Stargate: Continuum (2008) Review

Stargate: SG-1 as a television series ended, but the adventures of the team continued in this direct to DVD and Blu-ray feature film. A nefarious plot by the last remaining major villain leaves the team stranded in an alternate timeline and powerless to affect events. An amazing array of familiar faces from the entire ten year run of SG-1 make this a fan’s dream, but the story and action set Continuum apart from being just an extended episode. UPDATED May 2013 with new screen captures and expanded review.

Stargate: SG-1 has played with time travel nearly as much as the Star Trek franchise, usually with superior results (sorry Trekkies). Once again the creative team uses the concept, in this case to show a what if scenario of the Stargate never being used in modern times by the U.S. government. Jack O'Neil makes a return appearance early in the film, as does everyone's favorite System Lord, Ba'al. What follows is one of the darker stories told in the Stargate universe, allowing the entire cast to show off their acting chops.

Director Martin Wood starts the movie off with a bit of fun: a continuous single shot traveling through SG Command. While not quite up to the level of Orson Welles’ famous take in A Touch of Evil, it is pure fan service for longtime followers of the series. Watch for cameos of fan favorite supporting characters who won’t be seen again in the flick.

Eventually the camera catches up to final incarnation of the SG-1 team made up of Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell (Ben Browder), Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping), Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), Teal’c (Christopher Judge), and Vala (Claudia Black) as they prepare for an easy mission for a change.The last clone of the last of the Goa’uld System Lords, Ba’al, has been captured and slated for “extraction.” Okay, if you aren’t a fan of the series, the preceding sentence made absolutely no sense, right?

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) Review

Hiyao Miyazaki’s second film that he directed displays all the elements that have made him legendary: a brave heroine, a strong environmental message, dazzling flight, and extraordinary images that linger in the mind long after the movie ends. The story follows a young princess trying to save humanity while facing hostile neighboring kingdoms, deadly giant insects, and a world devastated by an ancient war. It is a great pleasure to review the movie that allowed Studio Ghibli to be founded.

Way back in the early 1980s, animated movies were in the doldrums with Disney suffering a creative and financial slump. Other studios attempted to recapture the magic, but none saw great success. In later years Disney would rise again, yet it was over in Japan that real animated magic was reborn thanks to the creative genius of a struggling forty year old animator named Hayao Miyazaki.

Having had some success in directing the adaptation of Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro in 1979, Miyazaki wanted to make his own creations but was getting nowhere. It took Toshio Susuki the editor in chief of Animage magazine befriending him for things to finally start rolling. Finding Miyazaki bursting with ideas he suggested that Hayao create a manga to run in the magazine.

That manga debuted in 1982 and was called Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Its success made it possible to raise funds to make a movie and the world of animation, not just anime, would never be the same. Miyazaki’s works would go on to influence traditional animators and even the new wave of computer generated animation movies at Pixar.

Nausicaä opens with a masked man riding a strange dodo-like bird out of a wind swept haze. Visually and auditorily striking, the scene seems to step straight out of one the era’s fantasy magazines such as Heavy Metal or Epic Illustrated. I have the vague memory of seeing the intro either in stills or possibly flipping past the horrifically altered version Warriors of the Wind on HBO at the time. Suffice it to say this was nothing like the staid Disney animation of the time and made an impression.

The man investigates the ruins of a settlement that has become overgrown by fungi in a very grim introduction to the setting. Once the credits start rolling it becomes clear that this is the future Earth and not some fantasy world. A wealth of information is quietly and quickly conveyed through intercutting tapestries depicting the downfall of man with the actual events briefly glimpsed. Fire breathing giants laying waste to the world alternate with images of a white winged woman sometimes clothed in blue dominate the introduction…

Gorgo (1961) Review

What do you get when you make a knock off a movie that copied of one of your own films? You get another sea monster played by a man in a rubber suit rampaging through a capitol of a nation, but this time it’s London! When a giant monster is found in the depths on the North Sea and captured, it sets the stage for one of the angriest mothers in cinema history. Combining death and carnage with the heart of a family film makes Gorgo an oddly sweet story. Updated review with new HD screen captures and Blu-ray details!

