Reviews

I found this movie in a one dollar, 4 DVD, package of "War Classics". I use such packaged DVDs as fodder to watch while I exercise. Usually they are mind numbing time passers. Imaging my consternation when "Cold War Killers" came on. After the first 20 minutes or so, I was compelled to stop exercising and concentrate on the excellent movie. The performers were very believable, even the character actors. It was reminiscent of the best post-war English ensemble movies. Terence Stamp, the lead, made a much more convincing secret agent than Patrick Macnee. The plot was complicated enough to keep my attention, as it unfolded clearly and logically.

Tongue in cheek romp, clever action shots, slap stick comic relief, silly theme song, great scenery and lavish costumes, what more can one ask from a $1 DVD?

I found this DVD in the dollar bin at Big Lots along with several others. The rest were not saving, but Zoro is a keeper.

The interplay between Zoro (Alain Delon) and Col. Huerta (Stanley Baker) is excellent. They spar verbally in the first half of the film, which climaxes in a long sword fight between the two. Incidentally, Stanley Baker died the year after completing Zorro, at age 49.

Ottavia Piccolo plays the female role to perfection.

Can you believe this is the way we train NATO fighter pilots? The final scene of Blue Tornado involves the hero climbing a mountain. Col. Long (Dirk Benedict) has to climb this mountain to encounter the aliens. So, how does he prepare? He gets the aged father of his missing buddy to guide him. Col. Long lets the old man carry all the supplies in a huge pack. The old man also has the only ice axe. Col.Long just walks along following the old man. Just when you get feeling good and sorry for the tired old man, he slips and falls. It looks like a broken leg, and Col. Long is forced to leave the old man to spend the night alone on a narrow ledge. Does Col. Long provide first aid or pick up the pack or the ice axe? - No, he continues on his quest so he can get there before dark. I won't spoil the ending, but Col. Long does not have any emergency provisions when he faces it.

The rest of the movie is just as dumb, the unspecial effects are lame, and the acting is stiff. Don't miss this one if you possibly can.

Pauline uses many forms of transportation on her quest for the secret formula for the invisible gas that destroys civilizations. Among them are several airplanes. In episodes 5 and 6 there are good examples of single engine airplanes from the early 1930's. Later, in episodes 7 and 8, Pauline is shown as a commercial passenger on a huge multiengine flying boat. The serial includes historic shots of the take off and landing of the 12 engine Dornier Do X flying boat, the largest and most powerful airplane ever built when it was completed in 1929. It was so heavy that the 12 600 horsepower engines could only lift it to 1600 feet! It was so clumsy that the passengers were asked to crowd together on one side when the airplane was turning. It held the record for the most passengers (169) in one plane. That record was not broken until 1945.

The Do X made only one transatlantic flight, via Africa and South America with 100 passengers. It landing in New York City on June 4, 1931. When it finally returned to Berlin, it was retired and placed in a museum.

Episode 8 shows the festivities associated with that historic landing. There are shots of actors boarding the plane, and some interior shots as well. The images of the Do X are the high point of the entire serial.

Rodan has more interesting human characters than Godzilla. The use of voice over is quite effective, and used at appropriate times. The technology in this 1956 movie is impressive (rockets, jet fighters, 1952 Chevrolets, etc.)

The Alternate (aka Agent of Death) appears to be a take off on a Jackie Chan film. The good martial arts actor declines to use his gun on the moral grounds that he cannot shoot American citizens. The evil martial arts actors uses their guns often, but are very bad shots. The result is a long string of martial fight scenes. In each fight, the good guy is driven from the scene and makes a miraculous return. (This is repeated with several variations). Add to the mix an inpotent SWAT team, bad dialog, and illogical events, and you have a really bad attempt to mimic a Hong Kong martial arts film.

The Alternate would probably do well in the Hong Kong market if the English sound track were dubbed out so the audience would not know how stupid the actors appeared to be. For example, in the midst of a hostage situation, the good guy gets to a telephone and contacts the commander of the SWAT team. Does he tell him how many hostage takers there are? Does he provide information about the condition of the building's security system? Does he report on the President's physical or mental condition? Does the SWAT team leader ask any of these questions? No, he says "Who are you?" and the reply is "I am the guy in the Tux". End of conversation. In none of the scenes that follow is there any further attempt at strategic communication.

The Basket is well worth your time. The story is well told, the scenery is beautiful, the music is haunting, and the characters believable. We went to see it because it was filmed nearby and we wanted to see if we could recognize the landscape and buildings. We went back a second time because we wanted to show a visitor from Russia a well made American movie (without fear of embarrassment over language or content). Irena may not have understood all the dialog, but she sure understood the story and the message. The Basket far surpasses our parochial interest.