{"id":1481,"date":"2009-08-04T07:00:59","date_gmt":"2009-08-04T11:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/?p=1481"},"modified":"2010-08-02T01:14:48","modified_gmt":"2010-08-02T05:14:48","slug":"review-race-to-witch-mountain-dvdblu-ray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/2009\/08\/04\/review-race-to-witch-mountain-dvdblu-ray\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: Race to Witch Mountain DVD\/Blu-ray"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"Race to Witch Mountain Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy\" src=\"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/images\/witch_mountain.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"400\" \/>I was expecting a basic kid&#8217;s movie when I sat down to watch the DVD\/Blu-ray of <em>Race to Witch Mountain<\/em>.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve got two children myself and I&#8217;ve sat through a BUNCH of sub-par kid&#8217;s movies before.\u00a0 The original <em>Witch Mountain<\/em> films still haunt my memory as pleasant childhood viewing, but I wasn&#8217;t expecting much from this modernization\/remake.\u00a0 Surprisingly, what I found instead was a fun action-adventure film with humor and a touch of emotion. Don&#8217;t get me wrong, this movie isn&#8217;t going to change your life, but it sure will entertain you and your family for 99 minutes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) as always provides a likable muscle-bound everyman, the kind of guy you can&#8217;t help but cheer for.\u00a0 The two otherworldly teens, AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig, performed unexpectedly well in their roles.\u00a0 And Carla Gugino (<em>Watchmen<\/em>, <em>Threshold<\/em>) rounded out our band of heroes as the stereotypical beautiful scientist.\u00a0 Here is the description of the film from the <a title=\"Race to Witch Mountain official site\" href=\"http:\/\/disneydvd.disney.go.com\/race-to-witch-mountain.html\" class=\"broken_link\">official site<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"text-align: justify;\"><p>Jack Bruno (Johnson), a Las Vegas cabdriver struggling to stay on the right path, gets an out-of-this-world incentive when two aliens, disguised as teenagers, suddenly appear in his taxi. In a race against government agents, an alien hunter and time itself, Jack must help the children recover their lost spaceship so they can return home and save their planet and ours. Breathtaking chases, close calls and special effects make this an action-adventure the whole family will enjoy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Here is a clip showing some of the fun action in the film:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><code><iframe frameborder=0 width=352 height=284 src=\"http:\/\/www.totaleclips.com\/player\/Splash.aspx?custid=907&#038;clipid=e53804&#038;playerid=69&#038;affiliateid=-1&#038;bitrateid=378&#038;formatid=10\"><\/iframe><\/code><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a title=\"Carla Gugino\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0001303\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This movie also featured a bunch of super-cool supporting actors. I found myself taken out of the film a few times by seeing so many of my favorite actors in bit parts.\u00a0 Check these out: <a title=\"Cheech Marin\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0001507\/\">Cheech Marin<\/a>, <a title=\"Tom Everett Scott\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0779866\/\">Tom Everett Scott<\/a> (<em>That Thing You Do!<\/em>), <a title=\"Chris Marquette\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0549815\/\">Chris Marquette<\/a> (<em>Fanboys<\/em>), <a title=\"Garry Marshall\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0005190\/\">Garry Marshall<\/a> (the creator of the <em>HAPPY DAYS<\/em> franchise), <a title=\"Bob Clendenin\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0003928\/\">Bob Clendenin<\/a> (<em>Star Trek<\/em>), <a title=\"Jonathan Slavin\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0805587\/\">Jonathan Slavin<\/a> (<em>Free Enterprise<\/em>), and <a title=\"Meredith Salenger\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0001694\/\">Meredith Salenger<\/a> (as reporter Natalie Gann, which is funny because the actress is best known for her role as Natt Gann in the 1985 film <em>The Journey of Natty Gann<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Also making appearances in the film were the original actors who played the otherworldly children in the 1975 <a title=\"Escape to Witch Mountain\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0072951\/\"><em>Escape to Witch Mountain<\/em><\/a> &#8211; <a title=\"Kim Richards\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0001668\/\">Kim Richards<\/a> &amp; <a title=\"Ike Eisenmann\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0252055\/\">Ike Eisenmann<\/a> (GEEK FACT &#8211; he also played the rookie engineer that died in <em>Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan<\/em>). I&#8217;ll be honest, I didn&#8217;t recognize Richards, Eisenmann, or Salenger in the film until I watched the Blu-ray bonus feature, &#8220;Which Mountain?&#8221;\u00a0 Here&#8217;s a clip from this Blu-ray exclusive feature:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><code><iframe frameborder=0 width=352 height=284 src=\"http:\/\/www.totaleclips.com\/player\/Splash.aspx?custid=907&#038;clipid=e53812&#038;playerid=69&#038;affiliateid=-1&#038;bitrateid=378&#038;formatid=10\"><\/iframe><\/code><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The only disappointments with this film come from the poorly-developed alien assassin, Siphon, and the under-utilization of Carla Gugino.\u00a0 The Siphon character is your stereotypical unstoppable, yet always one step behind, killer.\u00a0 He&#8217;s mostly obscured from sight for the first part of the movie for reasons of creating dramatic tension.\u00a0 When we do finally see him fully on-screen, his appearance is somewhat corny &#8211; corny in the Power Rangers sense. After that he&#8217;s never really fleshed-out in an interesting way.\u00a0 He blows stuff up good, but doesn&#8217;t really serve any purpose outside of being a hunter\/killer.\u00a0 Carla Gugino is a great actress, however, in the role of Dr. Alex Friedman she&#8217;s just sort of there.\u00a0 I think this was more a function of the script than her abilities.\u00a0 Given the opportunity, I believe she could have brought a lot more to the movie.\u00a0 Those really were the only two letdowns of the film.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Some other things I liked about the movie include the incidental music and the Project Bluebook agents.