Uncle Scoopy's Fun House

"Strike Back"

(season four in 1080hd)

Johnny's comments:

More from Strike Back, that British action series/sleazefest and there's no going back now, just continue what you do best. This series seems to have upped the ludicrous gunplay in the middle of city streets without anyone noticing, probably helped by the scene moving from 'yeah, this happens all the time' Africa to Europe. And don't forget a neverending bunch of incompetent soldiers who are just routinely slaughtered as our heroes 'save the day/fuck up royally (what's the difference?)' again. No real overarching villain in this series although the so-called main villain flipped sides so many times, it's hard to know if he was the bad guy in the end. This series has actors like Martin Clunes and Dougray Scott turn up to cause havoc for a couple of episodes. And that Irish terrorist plot in the middle of a Muslim terrorist plot surely only happened for the lesbian sex scene because it was ridiculous otherwise. I think I say this after every series, well except that completely different first series, but Strike Back is terrible, but highly watchable with lots of violence and T&A (kudos for Michelle Lukes getting naked) to stop anyone from having to think about many stupid things that seem to happen.

Scoop's comments:

I don't disagree with anything Johnny said, but I always looked forward to this series each week. The action scenes are beautifully and tautly directed; there are some plot surprises; the characterization goes beneath the superficial; there's usually a cliffhanger ending; and there is plenty of eye candy. Having noted that, let me confirm that the situations the two soldiers find themselves in are almost always implausible, and seem to follow the same formula every week. They are usually trapped someplace where they cannot possibly escape: the basement of a bank, a rooftop in a hostile city, that sort of thing. They are usually outnumbered by some outrageous ratio, and all of their enemies are armed at least as well as they are. Despite those insurmountable odds, they inevitably escape, not through guile or planning, but simply by shooting their way out and running to an escape vehicle which arrives in the nick of time. Another absurd element that Johnny failed to mention is that they have surveillance techniques far beyond anything that really exists, so their overlords at HQ always seem to know precisely where everybody in the world is in real time. Yeah, it's silly ... but mesmerizing.

Nicolene Botha film clip from s4e1 (sample below)