BB’s DVDs Part 4: Christmas 2003

2003 Christmas wasn’t exactly the happiest time in my life.

As noted from a prior entry, I had underwent ingrown toenail surgery, and was laid up.

However, that doesn’t mean I cashed in big on Christmas day when it came to optical media.

In addition to the much-ballyhooed Survivor Series 2002 disc I treasure from my siblings, there was another disc I got from the parents that is a treasure in a different meaning.

Entitled Weird Al Yankovic - The Ultimate Video Collection, this featured all the music videos the musician did up to this point. Even the ‘Bob’ one, which off the ‘Poodle Hat’ album, was hastily made after Eminem denied the making of a ‘Couch Potato’ piece.

There are some 24 music videos in the offing. With videos like “Fat” who parody the original work, to ‘UHF’ which lampoons many a style/musician, to even ‘Spy Hard’ which is just an edited version of the opening credits. There’s hardly a slouch in the bunch, and are all complimented by on-screen lyrics that can be selected from the main menu.

Speaking of extras, there are more of them. For example, there are clips from the short-lived “Weird Al Show” from 1997-1998. Although the show would have a DVD release, it’s a prime example of when an artist tries to work his material into a different medium, and sadly fails. There’s also a photo gallery, and then the real gem of the extra-circulars, a 1981 appearance on ‘The Tomorrow Show’ with Tom Snyder. Al performs “Another One Rides the Bus,” and it’s his first real national exposure. A huge moment, one complimented by the ad-libbing and improvisation that make the low-budget Al so famous. It’s one of those discs that I play as much as any DVD I own, and therefore it’s a one I wholeheartedly I recommend.

Now we go into where sometimes family can go REALLY over the top for one another.

During Thanksgiving, the adults ask the kids what they want for Christmas.

Keep in mind at this point I’m 14, so my mind is much more centered on exactness at this point. It’s what happens when you’re not old enough for employment.

Anywhos, I ask for two DVD’s, and in stunning fashion, got them both!

First up is the Vista Series release of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”.

Coming in a digipak/fold-out case with slipcover, it looks pretty fancy.

Uncovering the digipak, it’s obvious this packaging isn’t ordinary. Especially since it feels like you’re Detective Eddie Valiant looking up a case himself!

Inside, there’s a notebook with notes on the special features, and a chapter insert. Be careful, because the “notebook” is not designed in a normal fashion. You have to “flip” the pages, so it’s not a traditional book-like style. In addition, there are two “autographed” pictures, one of Roger Rabbit and his wife Jessica Rabbit. Kind of like pictures you’d have slipped to you in undercover investigation work. Really nice touch.

Both discs have artwork resembling film cases. Again, another nice touch, as it seems that Touchstone/Disney did a really good job trying to replicate a 1940s’ feel. If you’re looking somewhat closely, I have an easter egg sheet in there too. There’s a few of them.

All this and I haven’t even begun to describe the visual content!

The movie, as expected, looks wonderful. Gritty yet rich, this dark-mooded period piece strikes a fine balance between Technicolor-noir and permeable animation. Seriously, this film at times feels like it should have had Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart chewing up scenery with inane banter. It’s also the only time in cinema history (or so I think) where Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, the two singular greatest animation icons of all time, share screen time!

By itself, the flick is much more than, “Gee, let’s mix animated characters in a live-action setting”. It’s a special product made in a special time that as Daffy Duck said at the end of “Show Biz Bugs”, “I can only do it once!” Every major cartoon character from that spangled-era, from the 1920s-1940s, made at least a cameo appearance. Even more, it seems like the producers and the directors made sure to be careful walking a fine line in balancing this movie. All of the major bullet points worked, all of the animation worked, and yet even without it, it’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

Bob Hoskins deserves a bow, as whether he likes it or not, has a career-defining performance as Eddie Valiant, the detective who hate toons in Toon-Town, yet is about to go undercover and WORK WITH THEM! It’s one thing to note that a actor has to prepare for a role, but for Bob, he had to literally act out scenes talking to imaginary beings before having the animation drawn in post-production. It’s an immersive project that was loved for and cared for, and thankfully, didn’t have a sequel.

Time for the extras!

In this collection, there are two “themed” discs.

Disc one is a “Family Friendly” disc. The picture is presented in 1:33 full-frame (vomits), and the only true special features revolve around the three Roger Rabbit shorts and Benny the Cab. Even on its own, that’s still better than most drek released to kids these days. I will note that content-wise there’s almost no difference between the actual movies on the first and second discs, so be advised that the content does get a bit darker for younger members of the family.

Okay, done looking at disc one? Good, go to the good stuff, disc two!

