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Post by alpha128 on Aug 1, 2019 11:44:47 GMT
That's an impressionable age. Do you remember being freaked out by the "little boy" who was actually a cigar smoking dwarf? Or by the exploding toys? The scenes I recall these 54 years later is when they put West in the clown and at the end when Loveless sleds over the marbles in his escape. Yes, Loveless' escape in the episode is particularly well-done. In addition to going down a ramp on a toboggan and gliding across the marbles, he also exits the toy shop through a flap on the front door. Since we're talking about the toys, I have to wonder if the dart cannon intended for the Governor would really be the death trap Loveless portrays it as. It would certainly be painful, possibly disfiguring, but lethal? I don't know. And by the way, " Whirring Death" features Governor Lewis (Jesse White). This is the third actor playing the second Governor of California since the show started. Perhaps his recent ordeal at the hands of Professor Bolt (Alfred Ryder) persuaded Governor Bradford (William Mims/Henry Beckman) to seek a career in the private sector.
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vrkalak
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 1, 2019 14:00:34 GMT
"This is the third actor playing the second Governor of California since the show started" Forget Bolt, Miss Piecemeal was a lot to handle.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 2, 2019 1:07:47 GMT
Forget Bolt, Miss Piecemeal was a lot to handle. Some might view Miss Piecemeal as a good problem to have!
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 5, 2019 2:14:54 GMT
"The Night of the Puppeteer" / "The Night of the Bars of Hell"
I'm now halfway through Season 1, Disc 6
TNOT Puppeteer - This is probably the best episode of Season 1, if not the entire series.
TNOT Bars of Hell - One thing I noticed during this re-watch is this is the first appearance of Kitten (Jenie Jackson). Kitten has much larger role in the penultimate episode of Season 1, "TNOT Murderous Spring".
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vrkalak
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 5, 2019 10:25:04 GMT
Puppeteer is superb.
Love the “Bars”scene where West is on the run, eventually captured by the inmates after crashing through a wall.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 5, 2019 11:12:35 GMT
I know I mentioned on that other site how I wished this episode was in color. I do think that certain scenes, e.g., the toy soldiers would have lent themselves to color. However, when this episode gets creepy, it almost feels like a "Twilight Zone" episode thanks to the black and white cinematography.
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vrkalak
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 8, 2019 10:40:41 GMT
I know I mentioned on that other site how I wished this episode was in color. I do think that certain scenes, e.g., the toy soldiers would have lent themselves to color. However, when this episode gets creepy, it almost feels like a "Twilight Zone" episode thanks to the black and white cinematography. I would to see this episode shown as an option in color. Susan Kessler’s book mentions all of the brilliant colors that were used in the filming of the episode.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 8, 2019 11:41:19 GMT
I know I mentioned on that other site how I wished this episode was in color. I do think that certain scenes, e.g., the toy soldiers would have lent themselves to color. However, when this episode gets creepy, it almost feels like a "Twilight Zone" episode thanks to the black and white cinematography. I would to see this episode shown as an option in color. Susan Kessler’s book mentions all of the brilliant colors that were used in the filming of the episode. Colorization technology has come a long way since its controversial infancy. A color version of "Puppeteer" would have a made a great special feature. However, I'm not complaining about the special features we did get on the Season 1 DVDs. The intros by Robert Conrad and the interviews with various behind-the-camera personnel were great. I would have loved for Seasons 2-4 to have the same level of special feature goodness as Season 1.
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 13, 2019 18:51:39 GMT
"Colorization technology has come a long way since its controversial infancy."
I prefer TV shows/movies shown in their original format.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 14, 2019 0:44:42 GMT
"Colorization technology has come a long way since its controversial infancy." I prefer TV shows/movies shown in their original format. I generally do too, but in some cases, the colorization works. For example, Sony released at least two early Ray Harryhausen science fiction movies on DVD with a feature called "Chromachoice". That meant pressing the Angle button on your DVD remote would let you alternate between color and black and white on the fly. I started switching back and forth, but the color was so well done, I kept it on. The outfit behind the colorization brought in Harryhausen in as a consultant, and the results speak for themselves: I'm not saying they should have replaced the original version of "Puppeteer". I'm saying that a respectful colorization like the one above would have made a great DVD extra.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 15, 2019 1:17:17 GMT
"The Night of the Two-Legged Buffalo"
There was a bit of a delay before starting the last two episodes on Disc 6, as my recollection was neither of the them was very good. However, "Buffalo" was better than I remembered.
This time Lady Beatrice (Dana Wynter) and her cohorts reminded me of the Assassin's Club featured in "TNOT Grand Emir". Had TWWW been a modern series with serialized story-telling, or at least stronger continuity, I feel certain that there would have been a direct connection between the two groups.
Hopefully "TNOT Druid's Blood" will also be better than I remembered.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 15, 2019 1:46:55 GMT
I didn't like the skin tones in the Earth vs the Flying Saucers. They all had the same look which was kind of weird in one scene with a control room.
