Doctor Who - The Five Doctors (Episode 130)

Amazon.com

Yes, "The Five Doctors" is the one that gathers together Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee, Baker, and Davison, dumps them on some moorland, and lets some of the Doctor's greatest enemies take potshots at them. Except, of course, William Hartnell had passed on by the time this series was made in 1983 (although his replacement Richard Hurndall does an excellent job), and Tom Baker was only featured as a patched-in cameo, apparently prevented from joining in by a temporal thingummy. However, this kind of creakiness comes with the territory and is soon forgotten. The assorted incarnations of the Doctor (together with a scattering of assistants) are drawn together through time and space to battle Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti--those weird androids that keep jumping into the air and disappearing--and many other old foes. They realize that they're on their home planet of Gallifrey and must eventually deal with the legacy of Rassilon, founder of the Time Lords. --Roger Thomas

Description

THE FIVE DOCTORS - "I am being diminished, whittled away piece by piece. A man is the sum of his memories you know, a Time Lord even more so." Someone is taking the Doctor's past selves out of time and space, placing in a vast wilderness - a battle arena with a sinister tower at its center. As the various incarnations of the Doctor join forces, they learn they are in the Death Zone on their home world of Gallifrey, fighting Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti - and a devious Time Lord Traitor who is using the Doctor and his companions to discover the ancient secrets of Rassilon, the first and most powerful ruler of Gallifrey.The Five Doctors was originally broadcast to celebrate the Twentieth Anniversary of Doctor Who in 1983. This new version of the story features extended scenes, previously unseen sequences, new visual effects and a stereo soundtrack. Not intended as a replacement for the original edition of the story, this is an alternative version which uses state-of-the-art technology to embellish and enlarge one of the greatest Doctor Who adventures ever.
THE KING'S DEMONS - "We sing in praise of total war; against the Saracen we abhor" It is thirteenth century England, and King John is visiting the castle stronghold of Sir Ranulf Fitzwilliam. Ranulf's personal fortune has dwindled away, freely donated to Kin John to help fund the Crusade. While staying with Ranulf, the King's greed is criticized by the baron's head-strong son, Hugh. As a result, Hugh is challenged to a duel by the monarch's enigmatic French Knight-at-Arms, Sir Giles Estram, a duel the young Englishman has little hope of surviving.When the TARDIS materializes and disturbs the joust, the Doctor's party are proclaimed friendly demons by the King, who seems strangely interested in their "blue engine." Before long the Doctor becomes embroiled in court politics, and he realizes that there is far more to the situation than a simple battle of honor between nobles.

DVD Features:
Deleted Scenes
Music Only Track

Customer Reviews:

Really fun video.......2007-08-24

I got this for my husband who is a long time Dr Who fan. He was a little disapointed, not enough Tom Baker!

"To lose is to win, and he who wins shall lose.".......2007-07-10

It pains me greatly to give any "Doctor Who" DVD less than four stars. I love this show, and in my biased and embarrassingly overenthusiastic way consider "Doctor Who" at its worst to be light years ahead of most shows at their best. Unfortunately, if I needed an actual sample to test that theory, "The Five Doctors" would fit the bill nicely.

First of all, the entire concept is unoriginal. This is a cardinal sin, for originality is the lifeblood of "Doctor Who" and is what has kept it going for decades--without it, we wouldn't have been celebrating the show's twentieth anniversary in 1983 at all (as "The Five Doctors" is meant to do). And yet instead of celebrating by coming up with something new, the producers and creative staff rested on their laurels it seems and just rehashed the very creative and innovative tenth anniversary story "The Three Doctors"--only adding in more and more stuff, proving that there really can be too much of a good thing.

Second of all, the title is a blatant case of false advertising. William Hartnell, rest his soul, had shuffled off his mortal coil years before, and there is simply no replacing him as the first Doctor. And frankly, it seems almost blasphemous to try. Richard Hurndall does his level best at the utterly thankless job of being somebody else's replacement, and there are one or two spots where he allllmost reminds you of Hartnell, but mostly the first Doctor here is a pale, anemic caricature of the real thing. There's all of the crotchety gruffness but none of the grandfatherly charm and none of the mischievous twinkle, and he even gets intimidated by danger whereas the real first Doctor would've stood his ground and made a fine display of stern indignation. And as if Hartnell's absence weren't bad enough, we also have the absence (more avoidable in theory) of the fourth Doctor. Yes, Tom Baker is not in this one. It would've been really fun to see him in the role again, this time interacting with two of his predecessors as well as with his rather bland replacement, but whether by choice or circumstance it was not to be--and splicing in old footage from "Shada" isn't going to fool anyone. So ironically we are back to Three Doctors all over again, after all...

