Finishing The Series In Style: VR-5 Volume 7 Goes Out Great!

The Good: Pacing and intrigue, Psychological understanding displayed, Imagery, Acting, Character
The Bad: "" is an obvious unreality. . ..
The Basics: While the Committee begins to illustrate deep cracks in its surface, Sydney and Oliver discover that their intents may be more corrupt than either had believed.


Shows that have a premise and spend the series undermining that premise generally annoy me. You know, shows where a character is supposed to be a genius but every episode ends as a very special lesson that supposed intellectual heavyweight learns at the hands of less brilliant individuals. Then there are the series' where the backstory gets thrown out the window or mixed up for the current plotline of the week. With VR-5, there is a notable exception and because the series has been working toward it the entire time, it ends up making perfect sense and working beautifully to unfold a story that is intriguing, clever and surprisingly powerful. Unfortunately, it also comes at the very end of the series with "VR-5 - Vol. 7 - Parallel Lives / Reunion."

Unfortunately for new viewers, "Volume 7" is an impossible place to jump into the series. Despite the fact that "Reunion" is a perfect hour of television and an amazing season finale (one of the Top Ten of All Time, seriously the only reason it didn't make my list is because I forbade series finales from being considered and ultimately that's what it ended up being!) it is not easily accessible to those who have not been watching VR-5 up until this point. In the same way, "Parallel Lives" is a wash for those who have not been fans and are not able to appreciate the character twists embodied by the piece. In other words, this final set is for fans of the series only, no matter how highly I would recommend it.

And actually, I've tried to write this review well three times now without ruining surprises that would be shocking to those watching the first episode, but here's the thing, from the prior volume (reviewed here!) there is certain knowledge the viewer of the series has that would shock the viewer of the pilot episode. It's impossible to write intelligently about the episode "Reunion" without actually mentioning one of the characters whose fate seemed sealed before this point. Thus, as much as I'd hate to do it, if you're one who is thinking of picking up VR-5 and truly wants the richest experience in terms of surprises, you'll have to stop reading this review now and just go out and pick the seven volumes up (don't read the backs of the videos, either!).

That said, "Volume 7" . . .

"Parallel Lives" finds Duncan waking up to discover that none of his recent memories have occurred. Instead, he is a trendsetting visual artist and whose work is tearing up Los Angeles. Duncan, bewildered by the strange twist of fate, quickly discovers that he has woken up in a reality where Samantha, Sydney's sister, survived the car accident and Sydney drown. Seeing Samantha begin to get into some self-destructive habits, Duncan risks everything to track down Oliver Sampson, Dr. Morgan and the Committee, all the while trying to discover what has become of VR-5,

"Reunion" opens with the titled reunion; Samantha Bloom, thought dead for years pops up and lures Sydney away from Sampson and Duncan. Sampson, with orders to kill Sydney, rejects his Committee orders and flees with Duncan. With both pairs hunted by powerful members of the now-factionalized Committee, Oliver comes to discover just how far on the outs he is with his people and Sydney, Duncan, and Samantha use the VR system to unravel their memories to discover the truth about VR-5, the night of the accident and what truly happened afterward. In the process, they set off a series of events which make them hunted and leaves one in the most dangerous place possible!

So endeth VR-5. And wow, when it goes out, it goes out!

"Parallel Lives" is a bit obvious from the beginning. Anyone with any experience watching science fiction shows will know from the beginning that Duncan's trip through the rabbit hole is not real. In a show about virtual reality, this is - of course - even more obvious and in some ways it's respectable that the series waited so very long before trying an episode like this out. So, the questions on the plot front simply become "What is the mechanism/ is it plausible?" and "What's the point?" "Parallel Lives" actually has the first question pretty much answered by the series title, but the second question is one answered only in the final moments of the episode and it's a strongly satisfying and sensible answer that ties the unreal episode into the series that works very hard to create reality out of the virtual world.

Otherwise, "Parallel Lives" is pretty much a throwback to "alternate universe" episodes in drama/science fiction that stretches back to Star Trek's "Mirror, Mirror" (reviewed here!). "Parallel Lives" has many similar elements, too; though the pacifistic Duncan is the only character to "cross over." The altered incarnations of people like Dr. Morgan have intriguing character differences and similarities that make him work.

"Reunion" is an amazing episode, which pays off the seeds from prior episodes in regard to the disintegration of the Committee. Within the Committee, there are clear factions being exposed and which side Sydney is unwittingly working for remains one of the great mysteries of the program. As a result, Sydney and Oliver become sensibly strained and as they struggle to learn who the Committee is and why they are doing what they're doing, they build a new relationship. The episode works well because it maintains a high level of tension throughout and the ending is one of the slam dunks of science fiction!

Both episodes are decent character studies. Duncan finally gets his day in "Parallel Lives" and he and Samantha have a pretty richly developed story working for them. Moreover, their characters mesh well and there seems to be a genuine sense of chemistry between them. This is enhanced by the acting as Michael Easton and Tracy Needham have pretty wonderful on-screen chemistry.

The strength of the character development comes in the serialization. Without "Parallel Lives" and the results of the character journey there, Duncan's willingness to step up in "Reunion" to be a man of action is utterly unbelievable. After all, Duncan is a pacifist, a philosopher and a guy who pretty much lays about all day. In "Reunion," he moves . . . and fast and it works within the context of his character because of the events in the prior episodes.

Both episodes are written for a savvy audience of science fiction fans. The final resolution to "Reunion" involves a twist and is pretty unpredictable even to seasoned fans. "Parallel Lives" has a twist, but the audience sees it coming well in advance, though it still works wonderfully. It is a rare thing that a show can pull off something that is both sensible to fans, despite its outlandishness, and so enjoyable on a character level and special effects level as to make it a great moment of television. The struggles and character aspects in these episodes manages to do that.

Michael Easton earns his paycheck in this volume by portraying Duncan as a man growing out of his shell and he does it at a pace that is very realistic. Easton maintains his soft-spoken quality and the base of his character while presenting a series of changes to the personality and he makes it seem perfectly fluid and real. In "Parallel Lives," his transformation is much the result of hair and make-up, but with "Reunion," he brings the performance into his body language and it works wonderfully.

Anthony Stewart Head is able to explode the role of Oliver Sampson and in these episodes his facade of ultimate strength is broken as his past is broken open with Sydney's. Head retains a sense of gravity to his character that allows the viewer to see the transformations as completely credible, even as the character goes off in some new directions. It is easy to see from his performance, especially with the complexities of facial expression and vocal emotions that he uses in "Reunion" why he was able to be cast as Giles on Buffy The Vampire Slayer (reviewed here!).

It is Lori Singer as Sydney Bloom upon whom the episodes rest and she brings them home. Singer plays Sydney now as an assertive character who acts proactively instead of reacting to everything around her falling apart. She is intense and clever in the role and it works well for her stand straighter and put more of her body into the role in these episodes. Fans of the entire series will notice the subtle transformations that are occurring in these episodes and those just picking up this tape will likely appreciate how she seems to have a well-rounded character who isn't a whispy wraith.

Visually, these episodes are strong and rely on a great deal of special effects and a sense of visual metaphor that requires the viewer to pay attention and be truly engaged throughout. If anything, the visual audacity in these final episodes makes the outlandish plots seem more sensible and the episodes are likely to leave the audience disappointed only in that the series ends on a wonderful and dark note, making the viewer wish for more. Sadly, that never materialized.

[Sadly, even with VHS being essentially a dead medium, the VR.5 DVD set is out of print and hard to come by. Still, for those interested in it, please check out my overview of the entire series available by clicking here!
Thanks!]

“Parallel Lives” – 7/10
“Reunion” – 10/10
VHS – 7.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page on the subject!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Knock 'Em Out Of The Park VR-5 Begins With "Volume 3" – “Love And Death” And “5D!”

The Good: Good stories, Interesting character works, Compelling acting, Decent effects
The Bad: Still a few growing pains and moments of character/plot that don't quite work.
The Basics: When cracks in The Committee begin to form, Sydney is assigned to rehabilitate a professional assassin, not knowing who his next mark might be!


This review is for the proper VR-5 - Vol. 3 - Love And Death / 5D that was released. Given how difficult it is to find these videos anyway, one suspects it will not be as much of an issue, but it is important to note that in this case, many sources go off old information and the manufacturer confirmed that the error was fixed prior to production and mass market release.

That said, there is a delightful moment for fans of VR-5 where the show leaps out of its initial expositional rut and becomes something that is fascinating, dangerous and far less clunky than it originally was. With the two episodes on "Volume 3," VR-5 releases its potential and leaps up as a science fiction masterpiece that explodes with character and a streak of intrigue that will captivate new viewers as well as reinvigorate those hanging on from the beginning.

With "Love And Death," the Committee gives Sydney a new assignment, one that puts her in a disturbed mind of an employee of the Committee who has gone a.w.o.l. Making contact with Jackson Boothe, Sydney discovers he has stopped work because he carries profound guilt over an accident wherein his attempt to kill a mark resulted in the death of his lover. Shocked, but assigned to get Boothe back to work, Sydney soon realizes that Boothe's rehabilitation means his next assignment is likely a hit and when Dr. Morgan goes out on a limb to help Sydney complete her mission, she begins to worry about who that new mark might be.

In "5D," Oliver Sampson takes over as Sydney's liaison with the Committee. Distrustful of Oliver, Sydney begins to believe he may be on her side when he works doggedly to reveal who killed another member of the Committee. Sydney's discovery puts her in danger and she finds her way to a secret room that begins to open more potential doors for her than anywhere she has been so far.

