gwilym49

Above average sci-fi/thriller of the same genre as Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet. This series, shown on British TV in the early seventies, had some very interesting plots and story lines, and conveyed a very effective feeling of menace and mystery. However, the series was dropped from British TV schedules suddenly and without explanation, leaving this viewer very disappointed indeed.

Not a bad soap. However, the BBC, in its wisdom, decided to pull the plug when it seemed to be getting off the ground. This decision has always seemed a puzzle when programmes of questionable quality are screened by the same organization. It was sad to lose this programme, and how much public money was thrown away?

(POSSIBLE SPOILER IN THIS COMMENT)A haunting feeling grips me every time I see this film. The alien threat is vividly brought home via the etheral choir background music. The point where the protagonists approach the end of the picket fence where a hole in the sand waits for them is the stuff my childhood nightmares. Although cheaply made in parts (some of the troop scenes were, I believe, taken from wartime footage), the overall effect never loses its tension. The Cold War theme predominates with characters being 'brainwashed' by having electronic devices inserted in the back of their necks through which the martians control them. Their change in character is apparent to others, especially the boy. This is reminiscent of The Manchurian Candidate and Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, where, as in Invaders.., the are used as agents to be sent on sabotage and espionage missions.

The arrival of the army to put things right - which they do - always leaves me with a great sense of relief and well-being. But, were the events real or a dream? You make up your mind!

A rarely seen British comedy masterpiece. Superb acting by Cook, Moore, Bron, and Welch. Excellent portrayal of the seven deadly sins, especially Raquel Welch as Lust and Alba as Vanity. Note interesting location shots: London's docklands (before redevelopment) and, that now long-vanished icon of the British high street, the Wimpey Bar. Moon escapes awkward situations by making a rude noise, until he reaches a convent in one of the funniest scenes I have seen in any film.

I am not alone in noting that something was happening in British cinema at this time. What went wrong?

This is one of the most powerful, hard-hitting war movies I have ever seen. From the opening, apparently innocent, haircut sequence we are led into the shock of basic training under a brutal sergeant. We are shown the dehumanising experience of living in a closed world under the total control of this man. We are shown what happens to individuals who are picked on by the sergeant (Private 'Pile'); the recruit is singled out for humiliation at every opportunity, including having to quick-march with his trousers down to his ankles. In the end he is 'punished' by his fellow recruits with towels and soap.

In the second half of the movie we are led into the real world of active service in Viet-Nam. Action scenes are shown against a sound track of popular music of the time, including Surfin Bird. In the end we are shown the brutal death of a Viet-Cong fighter.

This film is of significance to myself. My generation in Britain escaped military service. But, my family nearly moved to the US in the fifties and I would have been of military age at the time the film was set!

After 2001, Kubrick's best work?

Who wants to live to old age? Anyone? What alternative have you? One: die at 30 - you have to. The timer on your wrist goes off; that's it; your time is up; off to the carousel you must go, to be 'renewed'. But, you are not renewed, you die by laser beam instead; its a con. Sounds familiar does it not? You can try to 'run', become a runner; but a sandman will probably get you - with a laser - you die anyway. A lucky few may make it 'outside' to 'sanctuary'. There's an outside? You never knew? You have been told something very different: there is only the city; no other world; no other way of life.

How do you know your life is what it seems. What have you been told? We are 'sealed' in this universe; in this timeframe. There is no 'outside' - how do you know? Has anyone tried to 'run'? Has anybody made it 'outside'. Are there 'sandmen'. Think about it.

A disturbing tale of manipulation and control. Fox's character is seen as no match for Bogarde's Barrett. Tony's whole world collapses when his manservant subtly undermines him on every level. Barrett is steps ahead of Tony every time. This movie gets under my skin every time I see it. I dread meeting someone like Barrett in real life. Every value in Tony's life is smashed; his personal life is ruined. Tony is left humiliated; his life without point. Barrett's ruthless cunning left me cold. He is so good at it.

I suggest this is Losey's best work.

I found this work a healthy counter to ET. Where the latter shows aliens to be benign and harmless, and the authorities to be buffoons, Independence Day shows what may happen if we are complacent and the aliens have everything but our best interests at heart. A good work.

