The Good, The Bad And The Really Quite Sad

The Amithyst Crew give their verdict on the TV, films, videos and games they've been watching or playing. The scores are made up of stars, with five stars for the best and no stars for the worst. If at least three people have reviewed the programme, video, film or game, and all give it five stars then it'll get a special spinning star award for its excellence (very rare).

If you want to review things for us on a regular basis you can become a reader reviewer. There are more details about this below.

Titanic

Cinema (12) - CGI, Amiga

Electrorage:
In my opinion James Cameron is an excellent movie-maker, and many of his films are in my favourites list. Some people complained that this film was too long, but it isn't much longer than the average Cameron film, and I think all films should be this size as it seems just the right length to comfortably fit in a beginning, middle and end. Titanic is certainly a big film in all aspects, which is why it should be seen at the cinema before it's gone, and watch it in a decent big screen as well. The visual effects are certainly impressive, although the computer generated people stand out somewhat, but the climax of the ship sinking is superb. Also, the sequences where ground-breaking real life shots of the Titanic's wreck seamlessly dissolve into the reproduced sets are very impressive (and the robots that were used to take the footage of the real Titanic were controlled by Amiga's).
The film as a whole is also quite fascinating as it helps you to picture just what it was like for the people on that ship, and certainly taught me some new things I didn't know about the disaster before. The story is told in quite an interesting way, with one of the main characters recalling what happened from the present day, and the main love story between the two lead characters is fairly entertaining, and surprisingly it doesn't leave you waiting for the damn ice berg to hit.
Overall this is an excellent film, very big and very entertaining.

The Insane Limits:
What do you think about Kate Winslet? Nice eh? Wish you could see more of her, if you know what I mean? Then Watch it! You see a good long scene with her completely nude and nearly all the scene has good shots of her, if you know what I mean! But that's not the only thing - there are good scenes with some (not a lot, but some) shooting, and a lot of death and heart-stopping moments. And a lot of men burst into tears in parts (you're so full of it saying: "Not me! Only wimps cry!" Shut up or @#*%! off! I'm the Insane Master. Remember that, Mortal!) the whole film has everything it needs to be the best of films. But (I hate it when people SAY that!) there are a lot of computer graphics, and in a few places you can tell it! But nicely but ok! (That's ok). It is on the top of the list of the best films I've seen. Bye! - The Insane Master.

Babylon 5 Volume 32

Video (12) - SF, CGI

Electrorage:
I can't get enough of Babylon 5, so this review might be a bit bias, but in my oppinion it beats Star Trek hands down. Why do I like it so much? Well, the first reason is the same reason I started watching the series right from the start: exceptional computer generated visual effects. The exterior visuals from Babylon 5 far surpass any I've seen from any of the Star Trek series', and they're not afraid to do epic, gigantic, enormous space battles. This video features one of these space battles, showing the new alliance's first stand against the Shadows. The second episode on this tape also features some impressive visual effects, in it's awsomely dramatic and epic finale, which ends in one hell of a cliff hanger. This brings me onto the second reason: Babylon 5 is full of rich drama, SF ideas and when it does action, boy does it do action. This is also well represented in these two episodes. The space battle mentioned earlier provides plenty of action and excitement for that episode, and this is also intercut with the brilliant Dr Franklin's meeting himself conclusion, in which he is severly bleeding to death after trying to help someone being attacked in Down Below. The second episode's ending is incredibly exciting, and very cinematic, with everything coming together superbly well (acting, direction, music, set design, visual effects, everything).
The last main reason why I like B5 so much is that it has a story arc, or rather several story arcs, with a beginning, a middle and an end. B5 was the first series ever to do this properly, and is one of the reasons why the show is so watchable on a regular basis. And these two episodes feature plot elements heavily.
Overall, this video shows some of the best of Babylon 5, although in the following series things get even better, which is the reason why it doesn't get five stars. If you want to know why this series is supposed to be so good, this volume should go a long way toward proving the point. If you take the time to watch the series' through from beginning to end, you'll be rewarded with what I and many others regard as the best show almost ever.

