Reviews

To fully understand the appeal of the Untouchables TV series, its necessary to first know the state of TV in 1993. Star Trek: The Next Generation was about to go off the air, leaving a very popular gap on Saturday night with repeats available on Sunday. Into this slot was then put the Untouchables which attracted a large audience who were looking for a new Saturday night TV show. The show easily drew people in who recalled the 1987 film, which this series is essentially an extension of with a longer drawn-out narrative and a lot more background for the characters. The series essentially told the story of the film, and in two seasons the series had to end because there was no more story after Capone went to prison. In this sense, The Untouchables was way ahead of its time, essentially a pre-determined length serries much like Fringe or the 4400 would be a decade or so later. Pure genius all around, great acting, and awesome action for a TV show, at the level of a made-for-cable movie yet syndicated on network television.

I am a tremendous fan of the 1979 film starring Richard Thomas and Ernest Borgnine, but sadly, this film fails to approach the level seen in the previous film. In the 70s version, the viewer is taken on a journey from Paul leaving high school, attending basic training, entering the German Army as a raw recruit, and then becoming a seasoned soldier through the horrors of war. The 2022 film omits most of Paul's development, we never see basic training and the entire plot of Corporal Himmelstoss is omitted nor do we see Paul's friend Kemmerich. Overall, this is mainly an action film, reminiscent of "1917" but missing all the character development seen in 1979 film.

This series was part of a pack of shows which was on in earnest during the late 1980s - Friday the 13th the Series, War of the Worlds, Werewolf, and Freddy's Nightmares to just name a few. The acting and camera style is literally identical across all of these series and the coloring of the film often portrays everything as drab and dark. It is a very good series but is often grouped into "one of those shows" which premiered in 1987 and then was cancelled by the time of the early 90s. A lot of the same actors, the same themes, and ironically most of them wound up also playing roles on Star Trek: The Next Generation with the more series players, like Hamilton and Perlman going on to roles in major films.

"Legend of the Last Emperor" is an excellent series which provides a comprehensive and chronological look at Puyi's life which has not been covered in any other film or series.

As compared to other films, I thoroughly enjoyed the 1987 film "The Last Emperor" but noticed right away, due to time constraints, the story had to skip vast periods of Emperor Puyi's life. The viewing audience never got to see the reasons behind his abdication or get a sense for the long years in which he grew up alone in the Forbidden City. The 1920s were also glossed over very hurriedly, with the later half of the film occupying the 30s when Puyi was a puppet for the Japanese.

"Legend of the Last Emperor" fills in all of these gaps and, although at times the series does appear as a type of soap opera, the story flows well and the viewer gets a real sense of living Puyi's life as it happens.

I do think the series could have done a much better job casting European actors. Reginald Johnston (a major character in the 1987 film) appears as a 30s something young man with a Russian accent - obviously cast by the Chinese from Eastern Russia or a former Soviet republic, and he is obviously not British and is much younger than Johnston would have been in his 40s.

In all, an excellent series and enthralling as well as a tribute to this amazing and sometimes depressing period in Chinese history.

Most of the "Fear Thy Neighbor" shows are about real crimes which can be verified by public records, so I was surprised to find no records of this story or any of the details surrounding "Ken and Becky" and their feud about Ken's collapsing house which led to him killing her. I then discovered the reason being is that this story was significantly altered from the real crime - that of Roy Kirk and Ann Hoover. Several aspects of the crime were changed, including stating that the killer had committed suicide in the police van on the way to the station, when in fact he had committed suicide days later in his cell. Also a lot of other changes to add more drama to the show. Why did they do this I wonder? Their other shows follow the crimes with very near total accuracy.

This series is essentially a Young Earth Creationist's dream come true. Renowned "scientists", all of whom have PhD's after their name, offer up explanations about why the Earth is only 6,000 years old and the Flood was responsible for such geological events as the creation of the Grand Canyon. Intermixed into this are tales of how Earth used to be a completely different planet, with magical mist waters creating heavenly gardens and how rain did not exist prior to the Flood. In the end, what you have is essentially a fairy tale backed up by pseudoscience. This would almost be laughable if it were not so dangerous as someone might view this, be tricked by the many titles and credentials of the "experts" and believe that what they are seeing is real science.

