one i never got around to renting

hi there

it would be fairly, if not momentarily, easy to let this post get sidetracked. well, not that i have a sterling track record for keeping on whatever subject, look you see, but still. my wish here is to just look at one film what i never rented but often considered doing so, but sorry in advance if it gets all sidetracked every now and then. 

my assumption (or presumption) is that i am not quite alone with this. for those of us alive and well in the era of video shop rentals - and many of us were there to see it start, rise, diminish and disappear (almost) - it is probable that there was always that one tape not rented. sure, there were lots of films in a video store not rented by every customer, but i mean that one film that you always considered but never committed to. and so never saw, at least not necessarily on a rental tape. 

fair use, i think

for me that one film was something called Hangar 18. it was a video cover that looked interesting mostly because it didn't have much to it, and was forever sat on the second from bottom shelf of one rack, seldom seeming to be selected. 

once or twice, i can remember, i picked up the box and gave quite serious consideration to renting. but, as outlined above, i never did get around to committing time or cash to doing so. from what i can remember it was a fairly cheap tape to have rented too, since it was neither a new film nor a "classic" in demand. how much, exactly? as i remember it, some tapes were available for 50p or £1 for the night, and this one was likely in the southern region of price. 

why did i not ever get around to renting? i am not sure, to be honest. this was all pre X Files and similar, and there really wasn't a whole lot of stuff or interest circulating about things such as Roswell and Area 51 in the north of England. science fiction, mostly, was all limited to, or expected to be Star Wars, or the superior Battle Beyond The Stars, and of course the proper, should have remained only, 70s original version of Battlestar Galactica, of which i would consider myself a "proper fan" even if there are one or two people out there who say that i am not. f*** them, really. 

so, how, exactly (or precisely), did i end up seeing this film? it is safe, and fair, to say that the video place where i would have rented it off of has long since gone. and no, no sense of nostalgia struck me to seek out the video, or disc, of it online. or even one of them infamous "downloads". rather simply, it turned up on the tele one afternoon, over the festive season (Christmas), and so i thought yeah, why not have a look at it.

and what do i think of the film (Hangar 18), now that i (kind of) watched it? it was all right, as it happens. one of "those" types of films which have a "repeat viewing possible" sense to them, whilst why that is so resides in the category of inexplicable. mostly because of the familiar cast, i guess. other than the well known Robert Vaughan, just about everyone in the film makes you say "oh i know him (and sometimes her), it's that one out of that other film". you know what i am talking about. 

having no real idea what to expect of the film, other than it being some sort of alien thing being stored in some sort of military base, i was rather foolishly taken by surprise that it was a "conspiracy theory" or hide the truth sort of film. to this end, the plot themes (if not direct action, of course) appears to borrow heavily, or "be inspired" by, Capricorn One. actually, a double bill of that film and this film would be one excellent lazy afternoon. 

so how is it, for clarity of provenance, that i eventually (or "finally") got to see this film? i was just browsing through the television guide and noted that Talking Pictures TV (here you go link fans) were about to start showing it one afternoon, so figured why not. and why not. 

yes, indeed, even by 79 - 80 standard, the special effects and alien spaceship designs were somewhat lacking and rather cheap. i think back then, without cheap computer gimmicks to use, they were kind of forced, or felt compelled, to make sure they had a decent story which was interesting to follow, acting as sort of quasi compensation for a lack of visuals. 

do i regret not seeing Hangar 18 somewhat sooner? not particularly. whereas i enjoyed it, and it was fun to finally see, i suspect i might have felt rather disappointed paying to watch what is essential a television movie (or made for tv film). making it rather apt that i did indeed just wait, albeit not deliberately so, for it to turn up on the tele. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!