Baby did a bad, bad thing

OK time for a film reivew and I've decided to go for a slightly different choice which is Stanley Kubrick's last film Eyes Wide Shut, which he died shortly after its completion back in 1999.  The film stars the then celebrity film couple, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and the film is very much centred on them throughout and their fantasies.  But anyway let's have a look at the plot...

The film is set in New York and focuses on a young thirty something couple, Dr Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) and his wife Alice (Nicole Kidman) who are invited to a party by one of Bill's patients, the wealthy Victor Ziegler (Sydney Pollack).  At the party both Bill and Alice flirt with other people, as Alice dances with a sauve middle aged Hungarian man (Sky Du Mont) and Bill is tempted by two models.  Bill however is soon lead away upstairs to meet Victor who has a naked young girl who has overdosed on a speedball of heroin and coke, whom Bill eventually brings around, and Victor asks Bill to keep the incident under wraps which he agrees to.  Later that evening as Bill and Alice go home they share a marijuana joint and end up having a row where Alice soon confides that she had a fantasy about a naval officer whom she once saw on a vacation they had.  At this point Bill receives a phone call as the father of one of his female friends (played by Marie Richardson) has died, and as he goes over to her house she becomes upset and impulsively kisses Bill but he resists and tells her she doesn't know what she is saying, just before her fiance comes into the room, Bill then leaves.

Bill afterwards walks the streets, still disturbed by the fantasy that Alice has told him about, and he soon meets a prostitute named Domino (Vinessa Shaw) who takes him back to her apartment, where they share an awkward kiss, but Bill receives a call from Alice and he decides to leave, but pays Domino for her time.  Bill continues to walk the streets and comes along a nightclub where he sees the name of an old friend from his medical school days, Nick Nightingale (Todd Field) whom he had seen at Zeigler's party.  Bill goes inside and speaks to Nick who tells him he has another gig later that night and he is required to play blindfolded, but he had previously done a similar gig where he saw beautiful women who were masked.  Intruiged by this Bill get's Nick to tell him where the party is held, and Nick tells him he would need to wear a costume and a mask.  Bill rents a costume and a mask from an eccentric costume store owner, Milich (Rabe Serbedzija) who catches his young daughter (Leelee Sobieski) with two Japanese men in the store while they are there.  Bill then attends the party wearing his costume and mask and he sees there are many masked people with cloaks, and many naked women, who are in the middle of a sexual riutal ceremony, and they are paired off with men and they soon engage in sex.  Bill soon wanders around the party and is taken by a women who tells her he should leave immediately is he is in great danger.  Bill is soon confronted by the leader of the ceremony who demands he remove his mask, which he does and the leader insists he remove his clothes, but the masked woman prevents this and says she will offer herself as a sacrifice so Bill can be released, which the leader accepts.  Bill then returns home, but the next he starts to encounter some strange events that may have a strong impact on his life...

As Kubrick's swansong, Eyes Wide Shut is a fine film, although in alot of people's eyes it wasn't the film that they hoped it would be as Kubrick's last.  But despite that Eyes Wide Shut has alot going for it, and it was a rather unusual choice for Kubrick to make an adaptation of the short novel Dream story, written by Arthur Schnitzler, but with everything he did, Kubrick certainly made this adaptation his own.  Kubrick also due to his fear of flying, shot the entire film at Pinewood studios and he had his crew build a replica of Greenwich village in New York, where he went as far as sending his workmen over to measure the width of the streets and the location of newspaper stands!  And naturally during the production Kubrick was highly secretive as he always during his films.

And it has to be said that Eyes Wide Shut's biggest strengths simply come from the performances, and the two leads are both excellent.  And while I'm not Tom Cruise's biggest fan I think his performance is very good as the kind and humane Bill Harford, who at once a loving husband and then a frustrated man, shocked by his wife's revelation of her fantasy to give up their marriage just so she could have that naval officer, which leads him on his lurid journey, where he get's caught up in a mystery.  Nicole Kidman is if anything even better than Cruise and her scene where she argues with Bill while stoned is a real highlight, as is the scene where she sobs and tells him of her erotic dream of having sex with so many different men.  You can also clearly see that they are (well at the time) a loving couple which comes across in the film (before it all went pear shaped of course!) really well.  Kidman also get's the distinct honour of saying the last ever line in Kubrick's last film, and the last word interestingly enough is "fuck".  Just like Kubrick to go out on a four letter word! 

The supporting cast are also very good with director/actor Sydney Pollack giving an excellent performance as the wealthy Victor Zeigler who is clearly involved in all the sex parties and toward the end he shares an excellent, albeit drawn out scene with Cruise where he shares his revelation with Bill that he realises he was at the party.  Pollack also get's some great dialogue as he speaks to Bill and tells him how Nick Nightingale got into trouble for telling him about the party "OK so he got a slap on the wrist, that's less than what he deserves, anyway he's probably back home banging Mrs Nick!".  He also get's another really good line in that scene where he says to Bill "Come on, nobody killed anyone, someone dies, it happens all the time, life goes on until it doesn't, but we both know that, don't we?".  Rabe Serbedzija also gives a really good and amusing performance as Milich the eccentric costume store owner, who's young teenage daughter is involve in hanky panky with a couple of Japanese men.  Rabe has quite a few funny lines where he berates the men "gentlemen, have you no sense of deceny?! Can't you see that she is a child?!".  Yet the next day when Bill returns he makes a suggestive offer to Bill that he could offer up his daughter as a sexual favour, as he says "if there is anything you want, anything at all, it need'nt be a costume".  And lastly I will mentioned Todd Field as Nick Nightingale who does a good enough job as Bill's old friend, and Alan Cumming provides an amusing cameo performance as a camp hotel desk clerk.

However it has to be said that Eyes Wide Shut isn't perfect, and it has its flaws, starting with the whole mystery section of the film, where after witnessing the sex party at the mansion, Bill get's embroiled in a mystery over the dead prostitute and he is followed and receives warnings from an unnamed man.  At this point it seems like it is leading to something but the whole thing is killed when (PLOT SPOILER) when Bill goes to see Zeigler who later tells him the whole thing was a fake and a charade, designed to keep him quiet, and at the point the whole thing seems pointless.  One or two of the scenes are also a little bit cringeworthy to watch, especially the scene where the bereaved friend of Bill's played by Marie Richardson kisses him and gushes by saying "I love you, I love you!" out of the blue, its just a silly moment in the film where this woman decides out of grief to give up on her current relationship.  The sex orgy scene is also a bit silly and in typical Kubrick fashion is not that erotic, but more clinical to watch, as the masked men and women have sex (although the 69 sex bit with the two women is not bad!) at the party.  The film's length is also a bit problematic at times as some of the scenes are really long and painfully drawn out, and although Bill's scene witth Zeigler near the end of the film is one of the best, Kubrick really stretches out the pauses in dialogue just that bit too far, which threatens to ruin it.  And finally the repetitive use of Gyorgi Ligeti's "Musica Ricerta" becomes a bit tiresome after a while as its supposed to add to the tension in certain scenes but if anything it detracts from it.

All that aside though however direction wise Kubrick does a great job here, and despite any problems with pacing he has put together an excellent film which features an immaculate production and terrific set design (as I already mentioned).  The soundtrack, despite the repetitive use of the Ligeti track, is also very good and Kubrick chooses fine pieces, starting with Dimitri Shostaskovich's "Suite for variety stage orchestra" used at the start of the film and at the end, as well Chris Isaak's "Baby did a bad, bad thing".  And Kubrick hired English composer Jocelyn Pook who provides some excellent original music for the film, which is featured mainly in the orgy scenes at the party, one of the standouts being a track "migrations" used in the scene where Bill wanders around the party watching the carnal activities.

So that's it for my look at Eyes wide shut, which is a very good end to a magnificent film career for Stanley Kubrick, and while its not one of his greatest films, it saw him go out in fine style, and was fitting reminder of one of America's greatest filmmakers.

And with that I shall lie it right there.    

Doctor Who: Raging inferno

OK time for another review on this blog, and as you might have guessed if you have read some of these posts that I am a bit of a Doctor Who fan, and so for this one I will look at one the classics of the original series, Inferno, which is from Jon Pertwee's era in his first season back in 1970.  So let's delve into the story....

The story is set around a drilling project nicknamed "the Inferno" and is run by the arrogant and bad tempered Professor Stahlman (Olaf Pooley).  Stahlamn's project is set to penetrate the earth's crust and release pockets of energy into the core to provide unlimited cheap energy.  However problems abound at the project, starting with one of the workers, Harry Slocum (Walter Randall) who is called to repair a leakage of green fluid from one of the pumps on the drill, which he touches and it turns him into a primordial creature, who kills a few technicians and a soldier.  The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) who is also at the project, as he is trying to use the power energy from the drill to experiment with his TARDIS to get it working again, and he is accompanied by his companion and fellow scientist Liz Shaw (Caroline John) and the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney).  Stahlam also has to endure interference from one of his associates, Sir Keith Gold (Christopher Benjamin) who calls in a hot tempered drill expert Greg Sutton (Derek Newark) to help, but his help is soon turned down by the arrogant Stahlman.  The Doctor soon encounters Slocum who soon dies as he is shot by the Brigadier's men, and later on a quantity of the green toxic fluid is siphoned into a jar, which Stahlman scalds his hand on.  Stahlman slowly also starts to feel the effects of the fluid work on him as he decides to sabotage the drill's computer, which warns to stop the drilling.  The Doctor despite his best efforts to warn the Brigadier of the sabotage, gives in and decides to leave using the TARDIS console and he vanishes.

The Doctor soon comes to and finds that he is the same place at the project but that he is in a parallel version of Earth, where Great Britain is now ruled under a fascist regime.  The Doctor soon encounters parallel counterparts of the Brigadier, who is now the fascist Bridgade-Leader, and Liz is now Section Leader Elizabeth Shaw, and Stahlman is now Director Stahlman.  Stahlman's project has also advanced further ahead in time than in the other version of Earth, and the Doctor is captured and interrogated by the Brigade Leader.  However as the project nears the end and the Earth's crust is penetrated, the natural forces of the planet erupt as the complex is shaken by earth tremors, the project crew all flee.  The Doctor escapes his cell but is too late to prevent the events that will soon lead to the planet's destruction and he now has to try and find a way to get back to his own dimension to save the Earth from a similar fate....

Inferno is one of the best stories of the Pertwee era, and in his first season, the tone of the show was far more adult and hard hitting than in the follow seasons that Barry Letts and Terence Dicks produced.  This story in particular is similar in style to Nigel Keale's Quatermass, with its apocalyptic themes.  However the story itself is also brilliantly written by Don Houghton, and the script is also quite witty and there many great lines of dialogue throughout from the characters.  The themes of the end of the world are common in Doctor Who but here they are put to great and dramatic effect especially in the latter episodes where the parallel world faces the end, and the Doctor is left powerless to do anything about it.  And that in itself was one of the strengths of the seventh season in that dared to be dark and different and push to the series into areas that it hadn't really been before, although the show was still essentially Doctor Who.

Getting onto the performances starting with Jon Pertwee, who is perfect as the Doctor and he puts in one of his best performances in the role, especially as he is later put in an impossible situation to either try and save the parallel world and himself.  Jon also get's some great lines of dialogue too in the story, especially when he is in the parallel world and he is to he will be executed but the Brigade Leader says he will stand trial first and the Doctor replies "typical beaurocrat, you can't shoot me until you've filled out all the forms!".  I also liked the moment where Doctor is in his jail cell and he refuses to get up on his feet, but the Platoon leader Benton (John Levine) Sgt Benton's parallel world counterpart points his rifle at him, and the Doctor looks up and says "oh well that's different!".  Jon also shares a great scene with Caroline John as Liz Shaw in the parallel world where he tries to convince her that "no matter what they taught you in this biggoted world you still have a mind of your own!".  Jon also has a funny line when he angrily says to Stahlman "well I was wrong, Professor, its not your liver that's playing up, its your general disposition!". 

Nicholas Courtney is also great in his dual role as the Brigadier and the parallel world counterpart, the Brigade Leader.  Courtney has some great lines especially as the Brigade leader when the Doctor says to him "but I don't exist in your world!" and he replies "well you won't feel the bullets when we shoot you!".  Jon and Nicholas also both share a nice moment together in the scene at the end of story where the Doctor angrily tries to leave using the TARDIS console, but soon reappears covered in dust as he reveals he materliased in a rubbish tip, and the Doctor says "my dear fellow I wonder if I could get one of your chaps to help me move the TARDIS its landed in a rather inaccessible position!" and the Brigadier replies "a pompous self opiniated idiot I believe you called me, Doctor!".  Caroline John is also really good in her dual role as Liz the scientist and the section-leader in the parallel world, and its a nice change up to see her play a fascist character, although she does make that important arc in her character in the parallel world as she realises how the Doctor is telling the truth and she tries to help him towards the end.   But its a pity that Caroline wasn't given a better exit to the show than she was given here, but in the end there was a joint decision between Letts and Caroline for her to leave as she was pregnant at the time and Letts decided not to renew her contract.  And John Levine finally get's a larger role in the show as Sgt Benton and morely as the platoon leader Benton in the parallel world, where he get's to act as the bad guy and is pretty good at it, despite his silly metamorphisis into the primord later on.  Benton in the normal dimension of Earth has a funny moment with the Brigadier when he is ordered to try and get Stahlman to come and see him but Benton says "that he is too busy to waste time bandying words with a pompous military idiot, sir!" and the Brigadier replies sharply "Sergeant I wan't to see Professor Stahlman and I wan't to see him now, and I advise you better not come back without him!  Carry him in here if you have to, but get him!!".

Regarding the other cast, Olaf Pooley is really good as the stubborn and pompous professor Stahlman, and he get's some good lines, especially in his first scene with Sir Keith (played by Christopher Benjamin) whom he blames for interferring with his project, and he says "I'll make a bargain with you, you stay away from my drilling and I'll let you run your canteen!".  Pooley's exasperation at the Doctor is also amusing as he grows more frustrated at him during the project, and he says "that man ought to be locked up!" and "I'm rapidly losing patience with that man!".  Derek Newark as Greg Sutton is also pretty good, the drilling expert who is brought onboard the project by Sir Keith, and at times he exhibits a temper as fiery as the inferno itself.  In fact there are times you imagine that Newark will burst a blood vessel with all the shouting he does in the story, and my favourite line of his in the story is when he yells at Professot Stahlman toward the end "As far I'm concerned you can all blow yourselves to KINGDOM COME!!!".  Newark also has a good scene as Sutton with Sir Keith at the start where he is shown around the drill centre when Sutton arrives and Sutton asks what he is doing here and Sir Keith explains, with Sutton saying "so basically I'm a civil servant down here" and Sir Keith says "yes, how do you feel about that?" to which Sutton replies "no comment!".  Christopher Benjamin is also really good in his smaller role as Sir Keith who voices his concerns to the Doctor and the Brigadier about the project.  The only weak link in the cast comes from Sheila Dunn as Petra Williams, Stahlman's personal assistant, as she is rather one dimensional in the part and is largely sidelined to just gasping in shock and saying "no! and hugging Greg when things go pear shaped toward the end.

Douglas Camfield who was the director for the story does a great job here, although he acutally only directed two episodes as he fell ill with his heart condition, and Barry Letts, the show's producer directed the remaining story and he naturally deserves a great deal of credit aswell.  The story despite being a seven parter is actually very well paced, something which was always a problem with the longer stories in the show, and the change up of the parallel world helps keep the story going without dragging.  And the story also features some stock incidental music tracks, which are really good as well as atmospheric and creepy and the story itself is unique in that it has its own individual titles with footage of erupting volcanos at the start of each episode.

As for the story's flaws well there are one or two, for one I felt the concept of the project was a bit vague, as just how exactly would drilling into the earth's crust be a good idea, and how would they be able to utilise the pockets of energy that Stahlman intended to use????  Because if the forces of the planet are uncontrollable (which they turned out to be!) then why would they even consider it!  It just boils down to Stahlman's megalomania in the end that he refuses to listen to anyone or even to the drill's computer which warns him to shut down the drilling.  Also the make-up for the primords whilst its not bad, on John Levine and Olaf Pooley it does look a bit laughable, particularly on John Levine in the scene where he changes into a primord and he rolls around the floor!  Also another thing is the scene where Stahlamn makes the rash decision of putting his hand on the heat resistance jar with the green liquid inside, which starts to crack due to the intense heat of the substance.  Yet why didn't he lift it by the silver base of the jar???  That way he could have avoided burning himself and from turning into a Primord!  Its not very bright of him to say the least, but its all about the drama I suppose.  You could also argue that while the story is quite powerful, that its rather doom laden tone and of the seventh season in general at the time threatened to alienate the audience of the show.  And it was unknown at the time but the show was in danger of being cancelled after this season as the viewing figures were quite low, and to ensure the show's future Barry Letts and Terence Dicks did the right thing in changing the tone and bringing in the UNIT family to make the show more accessible to its audience.

But despite all that Inferno still remains one of Jon Pertwee's finest stories, which is pretty intense and dark in tone, but is not without its moments of wit and humour, and if you are a fan of the original show and haven't seen it yet, Inferno is definitely one to check out.

And that's it for now.  

Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country - "Don't catch any bugs!"

Right, so this is another revisitation post of sorts as I will be re-doing my post for one of the even numbered (i.e. good) Star Trek films, Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country. But does it really follow the even numbered path like the other Trekkie films??? (well except Insurrection that was God awful!).  Well, let's beam up and take another look...

And yes, the usual warning is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, the story begins with the news that the Klingon empire coming under serious threat of dying out as they lose a key energy production facility and their home planet's ozone layer is destroyed.  The Klingons now realising the danger of their existance decide to try and forge a peace treaty with the Federation of planets.  Spock (Nimoy) puts himself up as a peace ambassador and the Enterprise is given the mission to escort the Klingon chancellor, Gorkon (David Warner) to the negotations on Earth.  Kirk is naturally opposed to this arrangement as he has never forgiven the Klingons for the death of his son, and the Klingons and the Enterprise crew have an uncomfortable dinner onboard the ship. 

However after the Klingons return to their ship, they are attacked seemingly by the Enterprise and two men board the Klingon vessel in spacesuits, as they have disengaged the vessel's gravity, they kill several crew members, and they shoot Chancellor Gorkon.  Kirk back on the Enteprise is surprised by the attack and clearly has no idea what is going on and as a sign of good faith he decides to beam aboard their ship and help, along with McCoy who tries to save Gorkon who soon dies from his wounds, after this Kirk and McCoy are placed under arrest.  Kirk and McCoy are soon put on trial for alleged actions in the attack and they are prosecuted by stern and devious Klingon, General Chang (Christopher Plummer) who was onboard the Klingon ship when it was attacked. Kirk and McCoy are soon found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment on a penal planet, Rura Penthe.

Back on the Enterprise Spock assumes command of the Enterprise and then sets about trying to find out what happened onboard the Enterprise during the attack, with the help of his student Vulcan, Valeris (Kim Cattrall) and the rest of the crew.  Meanwhile on the prison asteroid, Kirk and McCoy soon meet a chaemeleon like alien creature Martia (Iman) who tells them that she can help them escape from the prison, which she eventually does but she soon betrays to the Klingons, but Kirk and McCoy are soon rescued by Spock and beamed back onboard the Enterprise.  And from here Kirk begins unravel who is behind the assassination of Gorkon and who is set to sabotage the peace conference on Earth....

THOUGHTS 

It has to be said that Star Trek VI is a big improvement on the below par Star Trek V and it also saw the welcome return of Nicholas Meyer to the directorial helm which also features a fine screenplay which he co-wrote and is rich with quotes from Shakespeare's Hamlet.  The main characters are really well represented again and the idea of the Klingons seeking a peace treaty with the Federation is also really good, especially as their very existence is under threat due to the environmental hazards on their own world, which leaves in a weak position where they can no longer afford to fight. 

And the film also develops a whodunnit theme and Spock even acts as Sherlock Holmes in the film once he starts to investigate who was behind the attack, and he even quotes Holmes by saying "when you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth".  The Klingon characters are also very well catered for with Chancellor Gorkon trying to make peace with the humans, and his mistrusting daughter, as well as the devious General Chang.

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

Which brings me onto the performances of the film which are overall pretty good with the regular cast all giving their last hurrah together here and solid performances from the supporting cast.

Starting with William Shatner, who is great again as James T Kirk, and his character makes an important arc, especially as he starts off the film with hatred for the Klingons, but after the attack on the Klingon chancellor's ship he immediately surrenders to avoid confrontation, and he later understand the Klingons predicament. 

Bill as you would expect get's plenty of good scenes in the film such as the one where Kirk confronts Spock over his decision to act as the ambassador for the Klingon peace talks. So, in the scene Kirk after the meeting says to Spock of the Klingons "They're animals!" but Spock tries to persuade him of the talks "Jim, there is a historic opportunity here" however Kirk warns Spock "Don't believe them! Don't trust them!". Spock however is more sympathetic to the Klingons and tells Kirk "They are dying" but Kirk then callously says "Let them die!". Spock looks a little surprised by Kirk's harsh reaction, who suddenly sighs and says "Has it occurred to you that this crew is due to stand down in three months? We've done our bit for king and country!".

SPOILER SCENE COMING UP!

Another good scene is when Kirk realises that Martia, the shape shifting alien, who helps them escape from the Rura Penthe mines, has set them up so he hits her. So, Kirk angrily says to her "She didn't need our help getting anywhere! Where'd you get these convenient clothes?! Don't tell me that flare is standard prison issue! It's to let them know where we are. Ask her what she's getting in return". Martia tells Kirk that she is getting a full pardon and as Kirk waits for Spock to beam him and McCoy up (as Spock placed a transponder patch on Kirk's back earlier) and Kirk says to her "An accident wasn't good enough". Martia then tells Kirk "Good enough for one. Two would have looked suspicious" and then she morphs into Kirk and says "Killed while trying to escape. Now that's convincing enough for both!". Then as Kirk and Martia (now in Kirk's form) fight each other, Kirk says to Martia "I can't believe I kissed you!" and the Kirk Martia tells him "It must have been your life-long ambition!".

And after Spock manages to beam up Kirk and McCoy it happens just as the prison commander is about to tell them who was behind setting them up. So after Kirk is beamed up, he starts swearing and ranting as he materialises onboard the Enterprise and complains to Spock "Couldn't you have waited just two more seconds! He was about to explain the whole thing!" Spock then looks surprised and asks "You want to go back?" and McCoy firmly says "Absolutely not!" and Kirk quietly says "Its cold!". 

And lastly there is the scene where (SPOILER!!) Kirk saves the life of the Klingon president, Khitomer when an assassination attempt is made on him. So, as General Gorkon's daughter, Azetbur asks what is going on, Kirk says to her "It's about the future, Madame Chancellor. Some people think the future means the end of history. Well, we haven't run out of history quite yet. Your father called the future - "the undiscovered country". People can be very frightened of change". Azetbur seems touched by Kirk's words and says to him "You've restored my father's faith" and Kirk says to her "And you've restored my son's" as the crowd applaud them both.    

Leonard Nimoy as Spock delivers a fine performance and we see his personality from Star Trek II pretty much fully restored, where has a fine balance of logic and understanding of human behaviour. 

And Leonard has his on share of good scenes such as the one where Kirk confronts Spock over his decision to act as ambassador for the Klingon peace talks. So, in the scene after Kirk learns from Spock that they are expected to lead the Klingdon ambassador as an envoy out to the peace meetings and he is somewhat taken aback.  So, Kirk angrily asks Spock "We volunteered?!" and Spock says to him "There is an old Vulcan proverb. "Only Nixon could have gone into China". However Spock insists this could work for them and says "Jim, there is a historic opportunity here" and Kirk angrily tells him "Spock, you know how I feel about this. They're animals!" and Spock says to him "They are dying" and Kirk angrily says to him "Let them die!" and Kirk then insists they have done their bit for "king and country" and that Spock should have trusted him, which leaves Spock looking a bit confused.

