Doctor Who - The War Machines [VHS]

Doctor Who - The War Machines [VHS]

Doctor Who - The War Machines [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton, Peter Davison, Tom Baker, William Hartnell
Producer: Peter Bryant
Writer: Sydney Newman
Edition: VHS Tape
Format: Color, NTSC
Running Time: 99 minutes
Release Date: 1998-03-31
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Studio: 20th Century Fox

VHS Movie Reviews of Doctor Who - The War Machines [VHS]

Movie Review: Doctor Who Meets The Avengers
Summary: 4 Stars

Doctor Who altered its course with The War Machines. Rather than travelling to a distant planet to meet strange-looking aliens, or to Earth's past to encounter a significant historical figure, War Machines is set in comtemporary London, the swinging mid-60s, and it shows! For the very first time in the series' young history, the Doctor and his companion(s) face a modern-day threat, the first time, that is, when they are large enough to interact with the rest of the characters, unlike Planet of The Giants.

As Professor Brett states, WOTAN is ten years ahead of its time. Well, maybe not ten. Perhaps only five years, which would put it smack down in the beginning of the Pertwee Years, right next to a simlar story, Mind of Evil, about a machine taking over people's minds. If anything, The War Machines foreshadows the Third Doctor's era. Hartnell dabbles with electronic gadgets, works with the military (not UNIT yet, but very UNIT-like), and endures incompetent politicians to prevent a menace from taking over the world. Sound familiar? The Pertwee Years four years early. In fact, if you re-hash this script and use it toward another popular 60s TV program, The Avengers, it would feel right at home. I anticipated John Steed and Emma Peel to show up on my TV screen at any minute.

Incidentally, the notion expressed that Doctor Who finally has taken its intended form with The War Machines is about as bogus the Doctor's background being changed during the McCoy years to be something more than a timelord. The intended course in any series is how it originates, not how it becomes. The originators of any series always deserve the "intended course" label. This is not to say that the new direction of the show is bad, but let's not claim that this is where Sidney Newman & Verity Lambert envisioned Doctor Who going.

Basically, The War Machines steers Doctor Who in a new direction, a very subtle foreboding of the early 70s, worth every one of the four stars I gave it. However this story could have been a five-star beauty. How you ask? Where have you gone Ian & Barbara. The Doctor may as well have been companion-less. Dodo barely features at all, disappearing somewhere in episode two, never to be seen again. We are given the revelation at the end that she has decided to stay in London, and bids the Doctor goodbye by relaying a message through the new companions, Ben & Polly. As the Doctor says, that's gratitude for you, not even showing the decency to see the Doctor off personally after being given the experience of her life. Dodo should have gotten a more substantial exit. As for the aforementioned new companions, Ben & Polly fit in with the swinging 60s era, and Polly is pleasing to the eye, however they are no Ian & Barbara. In retrospect, War Machines could have been the perfect swan song for Ian & Barbara. I can just see them telling the Doctor that "we have decided to remain here" at the end of this story, fate having steered the Tardis back in their own time finally. An opportunity sadly lost...

Movie Review: The story that influenced the Terminator? Perhaps.
Summary: 4 Stars

This story is one of many examples of an intelligent concept being utilized in a very exceptional way in the Doctor Who format. This adventure has the good Doctor and Dodo arriving in London of 1966, and soon they would become involved in a very insidious plot put forth WOTAN, the very first example of a thinking computer, otherwise known as A.I., artificial intelligence, and the subsequent construction of an army of robots known as War Machines.

This adventure is something that I believed may have had a hand in influencing the Terminator movies, for in both cases, there is the talk of a super artificial intelligent computer system that has come to the realization that mankind's time is up, and the age of the machines must begin.

However, there is are differences, in the Terminator, the fact that once SkyNet was brought online, it launched nukes that practically destroyed half the world's population and brought about a dismal, dystopia, where there is nothing but wars and fighting, between the human resistance, and the robotic warriors of SkyNet.

In this adventure, the events build up slowly, first learning that WOTAN is a highly advanced computerized problem solver that was envisioned to assist humanity in it's global progress. But as it is connected, in a gothic sort of manner in various thrillers, as the menace is not quite made apparent, but slowly builds up as people of significant importance are brought under WOTAN's control, as more and more people are brought under its control, more of the War Machines are constructed and brought online.

This adventure is also notable for the somewhat abrupt departure of Dodo, and the introduction of two new companions for the good Doctor, Polly and Ben. In addition, there are some rather humorous scenes having the Doctor and his friends in the hottest nightclub in the area, 'The Inferno', as a display of the youthful exuberance of the Swinging Sixties.

In addition, what I thought was great was for the Doctor to be working alongside the military, lending his intelligence to their militaristic strategies, something that served as the first prototype story format that would be utilized during a majority of the 3rd Doctor era. I found this adventure to be very satisfying on an intellectual level, for it serves as an allegorical warning to not allow technology to dominate mankind. A must have for any Dr. Who fan.

Movie Review: Doctor Who finally Becomes Doctor Who
Summary: 4 Stars

This is the first story that really brings the formula of the series until its demise into play. The focus is on the Doctor, who is now a willing adventurer and hero basically, and also brings up a more adult appraoch to the companions. The story is pretty good and very ahead of its time, but the War Machines are totally impractical killing machines and not frightening in a context except maybe if you were the poor chap operating it! As for the characters of Ben and Polly, they are excellent and it is a shame this is the only complete story in the BBC archives that feature the two of them. Also, it is a shame the magnificent Hartnell didn't stick around longer to try on this new modern Doctor Who on for size. A good one from the Hartnell era and a big turning point for the show... all that's missing is Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier.

Movie Review: Doctor Who grows up
Summary: 4 Stars

Plenty of outdoor scenes instead of cardboard sets. Inept government officials, military men with assault rifles, the Doctor tampering with electronics, present-day London in danger. With this story Doctor Who entered a new age. Although starring Hartnell, it is much more like Throughton or early Pertwee. I prefer this style to the less mature, if likeable, stories with Susan, Ian, Barbara & co.
Sure, War Machines has it's silly and naive moments, but that applies to almost every Doctor Who story. It is scientifically less ridicilous than The Tenth Planet. The machines themselves are like much more crude and clumsy Daleks, but i like them. People who like swinging London-stuff like Adam Adamant could enjoy this. Also those who prefer later doctors to Hartnell might find War Machines a positive surprise. I did, this is my favorite first doctor story.

Movie Review: Nice Predection Of Networking
Summary: 3 Stars

This episode of Doctor Who isn't that great. Basically, you have a super computer who has a bunch of killer robots (the "War Machines") and it wants to take over the earth. Blah, blah, blah.

What made this episode interesting to me was the then almost unknown concept of networking computers. The idea for the super computer villian was that it had other computers that all linked to it and each other. The result made the super computer smarter. While that was laughable, today we do have corporate networks that span the globe and enable people to do more than ever.

Bottom line, a mostly dull episode with an close prediction of the future of computing in the 1960's. That part makes it worth having (IMO).

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