The Hand That Rocks the Cradle 20th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray]

Before much longer, I?ll be moving to a new place, and will be in dire need of childcare soon after we?re settled in. The two movies I really didn?t need to watch during this time were The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Don?t Tell Mom the Babysitter?s Dead (even though she?s only 18 months old.). Well it just so happened my day was lacking that certain je ne sais quoi which could only be fixed by watching Ernie Hudson go full retard. Thus, in went Curtis ?8 Mile? Hanson?s entry into the early 1990?s ?Troubled White People? genre, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Some spoilers abound.

The Movie:

I begin with disappointment. This Blu-ray release is the equivalent of calling an old sandwich new by sticking it on a better plate. The movie looks great, sure. De Mornay?s eyes are as blue and endless as Martian oceans. Graeme Revell?s delicate score has never drawn emotions with such crispness and fullness before. But then the credits roll, and you turn off your Blu-ray player because absolutely nothing else is on this disc except for trailers. Even a commentary from Matt McCoy?s Lloyd Braun character from Seinfeld would have felt monumental. Off to the bargain bin we go.

It?s been almost twenty years since my first and only time spent with Rebecca De Mornay?s vengeful day nanny. Since then, the ?person terrorizing another person?s life by becoming very close to that person? trend of storylines has fizzled, to be reborn again in combination with the 'evil children' genre. For the most part, Hollywood has accepted that this specific story has been buried beneath six feet of predictability, and seldom uses it as a crutch anymore. Does this put The Hand That Rocks the Cradle under a more scrutinizing microscope? Not really. It?s still just a by-the-books thriller.

Even so, it?s an extremely effective by-the-books thriller, and time has aided in its cinematic stasis. Nothing feels particularly dated, minus the absent ?Why didn?t you answer your cell phone?? conversations. The acting is overly decent all around. The pace is brisk and the misunderstandings aren?t frustratingly moronic. As Peyton, De Mornay is maddeningly villainous, though her traumatizing incident at the beginning of the movie surely would have led her insanity down a different path than this. Realizing you made some bad life calls would force you to rethink your past crazy decisions, not add on to them a thousand fold.

If anything remains relatively fresh about the film, it is indeed Peyton?s extremely personal familial invasion of the Bartel household. Certain methods, like insinuating Michael (McCoy) is cheating on Claire (Annabella Sciorra) with close friend Marlene (Julianne Moore), are typical to the genre. But the way it?s handled, using only a lighter and Michael?s own defensiveness, is subtle. This trick also leads to one of the most uncomfortable moments in any surprise party on film. I just looked on, aghast, thankful that no one I know likes planning things.

Beyond the normal stuff, however, Peyton is a crazy bitch by any era?s standards. Her foul deeds seem to be pulled from some current day headlines. She famously breastfeeds another woman?s child without telling anyone. She lies about finding the back of an earring in the baby?s mouth. She not only threatens a developmentally challenged black handyman, she plants a pair of flowery children?s panties inside of his tool box to get him condemned. These are things women in movies just don?t do all at once anymore. Again, because the film?s pacing is smooth and uncomplicated, her heinous exploits seem generically run of the mill until taken out of context. As a sexually assaulted parent who thinks that her employee is sexually aroused by her young child, it must have been mortifying to watch daughter Emma (Madeline Zima) cry and defend Solomon (Hudson) so strongly, as that would fit in with the molester/child relationship. Freaky shit, I say.

My few complaints rest in certain plot elements, like the ways Peyton?s true identity is discovered. Marlene doesn?t have the investigative skills of Inspector Clouseau, yet she connects all the dots a tad too quickly. (Marlene also gets to utter the titular line of the movie, taken from the William Wallace poem, which redeems her in my eyes.) Also, the use of the greenhouse in every capacity was too oddball and seemed to have originated in a studio note, saying, ?Great job on all the breastfeeding, but can we get the greenhouse in there a little more prominently? My brother builds greenhouses.? Also, I?m entirely suspicious of the fatality suffered within, but Hollywood often follows its own physics.

