DVD/Movie Review: Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Meyers

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilerish material from this movie and from Halloween H20. If you have not seen either of them yet, proceed with caution.+++

Halloween 5, subtitled "The Revenge of Michael Myers," is the 1989 followup to the movie that revived the Halloween franchise centered around the killer from the iconic 1978 movie. This movie brought back Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell, Beau Starr, and Donald Pleasence from the prior film. Cornell and Starr's roles are reduced in this movie, but it does bring in Wendy Kaplan as Tina, one of Ellie's friends, who ultimately plays Jamie's protector (along with Loomis). 

I have mixed feelings about this movie. It was very much a continuation of Halloween 4, taking place one year later. It explains that Jamie (played by Danielle Harris) does not really turn evil but develops a telepathic bond with Michael. Because of that, she can see when people are in danger from him. He, of course, continues to try to get at her to kill her. That part of the storyline is fine. My problem with this movie is how it sets up the dreadful Part 6. It planted the seeds of the whole cult storyline with the mysterious man in black and began all the nonsense that would follow in that movie. I don't even have a problem with not killing off Michael, although if it had been done, it would have been an acceptable way to wrap up the story. The producers rebooted the franchise with Halloween H20, a couple of movies down the line (when they could get Jamie Lee Curtis back), which pretended that 4 and 5 never existed anyway, so Michael could have been killed off in this movie. 

The original DVD release does have a significant amount of special features, including a director commentary track (that also includes Harris and Cornell), an introduction to the movie by Harris and Cornell, and trailers. The most significant bonus feature is a making-of documentary that features interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and bonus footage that was not included in the movie. 

You ultimately know what you get with the Halloween movies. Even the original movie (which was the best in the series) was not an Academy Award winner. The movies became sillier and less believable as the series went on. That said, this is worth having in your collection if you are a fan of the series. Danielle Harris and Donald Pleasence continued to do a great job in their roles. Pleasence's role was reduced by now because of his age, but he still played Loomis passionately. Harris had to portray a range of emotions in this movie and did a fantastic job. Obviously, these movies are not going to appeal to everyone. However, if you like the first two movies and the 4th movie, this is worth watching.

DVD/TV Series Review: ER Season 15 [Spoilers]

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from prior seasons and minor spoilers from the final season+++

ER's 15th and final 22-episode season aired during the 2008/1009 TV season. It marked the end of one of the longest-running, and best medical dramas ever. There was yet more cast turnover this year with Mekhi Phifer, Shane West, Maura Tierney, and Goran Visnjc leaving the show as series regulars. Some would appear here and there throughout the season, and some had a one-and-done appearance. Angela Basset was the big addition to the cast, joining as the new Chief of Emergency Medicine, Catherine Banfield. The show also had several recognizable guest stars throughout the season including Tony Hale, Chadwick Boseman, Carl Weathers, Ariel Winter, Wallace Shawn, Rooney Mara, Ernest Borgnine, and Judy Greer, among others.

I have always looked at ER as two different series. One that lasted through season 8 when Anthony Edwards decided to leave the show and the one that remained on the air until the end. Personally, I would have liked to have seen the show end after the 8th season, because had the shows that told the story of Dr Green's death been the series finale, the show would have gone out on a high point and would have never been accused of hanging on too long. This season really tries to bridge the two series, by bringing back many former cast members, including Edwards, Paul McCrane, Laura Innes, William H. Macy, Thandiwe Newton, George Clooney, Juliana Margulies, Alex Kingston, Sherrie Stringfield, and Eriq La Salle. The catalyst for bridging the early seasons to the later seasons was a storyline involving Dr. Carter that extends throughout most of the season (Wyle returns as something between a recurring character and a series regular). Edwards and McCrane are brought back in a flashback episode that found a creative way to include Basset's character. For those who were fans of the show from the beginning in 1994, the season provides a shot of nostalgia, while also wrapping up the storylines for the current main cast members like Scott Grimes, John Stamos, Linda Cardellini, and Parminder Nagra.

The DVD set is a six-disc set. It has a handful of special features including unaired scenes and a series retrospective with interviews with cast members and showrunners. Given the impact the series had, launching (or helping to launch) the careers of many stars (including Clooney, Margulies, Ewan McGregor, and Ving Rhames, to name just a few) as well as having many notable guest stars, it should have had a lot more special features looking back on the series. Even so, what was included is good. 

The season was very good, and one of the best in the season 9-15 era of the show. It was very nice to see the old cast members even though some just had cameo appearances. Many people complained about the episode in which Clooney and Margulies were brought back for having a totally unrealistic story. I think it was the best that could be done to give Clooney his "own" episode where he and Margulies could do more than just make a cameo appearance in the finale like Sherry Stringfield, Alex Kingston, and Laura Innes did. While the storyline was contrived and would not happen in real life it was really the only way, aside from having Carter go out to Seattle, to have a reason for someone from County to be interacting with Ross and Hathaway. Given that Clooney was really 1a and/or 1b along with Anthony Edwards and Margulies was a major star on the show in the early years, I think it was better to do what they did so the two could be in more than just one or two scenes. I also think the way the show ended, with Morris (of all people) taking over as the lead character, and having Carter passing the baton (so to speak) to Dr. Green's daughter who had become a prospective medical student, was the best way to end the series. It was perfect to have Noah Wyle be the last person we see on screen since the show started with his character as the wide-eyed medical student back in episode 1.

