DVD Collectors Online

Alucard, a review by Jimmy

Title : Alucard (2003)

Overview
A modern telling of Bram Stoker's classic!

My Impression
My god this movie is endless...  It is not only long by its running time (2h30), but by the way it is construct. Let me explain, all the movie is based on the diary of the principal characters (I think that the original Bram Stoker's book was like that also) and everytime something a little bit interesting happen we switch to a new diary. This switching make a very confusing film (of course, I've to be honest by confessing that I've fallen asleep a couple of time). This is a really big negative, because the movie itself is well made and a good conversion of an old story in the modern time. The movie is just too long for a low budget... But the last 10 minutes are great!

Maybe you will like it Pete, since you're a biggest vampire movie fan than me. Don't let my review discourage you  

Rating :



(From Jimmy's 2009 Horror Marathon on October 4th, 2009)

Zorro's Black Whip, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Zorro's Black Whip
Year: 1944
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet & Wallace Grissell
Rating: NR
Length: 182 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: N/A

Stars:
George J. Lewis
Linda Stirling
Lucien Littlefield
Francis McDonald
Hal Taliaferro
John Merton

Plot:
Linda Sterling was known as "The Queen of the Republic Serials" when she starred opposite George Lewis in ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP. This was one of the most strange Zorro films, for the very name was mentioned only in the main title of the picture. Throughout twelve exciting chapters, Linda was known only as "The Black Whip", who was assumed to be male until the final chapter unmasking scene. George Lewis usually played a heavy, but this time filled the starring slot as a government agent sent to assure an honest vote on Idaho Statehood. Linda's brother, who is the real Black Whip, is murdered by thugs opposing the law and order which would come with Statehood, and Linda picks up his mantle to oppose their evil in full Zorro regalia, in fact if not in name, as ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP!

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Production Notes

My Thoughts:
This is the second time I have watched Zorro's Black Whip since I bought the Zorro set. while the title is very misleading... I really enjoyed this one a lot. I especially enjoyed Linda Sterling as The Black Whip. See... this movie is not about Zorro at all. But a female Zorro like character. I think the studio was just cashing in on the Zorro name. Linda Stirling was very good... and very attractive. It is a shame this is the only thing I own with her in it. This serial has some fun and entertaining cliffhangers. And plenty of old time Western style action.

I especially liked that this one has a female Zorro like character. I always liked watching a good strong female. For the time this is made I find it pretty incredible. There is also some comic relief in this one also. In the form of Tenpoint Jackson... an old man that works the newspaper for Barbara... he is the only person that knows Barbara is The Black Whip. Well... through most of it anyway.



(From My Alphabet Marathon Reviews on July 11th, 2010)

The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Stargate SG-1



What's the show about?
Mankind is not alone in the universe. An ancient race built a transportation system to connect thousands of planets throughout the galaxy. The entry/exit points of that system are the stargates. Earth sends units to other planets to initiate trade and looking for allies and  possible threats. The first of the units is designated SG-1, consisting of Col. Jack O'Neill, Cpt. Samantha Carter (who also happens to have a doctorate in astrophysics), the archaeologist Daniel Jackson and the alien Jaffa Teal'c. Together they save the world more than once.

What happened before?
In the movie the stargate was a point-to-point connection to the planet Abydos. Daniel Jackson manages to open that connection and goes with Col. O'Neill to Abydos. As soon as they arrive they find a tribe who worships the egyptian sungod Ra - only that Ra is real and an alien. A few thousand years ago Ra abducted people from Earth and brought them to Abydos. But the people on Earth rebelled and buried the stargate. Daniel and Jack have to fight agains Ra and manage to kill him, but only Jack returns from Abydos.

For the concept to work they had to change a few things. For once, the stargate is now a multi-gate network. For another Ra was portrayed as "the last of his kind", not one of many Goa'uld god-impostors. Also there were no signs of the Goa'uld pouch on Ra's Jaffa.

"Children of the Gods"
A year after the events in the movie the project "Stargate" is practically shut down. But then a Ra-look-alike comes through the gate, kills several soldiers and abducts a female soldier. After that Colonol O'Neill's bluff is called and he has to disclose that Daniel is not dead and that Abydos was not nuked. After the team around O'Neill successfully returns to Abydos they learn that there is not only the Abydos and the Earth gate but also many thousands more. But then Abydos is also attacked by this new enemy and they kidnap Daniel's wife and Skaara, a friend of Jack's. And so a rescue mission is set up, which will lead to strange new places and to new friends...

My Opinion
Great show (sorry for the repeating comments, but if I wouldn't like my TV shows I wouldn't have them ) although it became a bit repetitive in later seasons. I loved O'Neill's comments and the countless references to Star Trek and other cultural references (from the pilot: "It took us 15 years and three supercomputers to MacGyver a system for the gate on Earth").

(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on January 2nd, 2008)