Kill Bill Vol 2 Review "Bitch! You haven't got a future!"

 

 

 

 

So, I thought I would start by saying this is my 800th post on this blog, which is quite a feat although I haven't posted as much as I used, its still great to reach this amount after all these years blogging. 

Anyway, so with that said, I figured its time to move on to doing Kill Bill Vol 2 since I've been putting off for a bit and this will again be a revisit of the older post I did for this film. So, the usual expansion of sections will be done etc looking into the film and ordering it a bit better.

So, with that said, let's take a look at this film, which is now 21 years old (already!) and see how it fairs...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY  

So, the story begins with the flashback of the Bride (Uma Thurman) being paid a surprise visit by Bill (David Carradine) at her dress rehearsal for her wedding, where Bill appears to give her his blessing to marry her groom Tommy (Chris Nelson) but instead the Deadly viper squad then ambush the rehearsal and kill everyone (Bride excepted).  

The story then moves forward to the present with the Bride seeking out the next member of the Deadly viper squad on her hit list, Bill's brother, Budd (Michael Madsen), whom she follows home from work as he lives out in the middle of the desert in a trailer.  As the Bride attempts to charge in with her samurai sword, Budd shoots her with his shotgun which is loaded full of rock salt and he then buries her alive in a coffin.  

The story then flashes back to when the Bride was first initiated in her training by Bill as she meets the cantankerous martial arts master, Pai Mei (Gordon Liu) where he at first ridicules her but slowly the Bride gains his respect as she trains hard and develops her martial arts skills.  The story then moves forward to the present again where the Bride manages to loosen one of her boots and takes from it a straight razor and uses it to cut her bonds and she then uses her incredible punching skills she learned from  Pai Mei (Gordon Liu) to break free of her coffin and crawl her way up out of the earth back up to the surface to freedom.

After this Budd calls up one of his ex-viper squad members Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) who wears an eyepatch on one eye, and asks if she would want to trade the Bride's Hanzo sword for a million dollars.  Elle comes along to Budd's cabin the next day and secretly stashes a black mamba snake in the suitcase of money, which bites Budd several times on the face and he eventually succumbs to his wounds and dies just after Elle reads out information she acquired about the black mamba snake and the devastating effects of its poison.  Elle then calls Bill to tell him that Budd has died and that the Bride has been buried in a coffin and during the call gives the Bride's real name as Beatrix Kiddo.  

However just as Elle is about to leave the trailer, Beatrix flies into the room delivering a brutal kick to Elle and they engage in an intense fight, which Beatrix eventually wins by plucking out Elle's only remaining eye (the other one was plucked out by Pai Mei during her instruction and Elle reveals that she killed Pai Mei herself by poisoning his fish heads) but decides not to kill her and instead leaves the trailer with Elle screaming hysterically, flailing helplessly and now blind.  

After this Beatrix then travels to the Mexican countryside where she finally tracks down Bill but when she arrives and finds Bill she is given a surprise she did not expect as she sees her daughter, B.B (Perla Haney-Jardine) is alive and well.  Beatrix spends the night with Bill and B.B. and after Beatrix puts her daughter to bed, she goes down and confronts Bill for the last time.....

THOUGHTS 

Volume 2 continues the tale of bloody revenge of the Bride very well and given its the same film, its hard to quantify it being better than Volume 1 but I would say its about the same. What I would also say is Volume 2 is more character driven as well than Volume 1 and it also allows us to see more of Beatrix's backstory as well as that we also finally discover her real name as you might remember any instance of her name used in Volume 1 was bleeped out.  The second film also draws a more vivid picture of Bill as well and while he is still very much a ruthless killer and as he himself even puts it "a murdering bastard" you can also see how he was hurt by Beatrix's sudden decision to run away from her job as an assassin and let him think she was dead all this time she had been away.

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

Getting onto the performances of the film the cast are all on great form.

Staring with Uma Thurman, who is great again as the Bride and she adds more elements to her character than before as we now see her more as a person in Volume 2 than in the first film, through her stages of training under Pai Mei's tutelage, her engagement with her fiance Tommy, and also her relationship with Bill.  

Uma has quite a few highlights in the film such as the scene of Beatrix's fight scene with Elle, which remains one of the best scenes in the film.  And as the two of them fight, Beatrix finds Budd's Hanzo sword (who Budd had previously lied to Bill that he pawned it) and Elle asks what it is and Beatrix replies "Budd's Hanzo sword!" and Elle says "Budd said he pawned it" and Beatrix smiles and says "Guess that makes him a liar now doesn't it?".  And as Elle taunts Beatrix by telling her that she poisoned Pai Mei and also that she will soon kill her and take her sword "That's right, I killed your master and now I am going to kill you with your own sword, which in the immediate future will become my sword!" and Beatrix says "Bitch! You don't have a future!" just before they clash swords and Beatrix then plucks out Elle's eye.  

Then there is the funny moment where the Bride punches her way out of her coffin and manages to climb her way to freedom up through the Earth and it then cuts to a diner, where we see an employee look out the window and we see the dusty and dithering figure of Beatrix slowly walks towards the diner.  And Beatrix covers in muck, dust and Earth enters the diner, sits down and calmly says "May I have a glass of water please?" with a smile.

Then there is of course a great moment where Beatrix finally tracks down Bill's whereabouts and as she enters Bill's expansive house, she is stunned to see her daughter B.B. and she nearly falls to the floor in shock and it remains one of Uma's best moments in the film. So, in the scenem Bill playfully tells B.B. to shoot Beatrix and she says "Bang bang!" so Bill tells Beatrix "You're dead, mommy, so die" and Beatrix catches on and dramaticaly clutches her chest and says "Oh, B.B! I should have known, you are the best!" and she fake collapses to the floor.  

This is then followed by the great confrontation scene where Beatrix and Bill talk with one another and Bill shoots her with a truth serum dart in the knee and as he does Beatrix groans loudly and says "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SHOOT ME WITH???!". So, Bill tells her "What I shot you with, which is just begging to course its way through your veins, is a potent and quite infallable truth serum". So, as they talk, Bill asks her "Why did you run away from me with my baby?" and Beatrix truthfully tells him "You remember my last assignment?" and BIll says "Yes. Lisa Wong" and Beatrix says "While I was in my hotel on that mission, I got sick and I threw up, so I started thinking, what if I was pregnant?". 

And in the scene Beatrix tells Bill why she ran away from him, which cuts to the flashback scene of Beatrix in a hotel room, taking a home pregnancy test, which turns blue, but she is then confronted by a rival assassin who tries to kill her but then they engage in a stand-off as both point guns at one another.  Beatrix then tries to reason with the assassin and tells her "I just found out, just a moment before you blew a hole in the door, that I'm pregnant!" and she get's the assassin to read the instruction of the pregnancy test to confirm it and Beatrix says to her "I'm the deadliest woman in the world, but right now I'm just scared shitless for me and my baby!" and the assassin let's her go saying "congratulations!" before running off.  

And last of all is the scene where in Beatrix and Bill's final scene together where Bill asks her if his reaction was so surprising and she says to him "Yes, it was.  Could you do what you did?  Of course you could.  But I never thought you would or could do that to me!" and Bill says she thought wrong, which prompts Beatrix put her samurai sword on the table and she says "You and I have unfinished business....!" and Bill says to her "Baby...you ain't kiddin!". 

Moving onto David Carradine who is great in his role as Bill and the film also helped revive his career somewhat as well. Carradine himself would die later in 2009 from suspected auto-erotic asphyxia.

Carradine also has some great moments in the film, such as his first scene where he meets with Beatrix during the flashback of the wedding rehearsal and Beatrix hears him play the flute and they meet eyes and he says to her "Hello Kiddo" and she asks "How did you find me?" and he says "I'm the man". So, as they talk, Bill then meets Beatrix's groom to be and afterward, Beatrix tells Bill "Bill I..." and Bill says to her "You don't owe me a damn thing, if he's the man you want, you go stand by his side".  

Then there is the scene where Bill meets with his brother Budd and he tells him how Beatrix killed the Crazy 88 and he says "There wasn't really 88 of them, they just called themselves the Crazy 88" and Budd asks why and Bill says "I dunno.  I guess they thought it sounded cool!".  Bill then asks Budd "I know this is a stupid question before I even ask, but you haven't been keeping up with your sword skills have you?" and Budd says "I pawned that thing three years ago" and Bill shocked says "You hocked a Hatori Hanzo sword??? It was priceless!" and Budd laughs and says "Not in El Paso it ain't. In El Paso, I got $250 for it". Bill then warns Budd "Look, I know the last time we spoke wasn't the most pleasant but you've got to stop being mad at me and start being afraid of (bleeps out the Beatrix's name) because she is coming to kill you and without my help, she doubtless will succeed".  

Another good scene from Carradine is where Bill drives Beatrix to Pai Mei's temple so they can start her training, and he comes down the long steps, his face beaten looking as they had a fight and he tells Beatrix "Just a friendly contest. He will accept you as his student".  Beatrix then asks "When will I see you again?" and Bill jokes "That's the name of my favourite soul song from the 70's. When he tells me you're done". So, Bill tells Beatrix of Pai Mei "Now remember, no backtalk, no sarcasm.  At least not for the first year.  You're gonna have to let him warm up for you.  He hates Caucasians, despises Americans, and has nothing but contempt for women, so in your case that may take a little while!".  

Then there is the scene where Beatrix and Bill confront one another at the end and he gives his speech on how Superman unlike other superheroes disguises himself, in this case as Clark Kent and uses that anology for Beatrix pretending to be someone she is not by intending to marry her fiance Tommy.  "And that's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us.  Clark Kent is how Superman views us.  Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race.  Sorta like Beatrix Kiddo and Mrs Tommy Plimpton".  

Lastly there is the final scene between Bill and Beatrix where Beatrix says "You and I have unfinished business!" and Bill says "Baby... you ain't kiddin!" before they have their last fight and Beatrix (PLOT SPOILER, OF SORTS!) finishes him off with her five point palm-exploding heart technique (taught to her by Pai Mei).  So, as Bill gasps dying, he asks Beatrix "Pai Mei taught you, the five point palm exploding heart technique?" and Beatrix smiles "Of course he did" and Bill asks "Why didn't you tell me?" and Beatrix now a little teary eyed says "I don't know, because I'm a bad person". So, as they make, Bill says to her "You're not a bad person, you're a terrific person, you're my favourite person.  But every once in a while you can be a real c***!" and Beatrix laughs. So, Bill asks her "How do I look?" and Beatrix says "You look ready" and he stands up and takes his five fatal steps and falls to the ground dead.  

