Blu-Ray Review: 3:10 to Yuma

Now if you told me 3 months ago that I would be reviewing 3:10 to Yuma, I would laugh at you.  Now I know it's got high praise and all, but just I'm not a big fan of westerns.  But I saw the trailer and it looked good so I figured "Why not give it a shot".  I got a good deal on it ($12 on eBay.  I really recommend eBay for all Blu-Ray purchases.  They have deals) and today I finally got it in the mail.  

3:10 to Yuma takes place of course in the early days of the US during it's movement to the west.  An outlaw named Ben Wade (Russell Crow) who gets captured by sheriffs and a farmer named Dan Evans (Christian Bale).  So the movie is basically about them taking this outlaw to the 3:10 Train to Yuma.  But Wade's outlaw crew is not far behind and the chase is on to see who will get to the station first.

The movie was very entertaining.  It was not bad but I was going in thinking it would be a lot better.  Maybe I just built up my hopes to much for the movie.  The Blu-Ray itself on the other hand did no let down at all.  It's got perfect picture.  The colors and detail are some of the best I have seen on Blu-Ray.  It's one of the few I own that even has 7.1 PCM Uncompressed audio.  But dont expect much of it since the movie isn't a bass thumper like a lot of my movies in my collection.  

Overall I was happy with the whole package.  The movie itself was very good and I really was looking forward to Bale's performance since I know how dedicated an actor he is.  But I was kinda let down.  Not that it was bad but it was not breathtaking.  I was more impressed with Patrick Batemen from American Psycho or hell even Bordon from The Prestige.  But this movie was mainly about Russell Crow and Ben Wade.  He was just a character that just kept on making you think "Should I be going for or against this guy."  He's a villain that just gets you involved and thats what makes movie goers interested.  Overall, I recommend the movie as a rental.  The characters are really great and the movie itself is good but I dont think some people might see replay value in this movie.  

Rating: 8 out of 10 (Good)      

Blu-Ray Review: The Prestige

The Prestige is Chris Nolan (Director: Batman Begins, Memento, The Dark Knight) first movie after being at the helm for Batman Begins.  Not many general movie goers knew about Nolan until Batman; I for one was one of them.  After Begins, I could not wait to see what his next film was gonna be.  When heard about The Prestige and the movie having Christian Bale, Micheal Caine, and Hugh Jackman in it, I was very excited to see what he had up his sleeves.  Unfortunately I never got to see it in theaters but I finally got to see it when it was released on DVD a few years ago.  I was very impressed with it and knew that I would defiantly see it multiple times in the future.  Now after a year or two, I finally got around to getting a copy for Blu-Ray.

The story takes place in London during the late 1800's.  Bordon (Christian Bale) and Angier (Hugh Jackman) are up-and-coming magicians that are friends when a tragic accident forces them to become bitter rivals.  Both try to out do each other until Bordon creates a trick that is basically pure magic.  The magic trick drives Angier crazy and thus begins his quest to find out exactly what Bordon is doing.

The film is great in general.  It's got great characters but more importantly is has great story.  You get involved in this feud between the two and it's hard to pick a side because both have much good but at the same time have their dark sides.  But we are not hear to just judge the story, it's a blu-ray review for a reason.  The video transfer is very good.  It's nothing jaw dropping but almost all of the jaw dropping blu-rays either have gigantic robots fighting, superheroes, or futuristic stuff.  That does not mean the movie is ugly in anyway.  It's got dark blacks and no color issues at all.  The movie comes with a 5.1 Uncompressed audio soundtrack but no 7.1 (sorry for those who actually have one).  But overall I was very impressed with the movies, especially since I bought it for $9.

I'm gonna go off and say right now that I am an big fan of Nolan's work.  Of course with me being a big comic book fan, my first movie I saw of his was Batman Begins.  Nolan is one of if not the best director in Hollywood right now and I think when it's all said and done, will go down as one of the best directors of all time.  It isn't just his cinematography and directing of great actors such as Micheal Caine, Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, and Morgan Freeman but it's his storytelling that grabs you.  After seeing Batman Begins, I saw Memento and The Prestige and was just utterly impressed by both films.  Now with The Dark Knight, he has his name connected with great films of our decade.  He has not just changed the world of comic book movies, but for cinema in general.  I highly reccomend  The Prestige to all.  It's a great looking film but it's a great story and that is something that Hollywood has been lacking lately.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10