Collecting Movie Reviews

And mine, too! Very cute, brings back memories from the 25 years since I was a kindergardener. Where the Wild Things Are was little intense at first but my 3 1/2 y-o now thinks its great (and recites all of the lines). Carol Kings compositions are wonderful, and I am thinking about transferring them to a cd for the kids (ok, ok, for me!)

Great video, highly recommended!

I watched this as a child in kindergarten over 20 years ago, I loved it then, and love it now! My 2 year old loves the songs in Nutshell kids. My 6 year old loves the stories. She is thrilled to have a book to go long with the story of the Wild Things.

One of my most favorite books as a kid. Now it is on dvd how awesome is that?? A must have if you love the wild things.

The films are:
Kind Hearts & Coronets
The Lavender Hill Mob
The Man in the White Suit
The Ladykillers
The Captain's Paradise
The last is available only in the set while the others can be bought
separately.

The movies, of course, are all excellent so I'm just commenting on the quality of the DVDs.
I got the collection for Christmas and haven't watched all the films yet but did go through the ones I haven't watched to see how the transfers looked -- all extremely good, probably the best I've ever seen them.
"The Ladykillers" is MUCH improved over the VHS versions I've rented which tended to have both very greyed out blacks and blown highlights. The film is in widescreen format with black bars at top and bottom. The rest of the movies were filmed in 4x3 ratio - which is how they are presented.
There are closed captions but only the type that must be set on the TV - the white lettering within a black band. There are none of the type available on many DVDs without banding, however I think most Tv sets, at least the ones owned by those of us who need the captions are now capable of showing the standard caption format. For everything I've watched so far the captions are quite correct.
Which brings up the sound. English film soundtracks (and the BBC -- especially the BBC) have always been somewhat poor. It isn't simply a matter of us Yanks not being able to comprehend the accents, but of truly terrible sound equipment and perhaps a somewhat less than skilled bunch of sound recordists. These DVD transfers sound just okay compared to something like the DVD of "The Maltese Falcon" but they sound much better than the VHS
editions of the same films so I'm pretty happy and I expect most people will be able to follow the dialog without problems. For one thing all these movies were made before the "F/X boys got control of the soundtracks -- yet another crime perpetrated by George Lucas and the other hacks who've made the movies practically a brain-dead medium.
In terms of extras:
Every film comes with the trailer -- for those who want to watch the damn things.
Every film is available dubbed into French -- don't ask me about the sound quality - I haven't listened.
Every film carrys a brief bio of Guinness. There is one oddity in that one of his best early films "The Card" (US title "The Promoter") is not mentioned in the course of the bio and is not included in the filmography. There may be others missing too, but I wanted to place The Card in it's time related to those the the collection and it simply wasn't there.
There is also no mention of the film appearance he made in 1936 which is left out of most lists but is in Halliwells book of movie people - I don't know if Halliwell was right or wrong on that.
The only other thing of major interest is on Star Wars, where (According to the bio) Guinness was supposed to be an on-screen presence throughout the film, but managed to convince Lucas that he would be much better as a ghost, and therefore got his character killed off early to avoid hanging around mouthing banal dialog for the entire shoot. As one who has avoided all Lucas films since my own children got old enough to go to the theater without me, I think Sir Alec made an excellent choice -- The Smart was with him.
Overall I am very happy with my DVDs and anxiously await the next set which I HOPE includes "The Card" along with "Last Holiday" "All at Sea" "The Horse's Mouth" and "Our Man in Havana". The third set could start with "Great Expectations" and "Oliver Twist". "HMS Defiant" would have to be in there, but "Tunes of Glory" although a great movie is perhaps too much of a downer to watch very often -- once a decade, perhaps... perhaps not that often. It's been at least 12 years since I last saw it, and I'm not sure I'm up for it yet.
If you like Guinness, get this collection. I don't care what kind of Guinness you like, I know this set will go down smooth.

