FILM REVIEW OF ''PROMETHEUS" (2012)

In a New York Times interview, “Blade Runner” director Ridley Scott described his third science fiction film “Prometheus” as “‘2001’ on steroids.”  This comparison is entirely appropriate, particularly if you’ve seen the enigmatic but thought-provoking Stanley Kubrick epic about the evolution of mankind since the dawn of time.  Scott’s first 3-D spectacle (“Prometheus” is fun to watch once in 3-D) has elicited a wide variety of commentary since it arrived in theaters.  Essentially, “Prometheus” (**1/2 out of ****) chronicles mankind’s search for its origins.  Two archeologists convince a wealthy corporate sponsor to create a spaceship that will transport them to the far reaches of the galaxy where they believe that they will find the answers to questions that the ancient etched in caves long ago.  Of course, what they find is not what they wanted.  Nevertheless, they do learn something not only about themselves but also their creators that will keep audiences arguing about the meaning of “Prometheus” until the producers shed more celluloid on the situation.  Ostensibly, “Prometheus” qualifies as a quasi-prequel to Scott’s own scary sci-fi saga “Alien.”  The chief difference is that “Prometheus” isn’t a tenth as horrifying.  Nothing like the pugnacious pickle-shaped predator bursting from the chest of a human appears in this tame sci-fi opus.  Meantime, Scott has stated that “Prometheus” isn’t a prequel. He concedes, however, that the seeds of “Alien” have been sown into it.  You cannot watch “Prometheus” without thinking about “Alien.”  The “Alien” space jockey—as it is referred to--appears in “Prometheus” and so does an “Alien” prototype.  Furthermore, the story unfolds like “Alien,” boasts a contemplative android, a tenacious female protagonist, and a couple of tentacled reptilian creatures icky enough to make you shrink in revulsion.  The problem with “Prometheus” is that it is more speculative than dramatic.  Everybody about the physical appearance of “Prometheus” looks dazzling.  The technology and the equipment look like each belongs in the future.  Some of the performances are extraordinary, too, especially Michael Fassbinder as a sophisticated android with a lethal sense of humor.   Like “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Prometheus” spends more time contemplating our predicament rather than frightening the living daylights out of us above it. 

“Prometheus” opens on what appears to be planet Earth.  We are treated to some awesome vistas as we fly above the sprawling terrain.  A man in a cloak with alabaster-white skin and a muscularly sculpted physique walks up to a waterfall while a gigantic, saucer-shaped UFO hovers not far away.  He takes the lid off a container and consumes some blackish goop.  No sooner has he swallowed this nasty stuff than he suffers crippling spasms and plunges into the waterfall.  The man’s powerful body integrates and we see his DNA appear.  As incredibly visual and mysterious as this scene is, you find yourself wondering exactly who this dude is and from whence he came.  The next sequence finds a team of archeologists excavating a site in the year 2089 when Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Naomi Rapace of “Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows”) finds a star map on the wall of a cave.  She summons her colleague, Dr. Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green of “Brooklyn’s Finest”), who also happens to be her boyfriend, and shows him a cave painting with a tall, thin, man pointing to an array a stars.  The importance of this primitive drawing is that Shaw and Holloway have found similar examples of it around the world.  They believe that they have discovered a star map that will take them to meet their creators.  The next scene finds everybody aboard the Exploratory Vessel Prometheus in the year 2093 as an android, David (Michael Fassbinder of “Centurion”), keeps track of them before they awaken from stasis.  Once Dr. Shaw and Dr. Holloway along with their colleagues have gotten up and eaten, they meet the CEO of the Weyland Corporation, Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce of “Lockout”), whose billions have brought them into orbit around a faraway moon designated LV 223.  He makes comments about the mission in a holographic presentation to them and then hands the briefing over to our heroes.  Not long afterward, Weyland’s dictatorial daughter, Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron of “Snow White and the Huntsman”) informs them that they answer to her and she controls the mission.  Basically, Vickers is the equivalent of Ellen Ripley from “Alien.”  She warns them not to contact any aliens until they have notified her about it.

Our heroes, David, and their colleagues land on the surface of the moon near a gigantic structure and enter it wearing space suits.  No sooner have they walked in than they discover that they can take off their helmets because they can breathe the air.  They find a Mount Rushmore sized alien head in one of the rooms as well as mysterious vases that contain the black goop that the exterrestial sampled in the prologue.  They also find tall, imposing aliens like the “Alien” space jockey.  Most of these fellows are dead and laying about in piles in what appears to be bunkers.  David checks out a room teeming with vases.  Their exploration is cut short because a storm is moving in and they are order to evacuate and return to the ship.  Two of Shaw’s colleagues are accidentally left behind.  The captain of the spacecraft, Janek (Idris Elba of “Ghost Rider, Spirit of Vengeance”), advises them to sit out the storm and await their arrival in the morning.  Creepy things begin to happen and the two men encounter a snake-like creature that latches on to them.  They are not prepared for what happens to them.  Later, it turns out that Dr. Shaw has been contaminated with an organism in her body that resembles an embryro.  She explains that she is not fertile and begins a mad dash to remove this organism from her body.

The monsters in “Prometheus” aren’t as scary as the “Alien” beasties.  Meantime, this two hour-plus, R-rated potboiler will make you think about what didn’t happen on screen more than what did.

FILM REVIEW OF ''ESCAPE FROM L.A." (1996)

If Snake Plissken had an attitude problem in "Escape from New York," wait until you behold the havoc he wrecks in the long-awaited, slam-bang sequel "Escape from Los Angeles,"(***1/2 OUT OF ****)  a memorable apocalyptic science fiction satire that more than compensates for many of the shortcomings in the original.

In August 2000, an earthquake separates Los Angeles from the California mainland. An ultra-conservative Jerry Falwell-type politician (Cliff Robertson of "PT-109"), who predicted the earthquake, has managed to exploit his good fortune to win the presidency in the next election. The term of his presidency, however, is lifetime. He rewrites the laws so that he can hang on to the post for life then relocates the nation's capital to Lynchburg, Virginia. A new morally white-washed America has emerged by the year 2013. Cursing, smoking, pre-marital as well as extra-marital sex, and eating red meat now constitutes crimes. The government deports anybody who doesn't conform to this new order and sends them to the gang-infested cesspool of Los Angeles. The U.S. Police Force maintains a chain of forts along the coastline to repel the efforts of a South American revolutionary, Cuervo Jones (George Corraface of "Christopher Columbus"), who plans to spearhead a Third World invasion to reclaim America. 

Things take a turn for the worse when the President's naïve daughter Utopia (A.J. Langer) steals a black box. The black box contains the remote control to activate a necklace of lethal satellites designated 'the Sword of Damocles.' These satellites encircle Earth, and they can fire a magnetic pulse beam with pinpoint accuracy that can disable any kind of electric engine. Utopia hijacks Air Force 3 and the jetliner crashes in L.A. She allies herself with Cuervo Jones who threatens to use the weapon against America. The U.S. Police Force dispatches a rescue team, but they all die. Enter 'war hero' Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell of "Tombstone"), unshaven, sporting a black patch over his left eye, his typically surly attitude toward authority in general, in handcuffs with a police escort. The only thing Snake seems to be interested in is where he can get his next cigarette. The police infect Snake with a deadly virus that gives him less than ten hours to retrieve the black box.  Snake remembers being infected by a scratch from a person who walks past him but he puts down this brief episode as nothing until he realizes the enormityof what has happened.  Reluctantly, Snake agrees to take the mission and rides a nuclear mini-sub into Los Angeles.

Snake shares the sentiments of Marlon Brando's motorcycle maverick from "The Wild One." When asked what he rebels against, Brando's black-leather clad biker replies: "What have you got?" Whatever it is, Snake is against it. Snake thumbs his nose at the rules as well as the rule makers. He is the ultimate anti-hero, sent to save a civilization that he abhors. Former Disney star Kurt Russell reprises the tough guy tongue-in-cheek role he created in "Escape from New York." No, you don't have to have seen the original to appreciate "Escape from Los Angeles." His fastidious performance boasts equal amounts of put-on and posturing. Russell delivers his dialogue in a low, rasping monotone that parodies Clint Eastwood's 'Man with No Name" bounty hunter character. Snake resembles a fashionably rode-hard but put-up-wet Marvel Comic super hero clad in skin-tight, black garb, with matching automatic pistols. Nevertheless, Snake hardly qualifies as a super hero. The filmmakers have a great time poking fun at their one-eyed protagonist. Instead of calling him 'blue eyes,' they refer to him as 'blue eye.' Everybody who comes into contact with Snake for the first time expresses surprise that Snake isn't taller. Snake acts rather gullible on occasions when he has to depend on characters who double-cross him.

While the first "Escape" represented a triumph of style over substance, the "Escape" sequel triumphs both in style and substance. "Escape from New York" attained classic cult status as a darkly comic, industrial-strength escapade where Snake rescued a U.S. President from a grim maximum security prison on Manhattan Island. The story generated at least a modicum of tension because Snake had to contend with the severe time restriction. He had been injected with a poison that would kill him if he failed to accomplish his mission by its deadline. In the first "Escape," Snake sought to retrieve a cassette tape to bring about world peace. Strictly a follow-the-numbers formula melodrama, "Escape" benefited from its gritty looks, Carpenter's fantastic orchestral score, and the eerie atmosphere between the time that Snake landed his glider on New York City's World Trade Center and the violent shoot'em up finale on a bridge. The first "Escape" suffered because the scene between the inventive opening and concluding set pieces were synthetic and forgettable. The beauty of "Escape from Los Angeles" lies in the producer's refusal to stray from its formulaic origins. Moreover, the filmmakers have beefed up the budget, broadened the scope, and pumped up the story. Once again Snake battles the clock in his strenuous efforts to recover a device that can trigger world-wide destruction. There is a far greater sense of urgency in this "Escape" as we see Snake cutting corners and blowing away the opposition at every turn to save time. The sequence where he first tires to kill Cuervo Jones has a frenetic Indiana Jones quality.  Snake commandeers motorcycles and leaps from one vehicle to the next, swapping lead with a horde of unsavory villains.  Perhaps the strangest scene involves the deranged cosmetic surgeon (Bruce Campbell of "Evil Dead") who carves his victims up to get their useful body parts.

Director John Carpenter never lets the story slow down so we can catch our breath. Just when you think that you have it all figured out, he pulls a fast one with a clever surprise or two that enlivens this "Escape." "Escape from Los Angeles" pushes the envelope further in all directions. Carpenter penned the script with producer Debra Hill and Kurt Russell. Snake's mission is no picnic. The filmmakers plunge Snake headlong into one rigorous, hair-raising adventure after another. Snake spends the nine and a half hours of the literal storyline jumping through one flaming hoop after another in his quest for the black box. Of course, Carpenter and company have wisely compressed the time and super-charged the action so that the movie hurdles along at a breakneck pace.  Several familiar faces pad out the cast. Stacy Keach of "Mike Hammer" fame plays the same role Lee Van Cleef had in the original. Keach ranks as the top cop who coordinates between Snake and Cliff Robertson's scene-chewing president. "Rain Man" co-star Valerie Golino and "Pulp Fiction's" Steve Buscemi help Snake navigate through the rubble of Los Angeles. The only thing "Escape from L. A." doesn't do better is repeat the same orchestral score. John Carpenter received credit for the music, but Shirley Walker of "Batman") puts a spin on the theme that doesn't compare favorably to the original. If you thought the first "Escape" remotely entertaining, "Escape from L.A." should blow your mind. Watch out for all that R-rated violence and profanity.