Another good scene is where just after Kirk and McCoy have been sentenced to life imprisonment, the Enterprise crew watch the trial from the bridge and Spock requests to playback the footage of Enterprise firing its torpedos on the Klingdon ambassadors ship. So, Spock says "An ancestor of mine maintained that if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth". And when asked what Spock means, he says "It means that if we cannot have fired those torpedoes, someone else did". Spock then suggests another ship nearby could have fired the torpedos and his protege, Valeris suggests "A bird or prey" but Scotty insists "But a bird of prey cannae fire when she's cloaked" and Spock tells him "All things being equal, Mr Scott, I'd agree but things are not equal". 




Chekov then suggests if there was a ship nearby then surely the assassins would have beamed aboard from there but Spock refutes it and says "You're forgetting something, Mr Chekov. According to our databanks, this ship fired those torpedoes. If we did, the killers are here. If we did not, whoever altered the databanks is here. In either case, what we are looking for is here".

Then there is the scene where Spock is having his crew search the ship for the gravity boots the killers used to board the Klingon ship. So, in the scene Spock calls Scotty over and asks him "Mr Scott. I understand you're having difficulty with the warp drive. How much time do you require for repair?". Scotty however seems puzzled and says "There's nothing wrong with the bloody thing!" so Spock is forced to explain himself "Mr Scott, if we return to spacedock, the assassins will surely find a way to dispose of their incriminating footwear, and we will never see the Captain or Dr McCoy alive again". Scotty then smiles and says "It could take weeks, sir!" and Spock, satisifed says "Thank you, Mr Scott".

WARNING: SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!

Another good scene is where Spock confronts Valeris as she is involved in the conspiracy to kill Chancellor Gorkon, so Spock forcefully uses his mind-meld on her to find out who colluded with her to have the chancellor killed.

So, as Spock performs his mind-meld on Valeris he speaks out the names of the conspirators and afterward the strain of the mind-meld appears too much for Valeris, so Spock let's her go after Kirk demands where the next peace conference location is. So, Spock emotionally tells Kirk "She does not know" and Scotty grimly says "Then we're dead!" and Spock says "I've been dead before. Contact Excelsior. She'll have the co-ordinates". 

Then we have the scene where Kirk visits Spock in his quarters and the two of them discuss what happened and Spock admits "You were right. It was arrogant presumption on my part that got us into this situation. You and the doctor might have been killed" and Kirk smugly says "The night is young!". So, as the two of them discuss what happened, Spock says to Kirk "Is it possible that we two, you and I, have grown so old and so inflexible that we have outlived our usefulness? Would that constitute a joke???". Kirk then says "Don't crucify yourself. It wasn't your fault" and Spock says "I was responsible" and Kirk tells him "For no actions but your own" and Spock tells him "That is not what you said at your trial". So, Kirk says to Spock "Spock, all human beings..." and Spock interrupts him and says "But Captain we both know that I am not human" and Kirk tells him "Spock, you want to know something? Everbody's human" and Spock a little taken aback says "I find that remark...insulting!" and Kirk grins and says "Come on. I need you!".

And last of all is the final scene where (SPOILER!!!!) the Enterprise has been ordered to be decomissioned and the crew are to stand down. So, as the crew look surprised by this news, Spock suggests to the crew "If I were human, I believe my response would be, "Go to hell." If I were human!".

DeForrest Kelley next up is very good once again as McCoy, who usually get's some of the best dialogue in the series and he has his share of good scenes here.

As for a few examples there is the scene where just after Klingon ambassador ship has been attacked and Gorkon shot, Kirk and McCoy beam aboard as an act of good faith. So, as they both see Gorkon dying on the floor, McCoy asks Cheng "Aren't you carrying a surgeon?" and Cheng says to him "We were until this disgrace!" so McCoy pleads "Then for God's sakes let me help!". 

Another good scene from Kelley is where Kirk and McCoy are on trial and Chang questions him and asks "Doctor, would you be so good as to tell me, what is your current medical status?" and McCoy with a smile says "Well apart from a touch of arthritis, I'd say pretty good!" and we hear some laughter from the audience. Chang then looks a little annoyed and says "You have a singular wit, Doctor!".

Chang then grills McCoy on the amount he had to drink that night where Gorkon and Chang attended dinner onboard the Enterprise. So, Chang asks "You know, I believe that you consumed a rather generous amount of Romulan ale in the officers' mess on the night in question. Am I right, Doctor?" and McCoy rather annoyed says "We all did! All of us!". Chang then confronts McCoy over his failure to save Gorkon that night, so he asks him "May, I ask do your hands shake?" and McCoy anxiously says "I was nervous!" and Chang says "No, you were incompetent! You WERE INCOMPETENT! Whether deliberately or as a result of age combined with drink, the court will have to determine!". McCoy however desparately tells the court "My God, man! I tried to save him! I tried to save him. I was desperate to save him. He was the last best hope in the universe for peace!".

Then there is the scene where McCoy and Kirk are imprisoned on Rura Penthe as they are trying to get to sleep and McCoy complains to Kirk "Three months to retirement. What a way to finish!" and Kirk says "We're not finished" and McCoy says "Speak for yourself!". Kirk however is seriously pondering what is going on as a result of their framing and asks McCoy "Bones, are you afraid of your future?" and McCoy says "That was the message I believe I was trying to convey!". Kirk however says "I don't mean this future" as in their sentence on the penal planet and Bones then asks a little annoyed "What is this?! Multiple choice!". However as Martia pays them a surprise visit she quietly tells them that she can help them escape and she kisses him before she goes. So, McCoy after looks to Kirk and asks irritably "What IS IT with YOU anyway?!" and Kirk grins and says "Still think we're finished?" and McCoy groans and says "More than ever!".

SPOILER!!! BIG GIVEAWAY IN NEXT PARAGRAPH!!!

And last of all is the scene where the Enteprise falls under attack from the film's main conspirator, Chang attacks the Enterprise and Spock suggests that they perform a dissection on one of their torpedos so they can return fire on the enemy ship. So, Spock asks McCoy "Doctor, would you care to assist me in performing surgery on a torpedo?" and McCoy smiles and says "Fascinating!". And as the two of them work on the torpedo, Chang's arrogant voice is heard over the speaker system and McCoy says "I'd give real money if he'd shut up!".  

Walter Koenig next up is good once again as Chekov also has a few amusing moments, especially when he is suffering from a hangover after having Romulan ale at the dinner with the Klingons, and Kirk says "Chekov are you aware of any radiation surge?" and Chekov wearily replies "Only the size of my head!". 

And Nichelle Nichols gets a funny moment where they try and cross Klingon airspace, and they have to communicate in Klingon, and they have loads of books of Klingon translation, and Uhura hastily and poorly speaks a few lines of Klingon to the Klingon's at the outpost, and they reply "Don't catch any bugs!" and they laugh, and the Enterprise crew laugh with them, and Uhura shuts off the comm annoyed.

James Doohan is great once again as Scotty here and he too get's some of the film's most amusing scenes

And as a couple of examples of his scenes for starters there is the one where Scotty rants to Spock about Kirk and McCoy's trial after their sentence when Spock suggests that an enemy ship nearby fired on the Klingon ambassador's ship and not Enterprise. So, Spock suggests they must inform Starfleet command and Scotty angrily shouts "Inform them of what, a new weapon that is invisible? Raving lunatics, that's what they'll call us. They'll say that we're so desperate to exonerate the Captain that we'll say anything!".


And lastly there is the scene where Valeris fires her phaser onboard the Enterprise as Chekov suggests why didn't the killers simply vapourise (or wapourise!) their incriminating gravity boots, however the staser sets off the ship's alarms.

So, after Valeris tells Chekov firing a phaser onboard a starship is illegal and unauthorised, Scotty appears and asks "Who fired that...?!". So, Spock then asks Scotty " "Mr Scott. I understand you're having difficulty with the warp drive. How much time do you require for repair?". Scotty however seems puzzled and says "There's nothing wrong with the bloody thing!" so Spock is forced to explain himself "Mr Scott, if we return to spacedock, the assassins will surely find a way to dispose of their incriminating footwear, and we will never see the Captain or Dr McCoy alive again". Scotty then smiles and says "It could take weeks, sir!" and Spock, satisifed says "Thank you, Mr Scott".

