Actors & Directors
- James L. Conway
- Rob Bowman
- Jonathan Frakes
- Cliff Bole
- Patrick Stewart
Release date: 1998-06-01 Run time: 132 min. RRP: £5.99 Price: £0.28
Review Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 1.3 - Lonely Among Us / Justice / The Battle / 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.
Actors & Directors
- Thomas Lee
- Lou Diamond Phillips
- James Spader
- Angela Bassett
- Robin Tunney
Release date: 2001-05-21 Run time: 89 min. RRP: £9.99 Price: £2.50
Review Supernova - Uncut Version [1999] / MGM Entertainment:The makers of Supernova are apparently counting on the fact that generational turnover renders old formulas fresh again for new audiences. This is the only explanation for a sci-fi thriller that could charitably be called a "homage" to Ridley Scott's trend setting Alien. A medical rescue ship responds to a distress call from a mining colony and finds only one survivor: a strange young man (Peter Facinelli), who comes aboard carrying an even stranger alien artefact. But the plot of this film, which was directed and then disowned by Walter Hill, grows confused as it tries to explain the sinister force that will lead to a star transforming to supernova status, causing a universe-shattering explosion. Some nice sexual tension between James Spader (as the recovering drug-addict co-pilot) and Angela Bassett (as the ship's doctor). Notable mostly, however, for the eerie resemblance, both physical and vocal, between Facinelli and Tom Cruise. -Marshall Fine, Amazon. com.
Actors & Directors
- Anthony Simcoe
- Claudia Black
- Lani John Tupu
- Geoff Bennett
- Jonathan Hardy
- Ben Browder
- Ian Watson
- Tony Tilse
Release date: 2001-03-12 Run time: 90 min. Creator: Rockne S. O'Bannon RRP: £12.99 Price: £0.78
Review Farscape - Vol. 2.2 - 2.04 Crackers Don't Matter / 2.05 The Way We Weren't [1999] / Contender Entertainment Group:Farscape is genre television at its most ambitious, inspired both by the cult appeal of Babylon 5 and the continuing success of the Star Trek franchise, but taking a visual and conceptual leap beyond those shows. Making extensive use of CGI, prosthetics and state-of-the-art puppetry, courtesy of Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the Farscape concept has a freshness that makes it look and feel completely original. The production design is all bio-mechanical curves and the script, which is peppered with post-modern pop culture references and movie in-jokes, never takes itself too seriously. It may be expensive to make, but it certainly looks (and sounds-in Dolby Digital 5. 1) like every penny made it to the screen. Ben Browder plays leading man John Crichton as a latter-day Buck Rogers but with an entirely believable sense of bewilderment, not to mention loss; the rest of the living ship Moya's crew also have plenty of difficult issues to deal with, allowing Farscape's writers licence to develop their characters in often unexpected ways. The result is episodic TV sci-fi that continually pushes at the accepted boundaries of the format. On this tape After a shaky start to the second season the show really hits its stride once again by the fourth episode, "Crackers Don't Matter": the crew slowly succumb to a state of paranoia-fuelled madness, fighting and trying to kill one another thanks to the presence of an odd light-seeking alien. Crichton has a string of great lines ("I hate it when villains quote Shakespeare") and much fun doing an impersonation of Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Then, in "The Way We Weren't" there are shocking revelations about both Aeryn and Pilot's past lives and the show's gift for surprising as well as emotionally convincing character development is once more brought to the fore. [+]
-Mark Walker.
Actors & Directors
- Robert Beltran
- Ethan Phillips
- Kate Mulgrew
- Roxann Dawson
- Robert Duncan McNeill
Release date: 1998-05-04 Run time: 88 min. Creator: Rick Berman RRP: £5.99 Price: £5.88
Review Star Trek Voyager Vol 4.4 [1996] / Paramount Home Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Jonathan Frakes
- Patrick Stewart
- Brent Spiner
- Marina Sirtis
- LeVar Burton
Release date: 2001-05-07 Run time: 131 min. Creator: Gene Roddenberry RRP: £5.99 Price: £3.60
Review Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 4.2 [1990] / 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.
