The_MOW Blog

Under discussion:

Star Trek 43: Bread & Circuses  (1968)

Ship's Log, Stardate 4040.7: The "USS Enterprise" has discovered the wreckage of the "SS Beagle," a Class-4 stardrive survey vessel which went missing six years years prior, with no sign of survivors. "Captain Kirk" (William Shatner) orders a course be plotted that follows the track of the debris back to where it originated from, a "Class-M" (Earth-like) planet.

Once in orbit, the "Enterprise" intercepts an old-style television transmission of Roman Empire Era Gladiator Games featuring a crewmember of the missing "Beagle" crew, and witness his death.

"Kirk," "First Officer Spock" (Leonard Nimoy) and "Cheif Medical Officer Leonard H. 'Bones' McCoy" (DeForest Kelly) beam down to planet surface and first encounter a group of runaway slaves hiding in a cave. One of these slaves is a former Gladiator known as "Flavius" (Rhodes Reason) who has converted to a religion the Landing Party believes to be worshipers of the sun.

After the Landing Party and some of the slaves are captured somewhere near the slave hideout, they are taken into the city where they find the captain of the "Beagle", "Capt. R.M. Merrick" alive and closely working with government official "Proconsul Claudius Marcus" (Logan Ramsey). The three soon find themselves in a television studio, with "McCoy," "Spock" and "Flavius" star in the televised Gladiator games as "Kirk," the "Proconsul" and the "Capt. Merrick," who is renamed "Mericus."

Now the Landing Party has to escape and get back to the "Enterprise."

This episode is perfect for non-fans interested in the Roman Empire, as it is filled with references to famous names in the history of the once biggest Super power on Earth. There are also some references to the way of life of ancient Romans with the Gladiator games and slaves. Even the title of the episode is in reference to the Roman Empire.

Another thing viewers will notice is the sets and wardrobe. There are lots of Roman Empire style furniture, art and columns. The wardrobes of the inhabitants of the planet are memorable, from the slave shirts with three links of a chain near the collar to the Roman-esque outfits of the "Proconsul" and "Mericus." Both of their costumes use darker shades in coloring than what is usually seen on the show. Other performers wear obvious late-1960's style clothing to help make it appear that the planet's version of the Roman Empire is in the 20th Century.

There isn't much character development, but there is just enough to help build the story nicely. The characters are nicely written however, as is the dialogue.

All the performers do a good job with their characters, especially the ones playing the religious slaves when referencing the religion their characters follow.

There are numerous references to the "United Federation of Planet's Prime Directive," which states non-interference in cultures less advanced. A unique concept known as "Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Evolution" is referenced by "Spock, but in reality, this "law" was made-up by the writers of the series for budgetary reasons so that the prop and set departments wouldn't have to come up with something new for the series.

One thing that certainly stands out is the relationship between "Spock" and "McCoy" that is helped by the strong performances of Nimoy and Kelly. This episode is certainly used to help develop the love-hate relationship between the two characters. One thing that stands out even more is the surprise ending referencing the religion of the slaves on the planet. In my opinion, this surprise ending will probably raise an eyebrow more than any other episode's ending.

Like I said earlier, Ancient Roman Empire buffs may like this episode due to the numerous references to the ancient empire. However, this may not be the perfect episode for new viewers since the main cast is pretty well established.

Under discussion:

Twister  (1996)

"Jo Harding" (Helen Hunt) lost her father to an F5 tornado, the most dangerous of its kind. Now she is a scientist out to find out what makes these bad boys tick.

While out with her team, she runs into her soon-to-be ex-husband, "Bill" (Bill Paxton), who left the storm-chasing biz to work as a weatherman. "Bill" is pretty much an expert of how a twister reacts, and can tell what it's about to do by just looking at it. However, what he wants is for "Jo" to complete signing their divorce papers.

While having some small-talk, "Jo" reveals to "Bill" that she had built a new tornado examination device that he designed, but never brought out of the planning stages himself. The machine, which has small plastic balls filled with sensors, was nicknamed "Dorothy," named after the character from "The Wizard of Oz."

Then the predictable happens -- a tornado touches down, and "Bill", along with his new love Melissa (Jami Gertz), join in on the chase. However, they are not alone, as a competing group of storm-chasers, with a much bigger budget, is also chasing the same storms.

