About this product: Explore the mysterious Amazon through this Academy Award-nominated film. Amazon celebrates the beauty, vitality and wonder of the rapidly disappearing rain forest. Filmmakers overcame many difficulties to photograph this rarely seen tropical landscape and present it with all the visual power associated with IMAX. Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Linda Hunt, this unique collaboration between an American scientist and a tribal shaman on a mission to find rare medicinal plants will amaze and astound you.
About this product: Explore the mysterious Amazon through the amazing IMAX (R) experience and celebrate the beauty, vitality and wonder of this magical rain forest, which is disappearing at an alarming rate. Filmmakers overcame many difficulties to photograph this rarely seen tropical landscape and present it with all the visual power associated with IMAX. Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Linda Hunt, this unique collaboration between an American scientist and a tribal shaman on a mission to find rare medicinal plants will amaze and astound you.
About this product: In the depths of the lush, steamy Amazon jungle, rife with exotic life forms, a group of adventurers embarks on a quest to discover a legendary river reportedly filled with diamonds "the size of your eyes" as well as precious jewels and gold, and in the process finds itself enveloped in incomprehensible barbarism. At the mercy of this mysterious jungle labyrinth, the treasure hunters are forced into fierce battles with determined cannibals, ruthless headhunters, ferocious alligators, piranhas, a tribe of topless female warriors, and, equally disturbing - the greed of their own colleagues, raising the question "Which is more treacherous - the greed of man or the perils of the jungle?" Created by one of Mexico's most famous exploitation and action/adventure film directors, Rene Cardona, Jr., this film has been labeled "One of the best Indiana Jones style films seen". Bonus Features: Original Trailer| Scene Selection Menu| Bios| Bonus Adventure Trailers. Specs: DVD5; Dolby Digital Stereo; 104 minutes; 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - R; Year - 1985; SRP - $5.99.
About this product: In a feature-length special shot on location in the Brazilian rainforest, we recount the story of intrepid adventurers who tried to tame the Amazon, and investigate tales of heroism, greed, and death in this hostile region. From Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Ford to Hiram Bingham, who uncovered Machu Picchu, we travel through time along this magnificent river, and meet unsung hero Walter Earnest Hardenberg, whose bravery brought one of the most harrowing tales of human torture in the 20th century to world attention. We also join ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes, who embarked on an adventure to seek the botanical source of a plant known as curare, a muscle relaxant that's derivatives are used in surgery today. The Amazon has challenged these adventurers to perform acts of almost superhuman endurance, inspired folly in the cautious, bravery in the coward, and brought great men to their knees. (shot in HD)
About this product: Diamonds Of Kilimandjaro An expedition consisting of members of a British family and an expert hunter penetrate deep into the jungles of darkest Africa. The team searches for treasure, and for Diana, an English girl who was lost in the jungles as a child. Diana is now a beautiful young woman who lives with a tribe of savage headhunters, the Mabutos. Sexy Katja Bienert stars as the naked goddess worshipped by the savage cannibals. Director Jess Franco takes the Tarzan concept and twists it into an amazing world of sex and cannibals. Golden Temple Amazons A tribe of Amazons is zealously guarding a mysterious fortress built on top of a gold mine. Uruck and his cruel, sadistic mistress Rena rule the tribe. Some 15 years ago an explorer discovered their golden temple, and the Amazons who were intent on protecting their secret slaughtered both him and his wife. However, their daughter, Liana, was spared and grew up in the jungle, raised by tribesmen. Now a beautiful girl, Liana (roaming the jungle half-naked) finds out the fate of her parents and sets out to avenge them. An entertaining film containing large amounts of nudity and sadism. Directed by Jess Franco. Amazonia Ten years after her ordeal in the jungles of the Amazon, Catherine narrates her grueling experience to a news reporter: At age 18, Catherine leaves her London prep school to be with her parents at their factory stationed in the Amazon Jungle. As the family enjoys a boat trip into the jungle, a tribe of headhunters ambushes them and her parents are killed. Catherine is then taken hostage by the tribe. Over the next few years, Catherine is forced to live by the tribe's barbaric rituals and savagery while always remembering who she is, where she comes from, and remaining "civilized". Until, that is, she finds out the truth concerning the murder of her parents.
