David Vaughn

David Vaughn | Aug 03, 2010

The theme of the fourth and final season of Heroes is "Redemption." Our surviving Heroes mourn the passing of fallen friends and face a dangerous new foe (Robert Knepper), a carnival operator with a plan to gather those with special abilities and seek retribution against humanity.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. The first season of Heroes was a critical and commercial success with an interesting premise, entertaining storylines, and compelling and likable characters. Unfortunately, the show lost its mojo along with its audience over the following three years. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, but I hung in there until the end hoping to recapture the magic of its first season, but sadly it never came. The writers didn't seem to have a long-term strategy they were following and went off on too many tangents. The fourth season showed some promise, but once again the show focused too much attention on Claire (Hayden Panettiere) and her relationship with her father (Jack Coleman) at the expense of the more interesting characters such as Hiro (Masi Oka) and Ando (James Kyson-Lee).

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Clash of the Titans - 2010 (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn | Aug 03, 2010

As a war rages between men and kings and kings and god, the battle amongst the gods is the one that could ultimately destroy the world. Hope rests with Perseus (Sam Worthington), son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), who was raised as a man and sets off on a hazardous journey deep into forbidden worlds to avenge the death of his family and defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus and unleash hell on earth.

3D Blu-ray Player Reviews Blu-ray Player Reviews

Samsung BD-C6900 Blu-ray 3D Player

David Vaughn | Aug 02, 2010

Price: $350 At A Glance: Exceptional speed • Plethora of streaming services, including Netflix, Blockbuster, and VUDU • Built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi • Blu-ray 3D

Blu-ray 3D Is Here

To 3D or not to 3D, that is the question. Sorry to go Shakespeare on you, but I’m skeptical as to whether 3D is the next big thing on the horizon. Samsung is one of the major players vying for your 3D dollar, and I have to give the company credit for leading the charge on the next advancement in home entertainment. You may recall that Samsung was the first company to release a Blu-ray player (BD-P1000). While that launch wasn’t as smooth as the company would have liked due to a faulty noise-reduction setting, Samsung eventually fixed it, and the format has now become mainstream. Is history going to repeat itself for Blu-ray 3D? And if not, is the BD-C6900 worth your 2D investment?

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

To Save a Life (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn | Aug 01, 2010

Jake (Randy Wayne) and Roger (Robert Bailey Jr.) were best friends up until the ninth grade and the two drifted apart. Jake became the star of the basketball team and landed the hottest girl in school and Roger didn't fit in with his new group of friends. Three years later Jake's world crashes down around him when Roger enters the school with a handgun and takes his own life. Wracked with guilt, Jake begins to question his life choices and wonders if there was anything he could have done to save his childhood friend.

Calling a film "religious" will ultimately alienate a large portion of the population, but as long as the script isn't too preachy, I can usually enjoy them. That's certainly the case here where the message being spoken—care about thy neighbor—is commendable, especially to the targeted teen audience. The script certainly has a Christian slant to it, which isn't too distracting, but the story is very melodramatic and runs about 20 longer than it should.

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Gladiator (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn | Jul 30, 2010

Last October, I was disappointed with one of the debut titles of Paramount's new Sapphire Series Blu-rays, Gladiator. While the audio track was outstanding, the video encode left a lot to be desired due to some excessive digital manipulation and rampant edge enhancement. At the time, I asked Paramount to recall the disc and offer a replacement program as Sony did with the original release of The Fifth Element.

Ask and ye shall receive! The studio has implemented a limited exchange program with a new video encode that drastically improves the disc. If you own the original release, call Paramount at (888) 889-9456 to exchange it. For consumers wishing to buy the new version, it will be available in stores with a yellow barcode versus white on the original release.

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Fanboys (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn | Jul 26, 2010

Four estranged buddies embark on a road trip across the country in a last ditch effort to reclaim their friendship. Star Wars fans since childhood, their goal is to break into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch in an attempt to see a rough cut of Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace before its worldwide theatrical release in 1999.

My name is David Vaughn and I have been a Star Wars fanboy since 1977. Yes, I stood in line for more hours than I would like to admit to see The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi when I was an adolescent. Furthermore, I did the same in 1999 at the ripe young age of 30 in order to be one of the first to see The Phantom Menace.

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

White Collar (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn | Jul 26, 2010

Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) is a charming criminal mastermind who is finally caught by his nemesis, FBI Agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) and in lieu of being sent back to prison, the two form a unique partnership. Caffrey lends his criminal expertise to the FBI in exchange for limited freedom to help the Feds capture other elusive criminals.

I don't have much time to watch TV and I find watching the shows on Blu-ray is much more convenient to my schedule. The buddy-cop angle is far from new and I was a bit apprehensive when I popped the first disc in my player, but surprisingly I've enjoyed every one of the 14 season one episodes. The tandem of Bomer and DeKay has great chemistry and the supporting cast that includes Tiffany Thiessen and Willie Garson is very strong.

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

The Losers

David Vaughn | Jul 21, 2010 | Published: Jul 22, 2010

Sent to the Bolivian jungle on a search-and-destroy mission, members of an elite Special Forces unit now find themselves the target of a deadly double-cross instigated by Max (Jason Patric), a ruthless man hell-bent on embroiling the world in a new high-tech global war for his own benefit. The team must work deep undercover to clear their name and even the score with the evil megalomaniac.

As long as you check your brain at the door, The Losers provides a lot of entertainment, laughter, and adventure. It's based on a DC comic series, and while the plot is hardly original, the cast members never take things too seriously and seem to be enjoying themselves. Furthermore, the movie depicts a lot of violent action, but it doesn't spatter brain matter all over the screen, and I applaud the director's choice to aim for the PG-13 rating. I wouldn't call this a family-friendly picture, but it's not nearly has graphic as it could have been.

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Battlestar Galactica: Season 3 (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn | Jul 19, 2010

Season 3 takes the series in a new direction as the Cylons occupy New Caprica with little resistance from new President Baltar. Colonel Tigh leads a group of resistance fighters and Commander Adama undertakes a daring near-suicidal mission to free the humans from their mechanical captors.

The middle of Season 3 has its ups and downs, but finishes with a flurry with five of its best episodes starting with "Dirty Hands" and culminates with a two-part "Crossroads" with Baltar being tried for treason with Lee has one of his defenders. The finale revolves around some mysterious music that only a select group of humans can hear, but why?

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Cop Out (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn | Jul 19, 2010

Suspended NYPD detectives Jimmy Monroe (Bruce Willis) and Paul Hodges (Tracy Morgan) search for Monroe's stolen 1952 collectable baseball card which he was planning to sell in order to pay for his daughter's wedding. Along the way, the two stumble into an ongoing investigation of a deadly drug cartel and are given an opportunity to resurrect their careers and reputations by taking the bad guys down.

The 1980s saw its share of some great buddy-cop films with 48 Hours and Beverly Hills Cop, but sadly this doesn't come close to delivering the laughs or a fraction of the entertainment value. Morgan's act is tiresome and the script from Mark and Rob Cullen is far from original.

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