Veterans Day Movie Reviews
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As with the first set, which contains volumes 1 to 3, what makes this set a must for collectors is that these episodes, virtually unseen in the United States, feature Honor Blackman as Mrs. Cathy Gale, who preceded Mrs. Emma Peel as the leather-clad partner to Patrick Macnee's urbane, umbrella-toting gentleman spy John Steed. Blackman left the series after two seasons to star as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. In "Lobster Quadrille," which concludes this set as well as the Gale era, Steed remarks that he expects the departing Gale to be "pussy-footing along sun-soaked shores."
Volume 4 contains two topnotch episodes. "Mousetrap" revolves around the Peck sisters, two "wicked" old ladies who seem to have put a curse on the surrounding countryside that causes all mechanical devises to stall. In "The Outside-In Man," James Maxwell steals the show as an agent presumed dead who materializes just as the man he was once assigned to assassinate arrives in Britain for arms talks. Volume 5 contains "The Charmers," which was remade in 1967 as "The Correct Way to Kill." "Concerto," in which Steed must cooperate with the Russians to prevent an assassination at a recital, is a classical gas. Even a weaker episode such as "Esprit de Corps," which opens volume 6, has its bizarre charms, as renegade Scotsmen plot a coup and plan to install Gale on the throne as Queen Anne the Second. --Donald Liebenson

Disappointing; waste of $$$
Early adventures for SteedAfter the initial run of 26 episodes featuring Police Surgeon David Keel and his cohort John Steed had aired in the UK in 1961/62, the producers of the program opted to bring Steed to the forefront of the action and give him a number of different "assistants." Thus, for season two, 26 further episodes were made and broadcast in 1962/63 featuring Steed abetted by Martin King, Venus Smith or Cathy Gale. Mrs. Gale turned out to be the most popular and successful foil for the suave agent, and the other characters did not return after season two. Unlike the later Peel/King stories which were all made on film, these studio based TV shows are much more reliant on dialogue and plot than visual elements, and can be somewhat heavy going as a result.
A&E is releasing these stories in a somewhat confusing order, and has started with season three. The first two sets released, Avengers 64 1 & 2, feature the LAST six episodes of season three. Next comes Avengers 63 sets 1 & 2 which comprises of the first half of the season. Next up in the release order is 63 sets 3 & 4 which precede 1 & 2 in running order and in fact feature the last seven stories from season two, plus the first from season three. Confused? Ultimately, it doesn't really matter, since thankfully there's no real reason to watch the stories in chronological order anyway.
What is interesting is the development of the production standards. 63 sets 3 & 4, featuring the latter stories from season two, are far more rudimentary in terms of production quality. The sets are extremely small and sparse; The direction very slap-hazard; Camera work shoddy; Sound is extremely poor; and the acting is negligible. With no budget for editing or reshooting, all the actor's fluffs and goofs stayed in. Steed's character is far less suave and sophisticated then he became later during his familiar role alongside Mrs. Peel, and the relationship with Mrs. Gale in particular is at first downright hostile with very little warmth between the two. He seems to get along much better with Miss Venus Smith, a night club singer who he engages at various gigs to act as his eyes and ears. Venus is a very odd character, and played strangely, but enthusiastically by Julie Stevens. She looks about 12, sings like she's forty, and dresses like anything in between. She also seems extremely naïve and it's hard to imagine why Steed engages her to help him at all. The far more intelligent and elegant Mrs. Gale does eventually warm up to Steed, and in the season three stories where she is the exclusive companion to him, their relationship develops nicely and they become much warmer and closer to each other.
The production values on season three are also much better than the earlier episodes. The sets became larger and more elaborate. The direction, lighting and sound improved greatly and the acting was much less wooden. Some editing was clearly allowed on these later stories, whereas the earlier ones clearly were broadcast as if they were live. There's a terrific blunder in "Six hands across a table," where Cathy is called "Ros" in one scene, and both actors realize the mistake, but keep going. An even better goof comes in "Concerto" when Nigel Stock forgets his lines completely and a very audible prompt is given from off camera. Terrific stuff.
The quality of the DVD's is somewhat disappointing, even accounting for the age of the material and the production values mentioned above. It may not be the case, but it certainly appears that A&E have made no attempt whatsoever to re-master the original tapes, and the flaws, jumps, scratches and sound blips are too numerous to mention. Virtually every episode on 63 sets 3 & 4 are hampered by picture and sound flaws and defects. Things do improve for 63 1 & 2 and 64 1 & 2, but the quality is still disappointing. Mind you, it appears they have done nothing to clean up the Tara King episodes either!
As a big fan of the series, I wouldn't even consider not having these episodes in my collection, but if you're looking for the wacky camp humor and the tele-fantasy of the Peel/King eras, these stories may not be for you.
Build a Better Mousetrap and see for yourself
First-time director Josh Klauser manages an entertaining if not quite engaging bit of urban paranoia--what apartment dweller hasn't worried about a secretive neighbor?--but lets it all slip into a silly, half-baked climax and a thoroughly predictable final twist. He also slips in references to Rear Window and Pacific Heights (two other paranoid tales of nasty neighbors), but none of it compares to morning-show personality Hurt's creepy TV weather clown routine: he sings, he dances, he chirps "Rise and shine" with the droopy-eyed intensity of an over-caffeinated drug addict. Now that's scary. --Sean Axmaker

