DVD Collectors Online

Island In The Sky, a review by KinkyCyborg

Island In The Sky




Title:Island In the Sky
Year: 1953
Director: William A. Wellman
Rating: NR
Length: 110 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: English

Stars:
John Wayne
Lloyd Nolan
Walter Abel
James Arness
Andy Devine

Plot:
The frozen, unforgiving terrain of subarctic Canada is the setting as screen giant JOHN WAYNE heads an all-star cast in this meticulously restored adventure drama. Set after World War II, Wayne plays Dooley, a former army pilot flying transport missions, who is forced to crash-land his fuel-starved plane on a frozen lake after it strays from its course. A desparate game of survival begins as Dooley and his men confront a meager food supply, limited shelter, inadequate clothing, a primitive emergency radio transmitter and an impending arctic storm. Meanwhile, Dooley's fellow pilots and their crews launch a seemingly overwhelming air search of the bleak, uncharted landscape - grimly realizing that the rescue of the missing men diminishes with each tick of the clock. LLOYD NOLAN, WALTER ABEL, JAMES ARNESS, ANDY DEVINE and HARRY CARRY, JR. also star in this engrossing tale of bravery, hope and survival of the human spirit.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Gallery
Closed Captioned


True story about a transport plane that goes down in the frozen tundra of then uncharted Northern Quebec and the fight for survival of it's 5 crew.

First time watching this and it was a refreshing change of pace for John Wayne in a performance that was rather astonishing in contrast to the roles we are used to seeing him in. The Duke will always be remembered for the confidence and swagger of his many western persona throughout his career but as the Corsair's pilot, Dooley, we see a man clearly showing his fear and despair as he tries to keep the spirits up of his men while waiting for rescue. Next to True Grit, I think this is one of his finest performances.

I could not help but think of this as an earlier, dated version of the movie Alive, both films demonstrating hope that sometimes wavered but was never given up on. The difference between the two films is the men in Island In The Sky showed much more restraint when it came time to eat.... 

I spotted Carl Switzer in this, better known as Alfalfa from the little rascals, still covered with freckles and just as sheepishly goofy as he was when he was a kid. 

Great movie that I highly recommend!

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2011 on April 17th, 2011)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Year: 1989
Director: William Shatner
Rating: PG
Length: 106 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles:

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

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
Going into this one I couldn't remember if I ever seen this one or not. While it isn't a bad movie... the storyline for this one didn't thrill me too much this time. I found myself just not caring as much as I have in the previous stories while watching. I really didn't care too much on the way he brainwashed most the crew into doing what he wanted. Though I must say I did get a bit of a kick out of the few short scenes of Kirk, McCoy and Spock camping. So far this is my least favorite of the marathon.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: The Final Frontier on August 14th, 2010)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon, a review by goodguy

2x07 Brothers of Nablus
Synopsis:
My Rating:

I pretty much agree with Achim's comments and don't have a lot to add.

The real threat in this episode comes from Cromartie, whose reappearance I highly enjoyed.

Well, SkyNet did send Cromartie back to find and kill John Connor, so the synopsis isn't entirely wrong. I too enjoyed him being back in the game and especially those scenes with Jody were great. And nobody does sinister like Dillahunt does.

I also liked that Riley was back, even if she causes John to do foolish things.

...and it is shockingly funny how she [Cameron] deals with the robbers...

In retrospect, the Nablus story was a nice tip-off of what was going to happen.

Sarah at the same time as an unfittingly weak moment.

I wouldn't call it unfitting, on the contrary. As badass as she sometimes appears, she never has killed anyone, not even Dyson in T2. In fact, she is the only one who hasn't. John killed Sarkissian, Derek killed at least Andy Goode, even Jesse just killed Moishe (and in that was as ruthless as Cameron).

Ellison ... The lifting of this story line to a biblical level is a bit out whack and I am not sure what they are trying to say.

I'm not sure either. For Ellison, drawing on the bible is certainly not out of character and the comments from both Cromartie (SkyNet does not believe in you like I do) and Weaver (What good is faith if we don't use it) seem to enforce that. That he compares himself to Job and believes he is tested by God might be his hubris and actually lead him astray.



(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon on February 5th, 2010)