FLIGHT TO MARS (1951) -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

 Originally posted on 7/12/21

 

One of the best of the wave of fanciful space exploration thrillers that helped usher in the science-fiction-heavy cinema of the 1950s, FLIGHT TO MARS (1951) has been given a lush restoration and released on Blu-ray by The Film Detective along with some interesting extras.

With surprisingly good production values for a Monogram Picture (the studio best known for its lurid 1940s Bela Lugosi chillers), it still retains an endearingly corny B-movie atmosphere.

In such a setting, a historic expedition to Mars can still be manned by a team composed of stuffy old scientists, a brainy woman for whom science is a poor substitute for domestic bliss, her pipe-smoking mentor who is oblivious to her love for him, and a cocky reporter (Cameron Mitchell, THE KLANSMAN, THE SILENT SCREAM, THE TOOLBOX MURDERS) along for the ride who ends up the third corner in their love triangle.

 

One can hardly fault the story for getting so much wrong about space exploration since so little was known about it in 1951. Still, it's amusing when the crew must have the concept of a shower of meteors burning up in the Earth's atmosphere as "shooting stars" explained to them, and certain members are so dourly pessimistic about the mission's success that one crewmember refers to the ship as his "coffin."

Fans of this sort of entertainment will enjoy the ride from Earth to Mars (in the same spaceship interior left over from ROCKETSHIP XM, according to IMDb), including a thrilling crash landing brought off with obvious yet impressive model work.

Once on Mars, the crew encounter a race of intelligent men and women who live in a vast underground complex composed largely of colorful matte paintings that recall the best illustrations from science-fiction pulp magazines of the era, whose wildly imaginative stories seem to have provided much inspiration for this one. 

 

 

With the seemingly kindly Martian leader Ikron (Morris Ankrum, ROCKETSHIP XM) promising to help the Earth people repair their ship for takeoff, Dr. Barker (Arthur Franz, THE CAINE MUTINY, MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS) and his crew soon discover Ikron's more dastardly intent--to take over their repaired spacecraft and use it to escape the dying planet and conquer Earth.  

It's here that the film's star, Marguerite Chapman (THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH, THE AMAZING TRANSPARENT MAN), finally appears as Alita, a Martian woman assigned to help Dr. Barker (and arouse the jealousy of the Earth woman in the bargain). After discovering Ikron's plan, she will side with the Earth people and aid in their attempted escape.

Again, production values during the Mars scenes are quite lovely in a pulp sci-fi kind of way, helped in large part by the use of Cinecolor. Costumes are attractive as well, with Marguerite Chapman an absolute knockout in her micro-mini uniform (Dr. Barker's lovelorn assistant Carol gets one too) and even Morris Ankrum looking spiffy in his stately Mars garb.

Societal norms of the time will either amuse or annoy various viewers (Carol regards Mars' domestic conveniences as "a heaven for women"), although the female characters are all noteworthy for their above-average intelligence.  

 

The film is aided immeasurably by the smoothly capable direction of Lesley Selander, one of the most prolific directors of all time who helmed most of the "Hopalong Cassidy" series as well as countless other westerns, while also venturing into other genres (THE VAMPIRE'S GHOST).

The Blu-ray from The Film Detective is restored via a 4K transfer sourced from the original 35mm Cinecolor separation negatives.  Bonus features consist of two new documentary shorts, "Walter Mirisch: From Bomba to Body Snatchers" and "Interstellar Travelogues: Cinema's First Space Race", an audio commentary by author/film historian Justin Humphreys, and a full-color insert booklet with essay, "Mars at the Movies" by award-winning author Don Stradley.  Subtitles are in English and Spanish.

Despite a rather abrupt ending, FLIGHT TO MARS pays off with a final sequence that is exciting and suspenseful. The whole thing's as corny as can be at times, but that just adds to what amounts to one of the most absorbing and enjoyable space exploration yarns of the 1950s.




FLIGHT TO MARS

The Film Detective
Genre: Science-Fiction, Fantasy
Original Release: 1951 (Color)
Not Rated
Running Time: 72 Minutes
Language: English
Subtitles: English & Spanish
SRP: $24.95 (Blu-ray) / $19.95 (DVD)
Discs: 1
Release Date: July 20, 2021 (Pre-order now)
UPC Code:  760137572985 (Blu-ray) / 760137572893 (DVD)
Catalog #:  FBR1011 (Blu-ray) / FD1011 (DVD)

FLIGHT TO MARS (1951) -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

OUTPOST EARTH -- Movie Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 4/2/17

 

Remember that cool low-budget monster flick where the giant stop-motion-animated crab terrorized a small town? No, I'm not talking about one of the great black-and-white 50s classics, but 2015's QUEEN CRAB, which came as a welcome CGI-free throwback to the old days when filmmakers with limited resources were trying to make Ray Harryhausen movies.

Now, the same team behind that bundle of old-school fun is at it again, this time going the pulp sci-fi route with their alien invasion thriller OUTPOST EARTH (2016).

Human civilization gets destroyed during the opening titles in a scaled-down riff on INDEPENDENCE DAY by way of EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS, leaving a devasted dystopian world whose few human survivors are being hunted down by hostile aliens and their mutant mongrel pets.

 

Erin Waterhouse plays Kay, a bow-hunting babe with supermodel looks who encounters brash, wisecracking anti-hero Blake (Titus Himmelberger) while wandering the wasteland "hunting wabbits" and avoiding other hungry humans out for food.

After Blake saves her from some "goons" (slang for aliens) Kay invites him back to her hideout which she shares with naive sister Penny (Kristen Gylling), dour den-mother Kagen (Yolie Canales, QUEEN CRAB), and brilliant theoretical physicist Uncle Zayden (Mason Carver), a white-bearded egghead who's always in his makeshift lab trying to figure out what makes the aliens tick.

It takes Blake a while to gain the trust of the others, especially the skeptical Kagen.  But when Penny gets captured by a group of bad humans (including QUEEN CRAB's Ken Van Sant as the loathsome eye-patched Manny) he comes through during a daring rescue and then later discovers the secret to operating one of the crashed alien spacecraft (part of which involves getting really drunk).

