Doctor Who - City of Death (revisited) - "You're right! She hasn't got any eyebrows!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, guys thought I would quickly get another post in before the end of the month and this one is on another revisit of a post I did years for the classic Doctor Who story from the Baker era, City of Death.

So, this story has always been seen as one of the best stories from the Graham Williams producer era (who took over from Philip Hinchcliffe as producer and was succeeded by John Nathan-Turner, who was actually the production unit manager on this story!).

So, after 46 years how does this classic fair??? Well, let's take another look and find out..

So, the usual warning is coming up....

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, the story takes place in Paris 1979, where the Doctor (Baker) and his companion and fellow Gallifreyan time lady, Romana (Lalla Ward) are on holiday.  When they arrive at the Louvre gallery they encounter strange slips in time, and the Doctor grabs onto the arm of a woman, who was wearing a bracelet.  The Doctor soon reveals that he had stolen the bracelet as he noticed its was not of Earth technology, and that the woman in question was using it to scan the security systems round the Mona Lisa.

Meanwhile the woman in question is Countess Scarlioni (Catherine Schell) who is the wife of the Count Scarlioni (Julian Glover) as they intend to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre.  The Doctor and Romana soon also meet a detective, Duggan (Tom Chadbon) who has been following Count Scarlioni's activities, but the three of them are soon captured by the Count's men.

The Doctor, Romana and Duggan are soon taken to Scarlioni, where the Doctor acts the fool to set them off his interest in them, but instead Scarlioni has them locked in his basement.  In the basement, the Doctor soon uses his sonic screwdriver to escape and he stumbles upon time experiment equipment, which is operated by Doctor Kerenesky (David Graham), and is behind the time slips that the Doctor and Romana had encountered.

The Doctor also finds behind their room they were locked in, six exact replicas of the Mona Lisa, which turned out all to be genuine as they have Leonardo Da Vinci's signature and pigment on.  The Doctor then decides to go back in time himself in the TARDIS to have a chat with Leonardo about his work, but instead he meets Captain Tancredi, who is identical to Count Scarlioni.  Tancredi reveals to the Doctor that he is in fact an alien named Scaroth, and he is the last of his race, the Jagaroth.  Scaroth millions of years in the past on Earth was in his spaceship and was at the centre of an explosion which threw him into a time field and he ended being splintered into 12 different time periods on Earth's history.

Tancredi reveals that he also has been using his technological advances to push the human race and also using Leonardo to create six extra copies of the Mona Lisa so he can fund Kerensky's experiments with time, in an effort to travel back in time before his ship exploded.  The Doctor manages to escape Tancredi's clutches and travels back to 1979 where he goes about to try and stop Scarlioni from carrying out his plan, as the explosion itself brought about the beginning of the human race.  But can he do it?????

THOUGHTS

The City of Death is without a doubt one of the most entertaining and purely enjoyable Doctor Who stories of its era.  After Philip Hinchcliffe left the series as producer, Graham Williams took over, and while he served the show well enough, there weren't as many classics in his tenure, but this is definitely one of them.

The story itself was written under the psuedonym of David Agnew by Douglas Adams (who was the script editor at that time) and also Graham Williams and it is wonderfully funny with plenty of amusing dialogue and the story itself is quite cleverly thought out.  And the story's light comedic tone is just right here, despite some of the overt uses of comedy in some of the other stories of the Williams era. On a sad side note, Williams himself would later tragically take his life in 1990, some years after retiring from producing television shows.

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

Onto the performances, well the cast are on excellent form here in both the regular and supporting varieties.

Tom Baker is wonderful as ever as the Doctor, as he was mostly considered the most popular of all the Doctors in the public eye, he does a great job here again.  And Tom as you would expect has his fare share of funny dialogue and good scenes throughout the story.

So, as this is a story that is rich with great scenes and dialogue it will be hard to whittle this down but I will start with Tom's scene where the Doctor and Romana are both followed by Duggan around Paris until they sit down outside a cafe.

So, in the scene Romana says to the Doctor "Doctor, do you realise we're being followed?" and the Doctor without looking up from a cafe menu says "Yes, all the way from the Louvre by that idiot with the gun!".  Romana then asks "What do you think he wants?" and the Doctor says "Look in your pocket" and Romana looks in one of her pockets but the Doctor says "Other pocket!".  Romana takes a green bracelet and she asks "What this?" and the Doctor tells her "The woman I bumped into was wearing it" and Romana on examining it says "Its a micromeson scanner!". The Doctor tells Romana "That's right. She was using it to get a complete report on all the alarm systems around the Mona Lisa".  Romana asks "You mean she's trying to steal it?" and the Doctor says "It is a very pretty painting" and Romana says of the device "Its a very sophisticated device for a level five civilisation" and the Doctor says "That's never the product of Earth's civilisation?" and Romana asks "What? Do you mean an alien is trying to steal the Mona Lisa?" and the Doctor again says "It is a very pretty painting!". 

And then after a pause, the Doctor says to Romana "Romana, you know I think something very funny is going on. You remember that man who was folllowing us?" and Romana says "Yes" and the Doctor tells her "Well he's standing behind me, poking a gun into my back!".  Then we see, Duggan standing behind the Doctor with his gun pressed against the Doctor's back and Duggan says to them both "All right, you two!  Into the cafe!".

Then there is the scene where the Doctor, Romana and Duggan are captured by Scarlioni's men and taken to his chateau.  And in the scene Scarlioni's henchman pushes the Doctor into the Count's drawing room where the Countess waits for them.  So, the Doctor falls onto the floor and quickly get's up, grinning ear to ear he says "I say, what a wonderful butler, he's so violent!".  The Doctor then on his knees introduces himself to the Countess "Hello, I'm called the Doctor. That's Romana, that's Duggan. You must be the Countess Scarlioni and this is clearly a delightful Louis Quinze chair!" and the Doctor goes to sit in one of the chairs "May I sit in it? I say, haven't they worn well? Thank you, Hermann, that'll be all!".

And after the Count instructs his henchman, Herrman, to take the Doctor, Romana and Duggan down to the cellar to lock them up, Duggan suddenly grabs a chair and is about to hit Herrman with it and the Doctor shouts out "Duggan! What on Earth are you doing, for heaven's sake?!  That's a Louise Quinze!".  And as Duggan is about to protest, the Doctor shouts "Just tried to behave like a civilised guest!" and he says to Herrman "Now, Herrman if you could show us to our cellar that would be terribly helpful!". 

Another good scene comes when the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to escape the Count's prison cell in the basement, so he can have a look around at the Count's scientific equipment.  And the Doctor says to Duggan "In the last few hours I've been thumped, threatened, abducted and imprisoned! I've found a piece of equipment which is not of Earth technology and I've been through two time slips! I think this lab might have something to do with it!".

So, as the Doctor and Duggan stand around and argue, Romana is busy moving equipment back into the prison cell as she is testing something out.  Duggan however insists he's had enough and is about to go when suddenly they hear a sound and hide as the Count's scientist, Kerenski comes down the stairs back to his work.  So, as Kerenski places a chicken egg on time-slip appartus and activates, we see the chicken emerge from its egg and grow.  The Doctor then springs up on him and says "Which came first?  The chicken or the egg?!" and Kerenski asks the Doctor "Who are you?" and the Doctor answers "Me?  I'm the Doctor!  What you are doing is terribly interesting, but you've got it wrong!".

Another good scene is when after the Doctor and Kerenski discuss the flaws in the time-slip apparatus, the Doctor suddenly sees an image of Scaroth in his true form appear from the apparatus, which distracts both of them long enough as Duggan sneaks up and knocks out Kerenski.  The Doctor then annoyed after discovering Duggan has knocked Kerenski out, says to him "That's your philosophy isn't it?!  If it moves hit it!" and then "If you do that one more time, Duggan. I'm going to take very, very severe measures!".  Duggan however becomes threatening and angrily asks "Yeah?!  Like what?!" and the Doctor takes a moment and quietly says "I'm going to ask you not to".  
 
Then there is the scene where the Doctor takes the TARDIS back to 1474 to meet with Leonardo Da Vinci after he has discovered six identical paintings of the Mona Lisa bricked up in the Count's basement.

So, after the TARDIS materialises in Leonardo's home, the Doctor looks around for him but he is nowhere to be seen. So, the Doctor calls out "Mona Lisa? That dreadful woman with no eyebrows who wouldn't sit still, eh?!" and he laughs and looking around, he spots Leonardo's designs for a helicopter "Your idea for the helicopter took a bit longer to catch on, but as I say, these things take time".

Then all of a sudden the Doctor is then met by the blade of a sword as a soldier has entered the room and asks the Doctor "Who are you?!" and the Doctor says "Ah, well. I just dropped by to see Leonardo".  Soldier then tells the Doctor "Nobody's allowed to see Leonardo. He's engaged in some important work for Captain Tancredi" and the Doctor reacts with shock at the mention of the name and the soldier asks "Do you know him?" and the Doctor flatly says "No".  The soldier then says to the Doctor "He'll want to question you" and the Doctor says "Well, I'll want to question him, so we can both have a little chat, can't we?!".  And then we see a shadowed figure stand by the door and the Doctor looks on in surprise and asks "You! What are you doing here?!" and the figure moves out of the shadows and it is a man who looks identical to the Count, who is Captain Tancredi.  So,Tancredi says to the Doctor "I think that is exactly the question I ought to be asking you...Doctor!".

Another good scene from Tom is when the Doctor heads back to the chateau to try and rescue Romana and Duggan and confront the Count over his attempt to travel back in time to save his people.  So, the Doctor first of all meets with the Countess and he asks her if she knows any Shakespeare and she replies "A little" and she goes over takes a book and presents it to the Doctor and says "Hamlet, first draft".

The Doctor looks at the book in amazement and says "Its been missing for centuries!" and the Countess says "Oh, its quite genuine. I assure you" and the Doctor says "I know. I recognise the handwriting".  And the Countess says "Shakespeare's" and the Doctor corrects her "No, mine. He sprained his wrist writing sonnets!".  So, the Doctor then reads a little and he scoffs as he reads back a line "Take sea in the arms of troubles, I told him that was a mixed metaphor and he would insist!".  The Countess then laughs and says "Oh, Doctor. I'm quite convinced that you're perfectly mad!" and the Doctor laughs and says "Oh well, nobody's perfect!" but he then turns serious and asks her "If you think I'm mad because I say I met Shakespeare, where do you think your precious Count got that?!".  The Countess tells the Doctor "He's a collector.  He has money and he has contacts" but the Doctor annoyed asks her "Contacts?!  Human contacts?!  How much do you really know about him, eh?!  I think rather less than you imagine!".

Another good scene is when the Doctor, Romana and Duggan pursue Scaroth back in time 400,000,000 years ago to when he originally tried to take off in his spaceship, which caused the explosion.  So, the Doctor looks around the bleak wasteland and says to Duggan "This will be the middle of Atlantic ocean".  The Doctor then looks around and he picks up some black sludge and he says "The amniotic fluid from which all life on Earth will spring, where the amino acids fuse to form minute cells. Cells which eventually evolve into vegetable and animal life" and he puts some of it into Duggan's palm" and he says "You, Duggan!".  Duggan looks in disbelief at it and asks "I come from that, that soup?!" and the Doctor says "Yes. Well, not that soup exactly. It's inert. There's no life in it yet. It's waiting on a massive dose of radiation. The explosion that caused Scarlioni to splinter in time also caused the birth of the human race, and that's what's about to happen. The birth of life itself".

So, as Scaroth suddenly appears and shouts at the Doctor to get out his way as he must stop himself from pressing the button to launch his ship,  the Doctor confronts him and says "No, Scaroth, no. You've pressed it once! You've thrown the dice once! You don't get a second throw!".  Scaroth then angrily says "Then I will splinter in time again and all my people will be killed!" but the Doctor shouts back "No! The explosion that you in there are about to trigger off will give birth to the human race! The moment your race kills itself, another is born. That has happened! It WILL happen!!".  Scaroth however remains defiant and shouts "What do I care of the human race?! Scum!  The tools of my salvation!".  The Doctor however shouts back "No! The product of your destruction!  History cannot be changed!  I cannot!" bu the Scaroth grows furious and raises his arms and shouts "I WILL CHANGE IT!!!" and suddenly Duggan knocks him out.  The Doctor delightedly at Duggan's violent actions for once, grins and says to Duggan "Duggan!  I think that was possibly the most important punch in history!".

Lalla Ward, who was at that time Tom Baker's wife is also really good as the Doctor's companion and fellow Time Lord, Romana and the two of them together share a nice chemistry, which obviously they shared off screen.

And for the sake of time (and space!) I will only mention a few of Lalla's scenes such as the one where the Doctor and Romana arrive outside the Louvre and the Doctor proudly tells her "There we are.  The Louvre!  One of the greatest art galleries in the whole galaxy!".  Romana however scoffs and says "Nonsense! What about the Academia Stellaris on Sirius Five?!" and the Doctor says "No, no!". Romana then asks "Or the Solariun Pinaquotheque at Strikian?!" and the Doctor scoffs back and says "Oh, no, no!" and Romana suggests "Or the Braxiatel Collection?!" and the Doctor laughs and says "No, no, no! This is the gallery.  The only gallery in the known picture like..." and we cut inside the Louvre and we see the Mona Lisa painting and the Doctor says "...the Mona Lisa!".

On inspection, Romana however seems less impressed and merely says its "Quite good" and the Doctor, taken aback asks "Quite good?! That's one of the great treasures of the universe and you say "quite good??!".  Romana suddenly feels self conscious of the Doctor's voice carrying and she says "The world, Doctor, not the universe in public!". Romana then asks "Why hasn't she got any eyebrows?" and the Doctor says "Is that all you can say? Why hasn't she got any eyebrows?!" and he looks closer and he realises Romana is right, "You're right. She hasn't got any eyebrows! You know I never noticed that before!".

Another good scene is when Romana and Duggan arrive at the Louvre just after the robbery of the Mona Lisa has been performed by the Count's men. So, they both find an unconscious guard and Duggan says "There's another alarm been immobilised!" and Romana, irritably says to him "You've got a pretty cynical attitude to life, haven't you, Duggan?!".  Duggan then says "Yeah well, when you've been around as long as I have.  How old are you anyway?" and the Romana tells him "125" and the Duggan after a suprised pause asks "What?!".  

Then there is the scene where Romana and Duggan meet back at the cafe and he smashes the window of the front door in and opens it. Duggan then says to Romana "I thought these places were meant to be open all night!" and Romana wearily tells Duggan "You should go into partnership with a glazier. You'd have a truly symbiotic working relationship!".  Duggan asks "What?" and Romana says "I'm just pointing out that you break alot of glass!" and Duggan says "You can't make an omlette without breaking eggs!" and he smashes open the neck of a bottle of red wine.  Romana then annoyed says to him "If you wanted an omelette, I'd expect to find a pile of broken crockery, a cooker in flames and an unconscious chef!".  And as they sit down, Duggan asks "You know what I don't understand?" and Romana says "I expect so!" and Duggan says "There are potentially seven buyers and seven Mona Lisa's. How did the Count know they were there?!  How did he know where to get them?!" and Romana says "Taxes the mind, doesn't it?".

And lastly there is the scene where the following morning at the cafe, Romana and Duggan discuss how the Count could possibly have gotten the other six Mona Lisa's and Romana suggests that the Count somehow managed to travel back in time.

So, Romana tells Duggan "Perhaps Scarlioni has discovered a way to travel in time. Yes, perhaps he went back in time, had a chat to Leonardo, got him to rustle up another six, came forward in time, stole the one in the Louvre, and now sells all seven at enormous profit. Sound reasonable?!".  Duggan however, looks completely baffled and says "I used to do divorce investigations.  It was never anything like this!". Romana continuing her theory says "There's only one flaw in that line of reasoning as far as I can see" and Duggan blankly asks "There is?" and Romana tells him "That equipment of Kerensky's wouldn't work as efficiently as a time machine" Duggan again blankly says "You couldn't?". And Romana continues "You can have two different time continuums running at different rates" and Duggan puzzled asks "You can?" and Romana says "But without a field interface stabilister, you can't cross from one to another" and Duggan completely pretends to play along and asks "You can't?". Romana however says "Well, I'm just guessing. Come on, let's get back to the chateau where at least you can thump somebody!".

As for the guest supporting cast, Julian Glover is terrific here in his trio role as Count Scarlioni/Scaroth/Captain Tancredi and he plays his part with great charm, charisma and also menace.

Glover naturally has his share of great scenes that include the one where the Count asks his henchman, Herrman to sell off another valuable collector's item.  So, the Count says to Hermann confidentially "That Gainsborough didn't fetch enough.  I think we need to sell one of the bibles" and Herrman asks "Sir?" and the Count says "Yes, the Gutenberg".  Hermann then warns the Count "I suggest we tread more carefully, sir? It would not be in our best interest to draw too much attention to ourselves. Another rash of priceless treasures on the market could..." and the Count interrupts and says "Yes, I know, Hermann, I know.  Just do it discreetly".  Hermann looks at the Count in disbelief and asks "Discreetly, sir??? Sell a Gutenberg bible discreetly?!" and the Count now irritated says "Well, as discreetly as possible, just do it will you?".

Another good scene is when the Count talks with his scientist, Kerenski and Kerenski is worn out with all the pressure that the Count is putting him under to produce results.  So, Kerenski tells the Count "You are pushing me to the limit, Count!" and the Count says "Only thus is true progress ever made. You, as a scientist, should be the first to appreciate that!".  Kerenski says "Oh, I do, Count, I do. I appreciate many things. I appreciate walks in the country, I appreciate sleep, regular meals!".  The Count turns to Hermann and then says "Would you please prepare for the Professor half a dozen escargot au beurre followed by an entrecote bordelaise with haricots vert and pommes sautees served directly here to the laboratory".  The Count then says to Hermann "Oh, and a bottle of Chambertin. My own. Better make that half a bottle.  We don't want to interfere with the work do we, Professor?!".  Kerenski however wearily says "Count.  I would really like to get some sleep!" and the Count goes off after Hermann and calls after him "Hermann, cancel the wine! Bring the vitamin pil!".

Then there is the great moment where, back in Florence in the 16th century, Captain Tancredi reveals himself to the Doctor as he looks identical to the Count.  So, the Doctor looks at him in surprise and asks "You!  What are you doing here??" and Tancredi steps out of the shadows and says to the Doctor "I think that is exactly the question I ought to be asking you...Doctor!".

Then we have the scene where Tancredi questions the Doctor, who is very evasive in his answers and the Doctor spots what appears to be the original Mona Lisa and the Doctor reveals that he knows the Count and Tancredi's scheme. So, Tancredi smiles and says "I can see that you are a dangerously clever man, Doctor. I think it's time we conducted this conversation somewhat more formally".  And Tancredi makes to leave and he says to the soldier "Hold him here while I collect the instruments of torture. If he wags his tongue, confiscate it!".  The Doctor then asks "How can I talk if you confiscate..." and Tancredi interrupts and says "You can write, can't you?!".

Another good scene from Glover is when the Count having re-captured Romana and Duggan, tries to coerce Romana into helping him with his plan. So, as Romana asks the Count if she refuses to help him what will he do and the Count says "Oh, must we go into vulgar threats? Let us just say that I shall destroy Paris, if that'll help you make up your minds!". Romana then asks "How am I supposed to believe you can do that?" and the Count says "Well, you won't know until you've seen the equipment, will you?".

So they go downstairs and Romana confirms that the Count can indeed destroy Paris with his equipment, which prompts Kerenski to ask "Why all this talk about destruction? What are you doing my with work?!".  So, the Count replies "Professor, I shall show you.  Would you care to examine the field generator?" and Kerenski shrugs and walks right into the middle of the generator.  So, the Count then says to Romana "You will now see, my dear, how I deal with fools!" and he presses a button that activates the equipment, which ages to Kerenski to death as he turns into a skeleton.

Then there is the scene later on where the Doctor confronts the Count over going back in time to stop his ship from blowing up.  So, as the Doctor says he is going to stop him, the Count says "Oh no, on the contrary, Doctor, you're going to help me" and the Doctor asks "I am?" and the Count smiles and says "You are indeed. And if you do not, it'll be so much the worse for you, for this young lady, and for thousands of other people I could mention if I happened to have the Paris telephone directory on my person!".  The Doctor then tries to reason with the Count and he asks him "Count, do you realise what will happen if you go back to the time before history began?" and the Count coldly says "Yes. Yes, I do. And I don't care one jot!".

And this is followed by the scene where the Count goes off to say his farewell to the Countess, who by this time has sussed out the Count isn't what he appears to be, so she aims a gun at him as he comes in.  So, the Countess in shock asks "What are you?!" and the Count asks "I beg your pardon?" and the Countess asks "What have I been living with all these years?! Where are you from and what do you want?".  The Count tries to bluff her and says "If I may answer those questions in reverse order, what I want is a drink. Will you have one?" and as the Count picks up a decanter, the Countess shouts at him pointing her gun at him "Stay away! PUT IT DOWN!".

So, after a pause, the Count does so and the Countess asks "Now, WHO are you?!" and the Count tells her the truth "I am Scaroth. Last of the Jagaroth. It has not been difficult keeping secrets from you, my dear. A few fur coats, a few trinkets, a little nefarious excitement".  The Countess asks "What are the Jagaroth?" and the Count looks up to the ceiling and says "The Jagaroth. An infinitely old race and an infinitely superior one. I shall show you what you want to know, my dear".  Scaroth then tears off his latex mask, revealing his true form of the one eye green scaly skinned Jagaroth and the Countess drops her gun in horror.  Scaroth in his true alien voice then shouts at her "I am Scaroth! Through me my people shall live again!".

Scaroth then says to the Countess "I'd glad to see you are still wearing the bracelet I designed for you, my dear. It is, as I said, a useful device!" and he touches his signet ring, which activates the bracelete on the Countess's wrist, which emits a loud noise that kills her and she falls to the floor, dead.  Scaroth then looks down at her and says "Goodbye, my dear. I'm sorry you had to die. But then, in a short while you will have ceased ever to have existed!".

Tom Chadbon next up is great as Duggan, the dim-witted English private detective, who is investigating the strange goings on in the Parisian artworld and he ends up helping the Doctor and Romana against the Count but at the same time is all too keen to use his fists at any given opportunity!

And Tom has his own share of good scenes that include the one where Duggan leads the Doctor and Romana into a cafe where they are soon met by two of the Count's thugs, who take the bracelet from him. So, after they leave, Duggan angrily says to the Doctor "All right, that's enough. Very cleverly staged, but you don't fool me!" and the Doctor looks puzzled and asks "What are you talking about?" and Duggan says "Your men who were just in here!".  The Doctor looks on in surprise and says "My men?  Those thugs?!" and Duggan says "YOU'RE thugs!" and the Doctor asks "Are you suggesting those men are in my employee?" and Duggan says "Yes".  The Doctor then tells Duggan if they were in his employee he would have sacked them on the spot but Duggan says "Except that I know you arranged for them to hold you up as a bluff! You're trying to put me on a false scent!".

And in the next scene, Duggan talks about the mysterious goings on in the art world that he is investigating with all the strange rare artefacts suddenly coming available. So, Duggan says "So, you can imagine the furore!" and Romana, who hasn't heard of the word before asks "The what?" and Duggan tells her "The furore! The whole art world in an uproar!".  Duggan then goes on and says "Masterpieces that have apparently been missing over the centuries are just turning up all over the place!".  The Doctor says "All fakes of course" and Duggan says "They've gotta be, haven't they?" but Romana asks "Are they?" and Duggan says "They're very, very good ones. They stand up to every scientific test!".  The Doctor then asks is the Count the only connection in all this and Duggan says "Nothing dirty can be proved, though. He's clean. Absolutely clean. So clean he stinks!".

Then we have the scene where the Doctor, Romana and Duggan are locked into the Count's cellar and Duggan complains about they could have escaped ages ago.  So, after Hermann locks them in, Duggan angrily asks the Doctor "What do you think you're playing at?!" and the Doctor shushes him and says "Light the lamp" and Duggan takes the only match they have "There's only one match" and the Doctor says seriously "Then get it right".  Duggan then protests and says "You tell ME to get it right?! We could have escaped at least twice if you hadn't...!" and the Doctor interrupts and says "Exactly! What's the point of coming all the way here just to escape immediately? What we do is, we stay here" and Duggan asks "Yes?" and the Doctor says "Make them think they've got us safe" and Duggan asks "Yes?" and the Doctor produces his sonic screwdriver and with a grin says "THEN we escape!".

This is followed by the moment where Romana has discovered there is a secret room behind the cellar, which the Doctor starts to break down the old mortar using a hammer and chisel, however it is taking too long.  So, the Doctor says "I think I'm going to need some machinery" and Duggan tells him "I've got all the machinery I need!  Stand back" and Duggan charges at the wall and bashes it in allowing them to get into the secret room.

The Doctor then checks behind a series of wooden doors of which all contain a painting of the Mona Lisa, all identical and all apparently genuine. So, the Doctor confused asks "Every one. What I don't understand is why a man who's got six Mona Lisas wants to go to all the trouble of stealing a seventh?.  And Duggan, who mentioned earlier that he had buyers in his diary who would all pay big money for the Mona Lisa, tells the Doctor "Come on, Doctor, I've just told you. There are seven people who would buy the Mona Lisa in secret, but nobody's going to buy the Mona Lisa when it's hanging in the Louvre!".  The Doctor then realises what Duggan means and he puts his hand on Duggan's arm and smiles saying "I wouldn't make a very good criminal, would I?!" and then we hear the Count say "No, good criminals don't get caught!".  The Count then questions the Doctor as to what happened to Kerenski "Can you shed any light on that?" and Duggan says "I can!" and he throws his lamp at the Count and knocks him unconscious. 

Another good scene is when Duggan and Romana arrive too late at the Lovure to find the Mona Lisa has been stolen.  So, Romana in the scene says to Duggan "I though the Louvre was supposed to be well guarded" and Duggan tells her "It is. It just looks as though every alarm in the place has been immobilised. A fantastic feat!".  Then they find an unconscious guard nearby and Duggan cynically says "There'a another alarm been immobilised!" and Romana, annoyed says "You've got a pretty cynical attitude to life, haven't you, Duggan?!".  Duggan says "Well, when you've been around as long as I have...how old are you anyway?" and Romana says "125" and Duggan, shocked asks "What?!".

And they soon see the Mona Lisa is gone and Duggan says how the laser beams that protect it should be impregnable but as he puts his hand by them, he sets off the alarm.  Duggan shouts "Hells bells!" and Romana says "That's what it sounds like!  Let's go!" and Duggan says "Split up!  We'll meet back at the cafe?!" and Romana asks "But how do you suggest we get out?!" and Duggan indicate "See that window?!" and he runs toward it and we hear a smashing noise as he jumps through it.

Then there is the scene where Romana and Duggan meet back at the cafe and he breaks into it and he says to Romana "I thought these places were meant to be open all night!" and Romana wearily tells Duggan "You should go into partnership with a glazier. You'd have a truly symbiotic working relationship!".  Duggan asks "What?" and Romana says "I'm just pointing out that you break alot of glass!" and Duggan says "You can't make an omlette without breaking eggs!" and he smashes open the neck of a bottle of red wine to pour some.  

Then we get to the scene where the Doctor, Romana and Duggan follow Scaroth in the TARDIS back to prehistoric times where Scaroth intends to stop himself from taking off in the Jagaroth spaceship and Duggan in mild surprise points out Scaroth's ship and says "That's a spaceship!".  So, in the scene the Doctor shows Duggan some black sludge, which would eventually form the cells that would generate human life. So, the Doctor says to Duggan of the sludge "You, Duggan" and Duggan, incredulously says "I come from that, that soup?!".

And last of all if the final scene of the story where the Doctor tells Duggan about how the Count's mansion was destroyed in a fire, which in reality happened when Scaroth was returned to the chateau via his lab appartus but a startled Hermann threw something at him, which shorted out the machine and caused a big fire.

