Reviews (5)

I like this movie.
WARNING; THIS MOVIE MAY CAUSE A CHANGE OF HEART IN ITS VIEWERS. This is a great movie about a modern day prophet who is rejected byy his own people, but continues to spread the word. I give it a 4 1/2!

Best Civil Rights Film
This film really taps into the mind of the viewer, to learn more on this fascinating man. Beautifully portrayed by James Earl Jones. This is more than Oscar material, it's an influential medium for all .

a "must have" for anyone teaching the civil rights movement
Through the writing of Taylor Branch, I was first introduced to the brilliant Vernon Johns and his unacknowledged role in the civil rights movement. I subsequently read "Voices for the Dexter Pulpit" (ed. Michael Thurman) and the unpublished biography of Johns written by Henry W. Powell of The Vernon Johns Society. The brilliant performance by James Earl Jones is as close to written accounts as one would expect. This is a "must see" for anyone who teaches the civil rights movement. Provides for a great debate topic - Johns v. MLK - why did one succeed and the other not?

The Vernon Johns Story - The Road to Freedom and Awareness
If you want to see a movie that will wake you up, make you proud of your predecessors, and make you want to go out and do something constructive to improve the economic, spiritual and social status of black people, then this is the movie for you. James Earl Jones is superb as Vernon Johns, full of the essence of the word "love." Love is a verb, meaning to take action, not a feeling or some image of lust. Watch the movie with a friend, family member or someone who cares, and then go out and do something about it. Don't get excited about the movie and then do nothing about it. And don't think you are just one person and you will have no effect. Vernon Johns was one person and he paved the way for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights activists. Pave the way for a better community, county, state, nation and world. Thank you.

The story of a modern day prophet and Civil Rights hero.
A video based on the first chapter of Taylor Branch's Pulitzer Prize winning historical novel Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-1963. His first chapter is entitled "Forerunner: Vernon Johns." Dr. Johns was a brilliant black preacher and preceded Dr. King at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. A well told story of a modern day prophet, good actors, well done. If you want to learn more about the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement, see this movie and read Taylor Branch's book. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

tall, dark and sexy thriller
THE PSCYCHO LOVER PLOT IS GIVEN A SLIGHT TWIST HERE ,AS THE MAN IS THE ONE WHO JUST WONT TAKE NO AS AN ANSWER TO HIS FATAL ATTRACTION.JACK SCALIA PLAYS A VERY SEXY ROLE HERE, HIS GOOD LOOKS AND INSTANT WINNING SMILE MAKE HIM AN EASY LOVER FOR KIM DELANY TO GO WEAK AT THE KNEES FOR,BUT, ALL IS NOT AS IT SEEMS. THE PLOT HAS SOME GREAT THRILLING MOMENTS ,IF NOT TOTALLY UNEXPECTED, HOWEVER ENOUGH SEX APPEAL IS CREATED BETWEEN THE TWO LEADS TO MAKE THIS AN EROTIC THRILLER TO WATCH. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Stephen King's Golden Years
Well, King has strayed from his usual horror story genre to produce a little bit of TV mini-series heaven. Set in upstate New York, "Golden Years" is based around 70 year old Harlan Williams, a janitor working for a top secret government plant. He is accidently caught in an explosion from one of the labs where mad scientist Dr Todhunter was conducting 'regeneration' experiments. Over time, Harlan begins to notice sudden changes in his body. Brown hairs begin to reappear in the place of grey ones, his skin becomes softer, his eyes don't need glasses anymore! He begins to get younger. The accident causes some concern in the government, so the spooks are soon on the scene. Witnesses to what is happening to Harlan begin to disappear after the arrival of government agent Jude Andrews. The heads of the plant, Terri Spann and General Lewis Crewes, grow suspicious of the intentions of the people they have been working for and decide to get to the old man and his wife before the spooks do. A race across the states begins, Harlan and his wife flee for their lives while coping with the effects of his reverse ageing. This is a great little story, and had it not been rushed to an ending, it may have become a King classic. The original ending to the series finished on a cliff-hanger where Jude Andrews and his henchmen may have actually caught Harlan. It ended with the tag-line 'To Be Continued...' But the TV network was disappointed with viewing figures, so a new ending was shot, providing closure for this quite inventive story. The concept is great, the characters are brilliant (especially the play-off between old enemies Jude Andrews and Terri Spann as she manages to be one step ahead of him every time), it is just a shame that the final scene was so rushed. For die-hard sci-fi and King fans, it's definately worth a look.