So after watching the movie again and considering all my options, I figure it?s worth hiring a mentally unstable babysitter if it leaves me the option to stand against her while she?s soaking wet in a nightie. But only if she looks like Rebecca De Mornay. Actually, I?ll start making a list of the actresses I?d allow to mind-fuck my wife and daughter, and you debate adding this movie back into your collection. Hint: if you own the DVD, that?s all you need.

The Disc:

The Blu-ray that has no features is the Blu-ray that stays on the shelf.

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle 20th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray] DetailsDistributor: Hollywood Pictures Home EntertainmentStarring: Rebecca De Mornay, Annabella Sciorra, Matt McCoy, Ernie Hudson, Julianne MooreProduced by: David Madden, Ira Halberstadt

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Looper

In the dingy, cruel and stratified future world of 2044 in Rian Johnson's Looper, time travel is not yet possible; a few decades later, though, it has been invented but it is illegal, which sets up an irresistible temptation for those who need to get rid of a body by sending it to a time when it won't exist yet. It's also an unbeatable setup for a sci-fi thriller as intricate and thoughtful as Looper, which takes pleasure in the details of its twists and big ideas, bringing up the usual time travel paradoxes to ask serious questions about the wages of violence and the irreversible nature of fate.

The headier particulars of this future world are explained a remarkably concise voiceover from Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Joe, but there's plenty of showing along with the telling, like the nifty telekinesis that 10% of the population has developed for no apparent reason, or even the slick but believable development of cell phones. Working on a studio budget for the first time, Johnson meticulously details his future world and the laws by which it operates, setting up a rich playground for a story that, for all its twists and rewards, winds up significantly less interesting than the world it's set in.

The biggest problem is in how the film builds to its terrific hook-- Joe is assigned to assassinate his older self (Bruce Willis)-- and then keeps the two Joes separate for almost the entire film, as the older Joe runs off on a mission to change his future and the younger hides out at a farmhouse occupied by tough country chick Sara (Emily Blunt) and her very precocious young son Cid (Pierce Gagnon). By failing to kill the older Joe, or "close his loop," the younger one is under fierce pursuit from the rest of the Looper Network, led by a laid-back and terrifying Jeff Daniels and personified by the bloodhound-like Kid (Noah Segan, overacting fiercely). The stakes are high, and the threat of violence very real-- we see the gory result of what happens early on when Joe's colleague Seth (Paul Dano) fails to close his own loop-- and with the specifics of time travel logic cannily kept under wraps until the end, the fate of the world could very well be at stake.

There are so many different directions to head in a world filled with assassins and time travel and gadgets and Joseph Gordon-Levitt trying to kill Bruce Willis, but Looper veers off into the story at that farmhouse, and specifically the fate of the young, intelligent and potentially dangerous Cid. It all revolves around the kind of "Would you kill a young Hitler?" question that occupies many philosophical conversations, but just isn't dynamic enough to be the center of a film, especially when added to sentimentality and late-breaking optimism that doesn't really fit the hard-boiled vibe of the film's first act. Gordon-Levitt is as good a tough-ass hero as he was in Johnson's debut feature Brick, and it goes without saying that Willis is too; Looper seems to need more of their grime-filtered point of view, a noir with sci-fi leanings that gives over too much to its fantastical side in the end.

Lord knows we've seen enough sloppy, half-baked sci-fi-- some, like 2009's Surrogates, starring Willis himself-- to appreciate something as careful and heady as Looper, which creates a world so lively and well-wrought I'd happily see a dozen more movies set there. Stocked to the gills with strong performances (Tracie Thoms, Garret Dillahunt and Piper Perabo all make a nice impact in limited roles) and action scenes that constantly head in exciting and different directions, Looper is a solid step above most studio sci-fi output, better thought-out than Prometheus and more intellectually engaging than last year's Source Code. But for all its slickness and style, it still can't find the emotional depths it reaches for, and concludes on a giant wave of feeling that rings oddly hollow. The dual challenges of sci-fi are to create an engaging new world and a great story to go in it, and by accomplishing only that first goal, Looper shows glimpses of greatness that never quite add up.

