Doctor Who - Revenge of the Cybermen Revisited "Careful, careful! I might explode!"

Well, I figured its time I looked at yet another of my previous posts, which I know has become a real habit lol! Anyway the post I will be revisiting is my review of the Doctor Who story, Revenge of the Cybermen from the Tom Baker era and I will do the usual expanding on sections in the review. 

So, how does this story stack up after nearly 45 years? Well, let's take another look and find out...

And the usual warning follows...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!

STORY

Right so the story begins with the Doctor (Tom Baker) and his two companions, Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry (Ian Marter) spinning through the vortex of space (this carries on from the end of Genesis of the Daleks) using the time ring until they materialise back on the space station Nerva from the earlier story, The Ark in Space.  Sarah however notices that the TARDIS isn't there and the Doctor tells her that the TARDIS is drifting back through time and they will have to wait for it to catch up.  Also upon opening one of the doors onboard, a dead body drops out and as they make their way around outer corridors of the space station they find more dead bodies.

Meanwhile onboard the station in a communications room, a crewman Warner (Alec Wallis) warns away an approaching spaceship due to an outbreak of a plague onboard the ship.  The other surviving crewmembers onboard are Professor Kelman (Jeremy Wilkin), Commander Stevenson (Ronald Leigh-Hunt) and another officer, Lester (William Marlowe).  Kelman asks Stevenson how can they carry on manning the station with only three officers but Lester seems to think they can manage.  It is also revealed that Nerva's mission at this point is to warn away ships from Voga, a new asteroid which the station orbits until its presence is updated on all the starcharts of inbound ships.

Meanwhile the Doctor deduces that they have arrived thousands of years before the event of The Ark in Space when the crew of that time had been waiting thousands of years in suspended animation for the Earth to recover from solar flares that devastated the planet.  As the Doctor, Sarah and Harry however make their way through the ship a metallic creature is seen moving around the dead bodies: a cybermat.

Meanwhile on the surface of Voga, one of the native lifeforms, a Vogan is shot when trying to make outside contact with Nerva.  The body is soon taken to a Vogan leader, Vorus (David Collings) who is informed by his aide, Magrik (Michael Wisher) that the Vogan shot was frightened by Vorus's plan as he is working with unnamed agent onboard Nerva.  In the meantime however Warner is attacked by the cybermat and his skin ends up with glowing scars as a result.  And just about this time the Doctor, Sarah and Harry are discovered by Stevenson and Lester and Kellman alerts them of Warner's condition.

The Doctor offers to help them and Harry looks at Warner leaving the Doctor to go with Stevenson who tells him about Voga, which the Doctor instantly recognises as the planet of gold and that they are up against the Cybermen.  Meanwhile this goes on Kellman is shown to be the agent that Vorus mention as he spies on the Doctor and Stevenson from his room using a device after this he communicates a message to the Cybermen onboard their ship.

Meanwhile Harry tells the Doctor that Warner has died and the Doctor on examining Warner's body finds two puncture marks which suggest he was injected with poison which the Doctor then concludes that it was no plague that caused the deaths.  The Doctor then senses something else is wrong and he spies on Kellman's quarters finding the comms equipment, but he hides himself as Kellman returns, who is aware of the Doctor's presence and sets a trap for him to make it impossible for him to leave.  The Doctor however manages to escape just as Sarah is attacked by the Cybermat, after which the Doctor disables by throwing gold at it and he tells Harry to take her to the station's teleporter as Sarah can be cured if she is teleported it will disperse the poison in her body.

The Doctor then manages to repair the broken teleport beaming Sarah and Harry down, Sarah is cured of the poison but they are both captured by Vorus's men and taken to him.  Vorus's questioning is interrupted by the chief councillor Tyrum (Kevin Stoney) and Sarah and Harry is chained up.  The Doctor meanwhile confronts Kellman and uses the Cybermat to threaten him to find where the drive is to activate the teleport, which he gives up.  However the Doctor is a bit too late as Kellman has bought enough time for the Cybermen to board Nerva, where they knock out the Doctor and the others leaving Kellman.

And its from here the Doctor must try and find a way to stop the Cybermen from their plan to destroy Voga and rescue Sarah and Harry in the process.....

THOUGHTS

Well despite the negative reception this story has got over the years from Doctor Who fans, Revenge of the Cybermen is a fairly entertaining, solid story but next to the other stories in Tom Baker's first season as the Doctor, it admittedly lacks the quality the other stories in Baker's debut season had.  The story however written by the co-creator of the Cybemen, Gerry Davis, still stands head and shoulders over some of the more inferior Cybermen stories that followed during the 1980s (especially Silver Nemesis during the Sylvester McCoy era!).

Revenge of the Cybermen was also the first story to feature the Cybermen since Patrick Troughton's second Doctor story, The Invasion back in 1968 with the main reason being Terrance Dicks, the script editor during the Pertwee era, hated the Cybermen and never did a story featuring them in that whole time!

The story is also notable for another reason, which is that during its broadcast there was the sad news of William Hartnell's death, the actor who played the first doctor and had suffered from arteriosclerosis in the final years of his life and passed away in April 1975. 

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES

As for the performances they are all pretty good for the most part and the supporting cast are all pretty solid. 

And to kick off with the regulars, Tom Baker puts in another fine performance as the Doctor and by this time he was starting to get to grips with his character pretty and starting to nail the fourth doctor's quirky sense of humour and alien nature. 

Tom has plenty of good moments in the story and for starters there is the scene where the Doctor makes several deductions while looking around the control room. So, the Doctor says to Stevenson "I've just made a third interesting discovery about your plague virus, Commander" and Stevenson surprised asks "A third?" and the Doctor tells him "Yes. One, it scratches metal. Two, it attacks its victims so suddenly that they become unconscious before they can even raise the alarm, and three..." and Stevenson says "Go on..." and the Doctor finishes "It removes tape from video logs. It must be a very literate and inquisitive virus". Stevenson then finally asks the Doctor "What are trying to tell me, Doctor?" and the Doctor replies "Whatever is attacking your crew, commander, its certainly not a plague".

Then there is the scene where the Cybermen have taken control of the beacon and hold the Doctor and the others captive but the Doctor remains defiant as he questions the Cyber Leader.

So, the Doctor insults the Cyber Leader by saying "You have no home planet, no influence, nothing!  You're just a pathetic bunch of tin soldiers skulking about the galaxy in an ancient spaceship!". The Leader however says "You speak unwisely. We are destined to become the rulers of the cosmos!" and the Doctor retorts "No, I don't think so. You tried that once already and were nearly wiped out!".  The Cyber Leader then says to the Doctor "Because of Voga and its gold. If the humans did not have the resources of Voga, the Cyber war would have ended in a glorious triumph!". The Doctor then sharply tells the Leader "It WAS a glorious triumph! For human ingenuity! They discovered your weakness and invented the glitter gun and that was the end of Cybermen except as gold plated souvenirs that people use as hat-stands!".

And in the same scene the Cyberleader becomes riled and grabs the Doctor by the throat and says "Cybermen can function more efficiently that animal organisms!  That is why we will rule the galaxy!" and the Doctor says "Loose thinking!  The trouble with Cybermen is they have hydraulic muscles and hydraulic brains to go with them!". So, after the Leader release the Doctor, the Doc grabs one of the cyber bombs and the Leader shouts "Put that down!". So, the Doctor warningly says to the Leader "Now, if I'm correct about what this contains and should accidentally DROP IT!" and he pretends to let go of it and continues "Now, I want something information from you, Cyber Leader!". 

Another good scene from Tom comes in the scene when the Doctor, Stevenson and Lester have bombs strapped to their backs and the Cyber Leader tells them "Cyber bombs. One of the most powerful explosive devices ever invented" and the Doctor says "Yes and their use was banned by the armageddon convention!". So, as the Cyber Leader orders the Doctor, Stevenson and Lester to get going, one of the Cybermen pushes the Doctor toward the transmat device and the Doctor quips "Careful, careful, I might explode!".

Then there is the scene where the Doctor, Stevenson and Lester once on the surface of Voga make their way toward their target and the Doctor says to Lester he has a better idea than waiting around and when Lester asks what it is he says "I don't know yet.  That's the trouble with ideas.  The only come a bit at a time!".

Then there is classic moment in the story where Harry inadvertently causes a rockfall in the shaft area of the caves which knocks out the Doctor (and kills Kellman as a result).  And as Harry sees the Doctor he tries to unbuckle his bomb strap but is stopped by Lester and the Doctor comes to and asks Harry "Were you trying to undo this?" and Harry says "Well naturally" and the Doctor continues "Did you make the rocks fall, Harry???" and Harry sheepishly says "Well yes I guess I must have done". So, the Doctor then laughs out loud and yells at the top of his lungs "HARRY SULLIVAN IS AN IMBECILE!!!!" before passing out!

And lastly there is the moment where the Doctor and Sarah onboard Nerva towards the end manage to avoid Vorus's rocket after it is launched and Stevenson redirects it to miss the station.  And the Doctor says over the mic "Cogito ergo sum!" and Sarah asks "What?" and the Doctor says "I think therefore it missed!". However, Sarah nervously tells the Doctor "Yes, but we are still heading for the biggest bang in history!" and the Doctor says "Oh yes.." but then looks at the controls and says "Oh no! They've locked the gryo controls! The flight trimmers are jammed!" and Sarah asks "What does that mean?" and the Doctor tells her "It means were heading for the biggest bang in history!".

Elisabeth Sladen also does great in her role as Sarah Jane-Smith, the Doctor's companion (and possibly the most popular companion of all time).

Liz also has some good moments in the story such as the scene when after she has been poisoned by the Cybermat, the Doctor saves her by beaming her down to Voga along with Harry.  And Harry who carries her is delighted to find out that it worked and he says "It worked, Doctor!  It worked!" and Sarah groggily says "Stop bawling down my ear.  You've got a voice like a foghorn!" and she suddenly notices that Harry is carrying her and she says "Hey!  What's going on here?!".

