DVD Collectors Online

Winds of the Wasteland, a review by addicted2dvd

Winds of the Wasteland
John Blair and his partner Larry purchase a run-down stagecoach line and enter a race with competing stage operator Cal Drake for the rights to a government mail-delivery contract. But Drake is dishonest and uses his villainous flunky Smoky to attempt John's and Larry's defeat, by any means necessary

My Thoughts:
This is one of the movies I got in the 20 Greatest Westerns: Heroes & Bandits boxset that I found in the Walmart Bargain Bin recently. When I bought the set I knew not to expect very good movies despite the name of the boxset... and I also knew not to expect much quality wise. But I figured 20 movies for $5... what the hell... why not. So needless to say I was a little worried when I popped this one into the player.  Now I can't say it will be so with all the movies in this set... but in the case of Winds of the Wasteland the quality, while not good, really wasn't too bad. Sure it could have been a hell of a lot better... but it is definitely watchable. And OMG... John Wayne was young in this movie! This has to be the earliest of his movies I have ever seen. This movie was released in 1936.

I really enjoyed this story. It was interesting.... everything moved along quickly... and they also had some comedic relief in the form of an older guy played by Lew Kelly. Between some of the things he said and done... he had me literally laughing out loud a few times. I especially liked how while riding in the back of the stage coach that was being shot at he took the cushion off the seat and hide behind it as if it would stop a bullet. Then I also liked at the end of the movie where he had himself a pet skunk on a leash. This movie had a lot of Western action and comedic situations all rolled up in a movie that only lasted 56 minutes! This movie alone made it worth it to me to get this cheap low-budget boxset.  Only thing that would have made it better is if the quality was even a little better. I would give the movie itself 4 stars... but the lower then desired quality will knock it down to to 3 and a half.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Western Round-Up on July 11th, 2009)

Star Wars, a review by Tom

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (1977/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (Germany) Director: George Lucas Writing: George Lucas (Writer) Length: 125 min. Video: Widescreen 2.39 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, Italian: DTS 5.1, German: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, German, Italian, Commentary

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Stars:
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford as Han Solo
Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa
Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin
Alec Guinness as Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi

Plot:Awards:
Won:

Academy Award (1977)		Best Art Direction (John Barry, Norman Reynolds, Leslie Dilley (Art Direction), Roger Christian (Set Decoration))
Academy Award (1977)		Best Costume Design (John Mollo)
Academy Award (1977)		Best Film Editing (Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas, Richard Chew)
Academy Award (1977)		Best Music, Original Score (John Williams)
Academy Award (1977)		Best Sound (Donald MacDougall, Ray West, Bob Minkler, Derek Ball)
Academy Award (1977)		Best Visual Effects (John Stears, John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune, Robert Blalack)
Academy Award (1977)		Special Achievement Award (Benjamin Burtt Jr. (Creation of the alien/creature/robot voices featured in 'Star Wars'))
BAFTA (1978)		Anthony Asquith Award For Original Film Music (John Williams)
Golden Globe (1977)		Original Score (John Williams)
Grammy Awards (1978)		Best Album of Original Score written for a Motion Picture or Television Special (John Williams)
Hugo Award (1978)		Dramatic Presentation
Saturn (1977)		Best Costumes (John Mollo)
Saturn (1977)		Best Director (George Lucas)
Saturn (1977)		Best Makeup (Rick Baker, Stuart Freeborn)
Saturn (1977)		Best Music (John Williams)
Saturn (1977)		Best Science Fiction Film
Saturn (1977)		Best Special Effects (John Dykstra, John Stears)
Saturn (1977)		Best Supporting Actor (Alec Guinness)
Saturn (1977)		Best Writing (George Lucas)
Saturn (1977)		Outstanding Art Direction (Norman Reynolds, Leslie Dilley)
Saturn (1977)		Outstanding Cinematographer (Gilbert Taylor)
Saturn (1977)		Outstanding Editing (Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas, Richard Chew)
Saturn (1977)		Outstanding Sound (Ben Burtt, Donald MacDougall, Sam F. Shaw)
Saturn (1977)		Outstanding Television Performance (Jonathan Harris)

Nominated:

Academy Award (1977)		Best Director (George Lucas)
Academy Award (1977)		Best Picture (Gary Kurtz (Producer))
Academy Award (1977)		Best Supporting Actor (Alec Guinness)
Academy Award (1977)		Best Writing, Original Screenplay (George Lucas)
American Cinema Editors Awards (1978)		Best Edited Feature Film (Richard Chew, Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas)
BAFTA (1978)		Film Editing (Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas, Richard Chew)
British Society of Cinematographers Awards (1977)		Best Cinematography Award (Gil Taylor)
Directors Guild of America (1978)		Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (George Lucas)
Golden Globe (1977)		Actor in a Supporting Role (Alec Guinness)
Golden Globe (1977)		Director (George Lucas)
Golden Globe (1977)		Picture - Drama (Gary Kurtz)
Saturn (1977)		Best Actor (Harrison Ford)
Saturn (1977)		Best Actor (Mark Hamill)
Saturn (1977)		Best Actress (Carrie Fisher)
Saturn (1977)		Best Supporting Actor (Peter Cushing)
Writers Guild of America Awards (1978)		Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen (George Lucas)

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Commentary
• Trailers
• Photo Gallery
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Interviews

This was now the first time, that I have shown my son this movie. He is going to be seven years old soon. I "prepared" him for Star Wars with the Nintendo Switch game "Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga". We started the game with the chapter for this movie (the order of the story how it is supposed to be watched ). We finished recently the first part of the game which covers this movie. And he is a big fan of the Star Wars LEGO sets.
So I tried to show him this movie in the hope he will enjoy it. He managed it in one sitting
And he enjoyed it the whole way through. And I also still enjoy this movie quite a lot.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on April 7th, 2023)

"View Askewniverse"-Mini-Marathon, a review by Tom

Clerks: Uncensored
Based on Kevin Smith's cult comedy classic, this outrageous anthology brings together every hilarious episodes of 'Clerks: Uncensored' - including 4 never before seen anywhere! It's the continuing adventures of clerks Dante and Randal, two guys just trying to make the best of menial labor! With constant interference from the outlandish Jay and Silent Bob - follow the clerks' wildly improbable antics from one riotous episode to the next! Filled with big laughs and hysterical jabs at popular culture - anyone who enjoys fun, irreverent comedy won't want to miss it!

My thoughts:http://youtube.com/watch?v=F-ReoBPl4mM

(From "View Askewniverse"-Mini-Marathon on February 3rd, 2008)