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The Master

In his last and possibly best film, There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson dove headlong into a character who is a very specific, very important American archetype. Daniel Plainview, who was almost an instant icon, was the American Dream embodied and curdled, a salesman and sociopath who shaped the wilderness of the country in his own image. In his new film The Master, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a uniquely American character not unlike Daniel Plainview, a man who chooses to shape people rather than nature. But the film's focus is divided between Hoffman's cult leader Lancaster Dodd and Joaquin Phoenix's Freddie Quell, a drifter who falls under Dodd's spell. It gives the film a range of themes and some powerhouse scenes between the two, but also muddles its focus; The Master is beautiful and thought-provoking, but also frustratingly inaccessible and opaque about its meaning.

In a way that's always always been Anderson's style-- who can claim they know the deal with those frogs at the end of Magnolia?-- but The Master is a film about ideas that's also oddly disconnected from them, exploring the nascent cult Lancaster Dodd has founded without ever giving real meaning to his teachings. Hoffman plays Dodd as a fiery but uniquely entertaining man, holding his followers and the audience in rapt attention through vague speeches about achieving higher awareness and the existence of past lives. He is calm when prodding his followers to new "revelations" but quick to anger in the face of skeptics, ebullient on his daughter's wedding day but cold the next. He's mercurial but giving and endlessly confident, which is what makes him such a great leader-- and such a fascinating to follow and never quite understand throughout the film.

But he's nothing compared to Freddie, the film's untamable and menacing heart, a man cut loose from the all-or-nothing morals of World War II into a country that doesn't have room for him. We meet him first on a Navy beach outpost where he takes every joke too far and does insane things like drink rocket fuel; after the war he's left taking portraits at a posh department store, and who can be surprised when that blows up in his face. Like any good American origin myth, Freddie's meeting with Dodd happens entirely by accident, hopping on board a gleaming party boat that's sailing away beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. After a intense kind of psychotherapy called "processing" and some straight talk with Dodd's wife Peggy (Amy Adams), Freddie is brought into Dodd's confidence-- and the insular, unblinking world of The Cause-- before he or we quite understand how it happened.

Despite all the talk of Dodd being a thinly veiled take on L. Ron Hubbard, nothing in The Master reflects that heavily on the real world, and for all the ways we see Freddie and Dodd straining against the confines of post-war American life, their story isn't presented in the mythic tones you might expect. The best parts of The Master are when it condenses down into tinderbox scenes between Freddie and Lancaster, the two of them probing and defying each other, sometimes exploding-- as in an unforgettable scene in a prison cell-- or gazing at each other with the kind of sadness and affection you might expect from lovers. Freddie is not like the devoted, thoughtful followers Dodd has already amassed-- he's like a feral animal, with poor impulse control and disturbing sexual obsessions, and that challenge to overcome his base nature fits neatly into Dodd's rambling teachings about connecting to a higher self.

Shot in rich, detailed 70 mm that adds unexpected depth and clarity to even the simplest scenes, The Master is gorgeous in its careful construction, but also a little distant and hard to grasp. A second viewing seems practically a requirement, like many of Anderson's films, and it's a little painful to write this review now, knowing I haven't yet gotten the whole picture. Based around undeniably great performances, impeccable design and Anderson's unnerving confidence behind the camera, The Master is unforgettable, but like the mercurial men at its center, the harder you try to read into it, the more it slips away into the distance.

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Celeste And Jesse Forever

Can Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg become Hollywood?s next power couple? Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes recently split. There?s has to be a void somewhere that needs filling. Better yet, they could replace Brad and Angelina atop the industry?s social hierarchy. We could call them Sam-Jo, or possibly Jo-Berg.

There?ll be time for cutesy nicknames later. For now, let?s just bask in the sarcastic chemistry and tender, emotional concern generated by these sensitively funny comedians in Lee Toland Krieger?s Celeste & Jessie Forever, an unconventional break-up comedy that ? despite its novel premise ? still stumbles into a few too many rom-com ruts.

