Heavy Metal (Collector's Edition)
by Gerald Potterton
from Sony Pictures
Based on the fantastical illustrated magazine Heavy Metal producer Ivan Reitman enlists the world s greatest comic book artists to create the otherworldly tale of a glowing green orb from outer space that spreads destruction throughout the galaxy. Only when encountered by its one true enemy - to whom it is inexplicably drawn - will goodness prevail throughout the universe. Lavishly drawn vignettes of the orb s dark victories include the character voices of John Candy and Harold Ramis plus a pounding soundtrack by Black Sabbath Blue Oyster Cult Cheap Trick Devo Donald Fagen Don Felder Grand Funk Railroad Sammy Hagar Journey Nazareth Stevie Nicks Riggs and Trust. Highly imaginative and full of surprising special effects Heavy Metal set the standard for alternative contemporary animation. An intoxicating experience not to be missed.System Requirements:Voices By: John Candy and Harold Ramis. Directed By: Gerald Potterton. Running Time: 90 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 1999 Columbia TriStar Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: UPC: 043396039292 Manufacturer No: 03929
As long as there is a need for adolescent male sexual fantasy, there will be an audience for Heavy Metal. Released in 1981 and based on stories from the graphic magazine of the same name (possibly the greatest publication to simultaneously provoke imagination and masturbation), the film has since become the most popular single title in Columbia/TriStar's entire film library. That's an amazing fact considering just how silly and senseless the movie really is--an aimless, juvenile amalgam of disjointed stories and clashing visual styles, employing hundreds of animators from around the world with a near-total absence of creative cohesion. It remains, for better and worse, a midnight-movie favorite for the stoner crowd--a movie best enjoyed by randy adolescents or near-adults in an altered state of consciousness.
With a framing story about a glowing green orb claiming to be the embodiment of all evil, the film shuttles through eight episodic tales of sci-fi adventure, each fueled by some of the most wretched rock music to emerge from the 1980s. The most consistent trademark is an abundance of blood-splattering violence and wet-dream sex, the latter involving a succession of huge-breasted babes who shed their clothes at the drop of a G-string. It's all quite fun in its rampantly brainless desire to fuel the young male libido, and for all its incoherence Heavy Metal remains impressive for the ambitious artistry of its individual segments. Courtesy of producer Ivan Reitman (who'd just scored a hit with Stripes), voice talents include several Canadian veterans of Second City comedy, including John Candy, Harold Ramis, Eugene Levy, and Joe Flaherty. --Jeff Shannon
Meatballs (Special Edition)
by Ivan Reitman
from Sony Pictures
Decades before he was winning accolades for his work in Lost in Translation and Rushmore, Bill Murray was making moviegoers snicker with his breakthrough comedy Meatballs. This film--which was released theatrically in 1979--stars a 29-year-old Murray as a horny camp counselor named Tripper Harrison, who is just barely more mature than the kids he's looking after. Tripper seems like a screw up because he is, but the audience sees soon enough that he has that proverbial heart of gold, which is offset by an acerbic tongue. Looking over one of the unhappy children in his charge, Tripper says, "You must be the short, depressed kid we ordered." Camp North Star isn't the type of destination kids dream about during the school year. As envisioned by director Ivan Reitman (who would again collaborate with Murray in Ghostbusters), it's a place where kids do their time until their parents let them return home. But in his own way, Tripper makes it a fun place for the kids to learn about the opposite sex and get a feeing for competition. Unlike Little Darlings, the coming-of-age camping film starring Kristy McNichol and Tatum O'Neal that was released a year later, there really isn't a strong moral to this film. But there is a sense that thanks to Tripper's unorthodox madness, he makes Camp North Star a place that kids want to return to the following year. While not as self-assured as he would be in a smaller role in 1980's Caddyshack, Murray is highly likeable here as an overgrown doof.
