Robin Sachs Movies

Pulled into a seemingly inescapable black void, the Voyager ends up in the middle between two eternally warring (and equally trapped) starships. In hopes of saving her crew, Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) struggles to negotiate a détente between the two fighting factions. But can either side be trusted? And how does The Phantom of the Opera figure into all this? "The Void" made its UPN network bow on February 14, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The long-awaited "backstory" for the popular syndicated science-fiction saga Babylon 5 was provided some five years after the series premiered, courtesy of the two-hour movie special Babylon Five: In the Beginning. Set in the year 2278, the film takes a backward glance at the Earth-Minbari war, as seen through the eyes of Londo Mollari (Peter Jurasik), now the emperor of Centauri. Detailed for the first time are the tragic beginnings of the war, the involvement of the Minbari Delenn (Mira Furlan), and the death of Dukaht (Raynor Scheine). In addition to featuring most of the series' current regulars, the film also brings back such early defectors as Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) and Ambassador Kosh (Ardwright Chamberlain). As a bonus, Claudia Christian appears unbilled in her familiar role of Lt. Cmdr. Susan Ivanova, here depicted as an 18-year-old civilian. The film was written by series producer J. Michael Straczynski, and later novelized by Peter David. First telecast on January 4, 1978, Babylon 5: In the Beginning launched the two-year association between Babylon 5 and the TNT cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As the hostilities between Centauri and the Alliance intensifies, President Sheridan authorizes the deployment of the White Star Fleet. At request of Vir, Lyta and Franklin go on an errand of mercy to Drazi homeworld. And Delenn returns to Minbar to launch a vital Minbari-Earth construction project. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, "Movements of Fire and Shadow" first aired on June 17, 1998; the episode's cliffhanger ending would not be resolved until "The Fall of Centauri Prime" was telecast on October 28 of that same year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After a tweedy British gentleman gets his neck broken by a demon, Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) reveals that he knows the man as Philip Henry (Stuart McLean), an old friend who has a tattoo oddly identical to one on Giles' arm. Soon after, Philip awakens from death, possessed by the demon that killed him, and leaves the morgue. Meanwhile, Giles descends into a state of brooding drunkenness and misses a meeting with Buffy. She discovers Ethan Rayne (Robin Sachs) sneaking about the library, and he informs her about the Mark of Eyghon -- the tattoo on Giles' arm. A reluctant Giles soon reveals that as a young man he rebelled against his Watcher duties and formed a circle with five friends, including Ethan, to dabble in the occult. They summoned the demon Eyghon, who then killed one of them. Moving from victim to victim to stay alive, Eyghon is now attempting to kill everyone bearing his mark. Giles' relationship with Jenny (Robia La Morte) is also endangered as she becomes possessed by Eyghon. ~ All Movie Guide

The final five episodes of Babylon 5's third season were originally shown in England from August 19 to September 22, 1996, but the American syndication service PTEN did not wish to "throw away" these episodes during the low-rated late summer months. Thus, viewers in the US did not see the season's final story arc until September, beginning with the telecast of "Walkabout" during the week of September 30, 1996. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, "Walkabout" finds Captain Sheridan and telepath Lyta Alexander (Patricia Tallman) preparing to exploit the Shadows' newly-discovered "achilles' heel" to mount a counteroffensive against the enemy. Meanwhile, Dr. Franklin heads DownBelow to determine his true purpose in life. Erica Gimpel appears as Cailyn, a beautiful singer who will have a profound effect on the introspective Franklin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sheridan is kidnapped by aliens, just as General Hague (Robert Foxworth) arrives for an important conference with the B5 Commander. Left in charge, Ivanova is forced to make a fateful decision--and a potentially fatal journey towards an unknown source of "bright light and turbulence". Meanwhile, the "new" Delenn is expelled from the Grey Council. Originally telecast on February 15, 1995, "All Alone in the Night" was written by J. Michael Straczunski. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is back in London, there to attend the opening night of a play based on one of her novel's. The play's producer (Robin Sachs) has a reputation for ruthlessness and duplicity, so it really surprises no one when he is murdered. Nor can anyone be surprised when Jessica (Angela Lansbury) takes it upon herself to prove that the play's leading lady (Jean Marsh) is not the murderer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A quarrel erupts between the Duke of Hereford, Henry Bolingbroke (Jon Finch), and the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray (Richard Owens). According to Bolingbroke, Mowbray misappropriated government money and plotted the death of the Duke of Gloucester. Mowbray denies the charges, accusing Bolingbroke of being a slanderous coward. King Richard II (Derek Jacobi) first approves their proposal to settle their differences in a jousting duel, then decides to banish both of them -- Norfolk for life and Bolingbroke for six years. The lighter sentence for Bolingbroke masks Richard's hatred of Henry, who is so popular with the people that he poses a threat to the crown. While Bolingbroke is in exile, his father, the much-loved John of Gaunt (Sir John Gielgud), dies, and Richard appropriates his estate -- Henry's inheritance -- to help pay for a military campaign he personally conducts against rebels in Ireland. Nobles protest seizure of the inheritance, siding with Bolingbroke. Heartened, Bolingbroke returns from exile, organizes his supporters, and executes two of Richard's friends. Richard returns from Ireland to defend his realm. But after 20,000 Welsh troops desert to Bolingbroke, Richard takes refuge in Flint Castle, then surrenders to his foe. After being forced to give up the throne, Henry imprisons Richard in the Tower of London and announces his own coronation. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

