Lifeforce Blu-ray and Limited Edition Steelbook Short Review

3.5 stars for this nicely tweaked version of an Eighties cult classic.

Lifeforce was first released in 1986 and was directed by Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and based upon the novel "The Space Vampires", written by Colin Wilson (Max Headroom).

This sci-fi thriller starts when the deep space probe Churchill investigates Halley's Comet and finds an unidentified object located within the head of the comet.

This proves to be a ship of alien origin, on first inspection filled with giant bats, but also containing three life pods containing naked humanoids, one female (Mathilda May - Naked Tango, The Tit And The Moon), and two males.

See the rest of our review for this epic tale of tits and vampirism over at Road Rash Reviews

Appleseed XIII DVD Short Review

4 Stars of Beautiful Manga, Masamune Shirow's Saga Goes on.

We gorged ourselves on each amazing 30 minute episode with "oohs and ahs and oh my god that's amazing" at every frame turn. We see City-Olympus bathed in beautiful sunlight,World War 5 is over, Planet Earth has avoided a nuclear holocaust and Olympus has become the centre of the World and the human race is under the eye of the Bioroids (Human Clones made from only the best DNA) and they are working towards a human utopia.

But not everyone is happy with this idea. Some despise the very idea of the Bioroids, The Human Liberation Front for one and their very heavily armoured allies the Argonauts who live on a self-propelled city-Fortress.

Available on DVD and Blu-ray Now

 See all of our thoughts at RoadRash Reviews  

Sharknado DVD and Blu-ray Short Review

0.1 stars for this appalling shower of sharks.

Sharknado is a great title for a film, there is no denying that. So it does come as rather a surprise that armed with such a good idea, they managed to produce a film which has no visible redeeming features (other than the title, that is).

Sharknado is directed by Anthony C. Ferrante (Boo, Scream Of The Banshee) and written by Thunder Levin (American Warships, AE: Apocalypse Earth). With a pedigree like that, I was expecting great things.

Find out what else we thought about this fintastic adventure at Road Rash Reviews

Steins; Gate Part 2 DVD and Blu-ray Short Review

4 stars for this excellent Sci-Fi based anime.

This is part 2 of the TV series Steins; Gate and picks the story back up at episode 13 "Metaphysics Necrosis", just one of many mind-boggling titles to follow.

Our hero Okabe (J. Michael Tatum - Hetalia Axis Powers), a self proclaimed mad scientist and his friends and colleagues Daru and Kurisu (Trina Nishimura - Deadman Wonderland) have finally succeeded in creating a device that is capable of sending messages into the past (D-mails),but in doing so, make some significant changes to the past and attract some very unwelcome attention in the form of SERN, an evil corporation who Okabe suspects of trying to manipulate time to their own ends.

Read  the rest of the review at Road Rash Reviews

Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works DVD and Blu-ray Short Review

4 stars for this well made tale of swords and sorcery.
 
Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works is directed by Yuji Yamaguchi and is based upon and features the characters from the TV series of the same name.

This film finds us firmly in the middle of the war for the Holy Grail ( a powerful artefact, able to grant any wish to it's owner), a war in which the seven Mages compete against each other in a fight to the death. 

To assist them in their endeavours they can each summon a powerful ally in the form of any one of seven hero classes, Saber, Archer, Rider, Berserker, Lancer, Caster and Assassin.


Read the rest of the review over at Road Rash Reviews

The Last Exorcism Part II DVD and Blu-ray Short Review

3.5 stars for the latest offering from Eli Roth.


The Last Exorcism Part II is directed and written by Ed Gass- Donnelly (Small Town Murder Song, This Beautiful City) and produced by Eli Roth (Aftershock, Cabin Fever).

It takes off directly after the end of the first film, with Nell Sweeter (Ashley Bell - The Last Exorcism, The Day) trying to recover from a harrowing exorcism, knowing little about what happened except that she is the only remaining member of her family.

Read the rest of the review over at Road Rash Reviews

Sir Billi DVD Release Short Review

1 star for this misguided attempt at a children's film.

Sir Billi is written by Tessa Hartman (her writing and producing début, rather embarrassingly) , directed by Sascha Hartman (again, a first attempt) and produced by and starring Sir Sean Connery (Indiana Jones, James Bond).

This film is the first Scottish full length animated feature film, and it shows.
The animation is very strange, dated looking for sure, but almost as if they have tried way too hard. Everyone and everything looks shiny, like it's wet and there are white lines around all the objects in the foreground, making them look badly superimposed over the backgrounds (these are pretty good however).