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 15, 2019 10:46:18 GMT
TNOT Two-Legged Buffalo - There was a bit of a delay before starting the last two episodes on Disc 6, as my recollection was neither of the them was very good. However, "Buffalo" was better than I remembered. This time Lady Beatrice (Dana Wynter) and her cohorts reminded me of the Assassin's Club featured in "TNOT Grand Emir". Had TWWW been a modern series with serialized story-telling, or at least stronger continuity, I feel certain that there would have been a direct connection between the two groups. Hopefully "TNOT Druid's Blood" will also be better than I remembered. “Druid’s Blood”is not one of my favorites. It does feature Don Rickles as a side note.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 17, 2019 17:43:42 GMT
"The Night of the Druid's Blood" Hopefully "TNOT Druid's Blood" will also be better than I remembered. “Druid’s Blood”is not one of my favorites. It does feature Don Rickles as a side note. I rewatched "The Night of the Druid's Blood", and it was about how I remembered - not very good. SPOILERS AHEAD!It does have its moments however, the best part for me is the tense conclusion. West tries to convince Sen. Waterford to remove his combustible cloak, and then holds it to Astarte's back to force her to confess. The cloak is then dropped to the ground seconds before it bursts into flame. Conrad's performance here is great as he says Astarte will dance the minuet from the highest gallows in the land, and Ann Elder's reaction is equally great. Kudos as well to Simon Scott as Col. Fairchild. I'm sorry he never reprised his role as West's superior. However, he went on to play Col. Stanton Mayo in "The Night of the Golden Cobra" and Theodore Bock in "The Night of the Juggernaut". This is a bad outing for Artie though, as he manages to chain himself to a wall and get shocked unconscious within a few minutes. This leaves West alone to convince the brains to rise up in revolution. Speaking of the brains, I misremembered them as being visible, but in the episode all you actually see are bubbling glass cylinders that we're told contain brains. But this episode has a mismash of ideas. West's double in the hospital is lifted straight from Thunderball, but doesn't really add much to the story. Likewise, what was the purpose of the hot room adjacent to the cemetery? Unlike the similar hot room in "The Night the Dragon Screamed", which was explained as being for boiling lobsters, this room has no explanation. And again, the title of the episode, "The Night of the Druid's Blood", is a misnomer. There are no actual Druids in the episode and no blood. The closest thing we get to Druids are robed mannequins, who are incapable of bleeding. If you're looking for similar "brainy" stories, I recommend " The Whisperer in Darkness", a 2011 independent film made in the style of a 1931 horror film.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 26, 2019 18:19:45 GMT
"The Night of the Freebooters"I would describe this episode, written and produced by Gene Coon, as workmanlike. It's competent and skillful but not outstanding or original. I found it reminiscent of both "The Night of the Inferno" and "The Night of the Red-Eyed Madmen". "The Turtle" is an original idea however, and was enhanced and reused in "The Night of the Juggernaut". "The Night of the Burning Diamond"Now this is great episode, both original and a lot of fun. Robert Drivas was later the titular son in the acclaimed " 'V' for Vashon: The Son" episode of the original Hawaii Five-O. As Robert Conrad notes in his DVD introduction, there are more than a few similarities to the Star Trek: TOS episode " Wink of an Eye". Speaking of Star Trek: TOS, the effect of how normal speech sounds to accelerated people seems to be the same one used for the communicator chirps in Star Trek.
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 26, 2019 19:17:33 GMT
"The Night of the Freebooters"I would describe this episode, written and produced by Gene Coon, as workmanlike. It's competent and skillful but not outstanding or original. I found it reminiscent of both "The Night of the Inferno" and "The Night of the Red-Eyed Madmen". "The Turtle" is an original idea however, and was enhanced and reused in "The Night of the Juggernaut". "The Night of the Burning Diamond"Now this is great episode, both original and a lot of fun. Robert Drivas was later the titular son in the acclaimed " 'V' for Vashon: The Son" episode of the original Hawaii Five-O. As Robert Conrad notes in his DVD introduction, there are more than a few similarities to the Star Trek: TOS episode " Wink of an Eye". Speaking of Star Trek: TOS, the effect of how normal speech sounds to accelerated people seems to be the same one used for the communicator chirps in Star Trek. Freebooters. I love at the end when Artie shoots from the hip exploding the bad guys with the dynamite filled bullet shells.
Diamond: "I cheated, I used force."
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 26, 2019 19:32:24 GMT
Diamond: "I cheated, I used force." Yeah, that's a great Artie line.
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vrkalak
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 27, 2019 11:44:55 GMT
Diamond: "I cheated, I used force." Yeah, that's a great Artie line.
Another note about "Diamond" the exterior of the Midas house is used in quite a few West episodes. One day when I am really bored, I am going to add them up.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 27, 2019 13:26:50 GMT
Another note about "Diamond" the exterior of the Midas house is used in quite a few West episodes. One day when I am really bored, I am going to add them up. Yes, I noticed that. I've also noticed that many of the interior sets in "Diamond" have been reused a lot this season. The Serbian diamond was displayed in the same room where John Crane had his model railroad in "The Night of the Whirring Death". The building housing the jewel exhibition has been seen a lot this season - it was a gambling hall in "The Night of a Thousand Eyes", the Governor's office in "The Night of the Torture Chamber", and the residence of Justice Vincent Chayne in "The Night of the Puppeteer". On a related note, I also noticed that the headquarters of the Assassin's Club in "The Night of the Grand Emir" became Sen. Waterford's residence in "The Night of the Druid's Blood". Maybe the Senator picked it up cheap in a Sheriff's sale.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 28, 2019 22:51:01 GMT
I've got all the seasons to the show now so I can get to watching them again.
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