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Review MGM Entertainment / The Outer Limits - Vol. 1 - The Hundred Days Of The Dragon / The Galaxy Being [1963]
Actors & Directors
  • Leslie Stevens
  • Jacqueline Scott
  • Lee Philips
  • Byron Haskin
  • Sidney Blackmer
  • Phillip Pine
  • Cliff Robertson
Release date: 1995-09-18
Run time: 104 min.
Price: £9.99

Review The Outer Limits - Vol. 1 - The Hundred Days Of The Dragon / The Galaxy Being [1963] / MGM Entertainment:


Review 4 Front Video / Timecop [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Ron Silver
  • Mia Sara
  • Bruce McGill
  • Jean-Claude Van Damme
  • Peter Hyams
  • Gloria Reuben
Release date: 1999-09-13
Run time: 94 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £3.98

Review Timecop [1995] / 4 Front Video:

Pay no attention to the fact that Timecop is an insult to intelligent science fiction, and that it gradually succumbs to an acute case of the sillies. It is a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie, after all, so check your brain at the door and enjoy this action flick set in the year 2004. Van Damme plays an officer in the Time Enforcement Police, assigned to prevent criminals from travelling to the past with the intent of altering the future. Ron Silver plays the evil politician who plots to retrieve a stockpile of gold from the Civil War to finance his latest campaign. The film is clever to a point, and entertaining if you can ignore the dumb jokes and inconsistencies. Best of all, it's an above-average vehicle for Van Damme (relatively speaking), who gets to kick some villainous butt and share a few scenes with Mia Sara, who plays the Timecop's wife. As Van Damme fans can tell you, this is one of the action star's better movies. - Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek Voyager - Vol. 3.2 (The Chute/The Swarm) [2002]
Actors & Directors
  • Benedict Wong
  • Perry Benson
  • Mark Nunneley
  • Sean Lock
Release date: 1997-02-03
Run time: 88 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £3.40

Review Star Trek Voyager - Vol. 3.2 (The Chute/The Swarm) [2002] / Paramount Home Entertainment:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek Voyager - Vol. 2.11 - Resolutions / Basics Part One [2001]
Actors & Directors
  • Di Botcher
  • Angel Coulby
  • Ricky Grover
  • Lee Oakes
  • Johnny Vaughan
Release date: 1996-11-04
Run time: 88 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £2.75

Review Star Trek Voyager - Vol. 2.11 - Resolutions / Basics Part One [2001] / Paramount Home Entertainment:


Review Manga Entertainment / Fist Of The North Star - Vol. 2
Actors & Directors
  • Yuriko Yamamoto
  • Toyoo Ashida
  • Kenji Utsumi
  • Toshio Furukawa
  • Chikao Ôtsuka
  • Akira Kamiya
Release date: 1999-05-10
Run time: 63 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £3.95

Review Fist Of The North Star - Vol. 2 / Manga Entertainment:


Review 4 Front Video / The Andromeda Strain [1970]
Actors & Directors
  • Kate Reid
  • Arthur Hill
  • Paula Kelly
  • David Wayne
  • Robert Wise
  • James Olson
Release date: 2000-03-06
Run time: 125 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £14.95

Review The Andromeda Strain [1970] / 4 Front Video:


Review Tring International Plc / The New Avengers - K Is For Kill - Parts 1 and 2 [1976]
Actors & Directors
  • Gareth Hunt
  • Yvon Marie Coulais
  • Patrick Macnee
  • Joanna Lumley
Release date: 1995-05-22
Run time: 105 min.
RRP: £3.99
Price: £5.95

Review The New Avengers - K Is For Kill - Parts 1 and 2 [1976] / Tring International Plc:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 1.8 - Skin of Evil / We'll Always Have Paris / Conspiracy / The Neutral Zone
Actors & Directors
  • LeVar Burton
  • Patrick Stewart
  • Cliff Bole
  • Robert Becker
  • Joseph L. Scanlan
  • Jonathan Frakes
  • Marina Sirtis
  • James L. Conway
  • Rod Loomis
Release date: 1998-10-05
Run time: 176 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £2.39

Review Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 1.8 - Skin of Evil / We'll Always Have Paris / Conspiracy / The Neutral Zone / Paramount Home Entertainment:

