This week's top DVD releases

Nov 27 2009 Liverpool Daily Post

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (12)

TWO YEARS have passed since high-school student Sam Witwicky (Shi LaBeouf) and his Autobot friends defeated power-hungry Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving).

During a class in his first year of college, Sam begins to have visions of hieroglyphs and, as these hallucinations become more intense, the young man senses that Autobot leader Optimus Prime has been keeping secrets from him.

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen destroys large swathes of planet Earth in a miasma of pyrotechnics and computer-generated imagery.

The sequel pushes the visual effects envelope with more outrageous slam-bang thrills, apocalyptic set-pieces and skirmishes.

However, the film overstays its welcome by at least 30 minutes with a saggy middle section that heralds the return of Sector 7 Agent Simmons (John Turturro).

LaBeouf uses his impressive comic timing to highlight Sam's vulnerability as his reluctant hero is thrust into the middle of a titanic battle beyond his comprehension.

Megan Fox reapplies her lip-gloss unseen during each bravura stunt sequence - while entire cities fall, her pout remains lustrous.

A two-disc set comprising Transformers and its sequel is also available.

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Life (E)

DAVID Attenborough narrates the BBC natural history unit's latest spectacular series: a 10-part investigation of the day-to-day struggles of various species, witnessing birth, death and everything in-between.

State-of-the-art cameras transport the viewer into the most dangerous and hard-to-reach habitats, glimpsing the mating rites of the humpback whale and the bizarre eyeball-inflating contests of certain flies.

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The Proposal (12)

NEW YORK book editor Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is feared by one and all, including her long-suffering assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds). In a shocking turn of events, Margaret is threatened with deportation to Canada when her visa expires.

In order to stay in the US, she forces Andrew to pose as her fiance and walk her down the aisle, with the understanding they can get divorced a few months later when she has her citizenship, presuming they can fool the wily immigration officer (Denis O'Hare) assigned to their case.

Bullock takes Peter Chiarelli's screenplay by the scruff and wrings every giggle out of it with her pratfalls, then finds some tears too at the crucial moment. She plies her innate charm and impeccable comic timing to endear Margaret to us, even when the character is engaged in shocking behaviour such as baiting a bird of prey with a helpless family pet.

Reynolds matches her every goof of the way, showing his sensitive side with an unconventional final declaration that plucks the heartstrings beautifully.

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