Validus

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Posts posted by Validus

  2. Posted

    I went with ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks were the most advanced thinkers and scientists of the ancient world with the only notable exception being China and India (in philosophy). Anaximander was the first to theorize evolution, Democritus speculated the existance of atoms, and western thought would have been greatly weakened without the clear wisdom of Socrates. Aristotle was certainly impressive for his day, but he was wrong about too many other things for me to hold him in high esteem.

  3. Posted

    was Robocop a comic book first?

     

    Not at all...but Robocop was so far ahead of its time (a superhero not for kids) that it has always held a special place in my heart. Back in 1987 I went to see the film thinking it would be cheesy...I mean, look at the name. "Robocop". It sounded ridiculous at the time...but I was totally blown away. To me it was every bit as good as the first Terminator which had come out three years before. Marvel made a Robocop comic that was short-lived and not very good, and later Dark Horse comics published an amazing 4 issue miniseries called "Robocop vs. The Terminator" that was written by Frank Miller (Sin City). It was great!!!

  5. Posted · Edited by Validus

    My favorite superhero? That's like trying to pick my favorite supermodel...just too many to chose.

     

    I'll make this my short list with the characters in no specific order:

     

     

    Batman

    Superman

    Captain Marvel

    Wonder Woman

    The Crow

    Robocop

    Hellboy

    The Tick

     

    I can't say that I care much for the Marvel Universe. I like the Hulk...but I'm not really sure he counts as a "hero". I think in the Marvel line I like Thor best. I used to read Avengers when it was being written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by George Perez. I used to watch Captain Marvel (Shazam!) when I was a kid in the 70's and I also watched Wonder Woman, which I now have on DVD. :) I admit its cheezy now, but what young boy didn't love watching Linda Carter running around in a star-spangled bikini typing up bad guys and forcing them to tell the truth? :)

  7. Posted

    I vote Alien, but I like Aliens more. The first movie was really good, but it felt like something was missing. Whatever was missing in the original movie, it is found with this installment. James Cameron brings his movie magic to this series and makes it explode into something that is unspeakably excellent. It has action and a great story, the two things that I always go for. It is in this movie that the aliens are given a name, xenomorphs. All of the actors are really good and improved over those who were in the previous. I never can place it with this series, but this added what was missing for sure.

     

    I've often heard the "Alien" vs "Aliens" debate and I still tend to think the first was better for a couple of reasons.

     

    First- "Alien" was probably the first genuinely successful blending of horror and science fiction. The script by Dan O'Bannon, Ridley Scott's direction was flawless (he would later go on to direct Blade Runner as well as Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven) and the designs of H.R. Giger all came together to create something that was far more then just a horror/scfi hybrid but a true statement of existential terror worthy of H.P. Lovecraft.

     

    Second- "Aliens" is certainly a fine and worthy sequal, but it has a couple of flaws that are just too glairing to be ignored. For one, at one point Ripley is supporting her own weight plus the weight of the Alien Queen while fighting winds of up to several hundred miles an hour in an open airlock. The strongest man that ever lived could not support himself, much less himself plus a creature nearly as large as an elephant. That the second film essentially duplicates the first film's ending is also a weakness and makes it inferior to the initial film.

     

    Third- I would argue that "Aliens" is a different kind of film from its predecessor. "Alien" is, again, far closer to horror/suspense and has elements of Alfred Hitchcock in both its style and execution. "Aliens" seems to be essentially a cousin of the American Vietnam war movie and seems far closer to Platoon. At its heart..."Aliens" is an action film which is, in my mind, an inferior species of genre.

  8. Posted

    Can't wait for the DVD (Nov 28th) I'm getting the two disk set but a single disk will be availabe too. I also want the S-2 Donner Cut set.

     

    I feel the same way. I read an interview with Richard Donner in Total Film (British magazine) and he was very candid about how the Salkinds fired him very unceremoniously after the success of Superman: The Movie and wasn't allowed to finish the second film (even though he filmed three forths of it). His version will doubtless make more sense. :)

  9. Posted

    1.Metropolis

     

    2.Forbidden Planet

     

    3.2001:A Space Odyssey ("2010:The Year We made contact")

     

    4.Time Bandits

     

    I'm not sure if Time Bandits can be called science fiction. The device used by the bandits to time travel is a map they stole from God and which in tern is sought after by Evil...to my mind Time Bandits, while certainly a wonderful film, seems far closer to the likes of The Wizard of Oz or Harry Potter then, say, The Terminator films or 2001.

     

    Mind if I ask why you picked Metropolis (I love that film and bought it when it was released restored by Kino).

  10. Posted

    We just saw Superman Returns this weekend and aside from an outstanding performance from Kevin Spacey, we really weren't all that thrilled with the movie.

