Movie Review: Freedom Force (2013)

Now Available to Own  

You could call the English-language dub and subsequent U.S. release of filmmaker Eduardo Schuldt’s Freedom Force an amusingly animated case of cinematic history repeating itself in the form of CG science fiction homage.

The American voice cast finds Christopher Lloyd paying tribute to his iconic time-traveling, Jules Verne reading scientific inventor Dr. Emmett Brown in Back to the Future by giving vocal life to a similarly gifted professor who sends a team of Sci-Fi nerds back in fictional time to salvage the stories of Jules Verne in this inventive family film.

A cross between Robert Zemeckis’s smash ‘80s film series with a literary twist reminiscent of author Jasper Fforde’s brainy Thursday Next mysteries of altered literary greats, Freedom Force centers on an audacious plot to ruin the reputation of Jules Verne just in time for France’s Literacy Day event by deleting the main characters from his classic works.

Putting a hit out on his most famous heroes with the intent to shatter Verne’s most ingenious plot-lines, while leaving nonsensical novels filled with gaping holes and crazy cliffhangers in their wake, Lloyd’s professor is tasked with putting a stop to the villain’s narrative madness.

 

Determined to set the type right, an elite force of gifted kids – all with wildly different skill sets and each with one character trait in common with the great Jules Verne – are assembled under the guidance of Lloyd to sneak into each novel Tron style and locate a secretly hidden “reset” button to align the stories once again.

Ensuring that young girls are represented as well, Force calls on Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s famous small screen butt-kicker Sarah Michelle Gellar to follow in Lloyd’s footsteps and play a new family-friendly twenty-first century animation version of her most famous role as the group’s brave fighter.

While the use of juvenile scatological humor in the form of a team member’s penchant for combative flatulence slightly weakens the overall high quality of the film, ultimately the pro-literature plotline and bold, colorfully constructed CG animation keep the attentions of the target audience engaged while impressing parents at the same time.

This being said, in order for its pro-literacy roots not to get lost in the shuffle amid all of the adventure, Freedom may have been a bit more successful in focusing only on one or at most two of Jules Verne’s classic works to help encourage young readers even more.

And although Freedom Force loses focus in its second half by trying to be too many things to too many people, overall it’s a much better direct-to-disc offering than we normally see from titles without big studio backing.

Moreover, it’s sure to keep your children entertained especially during long holiday season travel with its New Year’s Eve timed-release on DVD and demand. Thus, despite a few flaws, this Dove Foundation approved family feature remains a solid work of animated science fiction history repeating itself that’s aimed to appeal to those too young to go Back to the Future just yet.

      

Text ©2013, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I may have received a review copy of this title in order to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

Blu-ray Review: Double Feature -- Scooby-Doo 1 & 2: Scooby-Doo (2002); Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)

Now Available to Own 

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As Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress and all-around “girl power TV icon” Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed in an interview, originally – and much like the satirical update of The Brady Bunch Movie – the concept for the big-screen, live action Scooby-Doo adaptation was intended to skew towards a hipper teen to adult audience.

So instead of long, painfully unfunny scene catering to the lowest common denominator of those who love scatological humor comprised of nothing but Shaggy and Scooby trying do outdo one another flatulence-wise, the original plan was to construct the film with jokes playing off inferences we've all made about the characters from Hanna-Barbera's late '60s Saturday morning cartoon, from Shaggy's munchies to Velma's relationship with Daphne.

Unfortunately, ambitious and downright risky comedy was abandoned in favor of the tried-and-true Hollywood formula of lazy gag-writing as toilet jokes were in and everything we loved about the original series was left out in order to make it as commercial as possible.

Nonetheless, Matthew Lillard's eerily uncanny portrayal of Shaggy goes beyond simply a dead-on impersonation and it's even more impressive when you consider the fact that he's bringing an animated character to life.

