Tag: cold war

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…

Read More

The Man From Barbarossa (1991) – John Gardner

James Bond is back in John Gardner’s eleventh outing with the secret agent. And it was going to happen sooner or later. I just couldn’t get into this one. While I love the idea of tying Bond in with the real political landscape of the early 90s with events that would lead up to the…

Read More

Mission: Impossible (1966) – Pilot, and Memory

Your mission, should you choose to accept it… This week I begin my travels with the original Impossible Mission Force, as I explore The Complete Series on blu-ray available now from Paramount Pictures. The series originally debuted on 17 September, 1966 with the Pilot episode written by the series creator Bruce Geller. We are introduced…

Read More

Mission: Impossible – The Complete Series – Blu-Ray Review

Seven seasons of classic television come to blu-ray this week. You’re mission should you choose to accept it, and you know I’m going to, is to work my way through each and every mission and delight in the (re)discovery of this classic television show. The stylish series collection box set debuts from Paramount Canada today,…

Read More

Topaz (1969) – Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock takes on Leon Uris’ novel Topaz in this film adaptation of the same name. It’s not quite on the level of a Tom Clancy techno-thriller, but the subject material, centring around the Cuban Missile Crisis and a Russian spy ring within the French intelligence community is pretty engaging stuff. Unfortunately, for me, it ended…

Read More

Torn Curtain (1966) – Alfred Hitchcock

Paul Newman and Julie Andrews star in this thriller from director Alfred Hitchcock. And while the Master of Suspense is still a fantastic director, this one isn’t quite as thrill-packed as the poster would suggest. Which is not to say it isn’t enjoyable, the leads are wonderful, and it’s a very enjoyable story, it’s just…

Read More

Doctor Who (Matt Smith) – Cold War, and Hide

The Doctor (Smith) and Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) get a Cold War adventure in this tale written by Mark Gatiss. The episode aired on 13 April, 2013. The Time Lord and his Companion find themselves on a Soviet submarine commanded by Captain Zukhov (Liam Cunningham), his lieutenant, Stepashin (Tobias Menzies) and an Ultravox loving scientist, Grisenko…

Read More

The Shape of Water (2017) – Guillermo del Toro

del Toro’s latest film, The Shape of Water is very much a fairy tale for adults, as well as sharing a kinship with the horror films of the 1950s, specifically, 1954’s The Creature From the Black Lagoon (as well as to Abe Sapien as seen in del Toro’s own Hellboy series). But in this film,…

Read More

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965) – Martin Ritt

Richard Burton turns in a solid, and believable performance in this adaptation of John le Carre’s classic thriller novel. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Dr. Strangelove. Burton is Alec Leamas, a spy in charge…

Read More

Quantum Leap (1991) – Heart of a Champion, and Nuclear Family

Sam is one part of a wrestling team, when he leaps into Terry Sammis in Heart of a Champion. With an airdate of 8 May, 1991, Sam finds himself in all manner of trouble in this script by Tommy Thompson. It’s 23 July, 1955 and Terry and his brother Ronny (Jerry Bossard) are professional wrestlers,…

Read More