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Reviews
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
One of the best films of all time!
This is more than just a great Star Trek film. It's a great film full stop, and one of the best films ever made (in my opinion). Maybe it's because it was made by people who weren't really fans of the show giving it a new edge. Whatever the reason, this is hands down the best Star Trek film, and a sequel to one of the series' best episodes 'Space Seed.' It features a larger-than-life merry villain, a not overacting Shatner, and Nimoy and Kelley doing their best acting since the series.
The plot of the film involves Khan who has escaped planet exile and stolen a Starship to gain revenge on a now desk bound and bored Admiral Kirk. Along the way, Khan learns of a revolutionary gadget that can transform dead moons into new planets called Genesis, and steals it in his quest to kill Kirk. With the Enterprise heavily damaged and Kirk in battle, it's down to Spock to save the day by making the ultimate sacrifice.
The plot is edge-of-your-seat stuff and the film can be watched loads of times without someone getting bored. Add to that some great music, good acting and special effects that still look great after 21 years and you have a classic.
Not for kids below 8 because of some gory stuff but anyone over that age will love it. I'm 21, so this film is as old as me. It's my favourite film of all.
The Professionals (1977)
''Cover me!!''
I wasn't even born when this show was first shown on British TV in the late 70's. It was created by Brian Clemens, was a follow-up to a cop show called The Sweeney and starred Gordon Jackson as George Cowley, Lewis Collins as Bodie and Martin Shaw (who hated the show and his character) as Ray Doyle, working for a spy agency called CI5.
Violent, sexist and very politically incorrect, The Professionals was just good fun and it knew how daft it was. Basically an episode would go like this: Bad guy of episode shows up, usually foreign and he was a hitman, terrorist, spy or something like that. He would commit a crime and then the main titles which still impress would come on backed by the great theme tune. Bodie and Doyle would be given the case by Cowley, and then there would be 45 minutes of fights and car chases (in their Ford Capris) which ended with the bad guy dying in an explosion.
The plots were interesting and there were a lot of good ideas from the writers. After the show ended there were lots of pretty awful follow-up shows like Dempsey and Makepeace and Bergerac and have mostly been forgotten. Although The Professionals is not often seen on TV nowadays it's a cult classic, and way better than any of the stuff they put on nowadays.
Goldfinger (1964)
Best Bond film of all
This was the film that made the world fall in love with James Bond. It has a tight plot, a hero so cool that ice is warmer than him, a villain who loves being a villain, an indestructible henchman and an appeal that most other Bond films can only live up to, but never better.
Auric Goldfinger is in love with gold, and is suspected of smuggling the stuff with his Rolls Royce. The British Government assign Bond to follow and gain evidence on Goldfinger, and if possible to stop him. Sounds simple enough, but this being a Bond film it's never simple. Goldfinger has several attractive women (birds really) to keep Bond entertained and also has Oddjob to dispose of any threat to Goldfinger himself.
Goldfinger has more moments in it that are legend than most of the other Bond films put together. The (at the time) jaw-dropping Aston Martin, Oddjob's steel-rimmed hat, the pre-title scene where Bond blows up a drug empire and then gets into a fight to the death before electrocuting his attacker: ''Shocking. Positively shocking.'' And of course the scene where Goldfinger is about to take away Bond's ability to procreate: ''No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!!''
Connery is in top form, suave and witty and looking as if he was born to play the role, he is also the only actor to play Bond that when he gets tough it looks real. Gert Frobe is great as Goldfinger and gets most of the best lines in the film. Goldfinger is also one of the shortest Bonds, so ordinary people won't get bored easily.
A real classic, and should be on anyone who is a film lover's Top 100 list.