Doctor Who The Five Doctors "No not the mind probe!"

Right OK I thought I would squeeze in another review just before the end of the month and this is the 50th post of the year on this blog so I thought it might deserve another anniversary themed post, and this one will cover the Doctor Who story, The Five Doctors, which marked the show's 20th anniversary at the time of its broadcast back in 1983.  So let's give this one a look....

So the story begins with the current fifth doctor (Peter Davison) of the story spending some quality time resting on the Eye of Orion with his companions Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Turlough (Mark Strickson).  In the meantime however a masked figure uses a timescoop to bring the Doctor's previous incarnations along with some of his former companions together into the Death zone on Gallifrey.  The fifth doctor suddenly feels the physical anguish of his other selves being captured and he tells his companions to return to the TARDIS where the Doctor is physically weakend by the incident.  The other doctors all recognise that they are on the death zone in Gallifrey and make their way towards the tower, aware of the dangerous games that lie ahead of them as various enemies have been lifted into the timescoop as well, such as Cybermen and the Daleks.  The doctors are joined by their companions, which for the first doctor (Richard Hurndall) is joined by his granddaughter Susan (Carole Anne Ford) the second doctor (Patrick Troughton) who is accompanied by the retired Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) and the third doctor (Jon Pertwee) who is joined by Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).  The fourth doctor (Tom Baker) however remains trapped in his own timestream with his companion Romana (Lala Ward) and therefore isn't transported to the death zone.   

Menawhile on Gallifrey at the high council of the time lords, headed by Lord President Borusa (Phillip Latham) realise the Death zone has been reactivated and that the doctor former selves have been lifted into the zone.  The council as a result reluctanty decide to call on the Master (Anthony Ainley) to aid the doctors by going into the death zone and in return he will receive a full free pardon for his past evil actions and a new regeneration life cycle to which the Master agrees, who is given a transmat device so he can beam up from the zone if necessary.  However the Master is less than successful in trying to convince the third or the fifth doctors whom he encounters into believing him and the Cybermen arrive and attack them, leaving the Master unconscious, the fifth doctor takes the Master's transmat device and beams himself into the Time Lord capital where meets with Borusa and the other council members.  The fifth doctor suspects foul play is at hand as he discovers the transmat device has a homing beacon which would lead the Cybermen right to them and Borusa suspects the Castellan (Paul Jerricho) to be involved and has him arrested.  The Castellan however denies he had anything to do with it but Borusa tells the guards to interrogate the Castellan with the mind probe to which the Castellan protests and he tries to escape and is shot down by a guard.  Borusa now considers the case closed but the Doctor is still suspicious and he voices his concerns to Chancellor Flavia (Dinah Sheridan).  The Doctor then looks for Borusa who is missing but soon he finds a secret room where he learns the truth that Borusa was behind it all as he intended to use the Doctors to clear the path of the dangers in the Death zone so he can access the great tower and claim eternal life so he rule as president forever.  And its up to the fifth doctor and his previous incarnations to find a way to stop Borusa from carrying out his plan....

As a celebration of the series, The Five Doctors succeeds very well in doing so and it features an impressive cast of the actors playing the former doctors and the companions.  The story itself was written by Terrance Dicks, although Robert Holmes was initially involved he pulled out early on in the production and its a very enjoyable story as well with plenty of good dialogue from Terrance Dicks as well.  Although Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee reprise their roles as the second and third doctors respectively and Richard Hurndall replaced the late William Hartnell (who died back in 1975) Tom Baker decided not to return to the show as he felt it was too soon to go back to the show after having left only two years ago, although Baker later admitted he regretted this decision.  And to substitute for this, the production team used footage of the incomplete Doctor Who story, Shada, which was not completed due to the union strikes at the BBC of that time in 1980.

Getting to the performances the cast all perform really well here and Peter Davison does a fine job in his role as the fifth doctor and he seems to be at ease in the role.  Davison has some good moments in the story such as the scene where he feels the physical pain of his former selves being lifted out of their timestreams and he says to Tegan and Turlough "I'm being diminished!  Whittled away piece by piece.  A man is the sum of his memories and a Time Lord even more so".  Davison also has another good and amusing scene where the first doctor arrives onboard the TARDIS and the first doctor tells Tegan to fetch them some drinks but Tegan doesn't like his attitude and the fifth doctor says "Tegan! Tegan!  Humour him.  I sometimes used to get a bit tetchy.  Fortunately one mellows with age".  And then there is the moment the fifth doctor meets the Master in the death zone and he listens to the Master and says "Do you really expect me to believe the fantastic tale you just told?!" and after they are attacked by the Cybermen, the Doctor takes the Master's transmit device just as the Cybermen say "you will accompany us" the Doctor says "Sorry, must dash!" and uses the device and beams up to the Capital.

As for the other doctors, Patrick Troughton is wonderful as the second doctor and there are some moments where he steals the show with his flamboyant potrayal of the "cosmic hobo".  Troughton has numerous good moments in the story such as the first scene where he arrives at UNIT HQ and a sergeant tries to stop him enter the room to meet Lethbridge-Stewart (now retired at this point) and the sergeant says "You're not allowed in there, sir" and the second doctor says "Me?  Not allowed?  I'm allowed everywhere!".  And after the second doctor enters the office and speaks to the Brig and his replacement, Colonel Crichton, he looks around at the decor and says "You've had this room redecorated haven't you?  I don't like it!".  Then there is a good scene where the second doctor and Lethbridge-Stewart encounter the second doctor's former companions, Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury) who are just phantoms and the Doctor says "Wait a moment.  The Time Lords erased your memories of the time you spent with me, so how do you know who we are?  Answer!" and the Jamie and Zoe both disappear.  And when the second doctor finally arrives in the tower and meets with the other doctors he says to them "Well there you are!  You don't think anything you could do could stop me!  Let's have a look what's this?!" as he pushes the Doctor's aside and looks at a code that has caught the attention of the other doctors.  And in his final goodbye to the third doctor, the second doctor says "Well goodbye, fancy pants!" and the Third Doctor quips back "Scarecrow!".

Jon Pertwee is also very good as the third doctor and he too has some really good moments as well as some amusing lines such as in his first scene where he sees the obelisk hurtle towards him as he drives Bessie and he exclaims "great balls of fire!" but he soon scooped up by it.  And Pertwee also has a nice chemistry with Elisabeth Sladen who is surprised to see him instead of the fourth doctor and she says "But you became all...." and she indicates her curly hair and teeth and the third doctor says "Teeth and curls?!  Yes well maybe I did.  But I haven't yet!".  And later when the third doctor faces the Master in the death zone he tells Sarah Jane "This is my best enemy.  He likes to be known as the Master, don't you?  My, my, my, but you've changed!".  And the third doctor refuses to believe he is there to help him and says "You?  Help me?  I've never heard such arrant nonsense!  This is some kind of a trap!".  And later on when the third doctor finally arrives at the tower and meets Lethbridge-Stewart he greets him warmly and as the Brig is about to speak with him the third doctor says "You'll have to excuse me, old chap.  We've got a very important transcription to translate and I think they'll get it all wrong without me!".  And lastly the scene when the third doctor and Sarah Jane reach the tower and the doctor comes face to face with two of his former companions, Mike Yates (Richard Franklin) and Liz Shaw (Caroline John) and as they try to stop him moving forward, the third doctor calls out "How?!  You're phantoms!  Delusions of the mind!" and they vanish. 

Richard Hurndall also does a good job in his part as the first doctor as he replaces the late William Hartnell, who died of ateriosclerosis back in April of 1975 and Hurndall does his best to replicate Hartnell's mannerisms and style as the testy old first doctor although his potrayal doesn't quite match the tetchy old charm that Hartnell initially brought to the role.  Hurndall still has some amusing moments such as the scene near the end where the first doctor congratulates the fifth doctor and says to him "Well done, my boy.  You've done quite well.  Quite well!  Its good to know my future is in safe hands!".  Also there is the scene where the first doctor announces himself to Tegan onboard the TARDIS and says "I might be any number of things, young lady.  As it happens, I am the Doctor.  The original you might say!".

Tom Baker also makes a brief but amusing appearance in the story as well as they used footage taken from the unfinished story, Shada where he punts a small boat up the river in Cambridge.  And in the scene Tom enjoys some silly dialogue with Lala Ward as the Doctor and Romana banter about the serenity of the setting.  And in the scene Romana says "I thought you said we were coming here for May week!" and the Doctor says "I did!  May week's in June" and Romana says "I'm confused!" and the Doctor replies "So was the TARDIS!" and laughs, just before the Doctor is about to lose his balance and fall into the water the timescoop picks him and Romana up.

As for the other cast members Janet Fielding is good in her regular companion role as Tegan Jovanaka, the feisty Australian former air hostess who travels with the Doctor.  And Janet enjoys some funny moments in the story as well such as the scene where she travels with the first doctor toward the dark tower and once inside, they encounter a deadly chequered corridor, which destroys a group of cybermen, who betrayed by the Master who moves on.  And the first doctor uses his mathematical skills to navigate the chequered floor and tells Tegan to move now who says "I hope you've got your sums right?!".  And Janet also finishes off the story with a good line when she says to the fifth doctor "You mean you are deliberately choosing to go own the run from your own people in a rackety old TARDIS?!" and the fifth doctor smiles and says "Why not?  After all, that's how it all started!".  Mark Strickson doesn't quite such a prominent role in the story as Turlough but he does OK with what he is given in the role as the fifth doctor's second regular companion.  Strickson's most amusing scene actually comes in the moment where the cybermen attach cables runnning from a bomb to the TARDIS, and Susan looks on nervously saying "Its a bomb!" and Turlough says "Big, isn't it?!"

As for the guest cast, Nicholas Courtney reprises his role very well again as the now retired Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart who meets up with the second doctor and is then scooped and placed on the death zone with him.  Courtney also some good lines such as the scene where the Brig and the second doctor just arrive on the death zone and the Brig says "Charming spot, Doctor!".  And when the second doctor asks the Brig "Brigadier, have I ever left you astray?" the Brig replies sharply "on many occassions!".  And of course there is the moment where in the dark tower the Brig stops the Master from killing the other doctors and says "Nice to see you again!" and knocks him out cold.  And in the Brig's first scene he reflects on his days at UNIT and speaks with his replacement, Colonel Crichton and says to him when the Colonel says how he tried to get the doctor to come to the reunion but couldn't get in touch, "Oh yes the Doctor.  Wonderful chap, all of them".