But even this is squandered! A big part of the enjoyment in "The Three Doctors" was the interaction between three (or mainly two, really) incarnations of the same character--all quite different but just similar enough to get on each other's nerves. Here though the writer has dealt with the dramatic overkill of having four protagonists and their companions all doing the same thing by splitting them up, letting them converge only at the very end. A reasonable solution, yes, but it takes away the fun of seeing the five (or four, or, well, three plus a stand-in--oh, anyway...) Doctors actually interact--and their trading a few quips at the conclusion is paltry compensation. Speaking of the conclusion, the Doctors all converge only to stand and watch as a holographic projection of a dead guy from history does the work of neutralizing the villain. Deus ex Machina resolutions are seldom satisfying, and it seems a poor way to celebrate a hero of twenty years on TV.

There are tons of other problems. The second and third Doctors look visibly older than when they regenerated--unavoidable, but they just do. Both the Daleks and the Cybermen, hallmark villains of the show's long history, are made to appear weak-minded and feeble rather than formidable. The Master is offered extra regenerations in order to manipulate him into helping the Doctor, but if the Time Lords can just give those away willy-nilly then it makes no sense that the main villain (another Time Lord at the end of his last regeneration) is on a desperate quest for immortality--the, er, basic plot premise of the story, as such. And to top it off, on this DVD remastered scenes and CGI special effects are not optional but mandatory, which is evil worthy of the Master himself.

The chief saving grace of this mess is the pure, unadulterated guilty pleasure of unabashed nostalgia. For all that there are way too many characters and they don't do much, it's still kind of heartwarming to see them again. Furthermore, here of all places, Anthony Ainley gives one of his finest, most nuanced performances as the Master--cunning and smooth rather than the cackling knuckle-popping baddie we usually get, and more complicated, unwilling to see a universe lacking the challenging presence of his nemesis. Finally, the DVD is worth watching just to see Patrick Troughton's shining performance as the second Doctor again, and his interaction with the good old Brigadier is simply priceless. So all is not lost. "The Five Doctors" is pretty close to as bad as "Doctor Who" can get, but that's still pretty decent, a fact that is worth celebrating after all. Still, I do hope they don't try to pull off "The Ten Doctors" in 2013...

Not worth the "special edition" label or the expense.......2006-06-26

As a long time fan of Doctor Who I was looking forward to the "EXTRAS" that came with this edition of the Five Doctors. They are worthless. The audio commentary is trite and often difficult to hear and the updated special effects are terrible. If you already own a copy (even VHS) keep it and don't waste your money on this. The story is a romping good time of memories and companions as well as the first five of the Doctor's incarnations so, if you've never seen this episode before, try to get a copy that doesn't say "Special Edition."

Fun but not essential.......2006-06-21

The Five Doctors should really be called the Four Doctors and One That Never Shows Up. Without Tom Baker as number Four the movie cheats a little in its title. The number of characters that have to be handled in this movie make it a little frenzied with more focus on shoving familar faces in than created a solid storyline. Still, the episode is a fun trip down memory lane, bringing back many memorable friends and foes.

20th Anniversary Story.......2005-09-22

The Five Doctors aired in November 1983 as a 90 minute special to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Doctor Who. Then-current Doctor Peter Davison (Number Five) was joined by predecessors Patrick Troughton (Doctor Number Two) and Jon Pertwee (Number Three). The late William Hartnell had passed on nearly a decade earlier, but is seen at the very beginning of the episode in a clip from The Dalek Invasion of Earth, and Richard Hurndall does an admirable job stepping into Hartnell's shoes as the First Doctor. Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor, was unavailable to do the anniversary story, but is seen in clips from the unfinished story Shada (along with Lalla Ward as Romana), doctored up with some special effects and the subplot of the Fourth Doctor being trapped in a time vortex as an explanation as to why that particular Doctor is not part of the action in the story. Several of the Doctor's companions put in appearances--most of them cameos--including Sarah Jane Smith (played by Elisabeth Sladen), K-9 (voiced by John Leeson), the Doctor's granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford), Jamie McCrimmon (Fraser Hines), and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) among several others in addition to then-current companions Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) and Turlough (Mark Strickson). The story involves an area on the Doctor's homeworld of Gallifrey called the Death Zone. A member of the High Council of the Time Lords has reactivated the Death Zone and used a timescoop to lift the Doctor's earlier incarnations, along with several of his companions from their respective time streams and place them in the Zone. The Fifth Doctor and his companions are brought to the Death Zone when the TARDIS is caught in a tractor beam. Several of the Doctor's old enemies--Daleks, Yeti, Cybermen--have also been brought to the Zone. The Doctor's archenemy the Master (the late Anthony Ainley) is sent into the Zone by the High Council to rescue the Doctors. The Doctors and their companions must journey to a dark tower (the Tomb of Rassilon) at the center of the Zone to disable the tractor beam holding the TARDIS, and find out who has reactivated the Death Zone to play the Game of Rassilon. Yes, having so many characters involved does make this story a bit of a cluster, but The Five Doctors made a great celebration of Doctor Who's twentieth anniversary, and it's one of my favorite stories from the Peter Davison era.

