TomConnors

Captain America: The First Avenger's 3-D presentation is almost as good as the "Avengers" presentation. Chris Evans plays the World War II genetically engineered superhero, as the story begins in that era. Steve Rogers was always small, but wanted nothing more than to serve his country like his friend 'Bucky' Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and finally got his chance when a German scientist, Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) offers him the chance of a lifetime, only to have the project fall short of a "Super-Soldier Army" thwarted by Nazi ally HYDRA research department headed by Johann Schmidt, also known as the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). Leaving Rogers the loan subject to be paraded around the country to gain support for the troops, until he gets word that his friend Bucky has been captured, and even though Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) tells him not to, Rogers saves his friend's life along with several other troops. In the wake of this event Rogers is awarded his own team to lead as they go in to clean up Nazi Germany. The film's climax is made up of events that lead up to modern day, and ushers us into the "Avengers" film. It is still a very satisfying film on it's own just the same.

Captain America is a top notch thrill ride, and is what we have come to expect out of Marvel headquarters. Along with a good looking 3-D Blu- Ray, it is well worthy addition to your library.

Jurassic Park is one of my all time favorite films, it is a masterpiece and a landmark in film history. For anyone unfamiliar with the story, the Steven Spielberg adaptation of the Michael Crichton novel is about a rich entrepreneur named John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) who has designed and built the world's first amusement park with live dinosaurs. Hammond needs specialists to sign off on the park before the insurance company will allow him to open for business so he enlists Dr. Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Sattler (Laura Dern), and Dr. Malcom (Jeff Goldblum) to take the ride through Jurassic Park, along with us. Of course after the ride begins things start to go wrong, due to sabotage, and chaos ensues as the dinosaurs take over the park.

The movie is a fast paced, suspenseful, and well done, in the tradition of "Jaws", not an exact reference of the source material but the version that was meant to be. The effects are still astounding and the movie still works 20 years later. The film's 20th anniversary 3-D convert is excellent. It has a lot of depth and the movie lends itself well to the added dimension. The movie was "sweetened" for the 3-D release, adding just some environmental elements for 3-D and the soundtrack was also tweaked to engulf the audience more.

The only new extra is a short featurette on the conversion of the film, that is also in 3-D, nice touch. The original blu-ray from the box set and a DVD is also included in the 3-D combo-pack. The extras on the blu-ray are a very good combination of older extras and a new documentary, which has counter parts on the sequels in the box set (or separate releases that are now available).The only changes are environmental objects for stereo- viewing, and the soundtrack has also been enhanced to engulf the audience. No there has been no real "changes" made, so no need to get upset that it is really more than what it is, a 3-D version of the classic film.

Well worth the upgrade, though I now have more copies of "Jurassic Park" than I can count…you want one???

3D Blu-Review... Marvel has given us a plethora of great entertainment the last few years leading up to the "The Avengers" last summer, part of that was introducing us to Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger the year before that. Both movies are available in 3-D, and the films actually both good as far as movies go, differ in the 3-D arena drastically. Thor tells us the story of the Norse god himself, living in Asgard, a beautiful world ran by Thor's (Chris Hemsworth) father, King Odin (Anthony Hopkins), and protected by Thor, his friends, and Thor's brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston). After a break in to the kingdom by what appears to be their old foes the Frost Giants, Thor and his entourage seek revenge for the invasion. Odin thwarts war just in time, and in turn banishes Thor to Earth, hoping he may learn a thing or two about becoming a King, and earn his rightful place on the throne. In the meantime Loki seems to be responsible for the events and is stirring up trouble behind the scenes, leading to Odin falling into a coma, and Loki taking the throne of Asgard.

On Earth Thor keeps running into a few scientists, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård), and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) who were chasing a storm that seemed to include Thor inside. Thor's friends start to smell something foul and question Loki, and try to find their friend on Earth. The climax ramps up and the action is well paced. Director Kenneth Branagh does good with the "Aquaman" of the Marvel Universe. I never felt Thor needed his own film, but it works.

What doesn't work so well in this film is the 3-D. It is very difficult to make out anything in any of the darker scenes. Some scenes work, but for the most part the 3-D presentation is lackluster at best. The 2-D version of the film is fine, but unfortunately I cannot recommend this movie in 3-D, a first for me.