My latest visit to the world of impending doom is this piece of classic cheese, courtesy of MGM.
"Battle beneath the Earth" was released in 1967 and, as the time it was released was during one of the most unstable periods of the Cold War, its chock full of bizarre paranoia about impending invasion by those DIRTY COMMUNISTS!111!1!1!one!1!!11111!!!, except this time round, instead of being of the Russian variety, instead it offers up a dose of Chinese commie related laughs.
Starring no one I've ever heard of, apart from Ed Bishop, this sci-fi film really takes the plot line to the edge of believability:-
The US Navy has been tinkering with some seismic devices in an effort to detect underground nuclear tests from within the communist bloc, however their experiments cant seem to make a device capable of accurately differentiating between the sound of a nuclear explosion and the sound of mining operations.
All this is rendered moot when a man is picked up by the police in Las Vegas after raving in the street about sounds he can hear when he puts his ear to the ground, however his insane/drunken ravings are soon proved to be rather worrying when coal miners discover a series of tunnels by accident after a mineshaft collapse.
The marines go in and find that deep underground, some rogue Chinese agents have spent a lot of time digging tunnels which lead all the way from China to the US, and have begin planting nuclear bombs under most of Americas major cities.
The marines manage to safely defuse the first lot they find, however those slippery commies have more nasty tricks up their sleeves, tricks which, they hope, will lead to the complete downfall of the free world and the global domination of the Chinese empire.
Yeah, they don't make sci-fi silliness like this no more, which is a shame. Nontheless though, this film is a classic bit of cheese which will require you to leave your sense of logic at the door when watching, but trust me, if you do this, you will find this film a fairly entertaining way to kill 90 minutes.
Friday 29 November 2013
Monday 25 November 2013
Game Review - Yu-Gi-Oh! Ultimate Masters:World Championship Tournament 2006 ( GBA 2006 - duh!)
The rather oddly titled "Yu-Gi-Oh! Ultimate Masters: World Championship Tournament 2006" (why oh why do they need to give these games such long titles?) was the 2006 entry into the hugely popular games series which, at the time, were exclusive to the Gameboy advance (I say this because similar games based on Yu-Gi-Oh! released on other systems usually followed some kind of storyline, whereas the "World Championship" games played as an electronic version of the CCG)
Released during the "Yu-GiOh! GX era, the game featured nearly all the cards and game mechanics that had been employed in the RL CCG up to that point, however, unlike the previous game , the 2006 edition did not feature any of the characters from the anime, nor did it feature any storyline.
Reflecting the lack of storyline, the game itself made various changes to game play modes, which were selectable through the menu screen:-
Free Duel Mode.
The "Main" game mode, in which you duel against various other players, starting off with players ranked at "level 1", all of whom play a deck themed around the particular card they use as their avatar. Each tier contains 5 different duellists, all of whom use different strategies depending on the type of deck they are playing.
Challenge Mode.
This option consists of 4 sub categories of play:
This game has a much wider selection of cards available than the 2003 game, which can make getting the cards you want difficult, as cards from the newer (at the time of release anyway) usually cost 400 Duel Points, whereas booster packs from older sets can cost as little as 150 points.
As a game, it does exactly as it says on the tin, it is indeed an electronic version of the real card game, however, it does present some problems which can put a dampener on new players...
Released during the "Yu-GiOh! GX era, the game featured nearly all the cards and game mechanics that had been employed in the RL CCG up to that point, however, unlike the previous game , the 2006 edition did not feature any of the characters from the anime, nor did it feature any storyline.
Reflecting the lack of storyline, the game itself made various changes to game play modes, which were selectable through the menu screen:-
Free Duel Mode.
The "Main" game mode, in which you duel against various other players, starting off with players ranked at "level 1", all of whom play a deck themed around the particular card they use as their avatar. Each tier contains 5 different duellists, all of whom use different strategies depending on the type of deck they are playing.
Challenge Mode.
This option consists of 4 sub categories of play:
- Duel puzzle - You join a game in mid match, and using the cards you already have in your hand or in play, you must win the duel by the end of that turn.
- Limited Duel - A series of duels in which restrictions are placed on what cards you may have in your deck.
- Theme Duel - A series of duels in which as well as winning, you have a secondary objective of some sort, for example getting the maximum amount of direct damage to an opponents life points, drawing as many cards as possible, etc.
- Survival Duel - You face off against random opponents one after another until you are defeated.
This game has a much wider selection of cards available than the 2003 game, which can make getting the cards you want difficult, as cards from the newer (at the time of release anyway) usually cost 400 Duel Points, whereas booster packs from older sets can cost as little as 150 points.
As a game, it does exactly as it says on the tin, it is indeed an electronic version of the real card game, however, it does present some problems which can put a dampener on new players...
- Difficulty - The game starting difficulty is WAAAYYYYYYYY off whack, requiring advanced knowledge of the card game and its mechanics in order to get any wins. This will, and did, put off a lot of novice players.
- Paying for everything - Earning duel points to buy new cards with is extremely difficult due to the above, and even then, the games strict adherence to the "Forbidden/limited" cards list (which was correct for tournament play at the time the game came out) means that sometimes you will open a booster pack and get an awesome card, only to find that it has been banned, and the game will not allow you to use it in any games. In addition to this, although the game allows you to enter the codes from your real life cards into the game, it makes you pay Duel Points in order to add them to your collection, if you dont have the point, you cant have, simple as. Very frustrating in the early game being as the game saddles you with very few powerful cards.
- Prescience - While playing through this games free duel mode, I got the distinct feeling that the games A.I seemed to know exactly what cards I had in my hand. This may just be me being paranoid, but when your A.I opponent manages to pull just the right card at just the right time 20 times in a row, you know that "the heart of the cards" seems to be giving way to borderline cheating.
- Whats the point? - The games lack of storyline takes something away from the gameplay. Even though the 2003 games storyline was generally weak, the complete elimination of it from this game makes the game a little dull.
Wednesday 20 November 2013
Anime Review - Yu-Gi-Oh!
Based on the original Manga by Kazuki Takahashi, Yu-Gi-Oh! was a 2000 - 2005 anime which consisted of 5 complete series, 1 sub series and 1 movie.
The series is a fairly faithful translation of the original manga, however obviously some changes had to be made due to violent, sexual and religious content, changes which also included new characters and story arcs being created to replace unfilmable ones from the manga series.
The series focuses on Yugi Moto, a young man who has a particular knack for puzzles and gaming.
at some point prior to the series' beginning, he manages to solve a puzzle given to him by his grandfather, who in turn found it during his time at an archaeological dig in Egypt.
As it turns out, the puzzle is one of the millennium items, a series of seven magical artifacts created 5000 years ago by the nameless pharaoh to trap an ancient and dark magic which very nearly destroyed the world.
Although he doesn't realise it at first, Yugi's completed puzzle contains the spirit of the nameless pharaoh, in whom he finds a kindred spirit, as both of them have a skill for gaming and puzzles, and Yugi can call on the pharaohs skill during his favourite game, "Duel Monsters".
The series itself consists of five story arcs, all of them revolving around Yugi and his friends battling against evil forces who use dark magic in an effort to conquer or destroy the world by various means, and these schemes are usually thwarted by the playing out of various games which have some sort of connection to the ancient world.
To people who are familiar with the card game, the first series may seem strange as the depiction of gameplay on screen is not the same as how the game is played in real life, this is due to the 1st series using the games original Japanese rules, which bore more resemblance to the "Top trumps" card game, albeit with a slightly altered game mechanics to make it more "tactical". This discontinuity was addressed during the second series (aka - the "Battle city" story arc) when the "Battle City" rules were used in a competition organised by Seto Kaiba, which were pretty much identical to the rules of play for the real life CCG, with slight discrepancies to allow for better on screen action (for example, certain cards and/or their in game effects were misrepresented, and cards were used that still don't exist to this day as plot devices)
As the series went on, the story lines became more fantastical, and eventually Yugi and the Pharaoh learned the truth that the Pharaoh had locked away within his own mind, which drew the series to its final conclusion.
All in all, the series was very good, albeit being a bit of a niche interest one. I first discovered the series being shown on Sky one on a saturday mornings and found it to be quite interesting when I gave it a chance, despite having no interest in it prior to this. I liked the way how the characters developed over time to become more than the simple archetypes they were initially presented as, and it also helped generate my interest in the real life card game and video game series.
Yu-Gi-Oh! has since gone on to have spin off series' in the forms of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds and currently Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, all of which have their own plot lines but all of which have their core focus on using the card game as a plot point, so its obvious that the series is stil as popular now and will continue to be popular for some time to come.
The series is a fairly faithful translation of the original manga, however obviously some changes had to be made due to violent, sexual and religious content, changes which also included new characters and story arcs being created to replace unfilmable ones from the manga series.
The series focuses on Yugi Moto, a young man who has a particular knack for puzzles and gaming.
at some point prior to the series' beginning, he manages to solve a puzzle given to him by his grandfather, who in turn found it during his time at an archaeological dig in Egypt.
As it turns out, the puzzle is one of the millennium items, a series of seven magical artifacts created 5000 years ago by the nameless pharaoh to trap an ancient and dark magic which very nearly destroyed the world.
Although he doesn't realise it at first, Yugi's completed puzzle contains the spirit of the nameless pharaoh, in whom he finds a kindred spirit, as both of them have a skill for gaming and puzzles, and Yugi can call on the pharaohs skill during his favourite game, "Duel Monsters".
The series itself consists of five story arcs, all of them revolving around Yugi and his friends battling against evil forces who use dark magic in an effort to conquer or destroy the world by various means, and these schemes are usually thwarted by the playing out of various games which have some sort of connection to the ancient world.
To people who are familiar with the card game, the first series may seem strange as the depiction of gameplay on screen is not the same as how the game is played in real life, this is due to the 1st series using the games original Japanese rules, which bore more resemblance to the "Top trumps" card game, albeit with a slightly altered game mechanics to make it more "tactical". This discontinuity was addressed during the second series (aka - the "Battle city" story arc) when the "Battle City" rules were used in a competition organised by Seto Kaiba, which were pretty much identical to the rules of play for the real life CCG, with slight discrepancies to allow for better on screen action (for example, certain cards and/or their in game effects were misrepresented, and cards were used that still don't exist to this day as plot devices)
As the series went on, the story lines became more fantastical, and eventually Yugi and the Pharaoh learned the truth that the Pharaoh had locked away within his own mind, which drew the series to its final conclusion.
All in all, the series was very good, albeit being a bit of a niche interest one. I first discovered the series being shown on Sky one on a saturday mornings and found it to be quite interesting when I gave it a chance, despite having no interest in it prior to this. I liked the way how the characters developed over time to become more than the simple archetypes they were initially presented as, and it also helped generate my interest in the real life card game and video game series.
Yu-Gi-Oh! has since gone on to have spin off series' in the forms of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds and currently Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, all of which have their own plot lines but all of which have their core focus on using the card game as a plot point, so its obvious that the series is stil as popular now and will continue to be popular for some time to come.
Aint War Hell? - Hope and Glory (1987)
"Hope and Glory" (named after a verse from the song "Land of Hope and Glory") is a 1987 semi-autobiographical account of director John Boormans experiences as a boy growing up in World war 2 England.