Would have Been Five Stars, But.....
This movie was one fun ride. It was so very well done. The acting was so unique, the old man (getting younger) and his wife (who was also in Misery) were so perfect they could never have been better. The Terry chick was so cool, the way she'd pull her gun out to get what she wanted. The general, and the Andrews guy were both great characters, and all the supporting people were fantastic!

So, you may ask, why not five stars? Why have I lowered it from great to really good? Well, the ending. Everyone who's seen the movie remembers the ending. It's horrible! I've read about how different this is on TV, and the ending on the video and DVD is horribly quick and hazy, so very unsatisfactory that people may develop a knee-jerk reaction and go bash this movie. Don't. Aside from the horrid (and I mean HORRID) ending, the movie is a five star expierience. I was riveted in my seat, unable to leave my television set, it was that good!

I got this for Christmas in a Stephen King 5 Pack Collection (The Golden Years, Thinner, The langoliers, The Stand, Cujo), and loved it.

A lot of build up and then it just ends.
'The Golden Years' has a lot of build up and then it just kind of ends. I felt like I was cheated out of four hours of my life. What a disappointment.

Too choppy from the middle to the end
I saw the most of the original series when it came out years back but grew bored. When I was the DVD, I decide to buy it and see how it ended.

The first two hours on this DVD is great. I think it was the two-hour premiere. However, it goes downhill in the next two hours. Things were taken out that made the plot confusing and even worse some thing were left in that did not make the story flow. The last two hours are disjointed and for some reason goes away from the Protagonist. We don't see him.

The ending had to be re-done because the original ending was a cliffhanger for the following season. The ending totally reeks. It is really, really bad. You sit on your sofa for 4 hours and then it ends the way it did was he most disappointing of all.

Buy the Storm of the Century instead. That was four hours of chills.

Golden Years
Short N' Sweet
Good: The movie was mostly true to the series, very entertaining and not bad special effects. Not over played.
Bad: They cut the segment that showed how they group came up with the police car before the bus. They did not have enough of the theme by David Bowie as the series had.
Overall: I liked it and felt worth the bucks I spent for it. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Mimi vs. the Mob
I first saw this on Showtime when it came out as an original movie, and would try to catch it during repeats as it's quite good--not surprising since these made for paid-cable movies are usually better than their network counterparts. Mimi Rogers stars as Jackie, a middle-aged divorced mom who was once a coveted Vegas showgirl during her heyday as a beautiful young woman, but with her looks gone and the wealthy admirers that went with them gone also, the financially strapped Jackie now works a lousy part-time salesperson job at a casino shop while moonlighting as a call girl. As if this weren't enough, she also has to take care of and provide medication for her crusty mother Sarah (an alarmingly bloated but excellent Tyne Daly) and young son Adam, who has diabetes. One night Jackie manages to get what promises to be a lucrative trick named Mike, who turns out to be her worst nightmare when he humiliates her about her age and plays sadistic mind games, which culminates in a full-blown beating. Because she is a prostitute, Jackie naturally won't go to the cops and doesn't even confide in anyone as she is resigned to put it behind her and move on. Practical plan, but one problem--Mike won't let her. First, she gets fired from her badly needed dayjob when she comes in busted up (there's nothing like a black eye to turn off customers, right?). Then, when she tries to find another job she can't--Jackie later finds out this Mike guy has blackballed her. In a desperate attempt she gets in touch with Big Sam (Ray Walston), a connected guy and old flame of Sarah's, but he's too low-level to have any sway with Mike, who turns out to be a very big, bad man in town. Her life takes a turn for the better when she meets a decent young man she likes very much. But the last straw is when Mike threatens Adam, and Jackie turns into a pistol packin' mama since nobody can help her. I've never been a fan of Mimi Rogers but I thought she was fantastic since she really gets to show her stuff as she effectively goes through an array of emotions and makes one feel the humiliating experience of being a disillusioned, aging prostitute--men's eyes pass over her in favor of younger, prettier girls. I even get the feeling that Mike (and men like him) purposely summon aging prostitues every so often so he can get his kicks insulting them about their looks and age, which might not work as effectively on a nubile beauty. While not a violent movie per se, the beating scene was hard to take and the general undercurrent of violence throughout the movie is disturbing. This is ultimately a harrowing cautionary tale because once the looks, youth and opportunities are gone, in Jackie's path of prostitution there are no prince charmings or white knights and little glamour in this deceptively dazzling world of hardened competition, vindictive clients and constant humiliations.