So, Duggan asks "The one nearest the wall?!" and the Doctor tells Duggan "It was the only one that wasn't damaged in the fire" and Duggan annoyed says "But its a fake!  You can't hang a fake Mona Lisa in the Louvre!".  Romana however asks Duggan "How can it be a fake if Leonardo painted it?" and Duggan says "With the words "This is a fake" written under the paintwork in felt tip?!" and Romana says "It doesn't affect what it looks like" and Duggan says "It doesn't matter what it looks like!".  The Doctor however says "Well, some people would say that's the whole point of painting" but Duggan annoyed, says "But they'll find out!  They'll X-Ray it!" and the Doctor says if they have to, to find out if its good, they might aswell have painting by computer.  So, Duggan asks the Doctor "Yes, where do you two come from?" and the Doctor answers the question in an awkward fashion and says the best way is to work out where you're going and work backwards and Duggan, puzzled asks "Where are you going?" and the Doctor says "I don't know" and Romana says "Nor do I!". 

Catherine Schell is also excellent in her role as the Countess and she plays part very well, as a wealthy woman who is blinded by the fact she is married to an alien.

And for the sake of time, I will mention only three of her scenes (this review is long enough!!) starting with the one where the Count and Countess have successfully stolen the Mona Lisa and the Countess expresses her delight.  So, the Countess says to the Count "Why do you still worry, my dear? We've done it! We have the Mona Lisa. Think of the wealth that will be ours!" and the Count, who is staring upward in a daze says "The wealth is not everything".  The Countess then says "Of course. The achievement.  Yes, the achievement!" and the Count laughs and says "Achievement?!" and he scornfully asks her how it would feel to have built the pyramids, invent the first wheel and show the true use of fire.  The Countess, puzzled asks "What are you talking about?!  No one can achieve everything?!".  

Then there is the scene where the Doctor confronts the Countess over her relationship with the Count and how she is blind to who he really is.  So, the Doctor asks her "How long have you been married to the Count?" and the Countess replies "Long enough" and the Doctor says "Long enough. I like that. Discretion and charm. So civilised. So terribly unhelpful!".  The Countess smiles and says "Discretion and charm. I couldn't live without it, especially in matters concerning the Count" and the Doctor tells her "There is such a thing as discretion. There's also such a thing as wilful blindness".

The Countess however is taken aback by this and says "Blind?! I help him to steal the Mona Lisa, the greatest crime in the century, and you call me blind?!".  The Doctor shouts back "YES! You see the Count as a master criminal, an art dealer, an insanely wealthy man, and you'd like to see yourself as his consort. But what's he doing in the cellar?!".  The Countess replies "Tinkering.  Every man has his hobby" and the Doctor asks her seriously "Man?!  Are you sure of that?!  A man with one eye and green skin, eh?! Ransacking the art treasures of history to help him make a machine to reunite him with his people, the Jagaroth, and you didn't notice anything? How discreet, how charming!" but the Countess just laughs at this.  Hermann however interrupts them and tells the Doctor he is to go down to the cellar but before he goes, the Doctor says to the Countess "Think about it, Countess. Think about it!".

The Countess laughs it off for a moment however she then remembers seeing a book in her library containing a parchment, which she unfold one that has a picture of an Egyptian wall painting featuring various Gods, a Pharaoh and the figure of a being with a green head and one eye, leaving Countess looking shocked.

David Graham next up is also very good as Kerenski, the Count's hapless scientist, who works with him on the machine, which the Count keeps his true intentions of its use from Kerenski.

And I will mention two of Graham's scenes, firstly the one where the Doctor having escaped from the cellar looks at the Count's lab equipment but he is interrupted by Kerenski coming down the stairs.  So the Doctor waits long enough for Kerenski to start his chicken egg experiement with the machine and then he says to Kerenski "Which came first?  The chicken or the egg?" and Kerenski, startled asks "Who are you?  What are you doing here?!" and the Doctor tells him "Me? I'm the Doctor.  What you're doing is terribly interesting! But you've got it wrong!".

So, the Doctor starts to discuss the flaws of the machine with Kerensky "Well, you're tinkering with time. That's always a bad idea unless you know what you're doing".  Kerenski however insists "I know what I'm doing. I am the foremost authority on temporal theory in the whole world!" and the Doctor asks him "The whole world?" and Kerenski says "Yes!" and the Doctor muses "Well, that's a very small place when you consider the size of the universe!".  Kerensky however insists " But you saw it work. The greatest achievement of the human race. A cellular accelerator. You saw it! An egg developed into a chicken in thirty seconds. With a large one, I can turn a calf into a cow in even less time. It will be the end of famine in the world!".  

The Doctor then explains there are still problems with the machine and he suggests something else as he reverses a control on the wall, causing the chicken skeleton to reverse back through its life cycle to being an egg again, leaving Kerensky astonished.  The Doctor then says "There you are. Did you realise it could do that?" and Kerensky, astounded says "No! What did you?!" and the Doctor "I just reversed the polarity.  This is very expensive equipment".  And Kerenski says "Oh, very expensive. The Count is very generous. A true philanthropist. I do not ask too many questions!" and the Doctor taken aback says "Well you...what's your name?!" and Kerensky says "Theodore Nikolai Kerensky...." and the Doctor tells him "Theodore Nikolai Kerensky...a scientist's job IS to ask questions!".

And lastly there is the scene where the Count shows some papers on a workbench for Kerensky to look at and he says to him "You will now see the true end product of your labours. This is what you will now produce for me. Look at it!".  Kerensky then takes a look at the papers but reacts in horror and says "But Count, this machine is precisely the reverse of what we, of what I have been working on!". Kerensky then says to Count "But the scale of this is fantastic. Count, what you are trying to do, this is monstrous beyond imagining!" and the Count asks him "But you will do it?" and Keresnky refuses "No!  A thousands times no!".  The Count then asks "Oh, why not?" and Kerensky urgently says "Equipment on this scale, power on this scale, it would cost millions and millions. Even you, Count, could not afford such things!".

However they are then interrupted by a delighted Hermann, who reveals they have managed to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre and Hermann reveals triumphantly that they stand to make $100,000,000 from all seven sales of the Mona Lisa paintings.  So, the Count laughs triumphantly and he turns to Kerensky and says to him menacingly "Continue with your work, Professor. Enjoy it, or you will die!" leaving Kerensky, just a little terrified.

Kevin Flood is pretty good in his role as the Count's ruthless henchman, Hermann, who takes pleasure in his job of being...well a henchman!

So, I will only mention one of Flood's scenes and its the one where Hermann leads the Doctor, Romana and Duggan down into the cellar.  So, the Doctor asks Hermann "How long has the chateau been here, Hermann?" and Hermann, impatiently replies "Long enough!" and the Doctor says "Really that long!  Restored maybe four or five hundred years ago?" and Hermann offers "May have been".  And the Doctor then asks "Very stimulating, very stimulating. And this would be the cellar, would it?" and Hermann finally says "Doctor, you're boring conversation does not interest me!".

Hermann then leads them into the cellar and he throws a box of matches to the Doctor and says "You may light it if you wish".  Romana asks of the lamp that lies in the cellar "How long's that thing going to last us?" and Hermann says "Two hours, maybe three" and the Doctor then gravely asks "What happens after that?" and Hermann threateningly says "After that, you won't NEED any light!" and he shuts and locks the cellar door.

Peter Halliday is also pretty good in his small role as the soldier that holds the Doctor captive back in Florence when the Doctor visits Leonard Da Vinci but is met by a sword instead held by the soldier.

And Halliday has two moments I will quickly mention, such as the one where having met Captain Tancredi, who leaves to get instruments to torture the Doctor with, the Doctor says to the solider of Tancredi "He's mad, isn't he? It must be a tough job humouring him!" but the soldier says nothing.  The Doctor then asks the solider "You don't believe all that, do you?" and the soldier asks "What?" and the Doctor says "Well, Jagaroth spaceships! Isn't it.  Isn't it?" and the soldier, not really interested says "I'm paid simply to fight".  The Doctor then says "Yes, well, I mean, quite honestly, when you think about all that Jagaroth spaceship!" and he scoffs but the soldier tells him "When you work for the Borgias, you believe anything" and the Doctor looks on fearfully and says "The borgias?! Yes, yes. I see your point".  And the soldier says "As I said, I'm paid to fight" and the Doctor looking down the sharp end of the soldier's sword says "Yes, and as I said, I can see your point!".  

And last of all is the moment where the Count is troubled by a psychic call from his other selves and this distracts the Count enough for the Doctor to ask "Are you alright?" and the Count in a daze, says "Continue. The interface of the time continuums is unstable!".  So, the Doctor asks the soldier "Is he often like this?" and the soldier says to the Doctor "I'm not paid to notice!". 

And last of all there are two very notable cameo performances from  John Cleese and Eleanor Bron who are very funny as two art lovers that stand and critique as well as appreciate the TARDIS, which is parked inside another gallery.

And as the two of them stand at the TARDIS, the man says "To me, one of the most curious things about this piece is its wonderful afunctionalism!" and the woman says "Yes, I see what you mean. Divorced from its function and seen purely as a piece of art, its structure of line and colour is curiously counterpointed by the redundant vestiges of its function".  So, the man then says "And since it has no call to be here, the art lies in the fact that it IS here!" and suddenly the Doctor, Romana and Duggan enter the gallery and board the TARDIS and it dematerialises, leaving both the man and woman astounded and the woman says "Exquisite!  Absolutely exquisite!". 

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Finally moving onto the director and music paragraphs, starting with the director, Michael Hayes, does a very fine job here with the story and he keeps the pace of the story moving along very nicely and at four episodes, it never lags and is just the right length.  Hayes himself directed two other serials during the Tom Baker era, which I believe would have been during the Graham Williams producer era, so this is certainly the strongest of the three no doubt.

As for the music, well...its good old Dudley Simpson once again and he produces another charming score here, which is perfectly well suited to the tone of the story itself as it features some playful moments as well as sinister and dramatic ones.  Basically, Dudley was the show's best composer overall as he churned out so many good scores for the show over the years and this is certainly another one.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for flaws....yep as good as City of Death is, it still does have some worth mentioning.

For starters, I think that while the Count and Captain Tancredi both make for effective villains, it has to be said that Scaroth's mask, is pretty silly looking with its green spaghetti head and one eye, even though Glover plays a very entertaining and memorable villain, that mask is still the only weakness behind it all.  Its also especially notable in its naffness when we see the Count tear off the mask at the end of the first episode and you can actually see the actor's real face peep through underneath!

There are also one or two plot points that don't quite make sense, for starters, Duggan in the scene where he breaks into the cafe durng the night with Romana, takes a bottle of wine and breaks off the neck of it to pour wine for himself and Romana (or at least that's the way it appears!).  However he didn't even have to do that, as there was already just a cork stuck in the bottle and he could have easily taken it out rather than smash the bottle open!  Also, what if Duggan was planning to drink straight from the bottle?!  If he had, after smashing it, he would bound to have cut his mouth!  But that's me just supposing here of course but I certainly wouldn't take the chance of drinking from a broken bottle of wine!

And then there is what I see as the biggest flaw in the story, which is when the Doctor, Romana and Duggan follow Scaroth back in time via the TARDIS to pre-historic Earth where the Scaroth intends to stop himself from taking off in his spaceship.  Now, in the story, Romana reveals that the device she built that will allow Scaroth to travel back in time to his ship will only last for two minutes, which the Doctor said would still be sufficient time to make the change.  OK.  However...in the time it took for Scaroth to activate the machine and transfer back in time to pre-historic Earth, he would got to his ship alot sooner than the Doctor ever could have got back to the TARDIS!  This is clearly the case, as the Doctor, Romana and Duggan are seen running frantically around the streets during Paris traffic, which would have taken them easily MORE than two minutes to get back to the TARDIS in time!

So, basically there would have been no way in hell that the Doctor and his companions could have realistically made it back to the TARDIS in time before Scaroth was able to reach his spaceship and press the button.  And if that being said, you'd actually think the way it would go is that the world would have been wiped out while the Doctor, Romana and Duggan were in their mad dash to get back to the TARDIS!  So, for me this remains the story's biggest drawback.

Last of all is the scene at the end where the Doctor and Romana, who are up the Eiffel tower, reluctantly tell Duggan where they are from, or rather they don't tell him really and leave him with an abrupt goodbye. However, after they leave, they quickly head down below outside and from afar the Doctor shouts "bye bye, Duggan!". Two things, I doubt sincerely that the Doctor's voice would travel that far from that distance for Duggan to hear him and second, how the hell DID the Doctor and Romana get down to ground level so fast??! Just as they leave quite quickly and Duggan buys a postcard of the Mona Lisa and before you know it, the Doctor and Romana are down below shouting bye bye to him. So, yeah, this scene never really sat right with me.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, overall, City of Death remains one of the great classics of its era, and it sees Tom Baker in wonderful, comedic form and Lalla Ward and the supporting cast all give wonderful performances. The script is also very funny and cleverly written despite one or two plot holes here and there and Dudley Simpson again proviides a fine score as the show's regular composer. So, without a doubt City of Death remains one of the great classics of the show's era and well worth watching again and again.

So, I will rate it:

10 out of 10

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

Until then, its bye bye for now!

Top 5 Worst Blake's 7 Episodes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, as its Easter time, I thought I would do another post and I did a top 10 best Blake's 7 episodes list a few years ago, so figured I would do a list of some of the worst episodes of the series and the show did have some clangers among the good ones. 

So, with that said, let's take a look at some of the worst episodes from this sci-fi classic show.

5. The Web (Series 1)

So, at No.5 is this clunker from the first series, The Web, which is the first really naff episode of the show in general imho. In the episode, Cally (Jan Chappell) the sole telepath of the crew, comes under a strange influence, which soon traps the Liberator (Blake's ship) in a large web. So, Blake (Gareth Thomas) and Avon (Paul Darrow) teleport down to the planet surface and discover the race, the Lost, are descendants of Cally's people, the Auron, however they the Lost in return for freeing the Liberator, want power cells, but its soon revealed they want them to destroy a race they also created on the planet, the Decima.

So, this is overall a pretty dull episode with some boring enemies and also some clunky aliens in the Decmia, who are small people running round in weird outfits. Its poorly paced and frankly boring but to be fair the idea of Cally being taken is not a bad one and its something they would expxlore later in the series again although not in a satisfactory way either but nonethless it does knock the viewer off initially when she does turn on them at first. But the execution of this episode overall doesn't work and its climactic scene of the Decima destroying their creators is just messy and also unpleasant to watch as it is silly.

However despite it all. there is still worse to go on the list but The Web certainly deserves its place on here as its series 1's lowest point.

