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1954-75: Showa Series Godzilla

Terror of MechaGodzilla

GodzillaA submarine is conducting a fruitless search under the ocean for the scattered remains of Mechagodzilla, when it is suddenly attacked and destroyed by a mysterious giant creature. Meanwhile, a pair of aliens are plotting to take control of the Earth, in part because their own planet is falling into the black hole, and also because the people of Earth have not been very good stewards of the planet. They plan to enlist the aid of Shizou Mifune, who has been ostracized and vilified by the scientific community for his outlandish theories. The aliens want him to control the giant beast, the Titanosaurus. As an added incentive, the aliens will put the rebuilt Mechagodzilla at Mifune’s disposal. Meanwhile, biologist Ichinose is also looking for Mifune, who may have information on the beast that destroyed the sub. His daughter, Katsura, though tells him that Mifune is dead.

Katsura tells Ichinose via telephone not to lead another submarine expedition. He insists on going anyway. When she hangs up, one of the aliens shoots Katsura with a laser, and it’s revealed that she had died several years before in a lab experiment, and is now a cyborg. She has a device implanted in her to control Titanosaurus. The alien orders her to direct Titanosaurus to attack the sub. Trying desperately to contact headquarters, Ichinose and the crew turn on all sorts of electronic transmission devices. One, a supersonic beam, causes the monster great pain. The crew escapes and following thier report, government officials order construction of a giant Supersonic Beam Oscillator.

Mifune argues with his cyborg daughter about turning over the planet to the aliens. But he insists he is seeking revenge against all who have mocked him. He releases Titanosaurus on Tokyo. While the Japanese Defense Force wages a fierce battle against the beast, Godzilla arrives to challenge the monster. The aliens plan for the two monsters to fight, with Godzilla defeating the other, but too weak to battle Mechagodzilla. Instead, Titanosaurus retreats.

Ichinose investigates a mountainous area, and is captured by aliens who take him to their base. There he finds Mifune and his cyborg daughter. The aliens flee, taking Ichinose, Mifune and Katsura. Another team of Interpol agents breach the mountain, but not before the aliens unleash Mechagodzilla. The agents lead several captives away, escaping moments before the aliens destroy the base, moving their operations to Mifune’s home.

Mechagodzilla meets with Titanosaurus, and they begin a destructive rampage across Tokyo. Godzilla returns to face the two other monsters. He is knocked over by a strong wind created by Titanosaurus. As he gets up, he is blasted by the eye-lasers of Mechagodzilla. As he falls, Titanosaurus kicks Godzilla over a range of mountains. Not willing to give up, Godzilla continues the fight. But the pummeling and biting of Titanosaurus and the blasting by Mechagodzilla prove to be too much. He collapses in a heap and is dumped into a crevice. His adversaries bury him, and Titanosaurus dances a victory jig on the mound.

A helicopter carrying the just constructed Supersonic Beam Oscillator disrupts the alien control over the beast, confusing it. Mechagodzilla takes aim at the helicopter, but Godzilla rises again and blasts the metal monster with his nuclear breath. The two wage a fierce battle, with Godzilla managing to get within arms reach and begins to pound on the doppelganger.

Ichinose breaks free of his bonds as agents surround the house. Katsura holds him at gunpoint, but she is shot by one of the agents. As she lies wounded, Ichinose holds her in his arms and declares his love for her. But she confesses that the monster control device is inside her, and she must die to stop their rampage. She kills herself, causing Mechagodzilla to come to a stop. Godzilla rips its head, smashes Mechagodzilla, and drops it into a crevice. The aliens try to flee the planet, but their ships are blasted by Godzilla. The King of the Monsters blasts at Titanosaurus, who falls off a cliff into the ocean. The other giants defeated, Godzilla swims away.

written by Yuki Takayama
directed by Ishiro Honda
music by Akira Ifukabe

Human Cast: Katsuhiko Sasaki (Akira Ichinose), Tomoko Ai (Katsura Mifune), Akihiko Hirata (Dr. Shizou Mifune), Goro Mutsumi (Alien Leader)

Monster Cast: Godzilla, MechaGodzilla, Titanosaurus

Notes: Notes: The English language North American release includes a preamble about the origins of Godzilla, but removed a torture scene, the squishing of a couple of kids, Katsura’s suicide, and some sexual content. Most of these scenes were restored in the new DVD release from Classic Media, although the original English language cut can still be viewed at video.aol.com.
This concludes the Showa Era of Godzilla movies. No further Godzilla movies were produced until 1984.

LogBook entry by Robert Parson

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Buck Rogers Season 2

The Hand Of Goral

Buck Rogers In The 25th CenturyA routine survey of an Earthlike planet turns up seemingly abandoned ruins, and one man who appears to be a human survivor. Crichton warns that the planet was called the planet of death by a long-extinct race called the Goral. Wilma returns to the Searcher with the survivor, while Buck and Hawk explore the ruins. An disorienting phenomenon on the planet convinces them to return to their ship as well, but what they find on the Searcher is even more disturbing: Admiral Asimov is arresting several members of the crew on suspicion of disloyalty and showing no mercy, and even the layout of the ship is different. Wilma appears to be unaffected at first, but even she exhibits behavior that Buck finds suspicious. He and Hawk manage to escape the Searcher and return to the planet of death, where an ancient being greets them – and tells them that they have successfully passed what is actually a test of intelligence and intuition. Now they must pass one more test – someone is sabotaging the Searcher, and they only have a little time to figure out who, and how.

Order the DVDswritten by Francis Moss
directed by David G. Phinney
music by Stu Phillips

Cast: Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers), Erin Gray (Colonel Wilma Deering), Thom Christopher (Hawk), Jay Garner (Admiral Asimov), Wilfred Hyde-White (Dr. Goodfellow), Felix Silla (Twiki), Jeff David (voice of Crichton), John Fujioka (Hand of the Goral), Peter Kastner (Reardon), William Bryant (Cowan), Dennis Haysbert (Lt. Parsons), Michael Horsley (Yeoman James)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 03 Star Trek The Next Generation

Allegiance

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 43714.1: Captain Picard is kidnapped and deposited in a “laboratory maze” with three other captives – one of whom is actually an observer for the captors in disguise – while a replica of Picard begins to wreak havoc with the crew of the Enterprise, leaving Riker no choice but mutiny.

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Manning and Hans Beimler
directed by Winrich Kolbe
music by Ron Jones

Guest Cast: Stephen Markle (Thol), Reiner Schone (Esoqq), Jocelyn O’Brien (Metina Haro), Jerry Rector (Maropa), Jeff Rector (Maropa)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Red Dwarf Season 05

Back To Reality

Red DwarfExamining the submerged wreckage of the seeding ship Esperanto, Lister, Kryten and Cat discover that every form of life they find has committed suicide for reasons unknown. Upon the discovery of a venom with hallucinogenic properties, they start high-tailing it back to Starbug, unaware that the enormous, New-Mexico-sized squid from which this rather disgusting substance emerged is heading for Starbug even faster than they are. Trying to run for it, they are caught in a huge blast of the venom and Starbug crashes into the ocean floor. When they come to, the guys find that they’ve been playing a virtual reality game called “Red Dwarf” for the past four years, and they aren’t who they thought they were. Kryten is a cybernetic traffic cop named Jake Bullet; the Cat is Duane Dibbley, a completely uncool individual with no style, grace or dress sense, and an overbite that could eclipse most stars; Rimmer turns out to be the non-hologrammatic bum Billy Doyle; and Lister is revealed to be small-time fascist dictator Sebastian Doyle – Billy’s half brother. Things in the real world aren’t what they expected, and before they know it, our heroes Jake, Duane, Billy and Sebastian wish they were back on Red Dwarf. Since that option seems to be out of the question at the moment, they decide that suicide is comparitively painless.