Initially, the film was banned for viewing in the UK due to its frank depictions of children engaging in sexualised behaviour and use of strong swear words, however this ban was overturned due to the fact that kids did these things regardless without seeing this film.
The Rowan family, consisting of father Clive, mother Grace, Bill and his sisters Sue and Dawn live a typical working class life in a suburb of London, however when world war 2 begins, Clive is called up to serve in the army and the family has to cope not only with him being away, but also with continuing a normal life amid nightly bombing raids and rationing.
Young Bill and his friends find the war exciting, and regularly play amongst the bombed out remains of houses, but, as the war drags on, life becomes more difficult, especially so as his mother will not allow him and his younger sister to be evacuated like many of the other children he knows.
The film offers a completely unsentimental look at life in wartime Britain, there's no moralising or happy circumstance here, everything is included, farts, swearwords and arguing over whether teenagers should be allowed out after dark, but yet the family struggles on, despite the fact that they are short on food, clothes and money and general interest in the war at all, other than Bills interest in collecting bits of shrapnel and watching propaganda laced newsreels at the local cinema.
I would heartily recommend watching this film, as few other films accurately portray normal people living normal lives during the war, especially so without them becoming some sort of hero of sorts.
Initially, the film was banned for viewing in the UK due to its frank depictions of children engaging in sexualised behaviour and use of strong swear words, however this ban was overturned due to the fact that kids did these things regardless without seeing this film.
The Rowan family, consisting of father Clive, mother Grace, Bill and his sisters Sue and Dawn live a typical working class life in a suburb of London, however when world war 2 begins, Clive is called up to serve in the army and the family has to cope not only with him being away, but also with continuing a normal life amid nightly bombing raids and rationing.
Young Bill and his friends find the war exciting, and regularly play amongst the bombed out remains of houses, but, as the war drags on, life becomes more difficult, especially so as his mother will not allow him and his younger sister to be evacuated like many of the other children he knows.
The film offers a completely unsentimental look at life in wartime Britain, there's no moralising or happy circumstance here, everything is included, farts, swearwords and arguing over whether teenagers should be allowed out after dark, but yet the family struggles on, despite the fact that they are short on food, clothes and money and general interest in the war at all, other than Bills interest in collecting bits of shrapnel and watching propaganda laced newsreels at the local cinema.
I would heartily recommend watching this film, as few other films accurately portray normal people living normal lives during the war, especially so without them becoming some sort of hero of sorts.
Tuesday 19 November 2013
Game Review - Yu-Gi-Oh!, Worldwide edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel (GBA 2003)
Yu-Gi-Oh!, Worldwide edition: Stairway to the destined duel is a 2003 game that was released exclusively for the Nintendo Gameboy Advance.
Based on the popular CCG (that's Collectable Card Game for the uninitiated), which is in turn based on the popular manga/anime series of the same name, the game is basically a way of playing the card game without having to go to the trouble of purchasing packs of random cards and spending time building decks to play with.
This is not the first game based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, as previous games were released on the playstation and gameboy colour, however, this game is what I would consider the first game to accurately replicate the dynamic of the CCG, albeit without the bad losers, cheating and other such occurances that can ruin gaming for most folk (myself included, lol).
The gameplay is simple, provided you are familiar with the original card game, if not, its fairly easy to be able to pick up the rules as you go along, enabling you to decide which strategies work best for you and allowing you to select cards for your deck accordingly.
There are two play modes:-
Story mode
Taking place during the "Battle City" story arc from the anime (series 2) you begin the game by selecting a starter deck from a random selection, and then you move around a map of the city challenging other duellists, who are all characters from the anime, to duels.
Each time you win, you earn points and are allowed to choose a prize from a variety of booster packs.
As you win more duels and aquire more cards for your collection, more duellists and special "side events" become available, eventually culminating in you battling the character Marik Ishtar and his minions who have a dastardly plot to rule the world using the dark magic of the milennium items and the egyptian god cards.
There are numerous achievements to beat over the course of story mode, all of which can be completed with varying degrees of difficulty depending on your play style.
Multiplayer
Using a link cable to connect your Gameboy to someone elses, you can then battle them directly, gaining duellist points and enabling you to trade cards from your personal collections.
Oddly enough, this game was released before the Japanese version, but, at the time of release, it made heavy use of cards which had not yet been made available in the west.
In addition, some cards featured in the game had different names to their "official" western releases, which caused some confusion amongst players.
Also, the western release of the game came packaged with three promo cards in the form of "Sinister Serpent", "Harpies Feather Duster" and "Valkyrion the Magna Warrior", whereas its Japanese counterpart came packaged with one each of the "Egyptian God Cards", which left many fans of the series feeling cheated, but also it allowed people who had managed to get a hold of these powerful cards via other avenues to sell them on for ridiculous amounts of money.
All in all though, the game itself is still good to this day, with its simple to use interface and heavy use of characters from the anime, but it is let down by its rather lackluster storyline which seems to end very quickly.
This game is reall ymore for fans of the anime and players of the card game than for general gamers.
Based on the popular CCG (that's Collectable Card Game for the uninitiated), which is in turn based on the popular manga/anime series of the same name, the game is basically a way of playing the card game without having to go to the trouble of purchasing packs of random cards and spending time building decks to play with.
This is not the first game based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, as previous games were released on the playstation and gameboy colour, however, this game is what I would consider the first game to accurately replicate the dynamic of the CCG, albeit without the bad losers, cheating and other such occurances that can ruin gaming for most folk (myself included, lol).
The gameplay is simple, provided you are familiar with the original card game, if not, its fairly easy to be able to pick up the rules as you go along, enabling you to decide which strategies work best for you and allowing you to select cards for your deck accordingly.