Put on your seat belts and get ready for a thrill ride!
Loved It...
Shut off the Lights...get the Popcorn!I liked it so much I bought a copy the next day! Perhaps the people who don't like it feel there wasn't enough gore to be "good". I was thrilled that a movie could be so enthrawling without all the gore that has creeped into the movie mainstream. I call this a top-notch thriller/mystery!
It does help if you do NOT know how it ends!


good story but horribly acted
2 stars as an action movie; 4 stars as a personality clipFor anybody expecting a fast-paced action movie, this film should not be their first choice. If, however, one is interested in a personality study of the relationship between a rookie spotter and an experienced sniper, and how this may be affected by their employer, "the Agency", the viewer is in for a treat.
While this picture includes some action scenes, the plot is overall developed at a rather slow pace.
It seems unfortunate, however, that the studio did not include the original cinematic wide-screen on this DVD, and provides only the standard full-screen cut, which proves to be a real boon for panoramic scenes, as well as several of the action scenes in which a good part of the action happens off-screen or on the perimeter.
From the looks of it the studio also omitted a few scenes, rendering the DVD shorter than the original feature length.
While this motion picture is a must-see for any Dolph Lundgren fan, all viewers would be better served if the studio would finally elect to release a full-featured wide-screen version of this movie.
SOLID MOVIE

Not a happy fan...All that is on this DVD is music with a picture accompanying each musical piece. I'm a Metheny fan, having all his albums on 33 1/3 plus CD, even got the PM Songbook. But had I known that this was nothing more than music and pictures, I would have never bought it. Of course, I had to take it out of its package to witness the desaster... so, no refund possible.
By the CD. And beware of the DVD...
Awesome Audio, Awful VideoNow, the sound, however, is nothing short of astonishing. I would go so far as to say that the reproduction of sound was as faithful as it could possibly be, which is a vast improvment from the "We Live Here" DVD (which was by no means bad, but the sound was a little thin at times).
If you were looking for a great concert VIDEO you may be disappointed, but the sound may be enough to justify purchansing this DVD if the Group is your cup of tea.
Imaginary Day concert at VILLA MONTOLVOnights they were filming this DVD at Villa Montolvo
in Saratoga,California.
In as much as the performence pales in comparison
to a "LIVE" Pat Metheny Group concert the DVD still
does a wonderful job of capturing the essence of what
this band it about.A no frills kind of group that is
and always has been about the "MUSIC".If you want to
take a nice long "TRIP" go see them "LIVE" you will never
ever forget the experience.Thanks Steve Rodby and band for your
hard work and efforts on this DVD project.Can't hardly
wait to see you again in November.
Best
BOB C.


Don't let the warm & fuzzy titles of these movies fool you.
Low budget, well made horror flick
Riveting Suspense!

