Pulp Fiction Revisited Part 2 "I'm gonna get medieval on your ass!"

Well its time to revisit another of my previous posts and the post in question is Quentin Tarantino's modern classic, Pulp Fiction, which now celebrates it 25th anniversary! So, here I will do the usual expanding on certain sections and tidying up a few errors here and there (if there are many to worry about, which there could be!).


So, with that all said let's take another look at Pulp Fiction...

And yep as usual...

PLOT SPOILERS WILL BE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So the plot is told in a typically non-linear fashion for wrtier/director Quentin Tarantino and is split across two main stories with some subplots and the first one features hitman Vincent Vega (Travolta) who goes on a job with his partner Jules Winfield (Jackson) to retrieve a briefcase from some young associates lead by Brett (Frank Whaley) who were stupid enough to rip off their boss Marsellus Wallace (Vingh Rhames).  In the ensuing scene after they have killed the guys, Vincent accidentally kills one of their associates, Marvin (Phil LaMarr) by shooting him in the head while Jules is driving.  After that Jule's calls his local friend Jimmie for help (played by Tarantino himself) and Marsellus who sends one of his business associates Mr Wolf (Harvey Keitel), who "solves problems" and aids in cleaning up their mess for them.

The other story follows Vincent, who is asked by Marsellus to take out his wife Mia (Uma Thurman) one night on the town while he is away on business.  As the two of them have a good night out, and share a steak, burger, and take part in a twist contest, at a "wax museum with a pulse" 1950s style diner.  But when they go back to Mia's place, Mia accidentally overdoses on Vincent's heroin baggie, thinking it to be cocaine.  At this point Vincent in a panic takes Mia over to his drug dealer, Lance (Eric Stoltz) from whom he bought the heroin, which leads into the infamous "needle" scene where Vincent brings Mia round with an adrenaline shot.

The next big story is the "Golden Watch" where a boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) who is coming to the end of his career and is being forced to take a dive in his fight by Marsellus.  But Butch has other ideas and ends up winning the fight, unintentionally killing his opponent in the process and plans to flee with his girlfriend and the winnings he made from the bookies who placed bets on him.

However as Butch and his girlfriend, Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros) plan their departure, Butch notices that Fabienne neglected to pick up his precious golden watch, which was given to him as a present from a soldier (Christopher Walken) who was entrusted the watch given to him by Butch's dad.  Enraged by Fabienne's failure to pick up the watch, Butch decides, with little choice, to go back to get the watch.  So as Butch goes back to his apartment to pick up the watch he proceeds to have the "weirdest fucking day of his life" as he rightly puts it.

And lastly the film concludes with Vincent and Jules having breakfast in a coffee house where they have a deep conversation about the freaky encounter they witnessed at Brett's apartment, when a gunman fired six bullets straight at them and they all missed.  Not long after two thieves, Pumpkin (Tim Roth) and Yolanda (Amanda Plummer) hold up the coffee shop (whilst Vincent is in the bathroom) but as Pumpkin approaches Jules to get his wallet, the thief get's more than he bargained for as it leads into the film's surprising climax.

THOUGHTS 
  
It has to be said that Pulp Fiction remains one of the most seminal and purely entertaining films of the last 25 years, which really established that Tarantino was not a one-trick pony and that he could continue to craft excellent films.  Tarantino's script for the most part is wonderfully written and is filled with rich (and very profane) dialogue which is highly memorable as well as quotable.  And its Tarantino's emphasis on the characters is what helps Pulp Fiction work so well as they are all very drawn out.  Vincent as the main character in the film, is both dim and smart at the same time, as he holds a rather stubborn view of life, but at key moments isn't the brightest of sparks (especially leaving his machine gun outside the bathroom, in the scene where Butch faces off him with his gun).

Jules on the other hand is much brighter, cockier and smarter, and as he and Vincent face certain death at one point in the film, Jules is smart enough to realise that at this point, this probably isn't the life for him.  And its most likely Jules decision after his dice with death that would go on to save him from a similar fate than Vincent's.  In the final scene Jules also helps the two coffee shop robbers (from the opening scene) to escape unharmed, as prior to that he would have just killed them.

Mia is also a really good character as she is smart enough to know that her husband is protective of her, but she can look after herself.  And Mia's close call with death also, provides a chance for Vincent to be the good guy and save her, although he wouldn't stand a chance in hell if she died on him.  There's almost a fine line between Mia also flirting and going a step further with Vincent, but Quentin sensibly doesn't let it go that far, although in a later scene its implied they have been seeing each other behind Marsellus's back.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers and strong language!) 

As for the performances, well the film features a star cast that are all on top form.  

Starting with John Travolta who's career was totally revitalised here as he plays the part of the hitman Vincent Vega, who get's into hot water when he unwittingly blows the head off a business associate and also has to try and save his boss's wife from overdosing on his own heroin.

Travolta has numerous highlights in the film such as his opening scene where he talks with Jules about the subtle differences between the cultures of America, Paris and Amsterdam.  And in the scene Jules says "Do you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in Paris?" and Jules asks "Don't they call it a quarter pounder with cheese?" and Vincent says "No they've got the metric system they wouldn't know what the fuck a quarter pounder is.  They call it the Royale with cheese".  And of course when Jules asks him "What do they call a whopper?" Vincent says "I dunno.  I didn't go into Burger King".

Then there is the scene where Vincent teases Jules about giving foot massages and says "Would you give a guy a foot massage?  I'm little tired I could do with a foot massage myself!".  And as Jules tells Vincent it wasn't right that Marcellus threw Tony "Rocky Horror" out of a window for giving Mia a foot message, Vincent responds.  So, Vincent tells Jules " Now look, I've given a million ladies a million foot massages, and they all meant something. We act like they don't, but they do, and that's what's so fucking cool about them. There's a sensuous thing going on where you don't talk about it, but you know it, she knows it, fucking Marsellus knew it, and Antwon should have fucking better known better. I mean, that's his fucking wife, man. He can't be expected to have a sense of humor about that shit!". 

And later as he fights the temptation to try anything on with Mia after their dinner, he talks to himself in the bathroom mirror at her place and says "You see, this is a real test to see if you can prove loyality, which is very important".  And then after he says to himself "So what you're gonna do is go out there and say "I had a lovely evening" get in the car, go home, jerk off, and that's all your gonna do!".

And later the scene where Vincent desperately drives Mia over to Lance's place and drags her unconscious body out the car, despite Lance's protests "you are not to bring this fucked up bitch into my house!".  And Vincent let's her drop to the ground and says "This fucked up bitch is Marsellus Wallace's wife!  Do you know who Marsellus Wallace is???  Now if she croaks on me I'm a fuckin grease spot!".

And later after they shoot the gunman in Brett's apartment, Vincent kneels down and asks Marvin "Why the fuck didn't you tell us about the guy in the bathroom?  Did it slip your mind?  Did you forget there was someone in there with a goddamn hand cannon?!".  And as Jules insists it was "divine intervention" that has kept them alive from being killed by the hail of bullets, Vincent tells him "Do you wanna continue this theological discussion in the car, or at the jailhouse with the cops?!". 

And lastly one of my favourite lines from Travolta is during the robbery of the diner and as Jules is about to give his money to Pumpkin he warns him "Jules if you give that fuckin nimrod 1500 dollars I'm gonna shoot him on general principle!".

Samuel L Jackson next up, who made his breakthrough with this role, is simply terrific in his role as the philosophical hitman, Jules Winfield, who decides to turn a new leaf after his incident at Brett's apartment when retrieving Marsellus's case. Jackson himself was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance but he lost out to Martin Landau's performance in Ed Wood.

Jackson has so many highlights in the film as well as priceless dialogue its hard to name them all but I will mention a few.  The first being the scene where Jules and Vincent arrive at Brett's apartment and he asks Brett if he can take a bite of his burger and he does so and says "This IS a tasty burger!" followed by "Do you know what they call a quarter pounder in France?" and he tells Brett its a Royale with cheese and why and as Brett says "Because of the metric system?" Jules says "Check out the big brain on Brett!".

And later in the scene he taunts Brett just before he shoots him and asks "What does Marsellus Wallace look like?!" leaving Brett a stuttering wreck who keeps saying "What?" and Jules's short fuse is about to reach the limit and he points the gun at him saying "Say what again?!  I dare you!  I double dare you, motherfucker!  Say what one more goddamn time!".   And this is of course is followed by his famous Ezekiel 25:7 passage from the bible, which he finishes by shouting "And you will know my name is the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon thee!" before unloading into Brett.

Then there are some priceless Jackson moments in the "Bonnie Situation" story line, such as when the gunman bursts out of Brett's bathroom and opens fire on Jules and Vincent but all the bullets miss.  And Jules looks down at the dead gunman, after they shoot him, and he says "Did you see the size of the gun he fired at us?  It was bigger than him!".  And as Jules looks at the bullet holes in the wall he says "We should be fuckin dead, man" and Vincent says "Yeah, I know, we were lucky" and Jules says "No, this shit wasn't luck, this was divine intervention.  Do you know what divine intervention is?".  And Vincent, humouring Jules says "I think so.  It means that God came down from heaven and stopped the bullets?" and Jules says "That's exactly what it means.  God came down from heaven and stopped these motherfucking bullets!". 

And one of Jackson's funniest moments comes in the scene where Jules and Vincent have to clean out the blood stained car and Jules groans in dispair as he cleans out bits of skull and blood "Oh, man!  I will never forgive your ass for this shit!  This is some fucked up repugnant shit!".  And when Vincent tries to say "when a man admits all his wrongdoings he is immediately forgiven" Jules says "Get the fuck out of my face with that shit!  The motherfucker that said that shit didn't have to pick up itty bitty pieces of brain and skull on account of your dumb ass!".

And when Vincent says how is "ready to blow" this is finally followed by "Well, I'm a mushroom cloud layin' motherfucker, motherfucker!  Every time my fingers touch brain I'm Superfly TNT!  I'm the guns of the Navarone!  In fact what the fuck am I doing in the back?!  YOU'RE the motherfucker that should be on brain detail!  We're fuckin switching!  I'm washin windows and you're picking this nigger's skull!".

And lastly when Jules grabs Pumpkin he tries to chill out Honeybunny (or Yolanda) by saying "We're gonna be like three Fonzies!  And what's Fronzie like?" and Yolanda says "cool?" and Jules says "Correctamundo!".  And as Yolanda tells Jules to let Pumpkin go, Jules tells her "Yolanda, I thought you were going to be cool.  Now, when you yell at me that makes me nervous and when I get nervous, I get scared.  And when motherfuckers get scared that's when motherfuckers accidentally get shot!".  Then Jules negotiates with Pumpkin and gives him money so he doesn't have to "kill his ass" and he quotes the Ezekiel 25-17 bible passage and explains what he thinks it means.

So, Jules says to Pumpkin "I been sayin' that shit for years, and if you heard it, that meant your ass. I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was some coldblooded shit to say to a motherfucker... before I popped a cap in his ass.  But I saw some shit this morning made me think twice. See, now I'm thinkin' maybe it means...you're the evil man, and I'm the righteous man, and Mr. 9-millimeter here, he's the shepherd...protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could mean... you're the righteous man, and I'm the shepherd, and it's the world that's evil and selfish. Now, I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth.  "The truth is...YOU'RE the weak and I'm the tyranny of evil men.  But I'm tryin, Ringo.  I'm trying real hard....to be the shepherd!" and he lowers his gun and let's Pumpkin and Honeybunny go. And after they go, Vincent quietly walks up to Jules and says "I think we should be leaving now" and Jules says "Yeah, I think that's probably a good idea!" and they both leave.        

Uma Thurman is also excellent in her role as Mia Wallace, Marsellus's sultry wife who has dinner with Vincent and their scenes together provide a nice chemistry between them both.

