Starcrash (1978) aka The Adventures Of Stella Star

2.5 / 5 Feb '11
Tagline: A Sexy Space Adventure
Directed by: Luigi Cozzi
Written by: Luigi Cozzi
Actors include: Caroline Munro, David Hasselhoff, Christopher Plummer
Genre: Sci-Fi
Length: 92 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Even by it's title you can tell it's a Star Wars imitator, but it also has a fair bit in common with Barbarella too. The cast is what drew me to the film, I mean Christopher Plummer (as "The Emperor"), Joe Spinell (as the evil "Count" ahem Vader", David Hasselhoff (as Luke er Simon) and the scantily clad Caroline Munro in the leading role Stella Star. The plot is rather epic, it's about a secret weapon capable of mass destruction that Stella Star, her alien friend and robot friend (with a penis helmet) must save the world from. The acting is quite terrible, and so are the hilariously bad effects. It's also a laugh for quite a bit as you point out what parts were stolen from what film and so forth. I think the main purpose of the film was to show of Munro's legs but when dealing with a film this cheesy it's hard to say. I'm kinda sad we bought this on blu-ray but I guess if nothing more it did amuse until it bored to tears...skip this unless you like bad movies.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Dreamscape (1984)

3.5 / 5 Jun '10
Tagline: Alex Gardner has an extraordinary gift. To keep it may cost him his life...
Directed by: Joseph Ruben
Written by: David Loughery
Actors Include: Dennis Quaid, Max von Sydow, Christopher Plummer
Genre: Sci-Fi
Length: 99 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well this is a rather strange one that channels The Dead Zone, Firestarter and A Nightmare on Elm Street yet the poster makes it look like a sequel to Indiana Jones. Dennis Quaid plays Alex Gardner, an intensely brilliant fellow with some psychic abilities and other properties, he's very valuable. The government needs him for an experiment they are working on involving having people go into other's dreams. It seems that many of the patients in the facility have horrible nightmares, so they test Alex to see if he can intercept the dreams. Of course he can and he ends up doing battle with a child's cobra head monster demon. Things get more complicated when we learn that the President is having horrible dreams too...involving the end of the world! Are we doomed or can Alex save the day? It's very creative, lots of interesting scenes and dream sequences and the like, rather unusual overall honestly. It's a bit cheap feeling and strange but I think that I did enjoy it.

Availability:  On DVD

Dolores Claiborne (1995)

4 / 5 May '10
Tagline: Sometimes, an accident can be an unhappy woman's best friend
Directed by: Taylor Hackford
Written by: Stephen King, Tony Gilroy
Actors include: Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christopher Plummer
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Horror
Length: 132 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well finally, another successful King adaptation, so few pay off but I think this one was quite effective. I think I read the book many years ago but my memory is quite hazy, the story is quite wonderful. Kathy Bates is brilliant as Dolores Claiborne, a Woman who is accused of murdering Vera the elderly Woman she has spent years caring for. The thing is when Dolores' husband Joe was found dead under mysterious circumstances years before. Some folks thought she was guilty including the Detective in charge of the Vera case and even her own daughter Selena blamed her. Selena returns home to aid her Mother during this time after not seeing her for 15 years I think it was, so their relationship is rather strained. Of course as the story unfolds we learn more and more that things aren't quite what they think they are. It really does teach that one shouldn't make assumptions and so forth. Although it's a very long movie the story is gripping enough that it should keep anyone's attention. The continual flipping between the past and reality was a bit much at times but I still thought it was easy to follow. Recommended for those who enjoy a good story and a good King adaptation.

Availability:  On DVD