The Insane Limits:
Well, well! What a fight! Now that's what I like to see. The death! The Destruction! Wow! I loved every bit about it! Now I'm a big Babylon 5 fan. The film was full of blood, I mean Doctor Franklin must have had a blood transfusion in the corridor with the amount of blood there was! Wow! I was excited! I was just Nuts! (HAHAHAHAR BLOOD!, BANG! Ouch! Who Hit ME? Oh! OH! Sorry!) Thank you. Well, as I was saying before I interrupted myself, the film had the puzzle finished. The last piece was put in place in this one, with Anna Sheridan coming back and John Sheridan jumping down the mother of pot holes. Well I don't what to tell you every detail but if you get the chance! Watch it! - The Insane Master

The Relic

Video (15) - SF, Horror, CGI

Electrorage:
Despite the bad reviews from the critics, I really enjoyed this film. The trailers boasted that this was brought to you by the same people who brought you Aliens and Terminator 2, and although it isn't anywhere near as good as these, it is still a very good horror thriller. The plot is pretty decent and also quite intriguing, but the CGI monster effects are what really makes this movie for me. I'm a sucker for good visual effects, and especially new effects, or new takes on old effects, which work well. This film did not let me down in this area. A couple of the effects particularly made me go "Wow!", namely one where the CGI monster, in full view, charges up behind a poor unfortunate bloke, lifts him up and slices his head off, the head and the body dropping away as the monster continues on toward the screen. This is all done in one shot, in complete and utter full view, with none of this quick, close up, may as well be a couple of pieces of cardboard type buisiness that The X Files disappoints me so much with. The shot is very ambitious and very close to being seamless. I'm just so impressed that they actually dared to go through with this very difficult shot, and even more impressed with the quality of the finished product.
The other shot I loved was the final climax in which one of the main characters is chased through a large warehouse-type part of the museum, by the monster, which is actually completely on fire! The fire effects work very well indeedm the most impressive I've seen yet.
This is a good solid movie, with exceptional visual effects, and is surprisingly thrilling and exciting.

The Insane Limits:
The Relic. Well now that was a horror monster film if ever I saw one! It is the best horror film I've seen! Wow! Wow! It even had me, The Insane Master, jumping in parts! Wow! Hang on! Wow! Wew! Oh oh OH! There, that's better. I mean the gore! You would think I came up with it!!! Well, pitty I didn't! Well, the coolest bit was when the Kothoga was chasing an armed forces man towards the camera and the Kothoga grabs him, lifts him up rips his head off! And the head goes one way and the body the other and when they finally realised what was happening and tried to pull the last one out and he's half way out and the Kothoga climbs up the wall and bites him in half right along the waste line, wow! What a film! Not for the faint hearted. But if you did have a heart problem then you wouldn't be here if you listened to me earlier, but (I hate it when people say that!) I have no problems with it. - The Insane Master

The Stand

Video (15) - Horror, Supernatural

Electrorage:
I LOVE THIS! I LOVE THIS! I LOVE THIS! If I could repeat that for the entire review I would, but you wouldn't know why. I think Stephen King must have been touched by the hand of God when he made this, because it's so close to perfection it's almost miraculous! First off, it's a mini series, so it's really long (about 6 hours), which I always like in anything. But it also had a big budget and it shows. The series is in four parts, with each part being like a different act in the story, with quite big changes of direction between them. This helps to keep the story interesting all the way through. The first part deals with the outbreak of the killer disease, and is surprisingly epic. I'm a huge fan of apocalyptic/mass hysteria style stories, and The Stand supplies me well with this. Very well indeed. In fact this is the best film I've seen with that kind of thing.
Then we move on to the second part, with the mysterious dreams that the survivors are having coming to the front. I LOVE THIS! Sorry, I just had to let that out or I'd have blown up the universe or something. Anyway, another thing I like in general is the battle between the ultimate good and evil, which features heavily in this story. Some of the survivors of the plague are drawn towards the old woman that represents all that is good, whilst others are drawn towards the evil bloke, intent on making the world his own.
Just buy this, it's excellent! I LOVE THIS! This is my favourite TV or cinema thing ever! Even my mum was kept glued to the screen, and she usually hates anything over a 12 rating! I LOVE THIS! I LOVE THIS! I LOVE THIS!

The Insane Limits:
The Stand was cool! Well, Cough Cough arghh! Ahem! Sorry, got a touch of flu, don't mind me. Cough!! Argh, sorry, well, The Stand is all about the super flu that when. Hang on a minute, ARGHHH!!!! DOCTOR! DOCTOR! I GOT THE FLU! ARGHHHH! What is it Sam? Oh, Oh I see. It's just a film, sorry! Hey, you're in a radiation suit aren't you!? Oh, you're gardening (In a radiation suit? - Sam), so sorry. Well, back to business. The Stand is all about some super flu that has spread around the world and kills nearly everyone, except the ones who are immune to it. And it ends in a battle between good and evil, Satan Vs God. Well after almost everyone dies the survivors have to fight their way to an old lady who is called Mother Abigail, and one has to get out of an air-tight examining room, before he can do anything. And others were already out and about with dreams as they're guided. And weapons they find on the dead bodies that now litter the whole planet. They are ready for the dangerous journey, and to find out more watch it. You will not be disappointed, I promise you. - The Insane Master

Reader Reviewers
We are looking for some readers who will review things for us each issue. Basically, just before each new issue of Amithyst comes out, we will e-mail you asking for all the reviews you've done since the last issue. It'll be mainly up to you what to review, but we might send you some suggestions from time to time (you don't have to review these, but we'd like you to). All you need to do is provide the same information as you see in the reviews above. The review should represent your own personal opinion of the product, not everyone else's.

