JAM Reviews Unstoppable from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Unstoppable: Blu-Ray and Digital Combo: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Review by JAM

What do you get when you release a runaway train, take an experienced engineer and a young buck conductor straight out of training, a couple of cut corners, and a heavy special effects budget? You get Unstoppable starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, and Rosario Dawson.

Made in the Hollywood blockbuster way with the respectability that comes with any Denzel Washington movie, Unstoppable is the kind of movie that is based in facts with just enough extra thrown in to make ninety minutes of your time fly by without you knowing. And the facts of the matter are that someone did something really stupid and they got to make an exciting movie about it. A freight train is moved around and released through human error. This time bomb of a train is filled with toxic chemicals heading for civilization and those in power want to keep things quiet even as anything they try to do to stop it fails completely. Only through the heroism of the “never say quit” yardmaster (Dawson), the grizzled veteran who is being pushed out (Washington), and the fresh rookie straight out of school (Pine) can save lives, property, and give the expected ending to a thriller like this.

JAMS Ink on Unstoppable

Denzel Washington and the action thriller have been a match made in box-office heaven for some time, and Unstoppable is truly no different. An energetic blast through Middle America scenery, you feel as if the train is moving beneath you and you feel as if your town is going to get hit. It holds your attention and makes you grab your seat as you enjoy the “joyride” on the train.

I was told by a close friend that the actors in this movie are “yummy”. I guess that would be another reason for seeing this movie, especially for the female portion of the population. Denzel and Chris Pine can strongly appeal to the female demographic while the action and explosions will pull in the males. So it has something for everybody, so grab a copy!

Blu-ray discs are often great for the extras added or for the brilliance of picture. This one has both as it is packed to the brim with extras, and the picture is crazy awesome on a 1080p screen. I recommend this on Blu-ray for the explosiveness and vibrancy of the movie throughout.

EXTRAS

UNSTOPPABLE Blu-ray Extras:

Disc One:
Derailed: Anatomy of a Scene
Hanging Off the Train: Stunt Work
On the Rails with the Director and Cast
The Fastest Track: Unleashing Unstoppable
Director Commentary Track
Tracking the Story: Unstoppable Script Development
Disc Two:
Digital Copy

The Digital Copy as always is a fun addition to your library, making it easier to take your movies with you. It is especially handy if the kids are running your portable DVD player, so you can use the computer without taking anymore discs. My favorite extra on the Blu-ray was the Hanging Off the Train: Stunt Work. It is always fun to see how things really come to pass in order to make things look perfect onscreen and stunt work is an important part of the movie magic. It is a fun watch if you like looking behind the scenes. The rest of the extras added to the overall experience as well with the director commentary sharing a lot of insight.

Unstoppable from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is a runaway near train wreck of a film that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the action. See if you can catch up to a copy of your own on February 15, 2011 and grab a ride on this adventure.

UNSTOPPABLE Blu-ray
Street Date: February 15, 2011
Screen Format: Widescreen
Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital (English), 2.0 Surround Dolby Digital (Spanish, French)
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese, Traditional Chinese
Language: Dubbed: English, French, Spanish & Portuguese
Total Running Time: 3 hours, 9 minutes
U.S. Rating: PG-13
Closed Captioned: Yes

Remember check out this review and more from JAM at www.hollywoodteenzine.com for teens and tweens, and at http://jammoviereviews.blogspot.com for movies of all genres and ages.

JAM Reviews Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief - 20th Century Fox

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief – Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Combo: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Review by JAM

Swords and mythology, gods and goddesses, action, adventure, and lightning bolts, all of these and more come to you in a little blue package marked Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Take the son of Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), the daughter of Athena (Melina Kanakaredes), and a satyr protector in-training and you have a really awesome movie for teens, adults, and everyone in between.

Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) seems to be a lost soul, finding himself at a seeming crossroads as high school seems to be testing him beyond what he would expect. Besides the typical homework and testing he faces, dyslexia and mythological creatures masquerading as teachers come out of nowhere. Oh yeah, Zeus (Sean Bean) the king of the gods thinks he is a thief and he finds out his best friend Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) on crutches is actually a mythological creature known as a satyr.

