2020. See you later! What a totally horrible year. But we’ve made it to the end and while as a whole we are not out of the woods yet, it seems help is on the way. 2020 will go down as not a great year at the theaters as cineplexes have been effectively shut down since mid-March. But there have been some truly stellar releases on the home video side as more and more people were stuck at home.
So here I am once again counting down my favorite physical(!) releases of the year. If you’ve listened to my podcast, then you know that I will always be in favor of physical releases. Something is lost in streaming. And while major releases don’t always give the most substantial releases, boutique labels such as Scream Factory, Criterion and Warner Archive continue to give us fans a reason to buy physical copies of movies.
So, my dear movie and podcast friends I hope you enjoy my Top 20 Blu-ray releases of the year and maybe, just maybe I can convince you to purchase some of these amazing discs.
Number 18 : The Tom Cruise Trilogy: Top Gun, Days of Thunder and War of the Worlds
One of the greatest action stars ever has three of his best movies released on ultra-high definition to splendid results, and ok, Days of Thunder is not one of his best movies but it looks and sounds incredible in 4K.
Top Gun (1986)
Hangin’ with the Boys and flying jets. Possibly the most 80’s of all 80’s movies sees Peter “Maverick” Mitchell, a hot-shot Navy pilot who gets his wish to go to Top Gun, an elite flying school. Along for the ride is his wingman “Goose” (Anthony Edwards), a cocky rival “Iceman” (Val Kilmer) and a beautiful astrophysics instructor Charlie (Kelly McGillis).
The music, the actors, the stellar direction, everything is humming in Top Gun. This is really the movie that establishes Cruise as the go to actor for action with dramatic flair. Cruise has made better movies, but this is my favorite Tom Cruise movie. Cruise owns the screen, and you will find yourself cheering throughout the film, whether it’s Maverick picking up women in a bar, or taking down those pesky Russians, Top Gun is a blast.
Almost a perfect video from Corporate video production Toronto accompanies Top Gun on UHD. Top Gun has never looked better. Although it’s UHD Paramount has done an outstanding job not losing the original look of the film, they just made it look better.
Top Gun flies by the tower with a thundering upgrade in the audio department with Dolby Atmos now powering its home release. Sound is so important to Top Gun and this disc is one of the best on UHD.
Top Gun sees all the previous Blu-ray features released on a separate Blu-ray but it also has two new features on the UHD.
New: The Legacy of Top Gun: The lousy coronavirus pandemic delayed the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick until 2021 but this feature looks back at the original, but also ends with some scenes from Maverick. Interviews include Cruise, producer Jerry Bruckheimer , and director of Top Gun: Maverick Joseph Kosinski.
New: On Your Six: Thirty Years of Top Gun-This is a five part, roughly 30-minute look back at Top Gun. It’s really a fun exploration of the film with Cruise and crew members waxing poetically about the film.
Days of Thunder (1990)
Reuniting director Tony Scott with star Tom Cruise is a no brainer. Much like the plot of this movie. Days of Thunder follows hot shot NASCAR driver Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise) who is arrogant and dangerous! When he and rival driver Rowdy Burns are both seriously injured in an on track race, they must overcome their fears to race again.
Days of Thunder is silly. The dialogue and the characters are ridiculous. But I can’t help but smile when I watch it. Trickle’s introduction to the film is eye-rolling awesome, like he is so dangerous he has no business getting behind wheel of a race car! All of the silliness, however, is quickly forgotten when ever a race is happening on screen. Like he did in Top Gun, Tony Scott brings you into the driver seat like no one before. The music is great, the racing and direction are first class. Getting past the lameness of the story can be a challenge, but if you turn of your brain and just enjoy the ride, Days of Thunder is great popcorn fun.
Days of Thunder roars onto UHD with a first-place finish video presentation. Colors, textures, and overall film quality of the transfer is amazing. Texture on race suits are now razor sharp. A spectacular looking film.
Days of Thunder is a champ when it comes to audio. The cars thunder through the races and dialogue is handled well. The audio mix will shake your system appropriately
The new extras are just ok, I mean at least it’s more then the trailer that came on the old blu-ray.
Filmmaker Focus: Days of Thunder: Like all Paramount Focus features, it’s a too short discussion about the film with Jerry Bruckheimer. There is some good stuff here, but it needs to be longer.
Isolated Score Track: A music only audio track.
Days of Thunder is dumb. The film is also a lot of fun. It’s not Cruise’s best movie but it is really fun and the UHD is great.
War of the Worlds (2005)
When divorced father Ray (Tom Cruise) has custody of his kids, Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and Rachel (Dakota Fanning) for the weekend, they all assume it will be another awkward weekend with each other. Their world is soon invaded by alien attackers who are devastating the United States and the world. The aliens attack in the form of huge machines that can decimate cities and vaporize humans with one shot of its weapons. Now Ray and his children race out of New York City to reunite with his ex-wife in Boston.
War of the Worlds is an incredible film. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the director invokes the terrifying images of the September 11th attacks and grounds them in a sci-fi/horror film. But that is just one of the many layers to War of the Worlds. Behind the spectacle and stunning special effects is a dead-beat father forced to become a better father and person. Cruise is great in this movie. I believe it is one of his best performances in a film and one that is overlooked. At the beginning of the film, we do not like Ray, he’s a jerk and seems to have little interest in rebuilding his relationship with his children, but when the aliens attack, Ray must protect his children from death but also must repair a relationship he has damaged over time.
Expert direction, stunning visual effects and actors that are all on the top of their game make War of the Worlds an undisputed sci-fi classic.
War of the Worlds invades UHD with a perfect video transfer. Spielberg choose a steel blue color for most of the film, with ruby red blood when we learn the horrible secret of what powers the alien machines. The colors are beautifully rendered with pop where it should be. The clothes, buildings have incredible depth and texture. If there is a movie to show off your 4K set-up, it is War of the Worlds.
The sound in War of the Worlds is important, as the aliens have their own signature sound, and it is terrifying. The UHD disc is a flawless sound immersion experience. The sounds of lasers, tanks and war sound so real it will give you goosebumps.
The UHD does not have any new extras, but the accompanying blu-ray includes all previous extras that are pretty solid. You do owe it to yourself to watch the features as they delve into why the original film and radio play are important. Plus, anytime you can hear Spielberg talk about movies you are in for a treat.
War of the Worlds is an absolute must-own UHD. The movie is great and is bolstered by a perfect picture and sound upgrade.
Three classic Tom Cruise movies that should be a part of all movie fans UHD collection.
Top Gun
Film: A
Video: A+
Audio: A+
Extras: A
Overall: A
Days of Thunder
Film: B-
Video: A+
Audio: A
Extras: C-
Overall: B+
War of the Worlds
Film: A
Video: A+
Audio: A+
Extras: B+
Overall: A