Read the rest of the review over at Road Rash Reviews

The Body DVD and Blu-ray Release Short Review

5 stars for this outstanding psychological thriller.

The Body (El Cuerpo) is directed by Oriol  Paulo (writer of Julia's Eyes) and is a Spanish film, subtitled in English, with well deserved rave reviews after its screening at the London film festival.

After Ángel Torres (Miquel Gelabert - Box 507, El Greco), the night security guard at the local morgue, sees something that frightens him so badly that he runs in front of a car and falls into a coma, the police are called in.


Find out more over at Road Rash Reviews

Breakout DVD Release Short Review

3.5 stars for this thriller starring Ray Liotta.

Breakout is written by Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games, The Underland Chronicles) and directed by Doug Logato (Wild Wild West, Best Shots) and was originally released under the name of "Ticket Out".

Breakout tells the story of Jocelyn (Alexandra Breckenridge - She's The Man, Family Guy), a mother desperate to keep her children safe and away from her abusive and dangerous husband, Dennis (Billy Burke - The Twilight Saga, Red Riding Hood).

Find out what else we thought about the film over at Road Rash Reviews

Crocodile Shoes DVD Release Short Review

4 stars for this classic 1990's TV series, 3 stars for the conversion.

Crocodile Shoes was first shown on BBC One in 1994 and was written by the star, Jimmy Nail (Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Spender) who also had a successful music career on the back of the series.

This tells the story of Geordie factory worker Jed Shepperd, played by Jimmy Nail, who operates the "magic lathe" for a living, but writes country music for a hobby. When his sister Emma (Melanie Hill - Waterloo Road, Stardust) sends copies of his demo tape to record companies in London, his talent is spotted by Ade Lynn (James Wilby - Maurice, Gosford Park). With the prospect of redundancy on the horizon, Jed is forced to make a big decision, does he leave his old life behind and try to make it big in the country music scene, or stay in Newcastle to face an uncertain future? 

Read the rest of the review over at Road Rash Reviews

Hannibal DVD and Blu-ray Release Short Review

4 stars for this tense thriller, familiar names with unfamiliar faces.Hannibal is the latest incarnation of the well known characters created by Thomas Harris (Red Dragon, Silence Of The Lambs, Hannibal) and is set during the time of Red Dragon.

The series was created by Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Heroes) and directed by David Slade (Twilight: Eclipse, 30 Days Of Night).

Hannibal tells the story of Will Graham (Hugh Dancy - Black Hawk Down, King Arthur), a brilliant and talented FBI criminal profiler, struggling to come to terms with his own demons, while trying to catch the worst of the hardened criminals that society has to offer.

Find out what we think about this well thought out TV series over at Road Rash Reviews

Tiger and Bunny Part 4 DVD and Blu-ray Short Review

Well thought out and entertaining Manga, 4 stars.

Tiger and Bunny Part 4 is the final installment in the Tiger and Bunny Saga and is directed by Keiichi Sato.

For those not familiar with the franchise, Tiger and Bunny is set in a world where law and order is maintained by super heroes, called "Next", people who have unique abilities and who are offered corporate sponsorship to fight crime on camera for the news network Hero T.V.

Find out what else we thought about this great bit of animation over at Road Rash Reviews

All Stars DVD and Blu-ray Release Short Review

An excellent summer holiday family film, 4 stars.

All Stars is directed by Ben Gregor (D.O.A., Straight 8) and tells the story of a group of kids who fight to save their youth club, The Garage, from the evil local council, who wish to close it down to make way for a car park.

The Garage is run by Gina (Ashley Jensen - Ugly Betty, Nativity!) who is trying to raise enough money to keep it open. Enter Jaden (Akai Osei-Mansfield - Streetdance 2, winner of Sky's "Got To Dance"), with the bright idea to throw a talent show to raise funds. He enlists a reluctant Ethan (Theo Stevenson - Horrid Henry: The Movie, In Bruges), a young entrepreneur with a crush on the girlfriend of the leader of a street dance crew. The ideal finale for a talent show, a dance off between rival crews.

Read the full review over at Road Rash Reviews

The White Queen DVD and Blu-ray Release Short Review

4 stars of what the BBC does best.

The White Queen is a lavish affair, a great example of the glee with which the BBC throw themselves into the production of a period drama.

