DVD Collectors Online

Countryman, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are:  Jamaica
wikipedia

What We Watched:


Countryman
Year of Release:  1982
Directed By:  Dickie Johnson
Genre: Adventure
Starring:  Countryman, Hiram Keller, Carl Bradshaw, Basil Keane, Freshey Richardson, Kristina St. Clair

Overview:
Countryman is no ordinary man. He is a man of the sea, a man of knowledge, in effortless harmony with everything that lives and breathes.

A fisherman's solitary existence is shattered when an airplane crashes into a nearby swamp. By rescuing two young Americans from the wreckage, the fisherman, Countryman, becomes an unwitting player in a political plot devised by the power-hungry Colonel Sinclair. The couple and Countryman, branded by Sinclair as enemy agents, are forced to flee into the Jamaican wilderness to elude capture. The peaceful Rastafarian hero shows the Americans his knowledge of land and sea, but when violence peaks, he shows that he is capable of unleashing an awesome, almost magical display of acrobatic hand-to-hand combat.

My Thoughts:
This is a beautiful, fun film with a great reggae soundtrack.  If you love reggae, the soundtrack alone is worth watching the film for - Bob Marley and the Wailers, Jah Lion, Steel Pulse, Toots and The Maytals - great music that fits into the film perfectly.  In fact, Countryman is inspired by the songs of Bob Marley and the person of Countryman. 

I bought this film because it was both cheaper than the Criterion release of The Harder They Come (which I do still want), and it wasn't centered on a life of crime, but has a heroic Jamaican character.  Countryman is a Rasta fisherman, a man who helps those in need, provides for his family, looks out for his friends.  Yes, Countryman is a poor man, and perhaps we (and the film) are guilty of romanticizing the poor, but he is also rich in friends, in life, and in spirit. 

In the featurette the director talks about the film being like Tarzan, but while it does resemble it - a man living in harmony with nature who looks after civilized people and helps them return to civilization - this isn't a Weissmuller Tarzan film.  Weissmuller's Tarzan was inarticulate and instictive, while Countryman is philosophical and spiritual.  (Yes, other depictions of Tarzan are closer to Burroughs' book, but Weissmuller's is still the film icon.)

Countryman itself is also rich in spirit, in spiritual practice and symbolism.  We see two different obeah men, as well as the hawk, the owl, the moon, smoke, lightning, all speaking toward the power of the natural world and the magic within it.  For those who are like myself, this is a very pagan friendly film.  It's also a condemnation the machinations of politics and the use of invented threat and fear to sustain those in power.  But, most of all, it's a fun adventure.

Overall: 3.5/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on February 27th, 2012)

Sirens, a review by Rich

Sirens





Slow film which appeared to just have the intention of showing naked women, and occasionally some naked men, literally through the whole 90 minutes. Thin uninteresting plot typecasts Grant again as a bumbling handsome innocent, and Neill yet again in a totally undemanding role.
There is slight charm involved with the awakening of innocence, but in truth this movie is worth forgetting.
 

(From Riches Random Reviews on May 27th, 2009)

Bionic Woman (2007) Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

1. Pilot
After a devastating car accident, Jamie's only hope for survival lies in top-secret technology that begins her new, covert life.

My Thoughts:
Let me start off by first saying I will not use the episode reviews as a place to compare this version of the series and the original Bionic Woman. I will use my Over-all Thoughts to touch on that at the end of the review.

I am very impressed with the pilot episode. There was lots of action and some really great effects. I really like how in this series Jaime Sommers has a sister in this series. I thought the car crash that Jaime and her boyfriend was in (the reason Jaime became bionic) was well done... the effects of Jamie having the operation and recovering from the operation was cool... and thought the fight in the rain with the "first" Bionic Woman was great. A very well done pilot in my opinion.

2. Paradise Lost
Jamie works to balance her home life with her new secret and discovers that a recent encounter with a stranger was no accident.

My Thoughts:
Another good episode. In this episode Jaime had to decide if she wanted to join the Berkut Group or not. I liked the storyline of the town that was hit with the bio-weapon. Then of course there is more at home issues with her sister that she has been raising since their father left her on Jaime's doorstep and abandoned. This series really seems to have a good balance of Jaime's new life and her home life with her sister.

3. Sisterhood
The Berkut Group turns to Jamie to monitor the daughter of a Canadian defense contractor.

My Thoughts:
This is a pretty good episode... but in my opinion I think it was too much crammed into one episode. It did have some decent action in it... and a good story. But I would have liked to seen the main story line followed through with more then it was. It seemed like they dropped that storyline sooner then they should have.

4. Faceoff
During a mission to rescue an American doctor working in Paraguay, Jamie learns the truth about her bionic lifespan.

My Thoughts:
This episode is a really good one. As the plot says... we learn things about Jaime's bionics that we didn't know before. The mission they send Jaime on in this episode is action packed. And Jaime continues to have problems with the idea of keeping the whole situation a secret away from her sister. Even though I know why they made it a secret from her sister... from the beginning of the series I have always wanted to see Jaime be able to tell her. It would give her someone outside the organization that she could openly talk to.

(From Bionic Woman (2007) Marathon on September 1st, 2008)