In 1987, some 20 years after the original series had ended, Star Trek: The Next Generation was launched into a decade renowned for its materialistic greed, but also for its hesitant steps towards a more unified world order. Creator Gene Roddenberry revised his vision of humanity's future accordingly, shifting the Trek timeline 80 years on and reinventing the new Starship Enterprise as an Ark-like exploration vessel full of families, schools, soothing recreational facilities and a maternally pacifying computer voice (Roddenberry's wife, Majel Barrett). The Next Generation crew were not soldiers, but scientists and diplomats. Unlike the fiercely individualistic Captain Kirk, Patrick Stewart's patrician Captain Jean-Luc Picard was a model team leader: no matter how desperate the crisis, he ensured that everyone got to sit round the Conference Room table and talk it over. And in a true late-1980s touch, a key member of the Bridge crew was psychoanalyst Counsellor Troi, always on hand to discuss everyone's feelings. Season Two saw the welcome introduction of the cybernetic horror that was the Borg. Originally a powerful symbol of technological misuse in an otherwise technologically utopian universe, ultimately their hive-like existence served to reinforce the message that everyone would be much happier as a team player. Even renegade super-entity Q (John De Lancie) relied on Picard as much as his fellow god-like playmates; Data followed Pinocchio and Spock in a quest to discard what made him an individual; and there was even an episode that rationalised why all aliens basically looked alike (we're all one big family). Even the slogan change to "Where no one has gone before" acknowledges that there's no "one" in a team. But for all its earnest political correctness and an over-reliance on "technobabble", good stories played by an appealing ensemble cast were at the heart of the show's success. [+]
After seven successful seasons, "All Good Things" finally came to an end. Until Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, that is. -Paul Tonks.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek Deep Space Nine - Vol. 7.8 - Inter Arma Enim / Silent Leges / Badda-bing, badda-bang [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Avery Brooks
  • David Livingston
  • Michael Vejar
  • Rene Auberjonois
  • Michael Dorn
Release date: 1999-08-02
Run time: 88 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £19.69

Review Star Trek Deep Space Nine - Vol. 7.8 - Inter Arma Enim / Silent Leges / Badda-bing, badda-bang [1995] / Paramount Home Entertainment:


Review Warner Home Video / Outland [1981]
Actors & Directors
  • Peter Hyams
  • Sean Connery
  • Kika Markham
  • James Sikking
  • Peter Boyle
  • Frances Sternhagen
Run time: 104 min.
RRP: £4.99
Price: £0.24

Review Outland [1981] / Warner Home Video:

Outland is another in a long line of Westerns retooled for science fiction. Writer-director Peter Hyams (Capricorn One, 2010, Timecop) re-stages High Noon in outer space, with Sean Connery as O'Neil, the marshal for a settlement on one of Jupiter's moons. While investigating the deaths of some miners, O'Neil discovers that mine boss Peter Boyle has been giving his workers an amphetamine-like, work-enhancing drug that keeps them productive for months-until they finally snap and go berserk. When Boyle sends killer henchmen to neutralize the lawman, O'Neil is unable to get the miners to back him up. Outland is no classic but it offers solid suspense in an otherworldly atmosphere. It also stars Frances Sternhagen, James B. Sikking (Howard on television's Hill Street Blues) and John Ratzenberger (later to become famous as Cliff on the sitcom Cheers). -Jim Emerson.

Review ITV DVD / Saturn 3 [1980]
Actors & Directors
  • Douglas Lambert
  • Christopher Muncke
  • Farrah Fawcett
  • Stanley Donen
  • Harvey Keitel
  • John Barry (III)
  • Kirk Douglas
Release date: 2000-04-10
Run time: 84 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £5.90

Review Saturn 3 [1980] / ITV DVD:


Review Mia Video Entertainment Ltd / Guyver - Dark Hero [2000]
Actors & Directors
  • Christopher Michael
  • Steve Wang
  • David Hayter
  • Bruno Giannotta
  • Kathy Christopherson
  • Stuart Weiss
Release date: 1995-06-12
Run time: 95 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £8.99

Review Guyver - Dark Hero [2000] / Mia Video Entertainment Ltd:


Review 4 Front Video / Invasion Of The Body Snatchers [1956]
Actors & Directors
  • Larry Gates
  • Carolyn Jones
  • Don Siegel
  • Kevin McCarthy
  • Dana Wynter
  • King Donovan
Release date: 1997-06-16
Run time: 80 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £19.99

