I cried too. Luckily I saw this at home without a bunch of narrow, self-centered kids around to ruin it. It's actually been over 20 years since I've had the pleasure and I feel like I've gone back in time. It's every bit as good as I remembered. The grim atmosphere is perfect, the young actors are quite good, the scoring is very nice. Of special note are the boy who plays the sort of bully and the little girl from Earth. Bradbury often took liberties with story elements, but it's never bothered me before and it doesn't with this material. The whole idea of "All Summer in a Day" is just full of Bradbury's unique and imaginative ideas. It's a step up from the similar shorts of Ray Bradbury Theater which never got their due from their conception up to their embarrassing DVD release. I guess it's an empty hope that we'll ever see these PBS shorts in a DVD set.
Reviews
5 Reviews
Spectreman
(1971–1972)
I have these on DVD as well...
3 August 2006
I blind bought this series a few years ago from a bootleg seller on ebay. It wasn't much of a risk since Ultraman is one of the earliest show I remember watching and this is a pretty good knockoff. Oddly, I now find this show a slightly more entertaining watch than Ultraman. All the shows have a environmental theme and the creatures are often hilarious! I love how the female character changes often. It's like they keep upgrading her. Heh! But I can't recommend this enough to fans. I paid about $50 for it. That's a lot, but I wasn't disappointed. Maybe BCI will release this like they did Ultraman. If the quality is equal to that release, I'd upgrade my bootlegs in a minute.
The Ray Bradbury Theater
(1985–1992)
DVD Set
23 September 2005
I saw this on "Home Box Office" (heh! Love that...HBO now) when it first aired. Drew Barrymore's Screaming Woman has always impressed me and still does.
I recently picked up the Platinum Disc Corp DVD set for this series and was pleasantly surprised by the image quality. It's has nice color for the most part but may appear too pink at other times. I doubt the source material was outstanding visually. The biggest problem is something that was not a big surprise: image tearing. This happens when there is a lot of action on screen. It's infuriating that a company does this to a series that isn't available any way else just to save a few bucks. I paid about $25 but I'd pay more for better quality spread across more DVDs. It really sucks! And they could've turned themselves around with this collection. Yey to PDC for releasing these but boohiss for dropping the quality. For that I WON'T BE buying this for Christmas for another member of the family who is a fan. :(
I recently picked up the Platinum Disc Corp DVD set for this series and was pleasantly surprised by the image quality. It's has nice color for the most part but may appear too pink at other times. I doubt the source material was outstanding visually. The biggest problem is something that was not a big surprise: image tearing. This happens when there is a lot of action on screen. It's infuriating that a company does this to a series that isn't available any way else just to save a few bucks. I paid about $25 but I'd pay more for better quality spread across more DVDs. It really sucks! And they could've turned themselves around with this collection. Yey to PDC for releasing these but boohiss for dropping the quality. For that I WON'T BE buying this for Christmas for another member of the family who is a fan. :(
Benji's Very Own Christmas Story
(1978 TV Movie)
Seems this is extremely underrated here.
18 December 2004
I just watched this for the first time in more years than I could recall. Could I have missed it when it originally aired in 78? I'm not sure but nothing looked familiar.
I decided to look this up and see what other people thought but I think IMDb.com users have gotten it all wrong. If you're not a Benji and/or extreme nostalgia fan (both of which I very much am) than steer clear. But if you are then check this out. It didn't get nom'd for an Emmy for nothing. It's very entertaining.
Santa is the star of the show. The story does a great job of establishing his different appearances all over the world. This is what I found most interesting. Moody, as Santa, also does an okay Oliver!-style musical number.
Sure, the makeup is extremely cheesy, Benji gets precious little to do, the girl from the Benji flicks is a little annoying (what else is new :D), but calling this bottom of the barrel is completely unfair and out of line. Don't believe it! I pulled this out of the bargain bin for about $6. Worth every penny. I also have the first 2 Benji flicks (I love those, especially the top notch original). Those first couple of Benji dogs were great little actors. He's just a set piece in this but still provides some Christmas warmth.
I decided to look this up and see what other people thought but I think IMDb.com users have gotten it all wrong. If you're not a Benji and/or extreme nostalgia fan (both of which I very much am) than steer clear. But if you are then check this out. It didn't get nom'd for an Emmy for nothing. It's very entertaining.
Santa is the star of the show. The story does a great job of establishing his different appearances all over the world. This is what I found most interesting. Moody, as Santa, also does an okay Oliver!-style musical number.
Sure, the makeup is extremely cheesy, Benji gets precious little to do, the girl from the Benji flicks is a little annoying (what else is new :D), but calling this bottom of the barrel is completely unfair and out of line. Don't believe it! I pulled this out of the bargain bin for about $6. Worth every penny. I also have the first 2 Benji flicks (I love those, especially the top notch original). Those first couple of Benji dogs were great little actors. He's just a set piece in this but still provides some Christmas warmth.
The Island
(1980)
Here we have a GOOD bad movie!
21 September 2003
I wasn't sure what to expect with THE ISLAND. One critic thought it was smelly fish chum and another thought it was a great modern-day pirate story. I originally thought it was a sea creature story like Jaws.
I was thrilled to watch it this morning and discover that it is that rare breed of a film: so much is wrong like bad dialog & unlikely situations, bad acting from every single extra in the film (casting call at the community college everybody!!), kid turns WAY too quickly against dad but dad is probably the most incompetent dad you'll see (hey, this is much better than Disneyland...hired the worst pilot on the face of the planet because you're too cheap to pay for a boat and now held captive in a 3rd world nation. Thanks dad!), cheezy violence, that music that plays during the violent ship attacks would work for Errol Flynn but not here.
But it's films of this badness that can be more fun than so-called great films. Especially the first time you watch them. I'm the type that seeks out films like Bad Taste, Hysterical, Evil Dead and The Island because they go against the copycat stream of Hollywood films.
NOTE: I would've spanked that kid within an inch of his life and I don't even believe in physical punishment of children. I think we all agree here! LOL
I was thrilled to watch it this morning and discover that it is that rare breed of a film: so much is wrong like bad dialog & unlikely situations, bad acting from every single extra in the film (casting call at the community college everybody!!), kid turns WAY too quickly against dad but dad is probably the most incompetent dad you'll see (hey, this is much better than Disneyland...hired the worst pilot on the face of the planet because you're too cheap to pay for a boat and now held captive in a 3rd world nation. Thanks dad!), cheezy violence, that music that plays during the violent ship attacks would work for Errol Flynn but not here.
But it's films of this badness that can be more fun than so-called great films. Especially the first time you watch them. I'm the type that seeks out films like Bad Taste, Hysterical, Evil Dead and The Island because they go against the copycat stream of Hollywood films.
NOTE: I would've spanked that kid within an inch of his life and I don't even believe in physical punishment of children. I think we all agree here! LOL
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