or escape what is coming.  The pleasures of everyday life we've been shown earlier are slipping away, replaced by fear and despair.

That's when the bombs hit and THREADS dials it all the way up to eleven with an almost fiendish resolve.  Despite the lack of expensive and elaborate special effects, the nuclear devastation is shown in  extremely graphic terms as director Jackson creates harrowing images that haunt and terrify.  What follows comes as close to depicting the unimaginable as any film has ever achieved.
   
The rest of THREADS details the eventual breakdown and disintegration of every aspect of civilized society and a return to the Dark Ages (or worse) with millions of unburied dead, radiation sickness and other deadly diseases sweeping the dwindling populace, rampant starvation, and the oncoming effects of the darkening deep-freeze of nuclear winter. 

We follow what's left of our main characters as they struggle, and mostly fail, to survive on an almost purely animal level.  The story pulls no punches whatsoever and, considering the filmmakers' limited resources, is masterfully realized in harshly effective visual terms and a narrative that's utterly riveting until the final, heartbreaking image sends THREADS off on a haunting and unforgettable note.

The Blu-ray disc from Severin Films is in the original full-screen with 1080p HD resolution (in other words, it looks a lot better than the copy I taped off the TV in the 80s) and English mono sound with subtitles.  A stocked bonus menu consists of director's commentary, a recent interview with actress Karen Meagher ("Ruth"), interviews with the film's director of photography and production designer, an interview with film historian Stephen Thrower, and the US and re-release trailers.

I first saw THREADS in the mid-80s when it was picked up by Ted Turner for broadcast on his TBS Superstation. Both as an unremittingly grim cautionary tale and a powerful documentary-style drama/horror film, it has lost absolutely none of its power. 

BOILING POINT -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 10/6/16

 

Japanese actor and comedian Takeshi Kitano (popularly known as "Beat" Takeshi) had already appeared in such films as MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE and had his own TV show, "Takeshi's Castle", which was later redubbed for American television as "MXC" or "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" when, in 1989, he made his directing debut with the bloody action thriller VIOLENT COP, playing the lead role as well. 

Not happy with his lack of creative control on the project, he considered his next film, BOILING POINT (1990), to be sort of a second directorial debut.  And despite sharing the same tendency towards sudden, graphic violence, they're very different movies.

BOILING POINT begins, strangely enough, as a pleasantly amusing, very bucolic slice-of-life tale about a city-league baseball team in Japan that hasn't scored a single point in several games.  The setting is a less-populated and rather seedy corner of the city where regular guys play on a dusty little diamond and their manager, Mr. Iguchi, is an ex-Yakuza who seems like a regular guy himself aside from a short temper and a tendency toward sudden bursts of violence when crossed.

A timid sad-sack named Masaki (Masahiko Ono), who wears the uniform but seems detached from everything, slowly learns to assert himself in baby steps.  After being advised to practice his swing a hundred times a day, he finally hits a home run while pinch-hitting but is called out when he sprints past the other base runner.  He's trying, both on the ball field and in life, but not always with a great deal of finesse.

When Masaki runs afoul of the local Yakuza, Mr. Iguchi tries to intervene but finds that he has fallen out of favor with his former gang and is beaten severely.  Masaki and his friend Akira (Makoto Ashikawa, the comical rookie in VIOLENT COP) travel to Okinawa to buy a gun so that Mr. Iguchi can avenge himself.  While there, they meet a psychopathic gangster named Uehara (Takeshi), also looking for revenge against the Yakuza, who takes a liking to them. 

This is where the clash between slice-of-life story and bloody gangster flick becomes most interesting.  While not exactly "artsy" compared to VIOLENT COP, we do find Kitano indulging himself a lot more in languid, thoughtful character vignettes (Masaki's shy interactions with his new girlfriend Sayaka are charming) that are enjoyable for their own sake while slowly nudging the story along.

At the same time, the film lingers over scenes of the group, which now includes Uehara's toady and a couple of girls they're picked up in a bar, engaging in some pretty unsavory activities with Masaki and Akira reluctantly swept along.

Takeshi's boorish gangster takes center stage as a sort of Id monster roiling in his own worst impulses toward physical violence and casual sadism.  He loves to break bottles over people's heads and abuse his hapless girlfriend as well as sexually assaulting members of either sex.

One of the film's most stunning action scenes involves him, a roomful of Yakuza, and a machine gun hidden in a bouquet of long-stemmed wildflowers. Takeshi loves to stage such scenes of violence and retribution and there are numerous examples of this, to varying degrees, throughout the story.

This culminates in a fiery resolution to Mr. Iguchi's Yakuza problem that's cathartic not only for us but also for Masaki, who has finally learned how to hit the occasional home run in life as well as in baseball.

