Darksiders was a game that many people expected to fall by the wayside between lack of promotion and an interesting choice in release dates, January 1st 2010. But as was seen in our review of the game, giving it an 8 out of 10, Darksiders proved it had the potential to be something special and for the most part lived up to it.

Not entirely what gamers were expecting, Darksiders ended up playing out much like a dark, demon filled version of Ocarina of Time where players were challenged to solve puzzles along with a constantly improving repertoire of weapons, skills and magic at their disposal under the guise of the horseman of the apocalypse War.

Now, Darksiders II brings a new horseman to the player’s control, probably the most infamous of them all. Death. And with Death comes a whole new list of possibilities. War’s power were all about destruction. It would only make sense that Death’s powers were all about… well, death. Instead of just ripping enemies apart, Death can bring about the primordial forces to end the lives of any who oppose him, be they angel or demon. At least, that’s what we are hoping to see happen.

Darksiders II is coming in 2012 to XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Make sure to take a peek at the trailer below to see Death in action. Stick to the Flickcast for more information on Darksiders II as it becomes available.

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This week’s pick is another cinematic masterpiece from acclaimed director and combat veteran Samuel Fuller (Fixed Bayonets, The Steel Helmet). Merrill’s Marauders (1962) tells the story of Brig. General Frank Merrill and his American jungle fighters in Burma during World War II.  What makes this film so unique from the bravado of similar war pictures that came out of Hollywood in the pre Vietnam early nineteen sixties was that it was based on actual events. The film stars Jeff Chandler (Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill), Ty Hardin (Lt. “Stock” Stockton), Claude Atkins (Sgt. Kolowicz), John Hoyt (General Joseph Stillwell), and Peter Brown (“Bullseye” a platoon sniper).

As World War II spread throughout the Pacific theater, there were intense campaigns in Asia from northern China, to the borders of British held India which the Japanese coveted for its natural resources, as well as adding it into their vastly expanding Asian empire. British Viceroy to India Lord Louis Mountbatten (uncle to Prince Charles), had devised many covert Anglo-American military units to harass and to thwart any attempt for an invasion of India by Japanese forces.

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Among my favorite movies, Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now ranks very high. It’s a brilliant and disturbing look at war and its effect on the men who fight it. Plus, it’s full of great performances from an amazing cast, action and also makes you think. What more could you ask from a film?

Nothing, really, except for all of the film’s brilliance and cinematic power, it never got the Blu-ray release it deserved. But now, it seems, that’s going to be remedied as Lionsgate is releasing the film on Blu-ray. Not only will the film be on Blu-ray, the release will come in two different versions, the standard and “full disclosure” edition, which will contain a host of impressive features.

Among these are both versions of the film, never seen before interviews with Coppola and other involved in the production, production stills, script notes, the Hearts of Darkness documentary and so much more. For the full list of features in both editions, check out the full press release after the jump.

Also, be sure to check out the Blu-ray trailer for the film after the jump as well. The Apocalypse Now Blu-ray will hit store shelves on October 19th.

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This week’s pick is the 1988 cult classic from director Kevin Reynolds (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) The Beast a.k.a. The Beast of War, which stars George Dzundza (Commander Daskal), Jason Patric (Konstantin Koverchenko), Don Harvey (Kaminski), Stephen Baldwin (Golikov), Erick Avari (Samad), and Steven Bauer (Taj).

The film is set in 1981 as the Soviet Union has entered its second year of their war with Afghanistan. The film centers around the crew of a Soviet tank platoon whose T-62 tank becomes lost in a valley after an attack on an Afghan village. The first few minutes of the film are brutal as it shows a combined tank assault on a Pashtun village which house some Mujahideen rebels who have been fighting the Soviet occupation of their province.

The Soviets use poison gas, flame throwers, RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and the famed AK-47 assault rifle as they mop up their attack on the villagers. Taj (Bauer) returns home to find his village destroyed and his brother crushed by the tank commanded by the ruthless Daskal (Dzundza) who deals harshly with the guerrillas. Taj becomes Khan (tribal leader) and vows to destroy the tank and avenge his brother’s death.

Not knowing that the valley that Daskal has led them into eventually becomes a dead end, the Soviet tankers go about their duties and hope to rejoin their column. The crew are made up of four Soviets and one Afghan named Samad (Avari) who is not trusted by Daskal who suspects Samad of being a turncoat. The film is a classic example of cat & mouse as the Soviets are chased by the determined Mujahideen rebels who are armed with rockets to destroy the tank.

Koverchenko (Patric) respects the Mujahideen rebels who have them on the run and builds a relationship with the outcast Samad who teaches Koverchenko the rules of Pashtunwali which is their code of honour and civility. Koverchenko begins to suspect that Daskal is going over the edge due to his increased resentment for Samad and for the safety of the men.

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Red Dawn is the ultimate “what if” Cold War movie. Set some time in the mid alternate 1980′s, Red Dawn depicts a world which has fast been assimilated into the sphere of Soviet influence. After NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) which was established by western powers after World War II to halt the advance of the Soviet Union rapidly dissolves, the United States is alone and left vulnerable to the threat of communist invasion.