First off, "Love and Death" and "5D" are slick, stylish and just plain cool. The concept behind VR-5 is pretty simple: Sydney Bloom uses her computer and its super-advanced virtual reality system to enter the subconscious minds of those she calls on her telephone and solve puzzles. As she works for the Committee, she begins to unravel her past and the fate of her long-dead father and sister and Dr. Bloom's relationship with the shadowy Committee. In these two episodes, the Committee begins to look more nefarious with its use of assassins and its members being killed for reasons unknown.

"Love And Death" gives a great chance for Sydney and Dr. Morgan to explore their relationship and reveal what kind of trust exists between the sardonic doctor and his ward for the Committee. Sydney rises to the occasion and begins to truly open up with Morgan and the results make for interesting character twists and wonderful television. And because the show is serialized and Sydney has been relatively unexposed to the world at large prior to the beginning of her work for the Committee, "5D" makes a great deal of sense, especially her immediate distrust of Oliver Sampson.

Sampson has a stiff, British formality and loyalty to him that makes him an excellent contrast to Dr. Morgan. Sampson has a menace to him that seems to embody the new twist on the Committee revealed by its employing Jackson Boothe. This instantly raises the stakes of the series and makes for much more interesting character dynamics than Sydney, Duncan and Dr. Morgan had as a triangle.

There is also a wonderful sense of plot structure that carries over these two episodes and it works wonderfully to finally create a more unified narrative than the show had in its first three episodes (on volumes 1 & 2). In fact the only truly disappointing plot conceit comes in the final moment of "5D" and it simply undermines the menace of the casualties in the series . . . except that it also has a much more sinister undertone to it, so it works on one level.

VR-5 is a show that is initially very easy to write off because it is pretty hard science fiction. With "Love And Death," it embodies the best of what science fiction can be when it tackles a compelling human drama and makes a complex character bleed. Jackson Boothe is a man who is an assassin who is plagued by his love and the trauma caused when his work interferes with his personal life. What that means for him becomes the struggle of much of the episode and he becomes an instantly memorable character on VR-5 that fans hope they will see again.

Similarly, "Volume 3" overcomes some of the initial problems the show had with its acting by ratcheting up the character elements and giving the performers more to work with. Dr. Frank Morgan suddenly becomes tormented, but Will Patton pulls it off. Unlike his simple doctor character in Robert A. Heinlein's “The Puppet Masters”, (reviewed here!), Patton here makes a realistic transformation that is actually tortured on some level. We watch as Patton struggles between his obvious loyalty to the Committee and his growing affection for Sydney and his almost parental desire to see her in less pain and to learn the truths that the Committee possesses. But it is Patton's performance that takes what could be an almost devastating reconfiguration of the sardonic character and sells it as a development.

Anthony Stewart Head joins VR-5 as Oliver Sampson and this makes it easy to see how he went from this project to Buffy The Vampire Slayer (reviewed here!). He has the ability to portray mysterious, in charge and efficient in a way that few actors working on television can. He also has a dark and subtly violent quality to him that makes it completely believable that he might not be working for the same faction of the Committee as Dr. Morgan was and that allows Head to use the edginess he has to create his character quite well.

Michael Easton continues his supporting role of Duncan in the episodes on this volume, but it is Lori Singer who finally comes into her own as the star of VR-5. Singer's early work in the series was shaky and it was very difficult to tell if she was portraying with complete realism how a normal person would react to being thrust into such extreme circumstances as discovering the VR system would affect a person. However, with "Love And Death," Singer is able to portray Sydney with a straightforward humanism that is wrenching and real and wonderful to watch. Her loss that she plays in "5D" is similarly compelling and she's rounded off much of the stiffness and awkwardness that could be associated with her acting up until this point.

Anyone who likes good action adventure/science fiction drama will enjoy this volume of VR-5. Despite the difficulties of entering a series late, this pretty much represents the final volume one might pick up and start watching without feeling a bit lost by the serialized nature of the series. There is just enough exposition to not feel like exposition, but to catch newbies up on the show in these episodes.

[Sadly, even with VHS being essentially a dead medium, the VR.5 DVD set is out of print and hard to come by. Still, for those interested in it, please check out my overview of the entire series available by clicking here!
Thanks!]

“Love And Death” – 7/10
“5D” – 7/10
VHS – 6.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page on the subject!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Weakest Volume Of VR-5, "Dr. Strangechild" & "Sisters" Far Too Obvious For Science Fiction Fan!

The Good: Moments of character insight, Basic principles of plots
The Bad: Predictable plots, Obvious characters, Disappointing acting on many fronts
The Basics: When Sydney Bloom begins working more with the virtual reality system, she becomes intrigued by it, though the viewers become a bit bored by the canned plots and acting.


It is weird to write a review of episodes in a series that utterly failed because the instinct to jump write into a review must be set aside some in order to recap the concept of the series. After all, while pop-culture hits like Buffy The Vampire Slayer (reviewed here!) or The X-Files (reviewed here!) might be virtually self-explanatory or so well known that even a person unfamiliar with the series might pick up enough just by a review that jumps right in, failures require some measure of recap, especially when the series being discussed is serialized.

