Babylon 5: Season 5 DVD Review

The Wheel of Fire

The last minute renewal for Babylon 5 was something of a mixed blessing. On one had it meant that the show would continue and J. Michael Straczynski would now be able to complete his much talked about five-year-plan. But since Straczynski had wrapped up almost every single significant plot thread the previous season he was now stumped about what to do next. Sure, he had a lot of great stuff with Londo planned but that didn’t get going until towards the end of the season. So what the hell was he going to do until then?

Babylon 5: Season 4 DVD Review

No Surrender, No Retreat

So much for best laid plans, eh. When he first conceived of Babylon 5 way back when J. Michael Straczynski had a definitive five year plan for the series. By the fourth season that plan was in serious danger of falling apart. The Prime Time Entertainment Network, the series’ home from day one, was not long for this world and as such the future of the series was uncertain. Fearing that his show would be cancelled before he could conclude the story Straczynski went in to emergency damage control and started wrapping up the all major storylines far earlier than he’d initially planned. As a result season four is the most densely packed season of the show’s entire run as barely a single episode is wasted in Straczynski’s mad rush to bring his story to a what seemed at the time to be a premature end.

Babylon 5: Season 3 DVD Review

Point of No Return

In my humble little opinion season three of Babylon 5 is the one of the finest seasons of television in the entire history of the medium. This was the absolute peek of J. Michael Straczynski’s small screen space opera. Admittedly, it’s not 100% perfect. It was at this point that Straczynski started writing ever single episode himself (an impressive achievement to be sure) so inevitable dreck like ‘Grey 17 is Missing’ gets sandwiched in between all the great stuff. And we were pretty much spoilt for choice with great stuff this season. After two years worth of build up this was the season where things were finally starting to pay off.

Babylon 5: Season 2 DVD Review

The Coming of Shadows
It was a year of change in season two of Babylon 5.

After the first season had wrapped up production it was mutually agree by all that Michael O’Hare wasn’t working out as the show’s leading man. O’Hare amicably agreed with creator J. Michael Straczynski to depart from the show (least that’s what they keep telling everyone) and was soon replaced by Bruce Boxleitner as Captain John J. Sheridan. The former Tron fitted in quite well on B5 and after about a few episodes you’d easily be forgiven for thinking he’d been there the whole time.

Babylon 5: Season 1 DVD Review

Signs and Portents
J. Michael Straczynski’s Babylon 5 was the last, best hope for a rival sci-fi television franchise to challenge the dominance of Star Trek. It failed. And let’s be glad it did. Last thing we needed was another bloated franchise knocking out a never ending cycle of naff spin-offs. Instead let’s be thankful for what remains to this day as one of the finest sci-fi series ever made. But it did take some time before it got there.

Hamlet DVD Review

Starring: David Tennant, Patrick Stewart, Penny Downie, Oliver Ford Davies, Peter De Jersey, Mariah Gale, Edward Bennett 

Review: Of all the various tragedies, comedies and histories he produced in his lifetime Hamlet remains my absolute favourite William Shakespeare play. It contains his best narrative, his most fascinating characters and without doubt his finest dialogue, much of which has now become imbedded in the national lexicon. Like many I was unable to acquire tickets to see this RSC production starring David Tennant when it debuted last year in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Fortunately the RSC, realising the mass appeal of Tennant, have team-up with the BBC to adapt the play for television which is now released on DVD.

Director Gregory Doran, also responsible for the stage production, wisely avoids the same trap that befalls many by refusing to simply record the play on the stage as it is performed. This production instead uses a mixture of studio set mixed with some location work. Doran’s Elsinore is a dark, cold and claustrophobic setting, a palace of polished black floors, shattered mirrors and security cameras on every wall. Doran takes full advantage of the camera but doesn’t resort to being flashing by showing off with cheap camera tricks. Instead he uses the camera to tell the story and showcase the performances of his cast. Many of the major soliloquies are delivered directly to the camera and often shot in continuous takes. Doran also utilises basic special effects to make Hamlet’s encounter with his father’s ghost that little more spooky.

As the Dane David Tennant is simply mesmerizing, effortlessly capturing the character’s torment, wit and cunning. There are times when his performance is a little too David Tennant-ish but that’s a minor quibble of a truly phenomenal performance. He’s masterfully supported by Patrick Stewart as Claudius and Penny Downie as Gertrude. But it’s Oliver Ford Davis who steals the whole show as a wonderfully infuriating Polonius.

It’s not a completely flawless production. Despite the passion and conviction of the acting the whole never truly comes alive as it might do on the stage. Some scenes still feel too static and stagy for television. The subplot with Fortinbras is retained but goes nowhere and could’ve been easily excised. The final act feels rushed and unsatisfying (more Bill’s fault than Doran’s). And although many of the cast are flawless Mariah Gale is at times too theatrical as Ophelia especially in ‘get thee to a nunnery’ scene.

Hamlet remains the Bard’s most performed and adapted work. To date Kenneth Branagh’s lavish four-hour epic remains the definitive screen version. This production could’ve never have hoped to match that achievement but still produces an engrossing interpretation with a towering performance by it’s leading man.