As for the supporting cast members, David Warner is excellent as Chancellor Gorkon as a seemingly decent and honourable man who is desparate to try and make a peace work with the Federation.   Warner also get's some fine lines of dialogue, and he does get an amusing one where Gorkon dines with the Enterprise crew and he tells them "You haven't experienced Shakespeare until you have heard it in the original Klingon!" and Chang demonstrates as he says the line "To be or not to be" in his native tongue. 

And after they have one of which is where he says to Kirk "You don't trust me do you? I don't blame you, if we are to build a "brave new world", then our generation is going to have the hardest time living in it". 

And in the scene where Kirk and McCoy board Gorkon's ship and find that he has been shot, McCoy desparately does what he can to try and save him but to no avail. So, with his dying breath, Gorkon brings his hand up to Kirk's head, who leans over him and Gorkon weakly says to him with his last words "Don't let it end this way, Captain" and he goes limp and his hand drops.  

Christopher Plummer is also excellent as the devious and manipulative General Chang and he also get's some fine lines, especially as he is quite fond of quoting Shakespeare (for some reason or other!).

And Plummer has his share of good scenes that include the one where Chang dines on the Enterprise with Kirk and his crew and they have an incredibly awkward and tense evening. So, Chang tells the othes ""To be, or not to be." That is the question which preoccupies our people, Captain Kirk. We need breathing room!" and as he has been hearing quotations all night, Kirk suddenly says "Earth, Hilter. 1938!" and Chang a little taken aback asks "I beg your pardon?". 

Then there is the scene where Kirk and McCoy are put on trial and Chang acts as the prosecutor and he questions both men. So, Chang starts with McCoy and he asks him of that night when McCoy tried to save Gorkon but failed to "Tell me, Doctor, do your hands shake?" and McCoy says "I was nervous!" and Chang says to him "No, you were incompetent! YOU WERE INCOMPETENT! Either by age or combined with drink! The court will have to decide!".

And then later in the scene he questions Kirk and he says "There we have it, citizens. We have finally established the particulars of the crime, and now we come to the architect of this tragic affair, James Tiberius Kirk. What would your favourite author say, Captain? "Let us sit upon the ground "and tell sad stories of the death of kings." Tell us your sad story, Kirk!".

So, as Chang questions Kirk, he plays an excerpt of Kirk's audio log where he reveals that he has never trusted Klingons and never will as he could never forgive them for the murder of his son (David). So, when Chang asks Kirk did he says those words, Kirk says "Those words were spoken by me" however Kirk's defence says that his political views 

Iman also puts in an appealing performance as the seductive shape shifting alien Martia, who helps Kirk and McCoy try and escape from the prison asteroid.  Iman has an amusing line when she initially meets Kirk who knocks out an alien he is fighting with by kicking it in the shins, and Iman says "that wasn't his knee, not all lifeforms keep their genitals in the same place, Captain!".  And Kim Cattrall is also good as Spock's protege who later reveals something rather dark under her Vulcan sleeve.  

As for Nicholas Meyer he does an excellent job here with the film and keeps the drama moving along very well, and maintains a fine line of suspense, action and humour all at the same time.  And the film also features a fine score from composer Cliff Eidelman which is quite grand and operatic at times and is more dark in tone than the previous film scores.  The film's special effects are once again done by Industrial light and magic and they are excellent as you would expect, although some of the effects were actually shot by other companies.  The make up for the film is also worthy of note especially the Klingon make-up is excellent particularly for Gorkon, Chang, and Gorkon's daughter. 

While the film doesn't have much in the way of too many flaws, there are one or two niggles, starting with how Kirk even at what must be the age of 60 is still attracting young ladies (or in this case aliens!) although perhaps this why in the new Star Trek reboot Kirk is seen fooling around with sexy alien females.  I also felt that it was a weird choice to actually make Klingon blood pink (or fuchsia more accurately) as in previous films the Klingon blood was actually red, so did they have some sort of blood tranfusion through the years???  It doesn't really matter of course but its just a curious oddity.  And its also funny how Chekov is so unfamiliar with some of the Starfleet regulations, such as firing a phaser onboard a starship is not permitted as it would set off the alarm, as Valeris informs him, but you would assume as a starfleet commander, he already should know that!

But apart from those small niggles Star Trek VI is a very good entry in the franchise and it was a fine swansong for the original cast of the show, as this film also marked the 25th anniversary of the show, and it was a pity that its creator Gene Roddenberry passed away shortly before the film's premiere.  And overall it stands as one of the best entries in the series.

So on that note I shall beam it up!  

Star Trek V: The final frontieerrr

Right well I thought it was time for a review on Star Trek V: The final frontier, as I've already done II, III and IV.  This time William Shatner took over the directorial duties here from Leonard Nimoy, so let's gie it a look then....

So the film begins with the crew of the new Enterprise (after the destruction of the original one in Star Trek III) taking shore leave after their first cruise in the ship goes awry.  And Kirk (Shatner) is sharing his shore leave with Spock (Nimoy) and McCoy (Kelley) as they are in Yosemite Park, but they soon receive a call from Starfleet command which brings their leave to an end.  Kirk and his crew are ordered to go and rescue human, Klingon and Romulan hostages on the planet Nimbus III.  On arrival at Nimbus III, Kirk and his crew discover that the man behind the hostage crisis is in fact a Vulcan named Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill) which Spock soon reveals is in fact his half brother.  During an attempt to end the seige, Sybok captures the Enterprise crew and he also uses his mind melding powers to bend the crew to his will, and he tells them that he plans on taking their ship past the great barrier, to a planet that is known as Sha ka Ree, a place that is shrouded in myth that is said to be the place that was responsible for the creation of life itself.  However passing the great barrier in itself could prove to be a journey that could destroy the Enterprise, and as Kirk placed in the ship's brig along with Spock and McCoy, it is up to him to try and stop Sybok from achieving his plan....

Star Trek V it has to be said in comparison to the previous films is a bit of a letdown, although it is still fairly entertaining, Shatner seems to have made the franchise a bit of a joke.  Plus also the Star Trek crew at this point are also starting to look that bit older and we are subjected to one or two moments you wish you had never seen, such as Uhura dancing wearing very little and using large feathers to cover herself, which is cringeworthy in itself!  The humour is also a bit more heavily accented and while there are certainly some amusing moments it is also a bit cheesy at times, and it feels less grounded than the previous films and a bit more like slapstick.  The film itself underwent multiple re-writes and also it suffers somewhat from the fact that ILM were unable to do the special effects for the film, and they used a different team run by Brian Ferren, in order to keep the costs down, so the effects look distinctly less impressive than before. 

Performance wise the film is actually not too bad and one of the things that works better here is the dynamic between the three leads of Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley and the scenes they share together are the best in the film.  The best scene in the film they have together is arguably the best scene in the film where Sybok makes McCoy face his pain, as he shows him the image of his dying father and he chose to euthanise him to spare him the pain, only to find not longer after a cure was found for his condition.  They also share some funny moments such as where they are locked in the Enterprise's brig and Kirk tries to escape by being given a hoist to reach the bars above in the ceiling but instead he get's zapped by a defensive electric shock.  Spock then tells Kirk that the brig is inescapable as it was tested by the Starfleet's best officer for the job, and Kirk asks "did this officer have by any chance pointed ears and the endless capacity for getting his shipmates into trouble??" and Spock replies "he did have pointed ears".  James Doohan as Scotty once again also delivers an amusing performance as the ship's chief engineer and he helps Krik, Spock and McCoy escape from the brig and he yells "don't you know a prison break when you see one!".  Scotty amusingly later on tells the trio how to escape back to the communications room, and Kirk says he is a miracle, and Scotty replies "oh I know this ship like the back of my hand!" and he then walks into a high beam, knocking himself out. 

