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I made 2 other comments in other topics that never got posted. I even did so 2 or 3 times. Nada. This is the only
topic that my comments got posted in. And it’s kind of really unfair,
too, becuz I’m losing my apartment at the end of July and will be
joinig the homeless realm, and i wanted to let the sadgeezer forum in
on the fact that i finally completed the pilot of my animation project.
That comment was never posted, and for all I know, neither will this
one. It’s all hit or miss in this forum now, it seems.Furthermore,
I dunno why my posts come out so awkward. More tecnical glitches? See
ya later, maybe, but don’t expect anything after July.According to the extras on the season 10 dvds, one director admitted
that they were actually planning on continuing the series to season 11
and it was assumed that they would put much of that Asgard tech to use,
but season 11 never happened.I finally completed the ‘pilot episode’ of the series and decided
the least I could do is share the most recent preview with the
sadgeezer forum, since sadgeezer originally expressed much interest in
it.The most recent preview is the best, as it also includes a
soundtrack with a narrative, and was taken directly from minutes of the
complete video. I realize this stuff is crude compared to the high
standards set by the likes of Pixar, Final Fantasy, and Tripping the
Rift, but its the best I could do with the software within my access. I
plan on upgrading eventually, but since I started with crude software,
I really had no choice but to complete it with crude software
(otherwise I’d have to redo everything and it would take another 2
years).Here’s the link to the page with the preview videos, in
case anyone is interested. To download the most recent preview (and the
best), go to the bottom of this page, right-click and save target on
the link "Lpnet-clip-106".http://ts-variant.net/videos/Anime-04.html
Unfortunately,
I’ll be losing my apartment at the end of July and heading out to join
the homeless crowd, so I won’t be able to continue working on this
project until I find another place to plug in the com, and that may be
for some time.Anyho, feedback is welcome.
I submitted 2 comments in the last 2 months and waited for them to
be cleared, but they never were. I wondered why and finally figured out
that after the site was reconstructed, I had to submit a request to
have my login reactivated. I also forgot that I used my old email
address from over a year ago, which I stopped using for a few reasons,
not the least of which because it was being completely overrun by spam.I
dunno if this comment will be cleared or not, but I assume it will be
because I just reactivated my login. Anyho, it occurred to me that many
people might be having similar problems.I dunno where everyone else is, but I’ve made 2 comments in the past
couple of months that were never posted. I assumed I’ve been rejected
for some reason, but don’t know why.It may be a technical
problem with the new software or the site might be getting censored in
the states, I dunno. I dunno if this comment will even get through.I
tried to find a link to contact sadgeezer via email but can’t find one.
It might help if an email contact link was available.Well, it’s taken long enough, but I finally completed the first
episode of the Lost Planet. Unfortunately, I’m losing my apartment at
the end of July and will join the homeless crowd, so I don’t know if
I’ll ever get back to it.Anyho, since Sadgeezer
originally expressed so much interest in this project, I decided the
least i could do is share the most recent preview video, which includes
a musical soundtrack and a narrative.For anyone
interested in checking it out, do the "right-click and save target" to
download the preview on the link labeled "Lpnet-clip-106"at the
bottom of this link-page. This stuff ain’t Pixar by a long-shot, but
it’s the best I can do with the resources at my disposal.http://ts-variant.net/videos/Anime-04.html
Btw, removing the paste function from the comment box kinda sux, guys.
According to one of the directors, i forget which one, when they
produced the final episode of season 10, they didn’t know if they would
be doing a season 11 or not, so it’s a safe bet that the Asgard’s
demise was included to give them all that extra cool technology to
exploit in future episodes.Since season 11 didn’t happen, then
this all appears pointless, however, it may have a huge effect upon
Stargate: Atlantis (which I haven’t been following).Alnexi,
Yes, it gets better, but imo, it doesn’t really pick up well until the second season, after the NID gets involved, and there’s more intrigue.
I missed many episodes of the first season so I can’t say for sure, but from what I have seen, the best episodes are the ones that either have nothing to do with the war with the Jaffa and Go’uld or are only indirectly involved.
Imo, the best episodes were, Thor’s Hammer, The Torment of Tantalus, Enigma, and There But for the Grace of God Go I.
Btw, in season 8, when “General” O’Neil is in command of the SGC, during an international crisis in “Full Alert”, his attitude towards the Russians he deals with (A General and the Russian President) is quite a bit more reasonable. Apparently, his ability to trust Russians changes to deal with the situation. Not quite as bad at diplomacy as we thought.
Other countries are portrayed as being inept at best, and at worst the devil incarnate (abusing alien technology for their own ends, in a way that the SG portrayal of Americans would never do)
The IOA are portrayed as being a set of snivelling weasels, constantly backbiting and bickering.
In the Anubis posession episode, O’Neils treatment of the new Russian atache (telling him he wouldn’t be allowed offworld in a million years) had me rooting for the Russians!
I daresay this borders on blatent racism!
Yes, as much as I enjoy watching Stargate SG-1, I have noticed the jingoism. I prefer the word “ethnocentric” to desribe it, as it appears to promote American democracy and the American way of life as being superior to all other governments and cultures in the world. While there are still many countries that are lacking in democratic reforms, the United States is NOT superior to all other countries in the world by a long shot. The suggestion that it is superior is ethnocentric propaganda. Anyone that lives in the U.S. today knows that capitalism and wealth trump its democratic ideals in 99 percent of all cases where such ideals are involved. Money is power. The wealthy corporate ruling-class runs the democratic government, not the people. The poor working-class majority has no real voice in U.S. policies, foreign or domestic.
Furthermore, the suggestion that the U.S. military is benevolent because it represents this “superior” democratic way is absolute nonsense. All we have to do is take a look at the REAL U.S. military, specifically the Air Force, and what it has been doing in the Middle East (Iraq and Afghanistan) and the notion that it is benevolent becomes completely absurd. To be benevolent, a government’s military must have a semblance of honor, but there is nothing honorable about an Air Force that bombs defenseless people like fish in a barrel.
The actions of the U.S. Air Force in the M.E. today are not the actions of a benevolent democracy, they are the actions of imperialistic, totalitarian mass-murderers.
“Extreme nationalism characterized especially by a belligerent foreign policy; chauvinistic patriotism.”
They must have ran out of Alien baddies i guess…
The Russian episode really was one of the worst they’ve put out there. I would think the days of ruskie bashing would be over, but many shows seem dertimined to hold onto outdated stereotypes and generalisations. Piss poor writing.
I think it is safe to say that Stargate SG-1 doubles as a form of propaganda-lite along with providing entertainment. Behind all the science-fiction and war there is the ongoing perpetuation of the myth that the U.S. government and its military can never do any wrong. Certainly, while watching it, to avoid being programmed and deceived by such an ethnocentric bias, one has to keep the salt-shaker ready on the side. I suspect, however, that while most objective adult Americans with a college education may be able to see through the propaganda-lite, many young kids do not and get pumped up with (American) pride every time SG-1 beats the bad guys. I can’t help but wonder how many of those kids have already made friends with local military recruiters promising more than they can ever deliver for signing on the dotted line.
O’Neil’s character, from all that i gather from the series, has never trusted Russians. I guess we’re suppose to think that he’s one of those extremely hard-nosed military types that can’t make the change, but it doesn’t really sit well with the rest of his amiable character. Definitely too closed-minded. In this case, it was probably nothing more than a plot-device used to get the Russian guy to warm up to Jackson enough so that Jackson would accompany him to his room, where the Anubis transmigration occurs.
The US military is definately portrayed differently in the movie than the series. In the series, the military are part of the “good guys” and always try to do the right thing. I always suspected non-US viewers would get irritated from time to time by the US’s portrayal. As far as the movie goes, the military and government were more sinister, and I wouldn’t have turned my back on that Jack O’Neil
Yes, the sinister form of the U.S. miltary and O’Neil in the movie were much more realistic than the series. That’s why I suspect that the series doubles as propaganda-lite, making the military look much more affable and tolerable than it is in reality. It’s almost as if the government made some kind of investment in the series with the idea that it could pay off by luring more recruits into its offices. I have to wonder how many SG-1 fans took that step and how many have been duped into fighting this endless “war on terror” for the corporate oil tyrants.
While the series O’Neil obviously works well with Richard Dean Anderson, when contrasted with the movie O’Neil and the loss of his son from that vicious accident with the gun, there’s some big disconnect in the realistic portrayal of the character. Given the background of the character, Kurt Russel’s attitude is much more realistic to form, while Anderson’s light-hearted joking attitude is less realistic or true to form. Observing Anderson’s routine attitude in the series, it’s hard to believe that he has lost a son to an accident and a wife to divorce. Those kind of experiences usually leave a man much more damaged than O’Neil’s character appears to display.
Sorry for the long comment, but unfortunately, SG-1 has been one of the only enjoyable, accessible and affordable science-fiction serials as of late (with the conclusion of Star Trek Vgr and DS9) and as a big fan, I’ve given it considerable thought.
Right now, I’m watching season 10 on DVD and I have to say, all jingoism aside, it’s been quite entertaining. If ya’ll get the chance, check out the episode “The Road Not Taken” for an interesting look at a parallel USA that has taken that one undesirable step further into an absolute dictatorship.
Looking at the bottom of the site it reads page 1 of 1119.
Yeah, that does make it somewhat difficult. But i have found that using key-words like “Sci-fi Classic”, “Outer Space”, “The Moon”, and anything else basically sci-fi that you can think of helps narrow the search down considerably, and after it does that, if you check out one of the selections, it also includes “related” items with links below it on the same page.
I realize it’s like a gamble with one’s time, but sometimes it turns up some interesting items.
Just last month I received 2 classic sci-fi packages (Sci-Fi Flicks and Classics from Outer Space) and “The Infinite Worlds of H. G. Wells“, which was really quite good. If you haven’t seen that one yet, I highly recommend it.
I’m running out of stuff to watch.
I’ve been having the same problem, but then again, I don’t even have cable right now.
