Farscape: The Complete Collection: DVD Review

Farscape: The Complete Collection: DVD Review

Farscape - The Complete Collection

Released by Magna Home Ent
Rating: R13
The Aussie/ American scifi Jim Henson TV series finally gets a complete box release which pulls together the four series and the spin off TV movie, The Peacekeeper Wars.

Ben Browder acquired plenty of devoted fans in this series - he's John Crichton, an American astronaut, who ends up in the wrong part of space after traversing a worm hole (always the way).

Picked up by a living spaceship, Crichton finds himself forced to live with the aliens as he tries to get home. But his quest to get back puts him into direct conflict with Scorpius, the leader of the Peacekeepers, a bunch of alien baddies.

Farscape was innovative for its time - and this collection, complete with a range of special features, interviews and docos explains why. With some top of the range animatronic puppetry, the series certainly offered something different to the genre - and thanks to some pretty impressive writing, the stories proffered up something different.

But where the creators succeeded in this was the characters - their humanity (despite the fact they're primarily aliens) gave the show the credence it needed - and because of that, the writing rarely dropped in quality (although as ever with a series like this, there are exceptions). Plus later seasons become a little inpenetrable if you've not been there from the start.

An impressively culled together set,The Farscape Collection offers hours of entertainment and a reminder of why Jim Henson was such the visionary.

Rating: 8/10

Game review: The Sly Trilogy

Game review: The Sly Trilogy

The Sly Trilogy
Released by Sony for PS3
Nearly a decade after its original release on PlayStation 2, this classic HD remastering of the Sly Trilogy has hit PS3.
The Sly Trilogy collects together the platforming games Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, Sly 2: Band of Thieves and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, a trio of extremely playable games.
The hero is Sly Cooper, who's a pastiche of film noir/ comic book - Cooper is a master thief, with a question mark style cane, who vaults through the air, sneaks about and generally does the theft stuff pretty well.
In the first game, Sly's on the hunt for a book which collects together his family's thieving tricks of the trade - which ironically has been stolen. The second sees him tracking down parts of a clock which has super powers - and the final outing sees him trying to break into a family vault.
The Sly Trilogy is immensely playable third person stuff marred only by a minor problem.
Across mini levels within each, the game plays well and zips along with ease - there's occasional frustrations with the viewpoint of the character not always being the easiest to negotiate - but it's a minor niggle. There's also the bonus that this game can be played with PlayStation Move too - adding to the original on many levels.
This version's been ported over from the original trilogy and the HD quality is pretty impressive with cartoon segueways into each adventure - voiceovers and characters add humour and amusement to the proceedings.
It's challenging in parts but with ways to boost your immunity during levels and a bit of memory, you can beat most of the threats and end of level bosses fairly quickly during each heist mini-adventure.
The collection of three games is a brilliant move which allows you to flit between adventures and pick up wherever you want. With extra moves to be learned, and a depth of gaming, plus with mini games within, there's certainly hours and hours of entertainment here.
The Sly Trilogy is a welcome remastering - it's true to the original and expands the fun element to all gamers of any age.

Rating: 8/10

Survivors: S2 DVD Review

Survivors: S2 DVD Review

Survivors Series Two

Released by BBC And Roadshow
Rating: M

The second series of the post apocalyptic drama picks up on the cliff hanger of season one and then rapidly moves on during the course of its six episodes.

Based on Terry Nation's original series from the 70s, this drama isn't bad going - and thanks to a cast of talented actors, it's pretty plausible.

But don't get too invested in the second series, which sees the original gang of survivors who made it through the unleashing of a plague, haunted by a mysterious group who are known as the Lab.

They're scientists who avoided the initial infection and will do everything in their power to find a cure.

So with the scavengers doing what they can to get by, and the Lab closing in on them, the scene's set for a showdown.

Gritty and dramatic in places, Survivors is a watchable series - Greg Paterson and Julie Graham are the two main stand outs in the cast - and Max Beesley's edgy criminal adds a frisson to the proceedings.

The second series of the pandemic drama ends maddeningly on a cliffhanger which is unlikely to be resolved thanks to cancellation.

Engrossing drama it may be - but you can see creatively that some of the strains were showing and the ideas running out a little - however, Survivors Series Two will be a necessity to those who've invested in the first; but may be not so much to those who're new to it.

Rating: 6/10

Beneath Hill 60: Blu Ray Review

Beneath Hill 60: Blu Ray Review

Beneath Hill 60
Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Entertainment
Beneath Hill 60 is the latest recreation of World War I's horrors and is based on the true story of Aussie miner Oliver Woodward (an outstandingly compassionate turn from Brendan Cowell) and his part in the war effort in 1916.

After initially being held back from the war to help mine for munitions supplies, Woodward joins the Western Front and with a successful attempt at removing an Allied threat, he and his team are pushed up the line to try and help them take Hill 60 - by working underground.

But the Germans are also keen to ensure that the famous Hill 60 doesn't fall, thus setting up a game of cat and mouse.

Beneath Hill 60 is a claustrophobic, grimy affair - as you'd expect from a film about mining and the first World War. The recreation of the trenches and the daily horrors only serve to make me appreciate how much was given at the time by those who fought.

Woodward's story at the western front is interspersed with flashbacks to his time in his homeland - When the action (such as it is) cuts back to the trenches, there's plenty of nail-biting moments to be had - from scenes of men getting lost in No Man's Land to German miners getting ever closer to discovering what Woodward and his men are up to. Because of the quiet character moments of this film, when the shocks come, some of them are real surprises.
Gritty, and gripping in equal measures, Beneath Hill 60 is one of the best war films for a long time - even if it does lack a major emotional denouement.
Extras: Commentary, storyboards and Photogallery - very disappointing given that this is based on a true story - why nothing about the actual men involved?

