The Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s Action Starter Pack includes Blu-ray releases Miami Vice, End of Days and U-571. It is an odd combination at first glance, but does manage to capture the basics of the action film genre.
With a suggested retail price of $59.98, the set includes cops taking down a drug kingpin, a great World War II submarine adventure, and Arnold Schwarzenegger taking on the Devil on the eve of Y2K. How could you go wrong?
Miami Vice:
The big screen adaptation of Miami Vice has some faults, but I really enjoyed it. The film features solid performances from Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell, Gong Li, and Naomie Harris. It also features the steady direction of Michael Mann – one of my favorite directors.
The film drops some of the 80s fashion glam of the television series for a straight forward vice sting. During the course of the investigation, undercover detectives Sonny Crocket (Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Foxx) take on drug lords in South Florida, have trouble with members of the Aryan Brotherhood, and track down a leak in the department.
They also discover how much trouble can come from being this far undercover as Crocket falls for Isabella (Li) – a finance officer in the drug king’s empire, and Tubbs learns the cost of their investigation - after his girlfriend Trudy is taken by the brotherhood.
Like most Mann crime films, Miami Vice is a slow burn that builds its tension throughout the movie to one big blow-out at the end. In a lot of ways, the film reminded me of Heat and Collateral. It looks great on Blu-ray and makes the set well worth picking up.
The Blu-ray special features include U-Control and picture in picture bonus material. There is also a commentary with Mann, and several behind the scenes features. If you are a fan of the movie, you will enjoy the features.
U-571:
When I first watched U-571 on DVD, I was less than thrilled with the film, and felt some of the acting was just terrible. Watching it on Blu-ray changed my mind, and now I rank the film as one of my favorite World War II movies, and one of the better submarine flicks.
Yes, the acting is still a bit rough (the Bill Paxton and Matthew Mcconaughey scenes can get a bit grating), but director Jonathan Mostow’s pacing and Oliver Wood’s claustrophobic cinematography make the film worth watching.
The story follows a group of submarine soldiers who are trapped on a German U-boat after a mission to retrieve an ‘Enigma’ machine. The U-boat is barely functional, and the Germans are on the hunt for them. For the mission to be a success, they not only have to live, but have to make sure the Germans don’t know they have stolen the machine.
The movie starts off a bit slow as the crew of the U.S. sub travels to the stranded U-boat on a top secret mission and Mcconaughey has to deal with Paxton’s skipper passing him over for a promotion. Everything changes when the soldiers get on the U-boat and start the fight for their lives.
Mostow keeps the tension tight throughout the remainder of the movie, and the filming makes you feel the dangers these soldiers faced during World War II. The Blu-ray looks great, and really helps the film (although the blood looks a bit fake from time to time in the crystal clear 1080p picture).
Like Miami Vice, the Blu-ray features the use of U-Control and picture in picture bonus material that take you into the making of the film. The “My Scenes” function gives you the ability to create your favorite moments from the film into a video montage. Mostow also provides commentary for the movie.
End of Days:
End of Days is not a good movie. Let’s get that out of the way from the get go. The plot is basically Schwarzenegger vs. the Devil, and the story is just built around this premise. With that said, if you are looking for a throwback to the glory days of the 80s or just some great popcorn fun, you will love End of Days.
In the film, Schwarzenegger plays a burned out cop who now works as a bodyguard for a high end security company. He is assigned to protect a man (Gabriel Byrne) who turns out to be the devil.
It seems the devil has come to New York City to get himself a little booty, and has set his sights on Christine York (Robin Tunney) to carry his love child. Schwarzenegger is all that stands in his way, and the devil is in for one big butt-kicking.
This is the kind of movie that you just have to enjoy. Schwarzenegger plays his character straight, but at times seems to be a bit bored with the role of an action hero. Byrne is the reason to watch the film and seems to really have a good time being so evil. You have to love his character, and I felt a bit disappointed when the film went all CGI towards the end.
Director Peter Hyams (who also handled cinematography) and writer Andrew W. Marlowe try to give the movie some good suspense and thrills, but it can’t overcome the popcorn plot. Still, if you can turn the brain off, the movie is a good time, and provides the kind of big action stunts that Schwarzenegger was known for in his glory days.
Sadly, the movie doesn’t hold up quite as well on Blu-ray. The big stunts are entertaining, but are hurt by Blu-rays 1080p picture. It is easy to spot the stunt doubles, and other effects come across as cheesy and unreal.
The Blu-ray is also a bit light on the special features department with just the “My Scenes” montage feature and commentary from Hyams.
The Action Starter Pack is worth buying (especially if you don’t have the films already on DVD), and represents a wide variety of the action genre. I enjoyed Miami Vice the most out of the group, and got a new appreciation for U-571. End of Days suffered from the crystal clear Blu-ray transfer, but is still worth watching (mostly thanks to Byrne).
Action Starter Pack is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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