Interesting movie
I really enjoyed this movie. It wasn't too overly violent, and it had a good plot. The acting was pretty good, Which is always an important factor. MiMi Rogers plays a wonderful roll of a prostitute who was badly beaten by a customer. Now the customer is out to ruin her life. Little did she know that he is a big name in her town, So not even the mob will help her. ... Read more

Reviews (34)

So good it's hard to believe it was a TV show
I was certainly sorry when Fox cancelled Millennium, but on the other hand, it's damn near miraculous that a show this intelligent, original, challenging and disturbing made it on to TV at all, let alone managed to survive for three seasons. I give this tape only four stars because although the series got off to an excellent start it didn't really hit its stride until the last third of the first season, when elements of the supernatural started creeping (and creep is definitely the operative word here) into it, and Millennium slowly transformed into the absolute best horror/fantasy/sf series ever. Although it was always just as much a drama, too. Forget TV, I can't even think of very many films in the genre that can touch this program for subtlty and smarts. For instance, in the brilliant episode "Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions," it becomes fairly apparent that one character is an angel and another is a man posessed by a demon, but nothing is ever explicitly indicated. Now, in pretty much any other show or film they'd hit you over the head with it. They'd probably have the demon-guy's eyes glow red when no one's looking or just have him outright state something that makes his identity unmistakable. They'd probably have the angel-guy sprout wings at some point. But Millennium was almost unique in the extent to which it always demonstrated unusual faith in the intelligence of its audience. And I'd like to add my voice to the chorus clamoring here for the release of the series on DVD, just in case anyone from Fox happens by.

Please FOX, release Millennium on DVD
I agree with what many others have said, Millennium is by far one of the best shows ever made. FOX has made a habit of killing great TV series (Firefly is another example of that). I hope FOX will realize that there is a huge following for this show and release all three seasons in the ultimate DVD box set!!!!!!!!!!!!

Millennium was the best show
Why they took Millennium off the air I will never know. I looked forward to the show every Friday night. Fox should have let it go on to at least the year 2000 like it was meant to be. Please bring out a boxed set.

Millenniun TV Fox Series
I thought the Millenium on Fox was the best SFi/adventure series on TV,I actually started to like it more than the X-Files series. I never knew that it was being taken off the air untill I waited for it to come back on in the Fall season and to my dismay it did not. It would be nice if the Sc-Fi channel would become interested in it and started a new series. Chris Carter have you thought about "reinventing it on a channel like the Sci-Fi channel". My comments will probably go by the wayside...but just maybe some how "Out there" someone will think about the possibilities of bringing it back. Signed, "Misser of the Best Sci-Fi/Adventure on TV", KarlBuzz

Millenium TV Series Deserves to be on DVD
I'm adding my voice to the list of others here who have expressed their interest in seeing the Millenium TV series brought to DVD.

I read just over a year ago on www.digitalbits.com (http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/120202htfchat.html) that Millenium may be coming to DVD, however, I have yet to find any additional information on this topic.

I loved this series and was very sad to see it come to such a sudden end. If it ever makes it to DVD, I'll be there to buy it. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Stephen King's Golden Years
Well, King has strayed from his usual horror story genre to produce a little bit of TV mini-series heaven. Set in upstate New York, "Golden Years" is based around 70 year old Harlan Williams, a janitor working for a top secret government plant. He is accidently caught in an explosion from one of the labs where mad scientist Dr Todhunter was conducting 'regeneration' experiments. Over time, Harlan begins to notice sudden changes in his body. Brown hairs begin to reappear in the place of grey ones, his skin becomes softer, his eyes don't need glasses anymore! He begins to get younger. The accident causes some concern in the government, so the spooks are soon on the scene. Witnesses to what is happening to Harlan begin to disappear after the arrival of government agent Jude Andrews. The heads of the plant, Terri Spann and General Lewis Crewes, grow suspicious of the intentions of the people they have been working for and decide to get to the old man and his wife before the spooks do. A race across the states begins, Harlan and his wife flee for their lives while coping with the effects of his reverse ageing. This is a great little story, and had it not been rushed to an ending, it may have become a King classic. The original ending to the series finished on a cliff-hanger where Jude Andrews and his henchmen may have actually caught Harlan. It ended with the tag-line 'To Be Continued...' But the TV network was disappointed with viewing figures, so a new ending was shot, providing closure for this quite inventive story. The concept is great, the characters are brilliant (especially the play-off between old enemies Jude Andrews and Terri Spann as she manages to be one step ahead of him every time), it is just a shame that the final scene was so rushed. For die-hard sci-fi and King fans, it's definately worth a look.

Would have Been Five Stars, But.....
This movie was one fun ride. It was so very well done. The acting was so unique, the old man (getting younger) and his wife (who was also in Misery) were so perfect they could never have been better. The Terry chick was so cool, the way she'd pull her gun out to get what she wanted. The general, and the Andrews guy were both great characters, and all the supporting people were fantastic!

So, you may ask, why not five stars? Why have I lowered it from great to really good? Well, the ending. Everyone who's seen the movie remembers the ending. It's horrible! I've read about how different this is on TV, and the ending on the video and DVD is horribly quick and hazy, so very unsatisfactory that people may develop a knee-jerk reaction and go bash this movie. Don't. Aside from the horrid (and I mean HORRID) ending, the movie is a five star expierience. I was riveted in my seat, unable to leave my television set, it was that good!

I got this for Christmas in a Stephen King 5 Pack Collection (The Golden Years, Thinner, The langoliers, The Stand, Cujo), and loved it.

A lot of build up and then it just ends.
'The Golden Years' has a lot of build up and then it just kind of ends. I felt like I was cheated out of four hours of my life. What a disappointment.

Too choppy from the middle to the end
I saw the most of the original series when it came out years back but grew bored. When I was the DVD, I decide to buy it and see how it ended.

The first two hours on this DVD is great. I think it was the two-hour premiere. However, it goes downhill in the next two hours. Things were taken out that made the plot confusing and even worse some thing were left in that did not make the story flow. The last two hours are disjointed and for some reason goes away from the Protagonist. We don't see him.

The ending had to be re-done because the original ending was a cliffhanger for the following season. The ending totally reeks. It is really, really bad. You sit on your sofa for 4 hours and then it ends the way it did was he most disappointing of all.

Buy the Storm of the Century instead. That was four hours of chills.