For eight years later, Lillard's Shaggy remains the one great discovery of the two-film Warner Brothers franchise since he's continued to lend his voice to Cartoon Network Original Scooby-Doo Movies and the latest TV series to introduce a new generation to the generations-old show.

Ultimately however, the main thing the two movies achieve is an overwhelming desire to erase them from memory, go back in time and revisit the classic series.

And while I do grant that each film does have its moments of bright energy and throwback loopy chase sequences involving secret passageways and creepy contraptions that feel highly authentic, so much is lost in the translation that it's hard to enjoy them for very long.

And although it doesn't take much to dumb down an already admittedly formulaic original series, Scooby's greatest failure is in its downright, dubiously bizarre blend of a CGI Scooby with the live action Mystery Inc. detectives that distracts us to no end.

While Freddie Prinze Jr., Gellar, Linda Cardellini and Lillard all look the part as Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy complete with their immediately identifiable color-coded wardrobe, once they share the screen with the technological amateur hour creation that is the series' namesake of Scooby-Doo, the only thing we can do is stare in jaw-dropped horror.

Although there is a slight improvement in CGI in the second picture, it's an even greater head-scratcher when you realize that the other computer generated monsters and ghouls onscreen in both pictures are far more believable and -- at times -- a bit too intense for young viewers, than the flawed four-legged canine.

And unfortunately for the folks at WB who went to great lengths to release this double feature in Blu-ray format, needless to say, high definition calls far more attention to the awkward combination of live action with CGI in Doo.

Had the entire feature been animated or a trained real-life dog been used instead, director Raja Gosnell's movies may have fared slightly better or at least not have screeched to a total halt whenever Scooby's in the picture, thereby making this mistake that much more unfortunate since the last thing we should be OK with leaving on the cutting room floor is the pooch that started it all in Hanna-Barbera's original mysteries.

Much more entertaining than the tonally all-over-the-place first flick that was obviously still finding its footing as the gang investigates a strange “spell” that seems to have taken away the personalities of college students at an island vacation destination, the second movie centers on the return of villains from the detectives' past.

Turning into a PR nightmare as the arrival of some of Mystery Inc.'s greatest ghouls (including ones from the original series) coincides with the opening of a local criminology museum in their hometown of Coolsville, the detectives must battle to save their reputation right along with their community in a far more cohesive second installment, penned by the first film's screenwriter James Gunn.

Despite raking in an enormous box office take for the original 2002 summer popcorn picture that no doubt played on people's love for the series, neither time nor the jump to high definition Blu-ray has enhanced my appreciation for the movies. Instead, this release only strengthens my concern for Raja Gosnell's upcoming live action take on another cartoon classic with Smurfs.

And although I wish they could initiate a moratorium on both talking dog movies and big-screen send-ups of small-screen material, it's worth noting that every once in awhile exceptions should be made.

Perhaps to make up for this disaster, the former editor and frequent Chris Columbus collaborator turned director Raja Gosnell eventually aced the dog movie market with Disney's underrated Beverly Hills Chihuahua which reteamed him with his Never Been Kissed leading lady, Drew Barrymore.

Nonetheless, it's safe to say that the price is most definitely right for WB's holiday-themed double feature Blu-ray release to deliver both movies in one for those willing to indulge their love of the series enough to look past the many, many shortcomings of the films, perhaps if only to watch Lillard deliver lines -- rather than excess gas -- as Shaggy.

Text ©2010, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  

FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I received a review copy of this title in order to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

DVD Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Film Collection -- 25th Anniversary Collector's Edition (2009)

Now Available on DVD & Blu-ray



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Titles Included in 4-DVD Set:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time (1993)
TMNT (2007)

For whatever reason, I’ve never felt compelled to keep a diary. Like most movie buffs, my passion for cinema has been present for so many years that all I need to trigger an oral diary entry is the title of a work and I can tell you precisely where I saw the film in question, whom I was with, and what was going on in my life at the time. And since my life has been best bookmarked by the movies, I’ve learned that landmark events don't necessarily coincide with cinematic masterpieces which is precisely the reason that the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film holds such a special place in my heart. Viewed on the big screen during the film's opening weekend alongside my older brother who loved the TMNT series even more than myself-- when I initially saw the movie theatrically, it marked two big firsts in my life.