VR-5 is one of those commercial failures that I am gladly picking up and reviewing. The basic premise is quite simple: protagonist Sydney Bloom has unwittingly stumbled onto a sophisticated virtual reality mechanism known as VR-5 and with it she is able to access the subconscious of those she calls using the special program. Following an intriguing pilot episode, VR-5 quickly tried to explore what Sydney Bloom could do with this skill and her talents were utilized by the mysterious Committee, an organization she knows almost nothing about.

On "Volume 2," VR-5 goes largely episodic with two episodes designed to illustrate more or less standalone adventures involving Sydney and her discovery of what the VR system can be. Unfortunately, "Dr. Strangechild" is just awful and while "Sisters" is not as bad, it is far more obvious. Either way, these become, ultimately, two episodes it is surprisingly easy to pass by when watching the series.

In "Dr. Strangechild," Sydney begins to work for the Committee and Dr. Morgan teams her up with three experts in psychology, numerology, physics and comparative religions to try to find a prodigy who has gone on the run. An expert in military research, the young man developed an incredible weapon and then disappeared. He calls in to make demands and to lead the authorities pursuing him astray, while threatening to kill civilians if he is not let out of the program. Sydney brings him into the virtual reality that is created by his subconscious and while the others piece together the metaphors, she comes to realize she and the boy share a common bond of complete loneliness.

In "Sisters," Sydney goes off on her own and begins to investigate her coworker, Janine Messersmith. Sydney knows that Janine is stealing from Tel Cal and she becomes determined to prove it using what she learns in VR. Instead, she finds herself getting excited off the rush of stealing with Janine in the virtual world and she comes to miss her dead sister even more. As a result, Dr. Morgan begins to become concerned about what the VR system might be doing to Sydney and he appeals for her to get out while she can.

"Dr. Strangechild" and "Sisters" are generally more dramatic works, but they are plagued by a strong sense of camp. While most of the rest of the series overcomes the pretense and silliness that one might expect from a science fiction series operating on a limited budget and telling stories designed to appeal to mid-teens, this volume falls squarely into the category of silly, obvious and unfortunately more hokey than it was intended to be.

"Dr. Strangechild," for example, feels remarkably assembled, like it was put together all special for television. For example, the team that Sydney is brought in to aid feature Team Ethnic Diversity, which I would usually applaud, but there's something about it that just seems very produced in the episode. Sydney and Dr. Morgan are the ignorant white people stepping in to deal with the problem that the diverse intelligencia cannot seem to crack. And there's something patronizing about the team being all men and that because the solution is more emotional than logical, Sydney reaches the conclusions first.

But more than that, the episode is remarkably repetitive. In her VR vision, Sydney comes to realize that the youth is utilizing images corresponding with the iconography of the Tree Of Life, which also has physics and chemistry applications. Once this is realized, the episode degenerates into a repetitive collection of places popping up where the imagery can be used. After a few times, it begins to feel very produced. Of course scripted television is put together, by writers, producers, directors, etc. But the best works do not feel that way.

"Sisters" suffers less from feeling so assembled, but instead it is predictable on the plot front and sadly obvious on the character front. Sydney's endeavor on her own into Janine's mind becomes predictably addictive and raises the necessary question of "how much of this can she handle?" The problem is because those savvy with science fiction are expecting something like that to be asked, the episode lives or dies on how clever it asks the question.

Unfortunately, the answer is less-than-satisfying. Sydney Bloom has a strange addiction; one moment she is powerless and thrilled by the excitement of having a bond with Janine, even if Janine does not remember it outside VR-5. But the next minute, Sydney is just over it. So, it's not like an addiction and the emotional weight Duncan and Dr. Morgan place on the need to not become dependent on the experience ultimately feels cheap and silly.

Janine herself is intriguing, though her story becomes a very cliche "hooker with a heart of gold" type story wherein Janine's reasons for stealing make her empathetic instead of wrong. Or, at least that is what is supposed to happen. Instead, possibly because of the "Bonnie and Clyde" imagery and obvious noir influences on the VR sequences, it just seems obvious. For a change her reasons are less compelling than the viewers desire for an interesting outcome. The viewer gets neither.

Janine herself is well played by guest actress Colleen Flynn who portrays the woman from the script remarkably well. Flynn does what she can and she keeps the VR sequences exciting to watch with a twitchy quality to her eyes, but she is ultimately limited by what is in the script.

Similarly, in "Dr. Strangechild," an appearance by genre regular character actor Eric Avari - recently seen as the senior Dr. Suresh on Heroes - finds him doing what he can, but dealing with an inferior script. Regular performers Michael Easton and Will Patton are underused in these episodes and their performances push their acting nor their characters any further than where they were in the pilot episode.

The episodes rest on the performance of Lori Singer, though, and in "Dr. Strangechild," she just does not land that plane. Instead, she fumbles through the episode with a surprisingly bland affect and a lack of surprise that portrays indifference more than empathy toward the boy's loneliness. In "Sisters," Singer is allowed to be quite a bit more expressive and she rises nicely to the challenge. In that episode, Sydney is watchable at the very least.