The horror film Megalodon begins as a large corporation begins using a powerful drill in order to look for oil in Greenland. The company disregards the warnings of scientists who claim that the drill may disrupt the natural order of the environment. The drill eventually goes so deep that a new ocean is discovered. In that ocean is a deadly ancestor of the white shark, Carcharodon Megalodon. The creature weighs more than twenty-thousand pounds and begins working its way toward the crew that worked the drill. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A rag-tag group of con artists and ex-cons team up for the heist to end all heists in this high-profile remake of the 1960 Rat Pack favorite. As with its predecessor, Ocean's Eleven opens with its titular hero Danny Ocean (George Clooney stepping into the Frank Sinatra role) eager for a new challenge. The similarities to the original end there, as Ocean conspires with his old pal Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) to rob 150 million dollars from an underground vault that serves three of Las Vegas' biggest casinos. Between the two of them, they recruit nine other men, each with his own criminal specialty, to assist in the mission: moneyman Reuben Tishkoff (Elliot Gould), card dealer Frank (Bernie Mac), pickpocket Linus (Matt Damon), aging con artist Saul (Carl Reiner), British explosives pro Basher (Don Cheadle), techie Dell (Eddie Jemison), rude-boy brothers Virgil (Casey Affleck) and Turk (Scott Caan), and professional acrobat Yen (Shaobo Qin). What Ocean doesn't tell the group is that there's another reason he's coordinating the heist: the three casinos they're robbing are all owned by ruthless gambling mogul Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), who just happens to be married to Ocean's former love Tess (Julia Roberts). Ocean's Eleven was updated by scribe Ted Griffin and marked the third feature shot by director Steven Soderbergh under the alias Peter Andrews. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

A team of intrepid adventurers travels through the outer reaches of the galaxy, each week finding excitement and adventure on Galaxy Quest! Or at least that's the way it was in the mid-1970s, when brave if reckless Captain Peter Quincy Taggart, lovely Lieutenant Tawny Madison, and inscrutable alien Dr. Lazarus were the leaders of an interstellar law enforcement team on the TV series of that name. Twenty years later, the show is still in reruns, and Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver), and Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman) prop up their sagging careers by making appearances at sci-fi conventions, where they grudgingly shake hands and give autographs for the show's socially inept following. However, it turns out that nerdy sci-fi fans aren't the only ones watching: somewhere in another solar system, a group of alien rebels living under a regime of violence and repression have picked up broadcasts of Galaxy Quest, and they aren't aware that it's fiction. They travel to Earth and encounter the Galaxy Quest cast, who figure that they're just another bunch of guys who like to dress funny. However, they soon realize that they're being hired not for another autograph-signing session but for a real-life outer space rescue mission. Galaxy Quest was directed by Dean Parisot, who had a background in TV directing before his theatrical debut with the dark comedy Home Fries. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide