The Replacement Killers (1998) – Antoine Fuqua

Antonine Fuqua’s 1998 actioner The Replacement Killers has quite the pedigree, it not only has Fuqua in the director’s chair, an executive producer credit for John Woo, but also stars Hong Kong cinema icon Chow Yun-Fat, the fantastic Mira Sorvino, Michael Rooker, Jurgen Prochnow, Danny Trejo, Til Schweiger, and Clifton Collins Jr. John Lee (Chow…

Fringe (2010) – The Bishop Revival, and Jacksonville

Glen Whitman and Robert Chiappetta penned The Bishop Revival which first aired on 28 January, 2010. Someone is using a toxin to target specific groups of people and as Olvia (Anna Torv), Peter (Joshua Jackson), and Walter (John Noble) investigate, they realize that it is someone using an old formula. One that was created by…

Mad God (2021) – Phil Tippett

I first learned Phil Tippet’s name in 1983 when I was reading a behind-the-scenes magazine about the making of The Return of the Jedi, and there was a discussion on the stop-motion and go-motion techniques used to create the movement of the Scout walkers in the Star Wars sequel. I was fascinated by what I…

Mission: Impossible (1971) – Mindbend, and Shape-Up

Barney (Greg Morris) gets a fair dose of the spotlight in this episode, and that’s a good thing. Where he may not have been used enough in earlier seasons it’s very nice to see him doing more and more as the series progresses. In Mindbend, an episode written by James D. Buchanan and Ronald Austin…

The Prisoner (1968) – The Girl Who Was Death, Once Upon a Time, and Fall Out

Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) is back to being a superspy in swinging London, as he matches wits with a deadly female assassin, Sonia (Justine Lord), who is looking to off him, and protect her slightly crazed father, Schnipps (Kenneth Griffith), who is planning on destroying London and establishing him as its new Napoleon-esque leader. All…

Mission: Impossible (1969) – The Bunker: Part 2, and Nitro

Paul Playdon delivers the second part to The Bunker. The conclusion to the fun and smart story first aired on 9 March, 1969. While Phelps (Peter Graves) is still undercover within the bunker, keeping an eye on the captured Rojak (Milton Selzer) and his forced work on a missile, the rest of the team move…

Dreamscape (1984) – Joseph Ruben

Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, Eddie Albert, Christopher Plummer, Max von Sydow, George Wendt and David Patrick Kelly (has this guy ever played a good guy?!) star in Ruben’s 1984 psychic thriller, Dreamscape. Quaid is Alex Gardner, a psychic who has been using his gifts for his own benefit, but gets recruited by Paul Novotny (von…

The X-Files (1998) – The End, and Fight the Future

The opening titles warns us that this is The End, and this episode would lead us into the first feature film, Fight the Future. Written by series creator Chris Carter, the fifth season came to a close on 17 May, 1998, and left fans slavering for the feature film that would span the ending of…

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…

Mission: Impossible (1966) – Elena, and The Short Tail Spy

IMF agent, Rollin Hand (Martin Landau) gets to fly solo in this mission, that sees him investigating the titular Elana, played by BarBara Luna in this episode that was written by Ellis Marcus and first aired on 10 December, 1966. Dan (Steven Hill) selects Rollin and a psychiatrist, Carlos Enero (Barry Atwater) to travel to…