Intriguingly, one of those “firsts,” was something I just discovered recently upon reviewing the new 25th Anniversary Collector's Edition DVD set of all four films. Via the WB press release, I learned that at roughly the age of eight, I had witnessed my first-ever independent film in the theatre. That's right... it is a little known fact but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is indeed an independent film. And while granted, it’s not exactly the Sundance fodder we usually imagine and the movies that followed the original were the opposite of independent, the film triumphed as the fifth internationally highest grossing picture of 1990. Managing to hold its own opposite such lauded competition as Ghost, Dances With Wolves, Goodfellas, Home Alone, Days of Thunder, Total Recall, Pretty Woman, Misery, Dick Tracy and The Godfather III, its global success as one of the year’s top grossing works was an unexpected achievement that additionally ensured it was the most financially successful independent film released to date.

Of course, weighing these facts now professionally makes me further appreciate just how big of a phenomenon I'd enjoyed in my youth yet despite the fact that it’s a great find to say the least since critically I’m the most fascinated by independent movies, nonetheless this “first” in my life pales in comparison to the previous reason why the movie stood out for me.

Essentially, in a “Turtle-shell” (as opposed to a nutshell), director Steve Barron’s film also coincided with my initial feeling of moviegoing independence as it marked the first film I had the pleasure and rite-of-passage honor of seeing “sans parents,” to quote Dana Carvey's Garth from Wayne's World 2. With our parents down the hall viewing the latest Tom Clancy adaptation The Hunt for Red October, my older brother and I received our first taste of maturity and freedom while watching four giant turtles named after some of the greatest minds in history instead of witnessing the work of greater minds as Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery engaged in a Cold War submarine standoff.

Nope, in trading a submarine for a New York City sewer, our movie ticket purchase marked our young votes for a quartet of turtles in the film adaptation of the comic book and animated series based on characters created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. In case you’re not as Shell-Shocked as Generation Cowabunga, the TMNT group consisted of the hip and humorous Michelangelo, the moody crime fighting Raphael, the responsible Leonardo, and tech savvy Donatello. The foursome who live with their wise, Yoda meets Mr. Miyagi rat guardian Master Splinter had all evolved into talking, walking, and ninja kicking giant creatures due to a mysterious chemical ooze that had emanated from a broken canister left in a New York City sewer.

Going back to the original source material for the introductory film’s plot to deliver a strong introduction to those new to the series, the movie finds the Turtles taking on Splinter’s arch-enemy Shredder who’d murdered Splinter’s owner back in Japan. As the movie develops, we learn that Shredder has brought more than just his ninja skills over to his adopted homeland by organizing a New York version of a largely teenage-based army inspired by the Japanese Foot Clan which primarily consist of troubled runaways and petty criminals (including a young Sam Rockwell!) in an Oliver Twist meets Pinocchio style underground gang.

And when the strong-willed TV news reporter April O’Neil (Judith Hoag) gets a little too close to the story by exposing the spike in crime as the work of the Foot Clan, the pizza-loving Turtles emerge from their sheltered lives to become heroes in half-shells to restore order and save the woman who becomes one of their two strongest human allies throughout the series.

However, when the Clan discovers their home below the city streets, their second hideout of April’s apartment is ruined and Master Splinter is abducted. Left reeling and injured, April and the Turtles flee to her childhood country residence. Joining up with the group in retreat, we meet the franchise’s MVP in the form of the group’s second human ally played with the right mixture of charisma, rebellion, charm, and humor by underrated character actor Elias Koteas in his breakthrough role. As the formerly brief professional hockey player Casey Jones who’d been injured on the ice, Koteas relishes the opportunity to tackle the Johnny Depp hair and hockey stick used as a weapon in playing the series’ favorite vigilante who first crosses paths with Raphael in a confrontation over the handling of thugs in Central Park before they inevitably realize they’re on the same side.