But I have done some investing in DVDs and during my research, have come across a fairly good search engine that might be of some help, that is, if you’re into DVDs.
http://scifimatter.com/store/sfmstore.cgi?mode=dvd&node=163431&locale=us
There are some fairly good deals through Amazon, and they can be found through this engine. There are some really good deals on the really old stuff, sci-fi classics and cult classics, but be sure to read some of the reviews before making a purchase, because some of them are rip-offs.
In any case, if you’re a true sci-fi fan, browsing through this site is like a trip down memory-lane.
what year Mulder began working on the X-Files
1986. It’s at the x-files timeline site in my earlier post. I don’t doubt that the other answers are there too. It really is very complete with all the x-files trivia a fan would be interested in and more.
Ahh, found something that may be very helpful.
An X-Files timeline:
http://www.themareks.com/xf/1970.shtml
If the info you seek isn’t included here, I should be very surprised, as it appears to include just about everything else relating to the X-Files.
Here’s the site’s home-page:
I would suggest that you try another search engine. Google gets bogged down by trivial links due to the popularity of certain sites and forums, as it is based upon the hits those links get rather than actual priorities of a topic.
http://www.alltheweb.com uses different search parameters and may be more helpful.
Have you tried http://www.tv.com? I know it sounds like a long shot, but it may actually have something helpful, as it has been developing quite a bit over the seasons.
http://www.tv.com/the-x-files/show/61/summary.html
The season list says the first season was in 1993.
As for the actual dates of Mulders X-file roots, I would think if it can’t be found online, it should be available in the first book — maybe an online library can help?
Here are two: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/
There are many more.
I always regarded everything in Star Trek as highly militarily and rank based.
Yes, but it’s not just a job, it really is an adventure. Unless you’re doing double-duty shifts in the engine room.
Gene Roddenberry once said about Star Trek, “It gives us a very optimistic view of humanity’s future.” Yeah, sure, if we can just ignore the Klingons, the Romulans, the Cardassians, the Borg, the Jemhadda, the Orion Syndicate, etc… What looks like more war, violence, and lives-cut-short in every direction and corner of the galaxy.As for D.C. Neocons calling themselves Vulcans, it makes perfect sense, for themselves.
The brains behind the empire… that’s them alright. But they are hardly anywhere near as logical or intelligent as the Star Trek version.
Nahhh, they’re definitely the Borg:
“You will be assimilated”: Yep, Starbucks and Mac Donalds will arrive shortly,
“Your culture will adapt to service ours”: Yep, the whole oil thing,
“Freedom is irrelevant self determination is irrelevant”
Good points. The Borg is what might be referred to as the “epitome of the military machine”. It is programed to follow the orders of the Queen without question, completely expendable, arrogant and egocentric to the point of absolute vanity, rationalizing destruction of lives for its greater ideals of perfection, and finally, unable to tolerate or understand anyone that would oppose such higher ideals.
The Borg assimilates technology and resources for its greater good with blind arrogance. Sounds like the corporate monster that has made the seat of its empire in Washington, D.C.
Quote:
12. One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.As long as that child hasn’t already had the fear of God and all the Xtian ignorance that goes with it programed into his/her brain. We’ve already got enough of those dumbed-down morons in positions of power in the US of A.
Well, I mean Star Trek and quite a lot of sci fi in general was/is an allegorical statement warning/cautioning what the world will become in the presence of the kind of thinking we’ve been subjected to. Makes perfect sense to me. And, horror of horrors, I’m one of those indifferent to it, Star Trek that is
Problem is, a majority tend to ignore the lessons of sci-fi, history, and reality, in favor of irresponsible actions designed for sensationalistic fun at the expense of others, and they often do so with fascist arrogance based upon the preconception that they are superior and others are inferior. Star Trek does a good job reminding us of these lessons, but it also gets somewhat hypocritical when caught up in the emotional sensationalism itself.
Publishers, like all entertainment fielders, like to tap a product for as much $$ as they can get. But I’m sure they would dismiss such a point by claiming the hard-cover versions are the traditional first editions of almost every book, at least in the academic and intellectual fields.
Dunno if any of them are available online, but if so, one can d-l it and format it into a pocketbook with the right word programs. Or, if one has a scanner, they can scan the hard-cover version, put it through a word program, reformat it, and compose a paperback version.
But that’s probly too much work for most of us. Just a thought.
I think Zeto should have his own book.
I started writing a book about Zeto’s homeless adventures in Southern California back in the 90s but I became more involved in my sci-fi series and set it aside. The crude script is in one of my notebooks somewhere if i ever find the time to dig it out, but the fact is, there doesn’t appear to be any practical value to writing books these days (no money in it) and I have to devote most of my time to more practical work.
There’s no money in original writing these days, unless one is a popular, professional author or journalist (or simply famous). That is why I have no problem sharing my fiction for free online and that is also why I spend most of my time with animation now (more money in it). The site is mainly for the eventual sale of my animation videos. The science-fiction is a good way to provide background and body to the site.
As a 40+ fan of science fiction, managing my own site has been a privilege. It’s good to know some people actually appreciate it.
Link Correction:
Opinions are fine, Alnexi. As an extremely obscure and unknown author I appreciate the feedback. I even welcome constructive criticism.
Good to hear you enjoyed “The Master Projector”, Alnexi. Yeah, Zeto was the good guy. I have included some background info on the story in the short-story section page.
