“Quantum of Solace” DVD, Blu-ray: The film overcomes its bum title and risible theme song by offering audiences one of the most intense, satisfying action movies of 2008. Bond purists likely will miss those old Bond staples — Q and his gadgets, the passing presence of Moneypenny, the lighter tone. Others will appreciate the film’s inward shift to a darker, more substantial core, which continues to prove a fine fit for these darker, more dangerous times. Director Marc Forster deepens the work done before him by picking up where “Casino Royale” left off in this, the franchise’s first genuine sequel. It’s a tale that involves not only efforts by Bond (Daniel Craig) to bring down those who murdered the love of his life, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), but also a larger story that finds him working overtime to cripple Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a phony environmentalist seeking to secure his future by leading a terrorist ring determined to corner a major stake in one critical world resource: No, not oil — water. To do so, Greene and company will need to take down governments and corrupt officials. To stymie them, Bond will need to be ruthless while trying to handle a furious M (Judi Dench), whose trust in him is waning. More so than in “Royale,” which gave Bond a fleeting moment of happiness, it’s rage that drives this movie, little else, barely even wit. “Quantum of Solace” is a serious movie whose focus is on revenge and the superlative action that stems from it. Rated PG-13. Grade: B+
“The Fast and the Furious Trilogy” Blu-ray: The first “Furious” runs hard on Vin Diesel. It’s just what you expect — big, amusing, fast, a cartoonish thrill ride that’s enjoyably over-the-top. The second movie, “2 Fast, 2 Furious,” runs on Paul Walker, which has all the punch of a hybrid. The problem with the second film is that it wants to be about something substantial, which is sweet, but a shame. The first film never wanted to be anything more than just a throwback to the hot-rod films of the 1950s; its embrace of a forgotten subculture was part of its charm. Worse for “2 Furious,” there’s nothing about it that sets it apart. It’s just sort of there, revving its engines and racing around street corners with no place to go. “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” mirrors the original in that essentially it has no pretensions, which is a relief, and it courts plenty of cheap melodrama. The movie delivers precisely what its target audience wants — great-looking cars and races first, great-looking, one-dimensional characters second — and it does it well. On those terms alone, it succeeds. Each rated PG-13. Grades: “The Fast the Furious” B; “2 Fast, 2 Furious” C-; “Tokyo Drift” B
“The Kite Runner” Blu-ray: Follows Amir (Khalid Abdalla), an Afghan writer living in the U.S. who must deal with the decisions he made in his past, when he deceived his best friend, Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada). Though Amir loved Hassan — initially, they are inseparable, often flying their kites in neighborhood competitions — Amir couldn’t handle the fact that Hassan possessed the sort of integrity and courage he himself didn’t have. When Hassan is raped by bullies, Amir silently retreats as the act plays itself out. It’s in this extended flashback that “The Kite Runner” is at its best and most believable. The child actors are superb, as is Homayoun Ershadi as Amir’s father. But when the movie switches to the present and Amir finds himself traveling back to the now Taliban-ruled Kabul to retrieve Hassan’s son, the plot contrivances hit hard, so much so that they detract from an otherwise engaging story. Rated PG-13. Grade: B-
“A Mighty Heart” Blu-ray: In one of her best performances, Angelina Jolie portrays the pregnant journalist Mariane Pearl. In 2002, Pearl was in Karachi, Pakistan, with her husband, The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl (Dan Futterman), to investigate shoe bomber Richard Reid through an interview with the elusive Sheikh Mubarik Ali Gilani. What ensued was a weeks-long nightmare when Danny was kidnapped by Islamic terrorists and then, after a formidable effort to save him, beheaded on videotape. In lesser hands, the movie could have collapsed into a ripe pool of sentiment, but not so here. With the exception of a brutal yet well-earned scene of uncontainable grief, which is beautifully handled by Jolie, “A Mighty Heart” looks at the world and the Pearls’ situation through the eyes of a journalist. It doesn’t wince, it doesn’t exploit — it just observes, and that’s enough. Rated R. Grade: A-
Also on Blu-ray disc:
In addition to “Quantum of Solace,” joining it on Blu-ray are four additional Bond films, each a throwback that looks terrific in the high-def format, particularly Guy Hamilton’s 1965 film “Goldfinger,” from which “Solace” borrows a key scene not to be revealed here. Sean Connery stars as Bond in that film, as he does in 1983’s “Never Say Never Again,” with its Tomahawk missiles, nuclear warheads, and Barbara Carrera as Fatima Bush. The movie was Connery’s last performance as Bond. Four years earlier in 1979’s “Moonraker,” Roger Moore already was deep into the role, having made three films before this one. In the film, the space shuttle is in danger, but Bond, along with Lois Chiles’ Dr. Holly Goodhead, must bring down Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) to save it. The towering Richard Kiel, sporting an enormous mouth of metal, easily steals the show. Also on Blu-ray is 1999’s “The World is Not Enough,” the 19th movie in the franchise and Pierce Brosnan’s best outing as Bond. The ersatz actor strikes just the right balance of emotion, wit, style and substance in a story that’s filled with all the ingenious action fans of the series expect. In the movie, Electra (Sophie Marceau), daughter of a recently assassinated tycoon, is building a pipeline across Central Asia to Turkey, something her deranged former kidnapper, Renard (Robert Carlyle), will stop at any cost. When M (Judi Dench) sends Bond to the Caspian oil town of Baku to protect Electra, the film — literally and figuratively — finds its legs. As Bond girls go, Marceau’s Electra won’t disappoint, but Denise Richards’ Dr. Christmas Jones, a nuclear scientist (ha ha ha), is one of the worst. Richards doesn’t have the shrewd intelligence the role demands, but that’s a quibble. Brosnan and Dench are more than enough to maintain interest, and to rocket the series straight into the present.
WeekinRewind.com is the site for Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s blog, DVD giveaways and archive of movie reviews. Smith’s reviews appear Mondays, Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.