The Blu-ray from Film Movement Classics is in 1.85:1 widescreen and stereo with a Japanese soundtrack and English subtitles.  In addition to trailers for this and other Film Movement Classics releases, there's a bonus featurette entitled "Okinawa Days: Takeshi's Second Debut" which features members of the original cast remininiscing about making the movie. An attractive illustrated booklet containing an essay by author and Asian film expert Tom Vick is included with the disc.

BOILING POINT is unique in that it's neither a straight-up coming-of-age story nor a total gangland violence fest, yet the two elements are so deftly intertwined in Takeshi's screenplay and in his skillful handling of it as director that the film manages to satisfy on both counts.

HANA-BI, aka "Fireworks" -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 9/13/17

 

Japanese film legend "Beat" Takeshi Kitano (BATTLE ROYALE, "MXC") has a taciturn, sometimes sullen and morose, sometimes painfully sad and hang-dog sort of screen character who can switch from dull joviality to abrupt, shocking violence faster than a cat with distemper. 

In his seventh film as director, HANA-BI, aka "Fireworks" (1997), Takeshi plays Nishi, a haggard cop nearing the end of his career just as his beloved wife (Kayoko Kishimoto), stricken with cancer, is nearing the end of her life. 

Nishi is into the Yakuza for a lot of money, facing constant death threats from their enforcers.  And to make matters worse, an old friend on the force, Horibe (Ren Ôsugi, SHIN GODZILLA), gets crippled for life by a gunman's bullets while taking Nishi's place on a stakeout. 

As in his previous films (VIOLENT COP, BOILING POINT, OUTRAGE), Takeshi's character is quick to violence, and as a director he depicts it with the shocking brutality of a Coppola or Scorcese gangster thriller.

Here, however, Nishi takes such action only when pushed or in any way provoked.  Although, as we'll see, at this stage he's far beyond the point of taking any crap from anybody including Yakuza hitmen or random street punks. 

Otherwise, Nishi's constant sorrow leaves him in a state of dull resignation that's mostly silent (he barely says ten lines in the entire movie) as we study his subtle expressions with an empathetic perception.  As usual, much is going on below the surface of Takeshi's performance, both as actor and director.

The film is beautifully shot, with images ranging from gritty urban milieu (the harsh cop scenes) to picturesque rural Japan.  Takeshi is unflinching when  Nishi and his fellow cops take down Horibe's shooter in a clumsy ballet of blood, or when a massacre within the claustrophobic confines of a car yields artistically wrought death tableaux spilling out against a backdrop of virgin snow.

This is contrasted with the sequence in which Nishi, who is unable to express his feeling verbally, takes his dying wife on an extended excursion to Mt. Fuji and other scenic locales.  (After robbing a bank, that is, but we won't go into that now.) 

Takeshi indulges his sentimental side here, yet Nishi's outer stoicism prevents things from lapsing into bathos.  There's a serenity to his stiff, oddly inexpressive manner, and his wife's understanding and acceptance of it, that makes the sequence sadly endearing in a way that raw emotion couldn't.

As this subplot plays out, Takeshi tells other intertwining stories including the plight of Horibe--abandoned by his wife and daughter, confined to a wheelchair, and constantly entertaining thoughts of suicide--as he tries to assuage his grief with a newfound interest in painting (Takeshi contributes his own artworks here).  But everything he does only seems to accentuate his despair.

The Blu-ray from Film Movement Classics is in 1.85:1 widescreen with Japanese stereo sound and English subtitles.  Extras include a commentary by David Fear, a making-of featurette, trailers from other Takeshi films, and an attractive illustrated booklet containing an essay by filmmaker/historian Jasper Sharp.

Fans of composer Joe Hisaishi (SPIRITED AWAY, PRINCESS MONONOKE, KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE) will relish his lush score for this emotionally and visually compelling story that wavers, like real life, amidst various extremes while exploring the subtleties in between. 

MY TOP 20 FAVORITE CARTOON MOVIES! by Porfle

This is just for good old-fashioned actual cel-animated cartoon movies that contain little or no CGI.

DURARARA!! PART 1 -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 1/9/11

 

Based on the manga, which was based on a series of Japanese light novels  by Ryohgo Narita, the TV series DURARARA!! (2010) starts out slow but definitely gets better as it goes along.  By the end of the second episode, when things start to come together, I was pretty much hooked. 

The main character is a naive country teen named Mikado Ryugamine who moves to Ikebukuro, Tokyo to attend school and seek adventure.  There, he hooks up with his childhood friend Masaomi Kida, who is worldly and self-confident.  Masaomi introduces Mikado to his circle of friends and clues him in on how to get by in the big city, including who to avoid and how to stay out of dangerous situations.  This, of course, ain't gonna happen.

Rather than charging out of the gate right away, DURARARA!! takes its time introducing the many characters and their backgrounds, and laying the foundation for what promises to be a slowly unfolding network of interconnecting stories.  During most of the first episode, you might think you're watching a flashy little youth drama about inner-city kids and their quirky misadventures.  It even seems a little pedestrian at first.