No doubt making the film appeal to adults who were saddled into bringing their young turtle fans along, the pitch-perfect casting of Koteas adds so much to the film as he embarks on a Moonlighting style rollercoaster flirtation with April. Likewise, a good amount of its success is owed to the amazingly complicated efforts of Jim Henson's Creature Shop that enabled real individuals to wear the turtle suits before the addition of vocal performances by those including Corey Feldman helped enliven the movie in humanizing the humorous, pop culture laced fast-paced work from typical live action versions of comics and cartoons.

And atypical for traditional family fare and therefore hearkening to the fact that the series had fans of all ages, the original film was filled with so much martial arts action that parents were alarmed by their use of the weapons that were as identifiable to the characters as the four different color masks they wore. Thus, one of the marked differences in the film's first higher profile, bigger budget follow-up work-- 1991's rushed The Secret of the Ooze was that it necessitated the Turtles to replace their traditional weapons like nun-chucks and bo-staffs with props like toys, sausages, and more in inventive yet increasingly child friendly fashion basically using the Jackie Chan modus operandi that hadn't yet reached the states in the '91 and '93 sequels.

While the subsequent installments all lacked the originality, sheer entertainment value and overall quality of the first, there was one beneficial change in the look of the franchise. To this end, in the sequel, the cinematic style was visually brightened from the first “murky” theatrical print as cited by Leonard Maltin which helped improve the series considerably as it continued on. Likewise as evolutions in the TMNT universe were inevitable, there were some cast shake-ups as well since the actress who originally brought April O'Neil to life (Judith Hoag) wasn't pleased with the way her performance was edited as listed in numerous locations throughout IMDb. And admittedly since I agree that the first “April” came off as a tad too cynical and hard edged it's completely understandable that she made the decision not to return for the next installment so thus April was recast and brought to life in the next two films by actress Paige Turco.

The replacement was treated as a humorous “in-joke” included in the film as actors on the street call her character by name as "April from TV" just to alert audiences of the change. And while Turco didn't get the chance to add more spunk to her performance (possibly worrying as Hoag did about that "edgy" first cut), she nonetheless makes a cute, bubbly April who admirably stayed around all the way through the third and weakest live action entry, Turtles in Time even though she wasn't utilized to her full potential as the character morphed from serious investigative journalist to just plain silly from II to III.

While the rushed second work was a notable step down in quality, it was admirable of the filmmakers to try and follow through with what had originally been the potential to create a complicated plot by digging further into the origins of the Turtles' mutation from that chemical ooze. However, once the ooze falls into the wrong hands when the Shredder stuns all by coming back from the grave as we'd assumed he'd perished at the end of I, the movie begins growing increasingly ludicrous with the addition of juvenile mutated villains and scatological humor.

Luckily it's still watchable thanks to the fun turn by one of the original film's turtle fight doubles-- Ernie Reyes Jr.-- who delighted producers enough to give him a chance to show off his martial arts skills and adorable charisma as a young pizza delivery character who fights alongside the Turtles in the opening and becomes a temporary Casey Jones replacement. Despite his "teen friendly" persona, there's no replacing Koteas nor Casey but Reyes' Keno is amusing enough so that we look past his limitations as a new actor.

However, overlooking the plethora of product placements in the first film-- the series grew far more obvious about its commercialism with the subsequent works boasting the then popular musician Vanilla Ice in his cinematic debut performing “Ninja Rap” in Ooze to help push soundtracks. And sure enough by the time the horrific fourth all-CGI installment TMNT came around fourteen years after the third live action film, it felt like its sole purpose was to promote a companion video game. But at least in comparison to 1991's Ooze, the filmmakers earned points by still trying to make it feel like it was an extension of the previous film, the animated series and the comics.