Uma's highlights include the scene where Mia wants to dance for the Jack Rabbit Slim's dancing trophy and Vincent says no and she says "No, no, no, no.  I do believe Marsellus Wallace, my husband, your boss, told you to take me out and do what I wanted.  Now I wanna dance, I wan't that trophy.  So dance good!" and they proceed to carry out a pretty cheesy dance (which wins them the trophy nontheless!).

Then there is the scene where Vincent at the diner with Mia, asks her about the incident with Tony and Marsellus.  And Mia asks him "So, did you think of something to say?" and Vincent says "Actually, I did.  However you seem like a nice person and I don't want to offend you" and Mia, surprised says "Ooohh! This doesn't sound like the usual, mindless, boring, gettin'-to-know-you chitchat. This sounds like you actually have somethin' to say".  And when Vincent asks her if Tony ever gave Mia a foot massage, she replies "Only thing Antwan ever touched of mine was my hand when he shook it... at my wedding.  Truth is, nobody knows why Marsellus threw Tony out that window... except Marsellus and Tony. When you little scamps get together, you're worse than a sewing circle!".

And after Mia has her harrowing near death experience and is saved bt Vincent she wearily asks him if he wants to hear a joke she told on the TV pilot she did.  And Mia tells the joke "A daddy tomato, a mommy tomato and a baby tomato cross the street.  The baby tomato starts lagging behind, the daddy tomato gets angry goes back and squishes him and says "Ketchup!".

Bruce Willis also puts in a good performance as the troubled boxer, Butch Coolidge, who is haunted by nightmares involving a soldier who hands Butch his late father's watch, who died in Vietnam and later on goes on the run from Marcellus Wallace as he ends up killing the boxer in his fight.

Willis play the part with his usual type of coolness combined with some hot tempered moments, which we see in the scene where he frantically looks through his suitcase for his father's watch, which his girlfriend Fabienne has forgotten.  And he says to Fabienne "That was my father's fucking watch.  Do you have any idea what he went through to get that watch??  I don't have time to go into it but it was alot!".  And Butch continues "All this other shit you could've set on fire, but I specifically reminded you not to forget the fucking watch! Now think!  Did you get it?" and Fabienne nervously says "I think so".  However, Butch now angry says "You believe so???!"  What the fuck does that mean??!  You either did or didn't get it!!" and Fabienne says "Then I did" and Butch asks again "You sure?" and Fabienne, frightened says "No".

So, then Butch explodes in a rage, yelling "FUCK!  FUCK!!! FUCK!!! MOTHERFUCKER!!!" and he starts leaping up and down and he grabs the motel room TV and smashes it and yells "DO YOU KNOW HOW FUCKING STUPID YOU ARE???!!".  However Butch then regains his composure and shouts "NO!  It's not your fault. You left it at the apartment. If you left it at the apartment, it's not your fault. I had you bring a bunch of stuff. I reminded you about it, but I didn't illustrate how personal the watch was to me".  And after he leaves and reassures Fabienne, we cut to him in his car and he pounds the steering wheel angrily, shouting "SHIT!! OF ALL THE FUCKING THINGS SHE COULD FUCKING FORGET, SHE FORGETS MY FATHER'S WATCH!!  I specifically reminded her!  Bedside table!  On the kangaroo!  I said the words "don't forget my father's watch!".   

And one of Willis's best moments is where after he and Marsellus have been captured by the rednecks in the pawnshop and he breaks free of his bonds and he decides to save Marsellus.  So, Butch rummages through the pawnshop for a weapon to rescue Marcellus with and he picks up a samurai sword (a katana) and goes downstairs and exacts some revenge on the rednecks.  And in the scene, Butch skewers one of the rednecks and then points the katana at the other, Z, and he notices a gun on a table near him and he says to Z "You want that gun, don't you, Zed?  Go ahead and pick it up!".  And as Z is tempted to pick it up, Butch says "Atta boy!  I want you to pick it up...Z!" but then Marsellus stands up behind Butch armed with a shotgun.....

And later when Marsellus let's Butch go he takes Z's chopper (Z is played by Peter Greene) and picks up Fabienne and he tells her "Honey, since I left you, this has been, without a doubt, the single weirdest fuckin' day of my life!".  And as Fabienne get's on the bike, she asks him "Who's motorcycle is this?" and Butch says "Its a chopper baby" and she says "Who's chopper is this?" and Butch says "Zed's?" Fabienne "Who's Zed?" and Butch says "Zed's dead, baby.  Zed's dead!" and they drive off.

Vingh Rhames is great as the crime boss, Marsellus Wallace who sends Vincent and Jules to retrieve a case containing something of great value (and has a golden glow) which we never see what it is and later on has a confrontation with Butch.

Rhames also has some good moments such as in his first scene where Marsellus talks to Butch and tells him "I think when this shit is all done and over, you're gonna find yourself one smilin motherfucker" as he tells Butch to take a dive in his fight.  And in ths scene, Marsellus holds out an envelope of money to Butch and he says to him "Are you my nigga?" and Butch takes the envelope and says "It would certainly appear so".  And Marsellus says to him "The night of the fight you might feel a slight sting.  That's pride fucking with you.  Fuck pride!  Pride only hurts, it never helps.  You fight through that shit.  Cause a year from now when you are kickin it on the Caribbean you're gonna say to yourself "Marsellus Wallace was right!".  

And later in the scene where Butch, driving his car, spots Marsellus cross the street, carrying a box of doughnuts and they look at each other and Marsellus shouts "Motherfucker!" and Butch puts the car into gear and runs him over only to crash into another car in the process. 

But later on Butch decides to save Marsellus during being raped by the rednecks, and Marcellus then takes the shotgun and blasts Zed's private parts to bits.  And as Butch asks him if he is OK, Butch says "Naw, man.  I'm pretty far from OK!".  And Butch asks Marsellus "What now?" and Marsellus says "Let me tell you what now. I'm gonna call a couple of hard, pipe-hittin' niggers...to go to work on the homes here...with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch"  And Marsellus shouts at Z, who writhes on the floor in agony, nursing what is left of his gentialia "You hear me talkin', hillbilly boy? I ain't through with you by a damn sight! I'm gonna get medieval on your ass!". 

So, Butch asks "I mean what now between me and you?" and Butch says "Oh, THAT what now.  I tell you now what between me and you.  There IS no me and you.  Not no more".  And Butch asks "So, we cool?" and Marsellus says "Yeah, we cool.  Two things: Don't tell nobody about this.  This shit is between me, you and soon to be living the rest of his short ass life in agonising pain, rapist here, it nobody else's business". 

And lastly there is the scene where Jules make a call to Marsellus about the "Bonnie" situation and what can the do to resolve it. So, in the scene Marsellus on the phone to Jules says re: Bonnie "If she comes what do you think she'll do?" and there is a beat as Jules replies and Marsellus "Yeah no fucking shit she'll freak. I mean how much? A lot or a little?". And as Jules anxiously explains that if Bonnie catches them trying to shift Marvin's body when she comes home "there aren't no telling what she is a liable to do!".

So, Marsellus says "I know that, Jules. All I'm doing is contemplating the ifs" which prompts Jules to snap back "I don't wanna hear about no motherfuckin ifs! All I wanna hear from your ass is "You aint got not problem, Jules! I'm on the motherfucker! Go back in there and chill those niggers out and wait for the cavalry, which should be coming directly!". So, Marsellus calmly replies "You aint got not problem, Jules. I'm on the motherfucker. Go back in there and chill those niggers out and wait for the Wolf, who should be coming directly". Jules, surprised then asks "You sending the Wolf?" and Marsellus says "You feel better, motherfucker?" and Jule smiles and says "Shit, negro! That's all you had to say!". 

Eric Stoltz is also good in his role as Lance, the drug dealer who sells Vincent the heroin, which Mia later overdoses on and he takes the call from Vincent when Mia has OD'd he says to him on the phone "This is not my fuckin problem!  You fucked her up, you fuckin deal with this!  Are you talking to me on a cellular phone?!  I don't know you!  Prank caller, prank caller!" and hangs up.

And later when Vincent brings the OD'd Mia to Lance's place, the two of them squabble as Lance prepares the needle with adrenaline to resuscitate Mia.  And Lance says "Here, I'll you what to do" but Vincent refuses, saying "You're gonna give her the shot" and Lance insists "No, you're gonna give her the shot!" and they continue to argue.  So, Lance finally says "I never done this either! I ain't starting now! You brought her here. You give her the shot. The day I bring an O.D.ing bitch to your house, then I give her the shot!  Give her the shot!".

So, Vincent relents and takes the needle and uses a black marker to mark the point on Mia's chest where he is to inject the needle.  And Vincent says "All right, tell me what to do" and Lance says "Okay, you're giving her an injection of adrenalin straight to her heart. But she's got a breastplate... You gotta pierce through that. You gotta bring the needle down in a stabbing motion!" and Lance indicates a stabbing motion three times.  So, Vincent asks "So, I've got to stab her three times?" and Lance shouts "No, just stab her once! But it's gotta be hard enough to get through her breastplate into her heart. Once you do that, you p-press down on the p-plunger".  And Vincent asks "OK, then what happens?" and Lance shrugs and says "I'm kinda curious about that myself" and Vincent angrily says "This is ain't no fuckin joke!  Am I gonna kill her?!" and Lance says "She's supposed to come out, just like that!".

 And after Vincent injects the needle in Mia, she suddenly is brought to life and screams out loud and Lance nervously asks her "If you're alright, then say something" and Mia looks a bit needle embedded in her chest and says "Something...." and Vincent and Lance sigh in relief. 

Harvey Keitel also provides an amusing performance as Winston Wolf, the problem solver who turns and sorts out the "Bonnie Situation" which refers to Jule's friend, Jimmy's wife, Bonnie who will come home from work any time. The character of Winston would of course later appear in a series of parody television adverts for Directline.com

And Harvey's best scene comes when Vincent disputes Winston's straight talking no-nonsense manner and says to him "A please would be nice" and Winston, taken aback asks "Come again?" and Vincent says "A please would be nice".  So, Winston tells Vincent "Get it straight, buster. I'm not here to say please. I'm here to tell you what to do. And if self-preservation is an instinct you possess, you'd better fuckin' do it and do it quick. I'm here to help. If my help's not appreciated, lotsa luck, gentlemen!".

So, Jules tries to step in to diffuse the tension and says "No, it ain't like that, Mr Wolf, you're help is definitely appreciated!" and Vincent says to Winston "Mr. Wolf, listen. I don't mean disrespect, okay? I respect you. I just don't like people barkin' orders at me that's all".  So, Winston says "If I'm curt with you, its because time is a factor.  I think fast, I talk fast and I need you guys to act fast if you want to get out of this.  So pretty please, with sugar on top, clean the fuckin car!".

Another good scene is when Winston gets Jimmie to get a bunch of blankets together to cover over the bloodied seats of Jules's car and Jimmie explains his concerns about his bedset being used as it belong to his Aunt Jenny. So, Winston in the scene asks "Let me ask you a question, Jimmie. Was your Aunt Jenny a millionaire?" and Jimmie says "No" and Winston tells him "Well, your Uncle Marsellus is and I'm positive he will furnish you with a whole new set". So, Winston takes out a wad of dollar bills and says to Jimmie "I like oak myself. How about you, Jimmie? Are you an oak man?" and Jimmie with little choice says "Oak's nice" and Winston starts counting out the money.

And last of all is the scene where Winston, Jules and Vincent successfully dispose of Marvin and the tainted car and they meet his girlfriend, Raquel. So, in the scene Winston offers them a ride but when they tell them where the live, Winston looks to the skies and says "Its your future...I see...a cab ride! Way out of the sticks, fellas!" and he says to Raquel "Say good night, Raquel" and she sarcastically repeats "Goodnight, Raquel!". Jules and Vincent then both thank Winston saying it was a pleasure to watch him work and Winston smiles and says "Call me Winston" and then he heads to his car with Raquel and says to her "You see young lady! That's respect! Respect shows character" and Raquel protests "I HAVE character!" and he tells her "Just because you ARE a character doesn't mean you HAVE character!". 

