de3206 Reviews

Monroe (2011–2012)

James Nesbitt makes thee show

[8/10 · 29 June 2018]

Despite people claiming it is only a British knock off of the US series, "House" (the creator admits he was inspired by the series, so there is no skullduggery), I am a big fan, and wish they had made more.

It is only like "House",in that it is a hospital drama.

Nesbitt plays Monroe, and unlike "House", he is not a neurotic and not addicted to pain killers.

He is a delightful fellow, with the same problems as anyone else, and has a fun pleasant sense of humor, not acerbic and ogomaniacal like "House".

I loved "House", don't get me wrong, and as an American I might be expected to be the first to cry "foul".

But I don't, because "Monroe" is original, funny, and Nesbitt makes it a joy to watch.

The Weapon Hunter (2015– )

Fantastic Weapons, Awful host

[1/10 · 27 February 2017]

I am an amateur military history buff, particularly WW1 and WW2.

I love the restored weapons displayed on the show, seeing them brought back from the junkyard and fired once again, though not in anger.

But the host is one of the most obnoxious people I have ever seen. It's not that, as another reviewer put it, he's some southern redneck who loves to run around shooting things. Who wouldn't love a chance to fire a quad .50 or a Pak 40, just to hear and see it.

It's the ridiculous reenactments he does, the pointless trips all over the place in search of spare parts, when a telephone call would do.

I have watched other, similar shows hosted by gun dealers/collectors, who present the show as it should be done. An explanation of the weapon's history and creation, where and when it was in use, some not too technical stuff about the inner workings of the weapon.

Some facts and figures, comparisons to like weapons of Its day, it's predecessors.

If they would get rid of the stupid "I'll travel the world to find this part", and get a host that wasn't, for lack of a better term, an annoying goof, I'd rate the show an 8 and never miss an episode.

But the host is SO annoying I can't stand to watch it, despite it being a topic I love.

The World at War (1973–1974)

THE Definitive Workd War 2 Documentary

[10/10 · 2 February 2017]

Many, many documentaries have been made about WW2, but NONE approach its completeness, nor its thoroughness in explaining the War in its entirety.

It is a HUGELY ambitious undertaking, in its attempt to take the average viewer, not just historians, through the conflict step by step, decision by decision, battle by battle.

It succeeds BRILLIANTLY in all of its endeavors, and as other reviewers have said, a rating of TEN does not do it justice.

It painstakingly gathers archival footage, documents, letters....from all over the world and puts them back together in a way that belies the monumental effort involved.

If you watch this, then "Victory at Sea", which focuses on the War in the Pacific, and includes a magnificent musical score, you will know more about WW2 than 99% of the people on the planet.

I have run out of superlatives for this series. There has been nothing like it before, and nothing like it sense.

It should be viewed as a an international treasure, kept forever available by some means, for all future generations. I can think of no other cinematic creation with its importance.

Great Planes: F4 Phantom (2009) Season 2, Episode 2

Total Ripoff

[3/10 · 29 January 2017]

There is a REAL documentary on this plane, the F4 Phantom II. 90% of the footage is exactly the same as the 1 hour, 5 minute documentary, and the dialog is at least 80% the same, not just in meaning or topics covered, but WORD FOR WORD.

To some extent I understand the footage, the airplane is 50 years old, and only so much survives, but to take ALL of your footage from that original documentary, edit it down to 40 minutes, and add 5 minutes of newly shot footage (with former F4 pilots), and then call it a "new episode" is shameful.

This episode is the first and last of this series I'll watch, because I suspect the others are just cut down pieces of better ones.

I'm sure the original was mentioned in credits somewhere, so it's perfectly legal, but I just find it distasteful. When 90+% of your "creation" was put together by someone else, there should be better disclosure.

Commanders at War (2009– )

Don't watch, if you want accuracy rather than entertainment

[3/10 · 27 December 2016]

I have read, and watched, a GREAT DEAL about WW2, and I have never seen ANYTHING so historically inaccurate fobbing itself as a documentary EVER.

I gave up after the historical errors became so blatant and numerous, that after 2 episodes I couldn't take it.

At Midway, it states the Yorktown took 24 hours to be made seaworthy after the battle of the Coral Sea. It was not, more like 48. They claim the combat flight tactic, the Thatch Weave, was never used before Midway. The show presents as an ad hoc tactic, developed at the spur of the moment. It was not. It was a thoroughly rehearsed maneuver designed to maximize the Wildcat's strengths, against a more agile Japanese Zero.

In the Battle of the Bulge episode, It says Bradley hated Montgomery deeply. They are mistaking him for Patton. It also says Bradley was reluctant to ask for Patton's help in the Bulge, because it was Bradley's sector. Totally untrue. Bradley was skeptical that Patton could turn 180 degrees, and reach Bastogne in 48 hours. That's a totally different issue.

They claim the US bazooka could defeat a Tiger tank, neglecting to mention it would have to be a very lucky shot at very short range.

There are just so many historical inaccuracies, that for a someone who has spent as much time as I have watching and reading everything I could get my hands on about WW2 (my Dad was a combat Marine, 4th Marine Division, Kwajalein, Tinian, Saipan, Iwo Jima) it was not watchable.

Full of silly demonstrations that if you shoot an explosive pellet into gasoline, it will burn. How informative. Another brilliant demonstration showed how CO2 could put out a candle. Mrs. Parker taught me that in 3rd grade.

It's a real disappointment, because new material about the war is getting less and less as memories fade, and veterans pass away

The Brokenwood Mysteries (2014– )

Nice, fun copper show

[8/10 · 18 December 2016]

I like this show because it isn't the shoot 'em up, everyone is having an affair with someone on the Force type of show, like almost all US cop shows are nowadays.

Every other episode isn't about some terrorist plot (in fact none, so far).

It DOES bear comparing to Midsommer, in the sense that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Good mysteries, without the ridiculous twists and turns. I like the shows where at the end, you can say "yep, that's the bad guy, and looking back, it makes sense how they got there and why he/she did it"

I detest the ones where I end up instead with "WTF?"

It's better than the new Midsommer, with what's his face and what's his name, but I think not as good as the old Midsommers, and not up there with Lewis either. Much better than the old Morse though.

But I like it, and I'm a huge copper show fan (except US ones, though I live here).

Foyle, Lewis, Midsommer, Gently, Frost, Vera

I hope they keep it running. A unique setting, well acted, well written.

Shetland (2013– )

Very well done, BEAUTIFUL landscapes.

[8/10 · 20 October 2016]

If you like Hinterland, or really any British copper show, you'll like this.

The UK shows leave you to the story, to think it through, without constant gun play, which to me seems like filler...it adds little to the actual plot, but takes up a minute or two every time so you don't have to focus on the plot, or the characters. And (so far) you don't have to deal with this cop is having an affair with another ones wife who is sleeping with another cops uncle whose sister was kidnapped.......all just cr*p to distract you from the fact that the whodunnit you hoped to watch isn't really very well done.

I like this one because, like Hinterland, it explores a different series of insular communities, with personalities of their own, and uses a small, close team in a very small, resource thin police department.

No high speed chases with lines of cars, sirens screaming, lights flashing, helicopters about.....no distractions. It's just good old fashioned story telling with a lead copper well played by Douglas Henshaw.

And like Hinterland, and Vera, some beautiful scenery and plenty of odd characters, who appear as suspects, but are just odd.

As I said, I'm a huge fan of British Crime drama (Scandinavian too). This is up there in my ratings, not as good as Lewis, or Foyle, but miles above most US shows these days.

We've only got the first season in the US so far......looking forward to the rest.

Dalziel and Pascoe: Deadheads (1997) Season 2, Episode 3

Deadheads

[17 October 2016]

This is one of my favorite episodes. Lots of twists and turns that seem to come together at various points, but then you get led down a different path.

Unlike most copper shows, this on does not gently lead you by the hand, and I love that at the end you're left to draw your own conclusions.

Were all the deaths a remarkable, seemingly impossible set of coincidences, or was there a guiding hand behind all of them?

Common sense tells you it HAS to be a single person at work, but it seems impossible.

Was it Patrick? Or his Mom? Or both? Or unrelated in any way. Or were some related, others not?

It leaves you with a range of possibilities, and never fills in the gaps. Some people might find it frustrating...."Well who DID do it, and how?"

I found it refreshing.

Jack the Ripper: Prime Suspect (2011 TV Movie)

Just Plain Awful

[1/10 · 7 October 2016]

This just another one of those "documentaries" whose title catches your eye, but as you go through it, the "investigation" leads down one blind alley then another.

DNA test of the shawl purportedly belonging to one of the victims. It's so valuable, it's kept at a secret location, which turns out to be what appears to be an empty house with paint peeling off the walls. How do we know it's a victims shawl? Because the guy that owns it says so. Is there any usable DNA? No.

Handwriting analysis of a Ripper letter and the suspects. Are they a match? Inconclusive.

DNA analysis from the back of a stamp that "will blow the investigation wide open". It's female DNA

But there's PROOF!!! If you add a couple of things, the suspect matches an FBI profile. But so do thousands of males in the U.K. in the 19th century.

Don't bother. Seriously.

Jericho (2005)

Mediocre

[6/10 · 7 October 2016]

I am a big fan of U.K. (and Scandinavian) copper shows. The characters seem to have more depth and the British producers seem to realize that most of the population does not look like fashion models or magazine covers, unlike my US shows, where only the bad guys are not physically attractive. I like that, it makes the characters feel more real.

My favorite shows of all time are from the U.K. Foyle's War, George Gently, Midsommer Murders, Inspector Lewis......

But this one leaves me flat. It is slow paced, and the investigations seem to wander about, and at the end I don't get the "Aha!" moment, where it all comes together, and you finally put the pieces together along with the show detective(s).

I'm really disappointed, because US TV has gotten SO bad and so predictable, I can't even watch the old US shows that I enjoyed.

No offense to those that enjoyed it, but I can see why there is only one season listed on IMDb. And I'm not watching PBS, I'm watching via Acorn, which I've never known to resort to crass editing for the sake of time or some imagined inappropriate content.