Acclaimed director John Milius (The Wind & the Lion, Farewell to the King, Flight of the Intruder, Rough Riders), and future director/screenwriter Kevin Reynolds helm this 1984 cult classic.

Patrick Swayze (Jed Eckert), Charlie Sheen (Matt Eckert), C. Thomas Howell (Robert Morris), Lea Thompson (Erica Mason), Jennifer Grey (Toni Mason), Powers Boothe (Lt. Col. Andrew Tanner USAF), Harry Dean Stanton (Tom Eckert), Ron O’ Neal (Col. Ernesto Bella), and screen great Ben Johnson (George Mason) round out the cast.

The fictional town of Calumet, Colorado serves as the backdrop for the World War III invasion of the U.S. On a typical September morning as students are listening to their teacher’s lecture on the Mongol conquests of Asia, his attention is drawn to the sight of Soviet paratroops landing on the high school varsity football field. As violence erupts as the enemy quickly gains control of the town for more troops to be dropped in, six teenagers (Swayze, Sheen, Howell, Brad Savage (Danny), Darren Dalton (Daryl), and Doug Toby (Aardvark) flee to the mountains in order to avoid capture.

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1987′s Full Metal Jacket is Stanley Kubrick’s riveting classic about U.S. Marines who survive the brutality of basic training only to be caught up in the horrific 1968 Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. The film is based on Gustav Hasford’s novel The Short-Timers, and screen writer Michael Herr (Apocalypse Now), lend their literary talents to the production of the film.

Matthew Modine (“Joker”), Adam Baldwin (Sgt. “Animal Mother”), Vincent D’ Onofrio (Pvt. “Gomer Pyle”) Arliss Howard (“Cowboy”), and R. Lee Ermey (Gunnery Sgt. Hartman) make up the cast of this amazing Vietnam war movie. Like Paths of Glory, Dr. Strangelove, and Kubrick’s incredibly underrated eighteenth century military period piece Barry Lyndon, Full Metal Jacket is shot for shot, and line for line Kubrick at his finest.

The film is most notable for Ermey’s improvisation in many of the scenes. During the production Ermey was made the military technical adviser for the film and he so desperately wanted to try out for the role of Sgt. Hartman. Kubrick had seen and admired Ermey’s portrayal of SSgt. Loyce in The Boys in Company C and felt that he wasn’t tough enough for the role.

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Paths of Glory (1957) is one of the first masterpieces from acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick. It was loosely based on a rather obscure novel by Humphrey Cobb who published the story in 1935 about an actual group of French soldiers who were tried and condemned to death for cowardice in the face of the enemy during World War I.

The film opens up in 1916 where the narrator informs the audience that after two long years, the war has evolved into a series of trench warfare where victory was measured in precious yards. A series of trench fortifications ran from the Swiss frontier to the English Channel which stopped the advancing German army within thirty or so miles of Paris. Kirk Douglas plays the leading role as Col. Dax who is a company commander and chosen by the General Corp to defend three men who are chosen as scapegoats during a failed attack on an impregnable German position.

Rounding out the fantastic cast is veteran character actor, George Macready (Brig. Gen. Paul Mireau) who is the man behind the court martial of the defendants, Adolphe Menjou (Maj. Gen. Broulard), Ralph Meeker (Cpl. Philippe Paris), Wayne Morris (Lt. Roget), Richard Anderson (Maj. Saint-Auban), Joe Turkel (Pvt. Pierre Arnaud), and Timothy Carey (Pvt. Maurice Ferol) who strikingly looks a lot like John Turturro. If there is ever a remake, Turturro ought to be cast as Pvt. Ferol.

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Okay, finishing up the documentaries this week with two stellar, if unnerving, entries: 1945’s The Battle of San Pietro and 1946’s Let There Be Light. I mentioned last week that Report from the Aleutians came under some scrutiny from the Army, but these two were lucky to have seen the light of day (pun kind of eh, intended).

I recently went through John Huston’s autobiography An Open Book, which provides a lot of details regarding Huston’s troubles with Army censors while making all three of these films, and while I’m going to focus on the films themselves, the stories behind them are almost as compelling.

San Pietro was controversial for its depiction of war, and it was only through the intervention of General George Marshall, who said it’d make a good training film, that it was shown. Let There Be Light wasn’t so lucky.

The Battle of San Pietro depicts the eponymous battle between Allied Forces and the Italian Royal Army and Germany. But the actual battle is not the main focus, just as the Aleutians were not the main focus of Report from the Aleutians or the Mason General Hospital in Let There Be Light is the main focus, as we’ll see. In all three, Huston uses his setting to address a larger theme—the daily life of soldiers; the brutality of battle; the psychological consequences of war.

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For the longest time, the world of rap music and Kung Fu cinema were as separate as one would think they could be. A bridge was then formed by the popular group Wu-Tang Clan, and more specifically, The RZA.

Wu-Tang showed appreciation for all-things Kung Fu in their music, their wardrobe, and even their name, which derives from a fictional martial arts sect, known as the Wudang. They even produced a few Kung Fu-style music videos.