Jones co-wrote Forever with her close friend Will McCormack, allegedly basing it loosely on their own short-lived romantic experiment. Their experience bleeds through the narrative, juicing scenes with a welcome authenticity as they present a relationship rarely seen on screen.

Celeste and Jesse are caricatures of the relationship formula, and we don?t so much root for their reunion (or realization that it won?t work) so much as we watch them go through predestined motions. Celeste & Jesse often plays as a spewing therapy session where everyone?s given a chance to weigh in on the main couple?s flawed existence ? from Celeste?s gay co-worker (Elijah Wood) to Jesse?s pot-slinging confidante (McCormack). But the movie finds multiple ways to introduce necessary flavor.

There?s an earthy, New-Age, Southern California vibe to the screenplay?s dialogue, which is introspective about the state of its relationships but purposefully superficial ? as if it?s afraid to fully commit. Forever embraces the awkwardness that accompanies various stages of new (and old) relationships. When it accurately portrays the pain of the contemporary dating scene, you completely understand why Celeste and Jesse prefer to linger in the protective bubble of a semi-working relationship. We know Samberg and Jones can be funny, so they don?t try as hard to get the laugh here. Instead, they probe beyond the obvious joke to paint a well-rounded portrait of a difficult relationship. Jones, specifically, is more mature and strong than we?ve seen her be before. And Krieger has a terrific ear for the right pop-alt song to go with his various scenes.

Moments of beauty often elevate Celeste & Jesse above the litany of forgettable rom-coms that reach theaters on an annual basis. But the indie-sensible Sundance hit doesn?t reach for the sky with its revelations, preferring to zero in on the small but relatable problems of two familiar individuals. Its impact might not stay with us forever, but you?ll appreciate what Forever shares about its characters, and about us.

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LOTR: The Fellowship Of The Ring Extended Edition 5-Disc Set [Blu-ray]

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is available in multiple formats and editions, each with their own flair, features, and cover art. Depending on whether you are a casual LOTR fan or an avid one, different sets are available to suit your Blu-ray or DVD needs. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition 5-Disc single set is for the superfans, featuring the best picture and number of bonus features that money can buy.

The Movie:

The Fellowship of the Ring is one of the most widely recognized books and films in the world. Its story, about Frodo?s journey to destroy the One Ring, is a tale of friendship and trials, joy and pain. In The Fellowship of the Ring, nine beings set out to save the day, and all nine are important to the ultimate outcome. It?s a strategy other hero stories have employed in the past and in the time since, but the bonds forged in The Fellowship of the Ring are especially compelling.

It?s been over a decade since Peter Jackson completed the first film in his trilogy. At the time, studios and fans alike waited?and hoped?expectantly that Jackson?s vision could match the intentions of Tolkien and still provide a great storytelling narrative on film. Anyone who expected a movie to feature every single moment from a thousand page book was probably sorely disappointed by the results, but also probably a little crazy to begin with. Creating a word-for-word copy was never Jackson?s intention. Creating a masterful retelling that maintained the integrity of the novel?s characters and the book?s lush landscape was. If The Fellowship of the Ring hasn?t become a classic already, it will be, and watching the film in 1080 p with remastered audio only serves to supplement its epic status.

Are you looking for Cinema Blend?s reviews of the Extended Edition 5-Disc singles sets for The Two Towers or The Return of the King? We?ve got them!

The Disc:

The 5-disc Fellowship of the Ring set offers bonus features on every disc, which is a feat, but even the menu page is prettily done and easy to navigate through. After finishing the film, fans can look into commentary that runs throughout the entire movie. There are four options to choose from: ?Director and Writer Commentary?, ?Cast Commentary,? ?Production Team Commentary,? and ?Design Team Commentary.? Each of these is interesting in its own right, and features different sorts of information due to the different experiences of the cast and crew members.

It?s fascinating to watch the film from different angles of the process, but it would probably be better to tackle these at different times rather than all in a row, like I foolishly attempted. One cool feature within the commentary: if you are partially through the movie and want to switch from one commentary to the other, you can simply pull up the menu and switch commentary without starting the movie over again! Because the movie is so long, it has to be split up into two discs, like an old school DVD set. This isn?t really inconvenient with the commentary, but it was far more annoying when I was in the middle of watching the flick.