Rating: * * * *

Justice League: The Complete Series DVD Review

In 1992 Bruce Timm set the standard for small screen animation when he helped create Batman: The Animated Series, perhaps the greatest animated series of all time. Timm followed that landmark series with a his own take on the last son of Krypton that sadly failed to make the same kind of impact as it’s predecessor despite being of the same high standard. Once both those shows wrapped up Timm and his team set their sight on expanding the DC Animated universe they had created beyond just the adventures of Batman and Superman. Justice League was the end result. And once again Timm struck gold and gave us another one of the finest animated series ever produced.

Like the comic it was based on Justice League centred on a super-team that was comprised of some of DC Comic’s biggest icons; Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern (John Stewart not Hal Jordan), Martian Manhunter and…err, Hawkgirl (?). After two seasons the show was give a major shake up and morphed into Justice League Unlimited and against all odds actually got better instead of worse as is usually the case when executives mess with something that was already working. The scope of the show was expanded to include almost every single DC hero ever created. This was great because it meant less well known characters like Green Arrow, Booster Gold, Mr Miracle, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, Dr Fate, Huntress, Hawk and Dove, The Atom and the Question got to have their time in spotlight along with all the A-listers.

While Justice League was a great show on its own Unlimited is by far the superior series. It’s a more inventive and entertaining series with better story arcs and character development. Plus it’s obvious that the creators had a real love and passion for the entire DC Universe. It was also surprisingly mature for a kid’s series with the creators wisely deciding not to treat their audience like imbeciles. But when all is said and done this was still an action show. Being a kids series the violence is never overdone but still remains fast and exciting. Superman’s numerous smack downs with Darkseid are a personal highlight.

Another great feature of the series is the fantastic voice work done by the entire cast. In fact, the sheer number of celebrity vocals (many Joss Whedon alumni) that pop up throughout the series is staggering. Okay, deep breath, here goes; Nathan Fillion, Eric Roberts, Michael Ironside, CCH Pounder, Alexis Deninof, Adam Baldwin, Juliet Landau, Mark Hamil, Robert Picardo, John C. McGinly and Clancy Brown to name but a few I could remember without checking IMDB. Special mentions must go, though, to Amy Acker as Huntress and Jeffery Combs as the Question. In fact The Question is the breakout character of the series, a ridiculously paranoid conspiracy theorist who believes that the little plastic things at the end of shoe laces have a sinister purpose and is not above murder if it serves the greater good.

Like I said, this show was surprisingly mature.

Rating: * * * * *

The Sarah Jane Adventures: Series 2 DVD Review

Much as I adore Elisabeth Sladen and love her as the iconic Sarah Jane Smith I have to say that the second season of The Sarah Jane Adventures is sadly not as good as the first. While Torchwood has gone from strength to strength over the years, culminating in the exceptional Children of Earth, the more family friendly Doctor Who spin-off has become stuck in something of a rut.

Watching these six two-part adventures there’s a constant nagging sense that the series is simple going through the motions. The writers have found a way of doing things, a way that worked well last series, and they’ve decided to rigidly stick to it. This has left series two feeling safe, predictable and stagnant. They could do better, we know they can do better, but they don’t seem to want to try.

On the bright side at least there are no Slitheen around to ruin things this time around so we should all be thankful for small favours. Instead this series sees Sarah Jane and the kids face off against such galactic terrors as a vengeful Sontaran, Miss Moneypenny, Bradley Walsh trying (and failing) to do a Pennywise, that meddlesome Trickster again and Russ Abbot. Yes, Russ bleedin’ Abbot!

Now that’s positively terrifying.

In the opening story ‘The Last Sontaran’, a semi-sequel to the Doctor Who two-parter 'The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky', Sarah Jane’s faithful sidekick Maria Jackson departs for America with her dad. She's swiftly replaced in the next adventure by new girl Rani Chandra. Granted I use the word ‘new’ lightly. Rani and Maria, plus their respective parents, are so similar that part of me suspects they simply went through all the scripts and just changed all the names.

Once Rani has settled in and the new dynamic is established it’s back to business as usually. ‘Day of the Clown’ plays like a school play version of ‘It’ but the only thing scary here is Bradley Walsh’s American accent. Not to be outdone Russ Abbot hams it into the stratosphere in ‘Secret of the Stars’. Our semi-famous four battle the twin evils of has been light entertainment comedians and astrology. The Sarah Jane-lite 'Mark of the Berserker' is actually very good and the best story of the series. The same can't be said for ‘The Temptation of Sarah Jane’ which tries to recapture the highs of last series finest tale ‘Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?’ but manages to fall short.

The final story ‘Enemy of the Bane’ see Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart makes a long overdue comeback but disappointingly he has little to do, no doubt due to Nicholas Country’s age forcing him to spend the majority of his screen time sitting down. Nevertheless, it’s still great to see him again after all these years.

One thing that this series does have over its predecessor is the quality of the acting. Sladen is as wonderful ever but it’s the younger cast members that impress the most. Both Daniel Anthony (Clyde) and Tommy Knight (Luke) have grown into their roles immensely this year. And despite her character initially being nothing more than a Maria clone Anjli Mohindra is fantastic as Rani.

Rating: * * *

DVD Extras
- Series 1 synopsis recap
- Character, Tools & Alien profiles
- Blue Peter interview with cast
- Audio clip from the Time Capsule
- Me & my movie with Tommy Knight
- Photo Galleries
- Trailers
- Quiz

Supernatural: Season 4 DVD Review

"The X-Files is a TV show. This is real"

You know what’s really great about being a Supernatural fan? Every year, regardless of the established laws of diminishing returns, the show just keeps getting better and better all the time. The first season was good but not great. The second was much better. And season three, despite being curtailed by the writer’s strike, was simply fantastic with a really dark and shocking twist at the end.

But season four has to be the show’s best season so far. This is no longer simply a show about two brothers roaming America, fighting monsters and ripping off crappy horror movies. The ante has been upped to Biblical levels as Sam and Dean are now at the centre of a epic celestial battle between demons and angels.

Don’t expect any Highway to Heaven-scale schmaltz from Castiel and co. These angels are, as Sam and Dean constantly reminded us all season, dicks. Yet they were the kind of dicks that could also smite a whole town off the map, fiddle about with the time space continuum, pluck the dead out of hell and turn demons to dust. These guys are Old Testament bastards to be sure.

While the central arc story goes from strength to strength this year the standalone episodes don’t suffer as a result. ‘Monster Movie’ is a great tribute and pastiche of classic horror movies complete with a scooter riding Dracula. The brothers find themselves against a suicidal giant teddy bear in the brilliant demented ‘Wishful Thinking’. Even the questionable nature of ‘Jump the Shark’ where a third, long-lost Winchester brother is introduced manages to defy preconception and be quite good.

It’s staggering to believe but there’s isn’t a single naff or rubbish episode all season. There are a couple of simply average and okay ones but that’s about as negative as it gets. ‘Metamorphosis’ and ‘Family Remains’ are perhaps the most average and okay, feeling more like leftovers from a much weaker season.

Oh well, nobody’s perfect.

Rating: * * * * *

DVD Extras
- Audio Commentaries
- Making of

- Deleted Scenes

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan DVD Review

“We had our foot on the throat of humanity and we failed to step down hard enough”

Written by Jane Espenson and directed by Edward James Olmos, The Plan chronicles events from the early days of Battlestar Galactica, the original mini-series right up to the finale of season two, all seen from the perspective of the Cylons, in particular John Cavil. This is essentially Cavil’s story. He was the mastermind behind the attacks on the Twelve Colonies and the chief architect of the Cylon’s infamous plan. The actually plan itself was rather straightforward; kill all humans. That’s it. Blunt, clear and to the point. A plan so simple and fundamentally robotic Bender constantly mutters it in his sleep. But like all well laid plans it eventually all fell apart.

Back in the mini the attack on the colonies was mostly depicted off-screen or only glimpsed from a distance. In The Plan we see the attack in full, up close and personal. And it is a truly awesome and horrifying sight as entire fleets of Basestars rain down devastation on the Colonies. For the first time we see glimpses of all of the Twelve Colonies as one by one they fall to the Cylon onslaught. It is by far the best part of the whole thing and here in lies the key fault with The Plan, it peaks too early. After such a spectacular opening everything that follows feels rather inconsequential.

Boiled down to it the rest of The Plan is basically a game of fill in the blanks. So much archive footage is used that you begin to think that you’re watching nothing more than a glorified clip show. Many of the loose ends left dangling from the first two seasons are finally tied up. Admittedly, some of this is interesting but at the same hardly essential to our understanding and enjoyment of the series.

It goes with out saying that Dean Stockwell is exceptional as always, relishing every Machiavellian witticism Espenson gives him. He’s at his best as the Galactica Cavil, a villain dedicated to the cause but consumed by frustration and disappointment as one by one his plans to destroy the fleet fail and his fellow Cylons continue to let him down. Special mention must also go to Rick Worthy who finally gets his chance to shine as the most neglected Cylon, Simon.

Fans hoping to see their old favourites one last time may come away disappointed, The Plan is strictly a showcase for the show’s supporting cast. Lee, Kara, Helo and Baltar only appear in stock footage, Laura is absent altogether and Adama and Tigh only have bit parts. But fans of Tyrol, Six, Sharon, Anders and Leoben will be happy to know they all get their moment in the spotlight.

Rating: * * *

DVD Extras
- Commentary by Jane Espenson and Edward James Olmos
- From Admiral to Director: Edward James Olmos and The Plan
- The Cylons of The Plan
- The Cylon Attack
- Visual Effects: The Magic Behind The Plan
- Deleted Scenes

Lost: Season Five DVD Review

“What lies in the shadow of the statue?”

