DVD Collectors Online

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, a review by addicted2dvd

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
STEVEN SPIELBERG and GEORGE LUCAS bring you the greatest adventurer of all time in "a nonstop thrill ride" (Richard Corliss, TIME) that's packed with "sensational, awe-inspiring spectacles" (Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES). Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull finds Indy (Harrison Ford) trying to outrace a brilliant and beautiful agent (Cate Blanchett) for the mystical, all-powerful crystal skull of Akator. Teaming up with a rebellious young biker (Shia LaBeouf) and his spirited original love Marion (Karen Allen), Indy takes you on an action-packed adventure in the exciting tradition of the classic Indiana Jones movies!

My Thoughts:
I just received this movie as an early birthday present.... and couldn't wait to put it in! I been wanting to see this movie since I first heard rumors of it being made. After watching it... all I can think of saying is WOW! I loved every minute of it. This movie is just pure fun... in a way that only can be done by Harrison Ford in an Indy movie. Sure... the majority of this one was over the top and completely unbelievable. but that is all part of the enjoyment of this movie. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade has always been my favorite Indy movie... but I think that just got replaced with this one!




(From Weekend Movie Marathon: 5/15 - 5/17 on May 16th, 2009)

The Deadly Companions, a review by Rogmeister

The Deadly Companions (1961)  Color   90 minutes

Directed by Sam Peckinpah
Cast: Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Steve Cochran, Chill Wills, Strother Martin, Jim O'Hara

In this western from 1961, which was the first feature film directed by Sam Peckinpah (later to direct such western classics as Ride The High Country and The Wild Bunch), Brian Keith (a man bent on both revenge and bank robbery) is wounded during a gun battle on the street and due to that accidentally shoots and kills the son of Kit (Maureen O'Hara), a saloon girl.  Kit decides to go deep into a territory where the dangerous Apaches have infiltrated so that she can bury her son alongside his father, her late husband.

This movie is one of many westerns that seem to have fallen into public domain so many companies have released DVDs of this film.  Many of these copies don't have particularly good picture or sound (the reputation that PD films tend to get).  My copy is from Platinum, a company I've seen both good and bad product from...in this case, the picture quality is pretty decent and I enjoyed the film for the most part.  Peckinpah's film debut was decent but he was still inexperienced as a director (he had previously directed some TV western episodes) so some scenes could have been a bit more polished but overall I'd call it a good film, if not a great one.  He is certainly helped by a good cast including Maureen O'Hara, one of my favorite leading ladies.  Miss O'Hara also gets to sing a song over the opening credits and she is quite a good singer (I actually own one of her albums, recorded back in the 50's).  The film was shot on location in Arizona and the film does have good photography, shot by William Clothier who shot many of John Wayne's films of the 60's and 70's.  Unfortunately, this is a full frame release (AKA: pan and scan).  I guess if I was rating this on a scale of 1-5, I'd give it around a 3.5 or so...okay, maybe a 4.

(From DCO third annual November Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread on November 11th, 2009)

The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine



What's the show about?
At the request of the Bajoran government, Starfleet is to establish a Federation presence in their system following the withdrawal of the Cardassian forces. Deep Space Nine is a former Cardassian station that happens to be in the system that has the only known stable wormhole. And that wormhole leads to the Gamma Quadrant, to a point 70,000 lightyears away. But this wormhole is indirectly the reason for the greatest war the Alpha Quadrant has ever seen.

What happened before?
DS9 begins six years after the beginning of TNG and three years after Wolf 359. At Wolf 359 a fleet of 39 Federation ships fought one Borg cube - all were destroyed. Among the ships was the USS Saratoga and its XO, Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin Sisko, who lost his wife in that battle.

"Emissary"
Cmdr. Benjamin Sisko and his son arrive on the heavily damaged space station Deep Space Nine. Most of his crew hasn't arrived yet but he soon meets with his second-in-command, the Bajoran Major Kira. Sisko isn't sure he wants this assignment and his son to grow up here but then an extraordinary event takes place. They find the only known stable wormhole and suddenly the Bajoran system moves from "the outer rim" into the "attention center" of the Alpha Quadrant.

My Opinion
My favourite Star Trek show! It has a great story arc, even if it wasn't planned from the beginning as it was done with "Babylon 5". B5 and DS9 have many similarities which isn't that surprising since JMS (the creator of B5) has shown his B5 plans to Paramount. But they are also different since DS9 is anchored in the Star Trek universe.

(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on January 5th, 2008)