Blu Tuesday: “A Quiet Place” and More

Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray and 4K 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 it from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on social media with your friends.

“A Quiet Place”

John Krasinski’s latest directorial effort is an incredibly well-crafted genre flick that will likely go down as one of the year’s best films. Equal parts sci-fi/horror and family drama, “A Quiet Place” cleverly uses the guise of an alien invasion story to explore major themes like loss and parenthood, particularly the lengths you will go to protect your kids from the dangers of the world. The reason the movie works so well is because Krasinski makes you genuinely care about the central family and fear for their survival. Additionally, the acting is great across the board – not only from Krasinski and real-life wife Emily Blunt, but also youngsters Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe – and the tension never lets up. “A Quiet Place” is a masterclass in genre filmmaking, and the fact that Krasinski pulls it off with minimal dialogue makes it that much more impressive.

Extras include a behind-the-scenes look at making the movie and two additional featurettes on sound editing and visual effects. FINAL VERDICT: BUY

“Future World”

James Franco has made some bizarre career choices over the years, but this low-budget, post-apocalyptic thriller, which he co-directed with frequent collaborator Bruce Thierry Cheung, is certainly up there as one of the strangest. It’s like he watched a double feature of “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “The Bad Batch” (which also stars Suki Waterhouse) and thought to himself, “I can do that.” You don’t need to look much further than the movie’s generic title to realize just how wrong he was. “Future World” is like a bad grindhouse film that isn’t in on the joke. Though Franco and Milla Jovovich dial it up to 11 with their villainous supporting roles, the rest of the performances are awful, especially leading man Jeffrey Wahlberg, who has none of the talent or charisma of his famous uncles. If you value your time at all, stay far away from this poor excuse for a movie.