One of the inspirations for Gojira aka Godzilla, King of the Monsters was 1953’s The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. So it is rather interesting that the director of that film, Eugene Lourie, was also the director of Gorgo, which is obviously inspired by Godzilla. After being berated by his young daughter for killing the Beast, Lourie decided to make a monster film with a gentler take. Well, the movie isn’t that gentle, but it is not as somber as Gojira, that’s for sure.

Oh and if you are looking for a review of the new Blu-ray release, it can be found in the Technical section. If you want the best copy of the movie, the Blu-ray is a must buy.

Gorgo opens up with a group of salvagers working on a wreck off the coast of Ireland. The captain of the ship, Joe Ryan (Bill Travers), is concerned about a strange bubbling in the water nearby. When his best friend and diver Sam Slade (William Sylvester) is late coming up, he becomes even more concerned. It turns out to be a false alarm, but what happens next is completely unexpected: a volcano emerges from the sea and erupts! Nearly capsized, the ship suffers enough damage to be dead in the water.

The Last Starfighter (1984) Review

When a young man dreams of escaping his dreary life an unexpected trip to the stars leads to adventure and heroism. Sound familiar? It should for this is a cheesy, formulaic, and derivative movie. Yet it is easy to forgive this due to an excellent cast, endearing characters, and a complete lack of pretention. Combining all of the above with cutting edge effects that changed the industry resulted in one of the best B-movies of the 1980s. UPDATED March 2013 with HD screen captures and Blu-ray details.

These days we are accustomed to seeing photorealistic computer generated images (CGI) in everything from commercials to major motion pictures. It wasn’t always like this and somebody had to pioneer the field. This is the movie that dared to attempt what was then thought impossible. Without The Last Starfighter we would not have had the Lord of the Rings, Pixar, or Marvel superhero movies.

Greeted by a stately symphonic score and a planet that is clearly not Earth, we zoom away from it while the title and credits roll. After going through what appears to be a wormhole in space, the camera pans down to a small trailer park in the hills of California. It’s a run down place that has seen better years, but the park is filled with a variety of people happily living their lives.

Rodan (1956) (Review)

aka Sora no daikaijû Radon

Ishiro Honda and his crew from Gojira returned with another giant monster film after the mediocre results from another director on its sequel. More of a mystery movie than its predecessors, Rodan is a very different beast that features a more human driven storyline. You won’t find Godzilla in this movie, but Rodan did go on to costar with the more famous beast in multiple films after his destructive debut.

When the hastily put together Godzilla Raids Again disappointed, Toho came up with a new monster tale that kept the kaiju genre going. Better effects and the use of color injected life into the story about a mutated pteranodon and a group of coal miners. Succeeding at the box office in Japan, Radon winged its way over the Pacific as Rodan in the American edit a few years later. Both edits will be covered in this review, so let’s get going!

The movie opens with colorful credits accompanied by sinister music which is immediately identifiable as being in the same style as Gojira’s. Sure enough Akira Ifukube composed the score and it sets the tone for the entire film. Once the lengthy credits end we are introduced to the main setting of Mount Aso in Japan.

A mining community is starting its day with another shift of workers making their way into the mine. Harsh words exchanged between two miners escalates into a brawl between the two men, Goro and Yoshizo. Having been separated by their coworkers, the fight ends inconclusively before all head deep into the bowels of the earth to search for “black diamond.”

Later at the engineer’s office, we are introduced to our main protagonist, Shigeru Kawamura (Keni Sawara). A discussion of global warming melting the polar ice and endangering the world is interrupted by dire news – one of the tunnels has flooded. This is impossible according to the engineers, but that’s experts for you.

Of course when Shigeru arrives on the scene he finds a tunnel filled with water and further bad news that two miners are missing. I wonder which two? Yep, it’s the feuding ones and only one is found. The fact that Yoshizo is found floating face down and has been killed with something like a very sharp sword is a wee bit suspicious.

Fractale Episode 11: Paradise

The ambitious series ends in blood, death, and an extremely emotional ending that upset more than a few viewers online. With the future of humanity on the line, will Clain be forced to watch the love of his life die? Fractale: Reiterated concludes with HD screen captures and revised text.

With too much of a story to fit in twelve episodes, Fractale ends up with only eleven, consequently making this powerful finale densely packed with exposition and action. It is frustrating that this series was rejected by otakus in Japan and one has to wonder what could have been if it they had embraced it. As it is, we are left with this rushed, but conclusive ending to Clain’s journey toward adulthood and the final fate of the Fractale system.

The final episode picks up right where the previous one left off, with a shocked Clain and Nessa being confronted by Barrot. In an effort to protect the feisty doppel, Phryne sends her through the barrier to Clain. However, the Temple’s resident scientist and lecher alters the barrier with a wave of a hand so they can hear everything. If there was ever any doubt he was a sadist at heart, that is erased by his “free lesson” to Clain about the secrets of Phryne and Fractale’s God. Amazingly, the character becomes even more despicable than before.

Fractale Episode 10: To the Temple

The penultimate episode of the series is filled with battle, deception, and desperation as the forces of the Lost Millennium rebels attack the Temple. But will Phryne’s attempt to broker a peace produce results or make things worse? Fractale: Reiterated continues with new HD screen captures and revised text.

With the previous episode being more introspective and structured as a setup, it was guaranteed this one would be packed with action and so it is. Jumping straight into a pitched battle warns us there won’t be any of the prior humor present. In fact, this is a deadly serious episode.

To the Temple opens with a colossal air battle between the airships of Lost Millennium and the Temple. It is a kinetic and frenetic battle that looks spectacular. Both sides land blows and it gives a real sense of war also while being reminiscent of Studio Ghibli films. The quality of the production only falters once when a CGI stacked squadron of Temple ships attack and that was a minor thing, in my opinion. The Blu-ray/DVD release made that particular moment look a little better, but not much.

In the midst of this aerial chaos, Clain and Nessa arrive in the little airship. Threading through the flak, they manage to dock with The Danan to inform the Granites of Phryne’s running off to attempt negotiations. Cue the opening title sequence and the roller coaster ride that follows.

Fractale Episode 9: No Way Out

A quiet and introspective episode that is heavy on character development after the nightmarish events of the previous installment. Much is revealed about Phryne and Nessa, while the drums of war beat ominously in the background.The beginning of the end for the series is in sight with one last look at some of the charm that permeated the first two episodes. Fractale: Reiterated continues with new HD screen captures and revised text.

A pause to breath before the final battle is always good to have in any story, despite what some action film producers might think. This episode is all about that breather, but the consequences for the actions taken earlier unfold for the Granites throughout. While it is a slow down in action, there is none in content.

After the explosive ending to episode 8, No Way Out opens with a door opening. This particular door belongs to the emergency shelter seen just before the big bang unleashed by Dias and happens to have Clain pushing it open. He, Phryne, and Nessa are safe but the Temple base is now a gigantic crater in the ground. The little Phryne clone was obviously killed in the explosion, for there is no sign of her. Hopefully, the perverted Barrot was atomized. From the ground, Clain waves in a joyous Enri to come get them.

Godzilla vs Biollante (1989) Review

A surprising release on Blu-ray shows off the most experimental Godzilla film ever made in all its odd glory.Over the years, the radioactive goliath has fought and conquered other mutants, dinosaurs, giant insects, alien monsters, giant robots, and even King Kong. But nothing can prepare even an unstoppable force of destruction for the dangerous power of a giant rose bush. No, I’m not kidding.

Serious kaiju fans and kids of the 1970s will recall a dark period with no Godzilla movies coming out. This was horrifying to those of us who enjoy a good city trampling and so it was a big deal when Godzilla 1985 (or Return of Godzilla outside of North America) arrived in theaters. It did not do remotely as well as expected in the U.S.A., so the next film in the series had some trouble getting released here. It didn’t help it bombed in Japan, but it did truly begin the Heisei era of Godzilla.

That movie was Godzilla vs Biollante and it may be the closest thing to an art house movie in the long cinema career of the monster. Words are insufficient to describe how weird this movie is, even for a kaiju flick. Still, I am going to try my best.

Right off the bat, the movie crams a dense amount of information before the credits stop rolling. It starts with the oh so 1980s high tech computer text describing different levels of Godzilla alerts which are somewhat along the lines of severe weather bulletins. Next, a montage shows a condensed version of the events of the previous film which ended with Godzilla imprisoned in a volcano. When this and the credits end, we get to see a very blond and Anglo reporter covering the devastation in Tokyo. She’s also speaking in English with very large Japanese subtitles on screen.

