Moonbase Alpha continues it’s not exactly lonely journey through space – there is a lot of life out there apparently, and all so conveniently close for storytelling purposes. First up this week, Koenig (Martin Landau), Dr. Russell (Barbara Bain) and Professor Bergman (Barry Morse) meet the Alpha Child. Written by Christopher Penfold and Edward di…
Tag: pilot
Space: 1999 (1975) – Breakaway, and Force of Life
After Star Trek, but before Star Wars, Gerry Anderson, who was responsible for such series as UFO, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Fireball XL5 took viewers around the world on an exploration of space, all on our planet’s own moon – which was jolted out of orbit by a nuclear explosion! Playing a little more cerebral…
Miami Vice (1984) – Brother’s Keeper
1984. This was a big year for me. It featured one of the biggest most influential moves of my life, as well as helping to define the person I would become. I became more and more immersed in pop culture. When Miami Vice came along, it was getting into pop music in a big way,…
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones (1993) – The Phantom Train of Doom
Frank Darabont pens Indy’s (Sean Patrick Flanery) adventures this week when he encounters The Phantom Train of Doom. Originally broadcast as a television movie on 5 June 1993, this story sees Indy, with his friend Remy (Ronny Coutteure) returning to Africa, where they are promoted to lieutenant. The episode begins with the running gag that…
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones (1992/1996) – My First Adventure
I remember when I first heard about The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles coming along in the early 90s. I was excited by what I heard about it, it would tell the story of Indy’s youth, both as a child and a teen as it played out against the backdrop of the early 20th century and…
Dunkirk (2017) – Christopher Nolan
When I saw Dunkirk in IMAX this summer, I came out of the theatre with a one word review, “Wow.” Now Christopher Nolan’s brilliant retelling of the British evacuation from Dunkirk comes home on blu-ray and DVD thanks to Warner Brothers. Running at a taut hour and forty five minutes (Nolan’s shortest film since Following),…
Wonder Woman (2017) – Patty Jenkins
Hitting blu-ray and video today from Warner Brothers is the box office sensation Wonder Woman, the long overdue arrival of Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) to the big screen. Wowing in the theatre, the Amazon comes home with a gorgeous blu-ray that looks and sounds fantastic and puts your home theatre through its paces. Loved by…
Quantum Leap (1993) – Memphis Melody and Mirror Image
Here we go, the last instalment of Quantum Leap. Sam’s last two leaps… that we know about. In Memphis Melody, set on 3 July, 1954, Sam (Scott Bakula) finds himself as The King himself, Elvis Presley. Written by Robin Bernheim, this episode allows us to see Sam sing one last time, with a couple of…
Alien: Covenant (2017) – Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott returns to the science fiction genre again and retreads things that have gone before in Alien: Covenant. The latest film in the seemingly indefatigable series connects the previous film, the divisive Prometheus with the first film in the series, 1979 Alien, both directed by Scott. And while I didn’t hate it, the film…
The Twilight Zone (1961) – A Penny for Your Thoughts, Twenty Two and The Odyssey of Flight 33
Paramount Pictures plunges me further into The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series on blu-ray. First up is A Penny for Your Thoughts. Written by George Clayton Johnson, the episode premiered on 3 February, 1961. When bank clerk Hector B. Poole (Dick York) tosses a coin to a newspaper vendor it lands on its edge and…
The Mind Reels 