Entitled “Enthusiast”, this is where the meat and potatoes of the content comes from. The picture on this disc is a proper 1:85 OAR (or to new people of the blog, original aspect ratio), enhanced for 16X9 screens. The THX-certified audio from the first disc gets an upgrade for disc two, as well as a DTS track in addition to the 5.1 channel track.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Inside the special features are multiple sources of drool-inducing hysteria. First, a very-involved commentary track with such names as Robert Zemeckis, Frank Marshall, Jeffrey Price, Peter Seaman, Steve Starkey, and Ken Ralston, giving their respective views on how the motion picture was made. This track is like watching a sports moment from different points of view: great analysis and tremendous insights behinds the minds of madness!

Next is personally my favorite feature, “Toon-Town Confidential”. It’s a in-picture facts/trivia track that quite frankly is amongst the most-detail oriented features ever. Perfect for the person with useless knowledge to a zenith, it explains how certain scenes were made, when cartoon characters were introduced, etc.

Almost as a visual companion piece, there’s a documentary named “Behind the Ears: The True Story of Roger Rabbit,” where it explains how the book became the awesome movie.

There’s also more sequences like the infamous “Pig Head” scene, a before-and-after side-by-side, a stand-in (as in extras being the toons) featurette, a on-set ditty with Benny the Cab, and even a gallery with Eddie’s “file”. It’s all part of a huge world this disc creates with a madcap rush from Benny to start the menu.

Although I am blessed to have MANY quality discs in my collection, this is truly one of those discs that if you don’t own it, then stop reading this and tell a retailer, “TAKE MY MONEY!” The movie is fantastic, the packaging is extraordinary, and the special features make this a fully-loaded release that quite frankly, makes this release go as over-the-top as the scenery in ‘Rabbit’ itself. A collector’s title for sure, and a must for every library.

Speaking of which, there’s another cartoon-based title that should be noted for wrapping up this chapter.

“Looney Tunes Golden Collection” is the start of what would be not only a 6-volume series, but a whole new spectrum of restoration in animation. More on that in a second.

Looking at the packaging, it’s a nice piece. There’s a hard cover with a fold-out digipak case tucked inside. The digipak has four discs, and the content listing is listed on each individual flap, inside of a chapter booklet, which in this case, is very well-executed. Only flaw is that the hubs that hold the discs make it a tiny bit tricky to get the media out, but it’s not as bad as other discs I own, like the aforementioned Snow White 2002 DVD.

The flaps contain some huge information. Each disc has 14 cartoons connected to a character/theme, like for example, disc one has Bugs Bunny, disc two Daffy Duck, etc.

As a matter of fact, I’ll even list the cartoons below (courtesy of Amazon). Please note, a lot of these cartoons are ***** classics, if not very close to that:

Volume One: Disc One
1.Baseball Bugs (Friz Freleng)
2.Rabbit Seasoning (Chuck Jones)
3.Long-Haired Hare (Chuck Jones)
4.High Diving Hare (Friz Freleng)
5.Bully for Bugs (Chuck Jones)
6.What's Up Doc? (Robert McKimson)
7.Rabbit's Kin (Robert McKimson)
8.Water, Water Every Hare (Chuck Jones)
9.Big House Bunny (Friz Freleng)
10.Big Top Bunny (Robert McKimson)
11.My Bunny Lies Over the Sea (Chuck Jones)
12.Wabbit Twouble (Bob Clampett)
13.Ballot Box Bunny (Friz Freleng)
14.Rabbit of Seville (Chuck Jones)

Volume One: Disc Two
1.Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones)
2.Dough for the Do-Do (Bob Clampett)
3.Drip Along Daffy (Chuck Jones)
4.Scaredy Cat (Chuck Jones)
5.The Ducksters (Chuck Jones)
6.The Scarlet Pumpernickel (Chuck Jones)
7.Yankee Doodle Daffy (Friz Freleng)
8.Porky Chops (Arthur Davis)
9.Wearing of the Grin (Chuck Jones)
10.Deduce, You Say (Chuck Jones)
11.Boobs in the Woods (Robert McKimson)
12.Golden Yeggs (Friz Freleng)
13.Rabbit Fire (Chuck Jones)
14.Duck Dodgers in the 24 ½ Century (Chuck Jones)

Volume One: Disc Three
1.Elmer's Candid Camera (Chuck Jones)
1.Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (Chuck Jones)
2.Fast and Furry-ous (Chuck Jones)
3.Hair Raising Hare (Chuck Jones)
4.The Awful Orphan (Chuck Jones)
5.Haredevil Hare (Chuck Jones)
6.For Scent-imental Reasons (Chuck Jones)
7.Frigid Hare (Chuck Jones)
8.The Hypo-Chondri-Cat (Chuck Jones)
9.Baton Bunny (Chuck Jones)
10.Feed the Kitty (Chuck Jones)
11.Don't Give up the Sheep (Chuck Jones)
12.Bugs Bunny gets the Boid (Bob Clampett)
13.Tortoise Wins by a Hare (Bob Clampett)