As for the film's main antagonist, Sybok, Laurence Buckinhill gives a decent performance as Spock's far more emotional and passionate Vulcan brother.  However it has to be said his performance is a bit melodramatic at times especially in the moments where he uses his mend melding powers to relieve people from their pain and he says "this pain has poisoned your soul for a long time!".  Also the scene where he introduces himself to Spock, he sounded almost like a gameshow host "Spock its me!  Its Sybok!".  Although the interesting thing about Sybok's character is that he isn't really a vilaiin and he in the end his just wants to achieve his goal of reaching Sha ka Ree rather take any lives in the process.

Getting on to the flaws of the film, well there are a fair few, starting with the useless addition of the enemy Klingon captain Klaa, who is far from menacing and is a bit of a joke as far as baddies goes, he decides to pursue Kirk for his own personal glory.  However when Klaa catches up with the Enterprise, the Klingon ambassador stops him from carrying out his attack, and he is told off like a schoolboy and forced to apologise to Kirk.  The group dynamic of Kirk, Spock and McCoy does work well in the film, but I do find it a bit difficult to digest that they would spend their shore leave together, as something just doesn't sit right with that.  Surely you would think as McCoy suggests "all that time we spend on the ship getting on each others nerves, and what do we do?  We go on vacation together!" that they would want to spend their shore leave apart.  Also the main villain piece of the film turns out to be (PLOT SPOILER) the God of Sha Ka Ree who is no more than a powerful existential being that wants to escape its planet, and it makes for a rather hasty decision to turn him into a baddie, which leads to the film's rather poorly concieved climax.  Although this scene leads into a funny line from Kirk when Klaa's klingon vessel appears and aims its gun at Kirk who says "so its me you want, you Klingon bastards!".     

On the plus side however the film sees the return of the composer Jerry Goldsmith and he provides the film with a pretty good score and its good to hear that familiar main theme of Goldsmith's (which was at the time used also for the TV series: Star Trek The Next Generation).

So that's it for my look at Star Trek V, which doubtless remains one of the weakest entries in the franchise, and although it is still fairly enjoyable its far from one of the best.

And that's it for the now. 

Star Trek IV: Double dumb ass on you!!

OK so I've left a bit of a gap in between my review of Star Trek III and IV, so I thought I would IV now before I leave it too long, so let's give it a looksee..

Starting with my usual of looking at the film's plot, it begins in deep space where an giant orbiting probe sends out powerful signals, which ends up disabling starships that it passes by.  The probe then arrives over the Earth where it signals end up doing serious damage to the Earth's atmosphere and creating heavy storms.  The president of Earth is advised by visiting Vulcan ambassador, Sarek (also Spock's father, played by Mark Lenard) to send out a planetary distress signal.  Meanwhile the USS Enterprise crew (or rather the late Enterprise as it was destroyed in ST III) have been living in exile on Vulcan, where Spock (Leonard Nimoy) has been ressurected and is still recovering.  Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew at this time are ready to travel back to Earth to face the consequences of their theft and destruction of the Enterprise.  Enroute, travelling in their captured Klingon vessel, the crew receive the president's distress call, and on hearing the probe's signal, Spock soon deduces the signal is that of whale song, sung by humpback whales.  Spock then proposes to Kirk that they attempt time travel to go back in time to the 20th century where they can hope to find and take a humpback whale back into the future.  Kirk briefly and successfully manages to communicate with Starfleet command long enough to tell them his theory, and after this Kirk and crew successfully make a timewarp leap back in time via a slingshot round the sun.

The crew soon find that they have arrived back in 1986, however the chief engineer, Scotty (James Doohan) tells Kirk that the time travel has drained the ship's power crystals, and after 24 hours they will be out of power and visible.  On arriving on the surface of the planet, the crew find that they are San Francisco, and Kirk has his crew split up into two teams, with Dr McCoy (DeForrest Kelley), Sulu (James Takei) and Scotty being given the task to create a whale tank, whereas Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) are to find nucelar naval vessels in order to recharge the ship's power.  Meanwhile Kirk and Spock find out the location of two humpback whales, which are kept at a Cetacean institute, which are nicknamed George and Gracie.  The tour director, Dr Gillian Taylor (Catherine Hicks) gives a tour to a group, along with Kirk and Spock, who discreetly slips away and enters the tank to perform a mind meld with one of the whales.  Taylor is outraged by Spock's actions, but Kirk insist they mean no harm, and later on Taylor meets up with Kirk, where he tells them half the truth he needs the whales to be brought back into the future.  Meanwhile Chekov and Uhura, who locate a naval ship, manage to drain enough of the vessel's energy to refuel the klingon ship.  Chekov however is captured, and on attempting to flee he falls and is severley injured.  This leaves Kirk with limited time to find the whales, save Chekov, create the tank and try and get back to his own time to save the planet's future....

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is generally considered to be one of the most popular entries in the Star Trek movie franchise, and its pretty easy to see why as it remains a very entertaining and also quite light hearted film.  And the interesting thing in this film is that for once there is no actual villain, as the main problem: the probe, which does all the damage to Earth is merely trying to find out what has happened to the whale species, and as Spock suggests it maybe unaware of the damage it is causing.  The film is also that bit more humorous than most of the entries in the Star Trek world, and there are plenty of amusing moments especially when Krik and his crew travel back in time to San Francisco and they are taken by surprise at the people's customs and behaviour at the time, especially Spock.  The re-training of Spock's mind in a strict Vulcan fashion, also makes for quite a few funny moments in the film as Spock clearly struggles to understand human behaviour and is almost bemused the profanity of the 20th century.  

Which brings me onto saying a bit about the performances, which sees the regular cast all give good accounts of themselves.  William Shatner is great again as Kirk, and he has quite a few highlights in the film, with one of my favourites being when they walk the streets of San Francisco in 1986 and he is nearly hit by a taxi driver who yells "watch where you are going ya dumb ass!" and he replies "well a double dumb ass on you!".  I also liked the moment where he goes into a pawn shop and sells his glasses to the owner, who says he will give him 100 dollars for them, and Kirk who has no concept of the value of money asks "is that alot?".  Another great line comes from Kirk after they land the cloaked Klingon ship in Golden gate park, and two bewildered garbage men look and drive away their track in panic, and we see Kirk and the others come down the ramp and he says "every one remember where we parked!".  Shatner also has a good scene where he goes out to dinner with Gillian, and he is interrupted on communicator by Scotty where he quietly says "what is it?? I thought I told you never to call me!" and Scotty replies, and Kirk quietly says "OK tell them to put phasers on stun and good luck, Kirk out!".    

Leonard Nimoy also provides quite a few of the film's highlights as Spock, with his character being so logical that he fails to understand human behaviour.  One of Nimoy's most memorable scenes in the film of course comes when he performs his Vulcan neck pinch on a ill mannered punk rocker on the bus, who refuses to turn down his music, and he renders him unconscious where the passengers all applaud Spock loudly.  Nimoy also get's some funny lines of dialogue where he struggles to come to grips with how to use human profanity such as when Gillian Taylor asks him after he performs his mind meld with the whales "what the hell are you doing here??" and he replies "attempting the hell to communicate!".  And this one is followed up by Gillian angrily saying "you were messing up my tank and my whales!" and Spock replies "they like you very much but they are not the hell your whales" Gillian says "Oh and they told you that did they??" and Spock says "the hell they did!".  Also the moment where Gillian asks Kirk and Spock if they both like Italian food, and Spock replies no with Kirk interrupting saying "yes, I love Italian and so do you" to Spock, who flatly replies "yes".  Spock rather amusingly get's the hang of the profanity towards the end of the film when Kirk asks him "Spock, where the hell is that power you promised??" and Spock replies "one damn minute, Admiral!".  Gillian in another scene feeds an amusing line to Spock when she says "are you sure you won't change your mind" re: dinner, and Spock replies "is there something wrong with the one I have???".  Spock also refers to the profanity as "colourful metaphors" and when Gillian says to Kirk about Spock's words and referring to the whales extinction in the past tense, Spock replies "are you sure this isn't time for a colourful metaphor???".       

