The Age of Dystopia in
Science Fiction Films
1965 - Present

With the dawning of the space age in the 1960s, the science fiction cinema changed forever. No longer was it sufficient to make films about adventuring into space, for we were already doing that. The appearance of technological advancements at an ever increasing pace has made science fiction into the science fact of today, so much so that many critics have hailed the denouement of the science fiction film. But the true essence of science fiction has always been much more than merely speculation about technologies of tomorrow, and science has not yet begun to exhaust the possibilities of discovery.

The 1960s began with the dawn of the psychedelic era in the serious experiments of Aldous Huxley and others into the possibilities of expanded consciousness through drugs. This quest for outside knowledge through interior of the mind was more than suggestive of the evolution of the sci-fi cinema, for it exemplified the scientific underpinnings to the most esoteric and metaphysical explorations that have always been the touchstone of both drama and true science fiction. Now, even Science was asking, what is Man? What is consciousness? What is life and creation? Almost immediately, the question of cybernetic consciousness and its ramifications arises.

Although I originally considered describing this period as the Space Age or even as the Cybernetic Age, the most recurring theme of this era of Sci-Fi films is the vision of the future as Dystopia. Sterile and devoid of individuality or dark, bleak and decaying, these nightmare worlds of tomorrow are the cautionary tales of the late 20th century and perhaps the truest expressions of the science fiction genre, for they speak to the latent tendencies within society toward violence and oppression in all its forms, including those once thought of as liberation and enlightenment. This, and not technology, is the essence of the films in this era. This prophetic voice of science fiction makes the work transcendent of mere entertainment or even of art; a work of philosophic and spiritual importance. What this says about our collective appraisal of our capacity for advancement as humans I leave to the reader to judge.

FAHRENHEIT 451
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1966
Produced by: Lewis M. Allen
Directed by: Francois Truffaut
Other: Novel by Ray Bradbury
Cast of Characters
Oskar Werner Guy Montag
Julie Christie Clarisse / Linda Montag
Cyril Cusack The Captain
Anton Diffring Fabian / Headmistress
Jeremy Spenser Man with the Apple
Bea Duffell Book Lady
Synopsis and Commentary

In a future in which all literature is banned, a member of a military unit tasked with discovering and destroying books enjoys the life of the elite, until he begins to have doubts... Formally inaugurated by Jean Luc Goddard's Alphaville in 1965 (which I have unfortunately not seen), the Age of Dystopia was hurled into the ultimate Orwellian nightmare with Truffaut's adaptation of the classic novel by Ray Bradbury. The fact that this American vision of a future devoid of free thought had to be made in the UK by a French director speaks volumes about the state of politics in the US in the mid-60s. In addition to renowned French film-maker Truffaut's inspired direction, the acting performances here are top-notch, from Oskar Werner to the marvellous Cyril Cusack and the unforgettable Julie Christie, fresh from Dr. Zhivago. Bea Duffell also plays the old woman to whom Arthur's knights say "Ni!" when she does not tell them what they wish to know in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

QUATERMASS AND THE PIT
(Five Million Years to Earth)
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1967
Produced by: Hammer Film Productions, Ltd.
(Anthony Nelson Keys)
Directed by: Roy Ward Baker
Other:
Cast of Characters
Andrew Keir Prof. Bernard Quatermass
James Donald Dr. Mathew Roney
Barbara Shelley Barbara Judd
Julian Glover Colonel Breen
Duncan Lamont Sladden
Synopsis and Commentary