While Sydney might be behind others in terms of understanding what is going on in a situation, it is important that her performance never seem like Lori Singer is behind the curve. In "Dr. Strangechild," that is exactly where she appears. Fortunately, in "Sisters" is seems she is growing into the role and more comfortable with what that represents. Her performance is better there.

It's still not at all exciting, though and these episodes are more than likely to disappoint fans of science fiction and offer little to nothing for fans of drama in general. While "Sisters" explores the psychological metaphor nature of the VR system, the other episode fails utterly and this volume is one that can be avoided with no real loss to the series.

[Sadly, even with VHS being essentially a dead medium, the VR.5 DVD set is out of print and hard to come by. Still, for those interested in it, please check out my overview of the entire series available by clicking here!
Thanks!]

For other works with Eric Avari, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Charlie Wilson's War
Heroes - Season 1
Daredevil
"Unification, Part 1"

"Dr. Strangechild" - 2.5/10
"Sisters" - 5/10
VHS - 3.5/10

For other television show reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Intrigue Long Before The Matrix When VR.5 Debuts Its "Pilot"

The Good: Intriguing concept, Interesting characters, Tone
The Bad: Clunky acting, Feels like a pilot, Effects seem a little primitive now
The Basics: When Sydney Bloom inadvertently taps into a sophisticated virtual reality system well beyond the limits of modern technology, she finds herself in a dangerous place.


The problem with having a hit television show - and it's a real "woe is me" difficulty! - is what to do with the rest of the night. Networks are always trying to find shows to pair up with their most successful series'. When Fox had the unlikely hit with The X-Files (reviewed here!) on Friday nights, the network scrambled to develop another show to put with it to keep the traditional loser night dominated by Fox. One of the attempts was the ambitious, generally serialized VR.5.

VR.5 was pretty much doomed from its beginning; the episodes were serialized and they were not aired in order and some of the episodes were not even aired on television, making for a somewhat fractured story that was hard to follow. Fortunately, when Rhino released it on home video, they solved the problem of the out-of-order and unaired episodes and put the volumes in the intended order. It all begins with the "Pilot."

Having witnessed the death of her father and sister at a young age in a car accident in which they drown, Sydney Bloom develops into a painfully shy woman who is socially awkward. She works for a California telephone company and taps into the lines to listen to chatter in her off time and she plays on her computer with the most primitive form of virtual reality available in 1995. Unable to stand up to her crabby neighbor in reality, Sydney isolates herself in her loft apartment where she is infrequently visited from her childhood friend, Duncan.

In an unlikely turn of events, Sydney is called by her angry neighbor and in the process of hanging up on him, accidentally sets the telephone into an alternate cradle and the two enter a virtual landscape. The next day, Kravitz has moved his car and Sydney is convinced the virtual experience they shared was in some way real. She and Duncan attempt to go in together and she seeks out Dr. Frank Morgan, an expert in the field of virtual reality, for advice. Morgan advises her to avoid the virtual reality system and when Sydney ignores him by trying to use the virtual reality system she has discovered to vet a potential date, the results turn deadly.

VR.5 sounds like a pretty straightforward science fiction show exploring the nature of virtual reality, but the nice thing about the series was that beginning here in the "Pilot," there is a sense that the show is going somewhere and there is something deeper going on. So, by the end of the "Pilot," the attentive viewer will easily realize what Sydney is not able to articulate: that the VR system takes the user into their subconscious and the revelations one finds there are psychologically valid, even if they are laced in visual metaphors and mysteries that need to be unraveled.

This creates a wonderful alternate reality that allows the viewer to revisit the episodes and pick out meanings in many of the visuals. In the "Pilot," the first virtual reality experience, which puts Kravitz and Sydney on a creepy bus together, reveals quite a bit about both people and it's a freaky experience for the viewer, Sydney and Kravitz. But the whole concept of the virtual world being constructed by the subconscious of the user becomes profoundly revelatory; Sydney's inability to process and understand images when she takes Scott - her coworker who she has a crush on - leads her into the danger that nearly kills her.

The "Pilot" actually has a pretty wonderful sense of tension once it gets going, no doubt a credit to the musical accompaniment which builds the mood quite efficiently. In fact, with the low sophistication of the visual effects - the creepy bus ride, for example, is mostly radical color alterations to represent the virtual world - the quality of the soundtrack helps pull the episode up into likable territory.

So, too, do the characters. Sydney is, admittedly, difficult to watch, especially in the pilot. Everything that happens to her is bigger than life and she freaks out. Sydney is very realistic in the "Pilot" and she is anything but heroic. Instead, she is real and between falling down the rabbit hole into virtual reality and being attacked by a serial killer, Sydney is actually a delight to watch once the episode gets going because she reacts anything but heroically, which is usually far more reasonable!

