Reviews (1)

As usual, John Thaw played His role as Morse brilliantly.
The story line is believeable,the acting is great, the city is beautiful. What more can I say? ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Sleuthing out something I saw in this Video
In the scene where the blonde lady whose husband is up for the job and he tells her how VERY important it is to him, as a result of which she consents to the rather distasteful proposal of the horrid little man who apparently has the power to see that her husband gets it, she is wearing a blue sweater of intricate cable design. I want to get a picture of it. this is not my first endeavour (is that really Morse's first name?) but I have had no luck, so while this is perhaps the wrong forum, I am posting it in the hope that someone out there shares my fascination with this pattern and will contact me.

Eaton is now his producer
The worst thing to happen to the Inspector Morse series was to have Rebecca Eaton of WGBH in Boston come on board to meddle with the production of these superlative series. She has a singularly unique grasp of the superficial that defies any but the best to add depth and subtlety to storytelling. Nearly alone, she justifies cutting the funding for Public Broadcasting.
In nay case, the main crime she perpetrates here is to excise the detail that Morse, in the course of the book, learns that he has diabetes, and in Colin Dexter's hands, the great detective manages to turn sombre news about himself into a key way to solve the mystery of the murders herein, much as he attacks the crosswords or leaves a brilliant clue as to his Christian name. eaton will have none of that subtlety and plays it straight like Angela Lansbury's "Murder, She Wrote."
More's the pity for the cast assembled here deliver an acting performance of consummate skill and finesse. The character, Clixby Beam, is as evil a character as ever encountered in Morse, and he is not the murderer! Whately and Thaw are positively brilliant all the way through. Morse finally manages a successful love affair with Adele Cecil, who will inspire him through these epochal episodes of his career.
There is less of a reference to classical music in this story, except for Adele's tacit preference for Wagner, which pleases Morse terrifically. This was in fact the episode woven with the fabric of Wagner's TRISTAN AND ISOLDE, but to expect Eaton to have picked that up would have been thoroughly unrealistic. She got the point of the importance of PARSIFAL to THE REMORSEFUL DAY, but how could you miss with Dexter's direct references to Hans Knappertsbusch.
Anyway, this is a great story that rises above the interference by an American producer. It is always interesting to observe how the Morse series portrayed the Americans. The shoe fits so compellingly. Adds a bit of irony to how wrong Eaton and her lot missed the subtle details in Dexter's stories and thereby in Morse's thinking.
I'd highly recommend this DVD, as I would all in the series. Certainly television has rarely risen to this standard, and when you consider how empty the bloated calories of current public and commercial TV are these days, this is a drama to be savoured and mulled over for ages.

Mystery and Love
Inspector Morse shines in this film, as always. There is a slight twist at the end, and we have a rare glimpse of romance for Morse. The main characters have complicated love lives which all seem to intertwine and make the story very interesting. Morse is his staight-forward self, staying focused and solving the mystery at the end. very good viewing. ... Read more

Description

Episode 57 - Elaan of Troyius - Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise are assigned to deliver Elaan, the beautiful Dohlman of Elas, to her rival planet Troyius. But her unruly behavior threatens to cost Kirk his ship.
Episode 58 - The Paradise Syndrome - The Enterprise's mission: to deflect an asteroid from colliding with a planet. But shortly after Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to survey the planet, Kirk vanishes. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

One standard action episode, one off-beat love story
Elaan of Troyius, which loosely follows the plot of Taming of the Shrew, is boosted by a strong acting performance from Frances Nguyen. She also brings out the best in Shatner; their scenes together, which run the gamut of emotions, are fairly convincing. The episode also features more action than average, including a dramatic ending, and there are no huge holes in the storyline (although at times it's tough to know exactly what Elaan's motivations are.) The episode is also boosted by a strong score and good costumes for the Dohlman (if not her guards!) One negative aspect is the implicit sexism behind 'the taming'. Overall, a slightly above average episode (3.5 stars.)

Tidbits: This episode, the second of the season to be produced, was the 13th to be aired. This ties Bread and Circuses for the longest lag of the entire series, and is probably mostly due to the 'high tech' scenes involving the 'Klingon' ship making rapid passes while firing on the Enterprise.

The Paradise Syndrome-While I agree that several 3rd season shows revisited plots from prior seasons, it's also true that the final season produced some unique offerings stylistically and substantially. The Paradise Syndrome, in which Kirk lives with an indigenous tribe, is one example. Two aspects in particular make this episode unusual. First, I can't think of an episode which spans a longer period of time (months). Second we have extensive cultural immersion, involving just one crew member who can't even remember he belongs on a starship. Other peculiar aspects are the funky score and some disturbing scenes such as the final violence which ultimately excuses Kirk's to return to his ship.

While the tragedy here is not as effectively conveyed as in say, The City on the Edge of Forever, the final, extreme events are emotionally involving. This is one of Shatner's richer performances, even as he ultimately remains wed to his ship. A less sappy romance, without the hackneyed 'spurned rival' subplot, and better acting from the beautiful Miramanee could have made this a truly exceptional episode. Also annoying are the gratuitous 'meanwhile, aboard the Enterprise' scenes so common in the 3rd season, where we usually see feckless and out-of-character bickering about zero-hours and the like. Still, a slighly above average episode, for its novelty primarily (3.5 stars).

Tidbits: This is the episode which should have closed with Spock
saying'forget.' Several aspects of the asteroid subplot, including
plot constraints that it introduces, fail to meet even the low
plausibility standards of Star Trek.

Proper etiquette and false godhood
REVIEWED ITEM: Star Trek® Original Series DVD Volume 29: Elaan of Troyius © / The Paradise Syndrome ©

ELAAN OF TROYIUS © PRELIMINARY BRIEFS:

Moral, Ethical, and/or Philosophical Subject(s) Driven Into The Ground: The advantages of proper etiquette; love versus duty

Expendable Enterprise Crewmember ('Red Shirt') Confirmed Casualty List: one dead

REVIEW/COMMENTARY:
Well, it ain't like you've seen this particular plot on the show before: Kirk falls for the babe-of-the-week, in this instance Elaan, an arrogant and ill-mannered alien princess who is betrothed to the ruler of a world that her people are at war with. Kirk falls for the babe, with the help of Elaan's pheromone-laden tears that the good captain wipes away. The babe attempts to take advantage of the situation by attempting to use Kirk to destroy her foes. Kirk becomes torn between his new romantic interest-who wasn't supposed to be his in the first place-- and his duty to his ship and crew. As expected, his devotion to his command wins out, though not without a little agonizing over what he'd given up. Spock and McCoy have a brief exchange of words over the proceedings right before the closing credits roll. Fade to black-or rather, black with white spots. Yep, just another day at the classic 'Trek script recyclery-whoops, I mean Gene Roddenberry's office at Paramount studios...
---
THE PARADISE SYNDROME © PRELIMINARY BRIEFS:

Moral, Ethical, and/or Philosophical Subject(s) Driven Into The Ground: friendship versus duty; a complex man's desire to live a more simple life

Notable Gaffe/Special Defect: After uttering "I am Kirok!", Kirk pounds on the stone obelisk, causing one of the raised-relief hieroglyphics on the monument to fall off.

Expendable Enterprise Crewmember ('Red Shirt') Confirmed Casualty List: None

REVIEW/COMMENTARY: Keeping with this particular volume's theme, Jimmers once again falls for the hottie-of-the-week, a woman from a tribe of primitive American Indians apparently placed on some far-off globe by an advanced alien race. Throw in a bit of amnesia on the part of Kirk (with the help of a strange monument-like device), and a jealous medicine chief who is forced to give up the hand of the lovely lady to Kirk, and you have a somewhat different twist on the hackneyed 'James-Kirk's-Ill-Fated-Romance' formula. Not particularly original, to be sure, but at least you get to see a few memorable moments of sniping between Spock and McCoy as the former assumes command following Kirk's mysterious disappearance, and attempts to deflect an asteroid that is hurtling inexorably towards the planet. Will the Enterprise save the day again? Will 'Kirok' become Kirk once again? Well, apparently the answers are 'yes' and 'yes'-- if I recall correctly, this intrepid trio did do a couple eppies and half a dozen theatrical flicks after this adventure. Sorry if I ruined it for ya there. But hey, I gotta give it to ya straight up, ya know?

'Late

ONE GREAT LOVE STORY WITH ONE TERRIBLE!!!
Volume 29 of The Star Trek DVD Series features two of the show's early episodes from it's haphazard third and final season.

Although it is not necessarily a terrible episode of Star Trek, to be honest I have never been to fond of ELAAN OF TROYIUS. The story is rather weak as is the totally unconvincing love story between Kirk and Elaan The Dohlman Of Elaas. The story basically has Kirk and the crew trying to get the two planets (who have been at war for many years) Troyius and Elaas to be at peace with one another by wedding the royal members. However of course the ship turns into a battelfield between Elaan and Petri the Troyan negotiator. Elaan and her guards act completely barbaric and Krik tries to teach her some disipline. Of course Kirk falls in love with Elaan after he touches her tears and they make him her love slave. It's pretty far fetched if you ask me and thats why this episode suffers. The love story is simply not realistic and in the end Kirk acts if he lost true love to the Troyan leader. Uhh? he was seduced and became a tool! There was no love! I'm sorry but I just think this episode was just downright lame besides Elaan isn't that attractive in my opinion. Still this episode is worth one view, you never know you may like it?
There is a good scene with The Klingon battle cruiser but other then that this episode is a dud to me.

On the otherhand THE PARADISE SYNDROME is one of the third seasons finest episodes. Kirk and the crew beam down to a planet that is being threatened by a collision by an asteroid. They find Natives American inhabitants as well as a strange Alien Obelisk. Kirk accidently gets trapped inside the Obelisk and triggers a device that gives him amnesia. Found by the natives Kirk states he is Kurok (from his damaged memory) and the natives believe he is a god from the Obelisk. He seems to settle in fine with the natives as he becomes the new tribe medicine chief and marries the priestess Miramanee. Meanwhile on the Enterprise Spock and the crew attempt to figure out how to stop the asteroid from colliding with the planet. This episode was extremely well written and the casting was superb. Some nice acting scenes between McCoy and Spock, and Kirk and Miramanee make THE PARADISE SYNDROME one of the best episodes from Star Trek's final season. The ending has a nice tragic effect to it as well. Superb!

Overall Volume 29 has some good and some bad in my opinion but it's all classic Trek so it is worth getting regardless. Besides PARADISE SYNDROME is a lcassic Star Trek episode that is well made especiallt for the third seasons stabdards. Recommended.

Two of my favorite episodes
My only problem is that with today's technology, noone from Paramount is going to go back to all of the previous Klingon episodes and digitally insert the Klingon Battle cruiser (like in Errand of Mercy, Friday's Child, A Private Little War, etc.). They've re-done all the Star Wars movies, why? Because the way they look now is what they originally wanted to do, but didn't have the technology back in the 70's.
Paramount has already altered the sound effects on the Star Trek DVD's (I have them all), I don't think re-releasing all the Klingon episodes before Elaan of Troyius with digital footage of the Klingon Battle Cruiser would be a big deal...

Romance is Dead.
The lower budget and often rushed through production deadlines plauged Star Trek in it's Thrid season as seen in these two episodes, Elaan of Troyuis was a mess of a show with a boring love story and predictable outcome while The Paradise Syndrome was Star Trek's nod to the Monolith in 2001; A Space Odyssey, which was relased the year this episode was made. It was poorly written and directed, like almost all the shows of the thrid season were. ... Read more

Description

When young, fragile Domenico (Sandro Panseri) ventures from the small village of Meda to Milan in search of employment, he finds himself on the bottom rung of the bureaucratic ladder in a huge, faceless company. The prospects may be daunting, but Domenico finds reason for hope in the fetching new worker Antonietta (Loredana Detto). A tender coming-of-age story and a sharp observation of dehumanizing corporate enterprise, Ermanno Olmi's Il Posto is a touching and hilarious tale of one young man's stumbling entrance into the perils of modern adulthood. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Ermano Olmi is incredible.
Olmi can show the everyday life of an ordinary person and make it interesting. I've never seen any other director do that. In "Il Posto" that's exactly what he does. The film is slow paced the first time you watch it but for days ater you'll keep thinking about it and you'll want to watch it again.

Excellent movies!
I am italian and have watched the three Olmi's movies, Il Posto, I Fidanzati and The Tree of The Wooden Clogs, the latter is now out on DVD at amazon.co.uk. I absolutely loved every one of these movies, every one brought back memories of my times in Milan, and The Tree of The Wooden Clogs brings back vivid memories of when I was a toddler, going to visit my father's relatives in the country, and yes, they were wearing clogs with very thick socks, we children were having baths in the cow shed in the wooden bucket, the old fashion bed warmer, oh boy those bedrooms were sooooooo cold and oh! what a lovely treat to get into a warm bed! I grew into a teenager and was still going to visit the gradparents and watched the daily struggles just to live, pulling up the water from the well, working in the fields no matter what the wether was like, sitting on the tractor on the way home after a long day from working in the fields, preparing for the grape picking and the killing of the pig, granpa's wine and salamis were the best, waking up with the smell of the bacon, sitting under the porch with the women doing their daily tasks, sewing, pulling out the peas from their pods. At the end of a hard day, a good clean up and gather together after dinner by the fire with family and occasionally neighbours to see the day off. This movie is so real that I could smell it!

Wish it were longer
It is one of those films that after the film ends you still sit on for a few minutes finding your way back into this world again. The story is very simple, too simple i can describe it in less than 15 words. But I wouldn't want to spoil your experience. I just wanted to say that Olmi made his films during the '60s and 70s, Italian economic boom era when there were great economic and social disparities created between the haves and have-nots and materialism prevalent in Italy which was probably best depicted in La Dolce Vita. Olmi's films were reminders of booming Italy's difficult past being fogotten and humanity alongside it. In this film you will see that humanity, humanity not in words but on the faces and lives of people struggling to make it through. It's touching and entertaining. My only complaint was that why did it have to end so soon. I wanted to see more of the main characters.
If you like this film, I suggest you check out The Tree of Wooden Clogs. To me, it's Olmi at his best. That film led me to check out his other films like this one and I Fidanzati. Unfortunately The Tree hasn't been out on DVD yet. But once you start watching it on tape you will soon forget about digital imageries and its niceties.

Filmmaking At It's Best!
Five brilliant stars for two brilliant performances by Sandro Panseri and the beautiful Loredana Detto and to Ermanno Olmi for a masterful job in creating this wonderful film. I've watched this film several times after recently purchasing the DVD and I am amazed at how a film such as this can be constructed to convey the full spectrum of emotions. Why would anyone ever need to make a film with "special effects" when the most amazing "special effect" ever created is the human face and Sandro Panseri as Domenico in this film is so convincing and brilliant. I was one with Domenico, experiencing each and every emotion. The scenes between Domenico(Sandro Panseri)and Antonietta (Loredana Detto)are very moving and special and the scenes between Domenico and his brother are priceless. The DVD extras are very interesting; the interview with Ermanno Olmi, the film restoration demonstration as well as the written material that accompanies the DVD. Working for a corporation and in an office environment for many years, I can relate to many aspects of this film. Plus it's filmed in beautiful black and white! The great thing about viewing the DVD is the ability to freeze a frame and focus on an image of an aspect of life as portrayed in this film. Grazie a Ermanno Olmi, Sandro Panseri e Loredana Detto. Complimenti! Che bravo! Grazie ancora!

Amazing!
If anything else, Olmi's film is about human grace. The movie follows the life of a young man who's looking for a job to supplement his family's income. There's a social undercurrent to the film, but Olmi's concern is far more humanistic. He's interested in the joys and disappointments of his characters. I found the sequence when the young man attempts to hook-up with the young woman both touching and awkward. More importantly, at one point in the movie, the camera follows the lives of the other people in the company to reveal their lives already lived and filled with everyday drama. Kudos for Criterion for releasing this film to a wider audience. It's beyond me why the movie's not widely known. It should be up there in the pantheon of the great Italian neo-realist films. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Star Trek on its last legs
The Savage Curtain-Another real tanker, this one is a sort of celebrity death match in which Lincoln and the good guys throw down with Genghis and the bad company. Everything about this episode feels dark and pessimistic, including the lighting. Even
the scenes with Lincoln are oddly cold and foreboding. Once on the planet, things become even more frightful. The rock aliens are some of the creepier and crueler of Star Trek creatures, particularly given their specious reasons for wanting to watch a battle between good and evil. The episode's dream-like feel makes the threats seem real, even though the plot is laughably simple. The episode is classic 3rd season in never even attempting to reach a firm conclusion about the philosophical question it poses as well.

Tidbit: Another gaffe occurs here. Not only is the negative reversed in one shot of Kirk and Spock during the fight sequence, but there seems to be an unintentional speed change of some sort. Very bizarre. (2 stars)

All Our Yesterdays-This Salem witch trial/ ice age time travel episode fares pretty well in comparison with its neighbors (although not its projenitor, City on the Edge of Forever). Which is to say, there is some drama and some semblance of a plot. In that inimitable 3rd season way, even the first minute of the teaser is somehow menacing. We sense that something is a little off, and that the Triumvirate is in for trouble, even before we meet the extra librarians. Part of it is the dramatic music played at the very start of all these late 3rd season shows. Part of it is that they were relying almost exclusively on early introduction of the "Kirk/ Enterprise in danger" crutch at this point in the show's run. In any event, Kirk, like a curious and courageous dog, bolts off into the great unknown, triggering a cascade of misfortune. By this point in the show, the stars were often no wiser than the guest characters; why did they ignore Mr. Atoz in the first place? As the Triumverate grows colder, less idealistic, dumber, and less faithful to their characters, we care less about their fates (see That Which Survives, Whom Gods Destroy, The Way to Eden, and Requiem for Methuselah for nearby examples).

But back to the episode. While the library idea is interesting, much more could have been done with it. Both time travels end up being pretty banal. And the rationale for Spock's personality change is weak at best. On the other hand, its an interesting change from his normal behavior. The conclusion of this episode, with the enterprise outpacing the fireball, has the now characteristic rushed feel, as though the bags were packed for the next flight even before the director said, 'that's a wrap'. Gone are the short little wrap-ups on the bridge; oh well, they were often hokey anyway.

Tid bit: The librarian's name is Mr. Atoz (A to Z) (3 stars)

STAR TREK THE ORIGINAL SERIES' LAST GASPING BREATH!
We must be reaching the end, because Volume 39 of The Star Trek DVD series contians two of the last great episodes producedin the series three season run.

At first look THE SAVAGE CURTAIN may be considered a ridiculously silly episode. This is the infamous episode where 'Abraham Lincoln' makes an appearance. True that this episodes plot is way too far out to ever actually occur but still you have to give the writers credit for their creativity even if this is too cheesy. Basically the story goes that the Enterprise crew are abducted by a friendly alien entity who takes the form of Lincoln. Lincoln insists he is who he actually is and requests that Kirk and Spock accompany him to the molten planet where (unbeknowst to our heroes) the rock like aliens, the Excalbians have organized a battle between good and evil. Pitting (good) Kirk, Spock, Lincoln and the greatest Vulcan philosopher Surak against (evil) Genghis Khan, Kahless the Unforgettable (founder of the Klingon Empire), Col.Green (someone who supposedly is a Tyrant in our future) and Zora (some fairly forgettable experimental witch tyrant here). The story has essentially an anti-war message. Some people consider this to be one of the worst episodes. I actually greatly disagee with that thought on this show. Of course it's nowhere near the best but it's effective and creative, especially considering that (by this time) the Star Trek series was on life support. Not the best but good for third season standards. Hey, at least they didn't credit Abraham Lincoln played by himself!

ALL OF OUR YESTERDAYS was the last great Star Trek episode to ever make it into production. Being only an episode away from the end of the series' three year run, in retrospect they should have ended with this one. The story essentially deals with time travel. The Enterprise journeys to Sarpeidon and Kirk, Spock and McCoy meet a peculiar old librarian (played by Ian Wolfe). It's a really effective time travle episode since this story has three settings: Present day Sarpeidon, Kirk in Sarpeidon's Victorian age, Spock and McCoy in Sarpeidon's ice age. The last setting really steals this episode. Partly because we see Spock's barbaric nature take him over. There is no doubt why Nimoy is on the front of the DVD case. He even gets an effective love interest in this story (played by Mariette Hartley). An interesting plot, great acting and a somewhat tragic ending make tihs episode one of the more memrable episodes from the tail end of the Star Trek series.

Overall this is another must. One of the better pair of episodes from the end Star Trek's wildly uneven third season. Highly recommended.

Ying And Yang
The Savage Curtain is one of the strangest and most absurd episodes of the 3rd seaon. While providing some more background on Vulcan it parades through a lengthy battle scene that is sure to put the most dovish people to sleep. I'm not advocating violence for violence sake but it wouldn't have hurt here.

All Our Yesterdays has its share of stupidity as well. Kirk and Spock haven't learned anything from all their previous voyages by they way they act in this story. 'Leap before you Look' is the theme here. Maybe Spock's behavior is poorly explained but this story led to one of my favorite Trek novels Yesterday's Son and its follow up Time For Yesterday. 4 stars on that alone.

Good N' Plenty
"Savage Curtain" An alien decides to test Kirk & Spock on their concepts of "good" & "evil" by creating duplicates of Abraham Lincoln & Surak.

"All Our Yesterdays" Kirk, Spock & McCoy are lost somewhere in the past. How will they get back? NOTE: Shatner, Nimoy, & De Kelley are the only 3 people from the original cast to be in this story! There are no shots of the inside of the Enterprise whatsoever!

Weak Classic trek
These DVD's normally pair episodes with some deep shared meaning - in this one, the idea is that peoples of past eras are largely ignorant and prone to find superstitious answers to solve life's msyteries (In "Trek" lore, the inhabitants of the future are the technologically and ethically advanced descendants of savage and greedy fools - us).