Dedicated to the late Jim Henson, the second film sadly marked the last time his creature shop was used so far to produce the Turtles which broke the appearance consistency for the third film. Yet while the Turtles may have begun to change their shells, at least some of the strongest elements of I came back as the movie's main saving grace was achieved by the return of Koteas (in dual roles no less) along with voice actor Corey Feldman.

Nonetheless, a far cry from the original film, Turtles III is otherwise only memorable for its beautiful scenery and appreciation for the cultural background of the characters as the Turtles have to journey backwards in time to feudal Japan to rescue April. However, I think most viewers by this point wished that somehow we could send the Turtles in to save the franchise. And when one Turtle mentions that “westerns are dead” in one of the endless pop culture references throughout the films (that have aged them for today's youth), it comes off more as a citation about the failure of the screenwriting process and the idea that this overly commercial movie just stuck the turtles in whatever genre or plot was hip that week.

The least profitable and lowest rated film of the series, it appeared as though that would be the last hurrah, until more than a decade later, for a reason that most likely can be attributed to love of green in cash form as opposed to the green Turtles, director Kevin Munroe crafted an awkward CGI adaptation complete with another gimmicky bizarre Star Trek meets Indiana Jones plotline.

While the voice talent roster for 2007's TMNT was amazing and included everyone from Buffy's Sarah Michelle Gellar to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon's Ziyi Zhang and X-Men's Patrick Stewart, the warning sign appeared right from the start when Laurence Fishburne's nonsensical and overly complicated narrated prologue fills nearly five minutes of running time. Headache inducing and dissimilar to everything else that had come before it in a movie that resembles Spiderman and The Matrix more than the Turtles with a video game style execution, while TMNT might be fun for members of Generation Y who hadn't caught the other films or knew of the franchise's origins, to Generation X everything about the movie looked and felt wrong.

As the newest work included in the set, the sheer DVD presentation alone makes TMNT the most impressive offering in terms of visual quality and special features but it's a useless bonus for the majority of those such as this reviewer who didn't like the movie. And while it was quite a treat to see them all again so many years later, I was baffled as to why more time and technical attention hadn't been devoted to the series for its anniversary release since none of the previous works appeared as though they'd been touched up or remastered in the slightest.

Having seen the first three in the theatre and with only the VHS of the first two with which to compare the DVDs, I was disappointed that the first film especially showed minimal improvement from the video quality, even when the DVD was viewed on an upconvert Blu-ray player. While given Maltin's critique of the film which indicated that perhaps the print was "murky" from the start from budget restraint or poor film lab processing, even tweaking with the color adjustments made zero difference in a weak presentation which made me extremely curious as to whether there's a noticeable difference in the Blu-ray set since I felt like the DVD was on par with the video.

However, when you realize that only one of the four films would be of interest, the Blu-ray set's price tag doesn't entice one to opt for the collection, unless perhaps Warner Brothers is going to release the films individually in Blu-ray. In lieu of bonus features like cast and crew interviews which may have been of interest or even perhaps a few bonus discs of the animated episodes or a documentary on the franchise, the DVD set opted for a kid-centric approach with a DVD travel case that resembles a manhole cover, temporary tattoos and the four different color Turtle masks.

When you contrast these "extras" in comparison with the Blu-ray's "retro pizza box packaging" and collectible sketches and character art, you're left with the impression that this format's set-up was designed to appeal to the far more age appropriate Turtle Generation who grew up with the series and would own the Blu-ray technology. And despite the flaws of the sequels and the relative ease with which critics can take a highbrow approach to snob up and talk down about the Turtles, to quote Sheryl Crow, "if it makes you happy, it can't be that bad" and the series has made so many people happy for 25 years including two suburban kids catching the movie alone "sans parents" that it's not bad at all.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

Blu-ray Review: The Grudge (2004)

Arriving on Blu-ray 5/12

Get Caught Up in The Grudge
& The Japanese Originals

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Why do they do it? In horror movies, why must every character abandon all sense of personal safety and logic and go investigate a strange noise in a dark place... all alone, sans baseball bat-- in one of those places like an attic, a crawl space, or a basement-- that looks as though nobody's ever approached it in twenty years?

Usually there's a lot of dust, a few spiderwebs for good measure, and one of those super freaky four-legged creatures we call "cats" that jump from the darkness and scare the life out of you. And elevating our blood pressure even more in horror films-- the person investigating the noise is often a tiny, attractive, petite, sweet-as-pie female who looks like she should be in a Neutrogena ad and not ----say someone who could easily throw down with any "big bad" that may be waiting off in the distance. Then to top it off, the poor young woman's movements are typically synchronized with pulse-pounding eerie scores that scream in our ears even before the women onscreen do... and they always scream (along with us some of the time).

Now, when it comes to The Grudge, which following The Ring, was the second smash success Asian horror work to be remade to phenomenal box office returns for American audiences-- our damsel in distress does have a leg up on the usual ones. She's none other than Sarah Michelle Gellar who took on the latest "big bad" to steal a phrase from Joss Whedon's universe every week on Buffy the Vampire Slayer but in this film, she's essentially the depressing season six Bummer Buffy who feels out of her element after being pulled from Heaven back to Earth by the Scooby Gang headed up by her Wicca pal Willow (Alyson Hannigan).

Equally lost in her surroundings in The Grudge-- Gellar plays an American in Tokyo-- Karen to be precise, who accompanied her long-time (basically boring) boyfriend while he pursues a degree in Japanese architecture. Studying nursing, Karen gets her first big break to be the "lead" in her first solo home care visit after-- wouldn't you know?-- the girl who usually works at the residence in question failed to show.

Where Yoko went is unclear to Karen and her supervisor (played by producer Sam Raimi's brother Ted) but-- as the audience fully knows-- it wasn't to go with a bloke from Liverpool and move to New York City but up the damn attic of the creepily haunted house to which Karen dutifully ventures.

Cobweb free and spotless-- it isn't too long after Karen arrives to take care of her invalid, almost catatonic elderly patient that she discovers all is not well in this household where a strange wide-eyed, seemingly not-of-this-world boy suddenly appears and later so does something else that's definitely not corporeal.

The movie, based on filmmaker Takashi Shimizu's Ju-On found an instant fan in Evil Dead, A Simple Plan, and Spiderman director Sam Raimi. And while it definitely benefits from its decision to forgo the traditional gore of the horror genre, nonetheless something is definitely out of sync in this unusual remake that was actually helmed by Shimizu himself (despite the fact that he doesn't speak English) with some of the returning cast members along with Americans including Bill Pullman in a wickedly powerful opener.

Inspired by the supernatural idea that if a person "dies in the grip of a powerful rage a curse is left behind" that "never forgives" and "never forgets" instead invading the bodies of those it comes into contact with and possessing their souls or literally scaring them to death (I was never precisely sure in some cases what the were "rules" in fact)-- the premise itself is a strong one and like that of Ringu (or in its American remake by Gore Verbinski-- The Ring), it's seemingly impossible to stop.

However, this one just never quite pulls you in with a wooden script, chilly approach, and constant shifts in time that puzzle rather than present an ominous mood. Essentially, it is a structurally uneven haunted house picture where the haunting goes beyond the front door and follows whoever was unlucky enough to walk inside. And then-- as those of us poor souls who sat through Grudge 2 realized-- it continues to spread its "grudge" or rage directly to Chicago-- somehow skipping over every other place in the process in the sequels.

