Max Phipps Movies

Moya and her crew are lured to a Delvian Colony by a false distress call. It turns out that they have been summoned on behalf of ailing Delvian ruler Tahleen (Kate Raison), whose life can be saved only by one of her own lineage -- namely, Princess Zhaan (Virginia Hey). In her efforts to do her royal duty, Zhaan goes insane, and her madness spreads to the rest of the crew. To rescue his comrades, and to prevent Tahleen from irretrievably capturing Zhaan's soul, Crichton (Ben Browder) must participate in Unity, a dangerous Delvian ritual. "Rhapsody in Blue" first aired on July 23, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Since Sky Trackers was produced on behalf of the Disney Channel cable service, we shouldn't be surprised that the principal characters are three children. When an extraterrestrial satellite crash lands in the Australian outback, the kids search for survivors. The plot thickens when it is learned that the aliens may be carrying a deadly virus. Pamela Sue Martin and Paul Williams are top-billed as the two adult doctors who try to find the kids before the kids can be exposed to the space capsule. Sky Trackers was first telecast in the US on May 27, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Written by Billy Marshall-Stoneking, "The Pawn" takes place at a Czechoslovakian test tournament. The IMF is assigned to expedite the defection of Soviet scientist and chess champion Dr. Gregor Antonov (Bryan Marshall) --- and also to rescue Antonov's daughter, who is being held by the police as "security". The success of the mission hinges upon an elaborate magic show, staged by professional prestidigitator Zorbuskaya (Rowena Wallace). Originally scheduled for January 8, 1989, "The Pawn" made its TV debut one week later, on January 15. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This well-made Australian blend of Jaws and Alligator is a tense, action-packed thriller involving a monstrous crocodile, a tough ranger (John Jarratt), and a team of aborigines who worship the monster as the god "Numunwari." This leads to lots of gory clashes with the reptile, interwoven with some interesting tribal lore surrounding the legendary croc and a subplot involving a psychic connection between the beast and one of the aborigines. The climactic battle puts a sympathetic spin on the plight of Numunwari, believed to be the last of his kind -- but his unpleasant habit of snapping people in half makes it a bit difficult to muster up enough empathy for the monster. Based on a novel by Grahame Webb. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

With a touch of comedy, this Aussie film ("Our Home" spelled backwards) chronicles the unnerving experience of a young couple buying a home when their income is already stretched thin. Terri and Des (Joy Smithers and Martin Sacks) live on a beach with their son Les, and life is difficult, but the scenery is stunning, and their son has playmates, the children of others camped out there in the same circumstances. Both parents work, Terri ironically cleans houses for others, and Des drives a bus. One day Terri gets fed up with not being able to afford a home and contacts an agency specializing in financing such projects, and soon Terri is cleaning house for her own family. But life in suburbia is far from ideal -- Les has no playmates, his father has to leave for work before the crack of dawn because they live so far from the city, and their neighbors are busybodies. Barely making it on their shoestring budget, neither Terri nor Des plan for any unexpected setbacks -- a serious error, it turns out.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This patchy, uneven combination of fantasy and musical comedy is hilarious in parts and embarrassing in others, though the premise has great potential in itself -- a screwball Captain Invincible is out to save the world from his nemesis, Mr. Midnight, the white supremacist. Captain Invincible (Alan Arkin) is wallowing in his cups in the Australian outback when he receives an unusual call from the American President asking for his help. Unusual because the Captain had no choice but to go into exile after Joseph McCarthy's Un-American Activities Committee became suspicious of his red cape, and he has never been sober enough to recover from the shock. This history is given in a mock newsreel at the beginning of the film. But now Mr. Midnight is threatening to dismember New York City by convincing all the ethnic groups to live along the seashore. Once they are situated on beachfront property, he will blast out a crack in the earth behind them, cut their connection to the mainland, and send them drifting off into the Atlantic. It seems the dastardly Midnight has stolen the ultra-secret hypno-ray and can slice off New Jersey whenever he wants. Weakened by depression and alcohol, Captain Invincible is nursed back to full throttle by Patty Patria (Kate Fitzpatrick) and is soon ready to zoom over Sydney to the far side of the globe -- after practicing in harness in front of rear-projected scenes. Meanwhile, Mr. Midnight and his sidekick are all set to defend their turf, and their ability to slice it up -- though the (American) patriotic sentimentality that prevails in the end, after several other songs have come and gone, is summarized in a rendition of "God Bless America" that conflicts with the opening scenes and may leave foreign audiences cold. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This Australian made-for-TV movie dramatizes the true story of a woman who claimed that her baby was killed by a wild dog, while the police arrested her under suspicion of murder. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

Director George Miller's follow-up to his own 1979 hit Mad Max is proof that not all sequels are inferior to their originals. If anything, this brutal sci-fi action film is even more intense and exciting than its predecessor, although the state of its post-apocalyptic world has only become worse. Several years after the deaths of his wife and child, Max (Mel Gibson) has become an alienated nomad, wandering an Australian outback that has fallen into tribal warfare conducted from scattered armed camps. After a road battle with psychotic villain Wez (Vernon Wells), Max meets up with the odd Gyro Captain (Bruce Spence), who takes him to the camp of a sympathetic group led by Pappagallo (Mike Preston). As Pappagallo's people are camped at a refinery, Max plans to take their oil -- more precious than gold in this world -- but eventually joins them to fight a band of marauders led by the evil Humungus (Kjell Nilsson). The stunning climax features a heart-pounding chase scene involving an oil tanker-truck and a frenzied rush for the coast, with Humungus and his forces in hot pursuit. Nilsson is a scary villain, with huge muscles and a sinister pre-Jason hockey mask, but the stunt work is the key here, and it is more flamboyantly dynamic than ever, edited at breakneck pace and staged with manic fury by Miller and stunt coordinator Max Aspin. Savage and kinetic, Mad Max 2 is a must-see for action buffs. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

This cold-blooded, thinly wrought horror film has a warm-blooded theme -- the regular imbibing of said substance by a certifiably crazy cult. Kate Davis (Chantal Contouri) is slowly drawn into this cult against her (and everyone else's) better judgment. Once involved, she discovers that they have sanitized, hospital-like centers where red-blooded individuals are kept zoned out by tranquilizers. Otherwise they might have some objection or another to being essentially imprisoned and immobilized in order to supply blood on demand. In cases where the supply source is particularly popular with one of the cult members, then complete exsanguination is ordered. Even the slightest hint at humor, levity of any kind coming from any direction, might have balanced the weak plot and one-dimensional characters by covertly acknowledging their limitations. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This first effort from acclaimed writer/director Peter Weir is set in the secluded rural town of Paris, Australia, where the chief source of income is provided by the orchestration of automobile accidents -- which frequently claim the lives of passing tourists, though those who survive are usually subjected to bizarre brain experiments by a loony local surgeon. One such unfortunate survivor is young Arthur, who remains in Paris after his recovery to work in the hospital, unaware (at first) of the circumstances which brought him there. Although there are many amusingly weird moments, this black comedy is a bit too deadpan for its own good and may be too talky and meandering for horror fans. A condensed version was released in the U.S. under the title The Cars That Eat People. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi