Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Here is another cult show getting the Blu-ray treatment, courtesy of Fabulous Films. When The Water Margin was first screened in the UK on BBC TV in 1976 – 77, it was broadcast at a pre-watershed time when underage children would grab an opportunity on their square TV sets to see Eastern fighting and swordplay in a manner they couldn’t get any other way – simply because all Bruce Lee and Kung Fu films were usually passed as suitable in the cinema for over-eighteens. This new Blu-ray release encompasses in full the complete Series 1 and Series 2 and it is a golden opportunity for old and new fans to enjoy a well-remembered show that is released here in its original dubbed broadcast, with narration by the recently departed Burt Kwouk and English voices including current chat-show favorite Miriam Margoyles. If you are into the likes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers, you will lap up this epic tale.

Before we continue, though, a word of warning…. 

If you still possess, as you sit down to watch this collection, a mindset of a child in the late 1970s when you first saw this, be prepared for some shocking moments that are pretty much on the nose even today. Although it was aimed back in the day for family get-togethers in front of the box, it isn’t really for kids, so don’t allow young children to watch this. This particular writer was certainly surprised by some moments. They’re not as extreme as those you might have seen in Game of Thrones, but for the time they were made in the early 1970s, it is a revelation to watch it today.

With Kwouk providing the voiceover throughout and filling in the blanks, The Water Margin – across 26 45-minute episodes – takes us back 1,000 years to when there was a corrupt and cruel government. Erstwhile warrior Lin Chung feels the effect of all this, as he kills a swordsman, is charged and then jailed at a far out prison, is freed on the way and becomes an outlaw to battle various clans over the course of the first series. Throughout, he becomes a well-known figure of strength with many an ally and foe succumbing to his skills and ideals. All manner of ploys and traps are set and it is the backdrop to many sword-fighting and mild martial-arts violence as he tries to overthrow evil emperor Kao Chiu. All things considered, this is a large part of the fun that The Water Margin provides.

Keep your ears peeled as well for umpteen Far Eastern proverbs and philosophies Kwouk communicates throughout each episode, particularly at the climax after the key fighting that happens. Even if you miss an episode, they can be enjoyed individually as the same montage and voiceover introduction begins each of the 26 episodes, so it is a testament that it can be enjoyed either way. Additionally, the remastering is in its original broadcast 4:3 ratio.

So, on balance, this is a wonderful nostalgia piece which has not lost any of its impact and, given the surprising moments of violence, will possibly have more impact given the historical setting and classic framework.

THE WATER MARGIN: THE COMPLETE SERIES / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: BURT KWOUK, ATSUO NAKAMURA, SANAE TSUCHIDA, KEI SATO, YOSHIYO MATSUO / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 5TH

Legendary Japanese producers Studio Ghibli may have recently halted production of new animated features, but there’s still a lot to discover from delving into their back catalogue, as Only Yesterday demonstrates. Originally released in 1991, Isao Takahata’s film, based on the manga of the same name, only received an English dub this year, featuring the voices of Daisy Ridley and Dev Patel.

Set in 1982, the story sees 27-year-old Taeko (Ridley) take a break from her busy Tokyo job to visit distant relatives in the countryside. Here she meets Toshio (Patel), who left his office job to run an organic farm. As she helps out on the farm and bonds with Toshio, Taeko’s childhood memories are stirred, including her first crush, the chaos of the boys in her class discovering girls have periods, being frustrated by mucking up a fractions test, and, for some reason, the first time she ate pineapple.

The film takes a thoughtful tone, lingering on the details of Taeko’s nostalgia as her past informs her present and she begins to wonder whether she’s happy in her big city life. This allows the story to explore a range of themes, including the disparity between the countryside and the city (which any fans of Japanese cinema are probably experts on by now) and the role of women in Japanese society (though it could go further to challenge the sexism inherent in the importance of marriage). It also has a lot to say about organic farming processes. Well, Toshio does. It’s all he seems to talk about, and the film forgets to be subtle about this. Believable, emotional conversations are sometimes ruined when he butts in with a non-sequiter about organic farming.