Christopher Walken who makes a cameo appearance in the film as the solider who gives Butch as a child, his father's watch, is also great and his long speech is nicely written and also pretty funny.

And of course there is funny moment where he tells the young Butch "The way your dad looked at it, this watch was your birthright. He'd be damned if any slope's gonna put their greasy, yellow hands on his boy's birthright, so he hid it in one place he knew he could hide something... his ass!  Five long years he wore this watch up his ass. Then he died of dysentery...He give me the watch. I hid this uncomfortable hunk of metal up my ass two years. Then...after seven years, I was sent home to my family and...now...little man, I give the watch to you!".

Maria de Medeiros is also good in the film as Butch's girlfriend, Fabienne although it has to be said that she get's the worst of Tarantino's dialogue given that she has to say lines such as "pot bellies are sexy!" and "I'm gonna order a big plate of blueberry pancakes... with maple syrup, eggs over easy and five sausages!".  So in all honesty I'm not going to bother quoting any of her scenes here just for the sake of time (sorry!).

And lastly Quentin Tarantino also can't resist putting himself in the film in his small role as Jimmy who through little choice has to help out Jules and Vincent with their problem.

And Tarantino's most noteworthy scene comes when Jules compliments Jimmy on how good his coffee is and asks what flavour it is and Jimmy says "Knock it off, Julie!".  And Jules asks "What?" and Jimmy angrily tells him "I don't need you to tell me how fuckin' good my coffee is. I'm the one who buys it. I know how good it is. When Bonnie goes shopping, she buys shit. I buy the gourmet expensive stuff 'cause when I drink it, I wanna taste it. But you know what's on my mind right now? It ain't the coffee in my kitchen. It's the dead nigger in my garage!".

So, as Jules tries to calm Jimmy, Jimmy interrupts him and asks "When you came pulling in here, did you notice the sign on the front of my house that said, "Dead Nigger Storage"?".  And as Jules is about to reply, Jimmy asks louder "Did you notice the sign on the front of my house that said, "Dead Nigger Storage"?!!".  And Jules says No, I didn't" and Jimmy asks him "You know why you didn't see that sign?" and Jules asks "Why?" and Jimmy yells "Cause it ain't there, 'cause storing dead niggers ain't my fuckin' business, that's why!".

And Jimmy then tells Jules "Now, look, you know, she comes home from work in about an hour and a half. The graveyard shift at the hospital. You gotta make some phone calls? You gotta call some people? Well, then, do it, and then get the fuck out of my house before she gets here!".  And as Jules tries to reassure Jimmy that "We don't wanna fuck your shit up" Jimmy angrily yells "You're fucking my shit up right now! You're gonna fuck my shit up BIG TIME if Bonnie comes home!  Do me that favor, all right? The phone is in my bedroom. I suggest you get going!".

DIRECTION AND MUSIC 

As for the director himself, Quentin Tarantino does a great job here of course and technically it is also pretty good film and as he did with Reservoir Dogs he employs the use of long takes in certain scenes and even has a little nod to Brian De Palma with the scene where we see Butch on the right edge of the frame, exhausted on the run from a groggy Marcellus who went see in the distance on the left of the shot.  He also makes good use of visual creativity, such as in the scene with Fabienne's reflection standing inside the motel room TV while an action film is playing. Perhaps time wise the film does feel a bit flabby in places with certain scenes overrunning but for the most part this is certainly one of Tarantino's very best efforts.    

As for the music in the film it features a memorable soundtrack made up of tracks such as Dick Dale's "Miserlou", and Kool n the Gang's "Jungle Boogie", Aretha Franklin's "Son of a preacher man" as well as other songs like "Countin flowers on the wall" by the Statler Brothers, "Comache" by The Revels, used during the hillbilly rape scene and Chuck Berry's "You never can tell" used during Vincent and Mia's dance.  

FLAWS (Warning: this section may also contain spoilers!)

As for flaws....yeah well as good as Pulp Fiction is, it still has some worth mentioning.

And for starters, I do think that the film could be a little shorter as certain scenes do feel a bit panned out.  And for examples sake the scenes between Butch and Fabienne do drag on a bit, and are the only fairly tedious scenes in the film, especially with Fabienne wittering on, about wishing she had a pot belly like "Madonna did when she did Lucky Star!". At this point you want to just hit the fast forward button as the dialogue starts to get a bit cringeworthy! Further to this, I think its also a bit fair to say that Fabienne is a bit too cutesy a character for the film itself as she is quite a contrast to the rest of the hard boiled gangsters and molls we get but maybe that's the point I guess.    

And one of the few things that does leave me slightly uncomfortable about Pulp Fiction is the somewhat racist element on the dialogue, especially in the scenes such as Lance the drug dealer saying to Vincent about his deals "Am I a nigger?  Are we in Inglewood??" as well as Jimmie saying to Jules "when you pulled in here, did you see a sign on the front of my house saying dead nigger storage??".  It does show the film has an uncomfortable mix of humour blended in with racism, and it was the same in Reservoir Dogs where e.g. Harvey Keitel's character, Mr White, talks about "How every nigger I know treats their women like a piece of shit?".

I also though that in the redneck scene where Marsellus is raped by one of the good ol boys, it does appear very stereotypical in its depiction of these characters and it almost like Quentin threw in the sodomy scene for shock effect more than anything else.  Its almost like Tarantino is doing a nod to the classic 1970's thriller "Deliverance" where Ned Beatty's character is also sexually assaulted by hillbillies.

Another issue is to do with the idea of Winston driving the tainted car with Marvin's dead body in it as he tells Jules and Vincent that he will drive that car and he gives Vincent the keys to his own Acura sports car.  So in the scene Winston tells Vincent "I drive real fuckin fast, so keep up" but if he does that then surely they will get pulled over by the police!  So, in this instance wouldn't it be better for Winston to exercise a little care when he is driving a car containing a dead body rather than belt it out at 90 miles an hour and risk being pulled over and arrested!  Its certainly one of the plot holes in the film that I hadn't picked up on before now but it remains a big one.

Then of course there is the continuity flaw in the scene where the guy in the bathroom bursts out and unloads his magnum at Jules and Vincent only to miss them both and the bullets go into the wall instead.  However if you look carefully before this scene, the bullet holes are already in the wall!  This however is already a well noted continuity flaw in the film itself, so I guess its nothing new but still worth pointing out all the same.

And further to this point, its surprising that the cops aren't alerted at all in any of the scenes involving gunfire in this film, not even where Marsellus shoots at Butch on the streets in broad daylight! I mean Jules and Vincent unload on Brett and his associates in an apartment with loud 9mm guns but NOTHING is heard or done about it, so no one calls the cops! I guess it was just a very apathetic neighborhood I guess where gun crime is so rife no one can be bothered to call the police! And even further to this, why DIDN'T Jules and Vincent use guns with silencers instead to keep things quiet?! Ah well, we're not talking about real life here as it is a Tarantino film after all.

Another problem I had with the film was to do with Butch's choice when he went back to his apartment to get his watch and THEN go in and make himself some pop tarts in the kitchen!  I mean what hell???!  Surely to God he should have just got his watch and left the apartment straight away!  However I guess the flipside is that by killing Vincent that's one other problem dealt with but on the other hand even though Butch saves Marsellus's life, he does also kill one of his main henchmen, so wouldn't that also cancel out Marsellus's new found faith in Butch??!  Just maybe  In short, Butch really should have just left the apartment straight away than hang about to make breakfast for himself.

There are also another couple of oddities in the story such as the scene where Vincent tells Jules that he doesn't watch TV and he later on asks Jules if he watched a show called "cops" which totally negates what he said to Jules earlier! Now, you could argue that Vincent was being sarcastic in his response that he doesn't watch TV earlier in the film but it is still a bit bizarre how Tarantino doesn't refer back to it in the script at that point although clearly Jules's mind is elsewhere after their near death experience. 

And last of all was it really a good idea for Vincent to shoot up heroin just BEFORE he is due to go off and pick up his boss's wife for a dinner date?!  I mean what if he crashed the car enroute or worse crashed it while he was driving her to dinner?! I guess its OK for Mia to get all coked up since she won't be driving but not so much for Vincent surely! But again it is a Quentin Tarantino film where gangsters can shoot up people in neighbourhoods, scream and shouts as they do it as well as get pissed up on drugs and booze and drive cars at the same time!  

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, Pulp Fiction remains one of the best crime/comedy films of its era and even though it does have some rather overly talky, long drawn out scenes at times with the occasional moments of cringeworthy dialogue.  However any of its bad points are far outweighed by its good ones and the film is helped along by its great cast, soundtrack and of course solid direction from its director and writer, Quentin Tarantino, who provides plenty of funny moments and memorable scenes and dialogue.

Right, so that's it for now and I will be back again soon hopefully before the end of the month with a post of sorts.

Till then its ciao for now!

Doctor Who - Day of the Daleks Revisited "Pity! That was rather a good vintage!"

Right, I admit it, I am being very lazy with this blog of late as there are more posts I could have squeezed in by now but I have been busy with other things so apologies for that.

So, with that said I am doing another post revisitation again and this time its another Doctor Who one, which is a revisit of my post for the Jon Pertwee era story, Day of the Daleks. So, after 47 years how does this classic story fair??? Well, let's take yet another look!

And yep the usual is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

STORY 
 
So the story begins with an attempt being made on the life of a peace delegate Sir Reginald Styles (Wilfred Carter) who is attacked by a guerilla who quickly vanishes before he can kill him.  As a result Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) and the Doctor (Pertwee) and and his companion, Jo (Katy Manning) investigate and go to Auderly house and question Styles who brushes off his encounter with the guerilla even though he claimed earlier to his assistant that the man disappeared into thin air "like a ghost".  The guerilla however soon reappears on the grounds of the house but is attacked by two humanoid aliens, Ogrons, who leave him unconscious. 

The Doctor then examines the guerilla's leftover equipment, a futuristic looking gun and a small black box, which turns out to be some of time travel device.  As the guerilla is taken enroute to hospital he vanishes from the ambulance just as the Doctor activates the device and Sgt Benton (John Levene) who was in the ambulance at the time informs Brigadier of this.  The Doctor then decides the next move would be to spend the night at Auderly house, which he does with Jo, however nothing happens during the night.

The next morning however three guerillas appear from the time vortex, which consist of Anat (Anna Barry) the leader and two men, Boaz (Scott Fredericks) and Shura (Jimmy Winston) and they make their way to the house.  In the study of the house, the Doctor tries to reactivate the time machine, which causes an alert in the 22nd century and Shura enters the house but is subdued by the Doctor's Venusian karate.  Shura pleads with the Doctor to turn off the time machine as it could kill them all and in the 22nd century a human controller (Aubrey Woods) informs his masters about the time machine trace, who turn out to be the Daleks who now rule on Earth in this time zone. 

The Daleks insist that once the time-space co-ordinates have been located that whoever is operating the device must be exterminated.  The Doctor then tries to explain to Anat who arrives at the house along with Boaz that he is not Styles and that Styles has flown to Peking.  Anat then has the Doctor and Jo taken to the cellar and tied up until the phone rings upstairs and the Doctor and Jo are taken up.  The Doctor answers the call which is from the Brigadier and he pretends everything is fine but let's slip subtly that it isn't by saying to him "Everthing is fine, tell it to the Prime Minister and don't forget to tell it to the marines".  Jo then frees herself from her bonds and grabs the time machine and threatens to destroy it but Anat warns her it could activate, which it does and Jo is hurlted through the vortex to the 22nd century where she meets with the controller. 

And it is from here that the Doctor must find a way to escape from the guerillas and try and rescue Jo from the 22nd century and prevent the daleks from continuing their evil futuristic reign over Earth.......      