Amidst the wreckage, a group of men in military gear and protection suits are looking for Godzilla cells. Why? It will get explained by the copious exposition in the movie. The big surprise is that they are all Americans speaking English and I had to pause playback for a moment to see if I had enabled the correct audio track. Yep, it was the Japanese one and I was still waiting to hear any Japanese.

Pacific Rim Trailer Does Giant Robots Right!

This looks spectacular and should appeal to giant robot fans and kaiju fans equally. It looks like more fun than should legally be allowed.

Fractale Episode 8: Secret of the Underground

Much about Phryne is revealed and a rescue mission goes very wrong when Fractale journeys into a deeper level of darkness. Warning: The TV-14 rating is very much earned by this episode due to extremely disturbing content and mild profanity in the English dub. Fractale: Reiterated continues with updated text and HD screen captures.

Secret of the Underground goes straight to the story instead of opening with the main title credits. We are greeted with the sight of Enri and the remaining Blues Brother returning to the Danon in the scout ship without Clain and Phryne. Subdued and upset, the blond girl reports the events at the end of the last episode to her brother, Sunda. Mainly concerned about Nessa, he is informed they brought her back but she is hiding in the computer systems again.

We then see the Temple airship, Odin, land in an underground base and Clain is seen struggling to breath. Yes, he somehow survived being shot but he is in very bad shape. He can hear people talking and briefly makes out the sight of Phryne over him trying not to cry. That capture says a lot about what the boy means to her, doesn’t it? Once again, the expressive facial animations of the series impress.

The distraught priestess desperately tries to negotiate with Sir Barrot to be allowed to stay with Clain, but he seems to be enjoying making her suffer over the situation. But it is his calling himself her father that the fading Clain hears just before passing out.

Cue the opening credits and the theme has never sounded sadder. It is a grim introduction to what turns out to be an even grimmer episode.

Fractale Episode 7: Veneer Town

The series shifts into high gear and the social commentary into overdrive when Clain and Nessa are introduced to the last city where Fractale functions completely. Nothing is what it seems in an episode that reveals more about Phryne and Nessa. Fractale: Reiterated continues with updated HD screen captures and revised text.

Be warned, this episode isn’t shy with its critiques of urban living and the chattering middle and upper classes. The world that watches the Kardashians, Big Brother, and The Jersey Shore  is not that much different from what we see when the series finally depicts a city. What is portrayed is not flattering at all.

Veneer Town begins on the Danan, where Clain has turned into a photography addict taking pictures of life aboard the Granite’s airship. Living life through the narrow focus of the viewfinder lands him in trouble with the girls once again, since he doesn’t realize they are washing their delicates. Please, somebody shoot this dead horse  running joke!

An attempt to photograph Nessa fails, since she doesn’t show up on the camera.  Clain is apologetic, but the ten year old doppel doesn’t care because she loves fun, especially when he is having fun. A film noir style narration by the boy reveals he didn’t know at the time what lay behind her smile.

The Prisoner Episode 2: Free For All

Number 6 runs for office when election time hits the Village. Drawn in by the idea he might be able to engineer a mass escape, the nameless hero tries his hand at politics with the assistance of a new maid. Cold war paranoia meets campaign season in a fast moving and thought provoking second episode.

There is are differences of opinion on which episodes go where in continuity of The Prisoner, but I agree with A&E that this should be the second. Written by Patrick McGoohan under an alias, Paddy Fitz, and directed by him, it shows a Number 6 who still does not understand the ways of the Village which should place it near the beginning.

It all starts with a phone call that rapidly becomes creepy and thoroughly intimidating. Wait, I should back up and note that there is a new Number 2 (Eric Portman) in the opening credits. He even calls himself “the new Number 2.” Disorienting as always, the show rarely lets us relax.

How would you feel if the person on the other end of the phone call suddenly appeared on your turned off television set? Unnerved, perhaps? How about hanging up on said caller and having him walk in the door mere seconds later? That is what happens to Number 6 when Number 2 calls – what a way to start out a day.

Godzilla Raids Again (1955) Review

AKA Gigantis the Fire Monster (1959)

Released a mere six months after the unexpected smash hit, Gojira, this movie is a great example of how not to do a sequel. Too much human melodrama mixed with rushed special effects work marred the project and nearly ended the series. Yet it did serve to introduce the idea there were more giant monsters out there to be found which set the stage for many Toho kaiju movies to come. Also reviewed is the much inferior American edit that bafflingly renamed the famous monster!