 

OUTPOST EARTH plays a bit like a small-scale DAY OF THE DEAD (Uncle Zayden reminds me of that film's giddy scientist, Dr. Logan) and 50s classic THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED, both featuring the remnants of humanity battling outside forces from their secluded hideout. There's also a hint of the flash-forward scenes in THE TERMINATOR albeit much less populated. 

Locations are well-chosen for their desolate, bombed-out look, bringing to mind the final segment of "Threads."  Performances and dialogue are good and the characters are likable, particularly the two leads whom we just know will eventually form a twosome and help repopulate the Earth. 

But that's for later--in the meantime, it's interesting how writer-director Brett Piper (QUEEN CRAB, TRICLOPS, A NYMPHOID BARBARIAN IN DINOSAUR HELL) takes what is basically a James Cameron-level scenario and drastically scales it down while still coming up with something that's fun to watch.

 

Much of the fun, in fact, comes from seeing how he solves various SPFX challenges without simply being able to throw money at them.  This includes not only humanoid aliens in nifty masks and full-body suits, but a delightful array of stop-motion creatures, some of which do battle in the time-honored monster movie tradition. 

These SPFX remind one of such films as EQUINOX, THE CRATER LAKE MONSTER, and THE EVIL DEAD, along with the stop-motion creatures on the 70s Saturday morning series "Jason of Star Command." 

One humanoid mutant, who may or may not have once been human (he's played by Steve Diasparra in full body-suit before morphing into a towering animated behemoth), even resembles something out of those old Jack Kirby monster comics as well as KING KONG animator Willis O'Brien's sketches for his proposed KING KONG VS. FRANKENSTEIN.

The film ends with a wild sequence involving Blake getting good and loaded (for the cause, of course), hopping into that crashed spacecraft with Kay, and making a daring attack run (aka "drunken joyride") on an alien outpost thought to be one of their main command centers.  The ending is left wide open for a sequel.

Despite the miniscule budget, OUTPOST EARTH is loaded with entertainment value--especially for us nostalgic Monster Kids--and intriguing elements of both serious and pulp sci-fi.  It's the kind of flick I used to run home from school to watch on the afternoon movie.

OUTPOST EARTH -- Movie Review by Porfle

BLOODY MOON -- Blu-ray review by porfle

 Originally posted on 7/3/14

 

If nothing else, Jess Franco was a prolific director who dabbled mainly in the genres of horror and porn. Despite his popularity, the films I've seen from him so far (THE HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA, THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF, and especially the awful PAULA PAULA) have yet to convince me that his work is worth seeking out unless you're just looking for some "so bad it's okay" action.

My most recent Franco film, 1981's BLOODY MOON, while being a somewhat lively horror flick with lots of bad gore effects, also falls short of converting me into a Franco-phile. I do, however, admire his ability to take a low budget and limited resources and churn out theatrical product that also manages to endear itself to his numerous fans.

Maybe it's his crudely-executed enthusiasm for the filmmaking process that they find so fascinating. There isn't much else to recommend in this particular outing, which takes place in a Spanish boarding school for young women that's menaced by an unknown killer.

The film opens with the facially-disfigured Miguel (Alexander Waechter) raping and stabbing one of the students during a masquerade party while wearing a Mickey Mouse mask. Five years later, his sister Manuela (Nadja Gerganoff) succeeds in getting him released from the booby hatch in her custody, whereupon they return to the school which is owned by their tyrannical aunt, the Countess (María Rubio), who suspects them of wanting her out of the way so they can inherit her fortune.

We're shown a few cursory scenes of the female students during a language class but the place is actually more of a resort hotel with luxurious cabins and a swimming pool. So when they aren't reciting moron-level Spanish lessons, they're either disco dancing in the local club, swimming, or bumping uglies. Or getting murdered.

It all comes off like a poor man's Argento flick but with unlikable characters yakking some really bad (and badly dubbed) dialogue. There's a mentally-challenged mute handyman (Otto Retzer) who may be the killer, a handsome young chick-magnet gardener named Antonio (Peter Exacoustos) who may be the killer, a suave, sex-crazed school dean who may be the killer (Christoph Moosbrugger), and a final girl named Angela (Olivia Pascal) who may get killed and can't convince anyone that she just saw her best friend murdered by a pair of scissors through the chest in her own bedroom. Top this off with a bunch of unfunny comedy-relief dumb blondes running around, not to mention the incestuous Miguel and Manuela (who may be the killers), and you've got a sure recipe for apathy.

Franco, it must be said, didn't care much for the script but wasn't allowed to make changes. He was also promised a Pink Floyd score but got an ear-bending musical cacophony by some unknown Dutch guy instead. The film brims with bad acting and crude production values which we can almost sense Franco struggling to overcome with his own limited abilities. And while he manages a certain amount of suspense here and there, it mostly falls flat and is never actually "scary."

The main effect he achieves here is to work up sort of a jittery, frantic anxiety. Angela's nerve-wracking screams assault us as she flails around in bug-eyed terror when the mysterious killer goes after her. And it isn't just Angela--I don't think I've ever heard more unrestrained wall-to-wall screaming from the cast of a movie. The gore effects, simple as they are, contribute to what little unease the film is able to elicit, especially the centerpiece buzzsaw-beheading of what looks like a storefront mannequin. Animal lovers, on the other hand, will find the actual beheading of a live snake to be the most disturbing shot in the film.

The blu-ray disc from Severin Films is in 1080p full HD resolution widescreen with Dolby English mono sound. No subtitles. Extras consist of a trailer and an interesting interview with Franco about the making of the film.

While BLOODY MOON falls short of what I'd qualify as a "good" movie, there's enough entertainment value to save it from being a total bore, including lots of violence and a hefty amount of nudity. But scares, not so much.

Buy it at Amazon.com:

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This title will be released on July 8, 2014.

BLOODY MOON -- Blu-ray review by porfle

CONQUEST OF SPACE (1955) -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 4/30/21

 

Currently watching: George Pal's CONQUEST OF SPACE (1955).

