DVD Collectors Online

Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, a review by dfmorgan

Year: 1987
Director: Hiroyuki Yamaga
OverviewWatched: 6th Feb 2010
My Thoughts: This anime I first saw in 1995 on a VHS released in the UK by Manga Video, this version was cut and dubbed. I then got the uncut US R1 DVD in 2000 released by Manga Entertainment and again there were problems, Manga badly transfered this film onto DVD and were castigated by the fans and many review sites. Now finally I have a version which should be near perfect. Colours and images were nice and sharp generally, some evidence in places of dust but not too obtrusive. Sound was good, I watched it in Japanese but my amp doesn't support HD sound so only had the downmixed Dolby Digital 5.1 from the PS3, not a lot of surround effects but when used it added to the ambience. One thing that was strange though was that it was window-boxed, i.e. a border around the whole image on screen. Checked up on a couple of review sites and that was intended to ensure that the original aspect ratio was fully shown.

At its heart this is a love story. A young man, a member of the recently formed Royal Space Force, meets a young woman, distributing pamphlets, and their romance follows a slightly tortuous path. Mixed in with this is a secondary story about the nations ongoing troubles with a neighbouring country and their first launch into space. Of course there is also duplicity within the government which leads to a interesting conclusion to this film.

My Rating: Not too sure about the window-boxing so 4

Dave

(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on February 11th, 2010)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, a review by Tom

Title: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Year: 1989
Director: William Shatner
Rating: FSK-12
Length: 102 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Commentary, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Turkish

Stars:
William Shatner
Leonard Nimoy
DeForest Kelley
James Doohan
Walter Koenig

Extras:
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Scene Access
Trailers

The worst of the original Star Trek movies. This time with the captain itself in the director's chair. Stupid story with plot holes through which you can fly the Enterprise. Traveling to the center of the universe, which nobody has ever done in a matter of hours (thousands of light years)? Passing a barrier without any problems whatsoever which is said to be impossible? Flying up 60 levels on ship which has about 14 or so? Star Fleet commissions a new ship which is already falling apart? They must have really bad quality control.
Horse-crazy Shatner also just to integrate horses into the plot. Putting a stupid horn on the head does not make a horse an alien creature.
The only thing which saves the movie a little are some of the scenes between Kirk, Spock and McCoy. The other characters are sadly reduced to laughing stock material (maybe this is the reason the other actors often talk ill about Shatner).

Rating:

(From Tom's Star Trek Movies Marathon on February 2nd, 2009)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Black Adder III (1987/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia (United States) Length: 220 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles:

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Plot:
England 1768-1815. A golden age of wealth, power and discovery though not for Edmund Blackadder Esq. In a situation that can rightly be seen as something of a slump in the fortunes of the previously aristocratic Blackadder family, Edmund is now butler and gentleman's gentleman to the "mini-brained" Prince Regent.

Black Adder
3.01 Dish and Dishonesty
Writer: Richard Curtis (Writer), Ben Elton (Writer)
Director: Mandie Fletcher
Cast: Rowan Atkinson (Edmund Blackadder, butler to the Prince), Tony Robinson (Baldrick, a dogsbody), Hugh Laurie (The Prince Regent, their master), Helen Atkinson-Wood (Mrs. Miggins, a coffee shoppekeeper), Vincent Hanna (Mr. Vincent Hanna, his own great great g), Denis Lill (Sir Talbot Buxomly, a member of Parliame), Simon Osborne (Pitt the Younger, the Prime Minister), Geoff McGivern (Ivor Biggun, a candidate), Dominic Martelli (Pitt the even Younger, a tiny whig)

The third series is also great. Though not judging by the first episode. That one was just okay. Hugh Laurie is great as the Prince Regent.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on March 29th, 2011)