Volume One: Disc Four
1.Canary Row (Friz Freleng)
2.Bunker Hill Bunny (Friz Freleng)
3.Kit for Cat (Friz Freleng)
4.Putty Tat Trouble (Friz Freleng)
5.Bugs and Thugs (Friz Freleng)
6.Canned Feud (Friz Freleng)
7.Lumber Jerks (Friz Freleng)
8.Speedy Gonzales (Friz Freleng)
9.Tweety's S.O.S. (Friz Freleng)
10.The Foghorn Leghorn (Robert McKimson)
11.Daffy Duck Hunt (Robert McKimson)
12.Early to Bet (Robert McKimson)
13.Broken Leghorn (Robert McKimson)
14.Devil May Hare (Robert McKimson)

In addition, there is wealth of extras that can only be described as exhaustive.

While all discs have many featurettes entitled “Behind the Tunes”, they’re all connected to a certain theme. For example, disc one has Bugs Bunny themed pieces, like “A Wabbit for All Seasons,” and “Short-Fuse Blowout” that features on nemesis Marvin the Martian. Between discs one and two, there’s also the “Camera Three: The Boys From Termite Terrace” show from the 1970’s hosted by John Canemaker. It features on the historic building, and the men behind the zaniness.

Another great addition is the Cartoon Network produced “Toonheads: The Lost Cartoons” located on disc three. Originally aired either in 2001 or 2002, the show revolves around rarely-seen 1930s shorts, and even the Roadrunner show that should have aired in the 1960s, but didn’t.

Also, there’s another documentary on disc four entitled, “Irrelevant Imagination,” which goes about the Golden Age of cartoons. Another great piece, this is another case of “SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!”

To wrap this up, there’s a certain little phenomenon that took place in this time frame revolving around the cartoons called “restoration”. Going frame-by-frame, loving technicians go into the film and take out distracting dirt/debris from the print, thus in its wake results a finished project resembling something out of the theater first-run. While Ted Turner and his “henchmen” so to speak started this trend in the mid-1990s with the “Dubbed Versions”, it was WB who evolved the technology for this instance, and made the print of 50-70 years gone by look like fresh paintings of imagination. If you need some side-by-sides of before and after, check out this site authored by Jerry Beck.

If you need any more inspiration for a future purchase, then don’t even follow the link above. Instead, follow this one. It’s ALL SIX Golden Collection being re-released, and in simple clear-outlined cases with booklets and all discs. The cost of this set is equivalent to the MSRP of 1.5 GC’s first released, so it’s a STEAL!

Back to what brought me to this article anyway, the two animation-inspired DVD’s were purchased by an aunt who went to great lengths to secure these to me. While I’ve never identified family members by name in my blogs, I will say that the aunt known as “Po” in my family really did me a substantial solid, and that it’s probably one of the best and most thoughtful combo gifts I’ve ever received.

IN CONCLUSION: Looking back at Christmases through the years, I’ve been truly blessed. There are years of course you may not get everything on your list, but there are other years where people went up and beyond expectations. 2003 as you can see was one of those years, and all of these discs featured have shown the scars/wear of my continual play of them. While I would get some more fantastic offerings in the years to come, 2003 was a year that will never be forgotten.

Twitter Tags: wwedvdnews, wwe, _looneytunes, alyankovic, RogerRabbit, amazon, amazonvideo, badbooking, WWEUniverse, WarnerBrosEnt

BB’s DVDs Part 3: Black Friday/Cyber Monday Haul

Ah, Black Friday. The one day every year after Thanksgiving where family and friends get together to gorge themselves on another feast: buying for the living hell of it.

Seriously, it’s a great gimmick on paper. Retailers know they’re screwed, but need to make one last ditch effort in order to get into the good. The family’s together, the dinner’s been long digested, and that holiday purchasing needs to be commenced! Hence the major markdowns of EVERYTHING, from clothing to movies.

While the major point is to get you, the consumer, in the store, I take it another way.

Shop from the comfy confines of my room, and watch the packages come in like zombies during the apocalypse.

So this entry pretty much covers what I got over that weekend, and then the following Monday for the internet portion of the bonanza.

Funnily enough, my shopping for Black Friday mainly took place on Thanksgiving itself.

Wait, lol. Wut?

Yeah I did. In the chaos of helping my parents getting ready for Thanksgiving, I was able to sip my morning cup of coffee, go on my laptop and hit the cyber ground running.

I saw Best Buy was running their sale on the gobble day, and thus I strike with furious vengeance.

Coming up to the plate first is a pair of Christopher Nolan-directed epics. One involves a bat, and the other is a dream (in a dream (in a dream)). Yes, they are both on Blu-ray, and in the case of the dreamer, it was a combo pack.

Both movies I saw in theaters, and both movies gave me headaches for completely different reasons.