Rating: 8/10 

Dr Who: Series 5: DVD Review

Dr Who: Series 5: DVD Review

Doctor Who Series Five

Rating: PG
Released by BBC

So the latest escapades for the Doctor are all bundled up into this fifth annual set since the revival of the show in 2005.

And with a new set, comes a new Doctor - this time, the youngest ever in the form of foppishly haired, manic Matt Smith who quite honestly, has inhabited the role of the Time Lord brilliantly from the moment he stepped into the TARDIS.

It's a new show in many ways this year with new cast, new producers (longtime fan Steven Moffat) and an entirely new ethos at the helm of it all. Yet, it still remains eminently watchable - despite the many ups and downs there were during the fifth season's 13 episode run.

It starts off with aplomb in the Steven Moffat scripted The Eleventh Hour as Matt becomes the Doctor so charismatically and so quickly - but with episodes like the Hungry Earth, Victory of The Daleks and Vincent and The Doctor, the show hits an uneven keel in the writing room.

For every miss, there's a hit - and this is clearly a show now being run by someone who was always a fan first and foremost - never before have so many echoes of the series' 48 year history been so in play; from the flashbacks during the Eleventh Hour to a reel of the Doc's previous female companions in one of the Meanwhile in the TARDIS scripted extras, this is a show which embraces and loves its past.

There are hints of an ongoing arc into the next series - but with a bout of unevenness, I'm hoping better writing next year will match upto the standard of the simply excellent Matt Smith.

Extras: Disappointing this year - although the two 3 minute Meanwhile in the TARDIS scenes link episodes well, there's a lack of anything major to stand out on this set. Monster Files have been brought in from the episodic releases and Behind the scenes series, the Cut down confidentials merely offer a lot of back slapping this time around. Vid cam diaries from the actors add something but I can't help but feel a little short changed all round this year from one of my all time favourite characters and shows.

Rating: 6/10

Harry Brown: Blu Ray Review

Harry Brown: Blu Ray Review

Harry Brown

Rating: R18
Released by Warner Home Video
Caine is ex serviceman Harry Brown, who lives his life on a council estate and getting by since being recently widowed.

His one real friend in life, fellow pensioner Leonard (David Bradley) drinks with Harry but confides in him one day that he's frightened and being terrorized by the estate's hoody brigade.

When the police show up on his door - in the form of Emily Mortimer's quiet and thoughtful DI Frampton - one day and tell him that Leonard's been found in a local underpass brutally murdered, Brown realizes that the fight against the lawless has come to his door.

So he decides to take his own measures to ensure the clean up of the estate begins.

Touted as the UK's answer to Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino and Charles Bronson's Death Wish, there's certainly plenty of similarities in this one man campaign for violent vengeance.

But it's thanks to Caine's studied and underplayed performance, that it's more shocking when the quiet soulless eyed pensioner Brown finally explodes into a murderous rampage.

Gritty and uncompromising, Harry Brown shows why Caine is still the best at what he does.

Extras: Really, really disappointing here - simply a few deleted scenes and some trailers - almost enough to make me want to go Harry Brown on those behind the disc.

Rating: 7/10 

The Green Hornet: Movie Review

The Green Hornet: Movie Review

The Green Hornet
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Tom Wilkinson
Director: Michel Gondry
Another superhero movie hits the big screen.
But unlike its predecessors of Spiderman, Batman et al, this one has its tongue a little more firmly in its cheek.
Seth Rogen stars as Britt Reid, the playboy wastrel - his father (Tom Wilkinson) runs a newspaper empire and has never really had much time for his son; he even goes so far as to dispense such bon mots as "Trying doesn't matter if you always fail."
So it's no wonder that Britt isn't exactly the life leader his dad expects.
One day after a party, Britt comes home to find his father dead and suddenly, he has the empire to run.
With a resentful attitude, Britt sets about doing what little he can to keep the workload to a minimum.
However, one night, teaming up with dad's former associate Kato (Jay Chou), the pair inadvertently find themselves fighting muggers and kicking some ass.
At the same time, a local crimelord Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) is keeping the city in his vicelike grip and that spurs Britt into taking on the crims at their own game.
Thus The Green Hornet is born.
But the birth of this villain cum hero sets Britt on a collision course with Chudnofsky&.
As I said, The Green Hornet has its tongue firmly in its cheek.
It's also brash, loud, over bearing, funny, entertaining and messy in equal measures.
There's humour in the fight scenes between Kato and Hornet with one long sequence resembling something from the Three Stooges. And there's even echoes of Benny Hill in one early scene.
Rogen (who co-wrote this) simply shouts his way through the story for the two hour duration - but there's something vaguely lovable about this waster and goofball hero who's only getting involved 'cos of serious daddy issues.
Stylistically, this film is pretty impressive - the early fight scenes are enhanced with visual effects and thanks to the eye of director Michel Gondry look pretty damn impressive. But it's also the way these have been sparsely used which make them work well and be as effective as they are.
If anything, Green Hornet is about the banter between Rogen and Chou as their jealous, bitchy bromance partnership grows. Because certainly the likes of the characters played by Cameron Diaz and Christoph Waltz are pretty much wasted and do little but serve to move the narrative along.
Which is a shame.

Overall, The Green Hornet is a bit of checking your brain at the door kind of fun - which for a superhero/ crime film, once in a while, is a pleasant change.