DVD Collectors Online

Junior, a review by DJ Doena

Junior



Arnold Schwarzenegger ... Dr. Alex Hesse
Danny DeVito ... Dr. Larry Arbogast
Emma Thompson ... Dr. Diana Reddin
Frank Langella ... Noah Banes
Pamela Reed ... Angela

Dr. Hesse and Dr. Arbogast have developed a medicine that helps on difficult pregnancies. Pregnancies of women who had previous miscarriages. They tried in on monkeys but the FDA denies them the possibility to test it on woman. To escape this dilemma they induce a Expectane-based pregnancy in Dr. Hesse.

My opinion:
Aside from the fact that it wouldn't work in a man with or without Expectane (in lack of an uterus and an umbilical cord) it was amusing to see the giant Schwarzenegger being pregnant with Skeletor right on his tail.

(From Schwarzenegger-Fun-Movies-Mini-Marathon on February 4th, 2008)

Taken, a review by goodguy

Taken (FR 2008) Written by: Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen Directed by: Pierre Morel Starring: Liam Neeson DVD: R2-UK Fox (Feb. 9, 2009; Extended Cut) My rating: -

Cover blurb: Liam Neeson stars in this action-packed international thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. When his estranged daughter is kidnapped in Paris, a former spy (Neeson) sets out to find her at any cost. Relying on his special skills, he tracks down the ruthless gang that abducted her and launches a one-man war to bring them to justice and rescue his daughter.

Frankly, it escapes me why everyone seems to think Taken is "Da Shit" and Punisher: War Zone is, well, just shit. Both are pretty violent action movies that can be enjoyed to some degree with the right mindset, or more precisely, the mind checked out at the door for a bowl of popcorn. Yes, one tries to be more gritty and real, the other one more comicbook-like and gory, but they are really not that different.

Except: While PWZ knows it is just trash, Taken is pretentious and manipulative. So it spends half an hour of its short 90min running time to setup its paper-thin characters, and it casts a serious actor as protagonist instead of a B-list one. Well, that doesn't work, because it raises expectations beyond the realm of mindless fun, and the script is unable to meet them.

For a vastly superior and really brilliant take on the "black ops guy rescues girl from sex slavery" scenario, I recommend David Mamet's largely ignored Spartan (2004), starring Val Kilmer.


(From goodguy's Watch Log on June 15th, 2009)

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

Raumpatrouille - Die phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffes Orion (Space Patrol)



What's the show about?
Wikipedia article

This is a german classic. It came out in the same year as Star Trek (1966). The fast space cruiser Orion 7 under the command of Major McLane protects Earth from any extraterrestrial threats, especially a race that the Humans call "the Frogs".

"Angriff aus dem All" ("Attack From Space")My Opinion
As I said: A german classic even if it only lasted for 7 episodes. The command style is not unlike that of a certain James T. Kirk and the Orion 7 crew is also very international - ok the actors are all german, but it's the idea that counts.

(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on January 3rd, 2008)