If you want to volunteer for this (you can stop at any time), just e-mail me at sjwebb at mailexcite.com saying you want to be a reader reviewer, and I'll send you an e-mail back for confirmation.

ŤŤŤ Contents ťťť

Titanic Cinema (12) - CGI, Amiga
Electrorage: In my opinion James Cameron is an excellent movie-maker, and many of his films are in my favourites list. Some people complained that this film was too long, but it isn't much longer than the average Cameron film, and I think all films should be this size as it seems just the right length to comfortably fit in a beginning, middle and end. Titanic is certainly a big film in all aspects, which is why it should be seen at the cinema before it's gone, and watch it in a decent big screen as well. The visual effects are certainly impressive, although the computer generated people stand out somewhat, but the climax of the ship sinking is superb. Also, the sequences where ground-breaking real life shots of the Titanic's wreck seamlessly dissolve into the reproduced sets are very impressive (and the robots that were used to take the footage of the real Titanic were controlled by Amiga's). The film as a whole is also quite fascinating as it helps you to picture just what it was like for the people on that ship, and certainly taught me some new things I didn't know about the disaster before. The story is told in quite an interesting way, with one of the main characters recalling what happened from the present day, and the main love story between the two lead characters is fairly entertaining, and surprisingly it doesn't leave you waiting for the damn ice berg to hit. Overall this is an excellent film, very big and very entertaining.	The Insane Limits: What do you think about Kate Winslet? Nice eh? Wish you could see more of her, if you know what I mean? Then Watch it! You see a good long scene with her completely nude and nearly all the scene has good shots of her, if you know what I mean! But that's not the only thing - there are good scenes with some (not a lot, but some) shooting, and a lot of death and heart-stopping moments. And a lot of men burst into tears in parts (you're so full of it saying: "Not me! Only wimps cry!" Shut up or @#*%! off! I'm the Insane Master. Remember that, Mortal!) the whole film has everything it needs to be the best of films. But (I hate it when people SAY that!) there are a lot of computer graphics, and in a few places you can tell it! But nicely but ok! (That's ok). It is on the top of the list of the best films I've seen. Bye! - The Insane Master.
Babylon 5 Volume 32 Video (12) - SF, CGI
Electrorage: I can't get enough of Babylon 5, so this review might be a bit bias, but in my oppinion it beats Star Trek hands down. Why do I like it so much? Well, the first reason is the same reason I started watching the series right from the start: exceptional computer generated visual effects. The exterior visuals from Babylon 5 far surpass any I've seen from any of the Star Trek series', and they're not afraid to do epic, gigantic, enormous space battles. This video features one of these space battles, showing the new alliance's first stand against the Shadows. The second episode on this tape also features some impressive visual effects, in it's awsomely dramatic and epic finale, which ends in one hell of a cliff hanger. This brings me onto the second reason: Babylon 5 is full of rich drama, SF ideas and when it does action, boy does it do action. This is also well represented in these two episodes. The space battle mentioned earlier provides plenty of action and excitement for that episode, and this is also intercut with the brilliant Dr Franklin's meeting himself conclusion, in which he is severly bleeding to death after trying to help someone being attacked in Down Below. The second episode's ending is incredibly exciting, and very cinematic, with everything coming together superbly well (acting, direction, music, set design, visual effects, everything). The last main reason why I like B5 so much is that it has a story arc, or rather several story arcs, with a beginning, a middle and an end. B5 was the first series ever to do this properly, and is one of the reasons why the show is so watchable on a regular basis. And these two episodes feature plot elements heavily. Overall, this video shows some of the best of Babylon 5, although in the following series things get even better, which is the reason why it doesn't get five stars. If you want to know why this series is supposed to be so good, this volume should go a long way toward proving the point. If you take the time to watch the series' through from beginning to end, you'll be rewarded with what I and many others regard as the best show almost ever.	The Insane Limits: Well, well! What a fight! Now that's what I like to see. The death! The Destruction! Wow! I loved every bit about it! Now I'm a big Babylon 5 fan. The film was full of blood, I mean Doctor Franklin must have had a blood transfusion in the corridor with the amount of blood there was! Wow! I was excited! I was just Nuts! (HAHAHAHAR BLOOD!, BANG! Ouch! Who Hit ME? Oh! OH! Sorry!) Thank you. Well, as I was saying before I interrupted myself, the film had the puzzle finished. The last piece was put in place in this one, with Anna Sheridan coming back and John Sheridan jumping down the mother of pot holes. Well I don't what to tell you every detail but if you get the chance! Watch it! - The Insane Master