Review Invasion Of The Body Snatchers [1956] / 4 Front Video:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is considered one of the best science fiction films of the 1950s and 1960s. The classic paranoid thriller was widely interpreted as a criticism of the McCarthy era, which was characterised by anti-Communist witch-hunts and fear of the dreaded blacklist. Some hailed it as an attack on the oppressive power of government as Big Brother. However viewers interpret it, this original 1956 version of Invaders of the Body Snatchers (based on Jack Finney's serialised novel The Body Snatchers) remains a milestone movie in its genre, directed by Don Siegel with an inventive intensity that continues to pack an entertaining wallop. Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) is unconcerned when the townsfolk accuse their loved ones of acting like emotionless impostors. But soon the evidence is overwhelming-Santa Mira has been invaded by alien "pods", which are capable of replicating humans and taking possession of their identities. It's up to McCarthy to spread the word of warning, battling the alien invasion at the risk of his own life. Look closely and you'll find future director Sam Peckinpah (an uncredited cowriter of this film) making a cameo appearance as a meter reader! -Jeff Shannon.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek The Next Generation 32 : Yesterday's Enterprise / The Offspring [1990]
Actors & Directors
  • Hallie Todd
  • Christopher McDonald
  • Nicholas Coster
  • Jonathan Frakes
  • Patrick Stewart
  • David Carson
  • Denise Crosby
Release date: 1991-12-06
Run time: 88 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £9.99

Review Star Trek The Next Generation 32 : Yesterday's Enterprise / The Offspring [1990] / Paramount Home Entertainment:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek The Next Generation 16 : Loud As A Whisper / The Schizoid Man [1988]
Actors & Directors
  • Leo Damian
  • Barbara Alyn Woods
  • Suzie Plakson
  • Les Landau
  • Larry Shaw
  • Patrick Stewart
  • Howie Seago
Run time: 92 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £3.00

Review Star Trek The Next Generation 16 : Loud As A Whisper / The Schizoid Man [1988] / Paramount Home Entertainment:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek : The Original Series - Vol. 3.8 - The Savage Curtain / All Our Yesterdays / Turnabout Intruder
Actors & Directors
  • Herb Wallerstein
  • William Shatner
  • Marvin J. Chomsky
  • Herschel Daugherty
  • Leonard Nimoy
Release date: 1998-03-02
Run time: 144 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £10.95

Review Star Trek : The Original Series - Vol. 3.8 - The Savage Curtain / All Our Yesterdays / Turnabout Intruder / Paramount Home Entertainment:

One of the most popular and influential shows in the history of television for many viewers the original Star Trek (1966-9) defines good science fiction: however much it tries to be about the future, it cannot help but reflect the values of its own time, and Star Trek's vision was very much a product of creator Gene Roddenberry's 1960s liberal-humanist idealism. Conceived at the height of the Cold War and during the escalation of the Vietnam conflict, his was a radical vision of a world where national and racial differences have been put aside and all people work together. With a policy of non-intervention in the affairs of other civilisations and violence only as a last resort, Star Trek embodied a lost dream, a fantasy of what America could have been had John F Kennedy not been assassinated in 1963. Captain James Tiberius Kirk (William Shatner) had the middle name of a Roman emperor but otherwise shared his initials with the late president, and both were young, good looking, womanising, charismatic popular heroes. If Kirk didn't uphold truth, justice and the American way from the White House, a big white starship was the next best thing. There was even a Russian, Mr Chekov (Walter Koenig), on the bridge and the show delivered network TV's first inter-racial kiss between Kirk and Uhura (Nichelle Nichols). Even though there was a white American male in control, it was still all a bit much for 1960s' mainstream TV, hence the voyages of the Starship Enterprise, boldly going on its five-year mission to explore strange new worlds, only lasted three seasons and 72 episodes before being cancelled in 1969, the year Man first walked on the moon. While the once-groundbreaking special effects now look routine, and the then-radical politics have now become part of the Politically Correct global mainstream, Star Trek retains an enduring popularity due to its strong storytelling-the show employed such top science fiction writers as Robert Bloch, Harlan Elllison, Richard Matheson, Norman Spinrad and Theodore Sturgeon-and admirable characters. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), McCoy (DeForest Kelley) and Scotty (James Doohan), Sulu (George Takei), Kirk, Chekov and Uhura remain icons for a world short of real heroes: loyal to the end, honest and utterly dedicated, these were the friends and colleagues who week after week trusted each other with their lives. Devoid of cynicism and self-interest the crew of the USS Enterprise never let anyone down and ultimately that is a very big reason for Star Trek's enduring popularity. [+]
-Gary S Dalkin.