Believe it or not, most of Zeto’s experiences were fact-based. It was Victor’s viewpoint that was entirely fictional speculation. I’m still wondering exactly what happened in LA at that time, I suspect it was some kind of major holiday or possibly an evacuation due to a state of emergency. Truth is, i still do not know, to this day. It was an unforgettable experience.
Alright, since you have acknowledged your interest in the site, I’ll let you in on a few helpful points.
1) I generally make updates no more than twice a month. When this occurs, it will be noted on the “updates” page which can be reached through the link: http://ts-variant/Base-Zero/updates-1106.html
2) Every chapter to a novel or story has a link in the left or right columns, however, if a chapter is more than one page long the extra pages can only be linked at the bottom of the pages, where it reads [next]. So in many cases, usually with the novels (and some novellas also), the best way to navigate to the next page is to go through the [next] link at the bottom of each page.
As for the Lost Planet, I made a slight error during the last update when I neglected to include the last page of chapter 13, “Contact with Mars”. That page will be included in the next update. To reach it, you’ll have to go through the [next] links at the bottom of chapter 13.
I’ll be updating it again sometime this weekend.
Thanx for the heads up. I’ll keep an eye out for it in my neck of the woods.
Yeah, I was into Robotech in the late 80s when it first hit the cable box but i haven’t seen much of anything on it for some time.
Great animation and a true inspiration for my work. I’ll probly have to do some major upgrades to ever come close to the quality, however…
Let ya know what I think if n whenever… chances are, though, I’ll have to wait for the DVD. I haven’t got my new transporter unit installed, too many setbacks, too low on funds… usual excuses.
I’ll be sure to include it in the next update, which is due before Xmas.
Good to know you’re enjoying it. Thanks for the appreciation.
War of the Worlds was quite humorous. As an animator, I’m amazed at how much content they can squeeze into 30 seconds. Dunno how they do it, but I’ll figure it out.
Good to hear someone interested in my work, alnexi.
I hope you enjoy iit.
Btw, the site has a long way to go in development, so don’t be too surprised if you run into some blank pages. I wanted to get my animation linked online asap and including it in a website with original sci-fi and a gallery of pictures seemed like the best way to go. But word-processing, editing, and developing web-pages is a time-consuming process, so I figured I’d just do a little every month.
Of course, I made sure there was enough to begin with, so there is plenty to read for now.
Oh, the transfer quality is beautiful, crystal clear. The effects are state of the art and, so far, they’ve slavishly followed the original effects sequences.
Hmm… I guess i begin to understand all the reasons they have for wasting their time with this. It’s a technical upgrade, from the old analog quality to digital, which makes some measure of sense, because when analog is transferred to digital, without technical upgrades, the poor quality is noticeable, in contrast with digital.
Looks like an opportunity for guaranteed sales that they couldn’t ignore, when accounting for the full technical effects of the upgrades. I’d hate to say this, but, early ST:NG was still using analog. The quality is improved over the early OS, but its still not fully digital, so, after their done with the OS upgrades, 10 years from now, we can expect them to do the same with the NG. 🙄
I also enjoyed the movie Brazil greatly.
I don’t know; what scares me more than the gore of horror films and the lack of oirginal sci-fi is the remake factor. Why do something that has been done well before?
Yes, Brazil was quite enjoyable. Great dark satire mixed with a sci-fi/fantasy alternative 1984-like realm. I dunno that there was much horror in it (the torture scene was more satire than horror), but it was a good contemporary sci-fi fantasy, the kind I’d like to see more of.
As for the remakes, I agree. I think remakes are a waste of time and money. Apparently, however, this gets to the root of the problem. Profits are put before aesthetic or original entertainment value. My best guess on this is that remakes are like famous popular actors; they represent guaranteed sales.
New and original projects are often considered too risky and unpredictable as sales profits go. A majority of dumbed-down couch potatoes have a tendency to waste their time and money on remakes out of curiosity and the fact that the originals were popular enough to be quite profitable. They figure that if the original was so popular then the remake would have to be at least as good if not better due to technological upgrades.
I wouldn’t waste time on remakes unless I thought there was a powerful message that the new generations needed to appreciate. But then again, that message can be passed on in original works, so it’s not the only way to go about it.
Is it thanksgiving?
Oh, well, I guess that explains the Indian arrow that says ‘Made in Japan’ on it that I found lodged in my ass, next to that huge blister that appeared right after that “Seasons Greetings from Iraq” card sliced its way through my screen door.
I just got a new website that is devoted entirely to sci-fi stories and it includes a section that covers “The Lost Planet” series as it is developing, with more preview video clips. I just added a third preview video-clip with new scenes from the most recent work and plan on adding a fourth sometime later this year. There is also a gallery with original art and still-frames taken from the animation.
This is the address: http://ts-variant.net
This is the url to the page with the video-clips:
http://ts-variant.net/videos/Anime-04.html
This is the gallery:
http://ts-variant.net/gallery/Tsv-gallery-01.html
Don’t be too disappointed, I’d like to be able to say I’m getting some help with this project, but the simple truth is, for now I’m doing all the work on my own.