RRP: £9.99 Price: £9.89
Review Lost in Space 2-Island in:
Actors & Directors
- Jonathan Frakes
- Brent Spiner
- Patrick Stewart
- Marina Sirtis
- LeVar Burton
Release date: 2001-09-03 Run time: 130 min. Creator: Gene Roddenberry RRP: £5.99 Price: £3.95
Review Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 4.7 [1990] / 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.
Actors & Directors
- Jerry Doyle
- Mira Furlan
- Richard Biggs
- Bruce Boxleitner
- Peter Jurasik
Release date: 1996-07-22 Run time: 84 min. Creator: J. Michael Straczynski RRP: £12.99 Price: £0.66
Review Babylon 5 - Vol. 12 - Geometry Of Shadows / A Distant Star [1994] / Warner Home Video:
Price: £5.99
Review Andromeda Strain:
Actors & Directors
- Michael Shanks
- Christopher Judge
- Richard Dean Anderson
- Amanda Tapping
- Don S. Davis
Release date: 2001-03-19 Run time: 84 min. Creator: Jonathan Glassner RRP: £12.99 Price: £12.99
Review Stargate SG-1 Series 3 Vol. 5 - Episodes 9 and 10 [1998] / MGM Entertainment:The 1994 film Stargate was originally intended as the start of a franchise, but creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were distracted celebrating their Independence Day. Episodic TV treatment was the natural next step. In the roles of Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr Daniel Jackson respectively are Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks. They're joined by Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and guilt-stricken former alien baddie Teal'c (Christopher Judge) to form the teacher's pet primary unit SG-1. With a seemingly endless network of Stargates found to exist on planets all across the known universe, their mission is to make first contact with as many friendly races as possible. Chasing their heels at almost every turn are the "overlord" Goa'uld-the ancient Egyptian Gods who are none too chummy after the events of the original film. The welcome notion of a continued plot thread sees offshoots that follow the reincarnation of Daniel's wife, Sam's father literally joining a renegade faction of the Goa'uld, and Jack in an unending quest to out-sarcasm everyone. There's something of The Time Tunnel to the show's premise, but amid a dearth of derivative look-a-likes, Stargate has held its own with stories that put the science fiction back into TV sci-fi. On the Tape This volume begins in confusion when the SG-1 team discover a military camp training for "Rules of Engagement". All is not what it seems however. [+]
The same is true of "Forever in a Day", when Daniel's wife Sha're is killed by Teal'c. This episode begins an important story line about her stolen child who is a "Harcesis", an illegal breeding between Goa'uld hosts. -Paul Tonks.
Actors & Directors
- Jonathan Heap|Eric Roberts|Nick Mancuso|Saul Rubinek
Release date: 1998-11-02 Run time: 89 min. Price: £12.99
Review Past Perfect [1998] / Marquee Pictures:
Actors & Directors
- Peter Jurasik
- Jerry Doyle
- Mira Furlan
- Richard Biggs
- Bruce Boxleitner
Release date: 1998-05-25 Run time: 87 min. Creator: J. Michael Straczynski RRP: £12.99 Price: £0.25
Review Babylon 5 - Vol. 4.04 - Epiphanies / The Illusion Of Truth [1994] / Warner Home Video:
Actors & Directors
- Chip Chalmers
- Terry Farrell
- Anson Williams
- Rene Auberjonois
- Cirroc Lofton
- Michael Dorn
- Avery Brooks
Release date: 1998-06-01 Run time: 88 min. RRP: £5.99 Price: £1.87
Review Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 6.5 - Statistical Probabilities / The Magnificent Ferengi / 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.
Actors & Directors
- Marina Sirtis
- Jonathan Frakes
- Patrick Stewart
- LeVar Burton
- Brent Spiner
Release date: 2001-07-02 Run time: 130 min. Creator: Gene Roddenberry RRP: £5.99 Price: £0.78
Review Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 4.4 [1990] / 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.
