#sfftw — Public Fediverse posts

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Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Dark Star (1974)

This started out as a college film, which was actually pretty good quality for a college film, but then some movie exec found out about it and got the rights to it and added a bunch of material to bring it up to a feature length film. Then a distributor got hold of it and put it in theaters. So, it was it was a nice college film but a really lousy commercial release.

Here are some sample clips from the film which illustrate the pacing problems that the film has. Apparently the college version was even slower paced than this theatrical release. It got released on VHS about a decade later and actually had quite a few sales/rentals and now people are calling it a cult classic.

It's funny to watch with a lot of geek humor, if you’ve got the time.

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #independent #film #movie #space #spaceship #collegefilm #NoHelicopters #military #hair #1970s #BeachBall

accessible description:

Open with a computer screen that says “To scout ship Dark Star, Galactic sector”; Cut to an image guy in a uniform who is shown on a black and white video screen talking to the camera, there are real-to-real computer storage units in the background; then cut to a space scene with the Dark Star ship slowly moving past the camera and then moving towards a planet; then cut to a guy laying on some patio furniture in a small room, he is wearing huge sunglasses as if he's getting a suntan and another guy comes into the room dragging a big heavy metal door which he places up against an opening; then cut to a guy standing in a dark room with some blurry special effects in the background and a giant beach ball drops from the ceiling down onto the floor and starts making some alien noises and the guy talks to the beach ball; then cut to the beach ball again and a guy hanging in an air duct of some sort then cut to a sign that says emergency airlock interior door; then cut to a sign that says caution laser, then the beach ball forces open a door where the laser is; then cut to some guys with long 1970s hair sitting around playing cards and talking about intelligent life; then cut to an image of a planet slowly getting larger and a ship is approaching the planet and a guy says “There she is.”

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Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Forever Young (1992)

This is a romance drama / sci-fi written and produced by Jeffrey Abrams (JJ Abrams). It's basically a Rip Van Winkle story about a guy in 1939 who ends up volunteering for some advanced cryogenic experiment, gets frozen, and wakes up in 1992.

The story manages to avoid most of those hackneyed anachronistic encounters of a guy who's misplaced in time; it really sticks to the romance, emotions, and characters, and this guy's quest to find his old friends from 1939. The film has the feel of a Spielberg film, particularly ET, which was produced a decade earlier. It’s sentimental, almost sappy. It's commercial -- very much so -- and tries to appeal to multiple demographics. Jerrald Goldsmith, who scored Logan’s Run (which was last week’s Film of the Week), created the exceptional score for this movie, and overall it’s a well produced film. Some of the plot points seemed forced and unrealistic, placed in the story simply to create tension, not uncommon for a Hollywood film.

With Mel Gibson and Jamie Lee Curtis in the lead roles, the acting is world class, although neither of those actors completely disappear into their roles. Elijah Wood also has a major role and gives a great performance as the ten-year-old son of Curtis’ character. Isabel Glasser plays Gibson’s character’s love interest, but oddly doesn’t get as much screen time as the other leads.

There's only one black character in the film (Joe Morton), a researcher who was portrayed as antagonistic and in this story was unable to figure out the design of the cryogenic apparatus that was created by a white character (George Wendt) fifty years earlier. This type of depiction of black characters was typical of films produced prior to the Rodney King beating and LA riots which broke out just as initial filming for this film was wrapping up. Other than that, I saw no other significant bias or racial stereotypes.

As far as technology, there wasn’t much, basically just the cryro-chamber, which had a steam-punk design that was out of place for the pre-war time period.

Overall the film is worth watching, just don’t expect much in terms of science fiction gadgetry, aliens, spaceships, etc.

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #physics #B25 #helicopter #military #warehouse #1990s #Buford

accessible image description:

movie poster with Mel Gibson’s face covering most of the poster and a small image of Gibson and Isabel Glasser embracing and kissing.

