Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Video: 4.75/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 3.5/5
"The Clone Wars" takes place between "Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones" and "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith". Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi continue their journey across the galaxy amongst the "Clone Wars", meeting up with familiar villains, such as Count Dooku, General Grievous and Asajj Ventress. The Grand Army of the Republic, led by Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and other Jedi Knights, must fight the New Droid Army of the Separatists.

Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 3.75/5
Extras: 4/5
From the bridge of the Fleet Battlestation Ticonderoga, with its sweeping galactic views, to the desolate terrain of planet Klendathu, teeming with shrieking, fire-spitting, brain-sucking special effects creatures, acclaimed director Paul Verhoeven crafts a dazzling epic based on Robert A. Heinlein's classic sci-fi adventure. Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Muldoon, and Michael Ironside star as the courageous soldiers who travel to the distant and desolate Klendathu system for the ultimate showdown between the species.

Video: 3/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Extras: 2.5/5
I always enjoy a good extreme sports documentary. Whether it is big wave surfing, skating or base jumping, I'm always blown away with the level these guys take it to. Steep looks at the extreme skiing side of things including big mountain skiing. These are the guys that are climbing peaks that most would look at in fear only to ski down what looks like a near impossible run. You see quite a few variations on the sport including "Heli-skiing", which requires the use of a helicopter to get to impossible peaks. Crazy is an understatement for some of these guys, but you have to admit it's pretty cool to see what some people are brave enough to do. The documentary is excellent and covers the history of the sport and where it is going. The photography is gorgeous and a mix of new high definition footage and archived film.

Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 2.5/5
Step into Liquid is one of those films that can just blow you away with the things that people can do. To me surfing is one of those sports that is full of breathtaking beauty and awe. The film is basically a documentary on what surfing is and the way it is done by those around the world. You see big wave surfing (and I mean BIG waves), pipeline surfing and creative surfing (take the Great Lakes for example). But the underlying theme is that the experience is really the same no matter where you're from or how you do it.

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3/5
Will Ferrell stars as Harold Crick, a lonely IRS agent whose mundane existence is transformed when he hears a mysterious voice narrating his life. With the help of Professor Jules Hilbert, Harold discovers he's the main character in a novel-in-progress and that the voice belongs to Karen Eiffel, an eccentric author famous for killing her main characters in creative ways. Harold must quickly track down Eiffel and stop her before she conjures up a way to finish him off.

<I>Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan, T.P. McKenna, Del Henney, David Warner, Jim Norton, Donald Webster, Ken Hutchinson. Directed by Sam Peckinpah. Aspect ratio: 1.78:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital mono. Two discs. 117 minutes. 1971. Criterion 182. NR. $39.95.</I>