While Batman Begins was a movie with starkly contrasting scenery colorization...

...the ingenious concept of Inception made my brain nearly explode like a bomb.

Both movies are complex, thought-provoking, and in the case of Batman, a revitalization of a series once encompassed by bat asses and bat nipples.

Both are highly recommended, even if they are full price. I paid $4.99 for Inception, and $7.99 for Batman Begins.

Next up is what I like to consider “being caught up”.

For Christmas in 2008, I got the Amazon-exclusive Family Guy - The Total World Domination Collection (Stewie Head Packaging). It was a mammoth piece of work, as six seasons/volumes of the show, along with the Untold Story and Blue Harvest pieces, secured in a case topped with a Stewie head. That’s for another blog.

Anywhos, I didn’t have volumes seven or eight yet, so for $8.99 apiece I snagged those bad boys. Usually worth $25-$30 apiece, this was an INCREDIBLE bargain.

Although the seasons have mixed quality, it’s still worth at least a watch, and for collectors, a purchase.

Volume seven’s and eight’s insides are similar. Slipcovers (the seventh being a clever one)...

...Episode lists are on the reverse side of the DVD artwork. Clear cases with “pages” per se in the dominance...

...but volume eight has a script to “Road to the Multiverse” inside! Talk about an awesome piece of business right there!

I must say the episodes revolving around Peter being gay and the Star Trek Next Generation cast are amazing. Some of the setups are painful, but damn aren’t they fun to watch, and amongst the top tier of the FG pedestal. That be said, the best rant goes to Quagmire on Brian’s character, which runs some 90 seconds, and is probably the best monologue of all the show’s history. Not to be missed. 

Now let’s fast forward to Monday and the ‘cyber’ event that follows.

The only retailer I truly looked at was WWEShop, because they had doorbusters, 20% off, and free shipping on ANY ORDER.

So I pounced, and got two Blu-rays for arguably the cost of their DVD counterparts, maybe even a bit cheaper.

First up is the Greatest Superstars of the 21st Century Blu.

Two discs long, it is the continuation of the ‘Greatest Superstars’ line. Starting with the 80’s in 2005, following up with the 90’s in 2009, and now with the 21st century in 2011, it’s a tribute to what certain wrestlers (ahem, superstars) did in that time period that makes the era/person unique.

Disc one has the main documentary, which runs about 100 minutes in length. It’s not the best piece WWE ever did, and quite frankly it’s amongst the bottom-feeders, but it gets the job done appropriate and acceptably. Rounding out the disc, there are some good matches/moments to be had.

Booker T/Rock from Summerslam 2001 kicks off the proceedings, with a blurring job that quite frankly is not as bad as I thought. Four consecutive title matches are next, with Chris Jericho winning the IC Title from Rob Van Dam on RAW in 2002 (WWE era), Triple H defeating Kane to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (so Kane has to unmask) from 2003, Brock Lesnar wins the WWE Championship from Kurt Angle in the Iron Man war from a few months after H/Kane, and then Eddie Guerrero retains his WWE Championship against Rey Mysterio in a nice little battle on Smackdown in 2004.

Rounding out this disc are three exclusive to BD promos. One features a typical Triple H promo from 2003 on RAW explaining Evolution. Another revolves around Kane delivering a eulogy to biker Undertaker on Smackdown in 2003 after Kane buried the dead man alive at Survivor Series. Lastly is JBL in 2004 stating he isn’t afraid of Undertaker, only to almost Tombstone a midget, and get his ass whipped by the real man! A chokeslam by Undertaker to the midget concludes the promo.

Disc two is all special features.

First up is the Fatal-Four-Way bout for the WWE Championship from Armageddon 2004 where JBL retains the title after Undertaker gets taken out (once again) by Heidenreich. Next is the proceeding month’s Royal Rumble Triple Threat (so now we’re in 2005), where JBL retains AGAIN after his cabinet interferes to take out both Big Show and Kurt Angle. In a rare match from Japan in 2005 on RAW, Triple H retained the WHC against Edge. Up next is the only women’s match on the series, and a great one at that. Trish Stratus, in her last competitive match, won the Women’s Championship from Lita in her hometown of Toronto at Unforgiven in 2006. Following is a RAW triple threat match where whoever wins faces John Cena at Wrestlemania 23 (2007). Shawn Michaels rose to the plate and defeated Randy Orton and Edge to go to the big dance once again. The week after on RAW, an eight-man tag where Shawn Michaels pins Randy Orton. However, due to earlier moments in the match, Undertaker lays out Michaels and John Cena is laid out by Batista! All four of those men were teammates! To keep his streak perfect, Undertaker defeated Batista at WM 23 to become 15-0 and the NEW World Heavyweight Champion!

And yes, there’s more BD exclusives to come!