THOUGHTS 

Day of the Daleks is easily one of the strongest stories from the Pertwee era and it sees the continuation of the theme from the William Hartnell, first doctor's story, Dalek invasion of Earth in which the Daleks ruled the Earth also in the 22nd century.  The story which was very well written by Louis Marks, also nicely combines the two timelines of the 20th and 22nd century together in the story with the future of Earth depending on the outcome of a very important peace conference which the peace delegate, Styles allgedly sabotaged to start World War III which ultimately leads to the dalek wars.  The story is also notable for the first appearance of the Ogrons, who are larged ape-like humanoid aliens and their appearance in the show is pretty impressive especially given the excellent face masks created by the story's visual effects designer, John Friedlander.    

PERFORMANCES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!) 

Performance wise the story is also pretty good from its regular and supporting cast.

Starting with good old Jon Pertwee who again delivers a fine performance in his role as the Doctor and he has quite a few highlights in the story. 

And as a few examples to start with there is the scene where the Doctor asks Jo if she will go with him to Auderly house to see if any ghosts (or guerillas really) show up and he says to her "Jo, how would you like to spend the night in a haunted house?!". 

Then there is the scene where the Doctor and Jo not long after arriving at Auderly house, the Doctor  walks in carrying a tray with a bottle of wine and two glasses and also a cheeseboard and says to Jo "You know one thing you can be certain of with politicians, is whatever their political ideas, they always keep a well stocked larder!  Not to mention the cellar!".  And later as Jo dishes out some food and wine to the troops she comes back and the Doctor says to her "Quite right.  Do you know I remember saying to old Napoleon.  Boney, I said, an army always marches on its stomach!". 

Another fun scene comes when the Doctor is faced by Shura and who moves to attack him but the Doctor subdues with his Venusian karate and with his wine glass still in his hand he casually takes a sip of wine after!  And another is when the Doctor fights and struggles with an Ogron when they are held by the controller and Jo smashes it over the head with a futuristic wine container and the Doctor says "Pity!  That was rather a good vintage!".  Jon get's one of the story's best lines when he tries to persuade Styles to evacuate Auderly house near the end of the story and he says to Styles "Look try and use your intelligence, man, even if you are a politician!".   

But there are also some good dramatic scenes from Jon when the Doctor confronts the Controller and asks him "Who really rules this planet of yours??!" and the Controller refuses to say and leaves. So, Jo warns the Doctor "You shouldn't have spoken to him like that! You don't know the whole picture!" and the Doctor tells Jo "Neither do you, Jo, neither do you" and he refers to the Controller by saying "That man is no more than a superior slave himself! Humans don't rule this world anymore, Jo." and as Jo asks who does the Doctor replies "The most evil, ruthless lifeform in the cosmos... the Daleks!".

Then there is the scene where the controller tries to get the Doctor to cooperate with him and says the daleks can be reasonable the Doctor snaps back "Reasonable?!  They tolerate you as long as you are useful to them!" and as the controller says "I am a senior government official" the Doctor angrily says to him "You sir, you sir, are a traitor!  You're a QUISLING!". 

Another really good scene comes when (PLOT SPOILER!!) the Doctor is rescued by the guerillas in the 22nd century and they tell him the back story behind their movement and they ask the Doctor to kills Styles to prevent the war but the Doctor refuses and he tells them "You are asking me to commit murder!". However Anat pleads with the Doctor and tells him "No, we are asking you to kill one man and prevent millions more dying!" and the Doctor asks her "Yes but would it?!".  

The Doctor then pieces together what really happened and the guerillas in the end set themselves up for the fall by creating the wars themselves by having Shura go back in time and start the war by detonating a bomb there.  And the Doctor says to them "You went back to change history, but you didn't change anything.  You came a part of it!" and the Doctor says to them of Shura and his intentions to detonate his Dalekanium bomb "Isn't that exactly what he would have done?!  One last suicidal attempt to carry out his orders?!  You're trapped in a temporal paradox!  Styles didn't cause that explosion and start the wars!  You did it yourselves!".    

Katy Manning again is good again in her role as Jo Grant and she shares some nice onscreen chemistry with Jon Pertwee. 

Katy has some good moments in the story aswell such as the scene where she goes to give Benton some cheese and wine. So, in the scene Jo goes out into the hallway and is given a scare by Benton who quietly walks in on her and she says "You took years of my life walking up like that!" and Benton says "Sorry, miss. I didn't want to disturb the Doc. What's he up to?" and Jo tells him "Well at the moment he's behaving more like a one man wine and food society!". So, as Benton asks if Jo can get him something to eat, she tells him "Hold oN" and she goes back in and takes a glass of wine and some cheese and Doctor asks her what she is doing and she says "Its all in a good cause!".  And afterward Jo walks back in and the Doctor says to her "And what was that all about?" and Jo smiles saying "Feeding the troops!". 

Then there is the scene where the Doctor and Jo are tied and gagged up and put in the cellar by Anat and the others and Jo asks the Doctor what he thinks is going on.  So, in the scene, the Doctor manages to get his gag off and Jo still has hers on and she mumbles something and the Doctor tells her "I have good mind you stay like that! So much more peaceful! Even if I did release you, you'd still ask me alot of fool questions". Jo finally manages to get her gag off and asks the Doctor "I've only got one question...who are they?" and the Doctor tells her "On the face of it, three very desparate people!". Jo then suggests "Well, they're criminals aren't they?" and the Doctor says "You're prejudiced" but Jo insists "Well, aren't you?! They tried to kill you and me!" and the Doctor tells her "That's not in her favour, I'll admit".

So as the Doctor suggests Jo try her escapology training to help them untie their bounded ropes, Jo tells him "I've been trying but these knots are rock hard!" so, the Doctor tells her "Well, in that case there is only one thing we can do" and Jo says cheerily "I know, wait!" and the Doctor grins and says "You're learning, Jo!". Jo, however is still irked by the whole thing and says to the Doctor "I still don't get it, that changing history bit.  It just doesn't fit them. They seem more like a bunch of thugs to me!".

Another good scene from Katy is when Jo releases herself from her bonds and she grabs the guerillas time machine and she says "Right drop your guns.  If you don't I'll smash this to pieces!" and as Anat says "You don't know what you are doing!" Jo says "Oh yes I do.  You're going to let us both out or you'll be stranded here forever!" but she ends up activating the machine and is thrown into the vortex through to the 22nd century. 

However Katy still has one truly cringeworthy moment in the story when Jo creates a diversion in order to escape from the controller by screaming "Agggghhh help me!" in a very unconvincing way, which is just awful but in her defence it was supposed to be fake anyway! 

As for the supporting cast Aubrey Woods is excellent in his somewhat ambiguous role as the controller in the 22nd century where he is forced to serve the daleks. 

Woods has some really good moments in the story where he can be quite sinister sounding such as the scene where the controller meets with one of the factory managers who questioned the Doctor.  And in the scene the controller intimidates the manager into trying to make him increase the production figures for the factory and as the manager says "Its impossible I can't do it!" the controller cooly says "Then I shall just have to find someone who can, shant I?  And you know what that will mean, dont you?  To you and your family!". 

Another good scene is when the Doctor confronts the Controller over his position and that he is really a traitor and a "Quisling!". So, the Controller outraged shouts "Silence! You do not understand!" and he calms down and tells the Doctor and Jo "Nobody who did not live through those terrible years can understand. Towards the end of the twentieth century, a series of wars broke out. There was a hundred years of nothing but killing, destruction. Seven eighths of the world's population was wiped out. The rest were living in holes in the ground, starving, reduced to the level of animals".

The Controller then explains how the humans were then taken over by the Daleks, who used them as slaves and that he and his previous family generations were controllers in this section, which provokes a taunt from the Doctor as he says "A family of Quislings then!". The Controller then angrily shouts back "We have helped make things better for the others. We have gained concessions. I have saved lives!". The Doctor however then suggests "Wouldn't you have helped more by fighting against them?" but the Controller says "No one can fight against the Daleks" but the Doctor reminds him "That's not what your criminal guerillas seem to think, is it?!" but the Controller dismisses the idea and tells him "A handful of fanatics. Most of them have been killed already. I assure you there is nothing they can do to change things!".

And another good scene from Aubrey comes near the end when the controller surrounds the Doctor and Jo with Ogrons and he says to him "It ends as I said it would.  Didn't I say it was madness to fight the Daleks?".  But as the Doctor tries to persuade the controller he can change the future by going back in time, the Controller orders the Ogrons to leave and says "Go! I shall deal with these criminals myself! I said GO!". So, the Controller then quietly says to the Doctor "If only I could be sure" and the Doctor tells him "You spoke of the war and its years of suffering and starvation. I can prevent that all from happening, you know". So, the Controller quietly says to the Doctor "You saved my live, and you could have let them kill me.  Go quickly".

Anna Barry is also pretty good as Anat, the guerilla leader who travels back in time to kill Styles, who they percieve to be the instigator of the future wars on Earth and she has some good moments also. 

And one or two examples include the scene where Anat faces the Doctor for the first time mistaking him to be Styles she says "So, you are the man.  Outwardly so innocent looking but capable of such crimes. Would would ever know?". And as the Doctor says to her he doesn't know what she is talking about it, Anat not interested says "You have said and done enough. The time has come for your execution". So, Anat then asks the Doctor "Any last words of repentance, Sir Reginald?" and the Doctor almost smirks and says to her "Only that you are making one fundamental mistake" and Anat asks "And that is?" and the Doctor tells her "A question of mistaken identity. I am NOT Sir Reginald Styles!" and Anat smirks and says "Is that the best you can do?".

So, as Anat accepts that the Doctor isn't Sir Reginald having checked the newspaper showing that Reg had already flown to Peking, she asks what the Doctor is doing here and he tells that he wanted to meet her and find out why she came. However, one of her men, Boaz becomes impatient and tells Anat that they should kill the Doctor and Jo but Anat firmly tells him "Who is in command of this mission! We are soldiers, not murderers. Keep guard outside, I'll deal with these two. I said out!" and Boaz leaves and Anat asks the Doctor "Now, who are you and what are you doing here?".  
 
Another good scene is when Anat tries to stop Jo from destroying the time machine and she says to her "Stupid child!  You do not know what you are doing!  That man that owned that machine is dead!  His body is back in our own timezone! Put it down and don't be silly!".  And as Jo is sent through the vortex to the 22nd century, and Anat tells the Doctor she might be dead or as Boaz says "re-embodied in the 22nd century" Anat says "Believe me she would be better off dead".

Then there is the scene where Anat and Monia try to fill in the Doctor on the blanks of what they have been doing in their efforts to try and defeat the Daleks. So, as Monia tells the Doctor he wants him to kill Styles, the Doctor is outraged and says "You are asking me to commit murder!" but Anat pleads with him and says "No, we are asking you to kill one man and prevent millions more dying!".

Valentine Palmer is also quite good as the overall leader of the guerillas, Monia, who meets later with the Doctor and Jo and he asks the Doctor to do one thing to help their cause. 

And I will mention quickly a few of Palmer's scenes such as the one where Monia tells Anat and Boaz that they must rescue the Doctor, so he can help them defeat the Daleks. So, Monia says to them "He's captured. Taken for processing. We must rescue him" but Boaz objects and says "Rescue him? Are you mad? From there? and Monia remains insistent "I say we must!". Boaz then says "Suicide!" and Monia asks him "Are you afraid?" and Boaz says "Of course I am! I'm no fool. What is he to us?" and Monia tells them "We have fresh information from one of our contacts at control centre. He is the sworn enemy of the Daleks. He's the one man they're afraid of. Don't you see? It's our only hope! If we don't act quickly, it may be too late!".

Then there is the scene where Monia and Anat charge and rescue the Doctor from the Controller and as the Controller shouts for his guard, Monia says to him "Guards! You have no guards! They are all dead!". Monia then turns his gun on the Controller and says to him angrily "As for you my friend..." but the Doctor stops him and says "Put that gun down! There's no point in murdering him" but Monia says "You don't know how much blood is on his hands!". The Doctor then tells Monia "Nevertheless, he's not your real enemy" and Monia says "He helped the Daleks! He's worked for them!" and the Doctor insists "They would always have found someone. Now just leave him!" so Monia relents and they leave. 

