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Moving at what seems like a breakneck pace after the plodding Eating Pattern, Gigashadow resolves the story of the crew’s escape from His Divine Shadow (the wraithlike adversary in the first movie) and explains the origins of that enemy as well, and while all these doors are being closed, new ones are being opened as a lot of pipe is laid for the first season of hour-long episodes. And that’s a pretty ballsy move on the part of Paul Donovan and friends, who didn’t even know for certan that the second season would happen. (more…)

Easily the weakest of the four original Lexx movies, Eating Pattern doesn’t just resemble a weekly hour-long episode, it resembles an uninteresting weekly hour-long episode stretched out to two agonizing hours. Of the four movies, it involves the main characters the least (Kai spends much of his time wandering around, while Zev is chained up helplessly and Stanley is possessed by an alien parasite), and after we’ve already had two movies with Giggerota, the cannibalism schtick just doesn’t have the punch-in-the-stomach shock horror value anymore. (more…)

Wow! Look at all that color! There are times when you’d almost think that Space: 1999 was shot in black & white, judging by the first season. But one of the issues addressed during planning for the second season by new producer Fred Freiberger (of third season of Star Trek fame) was the “drab factor.” Realistic though it may have been, some of the first season episodes were lifeless both visually and emotionally, and The Metamorph certainly makes up for lost time on the visual end of things. In terms of scripting…well, it’s more of the same. I like Space: 1999, but I’ll readily admit that it doesn’t have the thought, coherence or verve that I wish it had on the pages of the script. (more…)

One of the most tightly-plotted and yet purely fun stories of Jon Pertwee’s era, Carnival Of Monsters is an obvious choice for the DVD treatment that has been lavished on quite a few Doctor Who stories. Previously available on commercially-released VHS video with a few odd quirks (i.e. one of the four episodes was somehow replaced by the version of that episode modified for export to Australia, with some unusual alterations), Carnival is given the royal treatment here, with deleted scenes, an unusual abundance of behind-the-scenes footage for an early 1970s adventure, and a jovial commentary from producer/director Barry Letts and Katy Manning, who co-starred as Jo Grant for most of the Pertwee era. (more…)

Here’s where the fun truly begins. The third season of Babylon 5 really was the Point of No Return, as the crises begun and foretold over the last two years came to a head and forced just about every major character to make life-altering choices. It was also the point where the scripts, production design and performances clicked like never before, and the result was thought-provoking, emotionally-stirring and exciting television that had me eagerly awaiting each new episode. (more…)