DVD Releases For August 12, 2008
Animation for kids, XXX: STATE OF THE UNION on Blu-ray, some classic WB shows and more, all on DVD and Blu-ray today.
MULAN/MULAN II On DVD
From Walt Disney Home Ent. comes MULAN and the direct-to-DVD sequel MULAN II together in one package.
In MULAN (1998), Mulan is a young girl who wants to please and honor her family, but seems destined to fail. When she is sent to a matchmaker to win a good husband, her gawkiness and lack of grace lead to shame and rejection. These problems pale, however, when her aging father is summoned to join the Chinese army and repel the invading Huns. Realizing that her father could never survive in battle, Mulan's courage and ingenuity eventually distinguish her in the eyes of her commander, Captain Shang. With the help of her pint-sized dragon protector, Mushu, Mulan is key in turning back the Huns in battle. When she is wounded, it is discovered that she is a woman, and Shang abandons her as a traitor. Left behind, Mulan sees the Hun army heading for the Imperial Palace and races there. When Mulan defeats Hun general Shan-Yu and saves the Emporer, she brings honor upon herself and her family and wins the heart of Captain Shang
In MULAN II (2004), after saving her nation from the evil Huns, the spirited Mulan gets the surprise of her life when General Shang asks for her hand in marriage. Before the wedding, however, Mulan and Shang must complete a dangerous mission as they escort three princesses, Ting-Ting, Mei, and Su, to a distant city. The future of China hangs in the balance when, in the middle of their journey, Mulan and Shang clash over their duties. Breathing fire into all this mayhem is the mischievous Mushu, who wants to keep Mulan single as long as possible in order to keep his cushy job as her guardian dragon.
MULAN Special Features Include:
--Seven deleted scenes including one cut song
--Four music videos
--"Mulan's World" Game
--"Mulan's Fun Facts"
--Audio Commentary
--"Discovering Mulan" Behind-the-scenes adventure with the filmmakers
--Early Presentation Reels
--Disneypedia: ''Mulan's World'' with Mushu
--Mulan Fun Facts
MULAN II Special Features Include:
--Voices Of Mulan: A star-studded feature highlighting the voice cast
--The World Of Mulan: Take a fun-filled tour of China's rich history and culture with your host, Mushu
--Deleted Scenes
--Mushu's Guess Who? Game -- Play a guessing game as Mushu shows off his shadow-puppet skills
--(I WANNA BE) LIKE OTHER GIRLS video performed by Atomic Kitten
XXX: STATE OF THE UNION On Blu-ray
From Sony Pictures Home Ent. comes the Blu-ray release of XXX: STATE OF THE UNION. In this action-packed sequel to the box-office smash XXX, Ice Cube stars as Darius Stone, a thrill-seeking troublemaker whose criminal record and extreme sports obsession make him the perfect candidate to be the newest xXx agent. He must save the U.S. government from a deadly conspiracy led by five-star general and Secretary of Defense George Deckert (played by Willem Dafoe). Only a renegade xXx agent like Stone has the Xtreme skills to stop Deckert's dangerous military splinter group from taking over the government in America's capital.
The 2005 theatrical release had vfx by ILM, Persistence of Vision Ent., Pacific Title and Art Studio, Hydraulx, Tweak Films, Gentle Giant Studios and Level Productions.
While the original movie featured visual effects created in majority by Digital Domain, STATE OF THE UNION showcases digital illusions crafted by Industrial Light & Magic with Scott Farrar (PETER PAN) as visual effects supervisor. Facing an intimidating deadline -- only 12 weeks between principal photography and delivery date -- Farrar elected to share the workload with associate visual effects supervisor Samir Hoon (TERMINATOR 3 -- RISE OF THE MACHINES).
"We had 254 shots to do and less than three months to complete them," recalled Hoon. "I mostly focused on the creation of the CG backgrounds. During principal photography, Scott and I each supervised one of the two shooting units. We switched between them depending on the circumstances."