About this product: Equator is an epic production - capturing every detail in High Definition - that takes viewers on a 40,000-kilometre odyssey chasing the sun to some of the most extreme and diverse locations on the planet. The equator is not only the line that divides the Earth in two - it's also a line of life and a powerful force of nature, where the pace of evolution quickens. The equator covers only five per cent of the Earth's surface, but is home to 50 per cent of its animal and plant species. The equator is a species factory. Equatorial animals live constantly in warm, humid surroundings. Life is good; they can breed all year round. But the downside of such abundance is that these creatures must compete and fight for survival with half of all the species on Earth. Equator explores exactly how and why animals and plants grow faster, bigger - and stranger - here than anywhere else. Just as humanity evolved under the glare of the equatorial sun on the East African savannah, it's no accident that many "hot spots" of biological significance occur along the equator. The equatorial sun is the most powerful source of energy on Earth - a force that reaches well beyond the equatorial band itself. As it beats down on the oceans, moist air rises on such a large scale that it generates the trade winds and great ocean currents that energize life on distant parts of the globe.
Equator: "Rivers of the Sun" The mighty Amazon River is the lifeblood of the jungle. For half a year, freshwater fish flourish in floodwaters that rise among the trees and then, as the waters retreat, these fish face a six-month drought. The enduring Amazon is both a time capsule for ancient animals and a hothouse for the evolution of new species.
About this product: Contrary to popular rumor, this 1987 collection of comedy skits is not about a group of female employees from Amazon.com on a mission to the lunar surface. It's a series of unrelated spoofs and sketches designed to resemble an aimless night of TV channel-surfing, and the satirical targets include grade-Z science fiction films of the 1950s, sex films of the 1930s, hospital soap operas, and Playboy video centerfolds. There's a charity drive in which legendary bluesman B.B. King pleas for donations to help "Blacks Without Soul," and Ed Begley Jr. thinks he's the son of the Invisible Man, which would be fine if he weren't as visible as everyone else. The various sketches feature an all-star cast including Rosanna Arquette, Griffin Dunne, Carrie Fisher, Michelle Pfeiffer, the late Phil Hartman in an early role, and many others. It's strictly hit-or-miss, and many of the sketches fall flat, especially since the subjects being spoofed (the title sketch is a send-up of the actual 1954 movie Cat Women on the Moon) are funny enough without being satirized. Even though Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide describes most of the sketches as "astonishingly unfunny," this can be a very amusing movie if you're in the mood for a no-brainer with a lot of familiar Hollywood faces. Now a modest little cult film, it's the kind of disposable entertainment that maintains its appeal almost in spite of itself. --Jeff Shannon
About this product: The U.S.S. Enterprise Commemorative Replica is modeled directly from the digital effects files used in Star Trek (2009). Hand cast in solid metal, the replica incorporates chrome, textured steel and pewter finishes to create a collectible of unsurpassed detail and elegance. From the delta command badge base to the tip of each nacelle, not a drop of plastic was used in the construction of this substantial piece. Each ship is crafted by the artisans of Quantum Mechanix Inc. (QMx), a boutique collectibles maker. The U.S.S. Enterprise Commemorative Replica was created exclusively for Amazon.com to celebrate the maiden voyage of Starfleet's newest flagship, and is available in a limited edition of only 5,000 ships. Each replica comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, signed by QMx and Industrial Light & Magic's Roger Guyett, Visual Effects Supervisor.
• Model directly from the digital effects files used in Star Trek (2009) • Made of solid metal with chrome, textured steel and pewter finishes • 8.5 inches long and weighing over a pound • Limited Edition of 5,000 • Comes with Certificate of Authenticity
About this product: Everybody's favorite graphic novel comes to the screen (after years of rumors and false starts), less a roaring work of adaptation than a respectful and faithful take on a radical original. Watchmen is set in the mid-1980s, a time of increased nuclear tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, as Richard Nixon is enjoying his fifth term as president and the world's superheroes have been forcibly retired. (As you can probably tell, the mix of authentic history and alternate reality is heady.) Things begin with a bang: the mysterious high-rise murder of the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a masked hero with a checkered past, puts the rest of the retired superhero community on alert. The credits sequence, a series of tableaux that wittily catches us up on crime-fighting backstory, actually turns out to be the high point of the movie. Thereafter we meet the other caped and hooded avengers: the furious Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), the inexplicably naked Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup, amidst much blue-skinned, genital-swinging digital work), Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman), Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson), and Ozymandias (Matthew Goode). The corkscrewing storytelling, which worked well in the comic book, gives the movie the strange sense of never quite getting in gear, even as some of the episodes are arresting. Director Zack Snyder (300) doesn't try to approximate the electric impact of the original (written by Alan Moore--who declined to be credited on the movie--and illustrated by Dave Gibbons) but retains careful fidelity to his source material. That doesn't feel right, even with the generally enjoyable roll-out of anecdotes. Even less forgivable is the blah acting, excepting Jeffrey Dean Morgan (lusty) and Patrick Wilson (mellow). Watchmen certainly fills the eyes, although less so the ears: the song choices are regrettable, especially during an embarrassing mid-air coupling between Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II as they unite their--ah--Roman numerals. In the end it feels as though a huge work of transcription has been successfully completed, which isn't the same as making a full-blooded movie experience. --Robert Horton
Also on the Blu-ray disc The extended director's cut restores 24 minutes of connective tissue to the 162-minute film, most significantly the last scene of Hollis Mason, the first Nite Owl. Other elements help restore and fill in details that had been in the graphic novel. Fans of the film will be glad for the extra footage but there's nothing momentous that will change anyone's basic like or dislike of the film.
By far the most interesting Blu-ray feature (in addition to the great picture and DTS-HD Master Audio sound) is the Maximum Movie Mode, which incorporates several features into the viewing experience. Director Zack Snyder periodically appears on screen in front of two large monitors, one continuing to play the movie and the other displaying special-effects shots or scenes from the graphic novel. Snyder talks about how he shot the film and points out details in a variety of scenes: the opening with the Comedian, Dr. Manhattan's lab, the Nite Owl ship, Mars, Antarctica, and the ending (and why it was changed for the movie). This feature is much more interesting than an audio commentary or a standard picture-in-picture commentary so it'd be nice if it had been done for more scenes. Also appearing in Maximum Movie Mode is a timeline contrasting events in the Watchmen world with the "real world," occasional picture-in-picture comments by cast and crew, still galleries, and a series of 11 "focus points" that allow you to exit the film to watch these three-minute featurettes (sets, costumes, the Minutemen, etc.). Worthy of mention is how easy the Maximum Movie Mode material is to find: Snyder's footage and the focus points are very visible (even in fast-forward), and you can also access the focus points directly from the main menu.
The second disc has three documentaries. The first, "The Phenomenon: The Comic That Changed Comics," 29 min.), looks at the original graphic novel and its themes, and interviews artist Dave Gibbons, DC Comics executives Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz, and cast and crew, illustrating its points with scenes from the movie, panels from the graphic novel, and parts of the motion comic. The next two are only on the Blu-ray disc but are less interesting and of varying relevance to the movie. "Real Superheroes, Real Vigilantes" (26 min.) examines real-life vigilantes including the Guardian Angels and New York subway gunman Bernard Goetz and compares them to Rorschach. "Mechanics: Technologies of a Future World" (17 min.) spotlights a physicist who served as a consultant on the movie. He talks about his experiences then discusses whether elements from the movie, such as Dr. Manhattan, the Owl Ship, and Rorschach's mask could really work. There's also My Chemical Romance's "Desolation Row" music video and a Digital Copy of the film (compatible with both iTunes and Windows Media; download code expires July 21, 2010), and BD-Live offers even more making-of material. --David Horiuchi
About this product: SHAMANS OF THE AMAZON is far and away the best film yet made on Ayahuasca and Amazonian Shamanism. - Ralph Metzner PhD California Institute of Integral Studies. 'An informative and compelling exploration of Shamanic use of Ayahuasca the extraordinary visionary brew. - Rick Strassman MD author DMT: The Spirit Molecule. 'Human Future will be designed on how conscious we will be able to make ourselves and if there are plants that can accelerate consciousness then we must seek out and utilize these things. Something could jump out of some unexpected dimension and change everything.'- Terrence McKenna. In a time when indigenous people their culture and the natural environment are experiencing dramatic changes this in-depth series of programs examine what these SHAMANS OF THE AMAZON their hallucinogenic rituals and their special relationship with nature have to offer humanity at this crucial time in history. Discover how westerners around the world are using Ayahuasca and other Shamanic plants to receive knowledge to understand their relationship with nature and to seek visions of how best to deal with deep personal spiritual and environmental questions. In a 'say no to drugs' era there is a new subculture emerging based on an ancient ritual of hallucinogenic plant use. System Requirements: TRT: 260 mins Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MISCELLANEOUS/SPECIAL INTEREST UPC: 185483906701 Manufacturer No: U670
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