Before long, however, various conflicts begin to come into play.  These involve volatile gangs such as the Yellow Scarfs and the Dollars, musclebound behemoths like a black Russian sushi chef named Simon Breshnev and the mysterious blonde brawler Shizuo (who has a penchant for hurling vending machines at people), and Izaya Orihara, a droll opportunist-manipulator who enjoys toying with the lives of others and may be responsible for a rash of suicides. 

Best of the supporting characters is Celty Sturluson, a black-garbed motorcycle rider who works as an underworld courier while cruising the city in search of her head.  This enigmatic urban legend, whose neck ends in a swirl of black smoke, is a supernatural superheroine who intercedes in the lives of the other characters at crucial moments.  Episode four details her origins and how she came to be hooked up with the young renegade doctor Shinra Kishitani, who shares her secrets and yearns for a more intimate relationship.  For me, this is the most interesting segment of the first five.


Meanwhile, Mikado and Masaomi become enamored of a beautiful bespectacled  schoolgirl named Anri, forming a love triangle which promises to become more complicated in later episodes.  This is only one of the many subplots begging to be explored, but DURARARA!! is in no hurry to do so.  The spotlight shifts seamlessly from one character to the next with equal emphasis and one can only guess how all of the various plot threads will eventually weave themselves together.


The series is beautifully drawn and colored--characters are expressive and attractively designed, and backgrounds abound with exquisitely-rendered urban landscapes that sparkle in the daylight and glow with neon at night.  The stately, contemplative pace of the stories gives us time to appreciate the show's rich visuals along with the stylish and cinematic direction.  The musical score is bright and evocative, with a cool opening song and an even better end titles tune.

The 2-disc DVD from Aniplex is in 16x9 anamorphic widescreen with Japanese and English Dolby Digital 2.0 sound and English subtitles.  This set contains episodes 1-9 of 24 (total runtime approx. 225 minutes) which will be continued in two subsequent volumes.  Five collectible postcards are included.  I received a screener with the first five episodes only and thus am unable to comment on the set as a whole.

With just five episodes to judge by, I can only guess how good this series will eventually turn out to be.  But based on what I've seen so far, DURARARA!! promises to deliver some top-notch anime entertainment. I look forward to watching the rest of this provocative saga. 

K-ON! VOL. 1 -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 4/20/11

 

Four bubbly high school girls join the Light Music Club and provide light entertainment in K-ON! VOL. 1 (2009), Bandai Entertainment's first DVD volume of the Japanese anime series based on a popular manga. 

Yui, a clumsy, scatterbrained girl who's easily distracted, freaks out on her first day of high school because she can't decide what club to join.  Meanwhile, Mio and Ritsu are crushed to find the Light Music Club is disbanding since it lacks the minimum four members.  They persuade pretty blonde rich girl Tsumugi, a talented keyboardist, to join, but are still one member short.  Desperate, they cajole a reluctant Yui to complete the foursome as lead guitarist of their band even though she can't play a note, and afterwards spend most of their time in the music room gorging themselves on gooey pastries and cakes. 

That pretty much describes the first episode, "Disband the Club!"  K-ON! (from the Japanese word keiongaku, meaning "light music") is a frenetic series of mildly comic situations done in a colorful, breezy style that doesn't place all that much emphasis on plotlines.  Basically, it's a "hang-out" show--once you get to know these characters and their particular quirks, it's fun just to hang out with them, enjoy their girlish antics, and groove to the eye-pleasing artwork and animation.



The four lead characters are your standard cute young anime schoolgirls.  Bass-player Mio is, in Yui's words, "tall and pretty, and gives off a real 'cool, grown woman vibe'."  Before long, however, we discover that she's a bundle of debilitating phobias and neuroses and often goes blank from fear of things like strange people and barnacles.  Her friend Ritsu, the band's drummer, is "a cheerful girl who's full of energy" but is also a hyperactive ditz.  Much of the show's slapstick humor comes from anger-prone Mio whacking Ritsu over the head and raising cartoony egg-shaped knots.  Mild-mannered Tsumugi, the pampered princess, is funny because of her inexperience and is thrilled when asked if she "wants fries with that" during her first trip to a fastfood restaurant.

The simple plots take a single idea and follow it to the end with all the light-comedy embellishments, screwball physical humor, and sight gags, with frequent use of fantasy interludes and flashbacks.  The second episode, "Instruments!", is all about finding an affordable guitar for Yui, with the girls taking temp jobs to help pay for it.  At first, the motivational message here is about being selfless and helping others, but eventually it becomes "you can afford that expensive guitar if your rich friend's dad owns the store." 

