Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Sci Fi Guilty Pleasures: Flash Gordon (1980 Movie)


What Is It? In 1980, just as the sci fi boom in the cinemas was kicking into high gear, this big budget adaptation of the comic strip/movie serial hero Flash Gordon hit theaters and reinvented the character for the Blockbuster Era.  All of the familiar characters of the Gordon canon came along as well including Dale Arden, Dr. Zarkov, Ming the Merciless, Prince Barin, and of course the sultry Princess Aura stealing the show with a steamy performance by Ornella Muti.  And to cap it all off, the movie sported a driving soundtrack by rock superstars Queen whose over-the-top music added just the right camp flourish to this tongue-in-cheek updating of the Flash Gordon mythos.

Why It's a Guilty Pleasure:  Even though this movie did not quite grab audiences the same way as the sci fi blockbusters that preceded it like Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, and Alien, it still stands out as a camp classic that never took itself too seriously and that actually reveled in its own cheesiness.

The Skinny: The Star Wars movies and Raiders of the Lost Ark (which would come out in 1981) recaptured the spirit of the old movie serials of the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s and added the production values that those films never had.  But Flash Gordon actually went straight back to those roots and redid one of the original sci fi heroes on a blockbuster budget.  It stayed close to much of the camp appeal of the original, though, and played it much more tongue-in-cheek than Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, or other films that drew heavily on early sci fi cinema.  It's not a great movie, but Flash Gordon does just manage to escape the mind-numbing category (unlike the Buck Rogers TV series that hit the airwaves a year prior), in part because of its self-mocking attitude and in part because of the choice performances of all but the hero and heroine (with outstanding reads by veterans like Max Von Sydow, Brian Blessed, and Topol).  Not that Sam Jones or Melody Anderson did a bad job with Flash and Dale, they just had the unfortunate position of playing straight man/woman to all the more colorful alien characters (and the madcap Dr. Zarkov too).   But the cast in total is impeccable, each perfectly suited to their roles and each fully aware that they were not trying to deliver Shakespeare or Dickens or Tolstoy with this movie, just an entertaining bit of sci fi fun. Don’t go looking to Flash Gordon for high-brow, though-provoking science fiction.  Just take it for the enjoyable bit of fluff it is, and you will find that it goes down quite easy.

Notable Stars: Sam Jones (Flash Gordon), Max von Sydow (Ming), Brian Blessed (Prince Vultan), Ornella Muti (Princess Aura), Timothy Dalton (Prince Barin)

Interesting Facts:  Before beginning on Star Wars, George Lucas had originally wanted to remake Flash Gordon, but could not secure the license for the property.  Thus, he ended up creating his own universe, but one that drew much inspiration from Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and many other sources.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Sci Fi Genre Gems: E-Man (1970’s Comic Book Series)

What Is It?  In this short-lived series from Charlton Comics, we are introduced to the superhero E-Man, a sentient being of pure energy created out of a super-nova.  This being traveled through the galaxy and came in contact with Earth, where he meets the human Nova Kane and decides to take human form himself as a superhero.  The two then set off on action-packed adventures fighting villains that threaten the planet.

Why Does It Stand Out?  This whimsical little series hit the stands at a time before superheroes had gone dark and grim and it delivered a fun set of comic book tales with a sci fi bent.

The Skinny: Co-creator Nicola Cuti had the idea of creating a superhero similar to the whimsical Golden Age character Plastic Man, and artist Joe Staton helped bring to life this modern hero with a sense of fun.  The transformable E-Man would morph into any of a numbers of shapes as needed, not dissimilar from his Golden Age predecessor.  But it was the banter between E-Man and his opponents as well as side kick / partner Nova Kane (she would later become a superhero herself) that made this strip so much fun.  Unlike the revivals of this character that would appear in the 80’s and 90’s, this series was less interested in parody, and more in just telling a good fun tale.