In "All Our Yesterdays", the Enterprise comes across the planet Sarpeidon - home to an advanced civilization that appears to have disappeared. Their planet about to be destroyed by a supernova, the Sarpeidons left no hint of their escape. Instead, Kirk, McCoy and Spock find a huge library cataloguing thousands of generations of the planet's existence (the best of times, the worst of times). Perusing, though not entirely understanding the significance of the library and its strange librarian, Mr. Atoz, all three learn too late that the library is actually the navigation center of a huge time machine through which the Sarpeidons have escaped to the past. Unwittingly leaping into one such portal, Kirk finds himself trapped in a pre-industrial era in which he is branded a witch by typically ignorant natives of the time. Spock and McCoy have it worse - vanishing into the planet's ice age (an era kept on catalog for prisoners) where they meet the lovely Zarabeth (Mariette Hartley - later to return as a sexy Terranian in Roddenberry's short-lived "Earth2" series, and also immortalized in a generation of Polaroid commercials). In Spock's case, the metaphor for time travel is reversed - Zarabeth is a caring and loving person, but Spock's journey to a time before his ancestors cast out their emotions and their meat-eating diet has caused him to become a passionate savage. (McCoy, however, does not revert to the primitive state of pre-20th century country doctors). Falling in love with Zarabeth - also a future Sarpeidon sent to the past as a prisoner - he is willing to do anything to remain in the past with her (a special safeguard ensures her death should she try to return to the present). The episode was later sequelized in the novel "Yesterday's Son" in which Spock returns to Sarpeidon for the son born of his union with Zarabeth, and confronts another sign of his wild days - Sub Commander Tal from "The Enterprise Incident".

"The Savage Curtain" was a more overt jab at those foolish primitives of our past - pitting the crew not only against simulacra of the evil past (barbarian warlord Genghis Khan, the warmongering Kahless who set the Klingon race into their bellicose ways, and Colonel Green, guilty of more recent crimes against humanity) but also against the naivete of our more noble ancestors - Abe Lincoln and the vulcan Surak. Trapped on the world of Excalbia, the crew are subjects for that world's inhabitants to test the strength of good over evil. Unsurprisingly, Lincoln and Surak aren't big on fighting at all, and are good's biggest liabilities. The message of this episode is vague - is goodness stronger than evil because it does not measure itself according to strength? Or perhaps the moral is that the lines between good and evil aren't so clear -but that was handled better in the episode "Errand of Mercy" in which both Humans and Klingons are kept from warring against each other by godlike Organians who play no favorites. (Unsurprisingly, the Organians and Excalbians would meet years later in DC Comics's "Star Trek" monthly, in an issue titled "Errand of War".) Either way, these episodes are Classic Trek at its weakest. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"Assignment: Earth"
The final broadcast episode of Star Trek's second season was this clever and funny story in which the Enterprise travels back in time to 1968 (the year this program aired) to discover how the nuclear arms race came to an end. Captain Kirk (William Shatner) encounters a strange fellow named Gary Seven (Robert Lansing), who claims to have been trained by extraterrestrials in sabotaging the escalating nuclear threat. With the ambivalent aid of a nervous secretary (Teri Garr), Seven (yes, there was a Trek character with that name before Voyager) attempts to carry out his assignment, but Kirk isn't sure if he can be trusted.Lansing's droll and somewhat imperious performance is nicely counterpointed by Garr's cute confusion, and the eerie presence of his familiar--a black cat named Isis--adds a hint of hoodoo exotica. (Don't blink at the end or you'll miss the really exotic creature Isis briefly turns into.) "Assignment: Earth" was actually the pilot for an intended Gene Roddenberry-produced TV series that never happened. Too bad... But speaking of eerie, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) at one point refers to an important assassination that will soon take place. A week after this episode's original airdate, Dr. Martin Luther King was murdered.

"Spectre of the Gun"
In this taut, exciting episode, the Enterprise trespasses Melkotian space and is punished in a unique fashion. Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Scotty (James Doohan), and Chekov (Walter Koenig) are all transported to the planet's eerie surface, where they are trapped in a re-creation of 1881 Tombstone and mistaken for the Clanton brothers, doomed principals in the infamous gunfight at the OK Corral.Despite their efforts to avoid trouble, Kirk and company can't seem to avoid their fateful duel with the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday (Sam Gilman). When Chekov is shot dead by Morgan Earp (Rex Holman), the danger is all too clear. The strange Twilight Zone look and atmosphere of this episode--tumbleweeds and Old West facades popping up in a black void--grips one's imagination and doesn't let go until the very end. Fans of Captain Kirk's street-fighting style will especially enjoy the thrilling climax. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Star Trek episodes burdened with overcoming weak premises
Although each is interesting in its own way, I must admit I have never been particularly enamored of either of the Star Trek episodes included on Volume 28 of the DVD series. "Assignment: Earth" features Robert Lansing as Gary Seven, who I used to watch on "Twelve O'Clock High," my favorite show as a kid. Seven suddenly pops up on the Enterprise, claiming to be a human being who has been living on a distant planet. He is now heading to Earth to help humanity survive a dangerous situation. Now what is sort of strange about this episode is that this is all happening in 1968, where the Enterprise has gone back in time (remember, they learned how in "Tomorrow is Yesterday") to do historical research. Really? The Federation is risking the time continuum just to do data gathering? Did Kirk and Spock not tell anybody about what happened in "The City on the Edge of Forever"? I like Lansing, and who does not like Terri Garr, but this is just too wild a set up to accept. By the time I get around to being willing to suspend my disbelief, the episode is pretty much over.

DeForrest Kelly played Morgan Earp in the 1957 film, "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral," which provides an interesting level of irony to the third season episode, "Spectre of the Gun." The Enterprise ignores the warnings of a Melkotian space buoy and orbits the planet. Apparently he has orders to establish contact at all costs. Well, the costs might be pretty high because the Melkotians order the execution of the landing party, taking the infamous gunfight at the O.K. corral from Kirk's mind as the setting for their deaths. Of course, the Enterprise officers are the Clayton gang and they are about to be gunned down by the Earps and Doc Holliday. There is a nice sense of "unreality" to the entire affair, somehow reminiscent of the dream ballet from "Oklahoma." Ironically, the Earps are actually portrayed rather realistically as the pistol-whipping thugs they were in Tombstone way back when. Again, there is a weakness in the premise, what with Kirk being order to force contact with the Melkotians, which is not exactly enlightened behavior on the part of the good guys (think Commodore Perry being ordered to "open" Japan). But strange situation is played out well and the best part of this episode is that it is Spock who effectively saves the day. "Specter of the Gun" ends up being an above average episode of Star Trek.

AN ODD PAIR OF EPISODES BUT STILL WONDERFUL!!!
Volume 28 of The Star Trek DVD series may be the most bizarre DVD in the series. Partly because it contains the last episode of the second season and the first epiosde of the third. These two episodes differ greatly and it is interesting to compare and contrast between them however both of these episodes are above average Trek tales despite their strange differences.

