DVD Collectors Online

Léon, a review by Tom

(1994/France) IMDb | Wikipedia Kinowelt Home Entertainment (Germany) Director: Luc Besson Writing: Luc Besson (Writer) Length: 133 min. Video: Widescreen 2.35 Audio: German: DTS-HD High Resolution 7.1, English: DTS-HD High Resolution 7.1, Music Only: DTS 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: German, Trivia

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Stars:
Jean Reno as Leon
Gary Oldman as Stansfield
Natalie Portman as Mathilda
Danny Aiello as Tony
Peter Appel as Malky

Plot:
Professional assassin Leon reluctantly takes care of 12-year-old Mathilda, a neighbor whose parents are killed, and teaches her his trade.

Awards:
Nominated:

		Meilleur Acteur (Jean Reno)
		Meilleur Film
		Meilleur Montage (Sylvie Landra)
		Meilleure Photo (Thierry Arbogast)

Extras:

• Bonus Trailers
• Director's Cut: 133 Min.
• Kinofassung: 110 Min.
• Photo Gallery
• Production Notes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

For some reason, I have never seen this movie before, even if it was on TV countless times.
I have to say that it is a great film. I enjoyed it more than I had anticipated. Great performances all around.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on November 12th, 2010)

In Which We Serve, a review by Rich

Sweat through Crete...



In Which We Serve is only one in a long list of propaganda films turned out by England and the United States during World War II. Based on the actual service record of a British destroyer recounted to Noel Coward by Lord Mountbatten, it advances the standard line of support for the war effort and follows a familiar pattern by combining the story of H.M.S. Torrin, from shipyard to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, with the personal lives of its captain and crew.

Although I can appreciate the significance of this film made in 1942 and some of the ground-breaking effects displayed for the first time on film, I just didn't warm to its content, acting or storyline. The actors couldn't wait to blurt their lines out, reminding me of dubbed sketches from Whose Line Is It Anyway. I am not a Noel Coward fan. If you do watch it, take note of the children actors when the Capatin returns home. I nearly vomited    3/10

(From Around the World in 80 DVD's on January 25th, 2008)

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

Synopsis: Deep Space Nine is a former cardassian space station orbiting the formerly occupied planet Bajor. The Bajorans have lived for 60 years under cardassian rule but now they are free. The provisional government has asked the Federation for support and Starfleet takes over the management of DS9. It's commander is Benjamin Sisko, who has lost his wife three years ago in the battle against the Borg and now he must raise his son alone in the middle of nowhere. His second in command is Major Kira, a former bajoran resistance fighter. The rest of the crew are both Starfleet officers of all kind of races and Bajorans. Chief of security is Odo, a shape-shifter with unknown origins.
The spiritual leader of the Bajorans asks Cmdr. Sisko to study the "Tears of the Prophets", mythical orbs that have come to Bajor of the last ten thousand years. With their help Cmdr. Sisko discovers the only known stable wormhole in our galaxy and it leads to the Gamma Quadrant, to a point 70,000 light years away from DS9, on the other side of the galaxy. And suddenly the bajoran system has been put onto the map and the Cardassians will accept any excuse to re-take it.

My Opinion: It's very clear from the beginning that DS9 will be different than its predecessor Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG). TNG played on a all-Federation-personnel Starfleet spaceship, while on DS9 uncounted cultures clash: Starfleet personnel, Bajorans and the civilians aboard the station - for example Quark, the Ferengi bar owner. And most of the characters have a background story and their lives haven't been straight-forward. I really like that. Unfortunately I can't really remember what I thought about them, when I saw them for the first time back in the mid-90s, but DS9 is now my favourite Star Trek show and one of my favourite Sci-Fi shows.
I also liked the idea of the "handshake" when the Enterprise made an appearance in the pilot episode, something they will do again when the Voyager departs from DS9 in their pilot episode. But the meeting between Captain Picard and Cmdr. Sisko also showed that these shows will be different.

Synopsis: A bajoran scout ship is being attacked by a cardassian warship but the pilot can be beamed out shortly before his ship is destroyed. He seeks asylum aboard DS9 because he was a member of the Khon-Ma, a "terrorist cell" during the occupation. Kira knows him from these days and she pleads to Sisko to grant asylum. But not all Cardassians have left the station. The local tailor Garak - who is suspected to be a spy - contacts Dr. Bashir in a rather unorthodox way and informs him about a meeting between two klingon renegades and the former terrorist.

My Opinion: The first episodes of the season will be used to introduce the viewers to the characters. While the pilot was mostly about Sisko and the loss of his wife at Wolf 359, this episode is about Kira and her past in the resistance. It was an OK episode, but I really liked the introduction of Garak, who will become an interesting guest character over the years.

Synopsis: Odo tries to throw a Bajoran out of Quark's casino/bar and wants him off the station. A few hours later that man is dead and there are no traces that could explain how the murder had left the crime scene. As chief of security Odo investigates but soon becomes a prime suspects and thus having a conflict of interest. Meanwhile Chief O'Brien's wife Keiko - who was a botanist aboard the Enterprise - has nothing to do on DS9 and becomes frustrated. When Sisko's son Jake befriends Quark's nephew Nog and subsequently gets into trouble, she decides that the station needs a school.

My Opinion: This episode introduces Odo who has also been security chief during the last years of the occupation. I really like that he's a man of principles who has his own codex and who values justice above all else. It was only consequent that it was he who pointed out that only a shape-shifter could have left the crime scene without leaving a trace. The story's hole was that the doctor couldn't figure out what these DNA particles were until it grown into a whole body. After all he was second-best in his year at medical school...

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on September 20th, 2008)