Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
RUNNERS ON YOUR MARK, August 19, 2006
In every sense of the word GENESIS OF THE DALEKS is a "classic".
It has classic scenes, classic lines, classic charcters, a classic setting and the classic of all classic DOCTOR WHO villains - THE DALEKS. How can you go wrong? With both eyes closed, it hardly seems you could... but even the most die hard fan must admit that while GENESIS aims high, it is often mired in a disjointed plot, long winded writing, and paced like a car wreck. It's all bits and pieces flying everywhere - and you can't take your eyes off it. GENESIS OF THE DALEKS is truly a mess - but a wonderful one.
Terry Nation takes us back to the origin of his most famous creations and manages to not only provide a crediable and interesting background story for the Daleks - but establish a new character, DAVROS, who has managed to last almost as long as the Daleks themselves. This is a high point in the story, and one of the main reason why you should own this collection - as for the rest, there are some problems. At six episodes GENESIS runs too long for the material - causing many charcters to reapeat actions, dialouge, plot and story over and over again. The Doctor, Sarah and Harry end up spending a lot of time walking (and running) in this story as well.
From one dome to the another. Above ground, underground, in corridors, under floors, up ladders and down trenches - they are always on the move and always just missing each other at every moment. This story also features one of the least classic monsters in DOCTOR WHO's history - the Giant Clam. It looks exactly like the plastic, spray painted and hand operated "monster" that it is - it's so bad, it's classic. Roger Corman would be proud. But, underneath all the studio cheek and filmed quarry sequences there lies a good story. What do you do when you're presented with the chance to rewrite history? To stop interstellar war, horror and genocide - and what do you do when it's your mission? The Doctor faces these facts and fails to come up with any answers - this is not a bad thing.
GENESIS OF THE DALEKS comes packed as a two disc special edtion and even casual fans will find a number of things here to entertain and inform them. But there are a few downsides - the largest of which is the commentary provided by Baker (the Doctor), Sladen (Sarah), Miles (Nyder) and Maloney (director) - there are a few sparks, but far too many gaps, pauses and long silences as everyone involved tries to remember something. Names pop up, production problems rear their heads and Baker and Sladen demonstrate that chemistry that made them the duo that they were on screen. In fact, it's Sladen that rescues a lot of this commentary - from her references to the new DOCTOR WHO series, and her role in it - to her personal asides and feelings on the production. The worst though has to be Peter Miles who plays Nyder - a dark, vile charcter in the story - but Miles has little next to nothing to say about it. Perhaps there is nothing to be said - Nyder is evil. While I love the ideas behind these commentaries - they are hit and miss. While a Peter Davison and Frazer Hines commentary is bound to leave you informed and laughing - others are trials. A moderator, someone in the know, with facts in hand and the ability to not only prompt, but interview as well, is really required to bring the experience to life.
Text commentary fills in a number of the gaps - but have your remote at the ready. There are times when whole passages of text appear on the screen for two seconds or less, causing you to rewind and pause to read. Also - there are a few errors in facts and some "duh" mistakes that you can't help but laugh at - but they can be forgiven.
GENESIS is a classic. It's one of my all time favorites - and for those new to the series, it's a must own. Look past the extras and just enjoy the show.
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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
At last! Genesis of the Daleks finally comes to DVD!, March 9, 2006
Genesis of the Daleks was one of the first Doctor Who stories I remember watching when I first started watching the program on PBS. Genesis was actually the first Dalek story I had ever seen, and it remains my overall favorite today, as well as one of my overall favorite Doctor Who stories. After years of thrilling stories with the Doctor's oldest archenemies, The DW production staff, along with writer/Dalek creator Terry Nation, decided to explain the origins of the psychotic, megalomaniacal pepperpots in Genesis of the Daleks. The Doctor (Tom Baker) and his companions Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) are brought to Skaro, the Daleks' homeworld, by the Time Lords at a time before the Dalek race existed. The Time Lords want the Doctor to either prevent the Daleks from having ever existed, or alter their development so that they evolve into less aggressive creatures. The Doctor, Harry and Sarah find themselves in the middle of a long-running war of attrition between two humanoid races--the Kaleds and the Thals. They discover that the nuclear bombardments have caused people on both sides to mutate. The Kaleds, who are into racial purity, have expelled their mutants (called Mutos) into the wastelands outside their city. One exception is Davros (Michael Wisher), their chief scientist. Davros, believing these mutations are speeding up the evolution of the Kaleds, is performing experiments which lead to the creation of the first Daleks. But Davros' experiments cause the Daleks to lose their sense of emotion--love, hate, pity, compassion. They are driven by one thing--the need for power over the Thals and other "lesser" races. Davros betrays the Kaleds by helping the Thals nuke the Kaled city and destroy his own race. He then turns on the Thals by sending an army of Daleks into their city to exterminate them, sending the survivors running into the wastelands. In addition to Baker, Marter, Sladen and Wisher, some other great performances come from Peter Miles as Nyder, Harriet Philpin as Bettan and James Garbutt as Ronson. Although Resurrection of the Daleks was a very good story, Genesis of the Daleks is probably the last Dalek story from the original series that could truly be considered a classic, and I am thrilled that it is finally coming to DVD.
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23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Suppose somebody told you a certain child would grow to be an evil dictator- could you then destroy that child?, March 18, 2006
Imagine you could pick your favorite villains, from your favorite TV show, and do more than just reinvent those villains, but invent those villains, infront of the eyes of a viewer totally familiar with who those villains are, then go back and tell the story of their origin from the perspective of the protagonist. When that protagonist is a TIMELORD, it's easy to tell that story. That is just what Genesis of the Daleks is, the story of how the Doctor's greatest enemy comes to be. But, this concept is taken further than just telling their origin, the Doctor's mission is to stop that origin!
This is truely one of the best story arcs of the 4th incarnation of the Doctor, as played by fan-favorite, Tom Baker (currently narrator on the successful "Little Brittain" series).
This gritty and sometimes extremely dark story is one I and many fans have been waiting on for DVD release. The Doctor questions his own morality, wrestling with the decision to wipe out the Daleks like some terrible disease: To destroy an intelligent life form, wiping out a race, would 'he' be any better than the Daleks.
One short-coming is the price of BBC 2-disc sets is high and the special-bonus material is usually less-than special.
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