Reviews

It ran from 1959-1973. Its more than its longevity that says a lot for this series. Its also that it survived changes in fashion and taste from the 50's , psychedelic 60's and remained popular in the 70's.

I remember repeats of this series. It was a successful combination of all its elements from stories, cast and productions that made it exceptional. Lorne Green had his defining iconic character from this series. Its appeal was across generations. All members of the family could enjoy this. It balanced morality with violence, humour with seriousness. A cartoon series was made as a spin off from this as a result of its impact. The shame is that this series is no longer repeated and many will not know its significance.

Nearly three hours and careful plotting. This is not th average standard of summer action film. Zack Snyder has clearly made very exacting demands to make this film meet his expectations having to deal with Alan Moore's dismissive of previous attempts to film Moore's graphic novels.

Taking the graphic novel's story of an alternative history with Richard Nixon being repeatedly reelected and using this alternative world for a cynical commentary on the media and society, Watchmen are vigilantes who the government are threatening to outlaw. Instead of chases and explosions this intelligent adult film used character development and dialogue to drive the plot.

The cinematography is outstanding and makes this film even more enjoyable.

I read that Christopher Lee was less impressed with the Hammer Draclua's as the series continued. His comments are in the 'Hammer Book'. This is fourth in th series by my counting and the story is a bit confused and rambling. The earlier films were more focused. It looks fantastic all glowing and soft focus. So enjoyable to watch but it is a bit of let down with regards to the story itself. The acting is good throughout but once again Hammer doesn't use Christopher Lee;'s Dracual much. After the 1958 Dracula Lee's appearance in the films are limited to a few minutes. Keeping him hidden certainly builds anticipation but it needs to be rewarded by some decent chunks of Lee's Dracula which this film doesn't satisfy. The cast compensate for this quibble.