Evil Aliens (2005)

March 13, 2009

evilaliensWell, I started watching this movie raw, that is without prior knowldege of the movie.  I quickly realized it was more slapstick than just a comedy and thank god..because it could only work that way.  THe story is common, but the writer and driector Jake West gives us some memorible scens.  The alien sex scenes are good for comedy.

As I was watching the film, it kept reminding me of Peter Jacksion first movie, Bad Taste (1987), it was not scared to up the gore factor, although Evil Aliens was more professionally made.

 

I do have one complaint about the aliens…why were they so weak and stupid. The beginning of the movie had them as evil alien badasses, but as the movie progressed they were just minless zombies, easy to kill.  Would an adnavece space-faring species relaly not movie out of the way of a truck?

 

Anyway, the movie works.  I enjoyed it, but again, I love what most people would turn off in disguist ior boredome.  It is a funny movie that does have it’s superior moments….and the dialogue pays homage to so many other sources such as Star Wars and Star Tek.

Categories: No Category

Outlander (2008)

March 12, 2009

outlanderFirst, I will just begin with what this movie takes from.  There are elements of the 13th Warrior, Alien 4 and a little predator.

It was ok.  Suprised to see John Hurt and RonPerlman here. Both Alien veterans.

 

The movie is good. It is just a basic movie with an Alien hunting down the vicitimes. It does attempt to create 3-D charatcers, but to be honest, I didnt get to attached to them…but the acting was ogod for this type of movie.

Categories: No Category

Babylon A.D. (2008)

March 9, 2009

badI decided to skip this when it first came out at the theater.  I didn’t know much about this movie due to the lack of a proper marketing campaign and that basic fact many studios don;t market Sci-Fi movies well.  I’ve seen VinDiesel’s previous Sci-Fi movies and, to me,  he has officially stabilized himself into a sumbol of the Sci-Fi genre as Arnold Swarzannegar did longbefore him.

As I began to watch the movie, it was off to a slow atart, but eventually I became to enjoy it.  I am not usually a fan of action movies, but, I enjoyed the axctions sequences here…with soem exceptions.  Close to the ending, we are unfortuantekly given a car chase that the movie could do without.  It seemd they just tacked it on, but completley unnessary and didn;t make sens.  In ghenera, the last 5 minutes of the movie destroyed it.  The ending, to put into one word: sucked.

Anyway, my fellow Sci-Fi Buffs, there a lot of little cool special effect and and sci-fo story elements/themse remesinis of Blade Runner, the 5th Element and, yes, Cherry 2000 that a viewrer can feel in theis future dystopia.  Check it out.

Categories: No Category

Babylon 5: The Lost Tales – Voices in the Dark (2007)

February 24, 2009

babylon5I am sure of the point of Lost Tales (to explore the Babylon 5 universe for fans who dearly miss the series, like me), but I am not sure of the point of the 2 stories they chose to do.  These stories are independent stand alone stories that do not add much to the canon.  The first story focuses too much on religion, which I think, goes away from the main premise of the Babylon 5 series of keeping a neutral ground when exploring multiple cultures/beliefs in a highly diverse galaxy.  The second story, makes the great Sheridan seem like a easy target for technomage manipulation.  Sheridan is a seasoned veteran of wars and the President of the everything, but seems to be easily swayed by a few dreams which I feel undermines the experience and greatness of his character.  Yes, you can argue that the technomages knew he would continue to choose the right path, but, just having Sheridan hesitating makes him look so weak.

 Anyway, I don’t want to attack something I appreciate.  Regardless of its flaws, these stories are welcome and it is quite nice to revisit the Babylon 5 universe.  In fact, whatever J. Michael Straczynski wrote Babylon 5, regardless of the quality,would have kept me quite satisfied.  The series ended before its time and unfortunately, they could not hit with a spin-off as the Star Trek series did.

Lost Tales is a sweet addition to the Babylon 5 series, but the stories do not necessarily add much to the canon and therefore seem to only appease die hard fans who miss the series who need a Babylon 5 fix now and then.

Categories: Babylon 5, TV Sci-Fi

Star Wreck: In The Pirkinning (2005)

February 6, 2009

starwreckIn my search for Sci-Fi gems, I came across this movie in 2007.  I am a lover of Star Trek, so the fact it was a parody of Star Trek drew me to it. 

Before I watched it, I did a quick scan of some scenes just to see if the production quality was acceptable to watch.   I was worried, that is was too much of a fan-made amateur film lacking in any true quality.  I must apologize of my ignorance of the Pirkinning series because, to my delight, I realized this fan made film was quite superior to even some professional made movies.

