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vslauterbach
Reviews
The Last Ship (2014)
Impressive Visuals - Otherwise Weak
This show has a movie budget and boasts big SFX, but the pilot hour "Phase Six" tries to make up for a weak plot with a fast pace and fails. The story lags as soon as the action stops, wasting a cast that certainly could have handled better dialog and more character development. The cooperation of the USN is largely wasted on silly battle scenes, but the military hardware all looks great. Luckily the rogue Russians had the same training as the storm troopers in Star Wars, so they just waste ammo at high speed then get killed. The key plot element, a global pandemic, is revealed in the prologue, so the mysterious mission to the arctic fails to generate any suspense. For a better use of the same plot device, see "Ice Station Zebra" (1968). The realistic ships and equipment clash with the cartoon-like action, which grates because making the action scenes more believable wouldn't have been difficult. As is, the writers and producers look lazy. The most glaring example is using "radio silence" to keep the crew ignorant of world events when knowing what was happening would have actually added drama (and ships still listen when they aren't transmitting; they would have picked up satellite news). Summary: this is a very pretty hour of entertainment that won't strain your brain, just your patience.
Campion (1989)
Entertaining 1930s Mystery
This BBC production is light, engaging fun beautifully filmed. Its main strengths are the performances of Peter Davison and Brian Glover along with the impeccable art direction of Steve Keogh. The repartee between Campion and Lugg from the novels is translated well. In the series, both characters are composites of their literary counterparts who evolved considerably over the course of the nine novels published in the 1930s (the first one, "Crime at Black Dudley" was not filmed). If you don't have the time or inclination to read Ms. Allingham's early novels, watching this series is the second best thing. The screenplays are generally faithful to the novels given the expected amount of condensation required to fit each into a hundred minute film, and the episode casts feature numerous fine performances by supporting characters. Overall, a good example of how to bring novels to the screen. In summary, if you like the classic, British country-house murder mystery, this is a fine example of that genre you shouldn't miss.
Hell on Wheels (2011)
Entertaining Western
Provided you're not interested in the actual building of the railroad, this series offers entertaining adventure with a bit of romance and plenty of melodrama. Set in the mythical America where every western since "The Lone Ranger" has taken place, it's a lot of fun. To learn about the real railroad, you'll have to watch the Transcontinental Railroad episode of "The American Experience" on PBS or read a good book like "Empire Express" by David Bain, but we didn't expect "The Lone Ranger" to teach us the history of real Texas Rangers, did we? This is about a man seeking vengeance or justice or both. The beautiful southern Alberta scenery is a good substitute for Nebraska, so don't let U.S. cavalry with Winchesters put you off. Everyone has always had a Winchester in the imaginary West. Just sit back and enjoy this one; it's "Laramie" or "Rawhide" with an R rating and story arc's that last a full season.
Invasion of the Pod People (2007)
For The Asylum, above their average
Unlike almost all the other films from The Asylum I've seen, this effort is actually watchable. On the plus side, the cast avoids overacting. Erica Roby, Danae Nason, and Marat Glazer even manage to make their characters interesting and likable. The bad SFX aren't overused, which is refreshing, and the plot, or premise, is developed in a satisfactory manner. On the negative side, the sound and editing are terrible. Almost every scene is marred by background noise. The construction is so choppy it's distracting. A few interesting scenes end abruptly while several boring ones drag on, leaving the impression that the editor was given a running time she couldn't exceed for any reason. Lastly, there's some gratuitous mature content, but that's a selling point in the direct to video market. In summary, unlike "King of the Lost World" and other output from the The Asylum, this isn't a complete waste of 90 minutes if you enjoy cheap B movies. On a scale of 1-10, I give it a generous 4.