Tag Archives: Blade Runner

Watch Sci-Fi’s Finest Share A Drink Or Two In This Star Wars Mash Up Video

In any film fans cinematic history they will no doubt have seen at least one great science fiction movie. Some of these movies will have released in their lifetime, while others needed to be sought out. But no matter what era they are made in, or how they became a part of our film lexicon, the best ones still have that sense of awe and magical wonder about them that makes them something quite special.

As a fan of the genre myself, I am always looking out for videos that give me that aforementioned buzz. So when I came across this unique mash-up video, the Sci-Fi nerd in me was doing cartwheels of joy (figuratively not literally, I am much too heavy for that). World Wide Interweb, the creators of the video in question are no strangers to the mash-up and compilation video it seems. Their Daily Motion page has over a hundred of these videos, all covering various aspects of entertainment.

Continue reading Watch Sci-Fi’s Finest Share A Drink Or Two In This Star Wars Mash Up Video

Prometheus 2 Title Revealed as Alien: Paradise Lost

The title of Prometheus 2 has been officially announced by director Ridley Scott in a recent interview. The sequel will be named Alien: Paradise Lost. Check out the interview below, which also contains a bit of news on Blade Runner 2.

Continue reading Prometheus 2 Title Revealed as Alien: Paradise Lost

Grizzly Review: Total Recall

I find it ironic that Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) is so bored with mundane life in Total Recall that he seeks the key to the secrets in his dreams; a longing for a better, more spectacular life with more substance. Better and more spectacular – this remake had the potential to be that, to build on the Philip K. Dick story that was originally immortalized in the Arnold Schwarzenegger 1990 flick. However, it seems to run into the same issues Quaid does in his (fake) life. Everything from the plot, to the characters, to even the visuals are redundant and generic during Len Wiseman’s reboot. It is at least – for the most part – a fun, if forgettable escape before we step out of the theater into our own reality.

Farrell plays Quaid as he is haunted by the same dream of escaping capture with a mysterious woman (Jessica Biel) that gives him a longing of a higher purpose. He works on an assembly line, in a factory with his friend Harry (Bokeem Woodbine) building synthetics, robot soldiers in the vein of the Clones in the Star Wars prequels or the NS-5’s in I, Robot. He lives a nondescript life with a beautiful wife (Kate Beckinsale) and while going through the motions, he is driven to find the answer to the emptiness he feels.

Quaid and his wife live in the Colony, a dark, industrial-like slum, and they commute via The Fall, a transport that goes through the core of the Earth in order to reach Great Britain, the only other habitable place on the planet, where the rich get richer. The world is comprised of these two regions as the rest is uninhabitable due to the plaent’s earlier chemical warfare. The Resistance has been fighting with the elite over equality ,while the controlling government class declares them as terrorists trying to disrupt the system that works for all involved. Quaid feels connected to these stories and needs answers to filling the void and lack of purpose in his life that his dreams allude to.

Enter ‘Rekall’, the escapism that the bored need in order to live the fantasy and drown out the routine reality. You can become a movie star, sports figure, or even a secret agent. It is obvious that Quaid goes for the secret agent gig, but before he can get fully immersed, things go bad. Fast. His loving wife, quite suddenly is an evil undercover agent trying to kill him. That girl in the dream? Oh, she’s real and fights for the Resistance. Speaking of the Resistance, yep, he is definitely connected to their organization. And the government led by Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston)? Yeah, Quaid is so important to them, that he needs to be hunted down for what he knows. Still following me? Honestly, it doesn’t matter. He is basically Jason Bourne in the future trying to figure out his purpose. That seemed easier than writing those last two paragraphs. Take from that as you will.

It should be known that while there are few Easter Eggs for those that have seen the 1990 version (Three-boobed lady!!), this bears extremely little resemblance to that movie. The Paul Verhoeven film had Mars, Sharon Stone, the idea of reality versus perception. Plus bug eyed people in search of oxygen (note, that ALWAYS freaked me out when I was a little kid, I couldn’t watch that sequence for years). Len Wiseman goes in a direction that only skims the idea of living up to your past versus establishing your own destiny and identity. He has always been a great visual and action director and really takes advantage of the futuristic setting and beautiful actors to establish eye candy and fast pacing for the audience to cover up the lack of depth in the screenplay.

Farrell does a serviceable job as Quaid as he runs around trying to figure out who the hell he is and who he needs to be. I do wish that there was a bit more depth or explanation to the character that delves into Quaid’s past, because his path to the truth seems to run so fast, and the character embraces his rogue fugitive present all too easily. While great for pacing into the action set pieces, which Farrell handles very well, the investment into the character is just on the ‘good guy must beat bad guy level’ as opposed to the ‘I hope he gets closer on who he truly is destined to be’ type of guy.

