PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Ffolkes (North Sea Hijack) (1980)

Ffolkes (North Sea Hijack) (1980)

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Released 15-Aug-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Action Main Menu Audio & Animation
Scene Selection Anim & Audio
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 1980
Running Time 95:28
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding 2,4,5 Directed By Andrew V. McLaglen
Studio
Distributor

Universal Pictures Home Video
Starring Roger Moore
James Mason
Anthony Perkins
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI $19.95 Music Michael Lewis


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
French
German
Italian
Spanish
Portuguese
Dutch
Swedish
Danish
Finnish
Norwegian
Hebrew
Arabic
Russian
Turkish
Greek
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Ffolkes, aka North Sea Hijack, is a lacklustre thriller from 1980. Roger Moore plays the character of Ffolkes, a misogynistic anti-terrorist agent for hire. Ffolkes and his men are activated by the British Government to eliminate a group of terrorists, led by Anthony Perkins, who have taken over an oil rig. Perkins is holding the employees hostage and demanding a ransom payment from the government or he'll kill everyone on board with explosive charges. The race is on to diffuse the situation prior to the life-threatening deadline.

    Ffolkes, as far as thrillers go, is very slow. In fact, for a 95-minute film it seems to take forever. There is no sense of tension or impending doom during the film, which is the death knell of any thriller. The screenplay is weak and uninvolving, and with the exception of Roger Moore, all the characters are merely set dressing. Anthony Perkins, as the leader of the terrorists, overacts to the point where his character becomes truly laughable. Any film of this type is only as good as the lead villain, and in this case the villain is so incompetent that it becomes painful to watch. Roger Moore does his best with poor material and the great James Mason is simply cashing a pay cheque.

    The only positive aspect of the production is the model effects work. The film obviously had a decent budget and the special effects work is top notch by 1980 standards. If only the rest of the film was any good. Ffolkes is a tired, clichéd waste of celluloid.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Ffolkes is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    Sharpness levels are fine with no edge enhancement noticeable. Shadow detail is strong and there are no low level noise complaints. There is, however, a grain issue. Whenever the film switches to the model effects work, the picture becomes noticeably grainy. Now this could be the fault of the transfer or simply the miniature process shots, but thankfully it is not that intrusive and doesn't distract from the quality effects work.

    Colours are washed-out but remain fairly natural.

    The print was mostly devoid of any film artefacts.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are five 2.0 audio tracks available on this DVD; English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. The English track is reviewed here.

    Dialogue is always clear and strong with no audio sync problems, not surprising as the film was mostly studio-bound.

    The film's music by Michael Lewis is simply awful. It distracts and intrudes every time it gets a chance.

    Surround channel usage is reasonable with the occasional directional effect popping up.

    The subwoofer is adequate in supporting the many explosions and effects work.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Main Menu Audio & Animation

    This keeps with the theme of the film, except it uses that dreadful score.

Scene Selection Animation & Audio

    Adequate animated chapter menus - a nice addition.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    All versions of this DVD across regions are essentially the same.

Summary

    Ffolkes is a slow, uninspired thriller. The disc has a good transfer with no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Greg Morfoot (if interested here is my bio)
Thursday, October 02, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-535, using S-Video output
DisplayLG 76cm Widescreen Flatron Television. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderSony HT-K215. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationSony HT-K215
Speakers fronts-paradigm titans, centre &rear Sony - radio parts subbie

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