Disc 3 is titled ?From Book to Vision.? This features a slew of extras about Tolkien, Middle-earth, and creating the story in a New Zealand landscape. ?J.R.R. Tolkien ? Creator of Middle-earth,? is a biography of the late author that discusses his early life, his never-ending quest to work on stories about Middle-earth, and his disdain for editing. ?From Book to Script,? ?Visualizing the Story,? ?Designing and Building Middle-earth? pretty much provide every detail concerning creating a visual world from the terms and stories in Tolkien?s works. The latter segment even has a design gallery that can be viewed as a slideshow. Plus, some of those designs even had audio commentary. Seriously, this set takes hours to get through, but it?s quite the adventure.

The final features on Disc 3 are some of the coolest with the set, at least if you are a person that has a compulsion to buy any books that come with a map in the front or back. The segments ?New Zealand as Middle-earth? and ?Middle-earth Atlas? feature maps that are interactive. Details emerge as you click on locations. The map locations in the ?New Zealand? bonus feature look at how filming locations were chosen to fit the landscape of the scene. The ?Middle-earth Atlas? map allows buyers to click on locations and see timeline-specific film sequences, as well as trace Frodo and Gandalf?s journeys.

Disc 4 spends time looking at the actual filmmaking process. ?Filming The Fellowship of the Ring? has several segments within the section. Cast interactions are discussed, and they all sort of crack jokes about Elijah Wood constantly sleeping on set. There are so many great details and stories I don?t have space to relate, here, but needless to say, everyone seems to have been fairly close knit.

Also on Disc 4, there is a really awesome set of post-production sequences that show how scenes were filmed from multiple angles and then placed together into the final footage. You can even watch each camera angle individually. ?Digital Grading? ?Sound and Music? and ?The Road Goes Ever On? offer similar segments that discuss different aspects of putting together the film in detail.

Disc 5 is mainly around for its raw documentary. Different aspects of shooting are uncovered and some of the challenges and interesting shooting tactics used when filming are looked at. This is cut together pretty well, but be forewarned ?The Fellowship of the Ring Behind-the-Scenes? segment means it when it says ?raw footage.?

This set is arduous, but in a fun way. There?s a lot to get through, and even some extras-within-extras, and it is probably best when taken at a leisurely pace. However, if there was ever a series that had the fan base to contain so many extras, the Lord of the Rings trilogy would certainly be it. For fans with a true depth of caring, I can?t imagine a set with more information and appeal.

LOTR: The Fellowship Of The Ring Extended Edition 5-Disc Set [Blu-ray] DetailsStarring: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellan, Christopher Lee, Viggo MortensenProduced by: Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne, Tim Sanders, Fran WalshWritten by: Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens

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2016: Obama's America

2016: Obama?s America spends an hour and a half advocating a partially wild theory on the very fringes of the Republican Party. That it does so is irrelevant to its overall quality. Every documentary ever made is biased. From Bill Maher?s Religulous to that incredible HBO special about Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, they?re all created for a specific reason, sometimes with goals as big as denouncing religion and sometimes with goals as small as reminding us how special a rivalry was. The only thing that truly matters, at least from a job-well-done standpoint, is whether or not the final product is effective in delivering its biased message.

In order to accomplish this goal, most documentary filmmakers use humor, popular music, snazzy visual effects and/ or emotional images to keep the pace of their film exciting, even for observers who might not be super on board with the subject matter. Filmmaker Dinesh D?Souza, a college president and former White House employee, mostly eschews these typical conventions in an effort to explain his case more as a scholar would. Large segments of 2016?s runtime are actually just D?Souza talking to the camera, which in a way, is noble. Unfortunately, in this case, it?s also misguided. By limiting his approach, he makes one?s enjoyment of his film almost 100% linked to a willingness to buy into his argument, and since he?s attempting to prove a hypothesis that?s 10% crazy, it?s an uphill battle, to put it nicely.

