My Blu-Ray Purge

The other day I did something I've thought about for a while now.  I went through my blu-ray collection and got rid of a few movies that I felt did not live up the high standards I think my collection should project.  Now, a few movies I kept because my wife enjoys them.  Some of which have now been separated from the main collection like The Hobbit films and the Twilight saga.

Some blu-rays I thought long and hard about whether to give them up or not.  In the end, I felt like I kept a few people may disagree with, but I don't think anyone would argue with what I sold off.  Here are 3 I Sold, and 3 I Saved.

SOLD

Green Lantern (2011)

Like the Star Wars prequel trilogy I think there are some good qualities in this film, but suffered due to bad directing.  I wasn't on board when Ryan Reynolds was first cast as Hal Jordan, but he eventually won me over.  I even enjoyed Blake Lively as Carol Ferris and Mark Strong as Sinestro, but this messy film could not be saved by the great casting and mythology.  The movie had one of the weakest villains with Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond and a poop cloud as Parallax.  Whenever I try and watch this film I get about half way through and turn it off.  Such a shame.  I hope WB goes a better job with their Green Lantern Corps movie, but my hopes are not high.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

Speaking of great comic book villains turned into smoke monsters I give you the devourer of worlds; Galactus.  This is just one of many things wrong with this movie, from Jessica Alba's bleached hair to Mr. Fantastic break dancing.  Again, this film did have a few good things about it such as the Johnny/Ben banter and the Silver Surfer I felt was done pretty well.  But I also believe this movie was just more of a victim of it's time.  It came out the year before The Dark Knight and Iron Man was released, and a time before studios knew how to do these comic book properties right. 

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Ever heard the joke, "I thought The Avengers was Iron Man 3?"  If only.  Setting aside the whole Mandarin issue, this franchise hit a new low when War Machine was just a bystander and not the kick-ass soldier he is meant to be.  And did I mention Pepper got super powers?  The villain and plot of this film was so lame this ranks as my least favorite Marvel Studio film to date.  I'm seeing Ant-Man in a few hours, and I'm pretty sure it'll be better than this toy-selling vehicle. 

SAVED

The Punisher (2004)

Out of the three films starring Frank Castle this is still my favorite.  Some prefer War Zone, but it had too little of plot and character development for my enjoyment.  Sure this film has a few laughable moments that might not be intentional, but this is still the Punisher killing everyone involved in killing his family while still trying to come to grips with the tragedy himself.  Thomas Jane is a great actor and after the short film, Dirty Laundry, I think we'd all like to see Jane have another crack at playing Castle. "God's gonna sit this one out."  Classic dialogue!

Fantastic Four (2005)

Yes, the sequel to this film has very few redeemable qualities that make it watchable a second time, but this film I feel still stands up.  Aside from Sue Storm I think the cast is pretty solid; especially Chris Evans as the Human Torch and Julian McMahon has Dr. Doom.  It's a decent origin story with some laughs that I feel nailed the family dynamic between the four heroes.  Ben and Johnny are the kids,  Reed is the distracted dad, and Sue is the frustrated mom.  I'm hoping Fox's new interpretation(otherwise known as Ultimate FF) is a good one, but I feel like this film gets a bad rap from people who know nothing about Marvel's First Family.

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

My 2nd least favorite Marvel Studio film, but my wife thinks Thor is hot. 'Nuff said.