Best Baseball FlickMy only gripe about this movie is that it's been a decade now and it's not on DVD yet! Tell Universal to wake up!
A fine well made film, which is Based on a True Story.In this film, which is surprisngly well made:an old-fashioned Hollywood-Style Bio-Pic. John Goodman hit a home run as Babe Ruth with his Amazing Performance. This movie has its grit and seeming no-holds-barred honesty. A memorable film, based on a True Fact. Directed by Arthur Hiller (Taking Care of Business). Grade:B+.
Reviewer Jeff Smith Nailed It

Duplication of dvd in a seriesVolume 1 and 2 from Amazon. Regretfully, Live and Let Die, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Thunderball which were already part of previous collections are included again in Volume 3. I would not recommend buying the Vol 3 if you are collecting the James Bond Series.
The crappiest of the 3 bond sets. only ohmss is goodOctopussy-although some do not like this movie at all,I must say I enjoyed it.(HIGHLY). Roger Moore is a better James bond when he was old then when he was young,although never as good as Dalton but better than the rest. John Barry's score is great and a relief after Bill Conti nearly messed up For your eyes only. Moore already had done much better. Check the part where Rog is climbing outside the Monsoon palace and he sees Prince Kamal Khan greet General Orlov, Great MUSIC!!!
On her majesty's secret service- This is in my three favorite Bonds section(along with For your eyes only and the living daylights). The story is GREAT and Telly Savales is the best Blofeld which after all is Bond's arch nemesis. This movie has an awesome score, Lots of great action and the story flows like water and does not EVER get boring, which some of Connery's previous ones do(like Thunderball). I cannot believe how many people have never heard of this movie or George Lazenby, MGM did to this movie what they did to CLOWNHOUSE, which was also a GREAT movie that is also highly underrated and deserves more respect
LIVE AND LET DIE- this is not a good movie in any way.It is cheesy like most of Roger Moore's movies. Everyone loves the title song but i hate it.Roger Moore is at his best-looking though. The only good thing about this movie is that Yaphet Kotto, who is suprisingly vicious and a great villian!!!
A view to A kill-If you are going to overload a dvd set with Roger Moore don't do it with his worst movies.(You might as well have put the man with the golden gun and moonraker in there too).
If you want a Bond set and good movies in it, then get Volume 2 which has Moonraker and For your eyes only, two good MOORE films but completely different. A view to a kill plain out sucks. There is no good action, no story, and ATROCIOUS acting. How could they let this movie be made, they should have straight out skipped directly to the living daylights and give Rog the final good movie that he deserves to end his legacy with. TRAGIC
THUNDERBALL-One of Connery's pretty good ones, GOOD score and great cast and locations, but the story needs a serious jumpstart. Connery really started to suck after this movie, but he is better than Brosnan ,at least. Sir Sean kicks some ass at the end of this one. His best line in it "can my friend rest, she's just dead". Terence Young was a great director to. This is the only good movie in this box set, except for Lazenby's.
Die another Day- THIS MOVIE is just plain out awful and does not deserve to be in same class as these other movies i reviewed that are far superior. Was i the only one who noticed that at the end they totally duplicated "The Living Daylights" when Brosnan does the same thing with a helicopter that Dalton does with the jeep and they copy Licence to Kill because Bond goes rogue. They also copy the end of Goldfinger by trying to make a tense airplane fight, but the cheesy special effects make this movie even that much worse. Halle Berry is a horrible Bond girl. I wish Bond would strangle her for information or feed her to some sharks, but I never got that. My father's girlfriend told me this was good? What is wrong with people today. No real tense action, all crap.
BUY the james bond collections volume 1 and 2 and buy ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE SEPARATELY, BECAUSE THE REST HERE SUCK!
A serious presentation for owning the collectionI do not agree with various comments from other reviewers complaining about the bad marketing of MGM, since they have already presented the movies in singles and in three sets before. And by presenting them, once again, with improved quality and logic price in three packages, there is no harm at all.
What is beautiful in James Bond movies is the concept. The imminent illusion of the "non-reality" in all his movies is something comfortable to every potential viewer. No one would be offended by the unbreakable hotshot imperialist; timely, everybody would enjoy the sophistication, manners and cold-blood brutality of a professional spy (and gentleman) mastering the world and women' hearts.
There is always something new in every movie, the sequence of the incidents, the very well woven plots and the presentation of psycho genius personalities or pathetic authoritarian leaders or governments. All are offered in new ways, new places and from different points of view that would necessary put you in suspense. The British sense of humor and the mysterious touch added to the colors of the hero have a lot of show-off in comparison to American-made movies, where heroes are presented from reality and where "nobody care if you believe it or not".
My best movies are "Diamonds Are For Ever", "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Die Another Day"; but I always have a reason to watch other titles for the 10th or 20th time (I already saw "Die Another Day" for three times).
Probably, it is the best collection ever made to date, so if you believe that action movies are an important part of real Cinema, and that real entertainment is a just aim of it, I believe that you are having a very good chance to have the best of it in a very reasonable price. I am personally grabbing the chance to replace my old VHS collection with this sophisticated DVD one, I started with the first set and I am buying the other two, one in every next month.


