Sam Hughes writes short, short form science fiction, most of which I quite like. This one is particularly good. So is this one. This one is very silly.
I Declare a 5 Minute SciFi Break
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Tag Archives: scifi
Game Review : Battlestar Galactica
If you are getting a bunch of guys together to play a board game, you may as well make it a nerdy one. Battlestar Gallactica (BSG) is the board game version of the recent TV show of the same name, and is the best game tie-ins that I have ever seen in terms of capturing the flavor of the original work. This has a downside; of the 5 players we had, one was unfamiliar with the show and was initially quite lost as to what was going on.
On the show, humanity has been all but destroyed by surprise attacks on the 12 colony planets by killer robots (the cylons), some of which look human. Luckily a small fraction of the population happened to be aboard various space craft at the time of the attack. Unluckily, it was the whiniest and most depressing fraction but on the plus side they managed to get away with the one remaining military vessel and a bunch of smaller craft. Now they travel the galaxy in this ragtag fleet looking for a shining planet known as Earth and arguing with their fathers. The cylon fleet (which is much cooler) is hot on their trail and if that wasn’t bad enough the humans have been infiltrated by human-looking cylons that cannot be detected. Some of the traitors don’t even know they aren’t human until they are activated!
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Film Review : Cloverfield
Cloverfield is really the kind of film you should see without knowing anything about it. I’ll try not to give too much away in this review, but I will write about certain aspects of the film that you may not wish to read right now. All I will say in the first paragraph is that Cloverfield concerns a group of twenty somethings in New York who are trying to survive a natural disaster, and that the film is put together in a rather unique and interesting way. Also, that it is very short but exciting. One of the better movies I have seen in quite a while, in fact.
But enough of that – if you have already seen Cloverfield, or don’t really care then read on. Otherwise, get thee to a theatre.
Book Review: The Algebraist
by Iain M. Banks
A far flung solar system has been cut of from the rest of the galaxy due to its only wormhole (allowing instantaneous travel) being destroyed. Warned that an invading fleet will be arriving at sub-light speeds in a few years, the system’s ruler conscripts a intelligent but moody loner with secrets of his own into a desperate mission to locate a probably fictional list of alternate wormholes from the capricious alien race that lives in the system’s gas giant planet. Along the way loyalties are tested, nothing is quite what it seems, and ripples from events from the distant past collide to throw the protagonist in unexpected directions.
Unlike all of the other Iain M. Banks books I have read, this one is not set in the culture universe, but an entirely new setting where culture-esque AI Minds have been wiped out (or have they…). The bulk of the book is spent inside the society of The Dwellers, a gas-giant living alien race who possibly hold the key to a hitherto unknown system of wormholes.
This was an excellent airport read, long but never dull, with plenty of finely detailed descriptions of the alien worlds visited. Whenever the main protagonist’s quest is getting bogged down, the action shifts elsewhere – usually to a massive space battle for a quick change of pace. It is my opinion that this technique should be more widely used in literature; imagine how much better Wuthering Heights (for instance) would be if an floating armada suddenly appeared in the skies above the moors. Chuck in a few ninjas and you have the makings of an absolute classic.
If you have read any other Iain M. Banks books you will know what to expect, despite the new setting it is quite like the his other books featuring a intelligent but moody loner with secrets of his own forced into a far-ranging quest in which loyalties are tested, nothing is quite what it seems, and ripples from events in the distant past collide, etc, etc. The Algebraist lives up the high standards set by its predecessors, but does not exceed them.
My one criticism is that the solution to the central mystery is fairly easy to guess if you have been paying attention, and it should have been obvious to many of the main characters right from the start. But apart from that quibble, The Algebraist was an enjoyable read.
Recommended if you like this sort of thing.
Movie Review: Beyond Re-Animator
Herbert West has a problem. The world just doesn’t appreciate his genius, so much so that he has been rotting in jail after his previous experiments into reanimating dead flesh got a little out of hand. But now thanks to a new prison doctor with an agenda of his own, Dr. West may be able to finally complete his work.
Horror movies sequels almost always follow the law of diminishing returns and this is no exception. The first Re-Animator movie was a fantastically dark comedy; this film veers slightly more towards goofy satire but is still pretty watchable if not actually very creepy.
The DVD box claims that it is based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft, perhaps there should be a Oscar for “least faithful adaption of a written work”. In particular, I don’t think Lovecraft ever envisioned a fight between an animated severed penis and a angry rat.
Not too bad if you like this sort of thing.
War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds(warning, site features music and Richard Burton) stage show is is coming to Auckland at the end of the month. I am of course going, since it combines 4 of my favorite things: analogue synth-cheese, giant alien robots, large string sections and holographs. On paper, it should be an awesome show.
On a related note, I thought the recent remake of War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise was fairly average. Sure it looked good, but the story was pretty unengaging. Perhaps the original book doesn’t really lend itself to an action movie, the protagonist spends the whole plot running away from invincible creatures who die off by themselves just as all hope seems lost. Anyway, while grubbing around on YouTube, I found a clip of the best part:
(requires sound – direct link)
Yet Another Movie Review
Maybe it’s my upbringing, but every now and then I like to sit and watch a certain old movie. The story is well worn; perhaps not as popular among todays hip youth as it once was, but still of relevance today. Not for nothing do some call it the greatest story ever told – a man rising from the dead to heal the world through his sacrifice. I think we all know who I am talking about:
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5 Ways to Tell If You Are Living In a Fantasy or Science-Fiction Novel
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When you come across a thin building taller than 6 stories high, do a quick check to see if it is a tower. If it is then you have no problems, provided you are a law abiding citizen. However, if it could be a spire then you are in trouble; it is undoubtedly inhabited by an evil wizard or the matriarch of an alien insectoid race. It’s probably too late to run.
Learn to tell the difference (I know what the movie is called, but I know spires when I see them)
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This a tip for the the mechanically minded. Find an excuse to look under the hood of the nearest powered vehicle. If you see a motor or an engine then you are sitting pretty, this applies to anything from the smallest Morris Minor to the space shuttle. Woe betide you if you spy any kind of drive. Although the vehicle can probably fly or travel trough time, drives are notoriously unreliable especially during the inevitable alien attack.
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If you ever find yourself in a forest, jungle, or otherwise surrounded by vegetation of significant size, take a minute to look around. If the foliage is green, or even lush you are probably OK, but if it is verdant then the undergrowth conceals lurking enemies, or is itself dangerous. One exception – if any of the leaves appear to be sun-dappled then you will probably soon come across a rather dopey princess riding a unicorn or something. In either case, my advice is to run like hell.
She may be cute but beware; she has no boat skills and smells like onions
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An Experiment: Find a space that does not get a lot of fresh air, like a seldom-opened wardrobe or garden shed, and take a deep breath. If the air is musty or stale you are OK. Dank air is cause for concern, and if the air is close then watch out!
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Finally, if you are not squeamish, you night like to try a quick autopsy on any recently killed animals or humanoids. Pay particular attention to the fluids that escape from the body. In the real world you will see mainly blood (red) and possibly bile (green or yellow) – this is a good sign.
In contrast, fantasy creatures are filled to gills with sticky black ichor, often under great pressure so the merest prick with a blade results in a great shower of the stuff. If you see any then watch out, since the corpse will most likely rise again soon.
Diagram showing the differences in human vs orc anatomy – note the large ichor sac on the right figure
Movie Review: The Omega Man
A man made plague has swept the Earth. The small minority not killed outright are driven insane and rendered allergic to sunlight, forcing them to band together into a quasi-religious gang called The Family who hate the old civilisation that made them what they are. Only one man remains unchanged, a doctor who is immune to the contagion.
For the two years since the fall of civilisation the man has been under siege from the others, foraging in the city for supplies during the day while fending off The Family’s attacks by night. Things change when he meets some other unchanged survivors. Might it be possible to rebuild humanity?
A thick slice of early seventies ultra-cheese, The Omega Man is a good example of a film that is more than the sum of its parts. Charlton Heston is exceedingly well cast as a half insane loner who arms himself with automatic rifles against a world he doesn’t fit into, but he shows his limits when the script asks him to laugh a carefree lover’s laugh once he finally meets some other people. The Family are all suitably creepy, particularly Matthias, their leader, although they seem a little inconsistent in their belief system.
The film is well put together and has some very effective scenes of Heston wandering through an empty city. The incidental music is all elevator-lite pseudofunk which only adds to the sense of a world gone terribly wrong. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Charlton Heston movie without a little over-the-top religious symbolism laid on with a trowel, but this is kept to a minimum until the last ten minutes (at which point it really kicks into high gear with a groan-inducing lack of subtlety).
Recommended if you like this sort of thing. IMDB
Movie Review: Saturn 3
In the far future, a research station on Saturn 3 is home to Adam and Alex, two lovers working on a way to feed the teeming masses of Earth. Their life together is interrupted by Captain James and his helper robot, Hector, who arrive just before Saturn 3 goes into eclipse. With all communications to the outside cut off for the next 23 days, it is lucky that the captain is in no way insane and his robot has been programmed to resist the urge to go on a murderous rampage.
This movie has an awful reputation, but its actually not that bad, given the synopsis in the previous paragraph. The plot contains some interesting ideas and the characters are surprisingly well drawn. Farrah Fawcett is not much of an actor. but Alex is a stronger character than might be expected in a film where she is the main source of rivalry between the two males. The script is a bit of a mixed bag, but the story is strong enough to smooth over some of the more ropey dialog. The real star of the show is the production design, the sets in particular look fantastic, and the robot is suitably sinister even if some of the special effects are a little non-special.
Recommend if you like this sort of thing. IMDB
Movie Review: Escape From New York
In the far future of 1998, the Manhattan Island has been sealed off with walls and mines to create the largest maximum security prison in the world. Entirely unpoliced inside, the island is run by the inmates themselves, organised into vicious gangs lead by The Duke of New York. A plane carrying the president of the United States crashes right into the heart of this nightmare, and the authorities find that they are unable to mount an effective assault to get him back.
Enter Snake Plissken, a former war hero and current convicted bank robber. Due to be dumped in Manhattan due to his crimes anyway, Snake is made an offer he cannot refuse: rescue the president within 24 hours, or the explosive pellets that have just been injected into his neck will detonate!
What could have been a terrible film is more than redeemed by the talent involved in making it. John Carpenter was at the very top of his game in the early eighties, and the cast he somehow assembled fit their rolls perfectly, with Kurt Russel being especially good as Snake. The script is full of excellent twists and is never boring. The film’s one flaw is that the actual escape happens pretty abruptly due to a coincidence rather than good planning by the characters, but that is easily overlooked due to the amount of other craziness in the film.
Recommended if you like this sort of thing. IMDB
Some Stuff I have Seen Recently
Black Sheep
New Zealand comedy-horror movie, with the emphasis mainly on the comedy. Genetic experiments cause mutant sheep to go on the attack on a remote farm; anyone bitten by one finds themselves changing in unexpected ways. Not one of the great films for all time, but well put together and entertaining in its own way.
Taste the Blood of Dracula
I have always wanted to see one of the “classic” Hammer Horrors staring Christopher Lee as Dracula. This one was pretty good, except for the glacial plot, bad hair cuts, and a frankly stupid ending. Ok, so it wasn’t that good at all, but in its favor it had a nice orchestral score, great colour (everything red was twice as vivid) and the second most awesome title of any movie ever (losing only to “Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?“). It all depends on what you look for in a movie.
Playstation 3
I got the chance to play around with one for a while. The graphics were nice enough, and the Bluray disk we played looked fine, but I am not convinced it is worth the cost. It is, however, very shiny and when I dropped pizza all over it the mess just wiped right off, so thats a plus.
Mini-review of the three games I played:
- Motorstorm: Pretty good off road racer, the graphics are nice and crisp but kind of dull looking for all the resolution. There is a lot of variety in the game with the different vehicles you can drive, and having them all race together is fun. The game is really crying out for multiplayer though, and after a few laps everybody in the room decided we should go back to playing Excite Truck.
- Genji 2: Very standard beat-em-up/adventure game. Nice graphics and the fighting is OK, but the game is let down by stupid puzzles and the worst camera angles I have ever seen.
- Ridge Racer 7: Finally ties up all the lose ends and answers the questions raised by the previous 6 games. Just kidding – it’s another terrible Ridge Racer game, with bad graphics and controls that feel like they were programmed by somebody who had read a book about driving but never actually done it.
Serenity and The Incredibles
A space opera with western sensibilities, Serenity is a continuation/swansong of the short-lived TV series Firefly, both from the brains behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer. One of the long-term passengers aboard the ship descends further into psychosis and endangers the whole crew, especially once an operative from the central government gets on the trail.
Serenity is a film I wanted to like more than I did, the premise is clever and features the same witty dialog and odd characters as the show, but the film suffers from having too much stuffed into it. The TV series worked well with the large cast because each crew member’s story could play out over a number of episodes. The film tries to include everyone from the series, and the whole thing just seems crowded. The first few minutes of the movie are a rather clever introduction to the characters, but I suspect someone without a passing knowledge of the show would be slightly lost.
On the plus side, the bad guy is earnest and actually has good reasons for doing what he does, unlike most movie villains. The story moves along at a blinding pace, so at least the movie is not boring.
The preceding paragraphs sound rather more negative than Serenity really deserves, the film contains many fine scenes and some truly funny dialog. Recommended if you like this sort of thing
Excellent animation and an entertaining story make for a fun movie about a family of superheros who are forced to live as a normal family. The plot succeeds in working at many different levels, as a homily for kids about being different as well as slightly right-wing morality tale for adults (and there are all sorts of clever references to other superhero-themed works in the script).
Highly recommended
Blade : Trinity
Half human vampire nemesis Blade meets some unexpected allies and fights Dracula in a film that suffers badly from sequallitis. Blade 3 doesn’t make as much sense as Blade 2, which in turn didn’t make as much sense as Blade – a movie that made very little sense in the first place. But the biggest problem is not the plot, rather the cast. The new heroes appear in a transparent attempt to launch a spinoff series, but are so irritating that I can’t really see it happening. It also seems that between Blade 3 and the last movie, the vampire race has declined to such a level that any fool with a couple of months of karate training and a silver plated sword under their belt can wipe out at least a couple without breaking a sweat.
Blade himself has a much diminished roll, and only a couple of good fight scenes. Whistler was one of the better characters in the previous films, but Kris Kristofferson’s performance here is flat, portraying not so much “mentor/weapons expert” as “contractual obligation/new agent time”.
The DVD contains an extended cut for the masochistic, and a deleted scene that looks like it was intended to be the original ending. It features a werewolf and is too stupid for words.
A sad comedown for a once proud line of action films – not really recommended.
The Quiet Earth, Miami Vice
The Quiet Earth
A thoughtful sci-fi made in New Zealand in the eighties, staring ubiquitous 80′s NZ actor Bruno Lawrence and directed by ubiquitous 80′s NZ film marker Geoff Murphy. A scientist wakes up to find that everybody else in the world has mysteriously disappeared (along with the animals), possibly as a result of a secret world-wide experiment that the man was a small part of. After failing to find any other people still in existence, the man goes mad for a while before pulling himself together to try to work out exactly what happened. His solitude is eventually ended when he is found, first by a young woman and then later by another man, both with no connection to the experiment or to each other. The scientists tests reveal that the effect that removed everybody else is still occurring and convinces his companions to try to stop it.
Those who like their films to have a definite conclusion will be disappointed, The Quiet Earth deliberately keeps the central mystery obscure. Although strongly hinted, it is not entirely certain that the experiment is actually the cause of the effect, and the film’s ending is very ambiguous and can be interpreted in different ways. The production values are very high, especially for New Zealand film of it’s vintage, and there are many fine scenes of the bemused protagonist wandering around a deserted Auckland.
Recommended if you like this sort of thing.
Miami Vice
Two cops go deep undercover to penetrate an international drug ring. This movie basically recreates the plot and tone of the 80′s TV series, a show I never really liked. The movie looks pretty good, with the trademark slick editing and wall-to-wall incidental music of the original, but the plot ranks pretty low in the plausibility stakes and very high in predictability. The dialog is terrible, in some scenes the characters’ conversations just peter out as the actors take to staring into the middle distance trying to look cool with varying degrees of success. The actors are well cast and look the part but I am pretty sure Sonny’s hideous hair style contravenes any number of UN human rights conventions.
Not really recommended