OVERVIEW: The fabled siblings are all grown up and hell-bent on tracking and killing witches wherever they hide in the no-holds-barred epic of modern action and adventure HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS, taking flight on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD and On Demand June 11, 2013 from Paramount Home Media Distribution. The film will also be available early for Digital Download on May 21st. “Destined for cult status” (Rick Florino, ArtistDirect.com), HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS is filled with “super crazy action and mind-blowing thrills” (Shawn Edwards, Fox-TV) and stars Jeremy Renner (The Avengers, The Bourne Legacy), Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace), Famke Janssen (X-Men), Thomas Mann (Beautiful Creatures) and Peter Stormare (The Big Lebowski). Written and directed by Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow), the film earned more than $200 million at the global box office and a sequel is in development. The sly and ingeniously wicked movie tells the story of the brother and sister team seeking to avenge their parents’ deaths. But after a lifetime of hunting witches, Hansel and Gretel now must face an evil greater than anything they’ve seen: a terrifying new threat so massive, it could destroy the world as we know it.

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SYNOPSIS: After getting a taste for blood as children, Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) have become the ultimate vigilantes, hell bent on retribution. Now, unbeknownst to them, Hansel and Gretel have become the hunted, and must face an evil far greater than witches...their past.

FILM REVIEW: “Old tale, new twist is right . . . almost too new. No matter how prepared you might be going in to see this movie, it still might throw you for a loop. Please don’t go in expecting incredible performances, or a top notch script, or even a really interesting story because you’re not going to get it. This is one of those movies that are made just for the fun of it, and believe me, this movie is a lot of fun. Yeah it’s cheesy and sometimes even corny, but it will entertain you by way of action, special effects, and fun, bloody fun. This Hansel and Gretel sequel takes the story to a whole new level and way beyond any resemblance of a childhood fairy tale. A film like this is built off of the blatant action which is well done in this case. We get good gun play, fast paced fight sequences, elaborate and assorted weaponry, and decent special effects too. The cinematography is not too shabby either. The props and sets were very appropriate, although some of the weaponry looked a little ahead of the time, so to speak. And speaking of being ahead of the time, the dialogue was very modern which helps cause the loop throw. The dialect was mostly modern American English while it probably would have sounded more appropriate to have an older European English dialect. I’m guessing, and hoping, that this was done on purpose, although I don’t see why. It just doesn’t match, but we try to get passed that. And speaking of the witches, even though we weren’t, the makeup work was quite impressive and frightening. Now all of these details are well enhanced by the 3D IMAX, so seeing it in regular mode might make it seem cheaper. I lost count of how many times Priscilla jumped in her seat due to the 3D aspect of this action fest.

As mentioned, this film is not about performances and such, so even though Gemma looked stunning and Jeremy looked strapping, their performances were only as good as needed for a film of this genre. Jeremy is really in the spotlight lately as he has been busy making movies. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Gemma on the big screen too. Now Famke, on the other hand, was arguably the person best cast for this picture. She was perfect for her role. She also looked stunning but creepy with her normal face. When she had her “witch” face on, she looked downright ugly, freaky, and scary; which is a good thing for this role. She gave the best performance, sharp and cold. This film reminded me a lot of Van Helsing although not quite as good. Regardless, if you decide to see this movie based on the fun factor, it won’t let you down.

BLU-RAY: The film is presented in widescreen in a 2.39:1 aspect ration preserving its theatrical format. The picture is just flawless. Not only the picture looks great in this release, also the sound it is good, a 5.1 Dolby Digital in English that provides a good complement to the picture. It also includes  English, French  and Spanish subtitles.

VIDEO:
Widescreen (2.39:1) 16x9

AUDIO:
English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital,  and English Audio Description

Subtitles - English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Reinventing Hansel & Gretel

The Witching Hours

Meet Edward the Troll

Ultraviolet Copy

DVD Copy