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Reviews
The Bushido Blade (1981)
Okay? Yes. Better than Shogun? No way!
"A swashbuckling Samurai saga that beats SHOGUN!" - Star Bulletin
Now, I bought a copy of this motion picture on video cassette that was released by Thorn-EMI Video, which means that the violence, beheadings, blood, and nudity are all intact as opposed to edited in the TV broadcast version.
The reason why I purchased it: I needed a test tape for VCR repair. For one dollar, you get an old tape where you wouldn't care if the machine decided to eat it!
Anyways, since I bought the tape and have also seen Shogun before, I figured I would give it a whurl. I have watched this movie and I'm glad I only spent one dollar on it!
While the premise of the story is certainly interesting enough, the low budget and TV-like production values doesn't do the premise any justice at all.
The acting feels badly forced at many points, which is also coupled with some rather claustrophobic cinematography, nervous direction, and snapshot editing. (It felt like I was watching a TV show that seemed to almost feel like "Hawaii Five-O" with all the pointless and quick zoom-ins to objects in the frame.)
The pacing felt somewhat uneven, perhaps to where it was trying to rush the story forward to reach the end sooner. This might explain the 92 minutes runtime on something that might have required up to 150 minutes to properly play in order to account for character relation to each other and their settings. In contrast, Paramount wisely produced Shogun as a television miniseries, as the original novel could simply not be condensed to even a four hour epic without losing too much. (Although, the re-editing of the miniseries with only a small helping of new footage in an attempt to make a motion picture out of Shogun was a very bad idea.)
There didn't seem to be very good interplay between the characters. The relationships that you may see develop in this picture tend to develop rather quickly and, therefore, unrealistically. The characters also seem somewhat simple and, in many ways, unbelievable. In concert with the atrocious acting, it made watching the characters about as appealing as watching a bad sci-fi movie without MST3K. In contrast, Shogun had characters that developed intricate interplay over a long period of time. They had shown themselves as complex individuals and continued to develop in the settings and with the other characters throughout the story.
Also, the one thing that caught me totally off-guard was the production company: Rankin-Bass.
Now, Rankin-Bass is a production company that is primarily responsible for children's programming. They had produced the animated version of "The Hobbit," "The Last Unicorn (1980s, ITC)," and "The King and I (1999, Warner Bros)," as well as producing various Christmas specials in the 1960s and 1970s like "Frosty, the Snowman" (Need to get to the north pole before melting), "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" (I don't want to wear a lump of coal on my nose!), "Little Drummer Boy," and "T'was the night before Christmas" (You know, the one with the singing clock to make Santa forgive a city for a letter written by some mouse who used "long words."). To those familiar with the 1980s, Rankin-Bass was also responsible for "Thundercats" and "Silverhawks."
Now, this did give a reason why the movie sucked as a whole: a production company with experience only with children's entertainment cannot hope to produce an R rated picture without creative difficulty.
Now, even though this film was co-produced with a British firm: Trident Films, the producer was Arthur Rankin Jr. himself. Jules Bass apparently did not have any involvement with this production.
Watch out for a cameo by James Earl Jones. Mako, Toshiro Mufune (who played in Shogun as well), and Sonny Chiba are other well regarded actors who starred in this movie.
If anything, try it for a rental and watch for yourself. This is assuming your local video store even has this movie for rent.
This movie does deserve some credit for at least trying to maintain a standard, although I would only give it one and half stars.
I might have given it worse, but watching REAL garbage like "Space Mutiny" and "Strategic Command" does make "Bushido Blade" and even "Xanadu" look decent. - Reinhart
Leonard Nimoy Demonstrates the Magnavision Videodisc Player (1981)
I have actually seen this programme...
This was a program that was developed for limited release on LaserDisc for showroom demonstration of the Magnavox MagnaVision VH-8000 LaserDisc player, which is the first consumer grade product to use a laser. All discs also came with a photocopied notice, citing a correction towards a claim made in the disc regarding wearout factors, which turned out to be essentially non-existent on normal playback, of a competing videodisc format, the needle-based RCA CED "SelectaVision" system.
The program begins with a bunch of those golly whiz-bang video graphics used in the late 1970s-early 1980s, showing off the exteriors of the Magnavision player and a LaserDisc, as well as clips of programmes that were either available or were scheduled for later release.
Then you have Leonard Nimoy talking to a flashing rock that makes golly whiz-bang synthesizer noises as a form of communication.
You have Leonard Nimoy demonstrating the Magnavision's capabilities with "the sharpest, cleanest picture", stereo sound, bilingual sound capability, frame-by-frame stop motion and pause, slow motion, and visual search, as well as how you'd be able to connect the player to a stereo and a television set.
The other side of this disc contains sales training, with Nimoy explaining technical aspects of how the LaserDisc player works. After that, you have two idiotic sales representatives from Magnavox giving idiotic sales advice to salespeople.
All in all, it's good viewing for a laugh, finding amusement at the now dated presentation and the hilarious sales advice being pitched to the viewer. It is a collectable disc as limited numbers were pressed and never made available for public sale, which is usually the case with showroom demonstration materials.
As for the player that this LaserDisc was advertising for, the VH-8000 and its later revision VH-8005 equipped with remote control, were crap. They were tempermental and unreliable players. The software that this disc also advertised were made by DiscoVision Associates, which also produced bad LaserDiscs.
By the time this disc was produced, which was 1980-1981, Pioneer had already came out with the VP-1000. The VP-1000 was lightyears ahead of the Magnavox players in terms of performance, functionality, usability and reliability. Even the demo disc for this Pioneer player was better, with none of the sleezy sales advice and cheesy production values that the MagnaVision demo had. To make it more embarrasing for Magnavox, the Pioneer players even handled discs that the MagnaVision players would normally refuse to play properly, if at all.
Hope this ends up being most informative to those interested in this little-known production that Mr. Nimoy participated in. As for why he did it, my guess was that Mr. Nimoy had a contract with Magnavox to be a spokesperson for a certain amount of time, so he was obligated to do what Magnavox asked him to do.
Laserdisc: What It Is (1980)
Being the only person posting here who actually owns this disc...
This is an old, but still rather impressive demonstration disc advertising the Pioneer VP-1000 LaserDisc player.
Even though it inaccurately depicts the VP-1000 as the first consumer product to use a laser, that honour belongs to the beleaguered Magnavox VH-8000, it goes through a brief timeline of the history of home entertainment, then goes to effectively advertise the features and functionality of this player. Entertaining, but in an educating sort of way as opposed to being unintentionally hilarious like the "Leonard Nimoy demonstrates the MagnaVision videodisc player" programme.
There isn't much to say about this, as it was just a demonstration feature with decent production values, although it is dated.
This disc is a collectable as a limited number were pressed and all copies were not originally available for public sale. The rarest copiees are made in the USA by DiscoVisio Associates, but the better quality copies were made in Japan by Pioneer. - Reinhart
Laserdisc: How It Works (1980)
Being one of the few posting who has actually seen this...
This programme is on the other side of a demonstration LaserDisc for the VP-1000 produced by Pioneer. The other side of this demo disc also has "LaserDisc: What it is."
Although the production is dated, Mr. Wizard clearly and accurately explains how the LaserVision system works, or at least with the CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) aspect of it. He also explains why LaserDisc has better picture with no wearout factor in comparison to Betamax and VHS with typically high accuracy in his explanations.
He explains quite clearly what the laser does in the player and on the disc, and that explanation still applies to disc players using reflective laser optics used today, including DVD.
He also explains how the laser can keep track on the disc, even if it has a certain degree of damage or warpage, and/or variations in quality. And, yes, that explanation still applies to all reflective laser optical readers, including DVD players.
As for laser light holding information, his explanation is simple, easy to understand, and dead-on accurate; it even still applies to laser optical disc technologies used today.
As an example to this, DVD discs hold more information than CD discs, despite being the same size, because the wavelengths of the laser lights used to read the discs are different. Since DVD uses a shorter wavelength light than CD, which also means higher frequency light, the pit density of a DVD disc is allowed to be higher, which means that more information can be stored in the same amount of physical space. This means that, since DVDs use shorter wavelength light, more information can be trasmitted with it, allowing the use of a higher pit density to take advantage of this.
"The shorter the wavelength, the more information the light can carry," so says Mr. Wizard on this excellent demonstration supplement.
This programme is part of a dual sided disc containing two different programmes advertising for the Pioneer VP-1000 LaserDisc player. Limited copies were made and were not available for public sale as they were intended for use as showroom demonstration material. Rarest copies were made in USA by DiscoVision Associates, but higher quality copies were made in Japan by Pioneer.
The Black Hole (1979)
Okay film, and one of a few actually decent Disney productions...
This film was made for one purpose only: to make money from the wake of "Star Wars" and, to a lesser degree, "Alien".
However, competition from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", released about a couple of weeks prior to "The Black Hole", coupled with the later release of "The Empire Strikes Back" ensured that this movie's box office earnings would indeed be a deep black void.
"Aliens" and "Star Trek" were successful because they were both more interesting. In the case of "Star Trek", it already had a huge fan following from the original TV series. The other reason could be attributed to the fact that Disney and sci-fi did not, and still does not, entirely mix.
The story does have some originality and is actually intriguing. The acting performances are good and the score by John Barry is very good. However, the film sometimes exhibits a "magical Disney" touch at certain points. This magical touch isn't really appropriate given the film's subject matter. In my opinion, it's this magical touch that, even though it blessed other Disney films, literally made this film, and "Tron", laughable. Both movies had great potential, but were ultimately ruined by forcing the "Disney wonder" upon them.
The biggest letdown is special effects. The only thing good I could say about the special FX were some of its miniatures construction and their explosions. But the film had some awfully sloppy matte work, unrealistic looking miniature motion control effects, and some jerky animation effects. Disney hyped that this film was a special effects breakthrough. However, when compared to the likes of "Star Wars" and "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", "The Black Hole" gets left in the cold dark reaches of space. No longer was Disney the special effects cream-of-the-crop, and this was realised too late.
This is a film that still has potential of a remake, but it's production and distribution has to be handled by a different company, or at least by a different division of Buena Vista. This is a film where adding the Disney mark and Disney magic will curse it to dramatic and artistic idiocy and box office failure.
You still have to love that "oh crap" look on Dr. Durant's face, Anthony Perkin's character, as he discovers that Dr. Reindhart, Maximillian Schnell's character, is a mass murderer. (Which begs the question as to why a Disney film would feature a character who's a mass murderer.)
I still recommend watching the movie if you are interested, if you can filter out the "Disney-esque" that's in it. The acting, music score, and story's core subject help to save this film from becoming a void. It's worth a rental. Be sure to get the widescreen version so you can watch the film in its original "Technovision" format and to help keep the cinematography intact.
That leaves another question. Why in the world didn't they use "Panavision" like "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" did? - Reinhart
Shrek (2001)
Okay. Worth a watch..
It's not a bad movie. There are some funny parts, but fart jokes just don't do it for me. What in the world is so hilarious about passing gas, for crying out loud, besides it being utterly embarrassing?
The animation by Pacific Data Images is first rate, although does not hold a candle in comparison to the scope, effort, and complexity that was placed in Square's "Final Fantasy". As for story, I've actually found the story in "Final Fantasy" to be more touching and more involving than the story of "Shrek". Don't get me wrong, "Shrek" has a decent story, but it's not quite as elaborate as "Final Fantasy".
(In "Final Fantasy", you may have to watch the movie a second time to get it. It is hard to follow, but it introduces a level of intrigue that makes it more interesting. If you can actually understand the story clearly, then it actually feels far more powerful than what you would originally think.) - Reinhart
Bubble Boy (2001)
I'm 20, but I HATED IT!!
Yeah, you heard right. I did not like the movie, even though I am 20 years old. I guess I'm the more cerebral type. This film is just plain bad, it makes outrageous and insulting stereotypes. Plus, I'm one of the groups of people who were actually insulted by this crap. I am part Asian, after all.
While the film did manage to hit below the belt to those who are disabled by the condition that the protagonist was going through, the film's real point wasn't about his condition, although it did manage to poke fun at it numerous times. The film was about this person crippled with an immune deficiency making a road trip in an attempt to save the girl he loves from a total jerk. If you still want that story, watch "The Wedding Singer". It doesn't have the road trip or the disease, but it does have the same basic objective in the plot without having to resort to stereotypes of that extreme every single frickin second. The protagonist is going to save the damsel he realises that he loves from the antagonist by stopping their marriage. Not only is it essentially the same in basic objective, but it's a far better movie, and actually hilarious in comparison to the obscene flop known as "Bubble boy".
