Well, here it is the Fourth Quarter of 2008, the Format War long behind us, with Sony’s Blu-ray having emerged victorious.  So, who better to put out a new batch of older catalogue titles than… Sony?  That’s right, kiddies: Sony announces the Blu-ray debuts of several (seemingly random) picks from their vast library of hits, near-hits, and misses. 

In chronological order…

Blue Streak
Directed by Les Mayfield 

Well, if one should need any proof whatsoever that Blu-ray is indeed a successful format, here it is: a nine-year-old Martin Lawrence film arrives in High Def… but hey, at least Blue Streak is better than the Martin Lawrence/Eddie Murphy bomb, Life (1999). 

In Blue Streak, Martin plays Miles Logan, a thief who gets double-crossed by a psychotic partner (Peter Greene) amid the heist of a big-ass diamond… which Miles cunningly duct tapes into the vent of an as-yet unfinished building.  After being arrested and serving two years in prison, Miles returns to the scene of his crime -- only to find that the completed building is (doh!) a police station!  Determined to retrieve his ill-gotten prize, Miles poses as a detective and infiltrates the station’s robbery division.  Unfortunately though, his plan of “running in and out unnoticed” goes horribly awry and soon, the undercover bandit is the station’s pride and joy: a street-savvy cop who doesn’t play by the rules… and that’s only because he doesn’t know what the rules are! 

Despite its overall lack of originality, Blue Streak is still one of the more tolerable Martin Lawrence vehicles: it has a bit of heart, a great supporting cast that seems to be having a good time (Luke Wilson and William Forsythe are hilarious), and it doesn’t suffer from any major fat-suited Big Momma’s House moments that generally leave people like me running for a bucket (although there is that pizza guy disguise that makes Martin Lawrence looks suspiciously like Duane Dibbley).  Sure, it’s nowhere near being a perfect film (some characters suddenly appear into the story, while others, like comic Dave Chappelle, simply disappear), but on the whole, it’s pretty decent entertainment that most people can get into. 

On Blu-ray, Blue Streak (ha ha, Blu and Blue… heh, funny) comes out looking fairly nice.  Much like the movie itself, the 1.85:1 1080p/AVC presentation is nowhere near perfect -- there is a bit of grain in many of the darker scenes, but considering that the whole production was pretty cheapo to begin with, a little grain is to be expected.  Sound-wise, you can take your picks between an English, French, or Portuguese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track.  Since I’m too lazy to learn another language, I (naturally) opted for the English soundtrack, and I can’t say I was disappointed (especially when we once again take into consideration the film’s budget).  The music came through nicely, too.  Subtitles are provided in English, English (SDH), French, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese (Traditional), Indonesian, Korean, Thai, Arabic, and Dutch. 

Two Featurettes (Setting Up The Score and HBO First Look: Inside And Undercover) and three Music Videos (by Jay-Z, Tyrese, and So Plush) are carried over from the initial DVD release, while the only Blu-ray Exclusive Features consists of some Trailers and BD Live. 

Feature Rating: 3.0 
Video Rating: 3.5
Audio Rating: 3.5
Extra Rating: 3.0

Overall Rating: 3.0 
 

National Security
Directed by Dennis Dugan

What? Another Martin Lawrence film?  On Blu-ray?   

So be it, I guess. 

Like the aforementioned Blue Streak, National Security is not exactly what one would refer to in their movie memoirs as “a masterpiece.”  Actually, to be honest, it’s a bit stinky -- not just because of the shootout scene where prestigiously-lined-up Coca-Cola products are blatantly forced in your face, but rather because of the fact that it just doesn‘t take the buddy cop/comedy/action genre seriously enough to make it believable (I refer you to the climactic ending, when the villain goes flying off of a large chunk of highway from the impact of a crane block).  In it, Martin Lawrence and Steve Zahn (who has had the misfortune of being typecast in similar goofy roles since… well, ever) play a pair of security guards who, despite hating each other’s guts, band together to tell Eric Roberts that he should never bleach his hair like that again.  A cameo appearance by “SCTV” alumni Joe Flaherty doesn’t help any.  Colm Feore and Bill Duke co-star. 

As much as I hate referring back to Blue Streak as if it were some sort of holy basis of comparison, the High Def transfer (1.85:1, 1080p/AVC) is, again, not overly impressive, but still fares better than Standard Def DVD.  Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtracks are available in English, French, and Portuguese, with a Spanish audio option in DD 5.1.   Subtitles are offered up in English, English (SDH), French, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese (Traditional), Korean, Thai, Arabic, and Dutch.  Special Features (also imported from the old SD DVD release) include an Audio Commentary by director Dennis Dugan, an Alternate Ending (which is bad), a few Deleted Scenes (worse), and a Music Video from “N.S.E.W.” (the pits).  The only new Blu-ray Features consist of Trailers and BD Live (again). 

