Displaying items by tag: science fiction

“What’s fun about seeing THX 1138 now, after 50 years, is to see how George Lucas took the rather dark themes and dynamic visual storytelling of his first film and found a way to infuse them into the Saturday matinee style films of the Star Wars series. THX is not his best film, but it’s fascinating to see the seeds of his future work within it.” – Gary Leva, director of Fog City Mavericks

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of THX 1138, George Lucas’s feature-length adaptation of his award-winning 1967 USC student film Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB.

Released two years before American Graffiti and six years before Star Wars, Lucas’s first motion picture starred Robert Duvall (Apocalypse Now, Tender Mercies) and Donald Pleasence (You Only Live Twice, Halloween) and was about a dystopian future where love and individuality are forbidden.

THX 1138 was executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) as part of a deal in which Warner Bros. would finance and distribute American Zoetrope productions. [Read on here...]

All right, we have two things for you today…

The first, is that I’ve just posted my in-depth review of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989), newly released on 4K Ultra HD by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. It’s a great disc, with a beautifully-remastered transfer and a great new DTS:X sound mix as well. Do check it out here.

The other thing is a recommendation for a great TV series that’s streaming right now on Apple TV+: Ron Moore’s For All Mankind.

Trust me when I say that if you’re a fan of science fiction, or human spaceflight, or alternate history, or just great character drama, this is absolutely a series that you should be watching. So let me tell you why you should be, and I promise there will be no spoilers. [Read on here...]

“Star Trek: The Motion Picture wasn’t a perfect film, but it had a plethora of nearly perfect moments.” — Inglorious Treksperts co-host Mark A. Altman

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the first big-screen adventure based upon Gene Roddenberry’s legendary 1960s television series with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley reprising the roles that made them famous of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, respectively.

Directed by Robert Wise (West Side Story, The Sound of Music), the film also reunited James Doohan as Scotty, George Takei as Sulu, Majel Barrett as Dr. Chapel, Walter Koenig as Chekov, and Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, and also featured Persis Khambatta as Ilia and Stephen Collins as Decker. [Read more here...]

“The Abyss does something that every single Cameron film does: explores new frontiers in the technology of film making. And that’s important.” — Matthew Kapell, editor of The Films of James Cameron: Critical Essays

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 30th anniversary of the release of The Abyss, James Cameron’s (The Terminator, Titanic) underwater sci-fi adventure starring Ed Harris (The Right Stuff) and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (The Color of Money).

Also starring Michael Biehn (Aliens) and featuring groundbreaking visual effects, The Abyss opened thirty years ago this past summer. For the occasion The Bits features a package of statistics and box-office data that places the movie’s performance in context, along with passages from vintage film reviews, a reference/historical listing of the movie’s showcase presentations, and, finally, an interview segment with a film historian who reflects on the film three decades after its debut. [Read on here...]

“Alien (like other 1970s films such as Jaws, Superman, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Godfather, and Star Wars) was a seminal landmark in the upgrade of shopworn B-movie clichés — monsters, comic book characters, flying saucers, gangsters, Saturday afternoon serials — into major A-movie assets.” — Paul M. Sammon, author of Ridley Scott: The Making of His Movies

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of Alien, the sci-fi/horror classic about the five-man, two-woman (and one cat) crew of the Nostromo, who got more than they bargained for after investigating a distress signal from a mysterious planet.

Suspense, atmospheric moodiness and Oscar-winning visual effects were among the highlights of Alien, directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator) and starring Tom Skerritt (Top Gun), Veronica Cartwright (The Right Stuff), Harry Dean Stanton (Repo Man), John Hurt (The Elephant Man), Ian Holm (Chariots of Fire), Yaphet Kotto (Live and Let Die), and Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters) as Ellen Ripley. [Read on here...]

“The Phantom Menace is the film that caused a generation gap in Star Wars fandom.” — W.R. Miller, author of The Star Wars Historical Sourcebook: Volume One 1971 to 1976

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 20th anniversary of the release of Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace, the first entry in the long-awaited prequel trilogy to the original 1977-83 Star Wars trilogy.

Marking series creator George Lucas’s return to directing, The Phantom Menace opened twenty years ago this month, with some fans camping out for days (plural!) to experience a screening on opening day. And while the movie was an undeniable box-office smash, breaking numerous earnings and attendance records, there was a great disturbance in the Force as the film left a lot of moviegoers and critics underwhelmed and disappointed. [Read on here...]

“With its dramatic and satisfying conclusion of the overall plot and its upbeat finale, Return of the Jedi set the future of the Star Wars brand on an extremely sure footing and ensured that the trilogy would be regarded as one of the greatest of all time.” — Craig Stevens, author of The Star Wars Phenomenon in Britain

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 35th anniversary of the release of Return of the Jedi, the concluding chapter of George Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy, which featured Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher reprising their popular roles of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia, respectively.

Tying up all of the loose ends of the previous chapter and showcasing a galaxy’s worth of creatures, robots and visual effects, Return of the Jedi opened to record-breaking box-office thirty-five years ago this week. [Read on here...]

“2001 is Kubrick’s crowning achievement. It’s the movie that launched him into ’superstar’ status that placed him alongside the likes of Welles, Bergman, Fellini, Kurosawa, Hitchcock, Ford...” — film historian and author Raymond Benson

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick’s acclaimed science-fiction adventure starring Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood.

Featuring groundbreaking visual effects and memorable usage of classical music (and decades of analysis), 2001 premiered 50 years ago this week, and for the occasion The Bits features a compilation of statistics and box office data that places the movie’s performance in context; passages from vintage film reviews; and a reference/historical listing of the movie’s limited-market 70-millimeter and roadshow engagements. [Read on here...]

Welcome to a new edition of Pick-Ups!

Welcome to October! I’ve been gone on vacation for the past couple of weeks, but it’s good to be back. I have a lot of reviews to get in this month, including both new and older titles that we haven’t covered here previously, so be prepared for that. I also have a new bi-weekly feature at the beginning of next month, and if you’re a Scream Factory fan, you will definitely appreciate it.

And since it’s the Halloween season, I’ll be attending several theatrical events this month. This weekend we checked out Tim Burton’s latest, which is Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and anybody who follows me on Facebook knows how I felt about it... not good. Anyways, Rifftrax is doing a live riffing of Carnival of Souls later this month as well, which I’m a little torn over, but I never miss one of their shows. Also, on October 5 (Wednesday), Fathom Events is presenting Young Frankenstein in theaters for a one night event, which includes a live introduction from Mel Brooks himself. I’m also attending a marathon of all of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies on October 29 at my local Alamo Drafthouse. Needless to say, Halloween certainly keeps me busy every year.

And if you’re staying in for much of Halloween this year, then there’s plenty on TV to check out. As a matter of fact, you might want to clear your DVRs as there is a ton of Halloween programming, especially on Turner Classic Movies. They’re showing quite a range of monster movies, slashers, and everything in between. You can read all about it here.

Anyways, let’s move on to some reviews. [Read on here…]

For many fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000, getting the crew aboard the Satellite of Love, as well as the mad scientists way down in Deep 13, all together for a reunion wasn’t ever likely to become a reality. There were lots of factors at play keeping it from happening, many of which stem from the relationships and the “alleged” goings-on behind the scenes of the show.

Many of the cast members had also gone their various ways to pursue other projects after the show went off the air in 1999, not to mention that it would only have been relegated to a convention appearance of some sort. In many ways, it was indeed a long-shot that it would ever happen. [Read on here...]