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Saving Private Ryan, a review by DJ Doena

April, 14th


Director: Steven Spielberg

Tom Hanks    ...    Capt. John H. Miller
Tom Sizemore   ...    Sgt. Mike Horvath
Edward Burns   ...    Pvt. Richard Reiben
Barry Pepper   ...    Pvt. Daniel Jackson
Adam Goldberg   ...    Pvt. Stanley Mellish
Vin Diesel   ...    Pvt. Adrian Caparzo
Giovanni Ribisi   ...    T-5 Medic Irwin Wade
Jeremy Davies   ...    Cpl. Timothy P. Upham
Matt Damon   ...    Pvt. James Francis Ryan
Nathan Fillion    ...    Pvt. James Frederick 'Minnesota' Ryan

Synopsis: Normandy, June, 1944. Captain Miller and his men have just survived the landing of the allied forces in France when they get another mission: To find Private Ryan who is with the 101st Airborne and has landed somewhere in the middle of the ongoing battles. Private Ryan has lost his three brothers in this war and it was decided that at least one of the Ryan brothers should return home alive. But he is not an easy man to find.

My Opinion: A very impressive movie. What makes this movie watch-worthy for me are not the big battle scenes. Those I watch with a rather analytical eye and am somewhat disconnected. What gets to me are the scenes in between, when they just sit somewhere and talk, or when Miller silently cries after the fight at the radar station, or in the end when Ryan asks if he has been a good person.

I haven't seen this movie in quite some time (It's not a movie one puts in lightly) and I noticed how many faces have become familiar since then: Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nathan Fillion (I had to look twice to recognise him!) and even Jeremy Davies (Daniel Faraday in LOST) - that last one I didn't even recognise, he just looked familiar until I looked him up.

(From DJ Doena's movie watchings 2010 on April 14th, 2010)

Rocky IV, a review by Tom

Title: Rocky IV
Year: 1985
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Rating: PG
Length: 98 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: DTS 5.1
Subtitles: English, Hindi

Stars:
Stu Nathan
Sylvester Stallone
Talia Shire
Burt Young
Carl Weathers

Plot:
East meets West when Rocky takes on a vicious Soviet fighter who literally killed his last opponent! Sylvester Stallone writes, directs and stars in this war between nations in which the only battle is fought in a boxing ring. Rocky (Stallone) proudly holds the world heavyweight championship, but a new challenger has stepped forward: Drago (Dolph Lundgren), a six-foot six-inch, 240-pound fighter who has the backing of the Soviet Union. This time, Rocky's training regimen takes him to icy Siberia, where he prepares for a globally-televised match in the heart of Moscow. But nothing can truly prepare him for what he's about to face - a powerfully charged fight to the finish in which he must defend not only himself, but also the honour of his country!

Extras:
Scene Access

Now it's getting ridiculous. It begins with this stupid robot Rocky has bought. And the first fight with Drago, I felt like Drago did: "WTF is going on? Are the Americans crazy? Stupid Las Vegas "America is great" show".
And of course in American sports, world equal US. See the newspaper article they were showing "Russians invade US sports". Is the heavy-weight champion of the world restricted to the US?
And the end: Rocky wins over the all-Russion crowd? Huh?! And morale hitten over our heads with the hammer: "When I can change and you can change, everybody can change!"
Even the fight was not exciting. In the other movies, I was never 100% sure, if Rocky was actually going to win. But in this one I knew from the beginning, that they would not let Rocky loose against the Russian.

I must admit, I was on He-Mans side

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on March 8th, 2009)

Twilight Zone, a review by addicted2dvd

23. A World of Difference (3/11/60)
Arthur Curtis (Howard Duff) thinks he's an average businessman living a normal life. Or is he an actor playing a businessman in an office that's really a set?

My Thoughts:
This is another episode I never seen before.... was a good episode... but not what I would call great.This episode had the man that played Larry Tate in Bewitched.  The only extra with this episode was an isolated music score.

24. Long Live Walter Jameson (3/18/60)
Kevin McCarthy is Professor Walter Jameson, an excellent history teacher who talks about the past as if he had lived it. Little can his students imagine...

My Thoughts:
What do you know... another one I never seen... now this was an awesome episode. I really enjoyed every second of it. The episode really had me glued to the TV. There is only one extra attached to this episode... but it is a good one. It is a Commentary track with Kevin McCarthy. I haven't listened to it yet because I want to get through the episodes.. but it is definitely one I plan on going back to.

25. People Are Alike All Over (23/25/60)
When a space expedition crashes on Mars, passenger Sam Conrad (Roddy McDowall) is terrified when he encounters Martians. To his initial relief, they are human, extremely friendly and apparently just like us...

My Thoughts:
This was a decent episode... not quite as good as the last episode... but not bad either. Another episode that I am watching for the first time with this set. This episode had no extras what so ever attached to it.

26. Execution (4/1/60)
In 1880, Joe Caswell (Albert Salmi) is about to be hanged for shooting a man in the back, but his life is spared when a time machine throws him into the future. If only he could escape fate as easily...

My Thoughts:
Yet another one I have never seen before! In this one Russell Johnson (Professor on Gilligan's Island) plays the scientist that invents the time machine. This one was a pretty good episode. This episode doesn't have any extras attached to it. Seems like with this disc I am finding a lot of episodes I never seen before. Though that is not surprising since I never seen most of them before.

27. The Big Tall Wish (4/8/60)
An over-the-hill prizefighter (Ivan Dixon) gets a boost from a little boy who's a big fan with a very rare gift in a disillusioned world - an unswerving belief in magic.

My Thoughts:
Yet another episode I never seen. This one was ok... but not real impressed with it. There is actually a couple extras attached to this one. An Isolated Music Score and a Twilight Zone Radio Drama starring  Blair Underwood.

28. A Nice Place to Visit (4/15/60)
After being shot to death, thief Rocky Valentine (Larry Blyden) encounters the amiable white-haired Pip (Sebastian Cabot), who gives Rocky everything he wishes. Heaven! Right?

My Thoughts:
Another that I never seen before... was an OK episode... definitely not a favorite for me. There was just no surprise to this one at all... from the very beginning I knew where this episode was going. the only extra available for this one is the Isolated Music Score.

29. Nightmare as a Child (4/29/60)
A schoolteacher who has blocked out the details of her mother's murder encounters a strange little girl intent on making her recall the murderer's identity.

My Thoughts:
And yet another episode I never seen. This one was pretty good... I enjoyed it... though once again I new the twists of this one right away... but it was still fun watching it all play out. This only extra with this episode is an Isolated Music Score.


Episodes I seen for the First time on this set include:

   1. Judgment Night (Episode 10)
   2. And When The Sky Was Opened (Episode 11)
   3. What You Need (Episode 12)
   4. I Shot an Arrow into the Air (Episode 15)
   5. The Hitch-Hiker (Episode 16)
   6. The Purple Testiment (Episode 19)
   7. Elegy (Episode 20)
   8. Mirror Image (Episode 21)
   9. A World of Difference (Episode 23)
  10. Long Live Walter Jameson (Episode 24)
  11. People Are Alike All Over (Episode 25)
  12. Execution (Episode 26)
  13. The Big Tall Wish (Episode 27)
  14. A Nice Place to Visit (Episode 28)
  15. Nightmare as a Child (Episode 29)

(From Twilight Zone on February 5th, 2008)