D?Souza?s argument goes something like this: Barack Obama?s father was a radical, firmly opposed to colonization. He was never around during the future President?s childhood, but Obama?s mother kept his memory alive by instilling his values into their son. This created a strange, fucked-up mindset for the child as he tried to live up to the fake, idealized standards of a man who was not there. Moving around the world before winding up in Hawaii, Obama was exposed to many more militants, all of whom offered their own trinkets of wisdom to go alongside his dad?s. Ultimately, this created a man who is aggressively anti-American and aggressively anti-Colonialist.

Now, here?s the problem. Most of that argument is not scandalous. In fact, given Obama?s extensive writings on the subject and what is in the public record, the non-crazy 90% is proveable. To his credit, D?Souza makes a valiant attempt to do so. He quotes extensively from Obama?s book, travels to Indonesia, Kenya and Hawaii, interviews Barack Sr?s radical buddies and even cites an article the late patriarch wrote, all of which is extremely effective in proving the elder Obama was a shitty father opposed to colonization, and some of the influences around after him were on the fringes of the political left. Unfortunately, that?s not the part of the hypothesis that needs all the evidence.

What needs to be proven is the crazy 10% because it?s one of the boldest claims a documentary has ever tried to make. Think about it for a second. This film argues the President of the United States is intentionally making decisions against America?s best interests. While not inherently impossible, an allegation like that needs a mountain of evidence. It needs a lengthy analysis. What we?re given is a cursory list of policy decisions made under his presidency. D?Souza seems to think they?ll be easily accepted as the second half of a cause and effect argument he started by proving the President has spent lots of time with leftist influences, but even given his upbringing, Obama?s apprehension to get aggressive with Iran puts him in line with most Democrats. What we?re supposed to take as a sign of radicalism just as easily plays as liberalism, and the same thing goes for the President?s views on government spending, stockpiles of weapons and taxes.

Deep within this documentary, there are two separate stories that deserve exhaustive analysis. There?s the story of Barack Sr.?s radicalism, and there?s the story of where America might actually be with four more years under Barack Jr. When D?Souza focuses on the former, he does pretty well, but when he uses the loosest of arguments to try and link to the latter, the connection falls apart.

Biased is okay. Poorly executed is not.

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Terminator Anthology [Blu-ray]

How many Terminator movies do you have in your personal collection? At least two? Probably three. How many of you own all four? If you don?t yet have every chapter in John Connor?s decades-spanning war against the machines of the future, Warner has a comprehensive five-disc Blu-ray set, in stores now, that captures everything from the short-tempered Christian Bale to ?I?ll be back.? But are they worth your time and money?

The Movie:

They are both creative powerhouses at this point, but back in 1984, James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger were virtual unknowns still looking to prove themselves in a competitive industry. Yes, Schwarzenegger had success with the Conan franchise, and was popular from the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron. But The Terminator catapulted both men to superstardom, and cemented them as action heavies.

So, it?s funny to revisit the original Terminator decades later and realize it?s dated and more than a little cheesy in its execution. Chalk it up to the limitations of 1984. Then, stare in awe at Linda Hamilton?s feathered hair! However, Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd?s screenplay still has a great hook of a sci-fi concept, and the movie taps into the terror generated by a relentless pursuer, particularly one who appears to be unstoppable. Looking back, the first Terminator marked the birth of a franchise with unlimited potential, which Cameron and his team would mine for years to come.

It doesn?t help the original Terminator, in terms of quality control, once you realize that Cameron so drastically surpassed it with his follow up, the superior T2: Judgment Day. What a difference seven years in technological advancements can make! Just as he did with Aliens, Cameron establishes the blueprint for the modern-day sequel ? Bigger! Faster! More! More! More! He turns Linda Hamilton 180 degrees into a feral warrior princess. He introduces a formidable opponent in the T-1000 (Robert Patric). And he dares to ask audiences to embrace a deeper understanding of the mythology, with the introduction of Arnold?s severed arm and the role it plays in the fate of the war against the machines. Plus, the action in T2 is intense. It remains one of the best-paced blockbusters of our time, continually tightening its noose, and using cutting-edge technology to reel us in.