DVD/Movie Review: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Meyers (Spoilers)

 

Halloween 4 was released in 1988, ten years after the original movie, and the events of Halloween I and II. This was the movie that brought Michael Myers back after an attempt to make a Halloween movie (Halloween III: Season of the Witch) without him that fell totally flat and completely bombed at the box office. The producers decided to resurrect Michael for this movie without the involvement of John Carpenter.  This movie brought back Donald Pleasence as Sam Loomis and also starred Danielle Harris, Elie Cornell, Beau Starr, Sasha Jenson, Kathleen Kinmont, and George Wilbur.

This movie starts out with Michael locked up in the basement of some relatively secure facility, bandaged and scarred from the burns he received at the end of Halloween II. For some reason, he is being moved, and when the ambulance crew mentions he has a niece living in Haddonfield (played by Danielle Harris, who plays Jamie, the daughter of Laurie Strode who was killed off in this version), he comes back to life and the usual shenanigans ensue.  What follows is the standard fare of Michael going through the town killing anyone who got in his way. 

The special edition DVD (which was released in 2006) includes several bonus features most of which were produced years after the movie was released. There are two different commentary tracks on the movie, one by the writer of the movie and one with Harris and Cornell. There is also a discussion panel with cast and crew members who worked on Halloween 4 and 5, a making-of featurette, and the trailer for the movie.

I don't necessarily think that there was a big need to make this film. I think a fine ending to the series would have been to have Myers and Loomis killed at the end of Halloween 2. But, if they were going to bring him back, this was as good a story as there could have been to do so (since Jamie Lee Curtis did not return for this one). This movie was made before the franchise got overly stupid (as would happen in Halloween 6 and 8 and even to some extent in 5). Danielle Harris does a very good job as Jamie, especially being so young, and Ellie Cornell is great in her role as well. Donald Pleasance plays Loomis with the same intensity that he did in the original movies and brought the gravitas that the film needed to resurrect the series.

Ultimately if you liked the original Halloween and Halloween 2 you will probably like this movie. While this movie is not as good as either of the first two movies and it does suffer from not having Jamie Lee Curtis in it, it does hold its own. It is also not as good as Halloween H20/Halloween 7 (which does bring back Curtis and basically resets the series again ignoring movies 4-6). If you are a fan of the first two Halloween movies and/or horror movies in general, it is worth the time to watch.

DVD/Movie Review: Halloween III: Season of the Witch

 

Halloween III, subtitled Season of the Witch, was a 1982 movie starring Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O'Herlihy,  and Michael Currie. The movie was written by John Carpenter and produced by Carpenter and Debra Hill, who made the first two Halloween movies. This movie was an effort by John Carpenter to make a series of movies under the Halloween banner without the character of Michael Myers character (aside from when a clip from Halloween featuring Michael was playing on TV in the background of one of the scenes). It was a total flop, and hence the series of movies never developed and the studio went on to make multiple movies with Michael Myers as the central character that ranged from pretty good, to incredibly stupid without Carpenter's involvement.

There have been multiple releases on physical media, some of which have an extensive amount of extras. The original DVD release, however, is very bare-bones. It just contains the movie itself and does not have a commentary track or behind-the-scenes material that would come later with the blu-ray release.

I think this movie was doomed as soon as they tried to put the Halloween label on it. By then the Michael Myers character was synonymous with Halloween movies and anything that did not have him in it was never going to be given a shot. Personally, I think Carpenter should have just promoted it under his name and not given it the Halloween title (something even the people involved admit). Had the movie just been titled "John Carpetner's Season of the Witch" or something like that, they could have released the exact same movie and it probably would have done better at the box office and the series would have probably produced more than one film.

As just a horror movie and ignoring the Halloween title, I thought it was good, but not great. Given when it was made and the fact that it was made on a shoestring budget without any big-name actors, the writing and special effects were kind of cheesy, and it has the look and feel of a low-budget horror movie. Even so, it definitely has that creepy factor that any good horror movie has. The storyline was very weird and the story did not (and still will not) appeal to everyone. The crux of the story was basically a company making haunted Halloween masks that when worn when a particular commercial came on would kill the person wearing it. It also had killer androids that would do the bad guy's dirty work. While there are certainly better horror movies out there, if you are a fan of the genre, and are ok with an offbeat out there kind of storyline and the lack of Michael Myers you may want to check this out.

DVD/Movie Review: Halloween II

 

Halloween II is the 1981 sequel to the then cult-classic, now fairly iconic 1978 horror movie Halloween. It was written and produced by John Carpenter and Deborah Hill (who also wrote and produced the original movie), and Rick Rosenthal directed (taking over the directing job from Carpenter who directed the first movie). The movie brings back Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance in their leading roles, reprises the roles of Nancy Stephens and Charles Cyphers, and brings in Lance Guest as a new character.  The events of the movie are set immediately after the end of the first movie with Loomis discovering that Michael survived being shot and falling off the balcony and begins hunting through the town to find him. Laurie is transported to the Haddonfield Hospital where, of course, Michael tracks her down and continues trying to kill her. 

The DVD does include a handful of extras, including the theatrical trailer, production notes, and some interviews with the cast and crew. They are not extensive, and not nearly as much as was included in the later blu-ray releases, but they are there if you like going through the bonus content.

I loved the first Halloween movie. It is one of my favorite horror movies of all time. Generally, as you get into sequels the quality goes down (as was certainly the case with this franchise). This movie which was originally intended to be the only sequel is definitely the best of the bunch. The one thing I really liked about the movie is that although they showed Michel much more than in the first film, they still kept him hidden enough that it kept a similar sense of suspense as the original film. Also, while the movie was definitely gorier than the first one (which was done at Carpenter's insistence in post-production), it did not go overboard on the gore. The filmakers used suspense to keep the movie scary rather than just turning it into a straight slasher film (even though some did criticize the amount of gore in this movie compared to the first one). I also liked the way they paralleled the stories of Michael stalking Laurie at the hospital and Loomis trying to hunt him down. Jamie Lee Curtis did not have as large a role in this movie as she did in the first one until the end when she was trying to get away from Michael. Donald Pleasence's role was expanded in this movie and he did a great job playing Loomis as obsessed with getting Michael to the extent that Loomis comes off as being crazy too. He nailed that role and the one good thing that the multiple sequels did was allow him to reprise it.

While this is not an all-out hack-and-slash gore fest that is popular among today's horror movies, it still stands the test of time as one of the most suspenseful and scary horror films. They definitely make Michael less human and more indestructible in this movie, which the series would continue to overdo with each subsequent movie. It was the intent of John Carpenter that Michael actually die at the end of this movie, and that no additional sequels featuring Michael be made. In fact, if you pay attention to the scenes in the school they foreshadow Micahel's death at the very end. Of course, that only lasted for one movie after Halloween III bombed, but Carpenter would never be involved in any of the other sequels until he agreed to be a producer and composer on the 2018, 2020, and 2021 Halloween sequel reboots. In fact, Carpenter has gone on record saying he did not really want to make a sequel to the original Halloween, but had to agree to a sequel to get the first movie made (if the first one made money, which of course, it did). Ultimately, if you are a fan of the horror genre, this one definitely deserves a place in your collection even though it is not as good as the original movie.

DVD/Movie Review: 10

 

10 is a movie starring Bo Derek, Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, Dee Wallace, and Brian Dennehy. In the movie, Moore plays a man named George Webber who is a famous music composer going through a mid-life crisis. He sees a young couple getting married and becomes obsessed with the bride (played by Derek). He discovers that the couple is going on a honeymoon in Mexico and follows them to the resort. It is partly a comedy and partly a drama about a guy discovering that he is content with the life he has. 

All the hype around this movie was about Bo Derek and rocketed her to a 1980s sex symbol. This was one of her first movies and she did look spectacular in it, but what is lost in all that hype was the fact that it was a funny movie about a guy going through a midlife crisis. What makes it funny is that Dudley Moore was not a typical leading man.  You do have to keep in mind this was made in the late 1970s and the humor in it is very different than it is in today's comedies (even the good ones). Whether or not you will find it entertaining is completely subjective. There is a little bit of nudity and some sexual content (which is tame by today's standards). If you have seen the movie on TV and enjoyed it or just grew up in the era of Bo Derek being a huge sex symbol, it is certainly worth a DVD purchase.

DVD/Movie Review: Grosse Point Blank

 

Grosse Point Blank is a 1997 movie starring John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Aykroyd, Alan Arkin, and Joan Cusack. The storyline of the movie is pretty simple. A hitman named Martin Blank (played by John Cusack) is returning to his hometown of Groose Point Michigan to execute a hit and is cajoled by his secretary (played by Joan Cusack) to attend his 10-year (really should be 15-year given the ages of the actors) high school reunion. While there he attempts to reunite with the girl he ditched on prom night (played by Minnie Driver) when he ran off and joined the army. Along the way, he has to avoid rival hitmen (one of which is played hilariously by Dan Akroyd) and federal agents while trying to act "normal" in front of his old classmates.

The DVD is very bare bones, containing just the movie. There is no bonus content or special features. The movie is a very dark comedy and does have quite a bit of swearing. It is not really a raunchy comedy, but it is definitely an adult comedy and chances are not everyone will enjoy the humor. There are no really laugh-out-loud funny jokes in the movie, it relies mostly on dry humor and sarcasm. If however, you like movies with a more offbeat and even warped sense of humor (to go along with a great 80s music soundtrack), then this is worth your time to check out.

The Greatest American Hero: The Complete Series

 

This is the complete series of the campy superhero series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellica, and Robert Culp, that aired on ABC from 1981-1983. The series was created by Stephen J. Cannell to ride the wave of popularity (and in some ways spoof) the original Superman movie, which came out a few years before this aired. The premise of the show was that a regular guy named Ralph Hinley (his last name was originally Hinkley, but his last name was changed after the assassination attempt on Ronald Regan), played by Katt, who is a high-school teacher is given a suit that gives him superpowers (by aliens) but he loses the instructions so he has no idea how it really works. He teams up with an FBI agent (Culp) and his attorney girlfriend (Sellica) to fight crime. So, the show is really part superhero series, part buddy cop drama, and part comedy. The show is mainly a procedural following a case-of-the-week format in which the stories are resolved by the end of the episode. But, the show occasionally calls back to something from a prior episode.

Since the show aired in the very early 1980s, the special effects were pretty cheesy, and the writing in some areas is hilarious today for different reasons than they were when the show aired. For example, the kids they were trying to portray as tough or bad were not threatening in any way, shape, or form. Many of the storylines were Cold War-themed given the era. Because of that, if you did not at least grow up around that time you probably will not get all the references. 

What I liked about the show is that it never tried to take itself too seriously. And while it did go off on some strange tangents (like the electricity monster episode) it managed to stay entertaining throughout its run. I think all three of the main actors did a great job with their characters. William Katt really did feel ridiculous in the suit, and that came across in his performance. Robert Culp was great as the chauvinistic "my way or the highway" FBI agent, and Connie Sellica was more than just eye candy on the show. Many times Sellica played the "straight man" role to Culp's eccentric character even more than Katt did. As different as the characters were, it seemed all the actors had very good chemistry which came across in the performances, and you bought that the characters really cared about each other. And the relationship between the characters was really what made the series work even when it could get a bit silly.

Some reviews on Amazon mention that the music was not the same as when originally aired. I was too young when the show was actually on TV to remember any of the music other than the main theme song. However, as is the case with many older shows, the studio likely ran into copyright issues when putting together the DVD release and had to change some of the songs that were played. Chances are the lack of original songs will not be an issue for a lot of people since they did not seem to use canned instrumental replacement music (for the most part anyway), but it may be for some. Personally, I would rather have the series available on DVD without the original music than not have it at all. The only unfortunate thing about the series is that it never had a proper ending. It only had a 13-episode final season, and the way it ended seems like it was canceled abruptly halfway through season three. So the final episode of the series really feels just like any other regular episode. Even though the show is dated, it holds up pretty well (but not perfectly) and is definitely worth the time to watch.

DVD/Movie Review: Barbarella

 

Barbarella is a cult-classic science fiction movie from 1968 directed by Roger Vadim and starring Jane Fonda. If there were ever a movie that could be described as the best movie of all time while also being the worst movie of all time, this is it. The story and acting are horribly bad. It is so bad that it could easily be one of the movies that the characters on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" could watch and excoriate. Along with the horrible writing and acting the special effects are extremely cheesy but given when this was made, that is not all that surprising. On the other hand, you have Jane Fonda at her physical peak either naked or half naked throughout the entire film. 

The movie has been released several times on physical media. I have the DVD release with the uncut version of the movie. The only extra on that release is the movie trailer, but there are no commentary tracks on the movie or any other special features specific to the movie. 

The movie does actually have a plot in which Barbarella is looking for a scientist named Durand Durand who has disappeared with some kind of weapon, but the movie is basically about Barbarella boning everyone she meets and showing off Fonda in various states of undress. There are a lot of people who hate Fonda for her war protest days, but there is no denying that in her prime she was as hot as any actress and this movie very much uses that to its advantage. The movie did have some influence on pop culture as the character of Durand Durand was the inspiration for the name of the 80s pop band Duran Duran. Ultimately, the movie is very cheesy and campy. Kind of akin to the 1960s Batman TV show in that way. It is not one to get because you want to see quality acting. It is however one of those that you can be entertained by just how bad it is.

DVD/TV Series Review: Dark Angel: The Complete Series

 

Dark Angel was a series that aired on FOX from 2000-2002 starring Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly (propelling both of them to relative levels of stardom) and produced by James Cameron. The series is set in the relatively near future in a post-apocalyptic/dystopian Seattle.

 In the first season (which is the better of the two), Jessica Alba's character (Max) was raised as a super soldier in a government program called Manticore. A group of the soldiers escaped as children and scattered. After the US was hit with an electromagnetic pulse that set the country back years, technology was available only to the very rich, and martial law was imposed. Once that happened, it became easier for the Manticore escapees to hide and blend in with the rest of society. During the day Max has a legitimate job as a bike messenger (which allows her to scope out potential targets to rob) and uses her enhanced abilities as a cat burglar by night. She eventually becomes a vigilante working with Michael Weatherly's character Logan to fight corruption and injustice in exchange for finding out about her past and the fate of her "siblings" who escaped with her. Her vigilante actions put her on Manticore's radar and she is hunted by John Savage's character, Colonel Lydecker.

During the second season, the show expanded the storyline to include not only the supersoldiers but human-animal hybrids. The story did get a bit silly during the second season but had some great additions to the cast including Jensen Ackles (playing Alec), Kevin Durand (as Joshua), Ashley Scott (as Asha), and the great character actor Martin Cummins (as the main antagonist of the second season, Ames White).

There were a lot of twists and turns in the story in both seasons, but what I liked about season one is that they stuck to the classified military program and only really expanded the storyline to include cloning. Having all of the supersoldiers have "twins" (sometimes multiple twins) worked very well and allowed for the same actors to play different versions of their characters. In the second season, they expanded the story to have human/animal hybrids and got into secret societies that just got a little weird and took the story on a tangent I don't think they needed to go. Apparently, if the show would have been given a third season the storylines from seasons 1 and 2 would have been merged together.

Each of the DVD sets has six discs, with the episodes and the bonus content spread across the discs.  Each set has quite a few bonus features including commentary tracks on multiple episodes, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and making-of/behind-the-scenes featurettes. 

The show was very well-acted in both seasons and very well-written in the first season. As I said above, the storylines in season 2 get a bit weird, but the actors all did a great job with what they were given.  All the actors, from the main cast to the more ancillary characters, played their characters well. The show was obviously the big breakout role for Alba and she was great as a wise-ass/bad-ass character. And, she was not bad to look at either, even though the show did not focus on the fact that she is smoking hot and rarely put her in skimpy outfits. Jensen Ackles particularly did a great job as Ben/Alec when he was brought on as a series regular in season 2. Ultimately I think it was a show that Fox killed off too soon. Even with the weird tangents that the show went on in season 2, there was still room to tell compelling stories. All in all, it was a very good series with a lot of action, drama, and even some humor. It is definitely not a show that will appeal to everyone's taste, but if you like action stories, especially with a dystopian bent, it is worth your time to watch.

DVD/Movie Review: The 40-Year-Old Virgin

 

The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a 2005 movie that is one of the "Appatowverse" comedies (written and directed by Judd Apatow) starring Steve Carell (who also co-wrote the movie), Paul Rudd, Catherine Kenner, Elizabeth Banks, Leslie Mann, Jane Lynch, and Seth Rogan. In the movie, Carrell plays a 40-year-old introvert who works at the fictional equivalent of Best Buy and has given up on trying to date or have sex. His coworkers find out he is a virgin and try to get him laid, giving him advice on how to meet and talk to women. 

If you generally do not enjoy Apatow's brand of humor, you will not like this movie. For those that do, you will find yourself laughing a lot. Yes, Carell does a great job in the lead role, but it is really all the supporting characters that really make the movie work as well as it does. The movie does have some raunchy comedy in it, but it is not really over the top. Unlike some of what passes for comedy these days, the movie does have a lot of smart humor in it along with the raunch humor. Although the movie does not take itself too seriously, there is a point to it and it ends up being pretty wholesome. That said, it is definitely not appropriate for very young kids. Chances are, if you enjoyed movies like Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Knocked Up, you will like this one too.

DVD/TV Series Review: Alias: Seasons 1-5

 

+++Warning, this contains some spoilers from throughout the series.+++

This is the complete series of Alias which ran from 2001 to 2006 and starred Jennifer Garner, Michael Vartan, Victor Garber, Ron Rifkin, Kevin Weisman, Greg Grunberg, Carl Lumby, and David Anders. In the early seasons, it also starred Merrin Dungey,  Bradley Cooper, and Sarah Shahi, and in later seasons, Lena Olin, Melissa George, Rachel Nichols, and Mia Maestro.  Alias was a great concept that got a little weird when it started to focus on the Rambaldi storyline. The first few seasons where the Rambaldi storyline was merely in the background and would be advanced in one or two episodes each season were great. Once it became the focus and the supernatural elements got more and more silly, the show definitely took a downturn. 

The crux of the storyline in the first season is that Jennifer Garner's character, Sydney Bristow, believed that she was working for the CIA (which she could not reveal to anyone), while she was really working for a shadow organization run by criminals. When the organization discovered that she told her fiancee that she worked for the CIA and he was killed by the organization she discovered who she was really working for and what she was really involved in. From there the show focuses on her life as a double agent and her attempts to bring down the rogue spy agency/criminal organization.

Where Alias really shined was character development and perfect casting. Every character that was around for a significant amount of time changed from the time they were first introduced. And of course, Alias was a world where being dead did not always mean staying dead. I think the best storyline of the series was the time jump and the way it was done. Sydney having lost two years with no memory, then finding out exactly how and why her memory was erased was a great payoff. Especially when that is the kind of story that often falls flat at the big reveal.

The one drawback to the series as I said before is by the end the entire focus was on the Rambaldi storyline, and making the whole supernatural/eternal life storyline. It really did change the feel of the show, and while it did provide a good explanation for Sloane's motivation from the beginning, I think it did better when those parts of the storyline were in a few episodes of the season as opposed to the focus of the season. Overall though if you are looking for a show that combines action, comedy, great acting, and a unique take on the spy world (plus the bonus of Jennifer Garner in skimpy outfits on a pretty consistent basis) this is a good one.

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch: Season 9

 

The ninth season of Baywatch was the final season of the original version of the series and aired during the 1998-1999 TV season. This season, the show returned to its roots as being a story-of-the-week procedural in which the vast majority of the storylines were contained and resolved in a single episode. This was due, in large part, to even more cast turnover in which most of the female cast members, including Gena Lee Nolin, Carmen Electra, Angelica Bridges, and Traci Bingham left the show. Only Kelly Packard was brought back and Brooke Burns and Mitzi Kapture were brought in as new series regulars. Jeremy Jackson was also a part of the cast member shakeup going from a series regular to a recurring character. Nolan's exit required the character of Neely to be recast and then essentially written out to get out of the Neely-Mitch marriage that ended season 8. 

In the DVD set, the 22 episodes are spread over six discs and there are no extras. The season was the weakest of the show's run, mainly because there was no time (or attempt) to really establish the new characters. The show did not have as many recognizable guest stars this season but did get Kerr Smith (who would star on Dawson's Creek) and Alex Trebek (playing himself). Parker Stevenson also reprised his role as Craig for a couple of appearances, and Jeff Altman made another appearance. 

Mostly, the writing was horrible and the acting was not much better. There were a couple of good moments in the season, including a nod to Baywatch Nights in an episode featuring voice-over narration by Mitch and an episode that breaks the fourth wall by joking about the cancelation by NBC and the show being successful in syndication. The best storyline of the season was one of the few multi-episode arcs involving child abuse that would be written very differently today than it was back in the late 1990s.  Unfortunately, the series never got a proper finale. The final episode just had the feel of any regular episode, and none of the really big names (like Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, Alexandra Paul, etc.) from the series were brought back. The season is not a must-watch by any means.

DVD/TV Series Review: 24: The Complete Series

 

This is the box set of the complete original 24 series, starring Kiefer Sutherland.  The original series ran for 8 seasons, from 2001 to 2010, and had a TV movie titled Redemption, which aired between seasons 6 and 7. 24 was definitely a series that had its ups and downs. The first couple of seasons were very groundbreaking with the "real-time" format, and the fact that the series was never afraid to kill off a character. It was not quite Game-of-Thrones-like in killing off main characters, but it definitely killed off major characters throughout the series. The show was also known for its twists and turns, oftentimes revealing that a supposed good guy was a mole, double agent, or the like.  There were certainly hokey and dumb moments throughout the series, but I think on the whole the plots and the acting were very good. 

Besides Sutherland, the show had a strong ensemble cast including Mary Lynn Rajskub, Elisha Cuthbert, Sarah Clarke, Carlos Bernard, Dennis Haysbert, Reiko Aylesworth, Kim Raver, Penny Johnson Jerald, Glenn Morshower, and D.B. Woodside (among others). The show was a serial drama that you had to watch from the beginning of each season to follow along. Each "day" involved some kind of terrorist attack, which was usually a precursor to a larger attack that the counter-terrorist unit (CTU) had to stop. There was always a lot of misdirection and twists to throw off the ultimate plot, which was usually revealed in the final few episodes. And, as I said, almost no character was safe from being bumped off.

This set does not include Live Another Day (there is an updated set that does) and while some of the individual seasons are available on blu-ray, the complete series is only available on DVD. The set does include all of the bonus content that was released for the individual season sets. That includes hours of deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, commentary tracks on select episodes, and more. I definitely think the series did try to hang on too long. I think it would have stood up better if it ended after 4 or 5 seasons instead of going 8. Like many, I think that the 6th season was the weakest of the group. While seasons 7 and 8 did help the series recover (as did the mini-series, Live Another Day, which aired in 2014), I do think it was a show that would have benefited from a shorter run, especially since there was talk of a possible movie long before the series ended. Overall I think it was a well-acted, well-written series that was (especially at the beginning) very addicting. It did take a lot of suspension of disbelief and you have to be willing to accept some eye-rolling moments, but on the whole, it was a very entertaining series.

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch: Season 8

 

The 8th season of Baywatch consisted of 22 episodes and aired in syndication during the 1997-1998 TV season. The show yet again had a lot of cast turnover. Pamela Anderson left the show after season 7 and the show left the cliffhanger ending open until the fourth episode of the 8th season revealing that CJ met a tattooed rock star and got married. This was also the season in which Yasmine Bleeth left the show (she was fired because of her drug use) but the writers actually did give her a sendoff. She appeared in a handful of episodes (though she was never shown in the main credits), but as the show often was, the episodes were not aired in the order of her storyline, so she kind of just randomly popped up until she didn't. Parker Stevenson, who left the show after season one returned for a few episodes to have a mini-storyline, and the series added Carmen Electra, Kelly Packard, Michael Bergen, Marilice Andrada, and Angelica Bridges as series regulars. The show did not get as many notable guest stars but Jeff Altman returned to the show as yet another character, radio host Shadoe Stevens guest starred, Gregory Allan Williams reprised his role as Elerbee, and David Hasselhoff's wife, Pamela Bach, played a totally different character than the recurring role she played in the early seasons of the show.

In the DVD set, the 22 episodes are spread across 6 discs. There are no extras or subtitles. By the 8th season, the show pretty much gave up on continuity. Some of that was on the showrunners and part of it was on whomever selected the order to air the episodes. For example, they had Mitch's mother in an episode this season but totally abandoned the Alzheimer's storyline, and the show's romances rarely made any sense (and this season is no exception). The season ends with a three-part finale that leaves the direction of the show totally open, and of course, there are the music montages to show off the ridiculously good-looking cast. Carmen Electra dancing accounts for several of the montages this season. Overall, the series is what it is. A prime-time story-of-the-week soap opera. The acting and writing are spotty at best (to be kind), but if you can accept it for what it is and don't expect any more than that, it can be entertaining.

DVD/TV Series Review: House M.D.: Season 4

 

Season 4 of House aired during the 2007-2008 TV season and was cut short by the writer's strike that occurred that year. The show picks up with the team in disarray with Chase, Cameron, and Foreman all having quit the team at the end of the prior season. House's solution is to hire 40 new doctors and eliminate them in a Survivor-like competition. He gave most of them nicknames as opposed to learning any of their actual names, and from time to time the original team members (Jennifer Morrison, Omar Epps, and Jesse Spencer all remained on the show) would pop in. This resulted in many new additions to the cast, some permanent and some recurring. The new cast members included Olivia Wilde, Kal Penn, Peter Jacobson, Anne Dudek, Edi Gathegi, and Michael Michele. As always, the show also had many recognizable guest stars including Frank Whaley, Thomas F. Wilson (from Back to the Future), Jeremy Renner (when he was still doing TV), Mira Sorvino, Fred Durst, and Ivanna Milicevic (who had done a lot of character work for many popular TV shows and would later star in the great series Banshee).

The DVD set includes the 16 season four episodes spread across 4 discs. The bonus material includes a commentary track on part 1 of the season finale and several behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes. The series continued to be well-written and very well-acted. The new additions to the cast were great and the actors seemed very comfortable coming into the show. The two-part season finale was probably the two best episodes of the series up to that point, and this season, although abbreviated is arguably the best season of the show. It is absolutely worth your time to watch.

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Nights Seasons 1 and 2 (German Import)

 

Baywatch Nights was the first series to be spun off from the massively popular syndicated series, Baywatch. The series aired for two seasons from 1995 to 1997. The first season was a pretty standard procedural crime drama. The premise was that Elerbee (played by Gregory Alan Williams) got sick of being a beach cop and bought a private detective agency in which Mitch (David Hasselhoff) was going to be an investor. Mitch ends up joining him as a private detective, along with Angie Harmon's character, Ryan McBride. 

In the first season, Lisa Stahl, who had a small recurring role on the main show reprised her character Destiny as a series regular for about half the season, and Lou Rawls played a completely new character named Lou Raymond, the owner of a club above which Mitch, Ryan, and Elerbee had their office. About halfway through the season, Stahl left and Donna D'Errico and Eddie Cribrian joined the cast.

In the second season, the show took a weird, and frankly kind of stupid, turn, basically turning into a paranormal thriller, trying to capture some of the popularity of the X-Files. In season 2, Rawls left the show entirely, Williams left save for a role in the series finale, and D'Errico (who had moved over to the main series) and Cribrian's roles were largely reduced (to the point of being non-existent). Dorian Gregory (who would later go on to be a supporting character in the original Charmed series) joined the cast playing Diamont Teague, a paranormal expert who helped Mitch and Ryan with their cases.

The DVD set is a German Import. They are Region Free discs, however, so you can play them on a US blu-ray or DVD player.  There are 12 discs (6 per season) all in a big keep case. Unfortunately, it is the kind of case in which two discs have to be stacked on top of each other and some discs fall off of the tabs very easily while others are very hard to get off the tabs. The DVD menus are in German and the audio defaults to German, but you can switch to the English audio track. There are no captions, however. On discs 6 and 12 there are bonus features. Most of the bonus material specific to the show, including behind-the-scenes featurettes and trailers for each of the season 1 episodes are on disc 6. On disc 12, there are a couple of trailers for the second season of the show and a photo gallery. Then, on both discs 6 and 12, there are trailers for other movies and TV shows. The bonus features specific to Baywatch Nights are in English and the other trailers are in German. Also of note, the episodes are not remastered, so the A/V quality is pretty low. 

Overall, the show alternates between bad and horrible. The first season shows are kind of cheesy but are pretty similar in quality to what you got in the parent show. The second season is trash. Just awful, garbage, made even worse by Hasselhoff's overacting. Occasionally, characters from the main show (such as Yasmine Bleeth and Michael Newman) did appear on Nights, but for the most part, there was very little crossover (or continuity) between the two shows. This is absolutely not a must-watch, even if you are a fan of the main Baywatch series, but it is interesting in a morbid curiosity kind of way.

DVD/Movie Review: Doc Hollywood

 

Doc Hollywood is a 1991 romantic comedy starring Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, Woody Harrelson, Bridget Fonda, and David Ogden Stiers. The movie is a classic fish-out-of-water story. A doctor named Ben Stone is driving across the country to take a job in Los Angeles and gets stuck working at the hospital in the small fictional town of Grady South Carolina after destroying the town judge's fence. It is completely absurd from a reality concept, but it is one of those stories that if you can suspend your disbelief on that part, you can enjoy the rest of it. 

As far as the DVD itself goes, it is definitely nothing fancy, with no bonus material or extras, and it did not get the best DVD transfer. Hopefully, it will get a better release at some point in the future, maybe for a 35th Anniversary release as a Special Edition Blu-Ray. But, for the moment, it has just had the bare-bones DVD and Blu-Ray release.  

Overall, the movie is great even though the story is predictable, and you can see where it is going from a mile away, Even so, the acting is great, and the story is told in a very entertaining way. Fox and Warner were great as the leads and David Ogden Stiers was awesome as Grady's mayor and stole nearly every scene he was in. But really, the entire cast, supporting actors included, did well and brought something to the story. Personally, I think that this movie, along with Secret of My Success, is Michael J. Fox's best movie outside the Back to the Future series. It is also among the last handful of movies in which Fox had a leading role as it was during the filming of this movie in which he was diagnosed with Parkinson's. It is absolutely worth the time to watch.

DVD/TV Series Review: Due South: The Ultimate Collection

 

Due South was a buddy-cop series that ran from 1994 to 1999. The first two seasons aired on CBS and the final season(s), which was really one long 26-episode season) aired in syndication from 1997-1999. The show was mostly a case-of-the-week procedural but did have some serial aspects that carried over throughout the series.  The series actually started as a made-for-tv movie that aired on CBS, and when it did better than expected in the ratings it was picked up by CBS. The premise is that a member of the Canadian Mounties (played by Gordon Pinsent)  is shot and killed in the Canadian wilderness. His son, a straight-laced Canadian Mountie named Benton Frasier (played by Paul Gross) investigates his father's death, which leads him to Chicago where he enlists the help of the detective assigned to the case, Ray Vecchio (played by David Marciano). When Frasier helps Ray solve one of his cases, Ray agrees to help Frasier with the investigation. Fraiser ends up staying in Chicago, working at the Canadian Consulate and along with his wolf, Diefenbaker, helping Ray solve cases as a liaison to the Chicago police. During the series, Pinsent would return as a ghost or hallucination of Benton's and "help" and/or irritate his son. The show was a mix of comedy, action, and drama and did very well with the "fish out of water" as Benton was overly helpful and polite in the harshness of Chicago. The show blended elements of comedy, drama, and action perfectly.

The key to the show was that it was always well-acted. Even in the last season after David Marciano left and the story became a little more campy, the acting was always great. One thing I had forgotten was how many guest appearances were made on the show. Leslie Nielsen was the big one, who appeared in a few different episodes. But Ryan Phillipe and Mark Ruffalo also guest starred in very early roles for both of them, as well as Maria Bello, Carrie-Ann Moss, and Malina Kanakaredes. Callum Kieth Renne joined the series in the third (and if you count it, the fourth season) when Marciano could not agree on a new contract.

I originally thought that the show should have gone on longer, but after watching the series again from beginning to end, I think that the show went out at exactly the right time. It told as many stories as possible, without getting extremely repetitive. It was definitely a show that was always being kept alive. It barely got a second season on CBS, then survived a couple more in syndication. A couple of the episodes from the series are on my list of all-time favorite TV episodes. 

In the end, I felt it did a fine job wrapping up everyone's stories and leaving the "continued adventures" to the imagination. It was one of the best series on the air at the time. It did not rely on gratuitous sex and violence to be entertaining. The stories always had a point, and the acting was great. It was a very underrated series, is definitely worth watching, and deserves a spot in any fan's collection.

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Nights: Season 2 (German Import)

 

Season 2 of Baywatch Nights, the first spin-off of the wildly popular lifeguard show, Baywatch, aired in syndication during the 1996-1997 TV season. In season 2 the show was taken in a completely different direction from season 1. Unfortunately, that direction was totally off the rails from hot, but somewhat entertaining garbage, to complete garbage. The entire premise of the show was switched from a crime drama to a paranormal thriller. Essentially, the show tried to do something similar to X-Files, but because the writing and acting (mainly due to Hasselhoff's hammy overacting) were so bad, the show never came near the quality of X-Files. It was just cheesy, not thrilling, suspenseful, or scary.

There was quite a bit of cast turnover this season. Both Gregory Alan Williams and Lou Rawls left the show (although Williams did have a guest appearance in the finale), and the roles of Donna D'Errico and Eddie Cribrian were very reduced. In D'Errico's case, she had moved over to the main show as a series regular, but Cribrian was absent from many of the second-season episodes and when he was included, his character had very little to contribute. The big addition to the cast in season 2 was Dorian Gregory (best known for his role in the original Charmed series), who plays Diamont Teague, a paranormal expert, who helps Mitch and Ryan with the cases. The only notable guest stars during season 2 were the very recognizable character actor Erick Avari, and Alexandra Paul, reprising her role as Stephanie Holden. 

There are different DVD sets out there. Mine is a German import that requires either a Region 2 or Region Free DVD or Blu-Ray player to watch it. The DVD menu, titles of the episodes, and end credits are all in German. While the audio does default to playing in German, you can play the English audio track by switching the audio in your player's settings or options. There are a handful of extras included, two of which are specific to the show (two trailers and a photo gallery), and the rest (trailers for other movies and TV series). The trailers for the show itself are in English and the other trailers are all in German (and do include some nudity).

Season 2 is horrible. Unlike the first season, you cannot really say it's so bad it's good. The stories are dumb and there is little to no continuity with the main show. For example, Mitch and Ryan continue their on-again-off-again relationship tease, but on the main show, during season 7 (which aired the same year as season 2 of Nights), Mitch was in a relationship with Nancy Valen's character for a good portion of the season. The only good thing was Angie Harmon being willing to be in skimpy outfits from time to time, but that was not enough to save the show and it was thankfully canceled after this season. It does seem like the show was canceled after the season ended since it did not really wrap up the characters' arcs in any meaningful way. The only reason to get the DVD set is to maintain a collection, and there is really no reason to actually watch the episodes other than morbid curiosity.