The man who brought us WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE TIME MACHINE, and WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE certainly knew how to produce a terrific-looking science fiction epic with excellent state-of-the-art special effects.

But those films had good screenplays that were based on classic novels, which is something that can't be said, by any stretch of the imagination, for Pal's monumental misfire CONQUEST OF SPACE.

I say "monumental" because this lavishly made space spectacle boasts special effects that are beautiful to look at, especially shots of a huge rotating-wheel space station orbiting a colorful Earth with sparkling stars set against the velvet blackness of space. 

 

 
The film is filled with such visual splendor as well as other fine production values, a large cast, and a general sense of wonder that only science fiction can provide. This is augmented by matte paintings by none other than the master of astronomical art himself, Chesley Bonestall, and direction by Byron Haskin (WAR OF THE WORLDS, TV's "The Outer Limits").

Unfortunately, the story and dialogue are every bit as ham-handed and dumb as the worst of the cheapo space exploration films that I find so perversely entertaining in a "so-bad-it's-good" sort of way--turkeys such as THE ANGRY RED PLANET, 12 TO THE MOON, FIRE MAIDENS FROM OUTER SPACE, JOURNEY TO THE 7TH PLANET, and even the venerable ROCKETSHIP XM.

Pal's space force consists of the usual military stereotypes from every run-of-the-mill WWII flick, with stiff-backed officers, soldiers who are either boyishly gung-ho or wracked with personal doubts and hang-ups, and of course the usual comedy relief bozo, this time in the form of Phil Foster. 

 

 
With a Brooklyn accent that could hammer nails, Foster mugs it up so heavily it makes even his later role as Laverne's father on "Laverne & Shirley" seem subtle by comparison. Equally overbearing is Mickey Shaughnessy as loudmouthed Sgt. Mahoney, who might've served as the model for the bulldog in "Tom & Jerry" cartoons.

The space-happy soldiers whoop it up while watching a Rosemary Clooney musical (thanks to some archive footage) and clown around with their space-age food tablets ("Hey, this one's coffee! Pass me some cream and sugar tablets!"). The obligatory rogue meteor lends a bit of disaster-movie excitement when it hits the space station early on.

All of this leads up to the big Mars expedition, which is sprung on them so suddenly by top brass that volunteers must be hurriedly rounded up even though they have no training for or even basic understanding of the mission. The ones who are eventually chosen greet the prospect with such reluctance that one wonders why they're working in outer space in the first place.

 

 
To make things worse, the commanding officer, General Merritt (Walter Brooke, BLOODLUST!), has suddenly developed the notion that God doesn't want their mission to succeed and that humans going to Mars is an abominable offense to the Almighty. Needless to say, this tends to become a detriment to the mission's success before it's over.

Brooke, who would later gain immortality by telling Dustin Hoffman a single word ("Plastics!") in THE GRADUATE, plays the role first as the standard no-nonsense officer before gradually lapsing into the stereotypical "religious nut" with the screenplay offering him no apparent reason for doing so save that it adds an extra element of peril to what would normally be a simple flight to Mars.

Eric Fleming, who would also go on to achieve icon status as trail boss Gil Favor on the long-running western TV series "Rawhide", gives a sturdy performance as Gen. Merritt's son Barney, who is mission captain even though he hates working in space and longs to return home to his wife. 

 

 
The rest of the cast includes some young actors who will become very familiar faces, including Ross Martin, William Redfield, Vito Scotti, and Benson Fong. Also on hand are William Hopper ("Perry Mason") and Joan Shawlee ("The Dick Van Dyke Show").

Despite all its positive elements, the main appeal of this colorful potboiler is its curious naivete regarding the actual future of space exploration, as well as the previously mentioned "bad movie" goodness that overwhelms its first-rate production values. CONQUEST OF SPACE can't be taken seriously, no matter how hard you try, but it can still be fun to watch.

CONQUEST OF SPACE (1955) -- Movie Review by Porfle

RIO GRANDE -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 12/5/20

 

Legendary director John Ford had been trying for the longest time to get Republic Pictures head Herbert J. Yates to finance his dream project, THE QUIET MAN. 

Finally, Yates made a deal with Ford--direct a new cavalry western with John Wayne, which would be a surefire moneymaker for Republic, and he'd back Ford's nostalgic ode to his Irish heritage. And that's how RIO GRANDE (Olive Signature, 1950) came to be.

Future members of THE QUIET MAN's cast and crew were involved, including Wayne, his beautiful leading lady Maureen O'Hara (the chemistry was already strong in their first onscreen pairing), brawny Victor McLaglen, actor/singer Ken Curtis, Wayne's son Patrick, filmographer Archie Stout (who had worked with Duke since the early 30s), and film composer Victor Young. 

 

Unlike that film's dreamlike Technicolor visuals, RIO GRANDE is in Ford's own impeccable trademark black and white style, starkly enhancing the visual splendor of the film's desert locations with their vast plateaus almost as impressively as Ford's beloved Monument Valley. (Moab, Utah stands in for Arizona with the Colorado River playing the title role.)

Wayne stars as Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke, the tough but fair commander of a U.S. cavalry regiment encamped in an isolated spot that puts them in constant conflict with warlike Apache tribes nearby. This is yet another fully-realized performance by Wayne which thoroughly disproves the notion that he couldn't act, or that he was a one-note actor who only ever played himself.

One day Yorke's own son Jeff (Claude Jarman Jr. of THE YEARLING in a likable performance), whom he hasn't seen in fifteen years, appears as a new recruit. It seems that, having failed the mathematics requirements at Westpoint, he immediately enlisted in the cavalry after lying about his age. 

 

As if this didn't create enough tension, Yorke's estranged wife Kathleen (O'Hara)--with a little thing called the Civil War having come between them for all those years--shows up to have the boy discharged and take him home. But the dedicated young Jeff, to his father's obvious approval, will have none of it, as they both share the same sense of duty and honor.

Thus begins the film's main dramatic thrust as the long-separated couple rekindle their ever-smoldering romantic obsessions while wrestling over the fate of their son, even as the war between the cavalry and the Apaches reaches a boiling point.

Action fans can look forward to three major battle setpieces: one, the launching of a blistering nocturnal raid by the Apaches upon the encampment; two, when a wagon train of women and children being escorted away from the camp is suddenly set upon by Apache warriors, with only a small group of soldiers to defend them; and three, a climactic clash in which Yorke and his troops descend upon the Apaches' stronghold in order to rescue the civilians.

 

Those expecting constant thrills and a breakneck pace, however, may be disappointed. Quentin Tarantino once referred to Howard Hawks' RIO BRAVO as a "hangout film", since one of its main joys is in simply hanging out with its characters. Here, in addition to those irresistible stars, numerous scenes allow us to just pass the time with the supporting players or listen in as they serenade us with a selection of western songs.

These include the likes of Ben Johnson and Harry Carey, Jr. as a couple of very laidback but capable hillbilly recruits, Chill Wills as the easygoing regimental doctor, J. Carroll Naish as a world-weary general, and the choral group Sons of the Pioneers featuring silver-throated Ken Curtis (who would later achieve television immortality as Festus on "Gunsmoke"). The film's musical and comedy vignettes could almost be itemized on a bill of fare as an evening's program of entertainment.

 

The new Blu-ray release from Olive Signature is a high-definition digital restoration that brings out the pristine beauty of Ford's visuals. The disc's bonus menu offers interviews with Ben Johnson, Harry Carey, Jr., Claude Jarman, Jr., and Patrick Wayne, several featurettes, a trailer, a commentary track, and essays by film historians.

There are those who consider RIO GRANDE the lesser of Ford's three cavalry films, but for me it's just as rich and satisfying a viewing experience. Perhaps it's because the relatively slower pace and simpler story give it more room to breathe. You don't just rush through this movie; instead, you settle in and spend some quality time with it.



YEAR: 1950
GENRE: DRAMA
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH (with optional English subtitles)
LABEL: OLIVE FILMS
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 105 min
RATING: N/A
VIDEO: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio; B&W
AUDIO: MONO

OLIVE SIGNATURE FEATURES

    New High-Definition digital restoration
    Audio commentary by Nancy Schoenberger
    “Telling Real Histories” – Raoul Trujillo on representations of Indigenous Americans in film
    “Songs of the Rio Grande” – Marc Wanamaker on the Sons of the Pioneers
    “Strength and Courage” – Patrick Wayne on his father
    “Bigger Than Life” – with Claude Jarman, Jr.
    Visual essay by Tag Gallagher
    “The Making of Rio Grande” – with Leonard Maltin
    Essay by Paul Andrew Hutton
    Theatrical trailer

US+CANADA
STREET: 11/17/20
CAT: OS022
UPC: 887090602204
SRP: $39.95

RIO GRANDE -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THE QUIET MAN -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 10/28/16

 

A dream, a theme park, a veritable phantasmagoria of idealized Irishness--John Ford's 1952 classic THE QUIET MAN (Olive Signature, Blu-ray and DVD) has quite likely turned more people temporarily Irish than any other film ever made.  It's the sweetly stereotypical Ireland that people like Ford himself imagined in his fondest fantasies whenever he yearned to return to the emerald isle of his parents' birth.

Here, of course, is the beautiful Irish countryside in all its verdant glory, made even more lush through the Technicolor process--none of Republic Pictures' trademark "Trucolor" for Ford--along with the usual cast of character types one might expect. 

There's the diminutive town tippler who's also its matchmaker, Michaleen Oge Flynn (Barry Fitzgerald); big, strapping farmer Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen) and his spinster sister, the impetuous redhead Mary Kate (Maureen O'Hara); imperious, wealthy widow Sarah Tillane (Mildred Natwick), on whom Danaher has his sights set; and the town's Catholic and Protestant spiritual leaders, Father Peter Lonergan (Ward Bond) and Reverend Cyril Playfair (Arthur Shields).

Ford renders his fantasy vision of rural Irish life with an artist's eye and a poet's heart, providing a backdrop of purity and contentment that the outside world can scarcely touch.  Custom is observed at all times--a scenic seaside horse race in which the riders vie for their ladies' bonnets, primly proper courtships whose etiquette seems unduly unyielding, and, at every opportunity, a pint or two in the local pub.

Into this seemingly timeless world comes childhood resident Sean Thornton (John Wayne), long Americanized but yearning to return to his pastoral roots to escape the haunting memory of killing a man in the boxing ring.  This gives him a reticence to fight that appears as cowardice when Danaher challenges him over Thornton's brazen courting of his sister Mary Kate.  Only later, after much tortured, hopeless struggle against Irish tradition, will Thornton relent.

Meanwhile, THE QUIET MAN seethes with fiery romance between Sean and Mary Kate, he brashly forward and unequivocal, she primly conservative on the outside while barely containing her inner passion.  A chaste, chaperoned outing with matchmaker Michaleen turns into a stolen tryst in a secluded hilltop cemetery as the lovers, buffeted by wind and rain, succumb to a desire as uncontrollable as the elements.

It's Ford at his most achingly romantic, his actors playing their roles with heartrending conviction.  This is also true of the couple's tempestuous marital relations--for marry they finally do, although a stubborn Danaher, tricked into allowing the marriage, refuses to give Mary Kate her dowry. 

Robbed of what is rightfully hers, she rejects Sean when he fails to understand its symbolic importance to her (independence, validation, self-worth) rendering their marriage a shambles from the start. 

Ford and co-writers Frank S. Nugent and Maurice Walsh fashioned the screenplay for THE QUIET MAN as though concocting a full-course meal.  No sooner do we think we're being served a lighthearted comedy of quaint customs and sexual mores than the course changes to deeply emotional yet sexually-charged romance.

With the ill-fated wedding scene, one thinks the film has crossed over into more complex social satire, and yet here it abruptly veers into the achingly tragic when Sean's agonizing guilt returns in full force. 

How the film not only rebounds from this low point but becomes more emotionally resonant and ultimately more joyous than ever is what makes it such an engaging and thoroughly satisfying experience. 