I say that Bunea Vista's bubble should've been popped well before this waste was produced. In this case, when they had heard the kind of outcry this film had received, it was too late. They had already spent the money making it, and it's scheduled release was just a few weeks away. It had already been completed, so they might as well release it anyway and get as much out of it as they could. Hopefully, they will learn the next time around that they should not make movies like this ever again. - Reinhart
Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
A very good speculation of what could've happened.....
I have thought of "Young Sherlock Holmes" as being a very good and fun movie. I even like it a bit better than "The Goonies". The special effects are actually not bad, and the glassman sequence is actually one of the film's best sequences, and is still excellent by today's standards, considering that this film came from 1985-1986. (The glassman sequence was done by Pixar, using computers. Check the end credits if you don't believe me.) Equally good is the music score, by Bruce Broughton and performed by the London Symfonia. Acting is nicely done, the plot not too bad, and the direction very good. Also great is how the film indicates that it is a "speculation of what could've happened" at the end, which helps to build interest in the original works written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. One more thing, even though Steven Spielberg executive produced the film, he did not direct it. Barry Levinson directed it, so it is Mr. Levinson's film, and not Spielberg's. Same goes to Goonies. Richard Donner directed that film and not Steven Spielberg. - Reinhart
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Better watch something else.....
This film would've been good, except for one thing: Jerry Bruckheimer. Bruckheimer Films should've stuck with fiction. It was obvious that they couldn't make a masterful film to describe the events of what happened that day, so they had to include a love story just to try and make it work as an epic. It turns out to be more of a "Titanic" with battleships and zeros than a true historical account. They also would go and greatly compromise historical accuracy for artistic intent, if you want to call a Bruckheimer film artistic. The sequence where Pearl Harbour is attacked is very well done and the special effects are among some of the best and most realistic, but the cliched dialogue, addition of fictional characters, and the inclusion of the insipid love story really brings this movie down. It may be entertaining to its intended core audience, the teenagers and twenty-somethings (although I am 19) that would absolutely adore cardboard cutout romance with the sex scene, but it would be perceived as a terribly mainstream film that fails utterly to be a gripping epic by those who appreciate good cinema. It would, however, no doubt pay for itself in the box office this summer season. But, high grossers are not always great films. It's still worth a watch, but the *real* good Pearl Harbour flick is still "Tora! Tora! Tora!". If you've not seen that film, watch it as it is a greatly accurate historical film pertaining to the subject of the attack on Pearl Harbour, and was produced in cooperation by American and Japanese production companies for 20th Century Fox. As for the best summer film, I think that honor would go to the upcoming "Final Fantasy" picture coming this July. - Reinhart
Scary Movie (2000)
Terrible....
And I thought "Space Mutiny", a real low budget B grade sci-fi flick, was bad, "Scary Movie" takes the position in my list as the absolute WORST movie that I have ever had the misfortune to see. This film is just terrible for any reason. It's not funny, it's not intelligent, and it's certainly not thought provoking. And anyone who thinks this movie is really good needs some serious help. This film is disturbing, perverted, profane, and utterly vulgar. Like one other member here has said, "Anyone with good taste will be offended." How the Wayans had the green light to produce this dreck is beyond me, and how a sequel is being planned is even more of a bad surprise. This film, along with other lousy movies catering to the "teen" sector, which now seem to be the majority of films being churned out, is an indication that American cinema is entering its dark age, approaching self-destruction unless someone starts getting sense and begins to make more GOOD movies which respects the intelligence of their viewers. Now I best leave this comment the way it is. Right now, it feels like I've not said enough bad things about this waste. Unless you're sick, dellusional, researching the possibilities of deteriorating intelligence of the general populous, or an idiot, do not watch this movie. - Reinhart
Road Trip (2000)
Utter Garbage...
While there are scenes that do provoke mild laughter, this "movie" ultimately has no reasonable plot, if it had any kind of plot at all. It doesn't have any real point at all, and I won't even bother going into detail with this picture except that it deserves to be left forgotten in the film vault. Let the damned negative deteriorate, or incinerate it even! If this movie had no vulgarity, profanity, and crude sexual implications to support it, it would not have been a movie at all, which shows just how hollow the story and production really are. Now, I don't mind a film that would have any of these characteristics if it helps to supplement the realism of the story, but if those three things are all that the movie has to rely on, or if any of them are overused, the film will end up becoming "crap-o-vision", and this film qualifies as crap because it doesn't really have a story with any kind of depth, only a way to satisfy perversion. This film is not art, it is a repulsive waste. If this film, and "Scary Movie" are any indications of the kind of direction the American cinema is headed towards, then we are producing ourselves to self-destruction. Whatever happened to a presentation with intelligence, or does Hollywood think the audience is too lazy and stupid to think intelligently? A two thumbs down accompanied with two middle fingers up. - Reinhart (And this is all coming from an American 19 year old, so all is not lost for teens.)
