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Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds: Live on Stage!, a review by GSyren

Looking at upcoming releases at Amazon UK, I noticed a blu-ray release of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds - The New Generation: Alive On Stage. Being a long time fan of the record album, I was intrigued. But I noticed that they had replaced Richard Burton's narration with Liam Neeson. I was truly disappointed. When they had gone to so much trouble to incorporate Burton's narration into the original stage production, why on earth would they replace it? Now, I have nothing against Neeson, but Burton is so iconic and an integral part of the experience of the record. So anyway, this lead me to dig out the original 2006 show from my archive and watch it once again. And...

Title	Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds: Live on Stage! (5-050582-456738)
Director	David Mallet
Performers	Lewis McCleod, Richard Burton, Justin Hayward, Alexis James, Anna-Marie Wayne
Conducted by	Jeff Wayne
Produced	2006 in United Kingdom
Runtime	110 minutes
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo, English Dolby Digital 5.1, English DTS 5.1
Subtitles	French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch
Overview	Filmed at Wembley Arena on 25th April, 2006, The War of the Worlds Live is a spectacular mix of live music, theatre, multi-media and visual arts on a grand scale. It combines the brilliance of the original performers including Jeff Wayne, Justin Hayward, Chris Thompson and even the late Richard Burton ('In Sight and Sound') along with a brand new cast, the 10-piece Black Smoke Band, the 48-piece ULLAdubULLA Strings and an unforgettable fully operating 30ft Martian Fighting Machine!
My thoughts	For some reason I never bought Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the WorldsEssential viewing!
My rating	4.5 out of 5

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on November 23rd, 2013)

Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision, a review by Tom

Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision (2003/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Universal Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Steve Boyum Writing: Mike Richardson (Original Characters By), Mark Verheiden (Original Characters By), Gary Scott Thompson (Writer) Length: 81 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Stars:
Jason Scott Lee as Ryan Chang
Thomas Ian Griffith as Brandon Miller
Mary Page Keller as Doc
John Beck as O'Rourke
Tava Smiley as Tyler Jeffers

Plot:
Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision is the action-packed time travel adventure that takes thrill seekers on a wild ride through time - from Hitler's Germany to the Wild West and beyond.

Jason Scott Lee stars as Ryan Chang, the maverick Timecop who's assigned to prevent criminals from travelling to the past and altering the future. The clock is ticking – and Ryan must track down the evil mastermind Branson Miller (Thomas Ian Griffith) who's bent on using history as the ultimate weapon. Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision is packed with non-stop action, special effects and thrilling martial arts sequences!

Extras:

• Featurettes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

Definetely worse than the first part. Not recommended.

Rating:

(From Tom's Time-Travel Movie Reviews on January 5th, 2008)

"Stargate SG-1" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Caused by the explosion of the sun and the activated Hyperdrive SG-1s Ha'tak has been catapulted into another galaxy. But Apophis is also there with his huge motherhip. But as soon as they have arrived another ship is apporaching that attacks Apophis's ship. It is the Replicators.

My Opinion: Nothing against a good deus ex machina now and then, but this time they've overdone it. First they land in a remote galaxy, then the Replicators arrive, then Teal'c has been brainwashed somehow and in the end the Replicators kindly bring SG-1 back home. Honestly! At least Apophis has breathed his last breath.

Synopsis: Teal'c is still brainwashed. According to Bra'tac, the only way to get him out of this, is to remove the larva and bring him to the brink of death.

My Opinion: Even though the events that led to this were rubbish, this was a very good compensation. It showed us how Teal'c became the man he is and how Bra'tac tought him all this. A great character drawing.

Synopsis: SG-1 discovers a device that could be a powerful weapon. But then Sam faints and has to be brought back to the SGC. When she is put on leave and comes home, she is awaited by a non-corporeal being. It declares that it comes from the planet Sam has just been to.

My Opinion: The most important information in this episode was the fact, that Teal'c has watched Star Wars nine times while Jack has never watched it. That aside this episode was a goof examply why in Star Trek a Prime Directive exists: Because it is not predictable, what happens if one interfers with the developement of a culture. But the extinction of that entire planet was also over the top, they simply could have taken the Stargate away.
The appearance of John de Lancie (Q in Star Trek: The Next Generation) was also nice, especially because it won't be the last.

Synopsis: Sam, Teal'c and Daniel return to the SGC under heavy fire while Jack and Lieutenant Tyler are grounded. But the real problem is: In the SGC no one knows this "Lieutenant Tyler". Only SG-1 can remember this man.

My Opinion: I liked this episode, too. Another fact has cought my eye here: Stargate SG-1 has found a good balance regarding the number of alien races. The universe isn't as crowded with non-humans as the Star Trek universe. But it is also not as empty as the Battlestar Galactica universe. While most of the aliens are still humanoid they aren't simply knobbly-nose-aliens but really alien-aliens.

(From "Stargate SG-1" Marathon on March 30th, 2008)