The Great Escape (1963)

MPW-18932“The Great Escape” is mostly known these days for the iconic imagery of Steve McQueen riding his motorbike trying to escape the clutches of German soldiers. As a hardcore McQueen fan, I am all for giving him his due, but “The Great Escape” offers so much more than McQueen on a motorbike telling Nazis to fuck off as he desperately attempts escaping their forces. “The Great Escape” is a classic man film about a group of soldiers bonding to escape their prison, and garners an immense cast of acting heavyweights.

Continue reading

Combat! The Complete Fifth Season (DVD)

combat5This is it. The final season of one of the most critically acclaimed war dramas ever created. On an eight disc edition for fans, “Combat! The Complete Fifth Season” is the only season of the popular war drama broadcast in color, and it features the stories of two parallel platoons on a journey in World War II.

Well known for its array of guest stars, as well as its direction and writing from noted directors included Robert Altman, “Combat!” is a change of pace for the series before it bows out, with new props, and settings, but delivering the same exciting war based drama we know the series for. In one episode character Saunders is blinded in combat and tricked by a German Chaplain to help a wounded German soldier, while in another episode Saunders receives the upsetting news that his brother has enlisted in the army.

Continue reading

Invasion Roswell (2013)

invasion_roswellThe aliens didn’t land on Roswell, we landed on the aliens, and now they’re back with a vengeance. After the Roswell crash in 1947, the government built a group of five specially trained enforcers to raid alien bunkers and strong holds and take them down. But after years of inactivity, the team was retired, and they disbanded, becoming US citizens in search of another direction.

Continue reading

Independence Daysaster (2013)

daysaster“Independence Daysaster” is the perfect alien invasion film if you enjoy watching people do nothing but type on computers for ninety minutes. To compensate the lack of special effects, most of our alien invasion is implied, while the rest of it is merely watched from afar from other characters, all of whom can mysteriously see everything that’s going on from their vantage point. They even see a dog fight in the sky without fail.

Continue reading

Combat! The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)

Image Entertainment releases season four of one of the most complex and interesting war time dramas I’ve ever seen. With a wonderful opening sequence reliant on heavy symbolism involving a soldier’s helmet, and a great cast, “Combat!” is a lot like “Saving Private Ryan.” But if their journey was five seasons long.

And we followed two separate platoons on the field. “Combat!” takes a more subtle approach to the war, with star Vic Morrow and Rick Jason leading their own platoons through the battlefield with episodes that varied between characters. Season four on DVD features all 31 episodes of the fourth season as well as bloopers, audio commentary, and behind the scenes.

Continue reading

Least Among Saints (2012) (DVD)

It’s not often indie dramas can compel and pull off a story so steeped in melodrama without being a cloying sickening glorified TV movie. Thankfully, Martin Papazian’s drama about two mentally unstable outcasts finding one another in the sadness manages to be a fantastic bittersweet drama filled with rich performances all around. Director Papazian manages to bring the film down to a level that doesn’t try for sap and sugary sweet, and keeps its characters grounded enough to where their conflicts and dilemmas feel realistic and warrant audiences empathies.

Continue reading