Green Phoenix - The Hunt for Red October (1990) Review

 

The works of Tom Clancy have long been held as the pinnacle of Cold War and post-Cold War era political thrillers. While the works of Tom Clancy are known these days primarily for the Rainbow Six series of video games; during the 1990s, audiences were gifted with a trilogy of very high quality films. Filled with A-cast celebrities and featuring the highlights of late Cold War era politics and intrigue, the Jack Ryan trilogy, as it might sometimes be known, all started with 1984's The Hunt for Red October.

NOTE: I consider Sum of All Fears and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit to be reboots and not sequels.

Based on Tom Clancy's debut novel of the same name, the book and film achieved phenomenal success and catapulted Clancy to international notoriety. Clancy's masterful integration of hardcore science fiction and political thrillers created a tense exploration of the minds of two men. One, an infamous Soviet submarine Captain, and the other a former US marine turned CIA analyst. The struggle to understand each other's motives outside of direct communication and in direct contrast of the interest of their respective home nations create a true sense of thrill and anxiety.

But does the film hold up after nearly 30 years? Are the performances as good as I remember them from when I was growing up? And is the story just as exhilarating with the Cold War now only a fleeting memory in the mind of most moviegoers?

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Samurai Sentai Shinkenger Act 1: The Gallant Appearance of the Five Samurai - Summary/Review

Here is a team that made a big impression with their Power Rangers counterpart, Power Rangers Samurai. But, we are here to talk about the original japanese version from 2009. This season is considered one of the best by some critics and I have a lot of fond memories of it. So, click "read more" and let's see if it stood the test of time.

Green Phoenix - The Man with the Iron Heart Review

I have mentioned it several times before in my previous reviews of alternate history novels, but the genre as a whole has a fundamental issue at its heart. An author of alternate history must be able to balance an interesting and unique premise and point of divergence while at the same time not selecting a subject so esoteric that the general reading audience (which in America is woefully historically illiterate) won't be turned off or too bored.

For most alternate history authors, the solution is to pick a point of divergence and timeline that alters some event that is universally understood or known to American audiences, those two tending to be either the American Civil War or the Second World War. This results in these two time periods being the most discussed in the field of alternate history, almost to the point of parody. Even Harry Turtledove, the man widely considered the master of alternate history, has created dozens of stories based on these two time periods, immediately to great effect.

But today's review will cover one of Turtledove's more comparatively recent explorations into a WW2 point of divergence. In 2008's The Man with the Iron Heart, Turtledove explores not a Nazi victory in WW2,  but an altogether different, yet even more intriguing question. What if the survival of a single SS officer had enabled the creation of a more unified German resistance to the allied-occupation of Germany after World War 2? What would the impact be on Allied post-war sentiments at home?

These questions and their correlation to more modern wars like the Second Persian Gulf War form the thematic heart of The Man with the Iron Heart and it leaves this stand alone novel as easily one of Turtledove's most intriguing and underappreciated, in my opinion.

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Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters Mission 1: Tokumei Sentai, Assemble! - Summary/Review

Hey, fans of Power Rangers Beast Morphers, fun fact, those suits and footage are from 2012. Yup, time to cover the secret agent/eco friendly energy themed season, Tokumei Sentai G-Busters which roughly translates to Special Operations Squadron Go-Busters. This is the famous season to have major references to Power Rangers and the first to have leather suits instead of spandex. (And only season to do that I think.) I have a lot of memories with this season so, let's take a trip back to it, click "read more" and find out how this season did.

Ultraman Club - Tatakae! Ultraman Kyoudai!! (Arcade) Review.

It's about bloody time that we've covered something Ultraman related on this site.  Nope, it's not an episode from one of the television series.  (That job is reserved for UltraSam AKA Candy Cane Diamond.)  Instead I dive back into the amazing world of Tokusatsu arcade games.  This is Ultraman Club - Tatakae! Ultraman Kyoudai!!  It sounds exciting.  (Click on "Read More" to read the full review.)

Green Phoenix - 8 Amazing Anime Openings

I've always been fairly picky when it comes to the anime that I choose to watch. I have just had too many situations where I was uncomfortably surprised with an anime that I really didn't want to watch. This is particularly the case with anime that deals in horror elements, as I am a chickenshit coward when it comes to anything remotely scary, and Japanese anime can be very scary to me.

To avoid getting caught unaware, I often have to rely on the openings of the show in order to give me a good sense of the show's general nature and outlook. This has resulted in me oftentimes finding the openings of anime almost as entertaining as the show itself. Thus the reason for this particular countdown.

This will not be some exhaustive list of the greatest anime openings, but rather an opportunity for me to talk about some amazing anime openings and hopefully inspire you to check out some amazing anime if you haven't already.

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I Want Cookies (Steam) - PC Game Review

I Want Cookies

This is a game that was gifted to me as a joke on Steam and has since disappeared from the store. A game so simple it does not even have a title card. Click "read more" and prepare for one of the simplest reviews ever.