There are two play modes:-
Story mode
Taking place during the "Battle City" story arc from the anime (series 2) you begin the game by selecting a starter deck from a random selection, and then you move around a map of the city challenging other duellists, who are all characters from the anime, to duels.
Each time you win, you earn points and are allowed to choose a prize from a variety of booster packs.
As you win more duels and aquire more cards for your collection, more duellists and special "side events" become available, eventually culminating in you battling the character Marik Ishtar and his minions who have a dastardly plot to rule the world using the dark magic of the milennium items and the egyptian god cards.
There are numerous achievements to beat over the course of story mode, all of which can be completed with varying degrees of difficulty depending on your play style.
Multiplayer
Using a link cable to connect your Gameboy to someone elses, you can then battle them directly, gaining duellist points and enabling you to trade cards from your personal collections.
Oddly enough, this game was released before the Japanese version, but, at the time of release, it made heavy use of cards which had not yet been made available in the west.
In addition, some cards featured in the game had different names to their "official" western releases, which caused some confusion amongst players.
Also, the western release of the game came packaged with three promo cards in the form of "Sinister Serpent", "Harpies Feather Duster" and "Valkyrion the Magna Warrior", whereas its Japanese counterpart came packaged with one each of the "Egyptian God Cards", which left many fans of the series feeling cheated, but also it allowed people who had managed to get a hold of these powerful cards via other avenues to sell them on for ridiculous amounts of money.
All in all though, the game itself is still good to this day, with its simple to use interface and heavy use of characters from the anime, but it is let down by its rather lackluster storyline which seems to end very quickly.
This game is reall ymore for fans of the anime and players of the card game than for general gamers.
Monday 18 November 2013
Anime Review - Mysterious Cities of Gold - Series 2
So, 29 years after the original series ended, the new series is finally here..finally, I mean, its not like there haven't been numerous announcements that the series would return before, but this time round, something has actually materialised.
Although "series 2" of MCoG was first officially shown in France during Christmas 2012, its only now, near Christmas 2013, that the English dub has finally surfaced, and, unusually for a series which has been so eagerly anticipated, it is being shown on an obscure satellite TV channel called "Kix!".
Contrary to what people were saying prior to its release, this series is NOT a reboot or a redo of the original, but is instead a fully fledged sequel, using the same characters, and chronicles their further adventures after the ending of the first series.
Thus far, five episodes have aired on Kix!, and, at the time of writing this, the first two episodes are available to view on their website (HERE ), but the entire series is planned to have 26 episodes.
The storyline takes place roughly one year after the original series ended. Esteban, Tao and Zia took off in the Great Golden Condor in search of the remaining six cities of gold, while Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro decided to return to Spain, having salvaged a fortune in gold from the city they found (which was subsequently destroyed).
The series prologue however shows that when Mendoza et al returned home, they had their fortunes confiscated and were thrown in prison by a mysterious robed and hooded man, who is also seeking the location of the remaining cities of gold.
The robed man sets an elaborate trap to lure Esteban and Zia back to Spain, using Mendoza as bait, after he discovers that they have come into possession of an ancient map which shows the location of the remaining cities.
After mounting a daring rescue, Esteban and company manage to decode the map, and set course for China.
As it stands, the series looks set to take place entirely in China, other than for the first two episodes which serve to move the story on from where it originally finished.
Stylistically, there series has not changed, even though the animators are now using cel-shaded animation in place of traditional (and more expensive) ink and paint, they still manage to recreate the characters exactly how they looked back in 1983.
That said, the use of computer aided animation has allowed some of the on screen effects to be updated, for example, the Great Golden Condor now looks more realistic (or as realistic as a giant flying machine made of gold and shaped like a condor can look), as the animators have included moving feathers to the wingtips, and a pair of jet exhausts to the tail.
One notable but odd change is made in the form of close ups of swords showing they have rounded, non lethal tips, but yet spears, arrowheads and knives are shown still with nice pointy stabby ends, and even at one point a man shoots at Esteban with a musket but misses, so the original series' "peril" is still present in this series, although they seem to be attempting to sanitise it.
Some slight changes in dialogue have occurred as well, for example, in the first series, Tao would refer to his people as "the people of Hiva", whereas now their original name of "the people of Mu" is used instead.
So, thus far, im quite impressed with the series, and am looking forward to the remaining episodes. It still, well, thus far anyways, manages to keep the blend of historical, sci-fi, fantasy and adventure without allowing one aspect to overpower the rest, like the original did....keep it up!
Although "series 2" of MCoG was first officially shown in France during Christmas 2012, its only now, near Christmas 2013, that the English dub has finally surfaced, and, unusually for a series which has been so eagerly anticipated, it is being shown on an obscure satellite TV channel called "Kix!".
Contrary to what people were saying prior to its release, this series is NOT a reboot or a redo of the original, but is instead a fully fledged sequel, using the same characters, and chronicles their further adventures after the ending of the first series.
Thus far, five episodes have aired on Kix!, and, at the time of writing this, the first two episodes are available to view on their website (HERE ), but the entire series is planned to have 26 episodes.
The storyline takes place roughly one year after the original series ended. Esteban, Tao and Zia took off in the Great Golden Condor in search of the remaining six cities of gold, while Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro decided to return to Spain, having salvaged a fortune in gold from the city they found (which was subsequently destroyed).
The series prologue however shows that when Mendoza et al returned home, they had their fortunes confiscated and were thrown in prison by a mysterious robed and hooded man, who is also seeking the location of the remaining cities of gold.
The robed man sets an elaborate trap to lure Esteban and Zia back to Spain, using Mendoza as bait, after he discovers that they have come into possession of an ancient map which shows the location of the remaining cities.
After mounting a daring rescue, Esteban and company manage to decode the map, and set course for China.