The rest of the regular also fine, starting with James Doohan, who get's a chance to shine as Scotty in the scene where he approaches a plastics manufacturer, and gives him the formula for transparent aluminium.  But as Scotty tries to process the formula he tries to speak to the owner's computer, like he would an advanced computer in the 23rd century, and McCoy gives him the mouse to speak into like a mic and Scotty says "Hello computer!", after this the manufacturer manager says "just use the keyboard" and Scotty replies "a keyboard, how quaint!".  DeForrest Kelley also get's some funny moments, especially in the scene where they go to the hospital to rescue Chekov, and he rushes Gillian in an emergency room on a stretcher (who feigns illness) where he gives some medical jargon to bluff his way into the operating theatre.  After he is let in Kirk asks "what did you say she had??" and McCoy says "cramps!", also McCoy dispairs in the moment they are in the hospital elevator listening to two young doctors talk about chaemotherapy, which obviously must be outmoded in the future, and he says "it sounds like some sort of goddamn Spanish inquisition!".  And finally I will mention Catherine Hicks as Gillian Taylor, who does a good job as the caring doctor, who tries to protect the whales in her care at the institute.  Hicks has a good scene where she picks up Kirk and Spock in her truck and she asks Kirk "I hope you guys aren't here to teach whales retrieve torpedos or some dipshit stuff like that!" and Kirk replies "no ma'am no dipshit".  I also quite liked the way in the scene where she slaps her boss at the institute for releasing the whales during the night before they are due to be released, that she times her slap in time for saying "bitch" from "you son of a bitch!".     

Leonard Nimoy also who plays a threefold part in the making of this film, as he co-wrote, starred and directed it, also in his role as director, does another fine job, and he gives the film a nice leisurely pace, and provides just the right mix of drama and humour.  Also lastly I will mention the film's score by Leonard Rosenman (who was a close friend of Leonard Nimoy) which is not bad at all, although for me its not quite as strong as James Horner's previous two scores for films II and III. 

So as to the film's flaws well its hard to nitpick too much with IV, although you could argue the lack of a villain in the film, does take away some of the excitment factor of the story, and there is where it probably has to rely more on humour to make it work so well.  Also the whole idea of time travel via a slingshot around the sun seems in intself to be a daft one.  The concept of going into timewarp and building up enough energy to do so in itself would have been more sufficient here than bringing the sun into it in my opinion, as I think they just used it as a dangerous obstacle they had to pass just for the sake of needing one!  Also at the end of the film the charges against the crew are submarily dismissed and Kirk is reduced in rank to Captain and given the command of a starship, but that in itself isn't really a punishment its more what he would have wanted, surely they should have put him in the brig or something for a few months! ;-)     

And that is it for my look at Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home which remains one of the most entertaining and more unique movies in the franchise and it is well worth a look.  Next up after this though was the rather underwhelming Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, directed by William Shatner, but I can leave that for some other time (if I can be bothered! ;-)). 

So I will leave it there and be beamed up.... 

Star Trek: My name is.... KHAN!!

Right time for another new review of a new movie, as I went and saw Star Trek Into Darkness this week (twice, once in 2D and 3D!) which is the second film in the reboot of the classic series franchise, so let's take a butchers at it.  WARNING PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!

So to have a quick look at the plot, the film begins with Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine again) who after an incident regarding a planetary survey, in which he violated his prime directive (non interfering with the planet's history, as they witness the Enterprise take off)  is demoted and ordered back to the academy on Earth.  Admiral Pike (Bruce Greenwood) however manages to persuade Starfleet to bring him onboard the Enterprise as his first officer. Kirk and Pike attend an emergency meeting regarding a bombing incident at one of Starfleet's installations in London.  During the meeting however they are attacked by a man named John Harrison, who was a former Starfleet officer, and Pike is killed during the assault.  Kirk is soon reinstated and he requests from Admiral Alexander Marcus (Peter Weller) to go after Harrison and hunt him down, which Marcus permits him to.  The Enterprise is then supplied with 72 photon torpedos which Marcus has ordered Kirk to fire on Harrison when he finds him.  The chief engineer Scotty (Simon Pegg) refuses to allow them to be used and he resigns his duties rather than carry on, but after this Kirk is convinced by Spock (Zachary Quinto) and commander Uhura (Zoe Saldana) to capture Harrison alive.

The Enterprise then travels to Kronos, the home planet of the Klingons, which is a forbidden zone for Starfleet, so Kirk with Spock and Uhura travel to the planet via a shuttle.  On arriving at the planet, Uhura speaks with the Klingons in an attempt to negotiate to take Harrison, who launches a surprise attack and kills off the Klingons almost on his own.  Harrison on hearing of the torpedos from Kirk surrenders at once and allows himself to be taken onboard the Enterprise.  Harrison on the Enterprise reveals his true identity as Khan (who I will say now is played by Benedict Cumberbatch) and that he is a genetically enhanced human from the late 20th century.  Khan tells Kirk that he was awakened from 300 years in suspended animation by Marcus to help him develop advanced weapons to protect Starfleet and use them against the Klingon empire, and that the torpedos actually contain inside his people (i.e. 72 people in one each) who were held hostage by Marcus.  And its not long before Marcus shows up on the scene in an advanced new Federation starship, the USS Vengeance for a showdown which will leave Kirk an impossible choice ahead of him....

Star Trek Into Darkness is certainly a very entertaining sequel to the first film, and it sees the rebooted franchise continue on in fine style.  And JJ Abrahams who is again at the directorial helm (sorry using so many cliches!) does an excellent job in continuing to develop the main characters and keep them in tune with the original series.  Kirk even though he is now a Captain at the start of the film still shows that he is a reckless playboy who refuses to play by the rules and goes out of his way to make rash decisions until he is demoted and forced to buckle down.  But as the film progress Kirk definitely matures in his attitude and we see him take full control of the situation once he confronts Khan and Marcus.  Spock's character also progresses somewhat even though he is still stubbornly logical and remains emotionally detached, he does later on choose to feel when Kirk's life is later on in danger (don't worry I won't say anymore!) and he says himself that even if he choses not to feel it doesn't mean he doesn't care.

So getting onto the performances it has to be said they are all crap... no just kidding(!) they are actually all very good.  Starting with Chris Pine, who returns as the young Kirk, he does an excellent job in the part as he did in the first film, as he continues to play Kirk as a bit of playboy and a charmer, but as the film progresses he becomes that bit more serious and mature, as he takes on the responsibility of the "chair".  Zachary Quinto is also very good again as Spock, who bears quite a fair resemblance to Leonard Nimoy (most likely why he was cast in the first place!) and he continues to show Spock's stubborness and rather annoying habit at spouting out logic like a pretentious twat.  But behind it all Quinto manages to succeed in showing that Spock cares not only for Uhura but also for his friend Kirk and the crew.  Pine and Quinto also share a nice onscreen chemistry as Kirk and Spock and how they argue with one another, and they have a funny scene where they are due to part ways as they are reassigned, Kirk says to Spock "the truth is... I'll miss you" to which Spock gives a strange look, then they both walk away.  Kirk has another funny scene where he speaks with Uhurar in a lift about how she is arguing with Spock, and he stands outside the elevator as it arrives and he looks enquiringly at them and Kirk walks up and says "ears burning??". 

As for the other cast members Simon Pegg is once again funny as Scotty, the Enterprise's Scottish (surely not!) chief engineer, and he has some funny moments in the film, especially in the scene where he is drinking in a bar with his short wee alien friend, where Kirk calls him up to ask for a favour, and he silently give a "wanker" sign to his alien friend to let him know its Kirk.  Pegg also get's one of the film's funniest lines where he tries to help out Kirk gain access to the USS Vengeance's airlock, and he says "Just give me a minute this is not easy ya mad bastard!".  Karl Urban is also excellent as Dr McCoy, who also bears a small resemblance to DeForrest Kelley and he get's Kelley's voice and inflections spot on for the character.  Urban also get's some funny lines, especially the scene where Sulu is the acting captain of the ship once Kirk has left and he delivers a stern message to the Klingons, and McCoy says "Sulu, reminder me never to piss you off!".  Zoe Saldana does a fine job again as Nyota Uhura, the ship's communications officer and she shares a good scene with Spock when they travel to Kronos in the shuttle.  And Alice Eve does well in her role as Dr Carol Marcus, and her best moment comes when she walks into a shuttle with Kirk and she asks him to turn around while she changes her clothes, and he turns around to see her in her underwear! (nice!).  Anton Yelchin also does a good job again as the young Pavel Chekov, who later on Kirk puts in charge of the ship's engineering once Scotty resigns.

