Don Movie Reviews

My fiancé and I are slowly working our way through all five sets of Prisoner episodes, and I found this set to be the least enjoyable so far. The first episode, "A Change of Mind," is somewhat difficult to follow, and the end left me feeling dissatisfied (although, to be fair, that's consistent with the style of the show!). "Hammer Into Anvil" is probably the best episode in this group, as it shows Number 6 battling and defeating the current Number 2, who comes to a bad end. "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" is a real disappointment, as Patrick McGoohan hardly appears in the episode--his brain is transported into the body of an older, heavier male. We watch this new character take over the role of Number 6, and it's just not the same as McGoohan's riveting performances. Finally, "Living in Harmony" is a real divergence from the series, as it is done as a Western. The episode opens with no credits and no explanation for the old West setting; not until the end is the truth revealed. To me, this was an unneccessary gimmick that did not fit with the rest of the series, and I found myself missting The Village. If you are a Prisoner fan, there are defintely some good moments in these shows, but I much prefer the episodes on the first three boxed sets.

Having been a casual, but interested, fan of 'The Prisoner,' I was excited when A&E rebroadcast and released all the episodes of this series. From the first three episodes I saw, and reading about the series in an episode guide, I was excited to experience the rest of 'The Prisoner' series. This volume 4 however, is not very representative of this intereting allegorical series. In fact, the stories seem a little irrelevant to the thread of the series. Originally, Patrick McGoohan, the main force behind 'The Prisoner,' wanted to make the series just seven episodes but was persuaded to do twenty-six. But after thirteen episodes, it was clear that the ideas were drying up but four more episodes were squeezed out. I don't know if this volume 4 contains the latter few of the last produced episodes, but they are certainly the worst.

Which is not to say that the episodes are entirely bad. But as a casual fan, I would not have bought volume 4 had I known what I was in for. The most entertaining episode is "Hammer Into Anvil," where Number 6 tries to upset Number 2 in a plot of deceit. "A Change of Mind" is not well written and seems rather vague. From previous episodes where Number 2 is in nearly complete control, the ineptness of the authority is hard to believe. The last two episodes, "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling" and "Living in Harmony" are both badly acted and inconsequential. Even the fact that "Living in Harmony" was never originally broadcast in the US, it's not worth it to watch it. Perhaps it was never broadcast in the US because the episode was so bad.

One can easily appreciate and enjoy 'The Prisoner" series without watching Volume 4. I, in fact, highly recommend the rest of 'The Prisoner' series. But you won't lose anything if you don't buy Volume 4.

This portion of the 5 tape Prisoner set is to my mind, one of the more intriguing, as it includes one of my favorite episodes, "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling". In this bizarre turn, the Prisoner's mind is transplanted into the body of another secret agent, allowing #6 to see his familiar surroundings, his former lover and the life he left behind when he resigned, but of course, he's barred from enjoying the experience as himself, and to fully realize the joy of being in love. Patrick McGoohan doesn't appear much in the episode, but he narrates the ersatz Prisoner's thoughts, which is just plain strange. "Hammer to Anvil," is a real creep-out, with a sicko #2 that radiates disdain and drips pure evil. Number 2 gets his in the end, in a very inventive twist of fate. The Western episode,"Living in Harmony" is a another trippy expedition, using American t.v. cliches (gunfights, harlots with hearts of gold) to make a powerful anti-violence (and by extension) anti-war statement. Worth viewing, especially today. "A Change of Mind," with its emphasis on mind-control shows just how far the keepers of the Village will go to enforce conformity. Exciting, well-crafted and full of the tension that makes the Prisoner such an intriguing piece of work. A great box set for the Prisoner fan, without a doubt. Be seeing you.

