Blu Tuesday is a weekly column where we review the newest Blu-ray and 4K releases, along with a brief rundown of the included bonus material, to determine whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping.
Pick of the Week: “Steven Spielberg: The Spotlight Collection”
Steven Spielberg is one of the most storied filmmakers in cinematic history, so he’s nothing if not deserving of a premium box set like the Spotlight Collection, which compiles eight of his most iconic films — “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “E.T. The Extraterrestrial,” “Jurassic Park,” “Schindler’s List,” “Saving Private Ryan” and “War of the Words” — into a deluxe SteelBook packaging designed for the ultimate collector. The question is whether it’s actually worth the $200-plus price tag, and honestly, that’s where everyone’s mileage will vary. While there’s no denying that Universal has done a phenomenal job with this release, particularly the collaboration required to incorporate films from multiple studios, these movies are already available in 4K, and there’s no new or exclusive bonus material to be found. Hardcore collectors will find it hard to resist, but casual fans are better off waiting for individual releases to pick up the titles that interest them most.
Extras include a treasure trove of previously released bonus material like production featurettes, deleted scenes, retrospectives, cast and crew interviews, photo galleries and much more. FINAL VERDICT: RENT
Also Out This Week:
“The Patriot” (4K) — Director Roland Emmerich may be best known for big-budget disaster films like “Independence Day,” “Godzilla” and “The Day After Tomorrow,” but this 2000 historical war drama starring Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger may just be one of his best movies. It’s not historically accurate whatsoever — many of its characters are either composites or loosely based on real-life figures — but it does a good job of capturing the spirit of the period and delivers some intense battle sequences. The cast, led by Gibson, is also excellent, including screen veterans like Jason Isaacs, Chris Cooper and Tom Wilkinson, as well as Ledger in one of his first major film roles. Though the movie’s 175-minute runtime is unjustified, especially for what is a fairly straightforward revenge story, “The Patriot” does just enough to keep you engaged, even if it ends up feeling like a lesser version of Gibson’s own historical epic, “Braveheart.” Extras include an audio commentary by Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin, as well as a trio of behind-the-scenes featurettes, concept art-to-film comparisons and some deleted scenes. FINAL VERDICT: RENT
Disclosure: Bullz-Eye was provided a copy of the above titles for review purposes.
