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First Blood, a review by Jon

First Blood
4 out of 5

They don't make 'em like this anymore! A decent solid thriller, adult themed bone-crunching action. They try to make John Rambo a deep character, but it really boils down to a modern day Western where the line between good and bad is distinct. Therefore the only kill is accidental. But that doesn't stop it appearing brutal. Damn, I miss the days when action movies were for kids to try and watch secretly, not waltz in the cinema to see a 12a version. I know I'm sliding off-topic, but Rambo, Terminator, Commando, Robocop, Aliens, were all of a certain, gung-ho flavour. Now coming to a theatre near you in glorious PG crap.

Stallone is great as Rambo, before he let the cartoon action seep into the sequels. This Stallone, and the one in Rocky and Nighthawks, is far more interesting than the one he came to be. You forget he can be a decent writer and actor; check out the scene he calls in interviews an "emotional death". Powerful stuff considering this is a pretty basic setup. From the rest of the cast, Brian Dennehey stands out. He was once the go-to-guy for this sort of movie and frankly I miss him. He last turned up in 30 Rock and Stallone could have done worse than find him a slot in The Expendables.

It surprised me how pretty the film is. Gorgeous locations in the mountains really benefit from Blu-Ray. Some bits are grainy, but check out the cave sequence and the waterfalls. The explosion, courtesy of some "weekend warriors" works well too.

It's odd, but if you have a certain image of Rambo from the sequels, it's worth looking this up because you'll probably be surprised. It's an assured action flick which straddles the gritty 70s and the excessive 80s (pretty much all the Colonel's dialogue: "200? If you're sending that many, make sure you've got plenty of body bags!"). 

(From Jon's Random Reviews on June 15th, 2009)

Potiche, a review by dfmorgan

Potiche

Year: 2010
DirectorCastOverviewWatched: 22nd. Oct 2011
My Thoughts: A wonderful gentle comedy. All three leads play off each other marvellously with general excellent support from the remaining cast. At times it almost descended into farce territory but managed to pull back from there and stay a lighthearted comedy.

My Rating: A wonderful 4



(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on October 23rd, 2011)

The Good Old Days TV Thread, a review by addicted2dvd

My Thoughts:
This is a show I have learned I like quite a bit. Unfortunately the series only lasted the one season (30 Episodes). Which was released on DVD in 2 volumes. With so few episodes I decided that I would only watch an episode here and there to allow my enjoyment of first time viewings to last much longer. Even though every time I watch an episode I get the urge to continue watching the set. There is one thing that bugs me a bit about this show. The time travelers never find a change of clothes to match the time period. And you seldomly see anyone question their attire. This episode is a good example of this... here they are in the time of General Custer and Chief Sitting Bull... one in a suit and the other in a turtleneck sweater. But yet they are not even looked at funny. As for this particular episode... I enjoyed it quite a bit. It is an interesting time period. It has a good story with a little bit of action as well.

My Rating:

(From The Good Old Days TV Thread on February 18th, 2010)