A large bomb-like object unearthed during a renovation of the Underground proves to be an ancient artifact of extra-terrestrial origin - and one possessed of terrifying influence. This movie scared me half to death as kid! The manner in which Medieval legend and sci-fi speculation are deftly blended produces a concept that is as frightening at points as it is fascinating. Quatermass and the Pit is the final installment in the Quatermass saga, the other stories being The Quatermass Experiment and Quatermass II: Enemy from Space. As far as I am concerned Andrew Keir is Prof. Quatermass. He embodies the brusque, obsessive genius (reminiscent of Prof. Challenger) as no one else. James Donald, Barbara Shelley and Julian Glover all turn in stellar performances. This really is the high point of British sci-fi in my judgment - and I am not alone in that view. This film has a cult following; copies of the DVD are going for $75 and up on Amazon. Overlook the occasionally weak special effects and allow the atmosphere of the film to prevail. The theme of dystopia recurs here in subtle wise, in the implications of the revelations concerning human ancestry and the violence of the film's climax.

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1968
Produced by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(Stanley Kubrick)
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Other: Screenplay co-written
by Arthur C. Clarke
Cast of Characters
Keir Dullea Dr. Dave Bowman
Gary Lockwood Dr. Frank Poole
William Sylvester Dr. Heywood Floyd
Douglas Rain HAL-9000 (voice)
Synopsis and Commentary

When a mysterious monolith is unearthed on the dark side of the moon which predates human development, a team of scientists is sent to investigate what appears to be a companion on one of the moons of Jupiter. Based on Arthur C. Clarke's novel and released just as the American space race was nearing the culmination of a decade of strides toward the moon, 2001: A Space Odyssey was the most original and realistic space film ever produced. Even today looking back it seems futuristic yet familiar, not dated. Director Stanley Kubrick, famous at the time for films such as Spartacus and Dr. Strangelove, is perhaps best known today for this film. Not an accessible film by any means, it combines the present drama of a psychological conflict with a sentient computer and the story of the dawning of man's own consciousness with the possibility of a new moment of epiphany in scenes that unfold without the belabored explanations typical of contemporary films, and in an almost claustrophobic interior atmosphere. Certainly there were earlier films about the perils of artificial intelligence (e.g., Gog); however, Kubrick's film marks a turning point that I think is significant in that it was probably the first time that we considered the psychological, metaphysical and moral aspects of artificial intelligence (as opposed to the dangers of programming gone awry), married with the possibilities of expanded human consciousness.

PLANET OF THE APES
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1968
Produced by: 20th Century Fox
Directed by: Franklin J. Schaffner
Other: Novel by Pierre Boulle
Cast of Characters
Charlton Heston George Taylor
Roddy McDowell Cornelius
Kim Hunter Zira
Maurice Evans Dr. Zaius
James Whitmore President of the Assembly
Linda Harrison Nova
Synopsis and Commentary

An American spacecraft capable of trans-light speed crashes on a desert planet and the survivors find themselves quickly at the mercy of a race of highly evolved apes who have subjugated a mute and primitive human race. Radical French novelist Pierre Boulle's provocative tale is the ultimate assault on dogmatic religious opposition to science. The trial of Taylor, Zira and Cornelius consciously resembles both the Scopes "Monkey" Trial and the Medieval Inquisition in its rhetoric - but the whole postulation is inverted, so much so that many a moveigoer probably never grasped the point. The remake in 2001 offered better special effects, but a story that lacked the philosophical punch of the original. This movie created a sensation at the time of its release and proved so popular that it spawned four (increasingly bad) sequels and a TV series. The makeup work was quite remarkable and the film boasted an impressive cast, including the redoubtable Maurice Evans as the enigmatic Dr. Zaius, easily the most interesting character in the story, and whose final words proved prophetic. The final scene of Planet of the Apes is one of the most famous in sci-fi cinema; coming at the climax of the Viet-Nam War and the midst of Cold War and Arab-Israeli crises, it was especially poignant. Boulle is best known perhaps for The Bridge on the River Kwai. This was the first of Charlton Heston's sci-fi films, to be followed by the decent sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man in 1971 (an adaptation of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend), and Soylent Green in 1973.

DOPPELGÄNGER
(Journey to the Far Side of the Sun)
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1969
Produced by: Gerry & Sylvia Anderson
Directed by: Robert Parrish
Other:
Cast of Characters
Roy Thinnes Col. Glenn Ross
Ian Hendry Dr. John Kane
Patrick Wymark Jason Webb
Lynn Loring Sharon Ross
Edward Bishop David Poulson
Herbert Lom Dr. Kurt Hassler
Synopsis and Commentary

The crew of a spacecraft sent to a planet that shadows the Earth on the opposite side of the Sun returns unexpectedly and the sole survivor struggles to comprehend what happened and then convince others of the truth. The first of the live action sci-fi dramas of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, Doppelgänger made TV UFO and later Space:1999 possible. This is a very obscure film and one that is scarcely more accessible than Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, although between the two, I prefer this film. The film has very impressive special effects and realistic space vehicles; for those who are only familiar with Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Supermarionation films for kids, don't be put off - it lost out on the Academy Award for special effects to Marooned. Some of the concepts, such as a single-stage-to-orbit crew transfer vehicle of aerodynamic form were very cutting edge and reflected plans at the time for a Space Shuttle. It was released as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun in the US presumably because Americans are ignorant of German folklore and easily confused by movie titles. Ed Bishop went on the lead in UFO as the commander of SHADO, Ed Straker, along with several other cast members from Doppelgänger and quite a few props, including the futuristic automobiles with the top-opening gull-wing doors.

THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1971
Produced by: Universal Pictures (Robert Wise)
Directed by: Robert Wise
Other: Novel by Michael Crichton
Cast of Characters
Arthur Hill Dr. Jeremy Stone
David Wayne Dr. Charles Dutton
James Olson Dr. Mark Hall
Kate Reid Dr. Ruth Leavitt
Paula Kelly Karen Anson
Synopsis and Commentary

The sudden outbreak of an instantly fatal virus in the Southwest results in the activation of a top secret government facility to isolate and study extra-terrestrial microbial life in a race to find the cure for the Andromeda strain. Director Robert Wise got his start making horror films for Val Lewton in the 1940s and evidently retained a willingness to take genre material seriously throughout his prestigious career, helming The Day the Earth Stood Still and Star Trek - The Motion Picture. Of course, he is best known for films like The Sound of Music and West Side Story. Such sensibilities may seem an odd fit for horror and sci-fi, but Robert Wise's films have always evinced a depth of human understanding surpassing that of typical genre films, and for this they are stronger films. This has always been a favorite of mine, ever since I saw it as a kid. Michael Crichton, not yet 30 when The Andromeda Strain was made from his gripping novel, became an immediate celebrity and was allowed to direct his technological fantasy Westworld in 1973. A recurrent theme in Crichton stories is the breakdown of technology and human systems due to extremely simple, generally overlooked causes - with disastrous results. Crichton is the penultimate cautionary prophet of the modern age. Gil Melle' who crafted the score for this film later wrote the memorable theme music for Kolchak - The Night Stalker.

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1971
Produced by: Stanley Kubrick
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Other: Novel by Anthony Burgess
Cast of Characters
Malcolm McDowell Alex de Large
Patrick Magee Mr. Alexander
Michael Bates Chief Guard
Warren Clarke Dim
Miriam Carlin Cat Lady
Synopsis and Commentary

The leader of a trio of brutal teens is caught by the police and subjected to an experimental regimen designed to rehabilitate him. I have to say that A Clockwork Orange is one of the most perverse films that I have ever seen. I honestly cannot say that I am certain I know what the author and director intended to convey. One of its perversities is the sympathy it creates (maybe) for its protagonist Alex, and the satisfaction one feels when Alex unwittingly finds himself in the power of one of his victims. Certainly, the film casts the modern techniques of social engineering the worst light. One is left to ponder whether the "ultra-violence" of the dissolute Druggies or the clinical, almost Nazi-like methods of the judicial system is the greater evil. I will never hear Beethoven's Symphony in D Major or Singing in the Rain without thinking of this film.

THX 1138
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1971
Produced by: American Zeotrope / Warner Brothers
Directed by: George Lucas
Other:
Cast of Characters
Robert Duvall THX 1138
Donald Pleasance SEN 5241
Maggie MacOrmie LUH 3417
Don Pedro Colley SRT
Synopsis and Commentary

In a future where human society lives in a stark, sterile subterranean city, subdued by cyborg police and emotion-destroying drugs, one man dares to defy authority - to fall in love. George Lucas' first film draws on his terrible imagination of a tomorrow in which life is mean, brutal and short; where love and sex are forbidden vices and television (ironically) is a senseless parade of sex and violence (usually films of humans being beaten by the robotic police, with no explanation or meaning offered). This may be the bleakest vision of the future ever committed to film, and yet it asserts the propsect of hope in the spirit of love. A true cult classic, it is probably the most meaningful film ever made by Lucas.

SOYLENT GREEN
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1973
Produced by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Directed by: Richard Fleischer
Other: Novel by Harry Harrison
Cast of Characters
Charlton Heston Detective Robert Thorn
Edward G. Robinson Sol Roth
Joseph Cotten William R. Simonson
Leigh Taylor-Young Shirl
Chuck Connors Tab Fielding
Paula Kelly Martha Phillips
Synopsis and Commentary

In the year 2022, the Earth is so overpopulated that riot forces and government food programs are required to maintain a semblance of order, but a detective is on the trail of a terrible secret that threatens to overturn the control of the social elite. My most vivid recollection of Soylent Green is the garbage trucks of the riot squads scooping up mobs of people with a front end loader and dumping them into the bin. This is a powerful film, arising out of the fears of the Ecological movement of the early 1970s: pollution, global warming and overpopulation. None of the force of its imagery has diminished in the last 30 years and the film is as relevant as ever. It also features an impressive cast, including Joseph Cotten and Edward G. Robinson. While the secret of the story may be something less than a shock to jaded contemporary audiences, it was outrageous for the time, and yet the most effective moments for me are those of Sol Roth, as he weeps over an apple, and his final moments when he has volunteered to withdraw from society. That entire sequence is most macabre in its very construction, not its ultimate revelation.

STAR WARS
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1977
Produced by: 20th Century Fox
(Gary Kurtz)
Directed by: George Lucas
Other:
Cast of Characters
Mark Hamill Luke Skywalker
Sir Alec Guinness Obi-Wan Kenobi
Carrie Fisher Princess Leia Organa
Harrison Ford Han Solo
Sir Peter Cushing Grand Moff Tarkin
David Prowse Darth Vader
James Earl Jones Darth Vader (voice)
Anthony Daniels C-3PO
Kenny Baker R2D2
Peter Mayhew Chewbacca
Phil Brown Uncle Owen
Synopsis and Commentary

An orphaned farmboy who dreams of adventure off-world is swept into a galactic civil war by an encoded message in a 'droid and the mysterious old warrior it addresses. Its difficult to look back now and appreciate the sensation that was caused by the release of Star Wars in 1977. It opened in my hometown in early June, just as school let out for the summer, following my 7th grade year. Those born after 1977 simply cannot understand how amazing and thrilling it was at the time (and we are talking here about the original film, not the one that Lucas re-edited and spruced up with new CGI effects). Nothing like it had ever been seen. Star Wars was nominated for Best Picture, Lucas for Best Director and Sir Alec Guinness for Best Supporting Actor! The film won Academy Awards for Visual Effects (the origins of Industrial Light and Magic, and the career of John Dykstra), Art Direction - Set Decoration, Costume Design, Music - Original Score, Film Editing and Sound. It was George Lucas' vision to re-create the nostalgic excitement of the serial features of the 1930s, 40s and 50s - the Saturday afternoon film features that he had watched as a kid: Flash Gordon, Rocket Men of the Moon, Buck Rogers, even the Westerns. That was why the film began with the titles, "Episode IV: A New Hope..." as if it were part of a larger serial story, and a backstory scrolling across the screen with the immortal words, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...", communicating an aura of fabulous legend. At the time, Lucas had no thought of sequels, let alone prequels. In some respects I wish that he had not been seduced by the dark side of Hollywood and made any sequels. His novel was Star Wars - The Adventures of Luke Skywalker. Somewhere along the road it became the Adventures of Darth Vader, a much more ambivalent story of power and its seductions, and in which good has become a one-dimensional, lesser force.

ALIEN
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1979
Produced by: 20th Century Fox
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Other: Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Cast of Characters
Sigourney Weaver Ripley
Ian Holm Ash
John Hurt Kane
Tom Skerritt Dallas
Veronica Cartwright Lambert
Yaphet Kotto Parker
Harry Dean Stanton Brett
Bolaji Bodejo Alien
Synopsis and Commentary

The crew of a deep space mining ship is reawakened from cryo-suspension and diverted to investigate a distress signal and discovers a weird form of parasitic life aboard a crashed alien spacecraft. Alien is both one of the most influential sci-fi films as well as a classic monster-loose-in-the-haunted-house story set in space. With its outre' creature and set design inspired by the art of surrealist H. R. Giger, pervasive atmosphere of gloom and well-crafted suspense, ingenious scientific details, impressive casting and visceral special effects, this film finds the nerve center of fear and fascination in everyone. Many believe (and I am one of them) that the 1958 classic B-movie Creature Feature It! The Terror from Beyond Space was the inspiration for Alien. In turn, Ridley Scott's film inspired three sequels and a number of similar films, but it remains the best of them, a genuine landmark in the history of sci-fi cinema.

MAD MAX
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1979
Produced by: George Miller and
Byron Kennedy
Directed by: George Miller
Other:
Cast of Characters
Mel Gibson Max Rockatansky
Joanne Samuel Jessie Rockatansky
Hugh Keays-Byrne Toecutter
Steve Bisley Jim Goose
Tim Burns Johnny the Boy
Roger Ward "Fifi" MacAfee
Synopsis and Commentary

The disintegration of society is depicted in the descent into brutality of a police officer patrolling the lawless borderland surrounding an Australian community. George Miller's epic of post-apocalyptic chaos simultaneously created the most compelling, disturbingly plausible (and copied) vision of the future yet depicted and launched the career of an unknown young actor named Mel Gibson. Easily dismissed as a car chase film, such a definition overlooks the central action of the film, which lies within the soul of Max, a man of deep sensitivity as well as a deep sense of protective duty toward the innocent, who is tormented by the savagery that he encounters in his job as the vigilant last defense against the psychopathic gangs cruising the highways beyond the fringes of what remains of civilization. Max the savior seeks salvation for his own soul, sensing his own inevitable transformation into the kind of brutal killer that he hunts in his 600 hp interceptor. Miller's genius in this film (and those that followed, The Road Warrior and Mad Max - Beyond Thunderdome) is that he dooms his hero to never find redemption, without the justifying rationalizations and indulgent self-loathing so prevalent in American revenge films. Max remains, for all his valiant efforts defending others, undefended and unredeemed, forever the outsider.

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1980
Produced by: 20th Century Fox
(Gary Kurtz)
Directed by: Irvin Kershner
Other:
Cast of Characters
Mark Hamill Luke Skywalker
Carrie Fisher Princess Leia Organa
Harrison Ford Han Solo
Billy Dee Williams Lando Calrissian
Frank Oz Yoda (voice)
Sir Alec Guinness Obi-Wan Kenobi
David Prowse Darth Vader
James Earl Jones Darth Vader (voice)
Anthony Daniels C-3PO
Kenny Baker R2D2
Peter Mayhew Chewbacca
Jeremy Bulloch Boba Fett
Synopsis and Commentary

