Aerospace and Defense Movie Reviews

This DVD features many stategies for defending yourself from many holds, threats, groundfighting, weapons and multiple attackers. It features psychological as well as strategical elements which need to be taken into consideration. The DVD covers alot of ground and is a good reference for both student and instructor.

I've always felt that self defense is a must for anyone to know. I also feel that it is most important for a woman to know. I see the perk to the knowledge of self defense two fold. It allows you to know what to do in situations as well as conditioning yourself to react. But the second reason is the most important to me and that is it gives you assurance and confidence, it takes away fear and empowers you. I have found to many
people, women in particular, that don't know how to defend themselves and actually hold some fear and question themselves. When put in a situation you need to know at least basics of how to react and keep yourself safe, if you question yourself or what to do at those critical moments, the results could
be very unpleasant.

I recommended this DVD because its the most thorough I've seen and covers quite a bit on essentials. It covers not just moves, but mentality and awareness, so you may prevent something before it occurs. While it is [price] , a self defense class would cost you at least this much and unlike a class you can go over the material again and again.

Have a great day and be safe

The Self-Defense Encyclopedia DVD is literally crammed with information. The picture quality is razor sharp, it has flawless sound, and it's so easy to navigate from feature to feature (and there are a lot of features). Just bring up the menu, choose your topic and there it is. No winding forwards and backwards trying to find what you want to view. With DVD, it only takes a second.

Kim has done a complete job presenting valuable material for people interested in street defense. There are simple techniques for the beginner and techniques for the advanced, too.

One particularly interesting feature is one called, "Scenario Training," in which there are several situations where females are attacked by males. Most of them end up in a brawl on the ground, and the viewer is able to see what the defenders do right and what they do wrong. Afterwards, Kim talks with them about the scenario and what they learned from it.

Self-Defense Encyclopedia is a good title, as the disc contains a full range of self-defense techniques, concepts and principles. There is enough here that you can pick up valuable information every time you view it.

Highly recommended.

Overlooked. Something of a quiet sensation when it came out in the mid 1980's. Starring Gabriel Byrne(in his first lead role), Greta Scacchi, and Denholm Elliot. The script could have been written by John Le Carre. A complex, claustrophobic, dark, fast-paced film which requires alertness on the part of the audience. Not available on DVD in the U.S.

The showbiz adage of 'never work with children or animals' was, within the British film industry, extended to 'never work with children, animals or Denholm Elliot'. He was, rightly, labelled a 'scene stealer' and with his passing, one of the 'true stars' were lost.

Gabrielle Byrne and Greta Scacchi star in this 1984 UK film, but the film, despite featuring a young Robbie Coltrane ( Cracker ), is forever Elliot's. Massively underrated, this film is a powerful indictment of the true 'powers that be'. Governments come and governments go, but the engine room remains in place, along with the stokers.

Is this a political thriller, a journalistic thriller, a shadowy thriller even - scary too, maybe ?. Probably all and more besides. It's very taut, very fast, very complex and, perhaps, very true to life ( the scary bit ). Underhand and double dealing are rife and little mercy is shown to the designated stooges. Elliot, as Vernon Bayliss, suffers no fools here and realising the enormity of the truth and confiding in nobody, pays a heavy price for his refusal to be swept along with the tide of seemingly incontrovertible proofs. Perhaps Fox Mulder saw this film and coined 'trust no-one' from Elliots' performance.

What is sure, though, is that a field day awaits conspiracy theorists who watch this. There is no sex, no violence and no profanity and I defy anyone to watch this film only once.

Jacques Rivette has made a career based on longer films and this one is no exception; it's 2 1/2 hours long. But here there is a thriller-based plot to drive it and he fuses a thriller's momentum with extremely well thought out psychological elements.

The main character is a woman biologist played perfectly by Sandrine Bonnaire, one of the best contemporary French actresses. She leads a quiet solitary life which is dramatically interrupted when her brother bursts into her office one day and tells her that their father's death was no accident--as they supposed--but instead a murder committed by the father's business partner.

The complications that follow are all underscored by a focus on the lead character's psychology as she interacts with her brother, the business partner, her mother, and the partner's girlfriend. There are definite surprises and the ending is a powerful one.

While there are some moments here and there of drag, they are not that much in evidence and the story is strong and compelling; you could say this is riveting Rivette.

Recommended.

Rivette is not known for his brevity, not in recent years anyway. His films take patience but their momentum builds almost indiscernably to a final effect which is powerful and ultimately your pateince and attentiveness is rewarded. Rivette films are for true lovers of French films as his films meditate on life like paintings meditate on life. Action, there is barely any. This film has been referred to as a thriller and the picture on the front cover of the DVD would lead you to believe this is a thriller but that is kind of misleading as what really is being explored here is the psychological naunces of one character in particular and that character is played by Bonnaire. There is a central mystery which is the "secret" of the story but the "secret" remains so unitil the very end. And though the secret is surprising it is somewhat inconsequential. For the real power of the film is in the cumulative effect of all those scenes where Bonnaire has no idea what is driving her and making her act. It is this strange aesthetic which explains the films appeal which is great. Rivette lingers on Bonnaire who often is doing very little but riding a train or looking out a window or looking at a painting or walking through a house but there is a power in the way Rivette frames his shots. He makes very painterly compositions and his characters occupy these compositions one frame at a time, unable to see the larger picture, unable to see or judge their own actions with any authority. Insight, when it comes, comes too late. It is a film which you will watch and lose maybe a little patience with at times but its spell is a strong one and the more you think on it the more you begin to appreciate just how well the picture does what it does. Excellent film for meditative viewers who like to think while they watch.

Watch the mesmerizing, understated and finely nuanced portrayal by Sandrine Bonnaire of contemporary research biologist Sylvie Rousseau who gets entangled in a dangerous web of events--this alone is worth the purchase price. A modern update of the myth of Electra, director Rivette and his superb actors Bonnaire as well as Jerzy Radiwilowicz (as Sylvie's nemesis, Walser, ex-aide of her deceased father and now head of the high-tech weapons-manufacturing firm) have created a taut psychological thriller that unfolds in a measured manner as horrible secrets are slowly divulged. You'll be riveted to the screen with this one, but you must pay close attention: the beauty and marvel of "Secret Defense" reside in the many important details Rivette chooses to include in it. Powerful ending, too. Finally, Sylvie must be one of the most accurate representations of a real lab researcher on the non-documentary screen.