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Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Logan’s Run (1976)

The 1976 science fiction movie "Logan's Run" explores timeless themes of individualism versus collectivism through the lens of a utopian society where citizens are encouraged to prioritize pleasure over responsibility.

Director Michael Anderson creates a believable world featuring sleek architecture, intricate underground subways, and flashy laser guns. Throughout the film, characters confront ethical questions about sacrifice, morality, and mortality while embracing values like selflessness and altruism in their quest for survival. These ideas still resonate today because they speak to core issues of human identity formation and societal evolution that have persisted across centuries.

In conclusion, the visually stunning cinematography and groundbreaking visual effects combine with thought-provoking subject matter make "Logan's Run" a standalone work worth revisiting repeatedly. Its enduring value lies in challenging audiences to consider how far we should go in pursuit of happiness and longevity while respecting the dignity of every person along the way. Although some may dismiss "Logan's Run" due to perceived datedness or lackluster acting performances, the film remains culturally relevant for anyone interested in exploring intergenerational conflicts and the consequences of scientific progress run amok.

Enjoy your journey back in time!

(This review was written by Model: oasst-sft-6-llama-30b.)

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #physics #thirty #utopia #distopia #technology #AI #Box

accessible description:

an animated gif video of a robot from the movie named “Box”. He is metalic silver that has an android-looking top and a boxy bottom and torso. His arms are spread out and he is moving them and opening and closing his hands over and over...

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Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Logan’s Run (1976)

The 1976 science fiction movie "Logan's Run" explores timeless themes of individualism versus collectivism through the lens of a utopian society where citizens are encouraged to prioritize pleasure over responsibility.

Director Michael Anderson creates a believable world featuring sleek architecture, intricate underground subways, and flashy laser guns. Throughout the film, characters confront ethical questions about sacrifice, morality, and mortality while embracing values like selflessness and altruism in their quest for survival. These ideas still resonate today because they speak to core issues of human identity formation and societal evolution that have persisted across centuries.

In conclusion, the visually stunning cinematography and groundbreaking visual effects combine with thought-provoking subject matter make "Logan's Run" a standalone work worth revisiting repeatedly. Its enduring value lies in challenging audiences to consider how far we should go in pursuit of happiness and longevity while respecting the dignity of every person along the way. Although some may dismiss "Logan's Run" due to perceived datedness or lackluster acting performances, the film remains culturally relevant for anyone interested in exploring intergenerational conflicts and the consequences of scientific progress run amok.

Enjoy your journey back in time!

(This review was written by Model: oasst-sft-6-llama-30b.)

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #physics #thirty #utopia #distopia #technology #AI #Box

accessible description:

an animated gif video of a robot from the movie named “Box”. He is metalic silver that has an android-looking top and a boxy bottom and torso. His arms are spread out and he is moving them and opening and closing his hands over and over...

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Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Logan’s Run (1976)

The 1976 science fiction movie "Logan's Run" explores timeless themes of individualism versus collectivism through the lens of a utopian society where citizens are encouraged to prioritize pleasure over responsibility.

Director Michael Anderson creates a believable world featuring sleek architecture, intricate underground subways, and flashy laser guns. Throughout the film, characters confront ethical questions about sacrifice, morality, and mortality while embracing values like selflessness and altruism in their quest for survival. These ideas still resonate today because they speak to core issues of human identity formation and societal evolution that have persisted across centuries.

In conclusion, the visually stunning cinematography and groundbreaking visual effects combine with thought-provoking subject matter make "Logan's Run" a standalone work worth revisiting repeatedly. Its enduring value lies in challenging audiences to consider how far we should go in pursuit of happiness and longevity while respecting the dignity of every person along the way. Although some may dismiss "Logan's Run" due to perceived datedness or lackluster acting performances, the film remains culturally relevant for anyone interested in exploring intergenerational conflicts and the consequences of scientific progress run amok.

Enjoy your journey back in time!

(This review was written by Model: oasst-sft-6-llama-30b.)

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #physics #thirty #utopia #distopia #technology #AI #Box

accessible description:

an animated gif video of a robot from the movie named “Box”. He is metalic silver that has an android-looking top and a boxy bottom and torso. His arms are spread out and he is moving them and opening and closing his hands over and over...

-

Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Logan’s Run (1976)

The 1976 science fiction movie "Logan's Run" explores timeless themes of individualism versus collectivism through the lens of a utopian society where citizens are encouraged to prioritize pleasure over responsibility.

Director Michael Anderson creates a believable world featuring sleek architecture, intricate underground subways, and flashy laser guns. Throughout the film, characters confront ethical questions about sacrifice, morality, and mortality while embracing values like selflessness and altruism in their quest for survival. These ideas still resonate today because they speak to core issues of human identity formation and societal evolution that have persisted across centuries.

In conclusion, the visually stunning cinematography and groundbreaking visual effects combine with thought-provoking subject matter make "Logan's Run" a standalone work worth revisiting repeatedly. Its enduring value lies in challenging audiences to consider how far we should go in pursuit of happiness and longevity while respecting the dignity of every person along the way. Although some may dismiss "Logan's Run" due to perceived datedness or lackluster acting performances, the film remains culturally relevant for anyone interested in exploring intergenerational conflicts and the consequences of scientific progress run amok.

Enjoy your journey back in time!

(This review was written by Model: oasst-sft-6-llama-30b.)

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #physics #thirty #utopia #distopia #technology #AI #Box

accessible description:

an animated gif video of a robot from the movie named “Box”. He is metalic silver that has an android-looking top and a boxy bottom and torso. His arms are spread out and he is moving them and opening and closing his hands over and over...

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Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Space-Men (1957)
(aka, Assignment: Outer Space)

This is an Italian-made sci-fi by Antonio Margheriti, who was a very prolific filmmaker. He was able to produce a lot of low-budget films very quickly, including this one which was his first film. I think most of the voice actors (who dubbed the English version) were actually pretty good in this film given the material. And there was a ton of special effects in this one, too.

This film seems to have a lot more science fact errors in it then the typical 50s science fiction film. I’ve put a few in this unauthorized trailer –- convert hydrogen into oxygen to make air; going to Globular Cluster M12 in a chemical rocket, rocket engines at “full RPM”; and of course lots of sounds in space. At one point they are at Mars and they get a call from HQ saying, “Hey, while your out there, stop by Venus, too.” (paraphrased)

I think the title of this film, “Space-Men” comes from a line in the movie about a woman who is on the spaceship (I’ve included it in the trailer). The English-dubbed version of the film that was released in the US had the title, “Assignment: Outer Space”.

For a low budget film, they really put a lot of effort into the props and special effects and sets. Actually, some of the sets are pretty well designed and the special effects were not bad for a low-budget 50s sci-fi. (It was actually shot in 1960, but it’s basically a 50s sci-fi.)

If you've never seen an Italian sci-fi this one’s a classic.

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #50s #Italy #rocket #blastoff #M12 #solarsystem #RPM #neohydrozine #dubbed