As it stands, the series looks set to take place entirely in China, other than for the first two episodes which serve to move the story on from where it originally finished.
Stylistically, there series has not changed, even though the animators are now using cel-shaded animation in place of traditional (and more expensive) ink and paint, they still manage to recreate the characters exactly how they looked back in 1983.
That said, the use of computer aided animation has allowed some of the on screen effects to be updated, for example, the Great Golden Condor now looks more realistic (or as realistic as a giant flying machine made of gold and shaped like a condor can look), as the animators have included moving feathers to the wingtips, and a pair of jet exhausts to the tail.
One notable but odd change is made in the form of close ups of swords showing they have rounded, non lethal tips, but yet spears, arrowheads and knives are shown still with nice pointy stabby ends, and even at one point a man shoots at Esteban with a musket but misses, so the original series' "peril" is still present in this series, although they seem to be attempting to sanitise it.
Some slight changes in dialogue have occurred as well, for example, in the first series, Tao would refer to his people as "the people of Hiva", whereas now their original name of "the people of Mu" is used instead.
So, thus far, im quite impressed with the series, and am looking forward to the remaining episodes. It still, well, thus far anyways, manages to keep the blend of historical, sci-fi, fantasy and adventure without allowing one aspect to overpower the rest, like the original did....keep it up!
Thursday 7 November 2013
Dystopiarama - Zardoz (1974)
Zardoz, the 1974 sci-fi/fantasy film is another strange entry in this sub category, but again nonetheless, it depicts a bizarre future time period.
The film actually stars people I have heard of, in the form of Sean Connery (who spends the entire film wearing, as he himself stated was "a red nappy, thigh length boots, a pony tail and a zapata moustache") Charlotte Rampling and John Alderton (cast against "type" in the role of a bizarre and effeminate man) , and it makes good use of these stars while the surreal and sometimes disturbing storyline plays out.
In the future of 2293 AD, the Earth has been reduced to an almost medieval landscape (it is never really explained why, although it is hinted that there was some sort of global war) with tribes of "Brutals" living in the remains of the former world. One tribe of these people, called "the Exterminators" are favoured by the god Zardoz, who appears as a giant floating stone head and demands that the exterminators kill brutals in order to stop them from repopulating the earth as they once did. In return for killing people, and providing Zardoz with grain, the exterminators receive weapons and ammunition.
One of the Exterminators, named Zed, stows away in one of the grain shipments and rides the stone head back to its point of origin, where en route, he accidentally kills a rather strange man who calls himself "Arthur Frayn".
When the head lands, Zed finds himself in a surreal world occupied by people who refer to themselves as "Eternals", humans with highly developed mental powers, who live in a society of total democracy and equality, who devote their eternal lifespans to developing and maintaining human knowledge under the custodianship of a being referred to as "The Tabernacle".
Zed quickly finds that not is all it seems amongst these people, as their supposedly perfect society is just as fraught with infighting as it is in the outside world, with a group of staunch conservatives seeking to maintain the status quo of their society, and other smaller groups seeking to make changes, such as actually allowing people to die, or allowing them to explore the outside world and learn of any changes that have occurred while they have been locked away in "The vortex" (there are actually several vortexes, all of which are areas which are kept shielded from the outside world by an invisible and impenetrable force field)
During his time amongst the immortals, Zed learns much about both them and himself, including that his being there was part of a long term plan to liberate the Eternals from their never ending state of boredom and stagnation, having reached the limits of their capabilities long ago and being unable to progress further due to the dictats of the Tabernacle.
Zardoz is a wonderfully surreal film, the likes of which we will never see again. Its bizarre blend of science fiction and fantasy is skillfully used to tell a story which, in essence is about living life itself and coping with and accepting change.
The surreal imagery and hippy leanings of the Eternals contrast wonderfully with Zeds harsh upbringing and lifestyle, with his simple thoughts belying his hidden intelligence.
A definite watch id say!
The film actually stars people I have heard of, in the form of Sean Connery (who spends the entire film wearing, as he himself stated was "a red nappy, thigh length boots, a pony tail and a zapata moustache") Charlotte Rampling and John Alderton (cast against "type" in the role of a bizarre and effeminate man) , and it makes good use of these stars while the surreal and sometimes disturbing storyline plays out.
In the future of 2293 AD, the Earth has been reduced to an almost medieval landscape (it is never really explained why, although it is hinted that there was some sort of global war) with tribes of "Brutals" living in the remains of the former world. One tribe of these people, called "the Exterminators" are favoured by the god Zardoz, who appears as a giant floating stone head and demands that the exterminators kill brutals in order to stop them from repopulating the earth as they once did. In return for killing people, and providing Zardoz with grain, the exterminators receive weapons and ammunition.
One of the Exterminators, named Zed, stows away in one of the grain shipments and rides the stone head back to its point of origin, where en route, he accidentally kills a rather strange man who calls himself "Arthur Frayn".
When the head lands, Zed finds himself in a surreal world occupied by people who refer to themselves as "Eternals", humans with highly developed mental powers, who live in a society of total democracy and equality, who devote their eternal lifespans to developing and maintaining human knowledge under the custodianship of a being referred to as "The Tabernacle".
Zed quickly finds that not is all it seems amongst these people, as their supposedly perfect society is just as fraught with infighting as it is in the outside world, with a group of staunch conservatives seeking to maintain the status quo of their society, and other smaller groups seeking to make changes, such as actually allowing people to die, or allowing them to explore the outside world and learn of any changes that have occurred while they have been locked away in "The vortex" (there are actually several vortexes, all of which are areas which are kept shielded from the outside world by an invisible and impenetrable force field)
During his time amongst the immortals, Zed learns much about both them and himself, including that his being there was part of a long term plan to liberate the Eternals from their never ending state of boredom and stagnation, having reached the limits of their capabilities long ago and being unable to progress further due to the dictats of the Tabernacle.