4. Voice From The Past (Series 2)

At No.4 is this one from the second series, which is an intriguing concept but ultimately its poorly executed as Blake's mind comes under control from a mysterious force and he relives harrowing memories of his mind conditioning after his initial capture by the Federation. Blake also begins acting strangely as a result of this and changes course to a different planet and ropes Villa into believing the others plot against him, so he has them locked away. Blake then soon meets with a group led by Ven Glynd, who previously had him convicted but now claims he is a defector. However there is also another man present, wearing a mask and heavinly bandaged up named Shivan, who is soon revealed to be a familiar face...

So, yeah this episode had potential but sadly it was squandered by including the supporting characters, all of whom are pretty dull and uninteresting and of course (SPOILER!!!) we find out that the masked man, Shivan is none other than Travis himself and his reveal while a slight surprise, it shows the writers were starting to get pretty desparate with what to do with Travis's character. It also highlights how Villa is easily misled and again its getting a bit predictable that they pick on him to manipulate the situation. However, it also has to be said that given Travis's blind hatred for Blake, its funny how he doesn't try and kill him as soon as he sees him! 

Anyway, so Voice from the past, is definitely a poor episode from the series and one that's really not worth bothering with any time soon for sure and well worth on the list.

3. Weapon (Series 2)

At No 3 is another clunker from Series 2 (which had a fair few!) which involves the Federation's interest (or rather Servalan's) in a powerful weapon called IMIPAK, which can kill someone by placing a target on them and after kill them from any distance up to 1 million miles away. In the episode, we also get the return of Travis, who helps Servalan in trying to get the weapon but she also has clone of Blake created to trick its creator, Coser (John Bennett) into buying it from him. 

So, yeah this episode really is very dull and the supporting characters of Coser and Rashel are both as uninteresting as Blake's own clone happens to be also! The idea of the weapon itself is somewhat interesting and there is a fun moment where we see Servalan blatantly target everyone in sight around here including Travis! The recasting of Travis also falls flat here as Brian Croucher takes over in this episode from Stephen Grief, who was far better in the role and his back and forths with Jacquline Pearce come off as less entertaining and more hollow. 

So, overall, Weapon is definitely a weak episode in the series and one that is well worth skipping if you plan to revisit the show.

2. Sand (Series 4)

So, the runner-up here is this crapper from the fourth series, Sand, which would be more suited in a Mills and Boon love novel than an episode of Blake's 7. However, unfortunately that is what we get here as Liberator or rather Scorpio crew member, Tarrant (Steven Spacey who was in Series 3 and 4 and replaced Gareth Thomas in those series) has a somewhat romantic encounter with Servalan on an alien planet where the sand is deadly and they are trapped in a bunker and must find a way to survive it.

This really is a god awful episode from the series and its slapped own love fest between Servalan and Tarrant is frankly nauseating and simply doesn't work as Servalan had a hankering for Avon for a while but now turns her attentions to Tarrant. Its admittedly an intriguing idea to have the sand as a hostile lifeform and how unlikely the two of them are together in this situation but it doesn't help relieve the tedium of this episode overall. 

So, for me this is certainly one of the worst Blake's 7 episodes with the series penchant for romance permeating its way into the show from Series 3 onward, it culminates in one of its worst episodes right here in Sand. 

So, the worst episode of Blake's 7 is....

1. The Keeper (Series 2)

Yep, at No.1 is this unappealing turd (sorry!) of an episode from Series 2, The Keeper where Blake and his crew head to the planet Goth, to try and find the location of the "keeper" who knows the location of Star One, the control centre of the Federation, which Blake is desparate to destroy. On the planet however, we find the natives are a medieval type race, who's leader has Jenna be his consort, Vila his new jester (replacing the old one temporarily who plays a pivotal part later on in all this). Its pretty tedious all round really! However, one thing this episode does have going for it is how Avon thinks he has destroyed Travis by blowing up a ship he thinks Travis is on, only to find out later he wasn't! So, it does allow for a decent exchange between Blake and Avon, when Avon left him stranded temporarily on Goth while Avon took care of Travis and Blake angrily asks "Where the hell where you???!" and Avon tells him "We just got Travis for you!!" and Blake in disbelief says "What???". 

This is really bottom of the barrel stuff as far as Blake's 7 episodes go as far as I am concerned as its nothing but filler before Series 2 signficantly better finale, Star One and that's pretty much its worth offense that we need to sit through this BEFORE we can get to it. What is worse is that the concept of how the location of Star One is revealed could have been handled so much better than they did here, where in the end the Jester character on Goth, eventually reveals it in a conditioned memory. The episode while it does make good use of Jenna, most of the others are completely wasted in this story.

So, in the end, The Keeper is a waste of 50 minutes of television and its a pity they didn't skip this one or simply do a rewrite into something better, either way this is the worst episode in Blake's 7.

So, that's it for this one folks, hope you enjoyed it and have a good Easter (and plenty of eggs!).

Until the next one, its bye for now!  

 

Demon's Souls Remake Review (Revisited)

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, guys figured I would get one more post into the blog before the end of the month to make up for a lack of posting for the first two months of 2025. So, here I will revisit my initial review of the Demon's Souls remake, which was the launch game for the standard PS5.

So, after four years or so, let's take another look at this remake of the classic original and see how it fairs.

And the usual warning is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So to save time on me typing the story synopsis, here's a decent size snippet of it from Wikipedia

"In ancient times, Boletaria was attacked by a being called the Old One due to the abuse of forbidden Soul Art magic, with the world being almost lost in a magical "Deep Fog" filled with soul-eating demons. The Old One was eventually lulled into slumber, saving Boletaria and populating the damaged world with special humans called Monumentals. In the game's present, Boletaria's ruler King Allant has restored Soul Arts and consequently awoken the Old One and its demon army within the fog. Boletaria is now being consumed by demons, with those humans without souls turning into insane monsters. Players take the role of an adventurer entering the fog engulfing Boletaria. After being killed, the player wakes up in the Nexus and meets a benevolent demon called the Maiden in Black, as well as various other characters.

Now bound to the Nexus until the Old One is returned to slumber, the player travels to five regions of Boletaria, killing the powerful demons controlling those areas and absorbing their souls to increase their power so they can face King Allant".

THOUGHTS

Well, just after over four years from its initial release, the Demon's Souls remake remains an excellent update to the original PS3 classic game, which sees the game get an impressive visual overhaul with 4K graphics thanks to the PS5's enhanced graphics. However, the gameplay mechanics of the game also remain faithful to the original game too and are also keeping in with the spirit of the other Souls games. In short, if you enjoyed the other Souls games, then you are sure to enjoy this update remake also as the developers, Bluepoint (who also remade the acclaimed RPG, Shadow of the Colossus) did a fantastic job here.

GAMEPLAY

Now this section will be quite big of course and I will split it as usual like my other game reviews into sub-sections below.

MOVEMENT

Starting with movement, the game follows much the same system as the Souls games that succeed it with a third person perspective view that can be rotated 360 degrees to see the character face on or from behind. The player can also do the usual actions such as attack, run, sprint, walk (of course!) and in addition that was never included in the other Souls games, your character can even climb up ledges! This was expanded a little in the remake as at certain points in the game, your character can vault over walls although this is pretty limited in its use. One thing your charatcer cannot do however is jump, which is a bit bizarre but ah well, hey ho, this must come down to a limitation from the original game that was kept here.  

CHARACTER CLASSES AND STATS

Next is of course your character classes and stats, which are of course very important and have a big impact on your overall progression throughout the game. Starting with classes, you have 10 different types to choose from that include a warrior, knight, magician (sorcerer in the sequels), priest (cleric in the sequels), hunter and a wanderer and these can be either male or female. These classes will all have their own individual characteristics that are determined by their stats and these can be altered as you progress through the game and this will also grant them usage of different weapons, spells and other items in the game.

As for the stats, similar to the other Souls games you have a set number that are much the same that include vitality, endurance, strength, intelligence, luck, magic and faith. Vitality, endurance and strength are pretty much self-explanatory whereas other stats such as intelligence affect the amount of spells magic spells you can hold and the magic stat determines the power, which increases as you level up that stat itself. Faith is also much the same in that when you level it up you will gain access to more slots and it will boost the strength of offensive miracles or also increase the requirements needed to use these miracles.

There are also some additional stats that would feature in the other Souls game too such as luck, which boosts your item discovery from fallen enemies as you can increase it. And of course there is dexterity, which is used to handle certain weapons that requirement more refined skill to use such as spears, bows, halberds or katanas.

And before moving on, its worth mentioning of course that these stats are leveled via the NPC known as the Maiden in Black, who appears in the game's main hub, the Nexus, which I will mention in a bit.

WEAPONS

And this brings us onto weapons and there are plenty of weapons to be found in Demon's Souls just like in the other games in the series and some of these appear in the other Souls games too. And the remake largely keeps the original weapons intact with little new weapons added.

So, similar to the Dark Souls trilogy, you have different classes of weapons such as straight swords, large swords (which are the equivalent of great swords in the sequels) spears, hammers (including clubs I think), bows (including crossbows), katanas, daggers, curved swords (that inflict bleed damage) and axes. And these weapons all have varying requirements when it comes to strength and dexterity although I don't think they require intelligence or faith like some of them do in the Dark Souls trilogy.

There are also a selection of shields in the game too, which you character will use for defense and to block attacks (as you do with a shield!). Again there are different classes of shield such as small, standard and large with a mixture of wood, leather and metal shields with varying degrees of resistance and effectiveness for physical and elemental damage.

You can still of course use these weapons even if you do meet the requirements for them but it just means, like the DS trilogy you cannot use them effectively until you meet those requirements. However some of these weapons, especially weapons such as large swords, can be used if you meet the dexterity requirement for them and will allow to use them two-handed with most strength weapons proving most effective being held with two hands anyway.

As for the remake, they did add two new weapons which are the ritual blade and the reaper scythe as well as the hoplite shield. The ritual blade is a large axe (although it does look more like a large machete than anything else!) which can be found used by the skeletons in Shrine of Storms. The reaper scythe is a polearm weapon, similar to the great scythe in the other Souls games. Both of these weapons however cannot be upgraded.

ARMOUR

As for armour there is actually a surprisingly small amount of armour sets in the game with just 18 in total to be found and every class has their own individual set. The armour sets can range from very light for characters such as magicians and hunters to the more heavy sets worn by knights and priests. Again the weight factor of the sets will also impact on your equipment load as you will fat roll (i.e. roll slowly) if you are wearing a heavier and don't have sufficient endurance to wear it.

COMBAT

As for the combat again it is very similar to the following Souls games in that your character uses a mix of defense and offense when taking down enemies with a weapon and shield. You can also as a caster (mage or priest) use spells to take down enemies at range or use a bow or cross-bow to do the same. The game also introduces the parry and riposte system where you can use your shield deflect an enemy's attack and follow it up with a deadly finishing move and addition to this you can get behind enemies and backstab them.

The remake version of the game has enhanced versions of the riposte and backstab attacks, which are altogether a bit more brutal looking in their execution! However, these attacks actually remain faithful to the original take down methods of the original game.

THE NEXUS

And then we get to what is the game's central hub, which is known as the Nexus and is like Firelink Shrine in the sequels (or Majula in the Dark Souls II) where your character can level up their stats (via the Maiden in Black) talk to other non-playable characters (i.e. NPCs) and purchase items and upgrade weapons. The Nexus also features what appear to be five headstones that allow the player access to different worlds that are the main playable areas of the game but in order to access them you need to talk a specific NPC (the Monumental) to do so.

NON-PLAYABLE CHARACTERS (NPCs)

Then there are the NPCs, who like in the other Souls games can help your character along the way and offer different things such as the Nexus blacksmith, Boldwin, who can upgrade your weapons and purchase weapons and other items form. There is also another blacksmith, Ed, who does further weapon upgrades and can craft weapons from boss souls as well as upgrade unique weapons. There is also an NPC, Stockpile Thomas, who can store items and weapons for you if you become over-burdened with your equipment load and this can happen quite often in the game as you pick up items throughout. Then there are NPCs you can purchase spells or miracles from that you find as you travel through the worlds and you can also trade boss souls with them for additional spells/miracles.

Then of course we have the Maiden in Black, who levels up your character and she also plays a pinnacle role in the end of the game but I won't say much more than that! Plus I cannot forget to mention the one and only Patches, who features in just about EVERY Souls game (bar Dark Souls II that is!). Patches if you don't know is basically a sneaky and untrustworthy merchant, who will screw you over at any given opportunity but can later on sell you stuff that is of good use such as healing items, arrows and rings.  

CHARACTER AND WORLD TENDENCY

Another key aspect of the game is to do with your character and world tendencies.

Starting with character tendency, this affects your character directly based on your choices throughout the game to either help NPC's or kill them or invade online players and kill them. So, essentially you will have either a black or white tendency with the black tendency it reduces your health to 45% and your attack power is increased as an invading black phantom.  White tendency however will increase the player's attack power in Soul form and it will also increase your attack power as a blue phantom (i.e. where you assist other online players to fight bosses).

As for the world tendency, this directly affects the difficulty level of events that take place in the game's different worlds and are specific to that world. So, essentially if you stay in human form and keep dying then this will lead toward the world tendency turning black, which in turn strengthen enemies HP and attack power but they will end up dropping more souls when they die and you will have a better chance at obtaining rare items. Your character's maximum HP will reduce in Soul form also, which can makes thing very challenging indeed! There will also be more black phantoms of standard enemies that appear at different areas in that world as well to challenge you.

As for white world tendency, enemies will have less HP and attack power and will reduce the chance of dropping rare items but they should still provide health items when they are killed. Your attack power is also increased when in soul form and can go up in increments based on how white the world becomes.

SOUL AND BODY FORM

And this brings me onto the two different forms your player can take, which are soul and body form as both these forms have different effects on gameplay.

Starting with soul form, the player will have reduced health but they can as previously mentioned have more attack power in this form based on your world tendency as it will be more if it is white and less if black. They will also appear more ethereal than they would in body form and one benefit also is that they make no noise when they move around. When you are in body form however you will have full health but you will do less damage than in soul form and you will also make audible noise when you move.

