Stanley Kubrik is a true master of film, and 2001 a Space Odyssey bluray is nothing short of visual masterpiece. The pictures are amazingly vivid and sharp and the soundtrack as haunting as ever. Unless you’ve lived under a rock you’re probably somewhat familiar with the plot; When a large black monolith is found beneath the surface of the moon, the reaction immediately is that it was intentionally buried. When the point of origin is confirmed as Jupiter, an expedition is sent in hopes of finding the source. And at the heart of the expedition is the computer HAL that controls the expedition space ship. It’s really a story about evolution, but I’ll leave it at that for you to explore.

2001 a Space Odyssey blu-ray comes as expected in 1080p full hd with a 2.20:1 aspect ratio, and PCM 5.1 and dolby digital 5.1 soundtrack.

Albeit a visually stunning movie which has been lovingly transferred to bluray, it’s still a little too slowly paced for my taste and being used to MTV speed of information, hence no top score for this 1968 sci-fi classic.

The 1984 sci fi movie 2010 is set nine years after the failure of the Discovery mission to Jupiter of the movie 2001: a space oddesey. The film features the late Roy Scheider and brilliant Helen Mirren, and was nominated for no less than five oscars, although it didn’t manage to win any.

The 2010 blu ray release clocks in at 116 minutes of 1080p high definition video with both Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack.

April 27 will be like Christmas Day for high def Star Trek fans. This one day will see the release of the six disc set Star Trek Movies 1 – 6 Blu-Ray and the original 1966s series completely remastered Star Trek Season 1 on blu-ray with DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1.

Beam me up scotty! I’m ready for 2148 minutes of William Shattner!

You're not a star mr Diesel, but we'll be kind and give you one!

Ah, another Vin Diesel movie, that statement doesn’t exactly get the juices flowing these days having appeared in such dross as The Pacifier and Find me Guilty in recent years, so does a return to his more action orientated roots fare any better? in a word …no.

To be fair to Vin this isnt entirely his fault, this production was rife with rumours that the studio and director Matthieu Kassovitz didnt share the same vision for the movie, subsequently the movie was heavily delayed and Kassovitz turned his back on the project.

The result inevitably is a movie with no real identity, and what follows is a mish-mash of other, better action films most notably The Transporter and Blade Runner, as exiled bad ass Toorop (Diesel) is tasked with escorting Aurora (Melanie Thierry) from Russia to the U.S in exchange for a new passport and a return to his New York roots. Familiar chaos ensues as it becomes obvious that there’s more to Aurora than meets the eye.

Unfortunately though the action here is tepid and formulaic while the script seems rushed and unfinished. Just like the actual climax to the picture in fact, as the ending leaves you wondering exactly where the rest of the movie is (on the cutting room floor perhaps?).

Blu-Ray wise  its all pretty decent stuff, with the movie itself presented in pristine 2.35:1 with great colours and black levels and no hint of any noise or artifacts. Ditto the sound with the DTS-HD Master audio ticking all the right boxes for audiophiles with clear concise surround that fills the room with gunfire and explosions without forcing you turn the levels up to hear the dialogue. Extras are reasonable with the usual array of features, documentaries and deleted scenes but not really anything to get excited over.

Overall though  even bolstered by great picture and sound this  pretty poor film is still not good enough to warrant your money, rent only folks.

Wow, this new Plasma screen is so real...

April 24th see’s the release of Scott Derrickson’s much malingned remake of Robert Wise’s seminal 1951 chiller The Day The Earth Stood Still. Critically shredded when released in theatres over christmas, can the Blu-Ray prove more successful?

Coming in at 3 discs, it will reportedly contain both a digital copy AND a copy of the original 51 classic, as well as the usual docs and commentaries and DTS-HD audio. So it may be worth a look after all. Review coming soon.

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If you haven’t picked up the Matrix Trilogy Blu-Ray boxset yet, you might be interested to know that the movies will shortly be available in single serve packages. On March 23 all three movies; The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions are ready for individual purchase.

I’m personally not a huge fan of the two second movies, but wouldn’t mind getting the first one as I think it’s brilliantly original for an Hollywood sci-fi action.

The brilliant comic book series will get complete on Blu-Ray with the release of The X-Men Trilogy Blu-Ray Collection on April 20th. As expected it will be in Full HD 1080p and a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Soundtrack, so you can really her Wolverines metallic claws ripping through the flesh of the bad guys.

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A Classic That Looks Its Very Best

A classic sci-fi flick that has aged very gracefully, and getting the Blu-Ray treatment into the HD era isn’t showing any hidden wrinkles. The Blu-Ray disc contains no less than three different versions of this iconic film; the original theatrical cut, special edition and directors cut.

Richard Dreyfuss is absolutely captivating as the protagonist that – yepp, you guessed it – has a  close encounter of the third kind. He consequently gets totally obsessed with the event, and starts a series of events that will alienate him from his own family in the search for answers. It’s a real joy to watch such as skillful actor at work, making you really feel his frustration while searching for the truth.

Although the film is quite a few years old, this doesn’t really impact the enjoyment; although the visual effects are not quite up to today’s standard. The transfer to Blu-Ray is great, and all the splendid photo and art direction is presented at its very best. The audio comes in a choice of DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and is equally impressive, making this a solid purchase for the Blu-Ray collection.