And as the Doctor asks Monia why he rescued them Monia says "Well you said so yourself, you're an old enemy of the Daleks.  Then you will help us to beat them" and as the Doctor asks "What do you expect me to do?" Monia says "Well, you can succeed where we failed, Doctor.  We want you to go back into your own time and kill Styles". The Doctor then refuses as he won't commit murder but Monia then insistently asks the Doctor "Doctor, will you help us?! You're our only hope!".

And briefly Scott Fredericks and Jimmy Winston are not bad as the two guerillas, Boaz and Shura, with Shura playing the key part in the story as the guerilla who inadvertently detonates the bomb to starts the wars. 

And quickly to give some mention to Scott Fredericks as Boaz, he does not too badly in his role and I will mention his scene where Anat tries to contact her base in the future to get new orders on a radio but to no avail. So, in the scene Boaz impatiently tells Anat "We can't wait for new orders!" and Shura then suggests "Look, why don't I return to the tunnel? There might be a better chance of contact there". Anat agrees and says to Shura to "Ask them..." but Boaz interrupts and says "Why ask them anything?! Isn't it obvious what we must do?! We must wait here and kill Styles!" and Anat then asks him "What if we are detected?" and Boaz tells her "We hold these two hostages and kill them if necessary" but Anat tells Shura firmly "Get alternative orders!" so Shura leaves. Boaz however is not impressed and tells Anat "You are soft, Anat. What do two lives matter when so much is at stake?". 

And lastly regarding Jimmy Winston there is the scene (SPOILER!!) where the Doctor and Jo try to persuade Shura not detonate the bomb however the Daleks and the Ogrons enter the grounds of the the house. So, as the Doctor attempts to reason with Shura, Shura points his gun at him and shouts "Get out of here unless you wanna die too! I must kill Styles and prevent the war!" but the Doctor says to him "Shura, Sir Reginald and all the other delegates are leaving this house just now, if you detonate that bomb you'll be sacrificing your life for nothing!".

And lastly there is the moment where Jo comes down into the basement and tells the Doctor the Daleks are coming into the house. Shura however says to Jo "Daleks?! You're lying!" and the Doctor tells him "No, she's not. They've come back in time to make sure their version of history doesn't change!". So, Shura suddenly tells them "Get out of here.  Let them come in, leave them to me!" and as Jo tries to persuade him to come with her and the Doctor he says "You don't understand this is Dalekanium!  Its the only thing that is effective against the daleks!". The Doctor suggests however "Couldn't we set a fuse?" and Shura says "Now, this stuff is too unstable, there just isn't time! This is something I must do myself now get out!" so the Doctor says to him "Very well" and leaves but Jo hesitates for a moment and Shura shouts at her "OUT!" and she runs up the stairs as Shura prepares himself. 

And last of all the UNIT family are all in good form in this story as well starting with Nicholas Courtney is good as ever as the Brigadier. 

And Nick has some good moments in the story aswell such as in the scene where the Brigadier comes to see the Doctor, who is working with Jo on his TARDIS console. So, the Brigadier tells the Doctor about the situation with the peace conference "You know, Doctor, if you didn't spend so much time tinkering around with this wretched contraption, you'd realise just how bad the international situation's become". The Doctor however dismissively tells the Brig "Humans are always squabbling over anything, Brigadier!" and the Brigadier warns the Doctor "Yes, well, this particular squabble looks like ending up in a third world war! The Chinese delegation have refused to attend. Without them, the conference can't even begin. Now Styles is flying to Peking in a few hours. There's just a chance that he can persuade them to change their minds". The Brig then goes on to explain Sir Reginald's attacker and the attempt made on him "He suddenly started behaving rather oddly. Seemed to think that someone was trying to assassinate him" and the Doctor asks "Any idea who?" and the Brigadier tells him "Some ghost apparently". 

Then there is the scene where the Doctor activates the time machine but then it shorts out and the Doctor says "Oh I see what's happened, the temporal feedback circuit has overloaded" and the Brig confused says "The what's done a what???" and the Doctor replies "In your terms, Brigadier the thing's blown a fuse!". 

Later there is also the scene where the Brigadier arrives at Auderly house and rescues the Doctor from being shot by an Ogron as he arrives in his jeep. So, the Doctor says to the Brig "Thank you, Brigadier for that timely intervention!" and the Brigadier asks of the Ogron "Who was that creature?" and the Doctor tells him "Yes, well I'll explain about him later. Excuse me old chap, I'm in a hurry" so he takes the Brig's jeep and drives off and the Brigadier yells after him "DOCTOR COME BACK AT ONCE!" and shakes his head in disbelief.   

And lastly Nick has a great shouty moment near the end of the story when he orders Styles to evacuate Auderly house as the Daleks and Ogrons attack.  And the Brig says loudly "Sir Reginald, this house is under attack by a hostile force.  You will please consider yourself under my orders!" and as Styles tries to protest the Brig yells "NOW BE QUIET, SIR!". So, the Brig turns to Yates and shouts "Captain Yates! Get Sir Reginald and all the delegates away from this area at once! Use the front exit!". 

And lastly John Levene and Richard Franklin share a good scene in the story in their respective role as Sgt Benton and Captain Yates where Benton sneaks into Auderly house later at night and asks Jo quietly for some food.  And Benton says to Jo "Oh and talking of food, you couldn't get us a bit to eat, could you?  I'm famished!".  And Jo goes and get's a glass of wine and cheeses for him but Yates intervenes and tells Benton "What are you doing, Sgt?  I want you to check on number three patrol!  Move, Sgt Benton!" and Benton without choice or question walks off.  And this leaves Yates to grab the glass of wine and bit of cheese saying "Jo, how thoughful!" and he downs the glass in a oner!  And Jo says to Yates "That wasn't very kind of you" and Yate says "RHIP, Jo. Rank Has Its Privileges!".  
       
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

Finally moving onto the story's director, Paul Bernard who does a fine job with the story and at four episodes long its just the right the length and it moves along at a quick pace and never lags at any time. Beranrd himself would then go on to direct two more stories from the Jon Pertwee era with The Time Monster, the 9th season finale (the same season as this story) and Frontier in Space the following year, which turned out to be Roger Delgado's final story as the Master before his tragic death. Bernard himself later died in London in 1997, aged 68.    

And music wise Dudley Simpson again provides a good score and while it still features some staple early 70s synth moments its more orchestral sections work better for the story than his entirely electronic scores from the previous season. In fact Simpson welcomed this change as he was exhausted by his efforts of composing and performing the exclusive electronic scores of the previous season (which was the show's 8th season featuring The Master in every story!).

FLAWS 

As for the story's flaws, yes well Day of the Daleks does have some worth mentioning. 

To start off with it has to be said one of the weakest aspects of this story are the Daleks themselves as there are only three of them in the story throughout.  The original Dalek voices (by Oliver Gilbert and Peter Messaline) in the story were frankly pretty crap and the rate at which their lines were delivered were dismally slow and the typical Dalek staccato sounds really naff here.  And as an example one of the daleks says to the controller in one scene "do----you----have-----the-----space---time---co---or--di--nates?" which kind of indicates just how cack they sound. 

Later in 2011 of course the BBC re-released the DVD of the story with some new CGI effects and the dalek voices were also dubbed over by Nicholas Briggs, which was a big improvement (although his delivery is always a bit sarcastic sounding!). 

Also given the fact that there are only three Daleks this is even more noticeable during the scene where the Daleks emerge from the tunnel to attack Auderly house along with only six Ogrons!  Now that is quite an attack force!  This was of course also re-done with some CGI effects in the 2011 DVD version.  But it is pretty silly to think that three Daleks and six Ogrons on its own would be anywhere near enough.  Another thing that can be said of the Ogrons is that they aren't the swiftest movers as during their assault on the house near the end they move slower than a granny on a zimmer loaded with some heavy shopping!    

And further to the point regarding the slow ineptitude of the Ogrons there is also a pretty cheesy scene where the Doctor and Jo try to escape from them as the Doctor and Jo drive a buggy to escape them. And this is a pretty daft (albet fun) sequence where the Ogrons clumsily chase after them at a slow pace as the Doctor runs circles around them with the buggy but its not long before they are caught. Again however I belive this scene was added because of Jon Pertwee's affinity for fancy gadgets and transport! 

And this brings to mind another issue with the story in that surely if only some of the Daleks came back in time to kill Styles and they ended up being destroyed by Shura's bomb then there surely would be plenty more back in the 22nd century!  Especially given that if the Daleks are ruling Earth in the future there would be Daleks throughout the world and not just in England, so if three ruling Daleks are killed there must surely be plenty elsewhere on Earth to still keep things ticking over!  But the story neatly deals with the daleks entering the house at the end and by them being destroyed by Shura's bomb that's it all wrapped up and there will be no further complications or anything to worry about (as everything in the world does appear to settle around the UK in Doctor Who of course so the rest of the world doesn't come into it!).   

Another issue with the story which probably did have some fans concerned was the scene where the Doctor appears to commit a cold blooded murder as in one scene he shoots an Ogron with one of the guerilla's disintegrator guns in an anticipatory manner.  And while this is of course morely a self defence shooting it does still seem out of character for the Doctor and for the 2011 DVD version they adjusted this a little by having the Ogron shoot at the Doc first and then the Doctor responds by shooting him, effectively employing the "Greedo shoots first" ideaology here. 

But the Doctor rarely does commit cold blooded murders and there are very few instances in the show's history where it has occurred with perhaps the exception of maybe the Talons of Weng Chiang (ANOTHER SPOILER!!) when the Doctor pushes the main villain Magnus Greel into a distillation chamber, which disintegrates his body.  So another disintegration, how about that?! 

Anyways that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP 

So to sum up, Day of the Daleks remains an excellent story from the Pertwee era and although it may not be one of the better representations of the Daleks as there are only three of them and their voices are pretty poor, the plot behind involving the Daleks, Styles and guerrilas works very well and the cast all do a fine job. And it is also one of my own personal favourite stories from the Pertwee era aswell, so I can certainly recommend it.

So, that's it for now and I will be back sometime hopefully with yet another post.

Till then its ciao for now old chap!

Resident Evil Remake Review

Hey everyone and welcome to the month of July on this blog (can't believe its July already!).

So, I have to admit again, this post is something of a revisitation of a previous one I did but its one that is probably due a bit of an overhaul as it was done six years ago on the and the post in question is my review of the Resident Evil Remake.

Now, the RE: Remake first came out on the Nintendo Gamecube console but it was later remastered in HD for the PS3/Xbox 360 and even later than that remastered again for the PS4/Xbox One consoles. So, right now I am playing the remastered version on the PS4 and its been fun so far to revisit this classic and its revamped form.

So, with that all said, let's take another look at this remake of a modern classic...

And yep, the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY

Right so the story is set around a large mansion which members of the STARS (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) Alpha team seek refuse in when they are attacked by some vicious dogs.  The team includes Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burton and Albert Wesker, and in the game you have choice of playing either Chris or Jill.  Depending on which character you chose some of the other characters may be missing such as Barry if you play Chris, or Chris if you play Jill.  As the player you play investigates the mansion they discover a zombie chomping on the corpse of STARS Bravo team, and the zombie attacks your character, which you can either shoot or stab the creature.

As the gameplay progress your character will also face a series of deadly traps and puzzles to negotiate.  Your character will at certain moments in the game encounter other team mates who have been killed or badly injured.  And one of the characters you encounter, Enrico Marini, tells you one of the team is a traitor, however he is shot and killed before you find out more.  As the character moves on in the game they will eventually find an underground laboratory and they will eventually face the traitor and main antagonist in the game... 