Golden Years
Short N' Sweet
Good: The movie was mostly true to the series, very entertaining and not bad special effects. Not over played.
Bad: They cut the segment that showed how they group came up with the police car before the bus. They did not have enough of the theme by David Bowie as the series had.
Overall: I liked it and felt worth the bucks I spent for it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The edgy, intense Homicide: Life on the Street earned its reputation as the best show on TV from the very beginning. In the pilot episode, "Gone for Goode," rookie detective Tim Bayliss (Kyle Secor) walks into the squad room of Baltimore's elite and smack into his first case, the murder of 11-year-old girl Adina Watson, a crime that will haunt Bayliss throughout the series. Oscar-winning director and series executive producer Barry Levinson helms this episode himself, establishing the nervous, energetic camera work, the bickering camaraderie of the homicide squad, and the meticulous attention to police detail that defined the series. He won an Emmy for his efforts. The third season episode "Every Mother's Son" guest stars Sean Nelson (Fresh) as a cold juvenile killer who couldn't care less that he murdered an innocent boy, while the mothers of victim and killer unknowingly meet in the station waiting room. The final episode in the set, "A Doll's Eye" from the fourth season, is a quiet, introspective look at the parents of a boy left brain-dead by a stray bullet who are dealing with their grief while under pressure to make a decision that could save another child through the organ donor program. Mandy Patinkin make an uncredited cameo as his Chicago Hope doctor. This set lacks the coherent thread that pulled the episodes together on a weekly basis, but it displays the series' range like a candy sampler, and the uniformly excellent episodes are worth seeing under any circumstance. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (16)

DVD?
Simply put, Homicide was a flawless series. The cast, scripts, cinematography...it all just came together. I think it was cancelled because of poor scheduling choices, and because it was so intense. That said, there is a huge number of diehard fans out there...so when is somebody going to wake up and start releasing the episodes (all of them!) on dvd as is done for The Twilight Zone? Court TV is a start, but I want the whole series at my fingertips...I think the series, and we, the fans, deserve it.

The crash-course on Homicide: Life on the Street
Typically if I want to get a friend's reaction to my favorite drama ever, I'll have them sit down and watch these three episodes with me. They represent some of the finest acting and cinematography I've seen in quite some time.

1) The Pilot: "Gone for Goode" - It's Tim Bayliss' (Kyle Secor) first day on the Homicide Unit commanded by Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) and the introduction to the cast of characters begins: John Munch (Richard Belzer), the cynical jaded but dedicated cop partnered with the "close to retirement" Stan Bolander (Ned Beatty), Meldrick Lewis (Clark Johnson) is partnered with Steve Crosetti (Jon Polito) and Kay Howard (Melissa Leo) is partnered with Beau Felton (Daniel Baldwin). The wildcard in the unit is Frank Pembleton, the unit's best detective who likes to work alone. Lewis and Crosetti investigate a shooting that might lead to solving 5 more murders (and making them look like heros), Munch is coerced into opening up an accidental death that Bolander thinks was a murder. And Bayliss gets paired up with Pembleton during a murder of an older guy in a hotel and learns firsthand that what he's taught in the classroom doesn't hold up in the real world.

Some famous lines:
Bolander: "She was murdered John, you have to speak for her"
--
Howard: "Homicide? We work for God"
--
Munch: "I've been murder police for ten years. If you're going to lie to me, you lie to me with respect."
--
Crosetti: "That's the problem with this job. It's got nothin' to do with life."

2) "Every Mother's Son" - Bayliss and Pembleton investigate the murder of a 14 year old boy at a bowling alley to find out another 14 year old boy shot him. The shooter thinks he should go because he killed the wrong guy. The mother's killer and the mother of the victim unknowingly meet up and talk for a long period of time in the squad room. Pembleton gets disillusioned about ever having children if they grow up in a world like this.