Despite this, though, it’s a beautifully constructed movie. The animation is as gorgeous as you’d expect from a Ghibli movie, with equal attention paid to character design and expression as to the bustle of the city and the bright colours of the rural landscapes. Patel and Ridley, who’s experienced a much-deserved post-Force Awakens career boost, both give sensitive, charming performances, though it is a shame that Ridley unnecessarily puts on an American accent. In certain moments, such as when Taeko’s memory of falling for a boy at school turns into her imagining herself flying, all the film’s themes and stylistic quirks come together to create something truly captivating.

And the joy of Only Yesterday lies in these moments and the way they’re juxtaposed against perfectly captured normality. It may not be as iconic or fantastic as some of Ghibli’s better known efforts, and it may have a few too many factoids about organic farming, but it’s nonetheless an utterly remarkable story about the constant struggle to find your place in the world.

Special Features: Storyboards / Making of / Interviews / Trailers

ONLY YESTERDAY / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: ISAO TAKAHATA / STARRING: DAISY RIDLEY, DEV PATEL, ALISON FERNANDEZ / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The glut of remakes, prequels and sequels is seemingly not letting up at the moment but of particular focus lately have been updates of the family favourites that make up Disney’s classic back catalogue. With live action makeovers of Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid on the way and other films like Mary Poppins set for sequels, it seems that Hollywood is trying desperately to re-live the glory days of the house of mouse. However after misfires like The Huntsman films, mixed offerings like Maleficent and the odd success (like this years remake of the cult Pete’s Dragon), the results range. So, what is the verdict on Jon Favreau’s (Iron Man, Chef) remake of the much-loved 1967 musical animation The Jungle Book, based on the timeless stories of Rudyard Kipling?

We are sure you know the story by now but for those unaware, this live-action remake follows young man cub Mowgli (Neel Sethi), as he tries to mature as part of his wolf pack. However, when tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) returns to the jungle and demands the man cub be handed over to him, Mowgli’s friend/mentor Black Panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) looks to take Mowgli back to the man village and keep him safe. It is a tale that has been read and loved for years and thrived on TV, in books and on the big screen, that being said Kipling’s story is perhaps most commonly associated with Wolfgang Reitherman’s aforementioned classic animated musical, often favourably ranked as one of Disney’s best. And we are thrilled to say this remake just might become as classic.

Just like Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity, Favreau’s film is filled with technical innovation but the CGI and motion-capture VFX support the story, characters and themes as opposed to it being the other way round. The Jungle Book is arguably the best remake to come along in years, as it beautifully groups aspects of the ’67 film with many moments more indebted to Kipling’s story itself. Favreau said he and the crew loved the original and wanted to do it justice but we have heard that before, however this time they have not only satisfied fans of the original but created an adaptation that works on its own four paws as well. The tone is sometimes dark but never anything less than thrilling, exciting, smile raising and occasionally tear-jerking. And it even comes complete with a far better ending than the, frankly, shallow finish to the original film. 

The narrative is a reminder of just how great this story remains, and Justin Marks’ exemplary screenplay adds ides of social equality and racial tolerance without feeling preachy and in that sense the film is a wonderful companion to Disney’s other equally stunning 2016 hit Zootropolis. The live-action billing really is only down to Sethi’s lead, as the rest of Favreau’s film is rendered with state of the art blue and green screen technology but this in no way affects your enjoyment, in fact it enhances the stories reach. The visuals are simply stunning and among the finest of the year, this jungle is alive with wonder but it is the writing and acting that is the films true source of magic.

As the plot moves along at a perfect pace, we slowly see more of these beloved characters and can jump for joy as the casting proves to be spot on. The young Neel Sethi is a revelation as Mowgli and a human heart to this wild adventure. Kingsley makes for a wise and paternal figure as Bagheera and Bill Murray as Baloo is absolutely everything you hoped it would be! Then there is Idris Elba, who is frighteningly sinister as Shere Khan and Christopher Walken’s take on King Louie avoids any kind of stereotyping and works a treat, as the big – and we mean BIG – ape is like a jungle gangster. Other great support is offered by the likes of Scarlett Johansson as hypnotic serpent Kaa and Lupita Nyong’o as Mowgli’s wolf mother Raksha- given a stronger character here than many of the other adaptations. The cast are simply a delight and even when the film inserts songs into the plot (despite this version not being a musical) it doesn’t disrupt any plot flow and simply feels like an organic dose of nostalgia (which works alongside the films modern ideas) for fans…you haven’t lived until you’ve heard Murray and Walken sing “Bare Necessities” and “Wanna Be Like You” respectively.

Overall, The Jungle Book is one of the year’s best movies. Jon Favreau has directed a passionate and exciting reboot that stands as his greatest cinematic achievement to date and his most enriching picture. The characters are brilliant, the effects groundbreaking, the themes compellingly timely and the story remains every bit as adventurous as it did back in 1894. This is a remake done completely right, as it rewards fans, while harnessing its own take on the story and even – honestly – improving on the missteps of Disney’s animated version. From the opening Disney castle ident intro (that sees John Debney’s brilliant score pay tribute to George Bruns) to the old school storybook credits, The Jungle Book is an absolute treat for viewers of all ages and is really this year’s Paddington (likewise a film many were uneasy about but which was utterly glorious). Forget about your worries and your strife, and believe the hype, The Jungle Book rocks…”yeah man”.

Special Features: Audio Commentary, featurettes

THE JUNGLE BOOK / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: JON FAVREAU / SCREENPLAY: JUSTIN MARKS / STARRING: NEEL SETHI, BILL MURRAY, BEN KINGSLEY, IDRIS ELBA, CHRISTOPHER WALKEN, LUPITA NYONG’O, SCARLETT JOHANSSON / RELEASE DATE: 22ND AUGUST

Expected Rating: 7/10

Actual Rating:

In April 2016, Ratchet & Clank was
brought into the next-gen era with the reimagining of the first game on the PS4
to outstandingly amazing results. It is not just one the best games to have
been released on the PS4, but it’s also currently one of their strongest titles
as it offers full AAA experience like no other. Everything about it, to its
high-quality production values, incredible graphics, beautiful cinematics,
top-notch voice acting, creative gameplay, superb level design and so on,
succeeds immensely with flying colours. If you are a long time fan of the
franchise, then this game is highly recommended. If not, then this will convert
you as it is worth your money. The movie, on the other hand, is, without a
shadow of doubt, one of the most pointless and forgettable movies that has ever
been made.

For starters, this has the exact same plot
as the game, but perhaps more criminally, this has the game’s exact same
cutscenes but with the addition of more footage. Unfortunately, the new footage
doesn’t add anything new to what was already a great story in the game, but
here, all of what the additions do is slow things down proceedings and makes
everything seem rather dull as a result. In the new footage, the jokes keep coming,
but end up landing poorly thanks to lazy and clichéd writing and atrocious
pacing. You’d think that this was made for fans of the Ratchet & Clank
franchise, but it fails to appease even its target audience as they will have
probably got a better experience out of playing the video game, which serviced
the story a lot better and offered them so much more thanks to its rich and
deep content. Captain Qwark’s storyline, for example, is better fleshed out and
has a much more satisfying resolution than what he gets in the movie. None of
that quality is here, and if this was to also appeal to youngsters, then they
might find some appeal in it or just be rather bored by it.

On the plus side, the voice acting is still
top-notch with returning voice actors James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye, Jim Ward
and Armin Shimerman still nailing their classic characters and reminding us why
they are so beloved. However, apart from Rosario Dawson and Paul Giamatti, the
new cast really don’t offer much with Sylvester Stallone being completely
wasted with what he’s given. The CGI is outstanding, and it is evident that
Rainmaker Entertainment spent a lot of time and effort to get the animation
right in every aspect, and that completely shows on screen. However, you still
get all of those positives in the video game, so that just makes the positives
seem like wasted potential in hindsight.

Perhaps what’s more disappointing is the
fact that there was a lot of potential the filmmakers could’ve touched upon by
having this excellent animation and superb voice cast, but still tried
something different with a brand new story and having the characters exploring
new worlds that includes new creatures. Instead, we got a lazy, run-of-the-mill
cash-in movie that was more likely created as a means of trying to hook older
fans. The Ratchet & Clank movie is absolutely not recommended, ignore this
like the plague, and just buy the video game as it’s definitely worth your
money and offers you a much better and more well-rounded experience than what’s
on display here with the film thanks to better humour, phenomenal gameplay and
a fleshed out story that perfectly serves the purpose of why these characters
are so beloved and iconic in video game history.

