Sucker Punch on Blu-ray: dragons, robotic samurai and glamorous women
- 06 July 2011
- John Howell
Director Zack Snyder is best known for his stylistic comic book adaptations, including Frank Miller’s 300 and the iconic Watchmen which, like his latest fantasy movie Sucker Punch, feature plenty of glossy, slow motion visual effects, lots of gore, and enough action to keep you engaged until the credits role. Sucker Punch was released theatrically 25 March 2011 and now Warner Bros. has released the film on Blu-ray as an extended Director's Cut for lovers of higher resolutions and extra filmic violence. As you would expect, the Blu-ray transfer gives this film a significant visual boost.
The basic premise is that Baby Doll (Emily Browning) has been committed to a mental institution by her evil stepfather and is scheduled to be lobotomised in five days. To escape the pain she flees in her mind to an alternate reality and there "discovers" the remote possibility of escape from the institution. To do so, Baby Doll needs five items (key, map, knife etc.) in the real world, each of which is also symbolically hidden in various alternate realities. She recruits fellow inmates to help steal the five items in the real world, and in her imagination takes her friends with her into the fantastical alternate realities where, with the help and guidance of a Wise Man (Scott Glenn), they attempt to locate each symbolic item. Together they battle fantastical creatures, including dragons, robotic samurai, orcs, and World War 1 German solider zombies (as you would expect) and their success or failure in the fantasy world is reflected in their reality.
Here's the description from the original official press release to give you more detail:
"Sucker Punch is an epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary.
"She has been locked away against her will, but Babydoll (Emily Browning) has not lost her will to survive. Determined to fight for her freedom, she urges four other young girls - the outspoken Rocket (Jena Malone), the street-smart Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), the fiercely loyal Amber (Jamie Chung) and the reluctant Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish) - to band together and try to escape their terrible fate at the hands of their captors, Blue (Oscar Isaac), Madam Gorski (Carla Gugino) and the High Roller (Jon Hamm).
"Led by Babydoll, the girls engage in fantastical warfare against everything from samurais to serpents, with a virtual arsenal at their disposal. Together, they must decide what they are willing to sacrifice in order to stay alive. But with the help of a Wise Man (Scott Glenn), their unbelievable journey - if they succeed - will set them free."
The Warner Bros. Blu-ray edition includes both the theatrical release and a new Director’s Cut with an extra 17 minutes. In addition, if you have the need, there's a DVD copy and digital copy too. Extra features include a promo for the soundtrack, bonus trailers, a "maximum movie mode" where Zack Snyder hosts clips and looks at the making of the film, storyboards, galleries, and four animated shorts. You can buy it online or in stores now.
Close your eyes. Open your mind. Engage in a spectacular fantasy adventure from June 28 when Sucker Punch arrives on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital Download.
You can find the official Sucker Punch website here. And here you can create your own Sucker Punch custom videos by combining clips, audio, effects and transitions. Then save your creations to the Gallery and share with friends!
No movie release in 2011 was more misunderstood and unfairly...
Rather than giving a blow-by-blow breakdown of the narrative...
Tarsem Singh’s Immortals is a strange beast, a hybrid creatu...
We’ve been unusually quiet about Tarsem Singh’s forthcoming ...
Sucker Punch is a new fantasy action movie from director Zac...
It’s been almost 25 years since Alan Moore’s Watchmen explod...
