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Geek Vibes Nation
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Vibes Nation
'Tarzan Goes To India' Blu-Ray Review - Jock Mahoney Debuts As The Lord Of The Jungle
No need to land the plane when Tarzan flies to India. Just fly over an inland lake and the loin-clothed hero will leap into its blue depths! Jock Mahoney, who two years earlier portrayed Tarzan's foe in Tarzan the Magnificent, makes his splashy debut as Tarzan in this tale about the Ape-Man's rescue of elephants who will be doomed when a newly built dam unleashes its waters. John Guillermin (Tarzan's Greatest Adventure, The Towering Inferno) directs, combining colorful subcontinent locales with battles large and thunderous (massive bull elephants), small and fierce (cobra versus mongoose), cunning and treacherous (Tarzan against human foes). No matter where the jungle, there is but one jungle lord! For thoughts on Tarzan Goes to India, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required: Video Quality Warner Archive presents Tarzan Goes to India with a lovely 1080p master transfer sourced from a new 2K scan on the Interpositive when this disc was released in 2019. Warner Archive is one of the most dependable labels around, and this release is another winner. The transfer is nearly entirely free of dirt and damage, giving this an appealing appearance that can blend in with any era. The level of detail and clarity is first rate with a valuable amount of natural film grain intact. The film features bold colors within the environments that radiate off the screen. Black levels are in good shape with firm stability throughout, and highlights are just as tight with no signs of blooming. There do not appear to be any serious digital anomalies such as compression artifacts, banding, or any other such shortcomings. Tarzan fans will admire this effort. Audio Quality Warner Archive has provided a fine DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio presentation that has been restored with a considerate hand. The powerful Ken Jones score supports the film commendably as it comes through with righteous fidelity. Dialogue comes through crisply and clearly even during more thrilling moments. The track balances vocals with the environmental sounds with due clarity. There are no moments when the track ever appears weak or unstable. Warner Archive has provided a pleasing audio presentation that does not exhibit any overwhelming instances of age-related damage. Optional English (SDH) subtitles are provided. Special Features There are no special features provided on this disc. Final Thoughts Tarzan Goes to India is the first outing from Jock Mahoney as the iconic figure, and he appears to do a decent job of taking over the role. The narrative itself seems slightly geared towards a younger audience, which does not help him stand out with rich material. There are a ton of cute elephants that are a delight to watch, but this does not hold up as one of the more thrilling or complex outings. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray featuring a fantastic A/V presentation but nothing in the way of special features. If you are a Tarzan fan, this is a great addition to the collection. Recommended Tarzan Goes to India can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers. Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray. Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Geek Vibes Nation
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Vibes Nation
'Six By Sondheim' Blu-Ray Review - A Touching Portrait Of An Iconic Artist
From award-winning director and frequent Sondheim collaborator James Lapine, Six by Sondheim is an intimate and candid look at the life and art of legendary composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who redefined musical theater through such works as Company, Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George. Told primarily in Sondheim's own words from dozens of interviews spanning decades, the film is a highly personal profile of a great American artist as revealed through the creation and performance of six of his songs. It features rarely seen archival performance footage and original staged productions – created exclusively for this film – with stars including Audra McDonald, Darren Criss, America Ferrera and more. For thoughts on Six By Sondheim, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required: Video Quality Six By Sondheim arrived on Blu-Ray in 2021 featuring an array of different sources in the best quality possible. It can be said with confidence that the movie itself and everything within it look as technically sound as it can look in HD. This can be attributed to the fact that Warner Archive has delivered a formidable encode and given the film plenty of room to breathe. This company is always so great in this respect, a quality that is always appreciated. The archival footage used seems to be in the best shape possible given the quality of the source material. New interview segments look incredibly crisp and clear with natural skin tones and detailed facial features. There is no evidence of compression artifacts or other digital nuisances of the sort. I do not see how this could have been improved visually. This disc holds up impeccably. Audio Quality This Blu-Ray comes with an exquisite DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that captures this legendary figure perfectly. Dialogue is the primary aspect of the film, and it comes through crisp and clear without being overwhelmed by any competing sounds. The crew does a great job of capturing the subjects and making sure all this information comes through with supreme clarity. Even audio from the archival footage comes through pretty clearly, given the age and the format. The other essential element of this feature is the incredible music that stems from the mind of Sondheim. Every cue and performance is resolved well here as music often flows throughout the room. Ambient sounds from some of the environmental elements are precisely placed in the rear channels. The audio track offers up a dynamic experience and proves to be an excellent sounding presentation for this feature. Optional English SDH subtitles are included for those who desire them. Special Features There are no special features provided on the disc. Final Thoughts Six By Sondheim is a touching portrait of one of the great artists of the twentieth century. Through his own engaging anecdotes about his life and key insights from some of his collaborators, you get a well-rounded idea of what makes him such a special presence. The newly staged performances are a nice touch, yet it is the archival performances that typically still reign supreme in giving you goosebumps. If you are a fan of Sondheim, it is doubtful you would have anything less but a great time. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray featuring a top-notch A/V presentation but no supplemental features. Highly Recommended Six By Sondheim can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers. Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray. Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A New Blu-ray Collection Opens the Warner Bros. Animation Vault — and Finds 50 Treasures Inside
In May of 2023, Warner Bros. released a collection of classic cartoons on Blu-ray through their boutique Warner Archive label that was directly aimed at serious enthusiasts. That set, 'Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 1,' was pure gold for animation fans, featuring 25 cartoons that had never been released on DVD or Blu-ray in remastered form. The positive response from lovers of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig led to three more volumes, each collecting 25 new shorts that were meticulously restored and presented in exquisite transfers. More from IndieWire '28 Years Later' Review: A Tender, Thoughtful, and Strangely Moving Sequel to One of the Scariest Zombie Movies Ever How 'Materialists' Finds True Love in New York City Now, Warner Archive is continuing their mission with 'Looney Tunes Collector's Vault: Volume 1,' a set that continues the label's previous work and expands on it. 'I decided that instead of releasing a Volume 5 with the same curation criteria we would expand to 2-disc collections,' film historian George Feltenstein, who oversees the Warner Archive label, told IndieWire. 'The idea was to expand the variety of classic cartoons offered by letting the first disc continue the mission of what we had established with the Collector's Choice releases — 25 cartoons not previously available on DVD or Blu-ray in remastered form as part of a WB classic collection,' he said. 'However, the addition of the second disc would contain 25 cartoons that have been available in standard definition on DVD, but had yet to be included remastered in High Definition on a Blu-ray disc.' Among the newly included cartoons are several fan favorites and rarities, including choice selections by legendary director Chuck Jones. Feltenstein said that choosing favorites is difficult since he, in collaboration with animation historian Jerry Beck, selected all the cartoons, but he has particular fondness for the 1945 Jones short 'Hare Conditioned.' In this hilarious cartoon, Bugs Bunny faces a threat from a department store manager who wants to get Bugs stuffed in the taxidermy department. 'Most of the Warner Bros. animation directors had their take on Bugs, but Jones' work with the character just seemed to get better and better over the years,' Feltenstein said. 'This is a relatively early Jones/Bugs cartoon, but it has been a favorite since childhood.' Feltenstein also points to Jones' 1948 Daffy Duck short 'Daffy Dilly' as a treasure that exhibits Daffy's evolution under Jones' direction. 'I had the pleasure of meeting Chuck Jones late in his life, and we spoke at length about his work at Warner Bros.,' Feltenstein said. 'He once told me — and I assume he told this to many — that Bugs Bunny, for him, represented the kind of individual we aspire to be, and that Daffy Duck was the individual we are afraid we're really more like. I thought his statement was quite brilliant.' In choosing the cartoons for the Warner Archive collections, Feltenstein and Beck — who have been collaborating on the programming of classic animation releases going back to the laserdisc era — asked themselves what the fans would want, which isn't difficult since they're fans themselves. In addition to the Jones shorts, other highlights in the vault collection include Friz Freleng's 'Each Dawn I Crow' (1949) with Elmer Fudd from 1949, and 'The Goofy Gophers,' which was released in 1947. ''The Goofy Gophers' features the screen debut of the characters 'Mac and Tosh,' who appeared in several successive cartoons, but this was their introduction to the big screen,' Feltenstein said. 'It was allegedly started by legendary animator Bob Clampett, but the balance of the work was taken over by Arthur Davis after Clampett's sudden departure from the studio.' In addition to his work on the Warner animation collections, Feltenstein oversees a wide array of releases from the studio's live-action catalogue, often putting out pristine releases of classics as well as cult favorites and idiosyncratic oddities. Recent months have seen new Blu-rays of titles as varied as the criminally underrated Ryan Reynolds/Amy Smart comedy 'Just Friends,' Vincente Minnelli's visually stunning melodrama 'The Cobweb,' and the blaxploitation gem 'Melinda,' just to name a few. 'We are usually working on several dozen releases at any given time, in various stages of production,' Feltenstein. 'This requires very close coordination with other departments, so we can make sure that our efforts are synchronized with the company's dedication to preservation efforts.' Right now, the Warner Archive Collection is the only studio-based 'boutique' label, dedicated to what physical media collectors want most, and Feltenstein takes his role as curator seriously. 'There are many factors that go into what can get released, and what is still waiting,' Feltenstein said. 'We also have various groups of die-hard enthusiast consumers who each want to make their voices heard loudly about what they want to see released. We're listening, and our goal is to try and please all the different fan factions.' Ultimately, Feltenstein's work is complicated but his mission is simple: to get as much of the Warners library released from the vaults and onto the shelves of home viewers. It's a mission he's been on for over 16 years that has now yielded several thousand releases; given how strong the company's recent releases have been, here's hoping there are thousands more to come. Best of IndieWire The Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in June, from 'Vertigo' and 'Rear Window' to 'Emily the Criminal' All 12 Wes Anderson Movies, Ranked, from 'Bottle Rocket' to 'The Phoenician Scheme' Nightmare Film Shoots: The 38 Most Grueling Films Ever Made, from 'Deliverance' to 'The Wages of Fear'
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Best New Blu-ray and 4K Releases in June 2025
Physical media culture is alive and thriving thanks to the home video tastemakers hailing everywhere from The Criterion Collection to Kino Lorber and the Warner Archive Collection. Each month, IndieWire highlights the best recent and upcoming Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K releases for cinephiles to own now — and to bring ballast and permanence to your moviegoing at a time when streaming windows on classic movies close just as soon as they open. The summer movie season is upon us, with 'Lilo & Stitch' and 'Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning' smashing records and luring audiences back to theaters for blockbuster spectacle and family-friendly fare. As the weather improves, you may not feel like going out to a movie or staying at home to watch one, and after a dreary East Coast winter and spring, you wouldn't be faulted for preferring to get out and smell the roses rather than stare at a screen. But with this June's top new Blu-ray and 4K releases, hopefully, you're doing more than staring at a screen: You're hopefully being absorbed into a cinematic world that asks more of you than passive viewing. More from IndieWire Best Buy Is Out of the DVD and Blu-ray Business, and Now So Is Disney The Best DVD Commentaries on Filmmaking Best TV & Movie Box Sets: Criterion Collection, TV Classics, and More As we do every month, IndieWire here highlights our eight best recommended physical media releases to add to your collection, and there's something here to appeal to all quadrants of the audience. Sidney Lumet's Black-centered musical 'Wizard of Oz' reimagining 'The Wiz,' Paul Schrader's kaleidoscopic literary biopic 'Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters' (IndieWire's #2 best film of the 1980s), and William Friedkin's epic 'The Wages of Fear' remake 'Sorcerer' are among the new Criterion Collection titles hitting shelves this month. But we also round up classic releases from Kino Lorber, Warner Archive, and more, as well as a long-awaited (OK, long awaited by this writer anyway) Blu-ray release of Julia Leigh's fairytale-turned-sex-work-nightmare 'Sleeping Beauty' from IFC Films. These and more in IndieWire's lineup of the best eight new 4Ks and Blu-rays coming to retailers this month. Best of IndieWire The Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in June, from 'Vertigo' and 'Rear Window' to 'Emily the Criminal' All 12 Wes Anderson Movies, Ranked, from 'Bottle Rocket' to 'The Phoenician Scheme' Nightmare Film Shoots: The 38 Most Grueling Films Ever Made, from 'Deliverance' to 'The Wages of Fear'
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A New Blu-ray Collection Opens the Warner Bros. Animation Vault — and Finds 50 Treasures Inside
In May of 2023, Warner Bros. released a collection of classic cartoons on Blu-ray through their boutique Warner Archive label that was directly aimed at serious enthusiasts. That set, 'Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 1,' was pure gold for animation fans, featuring 25 cartoons that had never been released on DVD or Blu-ray in remastered form. The positive response from lovers of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig led to three more volumes, each collecting 25 new shorts that were meticulously restored and presented in exquisite transfers. More from IndieWire '28 Years Later' Review: A Tender, Thoughtful, and Strangely Moving Sequel to One of the Scariest Zombie Movies Ever How 'Materialists' Finds True Love in New York City Now, Warner Archive is continuing their mission with 'Looney Tunes Collector's Vault: Volume 1,' a set that continues the label's previous work and expands on it. 'I decided that instead of releasing a Volume 5 with the same curation criteria we would expand to 2-disc collections,' film historian George Feltenstein, who oversees the Warner Archive label, told IndieWire. 'The idea was to expand the variety of classic cartoons offered by letting the first disc continue the mission of what we had established with the Collector's Choice releases — 25 cartoons not previously available on DVD or Blu-ray in remastered form as part of a WB classic collection,' he said. 'However, the addition of the second disc would contain 25 cartoons that have been available in standard definition on DVD, but had yet to be included remastered in High Definition on a Blu-ray disc.' Among the newly included cartoons are several fan favorites and rarities, including choice selections by legendary director Chuck Jones. Feltenstein said that choosing favorites is difficult since he, in collaboration with animation historian Jerry Beck, selected all the cartoons, but he has particular fondness for the 1945 Jones short 'Hare Conditioned.' In this hilarious cartoon, Bugs Bunny faces a threat from a department store manager who wants to get Bugs stuffed in the taxidermy department. 'Most of the Warner Bros. animation directors had their take on Bugs, but Jones' work with the character just seemed to get better and better over the years,' Feltenstein said. 'This is a relatively early Jones/Bugs cartoon, but it has been a favorite since childhood.' Feltenstein also points to Jones' 1948 Daffy Duck short 'Daffy Dilly' as a treasure that exhibits Daffy's evolution under Jones' direction. 'I had the pleasure of meeting Chuck Jones late in his life, and we spoke at length about his work at Warner Bros.,' Feltenstein said. 'He once told me — and I assume he told this to many — that Bugs Bunny, for him, represented the kind of individual we aspire to be, and that Daffy Duck was the individual we are afraid we're really more like. I thought his statement was quite brilliant.' In choosing the cartoons for the Warner Archive collections, Feltenstein and Beck — who have been collaborating on the programming of classic animation releases going back to the laserdisc era — asked themselves what the fans would want, which isn't difficult since they're fans themselves. In addition to the Jones shorts, other highlights in the vault collection include Friz Freleng's 'Each Dawn I Crow' (1949) with Elmer Fudd from 1949, and 'The Goofy Gophers,' which was released in 1947. ''The Goofy Gophers' features the screen debut of the characters 'Mac and Tosh,' who appeared in several successive cartoons, but this was their introduction to the big screen,' Feltenstein said. 'It was allegedly started by legendary animator Bob Clampett, but the balance of the work was taken over by Arthur Davis after Clampett's sudden departure from the studio.' In addition to his work on the Warner animation collections, Feltenstein oversees a wide array of releases from the studio's live-action catalogue, often putting out pristine releases of classics as well as cult favorites and idiosyncratic oddities. Recent months have seen new Blu-rays of titles as varied as the criminally underrated Ryan Reynolds/Amy Smart comedy 'Just Friends,' Vincente Minnelli's visually stunning melodrama 'The Cobweb,' and the blaxploitation gem 'Melinda,' just to name a few. 'We are usually working on several dozen releases at any given time, in various stages of production,' Feltenstein. 'This requires very close coordination with other departments, so we can make sure that our efforts are synchronized with the company's dedication to preservation efforts.' Right now, the Warner Archive Collection is the only studio-based 'boutique' label, dedicated to what physical media collectors want most, and Feltenstein takes his role as curator seriously. 'There are many factors that go into what can get released, and what is still waiting,' Feltenstein said. 'We also have various groups of die-hard enthusiast consumers who each want to make their voices heard loudly about what they want to see released. We're listening, and our goal is to try and please all the different fan factions.' Ultimately, Feltenstein's work is complicated but his mission is simple: to get as much of the Warners library released from the vaults and onto the shelves of home viewers. It's a mission he's been on for over 16 years that has now yielded several thousand releases; given how strong the company's recent releases have been, here's hoping there are thousands more to come. Best of IndieWire The Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in June, from 'Vertigo' and 'Rear Window' to 'Emily the Criminal' All 12 Wes Anderson Movies, Ranked, from 'Bottle Rocket' to 'The Phoenician Scheme' Nightmare Film Shoots: The 38 Most Grueling Films Ever Made, from 'Deliverance' to 'The Wages of Fear'