     

    We were so disappointed in it that we went out and purchased a copy of the Superman starring Christopher Reeve. Now that's Superman ... as for this new creation, well, let's just say I like a little more SUPER in my SUPERheroes.

     

    Anybody else see this flick?

     

    I cannot agree. I thought this film was an instant classic...the story, the special effects, the cast, and Marlon Brando back from the dead.

     

    I think its important to remember that Brian Singer stated from the beginning that his whole concept for Superman Returns was that it is in effect the film Superman III should have been. Singer has already stated that he invisions a trilogy of new Superman films- and I can't wait.

     

    At the very least...Superman Returns washed the bad taste of X3 out of my mouth. :)

  11. Posted

    I've personally wanted to get Godzilla vs Destroyah on DVD for awhile now. I've seen it on tv, but to have it would be awesome.

     

    It was on DVD in a two-for-one deal with Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla but that was a few years ago...it might still be avalable through order at Amazon or Borders Books. It's only in English though...no Japanese language option. :)

  12. Posted

    I've never been able to get into either BG or Stargate. I've never been able to sit through an entire episode of Stargate. I watched about half of the first season of BG when it first came out and got bored with it. I've tried to like these shows. I really have! I don't know what the problem is. Perhaps I've lost my sci-fi credibility......... :)

     

    Like Babylon-5, Battlestar Galactica (BSG) is a show that is written like a very large novel and each episode is like a chapter. If you jump in at the middle, you'll feel lost. I suggest you rent the first two seasons from Netflicks.com or from Hollywood/Blockbuster video...it's too good to pass up. You can also get a shortened version called "The story so far" on Cable if you go to the menu option called "The Cutting Edge" on Comcast.

  13. Posted

    Hmm...I haven't seen most of these.

     

    As for leaving off Star Wars, George Lucas himself says it's not Sci-Fi. It's Space Fantasy..Or Opera as you put it.

     

    I can't agree with George Lucas on that point. Some say that his use of the Force in the Star Wars films makes them Fantasy, which I cannot agree with. Certainly Deep Space Nine and Babylon-5 have had supernatural elements in them...and that doesn't mean they aren't science fiction anymore. The "Force" as I see it is nothing more then the Lucasverse term for psionic powers including telekinesis, telepathy ("The force has influence on the weak minded"), and precognition.

     

    Anthing that has blasters (laser pistols), FTL* travel, and robots that can talk is clearly science fiction.

     

     

    *Faster Then Light.

  14. Posted

    I've never been able to get into either BG or Stargate. I've never been able to sit through an entire episode of Stargate. I watched about half of the first season of BG when it first came out and got bored with it. I've tried to like these shows. I really have! I don't know what the problem is. Perhaps I've lost my sci-fi credibility......... :)

     

    Well- BSG is a very different show when compared to Star Trek. I think Star Trek has essentially a very rosey view of the future, and that's alright (its one of the things I like about it) but BSG takes a much darker view and that is only to be expected.

     

    The Enterprise (pick a letter) is on a mission of exploration, and that is not the case at all with the Galactica. The Galactica is on a mission of pure survival and nothing more. The human race has been pretty much wiped out and there are only a little less then 50,000 people left.

     

    I think it is interesting that in the first two seasons of BSG the humans have not once encountered alien life...as it is they have enough difficulty finding water (as was explored in Season 1).

     

    The humans in Star Trek seem far more intelligent and reasonable then humans living in the real world, and this is what one finds in BSG.

  15. Posted · Edited by Validus

    I'm so F-en sick of Star Wars. The original trilogy wasn't bad (except for the abyssmal Return of the Jedi) and the new trilogy as every bit as bad as Plan 9 from Outer Space. I think Anakin turned to the darkside because his girlfriend nick-named him "Annie". That would make any man flip out after awhile. :) :) :angry: :blink: :blink: :blink:

  17. Posted

    What?....No "Earth VS The Flying Saucers"???

     

    Its campy but its my favorite sci-fi flick of all time.

     

    I have to confess that I own this film on DVD and while it seems campy now, it was cutting edge in its day and if you ask me...it is still superior to that horrible mess called Independence Day.

     

    EvsTFS was done by special effects master Ray Harryhausen, and his work on this film would not be surpassed until Forbidden Planet. Even George Pal's War of the Worlds wasn't as good (and it was in technicolor).

  18. Posted

    The history of science fiction cinema really begins with the french silent short Trip to the Moon (1902). "Greatness" is of course a matter opinion, but that opinion must be tempered with a knowledge of cinema that takes into account such influences as story, character, originality, and how a film influenced a genre.