When it comes to the story itself, there are many plot holes. First off, the other team is obviously the bad guys when we first meet them -- heck, even their cars are the villainous black. Personally, I'm surprised they aren't given black hats to really make it obvious.

Another thing that is obvious is that "Bill" and "Jo" still care for each other. It would have been nicer if one was presented as one is still in love with the other, while the other slowly realize they are still in love.

A huge problem with this story is character development. "Jo" and "Bill" appear to have the most development, but the rest have little to none. I didn't connect to any of the supporting cast, nor did I connect with the two lead characters at all. Between the frequent tornadoes, there was ample opportunity to develop the characters, but those were totally missed.

The performances from the cast, with exception of the bad guys who are poorly developed and not really seen long on-screen, are pretty good. The team the movie centers around gives the audience a pretty good feel of their relationship as a team. I felt as if these people have known each other for quite some time.

What truly carries this movie is the incredible special effects, which are better for a sound system like the ones in movie theaters. They are quite believable storms thanks to the use of high-powered fans for the wind and the computer graphics. They really nailed the power of tornadoes in this film.

The rest of the visuals are not as memorable. Most of the film's scenes take place in the cabin of the cars used by the team members. They also have shots taken from the air where there is nothing around for miles except crops or trees.

The director, Jan de Bont was handed a script with a weak plot and incredible special effects and a pretty good cast. However, all he could produce was a special effects movie.

This movie would be best viewed in wide-screen format, and stereo surround-sound. Only the special effects makes this film worth seeing, and that is the only reason I can recommend it.

Under discussion:

Mars Attacks!  (1996)

Recently, the Hubble telescope took pictures of a fleet of spacecraft heading to Earth under a flag of peace. The lead spacecraft, with the Martian Ambassador, lands in a Nevada desert in what can only be called a media circus, but the unexpected happens -- the martians pull out their weapons and start shooting.

The first thing you will notice is the incredible cast. One performance that stands out is Jack Nichelson, who plays two roles. He is near perfect as the President of the United States, and the other, more minor role, is very funny. Another performance that makes this movie special, even if it's not that big of a role until near the end of the film, is of the late Sylvia Sidney as "Grandma Norris," and only because this is her final role before her death three years after "Mars Attacks! release.

Another thing that really stands out is the design of the aliens. That are made with interesting colors, and flawless motion. The only problem I had with the aliens was the annoying voices they were given. However, they are fairly good comic relief at times and are pretty enjoyable. Another special effect that works is the spaceships, which are obviously a nod to the 1950's movies of the same genre.

One problem with this film is there is some problems with character development. This is because that the cast is just a little too large to help expand their characters. There are also some pretty lame performances, but I do believe that they are intentionally poor. Some of the roles may have worked a little better if they were cameos -- especially Danny DeVito, whom I thought wasn't that great in a role that is pretty much like any other role he's done on the silver screen. Also, in my opinion, many of the performers in this film were pretty much wrong for their parts. One of those was Glen Close as the First Lady, which was obviously a comedic role, but her performance fell flat. Another thing I notices is that many performers were over-the-top, but they looked more like they were trying a little too hard to make their performances believable.

The movie is filled with some very silly moments, with lots of really good chuckles. Like I said earlier, the aliens are pretty funny, and some of the performances are equally chuckle worthy. Nichelson, in his smaller role as a high stakes gambler, is simply hilarious. Many of the comedic moments are thanks to the over-the-top performances that are pretty bad by design.

One thing that is pretty stupid in my opinion is the ridiculous surprise ending that is meant for a laugh. For me the surprise ending, discovered by two characters that you'd least expect, the surprise ending produced a good groan and a really good eye-roll.

I am not a Tim Burton fan, but he did a good, not great, job at direction. He was able to direct a couple of real good battle scenes with lots of action and special effects. He also directed, as a whole, a good tribute to 1950's alien invasion movies with over-the-top performances, some of which didn't work in my opinion.

To sum things up, "Mars Attacks!" would be a good, solid second choice the next time you go to to your local rental place. It also might be a pretty good addition to your collection if you are into a cheesy comedies.