Elite Home Theater Seating Blog

The Alien Anthology

August 10th, 2012

2010 brought us the Alien Anthology box set on Blu-ray much to the delight of home theater and movie enthusiasts. The six disc set includes Alien (disc 1), Aliens (disc 2), Alien 3 (disc 3), Alien Resurrection, (disc 4), Making the Anthology (disc 5), and  The Anthology Archives (disc 6). You can order the box set from Amazon for $43.99

Overview of the movies:

The debut film, Alien, directed by Ridley Scott , starring Tom Skerritt and Sigourney Weaver, (as Ellen Ripley),  was released in 1979 and became an instant classic upon its release.  The crew are on board their spaceship, The Nostromo where an alien egg is found. After hatching and attacking a member of the crew, this creature ends up grows to a monsterous eight foot creature and starts its rampage on the crew. Seven years later, in 1986, James Cameron was brought in to direct the sequal, Aliens.  Ellen Ripley is the only surviving member of the crew from the debut film. After waking up on a different spaceship, from a 57 year hypersleep, she accompanies the Marines to take on the creature that killed her fellow crew members.

1992 saw the release of Alien 3, directed by David Fincher, and the return of Ellen Ripley. An escape pod she’s in crash lands on a prison planet, once again she is the only survivor. Another egg was on board the pod she was in and hatches in a prison where it then starts its killing spree. Ellen finds out she has an alien queen growing inside her.  In 1997, Alien Resurrection was released. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and set 200 years into the future. Ellen Ripley returns as a clone and the alien queen from the previous movie is removed from her body. In this film, the military wants to breed aliens for study purposes. However the aliens escape their confinement and Ellen Ripley tries to destroy the alien ship as it approaches Earth.

The Anthology:

“Brace yourself for a whole new breed of Blu-ray: Four powerful films…eight thrilling versions…in dazzling, terrifying, high-def clarity with the purest digital sound on the planet. Two bonus dics and over 65 hours of archival and never-before-seen content, including the totally immersive MU-TH-UR mode feature, makes this definitive Alien collection”Amazon

The first four discs contain two versions of each film, (the theatrical and extended version). Disc 5 is made up of four documentaries on the making of each film and disc 6 has the pre-production, production, and post-production & aftermath of all four films. Disc 6 contains lots of rarities such as images, deleted scenes, trailers and TV spots, storyboards, and numerous other extras. With Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, and the aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the Alien Anthology has improved the quality of all four movies, especially the first two. The packaging is also fabulous as you will find inside the slipcase, a hardcover book which includes pictures from each film and movie notes.

We highly recommend owning the Alien Anthology to enjoy in the comforts of your home theater. Give us your feedback on this or any other home theater related experience. We would love to hear it.

Canadian Head Office
Unit 406, 17665 66A Ave.
Surrey, BC V3S 2A7
Tel.  604-575-8310
Fax. 604-575-8329

U.S. Head Office
1927 Boblett Street
Blaine, WA 98230
Tel. 1-800-490-1595

email: sales@elitehts.com



The Mafia/Gangster Movie Genre

July 20th, 2012

Last week while on Twitter, somebody tweeted they were watching Donnie Brasco for the first time. We briefly tweeted back and forth about how amazing that movie is and realized just how great mafia movies are.  Today we would like to mention some of our favourite movies of that genre.

  1. The Godfather is considered to be the best mafia/mobster/gangster movie ever made. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, James Caan, & Robert Duvall are just a handful of the spectacular cast in this movie.  With a running time of 175 minutes, (five minutes short of three hours!), The Godfather is simply a masterpiece.  Marlon Brando plays Victor Corleone who is the “don” of the Corleone family. Al Pacino plays Michael Corleone, Victor’s son who then takes over for the family after Victor passes away. The Godfather showed everyone how the mafia operates from the gangsters perspective. Critics love this movie and consider it to be the best of its genre and to some, the best movie ever made. There were two sequels, The Godfather: Part 2 & The Godfather Part 3 all which follow the family as it changes leaders and all the trials and tribulations of the mafia lifestyle.  All three movies are a must see.

2. Scarface also stars Al Pacino playing the role of Tony Montana, a Cuban refugee that takes over the underworld of Miami. This is a remake of the 1932 movie with the same name. Tony Montana and his best friend, Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer) overtake the criminal world in Miami in a short amount of time. They arrive from Cuba without any money and work there way up the underground ladder. They start off as dishwashers in a small restaurant and quickly go from carrying out hits on people to having their own empire. Scarface shows the rise and fall of a crime lord. He loses his wife, best friend (which Tony shoots), his workers, and in the end, he loses his life. Scarface  runs for a total of 170 minutes, just ten minutes shy of three hours.

3. Pulp Fiction written by Quentin Tarantino was a surprise hit when it was first released.  Starring Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, Samuel L. Jackson, and John Travolta (who’s career was rejuvenated because of his role as Vincent Vega). Pulp Fiction is structured around three different stories that all tie in together however since Quentin Tarantino favours a non-linear narrative, each story is out of sequence. Violence, suggestive language, and humour all play a vital role in this movie. The banter between Vincent Vega (Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Jackson) leaves you laughing uncontrollably, ironic since they are both hitmen. There is so much going on in this movie one has to watch it to understand how brilliant it really is. The soundtrack, the funny one-liners, and the characters will instantly make this one of your favourite movies. Most of us learned what a  “quarter-pounder with cheese” is called in France because of Pulp Fiction.

4. Donnie Brasco, based on a true story, stars Johnny Depp as Donnie Brasco, (real name Joe Pistone) who is an undercover FBI agent sent to infiltrate the New York Bonanno crime family. Donnie is a jewel “expert” and wins the respect of Lefty Ruggiero, played by none other than acting legend, Al Pacino. Lefty vouches for Donnie and is allowed into their network. As the story unfolds, Donnie becomes more intertwined in the underground world and becomes more like Donnie the gangster than Joe the FBI agent. The FBI decide they have enough evidence to charge the Bonanno family with crimes of extortion, gambling, and murder. They abruptly stop the undercover sting and get Joe out of harms way. The acting and the story in Donnie Brasco is so intriguing and so intense, you will feel sorry for Lefty by the end of the movie.

5. Carlito’s Way also stars Al Pacino as Carlito Brigante.  Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizamo, and Luis Guzman star alongside Al Pacino is this mafia movie classic. Carlito is a Puerto Rican ex-con that vows to lead a clean lifestyle. Once he is out of prison, Carlito decides to own a night club from money he took from a drug deal that went wrong and finds himself back in the life of crime. Carlito reluctantly assists in a prison break that also goes the wrong way. He then decides it’s best to leave town with his girlfriend, Gail, (played by Penelope Ann Miller). A chase ensues as Italian gangsters go after Carlito. We don’t want to give the ending away so we will stop here but it is highly recommended to watch this movie. Al Pacino gives another great performance.

There are so many great mafia movies to watch in your home theater. These five are just some of our favourites of this genre. If you have not seen any of these or have only seen a few, we recommend a night in with any of these five choices.