DVD Releases and News

Fresh Fodder: New DVD Releases - 1/16/2007

Slim pickings abound this week.At least we have some good martial arts action to tide us over until next week. If you never saw "Ong Bak," Tony Jaa's wire-free martial art gymnastics were truly a site to behold. Team up the same director and actor, and you've got a sure-fire winner in our eyes.

We are mildly interested in Gridiron Gang, but the football drama may have to take a backseat for now. We have a strict one-inspirational-sports-movie-per-3-months diet we have to stick to. Doctors orders. Honest.

And did we really need to see how the "Texas Chainsaw" killer was nurtured?

The Stuff We Sorta Care About

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre -
The Beginning
(Unrated Edition)

Synopsis: "On one last road trip before they're sent to serve in Vietnam, two friends (Handley and Bomer) and their girlfriends (Baird and Brewster) get into an accident that calls their local sheriff (Ermey) to the scene. Thus begins a terrifying experience where the teens are taken to a secluded house of horrors, where a young, would-be killer is being nurtured."

Features

Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 89 Minutes
Label: New Line
Studio: New Line Home Video
DVD Format: Keep Case, Widescreen Anamorphic, 1.85:1, Closed Captioned, Color
DVD Features: Subtitles: English, Spanish, Audio Track 1: English, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, Audio Track 2: English, DTS 6.1 ES Discrete
Region: 1 (USA, Canada and US territories)

Special Features

Commentary by director Jonathan Liebesman and producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller
Deleted and extended scenes with optional commentary
"Down to the Bone" behind-the-scenes featurette

Preview:

The Protector

Synopsis: "A young fighter named Kham must go to Australia to retrieve his stolen elephant. With the help of a Thai-born Australian detective, Kham must take on all comers, including a gang led by an evil woman and her two deadly bodyguards."

Features

Rating: Rated R for pervasive strong violence and some sexual content
Label: The Weinstein Company/Genius
Studio: Weinstein Company
DVD Format: 2-Disc Keep Case, Widescreen Anamorphic, Closed Captioned, Color
DVD Features: Subtitles: English, Spanish, Audio Track 1: Thai, Dolby Digital 5.1, Audio Track 2: Thai, DTS 5.1, Audio Track 3: English, Dolby Digital 5.1
Region: 1 (USA, Canada and US territories)

Special Features

Both the U.S. theatrical version and the longer, uncut Thai version Tom Yum Goong
Commentary by Asian Film expert Bey Logan on the U.S. cut
"No Wires Attached: Making The Protector" featurette
"Making Tom Yum Goong" featurette
Deleted fight scene
"Making Tony Jaa" featurette
Tony Jaa Martial Arts Demonstration
The Director's Guided Tour
"8 Limbs" Mobisode (a cell phone video)
Short films from the "The Take on Tony Jaa" contest
Theatrical trailer

Preview:

Gridiron Gang

Synopsis: "Teenagers at a juvenile detention center, under the leadership of their counselor, gain self-esteem by playing football together."

Features

Rating: Rated PG-13 for some startling scenes of violence, mature thematic material and language.
Runtime:125 Minutes
Label: Sony Pictures
Studio: Sony Pictures
DVD Format: Keep Case, Widescreen Anamorphic, 2.40:1, Closed Captioned, Color
DVD Features: Subtitles: English, French, Audio Track 1: English, Dolby Digital 5.1, Audio Track 2: English, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Audio Track 3: French, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Region: 1 (USA, Canada and US territories)