Then there is Philip Latham who does a decent job as the corrupt and devious President Borusa who manipulates the time scoop and brings the doctors to the death zone on Gallifrey and he ultimately seeks out immortality.  Paul Jerricho who provides the corniest and naffest performance in the story however also provides some amusement and good lines as the Castellan who is framed by Borusa.  And Jerricho has a good line when he says to Borusa "With all due respect, Lord President, your regeneration has not helped your stubborness!".  And later when he is arrested by Borusa's men and Borusa says "you authorised to use the mind probe" the Castellan looks horrified and Jerricho delivers the immortal line "No, not the mind probe!" before he is shortly taken out and shot while he tries to escape.

As for the other companions, Elisabeth Sladen fares the best as she is given the bigger role out of the former companions and she shares some nice moments with Jon Pertwee when the third doctor and Sarah try to traverse the dangers of the death zone.  And Liz get's a good line near the end once they finally arrive at the death zone, and the third doctor meets the Brig and quickly brushes him off, the Brig says "Typical!" and Sarah says "Oh I know.  Drag you through time and space without so much a bye or leave, then leave you out when things get interesting!".  Also worthy of note is Liz's first scene where Sarah talks to her robotic dog, K-9, who once belonged to the doctor, who warns her that there is great danger and "the doctor is involved" and Sarah says "Now I know you are imagining things!  See you later" just before she too is scooped up by the timescoop.  Carole Anne Ford also does well enough with her role as Susan Foreman athough she is largely sidelined to spending most of the time in the TARDIS with Turlough after she arrives there.  And Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Richard Franklin and Caroline John all put in brief cameos as the doctors previous companions, Jamie, Zoe, Mike Yates and Liz Shaw, but they are not given much screen at all so they don't make much of an impression on the story.

And lastly I will mention Anthony Ainley who is excellent in his potrayal as the Master, who get's some good lines and scenes in the story.  Ainley also makes a grand entrance to the story as he arrives at the capital on Gallifrey and he addresses Borusa, Chancellor Flavia and the Castellan and says to them "I maybe seated?".  And when the Master beams down to the death zone he tries to persuade the third doctor into telling him he is here to help, and he says "I knew this was going to be difficult, but I didn't realise that even you would be so stupid as to make it impossible!" which is followed a hail of thunderbolts which crash land nearby and the doctor drives off and leaves the Master to run for his life.  And later in the dark tower as the Master leads the Cybermen into a trap as they all get killed on the chequered floor, he turns to the first doctor and Tegan after he successfully crosses the floor, "try it, doctor, its easy as pie!".  And later on his climactic scene the Master holds three of the doctors at gunpoint and says to them "The decision is scarcely yours!  Killing you once was never enough for me, doctor.  How gratifying to do it three times over!" just before he knocked out by the Brig.

And last of all David Banks does an excellent job in reprising his role as the rather "emotional" Cyberleader who briefly collaborates with the Master.  And when one of Cyberleader's men asks him if he will give the Master his freedom, the Cyberleader says "Promises to aliens have no validity.  When the tower is in our hands, he will be destroyed" but in the end you just know its going to end badly for the silver warriors.

Finally moving onto the direction, Peter Moffatt takes the helm here and he does a good job at keeping the story moving along nicely and given that it is an anniversary story it was a bit of a task to undertake but he does admirable job here.  And Peter Howell, who did the variation of the theme tune for the show in the 1980s era up until Colin Baker started, provides an excellent electronic score here which is pretty atmospheric and features plenty of good passages, particularly in the scene where the Cybermen are attacked by the Raston warrior robot and the scenes where the doctors arrive at the dark tower.

As for flaws.... well The Five Doctors is pretty good story overall but there are one or two minor niggles and the first one would probably boil down to the fact there are too many guest cameo appearances from the other companions, particularly Jamie, Zoe, Mike and Liz Shaw who are all totally sidelined and not given any space to breath, so much so in fact I'm surprised any of them even agreed to appear in the story itself!  This is also true of the enemies in the show such as the daleks, who are poorly represented with only one dalek in the story yet the Cybermen feature more heavily here.  This actually was the result of the script editor, Eric Saward, who loved the Cybermen as villains, yet Terrance Dicks himself was never keen on them (which was also the reason why there were no Cybermen stories during the entire Pertwee era when Dicks was the script editor!).  But given the infamy and stature of the daleks as an enemy in the series surely they deserved more screen time than they actually got.  And the story in itself probably tries to be a bit too ambitious in tyring to tie all these characters together but it doesn't quite gel as a result.  Another problem lies with the fact that there are some silly moments in the story as well, especially the scene where Sarah Jane Smith has apparently fallen down a steep hill, after having arrived in the death zone, yet all she has done has fallen down a mild slope!  And in the scene the third doctor uses some rope, which he throws at Sarah to attached around her waist to help her climb back up, yet when you look at the incline Sarah could easily climb up it herself! 

But despite those niggles The Five Doctors remains a very entertaining celebration of the classic series and is definitel worth watching today nearly 31 years after its original broadcast.

And I shall leave it right there.   

Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin "You're finished, Doctor!"

Right time for a review on Doctor Who, and this will cover a story from the Tom Baker era of the classic series, The Deadly Assassin, which was quite a controversial story for its time but more on that a bit later.  So in the meantime let's give this story a look....

So the story begins not long after the Doctor (Baker) now in his fourth incarnation, has parted company with Sarah Jane Smith (Lis Sladen) as he travels to Gallifrey he has a premonition of the assassination of the president of the Time Lords.  The Doctor arrives on Gallifrey however the chancellory guard are sent immediately to impound the TARDIS, which is classified as a type 40, which is no longer in service.  The Doctor manages to sneak out of the TARDIS and make his way to a lift which leads to the main tower, where he is about to be arrested by a soldier, who is killed by a mysterious figure.  The Doctor then manages to sneak back to the TARDIS and watches a newscast by a reporter named Runcible (Hugh Walters) who reports that the president is set to retire and to name his successor.  Runcible also talks with Cardinal Borusa (Angus MacKay) who is a former teacher of the Doctor from his days at the Time Lord academy.  The TARDIS is then transducted into the museum within the Capitol and the Doctor borrows some Gallifreyan Time Lord robes.  Meanwhile several floors below the main tower, we see the Master (Peter Pratt) who is now severely emaciated in form, speak with a masked accomplice and the Master tells them that the trap is set and the Doctor must die quickly.

The Doctor then makes his way into the ceremonial chamber, the Panoptican, and he speaks with Runcible before the President appears.  The Doctor then spots a camera up at an unguarded catwalk and next to the camera is a sniper rifle, which leads the Doctor to race up toward the catwalk, fighting past the crowd of Time Lords.  The Doctor arrives at the catwalk and takes the sniper rifle as he appears to spot the assassin in the crowd, the Doctor takes aim and fires and at that point the President collapses, dead.  The Doctor is then immediately assumed to be the killer and arrested and under interrogation he insists that he was framed for the murder.  The head of security, Castellan Spandrell (George Pravda) questions the Doctor and starts to believe his story and asks for archivist, co-ordinator Engin (Erik Chitty) to help him in a private investigation into the crime with the Doctor.  The Doctor also invokes article 17 at his trial, which allows him to announce himself as a candidate for the presidency, which allows him a stay of execution as well before his sentence can be carried out, much to the chagrin of one of the prime candidates for the presidential role, the ambitious Chancellor Goth (Bernard Horsfall).   

The Doctor begins to help Spandrell in his investigation and shows him the sniper rifle he used had the sights fixed so there wasn't a chance that he could have hit the preisdent if he tried.  The Doctor also suggests that the access the video camera box next to the catwalk which could possibly reveal who the real assassin might be, however before they can get there the Master removes the tape and kills Runcible and his technician.  The Doctor then is shown by Engin, the Matrix, which is a large neural network in which thoughts can be beamed directly into another person's mind and presented as virtual reality, which the Doctor realises the Master himself has used the Matrix and created the premonition of the president's murder and projected into the Doctor's mind.  The Doctor then decides to try and track the Master by joining his mind into the Matrix, however by doing so he could risk being killed, as if he dies in the Matrix he will also die in reality and with that the Doctor enters the Matrix where he faces a series of dangers and nightmares, which will eventually lead him to finding the identity of the killer....

As a Doctor Who story, The Deadly Assassin is uniqute in itself as it is one of the few stories and the only one up to this point where the Doctor does not have a companion and its a very entertaining one in its own right, penned by the script editor at the time, Robert Holmes (who singled handedly contributed more to the series history than any other writer).  The story also expanded on the background of the Time Lords and it was the first story to exclusively feature Gallifrey as prior to this we had briefly seen Gallifrey in the Jon Pertwee story, The Three Doctors, but the planet was unnamed back then.  The Time Lords themselves are presented as a somewhat orderly and pompous race and their somewhat outlandish clothes and robes actually make the story quite stylish and individualistic.  But the story is also notable for finally revealing how long a Time Lord can live as they can regenerate 12 times after this time they will die and this is clearly also highlighted in the story that the Master already had used up his regenerations and is on his last legs which explains his decrepit form.  It also introduces a few other concepts such as the CIA, which is an amusing take on American acronym, which Engin reveals as the Celestial Intervention Agency, who allegedly played a part in commuting the Doctor's exile on Earth.  It also introduced the Eye of Harmony, which is the power source for the Time Lord's time travel, which was later housed in the Doctor's own TARDIS in the US movie.  So the story certainly broke alot of new ground for the show and certainly was a landmark in that regard in expanding on the Time Lords mythology and background.  You could also say that the story in a way was a precursor to the Matrix film series as the premise of the films aren't all that different in terms of the actual matrix itself in that its a large neural network in which people live in a virtual reality and its the same here with the Doctor in the 3rd episode as he enters the matrix and fights for his survival.  

As for the performances well they are all very good here with Tom Baker as usual providing some wonderful stuff as by this time he had grown very comfortably into the role as the Doctor and he has some great lines in the show as well as some great scenes.  These include the moment where the Doctor disguised in robes has a chat with Runcible, the reporter, who asks him he has had a face lift and the Doctor says "several so far!".  There is also the scene where the Doctor tells Spandrell and Engin of the possibility that the Master could have manipulated the Matrix to beam the premonition of the president into his mind, but Engin insists that the Master would have to have incredible mathematical skill and asks how good was he and The Doctor says "He's brilliant!  Absolutely brilliant!  Almost up to my standard!".  Then there is the scene where the Doctor pleads "Article 17.  I wish announce myself as a candidate for the presidency!" which causes an outrage.  And then there is the great line when the Doctor tries to question the dying Chancellor Goth, and tries to find out what the Master's plan was, but Goth dies, and the Doctor says "Never a straight answer to a straight question!  Typical politician!". 

George Pravda is also excellent in his role as Castellan Spandrell, the head of security in the Capitol who has a rather amusing cynical word weary quality to his performance and he also has some good scenes in the story.  Pravda also get's one the story best lines where at the end when he notices the Master leave Gallifrey, Engin asks him where does he think the Master went and Spandrell says "Out into the universe and between you and me, I don't think its big enough for the both of them!".  Bernard Horsfall is also great in his role as the ambitious Chancellor Goth who (PLOT SPOILER!!!!!!) turns out to be the assassin who is used by the Master for his own nefarious ends.  Horsfall has some good moments where Goth is in the Matrix fighting the Doctor and at the climax of the 3rd episode, Goth attempts to down the Doctor in a marsh and he says "You're finished, Doctor!  You're finished!".  This scene itself caused big controversy at the time of its broadcast as Mary Whitehouse, the president of the then National viewers and listeners association said it was one of the most frightening scenes that featured in the show.  As a result the master tape for the episode had the ending trimmed for future broadcasts but it still exists in other recordings and was restored for the VHS and DVD release.

Angus MacKay also does a great job as Cardinal Borusa, the pompous and authoratative figurehead in the Capitol who looks down on those around him and tries to play down the reality of the assassination so public perceptions wouldn't tarnish Goth's reputation.  MacKay also get's one of the best lines in the story when he tells off the Doctor for his flippant attitude: "As I believe I told you long ago, Doctor, you will never amount to anything in the galaxy while you retain your propensity of vulgar facetiousness!".  MacKay also has another amusing moment where he dismisses the reporter, Runcible, one of his former students when Runcible tries to ask him a question.  And Borusa says "Runcible, you mhad ample time to ask me questions at your mispent years at the academy.  You failed to avail yourself of the opportunity then and it is too late now.  Good day!".

Peter Pratt on the other hand is the weak link in the cast as The Master, as he simply cannot live up to the menace and charm that Roger Delgado originally brought to the role so well during the Pertwee era and delivers a rather more serious one note performance in what is really a far more complex and colourful character.  Pratt however does make decent use of his dramatic voice as well as the mask of the Master's emaciated features.  And lastly Erik Chitty provides a charming performance as the affable Engin who is the archive co-ordinator who works for Spandrell and also helps the Doctor and Hugh Walters also provides some amusement as the hapless Runcilbe, who has an amusing scene where he tries to interview Cardinal Borusa is rudely rebuffed by him.

As for the direction, David Maloney does a great job with Assassin and he keeps the story's pace quite taut throughout and in particular he creates a great sense of tension and suspense during the story's nightmare sequences in the Matrix where the Doctor is involved in a psychological game of cat and mouse.  These sequences feature some memorable moments such as the Doctor getting his foot caught in a railtrack only to face an oncoming mini railtrain coming straight at him as well as nod to North by Northwest where the assassin tries to gun down the Doctor in a plane armed with machine guns and also the climactic fight scene between the Doctor and the assassin (Goth).  As for the story's score Dudley Simpson provides an excellent score which features some organ music, which perfectly suits the dramatic tone of the scenes in the Panoptican.

So regarding flaws.... does The Deadly Assassin have any worth moaning about???  Well nothing too serious except that maybe the story features the Time Lords as yet another pompous (not to mention all English accented!) race with high opinions of themselves, which makes for a somewhat narrow minded view of what could very well be a very diverse race of aliens, but again this was a introductory story to Time Lord society.  Another problem possibly lies in the fact that the Doctor's lack of a companion threatened to see the show take a turn to head that way and even Tom Baker at that time was all for it, but the show's then producer, Philip Hinchcliffe decided the show really needed a companion to make it work and for someone act as a foil for the Doctor who would asks the important questions to help the story move along for the audience to get it.  The story also does feature one or two comical moments such as the scene in the nightmare sequence where the Doctor supposedly falls over the edge of a cliff but we in fact just see that Tom Baker is dangling from a very slight and small ledge and then all of a sudden a samurai warrior turns up and pulls out his sword and cuts the Doctor's scarf in two, which he was using to try and climb back up.  The climactic fight scene between the Doctor and Goth in the matrix is also a bit comical as during the fight scene we can clearly see Tom Baker's stunt double (most likely the series stalwart stunt actor, Terry Walsh) wearing a curly black wig, and the fight scene in those moments looks pretty daft and undercuts the effectiveness of the fight scene.  And lastly I thought the Master's potrayal as previously mentioned, by Peter Pratt, was pretty one dimensional and the Master here lacks any kind of real menace and charm and is just reduced to withered villain who lacks any real impact, although the story's final image of the Master's face starting to slowly regenerate is quite interesting and memorable as he dematerialises in his TARDIS (which takes the shape of a grandfather clock because unlike the Doctor's TARDIS the Master's chamaeleon circuit, which allows the TARDIS to adapt to its environment still works!).

But all that aside The Deadly Assassin remains one of the show's most entertaining and unique stories, which is well worth watching after nearly 40 years.

And with that I shall dematerialise right there.... :-)     

Resident Evil Code Veronica: "But Alexia....!"

Right time for a post on a video game for a change of pace and I have gone for one of the Resident Evil games so I've opted for Code Veronica X which was released all the way back in 2000. So let's gear up, get the guns and get ready to face the zombie hoards that lie ahead.... (well not really but you know what I mean!).

So a bit about the plot as the story begins with its main character, Claire Redfield who breaks into an Umbrella corporation facility in Paris as she is searching for her brother, Chris, however she is captured and placed on Rockfort Island.  Soon after her arrival though, Claire is released by an Umbrella security guard in the aftermath of a T-virus outbreak on the island.  Claire then teams up with another inmate, Steve Burnside who are soon confronted by the island's commander, Alfred Ashford.  Alfred is shown to have developed a split personality as he takes on the personality of his sister, Alexia.  During their escape Claire and Steve are attacked by a zombie, which turns out to be Steve's father, who was a researcher who tried to sell information but he was captured along with Steve.  Steve has no other choice but to shoot his father and mourns for his death as he explains why he is there to Claire.  Claire and Steve however eventually manage to escape via plane, but they are soon attacked by a version of the Tyrant BOW sent by Alfred, which Claire defeats by blasting out of the plane using an explosive.  Alfred also has the plane set on auto-pilot as it arrives at another Umbrella facility in the Antarctic, where his sister, Alexia is being kept in cryogenic freeze in order to keep the symptoms of the virus she was injected with subdued.  And from here Claire and Steve must find a way to fight their way off the island and to stop Alfred as well as Albert Wesker, who it is later revealed that he was the one who released the T-Virus at the other facility.

Code Veronica is an excellent addition to the Reisdent Evil series and it saw the series take a few leaps forward in terms of its graphical presentation and also the gameplay.  The game itself moves forward from the pre-rendered backdrops of the previous three games and instead adopts a more 3D approach as the camera swings around albeit at fixed angles to follow the player's movements.  It also features the ability to use dual wield pistols as Claire early on in the game picks up some dual pistols which feature a large supply of ammo to take down the zombies or other enemies.  It also adds in the features of the previous two games such as explosive oil barrels which you can use to take out multiple enemies at once as well as the crossbow weapon along with a new feature which is explosive crossbow bolts, which Claire finds in certain stages of the game and very effective against most enemies in the game, particularly the bigger ones.  The game also features the handy side-pack which allows the player to store more items, which also featured in Resident Evil 2.

In terms of the character gameplay there are two playable characters, Claire and Chris Redfield, with Claire being the main primary character for most of the game, but Chris also has his own fairly long segment, which sees him access the areas of Rockfort island that Claire couldn't.  Steve is also briefly playable in the game but that is in just one segment where he must clear a basement of zombies on the Rockfort island.  Movement wise the game is also very similar to the previous games as the characters simply either walk or run but also have the ability to make a 180 degree turn aswell as to auto-aim at an enemy when shooting them.  Other than that though the character's movement at certain times are dependant on pushing the action button, such as pushing crates, climbing boxes or ascending and descending stairs.  The game also features the typical loading scenes between rooms when your character enters a room and this is sometimes accompanied by a heartbeat to add to the tension of a scene especially when danger lurks nearby. 

Graphically speaking the game for its time is excellent and it is a big step up from the graphics of the first three games as it was originally released for the Sega dreamcast console but has since been ported to other game consoles such as the PS2 and the Xbox 360 where it was remastered in HD.  The character models this time are a big improvement and we no longer have the blocky looking models from the earlier RE games, which visualy looked pretty basic.  The 3D backdrops are also impressively rendered even though the game isn't fully interactive overall its a really good presentation and again the environments are pretty varied.  Music wise Code Veronica is also pretty good although the score is somewhat dated sounding as it largely synth based and it appears the series is still stuck back in the mid 90s, but despite that it still has some nice atmospheric and creepy moments.

So moving onto the flaws does Code Veronica have any worth moaning about????  Actually yes it does, for starters perhaps the most frustrating thing about the game is the static movement of your character, as Claire for e.g. can only either run, walk or make a 180 degree turn, which makes for a very static and uninteractive gaming experience.  Claire or Chris's movement is also compounded by the fact that they are pretty sluggish at getting up after being attacked, this is particularly noted in the scene where Claire has to fight the Tyrant on the plane, as the Tyrant knocks her down too easily and is way too fast for her to outmanoevure and as Claire tries to get up, and very SLOWLY I might add, she will suffer another, possibly fatal blow from the Tyrant before she can.  This is also notably a problem with some of the other enemies in the game such as the bandersnatchers, who have one long arm, which they can stretch out far to attack their prey and again in these moments Claire can't evade their attacks and as a result loses health, which she probably shouldn't.  And for me one of the game's most infuriating enemies are the giant moths because combined with their peskiness and Claire's sluggish movement its all too easy for her to get attacked and poisoned by them, as leap onto Claire's back and infect her with their eggs, which she has throw off her back and before you knew it she's poisoned and this happens time and time again!  So this really does highlight a big issue with the gameplay mechanics and the fact that the game has no intuitive dodge or counter-attack modes and it really took Resident Evil 4 to overhaul the series gaming experience for the better, but such as it is, this can make Code Veronica quite a frustrating experience.