FILM REVIEW OF ''BATTLE: LOS ANGELES'' (2011)

If the tenacious enemy the U.S. Marines tangle with in director Jonathan Liebesman’s “Battle: Los Angeles” (*** out of ****) didn’t come from another planet, then this above-average PG-13 rated Columbia Pictures’ release wouldn’t qualify as a science fiction shoot‘em up. As it is, “Battle: Los Angeles” amounts to marginal sci-fi. The guys who wrote and directed this suspenseful but straightforward 116-minute saga strive for adrenaline-laced realism. They aren’t out to imitate the outlandish audacity of “Skyline” with its “Cloverfield” style monsters trashing a coastal metropolis. Ostensibly, “Battle: Los Angeles” seems like a Marine recruiting video. The scarcity of memorable characters and scene-stealing aliens are offset by its splendid computer generated special effects and Aaron Eckhart’s bravura performance.

Like last year’s “Skyline” and many sci-fi films dating to 1951’s “The Thing From Another World,” “Battle: Los Angeles” shows aliens plunging into the Earth in meteors that turn out to be spacecraft. Unlike “Skyline,” Liebesman’s movie boasts aliens that lack reptilian features with tentacles galore. Instead, the enemy look like the “Star Wars” storm troopers. Herein lies the chief problem that “Battle: Los Angeles” faces. Since it doesn’t look like your typical sci-fi tale and the filmmakers give the extraterrestrials the short shrift, many moviegoers and critics are maligning it without mercy No, “Battle: Los Angeles” neither wallows in political allegories like “District 9” nor does it assemble a speculative arsenal of weapons to destroy the enemy as in “Independence Day.” “Battle: Los Angeles” looks more like “Black Hawk Down.” You wind up caring more about the human characters. Nevertheless, you develop considerable respect for the pugnacious aliens. They track down and kill both civilians and military alike by targeting mobile radio and telephone communication. Unlike “Skyline,” “Battle: Los Angeles” concludes with greater optimism. Basically, this movie celebrates male camaraderie as well as the indomitable human spirit of survival.

After a false start that depicts the devastation the aliens have wrought around the globe, the action flashes back to the hours before the catastrophic invasion. During this prologue, Liebesman and "The General's Daughter" scenarist Christopher Bertolini introduce a number of young Marines and their leaders. Except for a few high-ranking officers, the Marines here are grunts on the ground. Aside from their platoon commander, these Marines are the followers who wind up leading the way. As the protagonist, veteran Marine Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart of "The Dark Knight") has served 20 years in the Corps. Nantz wants to retire because his last campaign in Iraq turned bittersweet when he lost several leathernecks but received a Silver Star for valor. Not surprisingly, Nantz doesn't care about the commendation. Moreover, the memories of the men that died under his command haunt him. Naturally, when the meteors start falling, the Pentagon deploys the Marines from Camp Pendleton, and Nantz finds himself reassigned to Echo Company, 2nd battalion, 5th Marine regiment. Predictably, there is a rumble in the ranks about Nantz's gung-ho attitude, and the young Marines believe that he will treat them like cannon fodder. Indeed, Nantz behaves like 'John Wayne' in one scene, and his company commander, 2nd Lieutenant William Martinez (Ramón Rodríguez of "Pride and Glory"), orders him to knock off the heroics.

Meanwhile, Liebesman and Bertolini parcel out only piecemeal information about the aliens. They crave water and exploit it as a source of energy. Their blitzkrieg blankets the globe, and they are aggressively trouncing mankind. Indeed, Los Angeles resembles Beirut. Television news bulletins provide the modicum of information that mankind knows about these pugnacious intruders. None of it is useful to the Marines who must eradicate these miscreants. Initially, Nantz and his platoon are dispatched to an abandoned Santa Monica police station to rescue a group of civilians and then escort them to a forward operating base to await evacuation. Martinez's superiors warn him he has 3 hours to complete his mission before the Air Force obliterates everything in sight. In some way, "Battle: Los Angeles" is like "Aliens" as these smug Marines lock and load for action. The attitude change that comes over them after their first encounter with the enemy is dramatic. Initially, they desperately lack cohesion. Only after they acquire cohesion do they come together as a unit and experience success.

“Battle: Los Angeles” differs from “Independence Day” and the “Transformers” movies because it shuns the multiple levels of characters that those films contain. Typically, sci-fi movies have scientists struggling to figure out how to kill the alien invaders while the politicians scramble to placate the public that everything is being done to accomplish this goal. Eventually, when the politicians and the scientists get a clue, they pass it along to the military and the killing commences. “Battle: Los Angeles” confines its action to the Marines on the ground. Since the Marines can only see what is around them, the film resembles a first-person shooter videogame. The aliens never get up close and personal as in a “Predator” movie. “Battle: Los Angeles” isn’t a horror movie. Occasionally, a soldier is dragged by the feet into foliage and killed. Primarily, these aliens are like marauding Apaches that rely on stealth to strike. Moreover, they can be killed. Eventually, when the Marines run into greater numbers of aliens, “Battle: Los Angeles” settles down to conventional close-quarters combat. Incredibly enough, most of "Battle: Los Angeles" was lensed on location in Louisiana!