As he gets help from others along the way including his mother Sally (Catherine Keener), Athena’s daughter Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), and Chiron (Pierce Brosnan) the centaur who had masqueraded previously as one of Percy’s wheelchair bound instructors, Percy searches for the true thief of Zeus’ thunderbolt and learns more along the way about his heritage. The movie also stars some big name actors in small yet important roles, including Uma Thurman as Medusa, Rosario Dawson as Persephone, Steve Coogan as Hades, and Jake Abel as Luke, the true thief of the thunderbolt.

JAMS Ink on Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief

Awesome!!!

That’s my word to describe this movie, even if you compare it to the book and nitpick details. The graphics are amazing, the story is tons of fun, and the characters are accessible and likeable. Mythology and modern day are sewn together in a masterful way, blending the past and present together to make a story that works for all. The character of Percy is a young man searching for himself, who has never really known his father, and feels like the world is against him. In a way, it is as the gods search for him in order to eradicate the son of one of the big Three (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) who had banned themselves from relations with the humans of our world. Percy’s search is much the same as almost any high school age kid who is trying to find out who they really are, and what they are destined to do.

The special effects are well done, reminding me of Lord of the Rings type effects with the monsters and the Olympians. When this had first hit the theaters, I went and found the first book so I knew the story behind it, and in my personal opinion they did a good job keeping the emphasis of the story complete even as they had to cut areas out. The Medusa scenes were a personal favorite, along with the climactic fight with Luke.

Having the director of the original Harry Potter, Chris Columbus, lends strength to a mythological epic like Percy Jackson while also keeping in grounded in the characters. I for one am hoping that this can lead to a sequel. That would definitely give me a reason to buy the next books to read (I am probably going to anyway, but I would love to see them as movies).

EXTRAS

I love deleted scenes, but I have to admit that there wasn’t much that was lost by taking out the scenes from this movie. It did show Grover acting like a teenage boy, in search of a second chance after failing Zeus’ daughter. Secrets of the Gods shares information on the Gods that people may not know, though for someone like me who had studied mythology for years did not need it. The Book Comes to Life is really good, allowing us to hear from the author and the director about the transition from book to film and background. It was interesting to hear Chris Columbus talk about his daughter’s dyslexia and the chance to bring a hero on screen that has the same issues but works to overcome it.

Blu-ray Special Features:
● 10 Extended and Deleted Scenes
○ The Museum – Grover Photographs Aphrodite
○ The Infirmary – Percy Meets Annabeth
○ Aphrodite’s Daughters – Grover Jumps Into Spa
○ Int. Bus – Percy Looks At The Map
○ Auntie Em’s – Medusa Chases Percy
○ Int. Pickup Truck – Grover Talks About Zeus’ daughter
○ Lotus Land Casino – Grover Dances
○ Lotus Land Casino – Percy Meets 50’s Guy
○ Lotus Land Casino – Percy, Annabeth and Grover Fight The Guards
○ Hades’ Mansion – Hades Talks To Percy
● Secrets of the Gods
● Discover Your Powers Quiz
● The Book Comes To Life
● Inside Camp Half-Blood
● On Set With Brandon T. Jackson
● Meet The Demigods
Single-Disc DVD Special Features
● 5 Extended and Deleted Scenes
○ The Museum – Grover Photographs Aphrodite
○ Int. Pickup Truck – Grover Talks About Zeus’ daughter
○ Lotus Land Casino – Grover Dances
○ Lotus Land Casino – Percy, Annabeth and Grover Fight The Guards
○ Hades’ Mansion – Hades Talks To Percy
● Discover Your Powers Quiz
● The Book Comes To Life

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is about to explode onto shelves on June 29, 2010 and it come HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by JAM. Grab your copy before the gods come for you!

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF
Street Date: June 29, 2010
Screen Format: Widescreen
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (BD) / English 5.1 Dolby Digital (DVD)
Subtitles English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Spanish, French (BD/DVD)
U.S. Rating: PG
Total Run Time: 118 minutes
Closed Captioned: Yes

Remember check out this review and more from JAM at www.hollywoodteenzine.com for teens and tweens, and at http://jammoviereviews.blogspot.com for movies of all genres and ages.