Also, my quick scan made me realize two things.  First, it is not an English movie, it was produced in Finland, therefore, the beloved characters speak Finnish.  Living abroad, I am quite used to reading subtitles, so I didn’t mind that too much, but up until that point, my Star Trek universe was only in English, so it was a unique experience to hear them speak another language.  But the language difference should not push you away from this gem.

The second thing I learned is that it is not only a parody of Star Trek, but also Babylon 5. At that time, I did not watch anything of Babylon 5, yet, so I felt a lot of the jokes may be lost on me.  So, I didn’t watch Star Wreck then, but I did save it for another time. 

Anyway, it made me realize it was time to watch the Babylon 5 series, which I did, and then I came back to this movie in 2008.  As usual, I am a little late on watching movies.

After watching it, I was blown away by the special effect.  This is what makes this movie awesome.  The special effects are Hollywood calibre and in a lot of cases puts the special effects of Star Trek and Babylon 5 to shame.

I certainly applaud and respect the filmmakers of this movie. Their commitment and passion of the original material is so apparent that a viewer can only enjoy their creation…hmmm..does this sound to rosy? Well, I can’t express my praise enough.   Just watch it.

Categories: 2000s, All Movies, Babylon 5

Babylon 5 Viewing Order

February 6, 2009

babylon5I was a latecomer to watching Babylon 5.  The series is amazing and unfortunately was overshadowed for a long time by Star Trek.  Even worse, Star Trek ripped it off with the introduction of DS9. 

Although both series had similar premise (daily turmoil in a galaxy full of sentient life), Babylon 5 offers a more realistic vision of the future. This is definitely one series a Sci-Fi Buff should not miss!

Viewing Order

Like the Star Wars and Star Trek universes, Babylon 5 did not film the entire story in chronological order. And, in my opinion, Babylon 5 is probably the worst for creating a confusing viewing order for new fans.  New viewers are usually lost and confused wondering which episodes/movies to watch first.

This is my suggested viewing order of Babylon 5.

Watch:

1) The Gathering (Pilot- Movie 1993) [IMDB] [Wikipedia]

2) Season 1    [IMDB Complete Episode Guide]      [Wikipedia Complete Episode Guide]

3) Season 2 

4) Season 3 

5) Season 4 – Watch “into the Fire” and stop. 

6) Thirdspace (Movie 1998)  [IMDB] [Wikipedia]

7) Season 4 – Continue until the end. 

8) In the Beginning (Movie 1998)  [IMDB] [Wikipedia]

9) Season 5 – Watch “Objects at Rest” and stop. 

10) The River of Souls (Movie 1998)  [IMDB] [Wikipedia]

11) Season 5 – Continue until the end. 

12) A Call to Arms (Movie 1999)  [IMDB] [Wikipedia]

13) Crusade 13 episodes  [IMDB] [Wikipedia]

14) Legend of the Rangers (Movie 2002) [IMDB] [Wikipedia]

15) The Lost Tales – Voices in the Dark  (Movie 2007) [IMDB] [Wikipedia]

Note: The viewing order can be a point to argue because you can watch it by chronological order of the filming/release dates or by chronological order of the timeline in the Babylon 5 universe. My list is a mix of both, but mainly I stick to the release dates. Others may suggest to strictly follow the release dates or to follow the timeline. It’s your choice.

BONUS

16) Star Wreck: The Pirkinning – Although not officially part of the Babylon 5 canon, it offers a good parody for those hardcore fans seeking more.

Discussion

Whew! We are done.  It might look daunting to start watching all of this, but I highly recommend this series.  It’s a truly excellent series.

When you’re finished come back to Sci-Fi Buff  to tell us what you thought about it.

To read more, have a discussion, or get more information, please visit our  Babylon 5 Forum

I’ve added the chronological order below for reference, but I strongly suggest you do not watch it in this order.

In order of series chronology:
2245–48 • In the Beginning (1st film)*
2256 • Babylon 5 station commissioned
2257 • The Gathering (Pilot)
2258 • Signs and Portents (Season 1)
2259 • The Coming of Shadows (Season 2)
2260 • Point of No Return (Season 3)
2261 • No Surrender, No Retreat (Season 4)**
2261 • Thirdspace (2nd film)***
2262 • The Wheel of Fire (Season 5)†
2263 • The River of Souls (3rd film)
2265 • The Legend of the Rangers (5th film)
2266 • A Call to Arms (4th film)
2267 • Crusade (spin-off series)
2271 • The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark
2278 • In the Beginning (1st film)*
2281 • Babylon 5 station decommissioned

* The framing story is set in 2278, and includes spoilers relating to seasons 1–4.
** The final episode of the season includes scenes of future events up to 3262 and beyond.
*** The story is set between the two wars in season 4.
† The final episode of series is set in 2281

 

-Robin

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Categories: Babylon 5, TV Sci-Fi

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