DVD Collectors Online

Wings of Desire, a review by Antares

Wings of Desire (1987) 3.5/5 - I actually watched this film about a month ago and forgot to write a review on it. Now that four weeks have passed by, I am at a loss to think of anything in this film that was truly memorable. As I was watching it, it held my curiosity and there were some truly beautiful scenes, but as a whole, I will probably never watch it again. Bruno Ganz was great as can be expected, and I loved looking at Solveig Dommartin. It's a shame she died so young. Sorry if there's not much written here, but the film just didn't grab me. I liked it, but barely.

(From Antares' Short Summations on December 21st, 2011)

The Last Unicorn, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Last Unicorn
Year of Release: 1982
Directed By: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.
Starring: Alan Arkin, Jeff Bridges, Mia Farrow, Tammy Grimes, Robert Klein, Angela Lansbury, Christopher Lee
Genre: Fantasy, Musical, Animation

Overview:The Last Unicorn will reignite the hearts of its fans and entrance all who enter.

My Thoughts:
I adore this film. I've loved it since I first saw it as a child and I love it still. Yes, there is a certain nostalgia factor to this, but there are things we love as children that don't hold up as adults (the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon comes to mind). This does. It speaks to me now just as much as it did in the 80's. It has wonderful songs provided by America, and characters that are unique. I love both the tragic love story, and the one that isn't ... and that those who end happily aren't the beautiful people. It's a story of love, heroism, selfishness and sacrifice. It's also pretty true to Beagle's book, which I would highly recommend as well.

For me, this is a nigh-perfect film, and a long-time personal favorite.  I know it isn't truly a 5-star film, but I don't see it as anything less.

Bechdel Test: Pass
Mako Mori Test: Pass

Overall: 5/5

(From July Movie Marathon: Musicals (Yes... You read right!) on July 24th, 2016)

"Battlestar Galactica" Marathon (1978-2009), a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Troy and Dillon are called back to the Galactica for an important mission. But it's a trick of Xaviar's and now they are sitting in a disabled Viper somewhere between Earth and the fleet. Meanwhile Jamie has to care for the scouts and to protect them both from the US military as well as Xaviar who wants to use them as bargaining chip. Jamie hides them in a baseball camp.

My Opinion: Don't win! Win! Don't win! Win! Jamie's constant change of minds were a bit annoying, especially since the point of this episode was totally lost on me. There was nothing in it but to show some special effects of super-kids playing baseball.

Synopsis: A Galactica patrol has encountered a new and improved Cylon Raider and engaged it. Both ships were damaged but the Raider is drifting towards Earth and will crash north of New York City. Troy and Dillon travel by plane there but they assume their patrol ship will crash there. Only two Cylons survive the crash but one of them is an advanced model who looks like a Human. And it's Halloween...

My Opinion: Together with the first part of this series, Galactica Discovers Earth, this and the following episode were re-cut to form the movie Galactica III: Conquest of the Earth. And I have to say that I like them. I thought it was an ingenious idea to hide two Cylons in plain sight, but since it's Halloween no one questions their appearance. And although these human Cylons are fully mechanical they are obviously the template for the human Cylons in the next series.
And it seems to have become a running gag that no matter where Troy and Dillon go, they get in some kind of trouble with the local law enforcement and that they steal a police car.

Synopsis: The Cylons were invited to a Halloween party and the famous radio moderator Wolfman Jack will be there. They want to capture him in order to get to the "communication center". From there they will send a distress signal and reveal Earth's position. Dillon and Troy have to prevent that at any cost. But they are not only the chaser, they are also the chased.

My Opinion: It was only years later that I learned that Wolfman Jack was a real person but I liked the character from the start. What I didn't like about this episode (and what wasn't in the movie) were Troy's and Dillon's "super jumps". But I really liked how the (seriously damaged) Centurion tried to protect the Cylon Andromus and jumped from that skyscraper and landed in the dumpster.

Synopsis: The Cylons have destroyed the agricultural ships and the fleet needs new crops. The Cylons hope that it will finally lead them to Earth. Dillon and Troy buy a piece of land from a farmer and try to grow plants there. But the farmer (and now they) are harassed by their neighbour who owns pretty much all land there and he controls the water reservoirs. But people who can fly through space can also make it rain.

My Opinion: I can't remember ever seeing this episode before. And to be honest: When they were harassed by their neighbour (played by MacGyver's Dana Elcar) I expected to see a certain black van with a red bar on it: "If you have a problem. If no one else can help. Maybe you can hire - The A-Team."
Since the scout kids were back, they used "super jumps" to spread the seeds and used the "flying saucer" to make it rain. ship I didn't like this episode very much.

Synopsis: Doctor Zee tells Commander Adama about a dream he had. It includes a great battle and a great warrior called Starbuck who had to be left behind on a lonely planet. There he repairs on of the Cylons who crashed there with him in order to have some company. But soon they are not only 2, but 3.5: Cy has found a pregnant woman and Starbuck has to get her off the planet because soon other Cylons will come looking for their patrol.

My Opinion: That was a great episode. It was well told and had great characters in it. I loved to see the developing friendship between Starbuck and Cy. It was a bit like Enemy Mine and I was really sad when Cy "died" because he protected Starbuck from these other Cylons. And it's pretty ironic that this episode worked very well and didn't need many FX shots (except for the re-used battle scenes in the beginning where Boomer has to say goodbye to his friend).

The Series - My Opinion: Let's face it: The series isn't that good. The special effects were basically reduced to "super jumps", to cloak each and everything and to make their motorcycles fly. And while it maybe OK to destroy the same Raider in the upper right corner over and over again, it looks odd when your motorcycles always fly over the same skyline no matter in which countryside you had been before - especially when you do it in nearly every episode.
It was a good idea to bring the fleet to Earth - they had told many space stories in the original series - but they didn't make anything out of it. Instead four out of ten episodes revolved around a bunch of kids and the main characters were reduced to kindergarten teachers.

(From "Battlestar Galactica" Marathon (1978-2009) on April 19th, 2009)