Richard Adams Movies

Season two of Xena: Warrior Princess finds Xena (Lucy Lawless) en route to Centaur, in search of a warlord who used to be one of her minions. The warlord wants to get his hands on a sacred stone protected by the Centaurs -- a stone with the power to bestow awesome and evil powers on whoever possesses it. As the story unfolds, Xena is unexpectedly reunited with her son, Solan (David Taylor) -- who is subsequently used as bait to lure the former Warrior Princess into a deadly trap. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's a personal matter for Hunter as he investigates the death of young heiress Allegra Bryant (Kim Morgan Greene), who was apparently pushed from a high-rise window. Hunter had once dated Allegra, whom he recalls as a vibrant, fun-loving woman without an enemy in the world. It gradually and painfully becomes clear to the detective that Allegra's "murder" may not have been a murder after all. Featured in the role of Father Michaels is British actor Tony Jay, formerly a star of the mammoth production "Nicholas Nickelby" and later a prolific cartoon voiceover artist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence was the first English-language project of Japanese director Nagisa Oshima (Death by Hanging, In the Realm of the Senses). In tune with his previous filmic essays on racism and brutality, Merry Christmas concentrates on a war of wills between rebellious POW David Bowie and camp commandant Ryuichi Sakomoto. Assuming that his other prisoners' unwillingness to protest their cruel treatment is a sign of weakness, Sakomoto is most impressed by Bowie's enigmatic defiance. While Bowie and Sakomoto seem to be operating on a high spiritual and intellectual plane, bilingual prisoner Tom Conti (the "Mr. Lawrence" of the title) engages in a more standard adversarial relationship with sadistic sergeant Takeshi Kitano. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John attempt to rekindle the box office sparks of Grease with this screwball fantasy comedy. The tale begins during a golf match in heaven among four angels --Charlie (Charles Durning), Earl (Scatman Crothers), Gonzales (Castulo Guerra), and Ruth (Beatrice Straight)-- who have been in charge of heaven for the last twenty-five years. But their game is interrupted by God (voice of Gene Hackman), who has now returned to the office and doesn't like what he sees down on earth. God wants to order up another flood and start all over again, but the angels persuade God to reconsider, reasoning that if a typical earth man can reform, it would prove that all mankind is capable of it. God agrees to the scheme and the typical man selected is Zack Melon (John Travolta) a failed inventor who, threatened by loan sharks, decides to hold up a bank. Zack points his gun at bank teller Debbie Wylder (Olivia Newton-John) and she gives him all of the money. But when Zack peers into the sack after the robbery, he sees that Debbie has substituted bank deposit slips for the cash and realizes that she has kept the money for herself. Zack tracks her down to reclaim his stolen money and the two fall in love. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Adam (George Segal) is an English instructor at a U.S. college who hopes to win a professorship and tenure. Tricia (Glenda Jackson) is an English divorcee. They both wind up on a French ski slope at exactly the wrong time, and in the resulting collision, break one another's legs. While they are slinging ever-wittier insults at each other, they are also falling in love. They soon wed, with Tricia joining Adam back in the States. There, it becomes clear that Tricia was not cut out to be a dutiful, meek professor's wife. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This infamously violent British Western stars Gene Hackman as Brandt Ruger, a wealthy rancher who goes away on a hunting trip with a group of friends. While he's gone, a thug named Frank Calder (Oliver Reed) kidnaps Melissa (Candice Bergen), Brandt's wife, under the mistaken impression that she's a schoolteacher and will be able to teach him to read. Despite being taken against her will, in time Melissa begins to develop feelings for Calder, who in his way cares for her more than her husband, who treats her like a possession. Melissa has fallen in love with Calder by the time Brandt returns. However, Brandt is enraged over the abduction of his wife, and sets out on a new hunting trip, with Calder and his men as his prey. Noted character actors G.D. Spradlin and L.Q. Jones round out the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

While deep-sea fishing with his colleague Paul Drake (William Hopper), Perry (Raymond Burr) receives word from his old friend Scott Cahill (Jeff York) that the Coast Guard has boarded Cahill's vessel looking for stolen gold bullion. Unfortunately, the officials not only find the gold, but also the body of Cahill's alleged partner Karl Magovern (Arch Johnson). This is the episode in which Perry inveigles his "friendly enemy" Hamilton Burger (William Talman) to take a crucial voyage on a Coast Guard cutter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide