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Reviews
Fortitude (2015)
Absolutely depressing and total drivel
Bought this from Wuaki for £14.99 Total waste of money. Scenery and acting good of course. Writing, editing and everything else absolute Bo-llox Gave up after episode 9 turned over and Watched Fargo 2 on Netflix instead.. In my young days I worked on a deep sea trawler around Bear Island and Spitsbergen.. Fortitude is like nothing up there. Graphic scenes of violence etc which were totally unnecessary. Also there is no light on Spitzbergen during the day between Nov and feb.. but it seemed to be light all the time there..
So many inaccuracies and inconsistencies it is pointless to mention them all
Six-Five Special (1957)
Brought back memories
We were the first house in the street to have a telebox,and I seem to remember a train hurtling at me from the Television on the opening credits to 6.5 special which caused my siblings and I to dive behind the sofa.
My memories of the 50's were of a very dull time ,it never stopped raining, everyone had ducks flying up the wallpaper, with a mirror over the tiled mantlepiece and a rug made of old socks in front of the fire.
The music was just as Dull I recall. Rock and Roll was starting to make an impact though although it was thought as slightly downmarket.
An episode of 6.5 special was aired on BBC 4 the other night and now I remember it had something for everyone- an article on mountain climbing in Wales, a silly sketch featuring Spike Milligan as a deranged butcher and of course lots of music that Auntie Beeb deemed 'safe' for their young viewers.
I then realised that the music on offer was as dull as I remember it at the time. Thank god for the Beatles. Lots of Nostalgia though, I hope we can see more of these programmes in the future.
Housewife, 49 (2005)
Accurate portrayal of wartime civilian life
I enjoyed this drama very much. The language , turn of phrases, and mores were of their time . Many wartime dramas are ruined by bad research and a tendency to modernise the script to 'make it appeal to the younger folk' a habit I abhor but seen a lot in the 70's and 80's.. One suspected that the son was 'gay' (a term never used in this context at the time) and I thought oh, here we go, they are making it trendy, but Nellas incomprehension when her Son tells her that the love of his life was a sailor (Fleet Air Arm) killed in action shows. These things were 'never discussed ' in polite circles in those days. Very good, historically accurate drama.
Mysterious Island (2005)
Total rot...
It looked good on the trailer, I keyed in a reminder on my Digi Box, it came on, It was rubbish.
Patrick Stewart an actor I admire- is he short of work?
Also was this in 1863?
Nemo said he had been on the island for 10 years, lost his family in the 'Indian Revolution' so that would have been 1853..
Only I think he was vaguely referring to the Indian Mutiny, which happened in 1857..
Confused, I was.
also why were the pirates right off the set of 'Prates of the Caribbean??
Who wrote this, a bunch of 9 year olds?
Sharpe: Sharpe's Waterloo (1997)
Try harder
I loved the Sharpe series but I have to disagree with comments about 'how British actors will have to speak so that us USA folk can understand' I see this statement so often throughout this site
So I am totally irritated at the continuing Whining about 'Understanding British Accents, TRY HARDER !!! we have to as some N American accents (Parts of Virginia and the deep south ) are quite difficult to understand for us Brits but WE USE OUR INTELLIGENCE to understand what they are saying. YOUR JUST LAZY Another thing. Please stop referring to British ACCENTS : there are English accents, Scottish accents, welsh accents Irish (N) accents but no British ACCENTS
I thank you
The Thousand Plane Raid (1969)
Once again, America rewrites History...
Amusing piece of waffle with a brief acknowledgement that the UK actually did fight from their home country, and in fact did mount the first 1000 bomber raid on Germany. Throw in a stereo typical RAF upper class twit to teach the Yanks Fighter Tactics.. I wish they wouldn't assume all RAF fighter Pilots were like that.. Many were Sergeant Pilots and my 86 year old Neighbour, A Spitfire Pilot with 8 kills to his Credit speaks broad Geordie (To our American Pals a Dialect found in the Newcastle area of North East England which can hardly be called upper class.) Still the footage of the B17s was brilliant and did these wonderful Planes credit ) There were several correct statements , particularly that night Bombing carried out by the RAF in the early days was terribly inaccurate, at least until 'Gee' and 'Oboe'(Radio position systems) came into service. Remember that the Luftwaffe switched to night bombing of British Cities during 1940-1941 because of their Losses. However a good piece of escapism anyway,with many inaccuracies, but someone did at least attempt some Historic research...
The Sea Chase (1955)
Entertainment but total bollocks
As an ex UK Merchant Navy Chief Officer (Not any more cos we don't have a Merchant Marine anymore) I found the way that Wayne and crew interacted totally unbelievable. However I did enjoy this film as a piece of frippery, escapism for an hour or so. Why did they cast John Wayne as the Captain?? surely there were plenty of German type actors in Hollywood at this time??
And Ms Turners Makeup was fantastic- having served on 5000 ton freighters I would like to know how she kept herself so immaculate all the time. Also in one scene I note someone in technical has got one thing wrong- The Ergenstrasses side lights are reversed in one scene, having a Red light on the Starboard side and a Green light top port which, as any one will tell you will result in instant dismissal from the Masters Oral examination.
Still I suppose filmmakers/public were not too fussy in the mid 1950's...
Conspiracy of Hearts (1960)
Saw this on Sky today, brought back memories
My Mother took me to see this film at the Lowestoft Odeon around 1960 (I was 8) . Why I remember it is that the Cinema Manager told my Mother that the film was on its first screening in the UK even before London (dunno why) and there would be a surprise after the film. The surprise was the Actor Ronald Lewis who came on stage . Unfortunately some of the audience hissed him which put him off a little-he said 'Im one of the Good Guys' or words to that effect but then gave us an interesting talk about making the film. I didn't understand the movie at the time really but seeing it this afternoon was the first time since then. The film showed the Italian troops in a good, professional light when our Dads at the time told us that they had 'chased them all over North Africa'
Screen One: Hostile Waters (1997)
Accurate portrayal of men under pressure..Literally
I spent 24 years at sea and I liked this film because of the accurate portrayal (of the Russians ) in an emergency situation and the way the situations were assessed and dealt with was pretty genuine.
Like Sailors everywhere ( well most sailors with some sad exceptions ie Flag of convenience Passenger ships where the crew take to the boats first in recent years)
They realise they have to pull together and get things sorted in order to save their Ship ,themselves, and the Eastern US Seaboard
When I was at sea we had a typical British tongue in cheek saying
'If in Danger or in doubt run in circles scream and shout'
Which luckily never happens in reality (I hope..)
No Nationalistic ranting or Stars/Stripes/Hammer and sickle waving -But do we need that anyway?
Quatermass and the Pit (1958)
Oh Dear Im Scared
What is it about reading these comments that have made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end after 45 years?? I remember the Quatermass films and particularly the TV series in the late 50's. I had so many sleepless night after watching it on our 12 Inch BW Murphy TV set that I was banned from watching it. Ok I was little, but no other Film/TV prog has EVER affected me so greatly.. I havn't watched any of the Quatermass series for years. But I will have to now
Rob Roy (1995)
I liked it but im biased
I liked the film, but I would, while I was at college I was hired for a 2 week stint as an extra in which I played an Aristocrat ( you can see all 3 seconds of me in the duel scene!) The duel was shot inside a modern steel Barn in Perth Scotland It was great watching Tim Roth and co being put thru their paces by the armourer. We filmed the exterior castle shots at Castle Crichton not far from Edinburgh. I also played a coachman in that scene!
Not bad being paid £67 a day to wear 18th Century costumes (which were rather comfortable.....)
157 of us local Perthians took part in the film as extras... and we all meet regularly.
Just some uselessinfo. Sorry