set up! Kamen Rider X!

Kamen Rider X was the third Kamen Rider series.  it's a pretty cool series, and I like X Rider's powers a lot.  he's also got a cool set of villains to fight as well.  I mean, they have the Greek Gods as themes, and Apollo Geist shows up in Kamen Rider Decade.

American Experience: Dinosaur Wars

this was a really cool doc about Professors Marsh and Cope, their love of dinosaurs (and other prehistoric animals) and what happens when ego gets in the way of science.

it's sad, since they could have worked well together and done a lot of good work, instead of competing against each other, misnaming animals and causing a lot of hard feelings, and basically destroying each others lives in the process.

there's neat archival footage and some good interviews as well.  highly recommended and you can  watch it free here!

Titans vs Lidsville

it's amazing what I watched as a kid.  Lidsville didn't bother me too much, since I watched it from the beginning, and there was even a crossover with Pufnstuff (look it up).  however, that poor kid never did get home.  it's a dopey show now, helped only by Charles Nelson Reilly as the eville Horatio J. HooDoo.

now we have Mumbo putting the Titans into his hat.  I so wish he had done a Reilly type voice, or at least flew on the Hatamaran, but alas.  I still think it's an homage to the show, at least a little bit.

Raven is annoyed that she can't use her real magic to combat Mumbo's (possibly) fake stuff.  it all works out though.  no Witchy-poo though.

Journey to the Beginning of Time trailer

this is a fun movie, and one I wish I had seen as a kid.  it features four boys on a most unusual river rafting trip.  there are a lot of dinosaurs to be seen, along with various other animals.  Karel Zeman made it for those wild and crazy people in Czechoslovakia, and it was brought over here in the mid sixties.

I didn't see it until the 90s though, as it never aired in my area.  with the release of Jurassic Park, dinosaurs rose to eminence again and the movie was released on LP VHS. it was $10 in a clamshell case.  I greatly enjoyed it at the time.  I wish a better copy was available on DVD now, as the sound in the second to last reel was out of sync completely.

Southern Knights #7

can't believe it's been 8 months since I've written a review of the series.  where does the time go?

when we last left, Electrode was being operated on.  good thing his doctor realizes his body needs more electricity than normal thus saving his life.

meanwhile, Carl and Larry surprise the rest of our heroes in their home, since they've been away at the hospital.  they don't kill our heroes per their orders, figuring Holland wants to gloat.

he does.  unfortunately they didn't know about Aramis and he turns the tide on the "fiends".  Carl and Larry get to the hospital to finish Electrode, but receive a call telling them the contract is cancelled. Serpent of Viper doesn't want the Knights harmed.

this is good foreshadowing, but really, who didn't see what was going to happen?  a fun issue and a good wrap up at the end with a party.

 pretty sure there won't be another 8 months between reviews...

ouch! Stooges!

this is probably the most violent Stooge scene ever.  it still makes me wince when I see it.  thus is it awesome.

6. The Coast Guard Command

the cacao loving monster Gesura and the money loving thief Diamond Kick run afoul of the Science Patrol in this episode.

I don't like this episode, mostly because I feel sorry for Gesura.  he just happens to be big and hungry and wiping out ships in Tokyo Bay.  there's no real explanation for his huge size though. 

it's sad he has to die.  of course, he probably got put in the Ultra Zone at the end, which would be OK with me.

I noticed this is where the SP's guns start shooting the wavy beams, instead of straight ones.  I like the way they look, it's very unique.

there's some cool destruction scenes in this episode, and they do keep Gesura's hind legs hidden pretty well.

Superman in the 60s

Filmation's "The New Adventures of Superman" was quite good, and very exciting.  filled with a wide variety of Superman's foes, it was never dull, even with several of Filmation's sillier alien stories.

I love the theme song.

5. Secret of the Miroganda

several strange murders have occurred in the city and the police are baffled.  they bring in the Science Patrol to help them solve the mystery.

they find out the dead people were part of an expedition that brought a strange flower back from an island.  it was subjected to radiation  and is now mobile and after those aforementioned people.

this is one of the three episodes I saw as a kid, in February of 1979.  I didn't think much of the episode then, but I really like it a lot now.  plant monsters are so unusual it makes a cool change of place.  Greenmons (such a name, right?) has a poison mist that can slow Ultraman down. 

the episode itself is fun, as it's kind of a mystery, at least to the patrol.  the humor is there as they don't quite believe a plant can be mobile enough to kill people.

unfortunately the design is a little weak, it looks like a green mitten. overall one of the better first ten episodes.

Quark (1977)

made to cash in on the Star Wars craze this show lasted a whole 8 episodes when it first aired back then.  I remember watching at least two episodes, but it seems like it got pre-empted quite a bit.

it then vanished from the airwaves, and became a legend amongst fans of the genre.

did I mention it was a spoof, a parody, a satire?

it's ranked highly among some fans, and for the longest time was only available on bootlegs.  now it has been released on DVD, and... well, it's well acted, and the effects are cool to see- gotta love miniature effects still. 

but the stories... i mean, these are not that funny.  they sort of play them straight, which helps, but then there's just general unfunniness abounding.  and it looks ever so 70s with some of the hairstyles.

there's cool ideas, like Ficus, the sentient plant/science officer, and I think I like him the most, but they fall into general sitcom silliness.  Richard Benjamin is a good actor, but he always reminds of me of his character in Love at First Bite (1979) who wasn't very heroic.  and in this, he sounds like Herb Tarlek.

It's not nearly as good as some people would have it seem.  and boy I hate laugh tracks.