Beckinsale has fun with largely expanded role of his wife that goes from ‘loving spouse’ to ‘femme fatale-like kiler’ too quickly in her quest to take down her confused ‘husband’. However the increased visibility of the character distracted me as it seems to be more a showcase for her, as opposed to keeping the story on Quaid and developing his journey story arc to find the truth. Granted, I can definitely get over myself and just appreciate Beckinsale owning the screen. Jessica Biel does a good job as well, even if the character is very one note, and merely a directional arrow in order to get Quaid from point A to point B. Cranston should have been in this movie for longer, but during his time on the screen, he owns it and makes sure you know he is the big man in charge, and that he has no problem making sure his agenda is carried out.

Visually, the Colony looks like the world in Blade Runner, mixed in with Toronto’s Chinatown. Apparently Australia, where the Colony is located, is where all the Asian people went during the chemical warfare that engulfed planet Earth. The filmmakers really put the doom and gloom into the movie and capture the oppressed nature of the citizens of the Colony. While visually impressive with the set decoration and CGI, it feels repetitive to stare at the same dull interiors that every bar/apartment/government building this world has. Who knew the future was so listless and unimaginative? However, the action sequences are great and the futuristic car chase scene is fun to watch. I was a big fan of an elevator sequence too because holy crap Beckinsale kicks ass in this movie. I swear they took the sequences straight from Minority Report [Ed. Note – Early Drafts of the Minority Report script were written for Total Recall 2, which obviously never happened], but they still are visually appealing nonetheless. And Kate Beckinsale, again, is a total badass in this movie.

Overall, this is a fun diversionary movie and nothing more. I felt it could have gone deeper into the idea of innate personality versus the expectation/perception of who you were, but I will take a straight up sci-fi action flick that will stimulate the senses for 2 hours. The movie goes fast and it is a ride, but just like Quaid, do not ask me to recall any details about it later, for it will be a distant memory until the next action flick shows up on the silver screen.

4 Reasons Why You Should See ‘Prometheus’

1.) It’s the spiritual predecessor of the Alien films.

Multiple shots from trailers and clips have shown the plot to be centered in some fashion around the ubiquitous “Space Jockey” from the original Alien. Now, originally, it was just called The Pilot in the script, and was put there as a one off bit of foreshadowing towards the decidedly gory death that would befall the crew of the Nostromo. Anyone who’s watched Alien multiple times, has probably had questions about that weird elephantine looking pilot, who is surrounded by so much mystery and awe in the first film. Ridley Scott had also given thought to who this character was way back when the film first came out, and spoke of how it was “Really just a suit”. This of course lines up with some of the SPOILER images shown from the film, which depict a large bipedal creature, and not the elephantine enigma we’ve all come to love and enjoy.

2.) It’s a science fiction film made by Ridley Scott.

Granted, he’s only made two before this, but they were single handedly two of the most influential and captivating science fiction films of all time. Alien itself brought to the forefront the idea that science fiction CAN be taken seriously by a mainstream audience, and damn scary as well. Blade Runner, while not as critically appreciated in it’s time, is nonetheless regarded as a modern classic, teeming with philosophical, moral, and societal themes that all serve to rally around a singular question: What does it mean to be human? Both films revolutionized how we view aliens, artificial intelligence, body horror, fear and of course, being horribly mutilated by monsters and/or replicants. Both were also amazing, quintessential examples of their genre, and another entry by Mr. Scott is something to always be on the lookout for, regardless of its heritage. Its a damn, damn exciting heritage.

Charlize tells us how brilliant Ridley Scott is. Fun Fact: if you flip the D in Ridley Scott’s first name 180 degrees it turns into RIPLEY. COINCIDENCE? CONSPIRACY? You decide.

3.) It could lead to other, amazing, potentially game changing science fiction films by Ridley Scott.

Along with his proposed sequel to Prometheus, he’s mentioned getting a TRUE sequel to Blade Runner up and running, written by the original writer, giving us perhaps some finality and closure on the long running question of Deckard’s humanity, or telling an all new story entirely. It’s supposedly going to have a female lead, but I wouldn’t discount old Mr. Ford showing up in a cameo, and personally it’d be badass if it was ambiguous as to whether or not Deckard was old because his replicant time clock is running out, or if he’s just old because people get old and are old. Either way, if it’s got Scott behind the helm I’m all in for the ride, because trying to remake or reboot it just wouldn’t work without the OG crew in tow.

