Even after what may well be my 100th viewing of this film, I still get pretty emotional at the ending.
While Star Trek: The Motion Picture had been a financial success, it went so wildly over budget (and was really dull), that a sequel wasn't guaranteed. When a new Trek film was finally greenlit, it would have to be made on a very small budget. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as many of the best things are made when you have to work within restrictions. Lack of budget meant that the filmmakers would have to be creative and make a strong, exciting story be the main force of the film.
Star Trek II delivers on that front, and marks such a change in tone for the franchise that it's almost a soft reboot. For me, this is where Star Trek really begins. While the film doesn't ignore what's come before, it establishes many things that would remain with the whole series.
This time around, Kirk and crew are training up a new bunch of inexperienced cadets on the Enterprise when an old enemy resurfaces and is intent on exacting his revenge. By this point, the cast are beginning to show their age and the film acknowledges this beautifully. It deals greatly with themes of getting older and of obsession, from both protagonist and antagonist.
The movie is tense, exciting and gripping. And yet, it doesn't move at a breakneck pace. I really appreciate the time the film takes to set things up and establish the characters. I love the revelation that Kirk needs reading glasses and is embarrassed to let his bridge crew see him wearing them. These are a wonderful bunch of people to spend time with. Add the fantastic Ricardo Montalban into the mix as Khan and you have something very special. Once the action does begin, it benefits from the time taken to get there, because as a viewer you are completely in it.
Parts of the film become almost like a submarine movie as a game of cat-and-mouse begins. The effects budget for this film was used well, with the filmmakers saving money by re-using a lot of shots, set decoration and props from other films. The new shots they do use are spectacular, and I really love the model work for the spaceships. Additionally, it has one of the earliest uses of CGI.
Through all this, the film never loses the emotional impact. The modern Trek films are all pretty mindless action with jokes thrown in, Star Trek II has action and humour (McCoy is great: "would you like the sedatives?") but also has heart and makes you care. Plus the nasty ear-bug torture scene really disturbed me as a little kid.
Add to that a gorgeous soundtrack (elements of which were later reworked for Aliens), and it ensures that I will never get tired of this wonderful film and I would recommend it as a perfect starting point for anyone who's never seen any Star Trek.
Having finished the TV series Twin Peaks and come away from it quite blown away, I was eager to see the film that followed it. I was pre-warned that it had a different tone to the show, that it was darker and generally not well received at the time it was released. However, the final few episodes of Twin Peaks had taken a more sinister, otherworldly turn and I really liked it, so was happy to see where this would take me.
I was not prepared. Fire Walk With Me is one of the most brutal, terrifying and emotionally draining films I've ever seen. And I utterly loved it. Gone is the quirky soap-opera vibe the TV show gave us (although remnants of it pop up), and instead we get a full-on psychological horror showing us the last days of Laura Palmer's life.
It acts mostly as a prequel to the show - and should definitely not be watched if you haven't seen the whole TV series, because it will spoil a lot, as well as just being confusing - but also very cleverly places scenes that occur AFTER the end of the series, so it's also a sequel in some ways.
Not many of the characters from the TV series actually reprise their roles in this film (although many did, but their scenes were later cut out) and instead we get all the focus on Laura, her family and close friends. Agent Cooper does show up in a small role and his scenes are scattered throughout the film. We also get a very young Kiefer Sutherland, Chris Isaak and a wonderfully bizarre appearance by David Bowie (which does have an explanation if you really paid attention to the show's mythology and are open to working things out).
Sheryl Lee in the role of Laura Palmer is absolutely phenomenal. She wonderfully portrays a young girl whose life is absolutely falling apart, being subjected to unimaginable horrors. All the more impressive when you consider she was only ever originally hired to play a dead body in the pilot episode of the show. Watching her demise, which you know is coming from the start, is heartbreaking. Alongside her we also get a great turn from Ray Wise as her father and Frank Silva returning as BOB.
It's hard to talk about the film or even the characters without spoiling things. It contains some scenes which have become utterly burned into my mind; notably the harrowing sequence of Laura's final moments which is both horrific but also has an accompanying beautiful resolution. And I have to mention the amazing Pink Room sequence which is an absolute sonic assault on the senses with the throbbing, dirty music and realistic use of barely audible dialogue (fortunately subtitled, but in some ways it can play better without them).
It's a lot more adult than the TV show ever was and feels like Twin Peaks utterly let loose to tell the story on its own terms, rather than the restraints of 1990s network television. The crazy Red Room/Black Lodge sequences appear here as they did in the show, and they are essential for understanding what is going on. If you just dismiss them as weird and unintelligible art nonsense then you're missing the point.
This never deserved the criticism it got when released. I can only think its because Twin Peaks fans got something completely different from what they were expecting. It's honestly the best part of the entire Twin Peaks saga and has got me very excited from the (hopefully) forthcoming return of the show. It's not particularly gory but you still need to have a strong stomach and be in the right frame of mind to watch it, because it completely gets under your skin.
I've been wanting to watch this for years and finally had the opportunity. Superman II was one of the key films of my childhood and so much of it is burned into my memories. I never knew of the turmoil behind the scenes as original director Richard Donner was replaced after completing around 75% of the movie.
This reassembled cut of the film has wonderful intentions behind it, and while the end result is FASCINATING, it's definitely not a whole piece. Only so much can be done with the fragments of an unfinished film, so I have to applaud the work that went into this.
The new version of the film follows largely the same story beats but consists of mostly new footage, and the tone feels significantly different. It's more raw, there's more emotion and a lot of the lighter comedy moments are gone. Some sequences are very different to what I was used to - for example, the entire opening in Paris no longer exists here.
What I was most struck by was Christopher Reeve's performance as Superman (and Clark Kent). Reeve was always and likely always will be the most perfect Superman actor. In this new cut, he gets to display much more powerful, emotional scenes than the original gave us. Notably, his scenes with Marlon Brando are captivating. I find myself always getting emotional whenever I watch Reeve in this role for obvious reasons, but this drives home the tragedy in a new way. It's quite wonderful.
Also, he plays Clark Kent so wonderfully on top of that. It's a shame that later films never allowed actors to have much fun as this alter ego.
Still, overall I do prefer the theatrical cut of Superman II. It flows better and doesn't feel as rough around the edges. The ending is better there, too. Plus the music cues are lined up in a much more satisfying way which is unfortunately lost here.
It's fair to say that the pilot episode for the Stargate TV show was nothing special, and doesn't really capture the adventure, sci-fi creativity or comedy that the show would become known for. The script doesn't do the characters much justice and the performances are kind of stilted. Michael Shanks does a spot on impression of James Spader and the only returning actor from the original film is Alexis Cruz as Skaara.
So I'm really glad that this "final cut" version of the pilot was made, because it improves things. The overall pacing is tightened up and a lot of silly dialogue is removed or altered (including some horribly sexist stuff). The unnecessary nudity is excised completely, allowing this to fit with the more family friendly nature of the rest of the show. There are updates to some visual effects and the soundtrack music is changed. And most of the film uses alternate takes and better line readings which result in more natural acting.
It's still difficult to recommend this as the beginning of one of my favourite TV franchises. There's a cheapness to the whole thing - those snake head serpent guards are terrible, especially compared to how cool their movie counterparts looked. The new bad guy isn't intimidating in the least and the tone is a bit too varied.
But the concepts here are great. I love the expansion of the mythology as we learn of a vast network of stargates across the galaxy. Similarly, the introduction of the Goa'uld and Jaffa works well with a nice creepy factor. And the main characters are wonderful even if they're not developed well at this point. Richard Dean Anderson lightens the mood in Kurt Russel's role and Amanda Tapping is the coolest, smartest most kickass astrophysicist/air force captain while also being just plain fun.
The one thing I really miss here is the removal of the little twist at the end with Kawalkski which was pretty much the best thing in the original pilot, and really drew me in to keep watching.
Stargate SG-1 is MUCH better than this pilot movie would have you believe, but I think nostalgia always helps for me. I was into this show from the very start and even collected it on VHS back when it became available. Maybe time to start a full rewatch?
It's always seemed to me that Star Trek (The Original Series) worked far better as films than it did as a television show. On the other hand, The Next Generation flourished on the small screen, and had a much rougher time when it made the transition to the cinema.
Generations is a dumb film, but it's an entertaining one. It's got a languid pace at times, but it manages to be somewhat enthralling. The correct decision was made early on to have feature both the classic and modern cast as a way to pass the baton from one generation to the next, but almost all the story decisions following that were stupid ones.
Fortunately, the film doesn't take itself mega seriously, and the opening section on board the Enterprise-B is exciting and full of humour. Once the transition is made to the "present day" Next Gen crew, things just become a bit dull. The film assumes knowledge of these characters and gives us only the lightest of introductions to people like Data and Geordi. Worf, Troi and Crusher barely get a look in. Riker is there a lot but doesn't do much, so this is all about Picard. And Patrick Stewart does admittedly give a great performance, particularly in regards to the heavily emotional stuff he has to do concerning the loss of his family.
For a fan, the film gives us a lot of story points to work with which will resonate because we were introduced to them in the TV series (Picard's family, Lursa and B'Etor, Data's emotion chip), but I'd imagine if you were coming in to this cold then a fair bit would be lost on you.
It's also something of a character assassination that doesn't really respect the TV characters we've come to love. Data suffers greatly here, with the emotion chip changing him entirely and without much of a process behind it, but it's really Picard who is ruined. I don't believe for a second that his idea of a perfect life is to live in some Victorian-era perfect family world, with bad actors for children. He's an adventurer and explorer at heart.
The Nexus is just a dumb creation. It makes no sense. How characters interact with it makes no sense. The convoluted plot tells us that the evil Soran can't find his way back into it without killing millions of people, yet the opening sequence of the film clearly showed us that you just need to take a ship in (the ship will probably be destroyed, but you could get out before then).
Once he decides to leave the Nexus, Picard and Kirk travel back in time to the stupidest moment. Why not go much earlier? Or even an hour earlier? They could have made things a lot simpler for themselves.
But, just roll with it. The film has some great action moments and is a fun adventure. It also has some emotional impact as Captain Kirk finally meets his end (although, not in a very interesting or satisfying way). The Enterprise-D is also destroyed, which is kind of heart wrenching, and a fantastically put together sequence.
In fact, in terms of visuals I find it hard to fault. It's amazing to see the sets upgraded for a feature film, beautifully lit and in full widescreen with extra details. The special effects are magnificent too, and I love the use of practical models over CG. It just looks great and I find myself wishing that modern films would take a bit of inspiration from the on-screen clarity of 1990s film making.