I am 24 years old so one would not expect me to be a huge fan of these "older" films. On the contrary I am not just a fan I love them. One of my bosses turned me on to them a few years ago and I was always a huge Peter Sellers fan (mostly for his Pink Panther series) but after picking up this collection I found it to be a wonderful addition to my film library. Yesterday during the blizzard I watched four of the five disks. I found Kind Hearts and Coronets to be not only an interesting story but also darkly satiical. Many scenes were so well crafted I could not help to laugh. Alec was remarkable in this film as he played 8 different characters. Quite a feat for that time and a role Mike Meyers would love. Ladykillers was the only film I had seen previous to buying this set and I must say that not only is it an outstanding caper film but the DVD transfer was superb. The image quality really has brightened up fromt he onld VHS I saw. This film also shows some of Sir Alec's truly great acting and was brutally histerical. Peter Sellers yelling at a parrot was funny to see considering he went on to many more scenes involving fowl later on in life. The Lavender Hill Mob was probably the most intriguing of the 4 I have seen. Another crime caper flick Sir Alec really starred and the story was very solid. Also there was a car chase scene in this film that was extremely well done considering the time. The last film I managed to watch was the Man in the White Suit. While this film shows Alec again at his best I found it to be a little weaker than the other three. It was funny at times and an interesting enough plot just not as good if watched in succesion with the others. The final film is the Captain's Paradise but I have yet to view that one and will not review it. All the films look great on DVD and if you are young (like me)and have never seen any of these films you are really missing out on some of the masterpieces of the film industry. The only collection I could possibly recomend more to anyone is the Peter Sellers set. Better yet, buy them both like I did.

Unless I am mistaken, these films were shamefully hard to find on videotape (or DVD for that matter) until the release of this marvelous set of Ealing Studio films from the 1950s. Alec Guiness was marvelous actor who played both dramatic and comedic roles equally well. In this set, we see five very different performances, showing the comic genius of this great actor, who incidentally plays eight (!) characters in one film (Kind Hearts and Coronets). Each of the films is a gem (the plots of which are well summarized in other reviews), with very well-written scripts, with lots of unexpected twists and turns. The transfers are excellent and the sound quality is very good -- this is an excellent set to own at a very reasonable price. Highly recommended.

Wow! Where to start? What a wonderful set! Well lets start with:

Santa Claus is Comin' To Town, an exciting look at how Santa began. Good to put on for young children to help answer those burning Santa questions. At some points, questions are actually asked by children about Santa, which are answered by the narrator Fred Astaire. I really like the character of BurgerMeister MeisterBurger who is one of the evil characters Santa must get past to be able to deliver his presents. The score is wonderful too, my fave being "Put one Foot in front of the Other".

The Little Drummer Boy, which is found on the same disc as Santa Claus is comin to Town is right up there with the tissue factor as another R/B special Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey. This story is about a little boy named Aaron who has had a huge tragedy in his life, bringing him to hate humans. His only friends, therefore, being a camel, donkey and lamb who dance to the beat of his drum. The strange foursome end up being a part of the very first Christmas on that very holy night.

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, is probably most R/B fans favourite. The Story based on the song of the same name, follows Rudolph as he battles to gain respect, due to his bright red nose. He is joined by Hermey, one of Santas elves who wants to be a dentist, not an elf, and together decide to be "a couple of misfits". It is narrated by Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman and probably has the best set of songs as a whole out of all the other R/B specials. Plus with so many other great characters, Yukon Cornelious, Abominable, Clarice, Donner and Mrs Donner and of course Santa and Mrs Claus, you can't go wrong.

Frosty the Snowman, although animated and not claymation, is still one of my faves every year. Also based on the song of the same name it follows Frosty's adventures after his birth "Happy Birthday" by a group of school children. In particular, Karen, who gets quite good friends with Frosty and tries to help him from melting. My only complaint, which I think is the same as many, is that it isn't joined by Frosty's Winter Wonderland, the proper sequel. Instead it is joined by Frosty Returns. Now, this isn't a bad effort, but when you are a big fan of R/B and you watch this, it is very dissapointing. The animation is totally different to that of R/B, the characters are all different except for Frosty and when you know there is a great sequel out there, this just doesn't cut it. I probably will watch it very rarely.

I am from Australia, and for some reason, our tv stations stopped playing all these specials that I grew up on. I was really upset, even though now I am in my twenties. Fortunately I ended up finding these through internet search, which of course led me to Amazon. I am so happy that I have these(and others) and enjoy them so much. If you have never tried Rankin/Bass before, please do!

Oh my gosh! Great little pack of movies! Good price, very enjoyable! My advice: Just buy it!

I had fairly new copies of the VHS versions of the films in this DVD set, and what a difference the DVD made. The new sound is clean and full; the colors are deep and rich with no signs of static or dirt. Thank you to the wonderful people who worked so hard to fully restore these classic treasures of childhood. We can now finally see these the way they were meant to be seen. So much care went into this new set. The shows are not in wide screen since that is the way they were originally made, being "made for TV". This set has no less than 5 classic TV specials, placed on 3 discs and each of the discs has its own hardcover clamshell case. The artwork on each of the DVD covers is the original photos and title art from the films. I remember that some of the VHS copies had cheap aftermarket art. (These are identical to the DVD's you can buy separately of the same films). There is a slipcover box to hold the 3 cases in.

The "Frosty the Snowman" disc is an animated cartoon, and the story is driven by the unforgettable song. There is a nice introduction by Arthur Rankin on this DVD, describing the process of creating this gem and what the film meant to the producers and creative staff. There is also an animator's pencil test of the film, which shows how the cartoon is made. Unfortunately they did not include the original Frosty sequel, "Frosty's Winter Wonderland". For some strange reason the disc includes a project that was made by another studio and does not look anything like their stuff called "Frosty Returns". It's really poor quality compared to everything else in this set.

The next item is the Animagic blockbuster champion of Rankin/Bass TV specials, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". This is one of the best family holiday films of all time, with great music, action, suspense, comedy, and adventure. The snow monster scared the heck out of me as a kid. What other show dealt with a monster by having a dentist elf pull his teeth? At 40 years old the story holds up very well. This disc is special since it returns the missing scenes and footage that the TV network had cut out over the years, to make more room for commercials. The disc has great supplemental extras too, such as a music video of the alternate song "Fame and Fortune", the original TV trailer, and a trivia game. Also has a neat caption reading alternate version you can use to help your kids with reading. The color and clarity of this disc is so good it looks like it is being played out in your living room. The stop-motion Animagic process predates the computer graphics we have today, and yet looks just as 3 dimensional. I prefer the Animagic; it gives the characters so much life and personality. And you can't help singing along with the wonderful songs; it is amazing how every word comes back to you. Tons of great songs like "Silver and Gold" by Burl Ives! The show is based on the title song that is much older than the show.

The 3rd disc does not have extras, but it has 2 specials making it a great deal. I had purchased one of the shows on VHS last year, "The Little Drummer Boy". If you have a copy in that format, throw it away. I am not kidding; the difference in the quality of the color, picture, and sound is astounding! The new DVD looks like it was filmed yesterday (while my VHS version was so blurry and static and colorless I honestly could not enjoy it). The Vienna Boys Choir performs the title song. This show is a tear-jerker, but well worth watching. By the way, this show had a sequel but it is not on this disc.

Also on the 3rd disc is "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". This is the storyline to show the history of Santa Claus, from a kid to the jolly old elf himself. What an adventure he has, battling the forces of evil to bring toys to the kids. Romance, comedy, mystery, it is all here. The Winter Warlock is still scary to me. And the cast includes Mickey Rooney, Fred Astaire, & Keenan Wynn. The musical score (background) compliments the film perfectly, and the great songs help carry the storyline. The Westminster Children's Choir sung in this film. This DVD version was also re-mastered to look like new, and it is beautiful indeed.

In closing, I was born in 1963, before we had full time cable TV, satellite, VHS, cartoon network, etc. The Rankin/Bass studios made the best holiday specials. It was a time when kids and even whole families plopped down to the TV specials at Christmas and it was an EVENT! We only had kid shows on Saturday mornings back then, and you had to wait a whole year to see these great shows again. We are very lucky to be able to buy these now and to enjoy them without the tons of commercials. I remember rushing to get snacks or bathroom breaks during commercials too. Now my son is enthralled with these shows that have passed the 40 year test of time.

If you want to see more treasure by this great studio, search for films by Arthur Rankin, or Jules Bass. Some are animated, some are Animagic but they all have great story, design, and music. Not all have made the jump to DVD yet, but buy the ones that have so they will be encouraged to release more of their library. I highly recommend:
"Here Comes Peter Cottontail"; "The Easter Bunny is Coming to Town"; "The Hobbit"; "The Year Without a Santa Claus" this DVD also has a rare treat "Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey"; "The Flight of Dragons"; "The Mad Monster Party" (a 90 minute theatrical film); "The Daydreamer"; "The Wacky World of Mother Goose"; Little Drummer Boy Book 2"; "The Emperor's New Clothes"; "Rudolph's Shiny New Year"; "Mouse on the Mayflower"; "Twas the Night Before Christmas"; "The Stingiest Man in Town"; "The First Christmas"; "Jack Frost"; and more all available at Amazon.com.

There are also 2 books sold here that I know of on this studio and their films, "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Making of The Rankin/Bass Holiday Classic", and "The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass".

I also think the 5-star reviews here are a bit over the top in terms of praise. They seem to come from the Vicar of Dibley press package. Having said that I do believe it is a great series that is certainly worth watching and was very funny. The characters are charming, endearing and more than human in their failings.

However, on the other side, the colon jokes do wear a bit thin, though I loved the actor who plays Owen. Also, by the time you watch all 16 episodes, you will likely find Vicar Geraldine a bit pathetic in her desire to believe that some movie, television or otherwise gorgeous guy is just dying to be with her. I thought she was more mature than that, and it is in significant contrast to the rest of her personality. Secondly, she seems overconcerned with gaining attention all the time. I won't give away the details on that statement because I don't want to give away the plots.

Overall though, I laughed really hard while watching 90% of the episodes and the supporting cast is fantastic! I am keeping this in my DVD library to loan to friends who need a good laugh.

I was very impressed and amused while watching the Vicar of Dibley serise . its a shame the didn't go a few more sesons.some people are too uptight concerning religious humor.I never stoppped smiling.I would suggest this wonderful collection for anyone who has a healthy sense of humor. Logan

"The Vicar of Dibley" is one of my all-time favorite Britcoms. It centers around the arrival of a new vicar to the small town of Dibley. Unlike the previous frail & elderly head of their congregation, the people of Dibley are treated to a fun, buxom, invigorating younger woman named Geraldine Granger (played wonderfully by the always funny Dawn French). Gary Waldhorn stars as David Horton, head of the town council, and all-around dissenter to Geraldine's enthusiastic and modern approach to the church. Over the course of the first season, David starts to warm up to the new vicar, and things really start to click.

Two things which are needed to make a successful comedy are the right actors and the right script, and "Vicar of Dibley" has both in abundance. Richard Curtis & Paul Mayhew-Archer have created some of the most unique and funny characters to ever grace a television screen. These characters are in-turn portrayed by a great group of actors, most notably Emma Chambers as Alice Tinker, and Roger Lloyd-Pack as Owen Newitt. But they are just my personal favorites. The others are great, as well.

The humor of this fantastic Britcom is rather bawdy and broad. It has its own cozy charm, due in part to its village setting, quaint characters, and episodes dealing with nice holiday dinners, but this is not cozy along the lines of "As Time Goes By" or even "Good Neighbors". If you're more a fan of the slower-paced, gentler Britcoms, then this may not be your cup of tea. Personally, however, I think it a perfect blend of both broad and gentle humor.

At a short and sweet length of 16 episodes, the show knew when to quit (although I'm not a huge fan of the last episode). Over the course of the series we get to see the vicar arrive in Dibley, overcome the initial hostility of the townfolk, to eventually become welcomed and accepted, by the community and its endearing inhabitants. There are marriages, celebrities, romances, and babies. All of these things are handled with a deft comedic touch, and it helps to make "The Vicar of Dibley" one of best Britcoms ever.

The problem is that it shows up all the problems and paradox's of the neo-realist doctrine. While attempting to record unfettered "reality" (real world locales, un-trained actors) it makes use of constraining dramatic devices, such as the ending on the train tracks- "highly emotional" and all, but in a way utterly false, pretentious and manipulative. Reality claims and artifice sit side by side uneasily in this one. It seems that age has merely shown up the films unabashed pandering and teasing of the audience now that the shadow of world war two seems so light and temporally removed (itself having become the subject of a far more virulent and counter-intuitive form of artifice: Hollywood doctrine). Deserves a look, but for a better example of how this general film ethos could work look up some of the 'cinema verite' of the following decades.

New on DVD (August 03), this exceptional film strikes an emotional chord with universal truths.

Among the greatest of films, Vittorio De Sica's UMBERTO D (Criterion) tells the simple story of an elderly man and his only companion, a dog, struggling to survive in post WW II Rome. Words cannot convey the power of this unsentimental, compassionate masterpiece of Italian Neorealism. Carlo Battista, a retired teacher and non-actor, is extraordinary as Umberto. You'll laugh and weep and it will remain a part of your heart as long as you live. A must have.

Not much more needs to be said. There's no need to gild this lilly, the greatest film ever made. The dog's name is Flag, not Flike! I believe that De Sica chose the name as an homage to another director, the American Clarence Brown, who made The Yearling a few years earlier and the name of the fawn is Flag in that great movie. There's a small irony there: it illustrates De Sica's worldliness, his sophistication, his familiarity with and love of popular culture, especially films. There is not a trace of that charming quality in his masterpieces. Everyone should see Umberto D. Great art is our only shot at becoming civilized. And then see his other incomparable movies: The Children Are Watching Us, Shoeshine (about which Pauline Kael said that if Mozart had made movies, this is what they would have been like), The Bicycle Thief and, especially, Miracle in Milan, which is a comedy -- but not like any comedy you've ever seen. It's bliss. If you want to know what this art form is really like and what it can do to change your life, you need to see these masterpieces of De Sica.

No one will ever mistake these films for the work of Chaplin or Keaton. The humor is usually about sex, outrageous puns, broad slapstick, movie genre parodies (spies, soldiers, nurses, etc.) silly stuff. They are too long (90 minutes that should have been edited down to 60). The production values are usually cheap. Nevertheless, these are fun and I do laugh out loud at some of the humor. The actors are often far better than the material (Sid James, Ken Connors, and Ken Williams, especially) and are able to turn weak jokes into funny stuff because of their timing and facial expressions. This is a great value and the digital transfers are immaculate. If you are looking for some fluffy comedy that varies in quality but will amuse, then carry on.

This is the first half of a series of about 25 comedy movies that were very popular in Britain. The comedies lampoon various typical British social settings. To get the full entertainment of the movies you should be familiar with British culture. Those who are not will still find the series entertaining. The comedy is low key and not as strong as Monty Python or Benny Hill.

This of course--as any self-respecting Carry On fan will tell you--is Charles Hawtrey's catch-phrase. This box set is only half the story, and hopefully there will be another box coming, with more of these British comedy gems. In the mean time, we have this set of Carry On movies from the late 50s and early 60s to enjoy over and over.

Critics hated these films--the rest of us were too busy laughing at the antics, risque jokes and awful puns to care. As the films were made, various actors came and went--but the key members of the Carry On Gang were--Sidney James ( the owner of the dirtiest laugh in the history of cinema ), Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor, Hattie Jacques and , if this were not enough, plenty of other British comedic actors to keep the laughs coming like Bernard Bresslaw, Jim Dale, Leslie Phillips, Terry Scott, Peter Butterworth, Jack Douglas, Frankie Howerd and on and on. Beautiful women like Shirley Eaton, Liz Fraser and Amanda Barrie were major "pluses" too.

Like any series of films, some were better than others, and fans do not always agree on their favourites. In this package, "Carry On Nurse" is not only a classic, but it really put the series on track because it was a huge hit in many countries. I find "Carry On Constable" to be one of the best with Kenneth Williams and Leslie Phillips both terrific--it also introduces Sid James, who would soon become "Mr.Carry On", although he is rather subdued in this first outing. Even without Sid, "Carry On Screaming" is a winner, with Harry H. Corbett fine in the lead, and Kenneth Williams quite surreal as the "Mad Doctor". "Carry On Cleo" is good fun--by this time, Sid had his "King Leer" act down to perfection.

"That's Carry On" is a nice nostalgic visit to the whole series, hosted by Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor, also giving the viewer a taste of some of the films not included in this collection.

Sadly, many members of the Carry On Gang are no longer with us--
Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims have all passed on. The delightful Barbara Windsor continues to work steadily on British television.
When we went to see the first Harry Potter movie and reached the "Sorting Hat scene"' I nudged my wife--the "voice" of the hat--I would know that voice anywhere--Leslie Phillips ! Speaking of Harry Potter, I see that the audio version of the new book--"The Order of the Phoenix"--is narrated by Jim Dale ! So, happily, some of the Carry On alumni are still "Carrying On " !

Bottom line--most people either love or hate the "Carry On Gang".
If you hate them, you are probably not even reading this ! So--if you love these films, this package is like the "Old Testament", and you should order it immediately. Let's hope that the "New Testament" is coming soon !

I watch Star Blazers on TV in 1970's. I like the song & the story now it's on DVD. I'm going to get Series 2 on DVD.

OK, I'll admit to being 32 years old and still a fan of "Star Blazers". I'll also admit to getting THE LOOK from my wife when I took it out of the box and said, "look!!"
I remember being in grade school and walking home to watch the latest episode of "Star Blazers"; often with my friends. I suppose it was like a soap opera for young boys. A few months ago I even downloaded a star blazers screensaver theme only to have it damage my computer (don't do it).
I watched it for the first time in perhaps 20 years!!!! All those characters came back to memory!!!
At 32 with the responsibilities of a family and work, it's nice to have these memories rekindled. Even though your wife or girl friend probably will not understand!!!

If you were hooked on the Argo's journey through space to the Planet Iscandar as I was as a child, this box set is for you. Every single episode of the first season is here - six DVDs worth of nostalgia for your viewing pleasure.

Special features include 360* renderings of the Argo, bios of the Argo crew and the Gamilons, a map of the Starfleet's journey through space, and lots more.

My only criticism is that the navigation on the main menus is somewhat counterintuitive. But after the first DVD or so, you get used to it.

lively- original - vibrating - good voice - catchy and beautifully sung songs + film locations ..what a singer- did not know - janeeta,shyama and savdas and cuddle -please ply more songs on radio/show movies on tv - much better/safer and good humour - best i have seen

This amazing box-set comprises of the three musicals Cliff Richard made in the 1960's. "The Young Ones", "Summer Holiday" and the vastly-overlooked "Wonderful Life" which is only available exclusively in this box set.

THE YOUNG ONES was the top British box-office attraction of 1961, and still my favorite of all the Cliff Richard films. In the film, Cliff plays Nicky Black, the handsome son of a wealthy businessman (Robert Morley) whose talents lie in performing and not business like his stuffy father. When the local youth-club is to be torn down, Nicky, his girlfriend Toni (Carole Gray) and their friends decide to stage a benefit show, with Nicky as the "Mystery Singer".

Top stuff. Carole Gray is showcased in several splashy numbers including her song "No One But Nicky". Gray was one of the top West End stars of the day and had made acclaimed performances in "West Side Story" as well as "The Boy Friend".

SUMMER HOLIDAY was the follow-up to mega-hit THE YOUNG ONES, and features fine performances from Melvyn Hayes and Una Stubbs, with Broadway's Lauri Peters, fresh from her run as Liesl in "Sound of Music", as Richard's love interest Barbara Winters.
In the film Richard and his car-mechanic mates decide to drive a cumbersome double-decker bus from London to Athens for a vacation. Along the way they indulge in some rather amusing escapades.

WONDERFUL LIFE was lushly filmed on location in the Canary Islands, with Melvyn Hayes and Una Stubbs again co-starring. This time, a young Susan Hampshire ("Monarch of the Glen") is wooed by Richard. This film features many overly-designed dance numbers, and Richard is at his vocal best.

The transfers for all three films are remarkably-clean and free of dirt and scratches. The colors are fully-saturated and the 2-channel stereo sound serves its purpose. All three films are in their correct aspect ratio (2:35:1)

On the whole, to have all three films available in this box-set is superb. THE YOUNG ONES and SUMMER HOLIDAY are also available individually.

Since Britain's VCRs ran on a different format than America's, we on this side of the pond missed the British teen musicals when they came out on video, even though they preceeded the stateside Beach Party Bingos. The Young Ones is nothing short of great, and this set has the added bonus of introducing two more musicals. Cliff's got an easy, unaffected style like Ricky Nelson, while the Shadows seem to preshadow the Monkees.

The Young Ones invents music video, with antics predating the Beatles' Help. It takes place in the Carnaby Street environs currently popularized in Austin Powers. It influenced American beach movies and inspired the East Berlin teen musical, "The Loveable Mouse." Summer Holiday makes reference to the Mods and Rockers and the conflict that would explode the next year, so graphically portrayed in the Who's Quadrophenia. These films help fill in for us stateside bits of British culture with which we are only slightly familiar. That said, The Young Ones is enormously entertaining, with the sort of innocent 'sixties appeal of the original Bye Bye Birdie--another teen musical about a maverick musician.

I'm glad Cliff's albums are being rereleased on CD, because apart from the few that came out on Elton John's Rocket label, his records were generally not available here. I don't know how many films he did, but I hope they all find their way on to DVD as well. I find Cliff's musicals more enjoyable to watch than either Elvis Presley's films or the teen beach movies. It seems surprising that they were never widely shown in the US, but I am delighted to have found the DVD set of The Cliff Richard Collection.

The latter two movies in the Sinbad series show the decline of faith that Colombia Pictures had with Ray, and they gave him even smaller budgets to work with and not much promotion when the movies came to theaters, thus the movies did poorly box office wise. By 1977, when Eye of the Tiger was made, Colombia Pictures was nearly bankrupt. Another movie was made that saved them from going out of business, but even their really low standards of film making, I think it would have been better if they had gone out of business.

Wow. Talk about a dream collection for Ray Harryhausen fans. This is the sort of set you pop into a three-disc DVD player and watch all afternoon on a lazy summer weekend. How can you go wrong with three Sinbad adventures where you get to see an assortment of creatures that includes the cyclops, the snake woman, the fire-breathing dragon, the two-headed roc, the skeleton swordsman, the wooden siren, the winged homunculus, the six-armed Kali, the one-eyed centaur, the griffin, the chess-playing baboon, the giant walrus, the troglodyte, and the sabre-tooth tiger? (Whew, what a list.) Harryhausen brings them all to life the way only Harryhausen could: with flawless realism and painstaking attention to detail that today's CGI animators would do well to emulate.

The only reason I give this four stars instead of five is the sudden decline in entertainment value when we get to Eye of the Tiger. Too long, poorly told story, and perhaps too much reliance on Jane Seymour's charms. (Do I see an attempt at commercialism? Shame on you, producers.)

But all that aside, I do in fact pop this set into my three-disc player. For me, watching these DVD's is 305 minutes well-spent (and that doesn't even include the special features).

Oh, by the way, Mr. Alan Olsen, Harryhausen did receive an Oscar Lifetime Achievement Award, back in 1992. A long-delayed acknowledgment, as far as I'm concerned, but we should all be happy that the man got the recognition he truly deserved.

THE 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD

By far the most "classic" of the three, this spectacular piece of cinematic adventure may very well be Ray Harryhausen's masterpiece. Legendary sailor Sinbad (Kerwin Matthews, in his signature role) is on the verge of marriage to Princess.....uh, I forget (a beautiful Kathryn Grant), and uniting their two countries. But not before the evil magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher, in an extremely amusing performance) can shrink the princess to a doll's size in order to get Sinbad to return him to the Island of Colossa. There, Sinbad battles a giant Rok, a fire-spewing dragon, and (my personal favorite), the Cyclops...all brilliantly achieved by the greatest FX pioneer of all time, Ray Harryhausen. Oh, and there is the classic duel with the skeleton. Now I constantly hear people say, "Oh, like in 'Jason & the Argonauts'?", and it drives me crazy! Though the battle was far more elaborate and, well, better in that film, this is the original, people, the one that started it all! Indeed, this type of fight would appear again, and again, and again in subsequent Harryhausen films, ever improving (which really showed the true ingenuity of the man). "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" is most likely, THE fantasy-adventure classic of all time, though some people say the same for the original "The Thief of Baghdad". But, I haven't seen that film, so I couldn't say. Plus, it doesn't have special-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen behind the camera to provide dazzling creatures right out of a dreamworld! A rousing, witty score by Bernard Herman, too!
Rating: 5/5

THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD

My favorite of all three films, even if it doesn't really deserve the title "classic" as much as "7th Voyage" did. John Phillip Law replaced Kerwin Matthews in the title role, and proves to be less impressive, but only by a little. And, hey, he actually has an accent! This time 'round, Sinbad discovers a strange map disguised as a golden treasure of sorts, and with it sets off to the magical isle of Lemuria, where legend has it that if you place the map/trasure in the Fountain of Destiny, you will be granted all-powerful, all-knowledgable, and eternal youth. But he'll have to reach the isle before the black sorceror, Koura (played to perfection by the sinister Tom Baker), who has more than a few tricks up his sleeves to stop Sinbad and his crew! This is a much different film than the first; the swashbuckling attitude is replaced by a darker, but more mystical atmosphere, which I find very cool! The score by Miklos Rozsa perfectly matches it, too (just check out the music during the scene with the Oracle; it's awesome!). The story is very inventive, with more twists-n-turns than you would guess. There is lots of suspense, too! And there is also Caroline Munro as the love interest for all you teenage boys out there! Ray Harryhausen once again provides a massive array of imaginative and expertly constructed creatures, including a flying homunculus (a spy of koura), and a six-armed statue of the goddess Kali, which is the showcase for a masterfully-choreographed sword fight sequence. As well, there is an exciting battle between a one-eyed centaur and a griffin! A first-rate fantasy-adventure.
Rating: 4.5/5