THOUGHTS 

At the time of its original release, Resident Evil was a real breakthrough in the horror genre and it took 3D gaming to new visual heights, with its stunning albeit pre-rendered backdrops and its somewhat blocky looking character models.  However one of the most effective things about the original Resident Evil was the way in which it built up the tension and the suspense and it made great use of visual cues such as when you enter it another room, you get a cutaway to a door opening, complete with creaky noises, which adds to the fear factor as to what might behind it.

The remake however of course went on to enhance the original and it has a variety of new aspects to its gameplay as well as different puzzles and the introduction of some new characters such as Lisa Trevor, who has been turned into a genetically mutated creature after years of experimentation.  Lisa is seen in certain sections of the game where you wander around the tunnels and you first encounter her in an outhouse and she proves to be nearly indestructable in the game.

The remake also makes reference to other characters as well in the series such as William Birkin (who appears in Resident Evil 0) and Alexia Ashford (who appears in Resident Evil: Codename Veronica).  And in the remake the atmosphere is very creepy and intense throughout in fact even more so as given its new overhaul it does everything to enhance the terror of it all.  

GAMEPLAY 

As for the actual gameplay this is where Resident Evil really get's to shine as the controls are pretty simple although it has to be said your movement is somewhat restricted due to the nature of the pre-rendered backdrops.  The level of difficulty is determined by which character you play as Chris is the hardest method while Jill is the easier one although it has to be said the remake can pose a fair challenge irrespective of who you play.

In terms of the game's combat in the remake, in addition to your usual weapons such as a handgun, shotgun, flamethrower and grenade launcher, you also have defensive weapons that include a dagger, a taser and a stun grenade, which are pretty cool to use.  While both Jill and Chris can use the taser,  Chris can only use the stun grenade, and Chris can use the grenade to cool effect as when a zombie attacks him he can stick it in the zombie's gub and shoot at it to blow the zombies head off (sick but fun!).  You also have access to first aid sprays and herbs to heal yourself from injuries, and if you combine certain herbs they can be used to cure your character if they get poisoned.

Similar to the original the remake also features a game save system where you enter a storeroom and you can save your progress via the use of a typewriter, and you need to keep a stock of typewriter ribbons in order to save each time.  As for storage capacity, Chris can hold only six items but Jill can hold eight at one time and when they go into the storerooms they can swap out equipment as they need it.

The game at certain points may also call for the character to save one of their team mates, Richard, who is poisoned by a giant snake, and you must run to the storage room to get a serum to cure him.  Another really good aspect of the gameplay of both the original and the remake is that given the character you play, you can have different endings to the games and there will be different consquences as a result if you don't rescue your fellow team mates.   

Another great aspect of Resident Evil is also the baddies, to start with the zombies, who in the original were creepy and when they attacked you, they bite you near to the point of death unless you push them off.  In the remake they are even more creep and effective as they will bite you but you can also make a pre-emptive attack by using your defensive weapon to stab or stun them.  The zombies however no matter how many rounds you pump into them will not stay down unless you decapitate them or incinerate their bodies, and if you do neither they come back to live twice as fast and strong as well as angry, which adds to the incredible unease of the remake.

The other enemies also include for example the rabid dogs, who you usually find running around the courtyard and one of the game's showpieces is of course where you run down a corridor in the mansion they without smashing through the windows and you have to kill them or be killed.  Other enemies also include a giant spider (aracnophobics beware!) a giant serpent, biped lizards, known as hunters, with sharp claws who can move fast and jump high, and they can even decapitate you if you're not careful!  And lastly (SPOILER!!!) there is the Tyrant, the ultimate biological weapon, a large humanoid with pale white skin and a big sharp claw, which can do brutal damage.

GRAPHICS 

Getting onto the graphics of the remake, well for their time they were and still are absolutely stunning, as the backdrops look amazing and the character models are superb especially in the remastered HD versions, the game looks better than ever and the models even rival some of the games of today.  And everything from the visuals of the interior of the mansion, to the griminess of the underground labs and to the grounds of the mansion, it all looks top notch. The only thing is though the movement of your character is still restricted within the static backdrops so when you control the character and they can only move in one way as the camera angle changes at set times in each room.  But for the remake the visual presentation simply could not be better than it is here and even by today's standards, this is one mighty fine looking video game.

MUSIC 

Moving onto the music score, it was composed by Shusaku Uchiyama and it is quite different from the cheesy 90s synthesizer music (although it did have a charm all of its own!) and in its place we have a very creepy and deeply atmospheric score with some real moments of perfect orchestral terror. And the score is often used really effectively, such as in a scene where your character is in a room and a zombie bursts out of the cupboard! So, overall this is a pretty impressive update of the cheesy yet still classic score from the original game.

FLAWS 

As for the flaws of the game???  Well yeah OK the remake does it have some issues.

And to start off, it has to be said the static movement in the game is what prevents Resident Evil from being a truly interactive experience.  And as I previously mentioned the characters can't really interact with their environment given the pre-rendered backdrops, as you move down a hallway the camera statically cuts between different sections of a room as you go. The movement of the characters in the remake are also rather sluggish as they run fairly slowly around the mansion, the corridors or anywhere else for that matter. Having said that, I'm actually convinced they speeded the movement of the characters in the remastered versions, so in that respect its a lesser problem for the HD versions.

However what is a problem in the remastered version is that I often found myself occassionally fighting against the direction of the controls as making your character run in a straight line can prove challenging. This is especially notable when it changes to another camera angle while your character runs down a corridor, hallway etc, you are forced to press the stick forward or backward to compensate for the new angle, which can disrupt the flow of your character's movement.  

The puzzles in the game can also be a little frustrating at times as well and given the nature of the game you have alot of running back and forth to do to pick up different things, such as keys, emblems or other items to help you basically unlock new rooms and access other areas. The storage rooms can also be a bit annoying as well, given that you can only hold so many items at once, and you can't ditch an item, you have to keep it until you reach the storeroom and you have to swap out an item rather than just ditch it, which thankfully in later games you could do instead. And further to this, in the prequel game, Resident Evil 0, they improved the storage system by letting characters just drop items anywhere and pick them up again as they see fit.  

I also have to say while it was a staple of the earlier games in the series, the ink ribbon save system does feel pretty outdated aswell (although it was brought back for the Resident Evil 2 remake) as it forces you to be pretty economical with your game saves throughout. So, this also will force you to try and make sure you are in a good place with your items and progress before you choose to save your game again.

Another problem for me with the remake is the voice acting, which don't get me wrong, is an improvement over the laughable performances of the original but they still do sound a bit wooden (although the voice actor of Barry is probably the best here). However it still brings to mind some of the hilariously bad dialogue of the original such as in the cutscene where Barry gives Jill a lockpick and he says to her "And Jill, here is a lockpick.  It might be handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you".

Anyway, so that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, Resident Evil the remake is still a superb game and it builds on the original as its far more creepy and scary as well and the graphics for the game are also first class. Also now given that the Nintendo Gamecube, Wii and Wii-U are now discontinued, its great that the game was remastered for the current generation of consoles i.e. PS4/Xbox One to allow gamers new to the remake to experience it aswell. And despite any of its limitations in terms of its movement, save and inventory systems, Resident Evil is still a must for any horror game fan.

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post.

Till then its bye for now...groan...creek...shuffle! (OK that's enough!).

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Review

Well, after playing the Soulsbourne series relentlessly (and I'm STILL playing by the way lol!) I finally got round to recently buying the latest offering from the creators behind the Souls and BB games (i.e. From Software) and got Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Now, Sekiro is quite a change from the games that went before as instead of a swords and sorcery or victorian gothic approach we know have a game that is set in 16th century Japan (albeit a heavily fictionalised and fantasty based version).  So, this really is quite a departure from the previous games of From Software. However the question is to be asked...how does it stack up in comparison to the acclaimed Soulsbourne games? Well, let's find out...

And I will mention a bit about the plot below, so the usual warning is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY (By the way this was taken from the Sekiro Wikipedia page)

"In a re-imagined late 16th century Sengoku period Japan, warlord Isshin Ashina staged a bloody coup and seized control of the land of Ashina from the Interior Ministry. During this time, a nameless orphan is adopted by the wandering shinobi named Ukonzaemon Usui, known to many as Owl, who named the boy Wolf and trained him in the ways of the shinobi. Two decades later, the Ashina clan is on the brink of collapse due to a combination of the now elderly Isshin having fallen ill and the clan's enemies steadily closing in from all sides. Desperate to save his clan, Isshin's grandson Genichiro sought the Divine Heir Kuro so he can use the boy's "Dragon Heritage" to create an immortal army. Wolf, now a full fledged shinobi and Kuro's personal bodyguard, loses his left arm while failing to stop Genichiro. As he received the dragon’s blood from Kuro three years prior, Wolf survives his wounds and awakes in an abandoned temple. In the temple, he meets the Sculptor, a former shinobi named Sekijo who now carves Buddha statues, and Wolf finds that his missing arm has been replaced with the Shinobi Prosthetic, a sophisticated artificial arm that can wield a variety of gadgets and weaponry...".

And its from here where Wolf must start his dangerous journey to try and rescue his kidnapped lord and get revenge over Genichiro...

THOUGHTS

Well, I really had high hopes for Sekiro as I'm such a big fan of the Soulsborne games, however I'm sad to say that for me personally, Sekiro is a bit of a disappointment and it fails to live up to the expectations of the exceptional games that came before it. The game did receive alot of acclaim however on its release from critics and there are still plenty of fans of the Soulsborne series that enjoyed it also, however unfortunately I just wasn't one of them. And the reasons I won't fully go into here but I felt overall the game lacked interesting areas and the bosses and standard enemies lacked appeal and there are of course plenty more I could say but I will save them for the flaws section.

GAMEPLAY (This section will be split into sub-sections just so you know!)

Well, as for the gameplay, Sekiro while it has its differences to the Soulsborne games, it stills shares the same non-linear structure where you can explore different areas rather than having to fight each area in succession. The game also shares similarities to the SB games such as healing and check points, as here in Sekro and I will go into more detail on them below.

COMBAT 

However that aside, Sekiro does largely depart from the Soulsbourne formats in most other respects and this is especially the case regarding the combat because here instead, Wolf will use his katana to attack an enemy's posture (or their poise) and continue until its broken and then Wolf call perform a deathblow attack to finish them off. However this will vary when it comes to the boss fights because Wolf will be required to perform at least a couple of deathblows to finish them off as they have larger health pools. Wolf can also deflect attacks from enemies but this does of course come with a penalty as they can also break Wolf's posture to land an attack of their own. Wolf can also perform stealth attacks and sneak through areas to takedown enemies from behind or from above.

SKILLS 
 
Wolf will also throughout the game earn XP points for taking down enemies and based on these points, he can upgrade his skills and these tend be a mixture of defensive and offensive skills. As Wolf progresses in the game, he can earn more points and enhance his skills as he will access them from the idols he travels by.    

TOOLS AND ITEMS

Sekiro similar to the Soulbourne games, has its own share of tools and items to be found throughout the world. Starting with the tools, well you may notice of course that in Sekiro, Wolf only has one primary weapon which is his katana but once he obtains his prosthetic arm, he can pick up a number of accessory weapons that can be attached to the arm to help him take down his enemies. As an example there are Shurikens, which are ninja stars that Wolf can throw at enemies, flame-vents, which are used to set enemies on fire, loaded-spears, which Wolf can stab foes with them and loaded-axes, which again Wolf can use to stagger enemies to help him land a deathblow.

There are also plenty of other items in the game that are of much use such as different sugars that when Wolf consumes them, he will gain different boosts such as reduction in physical/posture damage or an increase in his attack power. Other items include balloons, which when Wolf crushes them will again provide different abilities such as receiving more gold from fallen enemies, or increased chances of getting discoverable items held by enemies also.

