Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer – 111 minutes – 1993 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 2.35:1 – DTS 5.1 Audio Mix

Back in 1991 in the wave of the black filmmaker explosion, one movie that stood out from the bunch was the urban crime thriller New Jack City, directed by actor Mario Van Peebles (the son of legendary black filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles). It got people interested in Peebles and temporarily pushed him to the A-list in Hollywood. Peebles would follow-up with 1993’s black cowboy film Posse, but made the mistake of making himself the star of the movie, and making you think it should have been called “Peebles” instead of Posse. Available for the first time in the high definition format, Posse is comes to Blu-ray from MGM.

THE MOVIE

The story takes place in 1898 during the Spanish-American War where a soldier named Jesse (Mario Van Peebles), who is part of troop being commanded by a sadistic Colonel named Graham (Billy Zane). Not wanting to put any black soldier in charge of anything, Graham puts a white criminal named Little J (Stephen Baldwin) in charge of leading an all black pack of soldiers across enemy lines to steal a shipment of weapons. The shipment is captured, but they quickly discover that it’s not weapons, it’s a Spanish gold coins, and they realize they’ve been conned by the Graham. They decide to take the gold for themselves and escape to Cuba, enraging Graham, who sets out to hunt them all down and kill them.

The movie stars various black actors (and of course rappers) who were popular in the early 90’s, including Blair Underwood, Big Daddy Kane, Tiny Lister. Tone Loc, Charles Lane, as well as some classic old school faces like Isaac Hayes, Pam Grier, and yes…Nipsey Russell. At the time this may have sounded like a good choice, but watching the film 18 years later this instantly dates the movie. And being that this is already a period based film that was a hard feat to do.

One of the main problems with the film is that there are far too many characters, and none of them have been fleshed out and instead become clichés of the western genre. There’s the outlaw, the gambler, the corrupt official, the innocent kid, and of course the one hot Native American love interest. Jesse’s character that is supposed to be the glue to everyone else, never really gives you a chance to care about him. He’s supposed to be a tortured renegade, who you should be rooting for as he seeks revenge for what has been done to him in the past, but it’s hard when Peebles is walking around showing a much time his spent in the gym and mugging for the camera.

The history of black cowboys in the west is a very interesting topic that has yet to be seriously displayed in a motion picture. Posse at first seems like it’s going to tap into this, but then quickly becomes an over-stylized hip-hop cowboy flick that can’t be taken seriously. Peebles should have stepped back and given himself a minor role as he did with New Jack City. If this film had a more memorable lead character and the music video style of shooting was toned down, the results would have been very different.

Posse is best if you don’t take it seriously, and if you’re aware of who Tone Loc is. Fans of the western will most likely not find anything here interesting, because Unforgiven it is not. One day the black cowboy subject will be tackled in a proper manner, because it does make for an interesting time in history. Posse has not stood up the to test of time like New Jack City did, and I wonder if it would have been a better movie if Wesley Snipes was in the lead role, because his charisma stole the show in New Jack.

VIDEO

The big surprise here is that the transfer for this catalogue film is very well done with a full 1080p image in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Image quality is sharp and the brown tones make for a perfect setting to the gritty style. Colors are saturated and dirty, but in a cowboy flick it works well. Blacks are also nicely balanced, and this film has many night scenes that have very little grain, which is impressive. One scene that stands out is a sequence where the posse is riding on horseback through snow-covered terrain. Here the white snow is overexposed making the scene look like an old photograph, which barely have any hints of color. If more care went into the story as was implemented in the photography, this would have been a homerun.

AUDIO

Presented in 5.1 DTS Digital, Posse is also a winner in the sound department. Dialogue is clear, and the sound effects are completely exaggerated, with bullets zipping by like you’re watching The Matrix, but it all makes for a solid surround sound experience. Being that this is more of a hip-hop western, the music is more pulsing than you would expect from a film in this genre. Overall, the sound mix is well constructed for a film close to two decades old and better than most new Blu-rays that are currently out there.

EXTRAS

The only bonus feature this has, if you can even call is that, is the film’s theatrical trailer. Hey, what is this? A LaserDisc?

BOTTOM LINE

Posse will never be considered a classic, and serves more as a demo reel for Mario Van Peebles trying to be an action hero. For a film nearly 20 years old, the image and sound quality for this Blu-ray are top notch. Unless you already saw this film all those years ago when it came out and are curious for nostalgic reasons, it may be hard to watch this film now. One day there will be a true film about black cowboys, so it is suggested that you wait for that movie to come.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 2.5

Video: 4.0

Sound: 4.0

Extras: 0.0

Bottom Line: 2.5

Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Echo Bridge Entertainment – 94 minutes – 1999 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 1.85:1 – DTS 5.1 Audio Mix

The first From Dusk Till Dawn movie became a cult film thanks to the names behind it, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriquez. The straight to video sequel, Texas Blood Money, did not have the cool factor of the original, but that didn’t stop anyone from making a third film. The latest film in the trilogy, which is actually a prequel, From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter comes to Blu-ray from Echo Bridge Entertainment. If you though the second film was a bad, just wait until you see this one.

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Reviewed by Johnny McNair

20^th Century Fox – 105 minutes – 2011 – Rated PG-13/Unrated – 1080p Widescreen 2.40:1 – DTS 5.1 Audio Mix – Digital Copy

Most people have probably wished they could just take a pill and it would make them better. Not make the pain go away better, we’re talking a more superior human being. This is the premise for the thriller Limitless that dares to show you what could happen if the average person who only uses a small portion of their brain could unlock the rest of it. Limitless is available on Blu-ray from 20^th Century Fox, and dares you to be better than everyone around you.

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Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Magnolia – 90 minutes – 2011 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 2.35:1 – DTS 7.1 Audio Mix – Digital Copy

It’s hard not to watch Vanishing on 7^th Street and not think it’s an M. Night Shyamalan movie. It does have similarities in the way it’s set up and how the characters are outlined, and even stars one of the actors from a previous Shyamalan film. Mr. Shyamalan has nothing to do with this production, so whether or not you like it or hate it, remove him from your thoughts. The dark thriller Vanishing on 7^th Street comes to Blu-ray from Magnolia, hoping to creep you out in all the right places, and in some ways it’s effective, but you may also feel that you’ve seen it all before.

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Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Sony Pictures – 103 minutes – 2011 – Rated PG-13 – 1080p Widescreen 2.40:1 – DTS 5.1 Audio Mix

Like most I am a huge fan of horror movies, but it is the hardest genre to please me because The Exorcist is still in my opinion the best horror/supernatural film ever made, and everything else is far down on the list. So when I see any film being compared to the mighty Exorcist I will proceed with caution, because that’s an impossible mission to accomplish. The latest horror movie trying to take out the king is Insidious made by the creators of the Saw series, and now available on Blu-ray from Sony.

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Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Sony Pictures – 116 minutes – 2011 – Rated PG-13 – 1080p Widescreen 2.40:1 – DTS 5.1 Audio Mix – DVD Copy

There are quite a few movies about alien invasions coming out of Hollywood lately. Are they trying to tell us something? Or just cash in on a trend? And why is Los Angeles a prime target? First there was Skyline, which had extraterrestrials attacking the City of Angles, and barely a few months later a new crop of aliens from another world have put LA in their death target in Battle Los Angeles. It must suck to be in a city with a fault line that can collapse at any minute being hit with constant explosions, but California is tougher than it looks. Battle Los Angeles hits Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures, and though it may sound like a B-Movie, this one is actually works better than most.

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Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Starz/Anchor Bay – 104 minutes – 2010 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 1.78:1 – DTS 5.1 Audio Mix

The American economy is suffering, and at this time there is no relief in sight. Everyday we see stories in the news about families losing their homes because people have loss their jobs and can’t get themselves back on track because companies have downsized. The stories usually focus on the lower and middle classes of America, but even the households making over $150,000 a year have also taken a hit. This is the topic that the movie The Company Men focuses on. If you’re a person who only made $30,000 a year and lost your job, you probably could care less if some Jr. CEO making four-times more lost his gig, but the film tries to show how both ends are effected. The Company Men comes to Blu-ray from Starz/Anchor Bay attempting to give a look at the sign of the times.

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Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Summit Entertainment  – 104 minutes – 2011 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 1.78:1 – Dolby DTS HD 5.1 Audio Mix – 2D and 3D versions

What the hell happened to Nicolas Cage’s career? I used to love this guy because he could pull off action, comedy, and drama, play the good guy or the bad guy and you still root for him. Sure he’s having some financial troubles and his most recent batch of films haven’t exactly had folks lining up at the box office, (though he was awesome in Kick Ass). His latest film, Drive Angry, is a spin on the gritty Grindhouse style 70’s films, with the added feature of being shot in 3D. Drive Angry comes to Blu-ray 3D from Summit Entertainment, but viewers beware, this is one bumpy and ugly ride.

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From Dusk Till Dawn / From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money

Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Echo Bridge Entertainment – 195 minutes – 1996-1999 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 1.78:1 – DTS 5.1 / DTS-HD 2.0 Audio Mix

There are two types of people; those who think the Robert Rodriguez / Quentin Tarantino team up From Dusk Till Dawn is complete crap, and then there are those who think the film is brilliant. Which side of the fence you stand on can either win you friends or enemies, but the fight will be interesting. The 1996 cult film From Dusk Till Dawn has been released as a solo Blu-ray, as well as being lumped together in a combo pack with the awful straight to video sequel From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, distributed by a company called Echo Bridge Entertainment. Up front you should know that if you love From Dusk Till Dawn, you are going to hate this Blu-ray.

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Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Disney – 109 minutes – 2011 – Rated PG-13 – 1080p Widescreen 1.85:1 – Dolby DTS 5.1 Audio Mix – DVD – Digital Copy

Because of the success of I Am Legend, the wave of “I Am…” movies was inevitable. Though the premise is miles away from Mr. Smith’s blockbuster hit, the mouse house goes for a younger audience with I Am Number Four, which is basically the TV show Smallville meets Twilight meets Harry Potter. There was plenty of hype surrounding this film when it hit theaters earlier this year, but it came and went so fast that it may not have found its target audience. I Am Number Four is now available on Blu-ray from Disney, and though it’s not the start of an epic that it’s hoping to be, it does offer some entertaining thrills.

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