"Cram Session!" finds Yui barred from membership in a club after failing mid-term exams.  The girls urge her to study for her makeup test, but she just can't keep her mind on her books and off her cool new guitar.  Dropping by to help out, the girls have their usual sugary snacks and meet Yui's little sister Ui, amazed to find her vastly more polite and mature than Yui. 

The episode gets off to a weird start as Yui becomes hypnotically fascinated by how squishy Mio's string-hardened fingertips are.  Meanwhile, the easily-annoyed Mio manages to raise at least two ostrich egg-sized knots on Ritsu's head this time out.  Typical of the series, the relatively realistic design of the characters becomes exaggeratedly cartoonish whenever they experience extreme emotions, resulting in some pretty funny-looking reactions. 

The most visually-pleasing episode, "Training Camp!", boasts some gorgeous artwork as Mio organizes a trip to the country so the band can practice for the upcoming Fall Festival.  They end up at one of Tsumugi's luxurious family vacation homes on the beach where Yui and Ritsu spend most of their time romping around in the surf while Mio tries in vain to get them to concentrate on their music.
 


Mio's first appearance in a bikini leads to a strangely comical moment with the two girls being stunned to discover that she has--BOOBS!  Later, a nighttime fireworks display adds even more visual interest to the episode while inspiring fantasies of the girls' most cherished ambition--to perform at Budokan before high school is over.

Mio is at her most freaked-out and violent in this episode, repeatedly whacking Mitsu over the head and going nuts after accidentally touching some barnacles.  In the last shot, she hoists Yui off her feet by the neck and strangles her for taking an uncomplimentary photo of her during their vacation.  The lesson here, I assume, is that even the pretty and seemingly self-assured girls in your school can be dangerously unbalanced.

The four-episode DVD (approx. 100 minutes) from Bandai Entertainment is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with both Japanese and English Dolby 2.0 sound.  Subtitles are in English.  Extras include a ten-minute interview with Stephanie Sheh, the voice of Yui in the English dub, and trailers from other Bandai releases.  Three more volumes of the series are planned.

Yui and her friends don't get very far musically in this collection, but the opening and closing titles feature two catchy tunes, "Cagayake! Girls" and "Don't Say 'Lazy'", which indicate that by the series' end the band will finally be ready for Budokan.  Till then, K-ON! VOL. 1 catches them doing what they currently do best--eating snacks, being kooky, and having fun. 

DANTE'S INFERNO: AN ANIMATED EPIC -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 2/8/10

 

 

Four separate anime studios were brought together to collaborate on DANTE'S INFERNO: AN ANIMATED EPIC (2010), and the result is a non-stop visual feast that takes us through all nine levels of Hell without spending quite enough time on the emotional level.

When young warrior knight Dante goes off to fight in the Holy Wars, Lucifer makes a bet with his beloved Beatrice that Dante will betray her. Figuring it's a sure thing, Beatrice takes him up on it and the next thing you know, she's in Hell. Dante returns from the war to find his loved ones dead by an unknown hand, and sees Beatrice's soul rise from her bloody body only to be dragged down into the pit.

Dante enters in pursuit and finds that he must fight his way through the nine circles of Hell--limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery--in order to rescue Beatrice's soul from eternal damnation. With guidance from the ghost of Roman poet Virgil, Dante slices and dices his way through hordes of infernal minions, only to find that Lucifer plans to wed Beatrice and make her Queen of Hell.

As this is based on a videogame from Visceral Games, both of which are to be released at the same time, Dante's journey through the nine circles of Hell mirrors the progression from one level of gameplay to the next. Upon his arrival, animated by Film Roman studio, he and Virgil sport big, impossibly muscular superhero bodies and little heads, and Dante tends to fly around doing aerial flips just to emphasize certain lines of dialogue. When Charon, the demon boatman who transports newly-arrived souls to their destinations, orders Dante to begone, he hops about thirty feet in the air and does a somersault before telling him no. Charon, incidentally, gets to deliver the famous line "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here" before doing battle with Dante.

This film is interesting to look at from start to finish although the frequent changes in character design and direction can be a little disconcerting. My favorite segments are the ones by the Manglobe studio, who give the characters a classical dramatic style and a beautifully baroque look. Manglobe handles the "Limbo" section--that ring of Hell which is home to virtuous pagans and unbaptized babies, souls which did not sin but lacked the required faith--which often looks like illustrations from some classic volume brought to life.

Here we're treated to the haunting sight of a hall of damned rulers and philosophers such as Caesar, Plato and Aristotle, their ghostly shells still endlessly engaged in pointless theological debates and the like.On this level Dante battles Minos, who judges souls and "sorts them out" to the various circles for their appropriate punishments. He also must flee from a bizarre, scuttling army of demon-babies with scythelike arms.