ENEMIES, MINI BOSSES & BOSSES

As for the game's enemies, they are mainly comprised of a mix of humans, beasts, ogres, apes, lizards, dogs and many, many more. The human enemies tend to be members of opposing Samurai clans and tend to attack you with katanas, torches, bows, guns and even canons. The mini bosses however tend to be a bit more unique in that there are so many to be found in the game and they tend to have two health bars, which involves Wolf landing two successful deathblows to finish them off. The main game bosses however will have larger health bars and can have up to three at the most and pose a greater threat to the player. Bosses and standard enemies can also perform perilous attacks that deal out alot of damage, which Wolf cannot block however he can counter them with a skill move (Mikiri counter) either that or he will have to jump back to avoid them.

IDOLS, VITALITY AND POSTURE

Moving onto the game's travel system, which are the idols that are very similar to the bonfires and lamps that were used in Souls and Bloodborne as Wolf will find these idols throughout the game's world. The idols similar to the bonfire and lamps in SB game, act as checkpoints for the player and will restore Wolf's health fully aswell as his health items. At the idols, Wolf can also upgrade his skills, his vitality if he has the right items and his posture aswell as purchase Spirit Emblems that are used to utilise his prosthetic arm's tools and determines how many uses he can have of each tool.

As for Wolf's vitality and posture, these can be upgraded gradually throughout the game but in order to do so, Wolf will have to fight a number of mini bosses to do so as he will obtain items called prayer beads that will let him increase both these stats. Wolf will also need to obtain four beads to upgrade his vitality and posture by one level and there are 40 beads to be found throughout the game. Wolf's vitality bar can be found on the bottom left of the screen whereas his posture bar is on the bottom centre area of the screen, which will fill up as he is attacked and reduce as it recovers.

RESSURECTION AND DRAGONROT (Warning: this next section is kind of a spoiler!) 

Another aspect of the gameplay is of course connected to the title where Wolf can actually die...twice which means if he is killed once in combat, he can be ressurected once more before finally dying and the ressurection stat can be fully replenished whenever Wolf rests at an idol. However there is a big penalty that can be incurred if Wolf keeps dying and that is dragonrot, which is an illness that certain NPCs in the game will contract as a result of Wolf's repeated deaths. Wolf however can cure the dragonrot via the use of blood droplets and he must do this to ensure that the NPCs recover and he cannot proceed with their questlines until he does.  

GRAPHICS AND MUSIC

As for the graphics, well this is easily From Software's best looking game to date as Sekiro is stunning game visually speaking and the environments are both rich in detail and varied as Wolf traverses many different areas such as temples, sewers, dungeons, open fields and of course fortresses. The character models are also pretty good although they are primarily better for the main characters but not quite so good for some of the enemies in the game as they can tend to look a bit goofy! But overall this game is very easy on the eyes in terms of its visuals.

Moving onto the music, the game is scored by Yuka Kitamura, who worked on the Soulsborne games aswell and overall its a pretty good score, which to its credit sounds very different to the scores we are familar with in the SB series. The score however doesn't quite scale the heights of the very soundtracks in the Soulsbourne universe but it is still a very fine one all the same and its mini-boss theme alone is well worth the admission price even if it is a bit overused throughout the game!

FLAWS

As for flaws...yep Sekiro has its share but I would like to just say that some of them maybe based on my opinion, so please don't feel like I am hating on the game in this review but more just I am stating my thoughts on the game's drawbacks.

So, for starters I would have to that I felt that the game's areas just aren't that interesting to me as you tend to do alot of running round, stabbing enemies via stealth or outright parrying followed by deathblow, open doors, operate lifts etc and that's about it. Now I have to say that you did the same in the Soulsborne games but in those games the visual design as such really compelled you to want to check out these areas and what they might but with Sekiro, I really didn't feel this way about the environments. 

Another issue is maybe to do with the whole setup of the game as you are very limited in terms of building your character's stats as all there is available is your vitality and posture aswell as your ressurective powers (based on how many enemies you kill or when you reset the world at an idol). Now to be fair, Fromsoft here did decide to go with a skill tree system where you can unlock many different attacks and defensive maneuvers and that does offer some variety to the combat in the game. But that aside I just feel the stats and attributes of the player are far too simplified here for them to be that appealing.

Then we get to the consumable items as there are simply too many of them to be found in the game and similar to some of the Soulsbourne ones that can be pretty useless! As an example one of the most common pickups from fallen enemies are ceramic shards, which you can use to attract the attention of individual enemies (similar to pebbles in Bloodborne) but here they aren't that effective at drawing your opponent over to you. I also felt that some other items of use weren't dropped enough such as pellets, which can restore your a moderate amount of your health (similar again to lifegems in Dark Souls II) and the fact you can only hold three of them at one time is also quite annoying.

Another big problem I had with the game was to do with the mini-bosses as there are simply too many of them and some of them are pretty challenging, which to be fair is expected in a From Software game. Now quite a few of these bosses are optional but they are also fairly essential to getting prayer beads to upgrade your vitality, which means you need to keep fighting them over and over until you have defeated them in order to get just one bead! So, if you want to farm up to get the beads you could be in for a frustrating time if you want to do so.

As for the main game bosses to be honest I didn't get through this game in its entirety as I lost interest just as I started fighting the third main boss, Genichiro and by then the game's difficulty level and combat mechanics had really worn off on me. And that for me is the big difference between the boss fights in the Soulsborne games as fighting them was frustrating for sure at times but it also felt rewarding and a challenge worth taking on, however in Sekiro, fighting the bosses just feels like a major chore as they really aren't that much fun by comparison. Sure you will put in the effort you will defeat the bosses but for me there is no real sense of reward in doing so (but hey that's just me!).  

I also had an issue with alot of the NPCs in the game as majority them really don't have much in the way of personality with the exception of maybe the odd merchant and the sculptor but there are no real standouts in this game like there are in Soulsborne games. Here there is no equivalent of Solaire, Patches, Siegward or Eileen the Crow in Sekiro and that's a pity. Further to this, while I do think its great that From Software finally gave a playable character a voice and more than one expression (just about anyway!) I felt that Wolf has barely any personality either and at times he just comes across as a bit of an abrupt dickhead when talking to people which really makes him somewhat unlikeable.

Another niggle I had with the game was to do with when Wolf dies the first time during a boss battle or standard enemy combat you get the choice of letting him die or ressurect, now I appreciate the "die" option is there if you have had enough but I still think that is an option that shouldn't be included and I will tell why. So, the reason why I think the "die" option isn't a good idea is because during a couple of boss fights I accidentally pressed the "die" option button (L1 on the PS4) and it simply ended the fight when I didn't want it to! So, I just think it would have been a better idea to have simply give you only the one option to "ressurect" and keep on fighting as you will be pretty annoyed if you accidentally hit the die button and were in the middle of a decent attempt at a boss.

And last of all is a problem to do with how when you fight mini bosses and if you run out of the area you fight them in, their health bars with automatically reset! Now, this happened to me in the chained ogre mini-boss fight as I had removed one of his health bars with a deathblow but tried to distance myself from him a bit and when I came back into the area, his health had fully reset itself again! So, while I do appreciate it the game will reset the bosses's health if you run far away from the fight, its still a bit of a cheat if you give a little distance and have already taken away one of their health bars!

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, I have to unfortunately conclude that Sekiro for me personally is a disappointment and I hate saying that given how much I enjoyed the Soulsborne games and have put literally hundreds of hours of gameplay time into them over the last year or so. However with Sekiro, I found when I was playing it that I had enough after playing for only and hour or an hour and a half tops, which told me there and then that this game just wasn't living up to its predecessors.  The game areas also feel a bit stagnant to me and not that interesting to explore and the NPCs and even Wolf himself lack much in the way of personality or appeal for an audience to relate to.

Don't get me wrong as Sekiro does have quite a bit going for it with its beautiful visuals, intriguing Japanese setting, I also like the idea of the combat simplified down to using just one primary weapon rather than having almost too many weapons to choose from like you have in the Souls games. Some of the game's combat is also pretty intense and the prosthetic Shinobi tools are also a pretty neat touch. I also even like that the game gives you the choice to start new game plus rather than force you to start it after you having defeated the final boss in the game (which you are forced to in the original Dark Souls and Bloodborne). Another thing I quite liked is that From Software FINALLY gave players an option to PAUSE THE GAME while you were in the middle of fighting or at any point while playing for that matter! So, this alone is another plus for Sekiro.  


However, I have to admit that this review is based on what I had played of the game and as I mentioned, I only got up to playing Genichiro and by then I really felt like I had enough and the game just wasn't for me. Dark Souls and Bloodborne are tough acts to follow but unfortunately for me, From Software just didn't quite cut it here.

So in conclusion, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is by no means a terrible game but at the same time it just isn't a great one either and its a game that might split certain fans of the Soulsborne communities down the middle (or maybe not) but for me it just wasn't what I hoped it would be. If you love your eastern Japanese fighting games such as Nioh or Ninja Gaiden, I'm sure this will have its own appeal to you but if not then its game you will have to take a chance on and personally it just didn't do it for me.

Anyway, so that's it for now and I hope if you are a fan of Sekiro and read this that you don't hold it against me as its just my personal opinion and if you love Sekiro, that's great. In fact, I might just give it another go somewhere down the line in future but I think I will wait until the game's prices come down on the PS store before I do. 

So, I will be back soon with another post and until then its bye for now!

Top 10 Dark Souls II Themes Part 2: No's 5 to 1

So, here is part two of my list for my pick of the top 10 themes from Dark Souls II, with so many boss themes to choose from its been pretty hard to pin them down to just 10 but there has certainly been plenty here.

Anyway, so with that said let's take a look at the themes that made it into the top 5.

5. Skeleton Lords 

At No.5 is the theme for the Skeleton Lords, which is admittedly a pretty silly boss fight but actually surprisingly quite an enjoyable one that involves ALOT of running around an arena being chased by alot of skellies! In fact this fight actually reminded me alot of the Deacons of the Deep boss fight from Dark Souls III, which is also kind of fun in a daft way!  

Anyway as for theme (again by Motoi Sakuraba) by heck its a real cracker and I just love the way it kicks in and right from the get-go this one really does grab you. Its a great mix again of orchestraion and choral voices and it even has a section that I believe is played on a harpsichord (but I might be wrong about that!) that gives the theme a Renaissance/Baroque feel to it. But its the choral section that really stands out in this track as its just great as it so well composed.

So, while the Skeleton Lords is a pretty silly boss fight that isn't much of a challenge (albeit a fun one nonetheless) it has one of the best themes in the game and its more than deserving of its place at No.5 in the list.

4. Vendrick

At No.4 is the theme for King Vendrick, who must rank as the saddest character in Dark Souls II and this is actually one of the most downbeat and emotional themes in the game and it also happens to be one of the very best (composed again by Sakuraba). 

As for what's so great about it, well I think I just love that rather menacing opening sequence but its then followed by a really sad section, which perfectly captures the hollow shell that Vendrick has become as he wanders aimlessly around a crypt, dragging his sword and it takes some doing to aggro him before you fight. Its actually one of themes in series that get me a little emotional I have to admit as Dark Souls II is surprisingly perhaps the most upbeat of the three Souls games but Vendrick's reveal of his fall from grace is unquestionably the game's most poignant moment and this theme nails this to perfection.

So, Vendrick's theme is both sad and haunting and it really stands out as one of the very best in the game that more than deserves a place here in the top 5.

3. Old Dragonslayer 

So, at No.3 is the theme for Old Dragonslayer, who is a boss that appears to be wearing he exact same armour as Ornstein from the original Dark Souls game and his theme here is without a doubt a real cracker.

As for the theme itself it was composed by Yuka Kitamura and its another of those themes that just grabs you straight away and its a wonderful mix of orchestration and electronic music but it just has a great sense of urgency to it and it keeps building itself up in the early stages so well. The mid-section of theme is quieter but again it slowly builds itself up yet again with the choral voices and the horns building up the tempo before it bursts into action game.

The only disappointing thing about the theme here is its again used for a pretty mediocre boss as the Old Dragonslayer, is just a poor man's Ornstein as he really doesn't present a very interesting challenge in the game and Ornstein and Smough worked so well as a fearsome duo but the Old Dragonslayer on his own just isn't that appealing.