I must stand out as the only person who detested this movie. I found the 'in your face' sentimentality intollerable in the extreme - it was emotional manipulation of the most blatant kind. I was irritated also by the assumption that aliens will be benign and harmless - the reality may be quite different as Independence Day shows. I felt the authorities were quite correct to take the precautions they did. While our record on pollution is far from brilliant, who knows what the aliens may be carrying? When I saw this movie in 1982 (in a packed house - rare in Britain at the time) I felt so different to those around me that I wondered if I were an alien!

A good idea which did not quite come off is my judgement of this work. Whilst many motifs were well constructed, the presentation was too 'in your face' and obvious. I felt I was being treated like a child in that I was not allowed to work a setting, or plot detail, out for myself. The overall result was, I felt, painfully kitsch. A pity.

Probably the best of Norman Wisdom's films. Some extremely funny and clever scenes are seen in this work. For example, Wisdom fools around in a railway carriage in front of some very 'English' stuffed shirts. Also,(in one of the funniest scenes I have seen in any film) he stands in front of an orchestra waving a candy floss stick. The orchestra plays accordingly! There are some sentimental scenes also, which some viewers may find hard to take (as in all Wisdom's films). But, on the whole, a very funny film guaranteed to cheer you up when you are feeling down.

(POSSIBLE SPOILER IN THIS COMMENT) Many aspects of sixties 'Swinging London' are portrayed in this film. Sixties motifs are shown with accuracy: colourful clothes, 'swinging' parties, a desire to be 'with it' and live in the now. However, grimmer aspects are also shown: public school bullying, the nastier side of the British Class system, and the ruthless world of advertising. An appalling accident in mid-plot totally defamiliarised me and left me in a state of shock for the rest of the film. I identified with Quint's loss completely. His violent rebellion against the 'system' at the beginning is followed through to an affective browbeating of the same system by its own methods.

A well made-film I always like to see again.

In this stark work we are led into the grim uncompromising world of industrial Northern England in the mid-twentieth century. We follow the career of a miner turned professional rugby player that culminates in an appalling sense of loss and emptiness when a loved one dies. We are shown the protagonist used, unashamedly, as a commodity for the pursuit of profit in the sporting world - a well known fact in the real world of sport. There are some comic moments, such as inappropriate behaviour in front of a female guest in a drinking club. But, on the whole, the work is stark in the extreme, this being exaserpated by the monochrome presentation.

A grim but well made film I like to see again.

For plot structure, characterisation, tension, and defamiliarisation, this is probably the best of the Bond genre. From the opening Miami beach scene with its horrific death by paint murder we move through various European countries with a natty fully gadgeted sports car (equipped with ejector seat!) back full circle to the United States with its nail-biting climax. On the way we are treated to the usual car chase scenes (with use of the ejector seat!) and a personally threatening scene with a laser beam. As well as Bond, the British Secret service, and Goldfinger himself, the US armed forces and the Mafia become involved!

An action- packed treat well worth seeing again.

Although special effects are excellent and opening jungle scenes are effectively creepy, I found the remainder of the work to veer towards the shallow with regard to dialogue and plot outline. But on the whole, a spine- tingling work, especially for arachnophobes.

I found this film disappointing. Perhaps having seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind first (whose special effects look suspiciously like those of the work being discussed) I was spoilt. Many points were laboured, such as a scene where a saucer stalks a car. To me it added up to a boring and flat work which could have been better. It may be argued that in the mid-fifties this was the state of the art, but Forbidden Planet was released in the same period and that was arguably the best science-fiction film of all time.

Could have been a great film.

What could have been an excellent science-fiction/horror film was ruined by poor dialogue, plot, props, and sets. There were some effective early scenes which presented an arachnophobe's nightmare but, on the whole, the work fell short of its potential for the reasons stated. The makers could have attempted biological accuracy in that real spiders do NOT have white furry eyes. The latter ruined any credibility in the scenes in which they appeared. Made properly this film could have beaten Tarantula and Arachnophobia hands down. A poor work for which I give only one star.

A haunting and unique depiction of prison and criminal life in Britain in the early 1960s. 40 years after its release I still wish to see this film. Before the Great Train Robbery and the prison riots of more recent times the violence and tension portrayed in the work seem to strike a very deep chord which anticipates these later events.