In the supporting cast Michael Madsen is also really good as Budd, Bill's somewhat downtrodden brother, who after the deadly viper gang disbanded, now works as a bouncer in a strip bar.  

Madsen also has some good moments in the film such as the scene where he meets with Bill and he reflects on Beatrix's quest for revenge and he says "I don't dodge guilt and I don't Jew out on paying my comeuppance.  That woman deserves her revenge and we deserve to die.  But then so does she!  So I guess we'll just see, won't we?".  

Then there is the scene where Budd surprises Beatrix as she barges into his trailer and he blasts her full of rock salt and then afterward buries her alive.  And as Budd is about to bury her he says "Now you are going into the ground tonight and that's all there is to it" and he gives her a flashlight and says "But if you're gonna be a horse's ass, I'll spray this whole can right in your eyeballs!" as he holds a can of mace in front of her eyes "Then you're gonna be blind, burnin and buried alive.  Now which is it gonna be sister?".  

Then there is the scene later on when Budd meets with Elle he says to her of Beatrix "You gotta hand it to the old girl.  I never anybody Buffalo bill the way she Buffaloed Bill.  Bill use to think she was so damn smart.  I tried to tell him "Bill, she's just smart for a blonde!". In the scene, Budd also asks Elle of her betrayal of Beatrix and what she feels more relief or regret. So, Budd asks Elle "So, which R are you filled with more? Relief or regret?" and Elle says "Little bit of both" and Budd says "Horseshit! I bet you feel a little bit of both but I bet you feel more one than the other. Now, which is it?" and Elle conceeds "Regret". Budd then sits down and opens the suitcase filled with money and he laughs as he looks at the stacks of dollar bills and he says to Elle "Thanks a bunch!" just before he meets his fate with the black mamba snake hidden inside, which suddenly bites him. 

Daryl Hannah is also really good in her part as the manipulative and conniving Elle Driver, who later confronts Beatrix in Budd's trailer.  Hannah has always been something of an underrated actress and this film confirms that as she provides a fun and corny performance which works really well in the film.  Hannah also rightfully appears to relish in the dialogue she is given as Elle and her main highlights are of course her scenes with Bill and later her fight Beatrix.  

Hannah also get's some good lines such as where the black mamba snake has just bitten Bill and he says to him "I'm sorry, Budd.  That was rude of me, wasn't it?  Budd, I'd like to introduce my friend, the black mamba.  Black mamba, this is Budd".  And Elle proceeds to read some facts she gathered from the Internet on the Black mamba and she says "A bite to the face or the torso can bring death from paralysis within 20 minutes.  The single amount of venom that can be delivered from a single bite can be gargantuan!  You know I've always like that word "gargantuan", I so rarely have the opportunity to use it in a sentence!".  

Elle then continues to say to Budd as he is dying from the snake bites from the Mamba, "Now in these last agonising minutes of life you have left, let me answer the question you asked earlier more thoroughly.  Right now the biggest "R" I feel is regret.  Regret that maybe the greatest warrior I have ever known, met her end at the hands of a bushwhackin, scrub, alky piece of shit like you!  That woman deserved better!".  

Then lastly there is of course Hannah's fight scene as Elle takes on Beatrix and he taunts her by telling her that Pai Mei plucked out her eye because she called him "A miserable old fool!" and that she poisoned "That miserable old fool!".  And Elle then finally says to Beatrix "That's right I killed your Master!  And now I'm gonna kill you, too, with your own sword no less, which in the very immediate future will become my sword!" and she gives a rather cheesy villainous look as Beatrix glares angrily and tells her "Bitch! You haven't got a future!". 

Lastly, I will also make a quick mention of Gordon Liu who is great in his role as the cruel Pai Mei, the martial arts master who belittles Beatrix at every turn but he eventually gains her respect, which he shows his appreciation by flicking his long silver beard!  

Liu, who says all his lines in Madarin, also has some great moments particularly his first scene with Beatrix where he taunts and teases her and he says such things as "I despise the Goddamn Japs!" and also how "You're so called skills are quite pathetic! I asked you to demonstrate what you know and you did! Not a goddamn thing!". So, as the two of them spar again, Pai Mei effortlessly blocks all her moves, so Beatrix angrily picks up a rock and tries to hit him but he disables and twists her arm behind her back. So, Pei Mai says "How does that feel? Excruciating, isn't it?" and Beatrix painfully shouts "Yes!" and Pai Mei says "If I want I could snap your arm right off" and Beatrix pleads "No, please don't!". Pai Mei then relents and let's her go and says "That is the beginning!" so Beatrix falls to the ground and grabs her arm painfully and Pai Mei asks her "Is this the power you wish to have?" and Beatrix gasps and says "Yes!" and Pai Mei says "Very well, you're training will begin tomorrow" and he swishes his beard and walks away.  

And later as Beatrix struggles to punch the wooden wall block, Pai Mei taunts her again and says "Its the wood that should fear your hand, not the other way round!  No wonder you can't do it, you acquiesce to defeat before you even begin!" and he swishes his beard again and walks off. 

Last of all is the scene where Beatrix tries to eat rice with chopsticks but due to her pain in her hands from training, she can barely pick up the rice and she angrily throws the sticks down and picks up the rice with her hands to eat. However, Pai Mei then picks up the bowl and tells her "If you want to live like a dog, live out in the gutter" and he throws the rice away and tells her "If you want to live like a human, pick up those sticks!". So, Beatrix painfully and slowly picks up the rice with the chopsticks and eats it and Pai Mei once again gives an approving swish of his beard.   

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

Finally getting onto Quentin Tarantino as the director he does a great job here again with Volume 2 and here he shows off his filmmaking skills yet again with some great camerawork and striking cinemaphotography from Robert Richardson.  Tarantino also pays homage to the kung-fu films of the 1970s which he clearly illustrates in the flashback scene where Beatrix begins her training with Pai Mei and uses some amusing close-up shots when the camera zooms in on a character (in this case Pai Mei).  

Tarantino also provdes a fine soundtrack to the film aswell as he has selected an eclectic and effective mix of tracks such as Malcolm McLaren's "About Her" when Beatrix lies on bed with her daughter B.B.  It also features other well used tracks by Ennio Morricone for several scenes in the film such as the scene where Beatrix escapes her coffins. Not to mention, Tarantino also used some music that was composed by fellow filmmaker, Robert Rodriguez and orchestrated by rapper and composer RZA also known from the Wu-Tang Clan hip hop band.

FLAWS 

As for Volume 2's flaws...... well it get's most things right so there isn't too much worth quibbling over, although I would have to say there are still one or two niggles, such as the fact the film does feel just little bit long and there are certain scenes which are drawn out, particularly when Beatrix and Bill finally confront one another and it features that silly speech where Bill basically compares Beatrix to Superman, as someone pretending to fit into the world as someone they are not.  Its a pretty longwinded way for Bill to make his point to Beatrix and in the end it just feels like a pretty nerdy monologue written by Tarantino himself.  

The film is also a bit guilty of some ridiculous moments such as the one where Beatrix breaks free of her coffin and climbs up out of the earth to above ground. Now, realistically even if she could punch through her coffin lid (which is hardly the case!) she would have been crushed to death by the weight of all the soil that would fall ontop of her. So, the chance of her even surviving the heavy weight of the earth itself collapsing on her is extremely unlikely never mind punching her way out of her coffin!  

I also thought that their final fight scene was a bit of a letdown as well as its over in about 10 seconds and ends up with Beatrix killing Bill (indeed!) with the five-point palm exploding heart technique, which in a way is a bit of anti-climax after all the very impressive fight scenes on offer in the two films leading up to this point. Also the final moments of the film feel a bit drawn out where Beatrix lies on the floor in the bathroom sobbing over the death of Bill before she leaves for her new life with B.B.   

The film's final credits sequence is also a bit naff and is accompanied by Robert Rodriguez's typically Spanish music and features a pretty cheesy moment where we finally get to Uma Thurman in the cast list and we cut to a shot of Beatrix driving her car and it says "Uma Thurman as The Bride, aka Beatrix Kiddo, aka Black Mamba, aka Mom".  Yes we get it Quentin, you don't have to spell all her nicknames out for us!

Anyway, so that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, its hard to say that Vol 2 is better than Vol 2 as they are basically the same film but what it does do is a fine job at humanising Beatrix's character more and fleshing it out to appear more than her being a ruthless killer. The film also has some impressive fight sequences with the Pai Mei scenes and of course the intense battle between Beatrix and Elle. The performances are again also excellent here with Uma Thurman terrific again as the Bride and David Carradine is also great as Bill and additionally Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen and Gordon Liu all give sold support. Tarantino also makes good use of the tracks he chose for the film that include liberal doses of Ennio Morricone and Malcolm McClaren's "About Her" being a great choice. 

The film is arguably a little less tight and less well paced than Vol 1 and some scenes do drag a little bit but that aside, this is still a highly enjoyable film and well worth watching as well as a worthy conclusion to the film itself. So, I will rate Vol 2...

9.5 out of 10 

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

Until then, its bye for now! 

 

Kill Bill Vol 1 "You didn't think it would be that easy did you?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, since its June, I figured I would do another post and this one will be a revisit of an older one I did ages ago for Kill Bill Vol 1. I also recently rewatched Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2, so figured it would be a good idea to do a revisit of the reviews. 

So, with that said, let's take another look at this movie and see how it is 22 years on from its release...

And the usual is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!  

STORY  

So beginning with a bit more about the plot of Vol 1, which starts with the blood spattered "bride" (Uma Thurman) who lies on the floor of a church in El Paso Texas, after her groom to be and her friends have been ruthlessly gunned down, by her former lover Bill (David Carradine) and his team of assassins, the Deadly Viper squad (Lucy Lui, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen and Daryl Hannah).  Just before Bill puts a bullet in his bride's head, she tells him that she is pregnant with his baby.  

The story then cuts to four years later where The Bride arrives at the house of one of the Viper squad, Vernita Green (Vivica Fox) where they both engage in fierce hand to hand combat, which is interrupted by the arrival of Vernita's young daughter, after which they both stop fighting and talk.  The Viper gang has since been disbanded and now Vernita lives a more ordinary suburban life and Vernita persuades the Bride into having a knife fight at night.  Vernita however then tries to kill the Bride with a gun hidden in a breakfast cereal packet, but the Bride manages to dodge the bullet and kills Vernita by throwing a knife into her chest, which the daughter witnesses and the Bride apologises for doing so in front of her and if she still feels angry about it later in life, she will be waiting. 