4.) It’s apparently set in the Firefly/Serenity universe.

I know what you’re thinking. “Whoa, what? How could that even be? They’re like two different things entirely Cheesebadger, you’re just making stuff up.” BUT YOU’D BE WRONG. BEHOLD!

That’s a screenshot of Mr. Malcolm Reynolds’ POV shooting a Weyland-Yutani cannon at Alliance cruisers. Go pop in your copy of the Firefly dvd DVD if you don’t believe me. It’s one of the first scenes in the first episode, where you see Mal lose hope as the battle of Serenity is lost. So what does this mean, other than horrific fan fiction where we see the fallout of weird alien sex clones made from River and Ripley? Nothing probably, but maybe… just maybe, if enough people see it… FIREFLY WILL GET PICKED UP FOR A NEW SEASON AND COME BACK, STRONGER THAN EVER!*

*Warning, may be entirely untrue and a horrible lie.

Michael Fassbender Confirmed in ‘The Counselor’

As was predicted in our previous update on this story, Deadline reports that Michael Fassbender will indeed take the starring role of Ridley Scott’s next film, The Counselor. There’s not a lot of major information regarding the film yet, seeing as production hasn’t even started (That’ll begin this May), but we do know that Fassbender will play a lawyer who misguidedly takes a stab at the drug business and suffers the consequences.

So far The Counselor is knocking it out of the park. A script written by the original author of No Country for Old Men, directed by the man behind the camera for Blade Runner, and starring one of this generations fastest rising talents. I can’t wait to see who’s next to jump aboard this awesome project and you can bet I’ll be paying close attention to all future developments.

Ridley Scott to Direct Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Counselor’

In a story that brings together two auteurs lauded in their respective fields, Entertainment Weekly reports Ridley Scott has signed on to direct Cormac McCarthy’s first ever screenplay, The Counselor. The Gladiator director plans to start production in May, making it his next project after the much-anticipated Prometheus. That would, as expected, push Scott’s secretive Blade Runner picture further down the production line, but it’s something I can personally make exception for, since this is a collaboration I’d never have imagined possible. EW also stated that Scott is hoping to bring along Prometheus star Michael Fassbender to The Counselor, who would star in the lead role.

McCarthy’s screenplay has been described by insiders as “No Country For Old Men on steroids,” according to Deadline, a bold statement considering the effect the Oscar-winning No Country had on audiences. We’ve reported on The Counselor before, but in case you need a refresher here’s a synopsis of the story from Deadline:

“The protagonist in The Counselor is a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip a toe in to the drug business without getting sucked down. It is a bad decision and he tries his best to survive it and get out of a desperate situation.”

I’m ecstatic to hear this news and I’ll be keeping up on all the newest updates.

Harrison Ford In Talks For New Blade Runner Film

Wozz - BladeRunner

Ridley Scott will be reacquainting audiences with two of his most beloved film franchises in the next few years with Prometheus drawing ever-nearer and the announcement in early 2011 that he would be directing some kind of tie-in to Blade Runner. It’s enough to get fans incredibly excited, especially because  we know so little about both productions. Prometheus is only about four months away and surprisingly little has been revealed or leaked about the film, and this Blade Runner project has been flying so under-the-radar that the only thing we could say for sure was that Harrison Ford wouldn’t be reprising his role as Deckard. And wouldn’t you know it, that might not even be accurate.

BladeRunner

Previously the film’s producer, Andrew Kosove, had said this to say about bringing Ford back, in an interview with The L.A. Times:

In no way do I speak for Ridley Scott, but if you’re asking me will this movie have anything to do with Harrison Ford, the answer is no. This is a total reinvention, and in my mind that means doing everything fresh, including casting.

However Twitch debunked Kosove’s statement this week with a report that Mr. Solo is indeed undergoing negotiations for the film. The talks are in the very early stages, however, so this is far from a confirmation that he’ll appear. It’s also worth pointing out that we don’t even know how this movie will tie in with the timeline – It may be a prequel, sequel or something else entirely, so Ford’s casting could mean anything from a role as protagonist to a minor cameo.

Having Ridley Scott behind the camera really got me interested in this project. The approach he appears to have taken with Prometheus (A wildly different story than Alien, loosely tied to the same universe) might be an indication of the route he’ll take with Blade Runner, which I would love to see. I probably would have taken Harrison Ford’s involvement as a good sign as well, had I not seen the mediocrity-fest that was Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

More on this story as it develops.