Another really annoying flaw in the game comes from the inconsistency in terms of the ratio between the amount of ammo available in the game and the big amount of baddies in the game as well, as there are times where your character is virtually out of ammo because they have had to shoot alot of zombies that stood in their way!  And this is where the player has to be very careful to conserve ammo and health supplies otherwise they could come to a crucial stage in the game and find they don't have either ennough health or ammo to defeat one of the game's bosses.  The game also still involves alot of tedious running back and forth between certain areas simply in order to gain access to keys to enter rooms or other areas but this has been a problem with the series in general up to this point and in comparison to the original for example its not too big a deal and rather just a minor annoyance.

Then there is the voice acting and the character of Steve, who is undoubtedly one of the most irritating characters in the RE series as he starts off a cocky little dweeb, who eventually does show his worth and he falls in love with Claire as the game progresss, but when he is finally offed you're not too sad to see him go.  And this is the game (at least I think it is!) where Wesker starts to adopt a transatlatntic accent which is now starting to verge on being English, which in the following games they started to make Wesker sound more and more English!  And for me this was always one of the mistakes of the series was to change Wesker's American accent so drastically as it makes him sound just more like a comical Bond villain than anything else especially when RE5 came around! (although technically speaking its RE6 as Code Veronica was the fourth entry in the series).  

However all that aside Resident Evil Code Veronica is still an excellent entry in the series and despite its limitations and flaws its still well worth playing to this day and if you like the RE series its a game that's worth a visit.

And well I shall leave it there.       

Blazing Saddles "Never mind that shit! Here comes Mungo!"

Right OK well I might have time to do this review but I will need to keep it a bit short in terms of the plot summary etc (no bad thing I guess!) and it will be on the 1970s comedy, Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks wildly anarchic (not to mention incredibly non-pc!) western comedy.  So let's saddle up and give this un a look....

So the story is set in American old west in the year 1874 and it begins with the construction of a new railroad lead by Lyle (Burton Gilliam) which runs into quicksand, which is discovered by two of the black slave workers, Bart (Cleavon Little) and Charlie (Charles McGregor) when they ride the railcart along the track.  When Lyle and his supervisor, Taggart (Slim Pickens) arrive to find the two men sinking into the quicksand and they showed more regard for rescue the sinking railcart than them, Bart out of revenge hits Taggart on the head with a shovel.  Meanwhile the devious and manipulative State Attorney General, Hedley Lammar (Harvey Korman) decides as a result of the quicksand ruining the proposed route to re-route the new railroad through the town of Rock Ridge and Lamarr has Taggart send his men to terrorise the townsfolk in an effort to drive them out.  In response the people of the Rock Ridge insist they want a new sherriff appointed and Lamarr comes up with the idea of using Bart for the job as he was about to be hanged for hitting Taggart, which Lamarr convinces the moronic Governor Le Petomane (Mel Brooks) to appoint.

As Bart arrives at Rock Ridge as sheriff, the townsfolk treat him with open contempt, but he soon befriends a drunken gunslinger, Jim (Gene Wilder) aka "The Wacko Kid" who apparently has the "fastest hands in the west" who was held in one of the sheriff's office cells.  Lyle and Taggart in the meantime however decide to send a powerful but slow-witted henchman, Mungo (Alex Karras) to kill off Bart, but Bart along with Jim's help thwarts Mungo and ends up even befriending him.  Lamar then tries to use a seductivie singer, Lili Von Shtupp (Madeline Khan) to thwart Bart but that also fails as she ends up falling for him, leaving Lamarr furious who decides to destroy Rock Ridge with an army of various thugs such as western outlaws, Nazis, Klansmen and outlaw bikers.  Bart and Jim then decide to come up with a plan to save Rock Ridge with the help of the black railroad workers as they team up with the townsfolk and build a replica of the town to trick Taggart's thugs.  So when Taggart's men ride into the fake town they soon realise they have been tricked and Bart, Jim and the townsfolk head down and fight it out, which leads into the film's whacky climax.

It has to be said that Blazing Saddles easily remains as one of the Mel Brooks's funniest films and it has so many silly and zany moments as well as references to the 20th century despite the fact that its set in the 19th as well as the "farting" scene where the cowboys eat beans around the campfire!  The film also is well worth noted for its racist overtones but that is more a reflection of the period and the film itself can't really be said to be racist in itself as its more a satire on the racial attitudes of the time and one of the film's co-writers was of course Richard Pryor.  Brooks also insisted that the use of the word "nigger" not be removed from the film either even though it was insisted by the head of Warner Brothers  that it should be edited, but Brooks in the end had the decision on the final cut of the film and he also had the backing from Cleavon Little and Richard Pryor that the word should have stayed in the film.  But overall its a very entertaining and very whacky comedy which delightfully takes a turn for the even more ridiculous near the end and its safe to say at that point we are no longer in the "old west".

Performance wise the film is also really good and Cleavon Little is great in his role as the confident and likeable Bart, who is given the unenviable job of being the sheriff of Rock Ridge, filled with prejudiced white townsfolk as well as having to contend with Lamar's schemes. Little has some really good moments in the film such as the scene where he arrives at Rock Ridge and when he sees the townfolk take their guns out and point them at him, he pulls out his own gun and points it at his head and he says in a gruff voice "Anybody makes a move and the nigger get's it!  I swear if anybody comes near him I will blow this nigger's head all over this town!" and he backs himself into the sherrif's office and closes the door saying "Oh baby, you are so talented!  And they are so dumb!".  Little also some other funny moments such as when he tells a rather boring story from his youth about his family meeting a group of Indians to Jim, who ends up snoring, and Bart says "I always like to keep my audience riveted!".  Cleavon also has some other funny moments such as the scene where Bart and Jim dress up as Klansmen and infiltrate the line where the thugs sign up for Lamar's assualt on Rock Ridge.  And Lamar asks the masked Bart what his crimes are and he says "Stampeding cattle, through the vatican!" but when he goes to sign we see his black skin and Taggart removes his mask and Bart says "And for my next impression... Jessie Owens!" and he does a runner!  Another is when Taggart and his men show up to confront Bart and Jim and Jim uses his fastest hands in the west to shoot the guns out of the men's hands and Bart says "Well don't just sit there grasping your hands in pain, how about a little applause for the Waco kid!".  

Gene Wilder is also great in the film as the heavy drinking gunslinger, Jim aka "the Waco kid" who apparently has the fastest hands in the west and he proves it in the film a couple of times.  Wilder also has some funny moments in the film such as in his first scene where Bart asks him what his name is and Jim replies flatly "Well my name is Jim, but most people call me....Jim".  And when Bart sees Jim drink so heavily and says to him "a man drinks like that and doesn't eat is going to die!" and Jim eagerly says "When?".  Also Bart asks him what he likes to do and Jim says "I don't know, play chess.... screw!".  And Wilder continues as Jim explains to Bart about his backstory and says "I must have killed more men that Cecile B. DeMille!  It got pretty gritty.  And then one day I heard a voice say "reach for it, mister!" and I turned and was face to face with a six year old kid!  So I just dropped my guns turned around and walked away.  Little bastard shot me in the ass!  So I limped into the nearest saloon, crawled into a whiskey bottle and I've been there ever since".  Another funny for Wilder is when Bart is about to put on his gun holster to confront Mungo who is in town and Jim says "No, don't shoot him.  If you shoot him it'll just make him mad!".  The scenes where Jim proves he has got "the fastest hands in the world" are pretty cool, especially when he shoots the guns out of Lyle's men's hands and afterwards all the black railroad workers all give Jim five!  

Harvey Korman is also great in the film as the devious Hedley Lamarr who devises a plan to drive out the townsfolk of Rock Ridge so he can build his railroad and places Bart in the town as the sherrif to repel them only to have all his following schemes fall flat on their face.  Korman at times steals the film as well and he has various highlights in the film such as his first scene where he talks with Taggart and he says "Be quiet Taggart!  My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives!".  Another funny scene is where he talks to himself trying to figure out who to appoint as sherrif for Rock Ridge and he says "A sherrif!  But law and order is the last thing I want.  Wait a minute, maybe I can turn this thing to my advantage.  If I could find a sherrif who so offends the citizens of Rock Ridge that his very appearance would drive them out of town" and he turns to the camera and says "But where would I find such a man.  And why am I asking you?".  Another moment Korman has is near the end where the film takes a whacky turn and goes out of the wild west setting and into modern day in LA where Lamarr runs down Hollywood boulevard and hails a taxi and get's in and says to the driver "Drive me off this picture!".  And perhaps Korman's best monologue is when he tells Taggart he wants to gather together a group of thugs and villains to destroy the town of Rock Ridge.  " I want rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers and Methodists!!".  And throughout the scene Taggart struggles to find a pen and paper and eventually produces it at the end and says "Could you repeat that, sir?".  And another one of my favourite lines from Korman is when Bart and Jim are rumbled at the line-up for the thugs to join Lamar's assault on the town and as they run away, Taggart yells "We'll head them off at the pass!" and Lamar turns to him angrily and says "Head them off at the pass?!  I hate that cliche!" and he shoots Taggart in the foot! 

Slim Pickens is also priceless in his role as Taggart, Lamarr's main henchman, who is non too bright, but is nontheless loyal to his boss. Pickens has plenty of funny moments in the film as well such as his first scene with Lamarr where he is impressed by Lamarr's articulate qualities and says "Goddamnit, Mr Lamarr, you use your tongue prettier than a twenty dollar whore!".  Another funny moment is where Taggart and his band of thugs are stopped in their tracks by a tollbooth on their way to destroy Rock ridge and he yells back "Has anybody got a dime?!  Somebody's gotta go back and get a shit load of dimes!".  Also in the scene where Lamarr ponders how to get rid of the people of Rock Ridge and Taggart says "I got it!  I know how we can run everyone out of Rock ridge.  We'll kill the first born male in every household!" and Lamarr quickly dimisses it saying "Too Jewish".  And in the scene where Taggart's men are eating beans and farting round the campfire, Lyle asks him if he wants any beans and Taggart says "I'd say you had enough!".  And there is also his first scene where Taggart arrives to find his men squabbling and he says "What in the wide world of sports is going on here?!  I hired you people to get a little track laid, not jump around like a bunch of Kansas city faggots!".  And lastly another favourite of mine from Slim is when the film nears its climax with the cowboys invading a Hollywood set of a 1930s style musical featuring a group of camp male dancers all dressed in top hats and suits.  And Taggart get's annoyed at the equally camp director (played by Dom DeLouis) by saying "Piss on you!  I work for Mel Brooks!" and punches him in the gut! 

John Hillerman is also great in his role as one Howard Johnston, one of the many "Johnston's" in Rock Ridge as that is the surname of all the townfolk!  Hillerman has two funny moments that stand out such as the scene where he says "Ya' know Nietzchse says out of chaos comes order" only for Olson Johnson to say "Ohh blow it our your ass, Howard!".  And there is also the scene where Bart arrives in town as the new sherrif and Howard reads his speech without looking up he says "As honorary chairman of the welcoming committee, its my privilege to extend a laurel and hearty handshake to our new..." and he looks up to see Bart and says "nigger!".  David Huddleston is also funny in his role as Olson Johnson although his character's prejudiced attitude does leave you somewhat ambivalent about whether to find him funny or not, especially in the scene where Bart shows up with the black railroad workers and he asks that the townsfolk share the town with them.  And Olson says "All right..... we'll give some land to the niggers and the chinks.  But we don't wan't the Irish!" and Bart says "No deal!" and Olson reconsiders and says "Ohh prairie shit!  Everybody!".  But Gooderson's best line of course comes when Mungo arrives in town and enter the town saloon and while Olson is being bored by Howard he suddenly sees Mungo and says "Never mind that shit, here comes Mungo!".  

And the last three I will mention are Mel Brooks in his role as the incompetent Governor Le Petomaine who spends most of his time with his sexy (and busty) assistant as well as blindly following everything Lamarr suggests.  Brooks has a couple of good scenes, such as the first one where his men are around the table in his office having a meeting, they all say "harrumph!" except one, which LaPetomaine notices and he says "I didn't get a harrumph out of that guy!" who harrumphs in reply and LaPetomaine says "You watch your ass!".  And later when Lamarr presents Bart as the new sherrif of Rock Ridge to LaPetomaine, the Governor is outraged and he unwittingly takes Bart aside and says "Have you lost your mind, can't you see that man is a ni..." and stops when he says Bart and then he takes Lamarr by the arm instead and says the same!  Madeline Khan is also good in her role as the German seductress, Lili Von Shtupp, who is used to try and seduce Bart but instead falls for him instead and pronounces all her r's as w's.  And when Lili and Bart are together after her performance in her room, she turns out the lights and says "Is it twue what they say about you men being "gifted"??" and she unzips his fly and says "Oh its twue!  Its twue ! Its wrue!  Its twue!".

And Alex Karras is also pretty good as Mongo, the physically powerful and initimidating henchman who in the end turns out to be a bit of a softie as he befriends Bart.  Karras's funniest moment comes when he Mongo arrives in Rock Ridge and one of the townsfolk riding on another horse tells him off for parking his horse in an "illegal" spot Mongo simply punches the man's horse, which goes falls to the ground!  Karras also has a good line after Mongo befriends Bart and Jim asks him what Lamar's plan is and Mongo says "Dunno, Mongo is only pawn in game of life!".  And last of all Dom DeLouise provides a funny brief role as the camp director of the Hollywood musical, which is invaded by the cowboys but before that he stops a cut of the musical when one of the dancers makes a mistake and he walks up to the dancer and yells in his ear "WRONG!" with his megaphone and thumps him on the head with it.  And Dom then proceeds to show the men how to do the dance routine and says the line "Watch me faggots!" but ends up putting his foot in a small pond area in the studio.  And the director then asks if they have all got the routine and the men all say "yessssssssssss" and he says "It sounds like steam escaping!".    

Moving onto the direction Mel Brooks does a fine job with the film and at a mere 90 minutes long there isn't an once of flab in the film and he keeps gags coming thick and fast as well as the action and he also provides a neat whacky twist with the old west setting in the last 10 or 15 minutes of the film.  John Morris also provides a pleasant and jaunty music score which perfectly suits the tone of the period and is complete with a catchy title song which features the crack of a whip throughout!  The film also features some funny songs such as the one sung by the churchgoers in Rock Ridge

As for flaws and niggles Blazing Saddles isn't without problems and the main one is let's face it a film today that would never be made given is hugely politically incorrect attitude with the amount of times "nigger" is said as well as the racist attitudes presented in the film.  Although the film itself is more a satire on the attitudes towards racism and prejudice of the time in a way still leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth when you watch it today.  The film also even has some misogynistic overtones to it as well as seen in the scene where Taggart talks about pulling "a number 6" on Rock ridge where they go "riding into town, a-whompin and a-whippin every livin thing within a inch of its life!".  And Lamarr asks "do you spare the women?" and he Taggart laughs saying "No we rape the shit out of them at the number six dance later on!".  And in retrospect again scenes like this leave an unpleasant taste in the viewer's mouth and the attitudes displayed in the scene itself.  Although the intent of the scene is somewhat diffused when as a result of the actual number 6 attack on the town the thugs instead raped the cattle! (still not good of course).  The film is also undeniably corny in places as well such as in Madeline Khan's song number for her stage show when sings how she is "so tired" of men and she is accompanied by some male dancers in police uniform, one of which reiterates what she is singing and says things such as "can't you see she is nuts?!".  Its a scene ripe for skipping on the DVD/Blu-ray for certain.

But that all aside Blazing Saddles is still a very entertaining comedy, which is still great fun and memorable after 40 years.

And so I will leave yus there!    
    

Tomb Raider Underworld: Hammer of the Gods

Sooo time for a change of review type, thought I would do one a video game and this time I have opted for one of Lara Croft's adventures, Tomb Raider Underworld, which was released back in 2008.  So let's do the usual and give this un a look....

Right well here's a bit about the story (don't worry this won't be 50 paragraphs like my usual film summaries!) and it begins with Lara (voiced by Keeley Hawes) who's mansion has been set on fire and it explodes, with Lara desparately trying to escape, as she reaches the exit door, one of her team, Zip, shoots at her.  The story then moves back in time to a week before the explosion with Lara having travelled to the Mediterrenean sea, in an effort to try and learn about the disappearance of her mother.  Lara travels underneath the sea and finds an ancient temple of Norse legend, and within it she finds one of Thor's gauntlets.  After Lara travels to the surface she intercepts the ship of one of her adverseries, Amanda Evert, and onboard she battles with her mercanery soldiers and finds an imprisoned Jacqueline Natla, another of Lara's old enemies.  Natla tells Lara that she must locate Thor's hammer and by using it, Lara can then unlock the underworld and find her mother and Natla gives Lara a potential location for the hammer in Thailand, after which Lara escapes the sinking ship, as a result of her battle with Amanda's mercanaries.  Lara then travels to Thialand but she doesn't find the gauntlet but does find evidence that her father had been and moved it before he died and Lara soon deduces where he moved it, right back home at the Croft manor.

As Lara returns back to the manor she searches beneath her home and finds her father's secret office in a crypt and she also discovers the other gauntlet as well as tape recording from her father warning her that Helheim contains a potent weapon.  However at this point the mansion is set on fire, which leads into the events at the start of the game, and Lara briefly encounters her doppleganger, who also shoots one of Lara's team members, Alister.  Zip who believes that Lara shot Alister, fires a few warning shots at her, but Lara convinces Zip that it wasn't her and after a brief fight with her doppleganger who escapes, Alister dies.  Lara afterward then decides to continue her quest to find Thor's hammer, which takes her on a dangerous path to where she will eventually learn the truth about what happened to her mother.

Tomb Raider Underworld is another strong entry in the Lara Croft series and it sees the continuation of what made Tomb Raider Legend work so well with a good solid storyline as well as some excellent voice acting from Keeley Hawes, who in many ways is the definitive voice for the chraracter.  The game also saw some subtle changes made to Lara's character as she no longer wears her usual turqouise sleeveless top and khaki shorts, but a dark brown top and and black shorts.  Lara also like she does in Legend, has a few costume changes throughout the game at different levels, and her movement is now far more realistic as the movement is now fully motion captured and was modelled by an olympic gymnast, Heidi Moneymaker (sounds like a James Bond character!).

Gameplay wise Underworld is also where the game scores very well and there some enhancements to the game effects such as Lara can now be stained with mud when she runs through wet or mucky terrain, which is then washed off by the rain.  Lara can also push foilage aside when she runs through environments such as jungles and her movements also feel that bit more immediate and dynamic than before given the motion capture.  Lara can also open jugs or pots that contain medicine or valuable items, which she can kick open with her feet and these are spread throughout the game.  Lara also uses a motorbike which features more prominently here than it has done in previous games such as Legend and she can use it to navigate traps and obstacles.  Another improvement to the game is in the combat system as Lara can now shoot her guns and aim while she is climbing or driving rather than just having to do just statically do it when she is running on the ground.  There is also a change to the adrenaline moments where you can take control of Lara during the moments where time is slowed down and she can move out of the way of gunfire.  Movement wise Lara can also now in addition to swinging from poles, she can also lift herself up and walk on them side to side as she prepares to jump onto another area.  Guns and ammo wise Underworld offers not much in the way of new weapons but you do get the choice of your own weapon before the start of a level such as two submachine guns, an assault rifle or a shotgun, but personally I always go with the submachine guns!  However unlike Lara's main dual guns, the other weapons have limited ammo so you need to use them carefully against the bigger more dangerous enemies in the game.   

Graphically speaking Underworld is easily the best looking game up to this point in the series so far as the graphics are stunning and the environments are rich and very well detailed, and the environments are once again quite varied.  Lara's character model is also the best yet as she looks pretty sexy and they have gotten away from the ridiculous big polygon breats of the original game but if you ask me in this Lara still has a fine pair here which are well in proportion with the rest of her(sorry that was a bit pervy!).  The graphics also have much improved environmental effects such as rain, lightning, sun, smoke and also snow effects.  Music wise the game is also excellent and it features a fine score, which was composed mainly by Colin O'Malley and it has many passages which are dramatic and atmospheric and suit the game perfectly well.

Getting onto the flaws and niggles of the game.... well Underworld does have a few problems and for starters I would say the combat system, while its good that Lara can fire her guns while she climbs, the auto-aim aspect is a bit unnatural looking in practice as Lara her guns in every direction at ridiculous speed!  The adrenaline moments, whilst you no longer need to press a specific button at a given moment, don't feel like they really add anything valuable to the gameplay, and they also feel a bit awkward when you try and move Lara in slow motion.  Another issue lies with Lara's movement at certain points in the game where she seems to get stuck when she stops running and hits a wall and you have to make her do a roll to get her unstuck or some such action, which highlights some of the flaws in the game's movement.  I also think the game's climactic battle sequence is a bit frustrating where Lara has to use Thor's hammer to knock out the doomsday device, which involves alot of jumping about over a large area, which can easily lead to Lara loosing her footing or jumping off the wrong way and falling to her death, which in short is a real pain in the arse!  Some of the game's puzzles are also a little frustrating such as the one where Lara needs to open an underground passage in the Mexican jungle, which is timed and she has to ride her motorbike to get there before it closes on her, and its easy to get lost in the jungle and get there after it has closed!  The game also lacks any actual game bosses as such, which can be more fun to deal with (albeit frustrating as well!) when you do and the actual enemies in the game don't really pose much threat to Lara in the end, which makes for a rather disappointing combat experience.  The game could also do with some more moments of humour as the tone of the game is fairly serious and its lacks the good mix of humour and drama that Legend had and that is certainly an area for improvement here. 

But despite all that Underworld is still an excellent addition to the Tomb Raider series and it remains one of the best in the franchise with its good storyline, terrific graphics, largely excellent gameplay and good voice over cast, which makes it still worth playing.

And with that I shall leave it there and bid you goodnight!   

Reservoir dogs "Let's go to work!"

OK sooooo I think its high time I did another one of them review thingies and I decided to go back to the 90s to do this one (well not literally!) and it will be on Quentin Tarantino's debut film, Reservoir Dogs.  So let's get on the suits, the shades and do that slow-mo walk and give this one a look....

Right so we all know the story pretty much by now but I thought I would go over it roughly, so it begins with eight men sitting in a diner have a discussion, the men in questioning are going to perform a heist at jewelry store.  Six of the men are given alises of Mr Brown (Tarantino), Mr Blonde (Michael Madsen), Mr White (Harvey Keitel), Mr Blue (Edward Bunker), Mr Orange (Tim Roth) and Mr Pink (Steve Buscemi) for the purposes of the robbery and the organiser and mob boss, Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) doesn't want them to use their christian names.  Cabot also organises the heist with his son/underboss, "Nice Guy" Eddie (Chris Penn) and together they discuss the heist among other more trivial things and then leave.

The next scene cuts to Mr White driving a car with Mr Orange in the back, who has been shot in the stomach and is bleeding badly.  White drives them to an abandoned warehouse, the agreed meeting point for the thieves and takes Orange in and tries to reassure him he will be okay.  Not long after Pink arrives, who is convinced that they were set up by the cops, given the fact that they showed up so fast at the scene of the crime.  White tells Pink that Mr Brown as killed at the scene of the heist as well and they both discuss how Mr Blonde killed several civilians during the robbery when the alarm was sounded, and White is angered at how Joe would employ a psychopath like Blonde.  Afterward White and Pink argue with one another over whether or not they should take Orange to a hospital, which becomes heated as they pull guns on one another, but it is soon diffused by the arrival of Mr Blonde.  White berates Blonde for his actions at the jewelry store, but Blonde quickly dismisses the criticism and tells them he has spoken to Nice Guy Eddie who has told them to stay put.  Blonde then takes White and Pink out to his car and opens the boot to reveal he has taken a police officer hostage, Marvin Nash (Kirk Baltz) and the three of them beat up to try and force him into revealing any information of an informant.

Later on Eddie arrives at the warehouse and confronts the men over the bungled heist and the possibility of a setup, which he refuses to accept and tells White and Pink to come with to ditch the stolen cars and retrieve the stashed diamonds (which Pink has secured) leaving Blonde alone with Nash and Orange, who is unconscious.  Blonde then decides to torture Nash for his own amusement and while listening to a show on the radio named "K Billy's supersounds of the 70s" he tortures Nash by slashing his face and cutting his right ear off with a straight razor.  Blonde then goes outside and comes back in with some gasoline which he douses Nash with and prepares to set him alight, but at this point Orange regains consciousness and kills Blonde.  Blonde tells Nash that he is an undercover cop and that the police are waiting in force to storm the warehouse once Cabot shows up there.  And from here we get Orange's back story, which leads into the events prior to the heist and then it cuts back to the aftermath of the heist, which leads into the film's dramatic climax....

It has to be said that Reservoir Dogs remains one of the most impressive film debuts in recent years of an any filmmaker, although for me it still remains one of my least favourite Tarantinto films, but its still compelling, intense and entertaining film nonetheless.  Tarantino, was a former video store worker, who had an indepth knowledge of films and his passion for film is clear in his works not only in Reservoir Dogs but his other films as well.  Tarantino also loosely based the plot of the film around Stanley Kubrick's film, The Killing, and it also pays homage to The Taking of Pelham, one two three, where they used similar aliases as Mr White, Mr Pink, etc, as well as the film's final stand-off resembling a climactic sequences from the Chinese action film, City on Fire.  Tarantino initally planned to make the film for only $30,000 using 16mm film but his screenplay soon gained the attention of Harvey Keitel, who helped raised funds to get it made into a proper film feature, with the film's final budget being 1.5 million dollars.  The film on its release was a critical success although it also received some controversy over its violence, but this of course is something that would feature heavily in Tarantino's other films.

Getting onto the performances, this is where Reservoir Dogs really excels as they are all top notch and Tarantino has assembled a great cast.  Starting with Harvey Keitel who is superb in his role as Mr White, one of the more compassionate thieves who helps the dying Mr Orange, after he has been shot.  Keitel has plenty of highlights in the film, such as in the opening scene where he get's fed up with Joe Cabot reading from an old diary, and he grabs it off him.  And in the scene Keitel as White says "for the past 15 minutes, you have been droning on about names.  Toby??  Toby Wong.  Toby Wong??  Charlie fuckin Chan!  I've got Madonna's big dick coming out of my right ear and Toby the jap out of my left!".  Another scene is where White confronts Blonde at the warehouse over his killing spree at the store and White says to Blonde "You better start talkin, asshole!  Cos we've got alot of shit to talk about!  We're already freaked out, and we need you acting freaky like we need a fuckin bag on our hip!".  And as White is about to leaving Blonde tells him not to take a step further, White yells "FUCK YOU MANIAC!  Its your fuckin fault we're in this trouble!" and Blonde asks him what's his problem and White yells back "Yeah I've got a BIG FUCKIN PROBLEM!!  With any trigger happy madman, who almost get's me shot!".  And this is followed by "You almost KILLED ME!!  ASSHOLE!  If I knew what kind of guy you were I never would have agreed to work with you!".  Keitel also has some good moments with Tim Roth, especially in the scene after they just arrive at the warehouse and White tries to reassure Blonde that he will be ok, and says "You're not gonna fuckin die, kid, alright?  Along with the kneecap, the gut is the most painful area a guy can get shot in.  But it takes a long time to die from it.  We're talking days, and time is on your side".  And later on in the film where in the flashback scene, White tells Orange on how to handle a tricky customer at the jewelry store and he tells him what to do if the manager gives him hassle.  And White says "Now managers usually know better than to fuck around, but if you get one who's giving you some static, cut off one of his fingers, the little one and then tell him his thumb's next.  After that he'll tell if he wears ladies underwear!".

Tim Roth is also excellent in his role as Mr Orange, the undercover cop who infiltrates the gang and takes part in the robbery, which goes awry and later suffers a gunshot wound to the stomach and spends most of the film lying in his own blood in the warehouse.  Roth also shares some excellent scenes with Keitel, especially in the scene where White takes Orange to the warehouse and Orange pleads with White to drop him off at the hospital and he says to White "Look in my eyes, man.  Look in my eyes.  I swear to fucking God!  I won't tell them anything!  You'll be safe, man".  And later on when Blonde regains consciousness and shoots Blonde just before he burns the cop, Nash, he quietly asks Nash his name and tells him that the police are waiting just a block away.  And when Nash petulantly yells at Blonde about his sliced off ear and slashed face, Blonde musters all he can and shouts back "FUCK YOU!  FUCK YOU!!! I'M FUCKING DYING HERE!  I'M FUCKIN DYING!!".  And later on in the film during Orange's backstory, Orange talks to his fellow cop, Holdaway (Randy Brooks) about the group of thieves and what does Cabot look like and Orange says "Do you remember the Fantastic four??  The thing!  The motherfucker looks just like the thing!".

Steve Buscemi is terrific in his role as the highly strung Mr Pink, who is the most sussed out of the group and realises quickly that they were set up.  Buscemi has plenty of great moments in the film such as in the opening scene where Pink disagrees with tipping waitresses much to the dismay of the other members of the group.  And Buscemi get's some good lines in this scene where he rubs his fingers together saying "You know what this is?  Its the world's smallest violin playing just for the waitresses!".  And another great highlight in the film is Buscemi's scene with Keitel where White and Pink face off against each other in the warehouse and pull their guns on each other.  And Pink yells "You wanna fuck with me??  I'll show you who you're fuckin with?! Fuck you, White!  I didn't create this situation I'm dealing with it!  You're acting like a first year fucking thief.  I'm acting like a professional!  You lookin at me like its my fault?  I didn't tell them my name or where I'm from!  Shit, 15 minutes you almost told me YOUR name!  So if you wanna throw bad looks somewhere, throw them at a mirror!".  And in the next scene where Pink diffuses a potential barny between White and Blonde, and White complains about taking sides with Blonde, Pink yells "Fuck sides man what we need here is a little solidarity!  If someone is sticking a red hot poker up our asses I wanna know who's name is on the handle!".  And later on Buscemi also has a fun moment where he complains about being named Mr Pink for the heist, and Pink says to Cabot "Mr Pink sounds like Mr Pussy!" and White says to him who cares about the name and Pink says "Its easy for you to say, you've got a cool sounding name.  So if you don't mind being Mr Pink, do you wanna trade?"  And as Cabot grows tired of Pink's complaining, Pink says "Jesus Christ, Joe, let's forget about it.  Its beneath me.  I'm Mr Pink.  Let's move on".

Michael Madsen provides a memorable and rather chilling performance as the cool headed sociopath, Mr Blonde, who engages in a killing spree during the heist and later tortures the cop, Nash in the warehouse (the heist itself however is never seen).  Madsen in his role get's some good glib dialogue as Blonde, and his flashback story provides a nice introduction to his role, where Blonde (or Vic Vega as his real name is) meets up with Joe and Eddie.  And Blonde has some playful rapport with Eddie the scene where the two of them wrestle on the floor and Eddie comically accuses Blonde of trying to fuck him, and Blonde says "If I were a butt cowboy, I wouldn't even throw you to the posse!" followed by "Eddie if you keep talking like a bitch, I'm gonna slap you like a bitch!".  And later on in the scene where Blonde is left alone with Orange and Nash, he walks up to Nash, who is tied to a chair and says to him "Guess what?  I think I'm parked in the red zone!".  And in the same scene Madsen delivers that immortal chilling line where he says to Nash "Look, kid.  I'm not gonna bullshit you.  I don't really give a good fuck what you know or don't know, but I'm gonna torture you anyway!".  Another amusing moment Madsen has is in the scene where Nice Guy Eddie turns up at the warehouse and White complains again about Blonde's behaviour at the jewelry and White says pointing his finger "He was like this... BAM!  BAM! BAM!".  And Blonde wearily says "Yeah bam, bam bam!  I told them not to touch the fuckin alarm and they did!  If they haven't done what I told them not to do, then they would still be alive!" followed by sarcastic applause by White who says "My fucking hero!" and Blonde takes a little bow smiling.

Chris Penn is also great in his role as Joe Cabot's son, Nice Guy Eddie, the underboss who co-organises the heist.  Penn also has some really good moments such as the sccene where Eddie first arrives at the warehouse and confronts the men over what has happened.  And Eddie says "You fuckin assholes turn a jewelry store into the wild west and you wonder why the fuckin cops show up?!" and he asks why they are beating up the cop.  And Eddie says "If you fucking beat this prick long enough, he's gonna tell you who started the goddamn fuckin Chigaco fire!  But that don't necessarily make it fuckin so!  Come on, man, think!".  And later on Penn has a funny scene where he tells the story of "Lady E" a woman who's abusive partner lead her to play a practical joke on him.  And Eddie says in the scene "She buys this wacko glue and glues his dick to his belly!  The paramedics had to cut the prick loose!" and White asks if he was pissed off and Eddie laughs and says "How would you feel if every time you had to take a piss you had to do a handstand!".  And later Penn has one of his best moments when he confronts Orange over what happened to Blonde when Orange killed him and he refuses to believe Orange's excuse.  "You're telling me this man who did five years for us, and we're making good on our commitment to him, he's GONNA DECIDE OUT OF THE FUCKIN BLUE TO RIP US OFF???!!  Why don't you tell me what REALLY happened?!".

Lawrence Tierney also is very good in his role as the gruff aged mob boss, Joe Cabot, who organises the jewel heist.  And Tierney's best scene comes when he tells the men their names "Here are you're name, Mr Blonde, Mr White, Mr Blue, Mr Brown and Mr Pink" and when Pink asks "Why am I Mr Pink?" Joe sharply says "Cos you're a faggot alright?!!!".  And when Pink asks why can't they chose their own colours, Joe says "No, no way.  Tried it once, it doesn't work.  You got four guys all fighting over who wants to be Mr Black, but they don't know each other so nobody wants to back down!  No way.  I pick!  You're Mr Pink!  Be thankful you're not Mr Yellow!".  And at the of the scene Joe says to the men "I'm so goddamn mad hollering at you guys I can hardly talk!  Let's go to work!".  And later on when Joe turns up at the warehouse he confirms that Mr Blue was killed, and Pinks "Blue's dead?" and Joe delivers the great line "dead as Dilinger!".

Kirk Baltz is also very good in his role as Nash the cop who is taken hostage, beaten and then tortured by Blonde, and I still find it hard to look at the open wound of his severed ear in the film to this day!  Yeeughhh!  Baltz also does very well in the film's most unsettling and difficult scene where Nash begs with Blonde to spare him just as Blonde douses the cop in gasoline and prepares to burn him, only to be saved by Orange in the nick of time.  Baltz's most memorable line comes when he complains to Orange about how he looks and Orange tells him there are cops just a block away waiting to move in and he says "What the fuck are they waiting for?!  I mean this guy slices my face and cuts my fucking ear off!  I'm fucking deformed!".  And lastly Edward Bunker does well in his brief role as Mr Blue, who later dies off screen and his best line comes in the opening scene where he asks Pink how he would define a special waitress who would put forward a special effort by saying "What's special.  Take you in the back and suck your dick?!" and Eddie ponders and says "I'd go over 12% for that!".

And last of all Tarantinto provides his own tuppence in the film as Mr Brown who delivers an admittedly silly and annoying monologue about the real meaning of the Madonna song "Like a virgin" and he refers to the woman in the song as a "cooz who is a regular fuck machine, I'm talkin morning, noon, day and night! Dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick!"  And Blue then asks "How many dicks it that?" and White dryly says "alot!".  And Brown continues by saying "you see the pain reminds a fuck machine what it was once like to be a virgin.  Hence like a virgin!".  And later on when Brown is given his alias of Mr Brown, Tarantino delivers his best line when complains and says "Mr Brown it a little too close to Mr Shit!".

So finally getting onto the director, Tarantinto does an excellent job with Dogs and given that it is his debut its also a fairly impressive technical film, with Tarantino using a string of long takes to give the actors good distance from one another and it goes without saying his writing is of a very high quality as his script witty, immensely profane, and above all very clever.  Tarantino also paces the film to perfection as it clocks in at just 95 minutes so there is not a minute's flab in there (well in movie length weight terms that is!).

As for flaws does Reservoir Dogs have any glaring ones???  Well I wouldn't say glaring but I feel the film does have one or two problems, and to start off I think its remains one of Tarantino's less accessible films and that the violence in the film also could threaten to alienate audiences as there was some real controversy when it was released, specifically regarding the ear cutting off scene, even though you don't see the action itself.  The film was also even delayed its initial video release by the British film censors due to the timing of its impending video release with the Jamie Bulger murder, which occurred roundabout that time and as a result the film wasn't subsequently released until 1995.  The film also has some rather uncomfortable racist and misogynistic tones to it especially in the language of the thieves which comes over in the scene where White, Pink and Eddie talk about how black men treat women.  And in this scene for example White says "How is it every nigger I know treats their woman like a piece of shit?".  And another scene is where Pink yells at White and Blonde in the warehouse and he says "Fuckin guys are acting like a bunch of fuckin niggers, man!  You ever worked with niggers?  Just like you two!  Always trying to kill each other!".  And in Reservoir Dogs it is a predominantly male orientated universe and women play very much second fiddle to them, where the only women we see in the film is the one who is dragged out of her car window by Pink or the other one who Orange shoots dead in retaliation for her shooting him in the abdomen.  And this would be themes that would continue to permeate their way through Tarantino's work although he does somewhat cut them down in future films, and in Kill Bill and Jackie Brown he does provide specific strong female leads rather than helpless bystanders.  I also felt Tarantino's small performance in the film is very much superflous to the flm itself and his whole monologue on Brown's analysis of "Like a vigrin" is pretty annoying where the smug criminal tells the men his pointless and silly theory on the meaning of the song.   But at the same time you get that Tarantino wanted to announce himself on and off the screen as well so people could quickly put a name to the face.

But all that aside Reservoir Dogs is still a very entertaining and solid film debut from Quentin Tarantino which is still worth a watch over 20 years later.

And with that I shall leave you's there.     


  

               

200th Post! A Bronx Tale: "The working man is a sucker!"

Right well this in a way is a special post as its my 200th post on this blog (hurrayy!) so its good to see that I have been fairly prolific with my time on it, even though there could have been even more on it than just 200 at the mo.  But its still a good impressive figure to have reached so far and this post will be on Robert De Niro's directorial debut film, A Bronx Tale and was written by one its main stars, Chazz Paliminteri.  So let's gie this one a look....

So the film is set in the Bronx in New York and starts back in 1960 and it focuses on the life of a young boy Calogero Anello (Francis Capra) who witnesses a murder committed by a local mobster, Sonny (Paliminteri) in defence of a friend of his who had been assaulted.  When Calogero refuses to identify Sonny to the NYPD during a lineup, Sonny takes a liking to Calogero and the boy starts hanging out with Sonny and his crew, and he makes money on tips working in the Mafia bar as well throwing dice in crap games.  However when Calogero's father, Alonzo (Robert De Niro) finds out he confronts Sonny at the bar and tells him to stay away from his son.  Alonzo angirly tells Calogero to stay away from Sonny and that people fear him but don't respect him.

The story then cuts to eight years later, 1968, where Calogero is now a young man (played by Lilo Brancato, Jr) and he secretly visits Sonny without his father knowing.  Calogero is also part of group of Italian boys, whom he grew up with on the streets, who are troublemakers, and Sonny insists that Calogero should stay away from.  Later on Calogero meets a very attractive young African American girl, Jane Williams (Taral Hicks) whom he becomes smitten with, but at this time there is a strong dislike between the African and Italian American neighbourhoods, but despite that Calogero makes a date with Jane.  Calogero tells Sonny about Jane, who let's him loan him his car for the date so he can make a good impression, but tells her if she fails the "door test" of lifting up the lock on the door then he should dump her immediately as Sonny says that would maker her selfish.  Around the same time however, Calogero's friends beat up some black youths cycling their neighbourhood, with Calogero powerless to do anything about it, but he does his best to try and defend one of the boys, but as the cops are alerted nearby, the boys all split and run off.

Afterwards Calogero meets Jane for the date, however she arrives with her brother and she asks him if he was present when the cyclists were beaten up in the neigbourhood, and Jane's brother, Willie, turns out to be the boy Calogero tried to help, however Willie doesn't see it that way and insists that Calogero attacked him.  During the ensuing argument Calogero out of anger shouts to Willie "fuck you, you fuckin nigger!" leaving Jane disgusted, they both leave together, but Calogero is instantly regretful.  Back home Alonzo confronts Calogero as he noticed him driving Sonny's car, and the two of them argue after which Calogero angrily walks out.  Calogero is then confronted by a livid Sonny, who tells them that an explosive was planted underneath his car, and he demands to know it got there.  Calogero tearfully tells Sonny that he knows nothing about it and he would never hurt him as he has been like a father to him, Sonny realising that Calogero is telling the truth let's him go.

As Calogero leaves his friends lead by Slick (Joe D'Onfrio) turn up in a car and tell him that their usual hangout has been pelted with eggs by the black boys as a revenge for their beating, and they intend to go over and strike back by using molotov cocktails.  Calogero out of fear as being seen as a coward by his friends, decides to get into the car, however enroute they are stopped by Sonny, who has been tailing them, and Sonny pulls Calogero out of the car and tells Slick to stay away from him.  Calogero afterwards makes amends with Jane, who tells him that her brother admitted that Calogero tried to help him after all, and the tw of them share a kiss.  Calogero however quickly remembers that his friends are already enroute to assault Jane's neighbourhood, and they rush to stop them.  During the assault however, Slick and his friends are killed as a result of one of the black gang members throwing one of the molotov cocktails back into Slick's car, which causes the other cocktails to ignite and thereby destroys the car.  Calogero and Jane arrive too late on the scene and see the police are already there but he realises that Sonny has saved his life by taking him out of the car, and he rushes off to thank him, as Sonny as at his bar, which unfortunately has tragic consequences.....

