Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 10th, 2003
X2:X Men United is the follow-up film to the original X-men film from 2000. The original film did a good job of setting up the universe of the X-men and introducing us to the core characters that the comic books have always centered around. This film expands on this universe and brings along some of the coolest characters from the comics, this being Pyro, a brief glimpse of Juggernaut and lets not forget Nightcrawler. In this film we see the good and band mutants joining forces to defeat a common enemy. This is a little disappointing as we get to see cool new good characters but not really any super new baddies, but it also keeps the storyline fresh instead of it just being the good mutants versus the bad mutants.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 20th, 2003
William Shatner refused to reprise his role of Kirk in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home without a promise to write and direct the next film in the franchise. Against their better judgment Paramount agreed, and to this day wish they had not. The story is absolutely silly and the direction very one-dimensional. The truth is, however, that there still are some very endearing Trek moments in the film. DeForest Kelly gives a superb performance as McCoy must face his past decision to allow his terminal father to die. Even the Kirk / Spock moments are often quite compelling. Unfortunately Shatner couldn’t help but show with how little regard he held his minor cast mates. Sulu, Scotty, Uhura, and Chekov are reduced to comic parodies of themselves. The f/x are some of the franchise’s weakest.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 14th, 2003
Maybe there wasn’t anything wrong with your television set, but what were the network executives thinking? It’s hard to believe that a show as influential and as well known as The Outer Limits never made it to the end of its second season. The original Outer Limits was cancelled just 17 episodes into season 2. Like Star Trek after it, this short-lived show found its footing in later syndication and revival projects. It is fortunate indeed that today’s general rule of 100 episodes to qualify for syndication did not exist in the 1960’s. Now a complete series on DVD, this is an important release. Sci-Fi writer Harlen Ellison made his TV writing debut with two of the most famous Outer Limits episodes : “Soldier” and “Demon With A Glass Hand”. The writing was top notch even if the “monster of the week” was not.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 28th, 2003
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 31st, 2003
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 14th, 2003
One of Ray Harryhausen’s earliest stop motion projects was a military training film on how to build a bridge. In It Came from Beneath the Sea he got to destroy a famous one and create yet another vivid memory for his legion of fans. It Came from Beneath the Sea was the second film I had the pleasure to discuss with Ray Harryhausen (stop motion pioneer) at the 2003 Wonderfest in Louisville. Again I was joined by Einsiders writer Rusty White. You can find the actual interview at: http://einsiders.com/features/interviews/harryhausen.php.
Certainly this could not be considered one of Harryhausen’s most imaginative films. Still, the stop motion effects were incredible for their day. If the film suffers at all it is from enormous budget constraints, particularly when it came to the creature itself. Ray told me me, “It was a sextapus. If we had cut the budget any more it would have been a tripod!”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 12th, 2003
20 Million Miles To Earth has always been one of my favorite films. It was from this classic monster fest that I developed my long standing respect for stop motion pioneer Ray Harryhausen. In 1998, I got to meet Ray for the first time as his assistant for a horror convention (unfortunately run by a megalomaniac). It was there that I developed enough of a relationship with him and his lovely wife Diane that I was able to interview him at the 2003 Wonderfest in Louisville. Ray’s time was extremely limited, so I ...as joined in my interview by Einsiders’ Rusty White. You can find the actual interview at: http://einsiders.com/features/interviews/harryhausen.php.
20 Million Miles to Earth was originally written by Harryhausen to take place in Chicago, but as Ray tells me: “I originated the story. Then, I wanted a trip to Italy, so I changed the location when I submitted it to Columbia. I had always wanted to go to Europe and I didn’t have the money. So, I changed the location to Sicily because I wanted to go to Rome.” The more exotic location gave Ray more than his chance to visit Italy. It supplied the film with one of those memorable climaxes as the creature climbs the walls of the Coliseum. The creature itself also went through several changes. Ray explains, “First he was a Cyclops, then he was a two-horned, with two eyes. Oh, he was very stout originally. Then I decided that he would be better off thin. So I made him more humanoid.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 11th, 2003
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2003
If ever there was a film that was badly misunderstood it is Star Trek: Nemesis. The most common complaint I’ve heard is it was too much like an episode. Excuse me, but isn’t it supposed to be? Nemesis has everything a good Star Trek film should have. The character chemistry, space battles, a morality tale, and terrific f/x. If the film suffers at all it is from poor editing, as the collection of deleted scenes clearly shows (more on that in the special features section). As many politicians are fond of saying, “mistakes were made,” but this is a far better film than the critics or fans have given it credit for being. It deserves a second look and this 2 disc release is the perfect opportunity to revisit Star Trek: Nemesis.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 27th, 2003
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