The Nativity Story (2006)

Joseph: If I claim this child as mine, it will be lying. I would have broken a law laid down by God.
Mary: I would never ask you to lie.
Joseph: If I say this child is not mine, they will ask what I'm going to do. If I accuse you...
Mary: There is a will for this child greater than my fear of what they may do.

Director:  Catherine Hardwicke
Producer:  Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Toby Emmerich, Cale Boyter, Tim Van Relim, Mike Rich, Catherine Hardwicke
Main Cast:  Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Issac, Ciarán Hinds
Runtime:  101 minutes

Many years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the book if Isaiah (written around the 750 BC mark) foretold the coming of the Messiah “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” And also quite specifically the book of Micah, again written in a similar time foretold not just the Messiah’s birth but more specifically where He would be born “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
The movie in review today is very relevant for the celebration of Christmas cause it is a day set aside (much like Easter) I, as a Christian, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  So what better time than to post a review of a film that is directly about the birth of Christ.

There are not too many movies that feature the historic event of the birth of Jesus Christ with only King of Kings (1961) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) instantly coming to mind but they dealt with not just the birth of Jesus but also his ministry, crucifixion and resurrection whilst The Nativity Story just deals with the time before Joseph and Mary were betrothed/engaged up to the birth of Jesus, so it is quite unique in that way.  Thankfully It is not cheesy (for example the movie about the book of Esther in the Bible called One Night with the King which, sadly, is really bad) nor does it take too many liberties but tells the story in a simple yet honest way.  

The movie begins with Roman soldiers obeying the command from king Herod to go into Bethlehem and kill all male children 2 years old and younger in fear of what that prophets said that a King will arise and rule Israel.  The film then shifts one year prior to these events and tells the story of the circumstances that led up to when Jesus was born.  How Mary was told she was going to be with child, her engagement with Joseph, the wise man, the trip back to Bethlehem in order to comply with the censor and of course the seeming threat to Herod that caused him to issue the decree to kill all males under the age of two.

Overall this is certainly one of the better productions and to my knowledge one of the only ones that deals pretty much solely with the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ.  There are no real big names in actors or actresses yet the film comes across quite well and even the production is very well done along with the recreation of the old towns and cities.  From a biblical point of view there isn’t really much to knock about it, at least nothing of great importance.  It seems to be a reasonably accurate depiction of the events as told in the Bible which is a breath of fresh air.  Sure there are “three” wisemen in the movie when the Bible never specifies a number but really that’s not particularly important in telling the main story.  I was impressed when I first saw the film and remain so even now, though some of the acting can seem a little stiff but the story is told very well revealing even the difficulties of such circumstances could bring.

The DVD reviewed is the Australian version and is basically barebones with only a teaser trailer and theatrical trailer included.  The image quality is good and brings us a sharp image to the screen, even in the dark scenes, in its 1.78:1 aspect ratio.  The sound comes in both Dolby 5.1 and Dolby 2.0 flavours and sounds fine, though I am sure the leap to Bluray would be a good boost to both visual and image quality.  The extras as stated above are two trailers.

Overall this is a great movie that brings out the story of Jesus’ birth quite well whilst refraining from that Hollywood fling of razzle, dazzle and odd liberties in storytelling.  Even the scene where the Angel visits Mary is quite calm and ordinary unlike what Hollywood would normally try to do with such things.  It is a great story and well worth watching, though nothing really beats reading the account yourself in the Bible particularly in the book of Luke, but the film does flesh it out quite well.  

On this Christmas day the film serves a good reminder of what the day is all about for Christians around the world and causes us to remember that Jesus is the reason for the season, not some podgy fella in a red and white suit ;)   

Movie      
Image      
Disc

A Christmas Story (1983)

Flick: Are you kidding? Stick my tongue to that stupid pole? That's dumb!
Schwartz: That's 'cause you know it'll stick!
Flick: You're full of it!
Schwartz: Oh yeah?
Flick: Yeah!
Schwartz: Well I double-DOG-dare ya!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] NOW it was serious. A double-dog-dare. What else was there but a "triple dare you"? And then, the coup de grace of all dares, the sinister triple-dog-dare.
Schwartz: I TRIPLE-dog-dare ya!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Schwartz created a slight breach of etiquette by skipping the triple dare and going right for the throat!