Review Cinema Club / Godzilla / Anaconda [1998]
Actors & Directors
  • Maria Pitillo
  • Matthew Broderick
  • Hank Azaria
  • Roland Emmerich
  • Jean Reno
  • Kevin Dunn
Release date: 2000-12-27
Run time: 219 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £0.44

Review Godzilla / Anaconda [1998] / Cinema Club:

As "gigantic monster reptile attacks New York" movies go, you've got to admit that Godzilla delivers the goods, although its critical drubbing and box-office disappointment were arguably deserved. It's a shameless, uninspired crowd-pleaser that's content to serve up familiar action with the advantage of really fantastic special effects, and if you expect nothing more you'll be one among millions of satisfied customers. There's really no other way to approach it-you just have to accept the fact that Independence Day creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin are unapologetic plagiarists, incapable of anything more than mindless spectacle that can play in any cinema in the world without dubbing or subtitles. The whole movie plays out like a series of highlights stolen from previous blockbusters of the 1990s; it's little more than a rehash of the Jurassic Park movies. The derivative script is so trivial that it's unworthy of comment, apart from a few choice laughs and the casting of Michael Lerner as New York's mayor, whose name is Ebert and who closely resembles a certain well-known movie critic. Perhaps that's a clever hint that this movie's essentially critic-proof. It's stupid but it's fun, and for most audiences that's a fitting definition of mainstream Hollywood entertainment. -Jeff Shannon Zorro, a pop-fiction creation invented by Johnston McCulley in 1918, is given new blood in this fast-moving and engaging version. Director Martin Campbell wisely instils a measure of frivolity into the deftly choreographed action sequences, while letting a serious tone creep in when appropriate. This covers much ground under the banner of romantic-action-adventure and it does so most excellently. [+]
-Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon. com Godzilla delivers the goods, although its critical drubbing and box-office disappointment were arguably deserved. It's a shameless, uninspired crowd-pleaser that's content to serve up familiar action with the advantage of really fantastic special effects, and if you expect nothing more you'll be one among millions of satisfied customers. The whole movie plays out like a series of highlights stolen from previous blockbusters of the 1990s. -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 5.1 - Apocalypse Rising / The Ship
Actors & Directors
  • James L. Conway
  • Rene Auberjonois
  • Terry Farrell
  • Avery Brooks
  • Kim Friedman
Release date: 1997-01-13
Run time: 88 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £1.75

Review Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 5.1 - Apocalypse Rising / The Ship / Paramount Home Entertainment:

From the outset, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was about conflict. Producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller challenged the utopian ideals of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek universe to create something totally different from its predecessors. That meant no familial camaraderie, squeaky-clean Federation diplomacy, or beige décor. Instead they wanted inter-personal friction, ruthless enemies (Gamma Quadrant Imperialists-The Dominion) and rebellion at every turn. The DS9 concept was originally facilitated by introducing the Cardassian/Bajoran war during The Next Generation's final days. After a muted first reception fans gradually came to accept the new look, but no-one liked Star Trek without a starship and eventually the producers capitulated to viewers' wishes by introducing the USS Defiant (an apt name) in Season 3. Relying far less on technobabble than TNG, DS9 was unafraid to focus on matters of the spirit instead, demonstrating a gutsy independence from its parent shows. Taking up the gauntlet thrown down by Babylon 5, improved CGI space battles also became a fan favourite. Throughout the increasingly serialised story arc there were rebellious factions within the different establishments: Kira had belonged to the Shakaar resistance cell; The Maquis was Starfleet vs Cardassians; Section 31 was a secret Starfleet group; The True Way was a Bajoran group opposed to peace; the Cardassians had their Obsidian Order and the Romulans their Gestapo-like Tal Shiar. Yet for all its constant bickering and espionage (even Bashir got to be James Bond!), there was always some contemporary social commentary lurking: the Ferengi were used as a comedic foil to frown on materialistic greed; drugs were looked at via the Jem'Hadar foot soldiers' addiction to Ketracel White. [+]
Perhaps Sisko summed up the real heart of things: "Bajor doesn't need a man, it needs a legend". A future vision that retains a place for religion and spirituality turned out to be Deep Space Nine's first best destiny. -Paul Tonks.

