The Best New Blu-Ray Releases: All Quiet On The Western Front, Plane, And More

Well, well, well, if it isn't our Blu-ray column, back at it again! This latest round-up of the best new Blu-rays you should check out features a couple of Oscar-winning pics, a great practical effects-heavy fantasy epic, a solid B-movie, and a follow-up to the surprisingly wonderful "Searching." In other words, there's a little bit for everyone here, and I hope you'll check some of these titles out, folks. Keep spinning those discs. Streaming comes and goes. Physical media is forever. 

War is hell in "All Quiet on the Western Front," the Oscar-winning Netflix adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's World War I novel. As an exercise in production, "All Quiet on the Western Front" is frequently staggering. The mud, blood, and overall chaos of life in the trenches is portrayed with stark, realistic horror. And Volker Bertelmann's droning, pounding, horror movie score sets the stage for something profoundly disturbing. But the film itself is somewhat limp — we learn almost nothing about the characters. They simply exist as grist for the mill; bodies to be blown apart and obliterated. All of this is seen through the eyes of Paul (Felix Kammerer), who joins the war with childish optimism and quickly realizes that he was dead wrong about everything. But Paul is a cipher. Is he completely devoid of character so that we, the audience, can easily place ourselves in his shoes? Perhaps, but that doesn't excuse such weak characterization. 

Still, "All Quiet on the Western Front" is overwhelming and effective when it portrays the horrors of war. There's nothing cool or exciting about the battles here. They're exercises in rampant death and destruction, and while the film itself can't match these moments, the moments themselves are effective enough to make the film pack a punch. Just don't plan on revisiting this multiple times, as the bleakness is bound to sap you of energy. However, Netflix doesn't often release physical copies of their films, so that might be worth the price alone. 

Special features:

• The 4K UHD features the original German audio (with English subtitles) in Dolby Atmos audio of the original and 4K Dolby Vision image for the perfect picture and sound quality. The mediabook packaging comes with a 24 page booklet that includes "SHARING THE GERMAN PERSPECTIVE" — a conversation with director Edward Berger and "A MACHINE OF DEATH UNLIKE ANY EXPERIENCED BEFORE" — an interview with historian and professor Daniel Schönpflug on the historical background of All Quiet On The Western Front.

I think it's safe to say we're all happy Brendan Fraser is back. Fraser was out of the limelight for a few years, but he returned in a major way with "The Whale," a film that won him a Best Actor Oscar. And I won't besmirch Fraser that award — he's the best part of Darren Aronofsky's latest. Yes, Fraser is buried under latex and a fat suit, and some have claimed issue with that. I personally don't have any problem with Fraser's make-up, but I do think "The Whale" is the weakest movie Aronofsky has made, and I say that as a fan of his work. Since this is based on a play, Aronofsky is stuck mostly in one location, and while he's done something similar with the wonderfully gonzo "mother!", the one-room location here saps the film of any life. 

And while Fraser is plenty empathetic as an overweight man slowly dying, the film is never as understanding as it thinks it is. In fact, it's downright cruel at times — scenes like the one where Fraser's character has little breakdowns and stuffs his face with food are meant to elicit deep emotions, but they come off as little more than cheap manipulation. Still, Fraser deserves his accolades, and I can only hope he moves on to better movies from here. He's got Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" on the way, and that's bound to be a step up. 

Special features:

• People Are Amazing: Making The Whale
• The Sounds of the Sea: Scoring The Whale

Matthew Robbins' 1981 fantasy epic "Dragonslayer" now has the 4K treatment, and fans of swords and sorcery would do well to take note. I'll confess I had never seen this flick until I scooped up the Blu-ray, and the end result was delightful. Sure, the pacing is a little wobbly, but there's a practical world of wizardry here that awes and entertains. The dragon alone, which is 100% practical, looks incredible. Watching it breathe fire and stalk its prey, I couldn't help but think that if they remade this movie today they'd saddle it with a painfully fake-looking CGI beast. Boring! 

