Retro Review: The Shadow
Written by Ian Cullen on July 7, 2009 – 12:59 pm -
Synopsis: New York is rife with gangsters coercing the weaker classes for money and business, a situation Lamont Cranston (Alec Baldwin) is fighting as penance for his own evil past deeds as a murderous opium dealer with astounding mental powers who has been reformed and trained to harness his mental powers by a Tibetan mystic. Cranston uses his mental powers to manipulate the thoughts of others with suggestion and the ability to appear to others only as a shadow.
However Lamont’s life becomes far more complicated when he meets a woman who can see right through his facade and a powerful rival turns up in New York who is the sole surviving descendant of Genghis Khan Khan, and has the same diabolical plans for world domination.
The Review: To be honest I doubt my review of this movie will prove popular with those who reviewed this movie back in 1994 when it was released. The fact is upon its release the film got fair to middling reviews and slipped under the radar of many cinema goers.
Tags: Alec Baldwin, DC Comics, Retro Review, The Shadow, Tim Curry
Posted in Comic Book Corner, DVD, Retro Reviews, Reviews/Editorials | 5 Comments »
DVD Review: Fireball XL5
Written by Ian Cullen on June 17, 2009 – 11:40 am -
DVD Art For Fireball XL5
Synopsis: Set in 2163 Fireball XL5 follows the adventures of Colonel Steve Zodiac and his 300 foot Rocket Fireball XL5. This puppet series when released in 1963 captured the imagination of children living in a time when the space race between the USA and Russia was just starting to heat up. This is the second series which saw Gerry Anderson teamed up with Lou Grade and ITC, and is perhaps the show largely responsible for Anderson’s later offerings of Stingray, Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds.
Tags: DVD Review, Fireball XL5, Gerry Anderson, Steve Zodiac, Venus
Posted in DVD, Merchandise, Retro Reviews, Reviews/Editorials, SF-TV & Movie News | No Comments »
The Retro Review: Barbarella
Written by Robin Brownfield on February 10, 2009 – 11:30 am -
By Robin Brownfield
Synopsis: Barbarella is sent by the President of Earth to find the human scientist Durand Durand and bring him back from the planet SoGo to save the earth. Barbarella traipses through her adventure barely dressed having sex with everyone and everything from a burly, fur-clad human to an organ-like machine which is designed to kill through sexual pleasure.
“A good many dramatic situations begin with screaming.”
Such are the words of Barbarella, the protagonist of the campy, kinky sci-fi comic book adventure movie, which was for actress Jane Fonda, the vehicle that made her an international mega-star. Directed by Fonda’s then-husband Roger Vadim, the movie also was a source of much controversy, as Fonda portrayed the vacuous blonde sex-kitten that appears to fulfill male fantasy entertainment and draws criticism from some feminist groups.
In retrospect, though, as insipidly stupid the movie is, it is funny as hell, and often pokes fun at its own perverseness.
The movie starts out with a striptease in space – as we watch someone in bulky astronaut gear remove one glove, then the other, and then a boot, and so on until Barbarella in all her blondeness floats naked behind the opening credits. She is summoned by the President of Earth (Claude Dauphin), who for some reason has no problem talking with her while she is naked, to save the Earth by seeking out Durand Durand (Milo O’Shea).
On her quest to find the missing scientist, Barbarella is attacked by walking dolls with metal chomping teeth unleashed by a throng of almost Dr. Seuss-like sets of identical twin children, who ignore Barbarella when she tells them “Listen you kids, untie me or I’ll call your parents!”
She is rescued by the burly human, but only after most of her clothes have been torn and bitten off her by the dolls. The man seduces her and introduces her to sexual intercourse – something civilized people of Barbarella’s 40th century society don’t have. “Make love? But no one’s done that for hundreds of centuries!” exclaims Barbarella. Instead, they get sexual release through drugs.
Afterward, Barbarella finds herself in a labyrinth where the beings there are fated to live their miserable existences for eternity. There she finds the helpful Professor Ping (Marcel Marceau), and a blind angel named Pygar (John Phillip Law), who serves as her mode of transportation and is possibly the most gorgeous creature, male or female, in the entire movie (if not the galaxy).
The movie then proceeds as an incoherent romp, where Barbarella encounters Concierge (who later is revealed to be Durand Durand), who rescues her in order to kill her; the disorganized revolutionary Dildano (David Hemmings); and The Great Tyrant (Anita Pallenberg), who is responsible for the oppression of the labyrinth people and the target of a revolution.
Barbarella eventually learns that Concierge is Durand Durand, and has an evil plan to dominate the universe. He takes Barbarella prisoner, and puts her in a torture device called the Excessive Machine, which looks like an organ and kills through sexual pleasure; but Barbarella overcomes the machine, which just can’t keep up with her, and self-destructs.
Durand Durand then traps her behind the invisible wall with The Great Tyrant, who is asleep in a dream state, and runs off with both invisible keys, leaving the two women to join forces, devise a scheme to escape, and save the universe.
In the end the universe is saved, the spiderweb-wearing labyrinth inhabitants are freed, the revolution is won, and Pygar the angel flies off with both The Great Tyrant and Barbarella in his arms.
The movie is pure cheese (a kind with lots of holes in it), and deliberately so. It’s impossible to say that the movie is bad or good. The special effects used for the time were actually top-notch, and the dialogue was often very funny. The artistry and imagery is quite unique and striking, and even beautiful. All the sexual allusions and double entendres certainly made the movie what it is, and as adolescent and irksome as it can be, Barbarella can’t, and shouldn’t, be taken seriously.
Score 5/10
Tags: Barbarella, Jane Fonda, Retro Review
Posted in Retro Reviews, SF-TV & Movie News | No Comments »
