| Welcome to In The Balcony. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Plus, you'll be eligible for the monthly $1 million prize. (Not really.) Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Watching Any Good Serials? | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 12 2006, 09:28 AM (88,293 Views) | |
| AndyFish | Jun 4 2010, 08:32 AM Post #1966 |
|
Movie Watcha Foist Class
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Just ordered Government Agents Vs the Phantom Legion, Jungle Drums of Africa, Radar Patrol Vs Spy King and The Shadow (which I have had for years but just found out it's got no sound for the middle five chapters-- not that it's a bad thing-- eliminating the Black Tiger's whining voice could be considered remastering). Figure these to get me through the hot summer days in my studio. I think it also marks the end of serials I don't have that I might want to see. I have upwards of 150 of 'em, and I've watched a bit of each, although probably only 50 all the way through. |
| www.andytfish.com | |
![]() |
|
| witneyenglish | Jun 4 2010, 09:47 AM Post #1967 |
|
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
I've been watch Atom Man Vs Superman. Atom Man's reflecting helmet makes him look like a villain from Starman or Johnny Sokko. |
![]() |
|
| Black Tiger | Jun 5 2010, 08:35 AM Post #1968 |
|
Charter Member
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Hey! I resemble that remark! |
![]() |
|
| mort bakaprevski | Jun 8 2010, 02:08 PM Post #1969 |
|
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Went to Borders to pick-up the new Bob Hope collection (for Paulette Goddard, natch) only to find that it wasn’t gonna be available until the following week. On my way out, I happened to notice they had a copy of VCI’s BUCK ROGERS. Figgered, “what the hell” & bought it!! Never seen such a good print of this serial. And, watta difference that makes in my ultimate enjoyment. This production was really well made (for a serial, anyway). And, Universal’s writers usually approached their serials with a story arc…. rather than the episodic approach usually utilized by Republic. In other words things happened in earlier chapters which actually affected the storyline in subsequent chapters. The only negative was one music cue, used repeatedly here BUT in no other Universal serial (to my knowledge, anyway). Don’t know how to describe it other than to say I kept expecting Killer Kane’s minions to begin dancing around the maypole every time I heard it. Barney Sarecky’s last production for Universal…. & a heckuva good one to bow out on!! |
| "Nov Shmoz Ka Pop." | |
![]() |
|
| CliffClaven | Jun 8 2010, 11:14 PM Post #1970 |
|
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Superman versus Atom Man. That's where the villain operates a TV station, upon which Lois Lane conducts the most boring and pointless man-in-the-street interviews in history. Was Columbia trying to subtly poison young minds against television? |
![]() |
|
| AndyFish | Jun 9 2010, 06:46 AM Post #1971 |
|
Movie Watcha Foist Class
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Boring and pointless could almost be used to describe the Superman serials in general. Juvenile and stupid would be other adjectives I'd use. It's a shame, I would have loved to have seen Republic's 1940 take happen, instead of what was made. Amazing to me to, that the Superman TV show that followed one year later was excellent and clearly geared towards adults. While Reeves was the perfect Superman (to me anyway) Alyn fits in with the current Brandon Routh (?) choice of a guy just a bit too dainty to be wearing the cape. Wow, cranky! Need my Count Chocula. |
| www.andytfish.com | |
![]() |
|
| The Batman | Jun 9 2010, 07:14 AM Post #1972 |
![]()
Charter Member
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
You got that right, Andy. Though Alyn should be thanking Routh. With his performance in SUPERMAN RETURNS, Routh takes over the mantle as the worst on-screen Superman. |
| Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman! | |
![]() |
|
| AndyFish | Jun 9 2010, 05:39 PM Post #1973 |
|
Movie Watcha Foist Class
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
By comparison Routh makes Alyn's skipping across the railroad tracks in Chapter 1 look manly. Routh takes the Superman raspberry award by a landslide in my book. |
| www.andytfish.com | |
![]() |
|
| CliffClaven | Jun 9 2010, 08:58 PM Post #1974 |
|
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Worst you could say about Routh is that he took on a very ill-advised challenge -- explicitly replacing Christopher Reeve in a decades-too-late sequel to the first film, rather than getting to reboot the part in his own image. As a known star, Kevin Spacy could run with a part written for Gene Hackman's Luthor and not feel "wrong." Oddly, Kate Bosworth didn't even get Margot Kidder's haircut -- and she felt very wrong in a film so slavishly committed to the 1977 vision. It's like the guy who replaced Connery as James Bond -- Besides being an inexperienced actor, he seemed packaged to evoke Connery with no known qualities of his own. Roger Moore, for better or worse, brought his recognized "Saint" persona instead of just being the next Connery clone. Later, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Bronson and Daniel Craig all benefitted from efforts to refresh the franchise and the character. Each was emphatically launched as "The New Bond," not as "The New Roger Moore." It's worth noting that neither of the post-Keaton Batmans (Batmen?) had any real overlap with Michael Keaton. That particular run of movies crashed for other reasons. |
![]() |
|
| AndyFish | Jun 10 2010, 05:09 AM Post #1975 |
|
Movie Watcha Foist Class
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Great observations Cliff! I think George Lazenby could have made James Bond work, he's not as bad as I remembered him when I rewatched it the other day. You're right though, it's a mistake to follow Connery and try to do Connery. The Moore Bonds are different animals. Routh was doing a Chris Reeve imitation, and his Clark Kent was spot on-- while it's not his fault the script seemed like it was written for the Lifetime Channel, it IS his fault that he said yes to doing it. I thought George Reeves was perfect because (at least in the early episodes) he seemed grounded and serious. He looked like a guy who had actually lived and had some experience. I never thought of him as "fatherly" but I can certainly see it. This was a Superman who got mad. I remember in the Mole Men episodes he angrily takes the guns away from the farmers. George Reeves was the only Superman you wouldn't mess with. The rest have perpetuated the notion of the big blue boyscout, and that's probably why my avatar is Bruce Wayne's alter ego. |
| www.andytfish.com | |
![]() |
|
| The Batman | Jun 10 2010, 06:13 AM Post #1976 |
![]()
Charter Member
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Can't agree with you, Cliff. Routh is a horrible Superman and not a very good actor, to boot. I have seen him in several other things and can't imagine why Warner/DC thought he would be the person to reboot the franchise with. I hold the mess that is SUPERMAN RETURNS against every person involved. A colossal waste of film. |
| Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman! | |
![]() |
|
| LaneCarson | Jun 10 2010, 09:38 AM Post #1977 |
|
Charter Member
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Our eldest son was "raised with the Christopher Reeve Supermans" I took him to see No.2 at the local suburban cinema - it was his first movie experience Then we watched No. 1 when we purchased our first VCR - his first VCR experience (in our lounge room) He remains (as I) an enduring fan of those two films - he's purchased re-releases on VHS and DVD (and more recently on Blu-Ray) We both enthusiastically followed Superman Returns during principal filming since most of it was done here in Australia - indeed the outdoor Metropolis scenes were actually filmed in our home town (of Newcastle about 140 km North of Sydney). We knew that the actor chosen to play Clark Kent / Superman was an unknown (actually a soap star) but realized that Chris Reeve was also (then) unknown and figured that the casting people would "get it right" with so much money involved No so The key scene when Superman first appears and says something along the lines of "statistically, flying is the safest form of travel" was the true test (for us) of whether this new guy could "deliver" He couldn't ... Added to this is the fact that the film was quite "grim" & dark And no-one does Luther like Gene Hackmam Needless to say we both found Superman Returns a major disappointment .... Just on the matter of the Chris Reeve portrayal of Clark Kent Not in comic books nor on radio nor in Kirk Alyn's serial portrayals can I find any indication that Clark Kent is a naive, clumsy & nerdish type ("I was reading Dickens") as played so successfully by Chris Reeve. Recall that George Reeves even drove around in a sports car in the color eps of the 50s TV series It appears that the Newman / Benton screenplay of Superman i & II took the "mild manneredness" of Clark Kent to another level Just a few thoughts Trev |
![]() |
|
| panzer the great & terrible | Jun 18 2010, 11:14 PM Post #1978 |
|
Mouth Breather
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
I had been pretty much stalled in my serial rotation for the better part of a year, and the reason was Sign of the Wolf, a -0- star serial in a terrible print "enhanced" by Eric Stedman. He tinted it a light sepia to try to hide all the scratches, and then added inappropriate music to try to give the thing a little zip. Neither worked. Finally, last week, I decided that the way to overcome this blockage was by laxative: to rip through Sign of the Wolf as quickly as possible, mixing in a chapter of the other serials from time to time to avert coma. It worked, and now my rotation is the far more workable one as follows: Dick Tracy (VCI) -- though this is low-contrast like every other Dick Tracy I've seen, it's a little brighter than any other, and is an entertaining serial that I liked better than the last time, and much better than the first time. Give it a B+. If I ever see a normal contrast print, Ill probably upgrade that to A- or even A. It uses great locations and sometimes works up genuine excitement. I'll never be a big Ralph Byrd fan, though, and sad to say, Smiley is pretty unfunny. He's much better in the Charles Starrett westerns, where he makes up silly little songs. Jungle Jim (VCI) -- one of the best Universals, and a beautiful print, apparently from 16mm. One of those serials with a jillion villains, but the principals are more likable than usual, and for once, everybody can act. A- It also helps that there's a sequential script, as Universals sometimes have. The Sea Hound (Trev) -- nice print of a little-known Columbia, and Trev generously included a MP3 of the few remaining radio shows of this title. The serial itself is about average, but Buster Crabbe lifts it a little above that: C+ last and surely least: The Lost City (Alpha) -- finally I'll get to see what all the fussin' and fightin' has been about. Political correctness, I suspect. I'll rate it after I watch three episodes. Well. It's a lot more fun than anybody lets on, and you know that scene that upsets the Politically Correct crowd so much, where they hear a woman scream and one of the guy says "That's a white woman's scream?" Well, in the context of City Hall, it could be anybody, but in the context of the jungle, it IS a white woman's scream. Glad to say serials are fun again. |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
![]() |
|
| AndyFish | Jun 19 2010, 12:47 PM Post #1979 |
|
Movie Watcha Foist Class
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Watched a couple of chapters of THE LOST CITY on the Alpha disc and decided it was interesting enough to upgrade to the VCI print. All I can say is wow. |
| www.andytfish.com | |
![]() |
|
| Laughing Gravy | Jun 19 2010, 05:46 PM Post #1980 |
|
Look for In The Balcony on Facebook!
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
After years of hearing The Lost City was the worst serial ever, I actually watched it - and found it one of the best serials of the 1930s, perhaps behind only Flash Gordon, The Phantom Empire, and 3 or 4 others. It's terrific. |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
![]() |
|
| Go to Next Page | |
| « Previous Topic · Continued Next Week · Next Topic » |





![]](http://z2.ifrm.com/static/1/pip_r.png)





6:52 AM Jul 11