But surrounding Sydney are Duncan and the reluctant Dr. Morgan and they are instantly engaging. Duncan is a philosophically inclined, if generically good-looking guy who has a clear unstated affection for Sydney and their backstory is only grazed upon in the "Pilot," giving the viewer the sense that there is plenty of material there to mine in future episodes. Well before Michael Easton ended up as a daytime soap opera fixture, he illuminated the world of VR.5 as the cerebral Duncan.

But the one who steals the scenes is Dr. Morgan. Morgan is a fairly young curmudgeon and his opening lines on the nature of virtual experiences make him an amusing and clever character that the viewer wants to see more of. He is sardonic and while it is unclear how much he knows up until the final frames of the "Pilot," Morgan has a disaffected quality and his warnings carry an unsettling amount of weight.

Dr. Frank Morgan is played by Will Patton and he is quite good in the role. Patton impressed me with his chauvinistic and drawling performance in The Spitfire Grill (reviewed here!) and his role as Morgan is entirely different. Patton illustrates a versatility that is carried through his voice, body language and the ability to evoke a subtle menace with his eyes.

The show is carried by actress Lori Singer, a Hollywood-beautiful blonde who one would have thought would have sold the series alone for at least five years. Alias, er, Alas, such was not the case and Singer's role of Sydney Bloom ends up far more brief. And, unfortunately, the "Pilot" may reveal some of the seeds of that. Singer is portraying Sydney as a very realistic character. As a result, she often comes across as stiff, shy in a way that is not at all coy or entertaining and ignorant of exactly what she has gotten into. The problem might be that Singer is too good at the role and her spacy stares and freak-outs are less entertaining or engaging than the producers intended.

The result is that VR.5 feels very much like a pilot episode and Singer seems a little uncomfortable in the role, combining with the lack of technical sophistication in the special effects and the level of technobabble, this becomes a hard sell for those unwilling to commit to the full series. "Pilot" raises the questions from the opening frames with the accident that cost her father and sister their lives, but it does not wrap up neatly by the end of the episode (of course!). As a result, those looking for a straightforward drama are unlikely to enjoy the episode, despite the fact that the show delves smartly into imagery from the subconscious.

As an aside, Robert Picardo of Star Trek: Voyager fame makes an uncredited cameo as a scientist working on VR systems. The irony here is something only a Star Trek fan is likely to be in a position to truly appreciate; Picardo played a virtual character on Star Trek: Voyager and here he is developing the technology!

On its own, though, "Pilot" has many of the essential clues needed to truly understand the story that is being told with the series and it is, at worst, entertaining. And anyone who likes smart science fiction is likely to find something enjoyable here, even if it didn't endure on Fox!

[Sadly, even with VHS being essentially a dead medium, the VR.5 DVD set is out of print and hard to come by. Still, for those interested in it, please check out my overview of the entire series available by clicking here!
Thanks!]

For other reality-bending works, please visit my reviews of:
The Matrix
Inception
Sucker Punch

6.5/10

For other television reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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The Rare Lost Surprise Of Robert A Heinlein's "The Puppet Masters"

The Good: Surprisingly good acting, Better focus on character than usual science fiction, Generally good effects, Tone.
The Bad: '50s style plot, Moments of camp.
The Basics: A MUST for science fiction lovers, a solid film for anyone else and good luck finding this one!


I'll begin this review by telling you good luck. Good luck finding Robert A. Heinlein's The Puppet Masters on video. It is rather difficult to find on video and the DVD - when one is able to find it - is a bare-bones presentation of the film itself without any extras. The problem here is not how good the film is, because it is surprisingly good for a science fiction-horror flick, the problem is it was such a commercial flop that getting your hands on it now is like searching for the Holy Grail.

That said, Robert A. Heinlein's The Puppet Masters is a surprise and a pleasant one indeed. Despite its fast pace, it manages to pack quite a bit of character building in. The relationship between Donald Sutherland's curmudgeony scientist character and his son is played believably with enough detail to make their conflict realistic. In fact, one of the best scenes in the film is the slow scene wherein the young man explains what it was like growing up with the stern scientist. In other words, the film makes a fair attempt to make this movie into something more than a creature feature and it has a lot to recommend it as more than that.

When satellite photos suggest that an alien presence has touched down in Iowa, Dr. Andrew Nivens is sent to investigate along with the exobiologist Mary and his estranged son, Sam. What Nivens discovers is that a small Iowa town has been infected with a parasite that attaches to humans and forces them to do their bidding. They are beginning to spread through Iowa and Nivens is eager to have the state cordoned off, against the wishes of local government. The mission to save the world takes a turn for the personal when Sam is infected with one of the alien parasites and seems bent on spreading the influence of the creatures far beyond Iowa. As Nivens works to find a way to free Sam from their control, the military and scientific communities work desperately to stop the spread of the alien plague and restore the victims to health!

There are elements of Hollywood here, there's a gorgeous exobiologist, Mary, played by Julie Warner, who takes a liking to the free-lancing son, Sam, and their romantic entanglement throughout the film adds a level of camp to the piece. Yes, it's romantic subplot #5, romance during an end-of-the-world crisis! It is somewhat hokey, yet it also works.

What isn't campy is the invading creatures. The look of the aliens has to be different and interesting because the main plot is that a small town in the midwest is invaded by extraterrestrial organisms. It's a done plot. This movie does it well and with a pretty fair amount of originality and fans of drama are likely to be surprised and horrified by some of the twists the film takes, even if they seem somewhat predictable to fans of science fiction. Reversals like when the army invades to discover legions of children waiting for them, are moments the film is unbearably creepy.

The creatures, however, are downright cool. The awful bluescreen shot in the helicopter near the film's end represents the sole crappy special effect. In fact, the work done on the creatures, which represent a huge amount of special effects work is masterful. These flying creepy crawlies are disgusting and look real! The basic idea of the creature is that they are a flying parasitic brain and they had to be mobile; they have a "feeler" which shoots out, latches onto things and then retracts to pull the body along. They look like little skates with nerve tissue on the bottom and they are creepy.

Okay, so invading parasites take over the midwest. We care because they're basically one large brain and their dominance of humanity basically represents enslaving the populace as powerless zombies. As well, they retain the memories of all they encounter, so when Sam goes up against them, anyone he encounters knows how his mind works and may anticipate his actions. That is a frightening possibility and Robert A. Heinlein's The Puppet Masters executes it well.

Robert A. Heinlein's The Puppet Masters sounds done but it's a surprisingly well executed film that uses a bit more character development than your average action film and it's a lot of fun. The acting in it is solid with Donald Sutherland effortlessly portraying a taciturn father who is brilliant in the field, but not so much when it comes to relating to his adult son. The supporting cast of Julie Warner and Eric Thal is strong and they are all believable in their parts.

On DVD, Robert A Heinlein's The Puppet Masters comes without any frills.

For other science fiction films, please check out my reviews of:
Dark City
Inception
Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope

9/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my index page!

© 2010, 2007, 2001 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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VR-5: The Pre-Matrix Is Pretty Intriguing!

The Good: Excellent effects, interesting plot, believable characters
The Bad: Well, it's campy. Some of the acting doesn't measure up.
The Basics: A must for science fiction fans, good for anyone bored with television today and willing to look past the obvious here. Essentially an anti-hero's soap opera.

Before The Matrix there was VR.5, a far too short run series on FOX. VR.5 refers to the fifth level of Virtual Reality - Subconscious virtual reality environments - and was a series set on Fox before The X-Files on Friday nights while The X-Files was still on Friday. For half a season, Fox actually had a solid two-hour block of television.

Canceled just as most people were beginning to discover the unique and interesting show, Fox has never tried to pick VR.5 up in any form again. So, why should you? For the most part, because it's fun.

The show centers around Sydney Bloom (Lori Singer), traumatized at an early age by watching her father and sister drown, as the anti-hero who is struggling to make ends meet at her CalTel job. She's bored, she's boring, she lives in an apartment playing on her computer in her off hours and consorting with the vastly more interesting Duncan (Michael Easton). Then, in one of television's most improbable turn of events ever, Sydney mistakenly hangs the telephone up into a device that seems to serve no purpose other than . . . to enter VR.5. Excusing the plot-necessary convenience of the interface device becomes easier and easier after the pilot episode. Why? Because after the first episode, the show becomes far less about the technology and more about the people Sydney meets and they are interesting and varied!

It's easy to write VR.5 off as a special effect laden science fiction piece, but it rapidly overcomes that by actually being an excellent character study. Outside of the confused Sydney (who it's hard to determine how good she truly is - that is her character is supposed to be shell shocked, but it's often hard to tell if Singer is truly dull or masterfully acting!) and the equally fringe Duncan (who we never see doing any sort of occupational work), there are Committee members Dr. Morgan (who is the reluctant "Deep Throat"-type character) and Oliver Sampson (who is basically a shadowy hit man-type character).

The actual magic of VR.5 is not in its special effects, but in its intense psychological realism. In addition to each episode being about pressing personal issues - indeed, the most remarkable aspect about most of the people Sydney meets in VR.5 is how normal they are - there is an intense realism to Sydney in her reactions to the extraordinary people and circumstances she encounters. That is, unlike so many television and movie heroes who suddenly defy their original characterization, Sydney remains rather true to herself. Yes, that usually means dull and boring, BUT from the very beginning she has a spark of intelligence to her and it's in many ways refreshing to see something so outside the mold of television hero.

VR.5 also has the benefit of having a perfect episode. Yes, in the pantheon of great television, the VR.5 episode "Simon's Choice" ranks right up there. It's beautifully shot and explores compelling aspects of psychology. It is easily one of the greatest "hour long" pieces of television.

Other excellent episodes are "The Many Faces of Alex," "Control Freak" (There are a surprising number of planes crashing in the series after Oliver arrives!) and "Parallel Lives." The weakest link in the series is "Dr. Strangechild."

For more details on the series via the actual episodes, please check out my reviews of each episode at:
Pilot
Dr. Strangechild/Sisters
Love And Death/5D
Escape/Facing The Fire
Simon's Choice/Send Me An Angel
Control Freak/The Many Faces Of Alex
Parallel Lives/Reunion

7/10

For other television series' reviewed by me, please check out my index page!

© 2010, 2008, 2001 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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The Quiet Perfection Of The Spitfire Grill

The Good: Strong characterization, acting, cinematography, plot
The Bad: 95% predictable, No DVD bonus features.
The Basics: Curl up under some blankets with a partner -or with a mug of hot cocoa if you're alone- and watch The Spitfire Grill. It's a wonderful film!


It's rare to find a film like The Spitfire Grill where character comes before anything else. I first saw The Spitfire Grill in the art theater when I was in college and I was enchanted by how well the movie TOLD the story it was telling. When I found it on DVD recently, I was not surprised to discover that it appeared only in a "no-frills" presentation. It was not commercially successful.

In Gilead, a small town in Maine, a young woman named Percy Talbott comes to settle down after getting out of prison. She is put up in the local inn, called the Spitfire Grill where she begins to wait tables and help out the aging proprietor, Hannah Furguson. Hannah is feisty and crabby, yet takes Percy in and with the help of her introverted daughter-in-law, Shelby, the three run things. When Hannah breaks her hip, though, she decides to get rid of the Grill and Percy's idea to have an essay-writing contest to give the inn away causes Shelby's jealous husband to investigate why Percy was in prison at all.

The film is essentially a character study set in the small town in Maine. Throughout the film, the question of healing is raised, with Percy explicitly asking, "Do you think a wound can run so deep" it can't ever be healed? That's the question that occupies the film. The three main characters have wounds: Percy's cloaked past, Shelby's constant abuse from her husband and Hannah's guilt over choices she made in her past (part of the story the movie tells that I shall not reveal!).

It's easy to complain about the film having a slow pace, but that's actually part of what makes it so good, it's something the director got right. Writer and director Lee David Zlotoff perceptively captures small time life, complete with gossips and the standards that come in rural America of marrying the local girl and sticking around in the area to raise a family. In Small Town, Anywhere, life DOES move at a slower pace and while it can be irritating to people accustomed to bigger cities, it's actually part of the magic of what makes The Spitfire Grill excellent.

The bottom line is sometimes it takes getting to the middle of nowhere, living slow for a while, to heal. "Heal Thyself" wasn't told to a physician who was supposed to go out and run a marathon! The Spitfire Grill tells a story in a rather old fashioned way; by building the character threads, weaving them together in a realistic fashion and THEN letting the characters move around with the decisions they have made.

And in this film, there are people who need to be healed. The most obvious is the wonderful and simply beautiful Percy Talbott (Alison Elliott). Her benefactress Hannah (Ellen Burstyn) and the occasionally simple Shelby also need healing in one form or another and through the cathartic nature of the meandering plot, we're assured all people get it. The characters are decent and in large part that comes from the acting.

Ellen Burstyn is feisty and strong-willed as Hannah. She plays the role with an ornery quality that seems like a parody of the crotchety old woman, but Burstyn makes it her own. Her body language is solid through the movie, so when her character has to move fast near the end, Burstyn is convincingly crippled and unable to make her body move. That's getting into a role!

Marcia Gay Harden is decent as the mousy Shelby. She behaves exactly like a woman who has been browbeaten for years would behave and her performance is, in some ways, the most difficult to watch. Harden convincingly plays a woman used to being put down and the way her body language changes as Shelby gets some positive reinforcement in her life is part of the simple pleasure of watching The Spitfire Grill.

It is Alison Elliott whose burden it is to sell the movie and she succeeds wonderfully. She's so good in The Spitfire Grill that I'm surprised she has only had a handful of roles since. Elliott is, quite simply, a compelling young woman wounded by her past. She plays the part without a moment of letting the facade slip and it's a joy to see such young talent in film today (or ten years ago now!).

One of the nice things about The Spitfire Grill is it doesn't meet all of our expectations. The happy ending we ultimately expect doesn't quite arrive. Zlotoff wisely tells a compelling story that includes normal human foibles. More than anything else the film succeeds because the people act like real people. They are being human with all of their quirks, prejudices and especially fears. It's a marvelous character study that succeeds even though certain elements fall along predicted plots.

The Spitfire Grill did not do well in theaters, but catching it on DVD is certainly worthy of your attention. It's an artful, enjoyable film and it moves at a pace that helps tell the story it wants to tell, the way it wants to tell it. What could one want more than a story with compelling characters, well acted, with a genuine emotional core to it?

I don't know.

For other quiet, subtle dramas, please visit my reviews of:
One Day
Brokeback Mountain
Dear John

10/10

For more movie reviews, please check out my index page!

© 2010, 2007, 2001 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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