J.J. Abrams’ vision captured in Star Trek box set
Star Trek: The Compendium (2014) Blu-ray + Digital HD Paramount
★★★ ½ out of 5
Star Trek: The Compendium is a four-disc set that features the reimagined Star Trek vision by J.J. Abrams. Star Trek (2009) and the sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), are presented as full and proper special editions. Both films are supplemented with a second blu-ray disc, each loaded with special features.
Star Trek (2009) follows a young Kirk (Chris Pine) as he joins Starfleet and helps battle Nero (Eric Bana), a ruthless time-travelling villain. The sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, expands on the friendship that Kirk develops with fellow Starfleet officer Spock ( Zachary Quinto), while the two face a hostile terrorist endeavouring to unleash unending devastation on the world.
Since J.J. Abrams is switching sci-fi teams to take on the highly anticipated Star Wars: Episode VII, he most certainly won’t be working on Star Trek any time soon so releasing this compendium now seems the most opportune time to take advantage of all the hype surrounding his name.
The good news here is the IMAX release of Into Darkness, as well as the complete bonus features are included. When Into Darkness was first released to blu-ray, bonus features were split up across numerous retailers and each offered them as exclusives. This time around, scenes used for the IMAX release are shown in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio creating a larger image and eliminating the black bars on the top and bottom that come standard with the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Essentially the movie shifts back and forth from the 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio to the 1.78:1 IMAX frame for select scenes. This alone is worth the price of admission.
This set also includes an enhanced commentary for Into Darkness and the bonus disc, including some new deleted scenes and additional bonus material that was not previously available. The bottom line is that if you already own these two movies you could take a pass, but if they are not in your collection already, The Compendium offers up a complete set of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek contribution in one nice single package.
— Don Healy
Neighbors Blu-ray Combo Pack Universal
★★ ½ out of 5
Given Seth Rogen’s track record, it seemed a safe assumption that Neighbors would be a hysterical comedy. After all, the premise — a young married couple with a baby and a new house in the suburbs find their lives turned upside down when a fraternity moves into the house next door — appeared perfect for a juvenile and outrageous comedy.
Unfortunately Neighbors misses the mark. Although there are some laughs, the movie relies too much on extreme and outrageous gags. Director Nicholas Stoller may have been aimi n g for a bawdy comedy but he missed the mark, instead filling the movie with gags that some would find offensive. The tone, however, shouldn’t be a surprise given the film’s R rating for pervasive language, crude and sexual content, graphic nudity and drug use.
I went into the film hoping it would mirror Rogen’s Superbad or Knocked Up or Zac & Miri Make A Porno. Neighbors is none of those and don’t even try to bring comedies like Animal House and Old School into the discussion. Compared to Animal House, the gold standard for fraternity comedies, Neighbors is straight-to-video quality.
The combo pack includes bluray, dvd and digital HD versions along with a plethora of extras — in addition to an alternate opening and deleted/alternate scenes, the pack includes five featurettes.