Entertainment :: Movies
DVD Releases: 3:10 to Yuma, Death Sentence, Resident Evil: Extinction, and Sunshine by Robert Newton
National Film EditorMonday Jan 7, 2008
The New Year brings a slew of new DVD releases, including the critically acclaimed Russell Crowe-Christian Bale western "3:10 to Yuma," Kevin Bacon in "Death Sentence," the third installment of the "Resident Evil" series -- "Resident Evil: Exinction", and Danny Boyle’s sci-fi sleeper "Sunshine." Here’s what you can find in stores and online this week
3:10 to Yuma
Writer-director James Mangold, who wrote and directed the multiple award-winning Johnny Cash biopic, "Walk the Line," remakes the minor 1957 movie starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin, based on an early story by Elmore Leonard. The story involves a forlorn rancher and Civil War veteran named Dan Evans (Christian Bale) who volunteers to shelter and then shuttle captured charismatic outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to the train to Yuma Prison, only Wade’s gang of sociopaths is bent on preventing that. Ben Foster ("X-Men: The Last Stand") is terrifying as Wade’s fancy-pants muscle, Charlie Prince, and veteran Peter Fonda adds some Old West punch as Pinkerton man Byron McElroy.
Special Features: Featurette - "Destination Yuma" (a 21-minute making-of documentary); Featurette - "An Epic Explored" featurette (Mangold spins on the meaning of the Western film; Featurette - "Outlaws, Gangs & Posses" (historians weigh in on the real outlaws, gangs and posses of the Old West; 6 deleted scenes; Commentary by Mangold.
EDGE’s Review
Death Sentence
From the poo-flinging purveyors of the torture porn trilogy "Saw" and the writer of "Death Wish" (the 1974 revenge flick starring Charles Bronson that the world may have forgotten if not reminded of it in this movie’s marketing) comes this contemplation on the nature of violence. Center of the movie universe Kevin Bacon plays Nick Hume, an Everyman whose life is torn up when his oldest son and golden boy is randomly murdered in a gang initiation ritual. When he learns that the young killer, played by Garrett Hedlund ("Eragon"), might be out in less than five years, he takes justice into his own hands and dispatches the lad, an Old Testament style smoting that he develops a taste for. Kudos to Bacon for his Bickle-like head shaving scene, in which he actually shaved his head, and luckily, in the first take.
Special Features: Over 10 minutes of footage edited back into the film (to make it unrated); Featurette - Fox Movie Channel Presents: Making A Scene; Featurette - Fox Movie Channel Presents: Life After Film School with Kevin Bacon; 9 webisodes
EDGE’s Review
Dragon Wars
Anyone who tells you that this glorified South Korean special effects reel is like "Transformers" meets "The Host" is obviously in the marketing department at studio Sony. Even with a budget of roughly $75 million, writer-director Hyung-rae Shim violates the writer’s rule of "show, don’t tell" by making veteran actor Robert Forster go on at great length about an ancient Korean dragon legend, having to say words like "Yu Yi Joo" and "Imoogi" with a straight face. The story centers on a woman named Sarah (Amanda Brooks), who is host to a great dragon power, and a reporter named Ethan (Jason Behr), who were soul mates in their previous life 500 years prior. Together, they can save Los Angeles from reptilian ruin, if they can escape the fearsome army of a towering, sword-wielding villain credited only as "Evil General" (Michael Shamus Wiles).
Special Features: 3 making-of featurettes
EDGE’s Review
Golden Door
While too many storytellers rely too heavily on the mythical status of New York’s Ellis Island as a gateway for immigrants (which handled up to 70% of them at one time), writer-director Emanuele Crialese ("Respiro") makes it into a living, breathing character unto itself in this real purdy drama. He tells the story of the Italian Mancuso clan as they sell everything they own in order to emigrate to what they hope will be a better life in early 20th century America. Salvatore (Vincenzo Amato) and his sons, Angelo (Francesco Casisa) and the mute Pietro (Filippo Pucillo) are like a restrained, old country Marx Brothers, finding quiet wonder in all aspects of their journey. Crialese infuses this affair with fantasy, with the Mancusos dreaming of a country in which giant chicken and vegetables abound, and money actually does grow on trees. Charlotte Gainsbourg ("The Science Of Sleep") plays a mysterious and determined Englishwoman whom Salvatore becomes protective, and Aurora Quattrocchi (Malena) as the Mancusos’ charmingly superstitious elderly mother steals the show.
Special Features: Introduction by presenter Martin Scorsese; making-of featurette
Resident Evil: Extinction
Former supermodel Milla Jovovich again stars in this third and allegedly final movie in the most-definitely-not Shakespeare series about a secret experiment-turned-zombie plague. Two-time "Highlander" director Russell Mulcahy directs this video game adaptation, blissfully unaware that game-crazy writer Paul W.S. Anderson has ripped pages from J.G. Ballard’s 1981 sci-fi novel, "Hello America," wiped his overpaid butt with them and stitched the result to an homage to master George Romero’s "Living Dead" quartet of genre cornerstones. While this may be the last in the live-action franchise, Sony could always take the setting -- "Raccoon City" -- and turn it into a kids’ cartoon series, just based on how cute it sounds.
Special Features: Deleted scenes; sneak peek at "Resident Evil: Degeneration" (the first "Resident Evil" CGI feature film); Filmmaker commentary; making-of featurettes
September Dawn
A contentious incident in Mormon history -- the 1857 slaying of 120 emigrant men, women and children by Mormon militiamen and Paiute Indians -- becomes even more so with this dramatization of the infamous Mountain Meadow Massacre. The film stars Terence Stamp as the Mormon leader Brigham Young, with Jon Gries as John D. Lee, the confessed leader of the attack, and has drawn considerable attention from LDS elders for its suggestion that Young actually ordered the attack. "Big Love" this is not.
Special Features: Featurette - "True Events: A Historical Perspective" Director Christopher Cain; Featurette - "Descendants: Remembering the Tragedy" (descendants and historian Will Bagley talk about the film’s historical accuracy and what the massacre means to them)
Sunshine
"28 Days Later" creator Danny Boyle’s latest is a sci-fi yarn set 50 years in the future, the crew of the deep space vessel Icarus II must deliver an explosive payload to our dying sun to re-ignite it (take that, Al Gore). Naturally, unfortunate obstacles challenge the crew and threaten the mission. Boyle’s cast features slightly creepy pretty boy Cillian Murphy ("Red Eye") as the ship’s pragmatic physicist (and Earth’s biggest hope) and Malaysian beauty Michelle Yeoh ("Memoirs of a Geisha") as its overemotional botanist. Swarthy Kiwi Cliff Curtis ("Live Free Or Die Hard") is the Muscle, and Chris Evans makes up for two "Fantastic Four" fumbles. Frequent Boyle collaborator Alex Garland handles the writing duties.
Special Features: (take a deep breath): Commentary by Danny Boyle; Commentary by the University of Manchester’s Dr. Brian Cox (the film’s scientific advisor); alternate ending; 11 deleted scenes with optional commentary by Danny Boyle; 23 installments of Boyle’s Web production diary; Short Film - "Dad’s Dead" by Chris Shepherd; Short Film - "Mole Hills" by Dan Arnold
EDGE’s Review
Robert Newton is the National Film Editor for EDGE. He is also Editor of North Shore Movies Weekly, and a film and TV writer for a variety of newspapers, magazines and websites. He is also an award-winning novelty recording artist (aka "Fig"), and runs The Cape Ann Community Cinema on the island of Gloucester, MA.
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