And then in another scene where Sarah and Harry are chained up by the Vogans, Harry tries to prise open Sarah's chains and he says "Tibias, or rather fetlocks like a carthorse!" and Sarah taking offence says "My ankles aren't thick!".

Another good moment from Liz comes when the Doctor says to Stevenson "I smell a rat!" and walks out, and Stevenson says "You know I sometimes wonder if that friend of yours is right in the head!" and Sarah says "If the Doctor smells a rat, he'll find one!".

And lastly later on there is a nice little moment between the Doctor and Sarah as they are reunited on the space station and Sarah says to the Doctor "Doctor?  Its good to see you" and the Doctor says "Is it?" and Sarah smiles saying "yes" and the Doctor looks at her for moment and smiles "Oh, right.  Come on, quickly then".

Ian Marter is also very good again as Harry Sullivan, the Doctor's other trusty, yet clumsy companion.

Ian also has some good moments in the story such as the scene at the start just after they arrive back on the space station, Harry says to the Doctor of the time ring "I'd rather like to have it" and Doctor smiles saying "Well you take very good care of it, Harry".  However as Harry reaches for the time ring it suddenly vanishes and Harry looks at the Doctor "You knew that was going to happen, didn't you?" and the Doctor smiles and nods. 

Then there is the scene when Harry and Sarah beam down to Voga and Harry is carrying Sarah, who had been infected by the cybermat but the teleportation process cures Sarah. So, Harry shouts to himself "It worked, Doctor! It worked!". Sarah still a bit groggy then says "Stop bawling down my eat, you've got a voice like a fog horn!" and she suddenly notices that Harry is carrying her and she says "Hey! What's going on here?!" so Harry puts her down. Harry then walks off and angrily says to Sarah "Oh well, that's marvelous, isn't it?! Here I am trying to save your life..." and Sarah remembers "Save my life? That thing jumped on my neck!". Sarah looks around the caves and asks "Where are we?" and Harry tells her "A place called Voga I think. The Doctor trans-matted us to get rid of the poison. I might tell you, girl you were on the point of popping off!". 

Then there is the next moment where Harry spots gold lying around the caves and Sarah asks "What is it?" and Harry picks up a piece and says "It looks very much like gold. I can't believe it. There's some more of it over there!" and he moves around to find more "Look, its solid gold!" and Sarah knocks the gold out his hands and says "Harry, stop it! It isn't ours!" and Harry says "Well, its really anybody's just lying around". So, Harry  "I'm rich!  I can buy myself out of the navy, buy a quiet little practice in the country. Solid gold stethoscope!" but then he sees the Vogan guards approaching nearby and he says "That's torn it!".  

This is followed by the scene where Sarah and Harry are held captive by Vorus and they are locked in gold chains. So, Harry looks at the chains and says to her "Sarah, these chains are solid gold!" and Sarah impatiently says "Harry, will you shut up about your rotten gold!" and Harry says "24 karat by the look of it" and Sarah angrily says "Its cos of this gold we're in this mess!". Harry then says "Just thinking" and Sarah snaps "Well don't!" but Harry then firmly tells her "Gold is a soft metal, isn't it, Sarah, so if we find a decent bit of rock maybe we can file it through!" and Sarah says to him "Well, we can't just sit here glittering can we?".

And lastly there is the moment where Harry tries to free Sarah and as he struggles says to her as he tries to prise her foot from the gold chain "I think you might be able to get your foot through now. Come on, one more pull!". So, as they keep trying, Harry says to Sarah of her ankles "Tibias, or rather fretlocks like a carthorse!" and Sarah angrily tells him "My ankles aren't thick!". And this is followed by Sarah freeing Harry from his chains and he gronas as his chains break loose and Harry says "Maimed for life!" and Sarah sharply says "Honestly I don't why you are complaining!  I got you free!".

As for the story's supporting cast, Ronald Leigh-Hunt does very well in his role as Commander Stevenson and he also has some good scenes.

For starters there is the one where Stevenson speaks bitterly of Professor Kellman after Kellman tells them they deserve a medal for "self sacrifice beyond the bounds of stupidity!". So, Stevenson angrily says to Lester "I've lost most of my crew in these last months, some good friends among them, yet a thing like that is still alive!".

Then there is the scene where Stevenson and Lester spring a trap on Kellman as Stevenson pulls a gun on him in the corridors of the station and Kellman has a gun on him also.  And as Kellman tries to back away Lester comes from behind and grabs him and seizes Kellman's gun and Stevenson says to Lester "Well done, Lester.  You walked right into it!".

Another good scene from Leigh-Hunt is after Kellman has been captured and questioned by the Doctor, Stevenson angrily glares at Kellman, disgusted by his insubordination. So, Stevenson angrily tells Kellman "As a space service commander, there are some crimes where I can order immediate execution and YOU have murdered 47 members of my crew and jeapordised our mission!". 

Jeremy Wilkin is also very good as the double agent, Professor Kellman who is working both with the Cybermen and the Vogans.

Wilkin's good scenes include his first one where Kellman says to Stevenson and Lester of their futile manning of the space station due to the plague by saying "You deserve a medal for self sacrifice beyond the bounds of stupidity!".  And later on after Kellman shows Warner to the others once the Doctor, Sarah and Harry arrive, Stevenson tells them to take Warner out of the room but the communication room must be left operational, which annoys Kellman and he spits out "Oh yes, at all costs!!" before storming out.

Then there is the scene where Kellman beams down to Voga and he is taken captive by Tyrum's aide, Sheprah and Kellman demands to speak to Vorus and Sheprah says "Vorus is no longer in charge here.  Take him away".  And Sheprah's guard grab Kellman and take him away as Kellman protests "Oh no, you don't understand.  I must see Vorus!  You're in danger, all of you!".

And in the scene where Kellman is taken to Tyrum he reveals his plan as he has been working with Vorus all along to defeat the Cybermen.  And Kellman says "We were working together.  We wanted to lure the Cybermen into a trap!" and Tyrum asks "What trap?" and Kellman shouts "The beacon of course!!  Vorus has a rocket aimed at the beacon!".  And when Kellman finally meets with Vorus he warns him that they are too late "The Cybermen have already landed!" and Vorus angrily says "What?!  Have you betrayed us?!" and Kellman yells back "Well I tried to warn you!!  Once they were on the Beacon, I couldn't delay them any further!".

And lastly as Kellman notices that Sarah has gone missing and Harry tells him she has gone back to the beacon to warn the Doctor, Kellman concerned says "If that girl reaches the beacon and starts blabbing about the rocket, the Cybermen will explode their bombs!".

David Collings is also excellent as Vorus, the Vogan leader who get's involved in a plan to destroy the Cybermen but also get's caught up in a civil war between his own people.

Collings's good scenes include when he meets with Sarah and Harry and he says to them "So, you are from the beacon. Why have you come to Voga? Was it to escape the plague?" and Sarah tells him "Yes, that's right, the plague" but Vorus angrily says "You are lying! Now tell me the truth!". Vorus then says to Sarah "When the plague had down its work there were to be four humans left alive, that was the plan! You were not among the four!". So, Vorus asks them "So, how many humans are on the beacon now?" and they say nothing and Vorus warns them "If you refuse to answer, you will suffer, and then I will ask you again and you will answer!  Do you understand?!" and Harry says "Yes. Vorus then says to Sarah and Harry "Humans are reported to have some intelligence. When Vorus, leader of the Guardians, asks you a question, it is not wise to refuse to answer". 

Then there is the scene when Vorus meets with Tyrum and they have a heated argument over their stance and Vorus's ambitions. So, Tyrum says "I know your ambitions, Vorus. I know you see Voga as a great power again, trading its gold with other planets in the galaxy" and Vorus defensively tells him "Why not?!  Why should we remain underground, cowering in the memory of something that happened centuries ago!". Tyrum then tells him that this way the Vogans remain safe and Vorus shouts "SAFE?! You have the philosophy of a cringing mouse, Tyrum!" and Tyrum tells him "And you are a gambler with a mad thirst for power!". So, Tyrum warns Vorus "That's why I no longer trust. My militia have moved into the goldmines. If there is any bloodshed, it will be on your hands!" and Vorus furiously says to Tyrum "I shall have you removed from office for this!" and he storms out. 

Another good moment is when Vorus meets with Tyrum's aid, Sheprah, once the Vogan's civil unrest has started and Sheprah says "Tyrum has given fresh orders.  My troops will hold their present positions and not attack your guild chambers" to which Vorus smugly says "He has shown sense!  Your city scum would be badly beaten!".

And lastly there is Collings last moment in the story where (SPOILER!!!!!) Vorus attempts to fire his rocket with the Doctor and Sarah still onboard and Tyrum shoots him but is too late as Vorus already has fired the rocket and in his dying breath says "My skystriker!  My Glory!".

Kevin Stoney who was always a solid dependable actor (and played Tobias Vaughan the main villain in the previous Cybermen story, The Invasion) does another fine job here as the Vogan chief councillor, Tyrum who Vorus falls out with.

Stoney also has some good moments that include the scene where Tyrum meets with Vorus and they have an argument which ends with Tyrum warning Vorus "You're men are outnumbered and the troops have orders to crush any resistance.  If there is any bloodshed, remember it will be on your hands!".

Then there is the moment where Sarah and Harry and they discuss Vorus which leaves Tyrum worried "My suspicions about Vorus are hardening into certainty. He's always had great ambition. This city we're in was once the survival chamber for our people. We've lived here ever since, unseen, and safe from further attack from the Cybermen. You know of the Cybermen?" and Sarah says "Yes, but I thought they weren't meant to wiped out ages ago". So, Tyrum ponders and asks "I wonder.  Has Vorus in the madness of a vanity brought down the vengeance of the Cybermen upon us again?" and he says to them both "You'll come with me" and Sarah asks where and Tyrum says "To the coal mines. Its time Vorus accounted for himself".