It is based upon the series of novels "The Cousins War", written by Philippa Gregory (The Other Boleyn Girl) and is set towards the end  of the 15th century, before the rise of the Tudors and during the height of the conflict between the houses of York and Lancaster.

This rich tale of love and hate, deception and intrigue is told through the intertwined stories of three women, each powerful and influential in their own right.

Find out what else we thought of this great looking production over at Road Rash Reviews.

Space Battleship Yamato DVD and Blu-ray Short Review

4.5 Stars of Awesomeness, Space Battleship Yamato Lives.

This a live action version of the very popular animé series from 1974 of the same name.
2194 Captain Okita (Tsutomu Yamazaki, Departures) finds himself and his armada near the orbit of Mars, as Earth has come under fire of an alien race that knows nothing about, apart from they use massive meteors as weapons to bombard the surface of the planet and cover the surface with radiation.

They fire on the enemy but little happens; they have underestimated the power of these aliens, as they return fire the Earth ships are torn asunder as they try to flee, Captain Mamoru Kodai (Shin'ichi Tsutsum, A Lone Scalpel) contacts Okita and tells him to get back to Earth as he is about to put his ship in harms way, sacrificing his ship and crew so someone can tell the story of what happened that day.
From the outset this space battle opens your eyes as the graphics are awesome competing at the same level as any Hollywood production. It's a frantic battle and in Blu-ray you don't know which way to look.

Available on DVD and Blu-ray Now.

For the full review head over to Road Rash Reviews 

Aftershock DVD and Blu-ray Release Short Review

This is a great idea, badly put into practice, only 1.5 stars for this one.

Aftershock is a disaster film, set in the very beautiful coastal town of Valparaiso, Chile. As a tourist guide and advert for Valparaiso, this is an excellent film (they apparently have a lovely funicular railway), as a B-movie, not so much.

Aftershock is written and directed by Chilean director Nicolas Lopez (Que Pena Tu Vida) and is also co-written and produced by the star, Eli Roth (Inglourious Basterds, director of Hostel).

Find out what else we thought about this sunny Chilean production over at Road Rash Reviews

Heaven's Gate Short Review

4 Star Epic Western with the smell of real life Wyoming 1890.

Set in the established burgeoning America, towns and cities are starting to get flooded by migrants from Eastern Europe, much to the dislike of Land owners and especially the Stockholder Association, who see these farm settlers as vermin or worse.

Set around the dysfunctional friendship between James Averill (Kris Kristofferson, Blade franchise) and Billy Irvine (John Hurt, Alien).  We see them graduate from Harvard college Cambridge Massachusetts and the grandeur of those hallowed halls.

But twenty years later we see a bearded Averill slumped drunken on a train as it pulls into Casper Wyoming.

Averill has power but has dumbed down his lifestyle as he prefers the simple life rather than the trappings of his birth right.

He has to fight for what he believes in that everybody has the right to farm America even if his peers disagree.

Available on DVD now

Read the full review over at Road Rash reviews 

Evil Dead DVD and Blu-ray Short Review

WOW. Finally, 5 stars of PROPER horror.

Evil Dead is a remake of the cult horror film The Evil Dead, revealed to the world in 1981. This new version bears all the signatures of the original, directed by Fede Alvarez, a relative newcomer, but produced by Sam Raimi and Robert G. Tapert (The Evil Dead, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) , the maestros responsible for the first incarnation.

It is also produced by the mighty Bruce Campbell who played Ash in the original film and who makes an un-credited appearance in this one.

You can read the full review over at Road Rash Reviews

Hellsing: The Complete Original Series DVD Short review

3.5 Stars of Horror/Fantasy Manga

Modern day England and where there are dark places, they are filled with a new horror; humans. A new ‘Freak chip’ is available to those who can afford it, that will give the recipient Vampiric abilities and the blood lust to go along with it.


Available to buy on DVD Now

For full review head over to Road Rash Reviews

Naruto Shippuden: Movie 3 - The Will Of Fire DVD and Blu-ray Short Review

This is a very entertaining piece of Anime, 3.5 stars for this one.

Naruto Shippuden: Movie 3 - The Will Of Fire is brought to us by Manga and is the latest in a long running franchise started in 2002, which includes TV series', a number of feature films (including Blood Prison and the Lost Tower) and also computer games (various platforms, but mostly only in Japan).

Read what we thought about the adventures of Naruto and his gang of Ninjas over at Road Rash Reviews