Back again, finally I may add, with another look at some movie (and TV) titles for the Sony PSP.
This time around I had the chance to preview the UMDs for Fox’s Transporter and from Buena Vista Home Entertainment I have Sin City, Shaolin Soccer and the two-part pilot episode for “Lost“. Of the four titles actually two of them have bonus features and all four of them are highly entertaining, let’s take a look.
First off, Shaolin Soccer. This is actually the first movie I watched on my PSP that I had not yet seen before, which I believe makes it the first true test of whether or not this device is all I have been making it out to be. Not only is Shaolin Soccer filled with tons of action and soccer footage, it is also a foreign film which means subtitles are an option.
As for the action, the screen held up and it was all crisp and clear as are all the UMDs in this preview. As for the subtitles, well, that is a different story. Personally I hate watching any foreign film with English dubbed language tracks. I much more prefer the original audio track with English subtitles, something about the mouths not matching what they are saying bothers the hell out of me. That said, I had to go with the English dub track on this one; the screen is too small and the action is too fast to be reading subtitles and trying to pay attention at the same time. The good thing about this is that the screen is so small. The mouth not matching pet peeve is eliminated from most of the flick considering you would need a microscope to focus in on their lips to tell if it is matching, but that doesn’t stop it from sounding a little weird while you are watching it.
Shaolin Soccer was one of the two UMDs without any special features, the other was The Transporter.
I recently reviewed the Special Edition DVD release of The Transporter [review here] and if you haven’t had the chance to read it, suffice to say, I like this movie. The Transporter is dumb action personified, but glued together into a nice little package with a semi-intriguing storyline making for a wild ride worth taking. As for the UMD itself, this is the first time I have had a chance to preview a Fox title and I will say, it holds up to the rest of the field. While it would have been nice to have a few special features, considering there are actually some good ones on the latest DVD release, it isn’t a deal breaker. The Transporter is only 92 minutes long and a perfect way to waste some time filling time in your daily routine.
Next we come to Sin City, probably the first UMD to get the exact same treatment as its DVD release, featuring the film itself along with the one lone behind-the-scenes featurette. While we are going to have to wait until mid-December for the two-disc edition of Sin City to hit store shelves, for now we can either watch it at home with the bare bones DVD release or on-the-go with your PSP. Frankly, I recommend DVD in this case considering at Amazon the UMD is five dollars more expensive. Now you explain that one to me.
Finally we come to the most impressive one of them all, the two-part series pilot for “Lost”. Talk about special features, this bad boy comes not only with Part I and Part II of the hit TV show pilot episode in which the most recognizable castaways in history are stranded on an island in the Pacific you also get five special features, of which I have listed below:
· Designing a Disaster
· Before they were Lost
· The Art of Matthew Fox
· Lost at Comic-Con
Granted there is nothing here that you aren’t going to get on the Season One DVD set, but I will tell you they couldn’t have put together a better package for the show that America is calling the #1 Best Show. My only curiosity is whether or not they would be able to sell the rest of the season on UMD as well. Currently this title sits around #10,000 in Amazon.com’s DVD sales rank, which I would say ain’t too shabby at $14.99 a pop, but I bet if they lower that price to $10.99 each or even just put together a package of 12 UMDs with the complete season on them for around $40 or $50 they could get away with it and make a killing. Just a thought.
To order any of the previewed titles select from the links below, and remember you can always stay updated on new additions to our PSP movie database at RopeofSilicon’s DVD Central.
