GODZILLA Highlights this week in Blu-ray, DVD and VOD Releases

By PETER BROWN / Contributing Editor

Posted: September 21st, 2014 / 11:00 AM

Your time is short. We know this. So in order to expedite your buying and Netflix decision making, we provide you with a list of the cool and not-so-cool titles coming out for movies, television and everything in-between. So put your feet up, grab some popcorn and check out this week’s selections.

Movies:

GODZILLA – For all intents, this is the GODZILLA film that we have been wanting for many years. A good plot. A lot of military might. Two huge and terrible monsters. One huge and terrible defender of the Earth. Godzilla is a bad thing. For centuries, it has protected the Earth from other deadly creatures that threaten the very existence of the planet. But as far as the humans go, it is something that needs to be wiped off the face of the planet along with any other prehistoric gnarly beast that comes crawling out of the ground. So much so, all of the nuclear bomb testing that has taken place over the years was actually attempts to kill the beast. Other beasts were stashed away in order to hopefully bury what may never come out. Godzilla begins with Bryan Cranston’s character seeing his nuclear power plant go dark and something attacking it – leading to the death of his wife. Several years later, his son and Cranston return to the site to see that not a single drop of radiation has escaped. Turns out, it is a nasty, huge creature that has absorbed all the radiation in a feeding. What makes matters worse is that another similar creature has escaped its cage and is wreaking havoc in America. Luckily, Godzilla knows this as well and meets the creatures in San Francisco for an epic battle between creatures. All the while, the military is seeking any way to be done with the three of them.

GODZILLA is fun. While it doesn’t match the battles we see in PACIFIC RIM, it is a smart monster movie (where RIM is considered to be a dumb monster movie) with a human plotline that is interesting along with big, bad monsters battling it out in the heart of a big city. Some of the special effects are wicked, especially Godzilla’s monster flame and really come off awesome in high definition (despite being mostly a very dark filled film). If you like monster movies, this is definitely one you will want to add to your collection.

THE DEAD 2 – A few years ago, a little zombie horror film known as THE DEAD came across my desk and I was unimpressed that it was probably going to be just another lame, low budget zombie film without imagination or anything new brought to the table. I was so wrong. As many have found out, THE DEAD was a fantastic zombie film, set in a rural landscape of Africa. Not only was this a completely new setting for a zombie flick but the way the zombies acted and how they were collected along the roads and rural areas was pretty unique. Add to this a decent plot with interesting characters and it was everything that had been missing from our zombie lives. THE DEAD 2 is the sequel and again it is set in a rural landscape of India, again directed by the Ford brothers. While THE DEAD 2 keeps with the intense, savage landscape with a savage unstoppable enemy roaming everywhere, it loses a bit of what made the first film great in that the plot isn’t nearly as interesting and the characters not really as fun. That said, this is again a brutal movie with some nasty deaths and zombie mayhem in a similar vein as some of the masters that have produced great films over the years. Zombie fans will definitely enjoy.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: 40TH Anniversary Edition | © 2014 Dark Sky Films

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: 40^TH ANNIVERSARY COLELCTOR’s EDITION – How cool is this? Just in time for the Halloween season, a new version of the classic horror film that set up so many rip-offs and sequels in a new package with lots of excellent bells and whistles. Obviously, the film here is presented in glorious high definition using the latest technology but the real gem of this set is in the special features. It has much of the legacy features as previous versions including three audio commentaries, five featurettes, outtakes and bloopers. But it also includes new deleted scenes and outtakes that have never been included in a set and Dark Sky also went out and got to new interviews with John Dugan (who played Grandpa) and the editor. The cut of the film is really cool as well and probably this is the best the film as ever looked – be it in a previous cut on DVD, a 30mm version or whatever. It looks and sounds simply awesome and for fans of the movie, this is the version you will want for that very reason.

Television:

SPARTACUS THE COMPLETE SERIES | © 2014 Starz/Image Entertainment

SPARTACUS: THE COMPLETE SERIES – This is a great thing that has finally come out just in time for the holiday season. This set features four seasons of simply brutal television featuring the rebel that turned Rome on its ear and united the slaves against the legions of the empire. SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND began it all with a season full of hot chicks getting naked, CG blood splattering left and right and good tale of the arena. SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA is a prequel showing what happened with all of the fighters and the owners prior to the arrival of Spartacus and uniting the slaves. SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE showed what happened after the fighters in the arena fought against their oppressors and forming an army to fight Rome Finally, SPARTACUS: WAR OF THE DAMNED follows the all-out war between the slaves and the armies of Rome until the fateful day where they meet on the battlefield to decide it all. In all, this is some good television filled with bodacious beauties of all shapes and varieties, blood and gore galore and a decent plotline that navigates history ever-so lightly to make it more entertaining than historically accurate.

Other titles available this week:

GRIMM: SEASON 3 – The third season of the unlikely NBC series that keeps on going and entertaining fans with crazy new variations of the classic characters and creatures in the Grimm fairytale universe.
HANNIBAL: SEASON 2 – It is great that HANNIBAL has been picked up for a third season as there is really nothing else on TV like it with a smart mythology and great casting following the tales of Hannibal Lecter that takes place during the early days as well as through the films. As the series goes along we will see some of the other characters from the movies show up and that is indeed something to watch.

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD – COMMENT BELOW!

THE AMAZING SPIDER MAN 2 Highlights this week in Blu-ray, DVD and VOD Releases

MUPPETS MOST WANTED Highlights this week in Blu-ray, DVD and VOD Releases

DIVERGENT Highlights this week in Blu-ray, DVD and VOD Releases

SABOTAGE Highlights this week in Blu-ray, DVD and VOD Releases

HELIX: SEASON ONE Highlights this week in Blu-ray, DVD and VOD Releases

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE Highlights this week in Blu-ray, DVD and VOD Releases

LONE SURVIVOR Highlights this week in Blu-ray, DVD and VOD Releases

THE MONUMENTS MEN Highlights this week in Blu-ray, DVD and VOD Releases
I, FRANKENSTEIN Highlights this week in Blu-ray, DVD and VOD Releases