The most comic book-looking artwork and animation, which resembles stuff you might see in Marvel Comics or Heavy Metal, is done by Dong Woo studio and it's very dynamic. If I'm not mistaken, Dong Woo handled the "Lust", "Greed", and "Gluttony" segments, which take Dante through some of his most fierce and emotionally taxing confrontations. One of these involves his own father, Alighiero (Mark Hamill), whom Lucifer has promised a thousand torture-free years and endless gold if he will kill his son.

Flashbacks show Alighiero as a greedy, violent abuser who will eventually drive Dante's mother, Bella (Victoria Tennant), to suicide. Later, while traveling through the circle known as "Violence" (via JM Animation's lush, classic anime-style artwork), Dante discovers her in the Wood of Suicide, where, to his horror, her soul has been banished for doing violence to herself. "You must look into your deepest sin to save Beatrice," she tells him.

Also on this level he encounters the damned souls of fellow Crusaders including Beatrice's brother, Francesco, who lashes out at Dante in classic anime-style battle. Francesco blames Dante for his own damnation, and in some ultra-downbeat flashbacks we find out that Dante committed quite a few rather deadly sins during the Holy Wars--any of which would earn him a place in one of the circles of Hell through which he's just passed. In fact, the more we find out about his past, the more we're convinced Dante is destined to remain there for eternity unless he can redeem himself while he still lives.

The "Fraud" level is where the brimstone really hits the fan. Beatrice, who has maintained a staunch faith in Dante through her many tortures, discovers at last how utterly he betrayed her trust while in the Holy Land and gives herself over to Lucifer as his bride. With JM Animation at the helm, Beatrice's transformation into the fearsome Queen of Hell (with an awesome rack) is pretty cool. This finally leads to the "Treachery" level (by Production I.G. studio), an icy wasteland which is "the furthest place in all of creation from the divine light of God." In the final showdown, Dante must face Lucifer on his own and discover the shocking truth behind his whole ordeal.

Through it all, DANTE'S INFERNO is an endless display of incredibly rich and dense artwork and imaginative animation. The subject matter gives the animators license to indulge in the most outlandish visuals they can muster (the "Lust" level, for example), with lots and lots of over-the-top action. So much so, in fact, that it tends to get a little tiresome after the umpteenth bloody-bladed battle with some raging behemoth or angry spirit.

The "acting", as it were, is a little hokey at times, especially in the introductory passage with its melodramatic line readings and character expressions. And for all of the drama and passion it strains to evoke, the story just isn't very emotionally involving. Mostly it's a lot of sound and fury, strident declarations and curses, blood and thunder, sex and ultra-violence--neat stuff, to be sure--without much going on underneath. But it's fun to look at.

The DVD from Anchor Bay is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen and 5.1 surround, with English and Spanish subtitles. Extras include some animatics and a game trailer.

While not a total success, DANTE'S INFERNO: AN ANIMATED EPIC is still a pretty dazzling achievement that really does manage an epic quality. If you're a fan of animation in general and anime in particular, it's definitely worth checking out. But not quite worth going to Hell for.

TOM & JERRY: SPY QUEST -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 6/19/15

 

When the evil Dr. Zim's henchcats kidnap Dr. Benton Quest and his pilot/bodyguard "Race" Bannon, along with Quest's powerful energy-generating invention, the "Q Sphere", it's up to Quest's son Jonny, his Indian friend Hadji, their dog Bandit, and new friends Tom & Jerry to find their way to Dr. Zim's volcano hideout and save the day.

That's right, Tom & Jerry, the cartoon cat-and-mouse team who've been chasing each other around our movie and TV screens since King Kong was underage.  It seems  they've been getting paired up with a series of unlikely co-stars in TV movies these days, from Sherlock Holmes to the Wizard of Oz, and in the original feature-length cartoon TOM & JERRY: SPY QUEST (2015) they inadvertently fall in with one of the most action-prone animated clans to ever grace Saturday mornings. 

"Jonny Quest" started out in primetime back in 1964 with surprisingly violent and adult-tinged adventures that we kids went crazy over.  The show seems to have been influenced by James Bond's 1962 movie debut DR. NO--the Quests' main adversary is Asian baddie Dr. Zim, who is often found hanging out in an empty volcano and doing things like toppling rockets.  In the episode "The Fraudulent Volcano" (included on this disc), a sleeping Dr. Quest is even threatened by a deadly tarantula as is Bond in his first film. 

TOM & JERRY: SPY QUEST continues this Bond vibe but with additional elements from such films as RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, CASABLANCA, and even Rob Zombie's own full-length cartoon THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO. The latter two are particularly evident in sexy leading lady Jade's big song-and-dance number which she performs in her nightclub, Jade's Cafe' Americain.  (Jade, it turns out, is one of Race Bannon's old girlfriends, and their breakup wasn't on good terms.)  This elaborate sequence, with MGM star Droopy putting in a droll cameo appearance, is one of the film's highlights.

