Logan’s Run, Planet of the Apes and other SciFi Classics

[Kilana2]

Ernest Borg Nine , sorry Borgnine, also appeared in the Poseidon Adventure and The Black Hole.

The Black Hole was quite dark. With Maximilian Schell as Dr. Hans Reinhardt, featuring Anthony Perkins. Maximilian, the robot, was quite scary......

One of the older Star Trek novels (at least the German edition of it) got a cover with an image from The Black Hole. Someone had obviously no clue about SciFi.

 

[Christopher]

The Black Hole was quite dark. With Maximilian Schell as Dr. Hans Reinhardt, featuring Anthony Perkins. Maximilian, the robot, was quite scary......

It was basically Disney's first attempt to expand into PG-rated fare (which means PG-13 by today's standards), which was confusing and controversial at the time, since a lot of people went to it expecting kid-friendly content and were surprised by what they got. Eventually Disney created the Touchstone label for their older-skewing films to avoid the confusion.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Black Hole always cracks me up. It's Maximilian Schell...trapped in Maximilian's shell. (And don't even try to tell me that was a coincidence...)

 

[Kilana2]

The Black Hole was quite dark. With Maximilian Schell as Dr. Hans Reinhardt, featuring Anthony Perkins. Maximilian, the robot, was quite scary......

It was basically Disney's first attempt to expand into PG-rated fare (which means PG-13 by today's standards), which was confusing and controversial at the time, since a lot of people went to it expecting kid-friendly content and were surprised by what they got. Eventually Disney created the Touchstone label for their older-skewing films to avoid the confusion.

So Wikipedia say, that MPAA ratings are not legally binding. German FSK ratings are based on the local youth protection law, classified according to age (0, 6, 12, 16, 18), but don't include any parental guidance. The Black Hole has FSK 12. That doesn't state anything about the kid's maturity or the contents of the movie.

Americans usually remove/cut more nudity and sex scenes, the Germans more violence (TNG - Conspiracy: Remmick's head explodes, parasite escapes......)

 

[Kilana2]

The Black Hole always cracks me up. It's Maximilian Schell...trapped in Maximilian's shell. (And don't even try to tell me that was a coincidence...)

The robot wasn't named Maximilian for nothing.....

 

[Christopher]

And in Maximilian's Hell.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Isn't the AI that powers Maximilian supposed to be Frank McCrae, Kate's father?

 

[Kilana2]

Kate's father was killed by Reinhardt some 20 years before, if I'm not mistaken. I don't know who took possession of Maximilian, or when Reinhardt created the robot in the first place.

 

[Christopher]

Isn't the AI that powers Maximilian supposed to be Frank McCrae, Kate's father?

I don't think so. My impression was that Frank was turned into one of the "robot" drones that crewed the ship, like all the others.

I looked into it, and there's a poster here who argues that the converted human "drones" retained a vestige of their humanity, while Maximilian had none, and therefore was unlikely to be based on a decent person like Frank was supposed to have been. Although apparently a number of people have assumed they were connected.

 

[DWF]

Isn't the AI that powers Maximilian supposed to be Frank McCrae, Kate's father?

It would explain why Reihardt asked Kate to protect him from Maximilian.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

What do you guys think of Carpenter's Escape from New York?

Not much. Never was a fan of John Carpenter's stuff. Plus, characters like Snake Plissken always get on my nerves.

Interesting. What bothered you about the Plissken character?

What do you guys think of Carpenter's Escape from New York?

Not much. Never was a fan of John Carpenter's stuff. Plus, characters like Snake Plissken always get on my nerves.

I remember liking it at the time, but haven't seen it since it first came out.

Besides HALLOWEEN, of course, my favorite Carpenter films are probably THE THING and BIG TROUBLE WITH LITTLE CHINA. And I have a soft spot for THE FOG as well.

The Thing was a strong, tight film, and unlike the trend of many 80's sci-fi movies, there was no sweet resolution, no clear-cut winner, just devastation and uncertainty.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Actually, the 2011 prequel answered the lingering question in the 1982 version.

The 2011 film established that the Thing can't assimilate anything artificial like earrings, tooth fillings, etc. Keith David's character in the '82 film has an earring. So we know he's not the Thing. I think Kurt Russell's character has one as well.

What bothered you about the Plissken character?

I don't like anti-heroes.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

One problem I have with the whole "STAR WARS ruined SF movies" thing is the assumption that, if not for STAR WARS, we would be drowning in literate, cerebral SF films, as the studios fell over themselves to give us lavish cinematic adaptations of Gene Wolfe, Ursula K. Le Guin, Larry Niven, or whomever..

This same assumption has been extended to other movies in other genres as well; people believe that if not for Star Wars, all of the movies from the 70's made by Coppola, Scorsese, etc would have continued (basically, people look at the 70's and think it a Golden Age for literate, intelligent films, while the 80's and 90's are considered the nadir.) And all of it, IMHO, is being subconsciously blamed on Star Wars and other sci-fi/fantasy movies.

 

[Phantom]

Really? You thought he was the only one to continue the role from the movie to series?

Really? You thought he was the only one to continue the role from the movie to series?

Actually the ones who did that were Alexis Cruz as Skaara and Erick Avari as Kasuf, though I don't think Avari showed up until season 2. So if it had been the same actor playing Daniel, he wouldn't have been the only one, unless you're limiting it to the regular cast. (Also Richard Kind appeared in both the movie and Stargate Atlantis, but as different characters.)

I'd actually forgotten about Skaara. Kasuf was S2 so at the time I was first watching, yeah, I was thinking Daniel was the only carry over.

 

[TremblingBluStar]

Or Asimov's stories set hundreds of millennia in the future where people still use wire recorders and computer punch cards. And, yes, vacuum tubes. And, of course, where the ultimate in computing is a single vast central computer running a whole planet, rather than billions of personal devices.

Yes. I suppose centralized computing could make a comeback. It almost did when there was talk of personal devices not having a dedicated OS or software, simply downloading software as needed from the Internet. And, of course, cloud gaming. But, even if the technology were mature enough to do this, I don't see the consumer giving up control of their devices or ownership of their games.

...And where women are still limited to being housewives and husband-hunters, and virtually everyone is white.

Yes. Multiculturalism became more of a thing with science fiction in the 60's, with writers like Heinlein and Ellison.

Most of the stories I have read allow for women in important roles. A good example would be Susan Calvin from I, Robot (the novel, not the stupid movie), but they are pretty rare. In the short story I am reading now, the main character is struggling as a writer for glorified commercial jingle writer, or Coms, as the story calls them, in the 24th century. He makes a comment about his wife needing to get a part-time job, but of course, not the sole bread winner.

What I like about this story is the idea that in the future pretty much all music is jingles, or some sort of advertisement (like in Demolition Man), and television has been replaced with "visiphone", which is a sweet sounding retro name!

 

[Christopher]

Most of the stories I have read allow for women in important roles. A good example would be Susan Calvin from I, Robot (the novel, not the stupid movie), but they are pretty rare.

Asimov's I, Robot is a collection of stories, not a novel. Which is why I don't have a problem with the movie, since it's basically just another story under the blanket title, a loose prequel to the others.

And yes, Susan Calvin was an accomplished professional, but in keeping with the prejudices of the time, she was only able to achieve that by being completely unfeminine and unattractive, so that nobody was interested in marrying her or vice-versa. She was "unsexed," as Lady Macbeth would put it, and therefore could function in a conventionally male role.

 

[Greg Cox]

And yes, Susan Calvin was an accomplished professional, but in keeping with the prejudices of the time, she was only able to achieve that by being completely unfeminine and unattractive, so that nobody was interested in marrying her or vice-versa. She was "unsexed," as Lady Macbeth would put it, and therefore could function in a conventionally male role.

Not unlike Pike in "The Cage" admitting that he didn't think of Number One as a woman, because she was logical, scientific, etc.

 

[Mysterion]

I, Robot[/I] is a collection of stories, not a novel. Which is why I don't have a problem with the movie, since it's basically just another story under the blanket title, a loose prequel to the others.

Have you read Harlan Ellison's unproduced I, Robot script? A much better story than the movie we actually got. Much more respectful to the source material.

 

[Kilana2]

It's a funny thing, that Doc Brown warns Marty McFly not to interact with himself and avoids his younger self, too.

In Star Trek some characters interact with each other (Janeway). Lucsley and Dulmur get headaches.....


Timetravel
Temporal Loops
Utopia
Androids
Parallel Universes
Odd and cruel regimes
Playing God

The motifs repeat themthelves in those movies....

 

[Christopher]

Have you read Harlan Ellison's unproduced I, Robot script? A much better story than the movie we actually got. Much more respectful to the source material.

Quite possibly. Granted, the Proyas movie is much more of an action tentpole, but for an action tentpole, it isn't bad at all. Sure, it could've been better or more faithful, but as its own entity, it works. It is from the same guy who directed Dark City, after all. Now, there's a classic (at least the director's cut).