     

    I've left out the Star Wars films because they are, at their heart, nothing more then juvenille space opera dressed up in special effects and John Williams overblown score (which is a pretty blatant rip-off of Wagner for those who know nothing about classical music).

     

    I could have included Planet of the Apes (1968) and Logan's Run (1975) except that both of those films, while being very good...have had little influence on what came later. They did little to forward the genre of science fiction- in short, they fell just shy of greatness.

     

    No one has made a really great superhero film in my opinion, with the possible exception of the first Robocop. Robocops works well as both social satire and action film...something one has yet to find in films like X-men, X2, Hulk, The Punisher, Fantasic Four, or any of the Batman/Superman films. Until superheroes are brought to the screen as they have been seen in comics at their best (Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, etc) filmed versions of superheroes will continue to have limited quality.

     

    I've picked 2001: A Space Odyssey. The depth and influence of this film cannot be overstated. Many film makers including George Lucas, Spielberg, Paul Verhoven, J. Michael Strazuski, and Ronald Moore have cited this film as an influence and have championed its greatness. It seemlessly combines many themes including:

     

    1. A.I. (Artificial Intellegence) in the computer Hal-9000.

    2. First Contact.

    3. Fantastic alien technology (The Monolith).

    4. Faster-then-light travel.

    5. Dehumanization in a machine dominated social order.

  19. Posted

    Lucas has found yet another way to sell the original Star Wars movies. What is this, the 5th or 6th release of these movies each one promising something different? I'm not getting sucked in.. :nono:

     

    This will probably be the only time that Kor and I agree on something. Lucas has become so greedy and what is worse is that Star Wars fans keep falling for it. Best Buy even has the Trilogy avalable in a "special limited edition metal tin" like the kind you put ham in.

     

    Can we finally agree that these films were great when we were, you know, kids? I loved Star Wars when I was eleven...now its just a quant part of my childhood. I've grown up- that's why I watch Star Trek (not to mention Babylon-5, LEXX and the new Battlestar Galactica). Star Wars? If I want to watch the saga of two Sith Lords spreading evil I'll just watch Bush and Cheney. :bow:

  21. Posted

    Top 15 movies?

     

    Hmmm. Well...Superman Returns was the best big budget film of the summer. X3 was terrible, bottomline. Giving that franchise to Brett Ratner (Rush Hour 2) was idiotic. He has no sense of how to tell a story or he would have seen that the script for X3 was not worth filming. Clerks II I decided to miss- I'll see it on DVD. MI-III looked boring so I didn't bother...and honestly I'm sick of Tom Cruise and his couch-jumping. Scary Movie 4 was funny as Hell ad was Datemovie (and both are even better on the unrated DVD). Click is an Adam Sandler film, and Adam Sandler is the most sadly unfunny human being I've seen since the dark days of Chevy Chase ...so needless to say I didn't (and won't) see it. Pirates of the Carrabian is this generations Indiana Jones franchise, and this generation is being cheated.

     

    Most of what Hollywood produces is fluff that is as forgettable as the career of Jimmy Fallon. I really long for some substance. Snakes on a Plane? Idiots in a movie theater! Cars? C'mon Pixar...you can do better then that! The last really good film I saw in the theater was 2001: A Space Odyssey which I saw in an art house theater recently in San Francisco. It is a sad state of affairs when a film nearly 40 years old outshines the best of 2006 with little to no effort. :nono:

  22. Posted

    Well-

     

    I never thought I'd be agreeing with Gamera about anything...but I must say that I have very much enjoyed the new release of Godzilla (Gojira) on DVD. The symbolism is a bit heavy handed, but then this film was made less then ten years after the US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan...and that is what Godzilla really is- a metaphor for the bomb. This probably seems lost on modern audiences given that such symbolism has since been abandoned. In the recent Godzilla: Final Wars, it seems evident that Godzilla now represents the wrath of nature itself. Godzilla is now best understood in the context of a hurricane or an earthquake. That is why anything that fights Godzilla gets destroyed, and Godzilla has no real sense of "good" or "evil".

     

    This is of course very different from that other big japanese star, Ultraman, who always fights for good even if he only has three minutes to do it it. :nono:

  23. Posted

    The script in Nemesis was so bad that it should never have been shot. Riker and Deanna married? I don't think so. Data dead? Too much like the death of Spock Wrath of Khan. I see little of Star Trek in Nemesis and far too much of George Lucas for my taste. A $75,000,000 waste of time from opening to closing credits (and it earned less then $50 million at the box office).

  24. Posted

    I have to say, now that I've seen it, that I like the new "remastered" Trek. It maintains the spirit of the original while at the same time keeping it from looking so dated.

     

    I'm very curious to see how "The Doomsday Machine" ends up looking with CGI... :nono::bow: B)