In "Dragonslayer," a small village has made a pact with a fire-breathing dragon. The gist of it: the village will sporadically sacrifice a young virgin girl to the dragon, and the dragon, in turn, will leave the village alone. I'm not entirely sure how the dragon, who is portrayed as a straight-up animal and doesn't talk, agreed to this deal, but no matter. Meanwhile, a wizard's apprentice (Peter MacNicol) gets roped into saving the day and using magic to slay the dragon. But things don't go according to plan, and soon the dragon is very angry. And thus the stage is set for a battle against the towering, destructive creature. The end result is a fun, funny fantasy that will have you pining for the days of practical, tangible effects. 

Special features:

• THE SLAYER OF ALL DRAGONS: Step back in time with director/co-writer Matthew Robbins, dragon supervisor Phil Tippett, and ILM's visual effects master Dennis Muren as they revisit DRAGONSLAYER. Their stories and memories take viewers deep into the dragon's fiery lair as they recount the challenging journey from concept to screen.
• WELCOME TO CRAGGANMORE: A look back at the impact of Star Wars and its visual effects on Hollywood, the origin of DRAGONSLAYER and its screenplay, and the film's casting.
• A LONG WAY TO URLAND: Pre-production begins in England as the film takes shape. The young filmmakers seek gritty medieval realism through the production design, cinematography, and costumes.
• VERMITHRAX PEJORATIVE: The filmmakers take on the daunting task of bringing a dragon to life like never before, utilizing every ounce of movie magic available including Phil Tippett's breakthrough go-motion animation, cutting-edge practical animatronics, visual effects, and compositing.
• INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE: Production woes at every turn, horrific baby dragons, and the challenge of creating Vermithrax's iconic lair plague the filmmakers. Phil Tippett offers a mini-masterclass on crafting powerful creature performance through detailed animation.
• THE FINAL BATTLE: The team faces the unique challenges of the film's stage-bound climax, filmed entirely against a blue screen. Director Matthew Robbins looks back on the incredible work done in the final stages of film editing, the beautifully dense sound design, and Alex North's amazing score, which utilized pieces from his legendary unused 2001: A Space Odyssey score.

Sometimes you just need to watch a Gerard Butler movie, ya know? Butler has become one of the most marketable B-movie stars in the biz, churning out sturdy, lower-budget action pics that deliver more than some big-budget Hollywood blockbusters. His latest is "Plane," which has Butler playing a pilot who has to team up with a criminal (Mike Colter) after their plane has to make an emergency landing on an island populated with criminals and kidnappers. Can Butler and Colter save the day? What do you think?

"Plane" is not a great movie. It's not even very good. But it's a no-nonsense, no-frills action pic that gets the job done, and sometimes, that's enough. Butler excels in these sorts of roles, and he and Colter make a good team as they mow down bad guys and kick some ass. Why is an airplane pilot so good at fighting? Who cares?! Sure, there's some talk about Butler's character being a former military man, but that's just window dressing. All that matters is that he knows how to handle himself and fight his way through sinister villains, and he does so with gusto. 

Special features:

• This Is Your Captain
• Plane Clothes
• Brace for Turbulence

Every time I sit down to watch a ScreenLife movie — that is, a movie that takes place almost entirely on a laptop screen — I think, "There's no way this will be good." And almost every time, I'm pleasantly surprised! The on-screen format is a fun subversion of the found footage subgenre, and the film "Searching" is one of the best of the bunch. Now we have "Missing," a sort-of sequel that tells a new mystery story on various screens.

Teenager June (Storm Reid) is excited to have the house to herself when her mother (Nia Long) goes on an overseas vacation with her new boyfriend (Ken Leung). But when the couple vanishes seemingly into thin air, June grows frantic trying to figure out what happened, playing detective and hacking her mother's accounts to find answers. This allows "Missing" to drop one whopper of a twist after another, and while some of these twists strain credulity, "Missing" mostly works because it's easy to get wrapped up in the on-screen action. We spend so much of our modern lives looking at screens that it becomes almost comforting to watch a film entirely set within the world of computers, phones, and more. Should we question that comfort and ask why we spend so much time looking down instead of up? Probably, but those are questions for another day. 

Special features:

• Deleted Scenes
• Hunting for the MISSING Easter Eggs
• Behind-The-Scenes Featurettes:
  • Storm Reid and the Challenge of MISSING
  • Misdirects, Online Crimes and the Social Media Mystery
  • The Screens that Rule Our Lives
• Filmmaker Commentary