Feature Rating: 2.0 
Video Rating: 3.5
Audio Rating: 3.5
Extra Rating: 2.5

Overall Rating: 3.0 
 

MirrorMask
Directed by Dave McKean

OK, just FYI: I’m not an artist, people.  I have virtually no comprehension of how arty stuff works or fares in the world.  As a matter of fact, the first time somebody said Neil Gaiman’s name to me, I thought they said “Neil Diamond”… an memorably embarrassing moment which left me puzzled as to exactly when and where the famous vocalist started to show his previously hidden talent. 

MirrorMask is an oh-so-trippy collaboration from Gaiman (not Diamond) and fellow artist Dave McKean (no, not Michael McKean); a journey into a fantasy-like world whose appearance is so “out there” that it even puts the most truly bizarre dreams from the innermost depths of my subconscious to shame… and here I thought the one where I was free running through the corridors and ducts of an M.C. Escher-style casino while singing Twisted Sister’s “Stay Hungry” and being chased by security guards beat all.

Dancing its way onto Sony’s High Def format, MirrorMask manages to show off its various artistic intricacies quite well, and its surreal atmosphere shines through in the way McKean and Gaiman intended (or at least I think it does… hard to tell with them artist folk).  The disc boasts a 1.85:1 image (1080p/AVC) which looks incredibly sweet (dude) and several soundtracks, including: English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese (Dolby TrueHD 5.1), and Spanish and Thai (DD 5.1).  Subtitles are available in the abovementioned languages (plus English SDH) as well as Dutch, Korean, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), and Indonesian.  Aside from some new HD Trailers and BD Live, all of the other Special Features (presented here in Standard Def ) have been brought over from the Standard DVD release (Commentary, Interviews, Behind the Scenes, etc.), but these Extras shouldn’t disappoint fans the second time around. 

Feature Rating: 3.5 
Video Rating: 4.5
Audio Rating: 4.5
Extra Rating: 3.5

Overall Rating: 4.0 
 

Southland Tales
Directed by Richard Kelly 

After Donnie Darko became a phenomenal cult favorite the world over, millions of fans (including myself) were incredibly anxious to see what kind of wacky work of genius writer/director Richard Kelly could come up with next.   

The result?  Southland Tales.  Wacky?  Yes.  Genius?  No.  Why?  Well, first off, Southland Tales has a great collection of performers -- all of whom are wasted in such a manner that not even an Irwin Allen star-studded disaster epic could compare.  First off, we have Dwayne Johnson (or The Rock as some of you still prefer to call him) as our main character (or is he the main character?  It’s really hard to say just who the main character is in this film as it continuously jumps from one person to another, but since he’s top-billed and the story mainly attempts to revolve around him, we’ll just go ahead and say he’s the main character), an amnesiac actor named Boxer Santaros, who has written a screenplay about the end of the world along with a porn actress-turned-Reality TV host, Krysta Now (Sarah Michele Geller).  Then there’s our other main character, Ronald Tavernier (Seann William Scott, in one of the few good roles he’s ever had… which, in the long run, isn’t saying a whole lot), who has a twin brother (also Scott), and is the key to some sort of apocalypse thing. 

Additional players include Justin Timberlake (who is surprisingly good, really), Holmes Osborne, Miranda Richardson, John Larroquette, Mandy Moore, Christopher Lambert (poor guy), and just about every other Saturday Night Live regular past and present. 

Bizarre casting aside, Southland Tales suffers from a severe case of indecisiveness: it can’t seem to decide if it’s a comedy, a thriller, an action flick, a musical, or a science fiction piece… and if this is what the future for Richard Kelly has to offer, I’ll pass. 

Released earlier in the year on DVD, Southland Tales hits Blu-ray with an impressive video and audio transfer.  The 2.40:1 1080p/AVC presentation is a marked improvement over the Standard Def issue, and the English TrueHD 5.1 audio (the only audio choice, incidentally) is capable of holding its own.  Subtitles are only available in English, English (SDH), French, and Spanish.  The Featurette and Animated Short from the DVD make their way to this release, but fortunately, Sony has tacked-on a few new Blu-ray Features: an Audio Commentary with Richard Kelly (which may, just may, tell you what’s actually going on this movie); and Southland Tales: The Prequel Saga Graphic Novel Gallery (which also may cease the head-scratching a bit).  As with all of these new BD titles, Trailers and BD Live accompany. 

Feature Rating: 2.0 
Video Rating: 4.0
Audio Rating: 4.5
Extra Rating: 3.5

Overall Rating: 3.0 
 

There’s a little bit of everything here… nothing really family-oriented, but this assortment of new-to-BD titles is sure to please either diehard Martin Lawrence fans, and aficionados of truly surreal motion pictures (or, in extremely rare circumstances, both).