Review Arrow Films / Scanners [1981]
Actors & Directors
  • Patrick McGoohan
  • Stephen Lack
  • Michael Ironside
  • Lawrence Dane
  • Jennifer O'Neill
  • David Cronenberg
Release date: 1999-01-01
Run time: 103 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £1.22

Review Scanners [1981] / Arrow Films:

David Cronenberg's 1981 horror film Scanners is a darkly paranoid story of a homeless man (Stephen Lack) mistakenly believed to be insane, when in fact he can't turn off the sound of other people's thoughts in his telepathic mind. Helped by a doctor (Patrick McGoohan) and enlisted in a programme of "scanners"-telepaths who also can will heads to explode-he becomes involved in a battle against nefarious forces. A number of critics consider this to be Cronenberg's first great film, and indeed it has a serious vision of destiny that rivals some of the important German expressionist works from the silent cinema. Lack is very good as the odd hero, and McGoohan is effectively eccentric and chilly as the scientist who saves him from the street, only to thrust him into a terrible struggle. -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com.

Review Entertainment in Video / Spawn [1997]
Actors & Directors
  • Mark A.Z. Dippé
  • Martin Sheen
  • Theresa Randle
  • John Leguizamo
  • Michael Jai White
  • Nicol Williamson
Release date: 1998-07-13
Run time: 94 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £1.98

Review Spawn [1997] / Entertainment in Video:

After being murdered for quitting his role as a ruthless yet moral government assassin, Al Simmons (Michael Jai White) is sent to Hell, where he makes a pact with the demon Malebolgia-if Simmons is allowed to see his lover, Wanda, again, he will agree to lead the demon's armies to storm the gates of Heaven. Transformed into a superhuman entity with shape-shifting powers and quick regeneration capabilities, Simmons (soon to be dubbed "Spawn" by Malebolgia's crony, the Violator) returns to Earth and attempts to reunite with Wanda, not knowing that five years have passed. He also seeks revenge on his former boss and killer, Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen), who has made a deal with the Violator to develop a lethal virus to take over the world, where Wynn is promised to be king. Spawn wages an inner battle between good and evil as he tries to come to terms with selling his soul and what it could mean for humankind. Despite excellent special effects and great potential, Spawn seems to come up short. While White certainly displays verve in his characterisation of the twisted hero, he cannot overcome some forced dialogue. On the flip side, the usually engaging John Leguizamo portrays the sinister Violator-an evil monster masquerading as a rotund, weird-looking clown-as an irritating lackey who spews overbearing sarcasm and incessantly banal one-liners. Admitted, many of Spawn's action sequences are fun, and the transitions effectively brisk, but more could have been done to explore how Simmons grapples with his humanity in these daunting circumstances. But if you want sizzling action sequences and digital effects, this film should keep you happy. -Bryan Reesman.

Browse Science Fiction & Fantasy:

Models & Brands:
The Outer Limits - Vol. 1 - The Hundred Days Of The Dragon / The Galaxy Being [1963], Timecop [1995], Star Trek Voyager - Vol. 3.2 (The Chute/The Swarm) [2002], Star Trek Voyager - Vol. 2.11 - Resolutions / Basics Part One [2001], Fist Of The North Star - Vol. 2, The Andromeda Strain [1970], The New Avengers - K Is For Kill - Parts 1 and 2 [1976], Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 1.8 - Skin of Evil / We'll Always Have Paris / Conspiracy / The Neutral Zone, Star Trek Deep Space Nine - Vol. 7.8 - Inter Arma Enim / Silent Leges / Badda-bing, badda-bang [1995], Outland [1981], Saturn 3 [1980], Guyver - Dark Hero [2000], Invasion Of The Body Snatchers [1956], Star Trek The Next Generation 32 : Yesterday's Enterprise / The Offspring [1990], Star Trek The Next Generation 16 : Loud As A Whisper / The Schizoid Man [1988], Star Trek : The Original Series - Vol. 3.8 - The Savage Curtain / All Our Yesterdays / Turnabout Intruder, Godzilla / Anaconda [1998], Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 5.1 - Apocalypse Rising / The Ship, Scanners [1981], Spawn [1997]

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