The story then shows in flashback that the Bride had indeed survived the bullet, as she lies in a coma for four years in a hospital and one night one of the Viper gang, Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) tries to kill her by using a lethal injection, but is called off by a phone call from Bill.  One night the Bride suddenly awakens from her coma, just before a hospital worker, Buck (Michael Bowen) enters with a trucker and offers him to use the Bride for sex (for money of course) only then for the Bride to spring to life, killing the trucker and then Buck, after which she steals Buck's truck.  

The bride then travels to Okinawa to find the legendary swordsmith Hattori Hanzo (Sonny Chiba) and she asks that he make her a sword, which he eventually does after she drops Bill's name.  After a month or so, Hanzo finishes the sword and the bride leaves with it, to start her bloody revenge against the Deadly Viper squad, starting with O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) who is by now the leader of the Tokyo yakuza and she follows them to a Japanese restaurant.  

What ensues is a very bloody (not to mention very spurty!) fight sequence as the bride takes on O-Ren's bodyguards, her crazed 17 year associate Gogo Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama) and also the "crazy 88" who are O-Ren's hit squad, and ultimately O-Ren herself who she faces in the film's final confrontation....

THOUGHTS  

Kill Bill for me personally is easily one of Quentin Tarantino's best films, as it is a brilliant combination of different styles of film, from action to thriller, to western, to eastern to anime and Volume 1 really pulls the viewer into that world straight away with its dazzling and violent imagery.  And the film opens in such a dramatic way with the bride panting heavily as we see her bloody face as Bill stands over her he wipes her face before he puts a bullet in her head it sets the tone of the film perfectly as we know already its a revenge tale and its going to get very nasty pretty quick.     

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning; this section contains spoilers!)

Moving onto performances, the cast are all on excellent form here. 

Starting with Uma Thurman who gives a terrific performance in the main role as the Bride and she must go through just about every emotion there is an actress during both films, but in Volume 1 she is also for the most part very stern, steely and focused in her quest for revenge despite one or two moments where she allows for the odd bit of levity.  

Thurman has several highlights throughout both Volumes and one of the first scenes that comes to mind is the one where she wakes up from her coma, she looks down at her stomach at a wound where presumably her aborted child was taken from, and she screams and sobs uncontrollably.  Its a great moment in Uma's performance and the most distressing moments in the film and for that brief moment the Bride has to deal with her grief all at once, before she is interrupted, by the sleazy hospital worker, who has profited from her inert body for sex.  

This also does of course lead into the moment where the Bride kills the trucker and then stabs Buck and jams his head in the door and slams it several times and she notices the tatoo of his name on his knuckles and she says "Your name is Bud, right?  And you came here to fuck, RIGHT???!!!" before finishing him off.   

Uma also get's some good lines as the Bride such as the scene where climbs into Buck's truck and looks at her inert feet (one thing I have to say is Uma has ugly feet!) and she says to herself "Now wiggle your big toe" and then she narrates "As I sat in the back of Buck's truck, trying to will my limbs out of entrophy I could see the faces of c**** that did this to me and the dicks responsible!".

Another good scene for Uma is at the start where the Bride engages in an intense fist fight with Vernita and they have to stop the fight when Vernita's daughter arrives home from school.  And after they talk in the kitchen and Vernita tries to kill the Bride, who kills her with a knife, the daughter walks back in, impassive, the Bride says to her "It was not my intention to do this in front of you, for that I'm sorry.  But take it from me, your mother had it coming!  If later when you're all grown up, if you still feel raw about it.... I'll be waiting".  

Then there is the moment where the Bride narrates and says of O-Ren who was one of the assassins at the chapel that day. So, the Bride narrates "Four years ago she played her part in the massacre of 9 people in El Paso, Texas.  But she made one fatal mistake.  She should have made it ten!".  

Another good scene is where Uma as the Bride get's to show a little of her human side where she travels to Okinawa to meet Hanzo and Hanzo asks why she came and she said she is here to meet "Hatori Hanzo" which sends a shiver down Hanzo's spine.  And the two of them talk in Japanese and the Bride says "I need Japanese steel!" and Hanzo says "Why do you need Japanese steel?" and the Bride coldly says "I have vermin to kill!" and Hanzo "You must have some big rats if you need Japanese steel" and Bride says "Huge!".         

Then there is her great fight scene against the Crazy 88 where the Bride slices and dices O-Ren's men and as she deals with the last one, who is a small guy, terrified, in a fun moment she cuts down his blade and grabs him and bends him over and whips his butt with her blade yelling "THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR FUCKING AROUND WITH THE YAKUZAS!!!  GO HOME TO YOUR MOTHER!!!". The Bride then addresses all the maimed Yakuza who groan in pain and lie in their own blood and she yells to them in Japanese "Those of you are still alive, you can live but leave your limbs with me! They belong to me now!". Then we see the badly wounded Sophie tried to crawl away but the Bride calls out to her loudly "Except YOU, Sophie! You stay RIGHT THERE!". 

David Carradine is especially good as Bill, the man himself, who has a world weary charm but also shows that he's a killer and a vicious bastard through and through.  You never of course see Carradine in Vol 1 as you only sees his hands and hear his voice and Carradine's voice really lends a weighty gravelly tone to the character, which works perfectly.  

Carradine's best scene comes where he talks with Elle on the phone, whilst she is at the hospital ready to kill off the Bride.  And Carradine get's some good lines in the scene where Bill says to Elle "Y'all beat the hell out of that woman, but you didn't kill her.  And I put a bullet in her head and her heart kept on beating.  We've done alot of things to lady and if she ever wakes up, we'll do whole lot more.  But one thing we won't do is sneak into her room in the night like a filthy rat and kill her in her sleep.  And the reason we won't do that thing is because.... that thing will lower us!".    

Lucy Liu is also great as the deadly and foxy O-Ren Ishii, and her best scene is where she stampedes down the table in her conference room and beheads one of her impertinent associates (complete with blood fountain spurting!) and calmly tells her people that if you have problem with her, tell her so. 

So, in the scene after O-Ren beheads her adversary, Tanaka she says to the table in Japanese "To show you how serious I am, I will speak in English". So, O-Ren switches to English and says calmly "As your leader, I encourage you from time to time, to question my logic. If you're convinced a path of logic I've taken isn't the wirse, then tell me, but allow me to convince your first otherwise and I promise you right here and now, no subject discussed shall be ever taboo, except of course the subject that was just under discussion. The price of you pay for bringing my Chinese or American heritage, as a negative is, I collect your fuckin head" and she holds up the head of Tanaka "just like this fucker here! So, if any of you sonsabitches got anything else to say NOW'S THE FUCKING TIME!!". So, after a tense pause, O-Ren says "I thought not" and she drops Tanaka's head and says "Gentlmen, this meeting is adjourned".  

Later on Lucy has a good fight scene with Uma, as O-Ren and the Bride engage in battle, also before the Crazy 88 arrive we hear the sound of their motorcycles grow louder from the distance after the Bride has killed off a handful of O-Ren's bodyguards.  And O-Ren smiles and says to the Bride looking down from her balcony "You didn't really think it would be that easy did you?" and the Bride smiles back saying "You know for a second there, I thought it would".  And O-Ren says "Silly rabbit!" and they both say together "tricks are for kids!".    

And lastly is the moment during O-Ren and the Bride's sword battle where, O-Ren gravely injures the Bride, who goes down. So, O-Ren smiles and says "Silly little caucasian girl likes to play with samurai swords. You might not be able to fight like a samurai but you can at least die like one". So, the Bride slowly get's up and with determination says "Attack me with everything you have!" and as they clash swords again, the Bride manages to cut O-Ren's heel. So, O-Ren surprised says to the Bride in Japanese "For ridiculing you earlier, I apologise" and the Bride says "Accepted. Ready?" and they cross swords for the last time.  

Sonny Chiba is also very entertaining as Hattori Hanzo, once a great swordswith, who vowed never to make another sword again, and now spends his time as a Sushi chef, arguing with his suborindate employee.  And his scenes with Uma are fun to watch, especially when she first arrives in Okinawa and he demands he assistant to get the Bride some sake, who says he's busy, and Hanzo sighs saying "Lazy bastard!  Get your ass out here!".  

And later when Hanzo shows the Bride his collection of swords and she takes one of them out of its sheath and he says to her "Funny you like Saumrai swords... I like baseball!" and he throws a baseball at her, which the Bride slices in half with precision.  And the Bride then reminds him that her vermin is a former student of his and "given the student you have a rather large obligation!" leading Hanzo to quietly go over to the window and writing Bill's name in the frosted window before telling her "You can sleep here.  It will take me a month to make the sword.  I suggest you spend that time practicing".  

Vivica A Fox is also very good in her role as Vernita Green, one of the Bride's would-be killers, who left her for dead at the chapel and the Bride later confronts at her home. 

So, Fox has some good moments in her sequence that include the one where Vernita after she stops her intense fight with the Bride asks her "Would you like some coffee?" and the Bride says "Yeah". So, they go into the kitchen where Vernita makes coffee and says "I suppose its too late to accept an apology" and the Bride says "You supposed correctly". So, Vernita says "Look, if I could go back in a machine and changes things I could but I can't. All I can tell you is that I'm a different person now". So, as they talk, the Bride asks her "When do you want to die?" and Vernita says "How about tonight bitch?" and the Bride grins and says "Splendid!". 

So, Vernita suggests they meet at midnight and dress in all black nearby her house and she says "Now, I have to fix my daughter's cereal". So, the Bride says "Bill always said you were the best he'd ever seen with an edged weapon" and Vernita grins and says "Fuck you, bitch! Bill never qualified that such, so you can my kiss ass, Black mamba! Black mamba, I shoulda been motherf***** black mamba!". The Bride teases her and says "Your choice of weapon? You can stick with the butcher knife if you want" and Vernita smiles and says "Very funny bitch! VERY FUNNY!" and we hear a gunshot fire, as Vernita hid a gun in a cereal packet, which misses the Bride, who then kicks her coffee mug across the room and throws a knife at Vernita, which hits her in the chest and she falls down dead.  