It would also introduce the private eye character Mike Mauser who would later get his own series, plus it also had regular backup stories that highlighted tryout characters for Charlton.  Steve Ditko’s Mr. A-like character Killjoy showed up in two issues and John Byrne’s Rog 2000 also had several appearances.  Unfortunately, E-Man would only last for ten issues in its original run.  The sales for the book were not great and the publisher decided to cancel the series, though the character would have a final appearance from its original creative team in the fourth issue of the Charlton Bullseye fanzine.

E-Man would live on in the decades that followed with several revivals at other publishers, but in my opinion those never quite matched up its original run that was quirky and funny and just trying to tell some good fun comic book tales.  The first ten issues have yet to be collected in a trade paperback, but they recently appeared in eBook format available through Amazon.com and Comixology.  You can also find the back issues pretty easily and you won't have to spend an arm and a leg on them.

Did You Know?  Joe Staton based E-Man’s face on James Bond actor Roger Moore which he described as “charming and heroic looking, but kind of generic”.

Saturday, December 28, 2019

Must-Watch Sci Fi Movies: Plant of the Apes (1968)

Directed By: Franklin J. Schaffner
Produced By: Arthur P. Jacobs
Written By: Michael Wilson, Rod Serling
Starring: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter, Linda Harrison
Original Release: 1968

Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: A deep space mission from Earth traveling at near light speed crashes on a distant planet and three of the four crew members manage to escape before the ship sinks into the sea. The survivors, led by George Taylor (Charlton Heston), begin to explore what looks like a barren, desolate planet, but they eventually discover plentiful forests and a lower order of humans who do not have the ability to speak. But then the astronauts find that these are not the dominate species on the planet as they come face to face with intelligent, talking apes. Taylor is captured and at first studied by the chimpanzee Zira (Kim Hunter), but the orangutan Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) considers this talking human to be an abomination and wants to have him destroyed. Taylor, on the other hand, has plans to show them who the dominant species should be, but first he must face the truth of an unexpected secret this planet of apes holds.

Why It’s a Must-Watch Movie: This film provided another step in the maturation of science fiction cinema as it offered an engaging tale of evolution apparently gone awry that had high production values and that also offered some biting social commentary.

Review/Commentary: 1968’s Planet of the Apes is an important milestone for science fiction movies for several reasons. For one, the producers (much like Kubrick did with 2001: A Space Odyssey) approached the movie with the intent of making a serious film with broad appeal unlike the exploitive B-Movie cheapies typical of the genre at that time. It also had high production values (for its day) and succeeded in creating believable human-like apes that never looked like just actors in gorilla suits. Because of this, the movie proved a huge success at the Box Office, giving sci fi one of its highest grossing films up to that point. In addition, it laid the groundwork for the blockbuster franchise as it would have four sequels, spin-off two TV series, and go through two reboots in the 21st century.

Jaded movie-goers of today--over-gorged on the CGI-bloated outpouring from the big studios--may find Planet of the Apes a bit quaint, but the fact is that movie was very much the science fiction blockbuster of its time. It may not have relied heavily on sfx scenes, but it’s production values were first rate for the 60’s and it manages to seamlessly bring to life its world run by the apes. That’s partly attributed to the magnificent sets of “ape city” (really more of a village), but mostly to the first class make-up work on the apes. True, the CGI of the recent/y rebooted Planet of the Apes films delivers simians that look more ape-like, but personally I much prefer the ones from the original movie series. They represented more of a cross between humans and apes and a logical next evolutionary step. And the makeup was perfectly executed and has since become iconic among movie creatures. Give me the real thing over CGI any day.

The movie itself has worked its way into our popular culture, and that’s because it managed to hit a nerve at the time it came out, and its message still resonates today. The movie didn’t just give us a simplistic “apes vs. humans” scenario, it used its premise to explore some driving social issues of its day (that still remain relevant today). Not only do we get the fall of humans as another species leap-frogs us on the evolutionary scale, the script uses the conflicts within the ape society to address issues that we ourselves struggle with. It looks at the conflicts between religion and science and the attempts of society’s leaders to manipulate the truth to maintain the status quo. Planet of the Apes does what the best examples of science fiction do by using its fantastic elements to offer a mirror to our own world and struggles. Not surprisingly (especially considered that gut-wrenching twist ending), the original script was penned by Rod Serling. The final version made many changes to what he originally wrote, but mostly to keep costs down (he had the apes living in a technological society similar to Pierre Boulle’s original novel). But most importantly, the ending from Serling’s script (which hearkened back to the Twilight Zone style twist-endings) still survived into the final version that was filmed.