The RAIDERS influence is the most obvious--the action sequences are fast and furious, packed with plane crashes, chases, hand-to-paw combat, et cetera.  Everything zips along as though the filmmakers are deathly afraid we'll doze off if things slow down for five seconds.

Of course, the juxtaposition of all this with comedy stars Tom & Jerry is sometimes just as awkward as it sounds, but there are stretches in which either the Quest bunch do their thing or Tom and Jerry go about their business as though they were back in one of their regular cartoon shorts. 

Actually, the combo isn't really all that bad once you get used to it--it's kind of like one of those Colgate Comedy Hour sketches in which Martin and Lewis are their usual wacky selves while guest stars such as Humphrey Bogart or Burt Lancaster spoof their own serious personas. 

The pre-titles segment of the movie is a separate Tom & Jerry short unto itself, with the adversarial duo getting in each other's way while hanging out at the beach.  It isn't until Jonny and Hadji show up, followed by a trio of Zim's attack cats (Tin, Pan, and Alley--get it?) in power suits, that the odd clash of sensibilities begins.  The titles themselves harken back to the original Jonny Quest show's classic opening sequence and thrilling musical theme. 

Strangely, we get the same unequal relationship between housecat Tom and the talking, uniformed bad-guy cats that exists between Disney's canine characters Goofy and Pluto.  (One of Dr. Zim's feline henchcats is even based on Dustin Hoffman's "Rain Man.") 

Dr. Zim and his gang are played for laughs more here than ever before, although the final phase of his scheme turns into a thrilling suicide attack on Washington D.C. in which his entire volcano hideout takes off and is set to crash into the White House with all of our heroes aboard.  (Dr. Quest's solution to this, involving the Washington Monument, is a bit of a stunner.)

Once again, Tom gets the brunt of the most sadistic gags--and for no apparent reason, since he's mostly just minding his own business while Jerry's being his usual insufferable, hateful little self.  One running gag has the starving Tom being constantly denied food while Jerry, of course, gets to gorge himself.  (A scene in which Jerry snatches a juicy steak right out of Tom's mouth just before he bites down on it--and then SLAPS him with it--is especially galling.) 

This is partially made up for by having Dr. Zim mistake Tom for a fearless, super-efficient action hero thanks to the hapless cat accidentally defeating Zim's henchmen during their various attacks while wearing one of their power suits.  Still, this movie only serves to increase my utter hatred for Jerry the mouse while causing me to cringe every time Tom is unfairly made the brunt of the usual sadistic and humiliating gags. 

The character design and backgrounds are eye-pleasing, with Tom and Jerry looking much like they did back in the 40s and 50s and the Quest crew rendered better than in previous reboots of the original series.  The story zips along with nary a slow spot to catch our breath, culminating in an effectively suspenseful climactic sequence that's very nicely done. 

Voice talent includes original Jonny Quest voice actor Tim Matheson (ANIMAL HOUSE, A VERY BRADY SEQUEL) as the President, James Hong (BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA) as Dr. Zim, and Tia Carrere (WAYNE'S WORLD) as femme fatale Jade. 

The DVD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is in matted widescreen format, with Dolby 5.1 sound and subtitles available in several languages including English, Spanish, and French.   Extras include four recent "Tom & Jerry" cartoon shorts ("Birthday Bashed", Feline Fatale", "For the Love of Ruggles", and "Sleuth or Consequences"), an episode of "The New Jonny Quest" ("Deadly Junket"), and, best of all, an episode from the classic original series entitled "The Fraudulent Volcano" which beats "You Only Live Twice" and its secret volcano bad-guy lair by several years. 

TOM & JERRY: SPY QUEST isn't nearly the mutant mess I was expecting, although funny animal comedy and hard-bitten action and intrigue being shoehorned into the same frantic film does lead to a somewhat uneasy alliance.  Still, I got a kick out of the novelty of it all and enjoyed seeing these characters given such a lavish vehicle that's worthy of their stature. 

Buy it at WBShop.com
Street date: June 23, 2015

SHERLOCK -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 2/23/22

 

For over a century, authors and filmmakers have been unable to resist rethinking, revising, and generally screwing around with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic master detective Sherlock Holmes.  Even the silver screen's gold standard Holmes, Basil Rathbone, found himself transplanted from Victorian-era London into the middle of World War II in order to apply his peerless deductive skills toward fighting the Axis.  Over the years Holmes has met Sigmund Freud and Jack the Ripper, battled invading Martians, and exposed his private life for all to see.

While many of these updates are respectful of the original material, some are mere gimmicks designed to spoof or sensationalize.  But the three-part BBC-TV series SHERLOCK (2010), which places Holmes and the redoubtable Dr. John H. Watson squarely in the 21st century with the rest of us, is no gimmick.  Rather, it's an exhilarating opportunity for the celebrated sleuth and his loyal sidekick to engage a whole new world of mysteries.