All the while, THE QUIET MAN is filled with little moments of grace and sweetness which lighten whatever darkness sometimes threatens to overcome it.  Barry Fitzgerald is a joy as Michaleen, the impish cupid who's also the town's bookmaker and most ardent drunkard.  The mutually-supportive relationship between Catholic (Bond) and Protestant (Shields) men of God is disarmingly sweet-spirited.  Danaher, for all his bluster, is a lovable ogre whose weaknesses are pride and a hopeless love for the widow Tillane which he lacks the charm to express.

 

But it's John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, both incredibly effective and appealing actors at their best here, who give THE QUIET MAN its true heart and soul.  Seldom has there been a screen couple with such combustive chemistry.  Theirs is a wonderfully adult romance even in its most childlike and playful moments--we feel that once their unbridled passions are released, it will indeed be, as Michaleen surmises, "Homeric." 

The DVD from Olive Films' "Olive Signature" label is in 1.37:1 with mono sound and English subtitles.  Mastered from a 4K scan of the original camera negative.  There's a commentary by John Ford biographer Joseph McBride that's wall-to-wall and loaded with information.  Other extras include: a tribute to Maureen O'Hara featuring Juliet Mills, Hayley Mills, and Ally Sheedy; a visual essay by historian and Ford expert Tag Gallagher; a biography of Republic Pictures president Herbert J. Yates; a fond remembrance by Ford friend and biographer Peter Bogdanovich; and Leonard Maltin's 1992 featurette "The Making of 'The Quiet Man'."  The keepcase contains an illustrated 8-page booklet.

THE QUIET MAN reaches its climax with a near-breakup of a marriage and the manly settling of a heated dispute through Queensberry-ruled fisticuffs (which becomes a joyful cause célèbre for the entire village and its surroundings), and ends with a curtain call that not only allows the actors to take a bow but their characters to break the fourth wall and warmly acknowledge our presence. (This part is just so cheerful and uplifting that it always chokes me up.)

And, at Ford's behest, Maureen O'Hara playfully whispers something into John Wayne's ear that elicits a genuinely shocked reaction before their characters skip happily into the privacy of their idyllic cottage like a couple of naughty kids.  We'll never know what she says to him, and that's okay. 

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THE QUIET MAN -- DVD Review by Porfle

WHEN THE WIND BLOWS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 4/24/20

 

Did you ever wonder what it would look like if THREADS had a cartoon-animated subplot? Or if the creators of "Wallace & Gromit" had placed their beloved characters in the middle of a nuclear holocaust?

Children's author Raymond Briggs conceived such an idea in a graphic novel which a group of filmmakers including director Jimmy T. Murakami (HEAVY METAL, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS) brought to the screen, thus giving us the entrancingly compelling cinematic oddity entitled WHEN THE WIND BLOWS (Severin Kids, 1986).

Unlike the frantically alarmist apocalypse thrillers to which we're accustomed, this tale of an elderly couple whose peaceful retirement is shattered by nuclear war is quietly, disarmingly genteel.

We first see them enjoying a typical day in their secluded cottage, chatting absently about tea and gardening and such, while news of impending war sparks Jim's interest and motivates him into a mildly industrious fervor of preparation that brings back nostalgic feelings of the Blitz.

Meanwhile, Hilda (whom Jim endearingly calls "Ducks") refuses to entertain the notion that anything could disturb their blissful daily routines, their ability to pop down to a shop for fresh food or other supplies, or their access to telly or radio plays. 

These are the sort of likable, roundly-drawn cartoon characters (they look a bit like cuddly plush dolls) we know from a thousand children's books and movies, characters whose only concerns should be gentle, placid ones such as, say, a naughty bunny rabbit helping himself to their carrot garden.

Here, however, their idyllic lives are disrupted when the harsh, cruel reality of the really-real world ruptures the curtain of their cartoon dimension and leaves it all a charred, smoking ruin with a dark cloud of radioactive fallout drifting through it.

Jim and Hilda are similar to the older couple in THREADS with their lean-to shelter in the livingroom providing sparse protection against the blast and their halfhearted efforts to stock food, water, and other necessities quickly proving inadequate. 

What makes them different is that they continue to behave just like endearing cartoon figures out of a children's story, with Jim remaining a font of quiet optimism--after all, they lived through something similar back when they fought the Jerries--and Hilda blessedly oblivious to the fact that she can't just tidy things up and wait for the milkman to come.

The restraint shown by the filmmakers in not giving in to the usual dramatic overkill makes the encroaching horrors Jim and Hilda inevitably face seem even more wrenching, with their continued devotion to each other through it all especially heartrending as their ordinary storybook lives crumble to dust.

Artwork and animation are expertly done, using a combination of various methods such as cel animation, a bit of CGI, what appears to be some miniature work on the interiors, and the occasional well-integrated live action footage. 

The musical score includes songs by David Bowie, Roger Waters, and others. Jim and Hilda are wonderfully voiced by venerable actors Sir John Mills and Dame Peggy Ashcroft.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films' "Severin Kids" label contains their usual ample menu, including a documentary about the director ("Jimmy Murakami: Non Alien"), a making-of featurette ("The Wind and the Bomb"), an audio commentary with first assistant editor Joe Fordham and film historian Nick Redman, an interview with children's author Raymond Briggs, an original public information film ("Protect and Serve"), isolated music and effects audio track, and trailers.

In its own remarkable way, WHEN THE WIND BLOWS is one of the darkest and most disheartening of the post-nuclear nightmare tales. It's like watching Wallace and Gromit slowly withering away from radiation poisoning, and, worst of all, Wallace finally realizing at the point of dying that there may never, ever be any more cheese.


