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Moonraker, a review by Rich

Moonraker



Agent 007 blasts into orbit in this action-packed adventure that takes him to Venice, Rio de Janeiro and outer space. When Bond investigates the hijacking of an American space shuttle, he and beautiful CIA agent Holly Goodhead are soon locked in a life-or-death struggle against Hugo Drax, a power-mad industrialist whose horrific scheme may destroy all human life on earth!

Clumsy special effects, disappointing storyline, and Moore possibly his worst as Bond. Drax (Lonsdale) was not a good villain in my opinion, but the return of Jaws (and speaking!) was a highlight.
The settings were pretty spectacular all round, Venice and Brazil standing out, but must of eaten in to the huge budget considerably. There are action spectaculars within the film, the girls of course are beautiful (how do they get away with calling one Holly Goodhead??) especially gorgeous was Corinne Clery, and the opening halo descent was amazing.
But it is all a bit too tongue in cheek - Star Wars in mind - tick the boxes - for my liking, so I would only go as far as saying this 007 was just above average.
 

(From Riches Random Reviews on April 14th, 2009)

Alien, a review by dfmorgan

Alien

Part of

Alien Anthology

Year: 1979
Director: Ridley Scott,
Cast: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt
Overview: The massive space-tug Nostromo glides silently through space. Back from the outer reaches of the galaxy, it's taking its seven-member crew back to Earth. But when the ship's computer receives a distress signal from a nearby planetary system, it rouses the crew from their cryo-sleep. It isn't until after the 'Nostromo' has landed on a barren planet named LV-426 and three crewmembers have gone out to investigate a huge derelict spacecraft that the signal is deciphered and found to be a warning. But one crewmember has already experienced a shocking face-to-face encounter with an alien creature while inspecting an egg-shaped pod. And so the horror begins - a horror which will end the lives of six crewmembers and alter the life of the seventh forever.

Watched: 30th. Oct 2010
My Thoughts: Decide to end my October 2010 Horror Marathon on a high. I've seen this film at the cinema and many times on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD in both Theatrical and Director's Cuts. Now I get to see it in Blu.

I chose the original Theatrical Cut to watch and have to say that the transfer of this film is magnificent. It was like going back to seeing it again on a big-screen, if a 40" 1080p TV counts for that. Colours, depth everything just looked superb even when it was dark on screen. I have to say that I didn't notice any strange effects or grain in this.

My Rating: A magnificent 5

Dave

(From 2010 October Horror Marathon (Discussion thread) on October 31st, 2010)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Title: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Season Two
Year: 2008
Director:
Rating: NR
Length: 964 Min.
Video: Widescreen 1.78
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Japanese, Norwegian, Swedish

Stars:
Leny Headey
Thomas Dekker
Summer Glau
Brian Austin Green

Plot:
The hunt is on in a season of powerful revelations, breathless pursuits and bravura effects. A mysterious 3-dot symbol (do UFOs provide a clue?), a girlfriend for John (is Cameron jealous?), a mysterious tech company ZeiraCorp (can it master the renegade software called Turk?) - Season 2's 5-disc action arsenal is locked, loaded, ready to amaze.

Extras:
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Scene Access

This season started promising. Although not quite as great as the first season, I was enjoying it. But then I had the feeling that all involved were getting worn out making an action series and wanting to slow down. I have no problem with that, but I didn't really enjoy the storylines they were making then. For me it just didn't fit anymore. Added to that I didn't really like the Weaver/John Henry storyline. Her character just did not appeal to me, though the original idea involving her wasn't so bad. Also the Derek/Jessie was not that interesting. For my feeling Cameron had too few scenes. I also missed scenes with the group working together. Everyone had their own agenda.
The series picked up again towards the end, but never to the level of the first season. Contrary to the first season, which I already watched twice and could start watching again anytime, I think the urge to revisit the second season anytime soon will not be that great.
The last episode made me really worried. As it did go on they were opening up new threads one after another with the ending coming closer and closer. I was fearing that I will face a massive cliffhanger. But at the last minute with the last scene, it came all full circle for me and I think it was the perfect way to end the series. I am not sure if I would have liked a third season. I thought the last scene worked really great as a series finale.

#	Episode	Rating
01	Samson and Delilah
02	Automatic for the People
03	The Mousetrap
04	Allison from Palmdale
05	Goodbye to All That
06	The Tower Is Tall But the Fall Is Short
07	Brothers of Nablus
08	Mr. Ferguson Is Ill Today
09	Complications
10	Strange Things Happen at the One-Two Point
11	Self Made Man
12	Alpine Fields
13	Earthlings Welcome Here
14	The Good Wound
15	Desert Cantos
16	Some Must Watch, While Some Must Sleep
17	Ourselves Alone
18	Today Is the Day - Part 1
19	Today Is the Day - Part 2
20	To the Lighthouse
21	Adam Raised a Cain
22	Born to Run

(From Tom's Random Reviews on January 25th, 2010)