Prometheus: Hi-Res Images, Interviews and Teaser Trailer

For a movie that is allegedly a prequel to the mega popular and for the most part amazing Alien saga, the amount of news we’ve seen is scarce. Compared to the daily updates from movies like The Dark Knight Rises, its surprising that Prometheus has largely stayed off the radar, with the exception of a few pieces of news here and there.

For those of you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, Prometheus started its life as the next installment in the Alien saga, but it grew in the development stage into its very own movie. While still maintaining close ties to the Alien world, it turned into… well… we don’t really know yet. An origin story that needed an origin story, basically. And it all started because of this guy.

Continue reading Prometheus: Hi-Res Images, Interviews and Teaser Trailer

No Harrison Ford in ‘Blade Runner 2’

Plenty of questions arise from the announcement that Ridley Scott would be doing another Blade Runner movie. Will it be a prequel? A sequel? A reboot? But the biggest question is one of who will star in it, particularly Harrison Ford.

After this little snippet from Worst Previews your question will be answered:

“Everything Ridley does as a filmmaker is fresh,” Kosove said. “I believe he sees an opportunity to create something that’s wholly original from the first ‘Blade Runner.'”

The two are now looking for a writer and are hoping to begin shooting in early 2013. And while it’s still unknown whether the new film will be a sequel or a prequel, Kosove said that Harrison Ford will not be involved. “Will this movie have anything to do with Harrison Ford? The answer is no,” he explained. “This is a total reinvention, and that means doing everything fresh, including casting.”

So the answer is no. No Harrison Ford for this go around with the skin jobs. That doesn’t necessarily mean that there will be no Deckard, but it definitely sounds like they are trying to go in a different, fresh direction for the new movie. I’m good with that as long as we get an interesting movie that makes us question what being alive truly means… again.

Ridley Scott and Blade Runner 2?

Blade Runner was one of those movies everyone urged me to watch and it is always stuck with the moniker of “best Sci-Fi movie ever made”, which so many people dispute. I was of course one of the disputers saying it wasn’t that great after watching it a couple of years ago. After doing my Top Ten Killer Robots list however, I decided to watch the movie again, and this time I loved it. It was a great movie, with some great questions about what the phrase “to be human” really means. And it was absolutely way ahead of the times with the special effects in the movie. Los Angeles in Blade Runner was a place I definitely wouldn’t have minded seeing in real life. I won’t go so far to say it’s the best movie in the science fiction genre, but it is definitely one of the best.

And now Ridley Scott seems to be easing back into what made him a ‘most sought after’ director. Since delving back into the Alien world with his prequel Prometheus, Scott seems to think it’s time for him to bring another classic film with Blade Runner. Now at this point we aren’t sure if it’s going to be a prequel or a sequel to the first movie, I suppose either way they go has a bit of allure to it. Check out a little more info from Deadline below:

I’m not getting a clear sense at this point whether Scott intends to do a sequel or a prequel to the 1982 film that was loosely based on the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Also unclear is whether they start fresh or reach out to Harrison Ford. The original took place in dystopian Los Angeles in 2019, in which organic superhuman robots called replicants escaped and are hiding somewhere on earth.  Ford played Richard Deckard, a burnt out blade runner assigned to hunt them down. His tired life gets altered when he himself falls for one of the replicants and struggles to keep her from being destroyed.

At this point they could do a sequel with Harrison Ford as the Blade Runner that turned out (IN THE MOVIE ALL YOU GEEKS!) to be one of the Replicants that he was tasked in tracking down. Ford’s age factor could be explained that as a Nexus-7 model, Deckard the replicant is able to have a full life span of an ordinary human thanks to the advancements of the Tyrell Corporation. Or they could go completely the other way on that one and have him with a younger CG face as they did for Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy.

Another option is to have a sequel many years into the future with a new Blade Runner hunting a different group of replicants, which would seem like the easiest option. It’s always best to move forward and not have to trip over any continuity issues from the previous film. If Scott doesn’t mind navigating around continuity then he could do a prequel movie showing the development of the replicants and any problems that they had early on, or perhaps the mutiny of replicants that caused them to be banned on Earth. I favor the prequel treatment, because I’m always interested in the full story of vague, opening crawls in a movie. Plus Scott seems intent on doing prequels at the moment anyways.

What’s everyone else think? Has it been too long for a new Blade Runner movie or are you looking forward to this no matter what direction Ridley Scott goes with this new movie? I’m all for it as the first movie just brushed the surface of how replicants think and act when faced with the prospect of “retirement” or the end of their shelf life.

BladeRunner-Poster-German