DVD Collectors Online

Alex & Emma, a review by addicted2dvd

Alex & Emma


My Thoughts:
This is a movie I have never seen before. A very good friend gave me this DVD when she was cleaning out her collection. Unfortunately it is the Full-Screen edition... which of course I always prefer OAR releases. But I can't complain.... a free dvd is a free dvd!

I definitely do enjoy a good romantic comedy. Unfortunately I wouldn't call this one a good romantic comedy. I tried to enjoy it... but I just found it more or less boring... and found it difficult to even get through. I was actually laying down watching this movie and found myself fighting sleep in no time. I didn't care for the whole idea of flashing to acting out the book he is writing. I can see how some would like such a thing... but for me it took away from the story more then it added to it.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: 2/6 - 2/8 on February 6th, 2009)

Robinson Crusoe On Mars, a review by Rogmeister

Robinson Crusoe On Mars
Genre: Science Fiction
Year: 1964
Length: 110 Min.
Stars: Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin, Adam West and Barney, The Wooley Monkey
Music: Van Cleave
Director: Byron Haskin

Extras:
- Commentary by screenwriter Ed Mechior, stars Paul Mantee and Victor Lundin, production designer Al Nozaki, and special effects designer Robert Skotak (1996; including excerpts from an interview with director Byron Haskin conducted in 1979)
- "Destination: Mars" documentary discussing the film's scientific accuracy and what we knew (and know now) of Mars
- Music Video of "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" sung by co-star Victor Lundin who recorded this song for a science fiction convention appearance
-Theatrical Trailer
-"Under the Surface" (Production materials and promotional artwork)
- Script Excerpts (printable from computers using PDF format)

Plot: Special-effects wunderkind and genre master Byron Haskin (The War of the Worlds, The Outer Limits) won a place in the hearts of fantasy-film lovers everywhere with this gorgeously designed journey into the unknown. When his spaceship crash-lands on the barren wastelands of Mars, U.S. astronaut Commander "Kit" Draper (Paul Mantee) must fight for survival, with a pet monkey seemingly his only companion. But is he alone? Shot in vast Techniscope and blazing Technicolor, Robinson Crusoe on Mars is an imaginative and beloved techni-marvel of classic science fiction.

My Thoughts--This is definitely one of my favorite science fiction films of the 1960s...perhaps my favorite science fiction film of all of that decade.  It deals with an astronaut's survival while marooned on the planet Mars and how he reacts to loneliness, then the sudden appearance of an escaped slaves and internplanetary spaceships who are after him and also use blasters from their spaceships to blast away at the planet's surfaces.  The film is not overly futuristic but shows what we might have been capable of just a little bit into the future.  It's a well-told story with fine photography and direction. 

This DVD is in widescreen format using an aspect ratio of 2.35:1.  The DVD is from The Criterion Collection so it has a decent set of extras including an audio commentary with various members of the crew and its two key actors.  This was recorded back in 1996 for, I believe, the laserdisc release of the film and it also includes some excerpts from a separate audio interview conducted in 1979 with the film's director, Byron Haskin.  I would give the film and the DVD presentation two thumbs up...if I weren't afraid Roger Ebert might sue me!

 

(From Roger's Random Reviews on August 4th, 2009)

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

Synopsis: After having been exposed to radiation poisoning, O'Brien is being thrust forward five hours in time and then back again. This happens at a regular intervals and O'Brien sees his own death as well as the destruction of DS9 in that future. And he plans to prevent both from happening.

My Opinion: Despite once again having some flaws in the time travel logic, I liked this episode, especially the parts where there were two O'Briens and one helped or protected the other. And they've finally installed the Darts board in Quark's bar. I like all of O'Brien's and Bashir's recreation time activities.

Synopsis: After Bashir has been attacked by an alien, he awakes at the infirmary. But except for him, Quark and Garak and that alien the station seems to be abandoned. He wanders through the place, trying to figure out, what has happened and why he is hearing distant voices.

My Opinion: This one was an OK episode but since it didn't happen much in it, there's also not much to say about it.

Synopsis: O'Brien threatens Sisko with a phaser and beams them both off the station. It's "Smiley", the O'Brien from the mirror universe and he needs Sisko to help him. Sisko's wife on the other side - Jennifer (who died at Wolf 359 on this side of the mirror) - is building a sensor array that would crush the Terran resistance.

My Opinion: This one I liked again. Out-of-character-episode. What can I say. The only thing that bugged me a bit was that Sisko slept with Mirror-Dax just to maintain his cover. It's basically the same as Faith being in Buffy's body and sleeping with Riley or Bizarro pretending to be Clark and sleeping with Lana. It's just not right.

Synopsis: Garak's shop gets blown up and Garak is hurt. Odo starts to investigate and soon discovers that the Romulans might have something to do with it. When Garak learns that five of his former associates were killed on the same day, he tries to contact Enabran Tain - the former head of the Obsidian Order - because he fears for Tain's life.

My Opinion: This was a great Garak episode. His interpretation of the "cry wolf" fable ("Never tell the same lie twice."), it being him who had blown up the shop, him rejoining with Tain - it fitted the character and helped shape it even more. I also thought that this plan was indeed something the Obsidian Order and the Tal Shiar (romulan intelligence) would come up with.

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on November 1st, 2008)