The Rebel Alliance continues to gain headway against the Empire, but a task force under the personal leadership of Sith Lord Darth Vader is pursuing Luke Skywalker and his comrades, with a trap set to destroy the Alliance. For the big-budget sequel to Star Wars Lucas received more professional oversight and assistance than on any subsequent film; it was just after his initial success and just prior to his achieving total artistic control. For this reason, perhaps, The Empire Strikes Back is almost universally regarded as the pinnacle of the Star Wars saga in terms of film-making artistry. Certainly, it ends on a more somber note than any of the other films (with the obvious exception of The Revenge of the Sith), but it is also more serious, the story and performances more complex. While I have strong affection for moments in Return of the Jedi, particularly the quiet confidence of Luke Skywalker as a Jedi and his moment of epiphany when he defeats Darth Vader, and even for some moments of the later trilogy, mainly the strong efforts of Ewan MacGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi and the lightsaber fight with Darth Maul, The Empire Strikes Back is the last film in the series that I felt was consistently well executed, absent the cheap sentimentality, reused plot lines (orbiting battlestations are destroyed by a single well-placed shot in no less than three of the six films), cardboard heroes and villains, and an over-dependence on special effects wizardry and action scenes instead of strong story development - things that spoiled all the films that followed.

"Do, or do not. There is no try."
BLADE RUNNER
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1982
Produced by: The Ladd Company
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Other: Novel by Philip K. Dick
Cast of Characters
Harrison Ford Deckerd
Rutger Hauer Roy Batty
Sean Young Rachel
Darryl Hannah Pris
C. Emmett Walsh Bryant
Edward James Olmos Gaff
William Sanderson J. F. Sebastian
Brion James Leon Kowalski
Joe Turkel Eldon Tyrrell
Joanna Cassidy Zhora
James Hong Hannibal Chew
Synopsis and Commentary

In an overcrowded, over-polluted early 21st century Los Angeles, a burned out cop whose job is the tracking and termination of runaway replicants is coerced back into service to stop a killer group of high performance Nexus 6 models who have escaped back to Earth. While Raiders of the Lost Ark, may have made a certified movie icon of Harrison Ford, this noirish film of a near-future dystopia established him as an actor worthy of respect. Thought to be a failure at the time, Blade Runner is the film that always leaps into my mind as the greatest achievement of sci-fi cinema. Certainly, Robert Wise's The Day the Earth Stood Still, Francois Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451, Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys and others contend for the highest honor, but nothing bests this film for me. Ridley Scott's vision of the not so distant future recalls Lang's Metropolis (on more than one level) with its stark, almost Dantean social divide, and gives us a world that is immediately believable because it is as recognizable as it is futuristic. Blade Runner can be enjoyed as a pure action film, but it addresses some of the classic questions of science fiction: What is life? What is humanity? Who or what is God? Is there meaning to sentient life that ends in death? What are the moral imperatives of creation? Does God owe me an answer concerning life and death? Does Man owe his creations an answer and what answer could he give? (shades of Mary Shelley) None of this is debated in clumsy and tiresome oratory, it is embedded in the action; the movie makes you ponder without beating you over the head with the questions or the answers (which, true to noir tradition, are left uncertain).

I saw the original US theatrical release in the autumn of 1982, with its overtly film noir voiceover by Ford and an ending that is more hopeful than the one in Scott's Director's Cut, which is similar to the European version and the only version of the film in print for many years (all versions of the film have been released now in a special edition DVD). Apparently, the US theatrical version resulted from second guessing after some dubious trial screenings. As a writer I know the hazards of second guessing - the pure first instinct is the truest. For me, the debate between the two versions of this film is a bit like that between the two versions of The Big Sleep, my favorite noir detective film. I thought the voiceover was a nice touch originally, even though Ford allegedly hated it and infused his narration with almost palpable cynicism and boredom. Having seen this version again for the first time in 23 years on AMC (how they got it I don't know), I thought it distracted from the viewer's connection to the visual, softening the impact, and added no really important knowledge. On the other hand, I think the added scenes and uncertain ending give the Director's Cut more depth and edginess than the US theatrical release. So, I now side with Ridley Scott's judgment in reverting to the original form of the film.

