Category Archives: Sci-Fi

Six String Samurai (1998) Buddy Holly, Nuclear Mutants, and Fancy Swords

Posted on by
Reply

18
When people describe a film as having “a singular vision”, they normally mean something like the perfection of The Godfather, the scale of Heaven’s Gate, or the symbolism of 2001: A Space Oddity. They normally don’t mean “so bugnuts crazy, that it’s the only example of its genre ever likely to exist”, but Lance Mungia’s 1998 independent work Six String Samurai can only be described as such, because if there exists another post-apocalyptic samurai rock ‘n’ roll road movie homage of the book the Wizard of Oz, then I sure as hell don’t know about it – and trust me, I’ve looked!. Having seen it, you’ll understand why it’s a both a pity and a grace that this is the case, because it does what it sets out to do with so much style and swagger, and you’ll be convinced that no other attempt could ever get it so right.
Continue reading →

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957) – Revisiting the infamous classic

Posted on by
Reply

In the world of cult movies, especially that part devoted to the concept of “Worst Movie Ever!”, 1956, very independently produced, sci-fi horror Plan 9 from Outer Space looms disproportionately large. The film, made by the notoriously ambitious, devoted, and talentless Ed Wood, was considered lacking in the merit of any sort from the moment it was first screened to potential investors as “Grave Robbers From Outer Space” (the name changed because the two Baptist ministers, who backed the film as an effort to help spread the message of Jesus, thought it was too sacrilegious), and then rapidly went from a cheap half for double-features to even cheaper late-night TV time filler. Selecting a single reason for its failing to be taken seriously is difficult, as almost every element of the cinematic process is handled with the grace of a three year old making potato art when they are four orange squashes into a tartrazine bender, but none of that gets away from the fact that it is, no matter how you cut it, a highly endearing film.
Continue reading →

Dune (1984)

Posted on by
Reply


Dune was supposed to be “The Next Big Thing”, a film to financially rival the Star Wars trilogy based on a book that rivaled The Lord of The Rings for how much it changed the landscape of the genre and how many copies it shifted. Directed and written by the arthouse newcomer David Lynch (his third movie as director), helmed by legendary producer Raffaella De Laurentiis (daughter and student of the also-legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis), it had a budget of around $40 million, a soundtrack by Toto with the main theme by Brian Eno, a cast of renowned part-actors, and a run time of over two hours. It had the author’s blessing, the studio backing, and the fan bases’ eager anticipation. It was going to start a new dynasty of cinema epics, launch a thousand toys and tie-ins, and print money beyond the backer’s wildest dreams!
Continue reading →

Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

Posted on by
Reply


It is easy to argue that Alita: Battle Angel has had the most “Production Hell” baggage to deal with of any major sci-fi movie of the last five years. Originally started as a project in 2000 by 20th Century Fox, five years after the comic had been a smash in Japan and relative obscurity outside of the global anime/manga scene, it had James Cameron as its producer since 2003. Finally shot under the direction of Robert Rodriguez under great secrecy at the end of 2016, the first trailers declaring a July 2018 release were circulated in December 2017, only to then have the movie go quiet till it resurfaced mid-2018 with a heavily de-mangafied look for Alita and a release date of the “dump month” of February 2019. So, has Cameron finally produced something well inside his wheelhouse that could only be justified as $200 million “passion project”? Well, maybe. But they’ve produced a charming little emotional ride and a fully realised world, regardless of what the box office says.
Continue reading →