Special Features (Standard Definition) Include:
MULAN/MULAN II On DVD
From Walt Disney Home Ent. comes MULAN and the direct-to-DVD sequel MULAN II together in one package.
In MULAN (1998), Mulan is a young girl who wants to please and honor her family, but seems destined to fail. When she is sent to a matchmaker to win a good husband, her gawkiness and lack of grace lead to shame and rejection. These problems pale, however, when her aging father is summoned to join the Chinese army and repel the invading Huns. Realizing that her father could never survive in battle, Mulan's courage and ingenuity eventually distinguish her in the eyes of her commander, Captain Shang. With the help of her pint-sized dragon protector, Mushu, Mulan is key in turning back the Huns in battle. When she is wounded, it is discovered that she is a woman, and Shang abandons her as a traitor. Left behind, Mulan sees the Hun army heading for the Imperial Palace and races there. When Mulan defeats Hun general Shan-Yu and saves the Emporer, she brings honor upon herself and her family and wins the heart of Captain Shang
In MULAN II (2004), after saving her nation from the evil Huns, the spirited Mulan gets the surprise of her life when General Shang asks for her hand in marriage. Before the wedding, however, Mulan and Shang must complete a dangerous mission as they escort three princesses, Ting-Ting, Mei, and Su, to a distant city. The future of China hangs in the balance when, in the middle of their journey, Mulan and Shang clash over their duties. Breathing fire into all this mayhem is the mischievous Mushu, who wants to keep Mulan single as long as possible in order to keep his cushy job as her guardian dragon.
MULAN Special Features Include:
--Seven deleted scenes including one cut song
--Four music videos
--"Mulan's World" Game
--"Mulan's Fun Facts"
--Audio Commentary
--"Discovering Mulan" Behind-the-scenes adventure with the filmmakers
--Early Presentation Reels
--Disneypedia: ''Mulan's World'' with Mushu
--Mulan Fun Facts
MULAN II Special Features Include:
--Voices Of Mulan: A star-studded feature highlighting the voice cast
--The World Of Mulan: Take a fun-filled tour of China's rich history and culture with your host, Mushu
--Deleted Scenes
--Mushu's Guess Who? Game -- Play a guessing game as Mushu shows off his shadow-puppet skills
--(I WANNA BE) LIKE OTHER GIRLS video performed by Atomic Kitten
XXX: STATE OF THE UNION On Blu-ray
From Sony Pictures Home Ent. comes the Blu-ray release of XXX: STATE OF THE UNION. In this action-packed sequel to the box-office smash XXX, Ice Cube stars as Darius Stone, a thrill-seeking troublemaker whose criminal record and extreme sports obsession make him the perfect candidate to be the newest xXx agent. He must save the U.S. government from a deadly conspiracy led by five-star general and Secretary of Defense George Deckert (played by Willem Dafoe). Only a renegade xXx agent like Stone has the Xtreme skills to stop Deckert's dangerous military splinter group from taking over the government in America's capital.
The 2005 theatrical release had vfx by ILM, Persistence of Vision Ent., Pacific Title and Art Studio, Hydraulx, Tweak Films, Gentle Giant Studios and Level Productions.
While the original movie featured visual effects created in majority by Digital Domain, STATE OF THE UNION showcases digital illusions crafted by Industrial Light & Magic with Scott Farrar (PETER PAN) as visual effects supervisor. Facing an intimidating deadline -- only 12 weeks between principal photography and delivery date -- Farrar elected to share the workload with associate visual effects supervisor Samir Hoon (TERMINATOR 3 -- RISE OF THE MACHINES).
"We had 254 shots to do and less than three months to complete them," recalled Hoon. "I mostly focused on the creation of the CG backgrounds. During principal photography, Scott and I each supervised one of the two shooting units. We switched between them depending on the circumstances."
Special Features (Standard Definition) Include:
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