bad,bad,bad!!!

first of all, i cant believe someone from the studios that made this,watched it and said"yep, thats great, i can see everything in perfect clarity,lets send it out on dvd!"
all the action takes place in practically 95% blackness. you cant see diddly at all.as for the story-its pants.as for the acting.... well, it certainly wont get a blue peter badge,let alone an oscar. in short-save your money!!

a good movie just need a little helping hand

this is a really good movie. well about what the other said about the HD transfer. it is good but not great. this is what i did for you to get the good resort. you will need to adjust your TV contrast to full and the brightness and had a little bit of more colour. that should do the trick

20 minutes for love

A T.S. Eliot quote. A swinging pendulum and spinning hands on a monstrous clock. Countless faded figures moving quickly by.

And in the center of the crush, a man in a cop uniform says (in German),"The ball is round. The game lasts 90 minutes. That's a fact. Everything else is pure theory." He kicks it into the sky.

Well, Tom Tykwer certainly knows how to get our attention. And it's only a few minutes in the kinetic, high-octane, colourful world of"Run Lola Run" -- a wild action/romance that studies the ripple effect of our lives, and the changes we can make in the name of love.

Lola (Franka Potente) receives a call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), a drug courier. Because Lola's moped was stolen, Manni had to take the subway home -- and he accidentally left behind a bag of money. Now he has twenty minutes to somehow get 100,000 marks, or his boss Ronnie is going to kill him.

Lola races across Berlin to her father's bank -- only to find him with his mistress, and hear that he's leaving his other family. Desperate, she runs to where Manni is waiting, and helps him rob a convenience store. But as they flee, the police catch up to them -- and Lola is shot.

"But I don't want to. I don't want to leave," she mutters. And time rewinds to where she left her apartment -- and this time, Lola's determined to do things differently. As she runs from one end of Berlin to another, she sends ripples through the lives of those she passes -- and she'll keep running until she finds a hundred thousand marks to save herself and Manni.

"Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt)" was what propelled Tom Tykwer to international fame. And given that his other movies tend to be slower and more dreamlike -- though no less striking visually -- this movie is striking not only for its speed, but the sweet romance and the lesson about the old"butterfly's wings" adage. (Also see:"Happenstance")

Admittedly, a woman running through Berlin is not terribly interesting in itself. But the world of Lola is filled with brilliant rave colours -- Lola's blazing red hair, colourful room, the sights of Berlin -- and her race against the clock is punctuated by little vignettes of the future lives of various people she bumps into. That momentary contact is enough to change their lives -- sometimes for better, or worse.

And Tykwer's style is a spicy mix -- arty shots (going through a clock mouth or an apartment building?), German techno, cartoon interludes with an animated Lola running for it, Lola changing reality with her screeches, and the snapshots of people's futures, seen only for a second -- but very revealing. Not to mention the equally colourful, MTVesque cartoons of Lola running down stairs, evading dogs, et cetera.

But even aside from Tykwer's artistic flair, it's a great movie -- the atmosphere is painful and taut during the scenes in the bank, including Lola's robbery. And periodically, we see some sweet red-tinted interludes of Manni and Lola in bed, discussing their feelings for each other. They're little oases of calm and love, in the middle of all the running.

Franka Potente does a solid job as Lola, an ordinary punky girl who loves Manni more than anything, and must find the RIGHT way out of their shared dilemma. She gets some nasty surprises from her uptight, adulterous dad, though. And Bleibtreu does magnificently as Manni, who is overcome with fear, frustration and anguish because he knows that his boss is going to kill him.

"Run Lola Run" is a kinetic, vibrant, and a romantic little look at how a moment can change your life. Everything else is pure theory.

Where's The Extras?

The Film? Superb! Quality? Faultless! Extras? NON EXISTENT! Amazon says there's over 18hrs of extras but all there is, is a trailer for the film! Very dissapointing. I think they must have meant 0.18 Hrs of Extras!

In dreams he came

Sumptuous, rich, lush and inviting. Like a gilt-edged dream, Joel Schumacher's"Phantom of the Opera" is a triumphant love note to beauty, song and scenery.

Adapted from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical (and Gaston Leroux's novel), this movie ends up being beautiful in every scene, with solid acting and and a tragic antihero. The singing, the sumptuous sets, the acting -- all are the ingredients of a musical tour de force.

In 1870, a Paris opera house is under new management -- just as diva Carlotta (Minnie Driver, a glorious diva-from-hell) is almost killed by a stage curtain, and stomps out. Fortunately Christine Daae (Emmy Rossum), taught by a mystery tutor, can take over the soprano's role, and soon becomes famous for her singing. Even better, it catches the attention of her childhood sweetheart, Vicomte Raoul (Patrick Wilson).

But Raoul doesn't realize that Christine was taught by a disfigured, tortured genius who hides under the opera house. And the Phantom of the Opera is not only determined that Christine should be the star, but also be his wife. And he's willing to kill for it. Can Raoul break the Phantom's hold over Christine, or will she embrace"the music of the night"?

Watching this, it's hard to believe that it was directed by the same guy who did"Phone Booth" and the awful"Batman and Robin." Instead it looks as if the love child of Jean Cocteau and Peter Jackson decided to direct a musical, swathed in masks, roses, gilt angels, snow and velvet.

And it all wraps around Webber's solid songs ("Turn your face away from the garish light of day/turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light/and listen to the music of the night!") from the stage musical. Most of the lines are sung, which surprisingly doesn't detract from their believability. And there's plenty of fun with the cameras, whether it's the dizzying views of the backstage, or a zoom through a stone floor to the Phantom's face.

Schumacher also adds a few extra scenes, including a sword fight between Raoul and the Phantom, which makes the vicomte seem more passionate; and a flashback to the Phantom's horrific childhood. What's more, the story is framed by scenes from forty years later -- sepia-toned scenes in the dusty remains of the Opera.

The three most prominent roles are what make or break this movie, and in this case, the casting is nearly ideal. Rossum has the ingenue looks -- and the powerful pipes -- to carry off the role of Christine, torn between her love and her passion. Similarly, Patrick Wilson gives some brains and strength to Raoul, and despite the romantic appeal of the Phantom, Raoul isn't hard to cheer for.

Gerard Butler is a bit more difficult. Most of the time his singing is solid, and his acting is powerful and tragic as the"loathsome gargoyle, who burns in hell, but secretly yearns for heaven." The scene where he tries to seduce Christine is deeply sensual. But occasionally his performance gets really hammy, such as the unmasking, where he flings himself around screaming,"You little prying Pandora! You little demon!"

And how does the blu-ray measure up? Well, the regular DVD was hailed for its sumptuous colours and visuals, as well as the lovely songs. Those things are all enhanced by the blu-ray release -- everything just seems so much more brilliant.

Lush, exquisite and passionate,"The Phantom of the Opera" is a solid adaptation of Webber's musical, with good acting and excellent direction. A triumph for"the music of the night."

Great action, bad script

I know the acting is awful and I gave up trying to understand the plot ofter 6 mins. However at 11 mins there's a crazy action sequence that hooked me in. After that you get more exposition then more and more action of the most spectacular variety, so much so that I was almost up out of my seat cheering. It looks great and sounds great and I thoroughly loved it. I'm only knocking off one star for the script and acting because quite honestly the action was so good that I didn't care about the rest one bit. Stunning and hilarioulsy bad by equal measures.

Great Expectations - David Lean Classic!

A brilliant masterpiece! A true classic! Wonderfully acted, scripted and shot! Never see this film before?... don't miss out. One to see before you die! That's why its out on Blu-Ray!

Showed early promise then disappointed hugely

The title of this review pretty much sums up my feelings towards this film. The first 30-45 minutes were really quite good and the potential was there for the second half of the film to be the same but as soon as Kevin Bacon's character went looking for revenge and in the process donned some war paint and went all Rambo like, it went downhill faster than an avalanche!

Overall, a disappointing effort that could and should have been so much better.

Too short and very poor quality

I picked this up to showcase the Blu-Ray quality of my new Playstation 3. The results were very disappointing. Looks like lots of lossy compression on the picture and, as others have mentioned, very short clips.

Brilliantly OTT.

This film does have a plot, but to be honest it is hardly important to this sort movie. The action is frantic and completely silly that puns are hilariously bad. It really is one of those films that once you have seen the opening you will know if you will like it. It isn't for everyone, it is the definition of high octane dumb action movie. Clearly made as a blokes movie, although my Missus loved it as well, it ain't no date movie.
Is it a worthwhile Blu ray purchase? If you like the film sure if not then you would be dumb to buy it anyway, and if you aren't sure, rent it.

A stunning piece of work.

I'm very fond a Japanese anime but (to my shame) this title had eluded me. I bought it primarily because it's one of the first animations on Blu-Ray and I was curious to assess the image quality. Well you live and learn: this film is extraordinary in the extreme. It's appears to be a simple tale of two boys living and surviving on the streets of a run down Japanese town but it becomes far more than that. Their names are 'Black' and 'White' and I would urge you to consider yin & yang at this point.
The animation is amazing. There's so much detail in each frame that I wanted to frame (as in wooden) most of them. Sometimes the animation is deliberately simplistic but it all blends and builds magnificently. The high-definition really brings this out and any lover of anime will be drooling at this one.
This is now one of my top 5 films and that's really saying something because I'm 43 years old and I've seen a lot of movies. I don't impress easily. If you like anime then just buy this, a no-brainer. If you like a thoughtful and interesting (but at times surreal) story then also buy this.
Genius!

Simply Stunning

This is a well thought out , well filmed , well scripted film .
No slap , Bang , Wallop Editing here .
You get enough time to enjoy , each and every , wonderous Scene .
this Blu Ray Film is for me the Bench Mark Blu Ray disc and is superior to all the BBC BLU RAY Discs currently available .
The Setting sun scenes towards the end of the Disc are , BEAUTIFUL BEYOND DESCRIPTION .
BELIVE ME ! I MEAN IT , I AM HARD TO PLEASE , so when I say that it must be good .
I showed it to a few friends who were , stunned By the quality of the Picture .
as previously mentioned in the other review the extra docus are very well made and you will want to watch them each time you spin this disc .
A MUST HAVE IN ANY BLU RAY COLLECTION , WETHER YOR A NATURE FAN OR NOT .
2 different ways to view it , narration or sound track .
the most played disc in my 35 disc Blu Ray collection .
Enjoy it !!!!!!!!!.

Own a PS3? This is fantastic!

I collected all the Harry Potter films but was un-sure whether to get it for my PS3 as it didnt match the other boxes. But boy does it look fantastic on my PS3. The picture is super sharp and the action looks brilliant on my 52" 1080p, my kids were just mesmerized.

At only £18.00 is a great buy for Christmas.

The Hour or so didn't Rush by

I'd previously briefly seen the opening credits with Chris Tucker as a traffic cop and there and then decided I wouldn't buy it, but my 12 year old son persuaded me to get it, and in Blu-ray. Well, I wasn't wrong. The movie just seemed to drag from the very first minute. All I really remember was Chris Tucker in his trademark high pitch voice, screaming his way through the very predictable 'witty' dialogue, with a body language seemingly waiting for the prompt from the director to deliver the line, as nothing was delivered with anything like the spontaneity of the first movie (and the second to a degree). Jackie Chan looked and moved like an old man, the movie being devoid of any real trademark Chan moves. He does have a certain similarity with current Chinese leaders in that their hair gets darker as they get older too...

Having lived in France the French accents were appalling and the singing of the Stars and Stripes by the French taxi driver was so embarrassing...and I'm English...

And the girl interest, bizzare (but then, maybe she was meant to be...).

At the end, even my 12 year old rolled his eyes. Not as funny or as much action as the first two was the verdict. Hopefully they won't be in a Rush to make the fourth...