DVD Collectors Online

First Blood, a review by Jon

First Blood
4 out of 5

They don't make 'em like this anymore! A decent solid thriller, adult themed bone-crunching action. They try to make John Rambo a deep character, but it really boils down to a modern day Western where the line between good and bad is distinct. Therefore the only kill is accidental. But that doesn't stop it appearing brutal. Damn, I miss the days when action movies were for kids to try and watch secretly, not waltz in the cinema to see a 12a version. I know I'm sliding off-topic, but Rambo, Terminator, Commando, Robocop, Aliens, were all of a certain, gung-ho flavour. Now coming to a theatre near you in glorious PG crap.

Stallone is great as Rambo, before he let the cartoon action seep into the sequels. This Stallone, and the one in Rocky and Nighthawks, is far more interesting than the one he came to be. You forget he can be a decent writer and actor; check out the scene he calls in interviews an "emotional death". Powerful stuff considering this is a pretty basic setup. From the rest of the cast, Brian Dennehey stands out. He was once the go-to-guy for this sort of movie and frankly I miss him. He last turned up in 30 Rock and Stallone could have done worse than find him a slot in The Expendables.

It surprised me how pretty the film is. Gorgeous locations in the mountains really benefit from Blu-Ray. Some bits are grainy, but check out the cave sequence and the waterfalls. The explosion, courtesy of some "weekend warriors" works well too.

It's odd, but if you have a certain image of Rambo from the sequels, it's worth looking this up because you'll probably be surprised. It's an assured action flick which straddles the gritty 70s and the excessive 80s (pretty much all the Colonel's dialogue: "200? If you're sending that many, make sure you've got plenty of body bags!"). 

(From Jon's Random Reviews on June 15th, 2009)

Made of Honor, a review by Tom

Title: Made of Honor
Year: 2008
Director: Paul Weiland
Rating: FSK-0
Length: 102 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.40
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, German: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles: Arabic, Commentary, Dutch, English, French, German, Turkish

Stars:
Patrick Dempsey
Michelle Monaghan
Kevin McKidd
Kadeem Hardison
Chris Messina

Plot:
Tom loves his life, until he realizes he also loves his best friend Hannah. But when Hannah gets engaged to a dashing Scotsman and asks Tom to be her maid of honor, Tom faces hostile bridesmaids, bridal showers, and bad hair days, all in an effort to pull off the perfect wedding and steal the bride. He's maid of honor with a plan.

Awards:

Teen Choice Awards

2008

Nominated

Choice Movie: Romantic Comedy

Extras:
BD-Live
Bonus Trailers
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Scene Access

Boring. I didn't expect much, just your average rom-com fare. But even for that it didn't have anything of interest. Not a single original or even entertaining idea. It was nice though to see Kadeem Hardison again. I haven't seen him in many things since his lead role in the Cosby Show spin-off "A Different World".
Too bad that this was Sydney Pollack's last role before his death.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on August 9th, 2010)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: The war has been going on for three months and the Federation had to take heavy losses. But the minefield is still in place and seemingly unbreachable. Starfleet developes a plan to destroy the Ketracel-White supplies of the Dominion. Without the drug the Jem'Hadar won't be able to fight anymore. Sisko takes a commandeered Jem'Hadar ship behind enemy lines to accomplish the task.

My Opinion: This is the beginning of a six-part arc, it's the first time on Star Trek that they did something longer than a two-parter. While Sisko's mission was interesting it also was "just another mission". I found it more interesting to observe how the different characters on the station behaved. And I liked how Jake tried to be a reporter and how he and Weyoun discussed the "freedom of the press" in times like these.

Synopsis: Sisko's heavily damaged ship crashes on a planet in an uncharted nebula. Most of the crew survives but now they are stranded with no means of communication. And they have another problem: They are not the first to crash there. A group of Jem'Hadar and their Vorta leader are also there and the Jem'Hadar are running low on White which makes them all the more dangerous. On DS9 Terok Nor life goes on. Kira works within the military hierarchy of the Dominion (Dukat has taken command of the station again) and Odo is a member of the ruling council. But that all changes when some Bajorans begin to demonstrate against (what they feel is) the occupation.

My Opinion: It's seems that you can't genetically engineer certain attributes together in the same DNA. The Vorta are cunning and shifty and good negotiators but at the same time they aren't as nearly as loyal to the Dominion as the Jem'Hadar. I liked it how Sisko tried to prevent the bloodshed and although they are the enemy it was a bit sad that the Jem'Hadar had to be slaughtered. But Keevan (the Vorta) will get was he deserves in a later episode.

Synopsis: Alexander Rozhenko - Worf's son - starts as crew member abourd the IKS Rotarran and Worf has to deal with him, since he is the XO of that ship. But Alexander and Worf have never been close and until now Alexander denied his heritage as a klingon warrior. So why is he there? Meanwhile Dukat has brought Ziyal back from Bajor and to the station.

My Opinion: It was nice to see Alexander again whom we haven't seen in nearly four years. And I also liked that they didn't make him suddenly into the perfect warrior. I also liked how Ziyal tried to re-create the triangle relation between her, her father and Kira. But this time it had to fail and it was good that Kira didn't continue this absurd charade.

This was the second episode that was cut due to the BBFC. About 20 seconds are missing at the end where the three Klingons conducted their hand cutting ritual.

Synopsis: Quark learns that Damar (Dukat's second) has found a way to disable the minefield and Rom (who designed it) confirms that this could work. The resistance cell (consisting of Kira, Odo, Rom, Leeta & Jake) plans to sabotage the station. But then the female founder comes to the station and that changes everything. Meanwhile Sisko was promoted to Admiral Ross's assistant and Dax takes over the command of the Defiant and she takes it to a very dangerous mission.

My Opinion: This episode was an average one until short before the end. When I first watched it I expected that maybe not everything was going as planned but that they would succeed eventually. It really surprised me that Odo let them down just to get into a link with the other shapeshifter. But that makes the situation aboard the station all the more interesting.

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on February 21st, 2009)