Despite this though, I just think this is easily one of the strongest themes in the game and it deserves its spot at No.3.

2. Fume Knight

So, in the runner-up spot is the theme for my personal favourite boss from Dark Souls II, the Fume Knight, who can prove to be a pretty stern challenge in the game (well until you get used to his moveset that is!) and appears as a DLC boss.

But what about the Fume Knight's theme?  Well in a word, its awesome! This theme totally grabs you by the throat and sucks you right into the fight and it starts with such an unusually menacing sound from the choral voices but its then followed by its wonderful main theme section, which again captures the danger of the fight and a sense of impending doom as the Fume Knight is certain to seal your fate time and time again!  However what I really love about this theme is the mid-section as it kind of really departs from the rest of theme and it gives it a slightly poignant feel before it returns to its main section again before finishing off with its doom-laden choral voices and its main part again. 

Overall, I just think that the Fume Knight's theme is just as towering as its boss in the game and its superb mix of orchestrations and choral voices and by heck just a great theme, which probably doesn't get the love that it might deserve from the Souls community (at least I think!).

So, for these reasons I think the Fume Knight more than deserves the runner-up spot.

And that means my pick for the best theme of Dark Souls II is....

1. Sir Alonne 

Yep! This one of course will come as no surprise as the theme for the DLC boss, Sir Alonne, speaks for itself as it stands on its own as one the very best in the game if not the whole series and it has a real epic feel to it that makes feel like it belongs to Dark Souls III's soundtrack! 

Sir Alonne must easily ranks as one of the most frustrating and challenging bosses in the game but his arena is without a doubt one of the most elegant in the game as you fight him in a room with an impeccably polished marble floor and his tough and somewhat unpredictable moveset makes him quite a test in the game.

As for his theme (again by Yuka Kitamura) its just great, it kicks off perfectly with a choir and then the orchestration starts and its the choral voices that really make this theme work so well as they often provide the backbone of some of the finest themes in the Souls series and this one is no different. The early section orchestrations are also wonderful and the fight's mid-sections for the choir are great too. What's also refreshing is the theme does have quite a bit of emotional weight to it but it never feels downbeat or melancholy at any time, instead it captures the excitement and danger of the battle against Sir Alonne.

So, for me, Sir Alonne's theme stands out as the very best in Dark Souls II as its perfect mix of orchestral strings and choir voices and it basically is just great and it is a very deserving winner for this list.

Right, so that's me for now and I will be back again sometime soon with my pick of tracks for Dark Souls III, which overall is a tremendous soundtrack, so there will be plenty to choose from for sure.

So, till then its bye for now!      

Top 10 Best Dark Souls II Themes Part 1: No's 10-6

OK, so its time for my look at my pick for the top 10 themes from Dark Souls II, which I think had a much better, more varied soundtrack then the original game (even if the game wasn't quite as good as the original!). So, there will be plenty to look at here and sift through to find my picks for the 10 chosen tracks.

So, with that said let's dive in and take a look at No's 10 to 6 on the list...

10. Burnt Ivory King

So to start off at No.10 is the theme for the DLC boss, Burnt Ivory King, which was scored by Yuka Kitamura (who went to be the chief composer for Dark Souls III and Sekiro) and its an excellent one for sure as it really has quite an epic feel to it and a great intro that pulls you in. In fact you could say the theme has a certain sadness to it but at the same time its a very cool epic sound, which is a fine mix of electronic and orchestrated compositions.

The intro and the middle sections are definitely my favourite parts of the theme and it helps that the Burnt Ivory King is one of the cooler bosses from Dark Souls II, so its not like we had yet another mediocre boss with a great theme (although unfortunately there are still quite a few of those coming up!). 

Anyway, so I really like the BIK theme as its epic feel and its orchestrations and elecotrnic synth combo work very well together to make it worthy of being a top 10 track from the Souls II soundtrack.

9. Ancient Dragon 

This next theme on the list is for the Ancient Dragon boss, who is purely an optional one as you don't fight him until you have aggro'd him enough for him to fight, which is generally considered a big mistake as he is far from easy!

As for the theme itself it was composed this time by Motoi Sakuraba (still the chief composer on Souls II and the original Souls too) and its a really good theme overall with a pretty dramatic and strident opening, which strongly implies that you have made a BIG mistake in aggroing one of the game's toughest optional bosses!  The remainder of the film has some great rising moments from the orchestrations and again it has a pretty good mid-section. This is one track that has alot of variation, which is certainly one of the things it has most going for it. 

However the only snag with this score is that the Ancient Dragon boss himself is pretty mediocre and rather dull as he's just a giant dragon who flies around a bit and the only unique thing is that he can breath fire underneath himself (well that and he crushes you to death if he lands on you!). So, it really is another case of a bland boss with a theme that is too good for itself to be utilised with such an underwhelming albeit intimidating foe.

Still that aside, this is an excellent theme with plenty of variation and one of my favourites from the main game.

8. Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin

At No.8 is the theme for the final boss of the game, Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin and its actually a big fan favourite in the Souls community and its easy to see why as its beautifully haunting poignant one at that. 

In fact I would probably go as far as to say that it echoes the sounds of Gwyn's theme in one or two places with its haunting piano although it does sound quite different. However, perhaps why this theme is so good is that it maybes captures the spirit of Aldia once was when he was human and he is a fascinating character in the game, just a shame he is such a crap boss! However, if you can forgive that then I still think the final choices your character make in Dark Souls II are probably the best in the whole series. You have a chance to either take the throne at the end of the game and keep the same cycle going or break free from that and take your own path and turn your back on throne to walk an unknown road. 

So Aldia's theme is undoubtedly excellent and one of the best in the game and its easy to see why so many fans like this one. I think to be honest there are still alot of better themes in the game but I still really like this one myself and think it deserves it spot on here at No.8.

7. Ruin Sentinels/Smelter Demon/Blue Smelter Demon

OK, so at No.7 is a theme that is so good it was actually re-used no less than three times in the whole game for three different bosses (well two of them are virtually the same boss!). So, this theme was initially for the Ruin Sentinels boss but was later used for the optional duo bosses of the Smelter Demon and the Blue Smelter Demon.  The Ruin Sentinels are an OK boss but nothing special whereas the Smelter Demon is one of the best bosses in the game but his counterpart, Blue Smelter Demon (or Smelty 2.0 as he is also known) is not so great and just pointless revamped version.

However, the theme itself (again by Yuka Kitamura) is an excellent one overall and it really oozes quality from the start but of course its best part is the choral section, which is brilliant and one of the best in the game. It is however one of the shortest themes in the game or at least the version I've listened is just over 2 minutes in length but there are actually extended sections that appear in the game that I haven't heard on the versions circulating Youtube!

Despite this though, the Ruin Sentinels and Smelter Demons theme is definitely a real highlight of the game and it stands out strong as one of the best from the game.

6. Darklurker 

So, at No.6 is the theme from for the boss that is Darklurker, the secret hidden boss in the game and the theme itself is terrific and has its own chilling sound to it that sets apart from alot of the other tracks in the game. 

The theme itself was composed by Motoi Sakuraba and its a great mix of orchestral strings and choral voices (once again!) and the instrument that makes this track is the harp that plays throughout it. But what really makes this theme so great is its awesome mid-section, which has a really eerie, menacing quality and I just love it for that alone.

So, yep Darklurker is certainly one of the best themes to feature in Dark Souls II and its one I can certainly listen to time and time again.  

So, that's it for part one and I will be back soon with the my second part where I take a look at the top 5 themes from Dark Souls II.

Till then its bye for now!

Top 5 Best Dark Souls Themes

OK, time for another post and this one is a bit different as I will take a look at my pick of my favourite themes from the original Dark Souls, or if you like Dark Souls 1 and I will be looking to do this with the other games in the series that includes Bloodborne (can't speak for Demon's Souls though).

Now I must admit this is a bit of a trickier list for me to compile as I personally think that the original Dark Souls soundtrack was frankly the weakest of the three Souls games (not counting Demon's Souls again here). Having said that however there are still some very fine themes in this game for sure.

So, with that said let's take a closer look at my pick for the top 5 themes from the original Dark Souls...

5. Four Kings

So, at No.5 is the Four Kings theme, which is one of the later bosses in the game and they can be pretty challenging it has to be said. And this track really has a sinister feel to it and I always really liked the way it kicks in and you can feel the intensity of it right from the get go as this is always a pretty intense battle. Written by Motoi Sakuraba, who was the main composer for the original Dark Souls game, he employs his usual heavy choral themes and some pretty intense and dramatic sounding strings.

So, the track for me really gives off a sense of an adrenaline rush when you are facing off the Four Kings and its certainly one of the best tracks from the soundtrack.

4. Great Grey Wolf Sif

At No.4 is surely a fan favourite, which is Great Grey Wolf Sif that remains one of the most poignant boss fights in the game as you fight the dog of its once beloved master, Artorius and this theme certainly captures its poignancy. The theme itself is more reflective than the others and is a nice break from the more choral heavy stuff in Sakuraba's other themes with some female operatic singing (by the way you can probably tell that I am no music critic!).

So, the Great Grey Wolf Sif theme is a fan favourite no doubt and it has good reason for it being so as it certainly is one of the most memorable themes from the game.

3. Ornstein and Smough

At No.3 is of course the theme belonging to the single most infamous duo in the Dark Souls series, Ornstein and Smough and its certainly a very fine one that stands out well from alot of the other themes in the game.

The theme again comprises of some fairly heavy male choruses but its also a good mix of orchestration too and I always liked how this theme kicked off and what you could describe its actual "chorus" being its best part as you try and take down the mighty duo. And the theme incorporates itself very nicely into the actual battle itself and never feels out of place (like just maybe one or two boss themes in Souls series might do maybe???).

So, again its pretty memorable theme and one that stands in the game and is worth putting on the list at No.3.

2. Knight Artorius

At No.2 is the theme for the DLC boss, Knight Artorius and this is definitely one of the standout themes from the game and the start of the theme is so recognisible to any fan of the Souls series.

The theme itself really has a strong sense of foreboding and is pretty haunting sounding as you are taking on a tormented knight, corrupted by the abyss who was once one of the prestiged knights of Lord Gwyn. So throughout you have a theme that deals with that conflict of Artorius's anguish, which you certainly get from his howls throughout the boss fight in between spraying abyssal fluid everywhere! Honestly that dude Artorius needs to get that seen to as he left quite a mess! ;-)

Anyway, so yep that all said (and frankly not much said about these themes I have to say) Knight Artorius theme is an excellent one and is easily one of the best in the game.

So, at No.1 is....

1. Gwyn, Lord of Cinder

Yes, so at No.1 is the theme for game's final boss, Gwyn, Lord of Cinder and it is frankly the best theme in the game by a country mile and one of the very best from the entire series.

And what is so surprising about this theme is you are going in to face the final boss of the game, step in through that fog gate and you expect a big dramatic orchestrated piece of music to finish things up... but instead you get this really sad and poignant piano piece as the great Gwyn proceeds to kick your ass with his big flaming sword! And I must admit at first I thought: wait THIS is the final boss theme of the game??? I initially felt it was not suited to the fight at all but on later reflection, I think its perfect for the fight as it signals the end of an era for Gwyn and he fights to try and cling onto what he had built and here you come to take it over.

As for theme its just a beautiful, haunting piece of music and the simplicity of the piece also it makes it even more effective and it shows that you don't always need big booming orchestras and choirs singing in the background, somtimes just one piano can evoke much more emotion and it sure does with this track.

So, for me Gwyn, Lord of Cinder's theme is hands down the best theme in Dark Souls 1 and it packs a big emotional punch and more than deserves to take the top spot here. 

Right, so that's it for my pick of scores from the original Dark Souls game, next up will be my pick of my favourite tracks from Dark Souls II, which will be a top 10 list given the large amount of bosses in the game and for me overall its a much stronger score than the original (just my opinion of course!).

So, until then its bye for now!