\u00a0 If you pay attention to the background music during the film, it really helps to enhance the action and tension.\u00a0 You can&#8217;t help but get caught up in the rhythms.\u00a0 In regard to the Project Bluebook folks, seeing them as antagonists was sort of like watching <em>Men in Black<\/em> from the alien&#8217;s point-of-view.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The DVD\/Blu-ray I got is worth mentioning because it&#8217;s a cool three-pack.\u00a0 Inside the case is a Blu-ray disk of the movie, a standard DVD of the movie, and a third DVD-ROM featuring a digital copy of the movie you can transfer to your computer and play with Window Media Player or iTunes.\u00a0 It&#8217;s kind of the best of all worlds.\u00a0\u00a0 The three-pack retails for about $45, but you can find it discounted in lots of places.\u00a0 The film is also available in a few other DVD varieties.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Overall, it was a fun movie well worth you and your family&#8217;s time.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Just a reminder<\/em>: There&#8217;s still time to enter the contest to win one of five copies of <em><strong>The Wolverine Files<\/strong><\/em> hardcover! No gimmicks, no strings attached.\u00a0 Just a chance to win a cool book for free!\u00a0 <a title=\"The Wolverine Files Contest\" href=\"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/2009\/07\/29\/contest-win-the-wolverine-files-hardcover\/\">Click here for details<\/a>.\u00a0 Contest ends tomorrow, Wednesday, August 5th.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Tell the world about ONCE UPON A GEEK:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-1481\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/2009\/08\/04\/review-race-to-witch-mountain-dvdblu-ray\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" 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and Blu-Ray Retail Exclusives","date":"November 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Next Tuesday (November 17th), Paramount Home Entertainment will release STAR TREK on DVD & Blu-ray!!!\u00a0 Hot dog!\u00a0 I loved this movie and can't wait for the release.\u00a0 To capitalize on this release, several retailers are offering incentives for you to purchase your copy from their store (as opposed to their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;movies&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/onceuponageek.com\/images\/star_trek_suncoast.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2769,"url":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/2010\/02\/16\/justice-league-crisis-on-two-earths-comes-out-next-tuesday\/","url_meta":{"origin":1481,"position":1},"title":"Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths comes out next Tuesday","date":"February 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't wait!\u00a0 Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths comes out next Tuesday, February 23, on Blu-Ray and DVD!\u00a0 This has the potential to be one of the best DC animated movies yet.\u00a0 Here is the description from the official movie web site: In a parallel universe, the lone survivor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;comic books&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/onceuponageek.com\/images\/justiceleague_crisisontwoearths.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3919,"url":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/2010\/08\/03\/review-stargate-universe-season-1-5-dvd\/","url_meta":{"origin":1481,"position":2},"title":"REVIEW: Stargate Universe Season 1.5 DVD","date":"August 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Stargate Universe. When the show first premiered, I wasn't sure what to make of it. I compared it to previous Stargate series, Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: Voyager.\u00a0 Within a couple weeks all that was forgotten and it was rapidly becoming one of my favorite shows on TV. If you've\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;review&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Stargate Universe 1.5 DVD","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/onceuponageek.com\/images\/sgu1.5.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1562,"url":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/2009\/08\/13\/review-green-lantern-first-flight-dvd\/","url_meta":{"origin":1481,"position":3},"title":"REVIEW: Green Lantern First Flight DVD","date":"August 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I finally picked up the DC Universe animated original movie Green Lantern First Flight on DVD.\u00a0 While the trailers I'd seen looked pretty good, I just wasn't feeling passionate about watching the film.\u00a0 My apathy is centered on the lead character, Hal Jordan.\u00a0 While I really like everything surrounding the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;comic books&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/onceuponageek.com\/images\/greenlanternfirstflight.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2384,"url":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/2009\/12\/03\/family-guy-empire-strikes-back\/","url_meta":{"origin":1481,"position":4},"title":"Family Guy: Empire Strikes Back Parody Available Dec 22","date":"December 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The TV show Family Guy is doing another Star Wars parody.\u00a0 This time out it's The Empire Strikes Back that gets the Seth MacFarlane treatment.\u00a0 The hour-long episode is titled, \"Something, Something, Something, Dark Side\" and will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray on December 22 prior to being aired\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;humor&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/onceuponageek.com\/images\/somethingdarksideposter.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4426,"url":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/2010\/10\/26\/i-want-this-shirt\/","url_meta":{"origin":1481,"position":5},"title":"I Want This Shirt!","date":"October 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I want this shirt! By the way, Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Trilogy on Blu-ray is out in stores today.\u00a0 Buy it!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;apparel&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Back to the Future - Enchantment Under the Sea Dance t-shirt","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/onceuponageek.com\/images\/backtothefuture_dance.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1481"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1492,"href":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481\/revisions\/1492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}