DVD Collectors Online

Battle for Terra, a review by Tom

Title: Battle for Terra
Year: 2007
Director: Aristomenis Tsirbas
Rating: PG
Length: 79 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35
Audio: English: PCM 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Evan Rachel Wood
Luke Wilson
David Cross
Amanda Peet
Rosanna Arquette

Plot:
When the peaceful inhabitants of the beautiful planet Terra come under attack from the last surviving members of humanity adrift in an aging spaceship, the stage is set for an all-out war between the two species for control of the planet. But will an unlikely friendship between a rebellious young Terrian (voiced by Evan Rachel Wood) and an injured human pilot (Luke Wilson) somehow convince their leaders that war is not the answer?

Extras:
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Scene Access
Storyboard Comparisons
Trailers

I saw this movie at last year's FantasyFilmFest and I have been waiting for a Blu-ray release since. This is a low-budget computer animated movie, which I think has great animation considering its low budget. Of course it is not in the same league as Pixar but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

The final battle reminded me very much of the Death Star battle in Star Wars: Episode 4. Even some dialogue was taken from there.



Rating:

(From DCO third annual November Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread on November 14th, 2009)

Les quatre cents coups , a review by Antares

Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows) (1959) 3.5/5 - This was an interesting film, on the one hand there wasn't much to the plot, but on the other hand, what there was, was captivating enough to hold my attention. But that being said, I felt like I was invited to a sumptuous buffet, but I only was served an appetizer. I just expected more from a film that many consider a bonafide classic. I will say that my favorite moment in the film is when Antoine and Rene are at the puppet show and Truiffaut stays transfixed on the younger children who are watching the show. The expressions on these children's faces is priceless and juxtaposes the difference from their innocence to Antoine and Rene's evolving delinquency. I thought it was the best part of the film. I would recommend this film to others, but with a little less of the hype that I've heard about it.


Hey Jon, how's it going with Gene Kelly? I've already finished two from my list, you need to kick it up a notch.

(From Antares' Short Summations on April 7th, 2011)

"Stargate SG-1" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

I have bought the first nine seasons of Stargate SG-1And it does look nice. I will chip the first nine seasons on eBay.



Synopsis: The defence of the Supergate ended in a slaughter of the defenders. The four Ori ships had no problems with breaking through. Aboard one of these ships Vala has just given birth to her daughter. But she is growing very fast and she is supposed to become the leader of all Ori troops in this galaxy.

My Opinion: The more often I encounter the story it the less interesting it gets: chosen childs. Offhand I can recall: Gabrielle's daughter Hope (Xena: Warrior Princess), Xena's daughter Eve/Livia (Xena: Warrior Princess) and of course Angel's son Connor (Angel). If we add movies, we can also add Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader (Star Wars).
I was also a bit disappointed that Bra'tac has learned very few since he first encountered G_1 over eight years ago. Back then he also wanted to prepare for death after they had successfully sabotaged Apophis's ship.

Synopsis: SG-1 visits one of the planets where they hope to find Merlin's weapon. But there isn't a single living being, not even animals. But the inhabitants of the village seem to have died peacefully in their beds.
In the meantime Vala has to undergo a psychiatric examination before she can join the Stargate program.

My Opinion: This episode was literally soporific.

Synopsis: Daniel hopes to find more information about the location of the weapon in Atlantis. And Carter has developed a plan to render the Supergate useless with the help of a black hole in the Pegasus galaxy.

My Opinion: This episode I liked again. McKay was great and the way Daniel and Vala blew the cover of the Ancient "Morgan le Fay" was also good. While there are significant difference the Ancients and the Ori strongly reminded me of the Vorlons and the Shadows (Babylon 5) in this episode. All four are far superior to the normal Humans and within their universe they have a mutual exclusive point of view on how to interact with the Humans. Although the Ancients are the only ones of the four that don't intervene at all (with the usual exceptions to that rule).
The "phone bill" of this episode could be interesting. Atlantis in the Pegasus galaxy calls the SGC who in turn call Teal'c at the Supergate and he relays the message through the open wormhole to the Odyssey in the Pegasus galaxy.

Synopsis: The allegedly real Ba'al comes to Earth and offers his help to find the weapon. But for this, SG-1 would have to kill all his clones who have uprisen against him. But every clone insits on being the real Ba'al and soon the SGC is swarmed with Ba'als.

My Opinion: Oh Sam, come on! Have you learned nothing from the RepliCarter disaster? I am annoyed that this highly intelligent woman falls for such plans. Yes, granted, she was in a hostage situation but how many lives will it cost when Ba'al is successful?

(From "Stargate SG-1" Marathon on May 2nd, 2008)