DVD Collectors Online

Cahill: United States Marshall, a review by Antares

Cahill: United States Marshall (1973) 59/100 - Another late period John Wayne film that could have been so much better, if not for the clumsiness of both the directing and screenwriting. Andrew MacLaglen is trying so desperately to emulate John Ford throughout this film and it comes across as a pale copy. I think the story would have worked better if the two brothers would have been around the eldest boy's age. Having a younger brother who is many years separated from his older brothers, lends little to the narrative and allows the director to rely on predictable scenes that seem to be added filler padding out the story until the final shootout. Wayne does a decent job with what he's given, unfortunately, he's really not given a lot. There are some pretty wide gaps in the film when he does not appear and the ridiculous nature of some scenes make believing what you are watching pretty hard to accomplish. There was one scene towards the end of the film, where Neville Brand, who plays the half breed Comanche tracker, is chasing one of the bank robbers. The outlaw is running on foot and Brand is chasing him, brandishing a Bowie knife, atop his horse. For some unknown reason, he tosses away the knife and grabs part of a tree that's been split. He wrestles the branch from the tree, wheels his horse around, tucks the branch under his arm like a spear and continues after the outlaw. I looked on completely perplexed as to why a Comanche would prefer a rough hewed piece of tree to a finely sharpened Bowie knife when he's about to partake in killing a man. This film doesn't rate towards the bottom of Wayne's latter day projects, but it doesn't rise too far above average.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on March 5th, 2015)

King Arthur, a review by Jon

King Arthur
2 out of 5



The heroic true story behind one of history's greatest legends explodes onto the screen. It is the valiant tale of Arthur (Clive Owen) and his bond of brotherhood with Lancelot (loan Gruffudd) and the loyalty of the Knights Of The Round Table as they fight for freedom and those they love. Also starring Keira Knightley as Guinevere, this never-before-seen KING ARTHUR is a longer, grittier and more explicit motion picture.

King Arthur has been discussed before on this forum (see here!

(From DCO third annual November Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread on November 10th, 2009)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Title: Welcome to the N.H.K.!: Collection Part One
Year: 2006
Director:
Rating: NR
Length: 300 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:


Plot:
Some people's lives get stuck in a rut and others go through a few rough patches. Sato's life, on the other hand, seems to be going to hell in a hand basket filled with cheap takeout dinners! Between dropping out of college, never going outside and living on a diet of internet porn, Sato's slowly turning into a human fungus. But what if it's not his fault? What if it's actually a dark and sinister conspiracy on the part of the television networks? And what if all those adorable images of cute anime girls are actually part of an insidious plan of brainwashing designed to turn viewers into jobless, social recluses? Can Sato overcome the horrible plot that has been hatched by the nefarious N-H-K? Will he fight for his future, get a job and even meet girls in order to counter this evil organization? The battle is on in Welcome to the N-H-K!

Extras:
Scene Access
Trailers

It started of really strange and I was not sure if I would like it, but it got better and better. Originally I had planned to only watch this first volume now and the second volume much later. But now I am really curious how it will continue, so I probably will watch the second volume soon.

#	Episode	Rating
01	Welcome to the Project!
02	Welcome to the Creator!
03	Welcome to the Beautiful Girls!
04	Welcome to the New World!
05	Welcome to Counseling!
06	Welcome to the Classroom!
07	Welcome to the Moratorium!
08	Welcome to Chinatown!
09	Welcome to a Summer Day!
10	Welcome to the Dark Side!
11	Welcome to the Conspiracy!
12	Welcome to the Off Meeting!

(From Tom's Random Reviews on January 13th, 2010)