Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Vol. 1 - Seasons 1-3

Extremely fond memories of a classic series
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears finally gets its well-deserved DVD treatment. I think that Gummi Bears was the first of Disney's syndicated animated shows in the 80s, and paved the way for later classics like Duck Tales and Tale Spin.

I came across recordings of these shows a short while ago and watched a lot of them. Even though the show is nearly twenty years old, I was struck by the quality of the animation and the voice work, which included veteran voice actors like June Foray (of Rocky the Flying Squirrel fame) and Paul Winchell (best known by people my age and younger for his work as Tigger).

The rich fantasy setting of this show and the detail put into the Gummi Bears and the remnants of their old society are impressive. I think most impressive was that the fact that this show was not made to market action figures, like so many other shows of the 80s. All of the Gummi Bears are distinctive and each has their own appeal, and the other heroes and...

Love Gummi Bears, Horrible quality
I'm not going to say much about the Gummi Bears that hasn't been said before. It's a great show and a lot of fun for the kids (and adults too). However the quality of these DVD's is terrible. More accurately it is completely unacceptable and if I had known it was this bad, I would never have bought the pack.

The content has been massively compressed in order to squeeze 47 episodes onto 3 discs. With the low cost of DVD's I think 5 or 6 discs would have been in order.

The compression is far worse than what you might see from your cable or satellite provider. I have never complained about the compression on a set of DVD's so this should be an indication of how bad it is. I still don't believe this is from Disney!

Buy this if you're desperate, but if you don't enjoy watching shows with horrible, distracting artifacts in the picture, avoid this at all costs.

Come on Disney, do the right thing and fix this set up!

The Vanguard of late 80s/early 90s Disney cartoons- Finally
Finally!!!! Gummi Bears is on DVD!

It should have been released with DuckTales, if not before then. Thankfully, Disney is releasing it.

Gummi Bears had superb writing and was the perfect show for a kid. I could never get over how sharp the animation was. This cartoon would be the vanguard for the Disney Afternoon. Before it played in the Disney Afternoon, it aired on Saturday mornings. It was always my number one goal to catch it at 10 or 11 AM. Gummi Bears held its own among other great hits of the 80s.

Lets hope they start DVD 1 with the very first episodes and don't mess it up like they did DuckTales. I think DuckTales and the others sold well enough for Disney to realize there is a market for their late 80s and early 90s cartoons. These years were the golden years for recent Disney animation. None of the new cartoons or any of the late 90s cartoons hold a candle to the Disney Afternoon originals.

I think Disney heard the...

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The Prestige

Christopher Nolan continues to impress with one of the best films of 2006.
2006 has been a quiet year for event films. The predicted blockbusters this past summer pretty much underperformed despite some being exactly as good as I thought they'd be. Other than Johnny Depp and the gang's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, every blockbuster didn't blow the industry out of the water. It's a very good thing that I had smaller films to tide me over. This year has been a very good ones for some independent-minded and smaller films which came out during the slow first couple months of the year and during the graveyard release months between the end of summer and the start of the late year holidays. I've already had the chance to see such very good films like Running Scared from Wayne Kramer and Hard Candy from David Slade to The Proposition from John Hillcoat. I am glad to say that Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of Christopher Priest's novel, The Prestige is another non-blockbuster that excites, entertains and, in the end, keeps the audience mystified...

Obsession, Revenge and Magic--A Near Perfect Film Fumbles In The Last Act
Like many other reviewers, I came into Christopher Nolan's "The Prestige" with high expectations. He, thus far, has a pretty good track record in my book. "Batman Begins" ranks highly among adult comic book movies, but prior to that--he scored big with the sublime "Memento" and the underappreciated "Insomnia" (where, miraculously, he coaxed restrained performances from both Al Pacino and Robin Williams). So teaming Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman in a dark and twisty tale of obsession and revenge seemed like movie nirvana. And "The Prestige," while not a perfect film, certainly provides its leads with robust roles and delivers much to admire.

Set in the world of magic, two practitioners (Bale and Jackman) start out together in an act devised by Michael Caine. When a tragedy strikes, Jackman loses his wife and holds Bale accountable. Though they go their separate ways, they never mentally disconnect. Jackman plots revenge, Bale retaliates and their lives become a...

One of the Best Films that Got Overlooked
Proof positive that director Christopher Nolan, Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are among the finest, richest talents in Hollywood, "The Prestige" is a wickedly clever and riveting tale of all consuming obsession. Don't be fooled by the magic angle. This is a classic tale that simply uses rival magicians and the tricks of their trade to illustrate what all-too driven individuals are willing to unleash on one another in the name of one-upsmanship and superiority. Bale and Jackman are terrific as the pair of rival magic men who try to destroy each other, their destructive animosity etched on their faces. And its a showcase for the considerable talents of Christopher Nolan, who (along with his screenwriter kin Johnathon Nolan) executes one the most impressively acrobatic balancing acts in cinematic storytelling with the ease of a born illusionist. Set in turn of the century England, magicians Alfred Borden (Bale) and Robert Angier (Jackman) toil to ascend to the upper echelons of...

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Armageddon [Blu-ray]

Excellent collection of material
The Criterion Collection release of Armageddon is a treat. It offers 2 commentary tracks, one featuring the director Michael Bay, actors Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has comments on several interesting things. Affleck's commentary is sometimes very funny. The other commentary track features the Director of Photography and special effects people.

The commentary includes interesting details, including background information on the characters and filming locations. Note: The commentary is raw and sometimes laced with profanity, although the movie itself is rated PG-13, for reasons explained in the commentary.

Although it's not much, this collection is also a Director's Cut and has a couple scenes added, notable of which is Harry Stamper's character visiting his father before launch. Some other scenes are cut slightly differently, adding some depth to the story.

The Gag reel on the second disk is extremely funny, raw, and not your typical...

Armageddon is Amazing
I loved everything about this movie. Considering this is probably the 10th time I've seen this movie since I was 9 years old (13 years ago) it never gets old for me. I had it on DVD but upgraded to blu-ray for $10. It looks amazing in HD and the sound will blow you away! This still beats any "global disaster" movie made after Armageddon's release like 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow.

Can be good fun
Lighten up, pop open a bubbly, suspend all belief and have a good time. This is the sort of movie you watch just to have some mindless good fun. Sure the 'science' is laughable. Sure the characters are two-dimensional cardboard cutouts. Sure the dialogue is sophomoric. So what? Enjoy yourself.

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High School Musical (Encore Edition)

I'm an adult male and I LOVE this!
Let me begin with this caveat; I have no teenage daughter at home. I find this the most fun and refreshing thing I've seen in a long time, and probably for the very reasons "serious" critics find it silly or pedestrian: the movie embraces its cliches and campiness wholeheartedly and makes me laugh aloud each time I watch it (and I've watched it more times than I care to admit) and the songs are hummable and singable and delightful. I've listened to the soundtrack at least once a day since I got it from amazon, usually on my way to work because the songs put me in a good mood. I mean, who doesn't want to do one of those cool dance moves in the car when "Stick to the Status Quo" or "We're All in This Together" comes on? I do refrain. I love theatre, I love show music, and I love "High School Musical"!

Vanessa ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!
The movie was so awesome! I watched it 50 times!!!!!!!!!!! I thought Vanessa was hot too! I give it 2 thumbs up.

A great movie for kids Korokee Parties!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a 40 year old adult and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this movie. And I'm not afraid to admit it that I"ve seen this over 6 times with and without my kids. I've taped the show and have had Korokee parties with my kids along with my friends kids. I'm still going to buy the DVD when it comes out, I'm so crazy about this movie. It brings back memories when we all went crazy over a similar movie, GREASE, when we were young.

when I first saw the commercials, I knew that this movie was going to be an "extreme" hit and could not believe our luck that we didn't have to go to the theaters to see it. I was counting the days until premiere day. The dancing, the singing, the music, the storylines, the total package was such a joy to watch. I've also bought the sound track and as another customer has written, it brings a smile and a wonderful feeling when I hear the music.

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Home Improvement: The Complete Fourth Season

Season 4 Home Improvement!
Season 4 had some big changes in the show.

1.) New Graphics to make the show more homey feeling and was was for 3 seasons.

2.) This season's finale episode launched the show in syndication on Sept. 11, 1995.

Episode Guide.

1.) Back In The Saddle Shoes Again

Jill is laid off and decides to go back to college, causing Tim to become afraid that he will lose Jill to more intelligent men.

2.) Don't Tell Momma

Jill dents the car, so Tim decides to fix it, but he accidentally drops a three-ton beam on it and tries to hide it from Jill. Meanwhile, Brad and Randy are kicked off of the school bus for gluing Vinnie McGurn's, a bully's, butt.

3.) Death Begins At Forty

Tim begins concerned about his health when his 40th birthday nears and Harry, the owner of Harry's Hardware, has a heart attack.

4.) The Eyes Don't Have It

When Tim and Jill find out Mark is having trouble at...

The best season set yet!
An avid fan of Home Improvement, I had been impatiently anticipating the moment when the fourth season of my favorite sitcom, Home Improvement, would be released.

Call me a weirdo, but I found myself waiting at the Home Entertainment section at Wal-Mart before midnight to get this DVD, and they were stocking it a half hour before, and I grabbed it and attempted to pay for it, but the lady at the register took it and put it up and said I had to wait a half hour. So I waited, impatiently.

I finally got home with it and before I watched it, I looked at the packaging. This time, Tim, Jill, and the kids are featured on the cover, and it looks as though Tim had a mishap and accidentally sawed off part of the DVD cover, because the lower right corner is missing! The inner art is basically the same as the other seasons, with one panel listing the episodes. Disc 1 overlaps 2 again (I hate that!), and Disc 3 gets its own little slot. Jill and the kids are on disc one; Tim,...

It can't get any better than this..........
Being a die hard fan of "Home Improvement" and seeing classic,old shows ("Seinfeld","Everybody Loves Raymond","Friends",etc.)that have been released on DVD,it is great to see "Home Improvement" being added to that list of shows coming to DVD. Despite the problems that "Home Improvement" faced before it came to the end,if it was not for HI,the standard for comedy television of today would not be as well as it is--one fact that is documented within this entire DVD set.

If you are a hardcore fan of "Home Improvement" and noticed through purchasing the first three season DVDS for HI how the show changed every season,you will be satisfied with this set. It is pretty much the first season recaptured,with new,original life to it. This collection of every season four episode of "Home Improvemnt" does a good job at not only picking up on the regular customs that every single HI episode had (what the marriage of Tim (Tim Allen)and Jill (Patricia Richardson)was like,the trouble that...

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