On the DVD
In the special edition version of this DVD, the extra features include some insight into Murray, who is somewhat elusive about committing to film projects. Reitman reveals that he actually wasn't sure Murray (who wasn't a big name back then) was on board for Meatballs until he showed up for filming the first week. Interestingly enough, this comedy originally was supposed to focus its attention on several camp counselors, but Murray was so good in his role that the plot was adjusted to focus primarily on Tripper. Also included is a three-part "making of" featurette that includes insight into casting, the use of real campers because they didn't have enough money to pay for extras, and interviews with some of the cast members. --Jae-Ha Kim
Stills from Meatballs (click for larger image)
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 More Films by Bill Murray |  Get Ready for Camp |  Comedies about Underdogs |
Set at a low-end summer camp and aimed squarely at a teen audience Meatballs is a light screwball comedy that turned its low-budget Canadian roots into a very profitable box-office run. The biggest reason for the film's success is Bill Murray who stars as Tripper the head counselor who runs things at Camp Northstar with the help of his love interest Roxanne (Kate Lynch) and the camp's director Morty (Harvey Atkins) who is affectionately known as Mickey. Camp opens with Tripper and Morty preparing the misfit counselors-in-training Spaz Fink Crockett A.L. Candace Wendy and Wheels among them for the arrival of their hyperactive little charges. After settling in kids and counselors begin their activities with a soccer game in which depressed 11-year-old Rudy (Chris Makepeace) accidentally loses the game. Cast out by the other children Rudy runs away only to come across Tripper who befriends the boy and makes him his running partner. Romance sexy fun and comic hijinx usually with the heavy-sleeping Morty as their target lead up to an annual Olympiad in which Camp Northstar battles the wealthier and athletically superior residents of Camp Mohawk. The challenging events include cup stacking potato-sack racing and a nauseating hot dog-eating contest in which the portly Fink devours his way to victory. With the two-day event tied up it comes down to the cross-country run in which Tripper enters Rudy. Meatballs was the first major directorial effort by multi-talented filmmaker Ivan Reitman whose name has since become synonymous with the comedy genre.SPECIAL FEATURES: Three-Part Making-of Documentary Commentary with Ivan Reitman and Writer/Producer Daniel GoldbergRun Time: 94Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 043396143623 Manufacturer No: 14362
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Volume 2
by Dan Riba
from Shout Factory Theatr
Mixing top-notch animation and live action stars Captain Lou Albano and Danny Wells The Super Mario Bros. Super Show had every kid in America glued to the TV awaiting the next Mushroom Kingdom adventure.Now due to the overwhelming success of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show- Volume 1 Mario and Luigi are back with even more episodes more nostalgic fun and more Mario!It s The Super Mario Bros. Super Show - Volume 2.Special Features:4 Bonus Animated EpisodesAn Exclusive Podcast From GoNintendo.comA Fan Costume GalleryConcept Art GalleriesAn Interactive Tour Of "Mario Bros Plumbing"Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: G UPC: 826663102086 Manufacturer No: D4D10208
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
by Dan Riba
from Shout Factory Theatr
Hey Paisanos! It s The Super Mario Bros.® Super Show!™In 1989 the two most famous plumbers from Brooklyn burst out of the Nintendo® game world and onto television screens across America. The Super Mario Bros.® Super Show!™ aired weekday afternoons and brought Mario Luigi Princess Toadstool and King Koopa more thrilling adventures as animated cartoon characters.And if that weren t enough each episode also contained live-action segments featuring Mario and Luigi running their Brooklyn plumbing shop all before they were flushed down a drainpipe into the Mushroom World. With professional wrestler Captain Lou Albano as Mario Danny Wells as Luigi plus a strong rock n rap score the show attracted guest stars like pop sensation Cyndi Lauper professional wrestler Sgt. Slaughter Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years) NBA superstar Magic Johnson and Nicole Eggert (Baywatch).These 24 original episodes complete with animation and live-action segments plus the special features will convince you "Hangin with the plumbers you ll be hooked on the brothers "SPECIAL FEATURESA Brand New Interview with Captain Lou Albano ("Mario")Original Art GalleriesStoryboard-to-Screen: The Super Mario Bros.® Super Show!™ Opening Title Sequence and More!Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: UNRATED UPC: 826663976762 Manufacturer No: D4D97676
The Adventures of Tintin, Vols. 6-10
Following volume 1, The Adventures of Tintin returns for another 10 adventures on five discs. A Canadian production broadcast in the U.S. on HBO, the animated television series vividly captures the intrepid reporter Tintin and his colorful friends (including his dog, Snowy, the blustery Captain Haddock, the brilliant but absent-minded Professor Calculus, and the detective twins Thompson and Thomson) as they travel the world on adventures that mix action, mystery, and humor. The books were originally written in French by the Belgian author Hergé, but the DVD set includes both French and English language tracks as well as French and English subtitles.
The five discs feature two stories each. The Crab with the Golden Claws introduces Captain Haddock and his rival, Allan. Yet another "quest" adventure but one with deep emotional impact, Tintin in Tibet follows Tintin into the Himalayas in search of his old friend Chang. Chang had been introduced in the early story The Blue Lotus. Herge's first masterpiece, it finds Tintin in China during wartime. The Calculus Affair is often considered Herge's crown jewel for its intricate plotting and characterization in a story that returns to Syldavia and its conflicts with its rival Borduria. In Cigars of the Pharoah, Tintin goes to Egypt, though curiously he's old friends with Thompson and Thomson rather than meeting them for the first time. The Red Sea Sharks is another seafaring adventure. The Secret of the Unicorn was Herge's personal favorite, combining a puzzling mystery with a ripping pirate yarn about Haddock's seafaring ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock, and his fateful encounter with the fearsome pirate Red Rackham. Red Rackham's Treasure continues the Unicorn adventure with a modern-day treasure hunt and introduces Professor Calculus. The Castafiore Emerald keeps Tintin at home, but in the company of the irrepressible Bianca Castafiore (the "Jewel Song from Faust," anyone?) and a fun locked-room mystery. Flight 714 is a far-out adventure that features many old friends and enemies in a kidnapping plot. Tintin and the Picaros is the final complete Tintin adventure, one that takes him back to San Theodoros and General Alcazar.