Planet of the Apes also benefitted from outstanding performances from its rather talented cast of actors. Performing through that makeup would be difficult for any actor, but the main ape characters all came alive with first-rate acting from the likes of Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter, and Maurice Evans. It’s almost as if the makeup liberated them and energized their performances. And then there’s Charlton Heston with the lead delivering his usual bravado. His Taylor displays a palpable arrogance and almost dismissive attitude toward the apes whom he considers an example of evolution gone wrong. But this makes the ending of the film all the more poignant as he is faced with a grim reality that delivers an Earth-shattering wakeup call (literally).

I should note, though, that this movie has one glaring flaw to it that some may not be able to overlook and that could impact how highly they rank it compared to other sci fi films: How is it that Taylor never questions the fact that these apes speak English, even though--from his perspective--they are living on a planet allegedly light years from Earth? The fact that they could speak alone was definitely shock enough, but shouldn’t he have made some connection when they were speaking the same language as him with practically no variation in dialect? Perhaps we can extend some artistic license here and just appreciate that Hollywood produced an otherwise well-made science fiction film at that time. But it would have been nice if they had addressed that better (in the novel, the human character learns the language of the apes), and I’m guessing there are some fans out there that dock this movie one or two stars on that fact alone.

Despite this flaw, Planet of the Apes is an important science fiction movie and one of the absolute best examples of the genre on film. Its production values were top-notch at the time it came out and still stand up pretty well today. And its story is timeless and will continue to resonate with coming generations for its many messages and its shocking ending.




So many science fiction and fantasy movies and so little time. Metropolis, King Kong, War of the Worlds, Fantastic Voyage, Star Wars, The Terminator, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Inception . . . Plan 9 From Outer Space . . . and so many, many more. Where to start and which ones to watch? Well that's what this book is here to help you with. It may not cover all science fiction movies, and not even all of those mentioned above, but it gives you a heck of a good start starting point. This book begins with 1927’s Metropolis and then treks through 24 more genre films ending with 2009's Moon to give you an extensive look at some of the best of the best of science fiction and fantasy cinema. Each entry includes a synopsis, review/commentary, cast and crew information, as well as a few nuggets of tidbits and trivia relating to the films. Whether you are new to the genre and trying to figure out where to get started or a grizzled veteran who has logged many hours in the cinema watching sci fi, 25 Must Watch Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies is sure to entertain. And even if you have already seen the movies covered in the book, there's a good chance you could walk away knowing a little bit (or maybe even a lot) more about these films than you did previously.

A great primer for science fiction and fantasy cinema and a fun read as well!

Available now on Kindle from Amazon.com. 

Sunday, December 15, 2019

The Anti-Blockbusters: Jerome Bixby's The Man From Earth

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

Jerome Bixby's The Man from EarthWould you believe me if I told you there is an excellent science fiction, nay speculative Fiction, movie out there with absolutely no special effects and which involves nothing more than people sitting around and talking? Well I’m telling you it’s true, and The Man from Earth is that movie.

The script for this film came from the late Jerome Bixby who dictated its final pages from his deathbed to his son Emerson Bixby. Some may recognize Jerome Bixby as a science fiction writer who penned many short stories in the genre and who also wrote several Star Trek: TOS episodes ("Requiem for Methuselah", "Day of the Dove", "By Any Other Name", "Mirror, Mirror"), had one of his short stories adapted into the infamous "It's a Good Life" Twilight Zone episode, and who co-wrote the story for The Fantastic Voyage. Thus, this movie has some pedigree from a veteran of the genre who knew how to write Science Fiction in the days when writers could not always rely on special effects to carry the story.