Confusing, frustrating, thrilling, exciting, epic, intimate, funny, tedious, Lost is all these things and more. And perhaps nothing summed up the show’s good and bad points quite so much as the fifth season. Although not as good as the blistering fourth season season five is still more enjoyable than two and three and marks the penultimate chapter of one of television’s most addictive dramas.

It’s clear now that the writers no longer feel bound by the need to attract new viewers to the show (which might explain the ratings dip). Liberated from studio constraints they’ve indulged themselves with every single mad idea they might’ve previously held back on for being too out there, man. That means a butt load of time travel, a case of resurrection, some temporal paradoxes and Hurley writing the script to The Empire Strikes Back three years in advance. With improvements, of course.

The first half of the season is split into two separate storylines. The first follows those who escaped the island in the finale of season four, the so-called Oceanic Six, and deals with Jack and Ben’s attempts to persuade them to return to the island. The second, and my favourite, chronicles the events back on island and the struggles of those characters who were left behind. As a result of the Ben Linus turning that frozen donkey wheel the island has become unstuck in time, randomly yanking this helpless group of Billy Pilgrims back and forth through untold chapters in the shows back-story. This was a great way to delve into areas of the show’s history without having long, boring scenes of character talking. For example, instead of telling us what happened to Danielle and her crew we actually get to see it play out live.

The actual return of the Oceanic Six to the island is a rather muted and anti-climatic affair, almost as if the writers couldn’t be bothered to work it all out properly and just wanted everyone back on the island without delay. After a duo of fantastic episodes, “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” and “LaFleur” the momentum then grinds to a sudden halt as our heroes become trapped in 1977 and start hanging out with the Dharma Initiative. Initially this storyline seemed slow and directionless, enlivened only by Sayid shooting someone unexpected, until Daniel comes up with a bonkers plan to upend history, “Hi…err…guys…ahhh…we need to…Mmmm…nuke the…err…island”. Great plan, Dan.

The various plot strands finally come to a head in season finale “The Incident” an episode that is both stunning and infuriating in equal measure. Once again questions were answered only to lead to even more questions. After years of hints and clues we get to meet the mysterious Jacob only for him to be… oh, you’ll see. A new key player was introduced, although given the character’s nature it’s likely he was there all along we just didn’t know it. The season ends on the type of cliff-hanger that leaves everyone’s fate, and the entire fabric of the show’s reality, in some serious doubt.

Despites the many ups and downs this season the cast continues to remain strong. Michael Emerson earned his Emmy on more than one occasion. Looking back it’s hard to believe that he was originally only supposed to do five or six episodes. Ben Linus has become an indispensable part of this show’s mythology. On the other hand, Elizabeth Mitchell and Josh Holloway were both unforgivably snubbed this year. If anything this was the season that Sawyer and Juliet took centre stage and pushed Jack and Kate into the sidelines. Their touching, affectionate and ultimately tragic tale dominated the season and this particular viewer’s heart.

Rating: * * * *

DVD Extras
- Audio Commentaries
- LOST On Location
- Building 23 & Beyond
- An Epic Day With Richard Alpert
- Making Up For LOST Time
- Mysteries Of The Universe: The DHARMA Initiative
- LOST Bloopers - Deleted Scenes

Jonathan Creek: The Grinning Man DVD Review

After a five year hiatus Alan Davis finally returned to TV screens last year as that duffle coated solver of impossible crimes, Jonathan Creek. Creator David Renwick admitted that he stopped writing the series because he simply ran out of good ideas. The only reason he bothered to drum up a new script was to hold off retirement.

However, there is very little that is actually new about Creek’s encore. Certainly “The Grinning Man” bares similarities to the show’s previous Christmas specials, “Black Canary” and “Satan’s Chimney” including a gothic setting and tone, the dark secrets of a former magician and a classic locked room mystery. Revealing more would give too much away so I’ll stop there.

The central mystery at the heart of “The Grinning Man” is certainly a gripping and intriguing one but hamstrung by too many lousy sub-plots and narrative cheats. The solution to one mystery is far too convoluted even for Jonathan Creek. And the storyline involving Jonathan’s boss, sleazy magician Adam Klaus, borders on the farcical as Klaus become involved in the porn industry.

Davis slips back into the role with ease. Jonathon is older, bit out of shape, no wiser but still just as fiendishly cleaver as he’s always been. Joining him is Sheridan Smith as Creek’s latest sidekick. Sadly, despite a strong performance, Smith fails to offer anything new to the mix. Her character is reminiscent of Creek’s last partner, Carla. The two character are virtually identical. Seems Renwick has a type and he’s sticking to it.

After such a long absence, especially with so much pedestrian murder mysteries like Midsummer Murders clogging up the airwaves, it is great to see Jonathan Creek back on the box. “The Grinning Man” maybe far from the glorious comeback some might of hoped for but nor is it the bitter disappointment others feared. Despite it’s flaws this is simply a good old fashioned mystery tale and a welcome return from one of TV’s finest sleuths.

