The One (DVD)

Advantages: Some excellent action sequences... at least it didn't star The Rock
Disadvantages: Err... almost everything else

Having recently joined the excellent www.dvdsontap.com, who charge a monthly fee rather than a set charge per rental, I have recently watched some DVD’s that I wouldn’t have forked out £3.50 to see but that sufficiently intrigued me to seem worth renting. Occasionally this approach can lead to discovering some remarkable films that, due to the whim of a studio or the fickle nature of cinema going public, may have slipped quietly from a deserved limelight. ...
...and the indifferent reviews and unblindingly average takings are merely a reflection of a film that fails to live up to its hype or promise. The One seems to have combined the TV Sliders with Highlander for its laughable premise and has tried to imitate the genre-defining Matrix in several of the action set pieces, the results are decidedly average. Where The Matrix slowly reveals its alternative reality, generating intrigue and suspense, The One ... Read review

Advantages: It's very short
Disadvantages: Just about everything!

...INTRODUCTION ---------------- Released in 2001, THE ONE is a short (84 minutes) action movie starring Jet Li. ---------------- THE PLOT ---------------- Rather than a single universe, there is a multiverse, which is many parallel universes existing side by side. Gabe Law (played by Jet Li) is a criminal who has discovered that by moving from one universe to another and killing his parallel selves, he gains more power and in effect becomes superhuman. ...
...he will become 'The One'. The plots involves him trying to do just this, as he is chased and opposed by two agents (played by Delroy Lindo and Jason Statham) whose orders are to bring him back alive. ------------------- THE MAIN CAST ------------------- Jet Li has a great many fans due to his many appearances in various Chinese martial arts films. His most famous and successful Chinese work is in the ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA series, where he ... Read review

Advantages: Great martial arts choreography
Disadvantages: Mix 'n' match of other action movies

...over a hundred movies, with the majority of them being classical Hong Kong cinema titles. In my mind, there are only a handful of modern martial arts movies that can stand-up to the classical ones and a very small percentage of them are from Hollywood. 'The One' is a movie that comes nowhere near the good martial art movies! 'The One' stars Jet Li, Delroy Lindo, Carla Gugino and Jason Statham. Now Jet Li is well known in the martial arts world for ...
...as it doesn't play down the skillfull martial arts or acting abilities of the characters. Jet Li is a great martial artist and has played historical figures and legends in his Hong Kong movies by combining his deadly skill and excellent acting abilities. 'The One' is a movie that tries to combine martial arts with a bucket load of CGI. So, what is it about? The movie is set in the future and Jet Li plays a twin role in this movie as evil Yulaw ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent SFX and story, great characters, great martial arts scenes.
Disadvantages: 0

'The One' really is the film to watch right now. Starring Jet Li, and Delroy Lindo, with superb direction by James Wong, this film pushes the boundaries in martial arts skills, Special FX, and science fiction all at once. There are many universes, collectively called the multiverse, and within each universe is another version of yourself, they look like you, sound like you, they are you, each of you shares the same essence, and if one of you dies, ...
...to prevent illegal travel between the universes, one day whilst policing the multiverse he unnavoidably has to kill another version of himself, from then on realising that he gets stronger everytime he kills another one of himself, he embarks on an insane journey to become 'The One' the only version of himself left in the multiverse, he can only do that by killing every other version of himself. Whilst being chased throughout the multiverse by his ... Read review

Advantages: Good SFX & Story Creativity
Disadvantages: SFX goes over the top a bit

Movie: The One Year: 2001 Industry Rating: 15 Classification: Action / Sci-fi Starring: Jet Li, Delroy Lindo, Carla Gugino, Jason Statham, James Morrison, Dylan Bruno Director: James Wong Rating: 7/10 Special Features: Commentary by Director and Crew, Theatrical Trailer(s), Making-of Featurette, Animatic Comparison Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1) Subtitle: English, French, Chinese, Korean, Thai Number of Discs: 1 Running Time: 87 ...
...presence The huge Martial-Arts Action Star ‘Jet Li’, came kicking onto my screen last week when I rented out ‘The One’. Jet Li has played both the goodie and the baddie in films in the past (Romeo Must Die (2000), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997), Black Mask (1996), High Risk (1995), Fist of Legend (1994), The Last Hero in China (1993), and many, many more), and in this film plays the ... Read review

Advantages: Awesome episodes - a classic t.v. sitcom produced to be as the original was
Disadvantages: not sharper image, no extras

...leg from the morge where he brought it home from one of his classes to write an essay on it. He decides to strap it to the front of his car instead in the 1st episode! The DVD is a simple set up and plays striaght on to the episodes, you can select play all, or view one by one. It contains the whole of series one of the young ones. The episodes are as follows; 1. Demolition. This is the first one ever and we see an intro duction to all the characters, including the landlord who has various other roles throughout the series. The basic plot appart from setting up and introducing characters is that the guys are living in their accomodation they have done for some time when one day they recieve a letter from the council informing them that their house is to be demolished. Naturally Vyvyan throws a tantrum and decides to beat them to the job... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A different take on a musician on the road, amusing and touching
Disadvantages: None!

...Introduction Glenn Tilbrook used to be a pretty big fish in the music business. Thirty years ago he was a member of Squeeze, a band hailed at their peak as "the next Beatles". Originating in Deptford, southeast London, they had a handful of huge hits and a smattering of lesser ones - many of which have become modern classics through inclusion on compilation albums and repeated radio play over the years. However the band last tasted chart success in the mid 1990s and broke up in 1999 leaving Tilbrook facing the launch of a solo career in middle age. Unable to afford to tour with a band, he took the decision to do acoustic tours, performing a mixture of old Squeeze favourites and his solo material in small venues, accompanied solely by his own guitar playing. Background Squeeze were relatively successful in the college radio... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: great serial drama
Disadvantages: none

...For some reason I missed this series when it was shown on BBC television and I started to watch some of the second series, but as I like to know what's what and who's who in these shows, I decided to stop watching Series 2 on tv, wait for it to come out on dvd and buy both Series 1 and 2 on dvd. I have just finished watching Series 1 on dvd and I can highly recommend it. The show is a great drama, it has romance, comedy, drama and everything all rolled into one. The show is written by Kay Mellor who has written many fantastic drama series, such as Fat Friends and Band of Gold. The cast reads like a who's who of tv stars and includes: Keith Barron - plays George Williams Gaynor Faye - plays his daughter Anna Nicola Stephenson - plays his daughter Sarah Michelle Holmes - plays his second wife Claudie Janet Dibley - plays... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful