Top 10 Science Fiction Films

In honour of "May Fourth" ("May the Force Be With You") -- and even though "Star Wars" is not "science fiction" (but rather "science fantasy") -- here are my top 10 sci fi films:

Blade Runner

The Thing

Alien

Children of Men

Aliens

The Road Warrior (Mad Max 2)

Fury Road (Mad Max 4)

12 Monkeys

2001

Looper

Honourable mention: Dune 1 and Dune 2.

(Perhaps I would end up with a slightly different list if I thought about this for a few hours -- but I'm sure that nothing in the "top 5" would change.)

As for Star Wars, my favourite two films are The Empire Strikes Back and Rogue One. I regard the "Andor" series -- Andor seasons one and two, and Rogue One -- to be the best thing out of the Star Wars universe (and not really like anything else in it).

Have a good May 4th!

Rutger Hauer RIP

Rutger Hauer -- no doubt best known for his nuanced portrayal of the replicant 'Roy Batty' in Blade Runner -- has passed away at the age of 75. (More information here.)

Here is a scene -- the death speech of Roy Batty -- that is forever seared into my memory.

RIP

Blade Runner 2049 is very good

So I just saw Blade Runner 2049. Here are some immediate reactions (no spoilers!):

·       It’s very good. I give it a 9.7 out of 10.

·       But…it’s not as good as the original (well, maybe as good as the initial theatrical release, the one with cheesy voice-over and the tacked-on happy ending, but not as good as either the ‘Director’s Cut’ or the ‘Final Cut’).

·       While not as good as the original, Blade Runner 2049 nonetheless builds interestingly on the original; it does not detract from the power of the original by ‘ruining’ elements of the world (so think ‘Aliens’ not ‘Highlander 2’).

·       It’s visually stunning. In this respect, it is equal to the original (though of course that’s not a fair comparison, given the greater budget and technical power available for the sequel). 

·       The world-creation is amazing—just as it was in the original, but the new film expands the world in interesting ways by going places (geographically, intellectually, and visually) that the original did not.

·       The acting is uniformly excellent.

·       The story is compelling. Perhaps there are some holes, but nothing leapt out at me while watching the film.

·       The music is good, but not quite the equal of the original Vangelis score. Towards the end of the film it became slightly distracting.

So overall it’s a great film. See it! As a sequel, though, it doesn’t quite capture the ‘lightning in a bottle’ of the original. But it is a very worthy follow-up. I certainly plan to watch it again soon…

OK, I'm now excited for Blade Runner 2049

When I first learned that a sequel to Blade Runner (my all-time favourite film) was in the works, I was not thrilled. Why mess with a singular work of art?

But after the first trailer was released I began to think that the sequel might not be so bad after all. And now it is receiving almost uniformly positive reviews (like this one). It currently enjoys a 98% 'fresh' rating at Rotten Tomatoes. 

So now I'm excited to see it! It's a nice feeling...

UPDATE:
While you're waiting for the film to be released properly, there are three short 'prequels' available at Youtube to re-familiarize yourself with the world: (a) "Blackout 2022" (an anime short); (b) "2036: Nexus Dawn"; and (c) "2048: Nowhere to Run". As the dates imply, these short films fill in some of the history between 2019 (when the original film, now quite amusingly, takes place) and 2049.

Maybe Blade Runner 2049 will not be terrible?

So two years ago (!) I expressed the view that the planned Blade Runner sequel was a bad idea. The original film is the greatest science-fiction film ever, and it's completely self-sufficient. Tacking on a sequel, I claimed, would only diminish the original (among other things, if Deckard survived for another 30+ years, it would eliminate the possibility that he was a replicant, a possibility that the original film wonderfully left unresolved).

But having watched (and read an analysis of) the new trailer, I may have to reopen my mind on this question... Perhaps the sequel will not be so terrible after all.

I mean, I have to give credit to the film makers for at least keeping Atari in its dystopian vision of the future:

Happy Birthday Roy Batty!

Everyone’s favourite replicant, Roy Batty, was (is? will be?) born today!

Ah, replicants.  They grow up so quickly!

(More seriously, while Blade Runner is perhaps my favourite film of all time, setting it in 2019 always struck me as a big mistake, even when I first watched it in 1984.)

Barely Hanging in There!

Hopefully things will lighten up soon. But for now, gentle readers, I'm feeling some significant (work-related) pressure!

Further blogging unlikely for at least a few days...