Reviews

I disagree with many of the comments on this film. I found it engrossing and the dragons were very impressive indeed. The acting was passable and the whole thing was well put together in all departments. Perhaps it was because I had read such poor reviews that I was expecting it to be worse than it actually was! But on watching it I was very pleasantly surprised! I like John Rhys Davies and enjoyed his contribution to this film. I was not expecting it to be a masterpiece of cinema, but it certainly passed 90 minutes in a pleasant manner! I think everything was just above average and so I have given the film 6 out of 10 just for the fact that it held my attention.

I remember that when this programme first aired I had a crush on Dora and fully sympathised with her! Maybe I wished I could have somehow stepped into the screen and comforted her. Such was the involvement I had with the characters (especially Dora).

Recently I bought the DVD's of all 3 series and found that, despite my advancing years, that crush has not really gone!!! Inside we do not age and I am still that young man doting on a TV Character!!! The series has a beautiful innocence that cannot be replicated nowadays. Young people want action, and romance is now quite up front-so the shyness of the characters in this series may not be appreciated. I am not a horse lover in particular- I liked the series because of the characters- Ron, Steve, Dora, Slugger, the Colonel were all very memorable and the story lines, were gentle, emotional and absorbing for those with a little patience.

This is a very beautiful and almost meditative film-there is hardly any dialogue in it, apart from the narration; and the scenery and music compliment each other perfectly. I didn't at first connect the red hair of the girl and the fox until it was pointed out to me by a friend (who also has red hair!) It is almost an old fashioned type of children's films, saying that children nowadays prefer animations like Shrek or Toy Story etc-but I feel that young people should be introduced more to the beauty and wonder of nature which this film certainly does. Maybe not the best ever film of its type but certainly an excellent and relaxing view for all ages -not just children.

I don't agree at all with most of the reviewers of this film. I am not really a horror fan but I find this film frightening and disturbing, which I suppose was the aim of it -and a lot better than any other horror film I have seen in recent years. Most of them are neither scary nor shocking, but just gory and silly.

Liv Tyler raised this film above the average-she is a brilliant actress and has the right kind of expressive face for the genre. The perpetrators were suitably wrapped in mystery and gave a chilling aura to the whole thing. I was disappointed at the ending though, but I won't say much more! As I say I am not a horror fan really and came across this film whilst surfing the channels on TV -but the fact that it held me until the end says a lot!

I don't really like martial arts films unless there is plenty of flying through the air and way out special effects so this film did not disappoint at all in that direction. The imagery was beautiful and the story was interesting but I felt that something was missing from the film. In parts the editing was poor and it was hard to follow. Also the characters were rather "wooden" and didn't evoke much sympathy. I love "Hero" which had all the things that this lacked-but my favourite of all time is "Bichunmoo" which was wonderful and incredibly emotional throughout.

Despite all that I did enjoy the film and may indeed watch it again! I feel that with more viewings it may grow on me, It certainly ticks all the right boxes with regard to production and story line. It may never become a classic but it is worth watching.

This is one my favourite Asian films of all time and I never tire of watching it! It is so emotional throughout and even the music is evocative. The acting and characters are so good that they draw you into the story and the ending is heartrending. I am a big fan of "Hero", "House of the Flying Dragons", "Crouching Tiger..." but this seems to have made much more of an impression on me. The storyline is brilliant and absorbing and there are some great special effects. I do not like run of the mill martial arts, there has to be plenty of over the top action and mystical imagery-which this has plenty of. It is a while since I last watched it-but after writing this review I am tempted to watch it again.

I am a big fan of Frankie Howerd and unlike the previous reviewer I found this very funny. I am not usually an admirer of anything connected to war, I don't even like "Dads Army", but I feel that Frankie carried this comedy off perfectly. "Up Pompeii" is one of the comedy classics of all time and in this all to short comedy series he adopts the same "talk to the audience" approach which is every bit as effective. The writing is good and the situations are amusing. I am just sorry that more were not made.

I had not really heard much about this series for many years and so was pleased to find that it had at last been released on DVD. Negative comments and reviews had made me imagine that it was poor-but I was pleasantly surprised when I watched it through.

I wonder why this title got so many negative comments! I for one thoroughly enjoyed it. True, some of the lesser actors were poor, probably local Welsh villagers-but overall I thought the film was well presented. I liked the scenery and the fact that a lot of it was filmed at dusk-which added to the ambiance of the whole thing. It reminded me a lot of a film I saw many years ago "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" which was also filmed in Wales. I liked the earthiness of Vivienne and Nimue and the magical effects were well done. Maybe not a masterpiece but still a well made film and I was pleasantly surprised. It may have been psychological-if I had been expecting it to be brilliant I would have been disappointed-but thinking it would be terrible had the opposite affect! As far as Merlin films go it was pretty good!