Format: Widescreen

Release Date: 23-11-2010

Details: Amazon.ca War Pitting Hong Kong legend Jet Li against UK tough guy Jason Statham seems like a surefire way to generate on-screen heat, and action fans will get a good deal of just that from the action-heavy War. Unfortunately, they also have to slog through a clichéd-riddled story about world-weary FBI agent Statham, who's gunning for Li, the master assassin that killed his partner years before, and who's currently neck-deep in a turf war between yakuza and triad gangs. Philip G. Atwell's style-over-substance direction doesn't help matters either, though he does have a way with shootouts and other combative set pieces. As for Li and Statham, their scenes together are surprisingly limited; there's also a twist in the film's final third that begs for serious suspension of disbelief. In short, those that found the duo's last movie team-up (2001's The One) lacking won't find much here to supplant that memory. The DVD includes three commentary tracks: one by Atwell, one by screenwriters Lee Anthony Smith and Gregory J. Bradley (it's the liveliest of the lot) and an audio trivia track that delves deep into the film's production, which is also covered in detail by nine separate featurettes. A gag reel and deleted/extended scenes round out the supplemental features. -- Paul Gaita The Condemned Like your action movies loud, fast, and violent? World Wrestling Entertainment has just your cup of testosterone with The Condemned, a derivative but watchable punch-out starring "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, one of its top draws. The mountainous Austin is a former Special Forces soldier who is retrieved from a Latin American jail by an unscrupulous television producer to participate in a pay-per-view death match in which ten criminals must fight each other to the death. The other contestants (which include fellow athlete-turned-actor Vinnie Jones) are all cut from the most villainous of cloths, but Austin is, of course, Wrongly Accused; in no way does this prevent him from opening a ten-gallon drum of beatdown on his competitors. Scott Wiper's direction is overwrought, and the script's attempt to make a statement on violence is pointless, but Austin is a more charismatic lead than John Cena in the WWE's previous action movie effort, The Marine. And the premise, which has been tapped by everything from The Most Dangerous Game to Battle Royale, is pure comic book fun, and should please B-movie fans who felt turned off by Grindhouse's relentless tongue-in-cheek tone. -- Paul Gaita

UPC: 057373214190

EAN: 0057373214190

Languages: English

Binding: Blu-ray

Item Condition: New