Roger Young Movies

Advertised as telling the tale of "The Man Behind the Myth," the expensive-looking but economically produced NBC miniseries Hercules stars Paul Telfer as the musclebound protagonist. The issue of a romantic fling between Alcmene (Elizabeth Perkins), the Princess of Thebes, and God of the Underworld Zeus, Hercules is banished by his mother and scorned by his envious half brother Iphicles (Luke Ford). In fact, for a while it seems as though poor Herc has nothing but enemies. In addition to his own mother and brother, our hero is hated by Zeus' wife, Hera -- so much so that a war breaks out between the two gods -- and by covetous Grecian monarchs Eurystheus (Kristian Schmid) and Anateus (Tyler Mane). Worse still, Hercules has managed to get on the bad side of the Delphic Oracle Tiresias (Kim Coates) by killing that worthy's three sons. As a means to destroy Hercules and prevent him from taking his rightful place beside the throne of Zeus, all manner of deadly tasks and challenges are thrown at the poor guy, enabling the producers to trot out innumerable CGI battle sequences. Fortunately, Hercules can rely upon the help and support of Alcmene's husband, Amphytron (Timothy Dalton), not to mention Herc's sidekick, the troubadour Linus (Sean Astin, going through his familiar Lord of the Rings paces in a different setting!); his sweetheart, the statuesque Goddess of Nature Deianeira (Leelee Sobieski); and, at least for a little while, Herc's wife, the Priestess Megara (Leeanna Walsman). By the time Hercules made it to the small screen, it had been pared down from a multipart miniseries to a single, 150-minute feature film, leaving several plot points unresolved and removing a number of key characters -- including the all-important Zeus and Hera, who never appear! Evidently NBC didn't have much faith in this Hallmark production, as witness the network's decision to telecast the film on May 16, 2005, directly opposite the series finale of Everybody Loves Raymond. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

On December 24, 2002, a woman named Laci Peterson, eight months pregnant at the time, was reported missing to police in a suburban California community. Laci's husband, Scott Peterson, initially joined police in their investigation of his wife's disappearance, which was soon presumed to be the result of foul play; however, many details of what Scott was doing the night Laci vanished didn't add up, and a woman soon stepped forward to announce that she had been having an affair with Scott. As the case of the missing woman began to attract worldwide attention, many people began to speculate that Scott may have been involved in Laci's disappearance. When her body was finally recovered, Scott found himself behind bars, charged with the murder of his spouse. The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story is a made-for-cable movie that stars Dean Cain as Scott Peterson, following the story from Laci's disappearance to Scott being charged with homicide. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This drama was the ninth in a series of made-for-TV features dramatizing famous stories from the Bible. Solomon (Ben Cross), the son of David (Max Von Sydow), inherits his father's kingdom and becomes the ruler of Israel. While Solomon consolidates power through his marriages, it is his intelligence, sense of justice, and desire to see his people live in peace that earns him the respect and admiration of his subjects. Solomon also stars Vivica A. Fox as the Queen of Saba, Anouk Aimee as Bethsabea, and Maria Grazia Cucinotta as Abishag. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

He was a poor carpenter who never traveled further than 50 miles from his home and died at the age of 33, but his teachings changed the world and he's still followed by hundreds of millions of people around the world, 2,000 years after his death. Jesus, originally produced as a television mini-series, offers a glimpse of the human side of the messiah, as well as recounting the story of his life and martyrdom. Jeremy Sisto stars as Jesus, with Jacqueline Bisset as Mary, Armin Mueller-Stahl as Joseph, Gary Oldman as Pontius Pilate, and Debra Messing as Mary Magdalene. The home video release is expanded from the broadcast edition, featuring material that was cut for time purposes. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Jeff (William L. Petersen) and Marty (Gary Cole) are two businessmen who are sent to the Philippines for a project. The two men share a growing disenchantment with their professional lives and the responsibilities of adulthood, so they impulsively go on a drug and alcohol-fueled bender in search of the lost freedom and joie de vivre of youth. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Pragmatic businesswoman Gail Metzger (Joanna Kerns) has never seen eye to eye with her eccentric sister Renee (Debrah Farentino), a bad situation made worse when the two women butt heads over a real estate deal. Later on, Renee turns up dead, an apparent suicide. But as more "facts" come to surface, the police change their minds about Renee's demise--and Gail is suspected of murder. In her efforts to find out what really happened, Gail is enveloped in a frightening atmosphere of suspense and mysticism. Adapted fromBarbara L. Parker's novel Suspicion of Innocence, the made-for-TV Sisters and Other Strangers made its initial CBS network appearance on May 6, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The tragic story of the Ruby Ridge "massacre" has been so thoroughly covered and disseminated by the mainstream press that to add anything here would be pointless. Suffice to say that the two-part TV movie The Siege at Ruby Ridge uses the facts at hand to show how the tragedy occurred, and how but for a multitude of blunders and miscommunications on both sides, it could all have been avoided. Randy Quaid stars as white separatist Randy Weaver, who for ten terrible days in 1992 barricaded himself, his family, and a number of zealous followers in a tiny refuge on a remote Idaho mountaintop, while 200 government agents surrounded Weaver's headquarters with orders to arrest Weaver's group alive -- if possible. The catalyst for the crisis is of course Randy Weaver himself, though his wife Vicki (Laura Dern) is shown to be just as rigid, stubborn, and foolhardy as her husband -- maybe even more so. Ultimately, blood is shed and lives are lost, the result of such gross ineptitude that the ramifications of the tragedy would reverberate for decades to come. Featured in the cast is Laura Dern's real-life mother, Diane Ladd, and, in the small role of the Weaver's daughter, a very young Kirsten Dunst. The Siege at Ruby Ridge first aired over CBS on May 19 and 21, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This television miniseries recounts the biblical story of Joseph, the 11th son of the Hebrew patriarch, Jacob. Joseph (Paul Mercurio) has an extraordinary gift: the ability to interpret dreams. He also enjoys the special favor of his father. One day, Jacob (Martin Landau) presents his son a splendid coat as evidence of his deep affection for him. Envious, his brothers sell Joseph into bondage to an Egyptian. But Joseph eventually rises out of slavery after he interprets a troublesome dream of Pharaoh (Stefano Dionisi) as a sign that Egypt will experience seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Impressed by Joseph's strange powers, Pharaoh elevates him to the highest government position in Egypt next to Pharaoh's. Then Joseph wisely directs Egypt to store grain during the years of plenty. Finally, after famine strikes, Egypt sets bountiful tables as before, but other lands suffer severe deprivation. Jacob sends Joseph's brothers to Egypt for grain. After gaining an audience with the esteemed Joseph, they do not recognize him. So much time has passed, after all. And who could imagine that their own brother, a mere Hebrew slave, could have cast off his yoke and ascended to such heights of power? As the film moves toward its conclusion, viewers wonder whether Joseph will hold his brothers to account for their wrongdoing -- or reconcile with them and renew familial relationships. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi

This made-for-TV thriller was based on Robin Cook's bestseller Outbreak, but had to be retitled to avoid conflict with a similarly plotted theatrical feature of the same name (which in fact had been conceived long after Cook's novel hit the stands in 1987). Somewhere, somehow, someone has released a rare and deadly African ebola virus into the United States, apparently for the purpose of devastating major cities with death and disease. In her efforts to track down the root cause of this virus, fearless female medical researcher Marissa Blumenthal (Nicollette Sheridan) uncovers a sinister conspiracy that may involve her own colleagues--and in so doing, all but signs her own death warrant. First aired by NBC on May 8, 1995, Robin Cook's Virus has since been rebroadcast on cable TV under the title Robin Cook's Formula for Death, thereby distancing itself even farther from Outbreak (but not from another Cook novel called Coma, vestiges of which can be discerned in the plotline of this film!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this suspenseful drama, a medium sized plane en route from the U.S. to New Zealand gets hopelessly lost over the vast Pacific after his companion plane crashes. Now his only hope for salvation is the small commercial jet liner with whom the lost pilot is in radio contact. As his plane runs out of fuel, the larger plane must somehow find him before it is too late. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Based on the true-life adventures of the late Drug Enforcement Agency spy Barry Seal, this exciting espionage adventure chronicles the events that lead up to his death in 1984. Before coming to work for the DEA, smooth-talking Seal (Dennis Hopper) had been a drug smuggler for the notorious Medellin Cartel in Colombia. The DEA captures him and he agrees to become their informant. Unfortunately, though he is a master con artist, he is no match for the con men running the U.S. government agency. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Nightmare in Columbia County was inspired by a true-life crime which occurred in South Carolina in the 1980s. An elusive psychopath is stalking a beauty contest winner. He kidnaps the girl's sister, then murders several people to cover his tracks. The police are at a loss to find the maniac, who remains in contact with the beauty queen via short, untraceable phone calls. William Devane plays the obsessed police detective who burns the midnight oil to put the clues together. Nightmare in Columbia County refuses to insult the intelligence of its audience with a sugarcoating of the events or with any tacked-on happy endings. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A maverick lady private investigator hits the crime trail in search of the man who murdered a husband and wife in front of their grandchildren. Working on the very fringes of the law, the gumshoe finds herself drawn into a dangerous web of deception and betrayal when she falls in love with the man she's supposed to catch. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi