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Reviews
The Stranger (1973)
Oh... for an alternate ending
Further to my review in 2014, I have since thought that it is too bad they didn't film an alternate ending in the event the movie did not sell as a series.
In an alternate ending, Neil would make it off the launch pad, disable some systems MacAuley told him about so that a self-destruct cannot be triggered from the ground, and Benedict might consider suicide than face his superiors for a spectacular failure. Neil would manage to "phone home", but it's a long trip ahead and Terra could still try to stop him, depending on the capability of long range missile technology dormant since the Perfect Order started. A hint in the Ward E scene could also be used, with Benedict facing Mike or Steve in another facility.
This alternate ending could be used, say, after any interest from a network is too late to act on.
Headline Hunters (1968)
A Fun Little Story
I saw this when I was a child, maybe 10 years old. It was made for children, so it was well done by those standards.
Spoilers follow.
After Dad gets sick, his kids and their friends proceed to try to run the paper, the Clarion, though with guidance from the press operator. But no sooner does dad leave in an ambulance than one of the key employees decides to leave a "sinking ship" and goes to the competition across the street, the Bugle.
The defector operates below the eyes of the Bugle's publisher to try to put the Clarion out of business, but is outwitted each time by the determined children - delivering, reporting, and even the printing process. When dad is well and returns, the paper is still on its feet and the Bugle's publisher runs the defector out of his premises, so now the defector has burned both bridges.
The Twilight Zone: The Invaders (1961)
A Twist Without Sense
First saw this yesterday in going through my set. As it "dragged" on, I was deciding I'd never bother watching this one again. Then, the shock ending that they were Earth men and she is an alien woman. After a day of reflection, I realized there are several problems. When the woman was waiting by the hole, a light movement indicated the "alien" was going back and forth. That movement was not "human". Tricking her by sticking out her own knife to wound her was not "nice". Shooting at someone who's obviously startled or terrified of you is not going to do well for a "first contact" situation. I also wondered how "ordinary humans" were able to lift her knife without much effort, and hold it steady. All in all, I am unable to accept the two figures as humans from the Earth culture I know. Also, a little bit of SFX work like in some later TZ episodes - big people and little people in the same shot - would have been nice - why would our spacesuit technology get so primitive that they have to amble in a rigid way?
If I could accept the "invaders" as realistic emissaries from Earth, then the episode is okay, but the depiction of Earthmen, the hostility of the Earthmen and the "bionic" strength of Earthmen to lift the woman's knife makes this a lousy episode.