3) "A Doll's Eye" - Bayliss and Pembleton get involved in a shooting of a boy at a mall. The boy ends up brain dead and the parents struggle with taking the boy off of life support and placing his organs in the organ donor registry to save other children's lives. Marcia Gay Hayden's portrayal of the little boy's mom will have you in tears. It's a quiet episode that focuses on the victims and the struggles that they have to face.

Nothing Else Like It On TV Or The Big Screen!
Anyone that has ever seen this top quality crime drama would agree that there has never been anything else like HOMICIDE on television or the big screen!

This show, in reruns, is as powerful, moving, thought provoking, and at times humorous, as it was during its first run on NBC during the 90's.

EVERY...and I do mean EVERY character leaps off the page with realism and charisma, thanks in part to those who put pen to paper and wrote the lines, and also to the amazing actor who breathed life into the well written scripts.

The early shows are by far the best! And that you will see on this video. Pembelton and Balis, Andre Braugher and Kyle Secor, were televisions definitive dynamic duo. I believe that they, and the other cast members, set a standard for ensemble casts that will never be beat. (A few of the cast members that joined the show towards the end of its run were not as powerful as the original actors, but that didn't stop the show from delivering quality episodes.)

Others have suggested NBC release all of the episodes on DVD and I agree! This was truly MUST SEE TV and for what ever reason the network couldn't see it. (This show is timeless and I would love to see it resurrected, perhaps on cable TV! Are you listening HBO?)

HOMICIDE - Life On The Street is without a doubt is the best television show to date! Kudos to all responsible for bridging it to life, to Court TV for airing it in reruns, and to Amazon.com for bring the series to its fan via VHS and DVD!

Great TV, Great Location
I moved to Baltimore by about Homicide's 3rd season. I had seen a few episodes and was annoyed by the jittery camera work. After living in Baltimore for a few months, and after being forced to watch a few episodes, I was entranced by both the show and the city. Homicide transcends the typical "place-less" show (TV or cinema--is Frasier really a Seattle show? I think not) because it weaves people, events, and emotions in a solid geography. I believe people were--and are still--hooked on this show because it has so much personality and charisma. Baltimore is a town with history, charm, quirks, character, meloncholy, cynicism, evil, joy, and warmth. Homicide captured that and slowly spoon fed it to viewers episode by episode. I don't think most viewers were aware of it, but it happened and it was addictive. To me, the drama, joy, and pain of Homicide is the drama, joy, and pain of the City of Baltimore and its citizens. Only one question remains: where are the Homicide DVDs??

The Best of the Best
After HILL STREET BLUES and ST ELSEWARE I thought network TV had lost it, the came HOMICIDE:LIFE ON THE STREET. It is the best of the best, my only regret is that ther aren't more of the episodes available. Someone tell NBC that they are missing out on a gold mine. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Stephen King's Golden Years
Well, King has strayed from his usual horror story genre to produce a little bit of TV mini-series heaven. Set in upstate New York, "Golden Years" is based around 70 year old Harlan Williams, a janitor working for a top secret government plant. He is accidently caught in an explosion from one of the labs where mad scientist Dr Todhunter was conducting 'regeneration' experiments. Over time, Harlan begins to notice sudden changes in his body. Brown hairs begin to reappear in the place of grey ones, his skin becomes softer, his eyes don't need glasses anymore! He begins to get younger. The accident causes some concern in the government, so the spooks are soon on the scene. Witnesses to what is happening to Harlan begin to disappear after the arrival of government agent Jude Andrews. The heads of the plant, Terri Spann and General Lewis Crewes, grow suspicious of the intentions of the people they have been working for and decide to get to the old man and his wife before the spooks do. A race across the states begins, Harlan and his wife flee for their lives while coping with the effects of his reverse ageing. This is a great little story, and had it not been rushed to an ending, it may have become a King classic. The original ending to the series finished on a cliff-hanger where Jude Andrews and his henchmen may have actually caught Harlan. It ended with the tag-line 'To Be Continued...' But the TV network was disappointed with viewing figures, so a new ending was shot, providing closure for this quite inventive story. The concept is great, the characters are brilliant (especially the play-off between old enemies Jude Andrews and Terri Spann as she manages to be one step ahead of him every time), it is just a shame that the final scene was so rushed. For die-hard sci-fi and King fans, it's definately worth a look.

