The Wicker Man (Unrated) (HD DVD)

The Wicker Man is not a great film, but it doesn’t deserve the barrage of negativity that has been thrown at it. I must say I did not see the theatrical version as this has an alternate ending, and I have not seen the original film it was based on, but despite my hatred of Nicolas Cage as an actor I did not hate this movie.

The story is simple yet a little difficult to explain. You see, Cage plays Edward, a cop who gets a strange letter from Willow an old flame proclaiming that her child has gone missing and she needs his help. A few odd things here: 1) There is no stamp, which means the letter was hand-delivered. 2) Willow lives out on an island called Summersisle in the Pacific Northwest. At first the island thing might not seem all that weird, but here is the kicker, it is an island inhabited by mainly women, men are used as muscle and breeding tools and the head of the island played by Ellen Burstyn is loon-to-the-tunes.

So, Edward sets out to find the missing kid amidst strange occurrences, town folk that claim they never knew her and a rising suspicion that something is afoot. Sounds like a typical thriller eh? Well, it is, all except for the ending, which is described as an Alternate Ending on this HD DVD. As I said in the beginning I did not see the original so I don’t know how it ended, but I actually kind of liked this ending, it had a nice little twist although it has one scene with the worst CGI bees you will ever see. Seriously, it looked really bad.

Outside of the alternate ending the only other special feature is with director Neil LaBute, Leelee Sobieski (who is hardly in the movie), Kate Beahan who plays Willow, editor Joel Plotch and costume designer Lynette Meyer. Frankly, the commentary isn’t too bad either. However, I did have it playing in the background while I did some work on the computer so I am not sure if that counts or not.

Other than that though, this film looks fantastic, especially in high definition. The colors pop off the screen and director Neil LaBute did a good job bringing this world to life. Granted, this movie is far from perfect and the chances of me watching it again are slim to none, but it is worth a rental when all your other options have been exhausted.