RATCHET AND CLANK / CERT: U / DIRECTOR: KEVIN MUNROE / SCREENPLAY: T.J FIXMAN, KEVIN MUNROE, GERRY SWALLOW / STARRING: PAUL GIAMATTI, JOHN GOODMAN, BELLA THORNE, ROSARIO DAWSON / RELEASE DATE: 29TH AUGUST
 

A critic once cruelly stated that if David Bowie could have tried to act his way out of a paper bag, he would have died of suffocation. Not that we want to disrespect the dead, but his cinematic legacy is not as solvent as his musical one and at times it is a little hit and miss whenever you come to any of Bowie’s filmography, either in a repeat viewing or a first time, as we did with the film we’re about to review.

Bowie was a true enigma whatever he did and at times his films were (and still are) both frustrating and satisfying in their content. The best of them, MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE (1983) and LABYRINTH (1986), were the right blend and well suited to what he was capable of. That said, I am sure there are fans out there who will doubtlessly bring up other films of his career to agree to disagree.

The Man Who Fell To Earth, Nicolas Roeg’s 1976 adaptation of a novel by Walter Tevis, has grown to become a cult classic amongst both sci-fi and Bowie fans. This new 4K restoration is a crisp and clear opportunity to sense the artistic and stylistic intent within.

Bowie plays an alien, Thomas Jerome Newton, who has come to Earth to replenish the depleted water stocks of his home planet. He has brought along advanced technology to patent many inventions and becomes a Bill Gates-like figure as part of a conglomerate, World Enterprises, aided by attorney Oliver Farnsworth (Buck Henry). He strikes up a relationship with a girl, Mary-Lou (Candy Clark) and begins to immerse himself amongst American culture, before his secret is revealed and a dark fate awaits him…..

Although The Man Who Fell To Earth remains one of the truly visual stimulants of the 1970s (and will certainly attract many fans old and new who are keen to discover and re-discover the legacy and power that Bowie had over the creative world and audience)  it has become a rather bemusing and flat emotional experience which can be interpreted as a post-psychedelic analysis of disharmony, or a potent comment on the rise of Corporate America. I am not critical of any movie that does attempt to bring a new perspective and vision and perhaps a second or third viewing will reveal the essence and impact of Roeg’s film.

Part of the problem is Bowie himself, who stutters his way through the role and seems misplaced in it. Given his obsession thematically through songs like Space Oddity, Life on Mars and Starman, at first glance, he seemed to be the right choice, but what may be expressed perfectly well in a three-minute song doesn’t quite translate as well over 138 minutes in the cinema. Support-wise, Candy Clark, Rip Torn and Buck Henry are perfectly cast in their respective roles.

The key strength of the film, which is faultless, lies in its cinematography and contrast, capturing New Mexico in its sparse splendour.

THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR:  NICHOLAS ROEG / SCREENPLAY: PAUL MAYERSBERG / STARRING: DAVID BOWIE, RIP TORN, CANDY CLARK, BUCK HENRY / RELEASE DATE: 24TH OCTOBER
 

Hey you! Are you a boring person?  Do you generally know boring
people? Is that all getting a little too boring for you and you’re thinking
maybe it’s time for a little drama in your life? Is it time to make some new friends,
and go around meeting some not-so-boring people?  Well, here’s a
cautionary tale that might put you off and remind you that ‘exciting’ people
are best avoided.  Glory Daze tells the story of Michael Alig, the leader
of the ‘club kids’ of the late 80s and 90s New York nightclub scene.  Back
in the mid-80s Andy Warhol was still the king of New York nightlife and the one
others tried to emulate and follow.  When he died from complications
during minor surgery, a personality vacuum was created and it was one Alig
would go on to fill.  Escaping from his stifling hometown, Alig came to
New York looking for people like him, for excitement and for the chance to be
someone.  He did this by creating his own movement with him (as one
interviewee describes him) as the pied piper at the head of a band of misfits.