ARCHSTONES

Another key aspect of the game are the archstones, which your character will use to travel between the different worlds and the Nexus and there are often more than one to be found in each world. Each world will begin with one each but as you defeat bosses, more will appear as you progress and they can allow you to checkpoint your progress in the worlds as you make your way through them. You can also use what is known as shards of archstone, that are the equivalent of your homeward bone from Dark Souls that can return you to the Nexus at any time.  

ENEMIES AND BOSSES

Moving onto the enemies there are is plenty of variety here with no shortage for your character to fight against that range from your low level scrubs that are the dreglings up to red eye knights. There are also some really annoying enemies called fat officials, who are appear in a couple of the worlds who armed with whips or axes and can throw fireballs at you. However in the remake, they decided to redesign the officials a bit by giving them warty skin! There are also plenty of monster/creature type enemies such as giant bugs, rockworms, gargoyles, man centipedes, storm beasts and of course your typical rabid dogs!

There are also hybrid-human enemies such as mind flayers, who are essentially octopus headed magicians that can deal out some pretty nasty damage, shadow lurkers, who are like ghostly spirits that deal out magic damage and of course we have armoured skeletons, who can really mess you up with their falchions (i.e. a curved sword that deal heavy bleed damage!). So there are certainly plenty of bad guys here to keep you on your toes and will test you throughout the game.

There are also another type of enemy in the game that appear as red phantoms and they can interrupt your progress at different times in the game. The phantoms will vary in challenge as you progress and their presence can also be affected by the world tendency of the game as they will often appear more if you have a black world tendency than white.

Boss wise there are plenty on display here and they of course will allow the player to regain their body form if they were in soul form when the boss is defeated. The bosses will of course drop a high number of souls as well as their own soul, which can be traded with the magician or priest NPC's for special spells/miracles. Bosses also come in different types such as humans and monsters and there is plenty of variety on display here in the game in that regard.

The bosses definitely vary in their challenge level and I have to say that most of them are pretty easy in comparison to the rest of the bosses found in the Dark Souls trilogy but some of them are pretty interesting in their design all the same.

RINGS

Then there are the rings in the game, which just like in the other Souls games, grant the character different abilities and resistances and they can equip two at a time. There are 26 rings in total in the game and as a few examples there is the Cling Ring, which can be used to boost your HP when you are in soul form and the regenerator ring, which slowly recovers your health over time. Other rings also include the Thief Ring, which enables you to become harder for enemies to detect, Ring of Magical Sharpness, which boosts your magic power but also lowers your magic defense. Other rings also include the ring of flame resistance, which boosts your fire defence as well as the ring of gash resistance, that boosts your defence to bleed weapons. As for the last one I will mention is The Ring of Herculean Strength, which boosts your equipment load similar to Havel's Ring in the sequels.

WEAPON UPGRADE STONES

Next we have the stones used for upgrading weapons and there is a big variety of stones to be found throughout the game that all have different properties and can add various effects to weapons such as infuse them with fire, magic, bleed or poison.

There are too many to mention here to go through them all but the two primary types of stone you will use in the game are hardstone and sharpstone and they can fully upgrade your weapons from its base level up to +10. These types of stone however are the basic upgrade paths and will not add any additional elemental effects to weapons.

Starting with hardstone, this is used to upgrade weapons such as straight swords, axes, hammers, bows and even shields and they come in different varities that are shards, large shards, chunks and pure stone (maxes out the weapon to +10). So, basically hardstone would be used to mainly upgrade strength based weapons as opposed to dex based ones. As for sharpstone, this is used to upgrade weapons such as spears, curved swords, katanas, daggers and rapiers, which are all pretty much dexterity based weapons. Again similar to hardstone, sharpstone comes in varieties of shard, large shards, chunks and pure stone.   

CONSUMABLE SOULS AND ITEMS

And last of all for the gameplay section, I will mention a bit about the consumable items in the game as well as souls that you can collect throughout. To start with the consumable souls, these are often found on dead bodies and will range in the number of souls they give you from as little as 200 up to 10,000 souls. These are very handy for boosting your souls count when you might be low and want to purchase items or even uprgade weapons or level up.

As for the consumable items there are plenty also to be found in the game and primary ones are for healing your health but some can also be used to cure status ailments such as poison or toxicity. The healing items vary from the smallest, which are Crescent Moon Grass alway up to New Moon Grass, which completely restores your health. As for the status healing items there are three usable ones here that are Widow Lotus that cures the plague, Royal Lotus, which cures poison and Soldier Lotus that cures bleeding.

Other consumable featured also help restore your magic power and there are two such items that can do this that are Fresh Spice and Old Spice. Fresh Spice will only recover a small amount of your magic power whereas Old Space will recover a larger amount of it. These items can also be purchased from different NPC merchants in the game.

EQUIPMENT LOAD

And lastly in the gameplay section, I will mention more about equipment load as already mentioned, your character can become overburdened by the load that they carry as they pick up items throughout the game. However, you can offload equipment to the NPC at the Nexus called Stockpile Thomas, who will hold your equipment safely for you. However, in the remake, a neat change that has been added is if you are danger of being overburdened, the game will allow you to move any items that would do so to storage, so it can be retrieved at a later date. This is a nice change from the original's rather inconvenient way of forcing you to drop items to or leave them behind due to your equipment burden.

GRAPHICS

Finally moving onto the game's graphics, well its safe to say that the orignal Demon's Souls graphics were easily the most dated looking of all the Souls games, especially given as it was initially released on the PS3. However even by PS3 standards, the graphics are still a bit behind the times but I guess this might have come down to the budget limitations available to the developers at the time.  

However, this is not a problem in the remake as the graphics are simply stunning in their richness and detail as the environments all look fantastic as they have been given a huge 4K upgrade over the original's dated looks. In fact the game comes with two modes, a performance mode targetting 60fps and a native 4K mode, which runs at 30fps. Character models also look excellent too although I would still say their facial animations looks a bit weird an unnatural at times. Regardless of this though, they still look very impressive.

You also have access a number of visual filters that give the game a different look as the standard look of the game is pretty dark alot of the time, particularly in the Nexus. However, the visual filters allow players to make profiles for the game that appear more bright or vivid, which can prove useful especially in a darkly lit area in the game.

So, overall the visuals are very impressive in the remake and it does show off the PS5's graphics capapbilities very well indeed.

MUSIC

As for the music, the game features a pretty good score by Shunsuke Kida and it is largely very orchestral and features choral sections also very much like the Souls scores that would follow it but I would still say that the Dark Souls trilogy's music scores were far more memorable than this one here. Regardless of that though there are still some good themes here that include the themes for the bosses, Armour Spider, Tower Knight and my favourite is Maiden Astraea, which is quite different from the rest of score and is easily the real standout of the soundtrack.

As for the remake however, the score has been re-orchestrated by American composer, Bill Hemstapat, who recorded the score with a 75 piece orchestra. The remake score however doesn't bear a great deal of resemblance to the original although some themes do have a familiar sound to them but for the most part, the score is quite different to the original as it is more grandiose sounding in its orchestral arrangements. However, the score itself in the remake is still pretty good even if it lacks the charm of the original in some ways, there are some standout tracks such as the themes for King Allant, Maneaters, Fool's Idol and Maiden Astrea. So, it does vary from the original score but its still worth a listen.

FLAWS

As for the flaw, well yes the game does have some worth noting.

For startings is the concept of World Tendency, which if you are new to the game then its something that might trip you up as it did in my first playthrough of the original (which the save file got corrupted for, so I had to start a 2nd playthrough to finish the game!). And the main problem with this is if you stay in body form and keep dying, the world tendency will turn black as mentioned in my WT section and the enemies become stronger and harder to kill and your max health is reduced in soul form. So, this is a real pain in the asss if you get stuck in such as situation and it can also force to deal with an extra bunch of in-game invaders who also have more health! So, in short you really need to take care when you play this game at first and if in doubt, just stay in soul form to avoid this trap.

Something else that bugged me in the game was to do with how the Maiden in Black keeps changing her position every time you travel back to the Nexus and given it is a pretty big place, its easy to lose track of where she is! I mean one minute she's at the bottom of the stairs and the next she is right up the top where you can't see here without running around or she might sitting down in a crouched pose! So, I wish they would have limited the amount of positions she can move to when you travel back to the Nexus to make your life just that bit easier to find her and level up.

Another problem found was to do with the lack of archstones at times in the game, which can cause much frustration in certain areas, particularly in the Tower of Latria world, as I had found myself having to do a massive runback from the second archstone to try and progress through the swamp area and up the top. However, when I did this one time, I was killed en-route to the top by a gargoyle and another time I carelessly jumped off a lift taking me up, which meant I had to start all over again! So, the lack of archstones really does force you to be extra careful in these areas, which can also be pretty challenging.

Then there is of course the issue relating to the sheer amount of upgrade stones throughout the game as there simply too many to choose from and they are quite confusing in what some of them even do! In fact I think overall there are 16 different types of stone to be found in the game, which is too many if you have ask me and serve more to confuse the player than help them.

Another thing that might also be a big problem in the game is that there is no forgiveness system like there is in the Dark Souls games, where you can be pardoned for your sins if your accidentally attack an NPC either in the Nexus or in the worlds. And if you make this mistake that means you are pretty much scuppered with dealing with that NPC, so if you e.g. unwittingly attack the magician, Freke, then he will refuse to deal with you and will try and kill you instead, leaving you no choice but to kill him. So, if you are a mage then that's you pretty much screwed!

UPDATE TO LAST PARAGRAPH: This is actually not the case in the remake, as a seek forgiveness option was added to this new version of the game, where you can select different options for character custimisation at a statue found in the Nexus. So, yeah, this previous paragraph while true to the original, is no longer relevant to the remake.

I also noticed in the game that there are certain weapons that cannot be upgraded, which I found a bit annoying such as the crossbows and certain shields like the leather ones. Now I can sort of see the point of not necessarily wanting to upgrade a leather shield but a crossbow?! I mean come on! A crossbow can be a pretty essential weapon in the Souls series and to not allow it to be upgraded is frankly ridiculous! So, I'm not sure what the game director, Hidetaka Miyazaki's logic was here when he made these upgrade decisions in this game.   

Another issue I have, which is specific to the remake version is to do with killing the crystal lizards in an area, because in the original game and other Souls games you could just reload the game from the menu and the crystal lizards would reappear. However, in the remake, you cannot do that here as you need to travel back to the area to reset it, so you can kill the crystal lizards you missed. This is an annoying change especially when it comes to having to kill the surrounding enemies over and over again and probably one of the poorest changes in the remake.

Another remake issue is to do with the new recording of the NPC dialogue, which has been altered somewhat and feels like its lacking some of the character and personality in the original. A prime example of this is the character, Boldwin the blacksmith at the Nexus, who was a grumpy Scotsman in the original game but here they've made him more amicable sounding. So, instead of his grumpy sign off of "You come back alive! I need your business!" its now "Do come back alive. I need your business" which makes him sound more submissive and wishy washy!

Another example of this comes in the form of needlessly changing the dialogue from the original with the worst offender being the Maiden in Black's dialogue when you finish leveling up your character. And in the original, the Maiden at this point would ask "Art thou done?" but they changed it to "Art thou finished?" in the remake! Now, this to me is totally pointless and adds nothing to the game whatsoever other than maybe annoy or irk some fans of the game, who would also feel these choices are largely pointless.

Another issue and one of the more disappointing aspects of the game is how just easy most of the bosses in the game are to defeat. I mean the final boss of the game, King Allant, who is essentially a large grub is ridiculously easy as you can even just finish him off with magic spells without even going anywhere near him! There are still a few tricky bosses in the game but to finish it all off with a "boss" that has zero challenge to him, is pretty disappointing. Although at least with the remake, they kept the difficulty level quite consistent with the original game overall.

WARNING: THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH HAS SPOILERS RELATING TO THE END OF THE GAME.

Last of all is an issue to do with the end of the game where after you defeat the second to last boss, King Allant, however after you do this you can no longer upgrade your stats via the maiden anymore, as she then grabs you and takes you underneath the Nexus to the Old One. So, by doing this, you are locked out of upgrading your character stats anymore, despite getting over 100,000 souls for killing Allant, you are denied the chance to do so and now need to wait to begin the new game plus before upgrading again, which really sucks. This also remains one of the more disappointing decisions in the remake, that they didn't amend this and allow your levelling up even after the Maiden takes you below, but nope(!) they decided to stick to the original game's daft decision for this, which was a big mistake imho but oh well!

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to finally sum up, Demon's Souls Remake is an excellent update to the original game and its enhanced, stunning visuals really show off the PS5's graphical abilities. The gameplay also remains as enjoyable as the original and with a few tweaks here and there, it gives the game a more modern feel to its combat, which is a good thing.

There are a few issues however with the gameplay here and there and the sound effects and some changes to the voice acting are a bit annoying and disappointing in places. However all that aside, Demon's Souls is still an excellent upgrade to the original game and if you own a PS5, then its certainly worth a look to anyone, who fancies giving the Souls games a try.

So, I will give Demon's Souls remake a rating of:

9 out of 10

Right, that's it for now guys and I will be back in April for more posts.

Until then bye for now and Umbasa!

A Few Good Men Review (Revisited) "Sweet dreams, son!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK guys, so trying to get another post in just before the end of the month and I thought I would revisit one I did a few years back, which is of the legal drama, A Few Good Men starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. 

So, after 33 years, let's see how this film fairs...

Oh and the usual warning is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY  

So the film begins at Guantanmo bay naval base in Cuba, with two young marines, Lance Coporal Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison) and Private Douney (James Marshall) entering the room of Private Santiago (Michael DeLarenzo) where they proceed to tie him up and stuff a rag down his throat, however as a result of the attack, Santiago dies and Dawson and Douney are arrested.

Shortly after Dawson and Douney's arrest, naval investigator and lawyer, Lieutenant Commander Jo Galloway (Demi Moore) believes the two marines did not murder Santiago and they were in fact acting on order known as a "code red" which is a form of disciplinary military punishment.  Galloway requests that she defend the two marines however her request is denied and instead the case is assigned to Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, an inexperienced, cocky lawyer in the US Navy but who has a strong track record for plea bargaining.  Kaffee and Galloway at first however don't get along as Galloway resents Kaffee's carefree attitude as he clearly doesn't want to take on the demands of the case whereas Kaffee resents Galloway's overzealous attitude.

