Review of the Special Features on ‘Blade Runner 2049’ Bluray

Starting today, fans of the most anticipated sequel of perhaps the BEST science fiction movie ever created have cause to rejoice! ‘Blade Runner 2049‘ is available on Bluray and DVD. Those who have seen the movie are no doubt anxious to bring home this film to add to their personal collection. But the question always asked is: “What about the special features?” Sometimes the special features may consist of nothing more than a few deleted scenes and the original TV spot for the film, etc. Luckily for us, the special features on ‘Blade Runner 2049‘ are very special indeed! It’s easy to appreciate the unique style and feel of this movie on its own merits, but after viewing all of the work and incredible effort that went into making it, one feels truly awestruck and daunted at the grand scope of elements that the common movie-goer may take for granted. Director Denis Villeneuve gleefully introduces various the viewer to the incredible efforts of everyone involved from the actors to the lightning & sound crew, to the set designers and beyond.

Probably my very favorite special feature was one of the short films that Villeneuve charged the brilliant Shinichiro Watanbe to create that acts as a sort of small prequel that leads into the events of the actual feature film. This gorgeous anime called ‘Black Out 2022‘ bridges the gap a bit between the original ‘Blade Runner‘ movie gives us some backstory of “The Black Out” that is referred to in the sequel on a few occasions and provides a new perspective on the actual movie and some of it’s characters. Whether you have not seen the movie in theaters before or if you’re now seeing it again for the 2nd or 3rd time, I’d advise you to watch this short film first before delving into the feature presentation as well as another that is directed by Luke Scott and focuses on the character Sapper Morton played wonderfully by Dave Bautista.

One of the other special features I was impressed by was entitled “Designing The World of ‘Blade Runner 2049′” in which Villeneuve gives us a clear insight of the grandeur of all that went into creating the futuristic, dystopian world in which the we see before us. Villeneuve’s insistence on using as little green screen as possible is very admirable in it’s premise and even more unbelievable upon seeing the finished product. In the modern era of movie making where so many films are using green screens and motion capture tech to achieve their results, you’ll be significantly impressed and truly blown away by all of the work that went into giving us this breathtaking piece of cinema. The in depth look at the different characters, the commentary by the stars of the film and fresh look at the tech and story of this movie are all right there for you to see with just the click of a remote. I had a blast going through each and every one of them and had a newfound appreciation for the film itself and for the level of commitment from both the director and the crew. Be sure to take the time to savor all of the special features that are loaded into this release! This is one instance where they are, truly, quite special indeed! I’d assign them a solid 9 out of 10!

‘The Commuter’ Movie Review

Your first “Must See!” movie of 2018 hits theaters this weekend in the form of ‘The Commuter‘. Liam Neeson plays Michael MacCauley, an ex-cop turned life insurance salesman, whose day-to-day routine is always the same: Wake up, eat breakfast with his wife, help get his son ready of school, head to the train, go to work in the city, come home on the train, rinse, lather, repeat. When his big insurance company lets him go after 10 years, he meets up with his former police partner (Patrick Wilson) for a drink to commiserate over his extended double mortgage and how he will be able to pay for his son’s college. On his way home, he meets a woman named Joanna on the train (Vera Farmiga) who poses a hypothetical situation to him: Would you do a seemingly simple task for someone you just met if the reward was $100,000? MacCauley’s unwitting acceptance of the $25,000 upfront money launches him into a race against time to find a mystery person on the train and plant a GPS device on them before the train reaches the last stop. The stakes are raised when MacCauley learns that his wife (Elizabeth McGovern) and son are being threatened and when people he knows on the train begin to be murdered. Without knowing for whom he is searching or what it is the unknown person is carrying, MacCauley desperately searches the train, narrowing down the possibilities while the mysterious Joanna seems to be watching his every move reminding him of how much he has to lost if he fails.

I found this movie to be very enjoyable. The entire cast was sharp and the action was relentless. To me, it felt a great deal like a 90’s action movie (and I mean that as a compliment) in the style of ‘Con-Air‘ or ‘The Fugitive‘. In fact, 20 years ago, this would have been a movie starring Tommy Lee Jones or Harrison Ford instead of Liam Neeson. That’s not to say that the movie was predictable or boring – quite the opposite! There were even a few times when I actually made an audible “OH NO!!” while in the theater. (I try not to be “that guy” but it happens. LOL!) The pacing was solid with great performances from every single cast member all the way down to the ensemble members (Clara Lago, Andy Nyman, etc). With a svelte run time of 1hr 44min, the movie hurtles by like the very train on which the majority of the film takes place. It’s ‘Taken‘ meets ‘Speed‘ and I loved ever single second of it. On a scale of 1 – 10, I’d give it a strong 8.5! If you’re looking to get out of the house and shake off those winter blues, then ‘The Commuter’ is a movie that will definitely bring the heat to theaters all across the country this weekend!!!