Indeed, this Sherlock would fit comfortably into any time period.  He's not a fish out of water--his dynamic, self-contained character resists the need to be "updated" save for the modern detecting tools of which he readily avails himself.  Of course, he still has his violin, not to mention his problems with certain controlled substances.  The shag pipe has been replaced by nicotine patches, and instead of a journal, Watson records their adventures in his blog.
 

Holmes' rivalrous sibling Mycroft is here as well, now a member of the British government's inner circle and played very amusingly by Mark Gatiss.  Needless to say, the shadowy presence of a certain Moriarty hovers over it all.  Each episode is beautifully directed and shot, with inventive scene transitions and a fine musical score by David Arnold and Michael Price.  The scripts are replete with crackling dialogue and bits of business which convey the spirit of Doyle's original characters and stories in loving detail.  With all the familiar pieces falling into place in such a satisfying manner, SHERLOCK is a deep, delightful wallow in Holmesiana.

It took about half a minute for the wonderfully-named Benedict Cumberbatch to win me over as Holmes.  We first find him in the morgue, furiously laying into a corpse with a riding crop to assess the bruises.  Blithely unaware that a smitten attendant named Molly Hooper (Loo Brealey) is coming on to him, he responds to her timid invitation to coffee with a curt "Black, two sugars please, I'll be upstairs" before dashing off to the laboratory.  This leads directly to the fateful meeting between the two odd ducks, Holmes and Watson (Martin Freeman), both seeking a roommate as in the first chapter of the original Holmes novel, "A Study in Scarlet."  (This premiere episode is similarly titled "A Study in Pink.") 

Noticing Watson's crutch, the inquisitive Holmes asks, "Afganistan or Iraq?"  Watson, as in his initial incarnation, has been wounded both physically and mentally in the war and spends his days in therapy, but we get the feeling his unhappy life is about to get a lot more interesting.  "We don't know a single thing about each other," he says dubiously when Holmes takes it for granted that they'll be flatmates.
 

Fans know exactly what's coming next.  Our shared anticipation is rewarded when the droll, almost insanely perceptive Holmes casually reels off much of Watson's life story, based on simple observation, without missing a beat.  It's a marvelous scene, establishing his eccentric character beautifully with a few exquisite strokes.  Before long, both are ensconced in the familiar surroundings of 221B Baker Street, fussed over by their dear old landlady Mrs. Hudson (Una Stubbs).

"When the police are out of their depth, which is always, they consult me," he boasts when Detective Lastrade (Rupert Graves) of Scotland Yard summons him to the scene of a mysterious suicide.  Holmes invites Watson along as a medical consultant, thus beginning their grand collaboration.  A series of apparent self-poisonings has Scotland Yard baffled, and it's up to Holmes to figure out why unrelated Londoners are killing themselves with identical poison pills for no apparent reason.  This adventure will eventually lead him into a riveting battle of wits with the most unlikely of opponents.  

With a frustrated Lestrade constantly calling upon Holmes for help, the two bear a resemblance to Batman and Commissioner Gordon.  Which is fitting since, after all, Batman was partly based on Holmes in the first place.  (Maybe that's why the otherwise useless Robin was invented, to serve the Watson role of sounding board and appreciative audience to "the world's greatest detective.")

A clever convention that appears frequently is the use of floating text to show us not only what's popping up on various cell phones (Holmes prefers texting to talking) and other sources, but also lets us in on what's running through Holmes' mind as he riffles through various visual clues.  This way, he doesn't have to constantly explain everything to Watson for our benefit, and we get to see his thought processes in real time as he gathers and assesses information at lightning speed.

In the second episode, "The Blind Banker", Holmes sniffs out a racket involving stolen historical artifacts smuggled in from China and sold at auction.  When two of the smugglers are found dead in classic "locked room" scenarios, the killer's trail leads to a scary Chinese criminal cult that eventually gets their hands on our heroes.  While this episode gets slightly bogged down in procedure at times, there's plenty of exotic atmosphere, great character byplay, and a keenly suspenseful finale.

The third and last story of the season, "The Great Game", is an utter joy from start to finish.  It begins with Watson returning to the flat to find Holmes shooting bullets into the wall out of boredom, followed by that famous exchange in which Holmes reveals he doesn't know that the Earth goes round the sun.  Such information, he explains, isn't necessary in his work, and, in contemporary terms, he likens his brain to a hard drive from which all extraneous data must be deleted. 

The plot involves a mad bomber who communicates with Holmes through hostages who are wired with explosives and forced to read their captor's text messages aloud over the phone.  With only hours to solve each of the killer's mysterious puzzles and rescue the hostages one by one, the pace is frantic and the action non-stop, culminating in a final revelatory scene that should have Holmes fans in paroxysms of geek bliss. 