Accessible video description:
Old faded color film; A guy in a control tower talking about a space mission to the Globular Cluster M12, then a rocket blasts off with the movie’s opening title, Assignment: Outer Space and shows the surface of a planet and it shows the rocket again and it shows a guy in zero-g trying to maneuver and it shows some people in space near a space ship and then it shows the guy in a spacesuit floating through the void of space and a hose being hooked up to the back of a rocket that is floating in space then a guy playing around with a bunch of oscilloscopes and other guys floating around through space and a fiery meteor, not a meteorite, goes buzzing by; then some guy in a cockpit says he doesn't know what's going on; then another guy wants to commit suicide by jumping off of the spaceship and he jumps out and it shows a fake dummy falling down to the surface of Mars as the guy screams when he’s falling in space; and some other guys talk about going down to get the guy and they go down and pick him up and he's still alive for some reason; and then back to the guy who is in zero-g pretending to be floating around he's actually walking on the ground but he's moving very slowly and acting like he's floating but it actually looks pretty real considering; then the guy and some other people are standing around talking about some destructive thing; then there's a rocket that's trying to land at “full RPMs” (closed captioning says “four RPMs”) and the rocket lands but it tips over a little bit, 9 degrees and it sounds like a tree falling; then a man and a woman are talking about going 90,000 mph; then a guy's talking about the next solar system revolution; then a woman in a cockpit wearing a helmet says that they're very close now; then a man is talking to a woman who's in some sort of laboratory with plants that are turning hydrogen into oxygen; then a guy in a spaceship is talking about the Earth turning into boiling mud; then several astronauts in a cockpit and a guy’s talking about 16 gammas when he meant to say 16 G's; then there's an atomic spaceship with chemical exhaust coming out the back of it; then a bad actor talking about crashing into a Mars satellite; then a guy in a cockpit with a woman, the guys says nobody knows what they're talking about; then a man walks into a room and it shows him looking at a person's legs under a table but you can’t see the person and the person walks out and turns out that it's a woman astronaut, which apparently is shocking in 1950s; then a man is coming out of a suspended hibernation tank in a spaceship, cut to an o-scope and cut back to the guy standing up very slowly out of his hibernation tank; then it shows a rocket separating from its first stage and then the second stage separating from it and the surface of some planet; then a guy in a spacesuit is floating through space very slowly with fake stars in the background and all of the stars are blinking dim and bright synchronously; fade to black.

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Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

THX 1138 (1971)

Starting out as a student project, this film was George Lucas's first. Apparently Warner Brothers thought it was good enough and decided to back it. Francis Ford Coppola who was already seeing a lot of success by that time also joined the project to help produce.

The film didn’t get many rave reviews when it was first released, but when Lucas went on to make Star Wars just six years later, THX 1138 enjoyed a significant bump in its esteem.

One of the features of the dystopian world depicted in this film is a drug to suppress everyone’s emotions. This is an idea loosely borrowed from A Brave New World, except in Huxley’s story the controlling drug is a happy pill not an emotion-suppression pill. This same idea of a society with suppressed emotions has been used from time to time in science fiction, more recently by the film Equals (2015).

It’s been released in several different cuts (some parts of the original release were censored by Warner Bros). Generally, I’d say the longer cuts are probably closer Lucas’ vision.

There was a director's cut released in 2004 by Lucas himself which is a true director's cut, however if you watch that one you'll be looking at his vision in 2004, and may not be what he would have done 1971 as director’s cut.

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#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #bald #dystopia #the70s #youth #emotion #drugs #equals #BraveNewWorld

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Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)

Shortly after Sputnik but before astronauts walked on the Moon, the Soviets made a science fiction film called Paneta Bur (1962). Roger Corman bought the rights to the film, sliced and diced it, dubbed it, added a few scenes and the result was Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, released in ‘65.

The plot, the pace, just about everything is incomprehensible in this mess, but the cool part is all the 1960’s scifi props from the original Soviet film (which is probably what Corman was after when he bought it). It’s got a 60’s concept car with big fins, a Robbie Robot knockoff, reel-to-reel tape recorders, astronauts with fishbowl helmets using gunpowder pistols… it’s got just about everything you’d expect from a 60’s scifi film (see the parody trailer for some examples). ...and of course all of the factual science errors like gravity in a spaceship, campfires and animals on a planet with little oxygen, Venus is 200 million miles away, sounds in space and much more.

Corman made a sequel to this film, Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968), which used much of the scenes from this film, but also added some women on the planet.

