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Saw that heading on another review, and it fits. First viewing was from an airline choice set, so expectations were rock bottom. The reality was instead an engrossing two-hour ride. Second viewing was an HD rental a month later. Same verdict. The pacing is brisk, the setting is eye-catching, the characters are easy to get to know, and the plot is complex without being unfathomable. The "lazy" will insist things are too hard to understand, and the "ubernerds" will cry Foul that some elements don't strictly obey the fine print of some unwritten Starfleet Technical Manual (do read their Comic Book Guy laments, "Worst...Plot...Ever...", straight out of Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con, and pity them). That's exactly the kind of balance many of us like rather a lot!

Comparisons to "Heroes" are really counterproductive. Rip-off? Imitation? No, sorry, this one came first. Action? Characterization? Over dozens of on-screen hours, "Heroes" often manages to go almost nowhere and reveal almost nothing of real interest; they don't have that luxury here.

The closest comparison that springs to mind, if sci-fi comparisons there simply must be, is to the PsiCorps operation on "Babylon 5". Agent Carver and Agent Bester (Walter Koenig's role on B5) have much in common.

So, is this a "Bourne" film, minus the budget and with half the mayhem? in some ways, that fits. The protagonist is really not enough of an icon for that, though; it is more of a team scheme at heart, more of a supernatural "Ocean's Eleven" than anything else. Well, given the timing of events, and the budget limitations, more like "Ocean's Twelve". That perhaps explains the balance of the voting falling the way it has: Danny, Tess, Rusty, Linus, Reuben, Saul, and company, please meet Nick, Kira, Cassie, Hook, Emily, Pinky, etc. We're bound to be due at least as many movies from each group...

Ah, the dangers of too much Earth TV... makes Martian children behave worrisomely and their parents Earth raiders kidnapping Santa.

Even a child in the original audience would have known enough of Mars for this setup to be laughably silly. Even so, there is a campy creativity at work here that saves the film from being the worst ever, or even worst Santa movie ever (that distinction being firmly reserved for Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny).

With gaggles of martians bumbling around like Marx Brothers, Martian June Cleavers producing Chocolate Layer Cake Pills as special family treats, a Mrs Claus blushing that "Television" has come to her house, a set of pipe-smoking toy-making Little People as elves, and Pia Zadora as child of the red planet, there is enough to keep your brain in question mode for a long time.

Don't ask questions. Liquor up and enjoy...

There are so many things to appreciate in this movie. First and foremost, Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren give outstanding performances as the First Couple of London's underworld. He, with the Cockney-made-good aspirations for status and the "class" he can never attain, epitomizes the hands-on manager overtaken by larger events. She, the cool-headed savvy- tough-and-sexy moll, is almost on top of things enough to redeem the situation but not quite. The key elements of the underworld ruling coalition-- dirty councilor and policeman, lieutenants of varying backgrounds both tough and educated-- make you believe in how this man has achieved peace through strength.

The film's plot is Byzantine whodunit, with gangland-style violence as an accent piece that seems downright tame in the age of "Pulp Fiction". The real hidden star, though, is late-70's London-- oh so run-down and yet full of the potential that drives Harold's ambitions. The views from boating on the Thames are unrecognizable to those who have only seen modern London--- the sole landmarks in common are Tower Bridge and the Savoy hotel. The towers of the City and modern Docklands are just a twinkle in dreamers' eyes.

Overall TLGF is a modern tragedy in the true land-of-Shakespeare tradition, somewhere between Macbeth and Hamlet and King Lear: ambition, betrayal, and the sweep of history interact richly without being heavy-handed in symbolism or over-artiness. This is a satisfying and complex film that invites re-viewing and reflection.