STAR TREK II - THE WRATH OF KHAN
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1982
Produced by: Paramount Pictures
Directed by: Nicholas Meyer
Other:
Cast of Characters
William Shatner Adm. James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy Capt. Spock
DeForrest Kelley Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy
James Doohan Cmdr. Montgomery "Scotty" Scott
Walter Koenig Cmdr. Pavel Chekov
George Takei Cmdr. Hikaru Sulu
Nichelle Nichols Cmdr. Nyota Uhura
Ricardo Montalban Khan Noonien Singh
Bibi Besch Dr. Carol Marcus
Kirstie Alley Lt. Saavik
Synopsis and Commentary

A research party unwittingly liberates a megalomaniacal genius with an obsession for vengeance against the Starfleet captain who marooned his party of genetic superhumans on a desert world many years before. Easily the best of all the Star Trek film adaptations, Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan captures the personal dynamic and taut pacing that were hallmarks of the TV series and missing from the well-crafted, but unfamiliar film by Robert Wise just two years before. Its hard to look back now to a time when the self-conscious lampooning of the later installments had never happened, before Shatner's Kirk was an object of derision and the idea of the all too evidently aging crew still venturing into space was simply absurd. The performances here are all good, the action and story as good as ever on the series. Kirk is vulnerable, reduced by withering self-examination when faced with a no-win scenario, Spock has his best moments in the saga, both at his lowest in failing a test to achieve recognition as a true Vulcan elder and at his finest as the first son of the Starfleet Academy, the very model of duty and sacrifice - true to the arc of his bi-racial character throughout the series. Ricardo Montalban's Khan is the Star Trek villain against which all others are judged; thus far, none measure up. Although the sequel was clearly set up in this film, the climax gives a poignance never felt before in those famous "He's dead, Jim" moments from the series.

THE TERMINATOR
Rating
Film Production Credits
Release Date: 1984
Produced by: Gale Anne Hurd
Directed by: James Cameron
Other:
Cast of Characters
Arnold Schwarzeneggar Cyberdyne Systems Model 101
Linda Hamilton Sarah Connor
Michael Biehn Kyle Reese
Paul Winfield Lt Ed Traxler
Lance Henrickson Detective Hal Vukovich
Bill Paxton Punk Leader
Synopsis and Commentary

A cyborg is sent back in time to kill the mother of the man who will lead the last of humanity to victory against an uprising of intelligent machines. Arguably the greatest B-movie of all time, The Terminator is also one of the most cleverly conceived stories on film. Taking ingenious advantage of its low budget, the story actually weaves the corporeal veneer of the cybernetic assassin into the plausible theory of the police psychiatrist. Of course, the audience is never in any doubt about what is stalking Sarah Connor, but Cameron reserves the horrific revelation of its true form until the harrowing climax. While the sequels have their merits, The Terminator excels above them by far (I always thought that a more interesting sequel would have been a future film in which Reese and his best comrade discovered the secret of the terminators and how they appear human, foreshadowing the awful fate of Schwarzeneggar's character). This film, rather than than Conan the Barbarian, truly launched the career of Arnold Schwarzeneggar. Originally offered the role of the heroic lead, Schwarzeneggar convinced director Cameron to let him play the killer cyborg instead, creating a villain/monster that has become forever part of the pop culture. Unknown Michael Biehn took the role of Kyle Reese and his career was also launched. Body-building friend Franco Columbu plays the terminator in the future flashback dream sequence.


More to Come...

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The Best Science Fiction Films

The Golden Age of Science Fiction Films (1919 - 1945)

The Atom Age of Science Fiction Films (1945 - 1964)

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