And last of all is the scene where Vorus meets with Kellman on Voga and Tyrum is with them as they discuss their plan to destroy the Cybermen with Vorus's rocket, So, Tyrum angrily tells Vorus "You're insane, Vorus! You've brought about the destruction of our race!". Vorus however tells Tyrum that he wanted to bring about freedom so they can live on the surface but Tyrum criticises Kellman's part in the plan "And this great plan was conceived in the company of such as he, a double agent, a despicable traitor, a murder of his own kind? A man whose only loyalty is to himself and the gold he hopes to win!".

William Marlowe is also good as Lester, one of the surviving space station's officers and he has some good moments as well such as the scene where he watches over Warner, who is dying after being poisoned by the cybermat.

And in that scene Lester says of Warner "Its always the same.  They just seem to burn up.  Warner's lasted longer than most" and Harry says "Strong constitution!" and Lester says "He's as tough as an old boot!".  And lastly there is the scene where Lester sacrifices himself as the Cybermen managed to stop the Doctor and Harry from attacking them with the gold, so Lester unbuckles his bomb which blows himself and the Cybermen up.

Brian Grellis does well too as Sheprah, Tyrum head of the guards and he has some good moments too such as the scene where Sheprah desparately tells Tyrum "Councillor, the Cybermen are here!".  And Sheprah says to Tyrum "They landed on the first level.  We've suffered heavy casualties and we need reinforcements!".  And when Tyrum how many of them there are Shep says "Two of them at least!  Our weapons have no effect on them!".

And lastly there is the moment where Shep warns Vorus about his men as the civil unrest between the Vogans has begun "Unless we are provoked, Vorus.  Then we shall sweep you aside!".  And quickly  

Michael Wisher also does well enough in his role as Magrik, Vorus's rather weak willed aide but it is a far cry from the fearsome and unforgettable performance Wisher gave in the previous story of Genesis of the dalek as Davros.         

I will quickly mention just one of Michael's scenes and its his first one where a dead body of a Vogan is taken to Vorus, who tells his men to bury it. So, Vorus says to Magrik "Why?" and Magrik says "Your plan frightened him Vorus. Sometimes it frightens me" and Vorus warily asks him "But would you warn the humans? Do you feel kinship?!" and Magrik says "No, its simply there are so many things that can go wrong!".

And last of all there is Christopher Robbie as the Cyber Leader who it has to be said is the weak link in the cast here as his portrayal of the Cybermen is far from logical and is far more emotional sounding and Robbie also appears to have a strange tansatlantic accent which seems a bit peculiar for a Cyberman!

Regardless of that though Robbie still has some good moments in the story such as when the Cybermen first board the beacon and use their helmet beam weapons to knock out the Doctor and the answers and the Cyber Leader says "The beacon is ours!".

Then there is the scene when the Doctor riles the Cyber Leader who stalks toward him and he says "We have enough parts in our ship to build an entirely new Cyber army.  And this time, Doctor, it will be invincible!".  And the Cyber Leader then grabs the Doctor around the throat and says "Cybermen FUNCTION more efficiently than animal organisms!  That is why we will rule the galaxy!". So, the Doctor grabs one of the Cyber bombs and the leader warns him "Put that down!" and the Doctor says "I want some information from you, Cyber Leader! What's Kellman's cut in all this?" and the leader tells the Doc "Kellman wants power. He will rule this solar system, once we have conquered it!" but the Doctor is soon re-captured by another Cyberman and the Leader tells them "Do not kill them!".

Another good scene is when the Doctor tries to attack one of the Cybermen aboard the beacon with gold but he is apprehended by one of the other Cybermen and the Doctor says "We surrender!  We surrender!" and the Cyber Leader demands the Doctor to tie Sarah up "Now tie her up.  Tie her up!".

And last of all there is the moment where the Cyber Leader and the other cybermen are about to depart the beacon when they hear about Vorus's rocket.  And the Cyber Leader says to the Doctor and Sarah "You two are especially privileged. You are about to die in the biggest explosion ever witnessed in this solar system. It will be a magnificent spectacle. Unhappily, you will be unable to appreciate it!".

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the director of the story, Michael E. Briant does a fine job here, having already directed the Sea Devils and The Green Death during the Jon Pertwee era.  Briant handles the action and pacing of the story quite confidently throughout and his prior experience on the show clearly made for a good choice.  Briant also made good use of the filming location of the Wookey hole caves in Somerset which were used for the shooting of the Vogan surface scenes and they help provide the story with some more atmosphere.

Getting onto the music well instead of using the series regular composer, Dudley Simpson, producer Philip Hinchcliffe went with Carey Blyton instead, who already previously composed a couple of stories during the Pertwee era.

Blyton's score is a bit of a mixed bag but overall its not a bad one and there are some good moments in it that add some atmosphere and tension to the story.  The score however also features additional synthesizer music by Peter Howell, who later on composed the new Doctor Who title theme in 1980 as well as for various stories from the end of the Tom Baker era until Colin Baker's era and Howell's score here isn't too bad either but overall its nothing too special either.

FLAWS

As for flaws.......well yeah Revenge isn't quite perfect and for to kick off one of the main problems with the story is the portayal of the Cybermen, which are far from menacing or being that effective especially as they have all of a sudden become far more emotional rather than logical beings especially the Cyber Leader.  Their outfits are also just a bit silly looking aswell and if you look closely they seem almost be wearing silver fabric clothing that appears to flare at the bottom of their feet!  Its almost like they want to keep the Cybermen in check with the period of the 1970s!  

The program's budget also clearly didn't allow for that many Cybermen to be used as there appear to be only three or four Cybermen in the whole story!  And the Cyber Leader also makes a silly suggestion as to how they have enough parts onboard their ship to build an entire Cyber army!  OK but how can they?!  And what just exactly what parts do they have?!  If they have just armour and helmets and no actual bodies to put in them then it hardly makes any sense does it?!  And if they are the only Cybermen in the cosmos at this point then they are hardly in any position to conquer the galaxy!

In fact Lis Sladen during the DVD commentary for The Ark in Space poked fun at this story when the actor Brian Grellis, playing Sheprah said the line "The Cybermen are here!" and he joked by saying "The Cybermen are here!  All two of them!".  And that just about sums the Cybermen up in this story, there are very few of them in number to make any real difference to the big picture.  

It also has to be said that while its a fairly decent story its still not one of the more interesting ones plot wise and the internal struggles of the Vogans comes a bit boring after a while as Vorus and Tyrum squabble.  Admittedly their spats do provide some good moments of drama as both Collings and Stoney were and are (well Collings anyway as he still lives) fine actors.  But the Vogan subplot does let the proceedings down somewhat.  

Another problem I had with the story is even though Kellman is ultimately working towards destroying the Cybermen with Vorus it seems a bit excessive that they have to devise a plan to kill off most of the space station's crew with a plague.  Surely they could have worked out another way that didn't involve killing so many crewmen onboard the station in the first place, e.g. evacuate them somehow and leave a minimal crew behind.  So while Kellman is eventually working toward  positive ends his means are really pretty nasty and as such its hard to even support him after he reveals that he is a double agent. 

And lastly surely its a bit daft that a substance such as gold would have such a fatal effect on the Cybermen in the first place!  And the Doctor only very quickly says that it somehow effects the Cybermen's breathing apparatus and it thereby suffocates them and that's basically it.  And when you look at it the gold they use in the story when the Doctor tries to attack the Cybermen hand to hand, the gold has no effect whatsoever until the Doctor loads up the Cybermat with gold and reprograms it to kill one of the Cybermen onboard the beacon.  But this also raises the question if the Cybermat is allergic to gold aswell then just how could the Doctor be able to get it working again in the first place?!  It doesn't quite sit right.  

Anyways that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So in summary the Revenge of the Cybermen is a bit of mixed bag in some ways but it is far from a bad story and despite its flaws the story is still enjoyable and it is helped by a strong cast, some decent action scenes and the effective use of its film location in the Wookey hole caves.  But in comparison to the other Doctor Who stories of the Philip Hinchcliffe-Baker era it doesn't quite stack up as well as that era's very best ones.

Anyway, so that's it for now and I will be back with another post before the month is out.

Till then its bye fer now!

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Review (Revisited) "YOU'RE the blind one!"

Right, well as the Oscars took place earlier this week, I figured it would be a good time to revisit one of my reviews from last year and the review is of Quentin Tarantino's latest film, Once upon a time in Hollywood.

So, I will do the usual expanding on the sections with bits of quoted dialogue and also add a bit more to the flaws and any additional thoughts etc.

So, with that said let's take another look at this film...

And the usual warning is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, the story follows two fictional characters, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) a Hollywood actor, who was formerly the star of a 1950's TV show, Bounty Law and his good friend and stunt double, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Dalton at this stage in his career has reached the realisation that things are on a downward turn after a meeting with a casting agent (Al Pacino) who advises him to make Spaghetti westerns, which Dalton thinks are beneath his abilities. Dalton also by this time has become something of an alcoholic and Booth as it turns out is his personal driver after Dalton has been subjected to a number of DUI's. Booth on the other hand has also had struggles to find stunt double work after rumours involving the death of his wife (which he was alleged to have killed).

We also find out early in the film that Dalton just so happens to be neighbours to Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and director, Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha) as the film is also set loosely around the Manson murders and indeed there is a scene where Manson makes an appearance looking for a record producer.  Dalton realising how ailing his career is also longs to befriend Tate and Polanski to get his career back up and running again.

However, Dalton's luck appears to take a turn for the better after he lands the role of a villain in a western TV show called Lancer where after a breakdown during his performance, he soon recovers himself and goes onto impress the director, Sam Wanamaker (Nicholas Hammond) and his co-star, the 8 year old, Trudi Fraser (Julia Butters).

Meanwhile, Booth picks up a young female hippie hitch-hiker named "Pussycat" (Margaret Qualley) and takes her out to a ranch farm where she says the rest of her family are. It soon becomes apparent that the family are indeed members of the Charles Manson family and Booth is curious to chat to the ranch owner, George Spahn (Bruce Dern) as he once worked there on Dalton's former series, Bounty Law but Spahn doesn't recognise him. As Booth leaves, he finds one of his car's wheels has a knife in it and he beats up the man responsible, "Clem" Crogan (James Landry Hebert) and forces him to change the wheel.

And from here things take a series of twists and turns for Dalton and Booth as things are set to change for both men's careers while the ever looming threat of the Manson killings are due to rear their heads...

THOUGHTS

It has to be said that I enjoyed Once upon a time in Hollywood when it first came out but I did find it a bit slow-paced at times and felt it was not one of Tarantino's better films. However on repeated viewing I really have changed my mind and enjoy the film more every time I watch it.

And after its admittedly slow start it does pick up its pacing as it goes in and Tarantino also builds on the uncomfortable troubling times of the period with the Manson murders but of course without giving anything way, Quentin certainly has his own unique take on those proceedings. The two leads characters are also somewhat likeable and have certain amount of charm even if Dalton still has a buzz of arrogance to him and Booth is a pretty impetuous guy where his bolshy attitude get's him into trouble on Hollywood film sets.

The film of course was also notable as being controversial on different fronts, particularly regarding its portrayal of the real life celebrities, Bruce Lee and Sharon Tate. Bruce Lee's portrayal in particular took heavy flak from many including Bruce's daughter, Shannon, who saw Bruce being depicted as an arrogant guy when she said he was nothing like that. Sharon Tate's portrayal was also given criticism by Sharon Tate's sister, Deborah, who saw the film as being exploitative and told lies about the real-life events.

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

As for the performances, well this is of course where the film does excel as the cast are all on top form here.

Starting with Leonardo DiCaprio who is great in his role as Rick Dalton, an ailing Hollwood actor, who is worried his career might soon be over. This is Leo's second collab with Tarantino and again here he produces a great performance only this time, Dalton is a more likeable if egotistical character than his unpleasant slave owner in Django Unchained.

And Leo has his share of good scenes that include the one where near the start after Rick has his meeting with the casting agent, Marvin Schwarz and he realises his career is ailing. So, after the meeting, Rick emotionally shares his new with Cliff and he tells him "Its official, old buddy. I'm a has-been!" and he starts to cry on Cliff's shoulder, who quickly pushes him back and gives Rick his shades to put on.

So, Cliff asks Rick "So, what's got you all upset?" and Rick tearfully says "Well, if coming face-to-face with the failure that is your career ain't worth crying about, then I don't know what the fuck is!". Cliff then asks Rick "That guy turn you down?" and Rick says "No, he wants to help me get into Italian moves". So, Cliff a little puzzled asks "So, what's the problem?" and Rick yells "BECAUSE I'VE GOTTA DO GODDAM ITALIAN MOVIES! THAT'S THE FUCKING PROBLEM!" and they both get into Rick's car with Rick berating himself as they drive off.

Then there is the scene where Rick during a break in filming the TV show, Lancer, sits and reads a book sitting next to the young child actress, Trudi who appears in the show with him and he becomes emotional as the books reflects where he is at in his acting career.

So, in the scene Rick tells Trudi about the main character, Breezy, who in his day was a great bronco buster (i.e. breaking in horses) but half-way into the book he has become a former shadow of himself. So, Trudi asks him "What's happening to Breezy now?" and Rick awkwardly tells her "He's not his best anymore, in fact far from it. And he's coming to terms with what it feels like to..." and Rick holds back his tears and says "...to feel slightly more useless each day!". So, Trudi comes over and reassuringly pats Rick on the knee and tells him "Its OK, Caleb. Its OK. It sounds like a really sad book. I'm practically crying and I haven't even read it" and Rick tearfully says "In about 15 years, you'll be living it". Trudi then asks "What?" and Rick recovers himself and says "Nothing, pumpkin puss. I'm just...just teasing you". Rick then wipes away his tears and holds up the book and says to Trudi "You know something? You might be right about this book. It hits harder than I gave it credit for". 

Another good scene is when after Rick forgets his line while filming on the set of the Western TV show, Lancer, he storms back to his trailer and berates himself, yelling and crying at the same time. So, after he calms a little, he looks himself dead in the mirror and says "You show that little fucking girl. You're gonna show that goddamn Jim Stacy! You're gonna show them on that goddamn fucking set who the fuck Rick Dalton is, all right?! Let me tell you something. You don't get these lines right, I'm gonna blow your fucking brains out tonight! All right? Your brains are gonna be splattered all over your goddamn poo! I mean it, motherfucker! Get your shit together" and he steadies himself and leaves.

WARNING: BIG SPOILER COMING UP IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!

Then later there is the scene where the Manson family members turn up to carry out their murders in an old smoking banger of a car, which grabs the attention of Rick, who storms out onto the street and right up to the driver, Tex.

So, Rick storms over to the car and yells at Tex "Hey you! Yeah, asshole! I'm talking to you! What the hell do you think you're doing bringing that noisy hunk of shit around here at midnight?! This is a private road, all right?!". So, Tex who is on the verge of taking out his gun and shooting Rick, restrains himself and says "I'm really sorry we disturbed you" but Rick yells back "Look, chief, you don't belong here. Now, take this mechanical asshole and get it off MY FUCKING STREET!".

And last of all is the final scene of the film where after Rick and Cliff have survived their ordeal with the hippies, Rick's neighbour, Jay Sebring finally says hello to Rick and asks him if everything is OK. So, Rick, still a little shaken tells him "Oh, th-these fucking hippie weirdos, they-they-they broke into my house. What do you mean, like, trying to rob you? We don't know what the fuck they wanted. Were they robbing me?  I don't know. Were they freaking out on some bummer trip? Who knows? But they tried to kill my wife and my buddy". Jay totally shocked asks "Are you serious?" and Rick says "Yeah I'm fucking serious. Now my buddy...killed two of them and then...well I torched the last one" and Jay asks "Torched?" and Ricky tells him "Yeah, I burned her ass to a crisp!". Jay then asks "So, is everyone OK?" and Rick responds with one of the film's best lines "Well, the fucking hippie aren't! That's for goddamn sure! But I'm fine. My wife's fine. We're all just a little shook up is all".

Brad Pitt next up is also excellent in his role as Cliff Boothe, Rick's good friend and stunt double to Rick throughout his career. Brad recently won the academy award for best supporting actor in the film and it certainly is a pretty good performance in his career although I would argue he has given even better performances in the past.


As for Brad's best scenes, well he has a few worth a mention starting with the one where Cliff has a flashback to when he was once on the set of a film where Bruce Lee is giving a speech about how felt martial arts is a dumbed down version of true combat and that he could make Muhammad Ali into a "cripple" if they ever fought, much to the amusement of Cliff.

So, in the scene as Bruce says the line re: Ali "I'd make him a cripple" Bruce, annoyed asks Cliff "Did I say something funny?" and Cliff with a smile says "Yeah, you kinda did!". So, Bruce pushes Cliff to answer "So, what's so funny?!" and Cliff sighs and says "Look man, I don't want any trouble, I'm just here to do a job". Bruce now really annoyed asks him again "But I'm not saying anything funny. So, what is so funny?" and Cliff finally says "What I think is...you're a little man with a big mouth and a big chip, and I think you should be embarrassed to suggest you'd be anything more than a stain on the seat of Cassius Clay's trunks!".

Bruce defensively then says to Cliff that if they were to get into a fight then he would kill Cliff as his hands are registered as "lethal weapons" to which Cliff replies "Anybody accidentally kills anybody in a fight, they go to jail. It's called manslaughter. And I think all that "lethal weapon" horseshit
is just an excuse so you dancers never have to get in a real fight!". So, Bruce then challenges Cliff to a friendly contest and no punching in the face to which Cliff accepts and says "That sounds like a great idea, Kato!".

Another good scene for Brad is when after Cliff eyes up Pussycat on the freeway a couple of times, trying to hitch a lift, he finally gives her a ride but she comes onto him pretty strong, something which he is suspicious of giving her young age.

So, as the two drive together, Pussycat bluntly asks him "Do you want me to suck your cock while you drive?" and Cliff smiles and looks at her for a moment and asks her "How old are you?" which provokes surprise from Pussycat who says "Wow, that's the first time anybody's asked me that in a long time!". Cliff then asks "So, what's the answer?" and Pussycat answers "OK. We gonna play kiddies games? Eighteen. Feel better?" and Cliff asks "You got a driver's licence? You got some ID, you know?". Pussycat laughs and says "Are you joking?!" and Cliff says "No, I'm not! I need to see something officials that verifies that your 18, which you don't have because you're not".

So, Pussycat changes tack and moves her to sit in Cliff's lap an she tells him "Yeah. Obviously,
I'm not too young to fuck you. But obviously, you are too old to fuck me" and Cliff tells her "What I'm too old to do is to go to jail for poontang! Prison's been trying to get me my whole life. It ain't got me yet and when it does, it won't be cos of you. No offense" .

Then there is the scene where after Cliff drops off Pussycat at the ranch she stays at, he effectively barges his way into the house to chat with the owner, George Spahn, who is blind and is asleep only for Cliff to wake him up. So, after Cliff is brushed off by George he heads back out and he sees Pussycat angrily standing infront of him and he says to himself "Goddamn it!".

So, Pussycat angrily says to Cliff "You embarrassed me" and Cliff says to her "Yeah, sorry about that" and Pussycat asks him "How did your little talk with George go? Are we kidnapping him?!" and Cliff walks past her and says "Not the word I'd use". So, Pussycat asks Cliff "Now that you've talked to him, do you believe everything is all right?" and Cliff tells her "Not exactly" and Pussycat angrily tells him "This is a mistake! You should leave!" and Cliff says "Way ahead of you!".