The animated series perfectly captures the look of the books, and each 42-minute episode has enough time to re-create the books' character and wit, though minor characters and scenes have been changed or removed (for example, the Blue Lotus is no longer an opium den and the slavery angle has been removed from The Red Sea Sharks). (The exception is Red Rackham's Treasure, which is only 23 minutes, 3 of which are spent recapping Secret of the Unicorn.) Tintin fans will love reliving these adventures, and newcomers have a wonderful discovery awaiting them. (Ages 7 and older: moments of peril, alcohol consumption, drug-related criminal activities, ethnic stereotypes) --David Horiuchi
Heavy Metal/Heavy Metal 2000
by Michel Lemire
from Sony Pictures
Heavy Metal
As long as there is a need for adolescent male sexual fantasy, there will be an audience for Heavy Metal. Released in 1981 and based on stories from the graphic magazine of the same name (possibly the greatest publication to simultaneously provoke imagination and masturbation), the film has since become the most popular single title in Columbia/TriStar's entire film library. That's an amazing fact considering just how silly and senseless the movie really is--an aimless, juvenile amalgam of disjointed stories and clashing visual styles, employing hundreds of animators from around the world with a near-total absence of creative cohesion. It remains, for better and worse, a midnight-movie favorite for the stoner crowd--a movie best enjoyed by randy adolescents or near-adults in an altered state of consciousness. With a framing story about a glowing green orb claiming to be the embodiment of all evil, the film shuttles through eight episodic tales of sci-fi adventure, each fueled by some of the most wretched rock music to emerge from the 1980s. The most consistent trademark is an abundance of blood-splattering violence and wet-dream sex, the latter involving a succession of huge-breasted babes who shed their clothes at the drop of a G-string. It's all quite fun in its rampantly brainless desire to fuel the young male libido, and for all its incoherence Heavy Metal remains impressive for the ambitious artistry of its individual segments. Courtesy of producer Ivan Reitman (who'd just scored a hit with Stripes), voice talents include several Canadian veterans of Second City comedy, including John Candy, Harold Ramis, Eugene Levy, and Joe Flaherty. --Jeff Shannon
Heavy Metal 2000
Instead of cartoon vignettes that chronicle adolescent fantasies of sex and drugs in the near future, this sequel to 1981's Heavy Metal follows but one story. On a distant planet, a fountain of eternal life has been locked away by a race of supposedly wise people, who have buried the only key deep in space. If found, the key will give directions to the planet, but will also drive the finder crazy--which is exactly what happens. On his way to the planet of youth, Tyler (voice of venerable character actor Michael Ironside) wipes out most of a space colony and kidnaps a sexy woman. His big mistake is that he doesn't kill the woman's sister, Julie (voice of B-movie actress Julie Strain), who then sets out on a mission of rescue and revenge. Created with an uneasy blend of computer and traditional cel animation, Heavy Metal 2000 is utterly predictable. Even the sex scenes are bland and politically correct, eschewing the joy of dirty sex in favor of glimpses of T&A and lots of violence and gore. Of course, one big reason for this movie is to supplement its heavy metal soundtrack, which includes Pantera, Monster Magnet, MDFMK, Insane Clown Posse, Billy Idol, and others. It's probably better to think of it more as a string of music videos than as a story. --Andy Spletzer
The Adventures of Tintin, Vols. 1-5
The Adventures of Tintin adapts one of the world's best-loved characters into a extremely faithful and entertaining animated television series. A Canadian production broadcast in the U.S. on HBO, the series vividly captures the intrepid reporter and his colorful friends (including his dog, Snowy, the blustery Captain Haddock, the brilliant but absent-minded Professor Calculus, and the detective twins Thompson and Thomson) as they travel the world on adventures that mix action, mystery, and humor. The books were originally written in French by the Belgian author Hergé (though Tintin himself is a British character), but the DVD set includes both French and English language tracks as well as French and English subtitles.
The five discs feature two stories each: the two-part space-travel epic, Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon; two of the later adventures, Land of Black Gold and Flight 714; the Scotland-based mystery The Black Island and the political intrigue of King Ottokar's Sceptre; the eerie two-parter The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun, in which an ancient curse leads to a trip to Peru; and two early adventures, The Shooting Star and The Broken Ear. The animated series perfectly captures the look of the books (although The Broken Ear, the book of which had the roughest art, has been smoothed out to look like the rest of the series), and each 42-minute episode has enough time to re-create the books' character and wit, if not the exact layout and pacing. (The exception is The Shooting Star, which underwent heavy editing to fit into a mere 22 minutes.) Tintin fans will love reliving these adventures, and newcomers have a wonderful discovery awaiting them. (Ages 8 and older: moments of peril, threatening themes, alchohol consumption) --David Horiuchi
Guilty as Sin
by Sidney Lumet
from Walt Disney Video
No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 1-JUL-2003
Media Type: DVD
Meatballs
by Ivan Reitman
from Hbo Home Video
Bill Murray plays a hip camp counselor at a summer facility for geeky kids and assorted losers. Murray's brand of ironic comedy feels grafted onto this banal and sentimental 1979 celebration of misfits. The comedian's frequent director, Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters), was still finding his sea legs with this one, and he nearly convinced everyone at the time that Murray's film career was never going to happen. --Tom Keogh
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