And lastly Daryl Hannah also is very good in her brief role as the evil and sly Elle Driver, who wears and eyepatch on one eye and her character appears more in Volume 2.  And after seeing Daryl give some pretty so-so performances in films from the 1980s such as Roxanne, and Wall Street, what she does do really well in this film is ham it up, and shows that she is in her own way a capable actress.  

Hannah only really has one scene in the film which is a memorable one where Elle attempts to kill off the Bride while she is in her coma in hospital but Bill phones her and calls it off.  So, in the scene Elle stands over the Bride's inert form in hospital and says to her "This is my gift to you" as she is about to inject poison into her but her phone goes off and she says "For fuck's sake!" and she answers it to hear Bill on the other end. So, Bill tells Elle "We're going to abort" and and Elle shouts "Oh, you don't owe her SHIT!" and Bill says "Will you lower your voice?!" and Elle says in a hushed tone "You don't owe  her shit!". So, after the call Elle says to the inert Bride "I bet you thought that was pretty fuckin funny didn't you?!  Word of advice, shithead.  Don't you ever wake up!".   

DIRECTOR 

As for Quentin Tarantino direction wise I don't think he has made a better film as his mix of skilfull camera work, and brilliant use of Japanese anime, and superb photography from Robert Richardson all add up to a visual treat for the viewer. Tarantinto took upon himself to make the decision to split Kill Bill into two films to avoid cutting any scenes out of the film(s) themselves and this is certainly one of the tautest films he's made in his career.  

MUSIC  

As for the music, Tarantino skillfully chooses some great tracks for the film starting with Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang", the cheesy but highly effective use of the theme from "Quincy".  I also can't forget to mention the catchy 5, 6, 7, 8's "Woo-hoo" which is annoying but at the same time it is also strangely quite enjoyable.  In general Tarantino has a like for 1970s funk music, and plenty of it permeates throughout the whole film, abd he uses it very well, especially tracks like "Ray Fan Ray" by Isaac Hayes in the anime scene with O-Ren killing one of her targets as an assassin.  Naturally Tarantino threw in the theme from the "Green Hornet" during the scene where the Bride drives the streets of Tokyo as she follows O-Ren and her entourage.  And lastly there is of course the track "Battle without honor or humanity" by the Japanese musician, Tomoyasu Hotei, which became very popular as a result of the film and is used well in the slo-mo scene of O-Ren and her bodyguards walking into the restaurant where the Bride will later do battle with O-Ren and her men.  

FLAWS (Warning: this section contains spoilers!) 

Getting onto the flaws of Volume 1.... well its a great film so overall nothing too glaring but what I would say is from a character point of view, what the bride has to endure is pretty horrendous, and Tarantino seems almost delight in putting his characters through the unbearable and the downright harrowing.  This is perfectly highlighted in the scene where the Bride is being used for sex whilst she lies in a coma in hospital, which is quite horrific in itself and it again it kind of highlights a rather mysognistic tone to the film, which could be levelled at some of Tarantino's other work.  

I also felt in a way that the Bride's character was less likeable in the first film and more difficult to relate to as she is largely more as a remorseless killer than anything else, who is consumed with revenge and its only in the scene where the Bride meets with Hanzo in Okinawa we get to see some of her charm start to emerge.  Volume 2 would however go on to address this but in a way it does serve to potentially alienate some viewers.  

Another concern could also come from the level of violence in the film as it is pretty OTT in terms of the blood as in the big bloody fight scene with the Crazy 88, its almost like the actors were fitted with sprinkler attachments so the blood could fly anywhere at all!  Despite that though Tarantino does somewhat succeed in making it all entertaining and overall it isn't too disturbing to watch but the Crazy 88 bloody battle is certainly not a scene for those with a weak stomach. 

Tarantino also skilfully cuts between colour and black and white once it starts to get really bloody (and then back again) and he amusingly uses the catchy song "Nobody but me" by the Human Beinz, which undercuts the harshness of the violence onscreen, which again highlights Tarantino's maxim that he sees violence as a form of entertainment. 

You could also argue that in the hospital scene where the Bride kills the man who pays to have sex with her and then the hospital ward worker who effectively pimped her out, its surprising the cops weren't ever called to the scene. I mean it was presumably during the night when this happens but the Bride does spend 13 hours in the hospital worker's truck, so if they wanted to conduct a police hunt for her, she wouldn't be too difficult to find! Especially if she wasn't able to walk by this point if they discovered her there. In the end though, it is just a film.

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Kill Bill Vol 1 is a terrific film from Quentin Tarantino and one of his very best works with a great mix of visual style and content as well as a great performance by Uma Thurman as the Bride. The film also has some great action scenes, which were cordindated by renowned choreographer, Yuen Woo-Ping (who did the Matrix films) and a great soundtracks featuring many memorable tracks. So, after 22  years, this is still a great film and well worth checking out as well as one of Tarantino's greatest achievements.

So, I will rate Kill Bill Vol 1:

10 out of 10     

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon with Vol 2.

Until then its bye for now! 

 

Get Carter "Take me back to London!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, just before the month ends, I figured I'd do another post and this is actually a revisit of sorts of an old one from over 10 years, which is on a film I watched recently, Get Carter starring Michael Caine as the proverbial Jack Carter, a villain who is out for personal revenge.

So, I will expand on the sections as usual and add in some more details since the old post is quite well...old! So, with that said, let's take another look at this classic crime thriller...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, the film starts in London where the main character, Jack Carter (Caine) who is a gangster who works for organised crime bosses Sid and Gerald Fletcher (John Bindon and Terence Rigby) visits his home city of Newcastle to attend the funeral of his brother, Frank.  Carter's real motives of returning to Newcastle are actually to find out how Frank died as he believes the circumstances of his death from an alleged drunk driving accident are somewhat suspect.  

After attending the funeral, Carter starts to try and find out some answers as he visits a racecourse to seek out an old acquaintence, Albert Swift (Glynn Edwards) who evades him.  However Carter at the racecourse bumps into another old acquiantence, Eric Paice (Ian Hendry) who works as a chauffer but he refuses to tell Carter whom he works for.  Carter then follows Eric to a country house, which belongs to a crime boss, Cyril Kinnear (John Osbourne) where he burst in on Kinnear while he plays poker.  Carter however learns little and he leaves only to be warned by Eric not to cause trouble between Kinnear and the Fletchers.

Back in town at the bedsit where Jack is staying he is confronted by some of the Fletchers men who want Jack to go home and stop snooping about, however Jack fights them off and chases one of them, Thorpe (Bernard Hepton) and captures him.  Jack takes Thorpe back to his bedsit room, along with one of Frank's acquaintenaces, Keith (Alun Armstrong) who has been helping him keep tabs on anyone looking for him.  Jack then intimidates Thorpe into telling him who sent him and Thorpe gives the name "Brumby" whom Jacks knows as a businessman, Cliff Brumby (Bryan Mosley).  

Jack pays Brumby a visit but he discovers that Brumby knows nothing about him, so Jack leaves, believing he was set up.  On returning to the bedsit Jack, Edna (Rosemarie Dunham) the landlord, tells Jack the gangsters came back and took away Keith, and in attempt to keep Edna quiet, he seduces her and they spend the night together.  The next morning, two of Jack's associates from London turn up who have been ordered to take him back, but Jack forces them out of the bedsit by pointing a shotgun at them.  Jack then meets up with his brother Frank's mistress, Margaret (Dorothy White) but he refuses to believe what she has to say about Frank, and at that point the two henchmen turn up again, but Jack evades him.  

Jack then pays a visit to Keith, who has been beaten up by the London gangsters, and Jack then pays him some money in compensation, but Keith is furious and as Jack leaves, he shouts at him how Frank warned him about Jack's reputation and that he even had an affair with Frank's wife.  As the gangsters catch up with Frank again, he manages to evade them again as he is picked up by a mysterious woman named Glenda (Geraldine Moffatt) whom he met at Kinnear's place.  Glenda takes Jack to meet Brumby who tells him that Kinnear was apparently behind his brother's death and he offers Jack £5,000 to kill Kinnear, who is looking to take over Brumby's business, but Jack refuses and walks out.  On the way Glenda picks up Jack and they head back to her flat where they have sex.

While at Glenda's flat, Jack watches a pornographic film, which includes Margaret, Albert, Glenda and a young girl named Doreen (Petra Markham) who earlier in the film was revealed to be Jack's niece, this leaves Jack saddened and angry.  Jack then out of fury nearly drowns Glenda while she has a bath and he asks if she knows who the girl was and he reveals to her that the girl was his brother's daughter.  Jack then forces Glenda into the boot of her car and drives off toward a ferry port where he parks the car and travels over the river to find Albert.  

Jack then finds Albert at a bookies and he questions him and Albert tells Jack that he told Brumby that Doreen was Frank's daughter.  Brumby then showed Frank the film which incited him to call the police on Kinnear, and as a result in order to keep Frank quiet, Kinnear sent his men to kill him, which included Eric, after this Jack kills Albert by fatally stabbing him.  

Jack is then attacked by the London gangsters, including Eric who has informed Gerald Fletcher of Jack's affair with his girlfriend, Anna (Brit Erkland).  Jack kills one of the gangsters, Peter (Tony Beckley) while the others push the car with Glenda still in the boot, into the water and then escape.  Jack then goes back to confront Brumby and in a fit of rage he beats him and then pushes him off the multi-storey car park to his death below.  

After this Jack sets about to complete his revenge by settling the scores with everyone who was involved, which soon leads the film into its climax...

THOUGHTS 

While it wasn't too well received on its release, which was in part due to poor promotion at a time which saw the British film industry in a state of a decline, Get Carter since has become a real classic and deservedly so as it stands as one of the best British crime thrillers in modern cinema.  And while the story is nothing too original in itself, its execution is superb and the film has its share of memorable scenes.  

The film also was a real development from previous British crime movies in that attempted to portray a more gritty and realistic depcition of the British crimeworld and of the onscreen violence.  Hodges also researched into the Newcastle crime scene of the time and he also used several hundred extras, all of whom were real locals from the city itself, which helped give the film a very naturalistic feel.

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

As for the performances the cast are all great here.

Starting with Michael Caine, who is superb in his role as the vengeful gangster Carter, who suspects foul play over his brother's death and is determined to find out what really happened.  And Caine plays Carter with a dry sardonic wit as well as a somewhat cruel indifference towards the violence he commits and even sees in the film.

