The Defendor | April 13, 2010

[Lord_Stewie]

hey,

Want to see a clip from Lo-Fi Woody Harrelson Superhero Movie the Defendor

Twitch has a short clip from the odd-looking superhero movie Defendor, starring Woody Harrelson and Kat Dennings. We’ve already run some photos, which got me interested in the film immediately, and this clip looks great. Check it out after the break.

The film, which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, is written and directed by Peter Stebbings and also features Sandra Oh and one of my favorite actors, Elias Koteas. Here’s the official synopsis:

Reality intersects with delusion in the mind of Arthur Poppington (Woody Harrelson), a regular man who adopts a superhero persona known as Defendor, and combs the city streets at night in search of his arch-enemy, Captain Industry. In his attempts to combat crime and bring down Captain Industry, a drug and weapons dealer who he mistakenly blames for the death of his mother, Defendor ends up befriending a young prostitute, Katerina Debrofkowitz (Kat Dennings).

In the few online discussions of the film, I haven’t yet seen anyone mention Bernie Mireault. When I saw the first images from Defendor, the first thing I thought of was Mierault’s occasional comic book series The Jam. Timothy Callahan at CBR describes it:

The Jam is…the story of an average guy with a homemade costume (well, Gordon Kirby’s sister made it in her home, using a jogging suit as the foundation) and the two other loves of his life: his girlfriend Janet, and his dog Harvey…he has to scrape together money for beer and pizza, he patrols the rooftops awkwardly, he fights crazed jihadists mostly by avoiding them — and its emphasis on characterization over spectacle predicts the path many superhero comics would follow in the years since.


For a long time, I’ve had a half-finished feature of weird, fun comics forgotten by the mainstream that I’d love to see adapted to film. The Jam is high on the list. I honestly don’t know if it was any influence on Defendor, but given that it’s a small Canadian comic and a small Canadian film, I wouldn’t be too surprised. (I learned about The Jam after loving the magnificent work Mireault did on Matt Wagner’s Grendel; The Devil Inside trade is very much a must-read.)

Regardless, I like the stills we’ve seen and I really like this little clip. Check it out below, and keep an eye open for Defendor; you’ll probably have to go out of your way to see it. But I’m beginning to suspect the effort will pay off.

The Defendor Blu-ray

[jw]

bump, as this releases Tuesday. Looks entertaining

[Lord_Stewie]

Looks like you got to it before me.

You are next on my list.

[Show spoiler]Kidding, thanks.

[Rhylliam]

I think I'll be blind-buying this on Tues. Its only 19.99 @ Future Shop, so why not.

[jw]

Originally Posted by Lord_Stewie

Looks like you got to it before me.

You are next on my list.

[Show spoiler]Kidding, thanks.

well you didnt even start this thread...I did (Copied post #2 of your thread in movies)
Man, you are slacking

WWMD? (What would MaCruz Do?)

[Hayabusa85]

Misread the topic title and thought this was going to be about Alliance release a garbage Blu-Ray of The Defender with Jet Li. Looks like an interesting movie still though and still has the Alliance logo to potentially lead to complete crap like usual though so the O still remains the only real difference

[LaserD]

The title line is incorrect; there is no definite article ("the") in the title of the film Defendor.

Defendor is amazing!! This was a day-one pick up for me at Best Buy when it was released today. I rarely show up on release day to get something, preferring to wait for sales, but they were advertising $19.99 ($5 off retail) until this Thursday, so I went for it. Defendor lives!

[rickons]

Is this 1080p for sure? Would love to import to the US since we didn't get a release here, but I know Alliance has a really spotty track record with BD releases. Hope y'all report back on the PQ/AQ soon!

[MCT]

just blind bought it....hope it's worth it (movie, transfer, and audio). Please, Alliance, do me right this time

[LaserD]

Originally Posted by rickons

Is this 1080p for sure? Would love to import to the US since we didn't get a release here, but I know Alliance has a really spotty track record with BD releases. Hope y'all report back on the PQ/AQ soon!

I've got my copy in front of me here. Back side reads:

Video: 1080p High Definition 16:9, 1 h 41 min.
Audio: Eng 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Francais 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English SDH, Francais SDH

Special Features:
Deleted Scenes, Blooper Reel, 5 Featurettes, Audio Commentary (Woody Harrelson, Kat Dennings and Filmmakers)

[rickons]

Originally Posted by LaserD

I've got my copy in front of me here. Back side reads:

Video: 1080p High Definition 16:9, 1 h 41 min.
Audio: Eng 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Francais 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English SDH, Francais SDH

Special Features:
Deleted Scenes, Blooper Reel, 5 Featurettes, Audio Commentary (Woody Harrelson, Kat Dennings and Filmmakers)

Good to know - thanks!!

[Rhylliam]

The back cover also states 'Region 1'... so lets wait for a confirmation on the 1080p.

[LaserD]

Originally Posted by Rhylliam

The back cover also states 'Region 1'... so lets wait for a confirmation on the 1080p.

You're right, I didn't even notice the DVD symbol for Region 1 instead of the BD Region A logo. Poor editing on someone's part. When making the BD cover, they clearly used the DVD cover as a template.

[bigjaymofo]

With Alliance the only way to be sure is to put it in the player.
They are notorious for publishing WRONG info on the back of
their blu-rays.

[MCT]

scratch my last post...cancelled my order until someone can confirm 1080p/lossless audio and a nice transfer.

[Minimejer05]

Surprised it didnt get a US Blu release. Not sure when I can see this one than... dont want to blind buy from Canada but I dont really want to watch a DVD version.

[StevenHostel]

It is 1080P and this release is not barebones like other Canadian releases. It has deleted scenes, bloopers, featurettes, and a commentary.

[G:Box]

i blind bought it from ebay for 21 dollars! I know im gonna love this movie!

[MCT]

how's the transfer? And is the audio confirmed to be lossless?

[StevenHostel]

The back of the box says 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.

It looks pretty good but I have nothing to compare it to.