Rating: * * *

DVD Extras
-Behind the Scenes
-Deleted Scenes

Sanctuary: Season 1 DVD Review

Originally starting life as an eight-part internet series in 2007 Sanctuary managed to impress the higher ups at the Sci-Fi Channel (as it was known at the time) who soon commissioned a full series which debut last year. Stripped down Sanctuary is pure, unadulterated pulp entertainment. It’s highly unoriginal yet at the same time truly innovative and groundbreaking.

The original web series was pretty much a side project for a trio of Stargate alumni, writer Damian Kindler, director Martin Wood and actress Amanda Tapping, something fun and new for them to do after nearly 15 years of gate travel. The two-hour pilot ‘Sanctuary For All’ effectively re-works the original web series into a stylish and engrossing story that manages to introduce the characters and set up all the relevant story arcs with ease. The following episode ‘Fata Morgana’ is also adapted from the web series but feels lightweight in comparison with the pilot.

Tapping stars as Helen Magnus, a woman 157 years old who leads the Sanctuary, a secret international organization that seeks out non-human intelligent creatures or Abnormals, as they are known on the show, and tries to help and learn from them, while also having to contain the more dangerous creatures. She is assisted by her daughter Ashley (Emilie Ullerup), a butt-kicking monster hunter, former police forensic profiler Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne), a Bigfoot and Henry Floss (Ryan Robbins), their resident tech geek.

In many ways Sanctuary actually feels like a live-action comic book series and a less smutty (and Welsh) version Torchwood. The basic premise has shades of titles such as Men in Black, Planetary, B.P.R.D. The Middleman and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen only the tone is more overtly serious and Kindler and his writers lack the widescreen imaginations of Warren Ellis, Mike Mignola, Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Alan Moore. And while the overall quality of the series is consistently good most episodes are very routine and predictable while some are downright bad, the Fight Club wannabe ‘Warriors’ and Tribble tribute 'Nubblins' for instance. The central characters, despite being well played by the cast, all conform to established archetypes with Magnus as the wise and ancient leader, Ashley the action babe Henry the nervous geek and Will as the wide-eyed novice.

On a story front Sanctuary might be shamelessly derivative but on a technical front the series is ahead of it’s time. Making extensive use of CGI environments Sanctuary is able to transport viewers to another world, one like ours but different, a purely comic book world that looks absolutely nowt like Vancouver. Sometimes the effects are obvious but other times, as you’ll learn from the many commentaries, they are so subtle you’ll hardly notice. But while CGI sets are often impressive they do tend jar whenever the cast leave the studio and go out on location. Plus the creature effects and monster make-up for the Abnormals tend to let the side down on more than one occasion.

The series is also blessed with a strong cast lead by the wonderful Amanda Taping, although it does take a while to get used to the dark hair and British accent (she’ll always been Sam Carter to me). Christopher Heyerdahl, another Stargate semi-regular, is obviously having fun as John Duritt, Magnus’ former lover, Ashley’s father and, oh yeah, Jack the freakin’ Ripper. Dunne and Ullerup can both be rather bland most of the time but Robbins manages to compensate as Henry.

Rating: * * * *

DVD Extras
Commentaries on all episodes
3 Making-of Featurettes
Sanctuary: Original Webisodes
Season Two Sneak Peek
Photo Gallery
Bloopers

Heroes: Season 3 DVD Review

Not since the decline of Twin Peaks has a television series fallen from grace quite as quickly as Heroes has done. At least Peaks had the benefit of being cancelled before it could get any worse than it already was. Heroes has had no such luck.

Hard to think now but only a few years ago Heroes was a global phenomenon. It had everything; critical acclaim, high ratings, the cast splattered on numerous magazine covers, everyone was repeating the catchphrase “save the cheerleader, save the world”, overnight it had achieved near universal success. Then season two happened. “Meh” was the general response to this lukewarm season, mercifully cut short by that infamous writer’s strike. Creator Tim Kring promised that next season would be better. The writers had seen where they went wrong and wouldn’t make the same mistakes with season three.

I wasn’t there when Kring said all this but I’m willing to bet his pants were starting to overheat at the time. While season three is not as bad as season two that’s simple because it is much, much worse. This season is so bad you’d almost think Kring and his team were deliberately trying to scuttle the ship. Maybe they were. Must’ve come as a shock to them when NBC renewed the show for a forth season. Some might see this as a sign of network faith in the series. I see it as further evidence that 30 Rock is actually a documentary about how inept things really are at NBC.

The season is divided into two volumes; ‘Villains’ and ‘Fugitives’. The first volume had the potential to be brilliant and for a brief time it did seem as if the show was returning to previous form. But all our good faith was misplaced as one by one the episodes get increasingly worse. The characters we once loved and adored had all been replaced by pod people. They might look and sound the same but their thoughts and actions were radically differently from the people we knew in season one.

‘Villains’ was meant to make us loves Heroes all over again but instead turned everyone off even more. The second volume ‘Fugitives’ is a slight improvement featuring a much better adversary in the form of Zeljko Ivanek. Bryan Fuller briefly returns to the writing staff, injecting so much need fun back into the mix. But by this point the lasting damage has already been done and not even the mighty Fuller could salvage this shipwreck.

Throughout the season you struggle to care what happens to these characters anymore. That original sense of excitement and wonder that enticed everyone during the first season has been completely lost. The show’s fall from grace has been equally tragic and infuriating for those of us who were willing enough to stay with the show up to this point. As the season came to a close once again Tim Kring promised that the fourth season would be better. They’d learned all their mistakes from season three and wouldn’t make them again.

Tell it to someone who cares, mate.

Rating: * *

DVD Extras
-The Super Powers of Heroes
-Genetics of a Scene
-The Prop Box
-Tim Sale Galleries of Screen Art
-Alternate Stories
-Completing the Scene
-The Writer's Forum
-Deleted Scenes

Green Lantern: First Flight DVD Review

Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of sector 2814 and one of my favourite comic book characters, has always been considered one of DC Comics b-list superheroes, a bridesmaid forever doomed to be overshadowed by the holy trinity of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. But all that could be about to change.

A big budget live action film version starring Ryan Reynolds and directed by Martin Campbell (Edge of Darkness, Casino Royale) is already in production and should start shooting next year. Thanks to The Sinestro Corp War and Blackest Night the Green Lanterns and Jordan in particular are now major players in the comic world regularly topping the sales charts. And then we have this animated DVD movie, the latest in the DC Universe Original Animated Movies range following Superman: Doomsday, Batman: Gotham Knight, Justice League: The New Frontier and Wonder Woman.

As the title suggests Green Lantern: First Flight chronicles the early days of Hal Jordan’s career as a Green Lantern. The origin story is rushed through in the first few minutes as Hal is given his power ring by a dying Green Lantern who has crashed landed on Earth. First Flight contains many of the things I love about the Green Lantern comics but at the same time is a rather underwhelming experience that never fully satisfies.

Considering the source material the scope is suitable epic. The plot takes us from Earth to Oa, home of the Green Lantern Corp, to other alien planets, space ports and back again. The action sequences are fast and exciting with the animators taking full advantage of the endless uses of the power ring. But the main plot is hopelessly predictable. You can easily guess every single twist and turn it takes before reaching the inevitable action pack climax. Hal Jordan’s origin is rushed through in the first five minutes robbing the narrative of anything resembling character development. You never get to know Hal or understand why he would want to be a Lantern. He’s just a generic do-gooder while Sinestro is telegraphed as the big bad from the second he appears.

Perhaps the main area where First Flight fails the most is the one where Bruce Timm productions often always excel; the voice acting. The vocals performances are mostly flat and uninspired with few exceptions. Worst of all, Christopher Meloni is lacklustre as Hal Jordan. David Boreanaz did a much better job in Justice League: The New Frontier and it’s a shame they didn’t ask him to come back. The other characters are just as underdeveloped. Victor Garber does his best as Sinestro but Tricia Helfer phones it in as Boodikka while Michael Madsen just mumbles his way through the whole thing as Kilowog.

First Flight is a perfectly entertaining action adventure story for all the family. As an introduction to the colourful mythology of the Green Lanterns its functional. But as a character piece for Hal Jordan it is definitely lacking. Frankly, if you want a really great animated movie featuring Hal Jordan I’d recommend watching Justice League: The New Frontier instead.

Rating: * * *

The Avengers: Series 2 DVD Review

Is there any television series that is more quintessentially 1960s than The Avengers? Okay, granted there’s The Prisoner but was Number Six ever as much fun as John Steed? Did he have such iconic partners as Emma Peel or Cathy Gale? Thought not. No, all due respect to Patrick McGoohan but The Avengers remains the ultimate ‘60s TV series. But looking back on this collection of episodes from the show’s early days its shocking to see just how different The Avengers was when it first started out from the show it would eventually become.

The Avengers started life back in 1961 as a vehicle for Ian Hendry, star of the short lived series Police Surgeon. Hendry’s character, Dr. David Keel, teamed up with government agent John Steed (Patrick Macnee) to avenger the murder of his fiancée (hence the title) and fight crime on a regular basis. Back when the show started it was a far more tough and gritty affair than the flamboyant spy series we all know and love. Originally Hendry’s David Keel was the star with Steed as his rough and tumble, trench coat wearing sidekick, a far cry from the quintessential Englishman of legend. Only two and a half episodes still exist from the David Keel years and all have been collected in this set include a surviving episode of Police Surgeon.

After one series Hendry bailed to pursue a film career. Macnee was promoted to star status and saddled with a selection of rotating sidekicks only one of which was ever any good. Dr. Martin King (Jon Rollason) was a transparent David Keel clone which is no big surprise since all the episodes he appeared in were originally written for Ian Hendry. Meanwhile Julie Stevens’ Venus Smith was a night club singer, amateur spy and all round waste of space. The episodes that featured Venus were often more about showing off Stevens’ singing voice than her acting talent.

It was only when Steed was partnered up with Honor Blackman’s alluring Cathy Gale that the series really started to come alive. Gale was a revolutionary female character at the time; smart, confident, independent, quick-witted, capable of defending herself and had a fondness for wearing leather. British television audiences had never seen a woman like Cathy Gale before and were eager for more of her. By now Steed had ditched the trench coat, pick up his suits from Savile Row and pop on his bowler. Steed and Cathy sizzled on screen together even if their relationship never went far beyond some first-class flirting.

With the lead characters virtually established the series also began to slowly move away from being a gritty crime show and into more fantastical territories. Pop art sets, Cybernauts, diabolical masterminds and primary colours were still a few years away but by this point The Avengers was already well on its way to becoming one of the defining programs of the ‘60s and a classic of British television.

Shame the theme music was so crap. Someone get Laurie Johnson on the phone, pronto!
Rating: * * * *

Fringe Season One DVD Review

When it debuted last year Fringe was being flaunted as the next big thing. Everyone was expecting uber-producer JJ Abrams to deliver another Lost sized hit. Instead what we got was a moderately successful remake of The X-Files. Co-created by Abrams with his Star Trek writers, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, Fringe shares the same basic premise as Chris Carter’s magnum opus with FBI agents investigating strange and unexplained scientific phenomenon. Only this time around Mulder is the cynical sceptic, Scully is the more open minded believer and the Lone Gunmen are condensed into a single eccentric mad scientist. Oddly enough it all works.

Mostly.

For the first half of its freshman season Fringe is a distinctly hit and miss affair. Great one week, average the next. By episode ten ‘Safe’ things start to improve although the standalone tales work less well than the mythology driven episodes. Although in true JJ Abrams style it’s a mythology dense in puzzling questions, obscure clues and cryptic answers. By the end of the season you’ll find yourself just as confused as you were at the start if not more so.

Besides the up and down quality of the episodes another of the series main problems is unfortunately its heroine, Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv). For the most part Olivia was difficult to like, too cold and distant, focused entirely on her job. It didn’t help that Torv seemed to be sleepwalking through her performance half of the time. She improves as the series progress. Introducing her sister and niece warmed up the character and made her more relatable. Not sure how I feel about her having possible super powers and a grand destiny (too much like Sydney Bristow) but so far it’s given the series some great episodes (“The Ability” and “Bad Dreams”).

The Bishops, on the other hand, were instant favourites. The delightful contrast between Walter’s childish enthusiasm and Peter’s sarcastic charm help bring some great moments of levity to what could have been a very dour and overly serious show. John Nobel does tend to overdo it as Walter in the early episodes but manages to tone it down later on. Joshua Jackson is the only one of the core three who arrives pretty much fully formed. Peter acts as the audience’s window into this world, decoding all the tech talking and ready with a sarcastic quip whenever things get a little too unbelievable.

The remaining characters add very little to the show's central dynamic beyond having someone else around to spout exposition or asking Walter to explain the technobable for all the dummies in the audience. Olivia’s partner, Charlie, is the weakest link, lacking anything even remotely resembling a personality.

Okay, so to quickly recap; Fringe is the basically The X-Files with some 21st century sheen. The mythology episodes are great while the standalone ones tend to be iffy. The central trio are strong, even if it does take time to warm up to Olivia, but the rest of the cast are weak and forgettable. And those lacking in strong stomachs should be warned this is not the type of show you can watch while having lunch. Seriously, there’s at least one gross out moment every episode. You’d think they have a gore quota to meet or something.

Rating: * * * *

DVD Extras
-Three Full-Length Commentaries
-Evolution: The Genesis of Fringe featurette
-Behind the Real Science of Fringe featurette
-A Massive Undertaking: The Making of Fringe
-The Casting of Fringe
-Fringe Visual Effects featurette
-Dissected Files: Unaired Scenes
-Unusual Side Effects: Gag Reel
-Fringe: Deciphering the Scene
-Roberto Orci Production Diary
-Gene the Cow montage

Smallville: Season 8 DVD Review

It’s hard to believe that Smallville is still on the air after all these years. What’s even harder to believe is that I bothered watching it again after all these years. I all but gave up on the series during it’s sixth and seventh seasons, catching the occasional episode mainly because of morbid curiosity and my unwavering love for Alison Mack (please, someone find her a better show, she’s too good for this one now).

Season 8 was the first without the show’s original developers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. A new creative team was brought in to take over and hopefully shake the series out of its lethargy. This was the year they finally got Clark off that farm and start working at the Daily Planet. Mind you, he still lives on the farm, long distance commuting being no problem when you’re faster than a speeding bullet. This was also supposed to be the year that Clark final got over that wet blanket, Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), and started making gooey eyes at Erica Durance’s feisty Lois Lane.

Sadly this was not to be. Just when it looked like Clark and Lois were finally going to get together who should show up but the emotional black hole herself. Great, just what everyone wanted, more Clark/Lana moping. Like there hasn’t been enough of that in the last seven seasons. Worst of all Lois is given the boot in favour of Lana and vanishes completely for a several episodes (boo). Lex briefly returns (although not played by Michael Rosenbaum) leading the way for Lana to be finally written out. Hopefully for good this time.

The season's overreaching arc, the Doomsday storyline, limped along before reaching an underwhelming climax. Even the death of a few regular characters couldn’t save this from being anything other than a massive wasted opportunity. The problem with this entire arc is that Doomsday, even in the comics, is a very weak villain despite the very best efforts of Samuel Witwer.

The regular characters are all just going through the same motions they’ve been going through since day one. Bless’em, they try to hide it but you can sort of tell they are really not bothered anymore. Tom Welling’s face seems to be permanently set on ‘perplexed’. Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) is promoted to series regular and as such is dually wasted the entire season. New character Tess (Cassidy Freeman), a blatant Lex substitute, brings nothing new to the table except someone else to get on your nerves whenever Lana isn’t on screen.

But seriously, let’s all be brutally honest here, does anyone really give a shit about this show anymore? I certainly don’t. I struggled though this season in the vain hope that it would be a return to form and offer a promising new direction for the series. I was wrong. Smallville should’ve been put out to pasture years ago but instead it continues to be renewed, due to return for a ninth season at the end of September.

Rating: * *

Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods Final Cut DVD Review

Okay, so assuming you already own the complete first season of Stargate SG-1, would you be willing to fork out your hard earned cash for a fancy new edit of the series' original pilot, 'Children of the Gods'? That’s the choice facing hardcore fans of the durable sci-fi franchise as this new DVD release hits the shelves. But is there more to this release than a simple case of pimp my pilot? Frankly, the answer is a resounding 'hell no'. No matter how the distributor might try to spin it Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods Final Cut can’t escape the foul stench of shameless cash-in.

This supposed final edit is more a quick paint job than an extensive nip and tuck. Not much has really been changed from the original version; the run time is slightly shorter, Joel Goldsmith has recorded a new score and the special effects have been spruced up with some brand new CGI. The original cliff-hanger ending has also been trimmed to make this feel more like a complete movie rather than a series pilot. Oh, and the full frontal nude scene with Vaitiare Bandera (Daniel Jackson's wife Sha're) has been cut so you don't see any naughty bits (boo!).

Of course this fresh polish can’t change the fact that 'Children of the Gods' is far from one of SG-1’s better efforts. Being early days it’s somewhat understandable that the cast hadn’t quite gelled yet but that doesn’t stop a lot of the acting being on the stiff side of things. The plot is littered with holes and over stuffed with incessant exposition, often at the expense of character and action. Oh, and I’d forgotten how painfully dull Apophis was as a bad guy. Why they stuck with this plank for so long is beyond me.

Although, simply for nostalgia, it is refreshing to look back on a time when Richard Dean Anderson’s dialogue didn’t consist entirely of wisecracks and references to The Simpsons.

Rating: * *

Stargate Atlantis: Season Five DVD Review

Friends, Wraith, Replicators, lend me your ears. I come to bury the fifth season of Stargate Atlantis, not to praise it. Two years on from the end of it's parent series, Stargate: SG-1, and the lost city of Atlantis has finally been sunk once and for all. But the big question remains; does anyone really care anymore?

Having viewed the entire fifth season twice now I’d have to say ‘no’. Obviously even the creative forces behind the camera have all grown as tired and disinterested with their own creation as the viewers have done. This final season is a lacklustre assortment of the occasionally good, the horribly bad and consistently bland. Being the show’s swansong year several major plot threads are brought to a conclusion but often in an unsatisfactory way. The ending of the Michael arc is clumsily handled, turning one of the series best villains into a whinny teenager while the series’ grand finale ‘Enemy at the Gates’ is an exceptional disappointment. Clearly no one is bothered about wrapping things up neatly and giving everyone a memorable send off. That’s what the inevitable DVD movies are for.

There are a few diamonds in amongst all the rough. ‘The Shrine’ gives both David Hewlett and Jewel Staite the chance to shine with gusto. The midseason two-parter ‘First Contact’/‘The Lost Tribe’ is a great and features the return of Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks). Although, that did have the side effect of making me miss SG-1 all over again. Finally, the series manages to slip out of format for a week with the brilliant, CSI inspired ‘Vegas’ an episode that gives us the sight of a Wraith strolling through as casino to the sound of ‘Sympathy for the Devil’. In a word, brilliant!

Sadly the rest of the season is primarily made up of filler material including a lousy clip show. The cast also don’t seem that enthusiastic this season. The majority of the time they seem just as bored making it as I felt watching it. With Amanda Tapping too busy with Sanctuary to put in any regular appearances Carter is replaced by Richard Woolsey (the great Robert Picardo) but he’s just as underused this season as she was last season. Another in a long line of season five’s wasted opportunities.

Despite it humble begins Stargate managed to achieve what Babylon 5 had failed to do and supplement the once mighty Star Trek as the dominate sci-fi franchise on TV. But at the same time it fell into the same trap as Trek, becoming so safe and stale that audience become disenfranchised and eventually switched off for good. It remains to be seen if Stargate Universe can be the glorious revival its creators are hoping for or will it be just another nail in the franchise’s coffin. Besides, it’s got to be better than Stargate Infinity, right?

Rating: * *