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Kraal93
Reviews
Star Trek: The Way to Eden (1969)
My personal favorite episode
I got my start with The Motion Picture then gradually got into TOS. For years, I had very few Trek tapes, but was lucky to snag Way To Eden for $2 at a flea market. I watched it constantly... to the annoyance of my roommate.
I never had a problem with the 'Space Hippies' or Dr. Sevrin. He was deranged but fairly calm for a villain, and not wholly evil. He wanted for himself and his group to find Eden and live outside the constraints of the 'sterilized, artfully balance atmospheres' that bred the disease he carried.
Also, Walter Koenig may disagree, but it showed Chekov in a more mature light, with his past relationship with Irina Galiulin. Yes, Chekov was supposed to be fun-loving he 'kid' of the show, but seeing Irina again brought back old feelings for him; Her, wild, free. Him: A Starfleet officer. Kirk got most of the girls in the show, so it was a nice change of pace to see Chekov get some romance.
A personal favorite moment for me was, after Spock found Adam dead from eating the poisoned pear, there is irrefutable evidence that Dr. McCoy's famous hand-held medical scanner (nicknamed salt-shaker, but was in fact scratch-built), was actually bereft of any display on its back end, just a silver disc. That is seen in close-up when McCoy scans the red-marked poison pear and he turns the scanner, showing the blank disc. Some older manuals depict it as having a miniature sickbay diagnostics display.
Aside from all of that, it is just an enjoyable episode.
Down Periscope (1996)
Great movie IMO
I love military comedies (Sgt. Bilko, Stripes, In The Army Now, Major Payne) and Down Periscope is hilarious, but it has a heart as well.
The Stingray SS-161 (The USS Pampanito) was gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful, a piece of art come alive. So it was a diesel engine sub, so what? I learned that the Aircraft Carrier USS Ranger (which stood in for The Enterprise in Star Trek IV), a huge ship, was 'conventionally powered', which might mean that Ranger was a diesel too.
My favorite scene: Pascal: Jesus, Buckman, this can's been on the stingray since Korea! This can expired in 1966! Buckman: (Takes finger full and tastes it) What's the matter, sir? It still tastes like creamed corn.
Pascal: (Yelling) Except, it's DEVILED HAM!! Buckman: That would be a problem.
It's story, perhaps a wee strained, seemed plausible. Winslow respected Dodge, and seemed to care about him, so he wanted to give Dodge a chance. He gave him a battered but still seaworthy Balao-class sub, and assigns him the task of using the diesel sub to evade the nuclear Navy and 'attack' Charlston Harbor, and Norfolk. 2-star Admiral Graham (with his eye on his third star, and a grudge against Dodge) assigned him the ragtag crew, hoping that they would screw up so Dodge would lose. Can Tom Dodge get the crew up to speed and working as a team, and can he take an old, out of date sub, and beat the Navy's best?
In the Army Now (1994)
Excellent movie, as good as Bio Dome.
I loved the movie for a lot of reasons. Pauly Shore and David Alan Grier, for example.
My ONE small gripe; the fighter jets used in the movie. At first, it seemed as if the planes were Tornado Marines, single-tail, single-engine fighters. In other scenes, if you're into military aircraft, or have seen Top Gun, you can clearly see that they are F-14 Tomcats, dual-tail (or split-fin, as Luke Air Force Base pilots refer to them), dual-engine fighters. I'm guessing that since the Tornado and the Tomcat share a lot of similarities (swing-wings, similar forward fuselages, and near-cockpit intake vents), that only a person, or persons, familiar with aircraft would be able to tell the difference.
Otherwise, I rank In The Army Now with Stripes, Sgt. Bilko, McHale's Navy, Down Periscope, Hot Shots Pts 1 and 2, and Major Payne, all funny military comedies.
McHale's Navy (1997)
A movie well worth watching
I know most people hate McHale's navy, but I really don't care. I thought it was pretty funny. Tim Curry was really good as the villain, Vladikov (the #2 best terrorist in the world). Bruce Campbell is pretty good. David Allen Grier was, as usual, great as Ens. Charles T. Parker.
I'd never seen the original series, but I'm glad that they had Ernest Borgnine, the original McHale, as Cobra.
And, last, but DEFFINITELY not least, Tom Arnold. I used to watch Roseanne, and always liked his obnoxious humor. It's even better in McHale's Navy. He's got some unique style, that guy.
Well, I've chatted long enough.
PS. Tim Curry and Tom Arnold had both been in an episode of Roseanne.