Average customer rating:

If you want a laugh
Not an Oscar contender
Fun movie to watch!
"Who's The Man?" Review
A Classic!

Who's the Man
Starring: Ed Lover , Doctor Dré , Badja Djola , Cheryl 'Salt' James , and Jim Moody
Director: Ted Demme
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comic Criminals | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

Comic Action | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0000TWMWA
Release Date: 2004-01-13

Description

Two bumbling rookie cops investigate the murder of their former boss, who had refused to sell his barbershop to a greedy real-estate developer.

Customer Reviews:

If you want a laugh.......2006-05-29

I won't claim to know all of the rappers that are contained in the movie but it is a good laugh much as "Car 54 where are you?" with Rosi O is. Plus, Dennis Leary is great and "Duff" from MTV (VJ around 1990-91) also makes a cameo.....very cute! I would recommend this movie for anyone that was a young adult around 1993 or to someone who wants a good laugh.

MJ

Not an Oscar contender.......2005-09-30

Though it was never an Oscar contender, it was funny as h***!!!

Fun movie to watch!.......2005-09-10

I guess this was one of the earliest examples of a hip-hop movie with a load of hip-hop artist cameos. What really completes the movie is the performance by Dennis Leary. He is SOO funny as a police sargeant who has to deal with the 2 main characters, played by Ed Lover and Dr. Dre. The movie is somewhat dated but it's a fun experience to watch, as the two newest members of the NYPD bumble their way through a crime investigation they only seem privy to. It all works out in the end, and the day is saved. This was also a strong influnce on movies such as the Barbershop movies and the Friday series.

"Who's The Man?" Review.......2004-07-17

Cashing in on their popularity at the time as hosts of "Yo! MTV Raps", Doctor Dre and Ed Lover play two mediocre Harlem barbers who decide to become police officers. When their best friend is murdered by a crooked land developer, they make it their point to find out what's really behind all the problems in the neighborhood. "Who's The Man?" will never be regarded as a cinematic masterpiece but it does get the most out of its two stars as well as the countless performers who make cameos (most of them are late 80's rap icons). Denis Leary, in particular, steals the show as a short-tempered superior officer whose profanity-laced tirades make for some first-rate entertainment. While this movie borrows quite a bit from other films (most noticeably "Beverly Hills Cop"), it never tries to take itself too seriously. The chemistry between Dre and Lover is solid and the wild over-the-top characters make for some amusing moments. If nothing else, it's worthy of "cult" status.

A Classic!.......2002-02-01

This is a great movie especially if you were a young adult during the early 90's. Dr. Dre and Ed Lover are a great pair, very funny. Dennis Leary is hysterical. So many quotable quotes! The parade of rap stars actually enhances the movie. It's not a serious movie, more like really long funny skit.

Average customer rating:

Really fun video
"To lose is to win, and he who wins shall lose."
Not worth the "special edition" label or the expense
Fun but not essential
20th Anniversary Story

Doctor Who: The Five Doctors [Region 2]
Starring: Peter Davison , Patrick Troughton , Jon Pertwee , Tom Baker , and Richard Hurndall
Director: John Nathan-Turner , Pennant Roberts , and Peter Moffatt
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Sci-Fi & Fantasy | Cult Movies | Genres | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00004CZSB

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Really fun video.......2007-08-24

I got this for my husband who is a long time Dr Who fan. He was a little disapointed, not enough Tom Baker!

"To lose is to win, and he who wins shall lose.".......2007-07-10

Not worth the "special edition" label or the expense.......2006-06-26

Fun but not essential.......2006-06-21

20th Anniversary Story.......2005-09-22

DVD:

DVD

DVD