Reviews

I just watched a review of this by SF Debris and he pointed out something that few people notice watching this episode" Bemis' reading is NOT a hobby but an OBSESSION bordering dare we say it ADDICTION.

Replace Bemis' reading material with say a cell phone or a portable gaming tablet and the parallels become all the clearer.

Bemis' problem is NOT that he didn't have enough time but he mismanaged his time to the point that everyone from his wife to his boss are exasperated at him for letting his reading getting between him and everything else and lashing out at him for it.

Also if you look at Bemis you have to wonder why, if he liked reading to point he reads campaign buttons, then why not get a job as an editor or proof reader?

Another thing that doesn't make sense is him having a wife. If he wanted time to read why marry someone that prevents him from doing exactly that?

The end of the story is not so much about the cruelty of fate but as Sterling himself states at the end "a fragment of what man has deeded to himself".

The premise that people too good for Hell but too bad for Heaven are returned to the world of the living to help save other souls was interesting...until you got to HOW they went about it.

==SPOILERS== It is basically the same Machiavellian approach used by the Inquisitions--no price is too high, no deed or method too vile as long as a soul is saved. As a result you have this undercurrent that the brutal methods of torture used by the Inquisitions against heretics and more importantly witches were JUSTIFIED running through every episode. The problem is this moral issue NEVER really comes up.

In terms of poor taste the execution is right down there with the concept of the infamous "Heil Honey I'm Home!" (The real world "Springtime for Hitler") In fact in one episode it was revealed that the relative of a Corp member saw an operation and tried to report what she saw--she was committed to an insane asylum and drugged up to the eyeballs for her troubles. The Corp is perfectly fine with leaving her to rot until surprise surprise an operation involves her and you can see the supposed "happy" resolution at the end a mile away...and it is as disgustingly Machiavellian with a coating of sugar as you'd expect.

I suspect (or at least hope) the low ratings were the result of the audience realizing just what message was being preached to them by this show and turning it off in disgust.

In one respect the premise of Westworld is Las Vegas, NV taken to its logical conclusion: an 'adult' playground in every sense of the word. The idea that the rich would spend $1000 a day to indulge in their wildest fantasies is not that unrealistic either. Also many of the special effects for the Westworld robots were improved on and showed up again many times in the SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN series of which the 'fembot' episodes (Kill Oscar, Fembots in Las Vegas) copied the face concept seen in this movie.

That said there are a few problems with the picture (spoilers past this point). The explanation on how the gun won't kill another guest ignores the idea of the guest or robot missing (Brynner as the amok Gunslinger misses several times). It also fails to deal the swords and daggers that abound in the Roman and Medieval Worlds - what's to prevent two guests from hurting each other in those Worlds? Why would the control room have powered doors? A normal manual door with a rubber seal would have done the same job (used by many University computer rooms today in fact) And why didn't those doors have an way to open them manually (a mandatory fire requirement these days)? Furthermore other than the phone there is no indication that the control room is being effected by the robot malfunctions so why does it go haywire along with the robots? We know from scenes (the bar and dinner) in Westworld that the robots can eat and drink so why does giving the girl robot a drink short her out? Michael Crichton published the script for Westworld in book form - it makes an excellent companion to this movie if you can find it. It also explains one major glitch in the film - how the Gunslinger is able to shoot the guests and the tech. In the book he removes the gun's sensor. Problem is this scene never made it to the final film.

Fortunately the film goes at such a pace that you can't really think about such things when they are happening. Yul Brynner as the Gunslinger is so strong that you cannot really see anyone else in that role (as happened in the short lived 'blink and you miss it' series "Beyond Westworld") and he reprices this role in the 'sequel' -Futureworld- which explains in part why the robots went haywire in the first place.

This movie answers the question 'How can you have Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, and Robert Quarry star in a film and yet have a substandard to average picture?'

The premise of a horror star (Paul Toombes-Price) who had a nervous breakdown years ago as a result of his new wife being murdered in a manner used by the character he played (Dr. Death) and brought out of retirement by his fellow actor (Herbert Flay- Cushing) only to find the man who revealed that his wife had been fooling around that night (Quayle-Quarry) is the producer of the new Dr. Death series was a good one.