FILM REVIEW OF ''SKYLINE" (2010)

“Skyline,” the latest entry in “The War of the Worlds”/ “Independence Day” science fiction genre about aliens invading Earth, qualifies as an above-average opus with spectacular-looking alien spaceships as well as exotic airborne creatures with twitching tentacles galore. The first forty-five minutes of the Brothers Strause epic draws you into its enigmatic storyline with its vast horde of aliens and their way of mesmerizing their victims with blinding lights before they gobble them like snacks. Unfortunately, the second half of “Skyline” doesn’t provide any exposition and we are left watching helpless humans playing cat and mouse games with these ugly “Cloverfield” style predators. Meanwhile, the human characters in “Skyline” (**1/2 out of ****) are neither compelling nor sympathetic. First, they consist of clueless civilians confined to a high-rise apartment complex. Indeed, unlike the original “War of the Worlds” (1953) and “Independence Day,” “Skyline” doesn’t trot out the usual array of high ranking military leaders plotting strategy from secluded bunkers while bespectacled scientists scramble to invent technology capable of exterminating the aliens. Second, the cast consists of actors who are virtually unknown and lack even a modicum of charisma. It doesn’t help matters that nobody seems to know anything about these intergalactic predators. Indeed, you can either stun them if you smash a car into them or blast them to smithereens with anything from a high-powered assault rifle to explosive missiles. Nevertheless, these foes outnumber the heroes, and they give no quarter. Mind you, the aliens themselves never let us in on why they have decided to devastate the planet. Instead, they pig out on humans as if mankind were a seafood buffet, and the prime human delicacy for these entities is the human brain. They suck off the heads and eat the brains. Okay, a mind is a terrible thing to waste in “Skyline,” but there is something unusual about these aliens that distinguish them from most aliens. When they shine their blinding lights on these poor humans, the light turns humans into slightly grilled zombies. Sometimes the light enables our heroes to muster enough energy to fight back. Worst of all, “Skyline” doesn’t so much end as it screeches to a halt on a cliffhanger, leaving the hero and heroine in a beauty and the beast situation.

Elaine (Scottie Thompson of “Star Trek”) and Jarrod (Eric Balfour of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) are recuperating for a birthday party in Los Angeles thrown for Jarrod's best friend Terry (Donald Faison of “Next Day Air”) when blinding lights penetrate the shutters of Terry’s penthouse. Elaine awakens with a case of morning sickness and stumbles into the shower. Afterward, she rouses Jarrod who checks out the light. Suddenly, his skin crinkles into a veil of lines. At this point, sophomore co-directors Colin and Greg Strause, who helmed “AVPR: Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem,” and freshmen scenarists Joshua Cordes and Liam O'Donnell abruptly back up the action by fifteen hours. We see Elaine and Jarrod deplaning at Los Angeles International Airport. Jarrod is surprised to find a uniformed chauffeur waiting for them at the curb with a limo. The chauffeur takes them to a scenic Marina del Rey luxury penthouse apartment with giant windows where they meet Terry and the celebration begins. This is about the time that we learn Elaine is sick and Terry wants Jarrod to relocate from New York to Los Angeles to work for him. Later, after everybody has passed out from too much liquor, a shower of incandescent meteors scintillate the night skies over L.A. One of Terry’s friends who sacked out in the living room opens the shutters, and the dazzling lights lure him onto the balcony. Veins appear like burn wounds on his face, and protoplasm-like extraterrestrial invaders suck him and thousands of others into their mouths. Eventually, Jarrod and Terry investigate, principally through a telescope that they had used the evening before to spy on other residents. They are overwhelmed at the flotilla of bizarre-looking alien spacecraft filling the skyline. They figure out that they must not look into the light and close the shutters. Before long the alien creatures, flying around like inquisitive squid, send their tentacles into the apartments to feed on the residents. Naturally, our heroes learn nothing from television news sources and they venture outside for a better look. Initially, the military respond with marauder jets and snipers armed with .50 caliber rifles. Jarrod notices that nothing appears to be happening over the marina. Terry and he pile into cars with their girlfriends and c0-workers and head for the marina. They don’t get far before a humongous “Godzilla” like predator stomps Terry’s car. This gigantic beast chases them around the high-rise about the same time that a new character, Oliver (David Zayas of “The Expendables”), joins them. Earlier, during Terry’s birthday part, Oliver had warned them to tone down the racket. He has keys to everything in the high-rise, and the survivors regroup in Terry’s apartment. Helplessly, they stand by and watch the ensuing battle between mankind and these aliens.

Basically, if you’ve seen one alien invasion epic or television mini-series, you’ve seen them all. Only the aliens change. “Skyline” boasts some terrific looking aliens and these elaborate predators steal the show. Meantime, the humans are a dull, dreary lot waiting to be eaten. After the novelty of the aliens wears off and the Strause brothers show that these invades are vulnerable to conventional weapons, “Skyline” loses its grip on us. We still don’t know anything about these predators, except that they love to feed on brains. Undoubtedly, the Strause brothers were trying to figure out ways to avoid formula, but leaving out crucial scenes—such as the military and the scientists grappling with this alien threat—means that the suspense and tension evaporate. The last thing that the Strauses do is take us within the belly of these beasties where our heroes wind up with little hope for them and then “Skyline” ends with a whimper. Clearly, a sequel is in the works from this cliffhanger ending, but you walk out of this movie feeling like you have been cheated despite the film’s trim 92 minute running time. The only thing worse than a bad movie is a half of a bad movie!