Order the DVDswritten by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
directed by Grant Naylor
SSS Esperanto scenes directed by Juliet May
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Timothy Spall (Andy), Lenny Von Dohlen (Cop), Anastasia Hille (New Kochanski), Marie McCarthy (Nurse), John Sharian (New Lister)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Farscape Season 1

Back and Back and Back to the Future

FarscapeThe crew rescues two Illanics, longtime allies of the Luxans. After returning from the scientists’ shuttle, Crichton finds himself even more disoriented than usual. At first his visions merely find him in compromising positions with Matala, the female Illanic. In and of itself this is enough to set off D’Argo’s jealousy. But soon Crichton sees his own death, and must figure out whether he’s lost his grip on reality or gained a chance to avert disaster.

Order the DVDswritten by Babs Greyhowski
directed by Rowan Woods
music by Subvision

Guest Cast: John Clayton (Verell), Lisa Hensley (Matala)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

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Lexx Season 3

The Key

LexxRescued by Kai in a balloon, Stan and Xev return to the Lexx, where Stan decides that the next time Lexx is aimed at Fire, the desert planet should be destroyed. Questioning Stan’s judgement, Xev decides that the time has come for him to surrender the key to the Lexx – but Kai knows of no way to transfer the key other than through death. 790 discovers that the next best thing may be to bring Stan to the height of sexual ecstasy, but it may be difficult to find volunteers for that particular task. And what may be more of a task is for Stan to get it back if he loses it.

Order the DVDswritten by Paul Donovan
directed by Chris Bould
music by Marty Simon

Guest Cast: Nigel Bennett (Prince)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Game Over

All Work And All Play

Game OverBilly is going to be in a school play, and Raquel discovers that her constant adventuring has earned her a label of being a bad mother in the eyes of neighbors and other parents, and she sets out to correct that perception – but perhaps she’s trying too hard. In the meantime, Turbo finds himself on the bad side of a loan shark, and Rip is disturbed when Alice starts to fall for a particularly lascivious member of his pit crew.

Order the DVDwritten by Ross Venokur
music by Jeff Sudakin
additional music by Christopher Tyng

Guest Cast: Marie Matiko (Dark Princess / Punching Dolphin), James Sie (Ninja), Jessica Glassberg (Sylvie Glassberg), John Michael Higgins (Ransom Transom / Sparks), Jeffrey Tambor (Dr. Zed), James Arnold Taylor (Announcer / Big Rubes / Zeke)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Clone Wars Star Wars Tartakovsky Series, Vol. 1

Chapter 11

Star Wars: Clone WarsAnakin pursues Asajj Ventress into the Muunilinst atmosphere, where the dogfight attracts Obi-Wan’s attention. The general orders his padawan to return to his squad, but Anakin assures him that the battle is over and follows the would-be Sith into hyperspace.

Order the DVDsstory by Bryan Andrew, Darrick Bachman, Paul Rudish and Genndy Tartakovsky
directed by Genndy Tartakovsky
original music by John Williams
new music by James L. Venable and Paul Dinletir

Notes: Although Chapter 11-20 of Clone Wars were produced at the same time as the first ten, they were set aside for later broadcast and were intially announced by both Lucasfilm and Cartoon Network to be the second “season.” (This despite the fact that Clone Wars was submitted for – and won – an Emmy for best animated program of one hour or more.)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

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Doctor Who New Series Season 01

Rose

Doctor Who19-year-old Rose Tyler has a boyfriend, a department store job, and just enough curiosity to put her in harm’s way. When she finds herself trapped in the basement level at work, surrounded by moving shop window mannequins who seem determined to crush her, she’s snatched out of danger by a total stranger who calls himself the Doctor. While he saves her life, he doesn’t do much to help her job when he completely destroys the department store, claiming that he’s trying to halt an invasion by a force that can possess and control anything made of plastic – such as the mannequins. Rose is surprised when the Doctor reappears the next day at her home, looking for any of the plastic creatures that may have survived the explosion at the store, and she’s even more surprised when he actually finds precisely that, namely a mannequin arm which tries to kill both of them before the Doctor disables it. Rose follows him, persistently trying to find out who he is, but the Doctor isn’t inclined to give straight answers about his own identity; indeed, at her home, he seemed to be surprised by his own reflection. Rose walks away as the Doctor marches into an incongruous 1950s police call box in the middle of London and then turns around to find that the box has disappeared.

