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Reviews
Crusade: The Path of Sorrows (1999)
Captain Gideon and his crew find a mysterious sphere on a planet and take it on board the Excalibur
Synopsis:
Captain Gideon and his crew find a mysterious sphere on a planet, and take it on board Excalibur. Inside the sphere lives an alien who lives off the emotion of forgiveness. The Captain, Lt. Matheson and Galen all experience journeys through their memories when facing this strange alien...
Review:
The far-fetched concept of this episode could have easily failed, but somehow science fiction often has a way of making strange concepts work. The memories that the mysterious alien triggers in three of the regular characters serve as a nice way to get some interesting insights into what makes them who they are. The past experiences we witness add a welcome bit of depth to all three characters, and they spark interest in what else we may learn of these people in future episodes.
The whole episode has a kind of dreamy mood to it, which works really well throughout. Visual effects are very good, and by this fourth episode I even find myself slowly getting used to the Asian-influenced musical score to the series.
This episode shows promise, and hopefully hints at what the writers, actors, directors and crew of the series are capable of.
On to the next episode!
Best regards, Stephan Lodewijks from The Netherlands
Crusade: The Well of Forever (1999)
Technomage Galen persuades Captain Gideon to go on a search for the Well Of Forever
Synopsis:
Technomage Galen persuades Capt. Gideon to take the Excalibur to the mysterious Well Of Forever, somewhere in hyperspace. What Gideon doesn't know is that Galen does so under false pretences.
This episode's B-story revolves around Lt. Matheson being submitted to mandatory but intrusive telepathic probing by 'Mr Jones' of the Bureau of Telepath Integration.
Review:
This episode fails to deliver for the most part. The main storyline establishes Galen as a man who holds on to personal promises even if it means misleading a friend. Or even if it means knowingly jeopardizing the lives of the crew of the Excalibur. If the story had ended with Galen admitting that he made a mistake, or if in some way his guilt around his actions would have been shown earlier on in the episode, then, in my view, it would have been more believable.
It clearly was the writers' intention to establish Galen as an honorable man with his concluding words 'I will never again betray your trust. If I honored one vow, then you know I will keep this one'. For me that does not excuse the misleading of his friend nor the willingness to risk other people's lives for his own agenda. In any other story he would have been the bad guy... So the writers should have chosen another way to show us how 'honorable' Galen is.
Some scenes with Gideon and Eilerson seemed to refer to earlier dealings between the two, but I don't have a clue which dealings were meant here. In the two previous episodes there weren't too many scenes of those two characters interacting, certainly none that would explain the 'wink to the audience'. This gave me a lingering feeling that I missed something, which didn't particularly contribute to me enjoying this episode.
Quickly on to the next episode, I'd say.
Regards, Stephan Lodewijks from The Netherlands
Crusade: The Long Road (1999)
A mining operation for a natural anti-viral agent on Regula 4 goes bad
Synopsis:
Captain Gideon's Excalibur is called in to help Earth Force vessel Medusa when a big golden dragon threatens a mining operation on planet Regula 4. Upon arrival the Excalibur-resident technomage Galen has a pretty good idea what, or rather 'who', they're up against. Galen takes Captain Gideon down to the planet, where they establish contact with an old acquaintance of Galen's: the renegade technomage Alwyn.
Alwyn has been living amongst the local human colonists for 12 years, and he's grown pretty protective of them. The recent earth-led mining operation is dangerously close to the colony, and he's been trying to scare the miners away with his techno-tricks since.
Galen and Captain Gideon try to reason with Alwyn and the colonists, since the agent that is being mined for can potentially save lots of lives on the virally infected earth. But things get out of hand very quickly when the colonists take a group of miners hostage. The captain of the Medusa sends down an armed rescue team, but does he know what he's sending them up against...?
Review:
This second episode of 'Crusade' is, on the whole, marginally stimulating to watch. But, if you're curious enough about the potential of the series and its characters, it can be entertaining in a fact-revealing and getting-the-feel-of-the-series kind of way. Bare in mind, the crew, cast and writers were, of course, still trying to find their stride and the series' identity.
A few things I'd like voice though:
Most TV series that are still in their infancy focus on getting to know the regular characters right through the first ten or twenty episodes. In my view, 'The Long Road', being only the second episode of the series, focuses too much on its guest character Alwyn. Although Alwyn may have been meant as a means to shed some light on the mysterious character of Galen, in the end, Alwyn's character took away valuable airtime from the ones we're supposed to be the hungriest for. Although I must admit giving away too much about Galen too soon could kill some of the mystery surrounding him.
Captain Gideon is established as a man who's quite capable of making tough choices and decisions, but who's also pretty good at he 'diplomatic table'.
The special effects of the episode were of the same quality that we've seen in the final season of Babylon 5, so pretty amazing for a TV series with a limited budget! Nicely detailed designs and sets, and the choice of color and light effects give the images of the episode more depth than I immediately realized. Apart from some glassy see-through-ish CGI that was done of a few scenes on the planet, I'm actually quite impressed!
Finally, the score of this episode is too...I don't know...too "present" for my taste. Its experimentalism and its cold 'biscuit-tin'-sound reminds me of the first season of Babylon 5, or one of Babylon 5's TV films (I don't recall which one exactly). In essence, too much percussion and too little strings. But of course that's a matter of taste, as is everything about TV. ;-)
Best regards,
Stephan Lodewijks from The Netherlands
Crash (2004)
Simply a really good film, although I personally am not sure what the story wants to convey
This film is a real treat for me from beginning to end. The director takes plenty of time to show us the characters and, through them, tell us the story. The acting is subtle and excellent; not a single performance had me kicked out of the illusion that film is. It is all believable until the end.
The story is compelling, although somehow I'm not really sure what the writers want to convey. Are they telling us that there's good and bad in everyone, or is it about things that can go wrong when you label people because of the way they look? Or is it something else altogether? But, to be frank, to me that is part of the film's charm.
There are several spine-chilling scenes in the film that really had me go "no no, don't let this happen". Some of these scenes have a sad outcome, while others have a surprising "my..., that was close"-ending. Especially the scene in which the little girl runs up to her dad, who's looking right into the gun of an "unsatisfied" customer. The subsequent realization that the bullets were blanks almost felt like my doctor had just told me that I'm not terminally ill. I know it would have been more "daring film-making" if the little girl had died in her father's arms, but still, I'm really thankful that that particular scene ends the way it does.
I particularly liked Matt Dillon's performance in this film. I think he really is an underrated actor; I'd like to see much more of him in the future. And finally, as part of a dying "Dutch Trekkie"-race, I was pleasantly surprised that Marina Sirtis had a small role in this film.
Anyway, good stuff! Looking forward to watching the film a second time! Greetings, Stephan Lodewijks from The Netherlands
City of Ghosts (2002)
A wanted US conman flees to Cambodia in search for his partner in crime
I have to admit, I was in many ways positively surprised by this film. In particular by Matt Dillon. I've always felt Dillon is a good actor, maybe even an underrated one at that. But to read on the cover of City Of Ghosts that he not only has the lead role in this film, but that he's also co-written and directed it, kind of made me weary.
But it turns out that this film really exceeds my expectations! It is acted and directed very well throughout. The tempo is kind of slow, but that is clearly intentional, and CRITICAL for the mood of the story. The story is subtle and, to me, original. And with well written (and well portrayed) characters. Though the somewhat cliché-like plot twist at the end could have easily spoiled the film for me; somehow it didn't. Much credit for the feel of the film goes to the sets and location, AND, surprisingly, the Cambodian actors, who all performed really authentic.
I saw 'Crash' a few nights ago, and I was impressed by Dillon's performance. Having seen City Of Ghosts, my respect for Dillon has grown even more. I'm really looking forward to his future work in acting, directing and (co-)writing. Good stuff Matt, keep it up!!
Greetings, Stephan Lodewijks from The Netherlands