Monday, October 29, 2012

DVD Review - 4 Movie Collection: Hollow Man/ Hollow Man 2/ Fortress 2/ The Harvest


4 Movie Collection: Hollow Man/ Hollow Man 2/ Fortress 2/ The Harvest
Directors: Paul Verhoeven; Claudio Fäh; Geoff Murphy; David Marconi
Starring: Elisabeth Shue, Kevin Bacon, Josh Brolin, Peter Facinelli, Laura Regan
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment 
ASIN: B008XAT0OG
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Running Time: 394 minutes
Rated R

Review:

I've always been a fan of The Invisible Man film series that blended horror and science fiction together. Tower PR and Mill Creek Entertainment kindly sent me a complementary copy of the two discs movie collection, containing Hollow Man, Hollow Man 2, Fortress 2, and The Harvest, for me to review.

Hollow Man is an updated version of The Invisible Man that was released back in 2000. Kevin Bacon plays Sebastian Caine, a scientist, who has created a serum that can turn a gorilla invisible, but now he wants to experiment on himself despite the objections of his ex-girlfriend Dr. Linda McKay (played by Elizabeth Shue)and her boyfriend Dr. Matt Kensington (played by Josh Brolin). Within days, Sebastian starts to go mad with his new power of invisibility. At first he is just pranking his fellow colleagues, but then he starts killing them one by one.

I saw Hollow Man when if first came out and now again on DVD. It's not as bad as other reviewers have claimed it to be. Yes, the characters are not well developed, but horror movies never have much character depth. Even twelve years later, the special effects are pretty amazing.

Hollow Man 2 was released direct-to-DVD six years after the original. The government has been experimenting with the invisibility serum by injecting it into a soldier, Michael Griffin (played by Christian Slater). Of course he goes a little mad, killing innocent people at random. His next target is Dr. Maggie Dalton, who may or may not have a cure for him. Hot on his trail is Detective Frank Turner, who is assigned to protect Maggie. The only way Turner can stop Griffin is to have the serum injected into himself.

My expectations for Hollow Man 2 were low as I don't care much for direct-to-DVD sequels that don't need to be made. The movie isn't connected to any of the events or characters of the first film. Griffin is already invisible at the beginning of the movie and the back-story is briefly explained in flashbacks. There are several well-known actors in it, but the plot is clichéd and predictable. The special effects are average of at best. Overall, Hollow Man 2 is an okay sequel thanks to the twist with the second Hollow Man. 

Fortress 2: Re-entry is set ten years after the events of the first film, where John Brennick (played once again by Christopher Lambert) is living in North America with is new wife and son, but his happiness is about to be ruined. Three strangers appear asking him to them destroy Men-Tel's new power station. He declines their offer, but within moments Men-Tel helicopters appear. Jon lets himself be captured so his wife and son can escape. This time John is put into a space prison a satellite orbiting the Earth, in which it is the inmates' job to repair it.

I've never seen the first movie, which I heard was good, so I had low expectations when I started to watch the sequel. Yes, the dialogue is predictable and the plot is clichéd, but considering it was a direct-to-video it has decent special effects and acting in it. It's not the greatest science fiction movie ever made, but I had fun watching it.

The Harvest was released in 1992 and is about a screenwriter Charlie Pope (played by Miguel Ferrer) who goes to Mexico in the hope of curing his writer's block. He meets a beautiful woman, Natalie, but later he wakes up with a kidney missing. His kidney has gone into the human organs black-market. As he attempts to return the states, the people responsible want his other kidney.

I have never heard of this movie and the plot has been done to death, but there are several twists and turns that kept me interested. There's also a cameo by George Clooney. 

Hollow Man (Director's Cut) is in 1:85:1 aspect ratio with English 5.1 audio. Hollow Man 2 is in 2:40:1 aspect ratio with English 5.1 audio. Fortress 2: is in 1:85:1 aspect ratio with English 5.1 audio. The Harvest is in 1:33:1 with English 2.0 audio.

This 2 disc set is a mix of horror, science fiction, and action movies. My favorite would have to be Hollow Man, which is a perfect movie to watch around Halloween. The film quality is really good considering there are two movies per disc. Overall, I enjoyed watching the movies and I recommend the set to others.


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