Quest (Ws)

 "Fascinating Fighters Make This Just Plain Fun" 2008-11-26
By Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA)
Although it took four viewings before I finally lowered my rating of this from "5" to "4 stars,"I suspect I will still watch this lame-brain action flick a few more times and enjoy it.

Why? Because it offers a great mixture of fascinating fighters, is a modern-day martial-arts action film with almost no swearing and no sex; and offers some tremendous scenery in the first half of the film as Jean Claude Van Damme and company travel to the Far East for this "World's Greatest Fighter" tourney.

Yes, the tourney gets carried away in the final bout but you can't have everything just right. The photography is magnificent, far better than you would expect. The movie benefits from a classy actor like Roger Moore joining the cast, too. Yeah, it's stupid in parts, but it's fun and highly recommended for first-time viewers who don't know the outcome of the bouts.

Quest

Jonny Quest - The Complete First Season

 "Adventures around the world" 2010-03-30
By Chrijeff (Scranton, PA)
Having made a name for itself with The Flintstones - The Complete First Season, The Yogi Bear Show - The Complete Series, Top Cat - The Complete Series, and The Jetsons - The Complete First Season, Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1964 ventured into serious adventure with these adventures of 11-year-old Jonny Quest (voiced by Tim Matheson), his father Dr. Benton Quest (John Stephenson), his Hindu friend Hadji (Danny Bravo), his bull-pup Bandit, and his tutor-bodyguard Race Bannon (Mike Road), a former intelligence agent, pilot, martial-arts expert and crack shot. Since the death of his mother Jonny has become a possible pawn in enemy schemes to manipulate his brilliant scientist father, so he's being homeschooled at Quest's lab on Palm Key and travelling with him when he's called to help the Government or friendly countries in locations ranging from the Canadian North Woods to Southeast Asia and from Norway to Nepal.

The animation in this series falls well short of Disney quality but is still an improvement on that of HB's comic serials, and while Jonny is sometimes impulsive, he also has, as Race says, "a good head on his shoulders" and several times saves the day by coolness, courage, and quick thinking. There are a few glitches in continuity that I find mildly irritating: Hadji first appears in Episode #2 ("Arctic Splashdown"), but his background isn't revealed till #7 ("Calcutta Adventure"); Dr. Quest's nemesis, Dr. Zin (Vic Perrin), appears in four segments, but it's never explained where he and the Quests first butted heads; the Eurasian adventuress Jade (Cathy Lewis) has two appearances but her history is never revealed, and one foe, Gen. Fong, appears in "The Quetong Missile Mystery" and is recognized by Race and the Quests, but we never find out how they know him. Despite its high-tech ambience, there are some instances of very faulty science (wrecks in the Sargasso Sea in Episode #1, "Mystery of the Lizard Men;" a pygmy tribe in the Brazilian jungles in #14, "Dragons of Ashida;" a Gila monster in Maya country and an aggressive attack by vampire bats in #6, "Treasure of the Temple;" a reference by Dr. Quest (who should certainly know better!) to dolphins as fish), as well as a storyline featuring Muslim Arabs fearing the wrath of an ancient Egyptian god in #3, "The Curse of Anubis" (not that they don't have reason to, as it turns out). But there's also a lot of intriguing stuff going on--Jonny and his team encounter, among other things, a living pteranodon trained by a human, a walking mummy, the Abominable Snowman, and what appears to be genuine magic (Hadji can perform the Indian rope trick under an open sky and do levitation). And there's also surprisingly little chauvinism for a series that aired originally in the mid-'60's, long before the invention of Political Correctness. With hovercraft, jet-packs, and futuristic weaponry, yet surprisingly little fatal violence, it should appeal to Baby Boomers and their kids and grandkids alike.

NIV Quest Study Bible, Revised

 "Great Study Bible that actually helps you understand the Bible!" 2010-05-24
By W. Truelove (Baltimore, Maryland)
I bought this book upon getting a recommendation from our associate pastor during our Alpha couse. I love everything about it. From the colorful maps and detailed dictionary; to the questions that are answered in the blue column and a very deep concordance. I have tried reading other versions of the bible, but I find this version very easy to read and understand. I would highly recommend this to anyone that wants a clear cut vision of what the bible is saying to you.

Galaxy Quest (Deluxe Edition)

 "Galaxy Quest" 2010-06-11
By Yvonne D. Stewart (Independence, MO)
As a Star Trek fan, I just love this movie. It arrived in perfect condition and has brightened up my library of DVDs. It's a hoot!

The Quest

 "Should not have been published" 2010-01-14
By Felicity Hendon
If this book had been submitted to a publisher by a beginning writer, it would have been rejected and quite rightly so. That it was published because the author has an existing market and is therefore guaranteed of a certain amount of sales no matter how bad the book is, is a cynical exercise and a damning indictment of the publishing world. Readers deserve far better than this, Macmillan Publishing.

Mr. Smith can undoubtedly write, however in this instance he apparently couldn't be bothered (and where the hell was his editor?). His writing is filled with clangers that would be considered errors if written by a new writer, but for which someone with his experience has no excuse. He undoubtedly knows better.

He tells instead of showing - a lot. He instructs readers as to what understanding they should have gained from what they have just read. The pages are absolutely drowning in adjectives immediately followed by repetitive synonyms. We rarely get to see anything happen, but instead are given a summary of what happened after the fact. That makes for easy writing but it isn't at all interesting to read.

I've struggled on to page 130 but I really don't think I can go any further, even if the book was a gift.

Macmillan Publishing, you did many a people a disservice by publishing this badly written book, most of all readers.

Galaxy Quest [Blu-ray]

 "Galaxy Quest" 2010-06-11
By Yvonne D. Stewart (Independence, MO)
As a Star Trek fan, I just love this movie. It arrived in perfect condition and has brightened up my library of DVDs. It's a hoot!

Quest Reading and Writing 3, 2nd Edition

Vision Quest

 "DVD average...movie above average...in fact best wrestling movie out there" 2009-08-12
By Daniel H. Price (tucson, arizona)
The DVD is average at best,but the movie is excellent. Mathew Modine, who has been around for a long time and has been in his share of flicks, portrays a young high school wrestler in this 1985 flick. He has to wrestle with his share of problems on and off the wrestling mat.The movie shows what a prep wrestler goes through as he prepares for matches and battles weight issues to keep himself in a certain weight class...a single pound over could keep him from competing.Of course,Modine's character has to make plenty of moves off the mat as well as...let's just say he has an older woman issue. A must see for former or current high school wrestlers.And for you "love bugs" out there,you'll love it, too.

The World of Quest, Vol. 2 (v. 2)