Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Running Time: 118 minutes.
Media: DVD.

While there are no snakes to scare the bejeezus out of our pal, Dr. Indiana Jones, there's a heck of a lot going on in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, another Steven Spielberg and George Lucas combination... It seems that whenever these two powerhouses join forces, anything is possible.

After almost losing his life, twice, at the hands of crime boss Lao Che, Indy winds up in India with Willie Scott, a night-club singer (they don't have those nowadays), played by Kate Capshaw, and his young Chinese sidekick, Short Round, played by Jonathan Quan (known then as Ke Huy Quan), of whom some would recognize as "Data" from The Goonies. Kate Capshaw, for those playing at home is now Steven Spielberg's wife... 

It has been believed that Indy has been sent by the gods, and has been quested to retrieve the missing Sankara stones that helped bring peace and prosperity to the village, and also to help reunite the village with their children who were stolen from them.

All hell seems to break loose, amid a potion that turns people into mindless zombies, a demonic Thugee priest called Mola Ram, played by Amrish Puri... who still kinda scares the crap out of me... (Talk about method acting, this guy was really into his character... none of this "Hey Steve, what's my motivation here?" business... ), the mining car ride from Hell and Willie Scott's wailing... This is a great movie, with a little craziness to set you going...

The movie seems to end pleasantly enough in the end like all Indiana Jones films... I'd rate it more if it wasn't for a little thing called "predictability"... Don't get me wrong, I think Harrison does a great job, but somehow there seemed to be something missing from the film as a whole to give it that extra kick to make you realize that this isn't just an "all's well that ends well" kind of movie... Nevertheless, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom still gets four stars...

Electric Dreams

Running Time: 95 minutes.
Media: File Download.

Anyone born in the late 70's, like myself would probably have been exposed to this song in some time of their life, and wondered "Hey, wasn't there a movie based on this song?"

Indeed there was my little movie addicts... Electric Dreams pushed the boundaries of cinema with Virgin Films debuting with this movie as its first... I remember recording this on an old VHS recorder when it was on Channel 10, I would have been maybe nine years old then. I loved the movie immensely, and for the first time in about 27 years, I've seen it again from start to finish... 

Miles Harding, played by a somewhat then (and somewhat still relatively) unknown Lenny Von Dohlen, is an architect who decides to buy a computer to help re-organize his life, update his security, automate his home, and to also help with him in the design of a new earthquake-proof brick. After Madeline (a cellist, played by the then 23-year-old Virgina Madsen) moves upstairs, all hell breaks loose... An accidental spill of champagne on the computer's circuitry as well as an overload of information from Miles' company server turns his computer sentient... Artificial intelligence at its best, but unlike some other films where the intelligence is instantaneous, the computer (who eventually becomes known as Edgar by the end of the film), has to learn like everyone else...

Eventually Edgar becomes sentient enough to make Miles' life hell, play music, take over the house, and fall in love with Madeline (something Miles is against, particularly because Edgar is making his life a misery)...

The film makes me smile even now, and with computer graphics that at that stage were comparable but not as great as say Tron was... and cool music by Jeff Lynne (of ELO fame) and Culture Club, this movie will make your heart reach out to Edgar... Having said that, I found Von Dohlen's portrayal of a bespectacled socially-inept nerd kinda irritating... It's only the talent of Bud Cort (who voices Edgar) who seems to save the day by playing off the nerdiness of Miles. There is one other thing that seems to keep me from giving this 5 stars, and that's towards the end, the final sequence, where people are dancing like crazy to Phil Oakley's "Electric Dreams" song. It's... a little overdone... That's just my opinion... Maybe I'm thinking like this because it's over a quarter of a century later since I first saw it, I don't know... but it's kinda weird to me now... But if I'm docking half a star for that and Miles' character portrayal, it's a small price to pay. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry... and it will make you nuts ;) Enjoy!

The Transformers (TV Series on DVD)

Running Time: 2549 minutes.
Media: DVD.

After having recently acquired two figurines from a friend of mine as a belated birthday gift, I've been inspired to review something now some 25 or so years since its initial release to TV, the Transformers cartoon series, and in this case, the original series from 1984 to 1988...

Sad, isn't it? Not really, considering the recent movie trilogy has raked in over $2.6 billion USD, I'd say it's done incredibly well, based off a very unique concept... Well, maybe not so unique. Anyone who tuned into Channel 7 down here in Australia back in 1984 to 1985 on an early Saturday morning, as I did would have seen similar antics from a race of transforming robots known as the Mighty GoBots, also marketed down here as Machine Men. Hasbro went a step further and came out with Transformers, of which Marvel, Sunbow Productions and IDW Publishing took it further, and released both the cartoon series on TV and the comic book series. Being young and not able to afford comic books back then, I was content enough to let 22 to 24 minutes of my life every week be devoted to watching these amazing robots battle against one another. Autobot against Decepticon. Decepticon against Autobot.

I took the opportunity earlier this year to sit through all 98 (yes, count them, 98!) episodes due to a relatively small investment at a local video and entertainment store, and purchasing the boxed set. It was always a passion of mine to own the series some day. The entire series is spaced out on 15 DVDs, which, including features is a whopping 2549 minutes... Which is a solid 42 hours and 29 minutes... And I spent the good part of three weekends going through all these...

The incredible thing about Transformers is that while the movie series of late may not appeal to the harshest of critics, the original series however, will always bring them back home. The series marks the struggle of the Autobots, in the brave command of Optimus Prime, in the battle against the evil Decepticons, headed by the maniacal and from recent reports, chronically emphysemic, Megatron.

The somewhat disappointing part of this, is that while the series portrays the Transformers from seasons 1 through to 4; the critical turning point post-season 2 to pre-season 3, has been left out. You actually are required to purchase "The Transformers", the animated movie, to see how things follow up from the end of season 2, to the start of season 3. The movie does not come bundled in with the series, which is a tad disappointing.

All in all, the Transformers cartoon series is great for any hard core fan such as myself. I'm giving this 4½ stars for bringing back childhood memories, having only deducted the ½ star for not having had the Animated movie to link the two middle series together.