Would have Been Five Stars, But.....
This movie was one fun ride. It was so very well done. The acting was so unique, the old man (getting younger) and his wife (who was also in Misery) were so perfect they could never have been better. The Terry chick was so cool, the way she'd pull her gun out to get what she wanted. The general, and the Andrews guy were both great characters, and all the supporting people were fantastic!

So, you may ask, why not five stars? Why have I lowered it from great to really good? Well, the ending. Everyone who's seen the movie remembers the ending. It's horrible! I've read about how different this is on TV, and the ending on the video and DVD is horribly quick and hazy, so very unsatisfactory that people may develop a knee-jerk reaction and go bash this movie. Don't. Aside from the horrid (and I mean HORRID) ending, the movie is a five star expierience. I was riveted in my seat, unable to leave my television set, it was that good!

I got this for Christmas in a Stephen King 5 Pack Collection (The Golden Years, Thinner, The langoliers, The Stand, Cujo), and loved it.

A lot of build up and then it just ends.
'The Golden Years' has a lot of build up and then it just kind of ends. I felt like I was cheated out of four hours of my life. What a disappointment.

Too choppy from the middle to the end
I saw the most of the original series when it came out years back but grew bored. When I was the DVD, I decide to buy it and see how it ended.

The first two hours on this DVD is great. I think it was the two-hour premiere. However, it goes downhill in the next two hours. Things were taken out that made the plot confusing and even worse some thing were left in that did not make the story flow. The last two hours are disjointed and for some reason goes away from the Protagonist. We don't see him.

The ending had to be re-done because the original ending was a cliffhanger for the following season. The ending totally reeks. It is really, really bad. You sit on your sofa for 4 hours and then it ends the way it did was he most disappointing of all.

Buy the Storm of the Century instead. That was four hours of chills.

Golden Years
Short N' Sweet
Good: The movie was mostly true to the series, very entertaining and not bad special effects. Not over played.
Bad: They cut the segment that showed how they group came up with the police car before the bus. They did not have enough of the theme by David Bowie as the series had.
Overall: I liked it and felt worth the bucks I spent for it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"The Subway" became the most celebrated episode of the sixth season of Homicide: Life on the Street. A showcase for Andre Braugher's Frank Pembleton, the squad's tetchy, intense, brilliant detective, it takes place almost entirely in the subway and focuses on the relationship between Pembleton and the dying victim of a gruesome subway platform accident (guest star Vincent D'Onofrio), who's not expected to live out the hour. It garnered lavish praise from TV critics across the U.S., earned two Emmy nominations (including one for D'Onofrio), and won the prestigious Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting. Little did documentary director Theodore Bogosian know what was in store when he began his made-for-public TV special Anatomy of a Homicide, a detailed look at the creation of the episode from idea through script and production to broadcast. You get it all: script conferences, location scouting, special-effects challenges (how do you portray a man convincingly trapped by a tram and twisted like taffy?), the clip from the HBO series Taxicab Confessions that inspired the story, and a privileged look at network politics. It's an inspired pairing for the video debut of the series, a fine introduction for new viewers, and the equivalent of a coffee-table video album for the faithful. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Television drama at its very best!
If you're reading this, chances are you're already a fan of Homicide to some degree. Some early fans of the show became disenchanted with the program as its run on NBC progressed, feeling that it became more conventional. While it's true that the show's later seasons used less of the stirring camera-work which was the show's visual trademark in the early episode, the stories told were no less compelling.