First up is the Elimination F4W match for the WWE Championship at Backlash 2008. Triple H became new champion after beating Randy Orton. Cena and JBL were eliminated second and first, respectively. Next is the WHC Scramble from Unforgiven 2008, a pretty sucky match to be frank. After being DESTROYED by Shawn Michaels in the Unsanctioned bout earlier in the event, Chris Jericho filled up an empty slot (due to CM Punk’s beat-down and subsequent title strip) and was able to be last man in to get the title. Thirdly, there’s the Punk/Jeff Hardy TLC match from Summerslam 2009, where Punk got the WHC from Hardy, and a chokeslam post-match from Undertaker to boot!

Now we got some promos. First is the Rey Mysterio/Eddie Guerrero backstage segment where it’s every man for himself pre-Rumble 2005. After that we got the Kurt Angle “bleeping” the crowd saying “You Suck” to his entrance music. We also got the coronation of King Booker in 2006, with the John Cena/Randy Orton Backlash 2007 promo following (which has some pretty weird innuendo that’s the wet dream of every female wrestling fan). Lastly, the only promo in HD, is the Highlight Reel from June 2008 where Chris Jericho, then-good guy, throws Shawn Michaels into the Jeritron 5000 to become a heel once again, and to put this whole HBK saga into fifth gear. Seriously, it was a GREAT storyline, and holds up against the test of time.

As a whole, I’d give the ‘Superstars’ BD a 7.5/10, which is generous. Mainly I give it a high score because of the price I picked it up for, which after discounts, was about $12. A nice little bargain, even though I did own a good portion of those matches before. Wah, no inserts.

That other BD would be the DX: One Last Stand release.

Like the prior DVD release of The New & Improved DX, this release focuses pretty much on EVERYTHING the duo did on their “reuniting”. Which by this point was like their second major one, but the 345th iteration.

If you want the full content listing, go here. Unlike the last DVD where I could “break it down” so to speak, this one has so much content I’d fry my brain trying to go there. Just like the last DVD!

I will say this though: the matches are universally the best thing about it. Whether it was the Summerslam tag, the Breaking Point Submissions Count Anywhere, Hell in the Cell, TLC, and/or the BD exclusive Survivor Series bout for the WWE title, there is no doubt DX can get it done in the ring with the best of anyone.

There is also the issue of a certain little “leprechaun” if you will.

As WWE became more “PG”, the company had to make programming more universally identifiable to kids. Although DX had been severely watered down on their own, adding Hornswoggle led to one of the worst angles WWE had in the main event scene for quite some time. “Killing” the troll at MSG on RAW, it led to a much-delayed segment of “Little People’s Court”. Horrible in style and horrible in execution, it was an amusing premise that led to 20 minutes of embarrassing TV.

Aside from that, there’s no other major issues. The BD has some great exclusives, including the aforementioned title Survivor Series match, and the Tribute to the Troops appearance that didn’t air on TV. Those are definitely worth the extra coin in relativity to the DVD version.

Finally, I pre-ordered a Blu-ray that was slated to be released that coming Tuesday (the 29th that was). It was Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time. 

3 discs. Has to be over 10 hours (the back of the BD has to be wrong). All whoop ass material.

Speaking of awesome things, WWE brought back the inserts! Notably absent since the middle of 2010 from all releases, inserts were the things that told you what material was on what disc. Without sites like www.wwedvdnews.com, it’d be a total crapshoot where stuff was.

So there’s the ‘arrive’, ’raise hell’...

...and ‘leave’ pages of the thing. Even before this was popped into the player, huge marks are scored for just that alone.

A little while ago, I wrote a piece on Austin back on the muthaship with the moments that elevated him to superstar status.

All that and more are featured on the main piece of the release, a massive 2.5 hour documentary.

It features usual suspects, and not so usual ones. For example, there’s Triple H, Miz, The Rock, amongst others to offer their take. On that other side of the coin, there’s Paul Heyman and DUTCH MANTELL giving out tidbits. I’m thankful there was some common sense to put Stone Cold somewhat in-charge of this business, because little things like that make this new doc the best one since HBK’s in 2007, EASILY. All time top-5 documentary, perhaps second place behind the Rise and Fall of ECW. 

While the documentary is a great one (and not so much a plug for the new Rock release next year), just be noted of two things. One, they literally go over the first 20-some-odd years of his life in about 35 seconds. No joke. The autobiography from 2004 explains it much better. The other is that long-standing elephant in the room of blurring. As a matter of fact, it is prevalent on everything from 1998-2002. Some of it definitely looks better than others. For example, early 1998 moments look like they’re hardly touched besides an audio bleep and the logo on the left-hand bottom corner being covered. Other times, there are ring-post blurs, announce table blurs, AND EVEN CROWD BLURS. Why can’t Vince give the panda people a few bucks and leave it be?

For anyone new to this subject matter, it was the outcome of a court case in 2002 that forced Vince to change the name after international rumblings came about with the animal rights charity. Blurs and bleeping followed, and thus it seems like the history got changed a little.

Speaking of extras, there are two whole discs+ of them.

Disc one has side stories, like CM Punk meeting Austin for the first time and a hilarious tale of Triple H freeing Austin from the ropes at Summerslam 1999. There are also four exclusive matches for the BD, ranging from a Triple Threat in the UK with HHH and Undertaker, to a match with Angle, to Wrestlemania XIX, to another Triple Threat match with RVD along with Angle. All of them, save XIX, see the Rattlesnake come out on top.

Disc two is all matches, and while they’re all worthy, let’s whip out the drinking game I’ve used in previous DVD countdowns. Shall we?

The USWA encounter, the WCW match, the D-X PPV match, Big Show’s match from RAW, and Wrestlemania XV are all spared this treatment.

However, the others aren’t so lucky.

Case #1: That finals match from King of the Ring with Jake Roberts. This match was already released on the Roberts DVD a few years prior, so that means take one can of whoop ass and drink it!

Whoop-Ass:

Case #2: The Submission match from Wrestlemania XIII. Although it has newly-recorded commentary with JR, it’s the second time this match has been featured on disc, with the Bret Hart DVD being the first. So take out one can of whoop ass and chug it down!

Whoop-Ass:

Case #3: Wrestlemania XIV with Shawn Michaels. It’s a history-changing, game-changing, and era-changing match, no doubt. Another match with alternate commentary with JR. It doesn’t cover the fact it’s now on it’s THIRD release, with History of the WWE Championship and The True Story of Wrestlemania being the other two. So open up TWO cans and drink!

Whoop-Ass:

Case #4: Over the Edge 1998. Personally, my favorite Mick Foley match, and my second favorite Stone Cold match (behind Wrestlemania XIII Submission). Sadly, this is the third time the match is on disc, albeit it FINALLY has the proper beginning with the most outrageous introductions this side of the Attitude Era. Both of Foley’s DVDs (Hard Knocks/Cheap Pops, Greatest Hits and Misses) already have it, so ANOTHER TWO CANS must be unscrewed.

Whoop-Ass:

Case #5: Summerslam 1998. Arguably the hottest set-up match probably in Austin’s title reigns, this one started in May, built up all the way to August, and still had battles raging into 1999. The debut disc for this match was the Greatest Superstars of the 90s collection, so one can must be undone.

Whoop-Ass:

Case #6: Wrestlemania X-Seven. Arguably the best title match in Wrestlemania history (or all-time), this half-hour war saw Austin and Rock battle in the best sequel known to man, a war that never let up until McMahon interfered. Yet another (and the last one) match to have JR sit down with Austin for alternate commentary. Since Stone Cold’s prior DVD (the Legacy one) and History of the WWE Championship already had it , open THREE cans!

Whoop-Ass: (the third being for repeat discs, namely ‘History’!)

All together, that’s nine cans of colon-blowing, liver-failing, heart-exploding, and brain-imploding WHOOP ASS. Probably damn tasty too, with a few cases of Steveweisers down the tube too! Hey, need something to wash out the taste of chili powder!

Disc three, all talking all the time. Definitely not a bad thing, because Austin was one of the best promo men in the company’s history. It’s not just limited to WWE work either. There’s WCW stuff with Pillman, the angry promos from ECW, and hell, there’s even exclusive moments like a Hall of Fame induction AND POST-RAW INTERACTION WITH THE ROCK! I’m dead serious, I’ll just stop explaining it so you can buy this and be in wrestling heaven.

I’m dead serious when I tell you that my high expectations of this was blown up, superseded, and then went to the holy grail. This is easily the best Blu-ray/DVD release of the year, and maybe one of the only titles in the WWE library that scream “definitive”. Although the DVD is good, the Blu-ray is GREAT, and worthy enough of not only a purchase, but a Blu-ray player.

May I also note that while I pre-ordered that Stone Cold BD, I also got the memory for my camera to take these pictures? 8GB Sony memory kids, just $20!

IN CONCLUSION: This wraps up part 3. A mammoth, epic, multi-encompassing entry of genres and philosophies, it has a little bit of something for everyone. Movies, TV, and wrestling. Yep, sounds like me alright. I feel tired typing all that, so now it’s time to say that this was the bottom line... because the bird is the word!

Twitter Tags: 2011, thanksgiving, black friday, cyber monday, BlurayUnleashed, cheesesouffle, christmas, dvd, photobucket, wwe, wwf, batman begins, inception, christopher nolan, family guy, wwedvdnews, badbooking, blog, amazon, steveaustinBSR, whoop ass

 

 

BB’s DVDs Part 2: WWE Survivor Series 2002/From the Vault

This portion of my collection started in 2003 and would reach “jealous” status.