Judgment Day? More like Insult Wrestling DayThe first match is a five-minuete insult to the talents of Chris Benoit, John Cena, Rhyno, and Brian Kendrix
La Resistance vs Test and Scott Stiener, ANOTHER let-down of a match between four poor wrestlers.
Mr. America vs Roddy Piper: FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE, DON'T PUT PIPER IN ANOTHER MATCH, HE CANNOT PHYSICALLY DO IT
World Heavyweight Championship: Triple H vs Kevin Nash, This is'nt worth five stars, or ANY rating, Nash is a broken-down wreck and can't be carried by anyone, not even the equally crap Triple H, the DQ ending is an insult.
Intercontinetal Battle Royale: DUD, Christian's win was a nice little surpise, but the match itself was'nt great at all.
Fatal Four-Way for the Women's Title: Jazz vs Trish Stratus vs Victoria vs Jaqueline, a worthy match on the card, but only due to the incredible talent on the female RAW roster.
WWE Championship: Brock Lesner vs Big Show, this WAS a shcokingly good main event, Big Show has improved incredibly and his matches with Brock are often good, this had a great ending.
The card however, cna';t be saved by Brock Lesner vs Big Show, the decisions were horrible and the match times pathetic
Poor
this was bad

The Worst Horror Film Ever
A great movie! One of my favorite 80's horror movies.
Outstanding Trash...Gotta Love It!!I have enjoyed this movie for many years and will continue to enjoy it for many to come. I am still trying to get my hands on the unrated widescreen version (if there is one...)(fingers crossed!!).


Well acted with a cool monster
GREAT FILM HAMPERED BY WEAK ENDING.As for the rest of the picture,I was thoroughly pleased.From the cast to the spfx,it was apparent that the film-makers were doing there best to make a good film.
The cast is lead by Marshall Thompson;a veteran of 50's sci-fi;and other than a few moments of "gee whiz" delivery he turns in one of his best on-screen performances.The rest of the cast is solid as well.From the leads to the bit parts,everyone was adequate or better.
The spfx were effective and superior to what you would normally expect from this type of film.Also,the stock footage was seamlessly blended into the movie.As for the monster,it was actually very effective looking in the night time scenes.The first time you get a look at it coming through the bushes I was very impressed.Unfortanetly,it isnt nearly as frightening in the well-lit scenes.And who told the guy in the monster suit to walk around like he had ... in his pants?
Which brings me to the reason the ending disappointed me so much.In an effort to place their film above the pack,the movie makers attempted a more thoughtful ending rather than the typical "destroy the monster" ending.It just doesnt work because the monster looks so cheezy in the well-lit room its hard to forget your just seeing some actor in a rubber suit.Its also difficult to feel sorry for someone who killed so many innocent people,despite the extenuating circumstances.
Even though the ending was such a let down I still think this would be a solid addition to anyones sci-fi collection. ...you'll definetly be getting your moneys worth.
THE BEST