Later, The RZA teamed up with Quentin Tarantino to score his epic homage to Asian cinema in Kill Bill Vol. 1. That’s when RZA first got his taste of big-budget films. Since then, he has gone on to compose for other action films such as War, Smokin’ Aces and composing just about everything to do with Afro Samurai.

Now, RZA is stepping behind the camera, with two brand new projects. His first, entitled The Man with the Iron Fist, is said to be a brand new martial arts-action, starring RZA, and is set to shoot later this year. The other film, is an impressive looking send-up to classic Shaw Bros. films in Wu-Tang Vs. The Golden Phoenix.

There are some parts of the trailer that may come across as campy to the untrained eye, but rest assured that they are most definitely RZA’s way of paying homage to some classic Kung Fu films. Check out the trailer after the jump, and be sure to keep an eye out for Wu-Tang Vs. The Golden Phoenix, as it’s planning to be released later this year, as celebration for RZA’s 20th Anniversary in the music business.

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Zulu (1964) directed and co-written by Cy Endfield, is a film which follows in the tradition of such films like The Four Feathers, The Charge of the Light Brigade, and Gunga Din. It is the screen story of a small garrison of British soldiers who defend the mission station of Rorke’s Drift following the British defeat at the battle of Isandlwana on the afternoon of January 22, 1879. Stanley Baker (Lt. John Chard), Michael Caine in his first major role, (Lt. Gonville Bromhead), Jack Hawkins (Reverend Otto Witt), James Booth (Pvt. Henry Hook), Nigel Green (Colour Sgt. Frank Bourne), Patrick Magee (Surgeon-Maj. James Henry Reynolds), and Gert van den Bergh (Lt. Josef Adendorff) star as the defenders who thwart off numerous attacks by over 4,000 Zulu warriors.

Zulu is a fantastic film, shot in glorious Technirama 70mm. It is a film that shows the sweeping African landscape and was shot on actual battlefield locations. Lt. Chard (Baker) is a member of the Royal Engineers who is sent down from the colony to build a bridgehead across the Buffalo River for the invasion of Zululand. Lt. Bromhead (Caine) is the commanding officer of the 24th Regiment of foot (a primarily Welsh regiment), who learn that two Zulu “impis” (armies) are coming to Rorke’s Drift in an attempt to destroy it and to slaughter the British soldiers there.

Rorke’s Drift was used as a hospital facility and a staging area for the invasion into Zululand and would prove to be a second victory for the Zulus.

Fearing annihilation like Chelmsford’s army, Bromhead wishes to dispatch his troopers into the countryside to fight the Zulus in a guerrilla engagement. Lt. Chard takes command due to seniority and has Bromhead’s soldiers set up defenses and wait for the approaching Zulus. Reverend Witt (Hawkins) begins to drink heavily and starts to demoralize the troops telling them that they will all die if they stay at the mission.

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Green Zone is the third collaboration between director Paul Greengrass and actor Matt Damon.  Previously, the two brought us The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum.  If you are hoping for another adrenaline laced conspiracy drama, this movie will meet you half way.  There is conspiracy in excess, but the adrenaline-not so much.

The first half hour does a great job of depicting how unstable conditions in Baghdad were early on in the Iraq war. Greengrass ratchets up the tension and dread much like Kathryn Bigelow did in The Hurt Locker, by merely giving us a glimpse into everyday life after the initial destabilization of Iraq.  Soldiers wear heavy uniforms in blistering conditions, and crowded city streets could easily be harboring suicide bombers or other dangers.  Everyone is constantly and understandably on edge.

Unfortunately, during the second half of the movie much of the action takes place at night.  Greengrass elected to film these scenes with his signature hand-cam, and these scenes are grainy, jarring and indecipherable.

I don’t mind watching documentary style film, and fortunately I don’t get sick from shaky cam (heed my warning, if you have any tendency to get nauseous during this type of camera work, this movie will do you in), but it is really annoying when you cannot see anything that is going on.  I found my mind wandering to my mental list of chores during some really crucial chase scenes, because I just kind of gave up on trying to figure out what is going on.

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The Big Red One: The Reconstruction is director Samuel Fuller’s (Fixed Bayonets, The Steel Helmet, Merrill’s Marauders) autobiographical account of his experiences with the legendary 1st U.S. infantry division throughout World War II. Lee Marvin leads the cast of raw recruits which include Griff (Mark Hamill, fresh from success in Star Wars), Zab (Robert Carradine, who doubles as Fuller and the film’s narrator), Vinci (Bobby Di Cicco), Kaiser (Perry Lang), and Johnson (Kelly Ward).

This version of the 1980 film was released several years following Fuller’s death, which was in 1997, as a tribute to his lasting work and the version he intended his audiences to see. When this version was released in early 2005, I was overjoyed to see the original forty seven minutes which Fuller was forced to cut by the Warner Bros. executives.

The film opens as the guns fell silent on the Western Front in France during World War I in November of 1918. Lee Marvin begins his military career as a private who outlasts the war only twenty five years later, to fight once again on the battlefields of North Africa, Sicily, and Europe. The film serves as a combat diary of Marvin and his rifle squad of young, inexperienced boys who fast become hardened soldiers.

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