Cameron could have stopped after T2, and the franchise would have been untouchable. In fact, Cameron does stop there. But Hollywood can?t say goodbye to a lucrative franchise, and Arnold was willing to don the leather jacket and dark sunglasses for another go-round. So we get Terminator 3: Rise of the Machine, which isn?t terrible. Director Jonathan Mostow (U-571) is guilty of exchanging heady sci-fi for pedestrian explosions. But there?s a stellar car chase involving driverless police cars, and a clever twist with the introduction of a female Terminator machine, The Terminatrix (Kristanna Loken). But can?t sniff Judgment Day, and it pales when compared. Ah-nold?s T-101 trying to save a younger John Connor (Nick Stahl) ? again ? just feels like lukewarm leftovers. Too many writers means the film has no clear path to the initiation of Skynet and the launch of the war against the machines. The sequel?s relentless, yes, but also noisy as hell. This one could have been so much better.

Then again, after sitting through McG?s dreadful Terminator Salvation, we realize that Machines could have been much worse, as well. Set in 2018, following the launch of Skynet, the fourth and so far final Terminator sequel casts Bale as a grizzled, battle-tested Connor ? leader of the human resistance against the machines. Aside from being set in an ugly, apocalyptic future that doesn?t photograph well, Salvation tosses out chaotic plot threads attempting to bridge this chapter to the previous three films (Anton Yelchin plays Kyle Reese; Bryce Dallas Howard takes over for Claire Danes as Kate Brewster), and McG?s visual trickery isn?t enough to elevate a mess of a monster movie that?s loaded with gunplay but short on suspense.

The Disc:

The grade is for the entire five-disc set, which combs the entire history of the Terminator franchise to pack each Blu-ray with archival footage, commentary tracks, behind-the-scenes clips and promotional materials.

The two movies that boast the most content in the complete set are T2 and Terminator Salvation, and if you think about it, there are legitimate reasons. T2 is the best film in the bunch, so fans are going to want to know a lot more about it. And Salvation is the most recent release, so WB has the most material in which to share (to that end, McG?s Salvation is the only movie in the set that gets the two-disc treatment, with Warner basically cleaning up the version that reached stores shortly after Salvation opened in 2009).

The T2 disc promises more than 8 hours of interactive features for fans to explore, including a very cool storyboard-script mode, trivia and games. There are two director commentary tracks, the second of which boasts 26 different cast and crew members. And the behind-the-scenes videos show how Cameron and his team changed the face of sci-fi effects with the creation of the liquid-metal Terminator ? still one of the coolest villains we?ve seen on screen this year.

If there?s a deficient disc in the set, it?s the one for Rise of the Machines, which has three commentary tracks, an introduction from Schwarzenegger, two featurettes, and a gag reel. But the studio saved pennies by failing to upgrade the audio track on Terminator 3, so it fails to churn our insides the way T2 and even Salvation do when you pop them into your home-theater system and crank up the volume.

Salvation might be my least favorite of the four films, but Warner does the Blu-ray right, featuring the studio?s immersive Maximum Movie Mode (hosted by McG) and including a director?s cut of the 2009 sequel. Elsewhere on this two-disc set, Terminator fans will find features on reinventing the sci-fi- franchise after a long layover, a timeline of the series? mythology, storyboard comparisons, and a lot more. Part of me wishes that such care was paid to the original Terminator, which rounds out the collection with a handful of vintage featurettes. But in all, the love shared on the entire Terminator series gives fans more than enough reason to grab this set, completing the number of films in your collection.

Terminator Anthology [Blu-ray] DetailsStarring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Christian Bale, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, Sam WorthingtonDirected by: James Cameron, Jonathon Mostow, McGProduced by: Gale Anne Hurd, James Cameron, Hal Lieberman, Joel B. Michaels, Derek Anderson, Moritz Borman, Victor Kubicek Jeffrey SilverWritten by: James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd, John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris

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