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Special Features:

    Jimmy Murakami: Non Alien – Feature Length Documentary About the Film’s Director
    The Wind and The Bomb: The Making of WHEN THE WIND BLOWS
    Audio Commentary with First Assistant Editor Joe Fordham and Film Historian Nick Redman
    An Interview with Raymond Briggs
    Protect and Survive: Public Information Film Designed to be Broadcast When a Nuclear Attack Was Imminent
    Isolated Music and Effects Audio Track
    Trailers

WHEN THE WIND BLOWS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

SGU: STARGATE UNIVERSE 1.5 -- DVD review by porfle

 

 Originally posted on 7/29/10

 

If you read my review of the first half-season of "SGU: Stargate Universe", you'll know that I liked it a lot but had certain reservations about it.  Judging from various message board posts and such, I'm sure many viewers felt the same way.  Fortunately, the release of SGU: STARGATE UNIVERSE 1.5 proves what I'd been hoping for--that the previous episodes were slowly leading up to a marked increase in the action and excitement levels of the show and that certain irritating aspects would be eliminated.  Which is exactly what has happened, barring one or two exceptions.

As before, a number of military and civilian personnel are stranded on a city-sized Ancient starship that's on a seemingly neverending journey through the cosmos, stopping for a few hours whenever it encounters a planet with a stargate and then jumping back into faster-than-light speed.  With Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira, DAWN OF THE DEAD remake) in command, the entire group is under military control, which leads to constant conflicts with the brilliant but unstable Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle, THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH) and civilian leader Camile Wray (Ming-Na, ER). 

The professional and personal relationships between them and the rest of the ship's inhabitants generate much of the show's dramatic interplay, including a love triangle between true-blue soldier Lt. Matthew Scott (Brian J. Smith), fish-out-of-water senator's daughter Chloe Armstrong (Elyse Levesque), and the lovestruck Eli (David Blue), a neurotic nerd-savant hijacked into service because of his mad gaming skills.  Alaina Huffman plays Lt. Tamara Johansen, the closest thing to a medic on the ship, who carries some pesky romantic baggage with Col. Young.  And then there's Sgt. Greer (Jamil Walker Smith), who's so gung-ho that he seems to relish the thought of occasionally blowing away a civilian or two just to keep them in line.

The first half of the season spent a lot of time setting up the premise and then meandering along with stories about the hazards related to their mysterious starship and the heartbreak of being away from home while trying to find love among the stars.  But now that the writers have worked some of this stuff out of their systems, the show has gotten into gear and started kicking some ass.  With the appearance of a new race of enemy aliens--spindly blue CGI-generated creatures who covet our heroes' Ancient starship--we finally get some cool space battles (as always, the special effects are gorgeous) and deadly shipboard encounters.  Also, the military vs. civilians conflict embodied by Young and Rush erupts into a full-scale mutiny in one of the season's best episodes. 

One of the main improvements is the absence of those damn Kino diaries, which offered characters the chance to philosophize, navel-gaze, and blubber away precious show time with a blatant and boring writer's convenience.  The formula was pretty much the same every time--the subject fiddles with the Kino camera ("Is this on?"), starts to record a personal diary entry, gets either teary and emotional or speechless with inner turmoil, and then slaps their hand over the lens.  It was one of the worst aspects of the show and to my great relief has now been confined solely to the extras menu where it belongs.  However, we must still contend with the frequent appearance of those contemplative montages set to some truly awful emo ballads.  These really need to get sucked into a black hole along with the Kino diaries.

As usual, Robert Carlyle is the main on-camera talent here and makes the abrasive Dr. Rush a continually fascinating character whom we're never quite sure whether to admire or distrust.  Some insight into his backstory give us a little more understanding of his motives and attitudes.  Louis Ferreira's soulful, haunted Colonel Young holds our interest by going against the "infallible leader" type, playing a commander whose decisions may not always be 100% correct and are often swayed by emotion.  Watching these two characters either butt heads or struggle to cooperate for the good of the crew is one of the best things about the show. 

As the dreaded season cliffhanger (I hate those) draws nigh, Young's suspicion that his arch-enemy Colonel Telford (a solid Lou Diamond Phillips) is a mole for the Lucian Alliance leads to Dr. Rush undertaking a highly perilous undercover mission in Telford's body via the communication stones.  Rhona Mitra makes for a very formidable villain as the ruthless Commander Kiva, who has located another Icarus base and is attempting to dial the elusive ninth chevron.  The story arc which follows combines the pulp sci-fi action and suspense of the other Stargate shows with SGU's own darker edge, culminating in a blazing stargate invasion of the ship, a hostage crisis, and a countdown to total destruction, among various other points of interest.

 
The three-disc set (10 episodes) from 20-Century Fox and MGM is in 1.78:1 widescreen with English 5.1 Dolby and Spanish Dolby surround.  Captions are in English, Spanish, and French.  Each episode features a cast and crew commentary.  Extras also include about fifteen "Destiny SML" featurettes and several Kino diaries.  (Blu-Ray contains additional extras.)

With SGU: STARGATE UNIVERSE 1.5, the idea of mixing the sci-fi fun and excitement of the earlier Stargates with a darker, more serious sensibility--something which the first half of the season didn't quite pull off--seems to have finally started realizing its potential and yielding some first-rate episodes.  And suddenly the future of this show is well worth looking forward to.

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SGU: STARGATE UNIVERSE 1.5 -- DVD review by porfle

SGU STARGATE UNIVERSE 1.0 -- DVD review by porfle

Originally posted on 2/15/10
 

 

Having somehow managed to avoid every single previous film and TV incarnation of "Stargate", I delved into the 3-disc DVD set SGU STARGATE UNIVERSE 1.0 (2009) not knowing quite what to expect. After a marathon viewing of all ten episodes (which constitute the first half of the first season), I find that while it isn't mindblowingly awesome, it's still a compelling start with the potential for greater things.

Fans of the saga up till now will know all this, but for us novices: billions of years ago, a race of aliens known as "The Ancients", from whom we are descended, built a series of ring-shaped portals called "stargates" which use wormholes to allow intergalactic travel. Having discovered one of these stargates on another planet, Earth scientists and military have been trying to unlock the "dial-up" code which will access the stargate's transportation function. But just as they do so, Icarus Base is attacked by hostile aliens known as The Lucian Alliance and all military and civilian personnel are forced to escape through the stargate to an unknown destination seconds before the planet explodes.