ASSIGNMENT: EARTH was the season finale of the second season. Essentially it was a pilot for a proposed series by the same name. At the time Star Trek was going to be cancelled and it was quite apparent that Roddenberry developed this to have something to fall back on once the network had made their decision. I'm assuming Roddenberry was planning to have Robert Lansing and Terri Garr as the main charcters in this new series and have the Star Trek cast make various guest appearnaces. Anyways as it turned out Star Trek managed to stay on for a further season and Roddenberry and the network ditched the whole 'Assignment:Earth' idea. All we were left with was this strange episode of Star Trek (which makes you wonder if the show had been cancelled and Assignment:Earth had been accepted by NBC). The episode finds the Enterprise crew travelling back to 1968 (at the time this was aired: modern day earth). Upon arrival they cross paths with Gary Seven (Robert Lansing) and he has come to earth in order to slow down it evolutionary process to put a stop to destroying themselves. He does this by sabotaging U.S. rockets and Kirk feels he will change the course of time. However Seven insists he is doing this for the good of mankind. The episode is rather strange and complicated as most of the screen time is given to Lansing rather than Shatner which is quite a change. The rest of the episode involves Kirk and Spock chasing Seven around trying to stop him. In the end everything turns out fine as usual and the course of time is not affected but many viewers may be left scratching their heads after this episode is over. It is good but rather hard to follow. Terri Garr makes one of her first appearances as Roberta Lincoln a hip chick who applies for a secretary job for Mr. Seven. The casting was great in this one (Both Lansing and Garr are excellent) and perhaps Roddenberry should have salvaged the Assignment: Earth idea after Star Trek was cancelled in June of 1969? Sadly this was never done.

The other episode here is SPECTRE OF THE GUN which kicked off Star Trek's inconsistant third and final season. There is such a big change between this and ASSIGNMENT:EARTH. It's amazing that Star Trek was able stay on for a third season but it's obvious that the production budget was way tighter (which explains the true reason why there are incomplete sets in this episode). Still this is one of the better episodes in Star Trek's haphazard final season.
The Enterprise is abducted by a mysterious alien race called the Melkotians Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and Chekov beam down to their planet only to end up in a situation where they are the Clampetts in the middle of the historic 'Gun Fight At The OK Corral' against the Earp's. This episode is ironic because Deforest Kelley did play Morgan Earp in the classic 1957 film. Despite being another bizarre Star Trek outing SPECTRE OF THE GUN is an awesome episode of Star Trek in my opinion especially for the majority of lackluster scripts submitted in the third season. Besides the casting of the Earps is impressive and the gunfight at the end is kinda cool.

Overall a bizarre pair of episodes but both are wonderful and interesting in their own ways. SPECTRE OF THE GUN is more enjoyable to watch than ASSIGNMENT:EARTH in my opinion but they are both special. Highly recommended.

Two unusual episodes bridge seasons 2 and 3
Assignment: Earth-This episode, which featured the crew returning to Earth in 1968 to observe a rocket launch, was certainly unusual. it becomes much more than an observation once they are forced to decide whether Seven's role is a positive or negative one in the prevention of nuclear war. Any viewer unaware that this was a pilot episode of a proposed spy show would be forgiven for wondering how the crew ended up in a such a mundane setting. While Robert Lansing and Terri Garr are a big step up from your average Trek guest stars, there is a reason the show was not picked up. Nevertheless, the plotline is entertaining enough to yield one quirky episode.

Tidbit: Kirk was never any rounder than he was right here; well, not until the Trek movies anyway. (3 stars)

Spectre of the Gun was the first third season episode to be produced, and one need watch no more than the teaser to sense that the show would have a very different feel during the 1968-1969 season. First off, those shiny, synthetic-looking uniforms that replaced the corderoys of the first two seasons. A minor point, yes, but perhaps a metaphor for other changes. The third season shows have a slick quality about them, an emphasis of style over substance. There is a sense that everyone is somehow in the know, no longer willing to invest themselves in the simple morality tales so common in the first season. This process was certainly well underway by the midpoint of season 2, when we began to see action (and high camp in the seminal case of I, Mudd) episodes that were light, devoid of moralizing, and somewhat tongue in cheek. By the third season, it could no longer be reigned in. Gone was the moral foundation of the show, but also gone was the feeling that the actors were having fun. What's left is highly formalized episodes.

It should be added though that stylistically season was 3 was by far the most developed season. Musically, scores became more florid and psychadelic, unusual camera angles and cuts became more common, and character' actions became less predictable. I for one enjoy the fluidity, trippyness, and dark tone of the third season. I know I'm in the minority (to say the least) here though.

But this is supposed to be a review of Spectre of the Gun, in which the crew are forced to participate in the events leading up to the gunfight at the OK Corral. Overall this is a pretty good episode, with more action than most 3rd season shows. Better though is the fact that this episode is very atmospheric, with a stong score, wind, and effects contributing to the sense of unreality and futility. But this too is an illusion. We end with the positive message that the crew were tested, and found worthy, for not killing. They are not judged on the basis of wanting to kill, but rather for not killing (although upon scrutiny even this worthiness is undermined somewhat by the fact that at that point the crew knows the Earps are unreal).

This episode doesn't hammer the moral theme as earlier seasons did. Surprising is the extent to which the crew must focus on their own survival, even to the extent of accepting demeaning abuse the Earps.

This episode has it's flaws though. Most notably, only Kirk seems phases by Chekov's death; of course the others were no doubt constrained by the new production team. (3.5 stars)

"I can't just kill them!!!"
REVIEWED ITEM: Star Trek® Original Series DVD Volume 28- Assignment: Earth © / Spectre of the Gun ©

ASSIGNMENT: EARTH © PRELIMINARY BRIEFS:

Moral, Ethical, and/or Philosophical Subject(s) Driven Into the Ground: Messin' with the space-time continuum; trusting the motivations of complete strangers

Expendable Enterprise Crewmember ('Red Shirt') Confirmed Casualty List: Three incapacitated

REVIEW/COMMENTARY:

Was 'Assignment: Earth' just another rip-roaring Star Trek adventure, or was it the teaser for a possible spinoff show? Well, let's see now... the guest stars (Gary Seven and his not-so-trusty receptionist Roberta Lincoln) are given an extensive amount of screen time and character development, much more than what most other guests have been granted on classic 'Trek. The screen time that Kirk, Spock and company use up is minimal, with most of the celluloid dedicated to Gary Seven embarking on and completing his mission, and Roberta getting in the way in a supposedly humorous fashion. And if those two bits of evidence don't seal the deal for ya, there's Mister Spock's statement at the end of the show where he predicts "interesting experiences in store for them (Seven and Lincoln)". I dunno 'bout the rest of ya's but it definitely looks like a set-up to me...

Sadly, 'Assignment: Earth' didn't grab me as a show that would've had much promise if it were made into a series. Robert Lansing's portrayal of Mister Seven could have used a bit more charisma, especially during his bizarrely comic exchanges between himself and the rookie receptionist. Speaking of which, Teri Garr didn't impress me as the young and slightly dense Roberta Lincoln, whose personality consisted of an annoying meld of ditzy naivete and "whoa, far out, man"-style hippiness. She also has way-too-easy access to her new boss' hi-tech equipment, which she always seems to discover by accident. The addition of the shape-shifting feline Isis and her pathetically fake meows (what, they couldn't record a real cat meowing and dub it in where needed?) adds the final death knell to any hope of seeing these folks venturing beyond the confines of the original Star Trek series. Which is probably just as well...