However despite their differences, they travel to Cuba along with Kaffee's fellow lawyer, Lt Sam Weinbeg (Kevin Pollak) where they meet with the commanding officer, Colonel Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson) who neither confirms or denies the practice of code reds on the base, and after a brief investigation of the base, the three of them fly back to the States. 

However on their return to the States, Jessup's executive officer, Lt Colonel Markinson (J.T. Walsh) goes AWOL, and Galloway grows more convinced that the order was a code red.  Kaffee and Galloway go and question Dawson and Douney who tell him that they were given an order to perform a code red on Santiago by their commanding officer, Lieutenant Kendrick (Kiefer Sutherland).

Kaffee then approaches the prosecution lawyer Captain Jack Ross (Kevin Bacon) and tells him the marines were given an order and he works out a plea bargain with him, where he will offer the marines involuntary manslaughter for which they would receive a reduced sentence of six months.  Kaffee takes the offer to Dawson who turns it down as he refuses to admit he did anything wrong other than follow his duty and will not dishonour himself or his corps.

As a result of this, Kaffee verges on quitting the case after having a row with Galloway, who insists they go to court and put the marines on trial, but Kaffee soon decides to take on the case.  And from here this is where Kaffe, Galloway and Weinberg plan their case to try and save their two clients from serving a life long prison sentence.....

THOUGHTS 

As far as courtroom dramas go, "A Few Good Men" definitely is one of the most entertaining and absorbing ones of its time and it has aged very well 33 years on from its release.  The story itself was actually based on a phone call the writer Aaron Sorkin had with his sister, who worked as a lawyer in the US Navy Corps for three years, where she defended marines who were accused of murder after a direct order from their commanding officer to carry out a hazing disciplinary action on a fellow marine.  Sorkin would then go on to write his script for the stage where it was a success on Broadway on its initial run in 1989.

And it has to be said that Sorkin's screenplay is wonderfully written and richly worded and the characters are all really well drawn out, and it also lead toward a fruitful career as a screenwriter for TV and film, as Sorkin went on to write "The West Wing" for TV, as well as films such as "The American President", "The Social Network" and "Steve Jobs".

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

As for the performances well they are excellent as the film features a great cast.

Starting with Tom Cruise, who despite his tendency to play annoyingly cocky characters (and yep Daniel Kaffee here is no exception here!) still provides a really good performance as Daniel Kaffee, the inexperienced and yes, cocky naval lawyer, who would rather take the easy way out of the case rather than go to trial.  However as the film progresses, Kaffee's character begins mature and grow and he takes on his responsibilities rather than run away from them.

And Cruise certainly has plenty of good scenes in the film such as the one where he is met by an angry naval officer, Spradling, as the two of them argue over a pending case of a young naval employee who supposedly smoked marijuana but it turned our to be oregano.  So, in the scene Spradling angrily says to Kaffee "We were supposed to meet 15 minutes ago. You're stalling on the McDermott case. We either get it done now, or I'll hang him from a f****** yardarm!".  And Kaffee, surprised asks the person he is practising soft ball with, Sherby "Do we still hang people from yardarms" and Sherby replies "Don't think so" and Kaffee says to Spradling "Sherby doesn't think we still hang people from yardarms anymore".

So, Kaffee tells Spradling "I'll file a motion seeking to obtain an evidentiary ruling in advance... ...then I'll file against pre-trial confinement. You'll get three months' paperwork... ...because a signalman bought and smoked a dime bag of oregano!".  And as the two of them continue to haggle over a resolution to the case and Spradling eventually gives and says "I don't why I'm agreeing to this!" and Kaffee grins and says "Because you have wisdom beyond your years!".

Then there is the scene where Kaffee confronts Dawson and Douney, who are being detained while Kaffee and Galloway do their investigation and in the scene Kaffee asks Dawson if their superior officer, Lt Kendrick ordered them to give Santiago a code red.  So, Kaffee walks in angrily and asks Dawson "Did Kendrick order the code red?" and Dawson asks "Sir?" and Kaffee about to lose his temper says "Don't say sir like I just asked you if you cleaned the latrine. You heard what I said. Did Lt. Kendrick order you guys to give Santiago a code red?!".  And Dawson says "Yes, sir" and Kaffee asks Douney, who also says "Yes, sir".

So, Kaffee, exasperated asks "You mind telling my why the hell you never mentioned this before?!" and Dawson says "You didn't ask us, sir" which pisses off Kaffee more who says "Answering my questions, isn't going to win you a place in my heart.  I get paid no matter how much time you spend in jail!".  And Dawson angrily says "Yes, sir, I know you do, sir!" which prompts Kaffee to yell "F*** YOU, HAROLD!!".

Then there is the scene where Kaffee offers Dawson and Douney, Ross's plea bargain deal to serve a 6 month sentence for involuntary manslaughter, however Dawson refuses to go for it.  So in the scene Kaffee tells them "All right, here's the story. The government's offering involuntary manslaughter. Two years. You'll be home in six months".  This prompts a look of surprise from Dawson and Douney but little more than that and Kaffee says "Wow! You're the greatest lawyer in the world! How can we thank you? Fellas, you hear what I just said?! You'll be home in six months!!".  However, Dawson says to Kaffee "I'm afraid we can't do that, sir" and Kaffee asks "Do what?" and Dawson says "Make a deal, sir."  And Kaffee bemused asks "What are you talking about?" "We did nothing wrong. We did our job. If that has consequences, I'll accept them. But I won't say that I'm guilty, sir".

So, Kaffee becomes angry and points accusingly at Jo and says to Dawson "Did she put you up to this???!" and Jo says "No".  And Dawson says "We have a code, sir!" which angers Kaffee "You and your code plead not guilty. You'll be in jail for life. Do what I say, and you'll be home in six months. Do it, Harold. Six months, it's nothing. It's a hockey season!".  But then Dawson lays it on the line as he tells Kaffee that he believes he was right and will not dishonour himself or the corps, so he can go home in just six months.  So, Kaffee requests to talk to Dawson alone, so the others leave and Kaffee says to Dawson "You know, Downey worships you. He's gonna do whatever you do. Are you really gonna let this happen to him because of a code, Harold?".  And Dawson looks at Kaffee and asks "Do you think we were right?" and Kaffee says "It doesn't matter..." but Dawson angrily asks agains "DO YOU THINK WE WERE RIGHT??!" and Kaffee says "I think you'd lose!".  And Dawson looks at him in disgust and says "You are such a coward!  I can't believe they let you wear a uniform!".

Then there is the scene right after where Kaffee argues with Galloway as he is ready to walk away from the case.  And Kaffee says in disbelief "I don't believe it!  Dawson wants to go to jail, just to spite me! If he wants to jump off a cliff...fine!  I'm not gonna hold his hand on the way down!".  Then Galloway argues with Kaffee and tells him "I want them to be judged, I want you to stand up and make an argument!" and "Why are you so afraid to be a lawyer?!  Were Daddy's expectations that high?!".  And Kaffee sighs and says "Oh, spare me the psychobabble father bullshit!  Dawson and Douney will have their day in court but they'll just have it with another lawyer!".  And as Galloway insists that they need him as he know how to win and if he walks away he will seal their fate, Kaffee tells Galloway "Their fate was sealed the moment Santiago died!".  And as Galloway asks "Do you believe they have a case?" and Kaffee angrily says "You and Dawson, you both live in the same dream world. It doesn't matter what I believe, it only matters what I can prove. So don't tell me what I know and don't know. I KNOW THE LAW!!". 

And to save a lot of time in typing more paragraphs for Cruise, I will just skip to the scene where Kaffee questions Colonel Jessup in court and he finally get's to the point where he asks him if he ordered the code red.  But before that there is the funny moment where Kaffee asks Jessup a number of questions about his personal items and telephone calls he made as he made his trip to Washington.  And Jessup tells Kaffee "I wore utilities on the plane" rather than his uniform and Kaffee asks "Toothbrush, shaving kit, underwear?".  And this provokes Ross to shout "Object!" and Kaffee asks "Is the general's underwear a matter of national security?!".  

So, in the scene Kaffee says to Jessup "If Lt. Kendrick gave an order that Santiago wasn't to be touched... why did he have to be transferred? Colonel? Kendrick ordered a Code Red because THAT'S what you told him to do!".  And then Kaffee begins to bellow at Jessup and shouts "AND WHEN IT WENT BAD, YOU CUT THESE GUYS LOOSE!! You signed a phony transfer order!  You doctored the logbook!  You coerced the Doctor!  Now I'm asking you!  COLONEL JESSUP DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED???!!".

And as the Judge says "Colonel, you have to answer that question!" Jessup refuses to back down and says angrily "I'LL answer the question!" and he looks at Kaffee and says "You want answers?!" and Kaffe says "I think I'm entitled!".  And Jessup again asks "You want ANSWERS?!!" and Kaffee yells back "I WANT THE TRUTH!!!" and Jessup shouts that great line "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!".

And Jessup (SPOILER!!!) finally admits that he ordered the code red as Kaffee yells at him "DID YOU ORDERED THE CODE RED???!" and Jessup yells back "YOU'RE GODDAM RIGHT I DID!!".  Then Kaffee recommends they go to "an immediate 39a article session" as the court members and the jury leave the room, Jessup is placed under arrest and he lunges at Kaffee but is restrained.  And Jessup then says to him "All you did was weaken a country today, Kaffee! That's all you did. You put peoples' lives in danger. Sweet dreams, son!" and Kaffee says "Don't call me, son.  I'm a lawyer and an officer in the United States Navy.  And you're under arrest, you son of a bitch!".

And lastly there is the scene at the end where Ross, the prosecution for the case, asks Kaffee "Airmen O'Malley and Rodriguez.  What exactly were they going to testify to?" and Kaffee tells him "They were going to testify that they had no recollection of absolutely anything".  And Ross responds sarcastically "Strong witnesses" and Kaffee says "And handsome too, don't you think?" and they both laugh.

Demi Moore who it has to be said was a rather unlikely choice for such a role here, is actually pretty good as Lt Commander Joanne Galloway, the overzealous naval investigator who works on the case with Kaffee.

And Moore has quite a few good scenes of her own also such as the one where she talks to Captain West (John M. Jackson) in his office at JAG (Judge Advocate General) corps about the Dawson and Douney case.

And in the scene Jo tries her best to make a strong impression and also put herself forward to defend Dawson and Douney however when she makes the recommendation she bungles it nervously.  And Jo says to Captain West "Sir, I'd like to have them moved up to Washington and assigned counsel. Someone who can really look into this. Someone who possesses not only the legal skill...but a familiarity with the workings of the military.  In short, I'd like to suggest that I be the one who that-- That it be me who is assigned to represent them, myself!".  And Captain West says to her "Commander, why don't you go and get yourself a cup of coffee" and Galloway politely says "No, thank sir, I'm fine" and West says to her bluntly "Commander, I'd like you to leave the room so we can talk about you behind your back!" and Galloway smiles awkwardly saying "Certainly sir!".

Then there is of course Moore's most notable scene where confronts Kaffee for his lack of commitment over the case and tells Kaffee that she knows exactly who he is and his background.  So, she says to Kaffee "Daniel Alistair Kaffee, born June 8th, 1964...at Boston Mercy Hospital. Your father's Lionel Kaffee, former Attorney General of the U.S...died 1985. You went to Harvard Law, then joined the Navy...probably because that's what your father wanted. Now you're just treading water for the three years in the JAG corps...just laying low till you can get out and get a real job. If that's the situation, that's fine, I won't tell anyone".  However Jo then get's angry and warns him "But if this case is handled in the same Persian fast-food, slick-assed manner...with which you handle everything else...then something's gonna get missed! And I wouldn't be doing my job if I let Dawson and Downey to sit in prison, because their attorney predetermined the path of least resistance!".  And Kaffee simply stares at her and says "Wow!  I'm sexually aroused commander!".

Another good scene from Moore is when Galloway confronts Kaffee over his decision to quit the case and get another lawyer for Dawson and Douney.  And as Kaffee is about to leave, Galloway says to him "One thing, though. When you ask the judge, be sure and ask nicely" and Kaffee turns around and says "What do you want from me??" and she says "I want you to let them be judged. I want you to stand up and make an argument!".  And Sam sarcastically says to her "An argument that didn't help Calley at My Lai, an argument that didn't work for the Nazis at Nuremberg!".  However then Kaffee turns around and gives an angry response "For Christ's sake, Sam!  Do you think that's the same as two teenage marines executing an order they didn't think would result in harm? These guys aren't Nazis!" and Galloway says "Don't look now, Danny, but you're making an argument".

However as Kaffee is about to leave again and says that Dawson and Douney will have their day in court with another lawyer, Galloway says "Another lawyer isn't good enough! They need you! You know how to win!  You know they have a case, and if you walk away from them now you've sealed their fate!".  And as Kaffee angrily tells her not to tell him what he knows or not because "I KNOW THE LAW!" Galloway says to him "You know nothing about the law! You're a used-car salesman! An ambulance-chaser with a rank! You're nothing. Live with that" and she leaves instead.

And last of all is the scene where after their case hits a bad setback later on the film, Kaffee returns home drunk as he tells them about (SPOILER!!) Markinson (Jessup's executive officer at Gunatanamo bay, who was set to testify) having shot himself.  So, in the scene Galloway tells Kaffee that they still have a chance to win the case if they subpoena Jessup much to Kaffee's annoyance.

So, Jo (I'll call her Jo from now on!) in the scene says to Kaffee "In the morning we'll ask Randolph for a continuance for 24 hours" and Kaffee asks "Why would we do that?" and Jo says "To subpoena Colonel Jessup".  And Kaffee refuses to listen to Jo's reasoning and he says "No, I won't listen, Jo.  Your passion is compelling but useless.  Lowden Douney needed a TRIAL lawyer today!" (meaning she messed up being Douney's attorney) and she says to him "You chickenshit!  You're gonna use this as an excuse to give up?" and Kaffee says to her with a sense of finality "Its over!".

