Product: Doctor Who [VHS] (1975)
Rating: 4.0
Monsters, Radioactive Explosions, and the Master! Oh My!
The key to enjoying the classic and high-energy CLAWS OF AXOS is to get hold of the reality that it's cheaply made British SF from the early 70's, and its storyline focuses on the disaster of solid, unimaginative, middle-class British civil servants trying to deal with an invasion from outer space.One of the best loved stories from Doctor Who, AXOS must be watched with appreciation for the classic "Running around, getting captured, and escaping" subplots, the incredibly psychedelic sets with the semi-nude Axon humanoids (who look like spray painted refugees from 1970-era San Francisco), and the emphasis on classic SF crisis situations (an opportunity to end world hunger, really big nuclear plants, army involvement vs. personal freedom) all being handled by a man whose entire life has been spent trying to secure himself in a civil service job and perhaps get a promotion for himself.This is the situation that the Doctor and UNIT must face, and even our favorite timelord resorts to some duplicity and deception as he seems to turn against his friends--all in order to save them, of course.CLAWS OF AXOS is a tremendous romp through cheesy TV-SF, and it is best watched from a bean bag chair with the lava lamp going, all the lights off, and everybody equipped with Smith's Nut Brown Ale. If you put expectations on it, you'll be disappointed, but if you remember that a lot of us grew up on this stuff and had a great time with it, you should enjoy it.