Zardoz is a wonderfully surreal film, the likes of which we will never see again. Its bizarre blend of science fiction and fantasy is skillfully used to tell a story which, in essence is about living life itself and coping with and accepting change.
The surreal imagery and hippy leanings of the Eternals contrast wonderfully with Zeds harsh upbringing and lifestyle, with his simple thoughts belying his hidden intelligence.
A definite watch id say!
Wednesday 6 November 2013
Dystopiarama - Robot Jox (1990)
A bit of a bizarre entry for this sub heading but this film is, nonetheless, a Dystopic film.
Robot Jox is a 1990 Sci-fi/Action film directed by Stuart Gordon and starring Gary Graham and no one else of any note, well, apart from a very young looking Jeffrey Combs in a role credited as "Prole #1".
This film is unusual for its time as it makes extensive use of stop motion and puppetry in order to portray the battle robots that play a large part in the films plot.
The plot is thus:-
In the late 21st century, the Earth is suffering the after effects of global resource wars, and, having seen the devastation and total pointlessness of nuclear conflict, the remaining nations of the world have formed themselves into two power blocs, The Free Market and the Confederation, and totally banned open warfare.
Instead of fighting in senseless and wasteful war, conflicts are instead sorted via a gladiatorial contest known simply as "The Games".
The games differ from previous gladiatorial contests, as they are fought using battle robots, piloted by warriors known as "Robot Jox".
The rules of the games seem fairly simple (or as simple as I can make them out to be from watching this movie) :-
#1 - Both sides may only enter one robot to fight per battle.
#2 - The robot may be armed with whatever weapons or technology the owners choose, and there is no obligation for either side to reveal what weapons or technology their robot is equipped with.
#3 - Once a robot has entered the battle arena, regardless of who is piloting it, it is considered that the challenge has been accepted. Leaving the arena without referee permission results in disqualification.
#4 - Combat will continue until one robot or Robot Jox is unable to continue.
#5 - All referee stipulations and directions are to be obeyed immediately and without question, failure or refusal to do so results in disqualification and forfeiture of the match.
The "Markets" best pilot is Jim, who fights under the alias "Achilles". Achilles is on the verge of surviving and winning 10 matches in a row, a feat only accomplished by his mentor, the Texan tactical advisor Tex Conway, who 10 years previously managed to destroy the Confederations most powerful robot with what he claims was a lucky shot from his vehicle, which was little more than a super heavy tank back in the days when bipedal walking war machines were unheard of.
Achilles is to fight the Confederations "Alexander", a ruthless russian pilot for the territory of Alaska, which if he wins will mark the end of his contract with the Market, however Alexander says he will kill Achilles and stop him achieving his goal.
Their match gets off to a good start, with both robots exchanging ranged fire with machine guns and missiles, before opening up on each other with lasers.
Alexanders robot fires a long blast from its laser cannon, but Achilles manages to deflect it with a piece of reflective armour located on his robots arms, then he plans to hit back with their secret weapon, the "Green Laser", which their science boffin, Dr. Matsumoto, says should guarantee them victory, however, they soon find that they have a spy in their midst when Achilles fires his Green Lasers, only for Alexander to deflect the blasts using his own reflective armour plates. The referees switch off both robots ranged weapons, so the action switches to melee combat, and Achilles is placed at a disadvantage as Alexander relentlessly pummels him with repeated blows from his robots hydraulic fists, but, just as Achilles thinks he has regained his advantage and damages his opponents robot with a hidden cutting torch, Alexander cheats and reveals that his secret weapon is the ability for his robot to fire one of its fists like a missile, which malfunctions and veers towards the crowd. Achilles throws his machine in the way and manages to block the out of control missile, but his robot falls on to the bleachers, and 300 people are killed. The match is declared a draw, as although Alexander won the match, he broke the rules by using a projectile weapon when at the time they were prohibited, so a rematch is to be fought in 1 week.
Achilles then decides he has fulfilled his obligation and decides to retire, but is alarmed when he is told his place will be taken by a new breed of genetically engineered soldiers called "Gen-Jox", who have superior strength, endurance and reactions, but who are completely inexperienced and extremely arrogant.
As the film goes on, The spy is revealed and Achilles ends up fighting Alexander once more for revenge.
The film is really good, considering its subject matter, and the special effects for the robots are amazing considering not one bit of CGI was used.
That said, the acting is somewhat hammy and the characters spew out line after line of cliched dialogue, but this doesnt alter the fact that this film is a nice, fun film, which will appeal to young and old alike.
If you want to watch this film, you can find it HERE
Robot Jox is a 1990 Sci-fi/Action film directed by Stuart Gordon and starring Gary Graham and no one else of any note, well, apart from a very young looking Jeffrey Combs in a role credited as "Prole #1".
This film is unusual for its time as it makes extensive use of stop motion and puppetry in order to portray the battle robots that play a large part in the films plot.
The plot is thus:-
In the late 21st century, the Earth is suffering the after effects of global resource wars, and, having seen the devastation and total pointlessness of nuclear conflict, the remaining nations of the world have formed themselves into two power blocs, The Free Market and the Confederation, and totally banned open warfare.
Instead of fighting in senseless and wasteful war, conflicts are instead sorted via a gladiatorial contest known simply as "The Games".
The games differ from previous gladiatorial contests, as they are fought using battle robots, piloted by warriors known as "Robot Jox".
The rules of the games seem fairly simple (or as simple as I can make them out to be from watching this movie) :-
#1 - Both sides may only enter one robot to fight per battle.
