Lexx - The Movies - Series 1 Vol.2 [1999]

Amazon.co.uk Review

A "Light Universe" and a "Dark Zone" keep good and bad apart for the characters of Lexx, even though it's often hard to tell the difference between the two in this offbeat and unique sci-fi show that delights in its own nastiness. The show's Canadian creators, "Supreme Beans" Paul Donovan, Lex Gigeroff, and Jeffrey Hirschfield--partnered with German money and studio facilities--intended every episode to be, in their words, "a nasty adventure". With flashes of nudity and surgical gore, and a collection of extreme hairstyles and accents, the overall look is often akin to a sci-fi Eurotrash. Aboard the stolen 10-kilometre-long spaceship Lexx (designed to look like a dragonfly) are the "Dirty Three-and-a-Half": insufferable coward Stanley H Tweedle (Brian Downey), the Edward Scissorhands clone and 2000 years-dead Kai (Michael McManus), decapitated and lovestruck robot head 790 (voiced by writer Hirschfield), and the skimpily wardrobed Zev (19-year-old Eva Habermann). It's with the last of these characters that the show generated its main audience and proved itself totally indifferent to regular boundaries of TV formatting. A disregard both for genre conventions and good taste makes the show a constant series of surprises. --Paul Tonks

On the DVD: The first films's disc features a behind-the-scenes documentary with the show's creators talking generally about the intent of the films, a text interview with Jeffrey Hirschfield on his dual role as writer and voicing robot head 790, plus a hilarious "Purity Test" quiz to see how much of a fan you are. The second film's disc features a gallery of 12 stills, a Sci-fi Channel featurette and another documentary containing a very frank interview with director Robert Sigl and hilarious outtakes from Malcolm McDowell. --Paul Tonks

Customer Reviews:

Lexx - the most destructive force in the two known universes and really funny as well, .......2006-09-12

The Lexx is a rather fantastic organic space warship using technology derived from the Insect Wars. Lexx is `the most destructive force in the two known universes'. The excellent TV series runs to three seasons and beyond, although in many respects the spin-off TV series never quite re-captures the startlingly stark and surreal world shown in the original `films'. These films are now available over four DVD's numbered 1.1 to 1.4. This set has DVD's 1.3 and 1.4 (you also need the first twin DVD set for 1.1 to 1.2). To some extent these films have an `ending' so can be viewed happily without any knowledge of the subsequent Lexx TV series. In these two films `His Divine Shadow', the rather nasty ruler of the League of 20,000 Planets, causes even more jip, defying prophesy to create the Giga-Shadow. He is a being who can transfer his essence from one body to another, making him effectively an immortal god. His Divine Shadow took over after the otherwise peaceful Brunnen-G had destroyed the Insects in the great war thousands of years ago and then isolated themselves in their home-world behind the great barrier. Kai, last of the Brunnen-G, has been His Shadow's most deadly assassin for the last few thousand years and is on-board the Lexx when Stanley H Tweedle (a lowly security guard), Zev Bellringer (part human, part Cluster Lizard) and 790 (an android head with incidental `love-slave' programming) come aboard. The series is a strange a mix of dark SciFi (in the more recent Tales of Riddick mould), black humour and German soft-porn movie. But it works. If you haven't seen any Lexx, get these two DVD sets now (if you have, no doubt you have the DVDs already). If you can't buy, try renting or ebay. Highly recommended.

Beyond Compare.......2001-10-22

This boxed set of the most excellent Lexx movies 1.3 & 1.4 was no disappointment. After watching the first two movies, I didn't think that the next two movies would match up, but they certainly did. Buy it and be hooked forever.

The crew get into even more trouble............2001-06-20

First is episode three "Eating pattern" When the Lexx is running low on energy and can no longer produce food for Stan and Zev, it changes its course and lands on a garbage planet to feed. Zev decides to explore which leads to a huge heap of trouble. Stan is captured by the beautiful Wist (played by Doreen Jacobi) and infected by a worm like parisite. This leads to a fantasticly wacky performance by Rutger Hauer as Bog- leader of the worm people. Then in the last of season one "Giga-show", the crew are forced to finish what they started in "I worship his Shadow" when they return to the Cluster in order to prolong Kai's life. Once there, they witness the birth of the Giga-shadow and prepare to do battle... Both episodes feature some very impressive CGI effects and the final battle of the series is fantastic. Look out for Malcolm McDowell as Divine Cleric Yottskry. The features on the DVD's aren't brilliant but the Lexx purity test is certainly fun. Well worth the money....

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