Featured articles
19 Oct 2011
After watching the pilot to Fox’s ambitious TV time travelling dinosaur fest called Terra Nova, I am praying that when I watch the next episode the entire cast gets eaten by dinosaurs (in fact, that hope is the only reason I’ll be able to sit through another one). The entire cast’s gruesome deaths at the hands of a frenzied T-Rex or a velociraptor having a bad day can’t come soon enough.... Read more
10 Mar 2012
I have a confession to make. I'm not proud of it, but there's no use trying to hide it any longer, the damage has already been done. I was an Apple fanatic. Hard core. Completely obsessed. I'm not proud of my behaviour. I have no real excuses. All I can say in my defense is that I have always been a gadget fan, so naturally I was ripe for the plucking. My psyche was compromised, wide open to the fruit... Read more
02 Aug 2011
Dan Simmons’ latest novel, Flashback (July 2011), is “[a] provocative novel set in a future that seems scarily possible,” proving “why Dan Simmons is one of our most exciting and versatile writers." So says the publicist anyway. Dan Simmons is one of our most exciting and versatile writers, but sadly Flashback doesn’t prove that. And yes, Flashback is a provocative novel, but it doesn’t... Read more
25 Mar 2012
No movie release in 2011 was more misunderstood and unfairly maligned as a result of misunderstanding than Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch. Odds are you’ll disagree with that statement. An indication of the movie’s reception by “audiences” (non-professional reviewers) and the critics can be found on Rotten Tomatoes, where audience approval is calculated to be 47%, and of the 196 critical reviews... Read more
07 Jun 2010
Finally having had the opportunity to watch Nicholas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising, I now appreciate why it was received so well at film festivals and yet failed to get a wide theatrical release. It’s hard going. On one hand it’s almost unbearably brutal and on the other it is layered with the sort of mind-bending symbolic meaning that leads the viewer to the brink of utter confusion and leaves... Read more
08 Jul 2010
Almost any time we write anything about Neil Gaiman, you can be sure that someone will feel the need to post a comment “outing” the man as a Scientologist. While we have a fairly relaxed attitude to comments and will publish almost anything that contributes to an article, you won’t find many comments about Neil Gaiman’s alleged ties to the Church of Scientology published on this site. We simply... Read more
16 Oct 2007
Daren Aronofsky’s The Fountain is a movie that divides opinion. During its press screening at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival in September 2006 it was booed; at the public screening the following evening it received a 10 minute standing ovation. To get an idea of just how divided opinion is, take a look at Rotten Tomatoes, a website that rates movies based on published reviews. Of 181... Read more
09 Dec 2007
After 25 years since its original release, a definitive version of Ridley Scott's science fiction masterwork Blade Runner, Blade Runner: The Final Cut, has arrived. So what exactly has changed? And is it worth all the fuss? After attending a recent screening I can report that there are significant differences, mainly improvements, between this new version and Ridley's first Director's Cut released... Read more
05 Oct 2009
Science fiction authors have long been outcasts from the literary world, in some cases critics using the worst examples of the genre as ammunition against it. Unfortunately though, at times even science fiction authors themselves can turn on their own kind: "Science fiction is rockets, chemicals and talking squids in outer space,” mocked Margaret Atwood (The Guardian, 28 January 2009), one of her... Read more
30 Jan 2012
If you own an iPhone 4S you may have impressed your friends (or perhaps not) with the built in, voice-driven personal assistant called Siri. You can ask it to book appointments, call people, search nearby restaurants, make calculations, and a great deal more. Most of the time it gets it right too. Now Siri has an Android rival called Evi, and if first impressions are anything to go by, it's an impressive... Read more
Latest videos
 |  |
![Men In Black 3 Trailer 2 Official 2012 [1080 HD] - Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y2r9AIfYcV8/0.jpg)
![Looper - Official Trailer [HD]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/UZyZWFYyxcU/0.jpg)
![Total Recall 2012 Official Trailer [HD]: Colin Farrell Recalls His Dangerous Past: ENTV](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/sWMhADqlPYg/0.jpg)
Re: Chronicles of Riddick 3: Dead Man Stalking - Science Fiction World
What, Riddick became Lord Marshall and now hes...
Re: Rotten Apple: the war on Google's Android - Science Fiction World
That will be the legacy of Steve "Palpatine"...
Re: GodMachine
Strange...but cool. Definitely not EFC related in any...
Re: Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire
I will definitely pre-order this one! Cannot wait...