Director:  Bob Clark
Producer:  Rene Dupont, Bob Clark
Main Cast:  Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Peter Billingsley and Ian Petrella
Runtime:  94 minutes

Some movies will hang around for a while then fade away into nothing whilst others will stick around only to re-emerge year after year.  In this case, A Christmas Story is one of those films that just keep coming back particularly for the North American viewers.  When released in 1983 the movie was so popular that people actually complained when it went finished at the cinema so they ended up running it again in select cinemas.  If that’s not enough proof that it has a big following, let’s just say that between 8pm Christmas Eve and 6pm Christmas day the show plays a phenomenal 12 times on American TV in that 24-hour period.  So yes, it is very popular and for good reason as it really is a classic family Christmas comedy that will stick in your mind for years to come.
I have included a link for the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvMLfSQrHKE

Growing up, each one of us no doubt had a dream to get something specific for Christmas.  Perhaps we would drop hints or just blatantly blurt it out to whoever asked us, but for Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) his greatest desire was to get a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun to defend his family from both imaginary and real suspicious characters like Scut Farkas (Zack Ward) that threaten him and his family.  
The story is narrated by an adult Ralphie as he reflects on one particular Christmas that would stick in his mind for the rest of his life.  A Christmas with the usual snow, school and toys but also at this time the difficult job of convincing his mother (Melinda Dillon) and father (Darren McGavin) of his need for the BB gun even after being told the most formidable thing one could imagine “you’ll shoot your eye out”.  Heck, even the shopping centre Santa Claus tells him that, yet he still remains hopeful.  

Set in the 1940’s the whole family performs brilliantly from the young Randy (Ian Petrella) who plays a typical young kid who doesn’t like to eat (Meatloaf, smeatloaf, double-beatloaf. I hate meatloaf.), to the father who battles with his Oldsmobile (brand of car) and furnace, the mother who is like your average everyday mother who tends to sacrifice so much to try to be the best she can and of course to Ralphie the dreamer.  Such a great cast who are skilfully directed and work together so well in a very natural sorta way.  In fact, it’s not hard to see a glimpse of my own childhood in this, though naturally not in America and not in the 40’s!  

Often a narrated story can feel odd however here it fits in perfectly as an adult Ralphie gives context to some of the actions of those around him almost leaving you with the impression that your gazing into the life of a real suburban 1940’s family along with the pain, tears, struggles, laughter and joy that comes with it.  There is the occasional blaspheming but overall I don’t recall any swearing or other questionable scenes (apart from the leg lamp) so it is family safe.  
If you are super keen, you can even travel to the U.S. and see the house in the film which has been restored to match the house in the film, both inside and out, including the mandatory Leg Lamp.  How’s that for keen.

The 20th Anniversary DVD reviewed was released in 2003 and imported from the U.S. and whilst it’s  no longer available, you can get a single DVD version with no extras (be sure to get the widescreen version!) and even a Bluray which has a similar bunch of features as the DVD in review but just don’t expect a big jump in image or sound quality.
The two disc DVD edition gives a pretty good image and certainly much better than the first version of the DVD that came out (this is my second dipping of this movie on DVD, the first was in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio and the image was, by memory, not that good at all) but the image presented really adds to the 40’s feel of the film so it wouldn’t surprise me if this was specifically intended by the director.  The DVD has the film in two versions of the film one in the old 1.33:1 aspect ratio (remember that widescreen TV’s were not thought of back in 1983 so the 4:3 image would cater for those who loved the movie on VHS and those old near square TV’s) for those who want to relive the show exactly how they remember it and we also have the widescreen 16:9 enhanced image in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio (fills up your widescreen TV) which is what I used here for the review.  The sound is a simple Dolby Digital mono that is effective for the film and the voices are quite clear.  

The two DVD’s give us the following extras:

• Commentary by Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon and Bob Clark
• Original readings by Jean Shepherd (the voice narrator of A Christmas Story)
• Another Christmas Story documentary
• Get a Leg Up and A History of The Daisy Red Ryder featurettes
• Triple Dog Dare interactive trivia
• Decoder match challenge
• Hidden Easter Eggs
• Original Theatrical Trailer

The “Hidden Easter Eggs” above are basically hidden special features that used to be popular in the early days of DVD but not really common these days.  There are a bunch of good extras on this DVD edition and the image quality is really quite good.  The commentary will give you quite a bit of interesting information and the extras are a bonus.
Apart from the DVD and Bluray format you can legally stream the film from your favourite steaming service like Google Play for a reasonable cost and even buy a HD version should you want to watch it more than once, which is likely ☺

Overall this is one of those Christmas movie classics that I am sure will last many more years to come.  It may not be a perfect movie but I suspect the reason why it is so popular is that it reaches out to the kid in us all and that is what keeps it coming back year after year.  Do yourself a favour and give this one a whirl when you want a not-so-serious movie around the Christmas period.

