HOME CINEMA CHOICE SEPTEMBER 2019
90 DON'T LOOK NOW 4K/KISS ME DEADLY
Kiss Me Deadly
Used Cars
Do the Right Thing
The best of the many screen
adaptations of Mickey Spillane’s
Mike Hammer stories, Robert
Aldrich’s brutal 1955 fi lm noir
ditched many elements of the
original novel and reworked the
story as a gripping piece of Cold War paranoia. Sourced from
a 35mm fi ne-grain master positive, Criterion’s BD image brings
a fresh clarity and depth to the black-and-white photography.
Solid extras include a chat-track by two fi lm noir experts,
documentary extracts about Spillane and screenwriter A.I
Bezzerides, and an appreciation by fi lmmaker Alex Cox. AvBThe brainchild of Robert
Zemeckis and Bob Gale, this
down ’n' dirty 1980 screwball
comedy stars Kurt Russell as a
slick used car salesman pulling
every underhanded trick he can
think of in order to head off rival car lot owner Roy L. Fuchs
(Jack Warden). Thankfully, this UK Blu-ray release is no lemon- on top of a pleasingly organic 1080p encode and a choice of
LPCM dual mono and DTS-HD MA 5.1 remixed audio, it also
packs plenty of extras. Highlights include a chatty commentary
from Zemeckis, Gale and Russell, and an archival TV ad,
featuring Russell, for the lot where the fi lm was shot. AvB
Spike Lee’s frank, ferocious and
frequently funny fl ick about
simmering racial tensions in
a Brooklyn neighbourhood on
the hottest day of the year has
turned 30 – and to celebrate
Criterion has cooked up the perfect birthday present. As good as
Universal’s 2013 Blu-ray was, this double-disc release trumps it,
starting with a new 4K remaster bursting with searing colours
and intricate textures. There's a mountain of new and archival
extras too, including a commentary, documentaries,
appreciations and much, much more. AvBThe Criterion Collection « Region B BD
£28Eureka Classics « Region B BD
£18The Criterion Collection « Region B BD
£28Arcade Action
Bigscreen home entertainment isn’t just about movies
anymore. Rik Henderson checks out a videogame vying
for time on your home cinema system...Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
Activision « PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch « £35
The current generation of gaming has been largely dominated by
one thing: the last. There has been an unprecedented amount of
remasters, remakes, reboots and revivals. It’s enough to make you
re-each for the off switch.
However, while many of them simply make you realise why they
weren’t even that well liked the fi rst time around, there are a few
that don’t even seem like a remake. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
is very much in that latter camp. Indeed, we’d go as far to say that
it’s among the top two karting games for this generation – Mario
Kart 8 Deluxe being the other.
Nitro-Fueled is a ground-up rebuild of the PS One classic.
Everything has been tweaked and enhanced to work on a modern
console. It's bright, colourful and, most importantly, great fun.
At its heart, it remains a traditional kart racing game, with
pick-ups and weapons on the track and diff erent characters and
vehicles available to drive. However, there is also plenty to collect,
especially throughout the game’s adventure modes that sport
multiple tracks inside a pseudo open-world environment. Here
you'll fi nd boss battles that put to shame many rival racers.
Although the game is cartoonish in nature, featuring all the Crash
Bandicoot faves from his platform outings, it isn’t really for younger
kids. In fact, it’s rock-hard at times, requiring some deft control over
the kart and an understanding on when to drift and boost around
each track in order to win.
Handling is great, though, so while it might frustrate when you
come in second for the umpteenth time, you'll be happy to race
again and again. Diff erent gameplay modes add longevity, too.
As well as the seriously overblown but appropriate colour palette,
which pops in HDR on a compatible TV, character and animation
design is superb. The game runs at 30fps almost across the board,
with a slight jump in resolution on the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X.
And regardless of your platform, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
is a superb renovation of a much-loved classic that feels like
a brand-new game.