What scares me (and not only in the movie industry) that there seems to be less and less of an alternative, some sort of a side stream that would offer something exciting and time-worthy to those of us who aren’t buying all this pre-fabricated, overblown and completely thoughtless c**p. It’s like – there is almost nothing else to watch nowadays. And I think that’s what really irks Nick-Z. Dear movie people, give us – once in a while – something smart, and different, and challenging, and surprising. Something not based on a computer game or a theme-park ride. Something we can watch without feeling like idiots.
Exactly! This is why it is so wrong to base the entertainment industry upon profit-motivation and popularity alone. Just because a movie or series is not popular does not necessarily mean it is not good. It merely means that a majority of spoiled-brats weaned on violence, special effects, and other sensationalism devices doesn’t want to take some time out to think, see, and imagine a little more than they are comfortable with.
Take the movie “Hanger 18” ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080836/ ), for example. This is an example of a good science fiction movie that would have been more popular had it been in the theaters a decade earlier. When it went out in the early 80s, people were being all psyched out by the evolution of special effects in science fiction (think Star Wars or Alien). Because the special effects in Hanger 18 were nothing extraordinary (the story was the thing), it was mostly ignored by the majority of viewers, despite the fact that it really was excellent science fiction, in the strictly hard science department.
The point is, special effects may help to make many movies and series more realistic, but just because there aren’t lots of explosions and blood and guts, that does not mean a movie or series isn’t good. It is also true that lots of cool special effects alone do not necessarily make a good movie or series. But even though this is the case, it is not clear that the majority actually sees it that way, as is evident when a movie or series without high budget special effects does poorly in the ratings, despite a good plot or storyline, and a movie or series with high budget special effects does well in the ratings, despite a poor plot or storyline.
Isn’t science fiction supposed to free the writers from the laws of the reality, open the door for boundless imagination? Looking at the shelves of video stores and the pathetic offer of the U.S. sci-fi channel, it looks like all those endless possibilities of plots and characters, despite all the technical capabilities and CGI effect, remain unexplored.
Quite right, there is too much garbage clogging the industry. As for those rare examples of good science fiction movies that contain moderate elements of horror and/or terror without losing touch with the sci-fi theme, plot, and storyline, I just picked up “Dark City” ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118929/ ) on DVD and it fits the package perfectly.
Thanx for the thoughtful responses. Exactly what I was looking for. This is a subject, imo, that deserves some clarity and thought. After all, there does seem to be some confusion involved. What better way to resolve it than an intelligent discussion?
Quote:The idea that another culture lives in the same relative time and space and possesses greater technology and/or natural ability to insert themselves into our simple earthling lives is part of the terrors of technology and sci-fi.
Well, sure, a bit of terror is basic to much sci-fi. But terror isn’t quite the same as horror. Terror can be caused by super-weapons. Horror, however, is basically a monster thing and much more personal. This fact is part of the exploitation of horror as a fright device, because there’s a greater shock-filled fright sensation involved in the “up close and personal” perspective.
Quote: I agree that there is a difference but not always a big one. Nick-Z. makes a valid point when speaking about the fear, and “sensation of fright” used as the main device or tool of entertainment in certain films presented as sci-fi. I just don’t think we can take fear (or filmmakers intention to cause it), even when it dominates the plot, as something that separates sci-fi from horror.
I still feel that the science fiction “setting” – if given enough space and significance, and if it is executed in at least somewhat meaningful if not completely “believable” way, AND if it is an integral part of the plot – is one of the main factors that qualifies a film as science fiction. In other words, I don’t thing a film loses its “right” to be called a sci-fi only because there is something that is supposed to scare viewers for most of the time.
Well, that’s more or less what I’m getting at; the extent of the difference. In quite a lot of sci-fi movies, there are elements of horror and fright but not to such an extreme extent that it can be disqualified as science fiction. But on the other hand, imo, if horror and fright completely dominate the movie, as in Alien, Cube, or Jason X, I really don’t agree that the setting alone can qualify it as sci-fi. But this is simply my opinion, these are the blurry lines we don’t all agree upon.
When Alien was first sold to the public, it was sold as a sci-fi thriller and the word “horror” wasn’t even mentioned. After seeing it, I was extremely disappointed. Sure it was a sci-fi thriller, but it was more of a sci-fi horror flic than a simple thriller. The word “thriller” is used too loosely by the marketeers. A thriller can be anything from a James Bond action film to a perverse display of human entrails and a puddle of puke, it seems, as far as they are concerned.
But the point about horror that I’m really trying to make is based within its actual Hollywood roots. Horror movies were an exploitation of the monsters of myth (Frankenstein, Dracula, vampires, zombies, etc…) when they were originally made popular sensations. I use the word “exploitation” because that is exactly what the producers of horror movies do. They “exploit” the monster element beyond any realistic or scientific base, for sales and profits.
The simple fact is, horror movies were poplularized by young teenagers looking for excuses to hold each other in the dark of theaters or their cars. I’m not making this up, it’s the truth. Young teenage boys didn’t take their girls to the theaters or drive-ins to see sci-fi “thrillers” or monster flics for the interesting plots or the science fiction. They took them to scare them into their arms, and that was the effect. Once in their arms, the “making out” activities came much easier. I kid you not.