As far as directorial debuts, A Bronx Tale is pretty good one from Robert De Niro who seems to borrow alot from Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas in the lifestyle of the New York mobsters and similarly to the storyline of Scorsese's film how a young boy is seduced by that life.  But the main difference is of course in this film is that Calogero doesn't become a criminal and he is essentially protected by two fathers, his real one Alonzo, and the surrogate one in Sonny, who takes a liking to him and insists that he stay in school and away from his troublesome friends.  The story itself was actually an autobiographical one by Paliminteri and he performed as a one handed play starring himself in the role and Calogero is actually Chazz's original birth name.  

Performance wise is where A Bronx Tale really excels the performances are all pretty strong, starting with Lillo Bracanto Jr who gives a nice performance as Calogero as a young man, a good natured kid who is torn between the loyalties of two fathers in Alonzo and Sonny.  Bracanto has some good highlights in the film, particularly his scenes with Paliminteri where the chat with one another about different things.  An example of which is their scene where Calogero tells Sonny about his date with Jane and Sonny tells him to try out the door test.  Another is the scene is where Calogero awkwardly makes his first attempt at talking to Jane and she tells him her name and Calogero is almost disappointed as he narrates beforehand "I kept think she must have a really exotic name Danielle or Monique or something" and when Jane says "I'm Jane" Calogero says "Jane??  That's your name??? Is that it???" and she says "What's wrong that?" and Calogero nervously backtracks and says "No no no, its great I love that name!".  Bracanto's narration as Calogero also provides some good lines such as in the scene where the bikers go into Sonny's bar and spray the bartender and the leader of bikers tells Sonny to fuck off when he asks them to leave, and goes over and locks the door of the bar and says "Now you's can't leave".  And Calogero narrates "I will never forget the looks on their faces.  All of eight them.  Their faces dropped.  All their courage and strength was drained from their bodies.  They had a reputation for breaking up bars, but they that instant, they'd made a fatal mistake.  This time they walked into the wrong bar".  And another good scene for Bracanto is when Calogero's father, Alonzo confronts him about driving Sonny's car and Calogero insults the memory of Alonzo's grandparents and when Calogero says "They died with nothing" and Alonzo tells him angrily not disprect his grandparents.  And Calogero turns and says to Alonzo "What life?!  We haven't got anything!  We haven't even got a car.  Don't take it out on me just because you're a bus driver!  The working man is a sucker!" and he slams the doors and leaves.  And finally possibly Bracanto's best moment comes when Sonny confronts Calogero about the fact there was a bomb placed under his car.  And as Sonny roughly slaps and grabs Calogero, Calogero tearfully says "I didn't do anything!  I swear!  Why would I hurt you, Sonny, you've been like a father to me!".  

Chazz Paliminteri for me however provides the film's best peformance as the mob boss, Sonny, who befriends Calogero and tries his best to keep him out of trouble and away from his lifestyle.  Paliminteri has quite a few highlights himself in the film, such as the scene where he first meets with Calegro as a young boy in his bar and he asks him what his name is and he says "Calogero?? What kind of name is that??  Look we gotta do something about your name, how about a nickname?  How about we call you "C"?.  Another of Paliminteri's best scenes is when Sonny gives Calogero some advice about his date with Jane and Calogero says he has doubts about the date because of the tensions between the African and Italian American neighbourhoods and how Calogero "doesn't wan't to hear the guys" get on his case about dating a black girl.  And Sonny says "Fuck these kids.  Half of them are gonna wind up dead or in jail.  I'll tell what you do you give her the door test.  You pull up right where she is, right?  Before you get out, you lock both doors.  You bring her over to you car, you open the door for her and let her in.  And then you walk around the back of the car and look through the window.  If she doesn't reach over and lift up that button to let you in, dump her."  And when Calogero protests saying how as Sonny said that "she might be one of the great ones" Sonny says "Listen to me, kid.  If she doesn't reach over and lift up that button, what that means is she's a selfish broad and all you're seeing is the tip of the iceberg.  You dump her and you dump her fast!".  Another good scene is when Sonny deals with the bikers who disrupt his bar and he asks them politely to leave and the biker leader says "I'll tell you when we leave, get the fuck away from me!" and then Sonny goes over and locks the door and says "Now you's can't leave" and he proceeds to bring out his crew and they beat the crap out of the bikers.  And on the streets Sonny grabs the beaten biker leader and says "Look me at me!  Look at my face!  I'm the one that did this to you!  Remember me!".  

(OK start a new paragraph for Chazz!) And one of Paliminteri's more amusing moments comes back when Calogero is a young boy and not long after he befriends Calogero he has him roll the dice in a crap game and he becomes increasingly superstitious when he sees some of his men get in the way he orders them to be put out of the room!  Another one of Paliminteri's best scenes comes when Sonny confronts Calogero about the bomb that was placed under the hood of his car and he slaps Calogero in the face and pushes him up against a wall.  And Sonny angrily says to Calogero "Was there really a Jane?!  When we got in that car we looked under hood and found something and it didn't got off!  Now you tell me how the fuck that got there?!" but when Sonny sees how tearful and hurt Calogero is by his accusations he let's him go.  This is then followed by Sonny being confronted by Alonzo and he tells him to "Drive your bus and get the fuck out of here!" and his men grab Alonzo and punch him in the stomach and Sonny says "You put your hands on me, and I'll put you in the fucking ground!  Next time find out what's going on before you open your mouth!".

Robert De Niro also gives a charming performance as Alonzo, Calogero's father, a good hearted stand-up guy who works hard to provide for his family.  De Niro also has some good scenes such as earlier on in the film when Calogero as a young boy has to try and identify Sonny in a police line up and Calogero chooses not to rate on Sonny.  And the young Sonny says "I did a good thing, right?" and Alonzo says "Yeah, you did a good thing for a bad man".  And later on when he finds out Calogero as a young boy has been working over at Sonny's bar he confronts Sonny and tells him "You stay away from my son!" before he is warned out by Sonny.  And outside the bar Alonzo firmly tells Calogero "It doesn't take much strength to pull a trigger, but try and get up every morning and going to work!  The working man, he's the real tough guy!  You're father's the tough guy!  People don't love Sonny, they fear him!  There's a big difference!".  And he afterwards picks up his son and carries him away apologising for slapping his son.  Another nice little moment is when the films cuts to 1968 and Alonzo driving his bus, picks up Calogero and Alonzo is listening to some jazz on the radio and Calogero says "Dad?  Have we gotta listen to this music?!" and Alonzo says "You kids today don't even know what good music is.  This is good music!".  This also reflects De Niro's love for jazz and brings to mind when he starred in Scorsese's film, New York, New York as a jazz musician.  Also later when Alonzo confronts Calogero when he sees him driving Sonny's car and he lectures him about his life "I don't have a boss and I don't have look around watch my back and I'm proud of what I do.  Look I'm only looking out for you best interests and the saddest thing in life is wasted talent.  And my parents came over to this country they worked hard to provide me with a life and the arrived with nothing" and Calogero insults their memory by saying "And they died with nothing" and Alonzo grabs Calogero and turns him around to face him saying "Don't you dare disrespect your grandparents!  And you're wrong!".  

Francis Capra also gives a nice performance as Calegro when he was a young kid and he get's funny moments in the film and amusing dialogue.  An example of which is when Calogero goes to confession and the priest tells him "Don't worry, my son.  No one is more powerful than God" and Calogero says "I don't know about that, father.  Your guy may be bigger than my guy up there, but my guy is bigger than your guy down here" and the priest says "Ya got a point!".  Taral Hicks does a nice job in her role as Calogero's love interest, Jane, a nice good natured African American girl, who falls for him.  And Hicks has some good moments such as the scene when Calogero and Jane first meet and he walks her from school to her neighbourhood and they arrange a date and Calogero nervously goes over the time they have arranged to meet and he says "6 o'clock tomorrow then.  In front of the school" and she says "You're getting better!".  And later on when Jane confronts Calogero about her brother being beaten up at his friends hangout and she says to him "Yesterday some Italians beat up my brother in your neighbourhood.  Where you there?" and Calogero at first lies but when he sees the boy, Willie, he's forced to reveal he was there.  And later on they make amends and kiss for the first time, Jane says "that's not a kiss.  THIS is a kiss" and they have a longer deeper kiss.  And in that scene when Calogero tells Jane they need to go and try and stop Slick and his gang from assaulting Jane's neighbourhood, he let's her into his car, and she passes the door test by lifting the button for Calogero to get in, and he leaps into the air exclaiming "YES!".  And Calogero get's and smiles to Jane saying "I knew you were one of the great ones!".  

As for De Niro in his directorial debut, he does a fine job with A Bronx Tale, and he keeps the film moving along nicely and at never really lags at any time.  De Niro also adopts a similar style to Scorsese by using alot of artists and bands music of the time in a similar fashion to Mean Streets and Goodfellas.  And the soundtracks features songs from The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Kinks, James Brown, Dean Martin and John Coltrane, which adds up to a good eclectic mix of music for the film.  

Getting onto the film's flaws..... well A Bronx Tale isn't quite perfect, but then few films are, and one thing I would say about it is that it does have a bit of a corny feel to it at times, and the story in itself is nothing too original, even though it is a nice little coming of age one.  De Niro also borrows perhaps a bit too heavily from Scorsese in his depiction of mob guys from Goodfellas and technically speaking as a filmmaker he also tries to emulate Scorsese's incredible skills as a filmmaker but he doesn't quite manage to scale those heights and he even goes for a similar soundtrack from different artists of the time rather than an original score, but on the other hand it does work better for the film in all honesty.  So it feels like De Niro is trying to ape Scorsese's style but he doesn't quite have the skill to pull it off.  Another discrepancy I noticed in the film is how Slick's gang who are so heavily biased and racist towards the blacks in the film, when during the scene when they drive over to assault the black neighbourhood they are listening to Jimi Hendrix's "All along the watchtower" on the radio!  It seems pretty ironic and bit of a daft afterthought to have put that track in and that a bunch of Italians who are so prejudiced against African Americans would even consider listening to Jimi Hendrix.  So its OK on one hand to listen to Jim Hendrix and at the same have a racial hatred for black people!  Not unless De Niro meant it as an intentional moment of irony and to display the ignorance of Slick and his gang that they would never make a distinction between the two, but it just seems to be a rather strange choice of music for Slick and buddies to listen to.

Anyway despite those niggles A Bronx Tale is still a very charming and entertaining drama film, which saw De Niro make an assured directorial debut, which is still worth watching to this day.

And with that I shall leave ye there.