After their chaotic arrival, they find themselves on an immense, automated starship built long ago by the Ancients, which is speeding through hyperspace billions of light years from Earth for some unknown purpose. The ship, it turns out, slows down whenever it approaches a planet with a stargate, giving the crew a specified time to explore the planet and gather whatever materials they need from it before the ship automatically jumps back into hyperspace. Damage from some long-ago battle has made repair of its life-sustaining functions imperative, and as the passengers struggle to survive they also must deal with interpersonal conflicts and the uncertainty of ever being able to return home.

I like a good "spaceship exploring the cosmos" series and this one is shaping up pretty well so far. Not much has been done with the stargates as of yet--the crew only visit two or three planets in this set--but there's more than enough stuff going on aboard the Destiny to keep things hopping. As is often the case in sci-fi, the military and scientific factions frequently have heated disagreements over their priorities and there's a constant power struggle between stalwart Colonel Everett Young (Justin Louis) and the brilliant but arrogant chief scientist Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle), with the hapless civilians caught in the crossfire.

Carlyle, a fine actor who played a formidable Bond villain in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, makes Dr. Rush a fascinating character whose motives we're never quite sure of. At times he seems to place more importance on research and discovery than on preserving the lives of his shipmates, and some suspect that their presence aboard the Destiny may even be his doing. As his nemesis Colonel Young, Louis brings a soulful intensity to the role which has made him one of my favorite actors since he played Sarah Polley's ill-fated husband in the remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD. The interplay between these two solid actors makes for some of the show's best moments.

Among the military characters are Young's second-in-command, the troubled but heroic Lt. Scott (Brian J. Smith), hotheaded but dependable Sgt. Greer (Jamil Walker Smith), and cowardly, rage-stoked loose cannon Sgt. Spencer (Josh Blacker). Back on Earth, the Destiny's progress is monitored with intense interest by Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill (an amiable Richard Dean Anderson) and Colonel David Telford (Lou Diamond Phillips at his best), who will try not only to usurp Colonel Young's command but, eventually, his lonesome wife as well.

The civilians include Ming-Na ("E.R.") as Camile Wray, a human resources executive who thinks she should be in command, Alaina Huffman as plucky and wise medical officer Tamara Johansen, and David Blue as nerdy math genius Eli Wallace. Eli, recruited straight out of his mom's basement because he was able to break a vital stargate code imbedded into an online videogame, is the vicarious wish-fulfillment character for gamer geeks in the audience and alternates between being amusing and irritating. Another old favorite, Christopher McDonald, plays Senator Alan Armstrong, whose daughter Chloe (Elyse Levesque) finds herself the romantic interest of both Eli and Lt. Scott.

Proving of utmost importance to both the show's characters and its writers are the "communication stones", an Ancient device which allows the Destiny's passengers to temporarily swap bodies with certain Earth personnel. This makes way for a lot of emotional and sometimes soap opera-level scenes of Scott, Chloe, and Young, among others, sharing intimate moments with their friends and loved ones. Telford's body-swaps with Young pose a problem when he aggressively asserts his authority while aboard the Destiny and then later, during a momentary glitch in the transfer, finds himself having sex with Young's wife. (Oops!) The whole idea of someone inhabiting my body and then going off and having sex with people I don't know sorta gives me the willies anyway--who knows what you could catch?

These slow-burn stories are pretty leisurely-paced, with the only whiz-bang space-battle action taking place in the hectic first episode. However, I found them engrossing and often quite intriguing when not bogged down by unnecessary melodrama. In "Light", the ship is knocked off-course and is headed directly for a sun, which means that fifteen passengers must be chosen by lottery to escape in the shuttle while the rest face their impending doom. "Time" finds several of the main characters on a lush jungle planet where they are attacked--and killed--by vicious reptilian creatures, while the rest of the passengers start dying off due to a mysterious virus they've contracted there. (Okay, you know the main characters aren't really going to all die, but it's still an interesting episode.)

In "Life", Dr. Rush discovers a chair which may impart vital knowledge of the ship's functions to whomever sits in it, but only at great risk to his life (not unlike similar devices in FORBIDDEN PLANET and the ST:TOS episode "Spock's Brain"). "Justice", the final episode in the set, begins with one of the main characters shot dead and the gun being discovered in Colonel Young's quarters, leading to him losing his command and finding himself on trial for murder. A shocking revelation and an intriguing cliffhanger ending, with both Young and Rush apparently starting to lose it big-time, round out the set.

My main complaint about SGU STARGATE UNIVERSE is its tendency to grind to a halt in order to indulge in labored, overwrought melodrama, complete with maudlin plinky-piano music, which seems grafted onto the stories rather than contributing to their forward momentum. These detours from the main thrust of the plot are the sort of stuff you usually see under "deleted scenes" in the Extras menu and rightly so. One of the good things about a sci-fi show like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is that it incorporates the interpersonal drama into the stories so well, something which SGU needs to work on in future episodes.

A major storytelling device which has its ups and downs is the floating camera sphere known as the "Kino", which is important to the crew for reconnaissance (it can be sent through the stargate to retrieve vital advance data) and surveillance, but which is also used by the writers to indulge in weepy, angsty diary entries by the Destiny's inhabitants. (As one IMDb commentator complains: "All they do is stand around on this dark dull boring spaceship moaning about stuff.") We get enough of that kind of soul-baring blather during Dr. Johansen's psych evaluation-confessionals, and all of this emo introspection justs gets to be too much after awhile.

Technically, the show is well-designed with some very nice fly-by shots of the Destiny streaking through hyperspace and a wealth of interesting though often underlit interior sets. Many of the ensemble scenes are directed with a documentary approach rather than the usual one-camera routine, allowing castmembers to use a looser and more theatrical acting style. Joel Goldsmith's music is a plus (except for the drippy plinky-piano stuff), although I could do without the emo-ballad montages.

The 3-disc DVD set from MGM and 20th-Century Fox is in 1.78:1 widescreen with English 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish Dolby Surround. Subtitles are in English, Spanish, and French. All episodes feature chatty commentary tracks with the cast and producers. Extras also include an extended version of the pilot "Air", conversations with the cast, numerous Kino diary entries and miscellaneous footage, and a helpful featurette for "Stargate" newbs entitled "Stargate 101: Presented by Dr. Daniel Jackson", which gives a basic history of the franchise.

