pathfinder Movies, Netflix

For a Few Dollars More

The second in the trilogy, and man oh man is it a good movie!

What makes it better then the first? Well, Lee Van Cleef, the man in Black as Douglas Mortimer for one! Another bad ass to match Clint!

man in blackThen, there’s the villain Indio, with a history and that music watch……….makes it much more interesting then your plain old bad guy

dollars villainAnd finally, the larger budget given to Sergio Leone meant he could splash out on sets and more supporting actors to make the backdrop come alive!

There’s more then a few amazing scenes in this movie! I don’t normally like to post a clip but in this case I will make an exception:

And of course Clint is his usual awesome self!

In short, this is again a movie about the characters rather than a intricate plotline. Music and the director’s touch make this a great film!

Jim gives For a Few Dollars More 9/10!

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pathfinder Movies, Netflix

A Fistful of Dollars

So my review of the best western trilogy begins! The trilogy being A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. As a young boy growing up, these three were the best westerns I had ever seen! To be honest, after seeing these three, I found other westerns pretty boring.

25 years on, I decided to watch them again, as they were on Netflix! Again, even now as a grown man of 40, it’s still a cracking film. It struck me that many of the filming techniques now are present in some of the games I’ve played, Uncharted especially comes to mind! Comment, if you can guess which scene I am thinking of in the film.

Great music, awesome characters, come on you can’t get any cooler then Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name, sure the story is basic, but this isn’t no Sixth Sense – lol…….

clint

Watch this one first if you do intend to watch the trilogy as a whole, as this was the first movie that Sergio Leone really stood out as a director, but as much as I loved it, the other two are even better!

Jim gives A Fistful of Dollars 7.5 out of 10!

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Luther Season 1 and 2

Finally caught Luther. This came out around the same time as Sherlock and understandably everyone watched Sherlock with ol Cumberbatchie….I kinda of wrote it off, but after hearing some good things, I thought I would give it a go.

For those of you that don’t know, Luther is a murder detective drama. I am now all the way to Season 4. (I’ll review Season 4 separately once I’ve finished it.)

luther

It’s actually pretty darn good! Season 1 is the best so far. I haven’t watched Season 4 yet. The budget was clearly the smallest in season 1, with the sets, location and the outfits but the writing and the acting was superb! (especially from each episode’s supporting cast.)

There’s also the excellent Alice to match Luther against…..

alice

Why was Season 1 so good? Well, for a detective drama to work as a viewer there are some key elements, you can’t guess where the story is going, otherwise it would be boring, and you really can’t! There needs to be excellent dynamics between the characters!n Tick!

Season 2 flagged a little but overall was well worth watching, especially the ending!

Season 3 which I haven’t listed in the title is very disappointing. I wouldn’t bother watching it. Skip it and go straight to season 4. Trust me, you wouldn’t be missing anything. You might ask, why was it bad? Well, you remember what I said earlier about guessing the story, Luther goes from unpredictable to completely clichéd and predictable, and in addition, characters suddenly behave differently to how they would do in the first two seasons. DON’T BOTHER with season 3.

I am going to score Luther a 7.5 out of 10. If season 2 was better then I would have scored it higher but as a result it kinda dragged the score down. Also, you can’t help but compare sometimes…..I take Sherlock’s awesome coat over Luther’s coat and red tie, and Moriarty over Alice.

pathfinder Movies, Netflix, TV

The Last Kingdom Season 1

My name is Utred, I am the son of Utred……and so begins an absolute barnstorming of a action drama. The Last Kingdom Season 1 is the best all of the Last Kingdom seasons so far. (There are three.)

All the actors and actresses were to me relatively unknowns. Indeed they hailed from around Europe and UK as opposed to any big names from US, however the acting was superb. I was most impressed with the three leads in Alfred (David Dawson)

alfred

Brida (Emily Cox)

Brida

and of course the leading man Utred (Alexander Dreymon)

AD

All three were so different in their character but more importantly believable! A testament to their acting chops. The supporting cast were brilliant, I personally found none of them lacking, as sometimes you can have a weak link or two dragging everyone down.

What I loved about the Last Kingdom Season 1 was the way it was directed and shot. There was such richness in the scenes, and by that I mean the world it was set into. The background wasn’t just a house with a few props thrown in. It was filled with people, movement and sound. For example, there was a scene where Utred (the child) was in Ragnar’s home, Ubba and his host of the Danes were up to all sorts of shenanigans! The sounds, the screams, people moving in and out of shot. It made it real…….

I need to give it extra marks for the music and the excellent use of silence (for dramatic effect) along with fantastic dialogue means this is the best Last Kingdom Season so far.

I have to doff my cap to BBC for Season 1, truly a memorable experience.

The entire creative team for Season 1 created something special.

Jim gives the Last Kingdom Season 1 – 8.5/10

*The only knock being the lack of a bigger budget ala Game of Thrones, but to be honest that is me being a bit harsh and a tad unrealistic – no pilot show would have a huge budget like Game of Thrones to be honest.