Glory Daze brings together many of
the survivors of that movement, including Alig himself, to candidly describe
how a group of outcast youngsters took over New York for a few years and what
brought it to an end.  This is arguably the start of modern celebrity
culture, people with no particular skill becoming famous, first locally and
then nationally and even internationally, for nothing.  Just for going
out, putting on some clashing ‘outfits’, and having their photograph taken and
articles written about them.  As with many of these kinds of stories, the
good times give way to the bad and as drugs and addiction fill the scene and
the authorities decide it’s time New York cleans up its act, it all goes
wrong.  In this case badly, murderously wrong.

It’s fascinating stuff and a reminder
that not even that long ago, New York was not the homogenised place it is
today.  The contributions are from seemingly everyone there at the time as
the truth came out and although it all turned so sour it’s clearly a New York
they miss.  Still, it’s the sort of story you could show people as an
advert for why you should Just Say No to drugs, even though, as in Alig’s sad
story, things are rarely as simple as they first seem.  As interesting as
it all undeniably is, Glory Daze is a long haul at well over two hours that
seeks to cover every aspect of events and occasionally you wish, like
Tim Bisley, that they would skip to the end.  But overall it keeps your
attention and is certainly worth your time.

GLORY DAZE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MICHAEL ALIG / DIRECTOR AND SCREENPLAY: RAMON FERNANDEZ / STARRING: MICHAEL ALIG / NOEL ASHMAN / FENTON BAILEY / VICTOR CORONA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
 

A British/Dutch co-production, Identicals is the first non-documentary feature of Simon Pummell, a professor at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. It shares the fascination with personal histories that informed his 2003 documentary Bodysong (notable for including Jonny Greenwood’s debut film soundtrack), and the amount of thought that has gone into this project is very much in evidence. Unfortunately, its obsession with striking visuals and philosophical questions of identity serve to undermine the film’s humanity, and the result is a glacial and alienating experience that is easy to admire but very difficult to embrace.

The conceit is rather opaque and deliberately ill-explained; the Brand New-U organisation exists to transplant unfulfilled individuals into the bodies of identical strangers in order to effectively start again and maximise their potential. When Slater’s girlfriend undergoes one such relocation he is left with a choice of being blamed for her murder or undertaking a brand new life himself. Of course, he takes the latter option, and the film follows his progress through two parallel existences as he attempts to track Nadia down and revive their relationship.

There are a number of storytelling decisions that strive to imbue the film with the profundity it seems to feel it earns; in their new bodies, the characters retain the names and faces associated with the old, while many of the choices – both in-fiction and on the production – seem designed to serve the director’s vision despite feeling entirely contrived. The acting is distant and the dialogue is brutally minimal. The consequence of this is to give Identicals a level of abstraction that makes it almost impossible to follow as a straightforward narrative, and when a film is as visually intangible as this there is very little for an audience to identify with. The look is of an antiseptic Blade Runner while the tone is similar to Aronofsky’s The Fountain but divested of any warmth. It is, essentially, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as if made by robots.

The greatest influences on Identicals, however, are clearly the 1997 film Abre los Ojos (the inspiration for Vanilla Sky; Pummell even includes the line ‘Open your eyes’ in the dialogue twice) and THX 1138. The difference with George Lucas’ debut was that he created a universe of which the impersonal characters and stark visuals were a logical extension, while Amenábar’s film was a story about internalised crisis which allowed its external expression its figurative irregularities. Both of those films created coherent universes in which it was possible to care about the people therein; Identicals is an aloof, distancing puzzle with an all too obvious solution, an occasionally breathtaking visual endeavour, but sadly one that is fatally uninvolving for the viewer.

Extras: interviews, visual effects breakdown

IDENTICALS / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: SIMON PUMMELL / SCREENPLAY: SIMON PUMMELL / STARRING: LACHLAN NIEBOER, NORA-JANE NOONE / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 22ND

 

Presented by FrightFest, The Unfolding is a found-footage film… wait… where are you going? Come back here!! Oh, fine, I’ll talk to myself. Made by writer and director Eugene McGing it’s another haunted house story, with all the elements one would expect in half-glimpsed figures, dark rooms, mediums, and séances. Events take place as radio and TV broadcasts inform that the world is on the brink of nuclear war. Tam and Rosie are a young couple who have come to stay at a remote house to try and find proof of the supernatural. Stopping on Dartmoor, they arrive late and find the people they were to stay with making a run for it, due to the creepy house and probable impending Armageddon. Nothing happens on the first night, more characters show up, and then things start to get weird.

Sadly, due to this being very much a low budget affair, much of that happens off-screen, with characters telling the others they saw something or it taking place in a room where there’s no camera. McGing tries to get around this limit in resources by focussing on building atmosphere.  He understands that especially in stories like this, it’s often what people can’t see that helps to create that sense of unease.  Still, at the risk of starting to bore an audience as it threatens more than once, something has to happen, and here we follow the Brick Tamland guide to scaring people (LOUD NOISES!). Characters speak in exposition so we never really get to know them outside of their assigned role (professor, medium et al). They do silly things that only people in horror movies do, everyone starts shouting and running from here to there and then it all ends on kind of a bummer.

However, there’s enough to recommend. Not every person who picks up a camera knows which end to point, or how to structure a film, but here McGing and his crew are clearly competent. He goes for a desaturated look with occasional flashes of colour, which suits the Dartmoor aesthetic established at the outset. McGing as writer throws in some Kneale-like attempts at a scientific explanation for hauntings and the afterlife. The cast have a good crack at investing us in proceedings and making us care about these rote characters. The nuclear threat background brings a different slant and adds to the atmosphere.

It’s just not enough to get around what the film was up against from the start. Found-footage and haunted house movies are so familiar these days that to break away from the pack you have to do something special, and mixing the two almost doubles that need to stand out. Having said that, there’s enough talent on display that I encourage McGing to have another go and put his energies into making something much fresher and less familiar next time.

THE UNFOLDING / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: EUGENE MCGING / STARRING: ROBERT DAWS, NICK JULIAN, LISA KERR / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

In 1982, Rainer Werner Fassbinder died of a drug overdose at the age of 37, bringing the most prolific years of his career to a sad and permanent end.  A life-long self-destructive streak didn’t impede his work ethic, and by the time of his death he had made some 40 features, and been an actor, writer and director (amongst numerous other roles) in film, television, and radio. Much of his work from 1970s is considered his finest, and during this time Fassbinder seemingly thrived on creating controversy, using his films to challenge viewers on issues of societal roles and expectations, gender, personal hypocrisy and the exploitation of people by institutions and by each other. These two films are prime examples of that approach.

Despite the title of the first movie in this set, Fox (played with great sympathy by Fassbinder himself) certainly has no friends, with the story a savage indictment of the willingness of people to destroy others for their own gain. A down-on-his-luck hustler, Fox believes every week will be the one he finally wins the lottery. And then he does.  When this gets him entry into a group of wealthy, ambitious men, so begins their manipulation and exploitation of him. It’s an interesting, complex film which presents, without comment or judgement, a group of men who are gay where it is not the focus of the film nor a reason for their behaviour, but rather incidental. At over 2 hours in length, like Effi Briest, it’s another leisurely film, but one that uses its time well to explore the sad, inevitable tragedy playing out on screen.

The next film comes from a time when Fassbinder was beginning to gain recognition outside of Germany. Chinese Roulette tells of a young disabled girl, Angela, who uses a weekend away to reveal the hypocrisy of her parents, the course of which will expose their sins against each other (and as Angela believes, her too) even as they try and maintain the pretence their lives have become. The selfishness of the adults, their ability to self-delude and to think only of themselves is brought to the fore. It’s a heavy, dark film with little in the way of sympathetic characters to invest in, but that’s not a problem when the central story is so engrossing.

Both films are well made, compelling pieces. In particular, Fox and His Friends as it demonstrates with clarity the theme of how people exploit those weaker or less worldly than them and how those being exploited often accede to it without protest, a two-way complicity that only perpetuates the status quo. Good as these bleak films are, however, there’s no getting around that both are very much acquired tastes, even if you’re familiar with cinema of the 70s. In fact that goes for Fassbinder as a whole, but if you’re curious about trying his work these are probably two of the most accessible ways to start. Just don’t expect a chipper night’s viewing.