Producers of traditional horror movies trashed science fiction when they decided to exploit the “alien” and “mutation” factors in sci-fi for the same profit-motivated reasons. Think about it for a second. Why should I waste my money and time on something designed specifically for insecure teenagers hoping to get into each other’s arms if I am looking for a good science fiction story?
Now, see the problem I have with this is the numbers of young people who grew up with the idea that science fiction was all about monsters scaring young girls into the arms of their guys and nothing else. There is quite a lot of vanity and ignorance involved there. The movie producers gave them what they wanted and they got to make out with their girls. Why? Because there was a lot of profit in it, not because it was good science fiction.
Fast forward to the 80s and suddenly, not only do we have young people that confuse science fiction with bad horror-for-exploitation movies, we also have some pretty spoiled Hollywood brat directors and producers doing the same thing. So, what do they do? Instead of making better science fiction, they make better horror (more realistic), and put it in a sci-fi setting so they can call it science fiction.
See what I’m getting at? Their main problem is, they’re still just into exploitation of horror for profit, and in my honest opinion, if that is the case, then they are not producing good science fiction, they are producing high-budget horror. If that is the case, then the least they can do is give us a better warning when they sell it, by including the word “horror” instead of simply “thriller”. Examples: Alien and Jason X sold as sci-fi “thrillers” without any mention of horror. Likewise with Cube.
My final word is, I’m not trying to draw any definite lines for everyone to go by, I’m simply stating my personal opinion on the subject and saying what i know. It bothers me how some people exploit art (and science) for profit and mislead the masses along the same ignorant path. I learned some time ago that, just because something is “popular” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for the body or the mind. Of course, that’s just my opinion.
Suggestion: Maybe a clearer line should be drawn between a sci-fi thriller and a sci-fi horror? I dunno, not a big deal, just an idea.
Sorry for the long post. One of my fav subjects, i guess.
I wonder why is it so important to draw the strict demarcation line between the two? There is often a bit of a value judgment in our efforts to strictly categorize things (or people for that matter). This is probably one of the most idiotic things schools do to young people’s minds – how do you label it? To which little box it belongs? What you do with the stuff (or people for that matter) that purposefully refuse to be squeezed into a box? Well, I guess many of the shows featured on this site wouldn’t fit this purist definition of sci-fi. Lexx, Firefly…? Oh, I see. We need another category for those….
But there is a huge difference between sci-fi and horror, from what i see. When I mention that I like sci-fi to a girl I just met and she replies about a movie that is nothing but a running fright sensation designed to make girls bury their heads in their boyfriend’s arms in the dark under the big screen… well, I really can’t just let her continue thinking that is science fiction, because it isn’t. There IS a difference between the two, and it is annoying when the bookstores or video-shops mix the two together. Texas Chain Saw Massacre IS NOT science fiction, period!
As for Lex and Firefly… I don’t see a problem there. Both are science fiction and simply because they contain a few elements of horror now and then, that doesn’t toss them out of the sci-fi genre.
We’re not talking moderation, we’re talking extremes. A movie or episode that is DOMINATED by elements of horror IS HORROR, not sci-fi. Yes, there is a difference.
Granted, the Borg were somewhat scary at first. But then it was revealed that while energy weapons could be deflected, Klingon batliffs (sp?) could not.
The result was that the worst thing about the Borg were their overwhelming numbers. Put enough Klingons against them in hand-to-hand combat and they weren’t so tough.
I agree, we are in sore need of the revamping of sci-fi with some old timers not suckled at ST, SW, Matrix or Terminator movies.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that there aren’t any young artists that have what it takes to contribute to these projects. What i am saying is that too often, the only ones that actually get their foot inside are the kind that don’t know how to think outside of the box because they never actually lived “outside the box”.
We all know the story. Friend of relative sleeps with executive… and before anyone can prevent it, the friend of relative and/or the relative of friend are in control of everything. History records that this is usually the beginning of the end of a successful company/network and the worst thing that could happen to it.
It isn’t too hard to diagnose a big company and see that it suffers from such problems. In the case of the really big networks this problem has been there for some time. Artists need to be appreciated for their abilities as artists, not for their sexual foreplay with company executives.
Well gotta go, I always focus on the horror movies i like in October.
I’m not a big horror fan, but I agree about the older stuff. Old sci-fi classics that cross into the sci-fi realm are some of the best. “It Came From Outer Space” is pretty good. From the 70s, “Omega Man” is one of my favorites.
I’m really not the least bit interested in all the blood and guts sensationalism from the 80s and 90s. I’ve seen enough of it to realize how well-done the effects are, but if I want more nightmares, I’d rather they have some relevancy to my real subconscious situation, rather than just be there because they were put there by the idiot box.
As for the exceptions, I think Stephen King (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000175) is one of the only real masters to come out of the 80s. The guy really knows how to cross the sci-fi/horror themes with expertise. The Tommyknockers, The Langoliers, and The Stand are some of my favorites.
I just purchased season 9 and I’m lovin it.
Avalon was pretty cool and the new enemy, the ultra-psychotic religious fanatics known as the Ori, are an interesting study of the very worst case of mind-numbing religious mass-psychosis I’ve seen for some time.
I’ve only seen the first 8 episodes and i have to say, after Avalon, the very best next episode was “Ex Deus Machina”. I really enjoy the complex episodes with all the surprises, and the appearance of “Ba’al” on Earth, playing a powerful corporate businessman, was very cool.
He learned the game so well and so quickly, one would think he was the fore-father of corporate capitalism.
Looks like with Lost and now this I’ll be singing “ABC… easy as 123,”
ABC, being one of the oldest networks of its kind, doesn’t have a very good track record with sci-fi shows. It had its moments in the 60s and 70s, but totally sucked in the 80s and 90s.
I can already see some of the mistakes they’re making with this thing, and its really too bad. What I see is some very old conservative incompetents contracting some very new spoiled-brat incompetents that seem to think they know it all about classic sci-fi even though most of them were still sucking their thumbs in the 60s and 70s.
It’s a loss for them and a loss for the viewers when they are so inbred with their own friends of relatives and relatives of friends that they can’t even open the door for somebody who can actually “think outside the box”.
Heck, all I do is think outside the box, but the big network brats have to sit around and remind each other to do so because they have no real experience with it.
One of the biggest mistakes these idiots make is to assume that they know exactly what the viewers want to see, even in the realm of sci-fi, based upon limited polls and surveys, when what they really should be doing is embracing the heart, soul, and imagination of sci-fi and just doing a really good job of providing something less expectant and more interesting (and not just shock-horror trash).
Now I’m ranting. Truth is, I’m only so interested in this because I don’t have cable right now and it’s one of the only channels (ABC) I get via snowy weathervane antennae. I can’t complain, it’s still free!
I agree, there is a huge wealth of sci-fi already written
So much, in fact, that one would expect a series like this to become one of the longest running series of its kind. I would expect it to run for at least 3 or 4 seasons, but of course, that depends upon the viewer response and the budget.
I located a couple of more articles about it for more info.
ABC Orders Masters Of SF
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=1&id=34727
ABC Greenlights Masters of Science Fiction
http://www.bitsofnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3399&Itemid=2
Hanger 18, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, The Invisible Man (1939), The Toxic Avenger, Nine Million Years to Earth (Quartermain Chronicles)
I’m sure it would be very cool… but unfortunately, on damn DU, those videos take a thousand years to dl and don’t let the user browse around during all that dl-time.
Sucks for me, being a poor working-class fool without the $$ for hi-speed cable!
But getting back to this, I LOVE ST TOS, i found the other incarnations sans movies quite cold like the vacuum of space. i appreciate the intellectual exercises of TNG, Deep Space Nine, etc… but these are people that lost touch with lessons attached to suffering and hope quite a long time ago.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that any of the Star Trek series that followed TOS were all that bad. I enjoyed most of all that, and the movies more or less, but I just think sometimes they go too far with the revisioning upon a fictional legend. I maintain the same opinion about all entertainment, for the most part. I think the directors and producers should spend less time revisioning yet another version of a popular historical fiction and more time supporting new ideas or ideas that have been neglected. I get sick of the way they turn down new and original ideas from unknown artists and writers simply because they are unknown and there is too much of a capital risk involved.
Publishers and producers all want guaranteed sales so they neglect unknown newbies while investing time and money in writers and artists that are already well-known and popular. Why? Because of the guaranteed sales. The $$$, that’s all they care about. This is what happens in a society that places so much value in money and so little value in original creativity.
I wrote 2 original Star Trek novels in the late 90s and submitted them to Paramount as possible screen plots for Star Trek movies. I got nothing but one script returned without any reply whatsover and the other simply vanished from the space-time continuum in a black hole somewhere. I submitted them to Star Trek web-sites online later. No feedback whatsoever. Flat rejection. Unless you’re somebody in the Star Trek universe, you’re nobody, period. My script for ST:NG was far better than the piece of crap they tossed together for either Insurrection or Nemsis, but of course, since I am nobody, then it probly wasn’t even noticed.
And now this. Some multi-millionaires upgrading an old TOS episode. Ugh, what a bunch of unimaginative borgs! They don’t know how to create, so they simply assimilate!
I think it’s a foolish waste of time and money, as well as self-glorification by fat, spoiled multi-millionaires with no better ideas to work with so they have to redo old ones for profit.
imo, I think their time and money would better serve new ideas from new artists and writers, but that is probly too much of a gamble for them. They know that anything STAR TREK is like guaranteed sales, so like the big publishers, they go for it while a huge pool of new, unknown independent artists and writers get nothing, no attention whatsoever for their efforts.
This is one part of the capitalist sytem that irks me; the way it feeds the big sharks and starves the little fish, all because the majority are too dumbed-down to understand the importance of supporting new ideas and new minds.
Instead, we get the sons and daughters and nephews and nieces and grandchildren of old popular big-money makers remaking and revising the same old ideas ad nauseaum.
Give me a break. 🙁
Well, I got a good deal on the DVD and saw it, and I retract my earlier doubts.