The Relic Video (15) - SF, Horror, CGI
Electrorage: Despite the bad reviews from the critics, I really enjoyed this film. The trailers boasted that this was brought to you by the same people who brought you Aliens and Terminator 2, and although it isn't anywhere near as good as these, it is still a very good horror thriller. The plot is pretty decent and also quite intriguing, but the CGI monster effects are what really makes this movie for me. I'm a sucker for good visual effects, and especially new effects, or new takes on old effects, which work well. This film did not let me down in this area. A couple of the effects particularly made me go "Wow!", namely one where the CGI monster, in full view, charges up behind a poor unfortunate bloke, lifts him up and slices his head off, the head and the body dropping away as the monster continues on toward the screen. This is all done in one shot, in complete and utter full view, with none of this quick, close up, may as well be a couple of pieces of cardboard type buisiness that The X Files disappoints me so much with. The shot is very ambitious and very close to being seamless. I'm just so impressed that they actually dared to go through with this very difficult shot, and even more impressed with the quality of the finished product. The other shot I loved was the final climax in which one of the main characters is chased through a large warehouse-type part of the museum, by the monster, which is actually completely on fire! The fire effects work very well indeedm the most impressive I've seen yet. This is a good solid movie, with exceptional visual effects, and is surprisingly thrilling and exciting.	The Insane Limits: The Relic. Well now that was a horror monster film if ever I saw one! It is the best horror film I've seen! Wow! Wow! It even had me, The Insane Master, jumping in parts! Wow! Hang on! Wow! Wew! Oh oh OH! There, that's better. I mean the gore! You would think I came up with it!!! Well, pitty I didn't! Well, the coolest bit was when the Kothoga was chasing an armed forces man towards the camera and the Kothoga grabs him, lifts him up rips his head off! And the head goes one way and the body the other and when they finally realised what was happening and tried to pull the last one out and he's half way out and the Kothoga climbs up the wall and bites him in half right along the waste line, wow! What a film! Not for the faint hearted. But if you did have a heart problem then you wouldn't be here if you listened to me earlier, but (I hate it when people say that!) I have no problems with it. - The Insane Master
The Stand Video (15) - Horror, Supernatural
Electrorage: I LOVE THIS! I LOVE THIS! I LOVE THIS! If I could repeat that for the entire review I would, but you wouldn't know why. I think Stephen King must have been touched by the hand of God when he made this, because it's so close to perfection it's almost miraculous! First off, it's a mini series, so it's really long (about 6 hours), which I always like in anything. But it also had a big budget and it shows. The series is in four parts, with each part being like a different act in the story, with quite big changes of direction between them. This helps to keep the story interesting all the way through. The first part deals with the outbreak of the killer disease, and is surprisingly epic. I'm a huge fan of apocalyptic/mass hysteria style stories, and The Stand supplies me well with this. Very well indeed. In fact this is the best film I've seen with that kind of thing. Then we move on to the second part, with the mysterious dreams that the survivors are having coming to the front. I LOVE THIS! Sorry, I just had to let that out or I'd have blown up the universe or something. Anyway, another thing I like in general is the battle between the ultimate good and evil, which features heavily in this story. Some of the survivors of the plague are drawn towards the old woman that represents all that is good, whilst others are drawn towards the evil bloke, intent on making the world his own. Just buy this, it's excellent! I LOVE THIS! This is my favourite TV or cinema thing ever! Even my mum was kept glued to the screen, and she usually hates anything over a 12 rating! I LOVE THIS! I LOVE THIS! I LOVE THIS!	The Insane Limits: The Stand was cool! Well, Cough Cough arghh! Ahem! Sorry, got a touch of flu, don't mind me. Cough!! Argh, sorry, well, The Stand is all about the super flu that when. Hang on a minute, ARGHHH!!!! DOCTOR! DOCTOR! I GOT THE FLU! ARGHHHH! What is it Sam? Oh, Oh I see. It's just a film, sorry! Hey, you're in a radiation suit aren't you!? Oh, you're gardening (In a radiation suit? - Sam), so sorry. Well, back to business. The Stand is all about some super flu that has spread around the world and kills nearly everyone, except the ones who are immune to it. And it ends in a battle between good and evil, Satan Vs God. Well after almost everyone dies the survivors have to fight their way to an old lady who is called Mother Abigail, and one has to get out of an air-tight examining room, before he can do anything. And others were already out and about with dreams as they're guided. And weapons they find on the dead bodies that now litter the whole planet. They are ready for the dangerous journey, and to find out more watch it. You will not be disappointed, I promise you. - The Insane Master