DVD review – Doctor Who: The Next Doctor
The 2008 “Doctor Who” Christmas special, “The Next Doctor,” is out on DVD, featuring David Tennant as the Doctor.
Tennant’s time-traveling Doctor finds himself in 1851 on Christmas Eve. It’s there he encounters someone else calling himself “The Doctor.” The Doctor is a Time Lord who regenerates into different appearances periodically, often when injured. So, he presumes this man, who acts very similarly to The Doctor himself, must be the “Next Doctor.” But the Next Doctor, played by David Morrissey, has gaps in his memory, and he claims not to recognize The Doctor.
Still, there are Cybermen afoot in 1851 London, and it’s up to the Doctors to put a stop to their plot while they try to figure out what’s caused the Next Doctor’s memory problems. The Next Doctor has been investigating strange murders, which he believes the Cybermen have committed. The Cybermen are a race of cyborgs that have often come in conflict with The Doctor. Here, they’re attempting to cause the rise of a Cyber King, with the aid of Miss Hartigan (Dervla Kirwan), a woman who rails against Victorian-era mores.
The show crackles along during the first half, as the mystery of the Next Doctor is explored. Once the mystery is solved, the final conflict with the Cybermen is anticlimactic. Overall, it’s fun but nonessential.
No behind-the-scenes extras on this disc, but there is the hourlong “Doctor Who at the Proms,” featuring the music of “Doctor Who” at Albert Hall, with appearances from the show’s stars.
— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
DVD review: Spectacular Spider-Man The Complete First Season
Whether “Spectacular Spider-Man” returns for a third season is up in the air, after a recent report from IGN.com that Sony had returned the “Spider-Man” live-action rights to Marvel. It’s not known if Disney, which recently bought Marvel, will continue to produce the show, which airs on Disney XD. But fans can check out an entire season of probably the best modern animated take on Spider-Man in “Spectacular Spider-Man Season 1.”
“The Spectacular Spider-Man” animated series is based on the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man and is set during his junior year of high school. Supervising producer Greg Weisman (“Gargoyles”) takes the essence of the original “Spider-Man” tales by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and updates them for the modern era.
Josh Keaton voices Peter Parker and his alter ego, Spider-Man. He brings a healthy dose of fun to the character. This 13-episode set delights in the wisecracking, fun-loving Spider-Man that made the character so popular for so many years. The look is stylized, perhaps anime-influenced, but works well in the context of the show.
“Spectacular” Season 1 introduces modern takes on classic villains, including the Lizard and the Rhino, as well as Spider-Man’s supporting cast: his friend Gwen Stacy, his guardian Aunt May and his rival Flash Thompson. The show provides plenty of action but also shows Peter learning from life lessons, making it an entertaining program for younger and longtime Spidey fans.
— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
DVD review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 25th Anniversary Film Collection
Given that the first of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” films in this four-disc collection came out in 1990, it’s feasible to see how some would wonder about the 25th Anniversary notation on this release. But this year it’s the 25th anniversary of the Turtles themselves – they first appeared in comic books in 1984.
The set contains all four theatrically released “Turtles” films in one complete set. The set comes with a sheet of temporary tattoos and four cloth ninja masks, to re-enact your own TMNT battles. Unfortunately, there are no additional commentaries or special features beyond what was available on previous releases of the films.
The original “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” film is an origin piece featuring leader Leonardo, brainy Donatello, goofy Michaelangelo (it was corrected to “Michelangelo” later) and rebellious Raphael. The pizza loving crew returned the next year in “Secret of the Ooze,” featuring Vanilla Ice and the “Ninja Rap.” The Turtles have aged better than Vanilla, though. Paige Turco replaces Judith Hoag as Turtle ally April O’Neill. Turco returns for 1993’s “Turtles in Time,” which features the Turtles going to feudal Japan. The three live-action films have diminishing returns; how much you enjoy them will be colored by nostalgia, though the first one works pretty well.
The final film in the set is 2007’s “TMNT” computer-generated film, directed by Kevin Munroe. It’s slightly darker tone should work well for fans of the original comics, but it isn’t too dark to be enjoyed by kids, either.
- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
DVD review: Smallville Season 8
Young Clark Kent moved closer to his eventual fate as Superman in the eighth season of “Smallville.” Clark Kent (Tom Welling) becomes a regular reporter for “The Daily Planet” and begins to have feelings for Lois Lane (Erica Durance).
The eighth season of “Smallville” was the first without show creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, or Clark’s former girlfriend Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk). The show also had to replace Michael Rosenbaum, who had played Lex Luthor on the show since its inception. While the shadow of Lex still looms large over Smallville, two new players held their own as villains of the piece.
The new head of Luthorcorp is Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman), a marine biologist turned hard-hitting executive with ties to Green Arrow’s secret ID, Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley).
Davis Bloome (Sam Witwer) is an EMT who develops a crush on Clark’s best friend, Chloe (Alison Mack). Chloe, however, is engaged to Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore). But the reasons that Bloome is drawn to Chloe may be something more sinister than a simple romantic spark, as Bloome’s character darkens as the season progresses.
The season starts strong and has a great run through episode 11, “Legion,” written by Geoff Johns, who has written some of the best “Superman” comic books of the past decade.
The midseason arc with the return of Lana Lang slows down the Lois-Clark romance and puts a hiccup into the season-long momentum. Some of it is regained in “Eternal,” as Tess figures out Bloome’s secret, but the season doesn’t finish quite as strongly as it began.
- Matthew Price
DVD review – Super Friends: The Lost Episodes
Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and friends are back in “Super Friends: The Lost Episodes,” a group of episodes produced by Hanna-Barbera when the “Super Friends” show was temporarily canceled by ABC in the early 1980s. Most of the episodes weren’t aired in the U.S. until a decade later.
What’s lost is not always treasured. The 7-minute episodes that make up “The Lost Episodes” feature some of the wackiest, most out-there Super Friends storylines. Superman alters his own timeline in a pretty unexplainable – and actually cruel – way in “The Krypton Syndrome.” While that’s the most egregious of the episodes, many of them are odd or downright silly.
Earth is nearly taken over by alien toys in “Invasion of the Space Dolls,” and the Titanic is raised, and then turned into a sea monster, in “Terror on the Titanic.” Bizarro captures the Super Friends inside a 1980s-style video game world in “Video Victims.”
Still, the episodes can be nostalgic fun, if you can ignore occasional lapses of superhero judgment. The set contains all 24 of the 7-minute episodes. The special features are downloadable issues of the “Super Friends” comic. One comic, perhaps ironically, features Wendy and Marvin, the teen sidekicks who were brushed away to make room for the Wonder Twins Zan and Jayna. The Wendy and Marvin “Super Friends” episodes have yet to be released on DVD.
- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
DVD review: Secret Diary of a Call Girl Season 2
Billie Piper (”Doctor Who”) reprises her role as London call girl Belle in the eight-episode Season 2 of “Secret Diary of a Call Girl.” Belle, aka Hannah in her nonworking life, finds herself falling for someone.
Hannah can’t bring herself to tell her new boyfriend what she does for a living, which makes for awkward excuses and uncomfortable conversations with her friend, Ben (Iddo Goldberg), who knows her secret.
Callum Blue, cast as Zod on “Smallville” for the upcoming Season 9, plays Alex, the unwitting boyfriend. Alex, a doctor who’s recently moved to London, meets Belle when she mistakes him for a client.
In season 2, Belle also becomes a mentor of sorts to Bambi (Ashley Madekwe), who wants to become an escort. Bambi’s inexperience leads her into plenty of scrapes, from which Belle must bail her out.
Piper is charming as Belle, who has the kind of smile that allows her to get exactly what she wants. While Belle probably should be criticized for her duplicitous nature and her tendency to use her friends, her charm lets her get away with it – and it may get by viewers, too.
Based on the real-life experiences of a London escort, “Secret Diary” is sexy but feels sanitized. Belle’s character makes her job appear better than the alternatives; she can’t function in an office job. So, it’s hard to argue that “Secret Diary” isn’t, on some level, glamorizing the profession.
- Matthew Price
1988 Superman cartoon coming to DVD
Superman Cartoon 1988 Intro - Click here for the funniest movie of the week
According to TV Shows on DVD, the 1988 Ruby-Spears Superman cartoon will come to DVD this November. In addition to the Superman adventure show, this series contained mini-segments called “Superman’s Family Album,” about growing up in Smallville.
The release will contain 13 episodes on two discs, and a special feature about the rise of LexCorp, the 1980s corporate housing of Lex Luthor, who, prior to the 1980s, had been more mad scientist than corporate raider.
- Matt Price
Green Lantern First Flight debuts at Comic-Con
SAN DIEGO — The Warner Bros. animated film Green Lantern First Flight debuted for around 4,000 excited fans in Ballroom 20 at Comic-Con International.
Producer Bruce Timm introduced the film, and led viewers in a recitation of the Green Lantern oath. Tricia Helfer, who voices Boodika, provided a taped introduction.
Christopher Meloni voices Hal Jordan, who goes on his first Green Lantern Corps mission in “First Flight.”
The film has a “Training Day” vibe, as Jordan is trained by the stern Green Lantern Sinestro, who, as comics fans will know, harbors a secret.
There are definite changes from the comic-book continuity, and some plot holes have to be willfully ignored. But it’s nice to see characters like Kilowog, Ch’p and of course Hal Jordan come to animated life.
- Matt Price
DVD review: Doctor Who Planet of the Dead
“Planet of the Dead,” one of David Tennant’s final episodes as the Doctor, comes to DVD. Some won’t like the price – it’s one episode for a suggested $15 retail. But on its own merits, “Planet of the Dead” makes for a fine episode, though not a classic.
Michelle Ryan (the recent “Bionic Woman”) plays Lady Christina de Souza, a jewel thief who gets caught up with the Doctor when the bus on which they’re traveling goes through a rift in space.
They are catapulted across galaxies to a barren planet, where the Doctor, Christina and the other bus passengers must find a way back to Earth without destroying themselves. But the desert planet may not be as barren of life as it seems.
At this point, Tennant plays the wisecracking, always-prepared Doctor with ease. The Doctor is the last Time Lord, a human-looking alien who saves the day in times of crisis and frequently travels through time and space in the TARDIS, a ship that resembles a 1950s police call box. He’s stuck without the TARDIS on the planet of the dead, however, and must come up with another way back.
The desert adventures of, and charisma between, the Doctor and Christina will be enough to keep fans entertained, as will the Doctor’s interactions with a secret military unit back on Earth.
- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Julie Gardner: Planet of the Dead is Doctor Who adventure romp
Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead
There’s soon to be a new Doctor in the house, but fans can celebrate one of the final adventures of David Tennant’s Doctor Who with “Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead.”
The first of four Doctor Who upcoming DVD specials featuring Tennant as the 10th Doctor will be released July 28. “Doctor Who” features a 900-year-old human-looking alien who can travel through time and space, righting wrongs and saving the innocent.
Julie Gardner
Julie Gardner, who executive-produced “Doctor Who” until earlier this year, talked about the final days of the current Doctor, and the 2005 revamp that put the long-running British sci-fi program back on the map.
“‘Planet of the Dead’ is the last big adventure romp,” Gardner said. “It’s a great chase and a great kind of survivor story.”
In “Planet of the Dead,” the Doctor is on a bus that travels through a rip in space that deposits the bus and its passengers on a faraway, dangerous planet. He’s teamed with a jewel thief, played by Michelle Ryan, to figure out a way to safely return the bus through the rift.
Gardner says she thinks “Doctor Who” caught on in the U.K. again in 2005 as people were hungry for family drama.
“We were able to reach a family audience. A lot of research said the family is disjointed and people aren’t watching together – ‘Doctor Who’ in the U.K. proves that not to be the case,” Gardner said. “It’s got to be intelligent and witty and fun and engaging, and not always easy.”
Gardner has now passed the torch on “Doctor Who,” much as the Doctor himself is about to do. (The next Doctor will be played by Matt Smith, 26. Gardner works in Los Angeles at BBC America. She thinks change is key for “Doctor Who’s” appeal.
“It’s a show that, written into its very DNA, is regeneration,” she said. “I think it needs new vision every four, five, six years. Because as a show that has such a robust format, you could look at ‘Doctor Who’ and say this could still be on air in 20, 25 years. But I think in order to do that, it needs to be given the space to reinvent itself.”
By Matthew Price
From Tuesday’s The Oklahoman
