Stars: Eva Marton, Brigitte Fassbaender, Cheryl Studer, Franz Grundheber, James King, Vienna State Orchestra And Choir

Summary: Richard Strauss' Elektra performed at the Vienna State Opera in 1989 and was a milestone in the interpretation of this work.

This release presents Claudio Abbado conducting Richard Strauss's one-act opera ELEKTRA, directed for the stage by Harry Kupfer. Soloists include Brigitte Fassbaender and Cheryl Studer, with Eva Marton in the title role.

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While 2003's Daredevilwas a conventional superhero movie, the 2005 spinoff, Elektra, is more of a wuxia-styled martial arts/fantasy flick. Elektra (Jennifer Garner) has returned to her life as a hired assassin, but she balks at an assignment to kill a single father (Goran Visnjic, ER) and his teenage daughter (Kirsten Prout). That makes her the target of The Hand, an organization of murderous ninjas, scheming corporate types, and a band of stylish supervillains seeking to eliminate Elektra and tip the balance of power in the ongoing battle of good vs. evil.

As the star of Alias, Garner has proven that she can kick butt with the best of them, and some of the visual effects are impressive, but the action sequences tend to be anticlimactic, and there's not much to the story. Fans will notice numerous references to Frank Miller's comic books, but there's very little resemblance to Miller's cold-blooded killer (Elektra with an agent? Elektra referring to herself as a "soccer mom"?).

Is Elektrabetter than Daredevil? Not really, even with the distinct advantage of having all Garner and no Ben Affleck. That could be the spinoff's greatest disappointment: after Spider-Man 2raised the bar for comic-book movies, Elektralowered it back to Daredevil'slevel. Directed by Rob Bowman (the X-Filesmovie), and featuring Terence Stamp as the mysterious mentor Stick, Will Yun Lee (Die Another Day) as the chief villain, and NFL-player-turned-mixed-martial-arts-champion Bob Sapp as the immovable Stone. --David Horiuchi, Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	4:3 Full Frame
Region:	Region 2
Subtitles:	English, French, German
Year:	1989
Release Date:	July 3, 2000
Runtime:	109 minutes
Certification:	Exempt.
Catalogue Number:	100 048
Keywords:	Music, Opera, Elektra, Works, Stage, Classical, Performing, Operetta, Arts
Genre:	Music/Performing Arts