The Avengers Blu-Ray Review

I'm not going to do a review of the Avengers movie. If you want that there are about a thousand websites you can go to that say more than I ever could. This review is about the five combo blu-ray package.

Extras / Behind the scenes:

The extras in this package are decent. If you watch all of them they will keep you distracted for quite a while. The deleted scenes are fun but in the end you know why they ended up being deleted. There are a couple of exceptions.

DVD:

This is a nice to have but not a need to have. This is a nice addition if you have a friend you want to lend this movie too.

Blu-Ray:

The quality of this blu-ray is not notch. Sometimes you'll get a blu-ray that just doesn't seem right. The picture quality might be off or the sound isn't what you would expect. This one lives up to Disney Standards it's the best you can get.

Blu-Ray 3D:

I guess this is nice to have but i don't have 3D TV so I can't eally comment on it.

Digital Copy:

What can I say...AWESOME! I say this because Disney acctually gives you a digital copy! A real copy you can put into iTunes or your other media server. This is not that horrific piece of trash known as "Ultra Violet" that some other studios give you. Thank you Disney for not going that route.

Sound Track:

This is another thing Disney has been doing lately. The Muppets Blu-Ray also did this. You can download the sound track for free. In most cases these are not songs I would have bought but this is a nice touch. It really ends up adding value to the whole package.

Comic Book:

You get a free digital avengers comic book. That's not too shaby.

Poster:

You can also get an Avengers poster at no charge. It's not that nice but it's still a nice overall addition.

Packaging:

This is the only hit or miss part of this package. The hologram on the front is cool even if it makes your eyes hurt. The part that isn't cool is how the dics are found. Most of the time each dics has it's own snap in. In this package the DVD and digital copy are stacked on top of each other (on the same snap) and the Blu-Ray and 3D are stacked on top of each other. That just seems kind of cheap.

Price:

Right now you can get this for 19.99. WOW! If a family of four went to see this in the moives you paid a lot more than that. In many cases a family of two paid more than that if they saw the 3D version. This is a real bargin.

Song of the South Review

I recently saw Song of the South for the first time but before I get into the movie itself I should explain how I saw it. 

I don't own a VCR anymore.  Currently the only official copies of Song of the South are on VHS.  You can still find some copies of those online. 

How did I see Song of the South without a VCR?  I watched it on DVD.  It's well know that Disney has not released Song of the South on DVD but when searching online the other day I stumbled upon a website that was selling it on DVD.  I bought a copy figuring I had to see what was going on here.  I thought maybe it was an import or something like that.

A week later the the DVD arrived.  It had all the artwork you'd expect but no booklet.  It also had a purple surface, a sure sign that it was a bootleg. 

When I played the movie the quality wasn't bad but it was obviously not a remastered video.  It wasn't even in wide screen which tipped me off as to what makers of this DVD did.  They simply ripped a VHS copy to DVD and touched it up a bit.

I cannot recommend purchasing any "DVD" of Song of the South.  These DVDs are not from Disney and they are all bootlegs. Stay away.

Now the movie.


To be honest I was shocked that there is so much controversy in regards to Song of the South.  The movie is simply an old school movie that reflected many of the views of the days.  In fact there was only one scene that I shook my head at.  The infamous tar baby scene.  What shocked my was the fact they called the dummy made of tar a tar baby.  It seems like there should have been dozens of things they could have called the dummy instead of tar baby.

Other than that one scene you'll run into the typical 1930s racial standards.  It is upsetting if you take it out of context but I don't see why it's fare to hold things that are 50+ years old to todays standards.  We wouldn't do that to anything else so why would you do it to movies? 

Ignoring the racial aspects of Song of the South the movie is charming.  Many of the stories will make you smile.  You'll really enjoy this movie if you are a fan of Splash Mountain.  You can what scenes they used and how they tweaked them to make them fit into the ride.  In fact this movie is a must see for any Splash Mountain fan.

I'd say Song of the South isn't for everyone but it is a good movie that has been unfairly black listed.  I say that because Dumbo, the Three Little Pigs, and many of the old school Disney cartoons are loaded with racist themes but no one talks about them.

G-Force

Ok I know this isn’t the timeliest review but I finally saw G-Force.

Overall it’s a decent movie. I wouldn’t call it great but it’s worth a watch. The characters are goofy but not very deep. There is plenty of action which helps because the story is a little bland.

Basically a bunch of rodents are mankind’s only hope in staving off a global disaster. You can imagine how deep the story gets from there.

G-Force often relies on comic relief. Sometimes it’s funny and sometimes is crude and gross. Did they really need to add a character that has explosive gas? I could have lived a happy life without seeing a character whose main talent is farting.

Don’t get me wrong. Toilet humor can be fun. Dumb and Dumber is a classic because it did it right. G-Force does it right once or twice. The other times it’s just annoying.

Overall if you haven’t seen G-Force, go out and rent it. If you have kids you might want to buy this movie. I could see kids watching this more than once.

“Flip for Helmets” Inoventions Newest Attraction

Disney recently announced that a new simulator will be installed at the Inoventions pavilion in Epcot. “Flip for Helmets” will demonstrate the importance of wearing a full helmet with face guard when driving a motorcycle.

The simulator, sponsored by 1800 Dentist, will allow participants to be flipped over a set of handle bars onto a slab of concrete while wearing a helmet. Participants will then be allowed to do it again but without the helmet.

The simulator will have both the standard ride photo and a new video capture of the ride. If the video is purchased, you will get both standard speed and slow motion copies on the keepsake DVD.

The ride photo is taken after the second ride once the participant has been helped to their feet. In the guest is unconscious they will be propped up. A random character will be there to pose with the participant. Each photo will be posted in an online. People from all over the world will be able to log in and vote on their favorite photo. The photo with the most votes at the end of the day will win a free helmet and up to $2000 of dental work from a dentist affiliated with 1800 Dentist.

A Disney Executive was quoted as saying “This exhibit really fits in with the educational purpose of Epcot. I believe that guests will really learn how important a helmet is after riding this simulator.”

Look for “Flip for Helmets” to open within the next six months.

Disney’s Movie Club

Disney recently sent me an advert to join their Movie club. According to them I could pick a few DVDs and get them for $1.99. In the future I’d have to some DVDs at minimum price of $19.99. For some people this is a good deal. For others it’s a joke. I’ll start with why it could be a good deal for some people.

If you do not shop online very often or don’t want to spend a lot of time comparing prices this club could be a great fit for you. Another thing to remember – There are some movies that you can get through this club that you can’t easily find anywhere else.

My mom is a member of this club and she loves it. She got it for my niece. She now has a big collection of Disney movies / cartoons. You’ll have a hard time finding the cartoons outside of the club. She also likes the fact that they’ll just send her the next movie and she doesn’t really have to think about it.

Now for the bad – if you only like some Disney stuff this club is not for you. If you like to shop online this club is not for you. You can save an insane amount of money by being patient and checking a number of sites. Here is the breakdown to save the most money.

First, if you want a new DVD or Blu-Ray Amazon tends to be the cheapest. They monitor other sites and automatically cut the price or refund you the difference if someone is lower at the time of release.

Second, if you don’t mind waiting a few months or a year almost no one is cheaper than Half.com. Half is owned by eBay but it’s not an auction site. It’s more of a yard sale without the annoying haggling. You can get some used DVDs and Blu-Rays for a discount of up to 80%.