kingdaviduk Reviews

Quantum Leap: Judgment Day (2023) Season 1, Episode 18

Good episode that wraps up a few things

[9/10 · 22 May 2023]

Finally we get to see Ben as Ben. First in the future, then in 2018, but he has to fight off Martinez somehow to save Project Quantum Leap, himself, and Addison.

I thought the plot was reasonably good, but when it came to the final showdown between Ben and Martinez, the writers failed to deliver a satisfying resolution.

Normally when you have a protagonist and an antagonist fighting each other, the protagonist wins by defeating the antagonist. But here we see someone else kill Martinez, which was a rather weak resolution. Instead, why did they not allow Ben to kill him? Maybe the woman could have helped Ben get Martinez's gun?

Glad to see at the end Ben is returning to Project Quantum Leap in 2023, but they ended it before he arrived. Surely he has to get back so that Ian can then leap, as revealed in episode 12, to go back and tell Ben to leap?

For season 2, we should have Ben return home, Ian leaps, then Ben goes leaping again and then comes across Sam Beckett -- bring back Scott Bakula to play Sam, perhaps in a few episodes, meeting Ben, and eventually Sam gets home and works in the QL offices helping Ben?

Logan's Run (1977–1978)

Linking the TV series to the film

[7/10 · 4 January 2022]

There are similarities and differences between this TV series and the original film of Logan's Run. The film was set in 2274 and the TV series in 2319.

The best theory I have to link the two is this: At the end of the film, the city was partly damaged after the AI system was damaged by Logan. Many people fled the city and saw the old man standing there. But not all the people left. A small group of men decided that they did not want to die in Carousel, that the city could be changed and made better, so they set about getting it repaired and things were back to normal, but still with Carousel. After leaving the city the crystals in their hands stopped working for most people, so they abolished the crystals.

This small group of men who were then the leaders became the Elders we see in episode 1 of the TV series. They took over controlling the city where the AI had failed.

So now we see them 45 years older, and things are under their control, but still some people believe in Sanctuary and running away. A new Logan 5 and a new Jessica 6, and a new Francis 7, are the stars of the show. Logan and Jessica choose to leave the city, which is now much easier than it had been in 2274.

The Running Man (1987)

Relevant as ever

[9/10 · 24 June 2019]

This was made in 1987, so it still has a very 80s feel to it. Which I enjoyed, although it is set in the start in 2017. Then it moves 18 months ahead, so possibly early 2019, which is fitting as I watched it in June 2019. The world did not quite turn out as the film predicted in 2019, but some aspects of it are very relevant. The whole concept is that criminals get a "chance" to escape and live a life of luxury somewhere, if they can outwit various killers, called "stalkers". But it is all for TV, a TV show that lives for high ratings, a reality show that shows only what the producers want you to see. They even lie about the contestants to make them out to be criminals when they are not, as in the case of Ben Richards, who was framed for mass murder. Near the end, Killian (great name for a TV game show host who presents death as entertainment) tries to justify it all, saying how TV shapes people's lives, as if it made their lives better. But the main message is that they are lying to you, just as governments lie, and the elite lie to us. A must see if your mind is open to what could really be going on in the world. One day TV reality shows could well be like the Running Man. I hope not. The 80s computers look dated. However, near the end, they edit a video to map the face of Ben Richards (Arnie) onto the face of a stunt double, to make it look like he was finally defeated. Today, TV and film really can do that, but it was impossible in 1987, so they predicted that correctly. I highly recommend this, unless you are squeamish, as there is some violence and a little swearing.

Goodbye Charlie (1964)

Boring and slow

[2/10 · 21 January 2019]

The film was slow and boring, the premise ridiculous. Don't waste your time on this. Acting was also poor.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Great 1970s sci fi returns with better special effects

[9/10 · 31 December 2018]

Watching this was like watching an old 1970s sci fi great film -- but with far improved special effects. It certainly had the feel and atmosphere of a serious sci fi epic, with many hints at Star Wars Episode 4. The only let down for me was the poor quality of some of the speech near the beginning. Were the actors whispering or mumbling? I missed some of the early dialogue of the characters playing the rebels. Overall, I enjoyed this film, and the end was one of hope.

