The World Is Not Enough (1999)

Some men want the world, but for some women the world is not enough.

James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is tasked to protect oil heiress Electra (Sophie Marceau) after her father (David Calder) was killed in a terrorist attack at MI6. Bond discovers that Renard (Robert Carlyle) - who has a bullet in his brain - is planning to destroy an oil pipeline with an atomic bomb by stealing ex-Soviet plutonium. With the help of nuclear scientist Dr Jones (Denise Richards), James foils that plan but the real plot is far more deadly, and the true mastermind behind the plot highly unexpected...

This is a good Bond film (but can't be said to be amongst the very best) though when he is fighting Renard inside a live nuclear reactor you might consider that Bond (even by his prior standards) has jumped the shark! Despite that the action mostly stays the right side of plausibility and the various set pieces are pretty spectacular.

Juggernaut (1974)

A superbly tense thriller set aboard an ocean liner loaded with bombs.

Under the command of Captain Brunel (Omar Sharif) the ocean liner Britannic sets off on it's first voyage after a refit, the passengers barely entertained by hapless entertainment officer Curtain (Roy Kinnear) though the incredibly rough seas don't help. Soon, however there is some excitement. A mad man contacts the shipping line to tell them various booby trapped bombs are aboard, and unless he receives a couple of suitcases full of cash the bombs will go off sinking the liner and all aboard her.

While the police in the form of McCleod (Anthony Hopkins) try and hunt down the bomber, expert bomb disposal officer Fallon (Richard Harris) and his team and parachuted into the Atlantic and clamber aboard the liner. With the timers fast counting down Harris and his team desperately try and defuse the incredibly complicated bombs before it's too late...

A great film with a brilliant cast. The bomb disposal scenes make great use of close-ups. The final twist is delicious.

The Lesser Evil (1912)

A neat little drama.

A young woman (Blanche Sweet) goes to meet her sweetheart, a fisherman (Edwin August). Unfortunately the meeting point is where a gang of smugglers led by (Alfred Paget) store their wares. The woman is kidnapped by the smugglers who take to their boat. While her sweetheart tries to raise the alarm and get help, trouble is brewing on the boat. The crew are now boozed up and seeking to have "fun" with the woman, she considers death would be preferable, the lesser evil...

While not a masterpiece the film is decent in most ways including the naturalistic acting.

The Woman in Green (1945)

Another fiendish plot is foiled by Holmes and Watson.

There have been a spate of murders of women across London, the fingers of each victim cut off. Meanwhile, city gent Sir George (Paul Cavanagh) entertains a lady friend (Hillary Brooke). However, he wakes up in a dingy bedsit, hearing shouts of murder outside. There has been yet another murder of a woman, and her severed finger is in Sir George's pocket...

Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are soon called to the tragic scene of Sir George's suicide, they discover that he has been blackmailed. This indicates to Holmes that it isn't a madman committing these murders, rather it is a devious plot. He suspects Moriarty (Henry Daniell) is behind this and is soon proved to be right in a dangerous tale of hypnosis and extortion...

This is typical of the long-running Holmes series from Rathbone and Bruce, Bruce's Watson is a little too much of a buffoon as usual but this is perfectly enjoyable if not exceptional fare. For some reason Edgware is misspelt with an extra E several times. Maybe we can blame Moriarty for that as well?

The Mouse on the Moon (1963)

A hilarious satire on Superpower space race politics.

The tiny country of Grand Fenwick is in trouble, their wine - their only source of income - is exploding and PM Mountjoy (Ron Moody) needs money for some indoor plumbing. He attempts to trick the US into giving them some money for "space research", Russia goes one better and gives Grand Fenwick a rocket! The Grand Duchess (Margaret Rutherford) orders the dreadful tin thing got rid of. Its hidden in a castle tower where Professor Kokintz (David Kossoff) and Vincent Montjoy (Bernard Cribbins) secretly plan to go to the Moon for real!

The US and Soviets find themselves outflanked when Kokintz's rocket makes it's slow way into space using an anti-gravity substance discovered by the Professor. But making it to the Moon first isn't the most important thing, its making it back!

This film sends up the so-often overblown and ridiculous Superpower politics perfectly with some classic British comedy. Terry-Thomas does a great turn as a hapless British spy.