Tag Archives: Review

Dragonslayer 1981 title

Dragonslayer iTunes HD Review

Dragonslayer is a 1981 ‘fantasy’ film, it tells a heroes journey tale of a young Sorcerer’s apprentice who sets out to save a kingdom from an evil Dragon. Peter MacNicol and Kaitlin Clarke star with support from Ralph Richardson and John Hallam. The film was co-written and directed by Matthew Robbins (Batteries Not Included) with Oscar nominated special effects by Phil Tippet and Dennis Murren. Perfect cinematography is provided by Alien cinematographer Derek Vanlint. Since no Blu-ray is available – I thought I’d take a look at the iTunes version, and compare it with the existing DVD releases.

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The War of the Worlds red title frame. From the 1953 version on iTunes in HD.

The War of the Worlds (1953) iTunes HD Review

The 1953 adaptation of H.G.Wells science-fiction classic The War of the Worlds produced by George Pal has been long absent from Blu-ray, I thought I’d do a quick review of the 1080p iTunes HD version.

After Paramount purchased the rights to the book in the mid 1920s the project went though a number of false starts. After being offered to Cecile B. DeMille, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, it finally landing in the lap of George Pal, who was by that point a science-fiction veteran with Destination Moon and When Worlds Collide already under his belt.

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Auntie Mame - opening title

Auntie Mame – iTunes HD Review

Auntie Mame is a 1958 classic camp-comedy staring Rosalind Russel. It has yet to be released on Blu-Ray, so I thought I’d give the iTunes HD version a look.

Not well known outside the US, I came across it when I heard an interview with Elizabeth Banks, who described her portrayal of ‘Effie Trinket‘ in the Hunger Games films as being heavily influenced by the Rosalind Russel version of Auntie Mame.

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