My Name Is Julia Ross (1945)

Psychopaths try to hide a murder

[8/10 · 3 October 2018]

Julia Ross is a sweet innocent young woman, who gets tricked into living with a family of psychopaths who want her to replace the son's dead wife, and then want to kill her. This was a great piece of filmmaking, that shows us what is going on, mostly from the protagonist's viewpoint, and without revealing the plot too quickly. The viewer is compelled to consider Julia's predicament and how she can escape the clutches of the evil family, who try to convince her, and everyone outside the family, that she is Marion Hughes, and suffering from delusion and memory loss. It's a type of mind control, but she is strong enough to keep believing the truth, and ends up turning the tables. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this old film, and wish that modern filmmakers would learn about making a good story, as this is, instead of their obsession with special effects, political statements, and cardboard characters. This film was made more than 70 years ago, but has stood the test of time, and shows us how a good film is made.

Winter's Tale (2014)

Great fantasy with happy ending

[9/10 · 25 April 2016]

Good movie if you like angels, demons, fantasy, miracles.

I really enjoyed this movie, about a young man (Peter Lake) who grew up in bad circumstances, got involved in a gang of thieves led by a demon, and managed to escape them with the help an angel who looks like a horse. He meets a young woman, and the demon thinks the woman is a threat and sets out to have her killed.

After killing Peter Lake by pushing him into the river, he is then either kept in suspended animation by God for 100 years or so waking in up in 2014, or God makes Peter travel forward in time. Either way, Peter survived the fall into the river.

In the modern New York he meets a woman with a daughter with cancer, and realises that the girl he kept drawing was this little girl. The demon asks Satan for permission to have a fight to death with Peter Lake in which one of them will die the one true death.

I won't reveal any more, just to say that it was a great story with some unreal ideas, such as Willa did not look her age in 2014, she should have been about 120, and the fact that demons cannot die nor can angels choose to become mortal humans.

If you like miracles then watch this. The angel horse made a great contribution as well.

Terminator Genisys (2015)

Great movie, loved it, very imaginative storyline

[10/10 · 16 February 2016]

Great film, really enjoyed it. The acting was great, Arnie was on top form, and the new Sarah Connor was great. If you liked the original Terminator films and the Matrix, you will love this. I also liked Matt Smith's role as Skynet (he used to play the Doctor in Doctor Who). Do not read on unless you have seen it or want to know what happens, because the rest of this review contains spoilers.

SPOILERS What an amazing sequel to the original Terminator films. I wondered how they could make it work, an alternate timeline that gives us a very different world, one where Skynet gets pushed back yet again. So now we more time travel, more of Arnie's good Terminator, shape-shifting terminators, and a history that is re-written with a few things the same, but much has changed, so that we now have a different storyline, but still the same story of mankind's survival against being destroyed by the machines. When it came to the end, I wondered how will the Matrix occur now? (The original story was written by a woman in America who wrote the Terminator and the Matrix as one story called The Third Eye.) When you get the final credits, keep watching for the twist at the end that would still make the Matrix a possibility. The machines never will give up trying to kill or enslave mankind. Much of the storyline is a warning to us today. We rely too much on being interconnected and online, putting everything online is not good, especially if Skynet/Genisys were to become a reality.

Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015)

Awful and best avoided

[2/10 · 26 July 2015]

I thought this sequel might be good, the trailer made it look quite good. The first film was quite good although not a favourite, and I thought the sequel would be worth seeing. However, it turned out to be a bit of a waste of time. Crude, vulgar, indecent exposure in one place -- this film has nothing much to make it good. The comedy was severely lacking most of the time. What was there was just infantile and unpleasant. They had some good ideas in the plot, but seemed to lose all sense of what to make the film about. Lou was a very selfish, self-centered man with a low IQ who thought that doing stupid things was funny -- and right near the end of the film he finally realises what an idiot he has been and starts to change, only for something ridiculous to then ruin that. What were the writers thinking? Just as the film almost tries to save itself it got ruined. The best bits really were just the photoshopped images of them travelling to meet famous people in the past right at the end, as well as the coat-check girl (Bianca Haase). Chevy Chase's brief appearance almost made it worthwhile but he only got a few seconds screen time, so that was pointless. Maybe the makers could not afford to hire him for longer?? The people who made this film, including the writers, should seriously consider a new profession -- maybe McDonald's have a few openings in a local branch.

