Tag: sci fi

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Grasshopper and Harvey

This year has been mostly used for watching the science fiction television series Farscape. I always have something on the go, things I’ve watched compulsively [although paced if that’s not a contradiction] probably started with the West Wing, then Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, Tour Of Duty, Firefly [obviously], The Prisoner along with many others. I’m not sure how many of these I have written about, you could search for them in that little box at the bottom if you want, but I definitely wrote about Babylon 5 it took three years to watch!

Farscape

My Farscape journey began after I listened to a podcast where one of the cast is slightly obsessed with Dr Who. In that podcast another person mentioned Farscape as a TV series and I remembered living in Brentwood in a house share and watching it as a TV show when digital TV started in around 1999. I remembered liking it and thought I’d watch it. It then turned out that Amazon Prime had all the shows and my next TV series was sorted.

I started tweeting every episode that I watched but this stopped at some point. I’m not sure why but I have had some mental health issues recently and so I guess I just stopped tweeting. It’s a bit of a shame as my B5 list is complete. But, there we go, no point regretting that for the obscure point that I could look back and see when I watched each episode. I think I may have stopped because I was watching some episodes when I should have been at work! I definitely also watched some while I spent time at RAF Wittering, which I have done a lot this year. If you want to see the tweets and why wouldn’t you? Head over to my online-offline twitter archive and search.

There’s an awful lot I liked about this TV show. The characters are instantly likeable, except Rigel of course, but even then in the end you kinda want good things for him. The writing is well done and the in-jokes work really well. I don’t think the series is that over the top and it definitely manages well with the “horny aliens on a space ship theme”. Moya is amazing. Chiana is my favourite. I love the way that Crichton references loads of Earth based characters and themes all the way through the show.

The way that John Crichton interacts with Harvey in his own head was perfect and comical, while at the same time being a central part of the later series. This was managed really well. As was the cartoon episode where most of it takes place in Crichton’s head.

I was never really put off by the puppets and considering this show was started twenty years ago I think it is pretty damn good. The reliance on CGI nowadays removes that organic feel from many shows and something gets lost. This series works really well with the puppets and make-up to create amazing storylines and effects. It’s probably not for everyone and it definitely hits that fantasy science fiction spot but I would recommend it if you want to fun ride.

This ultimate love story comes to an end and I look forward to whatever series I choose to watch next. Goodbye Farscape.

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Transcendence

I had expected worse. I think there are some films where the tag line needs to be:

Better than the trailer suggests

I think the best film I saw which was let down by a terrible trailer was the Road To Perdition.

Transcendence wasn’t the worst film I saw this weekend. It was a well made and glossy film and there was lots of stuff. The overall plot line was pretty good for the first half of the film and then it went bad. At lots of points I found myself thinking “what?”, “how” and “why?”. I just didn’t get it. I could write the plot flaws below, but I don’t often do spoilers. It would be best for you if you just watched The Lawnmower Man from the early 1990s.

I gave this a 4 on IMDB. See this communication for my rating system.

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Oblivion

This is the first in an occasional series where I give my opinion of films I have seen. The reviews are not going to be long and not going to be that insightful. Writing is not a gift of mine. I originally started this many years ago on this Previous Films.
Warning – general plot and theme spoilers.
So, this communication is about the Tom Cruise vehicle that is Oblivion. Let’s start off by saying this film is alright. It’s not stunning. It’s not ground breaking. It’s just alright. Many of the themes the film pushes have been done before. While watching it you can almost put together the films the director/writer grew up with. If you want to watch a decent film with similar themes I suggest you buy or rent Moon, The Island (not a good film), Bladerunner, 2001 etc.. They are generally far better and more organic with better acting.
The special effects in Oblivion are seamless and so you don’t really notice them. The female actors are pretty, as you’d expect, and Tom just cruises around, but then you don’t expect wonders from him. I also feel as though Morgan Freeman is now a cliche of himself! It’s no surprise to see him popping up half way through, there are plenty other actors who would have been better and less recognisable in the role.
Overall, this film is a reasonable starter into science fiction but if you are already a nerd then it’s not worth your money. Watch the classics and philosophise all you want.

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