This show is fascinating, yet at the same time very difficult to watch, as it highlights the vicious cycle of large conservative rural Christian families. In this reality series, we meet the Bates who have upwards of 19 children, living on faith alone with some help from the father's local tree trimming business. The daughters of this family are expected to marry as soon as possible, most often at the age of 18 to their teenage boyfriends. Family events revolve heavily around religious holidays, weddings, and the births of grandchildren and these are typically the events shown in the episodes.

The sons are expected to work as soon as possible, often as young as 14 and without pay, at the father's tree trimming business. Once they have their own independent jobs, it's expected that their income will be routed back to the main family to help the younger children. Higher education for the sons is never ever spoken and unheard of for the daughters.

The episodes tend to offset this type of life by always showing everyone happy and the family in good spirits. Only seldom is it mentioned the family is often in dire financial straits, unable to pay for basic necessities, and often in need of help from extended family or the community. Add to it a hardcore conservative Christian environment, where outsiders and different ideas are simply not tolerated, and the series leaves one feeling very sorry for this family, especially the children who have known no other lifestyle and really don't have much hope for a productive future.

As an American, this is an incredible show to watch since the system of High Court Enforcement Agents is something which would *never* function in the United States. Attempting to enter someone's home forcibly and removing property would result in these men being gunned down, especially in places like Texas or other heavy pro-gun conservation states.

While I fully support the 2nd amendment, it does say something that in the UK, even *picking up a knife* is enough to levy serious criminal charges, much less guns, which are nearly impossible to obtain in that country, from what I understand.

Also, the show presents a side of British society hardly ever seen, that of immigrants especially from places like Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. A lot of the enforcement actions are often against people from these regions, as well as Africa, and while we all know about British Indians (who can forget the British Raj) it's rare to see a British program display the lives and times of these other, lesser known, immigrant groups. What impresses me the most is how the agents deal with such people *exactly the same* as with upper class British who are wealth and better off.

So, a fascinating show, and highly recommended, especially if one is not familiar with the debt collection process in the United Kingdom and how it is enforced. This show will absolutely provide an education.

"A Bridge Too Far" is an excellent war film and the template for which all other Second World War epics should be compared. The history is excellent, the acting extraordinary, and the film tells in a clear and concise manner what was otherwise a very complicated combined ground and airborne military campaign.

With that said, there are a few notable flaws in the film. First and foremost...the miscasting of Gene Hackman. In the film, Hackman portrays the Polish general Stanislaw Sosabowski. Hackman does his best, but the acting simply doesn't work. Aside from a poorly done Polish accent, Hackman does not portray well (although he tries) the sheer dejection that Sosabowski must have experienced being sidelined by Allied generals who thought Poles were of little use in military operations. Add to it, this film for Hackman was stuck right in between "The French Connection" and "Superman". It is a totally alien character for Hackman to be playing and it shows.

Second, we have what is generally referred to as the "innocence of the SS". The late 1970s were a very interesting time for Germany and its memories of World War II. A lot of the Waffen-SS veterans were attempting to gain government recognition for military pensions and there was an overall movement building, on both sides of the Atlantic, that Waffen-SS soldiers were simply front line troops who did their duty, separate from the atrocities of the Holocaust.

There were certainly Waffen-SS members who were not criminals, however "A Bridge Too Far" portrays the Waffen-SS as an honorable fighting force which is respected by the British. Nothing could be further from the truth, in particular case of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps (figured prominently in the movie) which was deeply entrenched in war crimes and had commanded some divisions, especially on the eastern front, which had committed numerous atrocities. The 10th SS division Frundsberg, to be fair, was one of the few SS divisions which was not involved in any significant war crimes; however, the division commander Heinz Harmel asked his name not be used in the film, most likely since memories of what the SS truly stood for still lingered, even thirty years after the war.

Overall, "A Bridge Too Far" is an excellent film and highly recommended for any aspiring historian of the Second World War.

I really enjoyed this series as it is an intense, plot driven epic that has the viewer on edge and in anticipation for more. As a historical epic, it is great, but don't consider this to be a movie about the Book of Acts.

To keep a dramatic flair to the series, the producers have taken great liberties with regards to history. A lot of the stories are merged or expanded with extra details for the viewer's benefit and not based upon the actual biblical texts.

The portrayal of Pontius Pilate as a brutal tyrant was perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the series. Pilate's life, and his decision to have Christ executed, is a very deep subject and the series sadly did not address this well, simply portraying Pilate as a vicious killer who enjoyed spilling Jewish blood.

Overall, a great series, just don't hold it to Gospel (no pun intended) as a historical work about the early Church.