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OK, Chuck's review of "The Hunted" is up, that otherwise inoffensive if "meh" TNG filler episode with that chase across the ship and Worf ranting 'You've got Klingon blood!':

Good review, as always.

Are you sure that when he broke the confinement beam it teleported him to a different part of the enterprise? I got the feeling he just broke out of the beam and ran out the door to the brig while everyone else was blinded or stunned.

LOL at the embedded screenshot - does Chuck make any comment at how laughably incompetent that guard was? You know, how he's only looking at the one angle from which an enemy cannot surprise him?

EDIT: yeah, but he doesn't specifically point out the forcefield which makes this guard's inability to look down the other end of the corridor so damn hilarious.

A good review as you always bring us, Chuck.

I have a question for you though, about your choice for TNG's theme... Out of curiosity, will you be keeping Harleys and Indians as its theme (since I think you ran into some trouble with 99 Red Balloons?), or will you be picking a new song for TNG's reviews?

Vympel wrote:LOL at the embedded screenshot - does Chuck make any comment at how laughably incompetent that guard was? You know, how he's only looking at the one angle from which an enemy cannot surprise him?

EDIT: yeah, but he doesn't specifically point out the force field which makes this guard's inability to look down the other end of the corridor so damn hilarious.

That, and a brig which features chairs behind a console arranged just so that the guards are facing away from the cell.

And how the guards are seen with their sidearms holstered during at least one of the transfers. And how the one guard stood there and let the overloading phaser deafen him instead of moving away from the Turbolift where Worf was. Hate to think he might have been killed if Worf failed to disarm the phaser.

The plot synopsis takes up most of the review and doesn't tell us anything that a Memory Alpha - or, hell, a Wikipedia article wouldn't. The humor is poorly delivered and wouldn't make the cut on a bad episode of MST3K. The insight and commentary on the writing, production, acting, or action is mostly superficial. Some of the criticism is legit, but there's also criticism that's forced and exaggerated, presumably for the appearance of being "more opinionated."

Can someone explain the appeal of these reviews?

Uraniun235 wrote:Can someone explain the appeal of these reviews?

Is this the only one you've seen, or did you just use it as an opportunity to ask the question? I've found that a number of the requested reviews aren't quite as good as his normal fair. I would guess it's because a lot of them aren't really especially good or especially bad. I personally feel Chuck is at his best with the really bad episodes (Threshold and Elogium from Voyager; in fact, most of Voyager and Enterprise altogether), or really good ones (All Good Things for TNG, In the Pale Moon Light for DS9, or Wrath of Khan).

If you've seen several of them and still don't get it, then I don't know, it could just be a difference in taste. I've met people who thought Monty Python and the Holy Grail was the stupidest thing they'd ever seen and just couldn't get why anyone would waste their time watching it.

I think I've sat through one other, though I don't remember which one, and I remember getting the same impression.


Before I go watch another one, though, I have to ask: does he always spend most of the review doing the synopsis? Because I don't need the whole plot painstakingly narrated back to me.

Watch the TWOK review, it's probably his best one and he goes into a fair bit of detail connecting the themes with classical literature.

Uraniun235 wrote:I think I've sat through one other, though I don't remember which one, and I remember getting the same impression.


Before I go watch another one, though, I have to ask: does he always spend most of the review doing the synopsis? Because I don't need the whole plot painstakingly narrated back to me.

It may be that he's run into the same dilemma the MST3k team has when confronted with a really bland movie. It's not good enough for interesting comments, and not bad enough for truly incisive mockery.