You don’t want to miss this one (unless you have anything else to do).
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Accessible video description:

Parody trailer opens with title graphic, color is extremely under-saturated, almost black and white; a space station with astronauts walking on the outside like there’s gravity; a meteor whistles in space and crashes into one of the spaceships; guys walk around inside a space ship like there’s gravity, their lips are out of sync because the voices are dubbed; a 1960’s style concept car drives up with huge fins and a bubble top; a brunette woman with a beehive hairdo tries to reach guys on the radio; a robot opens the helmet visor of an astronaut who is in distress and puts a tablet in his mouth and pours water on his face and clumsily closes his helmet; an aquarium with a little turtle and goldfish, the concept car is behind the aquarium (pretending to be underwater), the astronauts are carrying the concept car; an old astronaut with a fishbowl helmet talks to a robot; the robot carries two astronauts on his shoulders through lava; a brontosaurus; an astronaut gets attacked by an fake alien monster puppet that looks like the one from The Little Shop of Horrors; the astronauts build a campfire on the planet with little oxygen; another brontosaurus with an astronaut playing with his tail; the astronauts fly the concept car and get attacked by a goofy-looking pterodactyl; an astronaut hurries into the rocket ship, they kick away the ladder, close the door and blast off from the planet.

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #65 #film65 #movie65 #Venus #monster #dinosaur #spaceship #meteor #pterodactyl

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #StarTrek #vulcan #deltan #klingons #CarbonUnits #Vger #AI #trekies #kolinahr

Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

This film is about a bald, long-legged alien… and other stuff.

It’s hard to convey how anticipated this film was when it was released. The original TV series had been canceled a decade prior, which disappointed loyal fans and by time this film was made, the series had been widely syndicated and gathered a huge fan base. It was a really big deal. The first Star Trek movie, ever.

Production for the film was a real mess. The suits at Paramount thought the thing was some kind of Star Wars knockoff and the script was rewritten several times before production began. They even wanted to turn it into a new TV series at one point. When production finally started, the script was still unsatisfactory to everyone. Creator Gene Roddenberry and director Robert Wise struggled over the project throughout. Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and other cast members, and even the special effect guy were contributing to the script as the production was going on. The final script at the end of production contained only a fraction of what was in the original script when shooting started.

In the end the narrative wasn’t the tightest story ever produced, but it was original. However, it lacked any contemporary social commentary, which was a hallmark of the original series. The special effects were fantastic (for 1979), as was the score.

Douglass Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey) did the special effects which were almost entirely done with models, lighting, hand-painted mattes and photographic special effects; only a few simple computer generated images were used. The score was done by Jerry Goldsmith who continued on with the franchise, providing it with it’s distinctive theme music.

Because the film was so rushed, Wise was not totally satisfied with it and a directors cut was eventually made years later, which he thought was the best edit of the film.

Even with its flaws, I highly recommend this film.

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #StarTrek #vulcan #deltan #klingons #CarbonUnits #Vger #AI #trekies #kolinahr

Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

This film is about a bald, long-legged alien… and other stuff.

It’s hard to convey how anticipated this film was when it was released. The original TV series had been canceled a decade prior, which disappointed loyal fans and by time this film was made, the series had been widely syndicated and gathered a huge fan base. It was a really big deal. The first Star Trek movie, ever.

Production for the film was a real mess. The suits at Paramount thought the thing was some kind of Star Wars knockoff and the script was rewritten several times before production began. They even wanted to turn it into a new TV series at one point. When production finally started, the script was still unsatisfactory to everyone. Creator Gene Roddenberry and director Robert Wise struggled over the project throughout. Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and other cast members, and even the special effect guy were contributing to the script as the production was going on. The final script at the end of production contained only a fraction of what was in the original script when shooting started.

In the end the narrative wasn’t the tightest story ever produced, but it was original. However, it lacked any contemporary social commentary, which was a hallmark of the original series. The special effects were fantastic (for 1979), as was the score.

Douglass Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey) did the special effects which were almost entirely done with models, lighting, hand-painted mattes and photographic special effects; only a few simple computer generated images were used. The score was done by Jerry Goldsmith who continued on with the franchise, providing it with it’s distinctive theme music.

Because the film was so rushed, Wise was not totally satisfied with it and a directors cut was eventually made years later, which he thought was the best edit of the film.

Even with its flaws, I highly recommend this film.