Peter Weller also provides a fine performance as Admiral Marcus as the Starfleet officer who soon turns out to have another agenda, and at first I didn't recongise as I thought it was Scott Glenn instead on screen.  And finally I will mention Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan, who I have to say at first I wasn't so keen on his performance but on a second viewing I thought he was pretty good as the villain.  While Cumberbatch plays Khan quite serious for the most part he still does exhibit a dark twisted charisma, that while his performance lacked the flair that Ricardo Montalban brought to the role back in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, its still a fine performance nonetheless.  Cumberbatch's best scene comes when he has been captured and placed in a cell onboard the Enterprise where he reveals his true identity as Khan and admits to how he was used by Marcus in building the USS Vengeance weapons systems and how Marcus had threatened to destroy his people if he didn't co-operate.  And his best line comes when onboard the USS Vengeance, he beams Kirk back onboard his ship and he says "no ship should go down without her captain!" just before he opens fire on the Enterprise.

J.J. Abrahams once again, getting onto the direction, does an excellent job here as he keeps the pace of the film moving along really well, and it never drags.  Visually the film also looks spectacular as there are some great action sequences in the film particularly the scenes where the Enterprise comes under attack from the USS Vengeance, and also where Kirk is chased in a shuttle by the Klingons on Kronos.  The film was also shot in IMAX and I've yet to see it at the Glasgow IMAX but as I've seen it twice already, I'm more than prepared to give it another go as I'm sure it will look stunning in it!  And I'll say a quick word about the film's music score by Michael Giachinno which is acutally quite good, although I'm not very keen on his take on the Star Trek theme, as he always seemed to overuse it, and its nowhere near as good as Jerry Goldsmith or James Horner's variations of that theme.  But the rest of his music score is fairly impressive, particularly in one of the film's poignant moments between Kirk and Spock (which I won't go into). 

Getting onto the film's flaws well there are one or two niggles, first off I feel at times as I always do that franchise films that use dialogue from its previous ones is something that is a bit cringeworthy.  And Into Darkness is guilty of this here as well, especially where they re-use the "ship out of danger" and "KHAN!!!" lines, as it feels again just a bit too self referential to Star Trek II.  I also thought that there was something a bit silly about Kirk's continual sexual activity with beautiful alien women, last time she was a green lady, this time they have tails!  Are they trying to tell us something about Kirk that he can't get it on with Earth girls??? (or perhaps he's just pissed them all off!).  You could also argue that Khan's ability to regenerate his cells is a strange plot strand in the film as if he can regenerate his cell, then surely in the fight scene where he battles with Spock near the end, he scars will heal up, but they don't.  Also in the scene where Khan is stunned by Scotty by a blaster shot and he goes down unconscious for a few minutes, Uhura later on blasts Khan with five or six shots before he even falls down!  But I guess these films or anything film will always have some inconsistencies.

So that's it for my look at Star Trek Into Darkness, which sees the franchise continue on very well, with its new excellent cast members, great action sequences and splendid visuals, and here's hoping it continues on as well as it has so far.

So I shall leave it there......

Djangle Dajngo

Right time for another movie review and this is a more recent one as I finally got round to seeing Quentin Tarantino's lastest film, Django Unchained, so here's what I think of it...

So the film is back in 1858 in the America deep south, back in the time of the black slaves, and the story centres around one of the slaves, Django (Jamie Foxx) who has been sold into slavery and been separated from him wife.  Django however is soon freed by a passing German bounty hunter, Dr King Schultz (Christophe Waltz), as he reveals he knows the whereabouts of a gang he has a bounty on.  Schultz kills one of the Speck brothers, who hold the slaves and let's the remaining slaves kill the other.  Schultz leaves with Django and under his wing he trains Django in becoming a bounty hunter, and he soon decides to help Django get his wife back, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) who has been held as a slave.  Schultz and Django soon learn of Broomhilda's whereabouts as she is being held by her owner, Calvin Candie (Leonardo Di Caprio) who is the owner of Candyland, which is plantation where slaves are forced to fight to the death in Mandingo fights.  And from here the two men travel to find Calvin and also to find Django's wife in order to save her from her cruel life of slavery.

While I wouldn't rate this as one of his very best films, Django Unchained definitely still has a lot going for it, as with each film Tarantino does a different genre, and this being his western, he certainly has done a fine job.  Characterisation has always been a strength of Tarantino's and he does a fine job here with the characters, Django being the somewhat cold and very unforgiving protagonist who has endured a brutal life of slavery, and Dr King Schultz who despite his cool laid back and intellectual nature is also a natural killer, but at the same time he comes from a place where he is shocked to witness the harsh American lifestyle.  The film also doesn't shy away from its harsh depiction of the times and the terrible brutality that the slaves had to endure at the hands of the white men.  However the film in fine tradition doesn't stop at poking fun at some of the themes of the time, particularly in taking the piss of the Ku Klux Klan and a group of Klan members, try to wear their sheets, but they struggled to see out of them, and end up arguing with one another and throwing them off!

Getting onto the perfomances they are all pretty much top drawer, with Jamie Foxx putting in a fine and at times subdued performance as the cool, tormented and deatched Django, who is on a mission to find his slaved wife.  One of his best lines comes when he and Schultz ride into a town and they all looked in total surprise at seeing Django riding, and Schultz asks why they are staring and Django replies "cos they ain't never seen a nigger on a horse before!".  Christophe Waltz once again in a Tarantino delivers a terrific performance as Schultz, the surprisingly sympathetic bounty hunter, who frees Django and helps him to find his wife.  One of the Waltz's best scenes is where he is haunted by the memories of witnessing a black slave being torn apart by one of Calvin's dogs, and he confronts Calvin over the incident and he refuses to shake his hand over the deal they have done.  Samuel Jackson also puts in an amusing but at the same time menacing performance as Calvin's old grumpy senior house slave, Stephen, and his make up is actually very good and at first you wouldn't actually even recognise him!  Kerry Washington also delivers a subtle performance as the long suffering slave and Django's wife, Broomhilda, and it would hard not to feel for her when see what she has endured at the hands of her masters.

But for me the performance of the film belongs to Leonard Di Caprio as Calvin Candie, who is simply superb in his role as the charming yet brutal plantation owner, and for me this is the best one of his career so far.  Di Caprio's best scene in the film comes when (PLOT SPOILER!) he discovers that Django and Schultz aren't what they appeared to be, and forces them to sit at his dining table, and he shows them a skull of an african american slave, which he saws open!  In fact in retrospect, I think the best supporting actor academy award really belongs to Di Caprio's work in the film as he is simply outstanding here, and if he is to deliver a finer performance (which he just might in the future) it would be tough to beat this one.

The film of course does have some flaws, the main one probably being the film's length as just over 2 hours and 40 minutes it is a bit too long, and the film starts off a bit slow before it moves up a gear and it could have benefited from being a bit shorter.  The violence in the film is also at times a bit disconcerting as Tarantino, who is never one to flinch away from making violent films, really does subject you to the brutality of the times, with the torture the slaves endured.  Also the gunplay and general violence is also pretty strong, and Tarantino, rather amusingly I must admit, can't resist in spraying blood all over the screen during the bloody gunfights.  I also felt the end sequence while it was ok and gave the film a reasonable resolution, it also left me a bit cold at Django's unreserved sociopathic behaviour as he shows the full extent of his revenge.  But that is what Tarantino does I guess, in making uncompromising films.  

Regardless of that though Tarantino has made a fine film in Django unchained, and once again his writing is really good and technically as a filmmaker he continues to show his technical skill, and a special nod also deserves to go out to Robert Richardson's brilliant and stunning cinematography.  Tarantino who always makes great use of existing songs, provides another fine soundtrack selection, as he uses the main 1966 "Django" theme tune, as well as some classic pieces from classic composers such as Jerry Goldsmith and Ennio Morricone.

So that's it for my look at Django unchained, which is a fine Tarantino film, which makes for an entertaining and at times uncomfortable watch, but if you like Tarantino then this is well worth checking out.

And with that, I shall leave it there.