SGU STARGATE UNIVERSE 1.0 lays the groundwork for what could be an exciting and provocative series that still has much room for improvement. I'll be looking forward to what's in store for us in the future, but for now, these ten introductory episodes provide a generous amount of thought-provoking sci-fi entertainment. Hopefully, the writers have a clear-cut destination in mind for the Destiny and for the show itself instead of trying to drag it out indefinitely--I'd hate to see it turn into "Gilligan's Starship."

Read our review of Season 1.5 here.

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SGU STARGATE UNIVERSE 1.0 -- DVD review by porfle

TROLL 2: THE 20th ANNIVERSARY NILBOG EDITION -- DVD review by porfle

Originally posted on 10/15/10

 

It's been so long since I saw the original TROLL, all I remember about it is that it stars Shelley Hack and Sonny Bono, takes place in an apartment building with a troll in it (not Sonny Bono), features John Carl Buechler as both director and makeup effects creator, and, as I was reminded recently, has a kid in it named Harry Potter, Jr.  Oh yeah, and there's a pretty cool performance by a little girl named Jenny Beck who at one point gets to be possessed by the title creature.


The in-name-only sequel, TROLL 2, has none of these things.  It does, however, share one quality with the original--one of the best performances comes from the kid in the lead role, in this case Michael Stephenson as Joshua Waits, a boy who is visited by the ghost of his deceased grandfather, Seth (Robert Ormsby).  Grandpa Seth reads Josh scary bedtime stories about trolls--or, as he calls them, goblins--who assume human form and trick people into eating a gooey substance that turns them into half-human, half-plant hybrids, which is the goblins' favorite food.


Nobody, including Josh's mom (Margo Prey) and step-dad (George Hardy) and his big sister Molly (Connie McFarland), believe him about Grandpa Seth's ghost or his warning that the goblins are real.  So when the family travels to the tiny town of Nilbog (catchy name) on a house-swapping vacation and all the local citizens turn out to be goblins looking for their next meal, it's up to Josh and his ghostly gramps to hold the ravenous little buggers at bay until the rest of the clueless family wises up and takes action.




TROLL 2 may have been made in 1990, but in spirit it's still a product of the 80s.  From the cheesy score, to sister Molly's awful aerobic workout dance, to her horny boyfriend Elliott (Jason Wright) and his chums who are like braindead refugees from a dull edition of "USA's Up All Night", the film is steeped in that golden decade's kitschy goodness.  Not surprisingly, the film known by some as "the best worst movie ever" also glows with the same cheapo charm of a million other junk films of the era that I rented on VHS or watched on late-night cable between used car commercials.


Horror-wise, there's not much on the scary side going on here, with the trolls--sorry, goblins--resembling a bunch of fat little kids in oversized Halloween masks.  These are designed to resemble the ones in the first film but clearly lack John Carl Buechler's artistry.  There's no gore to speak of, since anyone who ingests the tainted goblin-goo instantly starts bleeding green tree sap and literally vegging out. 


The creatures themselves are actually scarier in their mock-human forms, coming off as a cross between the hostile yokels from DELIVERANCE and the pagan farm punks of CHILDREN OF THE CORN.  When they surround the Waits family in their vacation house and start slowly closing in, it's a little like something out of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

 


Technically, TROLL 2 is pretty amateurish, with camerawork, direction, and editing that are definitely not so hot.  Yet it remains well-paced and watchable throughout, the story moving at a pretty snappy clip with few draggy spots and little or no padding.  The smalltown locations in Utah are certainly atmospheric--just being in this crummy little flyspeck burg would seem nightmarish enough even without the trolls (sorry, goblins).


As for the acting, most of the leads seem to have been recruited from grade-school plays, yet they invest their roles with conviction.  I love the awkward, stilted dialogue scenes between Molly and her boyfriend Elliott, who infuriates her by insisting on dragging his buds along on the trip.  While these guys aren't so hot in the acting department either, they do make good plant food.  One of them even ends up as a potted plant in the lair of Miss Creedence Leonore Gielgud, who turns out to be the evil queen of the trolls (sorry, goblins). 


Deborah Reed, whose acting dial is clearly stuck on "eleven", mugs her way through this role with the eye-rolling gusto of a horror-movie hostess.  When she's surrounded by her warty minions in the bowels of her inner sanctum, sporting a Technicolor makeup job and playing to the back row like Margaret Hamilton on PCP, the film resembles a particularly demented Sid and Marty Krofft production.




Also of note is Michael Stephenson as Josh, who makes up for his lack of acting polish with an intense performance that oftens has him emoting his little buns off.  There's a nice nightmare sequence early on in which his family turn into goblins as he begins to bleed chlorophyll and sprout branches through his fingers and chest.  Best of all, though, is when a famished Mom, Dad, and Molly sit down to eat a poisoned dinner and Josh has to act fast in order to stop them.  His solution, which was pretty much the last thing I expected, had me howling.



The Blu-Ray/DVD combo labeled "The 20th Anniversary Nilbog Edition" is from MGM and 20th-Century Fox.  The Blu-Ray is in English 5.1 DTS-HD master audio and English mono.  Features as listed on the box are feature film in high definition, 1080p, lossless audio, smart menu technology, and original theatrical trailer.  I reviewed the DVD only, which contains the feature film in standard definition with English mono sound, plus the trailer.  Both discs are in 1.85:1 widescreen and offer English, Spanish, and French subtitles. 


Like a Halloween spook-house slapped together by a bunch of enthusiastic but drunk neighborhood slobs, TROLL 2 is dumb as a doorknob but engagingly lively and fun right up to its startling conclusion.  (And it's one of the few films I've seen in which bologna plays an integral part in the finale.)  Although the whole thing threatens to fall apart any second, it never does.  In fact, for all its faults, the chewing gum and baling wire ingenuity that holds this creaky creature feature together somehow makes it more entertaining than your usual big-budget bomb.   



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TROLL 2: THE 20th ANNIVERSARY NILBOG EDITION -- DVD review by porfle