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Star
Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace
Pre-order this DVD at a reduced rate. Its UK release is scheduled for 15
October 2001.
Hollow
Man [2000]
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue, et al.
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Eye-popping special effects that are worth seeing just in their own right. Anything by Verhoeven is worth watching... although his filmography is one of the most varied in the business. Kevin Bacon gives a superbly watchable performance as an egomaniac scientist who "plays god" and pays the inevitable price for his arrogance, as his underlying selfishness becomes his downfall.
Charlie's
Angels
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, et al.
Director: Joseph McGinty
A strong contender for "best film adaptation of a comic" ever. Tons of special effects and action, but also unusually good plot depth and character development for this genre.
Gladiator
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, et al.
Director: Ridley Scott
Two Disc Set DVD
This was the blockbuster movie of the season. So if you missed it in the cinema, here's
your opportunity to see it in your home cinema.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Season 1
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, David Boreanaz et al.
Director: Bruce Seth Green, Stephen L. Pose
DVD Box Set
Buffy is consistently one of the best-written programmes on television. Unless you have a problem with the imaginative/fantasy/occult basis (or if you're too young!), then you can't help but appreciate the tightly-controlled storylines with a high density of one-liners and throw-away humour. The idea of a consistent story arc - so that characters and situations develop, rather than the clock being "reset" by the end of each week's episode - was given a renaissance by the SF series Babylon 5, and Buffy shows how it should be done. There is even cross-reference consistency with the spin-off series, Angel...
Overall, a television tour de force.
Once you're really addicted:
Buffy
The Vampire Slayer - Season 2
You already know you want it.
And now we have...
Buffy
The Vampire Slayer - Season 3
More to Explore:
Buffy
the Vampire Slayer store
And if you find you need more detail and background to really enjoy Buffy, get the guidebooks:
The
Watcher's Guide
Chris Golden, Nancy Holder
Buffy:
the Watcher's Guide 2
Nancy Holder, Maryelizabeth Hart, Jeff Mariotte
Mission
Impossible 2
Starring: Tom
Cruise, Thandie
Newton, et al.
Director: John
Woo
John Woo is the recognised current master of the action scene. He says his earliest influence was dance... and this shows in the closely choreographed sequences of death and destruction. Also has a great soundtrack.
Blade
Runner (1982)
Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, et al.
Director: Ridley Scott
The
Terminator (Two-Disc Set) (1985)
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, et al.
Director: James Cameron
Terminator
2 - Judgment Day (The Ultimate Edition, Two Disc Set) (1991)
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, et al.
Director: James Cameron
Independence
Day (1996) (Two Disc Set)
Starring: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, et al.
Director: Roland Emmerich
This is the prequel to the much-more-famous Silence of the Lambs. Although not as hyped as the Hopkins-starring version, this original is creepily satisfying and strangely moving in its depiction of authentic weirdness. Directed by Michael Mann, of Miami Vice fame, in a slick music-video style... even down to the pumping soundtrack at key points. A true classic.
It is now rumoured that a full blockbuster-budget version will be made... possible starring Jude Law (unsure whether he will play the proto-Lecter or the tooth-fairy serial killer). Will probably also be good, but will have a considerable challenge to surpass this original.
The
Abyss (1989)
Starring: Ed Harris, Michael Biehn, et al.
Director: James Cameron
The
Matrix
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, et al.
Directed by The Wachowski Brothers
This groundbreaking SF movie was just made for the DVD format... and, at least for the moment, it seems that this is the only way that you can own it in widescreen.
The best and most influential of the "bad alien" film genre. The first film was a claustrophobic classic, made even more memorable by HR Giger's nightmare designs. Some scenes have become part of cultural common ground, referenced out of context in the expectation that most of the audience will recognise the meaning... one of the greatest signs of a film's significance.
The
Fifth Element (1997)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman
Director: Luc Besson
Starship
Troopers
DVD
Starring: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, et al.
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Dune
(1984)
Widescreen DVD
Starring: Francesca Annis, Kyle MacLachlan, et al.
Director: David Lynch
True
Romance (1993)
Screenplay written by Quentin Tarantino, but actually directed by Tony Scott (of Top
Gun fame). Still, it forms part of a loose trilogy that includes Reservoir Dogs
and Pulp Fiction, although relatively less well-known and vastly underrated.
Great cast, big guns, good-natured "all action love story"...
The Big
Blue (Long Version) (1988)
DVD
Starring: Rosanna Arquette, Jean-Marc Barr, et al.
Director: Luc Besson
Hannibal
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Pitch Black
Red Planet
| On video: |
Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 2000. You should see this with as little pre-amble as possible to avoid spoilers. Don't even read the video box... just sit down in a darkened room with your favorite beverage and snack-food. If you're the kind of SF fan who has ever been to a SF convention, or if you think SF has improved your life, then you'll love it! An affectionate action comedy with a great cast.
The Mummy
Indiana Jones meets every
other film you can think of in the action-adventure genre, for a tongue-in-cheek
rollercoaster ride. Leave your "Times Critic" hat on the hat stand, grab some
popcorn and just enjoy.
The Phantom Menace
Try to imagine you're a child again (i.e. too young to
remember the other Star Wars films) and you'll enjoy it. It's a special effects festival
with lots of hidden references and hints for the
future.
A weird brew of
sex-and-violence, crime-and-magic. Definitely for adults only.
Copyright © Laurence D. Watkins (brain@brainsurgery.co.uk) except as stated in
the Copyright and other notices
Last update of this page: 03 October 2004