While although I definitely applaud Shimizu's bravery in trusting the audience with his decision to abandon the rigors of a typically linear narrative--Stephen Susco's screenplay for the film never inspires all that much emotion from its cast who indeed utter the dialogue as if they were trying to speak Japanese.

Far less successful in the remake of the original work than The Ring which was bolstered by Naomi Watts screaming bloody murder like she (and the audience) really meant it-- this film is just more unsettlingly off-putting and goosebump inducing rather than downright scary despite a few requisite jolts here and there that help ensure you've stayed awake during its seemingly endless 91 minute running time?!

While a large part of the problem could have been fixed in the film's screenwriting stage-- another issue that I think The Grudge had working against it was the "show and tell" debate a.k.a the standard horror conundrum of when you pull the mask off the villain or let viewers in behind the curtain. Or in other words-- when the main villain is revealed early on, there's no topper to that and to keep up the same level of eerie suspense it built with that jaw-dropper of an opening that finds a title star dead within an instant (teasing us the way that Craven and Hitch did by axing a lead in Scream and Psycho), it may have been best to just have a vague sense of the "big bad" as characters begin to tumble rather than folding and showing the lackluster cards the filmmakers were bluffing with all along.

Guaranteed to freak you a bit if you watch it alone at night and in the dark as if you're a heroine out to investigate a troublesome noise-- unfortunately, this one just feels dead from the start until it tries to revive itself with a crackling finale and possible solution to the problem that most of us had been yelling at the screen since the first half hour mark hit.

Granted, it's much better than the second film-- surprisingly, the third straight-to-DVD release is the one that managed to involve me the most for the first time (and stay tuned for that review), even though it only had a fraction of the budget. However, it was the only one shot by an English speaking director as opposed to poor Shimizu who even had to wonder-- albeit via translator-- why on Earth he was getting lured into making the same film twice and sticking around for its abysmal sequel.

Much like the old joke that Walk the Line was Ray "with white people," unfortunately the same could be said about Ju-On and The Grudge although as far as this is concerned, accept no substitutes, put on your reading glasses, check out Ju-On and let Sarah Michelle Gellar and Bill Pullman move on to do something better with their time.

Finally debuting on Blu-ray five years after its theatrical debut to tie-in with its DVD third installment (although why Sony passed up the chance to go Blu-ray and make a trilogy bundle was beyond me money-wise)-- Shimizu's film is presented in its original PG-13 rating as well as adding in the extra crispy, blood and gore spattered unrated version that does nothing more than just gross you out by comparison.

While the depth perception of the film in its full 1080 pixel aspect ratio has improved, it still retains that original darkly lit and grainy look that had me toying with my brightness setting from the start to try and get a better contrast between the grays and black colors. And furthermore, while the balance may sound better with all speakers working on full blast-- the transfer was uneven with a booming soundtrack that necessitated me to crank the volume up super high on my accompanying Sony products to well past fifty just to make out the dialogue.

At PG-13 in its theatrical version, it still seems like that's a bit of a mild rating and reminds me once again that there should be something between a PG-13 and an R or better quantifiers since it's sure to startle tweens into nightmares but aside from that-- Sony makes the most of the Blu-ray format by loading up the film with two different commentary tracks with the Americans involved speaking on the theatrical version of the film and the subtitled Japanese track playing throughout the unrated work.

Incorporating endless featurettes that take you behind-the-scenes of nearly every aspect of the experience including a five part extensive documentary filled with interviews as well as bonus extras like video diaries, two short films (neither of which is compelling) and more-- the high point was when we were able to really catch a glimpse at the artistic value incorporated in the storyboard art, production design etc.

A Grudge super-fan's dream with so many extras, you'll be lost in the universe of ghosts for days-- while the Blu-ray is recommended solely to that particular audience alone as a great all-encompassing presentation of a film they admire-- the rest of those who have yet to check it out will do just fine going with an inexpensive rental, preferably from a location that's well-lit, sans cats, creepy kids, and weird noises.