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Dr. No, a review by Rich

Dr. No



Released in 1962, this first James Bond movie remains one of the best and serves as an entertaining reminder that the Bond series began (in keeping with Ian Fleming's novels) with a surprising lack of gadgetry and big-budget fireworks. Sean Connery was just 32 years old when he won the role of Agent 007. In his first adventure James Bond is called to Jamaica where a colleague and secretary have been mysteriously killed. With an American CIA agent (Jack Lord, pre-Hawaii Five-O), they discover that the nefarious Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) is scheming to blackmail the US government with a device capable of deflecting and destroying US rockets launched from Cape Canaveral. Of course, Bond takes time off from his exploits to enjoy the company of a few gorgeous women, including the bikini-clad Ursula Andress. She gloriously kicks off the long-standing tradition of Bond women who know how to please their favourite secret agent. A sexist anachronism? Maybe, but this is Bond at his purest

A great start, and a perfect formula to what was going to be such a successful run of films. Bond is edgy in Dr No, faithful to the book, and maybe a little less camp than he became. Sean Connery for me will always be 'The Bond' and his introduction to the audience is masterful, remember that sweeping pan around the card table in the casino, and Connery drawling those immortal words "Bond, James Bond"
On the critical side, it is obviously more primitive than later outings, the ending is a bit of an anti-climax, and it is relatively low budget.
However, the lack of gadgetry and explosives works for me, I find Dr No more intimate, gritty, a deeper sense of danger, providing a more gripping thriller laced with heady intrigue. The villains from here became the norm in later outings, megalomaniacs, normally with a deformity, high tech base etc etc.
And Ursula Andress' arrival on the beach mmmm
I hope everyone has seen this film, I remember my kids watching it on video when they were younger and absolutely loving it also. It is a must-see.
 



(From Riches Random Reviews on January 27th, 2009)

Journey to the Center of the Earth, a review by GSyren

Title	Journey to the Centre of the Earth (9-345228-001424)
Director	Henry Levin
Actors	Pat Boone, James Mason, Arlene Dahl, Diane Baker, Thayer David
Produced	1959 in United States
Runtime	129 minutes
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0, Music Only DTS-HD Master Audio 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles	None
Overview	The accent is on fun and fantasy in this film version of Jules Verne's classic thriller that stars James Mason, Pat Boone, and Arlene Dahl. With spectacular visuals as a backdrop, the story centres on an expedition led by Professor Lindenbrook (Mason) down into the earth's dark, threat-laden core. Members of the group include the professor's star student, Alec (Boone), and the widow (Dahl) of a colleague. Along the way lurk dangers such as kidnapping, death, sabotage by a rival explorer, and attacks by giant prehistoric reptiles. But they also encounter such magnificent wonders as a glistening cavern of quartz crystals, luminescent algae, a forest of giant mushrooms, and the lost city of Atlantis. Remaining faithful to Verne's story, this is a sweeping adventure that offers enough thrills and entertainment to satisfy every explorer in the family.
My thoughts	Journey to the Center of the Earth Raiders of the Lost Ark. Using live lizards to represent giant monsters is usually a groan-inducing trick, but it actually works better than expected here. There are a couple of really accomplished split screen scenes. The acting is fairly good for the most part. It's Peter Ronson's only acting credit. It's clear that he is not an actor, but he's acceptable as Hans, their Icelandic guide. Pat Boone isn't much of an actor, either, and his singing feels like a filler, but otherwise he's not too bad. Professor Lindenbrook is hardly James Mason's most taxing role, but it's always good to see him. Apparently he didn't much like Arlene Dahl, but that works fine since that pretty well mirrors what his character feels. If I had seen this for the first time today I would probably not rate it more than max 4, if that. But with the good memories I have, and the fact that re-watching it hasn't diminished them, I rate it a very strong 4.5.
My rating

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on May 26th, 2014)

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

Synopsis: While on a holiday trip with his wife, O'Brien is being abducted by the Cardassians. Back on Cardassia he is charged with aiding the Maquis and delivering photon torpedos to them. In the cardassian justice system the verdict is always the same: guilty. The tribunal is just to show why he's guilty.

My Opinion: I liked that episode. Despite the seriousness it was funny to see how O'Brien's "defense attorney" became more and more despaired. Why would his client be so unreasonable? Why doesn't O'Brien simply confess and thus proves the effectiveness of the cardassian justice system? And the face he made when he realized that his client was free to go...

Synopsis: Sisko invites his son to do a science project in the GQ who in turn invites Nog. And Quark is accompanying them as well. But they are caught by the Jem'Hadar, warriors of the Dominion. A message is brought to DS9, declaring their capture and the destruction of several ships as well as the destruction of the bajoran colony in the GQ.

My Opinion: And so it begins. The Dominion in shape of the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar has entered entered the chess board. And although they've only stated that they do not want any more AQ ships in their territory they've also made it clear that they've gathered intel about the races of the AQ. Now the show gets really interesting.

The Season - My Opinion: This season was half'n'half. There were a number of very interesting and great episodes mixed with rather uninteresting ones. I especially liked the character-driven episodes like Armageddon Game, Blood Oath and Crossover. And now let us see the Defiant!

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on October 12th, 2008)