DVD Collectors Online

Extreme Ops, a review by Rich

ski across austria...



A film crew travels to the Austrian Alps near the (former) Yugoslav border to film three extreme sports enthusiasts being chased down by an avalanche for a commercial. What they don't know, however, is that they're filming near the secret hideout of Slobodan Pavle, a Serbian war criminal. Accidentally catching him on film, they become locked in a life-or-death chase through the mountains that includes skiing, snowboarding, sky diving, white water rafting, helicopters, motorcycles, and base jumping

Should be called Extreme Oops, a poor man's Cliffhanger, a bargain basement buy that I wish I had walked straight past. With a plot so childish and the characters so obnoxious it is impossible to give a s$@* what will happen next. It is lucky to get a 1/10, and that's just for the blonde chick in the jacuzzi 

(From Around the World in 80 DVD's on January 8th, 2008)

Planet of the Apes, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Planet of the Apes: 2 - Disc Special Edition
Year: 2001
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: PG-13
Length: 120 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: DTS: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Music Only: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Mark Wahlberg
Tim Roth
Helena Bonham Carter
Michael Clarke Duncan
Paul Giamatti
Estella Warren

Plot:
Get ready for "a wild ride" (The Washington Post) as legendary director Tim Burton's unique vision of the future roars to life in this "amazing display of imagination" (San Francisco Chronicle).

In the year 2029, an American astronaut (Mark Wahlberg) crash-lands on a strange planet where talking apes rule over the human race. Now he must evade the advancing gorilla army to reach a sacred temple that may hold the shocking secret's of mankind's past - and the last hope for its salvation!

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Production Notes
Multi-angle
Music Videos
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned
THX
Limited Edition CD-ROM included

My Thoughts:
Ok... what did I think of this remake? While it is a remake... I think it is really a different type of movie then the original. It only takes the basic idea... but this one goes more into the action movie direction then the original one did. I like it for what it is... I enjoyed all the visuals. I also enjoyed the story. But I don't think I would say it is better or even quite as good as the original.  I like it almost as much though... only for different reasons. This is just a fun blockbuster type movie. Not something that will ever be considered close to the classic that the original one is. One thing I am not sure how I feel about is the ending. Not sure it really worked for me personally. But that is ok... over-all I still enjoyed it for the most part.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Time Travel on November 13th, 2010)

"Stargate SG-1" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: The ambassadors of China, the United Kingdom and France have been invited to the Pentagon. There they learn about the Stargate program. But Senator Kinsey is also present and he wants to persuade the ambassadors to give the NID control over the Stargate program.

My Opinion: Now alle the permanent members of the UN Security Council know about the Stargate. Interesting about this episode was that no member of SG-1 (past or present) made a live appearance. Everything was presented as flashbacks. If you wanted to see a SG team, you'd have to imagine General Hammond, Major Davis, Colonel Checkov and Thor as a SG team.
But the best scene was when Thor corrects Senator Kinsey and insists that he isn't just a Commander but the Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet.
But you haven't missed anything if you didn't watch it.

Synopsis: SG-1 discovers a crashed spaceship and its crew, but is soon attacked by other aliens. Sam wants to repair the ship to learn more about it but the crew isn't who they claim to be.

My Opinion: The episode wasn't bad, especially because SG-1 has learned from past experiences not to judge too quickly, who the "good guys" and who the "bad guys" are.
But what I found more interesting was to read the name Dion Johnstone once again. Dion was the black "Jaffa" in Rules of Engagement. After that he played the Unas Chaka, the Goa'uld Na'onak (Apophis's alter ego on the hell moon, probably to avoid the mentioning of Peter Williams's name in the opening sequence and thus spoiling the punch line), Lt. Tyler in The Fifth Man and just recently in Metamorphosis. In this episode he played the Captain of the Sebrus. It reminds me a bit of Wayne Alexander who played Sebastian (Jack the Ripper) and Lorien as well as a Narn, a Drazi and a Drakh in Babylon 5. However, both actors wore masks in most of their roles thus avoiding to challenge the suspension of disbelief.

Synopsis: Teal'c has weird dreams, although he usually doesn't dream at all. He dreams that he is a firefighter. But he has to leave soon for an important mission but these dreams prevent him from having a proper Kel'no'reem. The firefighter with the nickname "T" has weird dreams. He dreams that he belongs to a team that visits other planets. But he has to undergo an important surgery soon, he gives one of his kidneys to his stepfather Brae.

My Opinion: Great episode. To see all the guys (and gal) as firefighters was interesting. Sometimes it reminded me of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Far Beyond the Stars. But as I said, I like out-of-character episodes. This wasn't even a real out-of-character episode because all people behaved as they would normally do - except that they were firefighters.

Synopsis: During a training flight with the Prometheus the hyperlight drive had to be jettisoned in the orbit of a planet where it explodes. Unfortunately the planet has no Stargate and without the hyperlight drive the travel would take ages.

My Opinion: An picture that is shown on Stargate (both in SG-1 or Atlantis) is that alien cultures can be as paranoid as we are. And that this paranoia can lead to actions that make more damage than they prevent. Unfortunately politicians on our planet don't seem to watch Sci-Fi shows. Instead they are creating more security laws and are thereby taking our freedom. Fortunately there was a politican that wasn't short-sighted (that's the reason why they call it "fiction").

(From "Stargate SG-1" Marathon on April 13th, 2008)