To pair up with my look at Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit today, I thought it would be nice to go back and have a look at the original trailer for the first film in the series, the still amazingly brilliant techno-thriller, The Hunt For Red October. Starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Sam Neill, Scott…
Author: TD Rideout
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) – Kenneth Branagh
To round out the remake/reboots I’ve been watching this week I thought I’d take a look at the latest Jack Ryan film. Based on the characters (not any of the books) created by Tom Clancy, Chris Pine steps into the shoes previously filled by Ben Affleck, Harrison Ford and Alec Baldwin. What starts out fairly decently,…
Doctor Who (William Hartnell) – The Celestial Toymaker
Michael Gough menaces the Doctor (Hartnell) in this week’s story! Written by Brian Hayles and airing in 4 parts, The Celestial Toyroom, The Hall of Dolls, The Dancing Floor, and the Final Test, from 2 April to 23 April, 1966, this story was originally planned to be Hartnell’s exit as the Doctor. The TARDIS…
RoboCop (2014) – Jose Padiha
The other remake I watched this week, after the Evil Dead debacle, was the new Robocop. Lacking the over-the-top violence and comic book nature, not to mention the skewering social commentary of the original, there’s not a lot to redeem this film. And I feel sorry for viewers who come to this one first…
Airwolf (1984) – Proof Through the Night & One Way Express
Stringfellow Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) and Dominic Santini (Ernest Borgnine) fly into more trouble this week. The first episode up, Proof Through The Night, aired 11 February, 1984 and was written by Clyde Ware. Deborah Pratt’s recurring character, Marella is back, and we learn Archangel’s (Alex Cord) actual name, Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III. When a deep-cover…
2061: Odyssey Three (1987) – Arthur C. Clarke
The third novel in the Odyssey series sees mankind continuing exploration of the solar system, with the return of Halley’s comet, and a scientific expedition/cruise ship heading to the infrequent solar visitor to attempt an historic landing. There are other parties at work though, eager eyes are turning to the clouded atmosphere of Europa,…
The Rockford Files (1976) – Foul on the First Play & A Bad Deal in the Valley
Season 2 of the Rockford Files comes to an end this week with these two episodes. First up is Foul on the First Play, written by Cannell from a story by Chas. Floyd Johnson and Dorothy J. Bailey. It’s original airdate was 12 March 1976… things worked differently back then I guess, because March…
Evil Dead (2013) – Fede Alvarez
I decided to watch a couple of remakes this week, to see how they look, and how they stand up to the originals. We need to establish I’m a huge fan of the originals, I recognize they are full of faults, but there is also an undeniable charm to them, as Raimi and his…
Escape From Tomorrow (2013) – Randy Moore
I wanted to see this one as soon as I heard about it. I heard how it was put together, using a pair of Canon 5Ds, they shot this film guerrilla style in Disney World and Disneyland. Now yes, there is copyright infringement all over this film, and it’s truly a wonder that Disney…
Doctor Who (William Hartnell) – The Ark
This week, the TARDIS travels far into the future, and happily, I didn’t have to watch a reconstruction of it! This time all of the episodes survived, and it was a fun tale. The Ark was originally aired from 5 March to 26 March 1966, and was written by Paul Erickson and Lesley Scott. Over…
