Episode 7 of Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog is a two parter! Very exciting. Queen Maeve has assembled all four of Mider’s diabolical sentinels to attack the mystic knights while they’re busy trying to tame a dragon that definitely doesn’t want to be tamed. There’s also a twist at the end that I definitely didn’t see coming. Listen along to find out more.
S3E5 - Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog: The Wolf of the Rocks
Episode 6 sees the established formula very much in place as Angus has to claim his magical armour from a bored Irish character actor dressed like a fool while everyone else is distracted by a low effort monster summoned by the dastardly Queen Maeve who has other things to worry about, namely the low quality of the entertainers at her court.
S3E4 - Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog: Tash Hound of Temra AND Ivar and the Sea Serpent
It’s a double event here on Popular Antiquarian as HJDoom casts a jaundiced eye over episodes 4 and 5 of Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog, Tash Hound of Temra and Ivar and the Sea Serpent. Deidre’s after her magical armour but the script writers are more concerned with how that’s going to affect Rohan. In episode 5 it’s Ivar’s time to shine and you’d better believe he’s going to somehow make it all about his special cup.
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S3E2 - Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog: Tir Na Nog
We’re back with episode 2 of the Saban Entertainment fantasy action series set in a TV executive’s idea of what ancient Ireland looks like. Having assembled the main cast they are now sent to the actual land of Tir Na Nog to do magical trails at the behest of a tiny king with a terrible beard. Can they manage to persuade him to help them before the castle of Kells is overrun by the forces of Temra? Listen along to find out.
Also I have a new game out at patreon.com/hjdoom. It’s called Mr Blobby and the Propaganda of the Deed and it’s a deeply libellous text adventure about light entertainment’s most deviant son. Yours for only a quid or local equivalent.
S3E1 - Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog: Legend of the Ancient Scroll
It’s time for a new season of Popular Antiquarian and this time our main focus is going to be Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog, the weird Irish themed Power Rangers knock off from 1998. In this first episode we’re meeting the main cast and trying to decide which one is the most irritating (it’s Angus). Join HJDoom for another deep dive into something that absolutely does not deserve the care and attention being lavished on it.
S2E17 - Enter the Asylum - Age of Tomorrow (2014)
Edge of Tomorrow is great. A really solid high concept scifi action movie anchored by Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt’s undeniable chemistry. Age of Tomorrow, The Asylum’s mockbuster of the same movie is a little different in that it’s not high concept, there’s very little action, and the leads have the kind of chemistry you would associate with rotting vegetable matter. I can usually find something laudable about these films but this one is a bit of a struggle. Listen along to find out how The Asylum goes about filming a serious fire in a building they only have for the afternoon. Also Robert Picardo is there.
S2E14 - Enter the Asylum - Transmorphers (2007)
It’s possible there are worse film makers out there than Michael Bay and if there are they’ve almost certainly worked for The Asylum at some point. Transmorphers is their attempt to recreate the cinematic magic of Bay’s Transformers movie, an astonishing franchise that somehow manages to be much stupidity than the Saturday morning cartoon from the 80s. How well does it work? Listen along to find out.
S2E10 = Enter the Asylum - Battle for Pandora (2022)
If there’s one thing The Asylum loves it’s riffing on the work of James Cameron. Battle for Pandora, timed to coincide with the release of Avatar: The Way of Water in 2022 attempts to ride on the coattails of Cameron’s beautiful but boring science fiction epics. There’s no money for an actual epic so instead they follow a well-worn path in low budget science fiction. How well does it land? Listen along to find out.
S2E9 - Enter the Asylum - Android Cop (2014)
In 2014 there was arguably only one film less hotly anticipated than the remake of Robocop and that was the mockbuster of the remake of Robocop. Android Cop, The Asylum’s foray into the world of Robocop rip offs, a remarkable fecund genre of movie. It’s got a stacked cast by the standards of Asylum movies since it features both Michael Jai White and Charles S Dutton in key roles. But will the middling star power of the man who starred in Spawn be enough to save this movie? Listen along to find out.
S2E7 - Enter the Asylum - Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus (2009)
In which HJDoom spends far too many words talking about The Asylum’s 2009 creature feature that does more or less what it says on the tin. There’s a shark. There’s an octopus. There’s no money. Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus stars Debbie Gibson, Lorenzo Lamar, Vic Chao, and Sean Lawlor. It was written and directed by Jack Perez under the pseudonym Ace Hannah.
S2E6 - Enter The Asylum - The Terminators (2009)
Who knew that you could avoid infringing the copyright of The Terminator by simply sticking a letter S on the end? The Asylum that’s who. This was far from their first rodeo and it’s an effort to cash in on Terminator Salvation a film that looks better in retrospect only because everything got much worse after that point. The Terminator takes the core premise of a robot uprising but adds a little of that low budget magic by relocating most of the action to a small town in the middle of nowhere. Is it any good? No. Obviously not but is it any good by the peculiar standards of Asylum movies? Listen along to find out.
S2E5 - Enter the Asylum - Monster Mash (2024)
The Universal Monster movies are one of my absolute favourite things so the obvious thing to do was watch a deeply cynical attempt to cash in on their unique visual aesthetic whilst spending as little money as possible. What a glorious time to be alive.