Caine also has some great dialogue in the film as well and there many examples, such as the scene where he first meets Eric at the racecourse and he takes off Eric's glasses and he says "You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like.  Still the same.  Pissholes in the snow!".  

Also there is the scene where Jack pays a visit to Cliff Brumby's house, Brumby demands Jack to tell him who sent him. So, in the scene, Brumby says to Jack "Bloody well tell me who sent you!" and Jack replies "You're a big man, but you're in bad shape.  With me its a full time job.  Now behave yourself!" and he proceeds to punch and slap Brumby who tries to swing at him and he collapses into a chair.  

Caine also has an amusing moment where he seduces Edna the landlord to keep her quiet about the London gangsters paying him a visit at her bedsit. So, Edna asks Jack "What makes you think I won't call the police and tell them about a fella planning to use a gun" and Jack smiles and says "You wouldn't do that" and Edna asks "Why not?" and he says "Because I know you wear purple underwear". Edna then looks a bit fearful and asks "What?" and Jack says to her "Think about it!" and he tears open her top to reveal her purple bra underneath. 

Another memorable scene is where two of the London gangsters enter Jack's bedsit room while he is having sex with Edna, the landlord, and he then stark naked, grabs his shotgun and forces them to leave the bedsit as he says "Now then, take me back to London!".  In this scene there is also an amusing old fashioned sign hanging over the bed Jack and Edna are sleeping in which says "What would Jesus say?".  And later as he is about to leave in his car, Jack says to Enda "I'm going to sit in the car and whistle "Rule Britannia!" and Edna asks him will he come back and he says "How can I stay away?!" as he heads for the car and drives off.  

Another great moment in Caine's performance comes when he watches the porno film, which includes his niece, Doreen, and he sits tearfully for a moment before he angrily get's up and confronts Glenda and he nearly drowns her in the bath.  And in the scene when he nears the bathroom he asks Glenda if his brother knew about the film and Glenda asks "You're brother??? What are you talkin about!" and then Jack storms into the bathroom yelling "YOU LYING BITCH!!!" as he nearly drowns her.  So, in the scene Glenda gasps for breath as Jack pulls her up and she tells him she only knows the girl's first name and Jack says "Well her last name is Carter.  That's MY name!  And her father was my brother and he was murdered last Sunday! Now get in there and get dressed!".  

This is followed by another good scene where Jack meets with his old acquaintence Albert Swift, who tells him everything, and as Jack pulls out a switchblade knife, Albert begs with Jack not to kill him. o, in the scene, as Albert finishes his confession, Jack asks "Is that everything?" and Albert nods, so Jack takes out his knife and says "Well, that's it then!" and Albert panicked says "For Christ's sake!" and Jack says "You KNEW what I'd do, didn't you, Albert?" and Albert tearfully says "But I didn't kill him!" just before Jack stabs him and shouts "I KNOW you didn't kill him!  I KNOW!!".

Then there is the scene where Jack confronts Brumby at the multi-story carpark and beats him up as he learned about the film Doreen was in and how Frank found out about it. So, Jack punches Brumby in the chest and says "You shouldn't have shown the film to Frank!" and Brumby winded says "I had to! Its the only way I could get at them!" and Jack punches him again and says "You shit!". Brumby then says "They would have killed me!" and Jack says "They killed my brother instead!!" and punches him again. Jack then angrily asks "How would you feel if it were your own daughter getting poked in that film?! EH??!!" and he punches Brumby again and says "Slags like your Sandra, can get away with it, can't they?!" and he punches him again. Jack then angrily says "The Doreens of this world can't, CAN THEY?!" and he punches Brumby again and throws his body off the carpark roof, which crashes into a car below.  

And last of all is the scene where Jack finally chases down Eric to a quarry on the shoreline and he forces Eric to drink down a bottle whiskey, similar to how his brother Frank was killed. So, Jack says to Eric in the scene, who is exhausted from running away from Jack, "STAND UP!" and Jack says to Eric "I think you need a drink!" so he takes out a bottle of whiskey and says to Eric "Go on, have a drink!", so he tosses the bottle to Eric who says warily "I see you've still got your sense of humour!". So, Jack points to Eric and the bottle and says "I want you to drink ALL of that! Go on!" so he begins to force the bottle down Eric's throat and he shouts "DRINK IT!!!". Jack then angrily asks "Did you all have a good laugh when he was drinking it down??!! Did you all pass the bottle when the car went over the top??!!!" and he then takes his shotgun and holds high above his head and shouts "GOODBYE ERIC!!!" and smashes it down on Eric's head. We then cut to seeing Eric's body lie on a mine cart as its carted up on a conveyer line higher up and Jack laughs to himself, finally content with his revenge.   

As for the other performances, Ian Hendry is excellent as the gangster Eric Paice, who works for the crimeboss Cyril Kinnear.  Hendry himself was in poor health at the time of filming as he struggled with alcoholism and was also resentful of Caine's success as an actor. Hendry himself later died in 1984 at the age of 53.  

Hendry has some good moments in the film such as the scene where Eric confronts Jack at the ferry port and he yells at Jack "You're bloody finished, Jack!  I've bloody finish you!" and Jack replies "Not till I'm dead, Eric!".  And Eric goes on "You've still got your sense of humour!  Shall I tell him how I finsihed you off, Jack or will you, Con?". So, one of the gangsters, Con (George Sewell) says "He's told Sid about you and Anna!". So, Eric says "He didn't believe me at first, then Peter told him!  But do you still think you'll fancy her when Gerald's through with her face and that?!" and as his men push Glenda's car into the water he says to him "Jack!  Your car needs a wash!". 

John Osbourne is also very good in his role as the crime boss, Cryil Kinnear, and his main scene is really good where he plays poker just as Jack bursts into the room, and Kinnear with a dry cynical wit says to Jack "You see how it is, Jack, you just can't get the material!" and he proceeds to taunt one of his players, Harry, during the game, who ends up losing and says to him "I haven't won, have I??! You see that?? Old Harry thought I was having him on!". Also in the scene, Kinnear offers Jack a drink, so Glenda, get's him one in a small glass, so Kinnear tells her "Glenda, you don't offer a drink to a man like Jack in one of those piddling glasses, get him a bottle!". So, after Jack takes the bottle, he sits with Glenda, who flirts with him for a bit, so Jack then get's up to leave and Kinnear asks "You going, Jack" and Jack says "Must, things to do" and Kinnear cooly says "Of course, well drop in anytime". 

Alun Armstrong also makes his screen debut as Keith, one of Frank's acquiantences and he delivers an excellent performance.  Keith's character however soon falls foul of Jack's gangster associates who beat him up, and Jack later pays him a visit at Keith's flat, as Keith lies flat out on his bed, battered and bruised.  

So, I will mention the scene where Jack denies that he knew the gangsters would come back and he gives him some money as compensation. So, in the scene, Jack enters and sees a battered looking Keith lying on his bed and Jack asks "They hurt you?" and Keith says "No. You bastard! You knew they would come back!" and Jack says "No, I didn't". Keith then says "My girlfriend is coming down from Liverpool tonight, nice surprise, isn't it??!!".  Jack then says "OK, OK. I want to square things with you" and Keith asks "How?" and Jack takes out some money and Keith says "Stuff it!". Jack then takes some money out anyway and says "I'm sorry. Look here, get yourself a course in karate" and he leaves with Keith yelling at him "Frank always said you were a bloody shit and he were right!  You even screwed his wife didn't you?!  The poor bastard didn't even know if the kid was his!!".  

Geraldine Moffat is also excellent in her role as the seductive Glenda, who Jack ends up having sex with and later its revealed she was in the porno film with Doreen. 

And Moffat has a good scene where Glenda picks Jack up in the car and she says "I bet you didn't know you had a fairy God mother did you?!" and she drives him real fast up into a multi-story car park to meet Brumby. So, in the scene Jack asks "Alright, princess, where are we going?" and she says "Oh, to the demon king's castle of course!". Jack then asks as Glenda speeds her car up a multi-story car park "How, did you know where I was?" and Glenda tells him "You were seen parking your car. The demon king waved his wand and I was dispatched to bring you to him. Lucky for you, I waited". So, Jack then says "He must have been pretty sure I'd come" and Glenda says "Oh he was, he told me a magic spell that would make you come!" and Jack asks "What is that?" and Glenda says "We're there now!" and Jack says "Thank god!".     

Tony Beckley and George Sewell are also both excellent in their roles as the two London gangsters, Peter and Con respectively, who arrive to try and take Jack back to London and they share a good scene when Jack, naked, turfs them out of the bedsit, by pointing a shotgun at them.  So, in the scene Con says to Jack, "Put it away Jack, you know you're not gonna use it" and Peter laughs and says "The gun he means!".  

Glynn Edwards (who was best known for his work in the TV show Minder) is very good in his role as the shifty Albert, who was also in the porno film involving Doreen. 

So, I will mention some of Edwards main scene where Albert confesses to Jack his involvement in the film and also how Frank was killed. 

So, in the scene Albert tries to do a runner on Jack as he tries to climb over the wall behind the bookies but Jack pulls him down. So, Jack says "You can't run from me, Albert" and Albert defeatedly says "I know. For Christ's sake, give us a fag", so Jack gives him one and Albert admits "I didn't know who Doreen was, I just thought she was another bird". Jack then asks "Who killed Frank?" and Albert heistates and Jack warns him "You wanna be dead, Albert?" and Albert says "Last Sunday, Eric and a few of his boys took Frank and stuffed a bottle of whisky down his throat. After that, they drove him off in a car". Frank then asks "Did Eric know Frank was my brother?" and Albert says "Yeah" and Jack asks "What did he say" and Albert says "Good". Albert finishes saying "Afterward, they drove him off in a car" and Jack then asks "Is that everything?" and Albert nods and Jack produces his flick knife and says "Well, that's it then". So, Albert now terrified pleads, "For Christ's sake! For Christ's sake!!" and Jack says "You KNEW what I'd do, didn't you, Albert??" and Albert pleads "Yeah, but I didn't kill him!" and Jack says as he stabs Albert "I KNOW YOU DIDN'T KILL HIM! I KNOW!!" and Albert slumps to the ground dead.  

And last but far from least is Britt Ekland as Jack's girlfriend, Anna, who is the wife of one of the Fletchers.  

