The first film, Pitch Black, wasn’t bad in my opinion, it had some good horror/action hero moments intertwined with all the tackyness. The Chronicles of Riddick on the other hand was just dire – something that is reflected by the Metacritic score of 38/100 it received (Pitch Black managed to scrape together 49/100). A film with a plot revolving around a race called ‘Necromongers’ who hail from the ‘Underverse’ just sounds a bit too sci-fi (read: nerdy) for some.

Despite receiving a mixed set of reviews from consumers and critics alike, Universal have finally officially granted Vin Diesel at least one more outing as the muscle-bound guy who has built-in night vision eyes. Apparently filming has started, but there is no estimated date for the films release at this time.

There are a few different codes available depending on what package you would prefer to opt for. These codes are only going to be valid until the end of September (2010), but Sky are certain to release more so check back on DVD and Blu-ray for the latest.

Code: ENTSPACKAW
Entertainment Pack – Get 24 live channels for £10 a month for the first 3 months (usually costs £15) Save £15/33% off
Expires: 30th Sep 2010

Code: SPORTSPACKAW 
Offer: Sports Pack including all 5 Sky Sports channels and 23 live entertainment channels for just £20 a month for 3 months (usual price £34.50) Save £43.50/over 40% offer
Expires: 30th Sep 2010

Code: MOVIESPACKAW
Offer: Movies Pack over 400 movies on demand plus 28 live channels including Sky Movies Premier for just £22 a month for 3 months (usual price £32) Save £30/over 33% off
Expires: 30th Sep 2010

Code: TOPPACKAW 
Offer: Premium Pack including all of the above for just £30 a month for 3 months (usual price £41.50) Save £34.50/over 27% off
Expires: 30th Sep 2010

Blu-ray 3D was originally intended to be added in the Summer, however this was put off a few months by Sony, despite the electronics giant adding 3D gaming support to the PS3. Finally, Sony have given an expected date for the 3D Blu-ray feature: October (2010). Unfortunately, that’s as specific as it gets, hopefully Sony will clarify the situation sometime soon as October is steadily drawing closer.

Then all you need are the 3D TV, 3D movies and 3D glasses to go with it. I hope you’ve been saving up for this one!

For a start, the high school senior Daniel LaRusso, (forgetting the fact Ralph Macchio was already in his twenties when filming began) from New Jersey was replaced by a 12-year-old kid called Dre (played by Jaden Smith, son of Will) and it was hard to see how a younger Karate Kid (or more appropriate kung fu kid) would make for a decent story.

Add to that the fact that Mr. Miyagi has gone down in history as one of the best on screen teacher characters ever (played by the late Pat Morita), it left a lot for Jackie Chan’s caretaker Mr. Han to do.

Well, I can say that the film certainly does a better job than I thought it would. While nothing can compare to the original which is still one of my all-time favourite feel-good films, it is more than watchable.

The plot is essentially the same with Dre being dragged to a new place (this time China, not L.A) by his widowed mother (Taraji P. Henson), a land where he has no friends and as a stranger finds he just doesn’t fit in. Add to this, the fact he is the target for local kung fu trained bullies headed by class leader Cheng giving him a longing to get even, and you have the basic outline for a film-defining final confrontation to try and win back his respect.

The performance by Chan is particularly endearing to viewers as he goes from quiet recluse mourning the loss of his family to kung fu teacher, with his complex Mr. Han helping the film to rise from mediocrity. However, that is not to say that Smith doesn’t do a decent job as the charismatic and likeable Dre, but the old master ensures that the action is bumped up a notch while he is felling villains and teaching his pupil the unorthodox ways of kung fu – think “put coat on, put coat off” instead of “wax on, wax off”, although I must say the original had a better way of making mundane tasks seem like martial arts!

The friendship development with classmate Mei Ying is the typical forbidden love scenario, and is no match for Elisabeth Shue’s Ali Mills and her shouldn’t-really-work-but-rather-strangely-does chemistry with Macchio, but the scenes with Cheng make for interesting – if not gripping – scenes. As you will have guessed it is down to maintenance man Mr. Han to teach Dre what kung fu is REALLY about – and nothing to do with that “enemy deserves no mercy” nonsense.

2 hours and 20 minutes of screen time may be more like the norm these days but it does seem a bit overlong and stretched out. It does play on its stereotypical Chinese surroundings too, but with the beautiful scenery and architecture on offer, who wouldn’t?

The music served its purpose but, in my mind, it was certainly no match from the master of instrumental film scores, Bill Conti, with his melodic pan flutes encapsulating the action. I also admit I was (and still am) partial to the 80s cheesy music too. Afraid so.

Overall, while it is nowhere near as compelling and endearing as the original movie, the good intentions of this version do remain intact at the film’s conclusion. This is largely due to Chan’s character which brings a kind of freshness to a predictable enough story. The Karate Kid is worth seeing, for a bit of Saturday night popcorn entertainment, but I wouldn’t recommend the filmmakers to remake the sequel. Now that would be one step too far.

Del Toro wrote on a fan site for the movie stating that he had to make the “hardest decision of my life” as he puts it, after being forced to choose between a number of overlapping projects. This difficult choice was brought on by continuing delays in the start date for filming of The Hobbit movie. The Mexican director did confirm that he would still be doing screenplay for the film despite stepping down as director.

Peter Jackson has mentioned that he would be willing to take the reins if there was no other alternative to going ahead with the filming of The Hobbit.

The term “80s classics” will have some critics scoffing at the mere suggestion that the era brought to us some top draw acting and cinematic excellence, yet it is hard to argue that the 80s gave us some great entertainment many people still fondly remember growing up watching the likes of The Goonies, Stand by Me, the latter two Star Wars films and Indiana Jones.

While some of these films are now out on Blu-ray, we eagerly await the release of other cherished movies. One such title out in the US this week is the underdog story of The Karate Kid. We will have to wait until July the 19th until it is out over here but it sounds quite promising, with a commentary featuring the director and cast including the late Pat Morita who played Mr Miyagi.

There are some fun titles due out as well during 2010 like the Queen inspired Flash Gordon which is out on the 28th of June and other new releases such as 48 Hours and Caddyshack.

The director for the film has been named as none other than the director of recent hit, Kick Ass, the British moviemaker Matthew Vaughn. The president of production for ’20th Century Fox’, Emma Watts has stated that X-Men: First Class will ‘explore the history and relationships’ of the characters featured in the first films.

X-Men: First Class is current scheduled to start shooting this Summer and will be released on June 3, 2011 – five years after the third in the trilogy, X-Men: The Last Stand.

There is still quite a backlog of popular titles that have still not made it past DVD, but it is always welcome news when another classic film franchise is reborn with added extras and an incredible high-definition picture. Other titles I’m hoping will be released in the very near future includes some of my all-time favourite films; Back To The Future (Trilogy), The Deer Hunter, Chinatown, The Big Lebowski and of course Platoon.

I hope that someone reading this is in a position to do something about these titles. In the meantime, I can only dream about how they will look in a high-definition format.

The next Bond, which would have been the 23rd, has now been put on hold indefinitely pending a decision at the studio HQ. Considering the Bond films are the most profitable and successful for MGM, things must be getting quite tight for them to put such a high profile venture on hiatus.

Avatar, one of the most expensive movies of all time, is also one of the highest-grossing with a worldwide total of $2.712 billion. It may have been beaten at the Oscars to the main awards, picked up by Cameron’s ex-wife’s film The Hurt Locker, but it still won Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects & Best Cinematography as well as BAFTAs for Best Production Design and Special Visual Effects.

The epic sci-fi had its origins back in 1994 but Cameron wasn’t yet ready to make the script a reality, until he had the technology available to make this dream a reality. Now it is finally out on DVD and Blu-ray minus the 3D glasses, so we’ll have to wait and see whether the film still looks and sounds great – even if the storyline doesn’t stand up to repeat viewing.