And this is followed by the moment where Cliff finds that Rick's car tyres has a knife in it and one of the Manson family, Clem is nearby grinning at Cliff, who approaches him. So, Cliff asks "You do that?" and Clem laughs and Cliff tells him "You know that isn't my car. This is my boss's car! And if something were to happen to my boss's car, I'd get in trouble. Lucky for you I got a spare". So, Cliff opens the boot of the car and takes out a spare as well as the tools to replace it and he drops them on the ground and bluntly tells Clem "Fix it!". Clem, bemused laughs and says "Fuck you!" which prompts Cliff to deck him with a single punch and he grabs Clem by his hair and punches him again. So, the girls in the ranch move to run forward and Cliff shouts at them "Come one step closer and I will knock his teeth out!!". Cliff turns back to Clem and firmly says again "Fix it!" and Clem, gasping and with blood all over his mouth asks "Can I at least get a rag to wipe my face first?" and Cliff says "Nope! Tyre first!".  

Margot Robbie is also very good in her role as Sharon Tate, who was noted as something of a B-movie actress in her Hollywood career and married Roman Polanski, who around this time had great success with his horror film, Rosemary's Baby.

And Margot plays the part very well and with a kind of youthful innocence although I do kind of feel her role was somewhat marginalised a little next to the roles of the Leo and Brad's.

Margot however still does have some good moments in the film that include the scene where Sharon has wander around the town (in LA of course!) and she happens to see a cinema showing a film she is in, so she goes over to the girl at the box office.

So, Sharon says to person "How much?" and the girl says "75 cent" and Sharon has a thought and asks "What if I'm in the movie?" and the girl asks "What do you mean?" and Sharon replies "I mean I'm in the movie. I'm Sharon Tate". The girl seems a little surprised and asks "You're in this?" and Sharon nods and says "I play Miss Carlson, the klutz" and the girl looks at the film poster and says "But that's the girl from Valley of the Dolls" and Sharon smiles awkwardly says "Well, that's me! The girl from Valley of the Dolls".  

Of course the film has a pretty big cast, so it would be difficult to describe all the players in the movie, so I will mention just a few below for the supporting cast.

Margaret Qualley does pretty well in her role as the young hippie, "Pussycat" which Booth briefly befriends and turns out to be a member of the Manson family and she definitely portrays her character as a bit of an airhead but with a great deal of unpredictability about her. Qualley herself is infact the daughter of the actress, Andie MacDowell.

And Qualley has some good moments herself such as the one where Cliff gives Pussycat a lift to the ranch where she stays however she does try to come onto him during the drive. 

So, as the two drive together, Pussycat bluntly asks him "Do you want me to suck your cock while you drive?" and Cliff smiles and looks at her for a moment and asks her "How old are you?" which provokes surprise from Pussycat who says "Wow, that's the first time anybody's asked me that in a long time!". Cliff then asks "So, what's the answer?" and Pussycat answers "OK. We gonna play kiddies games? Eighteen. Feel better?" and Cliff asks "You got a driver's licence? You got some ID, you know?". Pussycat laughs and says "Are you joking?!" and Cliff says "No, I'm not! I need to see something officials that verifies that your 18, which you don't have because you're not".

So, Pussycat changes tack and moves her to sit in Cliff's lap an she tells him "Yeah. Obviously,
I'm not too young to fuck you. But obviously, you are too old to fuck me" and Cliff tells her "What I'm too old to do is to go to jail for poontang!".

And lastly there is the scene where Pussycat angrily confronts Cliff after he barges into the ranch owner's home to speak to him (as he knew him years back when filming Bounty Law). So, in the scene Pussycat angrily says to Cliff "You embarrassed me" and Cliff says to her "Yeah, sorry about that" and Pussycat asks him "How did your little talk with George go? Are we kidnapping him?!" and Cliff walks past her and says "Not the word I'd use". So, Pussycat asks Cliff "Now that you've talked to him, do you believe everything is all right?" and Cliff tells her "Not exactly" and Pussycat angrily tells him "This is a mistake! You should leave!" and Cliff says "Way ahead of you!". So, as Cliff walks off, Pussycat shouts after him "GEORGE ISN'T BLIND! YOU'RE THE BLIND ONE!!!".

Julie Butters also provides a nice little performance as the child actress, Trudi Fraser, who acts belong side Dalton in the TV show, Lancer. And Leo and Julie both share a charming scene together while both Dalton and Trudi are on their lunch break together and Dalton reflects on his failing career.

And I will mention some of the dialogue from this scene where Rick becomes emotional while telling Trudi about the book. So, she goes over and tries to comfort him and reassuringly pats Rick on the knee and tells him "Its OK, Caleb. Its OK. It sounds like a really sad book. I'm practically crying and I haven't even read it" and Rick tearfully says "In about 15 years, you'll be living it". Trudi then asks "What?" and Rick recovers himself and says "Nothing, pumpkin puss. I'm just...just teasing you". Trudi however appears a little annoyed by the nickname and tells Rick "I don't like names like "pumpkin puss," but since you're upset, we'll talk about that some other time".

And last of all is the scene where just after Rick finishes giving an impressive performance on the set of Lancer. So, in the scene Rick is supposed to throw Trudi to the floor and after the scene is finished he get's praise from the director, Sam Wanamaker and also from Trudi.

So, the scene sees Rick ask Trudi if she is ok after he pushed her to the floor and she tells him "Oh, I'm fine. I practice throwing myself to the floor all the time" and she points to her arms and says "I wear pads". So, after Sam finishes praising Rick for his performance, Trudi walks up to Rick and pays him a great compliment and whispers in his ear "That was the best acting I have ever seen" and she leaves Rick, who is moved by Trudi's words and says to himself "Rick fucking Dalton!". 

Mike Moh despite the controversy he faced with his performance, also does very well in his role as Bruce Lee and he even manages to sound almost exactly like Bruce, if not entirely look like him. It would be fair to say though that Moh does play Bruce somewhat arrogantly here and I can see why his portrayal might have offend some people, most notably actors and people that worked with Bruce back when he was alive.

Despite this though, Moh does a pretty good job with his main scene here as Bruce speaks to a film crew on a set that includes Cliff, who is dressed up for a stunt job and is amused by Bruce's arrogant claims.

So, Bruce starts his speech to the crew by saying "When Cassius Clay meets Sonny Liston in the ring, that's not two athletes posturing.That's combat. Two men trying to kill each other right now. If you don't beat him... he kills you. That's beyond athletics. That's beyond Wide World of Sports, you know? That's two warriors engaged in combat. That's what I admire". So, one of the crew asks Bruce "So, if you fought Cassius Clay, who would win?" and Bruce says "Well, that would never happen" and the crew person asks "But if you did, what do you think would happen?" and Bruce says "I would make him a cripple" which prompts Cliff to laugh.

So, as Bruce pushes Cliff to answer what he is saying is so funny to him, Cliff tells Bruce "I think you're a little man with a big mouth and a big chip and I think you should be embarrassed to say you would be anything other than a stain on Cassius Clay's trunks". Bruce angrily then tells Cliff "You're the one with the big mouth, and I would really enjoy closing it, especially in front of all my friends. But my hands are registered as lethal weapons. That means, we get into a fight, I accidentally kill you? I go to jail".

So, as Cliff tells Bruce he thinks all martial arts is just dancing around so you don't need to get into a proper fight, Bruce says "How about a friendly contest? No punching in the face. Two out of three. Who puts who on the ground first?Nobody tries to hurt nobody, just who ends up on their butt?" Cliff stands up and smiles saying "That's a great idea, Kato!".

Dakota Fanning also has a notable albeit small role in the film as the real life Manson family member, "Squeaky" Fromme and she plays the part with a rather sinister and abrupt manner that makes hers one of the memorable performances in the movie. Fromme in real life as one of the Manson family, later attempted to assassinate US President, Gerald Ford in 1975 and went on to serve a life sentence and was released in 2009.

So, Fanning's main scene involves Cliff wanting to enter the house to speak to the ranch owner, George Spahn to see if he is OK. So, as Cliff stands at the closed door, Squeaky asks him "What's your name?" and Cliff says "Cliff" and Squeaky asks "How do you know George?" and Cliff tells her "I used to shoot westerns here at the ranch about eight years ago". So, Squeaky says "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise you and George were so close. Well, when he wakes up, I'll tell you stopped by". However Cliff insists "I'd like to say hello now. Came a long way out here and don't know when I'll be back out this way again". Squeaky however insists "Oh, I understand but I'm afraid that's impossible" and Cliff asks "Why is that impossible?" and Squeaky tells him rather firmly "Me and George liketo watch TV on Sunday night F.B.I. and Bonanza. But George finds it hard to keep awake, so I make him nap so I don't get gypped out of my TV time!".

However, Cliff insists that he is coming in to see George and the door screen with a latch on it isn't going to stop him, so Squeaky finally gives in and says "Fine. Suit yourself!" and she opens the latch to let Cliff in. So, Cliff enters slowly as Squeaky returns to her seat to watch TV and Cliff asks her "He back there?" and Squeaky indicates with her leg "Door at the end of the hallway. You might have to shake him awake, I fucked his brains out this morning! He might be tired".  

Austin Butler does very well also in his part as the real life Manson family member, "Tex" who was one of the killers involved in the Manson murders and Butler certainly shows Tex to be a very unsettling character as the film becomes pretty intense toward the end.

And this is one of two scenes I will mention for Austin and after Tex is scolded by Rick for arriving on his street in a loud old banger of a car, Tex and his three other family member decide what to do but one of them recognises who Rick was and how he was once the star of "Bounty Law".

So, in this scene, Tex grins and says "I can't believe that asshole in the robe was Jake Cahill. When I was a kid, I had a Bounty Law lunch box! That was my favorite of all my lunch boxes!". And one of the family members comes up with the idea to kill Rick and whoever is in his house instead as a way of teaching a lesson to actors like Rick for creating shows that taught them how to kill growing up. So, Tex is impressed by the idea and he says to the others "That's a great idea, Sadie!" and to the other two girls "You two ready to kill some piggies?!" and they get out the car and head on foot towards Rick's house.

However one of the family members chickens out and flees in the car leaving Tex and the others stranded without means to get back home. So, one of the members asks Tex "What do we do now?!" and Tex says "We do what we came to do! And when we're done, we split up and hitch home. Any more questions? Hm? Okay, pig killers, let's kill some piggies!".

So, in the second scene, Tex and the others break into Rick's house and find a spaced out Cliff, who had not long ago smoked a cigarette laced with LSD and as Tex points his gun at him, Cliff says slowly "Can I help you?". And as Cliff asks a crazed looking Tex "Are you real?" Tex replies "I'm as real as a doughnut, motherfucker!" which prompts Cliff to give a crazed laugh himself and Tex laughs along with him. And Cliff asks Tex what his name and Tex crazily answers "I am the devil and I'm here to do the devil's business!". 

WARNING: BIG SPOILER COMING UP IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPHS!

Emile Hirsch also provides a good performance in the film as Jay Sebring, who was the former boyfriend of Sharon Tate and was also one of the murder victims in the Manson family killings. Sebring himself was a hair stylist who had befriended Sharon Tate and went on to become good friends with both Tate after they split and Roman Polanski.

And I will mention Hirsch's last scene where after Rick and Cliff have their encounter with the hippies, Jay asks Rick if he is OK.

So, Jay asks Rick "I'm Jay Sebring. I'm a friend of the Polanskis. You're Rick Dalton, right?" and Rick says "Yeah, I'm Rick Dalton". Jay then jokes "I tease Sharon that she lives next door to Jake Cahill. If she ever wants to put a bounty on Roman, she just has to go next door, right?" and Rick smiles and says "No shit!". Jay then asks incredulously "What the fuck happened?" and Rick explains how the hippies broke into their home and Cliff killed two of them and he torched the other one with his flamethrower. So, Jay asks him "How did you do that?" and Rick says "Well, believe it or not, I've got a flamethrower in my tool shed!" and Jay clicks that Rick kept it from a movie he once did "Oh, from the Fourteen Fists of McCluskey, right?" and Rick smiles and says "Yeah, that's the one".

Al Pacino does pretty well too in his brief role as Marvin Schwarz, a casting agent who convinces Dalton to make Spaghetti westerns. Again this is no more than a cameo role with Pacino and given its a pretty big cast, I guess Pacino had to be squeezed in there somewhere even if he doesn't headline the film himself.

So, I will quickly mention Pacino's main scene at the start of the film when Schwarz meets with Rick who tells he now just plays a bunch of heavies in TV shows. And Schwarz asks Rick "So Rick, who's gonna kick the shit out of you next week? Mannix? The Man from U.N.C.L.E.? The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.? How about Batman and Robin? Ping! Pow! Choom! Zoom! Down goes you, down goes your career as a leading man". 

And last of all is Kurt Russell, who plays the part of Randy, a fictional character who works at Hollywood and had a serious dispute with Cliff Booth as he suspected him of murdering his wife (i.e. Cliff's not Randy's!). Russell also acts as the film's narrator but his narration doesn't come into the film until much later on.

And I will mention Russell's main scene where Randy expresses his disapproval of Cliff to Rick of having him work on set as a stunt double due to the reputation he claimed after rumours of Cliff having killed his wife.

So, Randy says to Rick "Rick, I don't dig him and I don't dig the vibe he brings to a set" and Rick asks "Come on, what? Is there some old beef between the two of you?" and Randy bluntly says "Oh come on! The dude killed his fucking wife!". So, Rick says to Randy "Oh come on! You don't believe that old shit, do you?" and Randy tells him "Yes, Rick, I do. And I work with my wife, and she believes it. She doesn't want his creepy ass around". However Rick manages to persuade Randy to take Cliff back on as a stunt double.

So, after this Randy goes out to Cliff and says to him "Okay, you fucking horse's ass. Let's get you over to wardrobe!" and Cliff grins and get's up from the trolley he was sitting in. So, as they walk together, Randy says to Cliff "Now, I'll put you in wardrobe, but you don't stunt, I don't pay you" and Cliff thanks him for the opportunity and that he won't let him down and Randy asks him "You remember my wife, don't you?" and Cliff says wearily "Yep!" and Randy tells him "Yeah, well steer clear of her". 

DIRECTOR 

As for the writer/director, Quentin Tarantino does an excellent job overall although I do admit I think he has over-stuffed the film with some unnecessary moments here and there that I will mention a bit more in the flaws section. Tarantino of course isn't afraid when it comes to history to embellish on certain things, so if you think you are going into this one expecting a slice of real life then you are sure to be disappointed!

MUSIC

As for the film's soundtrack, again its a mixture of popular tracks of the time during the 60's from artists and bands such as Deep Purple's "Hush", Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs Robinson", Vanilla Fudges's "You keep me hanging on", Neil Diamond's "Brother's Love Travling Salvation Show" and Jose Feliciano's "California Dreamin". Its pretty much what you would expect from Tarantino in his period films, so its a decent mix of tracks that fit the period.

FLAWS (This section may contain spoilers!)

As for the film's flaws...well yep it does have some however I won't really go into them in any detail given that it is a new film.

So, for starters what I would say is that the film's running time at 2 hours and 40 minutes is just a bit too long and the film certainly does feel a bit flabby and on first viewing it did take me a while to get more into it. And by that I mean there are scenes such as Brad Pitt making dinner for himself and his dog and later on where he goes up onto the roof to fix Dalton's TV aerial but this scene in itself is just an excuse for Brad to take his top off, so Tarantino could presumably have Brad show off his abs for the ladies!

I also felt that the film does take quite a few liberties with the truths and facts surrounding the Manson family murders but again I don't really want to go into this one just now but suffice to say you won't walk out of the cinema thinking you saw a fully accurate account of those events! What I will say is that Tarantino is no stranger to embellishing certain things and he is certainly guilt of that here just like he did in Inglorious Basterds (that film is the truth of what happened! Really! ;-)).

I also felt that some of the film's characters were pretty annoying at times such as Pussycat, who is just an over excitable airhead for the most part, who is more than eager to try and get into Cliff's pants (almost literally at one point!).  However that doesn't take away from Margaret Qualley's fine performance as Pussycat and she at times maybe unfairly got more attention in the film for showing her unshaven hairy armpits than anything else!

And further to this there are also some pretty naff exchanges going on between certain characters in the film later on that kind of made me a cringe a bit especially the exchanges between the Manson family members as they discuss their plan to kill Rick. And this is especially noted in the moment where one of the members comes up with the idea and says "Woaaa! Dig this!" as it just comes across as being really cringing and nerdy as they briefly have a fan-nerd moment over seeing Rick before deciding they should kill him instead.  

I also found the film's use of narration somewhat strange as it appears closer to the end of the film as we suddenly hear Kurt Russell's voice come out of nowhere! I mean, if they wanted to include narration why not keep it a bit more consistent in the film rather than just slap it on near the end, which to me made little sense why it was even needed in this case. It also highlights the false events that took place the night of the supposed Manson murders and as the film takes liberties with what happened, the narration just feels that bit more pointless.

I also have to say I found it a bit silly how Cliff was able to go toe to toe with Bruce Lee in a martial arts contest as he expertly blocks all of Bruce's hits like he was a martial artist himself! So, yeah that part really didn't ring true to me at all however you could maybe argue that as a flashback perhaps this is how Cliff remembers events that happened than what actually happened. But then again I do also find it a bit incredible to think that Bruce Lee could possibly have made Cassius Clay a cripple! 

And last of all just what is it with Tarantino and his fetish showing people's feet?! I mean the guy has quite a few of the cast members throw their feet up throughout the film such as Sharon Tate in the cinema and the Manson family at the ranch while watching TV. Hell even Squeaky indicates to Cliff where George Spahn is with her foot! So, yeah its a bit annoying the way in which Tarantino insists on keeping his foot fetish going in this film as its not like he's done it enough already! 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So in summing up and on having seen the film several times since its release, Once upon a time in Hollywood for me is a real return to form for Quentin Tarantino and one of his best films in years after the somewhat lackluster Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight (well imho anyway). The cast are all on top form and the film is filled with plenty of 60's nostalgia and Quentin's love of the period obviously comes through here as well. Tarantino also expertly raises the tension throughout the storyline involving the Manson family, which gives the viewer a sense of unease over what might happen as it progresses.

And yeah OK perhaps the film is a bit overlong and slow paced in places and yes of course it does take liberties with the truth as well and yep it does make out Bruce Lee to be like an arrogant a-hole but if you can look past all that this is still a film that I would highly recommend checking out.

Right, that's it for now and I will return hopefully soon with another post.

Till then its bye fer now!

Jaws Revisited Part 2 "Shark's in the water...our shark!"

So, its been a while since I've done a post on here so I figured it was high time I got off my lazy ass and decided to do another one and yep I admit its yet another revisitation (sorry can't resist!). And the post in question will be a revisit of my first revisited review of Jaws...confusing I know! So, this is basically my Jaws review Part 3!

So, I will do the usual stuff, revamp and re-write sections and add bits here and there as I go.

And before I start the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So, it all starts in the quiet seaside down of Amity Island where a rouge great white shark swims the waters, and a young girl Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie) is killed by the shark while take a skinnydip in the water.  After this the town chief of police, Martin Brody (Roy Schneider), alerts the town mayor Larry Vaughan (Murray Hamilton) of the danger, who is uninterested as he is more concerned that the tourists come to town as they are town's main source of income, and also goes as far as asking Brody to cover up his autopsy report on the girl as a "boating accident" rather than a shark attack.

Despite Brody's warnings and the mayor's negligence to do anything about it, a young boy is killed in the water by the shark, after which a bounty is put out, which brings in a whole bunch of local fishermen who want the prize money for killing the shark and they end up catching a tiger shark as identified by an expert from the Oceangraphic institute, Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfus) called in by Brody. Hopper remains sceptical that the fisherman caught the correct shark as the bite radius he measured doesn't match the wounds found on Chrissie's remains. Mrs Kitner, the mother of the young boy then turns up and slaps Brody after discovering the news of Chrissie's death and she blames him for keeping the beaches open.

Later on that evening, Hooper visits Brody at home and they discuss theories on the rogue shark and Brody says they should cut the tiger shark open to see if it is the one they are looking for. However on inspecting inside the tiger shark, Hooper finds nothing and decides to go and locate the rogue shark with Brody in a boat. Hooper finds something on his scanning equipment and takes a dive down in the waters and finds the wreck of a fishing boat and a shark tooth but after the corpse of a local fisherman floats into his view, Hooper panics, dropping the tooth he swims back up. Brody and Hooper then try and make a list ditch effort to convince Vaughan to close the beaches but he refuses to but does permit them to do what they need to in order to keep people safe.    

So, on 4th of July, Amity's busiest day of the summer, Brody has the beaches patrolled by watchmen and coastguards. However there is soon another shark attack where a young man rowing a boat is capsized and then killed by the shark and Brody's son witnesses the encounter and narrowly avoids the shark himself but he goes into shock as a result but is soon rescued by Brody. Finally Brody convinces the mayor to hire local veteran fisherman, Quint (Robert Shaw) to hunt and kill the shark. 

Brody also persuades Quint into bringing along Hooper to help out in their quest, but of course Quint being a stubborn old school guy takes umbrage to the young Hooper, who he sees as nothing more than a wealthy college boy. So, naturally this leads to much tension between the two men.  

And the rest of the films sees the men embark on their dangerous journey to find and kill the rouge great white shark.....

THOUGHTS 

Jaws is without doubt an absolute classic thriller, and is easily one of Steven Spielberg's best films, it was the film that announced his career and he effectively invented the summer blockbuster with this one film as well.  And even after 45 years, Jaws is still as effective as ever, as a piece of suspense it is nearly second to none, Spielberg adds in as many cheap frights as he can, and I'm sure the audiences back then would have been jumping out of their seats.

But the film definitely works best when we DON'T see the shark, particularly early on in the film in the opening scene where the first victim Chrissie Watkins is being violenty pulled back and forth in the water by an unseen force, as well as the scene with the two fishermen using a pound of roast to attract the shark to shore, which it takes as bait and attacks the men.

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

As for the performances, this is where the film scores big as the cast are all on top form, particularly the three lead actors.

Starting with Roy Schneider who is great in his role as Chief Broady, who is burdened with having to deal with the shark situation on Amity island. 

Roy has plenty of highlights that include the scene at the beginning of the film where he wakes up and looks outside to see where the kids are and he tells his wife, Ellen, they are playing out back.  And Ellen says "In Amity you say the yaaard" in a Boston accent and Brody mimics her accent by saying "They're in the yaaard, not too faaaar from the caaaar!  How's that?" and Ellen says "Like you are from New York!".

Then there is the scene where Broady nervously monitors the beach whilst his family are with him and he notices something bob ontop of the water, which turns out to be an old man swimming with a cap on.  And the old fella walks over to Brody later and says "You don't go in the water at all, do you chief?" and Brody replies "That's some bad hat Harry!".  Which later came the name of the production company belonging to film director Bryan Singer (admittedly I have to say its a crap name!).        

And also the scene where Brody after a tough day decide to get drunk and he invites Hooper around for dinnner.  And after Hooper sits with them, Brody asks Hooper "Is it true that most people get attacked by sharks in three feet of water...about 10 feet from the beach?" and Hooper says "Yes". Brody then continues to ask "And before people started to swim for recreation...I mean before sharks knew what they were missing...that a lot of these attacks weren't reported?" and Hooper says "That's right". Brody then goes on to say "Now, this guy...he keeps swimmin' around in a place where the feeding is good...until the food supply is gone. Right?" and Hooper interrupts and says "Its called territoriality. Its a theory I happen to agree with".  So Brody then says to Hooper "Why don't we get another drink and cut that shark open" his wife, Ellen, says "Martin, can you do that?" and Brody replies "I can do anything. I'm the chief of police!".  

Another good scene for Schneider is where Brody and Hooper try to convince the mayor into closing the beaches.  And Brody says to the mayor "If you open the beaches on the 4th of July it will be like ringing the dinner bell for Christ's sake!". 

Then there is the scene where Brody finally persuades Vaughan to hire Quint to hunt and kill the shark after the death of another person on the 4th July. So, in the scene Brody asks Vaughan "You gotta pen, Larry? Cause you're gonna do what do you do best...You're gonna sign this voucher so I can hire a contractor. I'm gonna hire Quint to kill the shark!". Vaughan however, still distressed after the incident and he mutters about the rest of the season "August..." and Brody says to him "What are you talkin about?! Summer's over. You're the mayor of shark city. These people think you want the beaches open!". Vaughan however nervously says "I was acting in the town's best interests" and Brody firmly says to him "You were and now you're gonna sign this and pay that guy what he wants!". And after Vaughan quietly says to Brody "Martin...my kids were on that beach too" Brody says "Sign it, Larry" and Vaughan finally relents and signs the contract and Brody walks off.

Then there is classic moment where Broady throws out some chum markers to lure the shark (chums are basically a mix of fish, bone and blood).  And as Quint tells Hooper to steer the boat and go "Slow ahead", Brody says to them "I can go slower ahead, why don't you come down here and chum some of this shit!".  However at this point the shark suddenly rises out of the water without warning, and Quint nervous flinches and backs slowly into the living quarters of the boat and says to Quint the classic line "You're gonna need a bigger boat!".

Then we have the moment where Brody has finally had enough of Quint's failed attempts at trying to kill the shark and he heads off to the radio and Quint asks him "Where are you goin?" and Brody says "I'm going to make a phone call!". So, as Brody tries to reach the coastguard on the radio, Quint comes in with a baseball and smashes the radio up and he says to Brody "Excuse me, chief!" and hands the bat to him. Brody however is furious and shouts at Quint "THAT'S GREAT! THAT'S JUST GREAT! Where the hell are we now, huh?!" and he brandishes the bat at Quint and yells "YOU'RE CERTIFIABLE QUINT! YOU'RE CERTIFIABLE!". 

And of course there is penultimate scene near the end where Brody faces off against the shark and he throws a compressed air canister into its mouth and he fires his rifle at it as it closes in on him and he says that classic line "Smile you son of a bitch!". And well...you know what happens next! 

Richard Dreyfuss is also great as Hooper, the youngest of the three men and an expert from the oceangraphic institute, who could almost be spoilt and bratish in his manner, as he comes from a wealthy background, but ultimately Hooper is far more sussed than just about everyone else in the film.

And Dreyfuss has his fare share of great moments such as the scene where he examines the remains of Chrissie Watkins and he angrily refutes the coroner's report and says "Now this wasn't a boating accident!  It was no propeller, no coral reef and it wasn't Jack the ripper!".  And Hooper takes a moment and washes his face and then he looks up at Brody and says "It was a shark!".

Then there is the great scene where Hooper tries to convince the mayor into closing the beaches after they find the wrecked remains of a local fisherman's boat.  However the mayor refuses to listen, so Hooper gives up by saying "Right that's it, Martin!  I'm not staying here listening to a man, lining up to be a hot lunch, I'll see you later!" as well as "I think I am aware of the fact that you are going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and bites you in the ASS!  Now there are either two ways you can deal with this, you are either gonna kill this animal or cut off its food supply!".

Then Hooper makes a last ditch attempt to convince the mayor and says to him "Mr. Vaughn, what we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks, and that's all. Now, why don't you take a long, close look at this sign".  And Hooper points to a vandalised billboard sign showing a shark fin popping out the water and Hooper says to the mayor "Those proportions are correct" but the mayor scoffs at Hooper and says "Love to you prove that, wouldn't ya?  Get your name into the national geographic!" and he shakes his head and walks off, leaving Hooper to laugh out load in dispair.  

Dreyfus also shares a good albeit tense onscreen relationship with Robert Shaw, which was mirrored in real life, on account of Shaw's competitive nature and heavy drinking.  And one of their funny scenes comes when Hooper thinks he's caught the shark, but whatever it is get's away and Quint puts him in his place, which leaves Hooper pulling faces behind his back!  And he mocks Qunit by putting on a pirate voice "Aye aye, Jim boy, arrr!!" and then he impersonates the American comedian and actor, W.C. Fields by saying "I don't have to take this abuse much longer!".

Then there is the seen where Hooper and Quint have a little moment where they bond as they show each other their inuries from encounters with fish in the waters.  And Hooper opens the top of his shirt and shows him a faint scar on his chest and he says "You see this?" and Brody says "What is it?" and Hooper tells him "Mary Ellen Moffat.  She broke my heart!" and he bursts into a fit of laughter.  And afterward, Brody notices a tatoo on Quint's arm and asks what it is and Quint "Oh, that's just an old tatoo I had it removed" and Hooper butts in and says "Don't tell me, don't tell me. "Mother!" and he bursts out laughing again. 

And then there is the scene where, Quint begins to admit defeat as he has run out of ideas on how to kill the shark, so finally asks Hooper what he can do with this gadgets and items to kill the shark.  So, Hooper takes out a harpoon needle and says "Well, I think I can pump 20 cc's of strychnine nitrate into him, if I can get close enough".  And Quint looks at the needle and asks "Can you get this little needle through his skin?" and Hooper says "No, I can't do that.  But if I can get him close enough to this cafe, I think I can get him in the mouth or the eye....".  However, Brody interrupts and says "That shark will rip that cage to pieces!" and Hooper shouts back "YOU GOT ANY BETTER SUGGESTIONS???!".  

Robert Shaw is also great in his role as Quint, the old veteran seaman, who runs the task of hunting down the rogue shark that terrorises Amity island.

Shaw has plenty of great memorable moments also that include his first scene is great where he introduces himself memorably by scraping his fingers down a blackboard during a town hall meeting.

And in the scene Hooper makes his offer to the townsfolk to kill the shark and says "You all know me, you all know how I make a livin.  This shark, swallow you whole. Little shakin', little tenderizin', an' down you go. And we gotta do it quick, that'll bring back your tourists, put all your businesses on a payin' basis. But it's not gonna be pleasant. I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I'll find him for three, but I'll catch him, and kill him, for ten. But you've gotta make up your minds. If you want to stay alive, then ante up. If you want to play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don't want no volunteers, I don't want no mates, there's just too many captains on this island. $10,000 for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing!".

Also another great moment is where Quint confronts Hooper on their first meeting and after he tells Hooper to tie him a sheep-shank knot, Hooper does so and throws it to Quint and asks "How's that". So, Quint says to Hooper "Give me your hands!" and he roughly grabs Hooper's hands and says to him "When you got a 5000 dollars net, you got 2000 dollars worth of fisherman. And along comes Mr. Whitey, by the time he's finished with that net, it looks like a kiddy's scissor class has cut it up for a paper doll! You got city hands, Mr. Hooper. You've been counting money all your life!". 

Then there is of course the scene where Quint is about to set sail with Brody and Hooper and in a jovial mood he spouts out some dirty limericks and silly songs, some of which include "Here lies the body of Mary-Lee, died at the age of 103, for 15 years she kept her virginity!  Not a bad record for this vicinity!".  And of course there is the song "Farewell and adieu to fair Spanish ladies, fairwell and adieu to you ladies of Spain!  For we've received orders for to sail back to Boston. And so never more shall we be seeing you again!".   

And later when onboard the boat where Quint puts Hooper in his place again by saying he doesn't know what bit through his fishing line.  And Quint says to Hooper "Gamin' fish eh? Marlin? Stingray? Bit through this piano wire?!  Don't you tell me my business again!" and Hooper says "Quint, that doesn't prove a damn thing!" and Quin says "Well it proves one thing, Mr Hooper, that you wealthy college boys don't have the education to admit when you are wrong!".

And perhaps the film's best scene and one of its highlights is undoubtedly of course where the men sit around at night in the cabin of the Orca (Quint's boat) sharing jokes, and Quint gives his chilling account of his experience of being one of the crewmates onboard the USS Indianapolis, during the Second World War, which was attacked by the Japanese, which left the survivors in the Pacific ocean at the mercy of sharks.

And Shaw's delivery of this scene is perfect as well as chilling and perhaps the best line is where he tells Brody and Hooper: "Sometimes that shark look right at you.  Right into your eyes.  You know the thing about shark he's got black eyes, lifeless eyes... like a doll's eyes.  When he comes at ya, he doesn't seem to be livin.  Until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and the ocean turns red".  And Quint finishes by telling them "So, eleven hundred men went into the water, three hundred sixteen men come out, and the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945.  Anyway... we delivered the bomb".  

Then there is the scene where Quint decides as a last ditch effort to kill the shark to draw it towards the shore to drown it and he puts heavy pressure on the boat's engine, which is already struggling. So, in the scene Quint says to Brody and Quint "I'm gonna draw him into the shallow waters and drown him" and he says to Brody "We're heading in, Brody!" and Brody says "Thank Christ!". And as Quint carries on driving the boat towards the shore he shouts to Brody and Hooper "Back home we have a taxidermy man! He's gonna have a heart attack when he sees what I brought him!". 

Also in regards to the supporting cast Murray Hamilton is also excellent as Mayor Vaughan, who is determined to keep the beaches open despite the dangers in the waters of Amity.

Hamilton also has some great moments such as the scene where the Mayor persuades Brody to change his report on the first shark attack in order to cover up the death to avoid any impact on their business for the summer.  And in the scene the Mayor says to Brody "Martin, it's all psychological. You yell barracuda, everybody says, "Huh? What?" You yell shark, we've got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July!".

Then there is the scene where Hooper arrives on the island just after the fishermen have caught a tiger shark, and Hooper suggests they cut it open to ensure it killed the boy, Alex Kitner.  And Vaughan says "Listen fellas, this is hardly the time or the place to carry out some sort half-assed autopsy on a fish!  And I am not going to stand there and watch that thing cut open and see that little Kintner boy spill out all over the dock!".

And another good for Murray is where Hooper tries to convince Vaughan to close the beaches and Vaughan looks up at vandalised billboard poster for Amity showing a shark's dorsal fin.  And Vaughan says pointing at the poster "Brody, sick vandalism!  That is a direct mutilation of a public service announcement!  Now I want those paint happy bastards caught and hung up by their busker browns!".

And lastly Lorraine Gray, who is the weakest cast member but not by much as she is still pretty good here as Brody's wife, Ellen, its just her performance is overshadowed by those of the three leads. 

And Lorraine has some good moments such as the scene where Brody berates his young son, Michael, for sitting out in his birthday present, which is a new dinghy boat which is tied up to a pier.  And Ellen says to Brody in defence for her son "He is not out on the water, he is in a boat!  I don't think he'll ever go in again after what happened yesterday!".  But then Ellen who holds a book on sharks that Broady had with him, looks through and sees a picture of a shark ramming a hole into the hull of a small rowboat and she slams the book shut and yells "Michael!  Did you hear your father?!  Out of the water, now!  NOW!!".     

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

Moving onto the director, Steven Spielberg did a stellar job with Jaws and he created the perfect mixture of suspense and thrills and throughout the film there are some great moments where he has the audience jumping out of their seats, namely the scene where Jaws pops out of the water or where Hooper finds the remains of a fisherman underneath the waters.  Spielberg also keeps the film's pacing real tight throughout and also employs some great visual moments as well such as the scene with the dolly zoom shot of Brody witnessing the Kintner boy being killed in the waters.

Spielberg himself throughout the production of course endured many problems as it was primarily shot at Martha's vineyard out in Massachusetts but the scenes sea shot at sea proved to be the most problematic.  The shoot at sea had numerous troubles such as passing ships getting into shot, cameras being soaked with sea water not to mention the hydraulic fake sharks rarely worked, which is often a anecdote told by Dreyfuss himself that tannoy announcements were made around the island saying "The shark is not working!".  On top of this Shaw's heavy drinking cause much friction between himself and Dreyfuss  and the actors themselves were regularly seasick during the sea shoots.

So, in spite of the film's turbulent production, Spielberg here still managed to produce one of his best efforts here and directorially speaking there only a handle full of films he directed as well as this one in his career. 

And of course I can't forget to mention John Williams music score, which is simply superb and it really brought him to prominence as he won his first academy award for the score.  And its incredible to think how tinkly two ivory notes would prove to be so effective and overall its such a great score its one you can easily listen to on its own without watching the film.  Yep, its that good, so good in fact I even own it as an MP3 download (via Amazon) and listen to it quite alot!      

FLAWS (Warning this section may contain spoilers but I guess we all know the story by now!)

As for flaws...... well Jaws maybe a great film but, yes it isn't quite perfect.

And to kick off I'd say one of the main flaws is of course the shark itself, as once its unveiled the film's great suspense that was built up before is now nullified by the appearance of this totally unconvincing rubber creation.  And the shark itself is clearly too big in proportion, and it looks ridiculously fake, although Spielberg does make very effective use of the underwater footage of real sharks, shot by an Australian shark expert couple Ron and Valerie Taylor.

And the shark itself does let the movie down in places, and toward the end it shifts from being a gripping thriller to being ridiculously over the top, with the shark blatantly rising out the water to crash onto the boat's transom, so it can eat Quint and Brody.  In reality of course, there is no way sharks would deliberately prey on humans, as they are largely terratorial creatures who stick to their own environments, and despite the fact that yes there have been many reported shark attacks over the years, sharks themselves largely live off a diet of other marine life such as sea otters, seals and sea lions and they don't deliberately hunt out people in the water!

It also has to be said that the ending of the film is also a weakness as Spielberg at the time wanted a big ending that would have the audiences screaming and on their feet, and the idea to actually blow up the shark was and is quite ridiculous.  There is no doubt the fact that while the end is farcical it is also quite entertaining, and yeah ok you can't but help feel when Brody finally shoots the compressed air canister the shark has in its open jaws, when the sharks explodes, it is a crowd pleaser (the sound accompanying the shot of the shark as its remains sink into the water is actually taken from Spielberg's debut film, Duel, when the truck at the end goes over the cliff).

I would also of course say that the film didn't do sharks as a spieces any favours either, if anything it demonised sharks in the public, and it would take many years later before the myth behind sharks, being monsters, would be debunked.  Peter Benchley, who the wrote the novel the film is based on, later said he deeply regretted writing the novel when he saw the impact it had on the species as the film appeared to legitimise shark hunting. 

The film also paved the way for its inferior sequels, although Jaws 2 was the best of the three of the films (it would have been even better if the shark ate the screaming teenagers in it!) but by the truly awful Jaws 4: The Revenge, the sharks suddenly took on the concept of revenge and that they had to hunt down the rest of the Brody family!  Yeahh ok!!  Surely by then they should have taken note of the concept of horror-thriller sequels is not a good idea!  Although Michael Caine has frequently since said he only took up the part in Jaws 4 in order to help buy a new house for his grandmother (so at least his fee went to good use!).

On a plot note I was also a bit bugged by Hooper's rather presumptious nature in the film especially in the scene where he virtually barges into Brody's home and he starts helping himself to Brody's dinner! I mean this guy really does like make himself at home, doesn't he without really consulting anyone!

And last of all we have the matter of the real villain of the film and no, its not the shark, its the mayor of Amity, Larry Vaughan! I mean it takes four deaths for this man to finally sit up and take notice that the town has a serious shark problem on its hands, yet he wants to cover it up as long as he can in order to bring people to the beaches for their money.  But surely this guy should have had more common sense rather than continue to let people die on the island!  In short, he's a selfish, greedy, money grubbing dick!

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, Jaws to this day is still a masterpiece of modern cinema, it hits all the right notes (even musical!) and it rarely sets a foot wrong (except of course for the fake shark!) as it is brilliantly acted and directed and it features one of the most memorable scores in film.  And any niggles it may have are greatly outweighed by its great qualities and for me it remains essential viewing.

Right, so that's it for now and I will return in February with another post of sorts.

Till then its bye for now!