Ekland doesn't appear much in the film but she certainly makes a memorable impression in her main scene where she indulges in some kinky phone chat with Jack (very nice!) which is interrupted by her husband, Gerald, who asks her "What's the matter you got gut trouble or something??".  And Anna says "No, darling, just doing my exercises" and then quietly says goodbye to Jack, who meanwhile is sitting in the bedsit, with Edna moving back and forth in her rocking chair throughout the scene.  Ekland herself at the time of the film, was reluctant to take the part as she didn't want to do a nude scene but was financially struggling at the time in her life, but later admitted she was glad she took the role.  

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

Getting to the director, Mike Hodges does a great job here with Get Carter and throughout he keeps the film moving well and it rarely ever drags.  Hodges also makes great use of many of the locations in Newcastle with the most memorable being the Trinity square car park, which was used in the scene where Jack meets with Brumby and he later kills Brumby there as well.  The car park itself has since being demolished back in 2010.  Hodges also perfectly captures the grimy and realistic tone of the period and the setting, as well as taking a more realistic view of the British criminal underworld.  

The film also has a unique and very memorable score by Roy Budd and the title theme to this day is instantly recognisible and he makes good use of Indian tabla drums throughout the score. The score itself is pretty sparse in its use but it is pretty effective when its heard. Budd himself would later go on to score films such as the war films, Wild Geese, Sea Wolves and also Who Dares Wins. 

FLAWS

As for flaws, well Get Carter doesn't that too many but there are one or two. 

For starters, you could argue that Jack really is in a precarious position right from the start of the film before he even goes to Newcastle because he is already having an affair with his boss's wife, Anna. So, on top of pissing off his boss by cheating on the missus, he also decides to stick his nose into the affairs of Kinnear's crime family as well. So, yeah as the film progresses, you can see even if Jack survives all this and carries out his initial plan to escape his gangster life with Anna, its bound to fail as Fletcher would be ceratin to catch up to him.

Further to this, its also pretty apparent that Jack didn't do a very good job at covering his own tracks with his affair with Anna, as clearly Eric knew about it as did the Fletcher associates, Peter and Con. So, ultimately this got back to Fletcher simply due to Jack being pretty inept at hiding his affair, otherwise, maybe he could have got away with it.   

There are also one or two confusing moments such as the one with the scene where Jack threatens a woman as he looks for Albert but we don't know who she is or anything. We do see her make a phone call in the next moment of the film as Jack heads to the bookies to find Albert but that aside, her appearance in the film makes little sense.

And last of all is not so much a flaw but a very weird curiosity in the film where we see an old man in a bar in Newcastle at the start, who is seen drinking and he has six fingers on his hand! Now, this really is a strange one and something that is again left unexplained, unless he just happened to be born with a strange difficiency that gave him six fingers in real life, or maybe the director decided to give him an artificial finger to make him stand out more! Its hard to say but this really is a bizarre one in the film itself.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Get Carter remains a great crime thriller classic of its time and it features a great performance by Michael Caine, where he really made a departure from his usual roles to play a pretty ruthless villain. The supporting cast are also really good as well particularly Ian Hendry, George Osbourne, Brian Moseley and Gerladine Moffatt. The film also has a memorable and unique score by Roy Budd with a catchy theme tune and the film is very well directed by Mike Hodges, who makes great use of the grimy locations within old Newcastle. So, with that all said, I can highly recommend Get Carter, which is way superior to the dreadful remake some years later starring Sylvester Stallone and remains one of the great modern crime classics of its time.

So, I will rate Get Carter

9.5 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back sometime next month.

Till then bye for now!  

Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks - 50th Anniversary Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, as I recently watched Season 12 of the original show of Doctor Who on Blu-ray, I thought I would do a revisit my review of one of most acclaimed stories from that season and indeed the Tom Baker era, Genesis of the Daleks. So, as this story is now also reached its 50th anniversary, I thought I would take another look at aswell and add a few bits here and there.

So, with that said, let's take another look at this classic from the original series...

So, the usual is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So the story starts with the Doctor being intercepted by the Time Lords while he is traveling to space station Nerva (from the earlier story in the same season "The Ark in Space").  The Doctor meets with a Time Lord (John Franklyn-Robbins) who tells him that he is on the planet Skaro, and gives him the mission to either stop the development of the Daleks, or change their genetic make-up to ensure they don't become evil creatures to which the Doctor accepts.   

The Doctor is soon joined by his companions, Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry (Ian Marter) as they look at their surroundings, which is a barren desolate war ground, as the two warring races on the planet, the Thals and Kaleds, have been engaged in a thousand year war.  The Doctor, Sarah and Harry arrive in a trench and soon attacked by a group of Thals, but the Kaleds soon come to their rescue, however Sarah is left for dead in the trenches, and is soon found by a group of Mutos (Kaleds who are mutated and were banished from the kaled dome).  Sarah is later captured by a group of Thal soldiers who take her and one of the mutos, Severin (Stephen Yardley) for slave labour in the Thal dome.    

Inside the Kaled dome, the Doctor and Harry are taken for interrogation, and the Doctor has his belongings confiscated, which includes the time ring, given to him by the Time Lord, which let them return to the TARDIS.  The Doctor and Harry soon stand witness to the unveiling of the first prototype dalek at a presentation given by the scientific elite's leader, Davros (Michael Wisher).  The Dalek armed with its weapon is about to kill the Doctor and Harry, but one of the scientists, Ronson (James Garbutt) intervenes in time to stop it.

Later, Ronson meets with The Doctor and Harry in the prison cells, where he admits his concerns over the dalek project, and how Davros has created a monster with no morals or conscience.  The Doctor and Harry escape from their cell with Ronson's help, as they agree to reach the Kaled councilors and express their concerns and insist they shut down Davros's research.

However Davros's personal guard and security commander, Nyder (Peter Miles) has his spies discover of Ronson's treachery and also of the council's decision to investigate his work with the daleks.  On this basis, Davros decides there is no alternative but to destroy the Kaled race and the dome, as he makes a journey to the Thal dome with Nyder and gives them a formula to destroy the Kaled dome.

The Thals agree to use the formula and the Doctor along with Harry arrives in time to free Sarah from the labour prison before the rocket is launched, but he is too late to stop the countdown, as the Thals launch their rocket and Kaled dome is destroyed.

Meanwhile Davros exposes Ronson as a spy and has one of his daleks exterminate him, and with 20 new daleks in place, Davros uses them to infiltrate the Thals dome and exterminate them.  Back in the Kaled bunker the Doctor and his companions are captured by Nyder and Davros interrogates the Doctor, realising that he is from another planet and time, he forces the Doctor to reveal his knowledge of the Daleks defeats and how they can be avoided, which is recorded on tape.

And from here the Doctor must try and find a way to stop Davros, destroy the dalek force and prevent them from evolving into the most evil dominant species in the universe, if he can....

THOUGHTS 

There is no doubt that Genesis of the Daleks stands easily as one of the very best Doctor Who stories of the original series and indeed all time. The script is brilliantly written by Terry Nation, and the setting is great, a thousand year war between two warring races, and from this war the daleks are born.  And with the new hard hitting style of the show under the producer at the time, Philip Hinchcliffe, Genesis here shows the perfect mix of suspense and drama.

Terry Nation shows his affinity for fascism in Genesis as well, as the Kaleds are dressed in very Nazi-esque uniforms, and the Elite, lead by Nyder, are dressed in almost SS type clothing.  And he would later on use similar themes in Blake's 7 where the human population are controlled by the Federation, a fascist regime, who show ruthlessness to those who opposed them.

The Daleks themselve are brilliantly introduced into this story and the concept of their creation is really well devised, with the daleks having been born out of mutations, and in one scene Ronson shows the Doctor and Harry a screen room where the Dalek embryos are grown, and Ronson grimly tells them that is the future for the Kaled race. 

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

Getting on to the performances they are all top notch.

Starting with Tom Baker as the Doctor, who by this time had started to grow into his role. In fact this story was recorded as the last one for that season even though it was broadcast 4th with Revenge of the Cybermen being the final aired serial for that season. In fact to correct that further, Terror of the Zygons was in fact the final story recorded for Season 12 originally but it was held back as the opener for Season 13 later in August of 1975. 

In the early stories everything is still pretty dramatic, but Tom still allows for a few moments of humour here and there in the story and he has his share of great scenes and these include the one where the Doctor asks one of the elite Kaled officers, Tane for a cup of tea.  And in the scene as Nyder leaves, the Doctor says to Tane "Good. Well, now he's gone, any chance of a cup of tea? and Tane looks outraged and barks "WHAT??!!".  And the Doctor continues "Or coffee. My friend and I have had a very trying experience. Haven't we had a trying experience, Harry?" and Harry offers up "Very trying, Doctor!".  

And Tane sharply says to them "Step into the security scan!" and the Doctor says "What no tea?!" and Tane sternly says "Let me point out to you that you have no rights whatsoever. I have full authority to torture and kill any prisoner who does not comply absolutely with my orders. That is your first and last warning!" which leaves the Doctor with nothing else to say to Harry but "No tea, Harry". 

Then there is the scene where the Doctor addresses the Kaled council members at a meeting as he warns them about the Daleks.  And the Doctor delivers a fine speech which goes "Some of what I will tell you relates to events in the future. Not only on this planet but also on others whose existence you don't even know of. But my knowledge is scientific fact. Now, Davros has created a machine creature, a monster which will terrorise and destroy millions and millions of lives and lands throughout all eternity. He has given this machine a name, a Dalek. It is a word new to you, but for a thousand generations it is a name that will bring fear and terror. Now undoubtedly Davros has one of the finest scientific minds in existence, but he has a fanatical desire to perpetuate himself in his machine. He works without conscience, without soul, without pity, and his machines are equally devoid of these qualities".

Then there is the amusing scene where the Doctor and Sarah along with Harry make their way back to the Kaled dome via the subteranean tunnels.  And Sarah says to the Doctor "Listen, I've been down tunnels before and I've just had a rather nasty thought" and the Doctor says "Really?" and Sarah says "Yes.  Suppose there is something waiting for us in there" and the Doctor says "That is nasty. Better not tell Harry, he's gone first".  And in a later scene, the Doctor, Sarah and Harry emerge out of the shafts into the same room where Davros and Nyder are and Davros greets them saying "Welcome back!" and the Doctor turns to Sarah and says "You were right, Sarah, about there being something nasty waiting for us!".

Another highlight from Tom is in his scene with Davros where he pleads with him to stop the development of the daleks, and as he realises he is looking at a madman, he grabs Davros's one hand.  And in the scene the Doctor says to Davros "Order the destruction of the incubation section!" and Davros says "Destroy the daleks?!  Never!" and the Doctor presses the button that turns off Davros's life support system, which causes him to wilt physically.  And the Doctor warns  Davros "I'm warning you, Davros, next time that switch stays pressed, now give the order!" and Davros says "Even if I do this, there will be no escape for you!" and the Doctor says "I'll take that chance, now give the ORDER!".

And lastly there is the scene where the Doctor is faced with dilemma of destroying the Daleks by detonating the incubator section and he asks Sarah if he is doing the right thing.  And the Doctor says to her "Do I have the right? Simply touch one wire against the other and that's it. The Daleks cease to exist. Hundreds of millions of people, thousands of generations can live without fear, in peace, and never even know the word Dalek!".  And Sarah tries to convince the Doctor that he should and if here were dealing with a disease of some kind he wouldn't hesitate, but the Doctor is still hesitant and he says to Sarah "But I kill, wipe out a whole intelligent lifeform, then I become like them. I'd be no better than the Daleks!". 

Next is Elisabeth Sladen, who is great again as Sarah Jane-Smith and she displays Sarah again as being a strong independent women, who in the scene where she is placed in the Thal labour camp, organises an escape attempt to climb up the rocket scaffolding. 

And to kick off Liz's scenes I will mention the one where she weakly tells the others with her, Sevrin and a young Kaled soldier after having finished a shift of loading for the rocket that they must try and escape.

So, Sarah says to the others "We have to do something now. If we work another shift, we won't have the strength to take any kind of action". And the Kaled soldier asks "What do you mean?" and Sarah says "I mean we have to get out of here" and the Kaled says "So we get out into the rocket silo. Where then? The only other exit goes out through a command point, and that's going to be crawling with Thal troops!". Sarah has an idea and says "There is another way. The scaffolding. It goes right up to the nose cone of the rocket. Now, if we could get up there, then there's a chance we could get out onto the surface of the dome". Sevrin however is not so keen and says "That scaffolding is so high" but Sarah tells him "Its the only way. Its our only chance". 
  
Although later on the Thal soldiers capture her, and one of them takes a hold of her arm and kicks her feet away underneath, dangling her off the side of the rocket, and he says "I hear that people who fall from great heights are dead before they hit the ground.  I don't believe that.  Do you??". However, the soldier relents and lifts her back up onto the platform and tells her "You're going back to work. In a day or so, you'll wish I had let you drop. Right, get over!".

Then there is the scene where Doctor is about to destroy the Dalek embryos in the incubation section by wiring it with explosive charges and he holds two wires in his hands. Som the Doctor tells Sarah "Just touch these two strands together and the daleks are finished!" but he pauses and asks Sarah "Have I done right?" and Sarah says to him "To destroy the Daleks?! You can't doubt it!". However the Doctor then asks Sarah "Listen, if someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives, could you then kill that child?!". And Sarah firmly says to him "We're talking about the Daleks, the most evil creatures ever invented. You must destroy them. You must complete your mission for the Time Lords!". 

However the Doctor is still not sure and he looks at the two wires in his hands and says "Do I have the right? Simply touch one wire against the other and that's it" and Sarah pleads with him "Then why wait? If it was a disease or some sort of bacteria you were destroying, you wouldn't hesitate!".  But the Doctor still ponders "But I kill, wipe out a whole intelligent lifeform, then I become like them. I'd be no better than the Daleks!" and Sarah says to him "Think of all the suffering there'll be if you don't do it!". 

Ian Marter is also great once more as Harry and for once is actually shown to be a bit more adept at dealing with the action and situations, and a bit less clumsy as he was before.

Other good moments from Ian include the scene where the Doctor, Sarah and Harry near the start of the story wander around the wastelands and find dead bodies and mixed equipment.  And Harry observes the equipment "Radiation detector and a gas mask. The two things don't go together, do they?" and the Doctor says "It's like finding the remains of a stone age man with a transistor radio" and Harry jokes "Playing rock music!". 

Then there is the tense scene where the Doctor stands on a landmine, which appears to be inactive but it is situated unsteadily and runs the risk that it could go off so Harry uses some rocks to prop up the mine so the Doctor lift his foot off.  And in the scene the Doctor says to Harry "Harry, I'm standing on a land mine.  If I move my foot, it might detonate it" and Harry says "Don't move your foot!" and the Doctor says "I won't!".

And the Doctor then tells Harry to back up once he has wedged some thin pieces of rock underneath the gap but Harry tells him "No, Doctor, you'll have a better chance if I hold it firm" and the Doctor says quietly "Come on, Harry, don't be difficult" and Harry firmly says "Don't you argue, Doctor!".  And Harry tells the Doctor "Now just lift your foot very, very gently" and the Doctor does so and nothing happens and the Doctor relaxes, smiles and looks to Harry and says "Thank you, Harry" and Harry says "My pleasure!". 

And last of all is of course that rather unintentionally funny scene where the Doctor and Harry wander through the caves to reach the Kaled government HQ and Harry get's his foot caught in a giant clam. So, after the Doctor manages to prise open the clam and release's Harry foot and the Doctor asks "One of Davros's experiments!" and Harry exclaims "Magna peloris!" and the Doctor asks "What?" and Harry says "Latin" and the Doctor says "Never mind the Latin. Let's have a look at your foot!". So, the Doctor examines it and says "Nothing seems to be broken. Its incredible" and Harry frustrated asks "Why is it always me that puts a foot in it?!". 

As for the guest cast members Peter Miles is great as the conniving and manipulative Nyder, Davros's right hand man, who is kind of like Davros's Goebbels and utterly loyal to his core.  Miles has some good moments in his performance, particularly where he tells the Doctor what Mutos are "Mutos are the scarred relics of ourselves.  Monsters created by the chemical weapons used in the first century of this war. They were banished into the wastelands where they live and scavenge like animals".  And the Doctor says "In otherwords genetically wounded?" and Nyder says "Your views are not important". 

And later on in the scene where Nyder approaches Gharman (Dennis Chinnery) and pretends to be on his side by showing his concerns over Davros's ruthless ambitions with the Dalek project.  And Nyder says to Gharman "You know that I have served Davros faithfully for many years. I've never questioned anything he has ever done. But he has become a megalomaniac. He's ready to sacrifice everything and everyone, including us, just so that the Dalek project can be completed!". 

Then in the following scene Gharman meets with Nyder in private and he tells him his concerns in full and that he hopes to get some more men to back him up, which Nyder goes along with briefly.  And Nyder says to Gharman "Right, I'll try and get some of the military Elite on our side. Who can you count on?" and Gharman says "Kavell, Frenton, and Parran, but there'll be more soon, I'm sure of it!" and Nyder all of a sudden loudly says "Thank you!  That what I wanted to know!" and then out of nowhere Davros appears and says to a shocked Gharman "That information will prove most helpful!".

 

Last of all is the scene where the Doctor, Sarah and Harry capture Nyder as he leaves the big meeting with Davros and all the military and scientific personnel and they follow him. So, in the scene, the Doctor disarms Nyder and asks "Now where do you think you are going?" and Nyder says "Davros is lost, so I'm getting away while I still can" and the Doctor says "Oh, somehow that doesn't ring true!". So, the Doctor then asks "Where is that tape recording you took?" and Nyder says "Its in a safe in Davros's office!". 

James Garbutt as the Kaled scientist Ronson is also very good and at times you feel sorry for his character as you realise he has good intentions but ultimately he is sure to be doomed.

And Garbutt has some good moments too that include the scene where Ronson expresses his concerns over the Dalek project to the Doctor and Harry.  And in the scene Ronson says "You see, we believe that Davros has changed the direction of our research into something which is immoral, evil. You see, the Elite was formed to produce weapons that would end this war. We soon saw that this was futile and changed the direction of our research into the survival of our race. But our chemical weapons had already started to produce genetic mutations".  

And Ronson continues saying "Now Davros, he believed that there was no way to reverse this trend and so he started experiments to establish our final mutational form. He took living cells, treated them with chemicals and produced the ultimate creature. Come with me!".  So Ronson leads the Doctor and Harry to the incubation unit where he shows them a screen door containing inside the Dalek embryos.  And Ronson says to the Doctor "Now this is what the Kaleds will become" and the Doctor and Harry look and see something green slithering and making growling noises and Ronson grimly says to them "That is our future!" and the Doctor quietly says "You've got troubles!". 

Guy Siner, who plays the young General Raven, gives a decent account of himself, although his main scene is a bit over the top when he angrily shouts about how they will defeat the Thals.  

 

And Raven in the scene rants "When victory is ours, we'll wipe every trace of the Thals and their city from the face of this land!  We will avenge the deaths of all Kaleds who've fallen in the cause of right and justice, and build a peace which will be a monument to their sacrifice!  Our battle cry will be, "TOTAL EXTERMINATION OF THE THALS!".

 

And lastly I will mention the scene where the Doctor and Harry manage to escape their cell with the help of Ronson and make contact with tribunal members to persuade them to stop Davros's development of the dalek project. And in the scene, Raven who attends the meeting and informs the Doctor that there is word of Sarah being held captive by the Thals and they are using slave labour to work on their rocket they intend to use to destroy the Kaled dome. 

 

So, in the scene Raven says to the Doctor "The thals are using prisoners to load their last great rocket" and Harry asks "Rocket?" and Raven says "They think they'll win the war with it. What they don't know is that no matter how powerful their rocket, it cannot penetrate our protective dome! Only a matter of months ago, Davros perfected a new substance which has the strength of thirty foot thick reinforced concrete!". The Doctor then interrupts him and says "Never mind about all that, can you help us to find Sarah?" and Raven says "One of my agents could lead you into shafts underneath the Thal city" and the Doctor says "Oh good, good" and Raven warns him "But after that you're strictly on your own!".   

Stephen Yardley also does well in his role as the sympathetic Muto, Sevrin, who helps out Sarah when they are captured.

Yardley's most notable scene is his first where Sevrin and one of his fellow Mutos, Gerrill find Sarah unconscious in the wastelands.  And Sevrin says to Gerrill "She's beautiful. No deformities, no imperfections" and Gerrill says "She is a norm!  All norms are our enemies!  Kill her for what she has done to her kind!".  However Sevrin refuses and says "No, why? Why must we always destroy beauty? Why kill another creature because it is not in our image?!" but Gerrill angrily says "Kill her!  It is the law. All norms must die!" and he produces a knife and says "And if you won't, I will!" and the two of them struggle but are interrupted by patrolling Thals who shoot Gerrill who tries to escape, leaving Sevrin and Sarah to be captured. 

As for Harriet Philpin as the Thal girl, Bettan, she does well here and she does have some notable moments in the story even if her character is a bit underwritten.

But I will for time only mention one of her scenes and its her first one where after the Doctor has been captured by the Thals, is released by them just after they have victoriously fired their rocket and destroyed the Kaled dome. So, Bettan asks the Doctor, who sits solemnly "Did you have friends in the Kaled city" and the Doctor grimly says "Yes. Two people very dear to me. I sent them into that holocaust".

Bettan then asks the Doctor what he will do now and he tells her he will start again to find a way to stop the daleks being developed. So, Bettan puzzled asks "Daleks?" and the Doctor tells her "Yes. Machine creatures Davros is developing. Monsters" and Bettan says to the Doctor "Davros? No, you're wrong. It was he who told us how to destroy the Kaled dome. His only interest is in achieveing peace!". The Doctor then tells Bettan "Let me tell you something. The Kaled government was on the point of stopping Davros's experiments, and rather than let that happen, he helped you to destroy his own race!". Bettan then says "You'll never convince my people of that. Davros is a hero" and the Doctor somberly says "Yes, for how long I wonder?". Bettan then says to the Doctor "I must go. Under the general amnesty you are free to leave whenever you want" and the Doctor quietly says "Thank you".   

Tom Georgeson is also very good in his role as the Kaled scientist, Kavell, who joins Gharman in his revolt against Davros's ruthless development of the Daleks.  And Tom has some good moments too that include the one where Kavell quietly tells Ronson he knows that he helped the Doctor and Harry to escape their cell.  

And in the scene Kavell says to Ronson "Does Davros know the prisoners have escaped?" and Ronson says to him "I don't know what you mean.  The prisoners are in their cell" but Kavell tells him "Well, I have news for you. They've reached the city and made contact with the leaders whose names you gave them".  And Ronson looks surprised and asks "How do you know?" and Kavell grins and says "There is some advantage in being in charge of the communication system. All we can hope for now is that they convince the leaders that Davros' work here must be ended" and Ronson hushes with desparation "They must!  They must!". 

And last but by no means least at all is Michael Wisher as Davros, the megolamaniacal creator of the Daleks, who is simply magnificent as one of the show's most memorable villains. 

And despite the physical limitations that Wisher had as Davros, as he was encased in a half Dalek chair, and he only had the use of one hand (with the other curled into a limp state) his vocal performance is sheer perfection, as he produces the perfect mix of megalomania, hysteria and controlled manipulation. Its certainly one of the finest performances you will ever see on the small screen (or big screen even!).

Wisher has various great moments in the story (and plenty of shouting ahead with plenty of caps locks!) and to start off there is the scene where Davros does a demonstration of his prototype Dalek, who is about to exterminate the Doctor and Harry but Ronson interrupts and turns off Davros's power switch for the Dalek, leaving the crippled scientist in a state of fury.

And Davros says to Ronson "You dare to interfere! You have the audacity to interrupt one of my experiments?!" and Ronson anxiously says "But it would have destroyed them!" but Davros with rising anger shouts "So you think the saving of a worthless life more important than the progress we have made? My creature showed a natural desire, an instinct to destroy, and YOU INTERCEDED!! YOU WILL BE PUNISHED FOR THIS!!".

And one of Wisher's best scenes is where Davros interrogates the Doctor on his knowledge of the Daleks, and he says to him "Now, you will tell me the reason for every Dalek defeat. With that knowledge I will program them, with that knowledge they will know their mistakes and how to avoid them, with that knowledge there will be no defeats! WE WILL BEGIN!".  And the Doctor pleads with Davros saying "Davros, if I tell you what you want to know I will betray millions of people in the future.  I can't do that!" but Davros angrily shouts at him "But you can!  You will tell me!!  You will tell me!!  YOU WILL TELL ME!!".    

Also in the scene where the Doctor asks Davros if he would have created a virus that would kill all life, would he use it and Davros admits he would.  And Wisher here delivers a chilling speech as Davros says "Yes. Yes! To hold in my hand a capsule that contains such power, to know that life and death on such a scale was my choice. To know that the tiny pressure on my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything! Yes, I WOULD do it! That power would set me up above the gods. AND THROUGH THE DALEKS I SHALL HAVE THAT POWER!".

And in the next moment Nyder knocks out the Doctor and asks Davros "What do you want done with this?" and Davros says "For the moment he must be kept alive. He has knowledge that is vital to our future, and I will drain every last detail of it from his mind!  And then, he will learn the true meaning of pain!".  

And last of all there is the scene where Davros makes a final plea to the Kaled scientists and personnel who are against him.  And Davros angrily says "Do you believe that I would let a lifetime's work be ended by the will of spineless fools like you?!  You have won nothing!  I allowed this charade to be played out for one reason only. To find those men who were truly loyal to me and to discover those who would betray me!  We, I shall GO ON!!".  

 

Lastly there is the scene where the Daleks become self aware and start the production line process for the Daleks without Davros's orders. 

 

So, Davros says as he sees a light come on a panel "The automatic dalek production line has been started. I gave no such order. Who did?" and a Dalek says "I gave the command". Davros then turns to it and says "You will give no such orders unless made by me. The production line is to be halted immediately! Obey!" but the Dalek says nothing and Davros shouts "OBEY!" but the Dalek does nothing and Davros says to Nyder "Nyder..." and Nyder goes to switch off the production line but is exterminated by a Dalek, who says "The production will continue!". 

And this is followed by the Daleks showing greater signs of self awareness and their evil nature coming to the fore as they continue to ignore Davros's orders and they even exterminate his scientists. So, Davros pleads with the Dalek as they corner him "For the last time, I am your creator, you MUST, YOU WILL OBEY ME!!" and the Dalek says "We obey no one! We are the superior beings!". And Davros finally realising the monsters he has created, makes a last ditch attempt to hit the self destruct but the Dalek orders his extermination and we hear Davros let out an agonising scream.   

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

In terms of the direction David Maloney, a regular director with the show, well he rarely puts a foot wrong here, as he keeps the mood of the story as intense and brooding as you could hope for. Maloney himself was no stranger to directing some of the show's best classics such as The Talons of Weng Chiang, The Mind Robber, the War Games and The Deadly Assassin. So, overall this is right up with Maloney's best work on the show without any doubt.     

And as for the incidental music, by the regular composer, Dudley Simpson, again there are some great passages of music, especially in the scenes with the daleks being introduced and overall he produces here one of his best scores for the show.  And by this time Simpson had gotten away from the cheesier sounding incidental music he scored during the Pertwee era and in the early Baker era he started to introduce a far more intense and dramatic sound for the show, which works just great.

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

As for Genesis of the Daleks flaws.... well the story has a few but nothing too glaring or serious but it does have to be said that one or two of the cliffhangers are a bit weak, such as in episode two where Sarah falls from the rocket scaffolding and the picture is freeze framed, it makes for a pretty duff one.  Then there is the one at the end of part three where the Doctor is zapped by electricity when he attempts to sabotage the Thals rocket but I think a better climax would be when the Doctor looks on in horror as the Kaled dome is destroyed by that rocket and he says "And I sent Sarah and Harry in there!". 

Also there are one or two cheesy inclusions, one of which is the uninentionally funny inclusion of Davros's "destruct button" which has the words "Total Destruct" written on it in the scene where he dares the scientists to destroy his work.  And it serves as unintentionally funny moment in an otherwise pretty dramatic and intense scene.

The inclusion of the giant clam is also really daft, as it is yet another crappy looking prop in the show, where Harry get's his foot caught in it, and the Doctor feebly uses a big rock to hit the clam and force it to let go of its grip on Harry.  However when you think about it, the Doctor is just further forcing the clam's jaws shut, making Harry's life more difficult until the Doc breaks off a stalagmite and uses it to prise the clam open. Its another laughable moment in the story that serves as an unintentional laugh and you even see later on the Doctor telling Sarah and Harry to be watch out for them as they head their way back to the Kaled dome, yet in the scene the clams aren't even moving!

Another issue with the plot was to do with Sarah being exposed to toxic radiation during her time being held captive by the Thals and as she is forced to do manual labour to load up the Thals rocket with explosives.  And clearly you see how weak Sarah looks as she is affected by radiation and it makes you wonder how she didn't actually end up dying from exposure to it!  And when the Doctor turns up to save her, she suddenly becomes animated and springs to life like the radiation effects never existed!

You could also argue that by the end of the show that the Doctor really hasn't accomplished anything with trying to prevent the Daleks from turning into an evil race, as they still will grow into the evil scumbags that we have come to know in the series, so you could aruge from that point of view the story was a waste of time!  However that doesn't stop it from being a classic does it?!  Nah.

Then there is the moment where the Doctor faces his moral quandry over wiping out the Daleks as he holds the two wires with which all he has to do is touch them together to detonate the incubation room the Dalek embryos are in. However Gharman enters and saves the Doctor the bother by telling him that the Kaled scientists and personnel have won and defeated Davros in their power struggle. However...Gharman doesn't even seem to notice what the Doctor was about to do by holding the wires to set off the explosives to wipe out the Dalek embryos! Its like Gharman never thought to ask "Wait a minute? What's that you are holding there in your hands?! What are you up to??". Basically this guy really isn't that inquistive it has to be said!  

WARNING: BIG SPOILER COMING UP!!!

And last of all I find it a bit strange how Davros somehow did not find a way to encode or ensure that the Daleks would end up not obeying his commands as they (SPOILER!) turn on him at the end of the story.  And its here where Davros finally realises that he has made a dreadful mistake in creating them without a moral conscience but only just a little too late it has to be said!  So in the end, Davros, despite his genius intellect really is a prize numpty! 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So in summing up, Genesis of the Daleks still remains one of the great classic stories in the show's history and its a story that has just about everything with a great script, a great villain and great performances particularly from Michael Wisher, who delivers the performance of a lifetime here as Davros.

And yes the story has its niggles of course, which I've already mentioned above but they are totally outweighed by the story's good points and this remains one of the very best stories the original series had to offer, which is still great after 46 years.

So, I will give Genesis of the Daleks:

10 out of 10 

Right, that's it for now and I will be back soon with the final part of this season which will be on the 5th story, Revenge of the Cybermen.

Until then its bye for now!