However Jo refuses to give in and she asks Kaffee "Why did you ask Jessup for the transfer order in Cuba?" and Kaffee annoyed answers "I wanted the damn transfer order!".  Jo, however spits back at him "Bullshit!  You could have gotten it by calling any one of a dozen departments. You didn't want the order. You wanted to see Jessep's reaction when you asked for the transfer order! You had an instinct and it was confirmed by Markinson! Now, damn it, let's put Jessep on the stand and end this thing!".  But as Kaffee goes into a big long rant and ends it like a game show host yelling at Jo "SHOULD OR SHOULD WE NOT FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF THE GALACTICALLY STUPID????!!" he then angrily knocks some papers and books off a table.  And Jo, shocked, takes a moment and then puts her coat and as she is about leave she says to Kaffee "I'm sorry I lost you your set of steak knives!" and she leaves (referring to a scene earlier where Kaffee said he will get a set of steak knives if he wins one more case). 
 
Jack Nicholson next up is terrific in his role as Colonel Nathan Jessup, the intimidating Guantanamo bay Naval base officer, who is the superior officer at the base where Santiago died.

Nicholson also has his share of great moments in the film such as the scene where we first see Jessup, reading Santiago's letter and he puts it down and introduces himself saying "Who the f*** is PFC William T. Santiago?!".  And then after Lt Kendrick tells Jessup who Santiago is, Jessup says "Well, apparently he's not very happy down here at Shangri-la because he's written everybody but Santa Claus, asking for a transfer. Now he's telling tales about a fenceline shooting!".  And Jessup looks to Markinson and says "Matthew?" and Markinson offers "I'm appalled, sir" and Jessup now annoyed says "You're appalled!  This kid broke the chain of command and ratted on a member of his unit to say nothing of the fact that he's a U.S. Marine and it would appear he can't run from here to there without collapsing from heat exhaustion!".

And towards the end of the scene, Jessup decides to have a quiet word with Markinson when Markinson disagrees with Jessup's decision to keep Santiago on the base and be trained rather than transferred.  So, in the scene Jessup bluntly tells Markinson "We go back a while. We went to the Academy together...were commissioned together, did our tours in Vietnam together. But I've been promoted with greater speed and success than you. Now, if that's a source of tension or embarrassment for you...I don't give a shit. We're in the business of saving lives, Lieutenant Colonel Markinson. Don't ever question my orders in front of another officer!" and he walks out leaving a frustrated Markinson alone.

Then of course there is the great scene where Kaffe, Jo and Sam go to Cuba and meet with Jessup at the base and they have lunch together where Jo asks Jessup a sensitive about code reds and whether they still happen on the base.  And in the scene Jessup says to Kaffee "You know, it just hit me.  She outranks you, Danny. I want to tell you something. And listen up, because I mean this. You're the luckiest man in the world. There is nothing on this earth sexier--believe me, gentlemen, than a woman you have to salute in the morning. Promote them all, I say, because this is true. If you haven't gotten any from a superior officer, well...you're just letting the best in life pass you by!".

And just before they go, Kaffee asks Jessup for a copy of Santiago's transfer order for his paperwork in a rather abrupt manner and Jessup somewhat takes offence.  But in the scene just as Kaffee is about to leave, Jessup says "But you have to ask me nicely!" and Kaffee is somewhat taken aback and asks "I beg your pardon?".  So, Jessup says firmly "You have to ask me nicely!  See, Danny, I can deal with the bullets, the bombs and the blood. I don't want money and I don't want medals. What I DO want is for you to stand there...in that faggoty white uniform... ...and with your Harvard mouth, extend me some f***ing courtesy!! You got to ask me nicely!".  And as Kaffee takes a moment and asks in more polite tone "Colonel Jessup, if its not too much trouble I'd like a copy of the transfer order, sir" and Jessup takes a moment and then says "No problem".

And last of all is the lengthy courtroom scene where Kaffee questions Jessup about the circumstances surrounding Santiago's death and it leads into him asking Jessup if he was the one that ordered the code red on Santiago.

So, in the scene Kaffee builds up to the moment and he yells at Jessup "DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED?!" and as the Judge tells him he doesn't need to answer that, Jessup furiously says "I'll answer the question!".  So, Jessup glares angrily at Kaffee and asks "You want answers?!" and Kaffee says "I think I'm entitled!" and Jessup again asks "YOU WANT ANSWERS??!" and Kaffee yells "I WANT THE TRUTH!" and Jessup yells back "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!".

So, Jessup launches into his lengthy vitriolic speech which he spits at Kaffee "Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded. Who's gonna do it?! You?! You, Lieutenant Weinberg?!! I have a greater responsibility than you can possible fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. The luxury of not knowing what I know: That Santiago's death, while tragic,  probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives!".

And Jessup continues "I have neither the time nor inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the freedom I provide then questions the manner in which I provide it! I would rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a DAMN what you think you are entitled to!".  And Kaffee continues to pressure Jessup "Did you order the code red?" and Jessup says "I did the job..." and Kaffee goes in for the kill "DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED???!!" and Jessup not holding back, yells "YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I DID!!!".

And as Jessup tries to leave, he is arrested by MP's and as Ross reads Jessup his rights, Jessup angrily says "What the hell is this?!  I'm being charged with a crime?!  IS THAT WHAT THIS IS?!  I'm being charged with a CRIME?!  That's funny, that's what this is!".  And Jessup suddenly lunges at Kaffee but he is restrained by the MP's and he yells at Kaffee "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!! YOU MESSED WITH THE WRONG MARINE!!".  Jessup soon calms himself down a little and he looks around the room in disgust and says "You f****** people!  You have no idea how to defend a nation!" and he glares at Kaffee and says "All you did was weaken a country today, Kaffee, that's all you did!  You put peoples lives in danger. Sweet dreams, son!".  

Kevin Bacon next is excellent as Captain Jack Ross, the prosecution lawyer for Dawson and Douney's trial and Kev has some great moments himself in the part as he was just starting to establish himself as a more serious actor at this stage in his career after appearing earlier films such as "Footloose".

And some of Bacon's best scenes include the one where Ross addresses the jury for the first time as he makes his opening statement.  And Ross in the scene tells the jury members of Kaffee "Now, Lieutenant Kaffee is gonna try and pull off a little magic act here. He'll try a little misdirection. He'll astonish you with stories of rituals. Dazzle you with official-sounding terms like Code Red. He might even try to cut into a few officers for you. He'll have no evidence, none, but it'll be entertaining. But in the end... ...all the magic in the world will not divert your attention from the fact... ...that Willy Santiago is dead, and Dawson and Downey killed him.  These are the facts of the case and they are undisputed".

Then there is the scene where Kaffee meets with Ross and tells him that he has Markinson and he will testify against Jessup and Kendrick but Ross warns him of the dangers of making unwarranted accusations against both men.

So, Ross says to Kaffee "If you accuse Kendrick or Jessep of any crime without evidence, you'll be court-martialled for misconduct and that's gonna be stapled to every job application you ever fill out!".  And Kaffee says to Ross "I think the whole f***ing bunch of you are certifiably insane and this code of honour makes me wanna beat the shit out of somone!".  And Ross fires back "Don't you dare lump me in with Kendrick and Jessep just because I wear the same unifrom. I'm your friend. I don't think your clients don't belong in jail, but I don't get to make that decision! I represent the U.S. government without passion or prejudice and my client has a case!".

So, Ross stands up to leave the bar and before he does he says to Kaffee "You got bullied into that courtroom. By everyone. By Dawson. By Galloway. Shit, I practically dared you. You got bullied into that courtroom by the memory of a dead lawyer".  And just before Ross leaves, a furious Kaffee stands up and yells at Ross "YOU'RE A LOUSY F****** SOFTBALL PLAYER, JACK!!" and Ross turns to him and says "Your boys are going down, Danny.  I can't stop it anymore".

Kevin Pollak is also great in his role as Lt Sam Weinberg, Danny's fellow lawyer and good friend, who enjoys a bit of banter with Danny while he also plays his part in preparing their case.

And Pollak's good scenes include the one where Sam is out pushing his baby's pram as he walks with Kaffee.  And Sam says to Kaffee of his baby daughter "You heard her.  She said her first word.  Pa" while pointing and Kaffee says "She was pointing at a mailbox, Sam!" and Sam replies "That's right, as if to say "Pa, lookl!  A mailbox!".  And just before they part company, Sam refers to their trip to Cuba and that they should wear white uniforms because its very warm down there.  Sam then asks Kaffee "You got dramamine?" and Kaffee asks "Does dramamine keep you cool?" and Sam says "No, it keeps you from throwing up, you get sick when you fly" and Kaffee tells him "I get sick when I fly because I'm afraid of crashing into a big mountain!".  And Sam then offers "I got some oregano.  I hear that works pretty good" and this refers to Kaffee's prior case regarding an Navy employee smoking a dimebag of oregano, so Kaffee laughs.

Another good scene from Pollak comes just after Kaffee questions the Guantanamo bay naval base doctor (Christopher Guest) in court and Jo embarrasses herself in front of the judge as she asks that the doctor's testimony be stricken from the record and "strenuously objects" to her comments being overruled.  So, after the court clears, Sam, clearly annoyed with Jo says "I strenuously object? Is that how it works? Objection. Overruled! No, I strenuously object! -Oh, then I'll take some time to reconsider!".  And Jo says "I got it on the record" and Sam angrily says "You got the court thinking we're afraid of the doctor. You object once, so we can say he's not a criminologist. You keep after it, our cross looks like a bunch of fancy lawyer tricks. It's the difference between paper law and TRIAL law!  Christ, even the judge said he was an expert!".

And just before Sam leaves the courtroom, Jo asks him re: Dawson and Douney "Why do you hate them so much?".  Sam then turns around and angrily says to her "They beat up on a weakling. The rest is this just smoke-filled-coffeehouse crap. They tortured and tormented a weaker kid! They didn't like him, so they killed him. Why? Because he couldn't run very fast!".  And then Sam asks Jo just before she goes "Why do you like them so much?" and Jo turns to him and says "Cos they stand on a wall and they say "Nothing's gonna hurt you tonight.  Not on my watch!" and Sam says to her "Forget about the Doctor, this trial starts Monday".

They beat up on a weakling.
The rest is this just
smoke-filled-coffeehouse crap.
They tortured and tormented
a weaker kid!
They didn't like him, so they killed him.
Why?
Because he couldn't run very fast!

Read more: http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=a-few-good-men

Las  

Then there is the scene where Kaffee has his big row with Jo after Markinson had shot himself, with their case seemingly in tatters, Jo suggests they put Jessup on the stand, which Kaffee rejects and then ridicules her for before she leaves.  So, Sam says to Kaffee afterward "Did I ever tell you I wrote a paper about your father in college?" and Kaffee says "Yeah?" and Sam says "One of the best trial lawyers ever" and Kaffee says "Yes, he was".  And Sam goes on to say "But if I were Dawson and Downey, and had to choose you or him...I'd choose you any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. You should have seen yourself thunder away at Kendrick".  Kaffee then asks "Would you put Jessup on the stand?" and Sam says "No" and Kaffee asks "Do you think my father would have?" and Sam says "With the evidence we got, not in a million years".  But Sam then says "But here's the thing, and we can't get around this: Neither Lionel Kaffee nor Sam Weinberg are lead counsel for the defense in U.S. v. Dawson and Downey. So there's really only one question: What would you do?".

And lastly is the scene where the next morning, Kaffee decides to put Jessup on the stand and they start to go about their tactics for the case.  And Sam asks "What do we do?" and Jo says "I think we should hit Jessup with the phony transfer order" and Sam says "Without a witness" and Jo says "We have a witness" and Sam says "A dead witness".  And Kaffee, shooting hoops with his basketball says "In the hands of a lesser attorney that would be a problem!" and Sam smiles and says to Jo "Look at this.  Last night he was swimming in Jack Daniels and this morning he can leap tall buildings with a single bound!".  And as Kaffee confidently makes his case for how he will get Jessup to admit he ordered the code red and then asks where his baseball bat and that he thinks better with it.  So, after Kaffee get's his bat, he quickly looks at his closet that contains his lawyer clothes and he then races out saying "Stay here, I'm going to the office for a while!" and Sam says to Jo "He DOES think better with that bat!".

J.T. Walsh is also very good in his role as Lt Colonel Markinson, Jessup's executive officer, who feels guilty about Santiago's death and decides to later help Kaffee.

And I will mention for the sake of time only one of J.T.'s scenes and its the one where Markinson sneaks into Kaffee's car while he is out getting himself a magazine.  And as Kaffee get's in and drives away, he suddenly sees Markinson in the back seat and he exclaims in surprise "Jesus Christ!!" and Markinson says "You left the door unlocked".  And Kaffee asks him "Are you aware you are under subpeona?" and Markinson says "Yes. I'm also aware the lives of two Marines are in your hands. If I could do something about that, I would. Since I can't, all I can do is help you, Lieutenant".

So, Kaffee asks him "What do you know?" and Markinson says "I know everything" and Kaffee asks "Was it a code red?" and Marikin says "Yes" and Kaffee asks "Did Kendrick give the order?" and Markinson says "Yes".  And Kaffee then asks "Did you witness it?" and Markinson says "No" and Kaffee asks "Then how do you know?" and Markinson says "I know" and Kaffee says "Yeah, you know shit!" but Markinson then says "He was never going to be transferred off that base" which prompts Kaffee to pull over his car and look back at Markinson.  And Markinson continues "Jessup was gonna keep him on the base and wanted him trained".  Kaffee then says "You signed the transfer order" and Markinson tells him "I know.  I signed it the morning you arrived in Cuba.  Five days after Santiago died".  Kaffee then starts his car again and says to Markinson that he will work out a deal with prosecutor to offer him immunity and that he will check him into a motel.  Markinson then says "I don't want a deal, and I don't want immunity. I want you to know that I'm not proud of what I have done, nor of what I am doing".

Kiefer Sutherland next is excellent as Lt Kendrick, the Guantanamo bay officer, who is alleged to have given the code red order on Santiago.

Kiefer also his his moments in the film such as the one where Kendrick shows Kaffee, Jo and Sam around Santiago's quarters, which were sealed off.  And Kaffee asks Kendrick "Lt Kendrick, may I call you John?" and Kendrick formally says "No, you may not" and Kaffee asks him "Have I done something to offend you" and Kendrick replies "No, I like all you Navy boys.  Anytime we have to go some place to fight, you fellas always give us a ride".  Jo then asks Kendrick "Lieutenant, do you think Santiago was murdered?" and Kendrick tells her "Commander, I believe in God and his son Jesus Christ.  Because I do, I can say this: Private Santiago is dead and that is a tragedy.  But he is dead because he had no code, he is dead because he had no honour and God was watching!".

