Sunday 10 June 2012

Classical Visions #4 - First Blood


First Blood is a 1982 action thriller film directed by Ted Kotcheff. The film stars Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam War veteran, with Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy) as his nemesis and Colonel Samuel Trautman (Richard Crenna) as his former commander and only ally. It was released on October 22, 1982. Based on David Morrell's 1972 novel of the same name, it was the first of the Rambo series.


Unlike the sequels, which were war adventure films set in foreign countries, First Blood was a post-Vietnam War psychological thriller set in the United States. First Blood lacks the gore and violence that would become a trademark of the series.


Since its release, First Blood has been a critical and commercial success and has had a lasting influence on the genre. It has also spurred many parodies. The film is notable for its psychological portrayal of the after-effects of the Vietnam War, particularly the challenges faced by American veterans attempting to re-integrate into society, something not deeply examined in subsequent Rambo movies.


In 2008, the film was chosen by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.


One of the all time greats this movie, I grew up on this movie. I used to watch the old VHS tape all the time in the mid 90's, the music and the character is just so good, always stays in your mind and relate to it frequently. The sequels in this series just wasn't as good as the first one in my opinion, with each sequel just getting worse and worse. I don't think Stallone ever topped this performance in this movie. 
Even today the movie still goes very well, it doesn't feel dated at all. 


Tuesday 5 June 2012

Gaming Remembrance #7 - Uridium 2


Uridium 2 is a Shoot-'Em-Up game, developed and published by Graftgold, which was released in Europe in 1993.

Uridium fans had to wait some long 7 years for "their" Amiga version. It was well worth waiting I'd say these days, yet back then I had already bought me some 50MHz VGA PC when it finally arrived.
Basically Uridium 2 does to Uridium, what Paradroid 90 does to Paradroid. It's been all revamped, with all new'n'shiny sound and vision, Uridium on Steroids one might say.



Core gameplay is virtually identical to Uridium - fly over bi-directional horizontally scrolling dreadnoughts and destroy attack waves. Pretty simple stuff. This time though, there are numerous power-ups allowing the player to unleash all sorts of mayhem on both ground and flying targets. Once sufficient enemies have been destroyed, the player can then land on the dreadnought's runway and then enter the reactor. The reactor stage simply involves shooting the core while battling some rather tricky inertia.


Uridium 2 was a dead set ripper when it was released late 1993 on the Amiga. The gameplay, graphics and the music was right up there and really left an impression on me. Totally wooowww at the time, you had to be there! Fast gameplay, with great controls. One of the best shoot em ups at the time and probably still is. Smashed R-type and all that stuff.


The game gets really hard just over mid way through, I never finished Uridium 2. The original was a classic as well released in the 80's on the commodore 64, But I think Uridium 2 is where it's at. Everything is better in number 2.
Definitely don't make games like this anymore, Uridium 2 will live on forever for me!