Hollow Man/Hollow Man 2/Fortress 2/The Harvest – 4 Movie Collection (DVD)

Any respective movie lovers looking to save money this Christmas with your classic movie packs on DVD or Blu-Ray and are in the mood for science fiction and action films need look no further than Mill Creek Entertainment’s 4 Movie Collection. This 4 movie pack collects four very entertaining science fiction movies for folks who like action, suspense, and violent menaces and this collection has it all. In 2000’s “Hollow Man,” director Paul Verhoeven brings his own unique vision of the Invisible Man to the forefront. Combining state of the art effects and a cast of great actors, “Hollow Man” star Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Cane, a doctor who volunteers to become a guinea pig for a technology that can turn its subjects invisible.

When he and his team accomplish the formula, Sebastian soon becomes power hungry, corrupting his invisibility using it to victimize and control others while his insanity begins to rot away. What starts as an experiment becomes a fight for survival as his crew tries to stop Sebastian who becomes increasingly violent and murderous, and will not stop until he’s whetted his appetite for blood. With some searing tension and solid performances from folks like Elizabeth Shue and Josh Brolin, Verhoeven’s science fiction treatment is surprisingly entertaining if flawed.

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Unbreakable (2000)

In the year 2000, after M. Night Shyamalan premiered his innate storytelling ability with the surprise supernatural thriller “The Sixth Sense,” he pretty much dashed expectations with a follow-up film that no one was expecting. Initially considered a poor follow-up, M. Night Shyamalan really approached a film that could well within his storytelling parameters, and he did so with a subtlety and humility that’s finally being appreciated. “Unbreakable” is a rather underrated masterpiece, and one that really does pay homage to the comic book mythology that society generally looks down upon. By approaching the comic book mythos with a straight face and a somewhat surprising dramatic dignity, M. Night Shyamalan adds a realism to the superhero origin story that’s deliberately paced and absolutely compelling to witness.

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Pac-Man: The Movie (2012)

Pacman

It’s rare that fan films can present a premise for a simple concept that can be stretched in to a feature length film. It’s also rare that a fan film that can pay tribute to a beloved icon while also adding a creative twist to it that gives it a special flair that fans would love. “Pac-Man: The Movie” by James Farr changes the concept of Pac-Man while also adding a new flavor to it that works wonders. Pac-Man is, of course, the iconic video game from the eighties about a yellow disc eating pegs and avoiding various colored ghosts. What director Farr and Steelhouse Digital do is add a science fiction twist to it that’s not only incredibly entertaining but pretty damn brilliant.

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The Day (2012)

The-Day-2012-backgroundFor fans of post apocalyptic cinema who love their fiction with subtext and undertones of society and class warfare, you’d probably want to look elsewhere for your brain food. Goodness knows I loves my apocalyptic fiction, but “The Day” is purely apocalypse porn with an artsy gloss added to it for good measure. Director Doug Aarniokoski tries to conceal the fact that this movie is basically a clumsy and one-dimensional action film by lensing the entire film through a black and white filter that saps the color, and directing almost every shot with a hand held camera. Someone at Anchor Bay or WWE studios loves John Carpenter’s “Assault on Precinct 13” because 2012’s “The Day” is basically an end of the world version of it.

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Masters of the Universe (1987)

We could have had Star Wars meets Conan the Barbarian. There’s monsters and machines aplenty in the “He-Man” mythos! There’s villains and demons and mystical storylines in the franchise. Except we’re given He-Man in the Hood! This is a man who comes from a civilization with unusual machines, and magic, and war weapons, and he can’t get over the fact that there’s a place that sells meat on bones for human consumption. There’s literally a scene where Teela, Man at Arms, and He-Man marvel at a bucket of chicken and ribs they found at the local restaurant. This is clearly not what we He-Man fans originally envisioned. Of course, that didn’t stop me from watching it at least a thousand times when I was a child, but “He-Man” deserved a space epic the size of “Star Wars” and instead we get so little of it. I’m not asking much from a franchise built solely around selling toys, but there is a lot of mythological potential for making a He-Man movie.

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Ultraseven: The Complete Series (DVD)

Courtesy of Shout! Factory, Tsuburaya Productions iconic “Ultraseven” series from 1967 is available on DVD in a fully restored edition with all episodes present and accounted for. With subtitles options and a crisp picture and color scheme, “Ultraseven” is about as good as it’s ever been, a truly interesting and entertaining icarnation of Ultra Man that promises to keep audiences watching.

“Ultraseven” focuses on the Terrestrial Defense Force establishes the Ultra Guard, Earth’s six guardians who act as enforcers for the planet, protecting citizens from extra terrestrials and monsters with the use of high tech machinery and vehicles.

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Deadly Weapon (1989)

Allegedly Michael Miner’s “Deadly Weapon” was supposed to be a sequel to Charles Band’s notoriously awful cult riot “Laserblast.” But when Empire pictures fell, Band basically turned the sequel in to its own film. Really, “Deadly Weapon” feels so much like a remake of “Laser Blast,” and an unnecessary one at that. Like its predecessor it’s hilariously bad and filled with so much horrible editing and acting, it’s more funny than it is entertaining.

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