The premise for The Man from Earth is simple: a university professor, John Oldman, is departing from his job and he gathers several of his most trusted colleagues to tell them that he has lived since the days of Cro-Magnon man, 14,000 years past. Some are intrigued by his claim while others find it ludicrous, and the movie documents their conversations—and knock-down, drag-out arguments—over one night’s time. That’s it. No monsters, aliens, space travel, time machines, explosions, or any of the other standards that you would expect from a Science Fiction movie. Just talking and the back-and-forth exchange of ideas, theories, and speculations.

Sound like a snooze fest? That’s exactly what it’s not. The movie grabs you almost right away with its intriguing premise which you may be skeptical about at first, but that still draws you in. And that’s exactly the way the other characters in the movie feel, and they help propel the action forward as they mirror the viewer’s inner conflicts over John Oldman’s claims that he has lived over fourteen millennia. The top-notch cast aids in keeping the movie lively as well. There are several faces among the actors that should be familiar to science fiction and fantasy fans including William Katt (Ralph Hinkley from The Greatest American Hero), John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox from Star Trek: Enterprise), Tony Todd (a slew of supporting and guest appearances in movies and television, particularly in the Star Trek revivals), and Richard Riehle (also a frequent guest star, especially across several of the Star Trek shows, as well as Tom Smykowski from Office Space). The other characters at first go along with John’s “what-if” scenario because they believe they are indulging him as he works out the concept of a potential novel. As the night progresses, some start to become more invested in his assertion while others get impatient with his line of reasoning. Then, the movie throw’s us a curve (WARNING!!! Spoilers to follow).

After some questioning, John reveals that he was an important person from history, and his revelation and its implications turn this into a completely different movie. The Man from Earth starts out as a “what-if” discourse on the implications of a person who had lived through all of human history. The revelation, however, makes us rethink the past and perhaps even our very core beliefs. This curve ball is a bit jarring and may turn some viewers off from the movie. I have to admit that I had some difficulty digesting it at first. But the more I thought about it, this turn of events really raised the movie to the next level and caused it to resonate with me for several days and ponder its implications. And you can’t ask much more than that from a movie in the science fiction genre, or any genre for that matter.

This movie succeeds primarily with the ideas it puts forth which cause the viewer to think long and hard about their perception of history. And it does this by way of an excellent script and a superb cast, and without a special effects crew in site. Sure, there are plenty of blockbusters that will be assaulting the theaters in the coming months and especially this Summer season, and we will all go and enjoy the escapist entertainment they provide, exploding on the screens with the latest special effects technology. But if you want an excellent science fiction movie that lives and dies by its story, script, and actors then be sure to plop The Man from Earth into your DVD player after you return from the theater.

Buy The Man From Earth on Blu-ray and DVD from Amazon.com:

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Audiobook Review: The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison

Book Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

Audiobook Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

Bottom Line: A first-rate sci fi book that pokes fun at the genre while also introducing iconic characters and delving into some interesting moral dilemmas.

The Stainless Steel Rat is Harry Harrison’s classic book that introduces us to the intergalactic criminal mastermind with a good heart James Bolivar diGriz who also goes by the book’s titular name.  He lives in the distant future when humans have spread out across the galaxy and initially makes a good living for himself as a con-man, thief, and swindler.  But he is captured and enlisted by the “Special Corps” and goes undercover as an operative for that mysterious organization.  In his first mission, he is sent after the female criminal named Angelina, but starts to develop a mutual respect for her and amorous feelings as well.

The character was first introduced in the short story “The Stainless Steel Rat” which appeared in Astounding magazine in 1957.  Harrison later fleshed that out to a novel and eleven sequels would follow over Harrison’s lifetime.  In many ways, this book is a sci fi parody with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but it does not go quite into Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy territory as it presents more of a sly and witty take on the genre.

The Stainless Steel Rat also presents some interesting philosophical meanderings, though some of that requires digging into the subtext.  The main character is happy to expound on his philosophy of life (it is written in the first person), and he definitely places great value on the individual and personal freedom.  But diGriz ultimately finds himself manipulated by the Special Corps and by Angelina, so the freedom he believes he possess is definitely questionable.  Plus his justifications for his criminal activity and the decisions he wrestles with while working for the Corps present some interesting moral quandaries.  All of this makes for a fun and enticing read and elevates the book to more than just a simple parody of the sci fi genre.