In Time (2011)

Worth watching when you have the time

[8/10 · 3 May 2015]

I enjoyed watching this, I did not know much about it beforehand, only read a brief plot outline here on IMDb.

It has a great idea -- using time as currency instead of dollars, and a great story. The music soundtrack could have been better though, it was not that great and did not add to the film when a good soundtrack was really needed to add to the suspense or emotion.

So here we see how people in the future are manipulated into providing for the rich and the elite, much like today's world. They have to pay for everything using time out of their own life. They have a countdown timer on their arm which shows how much time they have left. Go to work, earn some hours, need some food, spend some hours. And so the elite get to live forever, as science has found a way to stop people ageing, and it is all at the expense of the poor.

They keep putting up the prices of everything so that the poor will die sooner -- otherwise overpopulation, in the opinion of the rich.

Definitely worth watching, but with a better soundtrack it could have more emotion.

Count Arthur Strong (2013–2017)

Excellent comedy

[10/10 · 19 October 2013]

I only found this by accident, when episode 1 (and on a rerun) was shown after Dad's Army one Saturday night. I was hooked as it was so funny. I have just finished watching episode 6, and I really hope they do a second series. It has some very funny moments. Some of the characters are quite absurd really, but that adds to the fun of it. The only sensible people are Michael and Sinem (the waitress). So mostly it is the funny characters who make the laughs, especially Arthur, who thinks too much of himself. If you have not seen this, and you like some of the old British comedies like Fawlty Towers then you should see this.

Healing Hands (2010 TV Movie)

Good film for family and anyone wanting a good story

[10/10 · 2 August 2011]

This is a film about a man who one day discovers he can miraculously heal people by touching them, after having a fall from a roof. The film shows just what it would be like to be a healer, and in the case of Buddy, it is not without its cost. He feels dizzy and faint after healing people. Plus there is the frenzy of locals who want healing, who surround him in a shop and are so desperate to be healed they offer cash. He heals a couple of people and then retreats outside as he cannot bear it any longer.

It very much reminds me of Jesus Christ, who was surrounded by masses of people wanting to be healed, and at times just wanted to get away from them all. At one point, Buddy goes to see his local church minister, who tells him that the healing ability is a gift from God.

Buddy eventually discovers a woman who can heal, although when he meets her, she claims to be someone else and that the woman he seeks died.

I don't want to give too much away of the plot, but it does have a happy ending. The film made me feel good, and also made me think about what it would be like to be a healer, to become an instant celebrity or in demand because of the great gift.

God does give gifts to people, maybe even sometimes the ability to heal. This film shows what it would be like, especially for a person who does not know how to handle such a gift. It is a great responsibility, and also a burden that Buddy that must learn to deal with.

In the end Buddy figures out what to do, in an ending that gives hope. The old man, Buddy's adopted father, has cancer and had refused healing from Buddy. But I think that the ending showed that he was going to be healed, because Buddy was then in control of his ability.

Who Am I? (1998)

OKay film that starts slow but gets better

[6/10 · 8 February 2011]

I saw this film on TV recently, not having heard of it before. It started off quite slowly and was not that interesting. But being a fan of Jackie Chan, I decided to persist with it as I knew it would get better.

The bad points: near the start of the film, there is a scene where soldiers are disembarking from a truck, and you can see one of them put his foot on the head of another by mistake. Then a bit later there is a scene with some top brass officials having a meeting. The acting in that scene is some of the worst I have ever seen. Absolutely awful, worst part of the whole film. Throughout the film we do not know who the man is, and he is known as "Who Am I", except in one scene when the officials who are looking for him actually refer to him as Jackie Chan. I am not sure if this was a slip-up or the character was meant to be called Jackie Chan, although no other reference to his name is made.

