SCI-FI September!

[MrBarlow]

Highlander. 1986.

Firstly the cinematography in the highlands captures the breath taking scenery beautifully, the story is captivating fantasy, with dialogue and direction to suit the theme, and the cast all perform well enough to entice you into the story and hold your attention, without ever really excelling.

Christopher Lambert plays immortal Connor MacLeod and seen in flashbacks how he died in battle, came back from the dead and exiled from his village. The late great Sean Connery plays the mentor who trains Connor in sword fighting and the laws of bring a immortal. Clancy Brown plays the Kurgen who wants to be "The One". The swords fights are well choreographed and seems to imitate the Errol Flynn Robin Good stair fight between Sean and Clancy. Another 80s film with a great soundtrack by Queen.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Undead (2003)

A bizarre and ever so slightly bonkers Australian hybrid of the zombie and science fiction genres.

Partly a homage to Romero's Night of the Living Dead which sees a disparate group of people holed up in a farm house surrounded by zombie hordes following a meteorite storm which turned the locals into the undead of the title. However on escaping the house the group come up against a huge barrier they are unable to navigate as one by one they are sucked up into a cloud and aboard an alien vessel.

What lets the film down, this was my third viewing i think, is the group are either annoying or downright unlikable. Although low budget the film looks pretty good with some impressive effects and the aliens appear convincingly other worldly. For the most part despite players you can't wait to be offed, Undead is a fun if slightly overlong ride. Think early Peter Jackson and you'll be on the right lines.

[Justin101]

I decided on a whim to watch Star Trek: First Contact this evening. I forgot just how good this one is coming after the OK Generations.

Funny and action packed, and some bits feel like a horror movie, especially the scenes with the Borg Queen and Data. Loads of fun, glad I watched it.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I decided on a whim to watch Star Trek: First Contact this evening. I forgot just how good this one is coming after the OK Generations.

Funny and action packed, and some bits feel like a horror movie, especially the scenes with the Borg Queen and Data. Loads of fun, glad I watched it.

That's a review from both of us for this classic Trek film this month.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

That's a review from both of us for this classic Trek film this month.

I’m scrolling back to read yours now

[MrBarlow]

Howard The Duck. 1986.

A failed project for George Lucas when it was first released and now has become a cult classic, a sarcastic duck is sucked from his world and arrives on Earth. Lea Thompson plays the band leader who finds the duck Howard and tries to help him. Tim Robbins is the lab assistant who provides some of the laughs and Jeffrey Jones as the lead scientific doctor who is responsible for Howard landing on Earth and is eventually possessed by a "Dark Overlord".

As much as this was panned and called the biggest flop ever, the dialogue is a bit OTT, the direction is a bit of a laugh, the acting is questionable, parts of the film is meant to be serious yet i found myself smirking and still enjoyed the film as i did back in the 80s.

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[MrBarlow]

Silent Running. 1972.

Bruce Dern stars as Freeman Lowell, a futuristic Park Ranger minding Earth's last forests, sealed in gigantic domes aboard an equally gigantic freighter in space. When ordered to destroy the domes and return home, Lowell is forced to choose between his crewmates and his beloved forests.

This can be a bittersweet film that has heart and sadness in it. It is centred around a great performance by Dern gives an intense, committed performance, made even more impressive because he had to work around for a majority of the film. Director Douglas Turnbull was also able to give the three drones plenty of personality and makes you care for them, from their looks to each other, there body language and actions.

Silent Running is a very politically minded film about its themes about environmentalism, deforestation and protecting natural landscapes. The film through Lowell does become very preachy and forceful with his viewpoint, but that is compared to an attitude of apathy and not seeing a real problem on Earth.

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[MrBarlow]

Starman. 1984.

In 1977, the Voyager 2 travels to the outer space with messages of peace and greetings from Earth. A small alien spacecraft comes to Earth to make contact with Earthlings but the military airplanes shoot it down. The spacecraft crashes in Chequamegon Bay, Wisconsin and the alien wanders in a form of energy to the house of the young widow Jenny Hayden, where he uses the DNA from a hair of her husband Scott played by Jeff Bridges to take his human form. The Starman contacts his mother ship and he needs to be in a crater Arizona in a couple of days to return to his star; otherwise he will be left behind and will die.

While essentially a science fiction story involving all the essentials - aliens, the United States Army, government cover-ups, a countrywide chase adventure and a intergalactic love story. Carpenter is able to make sense of the material in such a way that it is both respectful to the sci-fi genre, the sci-fi fans.

Writers Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon. They're able to strip a laughable story of all that makes it laughable and create something new, something that is intelligent, heart-warming, action-packed, and romantic.

Jeff Bridge's was rightly Oscar nominated for his role. He starts out as almost infant like when he arrives, learns to speak, move and navigate with a sense of wide eyed wonderment. Karen Allen plays the widow who is mesmerised by the alien taking on the form of her late husband and slowly warms up to the Starman. The cinematography is brilliantly captured by a great background score. One film i hadn't seen for years but still remebered it for being great.

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[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Undead (2003)

A bizarre and ever so slightly bonkers Australian hybrid of the zombie and science fiction genres.

Partly a homage to Romero's Night of the Living Dead which sees a disparate group of people holed up in a farm house surrounded by zombie hordes following a meteorite storm which turned the locals into the undead of the title. However on escaping the house the group come up against a huge barrier they are unable to navigate as one by one they are sucked up into a cloud and aboard an alien vessel.

What lets the film down, this was my third viewing i think, is the group are either annoying or downright unlikable. Although low budget the film looks pretty good with some impressive effects and the aliens appear convincingly other worldly. For the most part despite players you can't wait to be offed, Undead is a fun if slightly overlong ride. Think early Peter Jackson and you'll be on the right lines.

The ST drove me to despair. Too jaunty by arf. REWATCH

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

The ST drove me to despair. Too jaunty by arf. REWATCH

I don't even remember it.