SPECTRE OF THE GUN © PRELIMINARY BRIEFS:

Moral, Ethical, and/or Philosophical Subject(s) Driven Into The Ground: Reality versus unreality and illusions that kill; Humans dealing with and overcoming their instinct for violence

Historical Milestone: Star Trek's second temporary death of a core cast member (Mr. Chekov). This is also one of the small handful of eppies where a crew member other than Kirk (Chekov again) bags the babe-of-the-week. Hah, take THAT, you overacting, starship-commanding horndog!

Notable Gaffe/Special Defect: During the climactic scene at the OK Corral, the lightning strikes cause the trees to cast shadows on the "sky" (back wall) of the indoor set where the scene is being shot.

Expendable Enterprise Crewmember ('Red Shirt') Confirmed Casualty List: None

REVIEW/COMMENTARY:

The Melkotians told ya to stay away, but no-o-o-o-o, that wasn't acceptable to you, was it Jim? You just had to butt in where you weren't welcome! I guess "boldly going where no man has gone before" includes disrespecting the wishes of other beings, as well as trespassing on their territory! And then you had your three head specialists and Chekov beam down with you on the Melkotians' home planet so they could share your punishment! It's a good thing Mr. Spock had special abilities that helped save you and your fellow crewmen's sorry hides from certain death in the end (except for Chekov of course) or else you'd have been-- well, dead I guess. Or would the death have been merely an illusion? Wow, man... that's kinda deep. I gotta sit down and think that one through...

Taking into consideration all of the other historical eras and characters the Enterprise has encountered during its three-year run (Nazis, mobsters, a modern-day Roman empire, the Great Depression, hippies, 19th-century American Indian tribes, an angry Greek god), it was only a matter of time before the wild west got its day in the Star Trek spotlight. Throw in Gene Roddenberry's past work as the self-proclaimed "head script-writer" of the classic western series 'Have Gun, Will Travel', and the status of this episode goes from "destined-to-happen" to... um, "destined-to-happen-and-then-some" I guess. I wish I could describe the whole thing better, but I'm still tryin' to wrap my mind around that whole 'illusionary death' thing I brought up at the end of the previous paragraph...

'Late

Teri Garr on Star Trek? You betcha!
See the planned spin-off of "Star Trek" called "Assignment: Earth"...a blatant Dr. Who rip-off...it's a miracle Gene Roddenberry didn't get sued! The story is good, however..."Spectre of the Gun" is better...Kirk gets to play "cowboy" by being a part of the shootout at OK Corral. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

perversion in high places
This story covers a multitude of sins, as it deals with sexual abuse of children, corporate greed, blackmail, and homosexuality among other things. The plot involves an intersection of issues related to possible environmental hazards, corporate efforts to suppress information regarding those hazards, and the attempts of those who have been victimized by sexual abuse to take revenge against the perpetrator. All these issues surface only after Morse investigates the death of a professor, a death which
ironically is attributed to natural causes (a heart attack). Morse once more demonstrates the "thinking man" approach to detection, reaching conclusions based upon analysis of clues (childhood photographs) which might be overlooked by less sagacious investigators. The performances are first rate, and the manner in which the story unfolds maintains interest throughout. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Gary Oldman took a break from acting to write and direct this unflinching family drama out of the kitchen-sink British school. Oldman doesn't appear in the film, instead handing the heavy lifting to the remarkable Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast, Cold Mountain) and Kathy Burke, who won a prize at the Cannes Film Festival for her work. The scummy drug trade of lower-class London is Oldman's turf, but he puts special focus on the miserable cycles of violence that fuel a family's struggle within this world. The results are not always easy to watch, but they are devastating (and the final sequence is chilling). Oldman may be guilty of indulging his actors a bit, but it's forgivable, given the big, roaring performances. One advantage of watching the movie on DVD, at least for non-British audiences:the chance to check subtitles against the heavily accented dialogue. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Gary Oldman's Brutal Reality
This film really knocked the wind out of me. Despite having very unsettling material, it is a movie that can be enjoyed for it's raw and unappoligetic approach.

Basically the film is about a family in South London. Their everyday life is not exactly the sunniest (to say the very least). The focal characters are Billy, a teenager with a horrible heroine addiction, Ray, a middle age man, who drinks and fights and beats his pregnant wife, Valerie, Billy's sister. And that is what the film is about.

This an interesting film. It is very anti-Hollywood. There is no real narrative structure to it. The film begins and ends with the characters being presented at no particularly significant places in their lives. Their is no rising action, or climax, but this is not to say that this film does not deliver several defining moments for the characters. None harder to watch then Ray beating Valerie and then destroying their flat in a drunken rage.

The performances in this film are amazing. Oldman has presented them in their environment, without judgement, and the results are so effective. Especially Ray Winstone and Kathy Burke (Ray and Valerie). These two actors deliver some of the most devastatingly realistic characters strugling internally, against their family, and against each other. The supporting cast does not miss a beat either.

Gary Oldman wrote and directed this film. He is from South London and curiously dedicated the film to his own father. This raisied an eyebrow from me. Indeed this film is so brutally real it could almost pass for a documentary. A truely impressive film.

Powerful.
I first heard about this film on Siskel&Ebert and I wanted to see it. My brother found it in a small video store and rented it for me. This may very well be one of the most dark, depressing,and brilliant films I have ever seen.
It's directed by Gary Oldman (known for his acting, or overacting, in Dracula, The Professional etc,) and he proves to be a great director. The movie is about a family with Ray Winstone as Ray, the father/husband of the household and Kathy Burke as Valerie. Ray is a working class lout who abuses both drugs and his wife. His son Billy (played by Charlie Creed-Miles) is a herion addict on the streets after his father nearly bites his nose off for stealing his smack. Ray is at times both scary and pittiful, mean and sad, nasty and pathetic. He intertwines these roles so well that at time's you can't tell where he is coming from, or what he'll do next. Valerie is just a simple wife who is just trying to keep her head down so she doesn't get it taken off. However even she is not imune to Ray's violent temper over nothing. In one very vicious scene she is attacked by Ray and although the beating take's place off-camera it still sends chills.
I must warn anyone who wants to watch this movie the it contains more bad language that any I have ever seen (like Pulp Fiction, Scarface, or even South Park) but the profanity only hightens the dread at times. It also looks at life in a very dark way. This is not a happy movie by any means and Oldman has produced a real masterpiece. This has great acting and real good timing between the actors. This is quite simply one of the best movies I have ever seen.

It's something different
When i first saw this movie in the store i thought it was just some kind of movie with just violence and language but when you see it it's something different for a change a family selling drugs

Takes too long to get going
NIL BY MOUTH is a film that focusses on domestic violence, alcoholism and day-to-day life in a working class area of London.

Actor Gary Oldman directed this film and it is very raw in parts, and hard to watch.

The main problem with the film is that it takes too long for anything to really happen. In addition, too much time is devoted to the character of Bill (who is quite an uninteresting character).

The film really only pulls you in when the big guy starts beating up his wife. This is of course extremely sad to watch but lifts you from the dullness of the film. I was just about to nod off when this scene happened.

Overall the film fails, because it relies on violence to make it the slightest bit interesting.

A gutwrenching look at working class Londoners
I saw this film many years ago in England and it blew my mind. Rarely to you find films on this side of the pond that have as much empathy and visceral honesty about the 'everyman'- except of course for the 70's. This film represents the tenuous relationships binding together the sense of 'family' and 'blood' in lower-middle classes of London. There is a perverse pride in London, which connects this large class of people. It is a culture surrounded by pain, violence, drink, drugs, but also a connectivity to family and comradery - to love.

This film captures every drop of blood, every slug of lager, every ounce of pain and joy, and does so with a steady unflinching objective eye. Oldman's directorial debut is a masterpiece. This film is very British, which I can only guess is the reason for its absence over here. Although brilliant, it is nasty, brutal, and undeniably challenging. This film is the underbelly of everything Mike Leigh has done, except for maybe Naked. A must see. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

The Lighter Side Of Trek TOS
Both of the Episodes on this DVD (Vol. 9) display the lighter side of the original series' cast members. In "Shore Leave" you see definite character expansion for the doctor, the navigator and the captain. Dr. McCoy shows more of his "country doctor" persona as he strolls along a lakeside path, Sulu displays his special interest in weaponry, taking the time to shoot of several rounds, while Captain Kirk reveals his long held desires to "get even" with a past star fleet academy classmate. You indeed see Kirk become a wild adolescent on this planet, when level headed Spock raises a concern about a pending crisis and Kirk shouts, "Go warn the others, I've got a score to settle!" and then bolts off to do some long overdue backside kicking! I think you'll enjoy watching both of these episodes again when your focus is on what these characters do to handle themselves in curious situations.

two of the best
Theodore Sturgeon only wrote two Star Trek episodes (a treatment for a third was novelized recently) but his influence on Star Trek was great, since it was his daring that introduced the idea of Vulcan sexuality, in an era when television was almost devoid of any mention of sex. In fact, a lot of the Vulcan backstory comes from his episode "Amok Time". On this DVD we get "Shore Leave", which in 52 minutes pins down the characters of several Star Trek regulars were were just shirts before this. "The Squire of Gothos" is another pivotal episode in the Star Trek mythos.

Rick Norwood

dvd order
Great! Would buy from this seller again. Rec'd order in reasonable time.

Two above average, if bizarre, episodes
Shore Leave-I find this episode, in which anything that pops into one's mind is almost immediately realized, to be funny, entertaining, and original. Certainly much of the material is very hoaky, but it's never good to watch Trek with too critical an eye. This episode's premise also introduced a flexibility which helped flesh out some of the characters. Examples include the look at Kirk's academy days and McCoy's waggish ways with the ladies here. Overall, an off-beat and upbeat tone prevails, despite the episode's substantial (if temporary) negative twist. (4 stars)

The Squire of Gothos-Another bizarre and campy episode, this one features a spoiled child who has designed himself a baroque castle. Like the former episode, this one presents us with a phantasmagoria of seemingly random, if stereotypical, scenarios. The tone is more ominous here, however, thanks in large part to some well-conceived shots (such as the shadow of the noose during Kirk's trial). The castle's blend of gilded glitz with incomplete realization increase the sense of unreality.

Unlike later shows (most notably 3rd season ones), the unreality here is not dreamlike however. There is a sharpness about this episode; the dialogue is literal and more crisp than in most 3rd season shows, which often felt more detached non-commital and ambivalent, while being softer-edged and more atmospheric.

Campbell, who later returned for The Trouble With Tribbles also gives a strong performance. After a while the gags start to lose their novelty though, and the episode seems to struggle to fill time. Another possible critique (although it doesn't really bother me) is that the episode ultimately doesn't have a lot to say. Still most of us, at some point in our lives, have had the experience of having to jump through hoops at another's whim; there isn't always a lot of meaning behind that either. (3 stars)

Appealing episodes
"Shore Leave" The crew visits a planet in which your very thoughts become reality...no matter how deadly they are.

"Squire of Gothos" Kirk confronts Trelane, an alien who thinks that the crew of the Enterprise are his toys to play with. ... Read more

Amazon.com

By the time he made Good Morning in 1959, Yasujiro Ozuhad completely eliminated camera movement from his uniquely simple butelegant directorial style. He chose instead to emphasize static butmeticulously purposeful compositions that rarely, if ever, wavered fromtheir recognizable low-angle perspective. In Good Morning, thisobservational approach is put to sublime use to establish setting (a late-'50s Tokyo suburb) and to view the world through the eyes of thefilm's central characters—-two young brothers who take a mutual vow ofsilence to protest their parents' refusal to buy a TV set. Their father claims that television will create "a million idiots," while theirmother is angered by the boys' neglect of schoolwork in favor ofwatching sumo wrestling on a neighbor's TV.

In Ozu's hands, this sublimely simple conflict inspires a comedic exploration of Japan at the dawn of its electronic age, whenconsumerism and materialism are in vogue, salesmen solicit their waresin constant door-to-door visits, and even the purchase of a washingmachine can prompt neighbors into a frenzy of gossipy speculation.Funniest of all are the conspiratorial brothers, who play an amusingvariation of "pull my finger" (proving that even great directors canindulge a fart joke if they choose), and employ their silent strategywith the stubbornness that only children can get away with. Through itall, Ozu develops a handful of intermingling themes of love,communication, goodwill, and the changing of societal traditions.Utterly simple on the surface, Good Morning reveals itscomplexity in careful proportion, with the affectionate humanity thatwas Ozu's greatest gift. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Japanese comedy comes the US
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

This film is probably the first Japanese comedy that was released in the US. It is also filmed in color which was rare for Japanese films at the time.

It is a remake of an earlier film by the same director Yasujiro Ozu titled "I was born but..." (Otona no miru ehon - Umarete wa mita keredo) The Japanese title for this film is "Ohayo".

This film is about two brothers in suburban Japan who want their parents to buy them a TV set. When their father refuses and complains that they talk too much, the brothers give everybody the silent treatment. Their "vow of silence" causes many troubles at home and at school.

The film also has some humor that would never have been shown on American TV at the time but is now even found in kid's films. The two brothers repeatedly ingest ground pumice stone because it gives them gas. The flatulence humor in this film (the sound effects are definately fake though) may have been responsible for the film to not be shown in the US until the early 60's.

It still is a great film made just as Japanese society was "westernizing" and could even be said that it was an answer to the American sitcoms of the time such as "Leave it to Beaver", "Father Knows Best" or "Dennis the Menace" (minus the intestinal gas expulsions of course!)

The DVD has no special features.

Excellent
There is nothing 'minor' or 'little' about this movie; it is thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying. Very good print quality. The more Ozu available on DVD (especially if released by Criterion), the better.

Carefree Childhood
This film describes the heroic battle that two little boys fight against their father who refused to buy them a television set. It demonstrates that persistence pays off, no matter how fierce the resistance.

Minoru Hayashi(about 12) and his little brother Isamu (about 6) live together with their parents in a little house. Impossible to keep one's privacy in this settlement. Nothing remains unobserved, everybody knows who went where and who bought what. The gossip blossoms and the phantasy of the housewives is lively. The biggest telltale is irritable and touchy Mrs. Haragushi: What has become of the dues for the women's club? Does Mrs. Hayashi suspect her of having bought her new washing-machine with the (embezzled) fees? When Mrs. Haragushi's mother reveals that she simply forgot about the receipt, her daughter takes it out on this poor old woman. She shoud go to a home for the aged, because "old people belong there". How unfair, since she needs her mother's pension...There is also Mr. Tomizawa. He worked for 30 years in wind and rain and now his pension is barely enough not to starve. He is desperate and drinks...There is also the "scandalous" family: the Maroyamas. They are slovenly and SHE has even been seen in a bar...But their household is the most popular with kids, because they have a television set. No matter how often their parents admonish them to make their homework, the boys always sneak away...