Mononoke-hime (1997)
Another reason to watch anime!
"Princess Mononoke" is among one of the best examples of prime Japanese Anime. Along with "Macross Plus", I hold "Princess Mononoke" as one of the best of all animated films ever produced, period. For those who think this movie is another "Pokemon", go rent and watch this movie! "Princess Mononoke" is an excellent example of the exotic beauty of the art of Japanese animation. Not for the kids, though, as the films' storyline has some mature dramatic elements. Hopefully, this movie is an indication of where anime will be going in the country I live in. Anime should be released in theatres all over the country and all over the world, and I think that "Princess Mononoke" will be the catalyst for this realisation. This movie is pure Oscar material, moreso than Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". If I could, I would like to shake the hand of every single person involved in this production. If anyone involved is reading this, then allow me to say "Well done!" - Reinhart
Macross Plus (1994)
Excellent!
I have seen both the series and the movie. Quite simply, "Macross Plus" is one of the best animated presentations I've ever seen. I hold it in high regard along with "Princess Mononoke" as some of the finest examples of both Japanese Anime and the art of animation in general. Animation detail and special effects is astounding. The computer animated effects are used extremely well and complement the cell animation in an excellent way. Character designs are unique, yet, recognisable. Music, especially the pop selections, are brilliant. The sound design is beyond reproach. The dub work for both the English and Japanese languages are excellent. The story concept is very well done and feels original. Although I personally prefer the series, the movie is not without merit, as it still boasts a good story of a slightly different version from the series and has additional footage that's not seen in the series. If you have not seen "Macross Plus", watch it now! If you have judged anime only from observations of "Pokemon", you are depriving yourself and making bad judgement about this magnificent artform. One watch of "Macross Plus" and hopefully you'll agree that the best of anime are no "Pokemons". Films like this should be released all over the world for every person to experience! This is Japanese animation at its finest. It's more than worth the money to rent from your video store. It's worth buying for your video library. - Reinhart
The Apocalypse (1997)
Typical cheesy sci-fi movie....
This picture is nowhere near as rancid as "Space Mutiny", which will cause psychological damage without the superb MST3K treatment, but "The Apocalypse" can have effects with apocalyptic results on the human psyche. I was actually able to tolerate the entire movie. It's something I would not want to watch again unless I wanted to give myself an excuse to commit suicide. I even actually own the movie on LaserDisc! But, it's a great deal, considering that it was given to me, or would that be a curse? The acting is just terrible, with parts either overdone, or simply bland. The props is what you'd expect from a low budget production, with stuff that looks like it was assembled with packing materials and done in a warehouse, looking worse than a high school production of "The Technicolor Dreamcoat". The video monitor displays were obviously VHS videotape, since one of the special effect for those displays was just simply visual searching back and forth throughout the scenes, with parts of the video sequences showing dropouts, probably because the tape was being worn out through excessive use during production. The music will make you want to plug your ears in pain as it makes the Macarena sound like a masterpiece. The visual effects? What visual effects? I've seen better visuals on a "Three Stooges" skit. It amazes me how the company that was responsible for the production actually had enough money left over to distribute this garbage, even on LaserDisc of all things. A DVD version is also a waste of material. The videotape version would be best, since you probably will be able to celebrate when the VCR decides to eat it. This is a production where the source material deserves to be locked in a vault and left to rot, fade, and be eaten by fungus and mold. - Reinhart
Peter Pan (1960)
Technical opinion
I've not seen the "Peter Pan" 1960 broadcast in its entirety, but I've seen the actual quality of the video itself in the VHS issue. People, the quality of the video seems to be too high to be kinescope. It has to be from videotape masters. They did have videotape back in 1960 after all. Besides, wouldn't the source materials have problems with fading if it was kinescope? I think they still used colour dye processes for the emulsion of film back in that day.