It was better than I expected it to be. I feared it would be just another sci-fi movie over-using violence and sensationalism to cater to the majority of dumbed-down idiots who drool over that stuff, but I was wrong.
It was actually quite excellent. There was a nice balance between the action and violence and the story-line, just the way a good sci-fi should be.
Don’t know how they managed to do such a great job with the set either, must’ve took millions to rent all that property. I will venture to predict that, if their budget permits it, we’ll see more of Aeon, if the world survives WW3.
I was really getting into Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network a few years ago, before the local cable company was eaten by a bigger fish and decided it needed more profit to feed its fat school of corporate piggies and vampire-sharks, so they revised the packaging format.
Don’t know how many other people went thru this, but I would like to state it for the record. When a cable channel that is offered in a cheap package deal becomes popular, the cable companies like to move it into a more expensive package. That is exactly what they did with the Sci-fi channel, The Mystery channel, the Cartoon Network, etc… all because these channels became more popular than most of the regular big networks (ABC, CBS, NBC).
In 2001, all of these channels were accessible for about $15 a month in the U.S. of A. Now, they are only accessible in the $40 per month package.
On the lighter side, G4 was still accessible, last time I checked, and it had just started running some very cool sci-fi anime series.
I don’t like appearing responsible for putting a damper on this topic, I think I was a bit too absolute in my perspective. I do think, however, that far too many people confuse sci-fi and horror, and scary monsters do play a major role in the latter, not so much the former.
Nonetheless, after thinking it over, it seems to me that in the wide realm of sci-fi, there are bound to be some cases which blur the line. Within this possibility, I would like to submit a monster/character which blurs the lline, not only between sci-fi and horror, but also with an added spice of satire.
Submitted for your reproval, Troma’s cult-hero:
The Toxic Avenger is both grotesque, horrific, and satirically odd, as well as a definite byproduct of the science-fiction realm.
I like a good sci-fi site that includes a variety of media, not just words or reviews, or articles, but all of these things, including some good sci-fi pictures, and video-clips. So far, it hasn’t been easy finding anything that quite lives up to my expectations, but sadgeezer, I do think, is on the right track and does quite well towards meeting this demand.
I also like a good sci-fi online database, and http://www.scifimatter.com/ appears to be one of the best I’ve found so far. It has short reviews and links to hundreds of sci-fi and fantasy websites, dealing with reviews, articles, fiction, and artworrk.
http://locusmag.com/ is a pretty good site for following the latest fiction, with some reviews of the recent movies and videos, and links to some interesting sites.
The main thing I enjoy about http://www.scifi.com/sfw/ is the original artwork gallery. Some really great sci-fi/fantasy pics there.
When it comes to favorites, I base my favoritism on what the site specializes in, so it depends on the aspect. So far, I have yet to see a site that really covers all aspects as well as desired. I suppose, however, this is mainly due to the fact that no single group of people has free reign over such a wide domain.
theres nothing gothic about buffy… the writings of Poe are gothic… buffy is just Fantasy Horror.
Well, I only watched one episode of Buffy and didn’t care for it, so I’m no expert. But the reason why I consider it “Gothic” is due to the vampire element, which has its roots in early Gothic literature.
I realize that the word “Gothic” hasn’t been applied to any modern genre in this way, but that’s the way I see it. The main difference between Gothic and Horror, as I see it, is Horror is just created to scare girls into their boyfriend’s arms, and that is and always has been the popular appeal. Gothic, on the other hand, is more thoughtful and interesting to those who like to speculate about such fantasy elements.
So I’ll say Sci-Fi can be pure, commercial and background.
It’s quite true that sci-fi has been diluted and invariably dispersed in the way so described, but in some cases, there is so little actual science included, that some possibilities would qualify more under the term “fantasy” than actual sci-fi. With Q-leap, for example, many episodes had no science whatsoever, and would therefore more accurately be classified as “fantasy”.
Based on a similar definition to this, I have often attempted to argue that Frankenstein is Sci-Fi– without much success because there aren’t any spaceships in it.
Frankenstein is probably one of the most original and unique “Gothic” science-fiction stories ever concieved. The problem that evolved out of Frankenstein was the element of fright towards the “monster” itself, after this element morphed into the modern-day “horror” movie, which was a mixture of very bad science-fiction and the exploitation of horror as a device for sensationalism.
Producers that saw a veritable gold-mine of profits in horror led too many people to the idea that science-fiction was all about monsters and nothing else. Horror is not science-fiction. Even when it is well-done, horror should not be confused with sci-fi. Buffy for example, is not sci-fi. If I were to give it a label, I’d call it “Gothic”.
I don’t want to be like a nit-picking geek, but i don’t believe there are any scary monsters in sci-fi. If they are scary, then it qualifies them as an element of horror, not sci-fi.
So, while I might agree that there are mutants and odd-looking aliens in sci-fi, they are not simply used as devices to scare people, as it is with the monsters of horror, they are usually more interesting.
But this is not an argument for this thead, so I won’t go into it. I just think that scary monsters are an element of horror, not sci-fi, and I really hate people who confuse these two fields.
Btw, that was the problem with Alien. IMO, it wasn’t good sci-fi by any means, it was bad horror from a possible future scenario.