Enhancing the experience of this delightful book is the audio version that is narrated by Phil Gigante.  The highly enthusiastic, heroic, Buzz Lightyear voice he employs for the main narration and for diGriz works perfectly with the material and takes it to the next level for an audio production.  His voices for the other characters also add to the overall experience and make this a first-rate audiobook.  I have only one complaint about the audio version and that is that it is DRM Protected.  I purchased this through AudiobooksNow.com and I can listen as long as I have an account with that service.  But I can’t download it in MP3 format for archival purposes like I can with most of their other books.  But that is only a nitpick and don’t let that stop you from enjoying this must-read sci fi entry that is perfectly brought to life with its audio production.


AudiobooksNow - Digital Audiobooks for Less

Friday, January 11, 2019

Audiobook Review: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Book Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Stars

Audiobook Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

Bottom Line: This book delivers a quintessential piece of 19th Century horror / sci fi that presents some challenging moral quandaries.

In this classic 19th Century tale,  a lawyer--Gabriel John Utterson--finds himself entangled in the affairs of his friend, the upstanding Dr. Henry Jekyll, along with a rather surly dwarf of a man known as Mr. Hyde. The latter, a person of loathsome appearance and demeanor, has been seen around town and was guilty of assaulting a girl, for which Dr. Jekyll later paid retribution. Hyde has an unspecified connection with the doctor and Utterson is particularly dismayed when Jekyll revises his will to include Hyde as a beneficiary. This all comes to a head when a man is violently murdered and Mr. Hyde is linked to the crime, becoming a fugitive from justice.

This infamous novella written by Robert Louis Stevenson was first published in 1886 and has since become an iconic piece of genre fiction and has been retold countless times in film, on television, in comics, on the stage and more. The reason the story has lived on is that Stevenson managed to deliver a powerful tale that resonates with his readers and definitely touches a primal nerve. The first nine chapters of the book, written from the point of view of Utterson, give us a mystery tale as the lawyer tries to find out the truth about Mr. Hyde and his connection to Dr. Jekyll. But it is the final chapter that propels this book into the realm of literary masterpiece. This chapter unveils the final journal of Dr. Jekyll as he details his experiment and descent into the depths of his own dark side. But instead of simply looking at this from the simplistic point of view of good vs. evil, Stevenson adds another dimension to his tale by acknowledging the fact that both sides co-exist within us all and that we must learn to cope with our own dark sides in order to not be controlled by it. Jekyll tried to control his own licentiousness by devising a means to eradicate his dark side, but instead that created the Mr. Hyde alter ego. And this evil side of him gradually overtook the good side and ultimately destroyed both. Stevenson gets into some pretty heady (and cutting edge for the time) psychological territory in this chapter, and the moral issues he raises still provide subject for debate today.

I have to admit, though, that I found the ending a bit unsatisfying. After the revelations of the final chapter, all written in the words of Jekyll, I wanted to see the reaction of Utterson as well as some additional resolution of earlier plot threads left hanging. But that did not come as the novella ends on Jekyll’s final, ominous words. On the plus side, this tale is not overly wordy like other important genre works from the 19th century such as Dracula and Frankenstein. The relatively brief length of this book makes it a quick read, unlike the two mentioned above (or the thousand-plus page bloatfests we currently see hitting the shelves these days), but a short chapter wrapping up the loose ends would have been nice.  But then that’s just a quibble and who am I to try and perfect a literary masterpiece?

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is often looked at as a horror story, but the fact is that it is also a proto-science fiction tale as well. Jekyll’s experiments that lead to the creation of Mr. Hyde come about through scientific endeavors and have no supernatural links. In this sense, the book is similar to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein which based the creation of that book’s monster on scientific knowledge of the time. Stevenson also works in some of the early discoveries of psychology, a field that had established itself as a new scientific discipline at about that same time (separating itself from philosophy where it had previously been relegated). But whether you consider it horror, science fiction or both, it is a must-read for all genre fans.