In an attempt to find out more about the Doctor, Rose winds up meeting with an internet conspiracy theorist who says that the Doctor has been spotted throughout Earth’s history. Waiting for her in a car outside, Rose’s boyfriend is curious about a dustbin that seems to move on its own, but his curiosity turns into sheer terror as the bin engulfs him completely without a trace. When Rose returns to the car, her boyfriend has been replaced by a duplicate who seems unusually curious about her contact with the Doctor. When the duplicate becomes more aggressive in his line of questioning, the Doctor once again comes to the rescue, and the duplicate is exposed as yet another plastic creature, an Auton. The Auton attacks ferociously, but this time the Doctor is ready for it, disconnecting its head from its body. The headless Auton body still pursues the Doctor and Rose back to the police call box, and Rose is stunned to find that it’s not a call box at all, but the TARDIS – the Doctor’s time machine, bigger inside than outside and definitely not from Earth, not unlike the Doctor himself. Using the Auton’s head, the Doctor follows the signal controlling the Autons to their source, and a confrontation with the Nestene Consciousness masterminding the Auton assault. But the Doctor alone can’t prevent them from invading Earth.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Christopher Eccleston (The Doctor), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler)

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Russell T. Davies
directed by Keith Boak
music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler), Noel Clarke (Mickey), Mark Benton (Clive), Elli Garnett (Caroline), Adam McCoy (Clive’s son), Alan Ruscoe (Auton), Paul Kasey (Auton), David Sant (Auton), Elizabeth Fost (Auton), Helen Otway (Auton), Nicholas Briggs (Nestene voice)

Reviews by Philip R. Frey & Earl Green
LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 2 Torchwood

Fragments

TorchwoodThe late 1800s: After his death and miraculous resurrection are witnessed numerous times in Cardiff, Captain Jack Harkness – laying low in the city after his return from the 51st century, as he waits for the TARDIS to appear and refuel from the rift – is captured by Torchwood. They experiment on him, killing him numerous times, and decide that, like the Doctor, he is an unnatural threat that Torchwood must deal with – unless he pledges his allegiance to them and works for them. Distrustful at first, Jack decides to take Torchwood up on its offer, and begins working to evolve the alien-hunting agency beyond its original mandate.

2002: Toshiko Sato, an IT expert with high security clearances, uses her position to obtain classified plans for a top-secret weapon, which she builds and hands over to the people who are holding her mother hostage. But she hasn’t covered her tracks well enough, because UNIT troops mount a raid during the handover. Toshiko is arrested and held in close confinement with no contact with the outside world, until Captain Jack Harkness arrives, offering her a job with a top-secret agency…

2005: Dr. Owen Harper is baffled when his fiancee begins experiencing the earliest onset of Alzheimer’s Disease in recorded medical history. Owen insists on new MRI scans, which detect an unusual, fast-growing tumor. But Owen’s future bride dies in the operating room, and Owen witnesses the arrival of a man named Captain Jack, who claims that his fiancee has been the victim of an alien parasite. Jack later offers Owen a job with his top-secret agency, saying he needs a medical expert.

2006: While hunting a Weevil solo, Jack is cornered until a young man comes to his aid, clubbing the Weevil and allowing Jack to subdue him. When the stranger casually remarks that the creature looks like a Weevil, Jack rushes away. Jack finds this young man, one Ianto Jones, waiting for him outside of Torchwood’s Cardiff headquarters the next day. Ianto, jobless after the destruction of Torchwood One at Canary Wharf, is looking for a job – and he looks good in a suit. After he proves his worth, Jack may just have one for him.

2008: Minus Gwen, who has overslept, Jack and the rest of the Torchwood team investigate odd readings indicating alien activity. But instead they find bombs mere seconds away from detonating. An old enemy of Jack’s has returned, and the rest of Jack’s team may regret the day they signed up.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Chris Chibnall
directed by Jonathan Fox Bassett
music by Ben Foster

Guest Cast: Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Amy Manson (Alice Guppy), Heather Carney (Emily Holroyd), Paul Kasey (Blowfish / Weevil), Skye Bennett (Little Girl), Julian Lewis Jones (Alex), Simon Shackleton (Bob), Gareth Jones (Security Guard), Claire Clifford (Milton), Noriko Aida (Toshiko’s Mother), Andrea Lowe (Katie), Richard Lloyd-King (Doctor), Catherine Morris (Nurse), Selva Rasalingam (Psychiatrist), James Marsters (Captain John Hart), Lachlan Nieboer (Gray)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Caprica

End Of Line

CapricaFacing a looming deadline to produce an army of 100,000 Cylon warrior robots for the government of Caprica, Daniel Graystone decides to cut his losses and focus on business, selling his pyramid team to rival Tomas Vergis. But pressure is increasing on Graystone to deliver that army on schedule – or ahead of it, as a high-ranking official from Caprica’s defense ministry tips her hand that it’s not a very well-kept secret that the processor at the heart of the one existing Cylon prototype was stolen from Vergis’ labs. The price for the ministry turning a blind eye to that fact will be delivery in a week instead of a month. Faced with this new deadline, Graystone decides to reformat and copy the Cylon chip, even if it erases the lase vestiges of Zoe. Zoe tries to get Lacy Rand to accelerate the timetable for getting her Cylon body off Caprica, but the price for securing that favor from Barnabas is a high one for Lacy: she’ll have to kill someone to get what she wants. Having evaded her destiny as the first in a new breed of soldiers for so long, Zoe now decides she’ll have to kill to survive. In the virtual world that is New Cap City, Tamara Adams realizes that she’ll have to appear to die to save her father, and death is starting to look like a pretty good option for escaping the hell that is Amanda Graystone’s life as well.

written by Michael Taylor
directed by Roxann Dawson
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Scott Porter (Nestor), John Pyper-Ferguson (Tomas Vergis), James Marsters (Barnabas Greeley), Alex Arsenault (Philomon), Leah Gibson (Emmanuelle), Jill Teed (Col. Sasha Patel), Hiro Kanagawa (Cyrus Xander), Genevieve Buechner (Tamara Adama)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Picard Season 1 Star Trek

Et In Arcadia Ego – Part 2

Star Trek: Picard2399: The synthetics have taken Picard prisoner as they build a beacon that will summon a league of powerful synthetics from beyond the galaxy. Agnes Jurati has been granted amnesty by Alton Soong and his creations, but is aware that Soong is trying to manipulate her. Narek slips into the Borg cube to retrieve grenades so he can ground the synths’ small defensive fleet, but is followed by Elnor. Narek surrenders himself to Raffi and Rios, offering to help them return to the synths’ settlement and destroy the beacon…but Elnor doesn’t trust his fellow Romulan to live up to his word. While they put that plan in motion, Jurati helps Picard escape, and they make their way back to La Sirena and take off, while Picard desperately tries to think of a plan to stall the Romulan fleet in the hope – but with absolutely no certainty – that Starfleet is on its way to protect the synths and fend of the Romulans. Even if Starfleet does arrive, whatever emerges from the portal generated by the beacon may be more powerful than both fleets…and Picard’s condition is worsening, limiting his ability to play a key role in preventing an all-out war.

Order DVDsteleplay by Michael Chabon
story by Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman
directed by Akiva Goldsman
music by Jeff Russo
Blue Skies performed by Isa Briones

Star Trek: PicardCast: Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Alison Pill (Dr. Agnes Jurati), Isa Briones (Dr. Soji Asha), Evan Evagora (Elnor), Michelle Hurd (Rafi Musiker), Santiago Cabrera (Captain Cristobal Rios), Harry Treadaway (Narek), Jonathan Frakes (Will Riker), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Brent Spiner (Altan Inigo Soong), Peyton List (Narissa), Tamlyn Tomita (Commodore Oh), Kay Bess (La Sirena Computer), Brian DeRozan (Romulan Officer), Matt Perfetuo (Rune), Mike Perfetuo (Codex), Jade Ramsey (Arcana), Nikita Ramsey (Saga)

LogBook entry by Earl Green