SINBAD & THE EYE OF THE TIGER

By far the least of the three, it's still enjoyable, nonetheless, though not for all the same reasons as the first two. First off, the acting is atrocious, but it is in a bad way; rarely do you feel the need to laugh out loud at its campiness. Second, the plot is pretty lame, and recycles quite a bit from the preceeding voyages. Sinbad is now played by Patrick Wayne, the son of John Wayne, though it really doesn't show. He has none of his father's prescense on screen, nor does he possess any acting abilities whatsoever! He is now on a quest to the land of *it's a really long, utterly forgetable name*, in order to return the Prince Kassim back to his human form. You see, he has been transformed into a baboon (?!) by the evil sorceress Zenobia (Margaret Whiting), but Sinbad must have the prince's permission to wed the Princess...once again, I forget her name, but it's a really hot Jane Seymour. They are joined by the wize man Melanthius (Patrick Troughton, I think) and his lovely daughter (Taryn Power). Like I said, the story is weak, so it's up to the craftsmanship of Ray Harryhausen to save the day, and he does it very effectively! The giant walrus isn't menacing in the least, but the fight between the Troglodyte and Saber-toothed Tiger is suspenseful and exciting. Indeed, the creatures (such as Kassim the Baboon) produce more emotion than the actors themselves! All except for the Minaton...I mean, he's supposed to be this unstoppable colossus, right? Well, all he does in the entire picture is row a friggin' boat! That we are deprived of seeing this brute giant in action is all but devastating. The music is overall mediocre, but the backgrounds are beautiful and mystical. In fact, the production crew shot the film in places that had never been used in any film before it, and it shows! (P.S. Why the hell is it called "The Eye of the Tiger"? It has nothing to do with any tiger, nor any eye...at least, not enough to put in the title.)
Rating: 3.5/5

CONCLUSION: This a great trilogy to add to your Ray Harryhausen collection. All three films are digitally remastered, and they're all beautiful (especially "The Golden Voyage"). They all feature the excellent documentary "The Harryhausen Chronicles", too. On a little side note, the DVD covers and great production notes inside are awesome!

I got the subbed video version of this years ago; and it was one of the quirky strange little series that I've kept and enjoyed for years.

Ushio frees the powerful demon he names Tora to save his friends; and so becomes responsible for a monster who enjoys eating people, causing mayhem, and whose simple presence draws out ancient demons and evil from hidden places across Japan. Ushio keeps alive and ahead using attitude, temper and the ancient magical spear that once trapped Tora.

Visually, the combination of bright colours and harsh angled lines works. The Japanese subbed version was a lot of fun: I haven't seen a dubbed version.

The characters have a bit of depth, and do grow and change through the story. Nor are the monsters stereotypical. Some are immense and seemingly mindless, some are insane with grief and despair or the need for revenge, others are simply desperate. My personal favourites: the family of giant flying heads!

Ushio and Tora is a little odd, a little funny, and painfully sad in places. All of the characters are alienated in different ways, and looking to make sense of being alive and sharing that life with each other. Tora wants to both connect with and EAT the other characters - so some of the situations can rapidly spin out of control!

The episodes consist of short story arcs introducing different monsters. The issues get darker and more complex with each story arc, with human deaths, and more difficulty in finding the 'moral high ground'. The monsters are not necessarily evil: some were even once benign. But none of them fit the modern world.

All up: I like this series every time I re-watch it.

Bonus One: There is no huge cliffhanger at the end.

Bonus Two: The videos included some fun little shorts using the cute, squashed characters the Japanese love. I don't know if these will be added to the DVD. Also a lovely short where Tora adopts a kitten. If they are on the DVD, they're worth a look.

I bought the dubbed version of this tape only because I thought it might suck as a subtitled. Surprise, surprise, this was one of the best dubbed tapes I've watched. Then I checked out a subbed and that one was pretty good too. Even though the animation designs for the humans suck, the monsters are pretty well thought out and look believable. If this series ever comes out as a DVD set I'm jumping straight on it....

The beast and the priest are at it again! Of all the shows I've watched, this has to be the best. However that sometimes it's just plain funny and cute, it does have a theme other than it's a good idea to kill bakemono if they start to infest your shinto shrine: friendship. Although Ushio and Tora start off as enemies, and wouldn't admit it outloud, they have a sort of special relationship... not sexual, mind you. I suppose it's because they have something in common, or that they have similar histories (which was explained in the manga, but oh well ^_^;;), but for some reason this youkai-killing duo is better than any other one out there. And Tora is cyuuuuuute, the fluffy man-eating kitty ^_^. I hope they release a plushie of him someday.