DVD reviews: Love The Beast | Star Trek

Published on Thursday 19 November 2009 20:54

LOVE THE BEAST METRODOME, £15.65 STAR TREK PARAMOUNT, £19.65

FOR someone who kick-started their career as a stand-up comedian, it's strange that Eric Bana seems to have actively tried to earn the nickname "Eric Banal" with his snooze-inducing performances in the likes of Hulk, Troy, Munich and The Time Traveller's Wife. I used to think this might have been a ploy for dramatic respectability (something all stand-ups crave), but evidence to the contrary emerges in Love the Beast, a self-directed documentary about his love affair with the 1974 Ford Falcon XB Coupe his dad bought him as a 15-year-old.

It documents Bana's determination to race his beloved car in Tasmania's five-day off-road Targa rally – and resembles an extended Top Gear challenge. Alas, aside from providing us with an inside-the-car view of Bana almost killing himself in a crash, he doesn't offer much insight into the relationship between men, their mates and their motors. Still, his unabashed sincerity is quite sweet, though how he became an A-list movie star remains a mystery.

The answer certainly isn't to be found in Star Trek. He's the villain, but is so anonymous I had to check the credits to make sure he was really in it. Ditto Winona Ryder, cast here as the young Spock's mum. What a relief, then, that the younger cast of mostly unknowns do such a brilliant job of making iconic characters their own. Effectively an origins story about the formation of sci-fi's most enduring double-act, as bickering buddies Captain Kirk and Mr Spock, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are a blast. This is one of the year's best films, the kind that restore your faith in blockbusters.

To order any of these DVDs at the special prices listed, call 01634 832789.