DVD Collectors Online

The Black Scorpion, a review by GSyren

The Black Scorpion (888574-100049)

United States 1957 | Released 2014-12-09 on DVD from Warner Home Video

88 minutes | Aspect ratio Anamorphic 1.85:1 | Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono

Directed by Edward Ludwig and starring Richard Denning, Mara Corday, Carlos Rivas, Mario Navarro, Carlos Muzquiz

My thoughts about The Black Scorpion:

I recently double-dipped on The Black Scorpion because it was finally released in its proper widescreen format. Unlike what many seem to think, the animation in this film was not done by Willis O'Brien. It was done by Pete Peterson. And it's a quite remarkable achievement since Peterson suffered from multiple sclerosis. O'Brien is credited as Supervisor of Special Effects. You can read more about Pete Peterson here. The Black Scorpion may not be a cinematic masterpiece, but it certainly didn't deserve being ridiculed in MST3K. It's a fine example of fifties monster bug movies. Yes, it starts out slow, but that's the way most of these films did it. They built up to the reveal of the monster(s). The worst aspect of the movie is the silly close-ups of the drooling scorpion head. They don't match the animation model, and they're used way too long and too often. Another problem is that they apparently ran out of money before they could finish all the effects, so a few of the animation scenes just have the black matte of the scorpion, presenting it as a silhouette. But it kind of works anyway. Finally, the little Mexican boy, Juanito, is really both annoying and unnecessary. But all this doesn't stop me from liking this movie. I guess it helps that I'm a huge fan of fifties monster movies in general, and stop motion movies in particular. On first viewing I rated this movie three stars. Now, after seeing it in widescreen, I add half a star to that rating.

I rate this title

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on February 17th, 2015)

Sundays and Cybele, a review by Antares

Sundays and Cybele (1962) - 4.5/5 - Yesterday I was watching a cheaply made Italian film called Amazons of RomeThe One That Got Away. He gives a reserved, but powerful performance as a mentally wounded fighter pilot named Pierre, who is traumatized over killing a child with his plane during an attack on an Indo-China (Vietnam) village. He now suffers from amnesia and can remember nothing about himself and his past. One Sunday, at the local train station, he witnesses a father and daughter having a slight altercation. The father is taking the girl to a convent, to be raised by the nuns and the girl doesn't want to go. The girl, played marvelously by Patricia Gozzi, knows that she is being abandoned and will never see her father again. She asks him if he will visit her on Sundays, but the father hastily hands her off to the the nuns, and heads quickly back to the train station. In his haste, he tries to leave a small folder, containing a letter for the girl, explaining his actions, but the folder is found by Pierre who takes it home with him.

The following Sunday, he goes to the convent to give the girl the folder, but seeing how sad she is that her father has not returned, decides to impersonate her father and the two trek off to a local park and spend the day together. From here on out, the two form a bond of trust and friendship, that others throughout the rest of the film will not understand. All the while I was watching this, my mind kept thinking about another film from 1962 that also dealt with a relationship between a man and a young girl, Lolita. But while that story was more smarmy and lecherous in its nature, Sundays and Cybele takes it down a different path. Both Pierre and Cybele are fractured souls, both in need of the tonic that their friendship and love brings. Sure, looking at this film today, can be a little unsettling at times, especially when Cybele talks about marrying Pierre, but when taken in the context of how it is made, the film works most beautifully. I highly recommend you seek this film out over at YouTube, and watch one of the forgotten gems of the 60's and the French New Wave.

(From Antares' Short Summations on June 21st, 2012)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Enterprise: Season One (2001/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Paramount Home Entertainment (Germany) Length: 1107 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles: Commentary, Danish, English, German, Norwegian, Swedish

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Enterprise
1.01+02 Broken Bow
Cast: Scott Bakula (Jonathan Archer), John Billingsley (Phlox), Jolene Blalock (T'Pol), Dominic Keating (Malcolm Reed), Anthony Montgomery (Travis Mayweather), Linda Park (Hoshi Sato), Connor Trinneer (Charles "Trip" Tucker III), John Fleck (Silik), Melinda Clarke (Sarin), Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, Jr. (Klaang), Vaughn Armstrong (Admiral Forrest), Jim Beaver (Admiral Daniel Leonard), Mark Moses (Henry Archer), Gary Graham (Ambassador Soval), Thomas Kopache (Tos), Jim Fitzpatrick (Commander Williams), James Horan (Humanoid Figure), Joseph Ruskin (Suliban Doctor), Marty Davis (Young Archer), Van Epperson (Alien Man), Ron King (Farmer), Peter Henry Schroeder (Klingon Chancellor), Matt Williamson (Klingon Council Member), Byron Thames (Crewman), Ricky Luna (Carlos), Jason Grant Smith (Crewman Fletcher), Chelsea Bond (Alien Mother), Ethan Dampf (Alien Child), Diane Klimaszewski (Dancer), Elaine Klimaszewski (Dancer), James Cromwell (Zefram Cochrane (uncredited))

It took a long time, that Enterprise found its footing. Shortly before it was cancelled it became worth watching. All modern Star Trek shows only starting becoming as great as what they are remembered for beginning with their third or fourth season. For Enterprise though this was too late.
The pilot is rather weak and not really engaging.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on July 24th, 2012)