(minor spoilers past this point)

That said it is obvious the scriptwriter and director were both lazy. The pace of the picture moves along with all the urgency of a turtle out for a walk. Worse yet when you find out who the killer really was there are murder scenes that make no sense as there appears to have been no way for the killer to know that these people were a threat to his plans. The cops are portrayed in a manner that implies they must have gotten their badges out of cereal boxes because their efforts to keep an eye on their main suspect is pathetic (like letting him out of their sight while he is in front of a live audience). Then there is the padding of the film with clips from several Price films as being from "Dr. Death" pictures even though the characters in those films (Pit and the Pendulum, Fall of House of Usher) look *nothing* like Dr. Death; not to mention that that the way they are shown they might have as well been edited in a cuisinart. Then to top it off in a picture that has had zilch in supernatural element suddenly shifts gears and throws one in the last 5 minutes.

Quarry appears so infrequently that he might as well been billed as a cameo, Cushing gets a little more screen time but not much more than Quarry, so it falls on Price to try and save this train wreck of a picture. He manages to keeping the movie from becoming totally pathetic but he even cannot overcome the total ineptitude of the scriptwriter or director. Good for Price fans but little else to recommend it.

[minor spoilers]

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 has not aged well in the 50 years since it was published and neither has this movie. It is now possible to put an entire printed library on a CD- ROM (in 1986 there was a CD-ROM of 1001 classics in text format) and TV antennas have disappeared not because people are reading books but because of cable, satalite TV, and the internet. Bradbury's firemen are out of a job before they even get started.

Also there are major logic holes in both the book and film. If books are regularly burned than how do people know how to read?! Also if this society has been around a while who is printing the books that are so available given that fireman Guy Montag manages to accumulate a huge library in a short time? Furthermore the idea that people are saving the knowledge for later by memorizing it is idiocy; as anyone will tell you that is the worst possible method to use.

Bradbury's future seems to have itself a split personality and as a result so does the film. It is hard to take a book and film seriously if their basic premises are so out in left field.

More than a few fans have derided this film with such alternate tiles as William Shatner's Ego Trip or STV: The Search for Plot but in reality it is not that bad.

[minor spoilers]

First off the plot is actually pulled form two orginal series episodes "Journey to Eden" and "Who Mourns for Adonais?" with a little of the animated episode "Magic of Megas-Tu" thrown in. Kirk and company have already met Apollo and the Devil so meeting a being that believes it is God is not that off in left field as one might think. Also the ship has been used to to a supposedly mystical place before - the planet Eden so that idea isn't off the wall either.

As far as tone of the picture is concerned it is clear Shatner was aiming for the tone used in "I, Mudd" which didn't take itself too seriously. Taken in that light the film is quite enjoyable. Sure it isn't a "City on the Edge of Forever" but it is not worse than "Spock Brain" either.

(minor spoilers)

This first movie outing into the Star Trek universe and it totally forgets what made that universe interesting. While the plots varied wildly in the original series the one thing that held the whole thing together was the interaction of the character and the suspense.

The first problem with the movie is it is basicly a reworking of the original episode "The Changeling"; while there was enough to keep thinks interesting for 45 minutes that idea doesn't have enough to keep things going for 90 minutes much less 2 to 2.5 hours.

The second and worst problem is that instead of filling up the time with character interaction or even flashbacks to previous unseen adventures the viewer is treated to a special effects free-for-all that seems to be set on trying to create the feeling of 2001. Unfortunately this is totally at odds with the feel of the Star Trek universe which is why this film has the most derogatory alternative titles by fans of any Star Trek film: Star Trek: The No-motion Picture, ST: the Stillmotion picture, ST: the Stopmotion picture, and my personal favorite ST: The Slowmotion Picture. The director's cut just add to the agravation because it is basicly 11 more minutes of special effects. Most fans either skip this film and go to Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan or hit the fast forward button a lot.

[major spoilers]

It was a good idea but this totally misses the mark. The biggest problem is too many of Gould's famous villains are running around and as a result no one other than Big Boy is on the screen for too long. Worse yet the writers forgot that it was the character as much as the appearance of Gould's villains that made them interesting and as a result the other villains are little more than cardboard props.

For example the Brow and Pruneface who in the comics were suave sophisticated Master Nazi spies are reduced to a two bit gangsters with all the charm of a brick. Flattop (a for hire hitman in the strip) is little more than a two bit hood here as is 88 keys who was a master pianist in the comics. Influence who could hypnotize people into doing his will has nothing to do thanks to the horrid script and the mangling of Gould's villains doesn't stop there. The Blank comes out of left field with nobody knowing who he is (in the comic only the cops didn't know - the criminals knew all to well who the Blank was) and who the Blank turns out to be this time (no its not Frank A. Redrum) around makes no sense.

It was a good idea if they had stuck to one villain but to have about every famous villain Gould created between 1938-1949 means you have characters virtually tripping over each other. The brilliant solution to that problem is to have about half the bad guys wiped out midway through the picture which requires them to have the collective IQ of brick.

A true Dick Tray fan will be disappointed by this very flawed film to the point I would recommend the Dick Tray films made in the 1940's - at least they are closer to the spirit of Gould and this disfuctional mess.

[Major Spoilers]

Beneath is a textbook example on how NOT to make a sequel; there as so many things that are wrong with this picture that is is hard to list them all. First and most importantly is that important details from the first film are ignored. The year is the biggest blunder in the whole picture; Taylor crashed in 3978 but the the rescue team (which makes no sense as Taylor was on a colonization mission) lands in 3955 a full 23 years before Taylor even arrived!

Things basicly go downhill from there. Dr Zaius has forgotten his statement about the Forbidden Zone being created by Man and the whole idea of it being forbidden is forgotten. It is never really explained why the Apes -must- go into the Forbidden Zone. After escaping from the Apes Brent runs into a bunch of human mutants who worship a bomb and are as bloodthirsty as the Apes.

Brent finally finds Taylor who tells him the bomb is designed to ignite the atmosphere. This has all sorts of problems - 1) why would anyone build such a bomb? The whole purpose of a weapon is that you can use it against an enemy. 2) How did a missle that likely was in a silo someplace get into the middle of New York City? 3) With the entire infrastructure to repair the bomb destroyed how did the mutants keep it in working order for nearly 2000 years (and how did they manufacture their masks while we're at it)?

Of course the infamous ending proves Zaius statement that "man is evil capable of nothing but destruction" correct as Taylor in his death throws sets off the Alpha-Omega bomb frying the planet. Which has to be the dumbest ending to a picture I have ever seen.

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*

This special cannot seem to make up it mind as to which holiday it is supposed to geared to. The main focus is on Christmas and the 4 of July idea seems to come out of left field. Also Rankin/Bass reuse the mailman character from "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" creating tons of confusion if you had seen the previous special. Adding to the confusion is that the Rankin/Bass claymation Christmas specials up to this point could be woven into a kind of continuity: "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" , then "Year Without a Santa Claus", followed by "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", and finally "Rudolph's Shiny New Year."

This doesn't fit into ANY of that and in fact contradicts some ideas in those specials.

The biggest problem though is the villain Winterbolt. In contrast to other Rankin/ Bass villains (preredemption Winter Warlock for example) he doesn't look the part. Furthermore when Lady Boreal imprisons him for being 'evil' it not exactly detailed on what he was doing that warranted such treatment (This also ignores the Winter Warlock presented in the 1970 Rankin/Bass "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" which delt with Santa's origin.)

When Lady Boreal power weakens and Winterbolt wakes up he learns of Santa Claus' existence and decides to rule the world by taking Santa's place. This is where Winterbolt's second problem comes up; he can't seem to make decisions on his own and as a result continually asks his Snow Genie for advice. It is in following this advice that Winterbolt does his 'evil'. As a result Winterbolt comes of as a pathetic pawn of the Snow Genie rather than the strong willed villain he is supposed to be and certainly not deserving of the fate he has at the end of the film.