Actors & Directors
- Richard Dean Anderson
- Amanda Tapping
- Don S. Davis
- Christopher Judge
- Michael Shanks
Release date: 2001-03-19 Run time: 84 min. Creator: Jonathan Glassner RRP: £12.99 Price: £7.95
Review Stargate SG-1 Series 3 Vol. 6 - Episodes 11 And 12 [1998] / MGM Entertainment:The 1994 film Stargate was originally intended as the start of a franchise, but creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were distracted celebrating their Independence Day. Episodic TV treatment was the natural next step. In the roles of Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr Daniel Jackson respectively are Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks. They're joined by Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and guilt-stricken former alien baddie Teal'c (Christopher Judge) to form the teacher's pet primary unit SG-1. With a seemingly endless network of Stargates found to exist on planets all across the known universe, their mission is to make first contact with as many friendly races as possible. Chasing their heels at almost every turn are the "overlord" Goa'uld-the ancient Egyptian Gods who are none too chummy after the events of the original film. The welcome notion of a continued plot thread sees offshoots that follow the reincarnation of Daniel's wife, Sam's father literally joining a renegade faction of the Goa'uld, and Jack in an unending quest to out-sarcasm everyone. There's something of The Time Tunnel to the show's premise, but amid a dearth of derivative look-a-likes, Stargate has held its own with stories that put the science fiction back into TV sci-fi. On the Tape An earlier thread is picked up in "Past and Present" on planet Vyus whose people all suffer amnesia. Their leader Ke'ra (played by Megan Leitch who's portrayed Mulder's missing sister in The X-Files) is a link to the earlier "Prisoners" episode and the dangerous "destroyer of worlds". [+]
Closing the volume is a cliffhanger in which Sam must attempt to rescue her father, face Satan himself on a prison moon and resurrect "Jolinar's Memories" from the Goa'uld she was briefly possessed by. Trapped in Hell, the team's escape seems impossible. -Paul Tonks.
Actors & Directors
- Kate Mulgrew
- Robert Duncan McNeill
- Ethan Phillips
- Roxann Dawson
- Robert Beltran
Release date: 1995-08-29 Run time: 88 min. Creator: Rick Berman RRP: £5.99 Price: £3.90
Review Star Trek Voyager Vol 1.4 [1996] / Paramount Home Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Lee Arenberg
- Hubert C. de la Bouillerie
- Cameron Dye
- Michelle Anne Johnson
- Sandra Bernhard
- Frank Zagarino
Release date: 1999-06-21 Run time: 92 min. Creator: J Reifel RRP: £6.99 Price: £19.99
Review The Apocalypse [1997] / Digital Video Distribution:
Actors & Directors
- Patrick Stewart
- Brent Spiner
- LeVar Burton
- Jonathan Frakes
- Marina Sirtis
Release date: 2001-07-16 Run time: 130 min. Creator: Gene Roddenberry RRP: £5.99 Price: £2.49
Review Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 4.5 [1990] / 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.
Actors & Directors
- Warren Disbrow Sr.
- James Cirronella
- Warren F. Disbrow
- Kenneth J. Arotin
- Kathy Monks
- Adrienne D'Accardi
Release date: 1998-05-04 Run time: 83 min. Creator: Warren F. Disbrow Price: £12.99
Review Invasion For Flesh And Blood [1996] / Screen Edge:
Actors & Directors
- Roger Manning
- Harry Thomason
- George Gobel
- Wink Roberts
- Delight De Bruine
- Robert Ginnaven
Release date: 1996-02-26 Run time: 83 min. Creator: Paul Fisk RRP: £9.99 Price: £2.95
Review The Day It Came To Earth / First Class Films:
| Models & Brands: Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 1.3 - Lonely Among Us / Justice / The Battle, Supernova - Uncut Version [1999], Farscape - Vol. 2.2 - 2.04 Crackers Don't Matter / 2.05 The Way We Weren't [1999], Star Trek Voyager Vol 4.4 [1996], Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 4.2 [1990], Lost in Space 2-Island in, Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 4.7 [1990], Babylon 5 - Vol. 12 - Geometry Of Shadows / A Distant Star [1994], Andromeda Strain, Stargate SG-1 Series 3 Vol. 5 - Episodes 9 and 10 [1998], Past Perfect [1998], Babylon 5 - Vol. 4.04 - Epiphanies / The Illusion Of Truth [1994], Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 6.5 - Statistical Probabilities / The Magnificent Ferengi, Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 4.4 [1990], Stargate SG-1 Series 3 Vol. 6 - Episodes 11 And 12 [1998], Star Trek Voyager Vol 1.4 [1996], The Apocalypse [1997], Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 4.5 [1990], Invasion For Flesh And Blood [1996], The Day It Came To Earth |