My first and last films, by medium

 The other day, I saw a selection of short films from the Manhattan Short Film Festival at the Palace Theater in Danbury, which made me realize I hadn't seen a feature-length film since 2019, which in turn made me think about the subject of this post, namely what the first and last films I saw (or bought) in the various formats there have been over the years.  Here's my list:

In theater: 

The first film I saw in the theater was All Dogs Go to Heaven, but the first film I actually remember seeing in the theater was Super Mario Bros (the 1993 film).  The first film I went to without my parents was The Fifth Element (I went with a friend), and the first film I went to on my own was Clerks 2.  The last feature-length film I saw in the theater was Darkest Hour; I was never much of a cinema-goer, and lockdown really killed off that habit.  That said, since lockdown's end, I have gone to 3 short film festivals at the Palace Theater, 2 of which were international short film collections and one of which was a collection of science fiction short films.

On VHS:

I don't remember what my first film on VHS was, but I do remember the last two VHS tapes I bought: 28 Days Later, and a 3-episode tape of Father Ted (Titled "Nuns! Nuns! Reverse! Reverse!", and containing the episodes Competition Time, And God Created Woman, and Grant Unto Him Eternal Rest).

On DVD: 

The first film on DVD my family owned was Rat Race; I don't recall what the first DVD I bought for my own use was, but I think it might have been either A Bridge Too Far, or Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels.  As of this post, the most recent DVD I have purchased was The Odessa File.

On Blu-Ray:

The first Blu-Ray I bought was The Lego Movie and the most recent one was Big; I purchased both because they were a dual-format DVD/Blu-Ray set.  I only got a Blu-ray player last Christmas, so the first film I actually watched on Blu-Ray was Clerks, which my brother had given to me for Christmas the year before (he bought a Kevin Smith-signed copy from Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash).

Plastic Soldier Review: Mars Red Army WWII Infantry

 

 

 

Overview: This set depicts a group of Soviet Red Army infantrymen in the winter uniforms introduced in January of 1943 (featuring traditional shoulderboard rank insignia and standing collars) and in use during the winter months for the rest of the war, up to and including the Battle of Berlin (in the Red Army, summer clothing was usually issued in May and the Battle of Berlin occurred mostly during April of 1945 so most Red Army troops in Berlin were still wearing winter gear).  

 

They are wearing a mixed set of uniforms, including the telogreika padded jacket and trousers, greatcoat, and gymnastiorka tunic with the plash-palatka rain cape (I'm not sure how historically accurate this would be, with members of the same squad wearing such a variety of uniforms at the same time...).  Headwear is a similar mixture, with some wearing the M1940 helmet, others wearing the ushanka fur cap, and others wearing the pilotka wedge cap.  The uniforms are rounded out with sapogi boots.  The troops with their rain capes on have their equipment covered up, but the remainder of the troops wear typical Red Army gear, including ammunition pouches, entrenching tools (either in a carrier or tucked into their belts), and the veshmeshok pack or small haversack.  The officers are wearing leather Sam Browne belts with mapcases and pistol holsters.  

 

The troops are armed with typical small arms of the time, including PPSh and PPS 43 submachine guns, Moisin-Nagant rifles, Tokarev pistols (carried by the officers) and a Degtyaryov machine gun.  In addition, one soldier has a captured German Mp38/MP40 slung across his back, and another is carrying an ammunition container for a Maxim gun.

 

Sculpting: The sculpting is well-done, with a variety of quite interesting and dynamic poses (I particularly like the pose of the soldier in the greatcoat working the bolt of his rifle, and the soldier in the rain cape firing the PPSh).  The only questionable one I found was the officer with his arm in a sling; would someone with an injury like that still be leading troops in battle, even in the Red Army?  While the detail is somewhat basic and "flat" (especially the slung MP40), all the typical equipment is present on the figures and accurately-depicted.  As far as I could tell, there were no major anachronisms, missing equipment, or other inaccuracies in the sculpting.  Also, all the figures stand up easily, with no balance issues.

 

Packaging: The set came in a cardboard box with stylized artwork on the front and a painted example of each figure on the back.

Molding: The figures are molded in a very hard dark green plastic, with no parts bent or broken off.  Like other Mars models, however, the flashing was very bad, and had to be carved away before painting (a somewhat difficult task, given that the parting line was in the middle of each figure's face).

Selection: Two of each pose are included, except for the machine gunner (who only comes one to a set).  Put together, they generally make for a convincing unit (although like I said earlier, I'm not sure how accurate it would be for one unit to wear such a variety of uniforms at the same time), although it might have been a better selection to have two machine gunners and one officer.

Scale: The figures in this set are on the diminutive side, even compared to other Mars figures (let alone 60mm figures).

Left to right: Airfix Afrika Korps, Mars Red Army, TSSD 60mm Red Army

With Mars British Infantry

Overall: While I have some reservations about the set's accuracy and the flashing, I think this set also has a lot going for it with its excellent poses and representation of an often-overlooked force from WWII; all in all, I'd say the whole is better than the sum of its parts.

The whole set (minus one figure; see below for details)

One figure was painted with Tamiya Copper paint and now serves as a statue on my East German-themed model train layout