Movie        
Image  
Disc  

Iron Sky (2012)

Renate Richter: Please do me a favor: Play a Nazi!
James Washington: And if I don't?
Renate Richter: They will eliminate you.
James Washington: Oh great.

Director:  Timo Vuorensola
Producers:  Oliver Damian, Tero Kaukomaa, Cathy Rodda, Samuli Torssonen
Main Cast:  Julia Dietze, Christopher Kirby, Götz Otto, Vivian Wagner, Stephanie Paul
Runtime:  93 minutes and 110 minutes (Directors Cut)

What if things were not as they seemed?  What if the Nazi’s sent people and resources to the moon at the end of WW2 in 1945 to prepare for an eventual return to earth as the fourth Reich?  Iron Sky is a Finnish-German-Australian production that deals with that funny yet interestingly weird scenario.  The Nazi’s had possession of UFO type technology at the end of the war and upon losing the war they fled to the moon to build numbers and resources for an eventual return to earth.  Many in the moon colony had the understanding that they would return to earth in peace and to relay their thoughts and plans to make a better earth, but secretly they intended to return for war.

Whilst I can explain what the movie is about, I found that I was giving away too much of the fun stuff to explore, so I will let the DVD cover give the explanation ☺

“Towards the end of World War II the Nazi scientists made a significant breakthrough in anti-gravity. From a secret base built in the Antarctic, the first Nazi spaceships were launched in late ‘45 to found the military base Schwarze Sonne (Black Sun) on the dark side of the Moon. This base was to build a powerful invasion fleet and return to take over the Earth once the time was right.

Now it’s 2018, and it’s the time for the first American Moon landing since the 70’s. Meanwhile the Nazi invasion, that has been over 70 years in the making, is on its way, and the world is goose-stepping towards its doom.”

OK, there we have it.  Moon Nazi’s end up invading earth though this time it will not be in their Messerschmitt bf 109 planes or Panzer tanks!  For those who like a WW2 movie but don’t want anything too serious (like the wonderful Kelly’s Heroes), this is a film that will fit the bill.  The movie does not take itself seriously but is really a lot of fun with fantastic special effects with that mix of old school metal design mixed with modern tech.  Whilst the idea seems ridiculous, a lot of the film is based off unofficial/unproven theories, ideas and plans that were supposedly taken from the Nazi’s at the end of WW2 (the Germans were more technically advanced than the Allies during the war).  There is a lot more to it than that but let’s just say the movie takes these ideas and fleshes them out in a BIG way.  I will let you do some digging around if you want to find out more about these rumours/theories.

There is one part of the movie which really plays off a part of the fantastic 2004 German movie Downfall which is about Hitler’s last days.  As Hitler realises the war has been lost he goes off at his generals (see a version on Youtube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7PmzdINGZk) and likewise one of the characters responsible for the campaign to re-elect the existing President of the United States mimics the same fit of rage that Hitler had in Downfall.  Sadly, I guess it will go mostly unnoticed by viewers who have not seen the German film but for those who have seen it, it’s a crack up (again, apart from the language used).

Whilst there is some swearing throughout the film, I would have to say that I really enjoyed the movie in its mix of old and modern sci-fi action comedy theme.  The comments and actions are often hilarious and it’s a movie that will be enjoyed as long as you don’t take it too seriously and don’t expect a deep engrossing story.  I have enjoyed every viewing of it and to be honest it keeps getting better, but I can have an odd taste and sense of humour sometimes!

The Bluray reviewed is the “Dictators Cut” which is about 17 minutes longer than the normal version and it was imported from the UK.  You can buy the theatrical cut Bluray/DVD in Australia for as low as $10 which is a bargain.  The image looks great in its 2.4:1 aspect ratio but you will notice that the visuals lack a bit of colour when on the moon as it is designed to be bleak and grey (except for the reds) but the footage on earth is full of punch and colourful.  The sound is in the DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 and packs enough bang to challenge a Tiger tank.

The Dictators Cut also includes the following extra features:

• 32-Page concept art book
• The 75 minute Making of Iron Sky

Overall It’s a very competent movie that was made (and partly crowd funded) on a slim budget thus making it a “B” movie.  The effects are fantastic, story wild and unreal in many parts yet very enjoyable and comes highly recommended especially if you like the idea of a WW2 and sci-fi mixed themed film with a decent dose of sci-fi and comedy thrown in for the mix.

Movie      Image Disc