All in earnest, my WWE disc stockpile was initiated on a birthday wish.

On a lend, one of my brother’s friends let him borrow From the Vault: Shawn Michaels to watch. Keep in mind that both myself and my brother had known almost nothing of Shawn’s past, and were only working on the current stuff he had at that time.

To say we were amazed was an understatement.

Amazed so much I asked my bro if it could be a birthday present. Sure enough on August 9th 2003, I received the disc that shall start the madness.

Of all the matches on the collection, my introduction would be the Ladder Match from Wrestlemania X, featuring Shawn and Razor Ramon (aka Scott Hall).

Funnily enough, on the initial borrowing, my bro made my sister sit through ALL of the Iron Man match. And they started watching it at around 10:30 that night! That’s still a family gag!

From what Dusty Rhodes calls, “the muthaship”, I’ve mentioned the other matches (here, here, here, here). All are classics, and on that DVD countdown, still came in the top ten, although I would own discs better than it as a whole.

There’s some more things to catch about this FTV.

One, I got the sucker autographed. It happening during this, back in March of this past year (or if you’re reading into the future, 2011). It took about four hours on line to do so, but once I got there, it was like going into the promise land. I also got the Survivor Series disc signed as well, but that’s a little later on.

Two, this edition has a VERY RARE lithograph of Shawn doing a crossbody onto the limp body of Triple H through a table at Summerslam 2002. If anyone wants to figure, these were a first-print only exclusively for the F.Y.E stores. It’s a cool add, and if you’re in the market to sell, should command a nice little premium.

It should also be noted that although I said this before, I’ll say it again: that Blow Away easter egg, located on disc one, is one of the funniest things I have ever seen on a WWE DVD release. That’s covered in one of those above links, I believe the countdown one.

Because of the fact I was 14 and only had allowance to rely on at that point, getting any sort of entertainment (being movies, video games, etc.) was kinda tough.

So that’s why I had huge Christmas lists until I was gainfully employed.

Keep in mind I got A LOT of DVD’s on Christmas in 2003 (that’s another entry for another day kids), but one that pleasantly shocked me was indeed Survivor Series 2002.

I mention this event a lot as my favorite all-time PPV. As a matter of fact, it’s on a challenge list I never got around to completing, right here.

As mentioned in that piece, I had ingrown toenail surgery. Without being too graphic, let me stage the scene.

I had an accident the year before which was a mess (Jim Ross would be aghast), and later on, the nail would become infected and needed removal. Not just a nibble, or even half a nail, I mean the whole shebang!

One word of advice here kids: if you ever have local anesthetic, especially near a boney area, make sure you know a song that’s easy to reach in your memory bank!

So anyway, the nail grows back and I live happily ever after.

Or so I thought.

Unfortunately the left side of the nail grew back in wrong, and it became infected. So 2003 would be the second surgery, only this time to remove that small portion of nail.

Sadly, the anesthetic was still bad to endure.

Reading this you must be wondering, “Why the hell in a DVD memory recount post does this story occur?”

Well for starters, I had a lot of time during that winter break to lay down with my foot up watching discs. If you ever had this type of surgery, you know that every few hours the toe needs to be soaked in some of the smelliest crap this side of the Equator.

Secondly, that ‘Series’ helped me heal tremendously. Going back to gym (in school) a couple of months after the procedure and I could hear JR somewhere in the background going, “DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?”

With that anecdote aside, that’ll be the second entry into this DVD project thing-a-ma-bobber. Hope to see y’all on Twitter, or Facebook.

Another small note about the DVD: the chapter booklet also doubles AS A POSTER! Epic stuff right here!

then...

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BB’s DVDs Part One: Three Stooges and Snow White

(just be thankful this isn’t the movie where the stooges met the princess)

At the end of the introductory post, I mentioned my first DVD was a box set that my mother gave me. Originally intended as a birthday present, but the course of history was changed because I had a bad day at school and she felt horrible for me. So here’s the one that started it all:

Released by Goodtimes (not the TV show), the DVD set is actually not much more than a 5-VHS release from a year or so before. About the only thing missing is the cartoons, which can be easily found in the public domain, or right here.

There are four discs in total, with five different programs headlining the fray.

Discs one and two, entitled “Kings of Laughter” and “Lost Comedy Treasures” respectively, summarize rare Stooge footage that wasn’t widely available up until that point. Long before YouTube, there were only tape traders and bootleggers to find the mischievous antics of the Stooges, whether it was a rare TV appearance or the home movie.

Disc three is “Simply Hilarious”, or what I like to call, “The Same Four Shorts EVERYONE Sees and NOTHING ELSE.” I think we all know the shorts, and I’m not cheating by looking at the box. They’re “Disorder in the Court”, “Sing a Song of Six Pants”, “Brideless Groom”, and “Malice in the Palace”. Although Curly was the most popular Stooge, Shemp is the third stooge in three of the shorts. ‘Disorder’ is a high quality effort, right down to the swing bit. The other three aren’t too far behind, but quite frankly, its shows Shemp’s slight shortcomings as a physical comic that his younger brother Jerome embraced so well.

Disc four are two features that were rarely seen up until this point too. One was “Swing Parade of 1946”, which features the Stooges in a bit role as dishwashers. Sure they’re themselves, but not the stars up and center in the feature. As a matter of fact, it’s not called a “Swing Parade” for nothing, as the Louis Jordan and Will Osborne orchestras really turn up the heat! Accompanying this is a TV pilot called “Jerks of All Trades”. Filmed in kinescope, and in front of a live audience, the bumbling disaster of a show was shot all in one take, and was declared such a disaster that the original footage wasn’t revealed to the world until the 1990s!

I would also like to point your attention to one more slight detail: the DVD’s, although low-quality discs from early in the 2000’s, actually have inserts to identify the chapters!

All right, now that the PD portion is over, let’s get to the good stuff!

Sony/Columbia listened to the fans back in 2007, and thus began a series of painstaking restoration projects on all 190 shorts starting from 1934 and ending 1959.

The first seven volumes would hold two discs apiece, while the last volume (which was all the Joe ones) had three. All shorts were restored, remastered in high definition, and look about as crystal clear as one can be.

Right now, as of this writing, I only have the first four volumes. Like the two up above, and volumes 3 & 4.

All four of these volumes were amongst the last DVD’s I purchased back in my old hometown back in 2009. With Amazon coupons, they were little more than $11 apiece. Better yet, since it was from Amazon, I ordered them one morning and arrived the next morning! It was a ‘Prime’ perk to be sure.

The layout of the volumes are simple. There is a sturdy cardboard outside to hold the slimpack cases inside.

All of the sets, even the last one with the worst Joe efforts imaginable, are well worth the coin. It shows the remarkable job by the restorations crews, and unless they’re given the okay to Blu-ray, there’s nothing going to top them any time soon. You can purchase those discs right here.

If the Stooges started it all for me, then another movie started it all for another company.

That would be the unparalleled effort of Walt Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.

Surprisingly, the original DVD release of ‘Dwarfs’ was the second DVD I had ever owned. Reading about the restoration and special features, my 12-year-old self mustered all the allowance/Christmas money I had, and purchased that bad boy.

The DVD is so “aged” that the booklet literally flaps open to about four different sub-pages.

Look at that. And now look at the booklet given in the Blu-ray from two years ago:

That’s definitely not the only difference you’ll see. In the original picture, the 2001 Platinum DVD was a thick case while the 2009 BD/DVD case was a regulation-sized DVD fixture (that this blogger prefers). Now let’s open up:

As you can see, the first disc is on one “page” while the second disc is on “page” two. Both discs are held in so tight with the hubs that the first time I attempted to get them out, I needed help because I thought I was going to break them! Seriously, only one DVD has worse hubs than these, and it’s the “Boyhood Dream” Shawn Michaels WWE DVD released back in 2004. Seriously, they’re that non-user-friendly.

Now let’s see 2009’s Diamond interpretation:

It’s quite a warped concept, and I’ll tell you why.

The receipt aside (which says I bought that disc for a shade under $11 with tax), the booklets are all sized to be fit inside a Blu-ray case, and thus are half the size of a traditional DVD booklet. For someone who was used for DVD-sized info packets, this was quite the shock. Still readable, but very much an adjustment over the status quo. From the discs, there is a flap which has the DVD, and then the first Blu-ray disc. The second BD is on its own side, with a much easier hub to get out of.

Also I will note both releases had slip covers. The original 2001 slipcover was lost long ago, while 2009 is still there and fits like a glove.

When it comes to picture, it makes perfect sense that the 2009 release is a better-looking and sounding version than the 2001, which was great in its own time, and an improvement over the 1994 restoration.

CONFUSED YET?

I’m not joking that they restored the film 3 different times in that short of a span. With new technologies at the helm using different “crap” removal, I have a feeling they’ll be a new release in 2014 with Snow White looking as white as white can be.

Special features are in great quantity/quality too, as both used revolutionary animation-based menus. The 2001 DVD was great in the fact that if you left the room to do something, the mirror on the wall would get VERY MAD at you. I wonder if this influenced “Weird Al” to do the same thing in UHF the year later, a DVD I will cover very soon.

To wrap up this first “recollection”, if you will, it really brought the olden times back. Lots of good ol’ fashioned fun, violence, mayhem, and Angela Lansbury. Looking at the DVD’s reviewed here, it’s quite a shock how far the technology has come, where restorations make 70 year old products feel brand new, and even better than stuff coming out now. As a first blast, I hope you all enjoyed it and come back for round two!

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