Dan (Steven Hill) puts his team through another trying week as I explore more of Mission: Impossible – The Complete Series on blu-ray, now available from Paramount Pictures. First up is The Frame, written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter, The Frame first aired on 21 January, 1967. Dan and his standard IMF team,…
Author: TD Rideout
Fortune (2020) -Ian Hamilton
I discovered the writings of Ian Hamilton in April 2015. Before that, I had seen his books in a variety of bookstores and I kind of innately knew that I was going to read them sooner or later. So when I came across the first six books in one go, I picked them up in…
Never Send Flowers (1993) – John Gardner
James Bond is back, and while I’ve enjoyed Gardner’s efforts with Ian Fleming’s 007, with the minor exception of The Man From Barbarossa, this entry, his thirteenth (of sixteen) feels like a real stumble. It seems to want to be more in line with the cinematic 007, but without a solid story, or set pieces…
Millennium (1997) – The Beginning and the End, and Beware of the Dog
Glen Morgan and James Wong plunge Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) further into turmoil, darkness and mystery as he desperately attempts to recover his abducted wife, Catherine (Megan Gallagher) in the season two opener, which first aired on 19 September, 1997. The opening credits have changed, as has the text contained within it. ‘Wait. Worry. Who…
The Ten Commandments (1956) -4K Review
Paramount Pictures came down from the mountain with a beautifully restored version of Cecil B DeMille’s epic 1956 version of The Ten Commandments that featured Charlton Hestson in the iconic, almost career-defining role of Moses, with Yuk Brynner going toe to toe with him as the pharaoh, Ramses. The film plays like a who’s who…
F/X 2 (1991) – Richard Franklin
Five years after the first film, and a lifetime of difference for me, Roland Tyler (Bryan Brown) and Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) were back in action. Unfortunately, an attempt to continue the gritty feeling special effects thriller comes across as a little disjointed, and honestly, more convoluted than it needed to be. An attempt to…
F/X (1986) – Robert Mandel
Bryan Brown plays Roland Tyler, one of the top special effects people working in the business. He’s built a name for himself as well as a brand, but he’s just been approached for a special kind of gig in Robert Mandel’s F/X. He’s approached by a member of the Justice Department to help out on…
M*A*S*H (1974) – Iron Guts Kelly, O.R., and Springtime
Hawkeye (Alan Alda), Trapper (Wayne Rogers) and Houlihan (Loretta Swit) run into trouble when they encounter General ‘Iron Guts’ Kelly (James Gregory). Written by Sid Dorfman, and series developer Larry Gelbart, Iron Guts Kelly first debuted on 1 October, 1974. It’s no secret to most of the 4077th (and viewers) that Margaret Houlihan has a…
Fanboys (2009) – Kyle Newman
Featuring a story and script partially penned by Ernest Cline, the author of Ready Player One (and Two) and Armada, Kyle Newman’s film, which gestated for awhile, and had some distribution issues hit the screens in 2009, and while it may not have found its audience then, watching it at home, this film has always…
The X-Files (1997) – Gethsemane, and Redux
‘Believe the lie’ Series creator Chris Carter delivers a season finale that left me as shaken as when I first saw it. Gethsemane first aired on 18 May, 1997, and brings the faiths and beliefs of Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) to the fore. Mulder heads into the Yukon Territory where what appears…
Mission: Impossible (1967) – The Legacy, and The Reluctant Dragon
Paramount Pictures’ Mission: Impossible – The Complete Series on blu-ray continues to entertain as I explore more of the first season of the iconic season. First up this week is The Legacy, written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter, it debuted on 7 January, 1967. Dan (Steven Hill) and his IMF team, including Rollin…
Battlestar Galactica 3: The Tombs of Kobol (1979) – Robert Thurston, and Glen A. Larson
The journey towards the mythical planet known as Earth continues for the lone battlestar, Galactica, and the ragtag fleet of humanity that it escorts, in Thurston’s next novel which adapts the epic two-parter The Lost Planet of the Gods, which was the first pair of episodes following the series three hour opener, Saga of a…