Minoru and Isamu find their life so tedious that they howl. Their father thinks that tv turns people into imbeciles; His sons think that he is just stingy and mean. When he orders them to shut up Minoru protests: What HE has to say is just as important as all those "empty phrases" adults use: good morning, how are you, etc...He calls for a speaking strike - if necessary for 100 days. Minoru and Isamu remain persisent: They make no reply when their pretty young aunt offers them cookies. Nervy to watch their parents eat those cookies and make remarks about the "wonderful silence"...Next morning they forget to greet Mrs. Haragushi who spreads the news that Mrs. Hayashi is so "revengeful". Mrs. Hayashi is astonished to get back everything she borrowed her neighbors: the bottle of beer, the bus-ticket, the fish that a neighbor's cat has stolen...The boys keep their silence during classes, and since their parents cannot understand their pantomime, they owe the school their board. Mr. Tomizawa finds a new job at last: He sells electrical appliances. Mr. Hayashi wants to help him and decides to buy his wife her long-desired washing-machine. She reminds him that his own retirement age is near - a thought he tries to repress...

Two little boys chatter happily and behave well. Their question "Will the tv be connected when we come back from school?" sounds like an order. Their father tries to make a serious face: "I hope you will work harder now" - but he can't stifle a smile...

For many decades Ozu's films were overshadowed by Kurosawa's dazzling epics that took western audiences by storm. Ozu's films were considered "too japanese": plain fare, too simple for fastidious western tastes. Only recently critics learned to appreciate their qualities. The destiny of unassuming, often humble people who tempt providence strikes the right chord - at least with me. "Typically japanese" is probably the mix of politeness and scatological humor: a little boy is not "home-trained" - the last shot shows three shorts on a clothes-line. Some scenes are very clever: a peddler and an agent for alarm-systems work hand in hand. The peddler bothers housewives ("Did he threaten you?" "Yes. He forced me to buy an expensive pencil"), then the agent calls...A running gag (The boys drink pumice-stone dissolved in water(!)) becomes life-threatening: the mother suspects rats and decides to rub the stone with poison...The performances are wonderful. Chishu Ryu is one of my favorite actors, but the actress who plays Mrs. Haragushi's mother is grandiose.

Entertaining ca. 1960 Japanese Working Class Story
This quiet little film, set in working class Japan ca. 1960, focuses on the community's children and the way they are drawn to western entertainment, i.e. television, wrestling, etc. Parents are more concerned with getting from month to month, glad to have a job, fearing financial difficulties in their old age. One neighbor's purchase of a washing machine creates mumbling among the rest of them; How could they afford this?

A side plot has one woman turn a misunderstanding into vicious rumors about a neighbor. The fact that the neighbor's children are conducting a "silence strike" only fuels the gossip.

Although visibly produced on a minimal budget, the quiet feeling of being told a bed time story is mezmerizing. The insight into the social conventions of the time and place are at times very touching. I can recommend this film particularly to students/teachers in the fields of Sociology or History. A simple film, but not without the sparcle of a little gem!****

Low-Budget, Pleasant Comedy Drama
Working Class Japanese families ca. 1960 dealing with idle gossip, the difficulties of parenthood, and "competing with the Jones'" when it comes to modern gadgets like washing machines and TV set.

The main focus is on a misunderstanding involving misplaced Union dues and the mean-spirited gossip resulting from an honest mistake. A side-plot has two little boys enter a pact of silence in protest that their parents are "too cheap" to buy a TV set, so they need not watch Wrestling and Baseball at their neighbors house. Will their "strike" pay off?

This is a simple film about simple situations in working people's homes. Given the times, the daily struggle for survival and a few modern comforts are the center of each day's discussions. To think about one's retirement is discussed among people in their prime. The much used greetings (thus the title) and constant small talk are explained as a necessary means to achieve greater things. To sell a product, or to initiate friendliness with a prospective marriage partner.

A visibly low budget, absolutely no cinematic frills and a minimal number of actors, none-the-less give the viewer a pleasant excoursion into the life of hard working people in a given place and time. The film makes you smile, laugh out loud, and it also includes moments that may tuck at your heart strings. No classic or epic, yet a very pleasant little film to bring you joy.**** ... Read more

Amazon.com

Scott Bairstow takes over for Ethan Hawke in this spirited (if clichéd) sequel involving a peaceful Haida Indian tribe and a con man in preacher's garb (Alfred Molina, just oozing evil) in 1906 Alaska. Bairstow discovers his inner wolf as he bonds with the tribe and falls in love with the chief's spirited daughter (Charmaine Craig), White Fang finds true love in a snow-white female wolf, and together they take on the dastardly villains who have stopped the caribou and imprisoned the hunters of the tribe. Less Jack London than a juvenile Dances with Wolves, this clunky but action-packed cliffhanger combines old-fashioned matinee Western clichés with Native American spiritualism and a celebration of nature. Though it's hardly subtle, the energetic action scenes and the beauty of the Alaskan summer make this an engaging adventure for the younger set. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Another Great Adventure...................
In this movie Jack has gone back to San Francisco and his friend Henry is mining his claim and caring for White Fang.
This story is mixed with Native American spiritualality and mysticism. They are in need of the white wolf (White Fang, or is it Henry?) to lead them to the caribou they are in need of to prevent starvation among their people.
This sequel is very entertaining with beautiful scenery.
A great family film.

Disney made this up.
I've read White fang and there is no mention of Myth of a White Wolf. Disney had to have a sequel, so they made up this story.

Great Family Movie
I have watched this movie a number of times and still find the story to be interesting. The simplicity and predictability of this movie makes it a great movie for younger elementary children, but there is enough plot and action to keep the family entertained. I enjoy the Alaskan setting and the images of the Haida village. There is a love story woven in with the young hero's role of finding the caribou and saving the village, but neither plot goes into anything overly sentimental or complicated.

I have used this movie in a fourth grade classroom to have them identify the main characters, the setting, the problem(plot), and the solution: things that are found in any good story, be it written or in a movie. They enjoyed the movie and it worked well for the assignment. This is a great family movie because it contains these basic story elements and does it well, making it watchable again and again.

White Wolf
All I can say is that this was a brillent movie. I'm glad i saw the 2nd White Fang first. The first one was a big turn off to me. The story is about a young man who is having some dificultly understanding the native americans beliefs. With the Help of White fang a a native american girl Henry begins to understand thier ways, but he is soon to discover that the native Americans life is in danger and only he and white fang can save them.

A little to lovey-dovey
White Fang-- Story about a wolf dog taken from the north, trained to be sled dog, goes into fighting rings, finds love

White Fang2: Myth of the White Wolf-- Movie about the master of White Fang, and an indian girl. White Fang is around a little.

White Fang2 had little to nothing about our all time favorite wolf-dog White Fang. It is mainly about his master, falling in love. I kept waiting for at least one scene with White Fang! The first movie was more like it.

This was a little boring, I don't really recommend it unless you like a lot of boring flirty romance, and little wolf. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Wonderful Fun
I love Inspector Morse and watch it everytime I get a chance. This episode of the series was the best because the story kept me guessing. Plus it had Sean Bean in it. He plays a fun charsimatic character. You will really enjoy this, I know I did.

Absolute Conviction
A perfect Morse adventure. Plenty of twists & puzzles with an unusal backdrop. A modern English prison with a female Governor; 3 partners, all in the same prison one of whom is murdered & Morse is called in. One of Colin Dexter's very best. ... Read more