And lastly there is Kiefer's big courtroom scene where Kaffee questions Kendrick on the stand over Santiago's death.

And in the scene, Kaffee asks Kendrick "Lt Kendrick, would you say Santiago was a good marine?" and Kendrick says "I'd say he was about average".  Kaffee however then produces some conduct reports and hands them over to Kendrick who looks at them and says "Yes, Private Santiago was below average.  I do not see the need to trample on the man's grave".

Kaffee then questions Kendrick about another marine, Private Bell, who was caught sneaking liquor out of the officer's club.  So, Kaffee asks Kendrick "Did you report Private Bell to the proper authorities?" and Kendrick smiles and says "I have two books at my bedside, Lieutenant: the Marine Code of conduct and the King James Bible. The only proper authorities I'm aware of are Colonel Jessep and the Lord our God!".

Then Kaffee questions Kendrick about Dawson receiving a below average report rating on one occassion "Was Dawson given a below average rating because he was caught sneaking food to Private Bell?".  And Kendrick replies "Lance Coporal Dawson was given a below average rating because he committed a crime?" and Kaffee asks "What crime did he committ?" and Kendrick says "He disobeyed an order".  And Kaffee says "And because he made a decision about the welfare of a Marine that conflicted with your order, he was punished, right?" and Kendrick again firmly says "Lance Corporal Dawson disobeyed an order!".

And Kaffee finishes by saying to Kendrick "Lieutenant Kendrick, one final question. If you HAD ordered Dawson to GIVE Santiago a Code Red...!" and this rattles Kendrick who shouts "I told those men specifically not to touch Santiago!!".  And Kaffee finishes "...wouldn't it be reasonable to think he disobeyed you again???!" and Ross shouts out "Lt, don't answer that!" and Kaffee says "You don't have to, I'm through!".  So, Ross asks Kendrick one last time "Did you order Dawson and Douney to give Santiago a code red?" and Kendrick, still rattled says "No, I did not!". 

Wolfgang Bodison next up is very good in his debut role as Lance Corporal Dawson and Bodison himself never had any prior acting experience and was actually the personal assistant to the director, Rob Reiner, who thought Bodison fit the bill physically for the role, so he had him audition.

And Bodison has some good moments aswell but I will mention just a couple of his scenes and the first being the one where Kaffee offers Dawson and Douney a deal so that they can serve just a six month prison sentence.

However in the scene Dawson refuses the deal and says to Kaffee "I'm afraid we can't do that, sir" and Kaffee asks "Do what?" and Dawson says "Make a deal, sir.".  Kaffee, bemused says "What are you talking about?!" and Dawson says "We did nothing wrong. We did our job. If that has consequences, I'll accept them. But I won't say that I'm guilty, sir".  And Kaffee tries to make another attempt at convincing Dawson to go for the deal "Six months!  Do it, Harold!  Six months, its nothing.  Its a hockey season!".  Dawson then takes a moment and says "Permission to...." and Kaffee exasperated by Dawson's formality shouts "SPEAK!!! JESUS!!".

So, Dawson asks "What do we do then, sir?" and Kaffee asks "When?" and Dawson says "After six months, we'll be dishonourably discharged, right, sir?" and Kaffee says "Probably" and Dawson asks again "What do we do then, sir?" and Kaffee has no answer.  So, Dawson get's up and explains "We joined the Marines because we wanted to live by a certain code. You're asking us to say we have no honor, that we're not Marines! If a court decides what we did was wrong, I'll accept whatever punishment they give."  And then he walks toward to Kaffee and says firmly "But I believe I was right, sir. I believe I did my job and I will not dishonor myself, my unit ...or the Corps, so that I can go home in SIX MONTHS! Sir!".

And Kaffee tells the others he wants a moment alone with Dawson, so the others leave and Kaffee says to Dawson "You know, Douney worships you.  He's gonna do whatever you do.  Are you really gonna let this happen to him because of a code, Harold?".  And Dawson asks "Do you think we were right?" and Kaffee says "It doesn't matter what I think..." but Dawson snaps "Do you think we were right???!!!" and Kaffee says "I think you'd lose".  Dawson then looks at Kaffee with disgust and says "You're such a coward!  I can't believe they let you wear a uniform!".  And Kaffee tells him "I'm not going to feel responsible for this, Harold.  You're going to Leavenworth for the better part of your life and you know what?!  I don't give a shit!".  Kaffee opens the door to leave and asks Dawson "What happened to saluting an officer when he leaves the room?" and Dawson stands up and defiantly shoves his hands in his pockets instead.

And lastly (SPOILER!!!!!!!!!) there is the scene where Dawson and Douney's trial is over and they are found not guilty of the murder but are guilty of conduct unbecoming a US marine, so they are to be discharged form the marine corps.  And Douney, confused asks Dawson "What did that mean?" and he approaches Jo and says "Colonel Jessup said he ordered the code red!  What did we do wrong?!  We did nothing wrong!!".  And Dawson, looking ashamed says "Yeah we did.  We were supposed to fight for people who couldn't fight for themselves.  We were supposed to fight for Willy".  And as Dawson and Douney are about to leave the courtroom, Kaffee says to Dawson "Harold...you don't need to wear a patch on your arm to have honour" and Dawson, suddenly filled with respect for Kaffee says to him "Ten-hut!  There's an officer on deck!" and he salutes Kaffee, who salutes back and Dawson leaves.

James Marshall is also pretty good as the niave Private Douney facing trial for carrying out a code red on a fellow marine, Private Santiago, who died as a result.

And Marshall's best main scene is where Douney is questioned by Ross in court over the day on which the code red took place.  And in the scene Ross asks Douney "Private, the week of 2 September, the switch log has you down at post 39 until 16:00, is that right?" and Douney replies "I'm sure it is, sir, they keep that log pretty good".  Ross then asks "How far is it from Post 39 to the barracks?" and Douney says "Oh, its a ways, sir.  Its a hike" and Ross asks "Have you ever had to walk it?" and Douney says "Yes, sir, that day. Friday. The pickup private-- That's what we call the guy that drops us off. Also because he can get the girls in New York City....he got a flat tire at Post 39, so we had to double time it back to the barracks".  Ross then says to Douney "And if its 15 minutes by jeep, I'm guessing its an hour by foot, right?" and Douney with a sense of pride says "Pick-up private and me did it in 45 flat, sir" and Ross smiles and says "Not bad".

So, Ross then says to Douney "You've said your assault on Santiago was ordered by Lieutenant Kendrick...in your barracks room at 16:20, am I right?" and Douney says "Yes, sir".  However Ross throws Douney a curve ball "But you just said you didn't get back to the barracks until 16:45" and Douney looks nervous "Sir?" and Ross says "If you weren't back till 16:45, how could you be in your room at 16:20?".  Douney now flustered says "Well, you see, sir, there was a blowout..." but Ross interrupts him and asks "Private, did you ever actually hear Lt Kendrick order a code red?" and Douney nervously says "Well, Hal said..." and Ross firmly asks again "Private, did you ever actually hear Lt Kendrick order a code red?!" and Douney, caving under pressure says "No, sir".

So, Ross grills Douney further and asks "Why did you go to Santiago's room?  Did Dawson tell you to?" and Douney panics and looks at Dawson and says "Hal...!" and Ross shouts "Don't look at him!!".  And Douney shouts again "Hal?!" and Dawson shouts out "Private, answer the Captain's question!" and Douney, beaten says "Yes. I was given an order by Lance Corporal Harold W. Dawson United States Marine Corps and I followed it!".

And second to last is Noah Wyle does well in his brief role as Corporal Barnes, who also testifies at Dawson and Douney's trial.

And Wyle's main scene is his testimony trial scene where he recalls that he once received a code red himself.  So, Kaffee asks Barnes "Did you ever receive a code red" and Barnes says "Yes, sir. We were doing seven minute assault drills and I dropped my weapon. It was over 100 degrees and my palms were sweaty and I hadn't used the resin like we were tought".  So, Kaffee asks "What happened?" and Barnes tells him "A few guys in my squad threw a blanket over me. Took turns punching me on the arms for five minutes and they poured glue on my hands. And it worked cos I ain't never dropped my weapon since!".

So, Kaffee asks Barnes if Santiago never received a code red prior to the one he got the night he died who says he never did.  So, Kaffee says "You got a code red because your palms were sweaty.  Why didn't Santiago and his burden to his unit, never get one?" and Barnes takes a moment and says "Dawson wouldn't allow it, sir.  The guys would talk tough about Santiago but they would never go near him.  They were too afraid of Dawson, sir".  Ross at this point says "Object!  The witness is speculating!" so Kaffee says "Alright, I'll rephrase...Jeffrey did you want to give Santiago a code red?" and Barnes says "Yes, sir" and Kaffee asks "Why didn't you?" and Barnes smiles and yes "Cos, Dawson would kick my butt, sir!" and Kaffee says "Fair enough".

And last of all is Cuba Gooding Jr, who makes an appearance in his small role as Corporal Hammaker and he does well enough in the brief role that he has but he only has a small amount of dialogue.

So, I will quote a part of his scene where the prosecutor, Captain Ross questions Hammaker about Kendrick's order to not touch Santiago. So, Ross asks Hammaker about Santiago's letter "Did it make you, Corporal?" and the Corporal doesn't respond, so Ross asks "Its OK, Corporal, did it make you mad?" and Hammaker says "Yes, sir" and Ross asks "How did it make you mad?" and Hammaker says "Private Santiago betrayed a code we believe in very deeply, sir". 

End of Performances section!  Sheesh that was a BIG one! 

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

So, FINALLY moving onto the director and music stuff, starting with the director, Rob Reiner does an excellent job here with the film and its surprising to see him direct a drama for a change here as he was previously associated with comedies (the most notable of which were "This is Spinal Tap" and "When Harry met Sally...").  Yet, Reiner makes the change to drama very confidently and he paces the film well, even if its running time of 2 hours and 18 minutes might appear a little lengthy its doesn't really feel that long.

And despite an emphasis on drama, Reiner still injects plenty of humour into the film as the cast and characters all deliver some wonderfully witty dialogue written by Sorkin.  This allows for Kaffee, Sam and Jo to develop a rapport with one another and work well together as a team as things progress and overall Reiner does an expert job at putting this together in the film.  

Music wise, Marc Shaiman provides the score and its a pretty good one overall even though its use of synthesizers does date it a little to the early 90's period the film was made in (1992) but Shaiman's score is still very well suited to the tone of the film.  Shaiman also scores a version of John Phillip Sousa's "The Washington Post March" which given that its a film about the US Navy and Marines its very suitable and is used for both intro and end credits.

FLAWS

As for flaws....yeah OK "A few good men" isn't quite that perfect.

For starters one of the problems I had with the film was to do with Sorkin's screenplay, while it is excellent and very well written, there are times where it is just a bit too excessive in its verboseness and Sorking could finish off his character's sentences alot quicker than he does!  So instead of e.g. Jessup saying to Markinson "Maybe transferring Santiago isn't the American way, Matthew" he has to say "And now I'm thinking, Lt Colonel Matthew Markinson, that your suggestion of transferring Santiago, while expeditious, and certainly painless, might not be in a manner of speaking, the American way!".  I mean surely he could just cut down their sentences just a bit as it makes the writing feel really bloated at times.  Sorkin's script is high quality but it is also a bit too high on words aswell.

Another issue I had was to do with Kaffee's character as he is the typical cocky callow youth, who is actually a very inexperienced lawyer and given that, why in the hell would he be the best man for the job of defending two marines charged with murder????  Surely they really should have given the case to someone who has a bit more experience on their side when its comes to trial law, but nope let's just give it to the cocky young lawyer who's making a start in life! Of course Tom Cruise had made a career out of playing cocky young guys up to this point, so this was no real departure for him.

Then there is the whole thing about Jessup's blatant deviousness, which Jo uncovers on their trip to Cuba as she presses him on whether code reds still go on at his base despite receiving cautionary memos against such actions.  And Jessup indirectly but still rather blatantly admits that code reds DO appear to go on at the base and he is also in favour of them as an "invaluable part of close infantry training".  So, even though Jessup doesn't admit it outright, its clear that he was in favour of the code red against Santiago.

Then there are some daft choices of dialogue in the film here and there such as the scene where Sam criticises Jo for her failed objection against the Doctor. So, in the scene asks her why she likes the marines so much and her response "Because they stand on a wall and say nothing is gonna hurt you tonight, not on my watch!" is pretty cringy! Anotther is when Kaffee questions Jessep on the stand and he asks why Santiago was transferred and Jessep says "I thought his life might be in danger once word of the letter got out" and Kaffee asks "Grave danger, sir?" and Jessep sharply replies "Is there another kind?!". Now, there is of course more than just one kind of danger from mild to extreme levels of danger, so to say grave danger is the one and only type of danger is pretty silly. Last of all is of course the final scene with Dawson and Kaffee where after Dawson is cleared from the trial but to be discharged from the marine corp, Kaffee tells him he doesn't need to wear a patch to have honour. So, Dawson proudly shouts "Ten hut! There is an office on deck!" and they both salute, which is again very cringe inducing! So, these lines remain a blot on an otherwise brilliantly written film. 

Another thing that bugged me was why did they choose Douney as the witness to take the stand over Dawson???  Dawson is the far more capable, decisive and articulate of the two, so surely he should have testified instead of Douney because they both recieved the order from Kendrick, its not like Dawson did it himself.  Or rather, perhaps Douney was picked for the sake of a plot device, so that the code red order could be pinned on Dawson instead, but I still think its daft regardless.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up,  A few good men is still an excellent legal drama three decades on and it features some great performances particularly from Cruise, Nicholson and Bacon but Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak and Kiefer Sutherland also provide very solid support. The script from Aaron Sorkin is also high quality, despite the odd cheesy bit of dialogue here and there and Rob Reiner's direction is very solid throughout. There are of course some minor plot niggles and as already mentioned some cringy dialogue but that aside, A Few Good Men is a highly entertaining and gripping drama, which is well worth a look or revisit. 

So, I will rate A Few Good Men:

9 out of 10

Right, that's it for now guys and I will be back soon probably next month with another post.

Till then its bye for now!