#2 - The robot may be armed with whatever weapons or technology the owners choose, and there is no obligation for either side to reveal what weapons or technology their robot is equipped with.
#3 - Once a robot has entered the battle arena, regardless of who is piloting it, it is considered that the challenge has been accepted. Leaving the arena without referee permission results in disqualification.
#4 - Combat will continue until one robot or Robot Jox is unable to continue.
#5 - All referee stipulations and directions are to be obeyed immediately and without question, failure or refusal to do so results in disqualification and forfeiture of the match.
The "Markets" best pilot is Jim, who fights under the alias "Achilles". Achilles is on the verge of surviving and winning 10 matches in a row, a feat only accomplished by his mentor, the Texan tactical advisor Tex Conway, who 10 years previously managed to destroy the Confederations most powerful robot with what he claims was a lucky shot from his vehicle, which was little more than a super heavy tank back in the days when bipedal walking war machines were unheard of.
Achilles is to fight the Confederations "Alexander", a ruthless russian pilot for the territory of Alaska, which if he wins will mark the end of his contract with the Market, however Alexander says he will kill Achilles and stop him achieving his goal.
Their match gets off to a good start, with both robots exchanging ranged fire with machine guns and missiles, before opening up on each other with lasers.
Alexanders robot fires a long blast from its laser cannon, but Achilles manages to deflect it with a piece of reflective armour located on his robots arms, then he plans to hit back with their secret weapon, the "Green Laser", which their science boffin, Dr. Matsumoto, says should guarantee them victory, however, they soon find that they have a spy in their midst when Achilles fires his Green Lasers, only for Alexander to deflect the blasts using his own reflective armour plates. The referees switch off both robots ranged weapons, so the action switches to melee combat, and Achilles is placed at a disadvantage as Alexander relentlessly pummels him with repeated blows from his robots hydraulic fists, but, just as Achilles thinks he has regained his advantage and damages his opponents robot with a hidden cutting torch, Alexander cheats and reveals that his secret weapon is the ability for his robot to fire one of its fists like a missile, which malfunctions and veers towards the crowd. Achilles throws his machine in the way and manages to block the out of control missile, but his robot falls on to the bleachers, and 300 people are killed. The match is declared a draw, as although Alexander won the match, he broke the rules by using a projectile weapon when at the time they were prohibited, so a rematch is to be fought in 1 week.
Achilles then decides he has fulfilled his obligation and decides to retire, but is alarmed when he is told his place will be taken by a new breed of genetically engineered soldiers called "Gen-Jox", who have superior strength, endurance and reactions, but who are completely inexperienced and extremely arrogant.
As the film goes on, The spy is revealed and Achilles ends up fighting Alexander once more for revenge.
The film is really good, considering its subject matter, and the special effects for the robots are amazing considering not one bit of CGI was used.
That said, the acting is somewhat hammy and the characters spew out line after line of cliched dialogue, but this doesnt alter the fact that this film is a nice, fun film, which will appeal to young and old alike.
If you want to watch this film, you can find it HERE
Monday 4 November 2013
Dystopiarama - THX 1138 - Directors Cut (1971/2004)
Its not often I see the phrase "directors cut" mentioned in association with one of George Lucas's films and think "ooh!", although that said, I'm one of the few that quite likes what hes done with the original star wars movies, well to a certain extent (fuck you Jar Jar!).
So yeah, THX 1138 was George Lucas's first "proper" film as a professional director, and was based on his earlier short film "Electric Labyrinth - THX 1138 4EB" (which is included as a bonus feature on the directors cut DVD/Blu-Ray).
Set in some unspecified future period, of which the film makes no attempts or efforts to explain whatsoever it stars Robert Duvall as the titular THX 1138, a "drone" worker who lives in a society where there are no real individuals, and society is controlled according to the strict dictats of a computerised economical system, and where the law is enforced by silver faced and extremely amiable police robots.
The people of this bizarre future are kept in a permanent state of sedation as they mindlessly go about their assigned and extremely rigorously micromanaged work duties, with failure to take their state prescribed medications being a crime.
The state also ruthlessly enforces strict controls over individuals private lives, for example, each citizen is billeted to live in spartan accommodations with a roommate, sexual activity of any sort between people is completely banned, and the only entertainments allowed to the citizens revolve around watching banal "entertainment" holographic propaganda (one scene features THX watching a pornographic hologram while a machine masturbates him, this is the only permitted sexual release afforded to the people of this bizarre future).
THX however, along with his room mate, a female designated "LUH 3417" have ceased taking their state prescribed medications, and have embarked on a sexual relationship, however the omnipresent observers note this and soon enough they both begin to run afoul of the law, especially so when THX finds himself unable to concentrate at his mundane job assembling police robots, which almost causes a nuclear accident.
The film itself is a rather surreal one to watch, as the bizarre environment and emotionally stunted behaviour of the characters can become somewhat confusing to the casual viewer, a matter on which one of the characters (SEN 5241 - played by Donald Pleasence) actually muses upon in the films final act, as he ponders why there appear to be gaps in the fabric of the society whilst standing in front of a picture of Jesus (named OMM 0910 in the film, representing the official religion of the state, whom citizens "worship" by entering phone booth like chambers and telling the picture their woes while a series of pre recorded responses offer empathy and understanding, but provide no advice or assistance. All conversations with OMM are recorded and anyone found to be in violation of any law is arrested).
As this is the Directors Cut, and following in his tradition of "doing up" his older films, this version of the movie restores some scenes cut from the original theatrical release, alongside newly shot scenes and scenes "improved" by use of modern CGI.
Make no mistake about it, first time viewers will more than likely not understand the films content and will miss some of the references made by characters featured, but, when viewed "in the proper manner", THX 1138 is a skillfully crafted piece of nihilistic cinema, and Duvall does a wonderful job of playing a man whose brain has been "switched on" for the first time in his life and caused him to question and rebel against his surroundings.
This may not be a film to all peoples tastes, and can be considered to be rather boring in some places, but I quite like it.
So yeah, THX 1138 was George Lucas's first "proper" film as a professional director, and was based on his earlier short film "Electric Labyrinth - THX 1138 4EB" (which is included as a bonus feature on the directors cut DVD/Blu-Ray).
Set in some unspecified future period, of which the film makes no attempts or efforts to explain whatsoever it stars Robert Duvall as the titular THX 1138, a "drone" worker who lives in a society where there are no real individuals, and society is controlled according to the strict dictats of a computerised economical system, and where the law is enforced by silver faced and extremely amiable police robots.
The people of this bizarre future are kept in a permanent state of sedation as they mindlessly go about their assigned and extremely rigorously micromanaged work duties, with failure to take their state prescribed medications being a crime.
The state also ruthlessly enforces strict controls over individuals private lives, for example, each citizen is billeted to live in spartan accommodations with a roommate, sexual activity of any sort between people is completely banned, and the only entertainments allowed to the citizens revolve around watching banal "entertainment" holographic propaganda (one scene features THX watching a pornographic hologram while a machine masturbates him, this is the only permitted sexual release afforded to the people of this bizarre future).
THX however, along with his room mate, a female designated "LUH 3417" have ceased taking their state prescribed medications, and have embarked on a sexual relationship, however the omnipresent observers note this and soon enough they both begin to run afoul of the law, especially so when THX finds himself unable to concentrate at his mundane job assembling police robots, which almost causes a nuclear accident.
The film itself is a rather surreal one to watch, as the bizarre environment and emotionally stunted behaviour of the characters can become somewhat confusing to the casual viewer, a matter on which one of the characters (SEN 5241 - played by Donald Pleasence) actually muses upon in the films final act, as he ponders why there appear to be gaps in the fabric of the society whilst standing in front of a picture of Jesus (named OMM 0910 in the film, representing the official religion of the state, whom citizens "worship" by entering phone booth like chambers and telling the picture their woes while a series of pre recorded responses offer empathy and understanding, but provide no advice or assistance. All conversations with OMM are recorded and anyone found to be in violation of any law is arrested).
As this is the Directors Cut, and following in his tradition of "doing up" his older films, this version of the movie restores some scenes cut from the original theatrical release, alongside newly shot scenes and scenes "improved" by use of modern CGI.
Make no mistake about it, first time viewers will more than likely not understand the films content and will miss some of the references made by characters featured, but, when viewed "in the proper manner", THX 1138 is a skillfully crafted piece of nihilistic cinema, and Duvall does a wonderful job of playing a man whose brain has been "switched on" for the first time in his life and caused him to question and rebel against his surroundings.
This may not be a film to all peoples tastes, and can be considered to be rather boring in some places, but I quite like it.
Sunday 3 November 2013
Book Review:- Strange Playgrounds (2013)
I’ll be the first to admit that the horror genre is not
my cup of tea, having tried and failed several times in the past to enjoy the
scribblings of King, Lovecraft, Koontz etc., I’ve mostly resigned myself to
giving up on finding anything in the genre that I can find enjoyable.
I don’t know why this is, could be because I’m fairly
desensitised to shock, could be because when I’m reading the books I have
problems with suspension of disbelief, or it could be that I can usually figure
out what is going to happen after only reading a few chapters, thus the only
enjoyment I usually get from them in that instance is proving myself right, and
occasionally being surprised when I find I’ve made a mistake (which doesn’t happen too often).
So, back on subject, a friend of mine by the name of
George Daniel Lea recently had his first book published, and after seeing the
time and effort he has poured into it over the past 18 months or so, I decided
to give it a go, the end result of his efforts being the aforementioned “Strange
playgrounds”.
Strange Playgrounds is a collection of short stories (although it could be argued that some of
them are closer to being novellas) concentrating on the darker side of
human nature, specifically obsessions, deviances and lusts.
The stories themselves are written with a number of
influences, most notably the works of Clive Barker but also showing the subtle
influences of writers such as H.P Lovecraft and Bram Stoker, although a couple
of the stories would seem more at home as being described as being influenced
by TV shows such as The Twilight Zone and/or The Outer Limits.
To classify this book as simply being a “horror” novel
would do it a grave disservice (pardon
the pun), as it is
Many old clichés of the horror genre are given a new
twist, including new ways of looking at vampire and werewolf mythology, as well
as one story which bears some of the hallmarks of being a rather nice blend of
cyberpunk and psychological horror.
Unfortunately though, that said, the stories themselves
do suffer from one fatal flaw.
In many of the stories, the author explores the depths of
human depravity quite well, but many readers will almost certainly be put off
by the large amount of sexual content, particularly of the homoerotic kind,
which, and I’m going to be honest, I did find somewhat tiresome after a while,
especially so in some of the stories where it had an almost “tacked on” feel,
and offered no real benefit to the plot development as a whole.
While the author himself is openly homosexual (of which I have no objection to or opinion
on, before anyone starts) I do feel that a lot of the unnecessary sexual
content could be expunged and the storylines, as brief as they are, would
suffer no detriment.
That said, the prose itself does a wonderful job of being
very descriptive where it needs to be, leaving the reader to fill in certain
blanks as they please, but not so much as it makes you feel like you’re the one
doing all the work.
So, to sum up, Strange Playgrounds isn’t half bad for the
debut publication from a new author, and although it isn’t really my cup of
tea, it will almost certainly appeal to fans of this particular sub-genre of
horror, but I would not recommend it to those of a nervous disposition, or for
the easily offended.
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