Good points: after he meets the rally driver whose brother gets poisoned and he heals the man, from then on it gets interesting. Some good car chases, fight scenes and 2 cute Chinese women. The scenes in Holland are good too, some interesting architecture. Overall I think the plot is a good one, but the lost in Africa and being part of the tribe seems to have not been explored enough, and nor did he return to the tribe despite promising to return something to a boy. And the whole bit where is with the tribe could have been written a lot better.

I liked the film, it was a decent enough film and a pleasant few hours of watching TV. But not a film that would win any awards.

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

Not as good as it looks

[4/10 · 19 December 2010]

The concept is a great one, 3 men and a boy go back in time to 1986 unexpectedly and have a chance to change the mistakes of the past and make their lives better, a bit like Back to the Future. Crispin Glover, who played George McFly from that film, appears in this as well as a bitter one-armed bellhop, who has 2 arms when the guys go back in time.

The trouble with this film is that there is way too much swearing which was not needed at all. And the plot is not that well-written. A much better story could have been made out of this and it could have been so much more. The happy ending is a bit far-fetched too, but again takes it cue from Back to the Future.

Before watching this, the trailer indicated that it was a comedy, but most of the comedy was in the trailer, there was not much else. The writers really could have done so much better. And the repairman (Chevy Chase) is a bit wasted in this film, he seems to be important to the plot and could have been used more with more interaction with the main characters.

Also not enough of the 80s in the film to make me believe they really had gone back in time. A small gag with a skier on a "brick" mobile phone and the bright-coloured clothes give a hint of the 80s, but so much more could have been done. Overall, a missed opportunity to give us a good story although the overall idea of the film was good.

I also felt that at the beginning I was watching a very low budget movie.

The Visitors (1993)

Very funny comedy

[9/10 · 28 April 2008]

This is a very funny comedy, with some really good characters. A knight and his servant from late 11th century France get sent forward in time, after a wizard gets his magic spell wrong. As the two men try to adjust to life in the 1990s, they get into various problems, and meet their descendants. The knight is furious that his castle is now owned by the descendant of his peasant servant, while his descendant is relatively poor.

Great acting throughout and with some great scenes, such as when the peasant tries to cook a leg of lamb using an umbrella in the open fire. The ending was quite good, although a bit silly how the peasants ended up.

Enjoyable overall, apart from a few swear words which kind of spoil it a bit. I could not keep up with the French speaking most of the time, fortunately I watched it with English subtitles, although as they spoke so fast I had to read them fast.

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)

Not that great a film

[5/10 · 21 January 2008]

It was a bit hard to follow at times, and in the middle, with all the battle scenes, I found it a bit boring. Also the battle scenes were too gory and although it showed what the battles were probably really like, and the brutality of war, it was not at all pleasant and a bit overdone. It got more interesting towards the end, but overall it was a slow film. It could have been cut and made shorter, at 2.5 hours it is too long. Also the text on screen was a little difficult to read, it was in a very old-fashioned font and too small. The acting was done very well and the whole look of the film was realistic and believable. Some parts of the film were a bit difficult to follow.

Hercules in New York (1970)

Great movie but do not expect the most professional

[9/10 · 21 January 2008]

A rather cheaply made movie, but a good storyline and interesting to see Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first film role. There is some rather poor acting by the women on Mount Olympus, actually I think they were not even actresses, but overall the film is fun to watch. I did find it rather odd though, that in almost the last scene, with Zeus on his throne, that there was significant background noise from passing traffic. I think that scene was an afterthought, as they did not film it in the beautiful gardens they used for Mount Olympus earlier. It was just a throne stuck in a small park somewhere in New York with lots of traffic noise in the background, which was very obvious. Worth watching if you want a lightweight fun film without expecting anything professional or a big budget. Or just to see Arnie's first acting role. I did hear somewhere that his voice was dubbed for this, but it seems as if it was mostly his real voice, except at the end on the radio, when the man is listening he thinks it is Hercules speaking but the voice is totally different to Arnie's. At various times his voice did sound like someone else's, but mostly it sounded like Arnie's voice.