Since Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is in the public domain, there are many audio adaptations and dramatizations available for this work, but I decided to check out the Librivox version and was pleasantly surprised. For those not familiar with Librivox, that site is the Project Gutenberg of audiobooks, offering free audio adaptations of works in the public domain available for download. This is one of several audiobooks from Librivox I have listened to and the others were of varying quality as far as narration goes. But the adaptation that Stevenson’s book gets the first-rate treatment, with narrator David Barnes giving us a professional quality reading. Whereas some of the readers for Librivox (all volunteers) provide barely passable narrations, Barnes delivers an excellent vocal performance and makes the story a pleasure to listen to. Why pay good money for a professional adaptation when you can get one just a good for free from Librivox? You can download it as MP3 files at this link and I highly recommend this version whether you are a regular audiobook listener (used to a professional level of quality) or just trying them out for the first time.


AudiobooksNow - Digital Audiobooks for Less

Friday, November 9, 2018

Sci Fi Short Theater: Apocalypse Now Now, Anthem, The Cycle, and More

Apocalypse Now Now

Description: Baxter Zevcenko might be a serial killer. His girlfriend, Esme, is missing, and he’s the prime suspect. To clear his name, he’ll turn to Cape Town’s grizzliest, drunkest bounty hunter, Jackson ‘Jackie’ Ronin. Little does he know that Ronin is a supernatural bounty-hunter, and that he’s about to be dragged headlong into a deep, dark Cape Town underbelly full of monsters and myth, shadowy government forces, bloodthirsty crow-men and a conspiracy across time and space. (More about the film at this link: www.bephatmotel.com/projects#/apocalypse-now-now/

Credits: Michael Matthews (Director), Sean Drummond (Writer)

Starring: Garion Dowds, Louw Venter, Faniswa Yisa

Comments: This is a proof of concept short based on the Charlie Human novel of the same name and I certainly hope they expand this one into a full film. It's Quentin Tarantino does the supernatural apocalypse and it has all the right pieces to make a decent movie.




Anthem

Description: Aliens sift through the contents of a time capsule as flashbacks show the last few minutes of the people who left behind the mementos shortly before the world ends.

Credits: Jarrett lee Conway (Director / Writer)

Starring: Ossie Beck, Sam Feuer, Christina Robinson, Thomas Phillips

Comments: This is a poignant short film that uses its premise quite well, though I would have liked to have seen it expanded a bit further (not necessarily feature length). I notice in the comments on YouTube that some assume that the film has a particular political point of view, but I think they are missing the point.




The Cycle

Description: An apprentice of magic finds out, that she herself is her greatest enemy. This video is a student short film, made in Berlin.

Credits: David Schuster (Director / Writer)

Starring: Marie Bebber, Steven M. Gilbert, Lucas Wija

Comments: This is an enjoyable fantasy short that could be fleshed out into a full film. The CGI is not the greatest, about video game quality, but it is still pretty decent considering this is a student film.




Pets

Description: The future is clean and easy, with the intelligent spheres guiding you through. This video is a student movie, made in Berlin.

Credits: David Wunderlich (Director / Writer)

Starring: Steven Preisner, Almuth Jabs, Frank Rungwald, Carole Lunt

Comments: This is an interesting little sci fi film that might just make you wonder who is really in control next time you look at one of the your smart devices.




Embers and Dust

Description: For a curious young boy, The War of the Worlds is just the beginning. On the evening of October 30th, 1938 Orson Welles’ voice traveled far across the radio waves, bringing word of an invading alien army from Mars. The theatricality and delivery of the performance, along with recent memories of the Hindenburg disaster (one year prior), sent many listeners into a panic. Unfortunate coincidence would fall upon the town of Concrete WA where, at the height of the invading alien attack, a power transformer blew out sending the entire town and surrounding areas into darkness.

Credits: Patrick Biesemans (Writer / Director)

Starring: Joel Nagel, Virginia Logan, Henry Gagliardi

Comments: A nice piece of retro-sci fi with a very cinematic feel to it. Seems almost like it could have been part of a larger Spielberg-type film and I'd like to see this one expanded to feature length.