A case in point is season six's "The Accident" or as it's commonly known "the subway episode." When a commuter becomes pinned between a subway train and the platform, detectives Tim Bayliss and Frank Pembleton are called in, because the accident victim is alsmost certainly going to die. As Bayliss tries to determine what caused the accident, Pembleton (as played by Emmy-winner Andre Braugher) forms an uneasy bond with the victim (played by Vincent D'Onofrio). With Homicide, the focus was always less on what the detectives revealed about their cases and more on what the detectives revealed about themselves as human beings.

Of all Homicide's detectives none showed us more of what was good and bad about human beings than Frank Pembleton. In the context of the show, Pembleton was not only the best investigator in the squad, he was also the moral center, a good man whose sense of right and wrong never fails, soemone who will always remain on the right side of that line even if it means offending those who care about him. As he tries to comfort the victim whom he knows is about to die, Pembleton confronts his own beliefs and notions of faith and goodness. The interplay between the two characters is as insightful, gripping and well-written as anything committed to film in years, and more than anything this is probably the episode which earned Andre Braugher his Emmy award.

This episode also went on to win the Peabody award and was the subject of a fascinating documentary called "Anatomy of a Homicide." In addition to focusing on the specifics of writing and producing "the subway episode," it is also an intriguing window into the politics of television network programming. That documentary is available on this tape along with the full episode. Homicide never quite got its due during its network run, but the availability of these two productions may help redress that balance.

A phenomenal study in human behavour
This episode alone is the best HOMICIDE I've ever seen. Barring the undeniably brilliant perfomances by Vincent D'Onofrio and Andre Braugher, the story is captivating and the tensions sweet torture! The difficulty of knowing a man is going to die and the struggle to do his job as a cop and so much more... What an episode! That aside, as I said, the documentary is a real view of the politics of network television and the complete bliss of getting what you want. They had a great guest star, a script that worked, and a producer/writer determined to get what he wanted! Just great, a MUST for HOMICIDE or D'Onofrio fans!

Stunning Work!
This is extraordinary acting - vincent D'Onofrio, Andre Braugher (always fabulous in this series) and the other great "Homicide" cast - but this story is amazing. Seemed almost more like a stage production than film/television. I saw the story as a metaphor - life, death, the meaning, the randomness versus design of it all, responsibility/lack thereof, the train....all of it. Extremely powerful in every way. Original, powerful, brilliant work.

An episode worthy of inclusion in anyone's video library!
"Homicide: Life on the Streets" was always a favorite of the critics, but it never garnered the ratings success that it so fittingly deserved. Featuring one of the most gifted ensemble casts ever put together (especially the brilliant Andre Braugher with exemplary support from Yaphet Kotto, Kyle Secor and Clark Johnson), "Homicide" should still be on NBC's schedule, right there with the respective "Law & Order's" and "ER".

If one episode clearly exemplifies the intensity and the quality of the series' writing, as well as the skills of the actors, it is "Subway". Braugher gets to run the gamut of his emotions as he deals with the hopeless situation of guest star Vincent D'onofrio, also giving an award winning turn as the trapped commuter.

The episode is a nail-biter and a prime example of what television should be.

Most compelling dramatic anything I've ever seen
I have never had such a visceral reaction to any piece of drama, live or on big screen or small.

I'd long been a Homicide fan, so I was well aware of Andre Braugher's skill, but Vincent D'Onofrio's performance was a revelation. His character is Everyschmuck, the Bud Lite-swilling blowhard found in any bar on any Saturday night, under-tipping the bartender and copping a feel from the cocktail waitress.

But as he slowly discovers his fate, he strips away his schmuckness in layers, like an onion, with Braugher's Pembleton as Father Confessor and keeper of the knowledge that he is doomed. Together they reveal the character's essential humanity and vulnerability.

Pembleton is our surrogate, I think, because he doesn't like this guy much either, but goes in to do his job, and is eventually touched by him, as we are.

My words are feeble. Just see it. ... Read more