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The Spy Who Loved Me, a review by Rich

Spy Who Loved Me



THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, the 10th film in the James Bond series, ventures not only into the depths of the ocean but into the deep topic of betrayal and morality as well, placing it among the boldest of the 007 films. James Bond (Roger Moore) is coupled with Russian agent Anya 'Triple-X' Amasova (Barbara Bach) to recover stolen Soviet submarines from evil oceanographer Carl Stromberg (Curt Jurgens) and his gigantic lackey, Jaws (Richard Kiel). When Triple-X learns that Bond killed her boyfriend on a mission in the Alps, she must overcome her selfish notions of revenge and work with 007 for the good of the world. In addition to the Bond staple of girls and gadgetry, the film features beautifully shot footage of the Austrian Alps, Venice, and the Egyptian pyramids. Furthermore, director Lewis Gilbert uses the film to push the cinematic envelope with stunning underwater action sequences, that leave the viewer gasping for air and a vodka martini--shaken, not stirred.

One of my favourite Bond films, it has all the elements that I really enjoyed in 007 when I was younger, and even watching it again over 30 years after it was made it has not diminished in my view. Beautiful women (especially Bach), superb villains, great action scenes, tongue in cheek humour, exotic locations, and a 7 foot steel toothed hitman.
The opening sequence before the titles is possibly as good as any movie I have ever seen, couple of corny jokes, Bond in bed, dramatic ski chase, followed by Bond skiing off a cliff, only to open a Union Jack parachute to safely drift down the mountainside - classic stuff.
Slick production, an amazing underwater base for Jurgens megalomaniac ambitions, this would be Moores best effort as Bond. Nobody Does it Better, and in this case I agree.
 


(From Riches Random Reviews on March 31st, 2009)

Cesta do pravěku, a review by GSyren

Title	Cesta do pravěku  (aka Journey to the Beginning of Time) (8-594159-070042)
Director	Karel Zeman
Actors
Produced	1955 in Czechoslovakia
Runtime	81 minutes
Audio	Czech Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles	English, Czech
Overview	This immensely popular educational film from 1955 tells the story of four boys who set out on a wooden boat back up the river of time into the prehistory of the planet Earth. This pioneering work includes a wealth of scientific facts, introduced as part of an exciting boys' adventure. Whole generations of children first learned about the prehistoric past of our planet from this film, with its long-extinct plants and animals, which come alive here thanks to the creativity and the artistry of Zeman's trick photography. This film is widely regarded as one of the best children's adventure films in world cinema.
My thoughts	Karel Zeman was a very inventive Czech filmmaker. He made films in very different styles. The Fabulous World of Jules Verne is perhaps his best known film, at least outside of the Czech Republic. Perhaps this looks familiar: Cesta do pravěku is not made in this style, though. It uses normal live action enhanced with various trick photography to depict prehistoric animals. The film elements used for this DVD are not quite in pristine condition, but still quite good, and probably better than most viewers have seen before. The story is somewhat reminiscent of The Land That Time Forgot, at least the beginning. However, this is a lot more pedagogic. For the most part the animals look better than those in Land, but the Tyrannosaurus Rex looks pretty pathetic. But then they looked pathetic in pretty much every fifties movie. This is far from the worst example. The film probably was quite exciting for young people in the fifties and sixties, but today it's more of a curiosity. It's an important part of film history, and I liked it fine. This film, and 4 other films by Karel Zeman is available on DVD from The Karel Zeman Museum in Prague.
My rating	4 out of 5

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on December 11th, 2013)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Title: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Season One
Year: 2008
Director:
Rating: NR
Length: 405 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: Chinese, English, Korean, Other, Spanish, Thai

Stars:
Lena Headey
Thomas Dekker
Summer Glau

Plot:
The mother of all destiny. Her son, the future leader of mankind. Their protector, a Terminator from the future. Together they must take back the future as Sarah Connor (300's Lena Headey) prepares her son to fight the war against machines determined to annihilate the human race. The Clock is ticking. Can they stop Judgement Day?

Extras:
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Outtakes
Scene Access
Storyboard Comparisons

I think it's a great series. When I saw the pilot when it first appeared on the internet, I really liked it. I was hoping that the rest of the series holds up. And I think it did. Cannot wait for season 2!

Major plot hole in the pilot though:
How did the Cromartie terminator travel to the future when it was already blown to pieces and thus not covered by "living tissues" anymore?

Now I am hoping that Arnie will turn up in a cameo. I imagine a scene set in the future where we see how John sends the re-programmed Arnie back in time for Termintor 2.

This series put me in the mood to watch T1 and T2 again. Maybe I will do it soon.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on September 2nd, 2008)