DVD Collectors Online

Highlander, a review by DJ Doena

July, 15th


Christopher Lambert    ...    Connor 'The Highlander' MacLeod / Russell Edwin Nash
Roxanne Hart   ...    Brenda J. Wyatt
Clancy Brown   ...    Victor Kruger / The Kurgan
Sean Connery   ...    Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez
Beatie Edney   ...    Heather MacLeod
Alan North   ...    Lieutenant Frank Moran

Synopsis: Connor MacLeod of the clan MacLeod was born more than 450 years ago in the highlands of Scotland. He's immortal and he's not alone. Only a severed neck can kill him, when the stroke of a sword will release the power of the Quickening. Now the time of the Gathering has come, where only a few of them are still alive and they will fight for the Prize. In the end, there can be only one.

My Opinion: Love the first Highlander movie as well as the TV show, especially since I love sword fights and japanese Katanas. I love this whole Immortal mythology where guys like Ramirez have been walking over the Earth for more than 2400 years (or Methos in the TV show, with more than 5000 years the oldest known Immortal). And Queen's soundtrack to this movie is superb. A lot of famous songs came out of it ("Princes of the Universe", "Who Wants to Live Forever", "A Kind of Magic").
What I found funny was that the french-american Lambert played the scottish MacLeod while the scottish Connery played an Egyptian in the service of the spanish king.



(From DJ Doena's movie watchings 2009 on July 16th, 2009)

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, a review by Rich

Title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Movie Count:15 
TV Ep. Count:8 

Runtime:92
Certificate:R
Year:2009
Genres:Action, Horror

Plot:The prequel story traces the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires known as Death Dealers and their onetime slaves, the Lycans. In the Dark Ages, a young Lycan named Lucian (Michael Sheen) emerges as a powerful leader who rallies the werewolves to rise up against Viktor (Bill Nighy), the cruel vampire king who has enslaved them. Lucian is joined by his secret lover, Sonja (Rhona Mitra), in his battle against the Death Dealer army and his struggle for Lycan freedom.

My Review:
Pointless prequel, a bit gorier and fun than the other 2, and loaded with action. I thought some of the CGI effects were below par, a lot of the fight scenes messy and hard to follow, the love story sloppy and the choice of theatrical cast a mistake.
I really liked the original, but this poorly scripted attempt was rather disappointing, and felt like it was dragging out the title to the extreme.
Fantasy and action, and a great act by Bill Nighy, just made it to the average stakes.



(From Rich's October Horror Fest on October 12th, 2009)

Charmed: The Final Season, a review by addicted2dvd

Charmed: The Final Season (2005/United States) Get ready for the ultimate ride in supernatural entertainment! In Charmed: The Final Season, the magical Halliwell sisters Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Paige (Rose McGowan) face their biggest challenges in love, life and death as they try one last time to fulfill their destiny! Join them in their fight to protect Leo from the Angel of Death, and witness their devastating battle when demons conspire to take over the Underworld! Charmed: The Final Season's 6 discs deliver 22 episodes of nonstop thrills, suspense and a climactic finale! The Charmed Ones are ready. Are you? EPISODES: 1. Still Charmed & Kicking 2. Malice in Wonderland 3. Run, Piper, Run 4. Desperate Housewitches 5. Rewitched 6. Kill Billie: Vol. 1 7. The Lost Picture Show 8. Battle of the Hexes 9. Hulkus Pocus 10. Vaya Con Leos 11. Mr. & Mrs. Witch 12. Payback's A Witch 13. Repo Manor 14. 12 Angry Zen 15. The Last Temptation of Christy 16. Engaged and Confused 17. Generation Hex 18. The Torn Identity 19. The Jung and the Restless 20. Gone With The Witches 21. Kill Billie: Vol. 2 22. Forever Charmed

---

Stars:
Alyssa Milano as Phoebe Halliwell
Rose McGowan as Paige Matthews
Holly Marie Combs as Piper Halliwell
Brian Krause as Leo Wyatt
Kaley Cuoco as Billie

Extras:

• Audio Commentary
• Bonus Trailers
• Featurettes
• Closed Captioned

Here it is... the final season of Charmed. I went through this season so fast... in just a few hours over a day. Come to think of it... I went through the entire series pretty quick... 8 seasons (178 episodes) in exactly 3 weeks. That averages out to 8 and a half episodes per day! This is my 4th time watching the series... and I loved the entire run this time as I did the first time I saw it.

Good new this set (is the only one that) has extras! There is a few commentaries as well as several featurettes. Including a featurette where they actually interview fans of the series. A strange thing about this set is that they did not use the theme song for the opening of the episodes. They have for every previous season... but they don't for the last season? Oh well... I always skip the episode openings anyway. One thing that bugs me about all the sets of Charmed is that there is no play all function. I know how difficult is it to click the next episode once it goes back to the menu...but it can be a pain. Especially when you keep forgetting where you set down the remote... like I did many times!

This season Kaley Cuoco is added to the cast. She is well known for playing Penny on The Big Bang Theory. Kaley plays a young witch that The Charmed Ones take in and teach the craft to. This is one time I just can not pick favorite episodes... as I loved every minute of them all. I especially loved how they ended the series. Episodes like Forever Charmed is how all series should go out. It gives a great sense of closure for the series. No unanswered questions. Just a sad goodbye. If there is anything I would change if I could. It is how the final episode brought back so many familiar faces from previous episodes/seasons... but they couldn't get Shannen Doherty to make an appearance. The final shot of the episode was of a bunch of family pictures on the wall as they followed an Piper and Leo up the stairs... and they couldn't even use a picture of her on the wall!?! It is a shame.

Over-all I can't say enough good about it... loved every second. After watching all 8 seasons I actually find myself a little sad that I don't have any more to watch.




(From Addicted2dvd's Random TV Series Watched on April 21st, 2012)