What do you do when you have an unexpected hit that packed theaters? Why you rush a sequel into production, of course. The golden age of film making was very much about rushing product out while a property or actor was hot. In this case, it cost them the director of Gojira, Ishiro Honda, due to scheduling so Toho assigned Motoyoshi Oda the job of cranking it out. While it tried to be serious, it failed to be anywhere near the quality of its predecessor despite having a cast filled with actors that appeared in many an Akira Kurosawa movie.

The show begins with Godzilla’s now famous roar over the title superimposed on clouds. A different roar is heard near the end of the credits in a brief moment of cheap foreshadowing. So why clouds instead of the ocean the mutant lizard is associated with? Because our main character is a pilot, that’s why!

Shoichi Tsukioka, played by Hiroshi Koizumi in the first of many appearances in the series, makes a living as a spotter pilot for a large fishing company. Tasked with finding tuna and other fish from the sky, he spends part of his radio time flirting with the operator at headquarters. Not only is Hidemi Yamiji (Setsuko Wakayama) his girlfriend, but she is also the daughter of his boss.

Yes, the romance part of the movie has been joined already in progress. Don’t expect much more progress, though. Unlike the first movie, it is incidental to the plot, not part of it. Perhaps if it had been, the characters would have been more interesting.

The Watcher in the Woods (1980) Review

One of Disney’s biggest failures, this spooky thriller was aimed at teenagers and was supposed to herald a new era at the venerable movie studio. All the ingredients were there: a popular novel to adapt, the director of the Witch Mountain movies, a starlet coming off a huge hit, and Bette Davis to add gravitas. Ultimately, it failed to jell due to an uneven match of old Disney style and gothic horror. UPDATED October 2012 with new screen captures and massively rewritten text.

In 1980, Disney released an adaptation of Florence Randall’s popular teen novel, The Watcher in the Woods.  This movie was supposed their first PG film, but bad screenings led to protracted reshoots and eventually recuts of the ending. As a result, it came out in a limited release April of 1980, after the Autumn 1979 debut of The Black Hole. Even then, the studio decided to recut it.  While not a great movie, it has some redeeming points to it, mainly found in the alternate endings on the DVD releases.

I vaguely recall seeing the movie in the old Spring Grove Theater and being very disappointed in it.  In fact, this may have been the film that taught me to distrust movie adaptations of novels.  Having been weaned on old Hammer horror movies, there was nothing there to scare me.  However, viewing it as an adult, I can see plenty to creep out and scare kids (or sheltered adults) throughout the movie.  The director, John Hough, also directed one of my favorite scary movies, The Legend of Hell House, and I have to wonder what the movie would have been like made by another studio than Disney.

Gamera: MST3K (1991) Review

An epic battle between Sandy Frank’s version of the 1965 giant monster classic and the occupants of the Satellite of Love completes my review trilogy of the first Gamera movie. Love is found amidst carnage when a giant turtle meets a young boy named Kenny and the world conspires to keep them apart. Expect explosions, inventions, voodoo, and robot abuse when Mystery Science Theater 3000 first encounters Gamera – for the second time!

Most Americans associate Gamera with Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) if they even have a clue what the flying turtle is. If it were not for Sandy Frank’s particularly bad dubs of those old monster films, it is questionable whether or not MST3K would have become as big as it did. Thanks to a sale at Amazon, I ended up getting my hands on the box set of those episodes for less than half price a mere week after whining I couldn’t afford it. Maybe I should whine publicly more often?

For the storyline of the movie, please consult my reviews of the original film and the American version.

 

If you are not familiar with the show, MST3K featured a janitor launched to a space station by mad scientists where he was forced to watch “cheesy movies” as part of experiments. To alleviate his loneliness, the janitor named Joel built robots to be his friends. It is all an excuse to riff on and mock bad movies for laughs.

This classic episode opens with Joel (Joel Hodgson), Crow (Trace Beaulieu), and Tom Servo (Kevin Murphy) warming up in preparation for the next experiment, or film as we would call them. While the lone human stretches, the bots go through vocal exercises. Yes, it is sheer lunacy, which is what this show is all about, so go with it. Just relax, like the theme says…