Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray releases and let you know whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping, along with a breakdown of the included extras. If you see something you like, click on the cover art to purchase the Blu-ray from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on social media with your friends.
“The Fate of the Furious”
Any franchise that’s eight films deep is bound to start feeling a little stale, but while there’s certainly a sense of exhaustion surrounding “The Fate of the Furious,” it gets by on the charm of its diverse cast, particularly Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, whose love-hate bromance is the highlight of the movie. It’s also fun to watch Vin Diesel break bad for once, giving him new shades to play after seven films of relative stability in the lead role, while Charlize Theron makes for an imposing villain. Where the movie falls short is in the action department, which features a couple great set pieces but no real standouts like in past films. Although “The Fate of the Furious” is far from the series’ best, it’s still a mostly entertaining installment that delivers just about everything you could want in a “Fast and Furious” movie.
Extras include an audio commentary by director F. Gary Gray, four behind-the-scenes featurettes, some extended fight sequences and more. FINAL VERDICT: RENT
“The Lost City of Z”
Based on the best-selling book of the same name, which tells the true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett’s search for a mythical Amazonian city in the early 1900s, “The Lost City of Z” is the kind of old-school adventure flick that Hollywood rarely makes anymore. Featuring a pair of strong performances from Charlie Hunnam and Robert Pattinson, as well as some stunning imagery that calls to mind “Apocalypse Now,” the movie jumps back and forth (sometimes disjointedly) between Fawcett’s jungle expeditions and his time at home with his family. The problem, however, is that while the latter segments serve to punctuate Fawcett’s obsession, they simply aren’t as interesting. Though “The Lost City of Z” never reaches its full potential as a result, it’s nonetheless a really good film that falls just shy of being great.
Extras include an audio commentary by writer/director James Gray, a pair of short featurettes and an interactive photo gallery. FINAL VERDICT: RENT
