DVD review thread

[Jusenkyo no Pikachu]

Just so we can review all those little discs that are quickly getting to be the only way to fulfil our anime (and non-anime) needs.

The Tomorrow People: "The Medusa Strain"

Fir my first review in this thread, I'll be covering a DVD of a 1970s British TV series.

I have only the vaguest memory of this show being on state TV in the 90s. Most of the memory is concerned with an easily memorable title sequence that (a) inspired the title from Hackers and (b) featured a LOT of zooming images. Of course, I had to

The series centres around four youths. As of this story, they're John (Nicholas Young), the Head Boy-like leader of the group; Stephen (Peter Vaughan Clarke), the newest member, who will come to share "hero" credit with John; Kenny (Stephen Salmon) the youngest and most useless member of the group; and Carol (Sammie Winmill), the sole female. These four have been born with the abilities to jaunt (teleport) and communicate telepathically (which necessitates the use of a special table that enables them to link up). They hide out somewhere in the London Underground, and their existence is known by only two regular humans (who they call "Saps"), Lefty (who doesn't appear in this story) and Ginge. Also, there is a Biometric computer, TIM, who is somewhat of a distant cousin to HAL (and nowhere near as psychotic).

This story picks up a little while after the first story (The Slaves of Jedikiah). Stephen has seen something while on a jaunt in hyperspace, and although photos (developed onto an old cassette tape--this is 1973 we're talking about!) have shown nothing, Stephen is still curious. So he and Carol take a life force detector (don't ask me how that works).

Stephen's hunch proves correct. What he's actually seen is a ship from the future--according to the show, time is meaningless in hyperspace, but matter returns to its date of origin when it leaves. This ship belongs to a Sap criminal from the 26th century named Count Rabowsky. Rabowsky has taken on the villainous shape-changing robot Jedikiah. Of course, time travel has been invented, but it is strictly governed and controlled by a Time Key. And only telepaths--which, by the 26th century, are the dominant species of man--can unlock the Time Arch that serves as a gateway to the Time Lanes which enable the traveler to visit a specific date. You still with me there? Good. To this end, Rabowsky has stolen a Time Key and captured a telepath, which he keeps under the influence of a sentient mutant tomato called the Medusa, which feeds off telepathic input (thereby robbing telepaths of their power) and can change size at will. Jedikiah convinces the telepath to go back to 1973, where he can presumably put an end to the Tomorrow People.

This show is riddled with cheese, from the cylindrical prison bars that wobble slightly when raised to shoddy compositing (at one point, Jedikiah and Rabowsky dine in front of an image of a centrifuge, and there is an obvious yellow line around them) and poor writing (Ginge might be a moron, but Stephen's a little slow on the uptake as well). Then there's the problem of costumes: While Rabowsky is outfitted in generic "upper-class" dress, his robot manservant Coppin (played by David Prowse--who was before this known to many as the Green Cross Code Man) is bare chested, with gold paint and a target inexplicably placed over his crotch. Jedikiah appears in generic clothing appropriate to his evil person look, and the rest of the cast is dressed in the height of the fashion. However, there is one sequence where the Medusa is played by a person in a costume, and it looks like an old Japanese monster movie.

Video
1973 was a long time ago, folks, and while classic shows like Doctor Who, Monty Python and Fawlty Towers have been given the utmost care, this show has resided largely forgotten somewhere in the ITV vaults. As a result, the interior sequences (shot on kinescope) look only slightly sharp, but the exterior sequences (shot on film) are riddled with grain and film artefacts. There are no subtitles.

Audio
The only audio track is an English mono track. It sounds fine, with no noticeable defects. The music comes from Dudley Simpson.

Menu
The menu is a largely static affair, with the sole piece of animation being a slightly modified (and distorted) title sequence playing in the bottom right over the image of a hand. THis mimics the packaging. Before the menu is an even better reason for buying this disc--it has the original Thames production logo.

Extras
The extras here include a cast commentary (which I have yet to listen to), a trailer for the TP Audio Series (which again featured Phillip Gilbert and Nicholas Young), an episode guide, a text interview with Nicholas Young (that is not uninteresting) and cast profiles.

Overall
The story is certainly serviceable, but at the midway point it struggles for credibility.
The video leaves a lot to be desired--more than the audio.
The extras are certainly OK for a show that isn't too well remembered.

The DVD is an all-region PAL disc from FremantleMedia. A&E have released the story in the US as a set with three other TP stories. The DVD is rated U in Britain and contains no objectionable material.

[Jusenkyo no Pikachu]

Home and Away: Secrets and the City

The fact that I enjoy Home and Away is not a secret. And, as I enjoy the show, it has come to pass that at some point, I should watch the DVDs. So I have. Both of them. This was the first.

The DVD contains two episodes from the TV show, plus a third episode filmed especially for release on the DVD. It's hosted by Tammin Sursok, who at the time of the release played the character of Dani Sutherland.

So what is Home and Away? It's a popular teen soap that has aired at 7pm weeknights for the past 18 years. Sure, that's not as long as Days or Corrie, but it has a huge following in Australia, where one of the stars has featured in regular news. Not only that, but two other former stars--Isla "Shannon" Fisher and Melissa "Angel" George--have gone on to careers in America (Isla played Mary Jane in Scooby-Doo).

