In between writing something new, I finally did what I should have done a long time ago: to prepare a new Review Index with only the English-language articles in it. I replaced the older index, which I had not updated for over a year, with it, but still left a link to the original. This is just a quick fix to end the chaos of the old index, but in the future there will be three lists: the master index with the English reviews, a legacy list of the German reviews and a third index of all the DVDs in my collection, the latter two for requesting purposes. At the moment, there are “only” 44 reviews in the new main index, but I hope to write slowly, but steadily more. If anyone has requests for unreviewed discs or untranslated reviews, I’d like to hear them! You can always contact me here in the comments, via Email or over on Google+, Twitter or Facebook.

So, in lieu of any actually new reviews, please accept this index as proof that DVDLog isn’t dead yet! Two brand-new reviews are in the making, but judging from the extremely warm weather coming in the next days, they are still going to take a while – one of the discs hasn’t even arrived here yet!

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Originally intended as a direct followup to last month’s Towel Day posting about the original television series, it’s better late than never with today’s article about The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in its 2005 cinema incarnation. Completed four years after Douglas Adams had passed away, it was still very much a creation of its original author with a passionate crew of filmmakers and actors brilliantly succeeding in making not only a movie, but also a loving memorial. Sadly, the quirky humour and its utter Britishness failed to impress many viewers unfamiliar to Douglas Adams’ work and while the movie managed to financially break even, its success was so minimal that a sequel was never made – but it stands well enough on its own. Today’s review tells the story how the movie came about in a translated, expanded and improved version of an earlier German article.

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Today is Towel Day, the annual rememberance of Douglas Adams and his Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in its multiple incarnations. Because I certainly know where my towel is, I finally managed to translate and improve my original article about the original 1981 television series, which was based not on the books, but actually on the radio series. It might be corny and low-budget over thirty years later, but next to the radio play and the 2005 movie, it remains simply the best and most original incarnation of Douglas Adams’ story until today. Watch the earth get blown up with Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect making a narrow escape! Vogon poetry reading! Space battles! Two-headed presidents on the run from the law! Listen to Marvin, the depressed robot argue with a smug talking door! All lovingly restored with many interesting extras on DVD from the BBC and even though the release is already twelve years old, it’s still the best way to watch the series. Read all about the beginnings of the Hitchhiker’s Guide and the creation of the radio play and television series in today’s article.

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Bonus Youtube Link: Douglas Adams on the South Bank Show »
Bonus Youtube Douglas Adams Playlist » from my Towel Day posting on the other blog.

Who is the better Sherlock Holmes? In the 1980s, two of the four full-length novels by Arthur Conan Doyle about the victorian master detective were adapted in two very different ways, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. The Sign of Four was one of the two stories which had been filmed both with Ian Richardson in 1983 and with Jeremy Brett in 1987 – the latter was made for the 100th anniversary of the first short story publication, while the former actually preceded the Granada series. The fascinating story of both movies and how they are related to each other is part of today’s double review, which is actually more about the movies themselves than the admittedly not very exciting, but still absolutely watchable DVD releases. Both articles are improved and expanded from my previous German versions.

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Is Sherlock Holmes still fit for modern television? This was the question in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Granada continued to produce its amazing adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels with the brilliant Jeremy Brett in the title role. Despite several problems including the failing health of the lead actor, the last twelve episodes with the collective titles The Case-Book and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes brought the adventures of the master detective magnificently to life and although they could not quite reach the brilliance of the earlier episodes, they were a wonderful finale to series. In Germany, these last episodes had never been broadcast on television until 2009, when Koch Media had commissioned a German dub and finally released them on DVD four years after the previous boxset. Today’s review is based on my earlier German article about the Koch Media boxset, but also concludes the three-part collection of posts about the series itself, which will be followed with more detailed reviews about the Granada feature films soon.

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Each year around this time I try to post a somewhat vaguely Easter-related review, but this year I have nothing new written or translated, so I’ll just do a rerun: Last year I posted an updated and translated article about Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which is not exactly Easter material, but has a certain cartoon bunny as its star. It’s also not typical Disney stuff, instead the story is more a satirical and even cynical take on the whole cartoon film industry paired with a hard-boiled 1940s film noir thriller. It was also a brilliant technical achievement, seamlessly blending animated characters and scenery with real footage, all done without the help of computers. While the DVD is now over ten years old, it’s still amazing in quality and content and since last year the movie is also available on Blu-Ray with all the great extras from this old Vista Series release.

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Arthur Conan Doyle had first killed off and later resurrected his master detective by popular demand, something ITV and Granada Television closely followed when they had first broadcast their new Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett in 1984. The first thirteen episodes were so successful that more of them were inevitable, and like Conan Doyle they resurrected the detective in The Return of Sherlock Holmes after he was supposedly killed at the hands of his nemesis Moriarty. Despite some production setbacks due to the fragile health of Jeremy Brett and a change of cast for Doctor Watson with Edward Hardwicke taking over the role, the eleven episodes and two feature-length movies of Granada’s second series of Sherlock Holmes stories were even more amazing than their predecessors. This article is again an improved translation from an earlier German review of the splendid second Koch Media DVD boxset – while it does not contain the two movies, they are mentioned in the article and will be reviewed seperately later.

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With the most famous detective of them all getting quite popular again in the last years, I think it’s time to have a look back at Sherlock Holmes’ most faithful incarnation in the form of the brilliant Jeremy Brett. The first thirteen episodes of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes were first broadcast in 1984 not by the BBC, who had no interest in Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories anymore, but by ITV. Their production company Granada had put together a first class team of writers, directors and actors to bring the master detective to life in a way nobody had attempted before. Today’s article is a translated and expanded version of an earlier German review about the DVDs released by Koch Media in 2005, but it also is an introduction to Granada’s Sherlock Holmes and its history, which will soon continue in more articles about the further episodes and movies of the series.

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I would very much like to have written something about the new version of Cosmos with Neil deGrasse Tyson, which premieres this evening on American television, but sadly I don’t have access to any channels it airs on here from Germany. Because my thoughts on the new series will have to wait until a DVD release, instead I’m taking a look back at Carl Sagan’s original from 1980, which I had already reviewed a couple of years back in German. Today’s review is an improved translation of the original article mostly about the series itself, but also about the low-priced, but still amazing British DVD release. I know that Cosmos is available on Youtube somewhere, at least in countries where it is not blocked because of the music rights, but if you want to watch the series in the best quality possible, this DVD is the best alternative to the still extremely pricey US release.

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Originally, Pixar was not really keen on turning their hit movies into franchises, with the notable exception of Toy Story. This attitude has changed a lot over the last years and now a whole load of sequel seem to be arriving. Monsters University is one of them and even a movie that was actually not expected at all, arriving twelve years after its predecessor. Going for a prequel instead a sequel might have been a good idea, but unfortunately the movie’s dazzling visuals and entertaining characters are not able to weigh against the lack of good storytelling. It’s still a watchable movie though, but the Pixar magic is just not there. So the first completely new review of 2014 is, for once, not a fully positive one – even the DVD release is not all it could have been despite a flawless technical presentation.

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