Review, buy Science Fiction: The Day Of The Triffids [1962], Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla [1974], The Man Who Saw Tomorrow [1981], Quatermass And The Pit [1958], Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 3.6 - Past Tense I / Past Tense II [1995], Runaway [1985], Star Trek Voyager - Seven of Nine [1996], Doctor Who - K9 And Company [1981], Doctor Who - The Stones Of Blood, The Living Dead Girl [1982], Star Trek : The Original Series - Vol. 1.1 - The Cage / Where No Man Has Gone Before / The Corbomite Manoeuver [1969], Misfits Of Science [1985], The Philadelphia Experiment 2 [1993] [1984], Dark Crystal [1982], Misfits Of Science [1985], Godzilla Destroy All Monsters, The Day Of The Triffids [1962], Doctor Who - The Ribos Operation [1978], Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 10 - Duet / In The Hands Of The Prophets [1995], Doctor Who

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 interpersonal 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 ballsy 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.

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Review Encore Entertainment / Runaway [1985]

Runaway [1985] (Encore Entertainment)

Actors & Directors

Tom Selleck
Stan Shaw
Michael Crichton
Cynthia Rhodes
Gene Simmons
Kirstie Alley

Release date: 1996-03-25
Run time: 96 min.
Price: £12.99

Review Runaway [1985] / Encore Entertainment:

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Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek Voyager - Seven of Nine [1996]

Star Trek Voyager - Seven of Nine [1996] (Paramount Home Entertainment)

Actors & Directors

David Livingston
Roxann Dawson
Robert Beltran
Cliff Bole
Kate Mulgrew

Release date: 1999-11-01
Run time: 352 min.
Price: £24.99

Review Star Trek Voyager - Seven of Nine [1996] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

The start of Star Trek: Voyager's fourth season (1997) with the brave Borg storyline "Scorpion Part 2" marked a serious improvement in the show's behind-the-scenes thinking with the appearance of a uniquely strong female character aboard Voyager. The show's sex appeal was upped in an instant. But actress Jeri Lynn Ryan brings more to Seven of Nine than just a curvaceously well-filled jump-suit. Of all the Trek universe regulars to have sought humanity (Spock, Data), Seven's crossover from the enemy gives her a far more complex backstory. Understandably any focus on her usually dips into that history. This attractive box set collects eight stories arcing across Seasons Four and Five, when her burgeoning efforts at fitting-in are both poignant and humorous. "Revulsion" is a sweet case of misinterpretation with Harry Kim's boyish crush starting her on-going exploration of "The Dating Game". "Retrospect" contrasts the comedy sharply with an accusation of technological rape. Four back-to-back episodes then bridge the Seasons, and show how important Seven quickly became. "One" leaves her and the Doctor in charge, "Hope and Fear" deals with the fool's gold of Ray (Twin Peaks) Wise's super-fast ship ride home, "Night" has a little fun with the first appearance of the black and white Dr Chaotica, and "Drone" pits her against an accidentally created Super Borg. [+]

The last two episodes in this collection focus on her surrogate Mother role to kid-along-for-the-ride Naomi Wildman. "Infinite Regress" may be Ryan's finest hour; acting out the personalities of those she assimilated. Then she becomes the voice of reason preventing disaster in "Bliss". The real joy of watching the po-faced beauty (after the obvious two!) is seeing how much fun she has stretching the boundaries of the character. These particular episodes demonstrate the actress' ability to do just that perfectly. For more proof, see the Dilbert show where she lends voice to a Seven of Nine alarm clock! -Paul Tonks.

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Review 2 Entertain Video / Doctor Who - K9 And Company [1981]

Doctor Who - K9 And Company [1981] (2 Entertain Video)

Actors & Directors

John Black

Release date: 1995-08-07
Run time: 49 min.
Price: £9.99

Review Doctor Who - K9 And Company [1981] / 2 Entertain Video:

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Review 2 Entertain Video / Doctor Who - The Stones Of Blood

Doctor Who - The Stones Of Blood (2 Entertain Video)

Actors & Directors

Tom Baker
Darrol Blake

Release date: 1995-05-01
Run time: 96 min.
RRP: ~~£11.99~~
Price: £6.25

Review Doctor Who - The Stones Of Blood / 2 Entertain Video:

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Review Salvation Films / The Living Dead Girl [1982]

The Living Dead Girl [1982] (Salvation Films)

Actors & Directors

Marina Pierro
Mike Marshall
Françoise Blanchard
Carina Barone
Fanny Magier
Jean Rollin

Release date: 2000-05-01
Run time: 83 min.
Price: £5.99

Review The Living Dead Girl [1982] / Salvation Films:

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Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek : The Original Series - Vol. 1.1 - The Cage / Where No Man Has Gone Before / The Corbomite Manoeuver [1969]

Star Trek : The Original Series - Vol. 1.1 - The Cage / Where No Man Has Gone Before / The Corbomite Manoeuver [1969] (Paramount Home Entertainment)

Actors & Directors

James Goldstone
Sally Kellerman
George Takei
Gary Lockwood
Leonard Nimoy
William Shatner

Release date: 1996-06-24
Run time: 160 min.
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £14.98

Review Star Trek : The Original Series - Vol. 1.1 - The Cage / Where No Man Has Gone Before / The Corbomite Manoeuver [1969] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

Made in 1964, the original pilot episode of Star Trek, "The Cage", was rejected by NBC executives because it was just "too cerebral": with well-developed characters, groundbreaking (for the time) special effects and a screen play that spoke eloquently of its creator's compassionate, liberal humanism, science fiction of this quality had simply never been seen on the small screen before. Jeffrey Hunter's stoical Captain Pike is at the helm of the Starship Enterprise, Leonard Nimoy's Spock has the ears but not the familiar reserved demeanour; and Majel Barrett's Number One is a remarkably frosty female lead. The "cerebral" story is reminiscent of Forbidden Planet, as a group of super-intelligent aliens manipulate Pike for their own mysterious ends. But instead of simply dropping Gene Roddenberry's ambitious idea, in an unprecedented move the network requested he make a second pilot. Jeffrey Hunter stepped down from the captain's chair in favour of William Shatner for "Where No Man Has Gone Before" in 1966 and, well, everyone knows the rest. "The Cage" did not quite disappear, however, as it was cannily recycled in the two-part episode "The Menagerie". This is where it all began. -Mark Walker.

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Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Misfits Of Science [1985]

Misfits Of Science [1985] (Paramount Home Entertainment)

Actors & Directors

Dean Paul Martin
Mark Thomas Miller
Kevin Peter Hall
James D. Parriott
Courteney Cox
Mickey Jones

Release date: 1990-09-03
Run time: 90 min.
Price: £10.99

Review Misfits Of Science [1985] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

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Review 2 Entertain Video / The Philadelphia Experiment 2 [1993] [1984]

The Philadelphia Experiment 2 [1993] [1984] (2 Entertain Video)

Actors & Directors

Stephen Cornwell|Gerrit Graham|Marjean Holden|Brad Johnson

Release date: 1993-04-05
Run time: 97 min.
RRP: ~~£6.99~~
Price: £9.39

Review The Philadelphia Experiment 2 [1993] [1984] / 2 Entertain Video:

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Review 4 Front Video / Dark Crystal [1982]

Dark Crystal [1982] (4 Front Video)

Actors & Directors

Stephen Garlick
Jim Henson
Lisa Maxwell
Frank Oz

Release date: 2002-07-01
Run time: 89 min.
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £1.13

Review Dark Crystal [1982] / 4 Front Video:

Jim Henson's fantasy epic The Dark Crystal doesn't take place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but like Star Wars it takes the audience to a place that exists only in the imagination and, for an hour and a half, on the screen. Recalling the worlds of JRR. Tolkien, Henson tells the story of a race of grotesque birdlike lizards called the Skeksis, gnomish dragons who rule their fantastic planet with an iron claw. A prophecy tells of a Gelfling (a small elfin being) who will topple their empire, so in their reign of terror they have exterminated the race, or so they think. The orphan Jen, raised in solitude by a race of peace-loving wizards called the Mystics, embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of the Dark Crystal (which gives the Skeksis their power) and restore the balance of the universe. Henson and codirector Frank Oz have pushed puppetry into a new direction: traditional puppets, marionettes, giant bodysuits, and mechanical constructions are mixed seamlessly in a fantasy world of towering castles, simple huts, dank caves, a giant clockwork observatory, and a magnificent landscape that seem to have leaped off the pages of a storybook. Muppet fans will recognise many of the voice actors-a few characters sound awfully close to familiar comic creations-but otherwise The Dark Crystal is a completely alien world made familiar by a mythic quest that resonates through stories over the ages. -Sean Axmaker.

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Misfits Of Science [1985] (Paramount Home Entertainment)

Actors & Directors

Courteney Cox
Mark Thomas Miller
Mickey Jones
James D. Parriott
Dean Paul Martin
Kevin Peter Hall

Release date: 1990-09-03
Run time: 90 min.
Price: £10.99

Review Misfits Of Science [1985] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

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Review 4 Front Video / Godzilla Destroy All Monsters

Godzilla Destroy All Monsters (4 Front Video)

Actors & Directors

Inoshiro Honda

Release date: 1998-06-15
Run time: 89 min.
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £6.00

Review Godzilla Destroy All Monsters / 4 Front Video:

Set in 1999 and originally released in 1968, Destroy All Monsters, the ninth Godzilla movie in the series, is exactly how you'd like the future to be. The United Nations Science Council has established a busily humming lunar base, astronauts and scientists wear brightly coloured jump-suits, and the world's most dangerous monsters have been collected together out of harm's way on a remote Pacific island. Joining Godzilla in the peaceful seclusion of Monsterland is an impressive selection of creatures taken from Toho Studios' back catalogue of science-fantasy movies. The big names included in this all-star monster rally are Mothra, Rodan and Angilas alongside such lesser terrors as Gorosaurus from King Kong Escapes, Spiga and Minya, last seen in Son of Godzilla, and Manda from Astragon. Pretty soon, however, they're all under the control of the Kilaaks, a sinister race of aliens intent upon taking over the Earth, and smashing up real estate on a global basis. "The people of Paris are holding their breaths", a French radio announcer breathlessly exclaims as Gorosaurus demolishes the Arc de Triomphe. Meanwhile Mothra advances on Peking and Godzilla attacks New York, blowing up the UN building with a blast of radioactive breath. Directed by Ishiro Honda with special effects supervised by Eiji Tsuburaya and a crisp score from Akira Ifukube, all of whom had worked on the series since Godzilla first appeared back in 1954, Destroy All Monsters has an irresistible cartoon grandeur to it. The model-work and miniature sets are impressively detailed, the editing is energetically paced and the overall design is a dazzling display of bold, pop-culture strokes. The apocalyptic savagery of the film's final conflict, with three-headed space monster King Ghidora getting rat-packed by Godzilla and the rest of the guys at the foot of Mount Fuji, makes this the ultimate kaiju classic. [+]

Enjoy. -Ken Hollings.

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