The soap tells all about the day-to-day lives of the residents of a fictional NSW town called Summer Bay. This DVD in particular focuses on one of their best-loved families, the Sutherlands (Rhys, Shelley, Dani, Kirsty and Jade).

Shattered Hearts
Angie Russell has returned to Summer Bay, and has put Rhys in an uneasy position. See, he fathered Angie's son, Dylan, who has a thing for Kirsty. Dylan has just found out, and aside from really hating his mother, he is forced to break it off with Kirsty.

Broken Dreams
Rhys has decided to tell everyone the truth. Meanwhile, Hayley (Bec Cartwright) and Noah (Beau Brady) decide to hightail it to Sydney for the weekend. While that's happening, Alf's somehow fallen sick, and Morag re-arranges his roster in his absence, as Leah wants to spend more time with her child.

Secrets and the City
Rhys has run away to Sydney without telling Shelley, so Dani and Josh go to look for him while Hayley and Noah go on vacation. And who should end up all in the same car? Anyway, Brodie and Alex have decided to go off to a holiday home. This episode opens and closes with Dani doing a piece to the camera--something that should never be done with soaps as it pushes suspension of disbelief. Also, there's really no reason why this should be the special DVD episode, as all it has to it are locations in Sydney (and, of course, we have a few travelogue montages). The secret of the title? That Dani and Josh have gone to look for Rhys.

Video
Is perfect. The show was shot in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (but the image is framed for 1.33:1 for those of us who still don't have widescreen TVs).

Audio
We have only one audio track--the original English 2.0. It's flawless too--of course, all they would have to do is transfer the show to DV (if it doesn't use that already)

Extras

Introduction/host pieces by Tammin Sursok
These run throughout the DVD, and feature Tammin walking around the sets.

Behind the Scenes Footage and Interviews
We learn about the shooting of the Sydney scenes for Secrets, and then go into interviews with the cast members (including Norman Coburn, who has since left) about the whole Home and Away experience. It's a bit self-congratulatory, but it's interesting nonetheless.

A Day in the Life of Bec and Beau
You might notice that I mentioned only two cast member names in the plot summaries. That's not only because Rebecca "Bec" Cartwright (Hayley #1) has gone on to non-soapie recognition, but because they have this segment. Back when this DVD was made in 2002, Bec and Beau were a real-life couple. They briefly take us behind the scenes, where we learn about their hours, their onscreen and offscreen relationships and exactly what the beach house set is like.

Overall
Bound to at least please the fans somewhat. Probably not going to please the rest of the population, though.

[Jusenkyo no Pikachu]

Home and Away: Hearts Divided

This is the second "soap bubble" DVD from Home and Away (the first being Secrets). This time around, it's hosted by Bec Cartwright (Hayley #1, aka Mrs Lleyton Hewitt), and it features episodes pertaining to a storyline involving Kirsty Sutherland's love for Kane Phillips.

First, the DVD helpfully puts in a bit of background to the first episode. I'll expand on that for the benefit of those in the UK and Australia who only occasionally check the show out (and completely missed this story). Basically, Kane came to Summer Bay with a violent past, and Kirsty fell in love with him, against the objections of the rest of her family (and, for that matter, most of Summer Bay). Things were only exacerbated when Kane attacked Kirsty's sister Dani. In the lead-in to these episodes, Kane, Dani and Dani's boyfriend Scott were involved in a punch-up.

Turn Back The Night
Dani's got a dinner with her professor lined up, and Kirsty's still madly in love with Kane, who decides to run away. However, things go horribly for Dani. In a teary haze, she drives off. She's so teary, and it's so rainy, that she doesn't notice when a man is standing right in her path. She mows him down, unaware that it's Kane that she's hit.

Fallout
Kane's recovered and charged Dani with attempted murder. Meanwhile, his transfer to a city hospital has Kirsty deciding to follow him--and she may not come back.

Hearts Divided
Kirsty is on the bus out of Summer Bay. However, when the bus stalls, she decides to hitch a lift (that ends badly) and steal a car. She makes it to the city, but Rhys follows her and demands that she return to the Bay. Unlike the last Soap Bubble, this one justifies its PG rating perfectly, with an attempted rape and a police chase--something which up until that point H&A had almost never done.

Video
Once again flawless. Channel 7 still hasn't gone digital (something that annoys the hell out of me), and many consumers lack widescreen TVs (myself included), so this is framed for 1.33:1 sets.

Audio
Same as before.

Extras

"Home and Away" title credits
Title sequence for the year 2003.

Introduction/host pieces by Bec Cartwright
Again, these run throughout, and feature Bec standing in front of a bush.

Behind the Scenes footage and interviews
A different documentary to before. This one focuses instead on the usual areas. Interviews run throughout. This one's actually pretty interesting.

A Day in the Life of Bec and Beau
An edited version of the feature on the previous disc, without the sequence at the Beach House.

Music Video
Exactly as it says. I honestly couldn't care to remember the song title or artist, and the music wasn't memorable either.

Overall
If you have the previous DVD, then I don't see why you shouldn't get this one. Or the next DVD (actually a special on the Romances, with the Pilot episode as an extra).