I dont care what any one says. This is Ozzy Osbournes music and Randys guitar. If anyone doesnt like the sounds of Ozzy and Randy there is something completely wrong with you. If you dont know much about Ozzy this is a great opputunity because it is somewhat of a documentery and not just a crapload of great music. So In other words buy this DVD because it kicks a**. Randy Rhoads Lives On

"One of the weiredest things about this, was when I was doing the tribute to Crazy Train, and I asked Mrs. Rhoads if I get his sort of Flying V, polka dot guitar. And she had'nt opened that guitar since he was dead, ya know since the day he died. And I opened the box and I sort of got chills, because there were things that were left in the bag, like his cigarettes, and his little bits and pieces were in there, and his strings had all gone rusty, I remember freaking out when I saw it man!" "When you met Randy, he had a maturity, and he was very knowledgable, he had a maturity that a mature man would have, and he was ya know, in his early twenties." "I suppose,............at that time when he died........a part of me died with him, because he was the first guy...excuse me, person, who came along, and gave me hope." "I did'nt even have to turn around, I knew what Randy was doing, and Randy knew what I was going to do." "I would be sitting in one room, and I knew where Randy was in another, and i'd just start thinking about him and it was like I'd snap my fingers, and he'd be there!, it was weird. We had this communication going on that was really,...fantastic!" "Randy was a really great guitar player, he couldn't play Asteroids worth a lick, I always beat him, all the way across America, but he was good boy Randy, and he got along well with Ozzy, theyd sit down and right songs together!"-Lemmey Delores Rhoads-"Randy and Ozzy really got along well together, and each one knew what the other on was going to do, and as Ozzy has mentioned to me a number of times, he said, " if You were going to sit down, and to you know, try and manufacture what you thought the perfect guitar player would be, you know Randy Rhoads!" Randy on 1981 Guitar Player magazine new talent award "Sharon called up a week before and told me, I did'nt believe it, cause Sharon's always joking aroung with me anyway, and she called me and told me, and still, I did'nt believe it, because I'm really proud and honored, and ya know, I don't want to stop here."

This is a truly amazing dvd with concert footages aplenty ranging from his days in Black Sabbath all the way to his kick-ass solo career. You can notice the "bass" change in the dvd when he removes himself from the Black Sabbath era as there is a lack of heavy bass in most of their songs. Turn it up real loud , and as the dvd shifts to the solo career " I don't want to change the world " just shifts into overdrive with amazing frantic concert footages guaranteed to put some goosebumps on you , forcing you to chant " Ozzy ! Ozzy ! "
It basically starts off with Ozzy giving his views on his Black Sabbath days , and others sharing their thoughts. It slowly moves on to Ozzy's solo career where he speaks off Randy Rhoads , his family and musical direction. This dvd gives a good overview and history of the " Mad Man " himself , and whether you're an Ozzy fan or not , you're guaranteed to be a huge one after this !

Most of the beach movies provide a nice balance of male and female skin shots, so for every jiggling Candy we have a flexing Mr. Galaxy. Not here. Boys are in the background, lost amid scene after scene of girl shots (almost all posterior -- somebody definitely had a fetish). Tommy Kirk, just outed by Disney Studios and desperate to prove that he is heterosexual, plays Gogo, a Martian sent to earth to prepare for an invasion. He materializes in front of dottie Aunt Wendy (Elsa Lanchester, once the Bride of Frankenstein), who decks him out in tight blue swimtrunks (pay careful attention -- it's the only beefcake you're going to get) and sends him to the beach to fall in love with Annette.

Meanwhile, Annette is in love with Big Lunk (Jody McCrea), an athlete who ignores girls to play volleyball with the boys, but not to worry, she switches easily to Gogo, and Big Lunk gets converted to heterosexuality by the Swedish bombshell Helga, who can best him at arm-wrestling. Aside from the Martians and the heterosexual hijinks, this plot-heavy vehicle includes evil robbers trying to acquire Aunt Wendy's fortune, cameos by Don Rickles and Frankie Avalon, and the ubiquitous Harvey Lembeck, not to mention a substantive lesbian subtext (watch Dorothy Lamour ogling the swimsuit-clad department store girls).

It would get five stars for the sheer absurdity of the plot, but there's not nearly enough male eye candy on display, and the gay subtext does not end happily.

This film really could not be improved even if the *entire* thing had featured Bobbi Shaw doing sit-ups by the pool and Susan Hart gyrating to boil punch in its bowl.

PAJAMA PARTY is probably the second best-loved sequel of the original BEACH PARTY (the first has to be the quintessential BEACH BLANKET BINGO). The party moves indoors for the wonderful romp with Annette Funicello and the gang.

Connie (Annette Funicello) finds herself being chased by a handsome martian from Mars, Go-Go (Tommy Kirk), while trying to save her relationship with the self-obsessed Big Lunk (Jody McCrea). Thankfully, kindly dress-shop owner Aunt Wendy (Elsa Lanchester) is on hand to offer advice to the younger generation about matters of love and the heart.

Annette and the gang trade their beach threads for pajamas and baby-dolls in this very cute musical. Annette sings the classic standard "Stuffed Animal", while Donna Loren will have you jumping with "That's The Way It's Done".

Then there are fantastic cameos from film veterans Buster Keaton and Don Rickles; while Dorothy Lamour shows she could still 'cut a rug' with the best of them with her infectious number.

Interestingly, the "pajama party" of the title doesn't happen until the last 20 minutes of the picture! Followed by BEACH BLANKET BINGO.

The DVD has both full-frame and widescreen versions of the film as well as the trailer. (Double-sided, single-layer disc).

"Are they young rebels fighting for survival in a decaying society? Or are they hoodlums taking advantage of their youth?"
Directed by Jack Hill, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS is a cult classic that was sadly overlooked until Quentin Tarantino managed to get it re-released. Cinema snobs (People who think the only films worth watching are arthouse junk that make "statements") will look down on anyone who calls this a movie- but those of us who aren't pretentious geeks (i.e: ME, & hopefully YOU who are reading this) will see merit in this cheesy B grade sex & violence entertainment.
Also known as THE JEZEBELS & PLAYGIRL GANG, the movie centers around two street gangs The Dagger Debs: Lace (Robbie Lee), Patch (Monica Gayle), Donut (Kitty Bruce- Lenny's daughter) & Bunny (Janice Karmen) & their male counterparts the Silver Daggers; who run a drugs & prostitution racket at their high school.
One night at a diner the Dagger Debs try to recruit a customer named Maggie (Joanne Nail) to the gang after she pulls a knife on Patch & nearly cuts out her good eye. Unfortunately the cops sweep the place and Maggie is jailed along with the rest of the gang.
On their release, the gang decide to put Maggie through her first test towards becoming a member. This involves seducing some greasy gimp named Clutch (Paul Lichtman) & stealing his medallion as part of the initiation; but in an act of retaliation Clutch abducts & rapes Bunny, leaving her hospitalised in a critical condition.

This of course leads to an all-out gang war in the movie's latter third- with The Dagger Debs re-christening themselves The Jezebels & joining forces with the Silver Daggers & soon the streets are flowing with blood. There is however, some brief insight into the psychology of the gangs: an explaination one of the Silver Daggers gives for being in a gang is because of his insecurity over having a crooked willy. Now there's a plausible reason to go out and knife people!
SWITCHBLADE SISTERS is a fun explotation flick, but is a bit lacking in the T&A department (that's not to say there isn't any, though)- it's also worth noting that this was made four years before Walter Hill's THE WARRIORS which made this genre hip. Granted, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS isn't up to the standards of director Jack Hill's earlier classic SPIDER BABY; but for its kitschy late night entertainment value, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS is hard to beat. Check it out.

I'm tired of people who consider themselves above the "camp" films they are extolling displaying their sense superiority to the films they supposedly admire. For example, there is nothing at all "terrible" about the technical aspects of the Evil Dead films (read the other reviews and you'll understand to what I am referring) especially when their budgets are taken into consideration. As for Switchblade Sisters, let me just say that this is one of those quintessential flicks that blur the boundary between "art" and "exploitaiton," much like Jess Franco's better films. In fact, this is precisely what Tarantino did in Pulp Fiction: only since it was made with a bigger budget and with name actors, mainstream audiences react differently. "Switchblade Sisters" is best enjoyed with a copy of Shakespeare in one hand and Mickey Spillane in the other. In other words, heartily recommended.

Tarantino's Rolling Thunder Pictures video collection is something for true fans.
From the arthouse masterpiece Chungking Express (also available) to the blaxploitationfilm Detroit 9000 (also available), this series delivers a small collection of different genre classics.

Switchblade sisters even offers exclusive Jack Hill special features including his first film!

One of the most humorous anime series I've come across yet! The subtitle is a bit misleading, though, this is in now way one of those "x" rated anime series. A 6-time martial arts champion, and oscar award winning Hollywood actriss, a tom-boy wepons expert and a T-74 tank are transported to a sword and sourcery world. The head Elven priestess tries to preform a spell to send them back (the whole hellarious plot unwinds in the second episode), but something goes wrong, and the spell is quinsected, and imprinted on the skin of 5 unknown elves. The only way the trio can get home to Japan is to scour the land, stripping every female elf to look for the 5 lost pieces of the spell. As I said, this does not turn into an "X" rated feature, but much of the humor occurs in both the journey and the Elf stripping! Increadably, the English language version turns out to be more crude than the original Japanese script.
Be sure to by both disks (only 12 episodes in the original): the funniest episodes are 7-9, and the entire plot is explained in the last two episodes. I'm looking forward to Those Who Hunt Elves II! A difinate buy for the anime fan (well written, but the animation is average to T.V. anime).

I bought this set with no idea what to expect. I have watched a little bit of Anime before, but I wasn't ever really impressed. Needless to say, this one definitely got me hooked. The story line is somewhat out of the ordinary...and the humor is great! I totally love Junpei! He is hilarious!!
The only reason this one got 4 stars instead of five is the opening song/music. It is repeated throughout the DVD (particularly at the main title and at the beginning and end of every episode). I fell asleep watching the DVD one day and woke up with that annoying little tune in my head all day.

...but other than the opening song, I would recommend this set to all my family and friends. Sure, there is talk of stripping of elves, but there isn't any real nudity basically meaning you can't see anything you would see with clothes on.

Bottom line...get the set. You won't be sorry.

Now, as there are already more than enough reviews, let me just add something. This anime is very funny, with hints and suggestions of naughtly, kinky fun, but like 'The Benny Hill Show' you won't really SEE anything. I would even suggest that older kids could watch it without a problem.
Frankly, a T-74 tank taken over by the spirit of a kitten seems very cute to me. You have to watch the episodes to get it. The good thing is the DVD holds 6 episodes!
This is one of a two DVD set that makes up the first series and 'Those Who Hunt Elves II' should become DVDs sooner or later.

What do you know about psychological warfare? Not much I guess.

Well, this is a war movie with a major twist. It's much less about shelling the enemy or just drill some holes in him, but more about "really" to outsmart him.

An american officer, an Interpreter in Japanese, who's a real artist when it comes to avoid the battlefield, is about to get a long awaited leave when he suddenly is tasked to help a bunch of British raiders in their endeavour to capture and destroy a forward listening Japanese outpost.

Through thick and through thin, men who hate each other as well as hating the American officer (played by Cliff Robertson) have to face a common enemy who masterfully hides in the Jungle.

One by one they get hunted down by the Japanese. The mission succeeds nevertheless, but now the remaining force has to return to base. Not an easy task, considering that the Japanese made prisoners and are using them as bait while they communicate with the only two remaining raiders (Robertson and Michael Caine) through a microphone and various loudspeakers scattered throughout the Jungle by performing a highly skillful and mind- shattering blackmail.

A well timed war drama masterfully played by all the actors involved figuring Ian Bannen ("The Hill", "The Outrage" etc.), Harry Andrews ("The Hill", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "Battle of Britain"), Denholm Elliot ("Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade"), Ronald Fraser ("The Hill", "The Wild Geese") and Ken Takakura ("The Yakuza", "Antarctica", "Black Rain").

If you like two movies into one: a War Movie and a Suspense Thriller, then the price is really low.

The DVD edition is as one may expect from Anchor Bay. No extras included, except for the trailer, but the movie alone is, in my view, a tiny masterpiece and well worth the effort.

By the way, if you're looking for a similar movie, forget it. It's the only one in its genre.
Think about it.

I've always liked the movies of Robert Aldrich and I bought TOO LATE THE HERO as soon as it was released on the DVD standard. Anchor Bay presents unfortunately only a trailer as bonus feature but the copy is alright.

Cliff Robertson is the Aldrichian hero by essence ; he is not a coward but he prefers to enjoy the Pacific beaches rather than to take part in combats. He's a pessimistic hero in a pessimistic movie. The initial credits set extremely well the tone of the film with these at first flamboyant american, british and japanese flags that become little by little less colourful, less arrogant until they finally fade into the dusty reality.

A DVD zone Big Bob.

This is my favorite war movie. I don't know why more people don't know this classic. It is easily one of the best of all time. Lots of action. Cliff Robertson and Michael Caine kick some serious backside in this film.

This vhs contains 3 episodes:

Episode 205:The Wizards Curse:As the Z Warriors are filled in about the evil wizard Babdi`s plan to unleash Majin Buu, the team flies towards Babdi`s spaceship, to stop him from unleashing the terror upon the universe. But it seems that Yamu and Spochovich have arrived there first!

Episode 206:King Of The Demons: As the Z Warriors watch in horror as the duo of Yamu and Spochvich are destroyed, Dabaura, The King Of Demons, launches an assult on the Z Warriors! With Piccolo and Krillin turned to solid stone by his spit, and Kibito quickly destroyed, Goku,Gohan,Vegeta and the Supreme Kai enter, to confront their first enemy!

Episode 207:Vegeta Attacks:As the remaining Z Warriors enter Babdi`s space ship, the first warrior walks out to attack: Pui Pui! Now, the match-up decided by a game of rock,paper,scissors, shoe, Vegeta steps up onto the battlefeild to battle his first oppenet of the day!

the start of the babidi saga! and it looks pretty good. goku and the crew head to babidi's spaceship and after kibito is destroyed and piccolo and krillin turned to stone they head down to the spaceship to kick some booty! the reason it gets three stars is because there's no action in the first two episodes, but in the third episode pui pui finds out not to cross the saiyan prince! thank you vegeta! like he said, "this guy is really annoying". the expression on the supreme kai and pui pui's faces as vegeta, gohan and goku play rock sissors paper to decide who gets to kick the crud out of pui pui is great!! we also have some good emotion between gohan and videl. buy it.

I had been waiting for Majin Buu for a while, and I always thought that was the saga after the Cell Games, but I was wrong (by the way, don't look for Buu in this video because he's not in it). But finally, we hear of Majin Buu! It was also good that Dabura and Pui Pui could finally show themselves, as well as the Supreme Kai and a host of other cool new characters! This video contains three episodes, The Wizard's Curse, King of the Demons, and Vegeta Attacks. I think Vegeta Attacks is the best episode on this tape because it's cool when Vegeta destroys Pui Pui without even trying. Babidi-Descent is a great DBZ video and I recommend it.

This is a great film of Marius Petipa's (creator of "Swan Lake", "The Nutcracker", "The Sleeping Beauty", "La Bayadere" among others) "Don Quixote" in that the production quality (sets, costumes, music, and line up of numbers) is outstanding. The dancers are no where near the ability of the Kirov film of this same ballet. If there was a way to combine this production with Kirov Ballet dancing it would be perfection! Dont get me wrong though....the dancers are quite good.

Here we have the late great Rudolf Nureyev as Basilio, and Lucette Aldous as Kitri. Nureyev changed many things in this production for himself (bringing the male up to the level of the female as he always did in his restagings). Alongside those differences, he made the ballet shine more with the music restored by John Lanchbery, giving the Minkus score more personality and musical backbone much in need in the original score. His orchestrations also the give the music a more Spanish-style feel. The acting is highly entertaining, as the dancers do well in showing a flair for the comedy of this ballet.

Nureyev should have left some things alone however, including his treatment of the 'Kingdom of The Dryads' scene in the second act. He simplifies the choreography for the corps and in a way that downsizes the grand affect the traditional choreography makes. He also adds at the beginning of the second act music from the other Petipa/Minkus ballet "La Bayadere" for a pas de deux for himself and the heroine. His choreography is horrible in this section.

All in all however, this video is quite a sight to see. I must stress again how fond I am of the way Lanchbery treated the Minkus score. His restoration really makes it sound up to the level it should (get the cd of this music available at the Orchestra Victoria web page). This is a great version of this ballet, and worth owning for its outstanding production quality, but I will only give it three stars for its 'pretty good' dancing.

Essential. Often called the greatest dance film ever made, and easy to see why when witnessing Nureyev's blazing solos.
--Octavio Roca, Dance critic

This DVD is a spectacular restoration of one of the best ballet films of all time. It has a terrific performance by Nureyev, and features the great Lucette Aldous, a perfect match for Nureyev in charisma and technique. The DVD also has numerous bonus materials, including a "making of" documentary and side-by-side before-and-after scenes to illustrate the restoration. I also have the VHS and laser disk of this movie, and they are both dark and dirty looking compared to this beautiful DVD. It's really a great improvement and well worth purchasing.

Furtwangler, the only composer to rise against the Nazis and defy their order in Germany also conducted an amazing performance of Don Giovanni here. This is probably the BEST recorded version of Don Giovanni and the performance is top notch. By the way, the sound quality is excellent, even if it is in mono, you don't even notice. Don't ever let this great DVD pass you up, the performance, music, and conducting is one of the best you'll ever get to see. True piece of art.

Furtwangler's 1954 Salzburg production, now on DVD, is a wonderful historical document. Many reviewer's on this site criticise his slow tempi, but who are we to criticise one of the greatest (if not the greatest) conductors of the 20th century? His "colossal musical intellect" (Opera Rough Guide)
applied to this work is nothing less than phenomenal. He views
this opera as a tragedy, rather than a comedy, and his well chosen ,but slower, speeds confirm this. He maintains the tension

throughout, letting the beauty of the details and inner voices come out.
However he does spring to life when necessary and there is never a dull moment.In the overture, where we see him conduct, the first act finale and the finale itself you will see the master at his best!
The stage design and direction is
conventional, but this is not a modern production.
Cesare Siepi is definitely the best Don of his generation. He looks the part, acts with a great deal of flair and sings wonderfully.You will love the "champagne aria". He is a feast for the eye and ear, a triumph. The other singers are all first class.DVD sound is excellent.
One negative point perhaps: The overture return is ommitted.
So is Don Ottavio's first aria ("Dalla sua pace"), for reasons unknown. This is unfortunate.
But still, my advice to you is: grab it while the supplies last!

I have gone back to this opera a third time.

Without any doubt, the jewel of the crown was Furtwangler albeit that Mozart was not exactly his favourite composer. Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Furtwanlger was so expressive and so full of drama, both by itself and when supporting the singers. And of course, the singers was a very strong team too, we have Siepi, Ernester, Grummer, Dermota, Casa, Edelmann, Berger and Berry...

Yes, in terms of psycho-analysis, we have a bit of Macbeth here instead of Midsummer Night's Dream in this opera. Mozart's music was never meant to be singsongs as his soul always touches and concerns the breadth and depth of humanity. Was the Statute who put an end to the life of the rascal a symbol of his own father and Giovanni in a way Mozart himself subconsciously without himself knowing about it?

I watched this opera side by side with "Dem Serail", another Mozart opera produced by DG. The orchestra was Bayeriscshen conducted by Karl Bohm, another favourite conductor of mine. With Bohm, we have perhaps a little more lyricism but we don't have the sort of fullest possible support to the singers as we have from Furtwangler. Nor was there the drama. The orchestra was nearly as good as Vienna Philharmonic, but the singers are remarkably weaker, and one would suppose that got nothing to do with the language in which it was sung for it intended by Mozart to be sung in German. So, despite the recording was made some twenty years later, technology alone doesn't help much.

Even as far as visual and audio effects go, one would say Giovanni is better. It was so natural and pleasing. The conductor's interpretation is so modern in every way, with all those extrordinary lines from all these superb singers, one would hardly notice that it was a 1954 performance at all. Instead, Dem Serail sounds a bit outdated now.

Definitely a treasure, Strongly recommended.

Tomorrow is Yesterday-The first of the contemporary earth episodes is a solid offering about a USAF pilot who ends up aboard the Enterprise. One might be forgiven for not realizing they were watching Star Trek here; the Enterprise doesn't show up until the end of this unusual teaser. This episode explores the trappings of time travel, with every effort the crew makes at not altering the future invariably leading to more modification of the future. If the questions of logic posed by the above aren't taken to seriously (they shouldn't be, in my opinion) this episode is watchable enough. The strongest aspects of this show are the humor behind the cultural (temporal?) differences and a fallible Kirk. In truth though, not that much happens here, and the contemporary Earth idea isn't too interesting 36 years later after the fact. (3 stars)

The Return of the Archons-This creepy if hokey episode concerns cloaked figures and a zombie-like populace. This show isn't particularly thoughtful for a first season episode, and the ending in particular is very unoriginal and disconnected from the rest of the show. The first half of the episode certainly packs enough mystery though, with the creepy creatures and music, as well as the Jeckyl-Hyde aspect of the population. Sulu also has one of his larger roles here. (3 stars)

"Tomorrow Is Yesterday" The Enterprise is thrown back in time to the 20th century. How will they get back to their own time?

"Return of the Archons" A computer is ruling a planet & forcing the people to behave strangely. How will it be stopped?

REVIEWED ITEM: Star Trek ® Original Series DVD Volume : Tomorrow is Yesterday © / The Return of the Archons ©

TOMORROW IS YESTERDAY © PRELIMINARY BRIEFS:

Moral, Ethical, and/or Philosophical Subject(s) Driven Into The Ground: the consequences of messin' 'round with the space-time continuum

Historical Milestone: Star Trek's first full-fledged time-travel episode

Notable Gaffe / Special De-fect: Be on the lookout for a scene where Spock's poppin' a communications earpiece into his noggin with his back facing the camera. If you take a good look at his ears, you can see the lack of craftsmanship in the particular pair he was wearing that day! It was definitely an off-day for the makeup department'

Expendable Enterprise Crewmember ('Red Shirt') Confirmed Casualty List: 1 Incapacitated

REVIEW/COMMENTARY: Ah, nothin' like a good time-travel eppie of Star Trek that tries to clear things up about the whole space-time thingy yet leaves you even more confused than ever before! For example, if the abducted Air Force pilot's progeny is going to make so significant a contribution to Earth's future that if he hadn't existed the Federation may not have ever existed, it would... umm... well, see what I mean? It's high time for me to dispense with the temporal mechanics and head into the fun parts of this eppie...

In one of the most unbelievably silly fights ever filmed for network TV, Kirk manages to fend off three US Air Force officers in a scene more reminiscent of the Keystone Kops than Bruce Lee! Putting into consideration the high-quality (*snicker*) choreography of Kirk's previous Star Trek fisticuffs, it's not like it was any big surprise. Speaking of choreograohy, Tomorrow is Yesterday© is also one of the series' best showcases of the bridge crew's amazing ability to lean in unison with the lurching ship! Heck, if synchronized leaning were an Olympic sport, all the US would do is send out the original Trek cast to compete! They'd win the gold by an even greater margin than the first couple of US Olympic Basketball Dream Teams did!

THE RETURN OF THE ARCHONS © PRELIMINARY BRIEFS:

Moral, Ethical, and/or Philosophical Subject(s) Driven Into The Ground: The downside of cultural stagnation leading to a soulless society and other excuses for Kirk to ignore Starfleet's Prime Directive

Historical Milestone: Star Trek's first significant 'Kirk-versus-machine' episode

Expendable Enterprise Crewmember ('Red Shirt') Confirmed Casualty List: 2 'absorbed', subsequently recovered

REVIEW/COMMENTARY: Seen by many as Gene Roddenberry's commentary about the dangers of conformity in a society, 'Archons' is notable for being the first time Kirk saves the day by talking a computer to 'death'. In this instance, the computer is Landru, a machine that rules and guides a society of seemingly content and happy, yet soulless beings. One particular moment in this episode that really strikes me is the Festival, where the planet's citizenry go berserk and start a riot, complete with people wiggin' out, beatin' up on each other, and storefront windows gettin' smashed! It was likely a disquieting scene to behold for this episode's first viewing audience, what with the Watts riots having occurred a mere two years prior.

Keeping with classic Star Trek's tradition of Kirk interpreting the Prime Directive in a way that suits his own beliefs, Jimbo convinces Landru that it is performing an evil deed by allowing the society that it leads to stagnate. And as one might expect, the master computer eventually self-destructs in a cloud of smoke after the good captain's little soliloquy about how a society needs challenges to overcome and other pro-organic-being rhetoric overloads the machine's logic circuits. Now if I only I could do to the computers of people who keep spamming my e-mail inbox what Jimmers did to Landru, I'd have one less frustration in the world to deal with...

...'Late