Home Media Magazine - December 16-22, 2007 - (Page 14)

REVIEWS www.homemediamagazine.com I TORCHWOOD: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON Prebook 12/18; Street 1/22 BBC Video, Sci-Fi, $79.98 seven-DVD set, NR. Stars John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori, Gareth David-Lloyd. O I BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT Street 12/18 Warner, Sci-Fi, $20.97 two-DVD set, $34.99 four-DVD set, $78.92 five-DVD set (with collectible packaging), $39.99 fivedisc HD DVD or Blu-ray ($99.98 with collectible packaging), ‘R’ for violence and brief nudity. Stars Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Edward James Olmos, Joanna Cassidy, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah. A ll these new 25th anniversary Blade Runner releases are built around director Ridley Scott’s new “Final Cut” of the classic future-noir film, which is available on its own in a two-disc set with the documentary Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner, a new three-hour retrospective. As if that weren’t enough, a four-disc set includes the final cut, the documentary, a bonus disc with more features, and another disc with three more versions of the movie — the 1982 theatrical cut, the international version and the 1992 special edition — offered together with seamless branching. The film remains as visually stunning as it did when it was first released. The final cut, like the 1992 edition, strips from the film the narration that now seems like cheap exposition. True collectors will want the five-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition set. It offers all of the above packed in an ultra-cool limited-edition Deckard briefcase, plus a letter from Scott, a chrome origami unicorn, a Spinner police hovercar replica, photographs from the film and, exclusive to this set, a work print of the film. The HD DVD and Blu-ray disc configurations are the same as the DVD, but the high-def versions are offered only as a five-disc “Complete Collection” with or without the briefcase. All the different versions should thrill film buffs, who will love the chance to compare all the versions borne from Scott’s 25-year reconstruction process, which is detailed in the featurette “All Our Variant Futures.” The final cut includes several commentaries from Scott and various crew members, while the work print has a commentary from a Blade Runner historian. As a special treat, the deleted scenes are packaged as somewhat of an alternate version in itself, complete with more insightful Deckard narration. With so many versions out there now, hopefully everyone will be satisfied — so we can finally close the case on this classic once and for all. – John Latchem I TED: THE FUTURE WE WILL CREATE Street 12/18 Docurama, Documentary, $26.95 two-DVD set, NR. Narrated by Daphne Zuniga. T he annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference serves as an annual gathering of innovators reaching for the future, and a forum for networking to see how different ideas can be shaped and combined to improve lifestyles or provide practical solutions for a variety of problems. The four-day event, for which 1,000 invitees paid $4,400 each for the privilege to attend, provides a stage for 40 speakers who get 18 minutes each to discuss anything they want. Topics range from technology demonstrations to sociological data to lectures on quantum physics, with some unique musical performances thrown in for good measure. The conference also awards a TED Prize, which grants three winners $100,000 each and lets them state a wish that would change the world, hopefully inspiring others in attendance to help. Actress Daphne Zuniga (Spaceballs, “Melrose Place”), with co-director Steven Latham, chronicles the 2006 conference as an example of what TED has been doing for more than 20 years. This approach, as opposed to tracing the evolution of the conference’s impact on global society over that time, lets the film hone in on a singular theme: problems affecting us on a global scale. Among the speakers: global health professor Hans Rosling’s investigation of how low fertility in industrialized nations correlates to higher life expectancy since 1962; computer scientist Nicholas Negroponte’s quest to put a $100 laptop in the hands of every student in America; and research scientist Jeff Han’s new fully interactive touchscreen computer. The DVD includes the full video of several presentations, and an update of the 2006 TED Prize wishes. Al Gore was on hand to give the global warming speech from An Inconvenient Truth. His presentation isn’t included, since his DVD is readily available. But Gore’s presence sets up a humorous moment. As motivational speaker Tony Robbins throws out a list of excuses people make about not achieving their goals, Gore adds “The Supreme Court.” Robbins calls him out, telling him the Supreme Court was not the main reason he lost, and that he could have won convincingly had he emotionally connected with people the way he does when discussing climate change. – John Latchem utside the government, beyond the police, comes “Torchwood,” a spinoff of the “Doctor Who” revival series and Britain’s answer to “The X-Files.” As introduced on “Doctor Who,” the Torchwood Institute is a British agency dedicated to studying alien technology to prepare humanity to defend itself against a dangerous future. It’s hidden under a plaza in Cardiff, which for those needing a geography lesson is the capital of Wales in western Britain (the show is produced by BBC Wales). The team is led by Capt. Jack Harness (Barrowman), last seen in the first season of “Doctor Who” as a rogue agent from the 51st century. As a result of his last appearance, Jack is now immortal, which comes in handy in his line of work. The show is definitely darker than “Doctor Who,” while retaining the typical British absurdist attitude toward sciencefiction. The show uses ‘R’-rated language and risqué sexual situations that push the boundaries of even BBC America (which trimmed some of the sex scenes and muted the harsher language). The plot gimmicks are hardly original, but like “Doctor Who,” the focus is more on the interpersonal relationships. A key plot point is the team members having to keep the secret of their work, leaving only each other as outlets. First-season cases include a glove that revives the dead, a gang of fairies who steal children from time, a mind-reading amulet, a cyborg woman, plane passengers from 1953, and a run-in with a sex-monster (a staple of sci-fi shows). The final episode leads directly into the three-part finale of the third season of “Doctor Who.” The DVD includes all 13 episodes with insightful commentaries, plus a bonus disc of behind-the-scenes featurettes covering each episode. – John Latchem 14 Home Media Magazine December 16–22, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Home Media Magazine - December 16-22, 2007

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