Do we ever get to see the big "M"?  Yes.  I won't go into detail, but the eventual face-to-face encounter between the world's greatest consulting detective and the world's greatest criminal mastermind is a sensational pay-off to all the build-up, and scintillating as hell.  (The words "You complete me" came to mind during their verbal sparring.)  It ends in a cliffhanger which, in a way, reminded me of a certain story called "The Final Problem."

The 2-disc DVD from Warner Home Video and BBC contains all three feature-length episodes (270 minutes total) in a 16:9 aspect ratio and Dolby Digital 5.1 stereo.  Subtitles are in English.  Episodes 1 and 3 contain cast and crew commentaries.  Other bonuses include a making-of featurette, "Unlocking Sherlock", and the original hour-long pilot which was later expanded and reshot to become "A Study in Pink."
 
Do I recommend SHERLOCK?  It's all I can do to keep from coming over to your house and forcing you to watch it with me.  This is intoxicating stuff for Holmes addicts, and I can't wait to see what's next.  In the words of the modern-day Sherlock: "The game is on!"

ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 3/21/22

 

Finally, a comedy show that was ALL comedy.  No out of character chit-chat, no maudlin songs, no fake sincerity--just wall-to-wall silliness that kept going right through the closing credits and beyond.  Joke followed gag followed blackout followed non sequitur, with absolutely no qualms about coming off as supremely silly.  As a kid, I felt as though the show had been designed specifically with me in mind.

The format would start to get tired and a bit worn out as time went on, but in 1968, during the groundbreaking, trailblazing ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (Time-Life, 4-disc DVD), it seemed like a totally fresh, endlessly inventive comedy powerhouse.

Dan Rowan, the cigarette-puffing straight man who looked like he should always have a bourbon on the rocks in his hand, and Dick Martin, the wisecracking "funny" one who seemed to have already had a few, were like dinner-theater comics who'd stepped into their own network comedy show by surprise and decided to have the time of their lives.

The cast were an eclectic bunch of crazies who would almost all become household names--Jo Anne Worley, Arte Johnson, Ruth Buzzi, "Get Smart" star Barbara Feldon, Henry Gibson, Eileen Brennan, Larry Hovis, announcer Gary Owens, and "sock it to me" girl Judy Carne.  The show's biggest star, Goldie Hawn, would enter the scene in the third episode and become the show's reigning dumb blonde.

The jokes came fast and furious, practically piling up on each other, much of them silly sight gags and wordplay.  Weekly features included "The Party", "News of the Past, Present, and Future", "Sock It To Me" Time, "The Joke Wall", "It's a Mod, Mod World", and "Potpourri."  All were just excuses for more comic madness. 

And despite the show's counterculture vibe, much of it is actually your standard "old fogey"-type comedy with a veneer of feigned "hip"-ness--a weird mixture to be sure.  But it seemed fresh and rebellious at the time because it was so different from the usual straightlaced variety shows (such as Carol Burnett's over on CBS).

The "Party" sequences play like Hugh Hefner's "Playboy After Dark"--complete with middle-aged swingers awkwardly dressed in mod clothes--but packed with oodles of groan-worthy one-liners ("My brother's a Quaker--some of his best Jews are friends", "I wanted a nose job, but my husband said it would be like putting a new luggage rack on a 1953 De Soto.")

The jokes cover previously taboo subjects such as birth control, marijuana, race, and various kinds of sex, with the censors seemingly letting them get away with a lot more than usual.  But this was back before everyone was so easily triggered and being politically incorrect was an act of social rebellion by the counter-culture against the "establishment."

Weekly guest stars doing their bit(s) included Flip Wilson, Harry Belafonte, Milton Berle, Johnny Carson, Cher, Tim Conway, Sammy Davis Jr., Sally Field, Jerry Lewis, Muriel Landers, Kaye Ballard, Sheldon Leonard, Tommy Smothers, and even John Wayne.  The infamous ukulele-playing folk singer Tiny Tim, who became a superstar because of the show, makes three separate appearances.

The DVD set from Time-Life contains four discs with 14 remastered episodes.  Disc one's bonus features include a cast reunion, blooper reel, a new interview with creator and executive-producer George Schlatter, and the show's entire pilot episode.

ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON was a blast in its time and still comes through as fresh and funny, but with added nostalgia value.  It's just as much a treat to watch now as it was back in 1968.



Street Date: September 5, 2017

CAST
Dan Rowan
Dick Martin
Pamela Austin
Ken Berry
Eileen Brennan
Ruth Buzzi
Judy Carne
Barbara Feldon
Henry Gibson
Goldie Hawn
Larry Hovis
Arte Johnson
Gary Owens
Jo Anne Worley

PROGRAM INFORMATION
Format: DVD/4 Discs
Running Time: 869 minutes
Genre:  TV DVD/Comedy
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: Stereo