FOX AND HIS FRIENDS (1975) & CHINESE ROULETTE (1976) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR& SCREENPLAY: RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER / STARRING: RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER, PETER CHATTEL, KARLHEINZ BÖHM, ANNA KARINA, MARGIT CARSTENSEN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

The forthcoming release on Blu-ray of Gerry Anderson’s seminal 1969/1970 sci-fi classic series UFO is possibly the most eagerly-anticipated release on the format – come, on, Network! – since last year’s joyously-received boxset of the 1960s Batman TV series. But those of a distinctly-impatient disposition – naming no names – can take some solace as they cool their heels with this new teaser release which demonstrates just how extraordinary the whole series is going to look when it finally arrives in high-definition.

Back in the mid-1980s when the home entertainment industry was in its infancy, ITC issued a series of VHS tapes (ask yer Grandad) in which episodes of their popular 1960s and 1970s action series were randomly butchered and stuck back together in compilation form, often with new and wholly inappropriate title sequences and credits. The peerless UFO suffered this ignominy in the form of an extended ‘movie’ entitled Invasion: UFO, which jettisoned Barry Gray’s unforgettable strident signature tune and the head-rush staccato title sequence and replaced it with a crudely-animated computer typeface credit sequence and a piece of bubbling electronic music which gives a new meaning to words ‘utterly forgettable’ (Gray’s incidental music has, mercifully, been restored to this new release). If you can look beyond this troubling travesty, you’ll find that the episodes themselves have been quite intelligently and sympathetically truncated to create one long, if slightly uneven, storyline from selected material from three full episodes with – slightly jarringly – one or two random scenes from other episodes thrown in here and there. The emphasis is clearly to create a fast-paced, action-orientated feature film concentrating on hardware and special effects rather than character and human drama. Thus we have much of the show’s opening episode Identified, which introduces us to the concept of SHADO – the Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation – and its ongoing battle against body-part-harvesting aliens targeting Earth from their dying planet. Aficionados will recognise (and wince at) the excised material and similarly action sequences from The Computer Affair are included but the episode’s subplot, which suggested that Moonbase Commander Gay Ellis (Gabrielle Drake) has allowed her professional integrity to be compromised by her attraction to astronaut Mark Bradley (Harry Baird) is almost entirely removed. Similarly sections from Reflections in the Water omit material in which SHADO’s Lieutenant Anderson (an impossibly young James ‘Game of Thrones’ Cosmo) appears to be working in collusion with the aliens. In fairness, a couple of useful brief bridging sequences have been lifted from episodes such as Confetti Check-AOK and The Man Who Came Back in an attempt to ease the transition between one storyline and another. If Invasion: UFO was the only commercially-released representation of the series fans would be entirely justified in throwing a tantrum (or at least hurling their model Moonbase Interceptors at the screen) but UFO remains readily available in its entirety as God (aka Gerry Anderson) intended on DVD and with the Blu-ray hopefully imminent.

On the basis of the magnificent restoration work done on the compilation, UFO is going to look absolutely stunning when it finally arrives on Blu-ray. The picture is pin-sharp, almost eye-achingly so; colours are vibrant and vivid and the image is astonishingly clean, occasionally to the detriment of the model work, which remains just about the best ever seen on a weekly television production. Purists are absolutely entitled to balk at the very idea of a ‘compilation’ film but Invasion: UFO was clearly done with some sympathy for the source material and, for now, serves as a mouth-watering taster of what’s to come when that set finally arrives. Come on, Network! For the compilation concept, this set would get 6 out of 10, but the final score is based purely on the UFO  content. 

Extras: Original 1980s videotape version, original trailer, full-frame titles, textless titles

INVASION: UFO / CERT: PG / DIRECTORS: GERRY ANDERSON, DAVID LANE, DAVID TOMBLIN / SCREENPLAY: GERRY ANDERSON, SYLVIA ANDERSON, TONY BARWICK, DAVID TOMBLIN, TERENCE FEELY / STARRING: ED BISHOP, GEORGE SEWELL, MICHAEL BILLINGTON, PETER GORDENO, WANDA VENTHAM / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW