Awesome Toy Blog

Currently the #2 show on AMC, ‘Hell on Wheels’ is the story of a former Confederate soldier’s quest to avenge the murder of his wife and son, which leads him to the settlement that follows the construction of the transcontinental railroad. This contemporary western stars Anson Mount, Common, Colm Meaney and others. Season 1 of the show has just been released on DVD and Blu-Ray, and is available online ($18 for DVD or $22 for Blu-Ray on Amazon now) or at a fine retailer near you.  After the jump, read a longer synopsis of the story, full cast and special feature description.

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With just a week before the big screen release of “Dark Shadows” featuring Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins, I thought this would be a good opportunity to take a look at two DVD releases from MPI. Both DVDs are compilations of the groundbreaking daily serial that ran from 1966 through 1971 – a total of 1225 episodes. Those 1225 episodes followed Baranabas and the rest of the Collins family as they encounter werewolves, ghosts, demons, witches and other creatures of the darkness.

The first compilation – ‘The Best of Barnabas‘ contains 9 complete episodes which range from attempts at curing Barnabas of his vampirism, time travel, alternate worlds and of course, someone falling to the curse of the vampire! The second compilation – ‘Fan Favorites‘ features 9 top episodes including Barnabas’ introductory episode, werewolves, exorcism, insanity and possession! Between these two discs you really do get a feeling for the Dark Shadows universe.

While I haven’t yet made it through all 18 episodes on these discs, I’ve watched a few off of each and I’m having a blast. The quality of video and audio is good, considering that the source material is a 46 year old daytime drama – if you’re a careful viewer you can spot the occasional boom microphone’s shadow (or the microphone) itself creep into the shot. One of my favorite parts of watching these episodes is the inclusion of episode introductions by two of the stars of the series, Kathryn Leigh Scoot and Lara Parker. They both provide useful context for the episodes as well as behind the scenes tidbits. They totally add to the viewing experience.

Overall I enjoyed both discs, and while I know I don’t have time to view it, I’m longing a bit for the full 1225 episode series collection. But these discs really do provide a great look at a groundbreaking series – and the best is that they’re both right around $10 at Amazon. If you’re at all curious about Dark Shadows, you should pick these up!

MPI Home Video sent out a press release today announcing a huge DVD release for ‘The Complete Dark Shadows’. Dark Shadows, originally a daily serial that ran on ABC from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971 – introduced the world to the vampire Baranabas Collins and the world of the supernatural. There are a total of 457 hours, 1,225 episodes of the series and this DVD set collects those onto 131 DVDs, with an SRP just below $600. These DVDs are stored in a coffin case. The complete set will be released May 8, 2012.

If you’re a fan of the series, but don’t have $600 to spend (or 457 hours to watch) there are 2 collections priced at $15 with 9 episodes each. These collections are ‘FAN FAVORITES’ and ‘THE BEST OF BARNABAS ‘ and will be released April 10, 2012.  After the jump see all the details on both the ‘Complete Series’ and the ‘Best ofs’ sets.

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Name: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Complete Second Season
Released: September 13, 2011

Initially released at San Diego Comic-con (with the pictured limited edition packaging); the second season of He-Man’s original animated series gets a wide release from Mill Creek Studios this Tuesday, September 13th.  The 8 disc set includes all 65 episodes of season 2; 10 complete episode scripts, 50 character, creature and artifact profiles, 3 documentaries and 6 episodes with commentary tracks.  The set will be available in stores this week or is available for order now on Amazon.com.

I’ve had the chance to watch a few episodes in the set, and if you’re a fan of He-Man; this set is a must have.  The video and audio quality are good; on par with most 80′s animation releases.  A local station here in Phoenix airs He-Man and She-Ra repeats and the DVD quality is better than that of the local broadcasts.  The story quality varies from episode to episode; there are some standout episodes and some that are rather forgettable – but on a whole the ones that I’ve watched have been fun.  I imagine most folks looking to pick up this will be familiar with the series, so you know exactly what to expect story-wise.  I also spent a fair amount of time looking over the special features; I really enjoyed the documentaries as they provided some insight into the classic series. The packaging of the discs is nice, but a bit unconventional. Inside the case is a booklet and a stack of disks; each in its own paper sleeve. It’s a little different than other multi-disk sets I have, but it gets the job done and isn’t flimsy like some solutions tend to be.

The DVD release of the 2nd season of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe provides exactly what any fan of the series would want; a good quality release at a great price considering the number of episodes and special features included. All in all this set gets high marks, if you’re a He-Fan you should check it out!

A review copy was provide to AwesomeToyBlog from Mill Creek Entertainment.

Name: X-Men First Class
Released: September 9, 2011

This past summer, the film that surprised me the most was X-Men First Class.  The film serves as a prequel to the X-Men trilogy; documenting the early relationship of Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr – as they gather and train a team of young mutants to defeat Sebastian Shaw as he attempts to bring the world to nuclear warfare during the Cuban missle crisis.  In the course of saving the world from nuclear war, the rift between Xavier and Lehnsherr forms; setting the stage for the future X-Men films.  Some of the other mutants featured in the film include Beast, Havok, Banshee, Mystique, and the White Queen.

Director Matthew Vaughn takes a fresh look at the X-Men universe with this prequel; which does set the stage for Bryan Singer’s 2000 film x-Men.  He takes full advantage of the film’s 1960s setting; with both set design and costumes reflecting a mod/cool design aesthetic – this was an element of the film that I personally loved.  The film is well directed and paced; and avoids many of the missteps of X-Men: the Last Stand.

Overall, the film is well acted with McAvoy (Xavier) and Fassbender (Lehnsherr) solidly anchoring the film.  Kevin Bacon more than fills shoes of the film’s antagonist; which was the source of some concern prior to seeing the movie. The supporting cast generally handles their material well, but as with any ensemble piece individual characters don’t get as much development or screen time as you may want.

The DVD both looks and sounds great; with audio options including an English DD 5.1 track as well as an English DD 5.1 Descriptive audio, plus Spanish and French Dolby Surround. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish.  Special features on the DVD include “Children of the Atom: Filming X-Men: First Class” a two-part making of featurette and an anti-smoking PSA.  The Blu-Ray release includes several other special features including10 X-Men digital comics, a mutant database, an 8-part making of series, extended and deleted scenes, trailers and an isolated score.

In summary, ‘X-Men First Class’ is a great re-launch of the X-Men franchise.  With a story that’s engaging, great effects, solid acting and direction – the film delivers on all accounts.  Both Blu-Ray and DVD releases hit retail September 9th (or can be pre-ordered now).  If you’re a fan of any of the x-Men films, be sure to give First Class a chance.

Thanks to Fox Home Entertainment for providing a review copy of X-Men First Class to AwesomeToyBlog.