TV/Movies Megathread

[Duque de Bragança]

Spanish/Catalan dubs used to be of top quality. I grew thinking Arnold Schwarzenegger was a good actor because of his Spanish dub 

The first two Rocky give me trouble in their original version.  Had to switch to French.  I am unsure if I watched Commando in its original version...  I am 100% positive I have never see Predator other than in French.

There are always subtitles. Stallone's usual French voice (Dorval) is unbearable for me.
Commando, at least the VF did not ruin the movie. Let's say the movie was well-suited for a dub, unlike Casablanca and its different dubs (the '80s one is a disaster) 

[mongers]

'Ennio the Maestro' excellent biopic of the genius*.



* maybe not too strong a term for his creations?

[Duque de Bragança]

'Ennio the Maestro' excellent biopic of the genius*.



* maybe not too strong a term for his creations?

Morricone is definitively legendary.

[mongers]

'Ennio the Maestro' excellent biopic of the genius*.



* maybe not too strong a term for his creations?

Morricone is definitively legendary.

Yes, I hadn't really realised, but the documentary made me appreciate it; well worth a viewing.

[Syt]

Been watching the first 7 or so episodes of Galactica 1978. Not sure the show needed an HD remaster, but it looks nice.

It's been ages since I watched the show. I recall some episodes, and as kid I had a bunch of the novelizations (there were 14 or 15 books at the time, IIRC), so this was a fair amount of nostalgia.

After the pilot the crew travel to Cobol where Jane Seymour tragically dies because she didn't want to commit to the full series. Afterwards we get to a staple of the series: crash-landing on the planet of the week. First, Apollo does a Shane re-enactment on Planet Wild West, with Jack Palance's character replaced with a (damaged) Cylon gunslinger called Red Eye. I had forgotten how silly the tinfoil cowboy hats looked. Also, considering the Cylons are in pursuit, no effort is made to maybe evacuate the humans from this planet. Maybe they get lucky and the Cylons won't find them.

After that it's Starbuck's turn to strand on a planet. It's an old penal colony where people are still incarcerated for the crimes of their forebears. They produced ammo and booze for the colonial war effort (lately only booze). Naturally, they all have Irish accents. This time, at least, the Galactica and its ragtag fleet take the survivors with them.

Something I had noticed as a kid - how many of the special effects shots get reused all the time. The same shots of the vipers flying by, the same shots of Cylon ships exploding etc. Understandable to keep the production costs low, but it can pull you out of the story sometimes.

Still, the whole design of the universe - the ships, esp. the Battlestars, the Cylon Raiders and Basestars, not to mention the Cylons themselves are still awesome.

[The Brain]

Starbuck is kinda mannish in the 70s version IMHO.

[celedhring]

Still, the whole design of the universe - the ships, esp. the Battlestars, the Cylon Raiders and Basestars, not to mention the Cylons themselves are still awesome.

One of the distinct memories of my childhood was drawing Vipers on my notebooks. They were just SO awesome.

[Duque de Bragança]

Been watching the first 7 or so episodes of Galactica 1978. Not sure the show needed an HD remaster, but it looks nice.

Show did not look good on DVD, not to mention the TV broadcasts back then. The 4/3 blu-rays are much better.

It's been ages since I watched the show. I recall some episodes, and as kid I had a bunch of the novelizations (there were 14 or 15 books at the time, IIRC), so this was a fair amount of nostalgia.

After the pilot the crew travel to Cobol where Jane Seymour tragically dies because she didn't want to commit to the full series. Afterwards we get to a staple of the series: crash-landing on the planet of the week. First, Apollo does a Shane re-enactment on Planet Wild West, with Jack Palance's character replaced with a (damaged) Cylon gunslinger called Red Eye. I had forgotten how silly the tinfoil cowboy hats looked. Also, considering the Cylons are in pursuit, no effort is made to maybe evacuate the humans from this planet. Maybe they get lucky and the Cylons won't find them.

After that it's Starbuck's turn to strand on a planet. It's an old penal colony where people are still incarcerated for the crimes of their forebears. They produced ammo and booze for the colonial war effort (lately only booze). Naturally, they all have Irish accents. This time, at least, the Galactica and its ragtag fleet take the survivors with them.

Something I had noticed as a kid - how many of the special effects shots get reused all the time. The same shots of the vipers flying by, the same shots of Cylon ships exploding etc. Understandable to keep the production costs low, but it can pull you out of the story sometimes.

Still, the whole design of the universe - the ships, esp. the Battlestars, the Cylon Raiders and Basestars, not to mention the Cylons themselves are still awesome.

You can't understand the A-Team intro without watching Battlestar Galactica.

Don't (re)watch Galactica 80. Except for a passable episode with Dirk Benedict, it's extremely bad.

[Barrister]

After the pilot the crew travel to Cobol where Jane Seymour tragically dies because she didn't want to commit to the full series. Afterwards we get to a staple of the series: crash-landing on the planet of the week.

<snip>

Something I had noticed as a kid - how many of the special effects shots get reused all the time. The same shots of the vipers flying by, the same shots of Cylon ships exploding etc. Understandable to keep the production costs low, but it can pull you out of the story sometimes.

Still, the whole design of the universe - the ships, esp. the Battlestars, the Cylon Raiders and Basestars, not to mention the Cylons themselves are still awesome.

Supposedly the show went for a planned-for series of TV movies of the week until it was suddenly converted into a weekly tv series, and they came up with the "crash land on the planet of the week" format until they could catch up.  Still the Ice planet one (with the convicts) I thought was okay.  It does get into more interesting episodes after awhile, with the Battlestar Pegasus two-parter being particularly good.

But yeah, the overall visual quality of the show declined noticeably over it's only year.  It was hugely expensive to make, and when it wasn't drawing in the monster viewership it needed to the kept trying to cut corners.


And yes - Galactica 80 was extremely cheap, with none of the original actors (except for Lorne Green), and explicitly aimed at kids.

[Syt]

Yeah, I'm familiar with Galactica 80, and I don't want to put myself through that again.

[Syt]

I've started watching Curb Your Enthusiasm. I had low expectations, because I'm not big into improv dialogue, and I didn't get into Seinfeld (though it's been 15+ years since I last checked it out, maybe time for a retry). I'm closing in on the end of season 3 and I'm enjoying it a lot.

[Barrister]

Yeah, I'm familiar with Galactica 80, and I don't want to put myself through that again.

As Duque points out the final episode with Dirk Benedict is fun - and has nothing to do with the rest of Galactica 1980.

[Sheilbh]

WTF - just saw a story that the BBC and Disney have done a deal over the new series of Dr Who which means it'll have £10 million an episode budgets and Disney are planning spin-offs

Interesting though - BBC's done stuff with, say, ABC in Australia or HBO for dramas and thrillers but this feels a lot bigger.

[mongers]

WTF - just saw a story that the BBC and Disney have done a deal over the new series of Dr Who which means it'll have £10 million an episode budgets and Disney are planning spin-offs

Interesting though - BBC's done stuff with, say, ABC in Australia or HBO for dramas and thrillers but this feels a lot bigger.

Whole life-sized planets made of cardboard and washing up bottles?

[Malthus]

If I was in England, I'd love to see this - a lecture on the trauma allegedly inflicted on children by the animated movie Watership Down.

By the "Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies".

https://billetto.co.uk/e/bloody-bunnies-how-watership-down-traumatised-a-generation-tickets-683706