TELEVISION REVIEW OF "LAND OF THE GIANTS: THE CRASH" (1968)

Science fiction producer Irwin Allen, the acclaimed “Master of Disaster,” helmed the television pilot episode of his last major cult sci-fi saga “Land of the Giants.” The premise somewhat resembles director Jack Arnold’s venerable 1957 film “The Incredible Shrinking Man.” “Land of the Giants” (*** OUT OF ****) and “The Incredible Shrinking Man” put their protagonists in similar predicaments. They contend with human beings and animals about 12 times their own size. Although we never know exactly what planet they have landed on, they encounter the same situations that Scott Carey (Grant Williams) confronted in “The Incredible Shrinking Man.” Carey dealt with a giant tomcat and a tarantula, among other adversaries. The series combined elements of Allen’s “Lost in Space” because these unfortunate people become castaways on a different planet. Allen foresaw the use of the space shuttle to lift astronauts into space and then touch down like a plane. Like “Lost in Space,” some characters are reminiscent of other Allen television series. Gary Conway plays the stalwart captain, while Kurt Kasznar is cast in the mold of Dr. Smith from “Lost in Space” because the Kasznar character has stolen a large sum of money. There are two women; one is a working-class airline stewardess and the other is a prima donna celebrity. Unlike “Lost in Space” and “The Swiss Family Robinson,” “Land of the Giants” doesn’t have a normal family. Nevertheless, all age groups are represented. Previous, Allen’s TV series relied on either a military unit or a family unit. “Land of the Giants” fractures that norm. Conspicuous by her absence is an adolescent girl. Possibly, the absence of the teenage girl was a ploy to draw a predominantly young male audience. Furthermore, Allen never allowed his characters to grow romantically attached to each other.

“The Crash” unfolds in the summer of June 12, 1983. Seven passengers aboard Flight 612 from New York City to London, England, encounter anomalous solar disturbance that resembles a storm in the outer atmosphere. Jagged forks of lightning strike near their craft. Captain Steve Burton (Gary Conway of “I Was a Teenage Frankenstein”) loses radio contact with London. Burton and co-pilot Dan Erickson (Don Marshall of “Terminal Island”) spot a radiant green ball of fire, and Burton struggles to plot a course deviation from this incredible power. Nevertheless, the huge mysterious ball of fire intractably draws the sub-orbital spacecraft ‘Spindrift’ inside it like a magnet. After Spindrift entered the ball and experiences a fireworks display, everything returns to normal. Later, they believe that they’ve sighted London, but the control tower doesn’t notify them about what runway to use. Burton lands the Spindrift because their power cells are fading. A thick, impenetrable fog surrounds them, and Dan accompanies Burton as they orient themselves to their surroundings. Imagine their surprise and shock when a gigantic car runs over them. They dive between their wheels so they emerge unscathed and rush back to the Spindrift. No sooner have they gotten themselves strapped back into the Spindrift than they experience another shock. A small boy appears and picks up the Spindrift. Burton hits the thrusters and they break free of the child and find themselves dodging skyscrapers. They land again, and Mark Wilson (Don Matheson of “Murph the Surf”) informs Burton that he has a $50-million deal awaiting him in London. He offers to bribe Burton to get them back on schedule. Meanwhile, Commander Alexander B. Fitzhugh (Golden Globe nominee Kurt Kasznar of “The Happy Time”) ventures outside the Spindrift while Burton struggles not to be affronted by Wilson’s cynical implication that he has been paid to delay Wilson’s arrival in London.

No sooner has Fitzhugh slipped outside unnoticed than the resident cast little boy, Barry Lockridge (Stefan Arngrim of “The A-Team”), follows him and informs him that he is breaking orders not to leave the ship. Fitzhugh explains, in reference to a case that he clutches like his own heart, that: “There are devilish men who would stop at nothing to get their hands on this bag.” Essentially, Fitzhugh resembles the passenger in John Ford’s “Stagecoach” who has embezzled money and is trying to flee the authorities. The stewardess character, Betty Hamilton (Heather Young of “A Guide for the Married Man”) informs Burton that Fitzhugh and Barry have left the craft and vanished into the jungle. Initially, Burton hides from a giant lizard but he has to take to his heels to escape a monstrous, growling tarantula. Note: the special effects aren’t very advanced. Meantime, Barry decides to follow Fitzhugh. Although Fitzhugh fears devilish men, he should fear devilish felines. They stumble in front of an enormous male tomcat and this big kitty swats at Fitzhugh’s luggage and currency scatters like confetti from the gaping case. Nobody is content to remain in the Spindrift. Celebrity lovely Valerie Scott (Deanna Lund of “Tony Rome”) follows Burton into the jungle. She joins him in an area teeming with oversized cricket bail boxes with mesh spread across huge holes. Burton forbids Valerie from entering the box, but her curiosity proves to be her downfall. The captain rushes inside to pull her out and a trap door descends. Later, a Goliath-sized, bearded, bespectacled entomologist (Don Watters of “Truck Turner”) in a lab coat retrieves the boxes and hauls them back to his laboratory.

Don and Wilson track down Burton and Valerie to the entomologist’s laboratory where they find the captain and the glamour girl Scotch-taped to a table. Wilson slashes a tube that releases gas while Don shimmies up a make-shift rope and lugs a scalpel over to slit the tape. The gas erupts into flames and the female laboratory assistant is overcome by the fumes. While the entomologist helps her, our hero climb down the rope and escape. The entomologist pursues them with a small butterfly net and briefly traps Don as our heroes run across a paved street and enter a drainage pipe. Fitzhugh, the women, and Barry spot the entomologist and Barry aims the secret revolver in Fitzhugh’s fist and fires it at the entomologist. The bullet strikes him in the leg. As he crouches to grab his wounded shin, everybody races to Don’s aid. They free him from the netting and hasten into the drainage pipe. The entomologist pleads for them not to flee, but they vanish inside the drainage pipe as he thrusts his hand in to grab one of them. Our heroes come out on the other side and find themselves in a garbage dump. Barry puts down his doggie Chipper and as they wander into the garbage dump, a great Dane attacks them. The girls, Fitzhugh and the mutt take refuge in an egg carton and Burton fashions an explosive that drives the mastiff away. Fitzhugh cries in agony to be gone from this world and Burton informs him that fleeing such predicaments is going to become a way of life for them.

The obvious attraction of “Land of the Giants” is the predicament where our heroes and heroines must survive in a world not unlike Jonathan Swift’s seminal sci-fi novel “Gulliver’s Travels,” specifically Part II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag. Our protagonists here are the equivalent of the Lilliputians. “Land of the Giants” creator Allen shoots the giants with low-angle camera set-ups to exaggerate their awesome statue and “Futureworld” lenser Howard Schwartz adds to the gigantic effect by employing wide-angle lens to distort the giants. Lasting 51-episodes, our diminutive heroes had to constantly outwit their gigantic adversaries. The other neat thing about “Land of the Giants” are the massive everyday objects that make our heroes look so tiny. The props for the show are inventive: colossal sized spools of thread, giant razor-blades, aerosol cans, shoes, etc. Of course, more fiction than science figured into virtually everything that Irwin Allen produced. The cast is adequate, but largely unknown. Nevertheless, if you enjoy this kind of nonsense, “Land of the Giants” can be a lot of fun.

FILM REVIEW OF ''ASTRO BOY" (2009)

“Flushed Away” co-director David Bowers makes his stand-alone directing debut on the $65-million, Summit Entertainment, big-screen remake of “Astro Boy,” (**** ot of ****) the first example of anime that Japanese television broadcast in 1963. Initially, “Astro Boy” went by the name Tetsuwan Atomu, or Mighty Atom. Later, when the character made his debut on American television, the fictional robotic protagonist acquired the name of Astro Boy. Naturally, “Kindergarten Cop” scenarist Timothy Harris and Bowers have diverged slightly from the original, but they have kept the essential storyline largely intact. Historically, “Astro Boy” made his literary debut in Japanese comic books back in 1952. Osamu Tezuka, who created “Astro Boy” and has since been hailed as “the God of Manga,” turned his back on a career in medicine to write stories about an android “Pinocchio” whose feats of strength and speed more than match the DC Comics’ hero Superman. The success of the original Japanese television show spurred a remake both in 1983 and in 2003. Essentially, this pint-sized automaton spends its time waging a perpetual war on crime, evil, and injustice. Humans that hate robots, robots-run-amok, and alien invaders constitute Astro Boy’s primary adversaries. Excellent computer-generated animation, charismatic voice performances by Nicholas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Kristin Bell, and Nathan Lane, and Bowers’ energetic helming make this 94-minute opus refreshing as well as worth watching.

This fantastic but formulaic Japanese-animated science fiction adventure epic takes place in a futuristic society where robots perform all the menial tasks and are discriminated against because they lack humanity. A father loses his son during a laboratory mishap involving a military robot implanted with a core substance that enables it to defy the three rules of robots as established by sci-fi guru Isaac Asimov. The brilliant but selfish scientist Dr. Tenma (Nicholas Cage) has created ‘the Peacekeeper,’ a hulking cyborg that General Stone (Donald Sutherland of “M.A.S.H.”) has commissioned to solidify his presidency from all contenders. Tenma’s inquisitive whiz-kid son Tobias (Freddie Highmore of "The Spiderwick Chronicles") wants to witness the robot trials. Tenma has Toby locked up for safety, but this smarty pants schoolboy figures a way to escape. Later, he finds himself trapped in the same area with the heavily armed Peacekeeper robot. When the machine tries to penetrate a force shield with awesome array of armaments, the blasts render it useless and atomize Tobias. The grieving Dr. Tenma retrieves the only remnant of his son: a baseball cap. He takes a strand of hair from the cap, extracts the DNA, pulls out all of the memories and inserts them into a cyborg version of his son. The allusion to Pinocchio is clearly obvious. Unfortunately, Tenma tires of his son the robot and pines for the real McCoy. The catch here is the robotic version of the boy does not know that he is a robot.

Eventually, the father cannot stand the sight of the robot because he knows that it is not his son. As it turns out, the robot has a blue-core in its chest that allows it to pull off some pretty amazing stunts. When the evil political leader wants Dr. Tenma to remove the blue core from his son to put into the war robot, the father turns against him. Astro Boy escapes, but is exiled when enough explosions knock him off the floating chunk of earth called Metro City to the ground below where rusting robots lay piled in heaps. Metro City is a solitary island of land that levitates above the polluted earth. Astro Boy discovers new companions, orphaned humans, but he also realizes now that he is a robot. He can understand what robots are saying when they speak. Now, Astro Boy has to keep is identity a secret from his new friends, foremost of whom is a pretty little thing named Cora (Kristen Bell of "Veronica Mars"). These kids scour the earth for robot parts for another scientist, Ham Egg (Nathan Lane of "The Producers") who rebuilds robots and matches them against each other in gladiatorial struggles to the death in a coliseum Roman style. Astro Boy helps rebuild a gigantic robot named ZOG and Ham Egg reveals Astro Boy's secret and forces him to fight ZOG. The only problem is that Astro Boy refuses to kill. Meanwhile, the evil military leader, General Stone (Donald Sutherland of "M.A.S.H") sends forces to retrieve Astro Boy. One of the funniest scenes occurs when Astro Boy is battling a “Transformers” style robot and learns that he is equipped with a pair of machine guns loaded into his buttocks!

Director David Bowers never lets the momentum slow down. The hyperkinetic action scenes are spectacular with our underdog champ Astro Boy pitted against some wicked foes that want him dead. The theme of racial intolerance pervades the action with robots seen as our inferiors until—in the words of one human—Astro Boy emerges with more humanity than most humans. Occasionally, Bowers’ film takes on a grim feeling, particularly when Dr. Tenma turns against his son. What sets “Astro Boy” apart from the usual competition is the subtlety of its storyline. This colorful storytelling is ideal for both children and adults.

FILM REVIEW OF ''SURROGATES'' (2009)

"Terminator 3" director Jonathan Mostow must have seemed like the perfect choice for the Bruce Willis science fiction crime thriller "Surrogates," (** out of ****)about life-like robots serving as the arms and legs of future society. "Terminator: Salvation" scenarists John Brancato and Michael Ferris adapted the five-issue, limited series, Top Shelf Comics graphic novel "The Surrogates" that Robert Venditti wrote and Brett Weldele illustrated. Naturally, Mostow and his writers wound up making some inevitable changes. Nevertheless, the premise of "Surrogates" has lost none of its intrigue. Venditti told "The Graphic Novel Reporter" magazine about the origins of "Surrogates": "It dawned on me that if you were somehow able to create a persona and send it out into the real world—where it could go to work for you, and run your errands, and so on—then you would never have to go back to being yourself."
Consequently, the agoraphobic society of "Surrogates" confines themselves to interacting vicariously with each other through surrogate androids. Often, these humanoid robots are younger and sexier than their operators. Sometimes, a man masquerades as a female android, and Caucasian Americans pose as African-Americans.

After the first 45 minutes, however, this futuristic, Philip K. Dick style saga about the changes that surrogates have wrought on mankind degenerates into a predictable FBI procedural that loses its urgency. Ultimately, Bruce Willis must forsake the flawed justice system, turn into a rogue cop, and defeat corruption at the highest levels. Were this not enough, Brancato and Ferris insert a subplot about our hero's son who died tragically in a car accident and his persistent struggle to pull his wife out of the depression that she suffers as a result of their son's death. Little of this scenario, however, turns out to be thrilling. The villains aren't intimidating enough, and the heroes simply aren't that heroic. Some of the action is interesting, but there is absolutely nothing in the way of suspense until our hero has to venture into the cold, cruel world without a surrogate and even then nothing exciting happens.

"Surrogates" opens with a prologue that covers the origins of these androids and how they became an everyday fact of life. Mostow and his writers do an admirable job of setting up the premise so it seems believable. The year is 2017. Everybody plugs into a life-sized surrogate and conducts their daily business with the use of these
robots. Few people leave their houses. The crime rate plunges. Surrogates are less prone to injury. They can leap over cars to avoid being struck by other vehicles. Finally they are immune to STDs. Imagine living like you were in "The Matrix," where you spend most of your waking hours sprawled on a couch, with sensory headgear attached to your noggin that enables you to carry on your daily activities through
a surrogate robot. Indeed, you cannot walk down the street without seeing surrogates everywhere, and few people own surrogates that don't add glamor to their appearance.

Government Agents Tom Greer (Bruce Willis of "Die Hard") and Jennifer Peters (Radha Mitchell of "Melinda and Melinda") work in the FBI's Surrogate Crime Unit. When two surrogates and their human operators are murdered under mysterious circumstances, Special Agent Andrew Stone Boris Kodjoe)assigns Greer and Peters to investigate what constitutes the first murder in many moons. Somebody has obtained a deadly weapon that fires a jagged blue lightning bolt at a surrogate and kills the operator with the same blast. Later, the killer wipes out five Boston cops on his heels. As it turns out, one of the initial homicide victims was the son of Canter (James Cromwell of "L.A. Confidential"), who invented surrogates for the VSI Corporation. In the beginning, Cantor felt that surrogates would make life easier for people with handicaps who could not get out. As it turns out, the villains were trying to kill Cantor, not his son. Nevertheless, the elder Canter had loaned his surrogate to his university age son (James Francis Ginty of "K-19 Widowmaker") who had planned a night out on the town when the murderer struck. Greer starting snooping and learns that the weapon used to kill Canter's son had been tested by the Pentagon. The military canceled their order when they discovered the lethal side effects of the weapon. Basically, the weapon transmits a virus to the humanoid machines, enters their operator's head and liquefied their brains.

Mostow and his writers have divided "Surrogates" into two movies: the surrogate homicide investigation and Greer's tragic personal home life. The situation hits the fan when the FBI track down a suspect, Strickland (Jack Noseworthy of "Breakdown"), who has the weapon. Strickland flees from the Boston Police while Greer follows him
overhead in an FBI chopper. Certain areas are off limits to surrogates and humans who refuse to use surrogates live in those areas. Strickland heads to a zone where surrogates are not allowed to enter. Greer's helicopter crashes in one of these areas and the humans attack Greer, obliterate him, and hang him in effigy. Now, Greer has to venture out into society as himself without a surrogate and he finds it difficult to negotiate a world overrun by robots.

Unfortunately, "Surrogates" runs out of steam, and the ending is as contrived as they come. This may be the first film to espouse a negative attitude toward futuristic technology that intrudes into our lives. The villains fail to make an impression. Brancato and Ferris spring some surprises, but none are truly alarming. The scene near the end where all the people fall down in the streets was probably a hassle to stage. "Surrogates" is imaginative but rarely exciting thriller. The idea that technology will exact a toll of our humanity and its ramifications is more interesting than it hopped up action scenes. Bruce Willis can do better than this nonsense. "Gamer" was far better than this lame whodunit.

FILM REVIEW OF ''STAR TREK: INSURRECTION" (1998)

No, “Star Trek: Insurrection” (*** OUT OF ****) is not as good as “Star Trek: First Contact.” Nevertheless, the ninth entry in the long-lived but prosperous space odysseys of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise still has what it takes to boldly go. Director Jonathan Frakes, who helmed “First Contact,” shifts the emphasis away from the usual swashbuckling heroics in this otherwise predictable but entertaining installment. Instead, Frakes focuses on the camaraderie among the Enterprise crew. Character dominates action in “Insurrection.” Although younger “Star Trek” fans may complain about the scarcity of photon torpedo dogfights, the old guard will applaud “Insurrection” because the entire crew rather than Picard alone influences the outcome.

The Rick Berman & Michael Piller scenario has the Enterprise thwarting the forced relocation of 600 helpless colonists from their Eden-like planet whose properties make it a fountain of youth. Picard (Patrick Stewart) and crew find themselves drawn into an interstellar blood feud when android Cmdr. Data (Brent Spiner) runs amok while participating in a Federation mission on the Shangri-La home planet of a gentle people called the Ba'ku. The Ba'ku live simple, uncomplicated lives comparable to the Quakers and the Amish. Shunning technology, these self-sufficient folks grow their own food and produce by hand their own clothes, tools, and art. According to the Ba’ku, when you create a machine to do a Manos work, you take something away from the man. Over 300 years have passed since the Ba’ku encamped on this unique planet in an unstable quadrant of space designated 'the Briar Patch.' Moreover, this Caucasian race of humans has weathered the ravages of centuries. The 'metaphasic radiation' emanating from the planet’s rings has given them perpetual youth.

Meanwhile, suffering a dire reversal of fortune, the Federation has grown weak. The Borg and other enemy aliens have taken their toll, and the Federation has formed an uneasy alliance with the Son'a, a dying but technologically advanced race of fascists who dress like a cross-between of the Mummy and Marvel Comics' Dr. Strange. You know the Son’a are the bad guys the moment you see them because they look hideous. The Son’a endure constant face-lifts, like the cosmetic surgery in the Terry Gilliam movie “Brazil,” because they cannot keep their wrinkled and rotting skins wrapped tightly enough. These devious dastards have teamed up with the Federation, and they are observing the unsuspecting Ba’ku before they pack them off the planet.

Dressed in orange outfits which enable them to pass sight unseen among the inhabitants, Son’a and Federation scientists both study the planet and plan for the removal of the Ba'ki. When the Son’a fire without provocation on Data, the pale-faced android short-circuits and destroys the cloaking device concealing the expedition from the Ba’ku. Suddenly, the Ba’ku find themselves surrounded by intruders. Hijacking a starship, Data opens fire on the Son’a flagship from which the Son’a chieftain, Ru'afo (F. Murray Abraham, who played the evil Salieri in “Amadeus”), and Star fleet Admiral Dougherty (Anthony “License to Kill” Zerbe), coordinate the mission.

Dougherty contacts Picard during a diplomatic ceremony and requests Data’s schematics. When Picard offers to help, Dougherty politely declines. Pointing out that the Enterprise has been assigned elsewhere, Dougherty assures the inquisitive captain that Ru'afo and he can handle Data. An incredulous Picard decides to check things out for himself; he cannot believe that Data would turn rogue without a good reason. As they chart a course for the far side of the galaxy, Picard invites Worf on “Deep Space Nine” to accompany them. When Picard's navigator indicates that the Ba’ku planet is in the opposite direction of what they have been ordered, Picard shrugs it off as if it were nothing.

When the Enterprise enters the 'Briar Patch,' the age reversal harmonics of the Ba’ku planet affect the crew. Cmdr. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Lt. Cmdr. Troi (Marina Sirtis) rekindle a long-dormant romance. Soaking by candle-light in a tubful of bubbles, Troi shaves off Riker's beard. Not only does Cmdr. La Forge (“Roots” LeVar Burton) regain his sight without the aid of technology, but also he experiences his first sunrise. Lt. Cmdr. Worf (Michael Dorn) suffers an outbreak of Klingon acne as well as a blood lust for combat. Finally, Picard himself dances to mambo music in his own quarters. When he beams down to the planet, Picard falls in love with the sensuous Anij (Donna Murphy), a 350 year old Ba’ku dame who doesn’t look a day over 40 thanks to the regenerative particles in the planet’s rings. Sadly, Frakes and his writers leave Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) hanging without a mini-subplot of her own.

Nevertheless, “Insurrection” qualifies as an ensemble effort with everybody getting into the act, even if they don’t have a subplot to distract their actions.
Admiral Dougherty isn’t happy when Picard arrives and requests clearance to deal with Data. “Insurrection” gets off to rip-snorting start as Picard and Worf pursue Data on a hair-raising chase and try to transport him out of his spacecraft. When aggression fails, Picard opens the audio channels between ships and warbles a Gilbert & Sullivan tune from a play that Data was rehearsing before he left for the Ba’ku mission. Before Data realizes Picard’s subterfuge, the Captain docks with Data’s ship, Worf sneaks on-board and incapacitates the mutinous android. Beaming down to the planet, Picard frees the expedition who had been taken hostage, and learns first hand about the Ba’ku. Admiral Dougherty has trouble concealing his rage; he acts as the liaison between the evil Ru’afo and virtuous Picard. While Picard noses around on the planet, La Forge discovers the truth behind Data’s inexplicable demeanor. Geordi explains his theory that the Son’a fired first on Data, and Picard takes Data back to the planet to reconstruct the incident. Their investigation, with Anij and the Ba’ku leaders in tow, reveals the presence of a half-built holodeck that resembles their village. Gradually, a conspiracy rears its ugly head, and an angry Picard demands an explanation from Dougherty.
An uncomfortable Admiral Dougherty reveals that the Ba’ku are going to be relocated, so that the Son’a can harvest the 'metaphasic' particles in the planet that constitute a fountain of youth. Picard protests in the name of the Primary Directive, which prohibits the Federation from interfering with other alien cultures. “The darkest chapters in my world can be traced to the forced relocation of a small group in order to satisfy the demands of a large group,” Picard comments, dredging up memories of the Jewish Holocaust, African-American slavery, and Native American Indians.

Dougherty retorts that the Federation has endorsed the mission and that the Ba’ku do not fit the Prime Directive because they are not indigenous to the planet. Naturally, Capt. Picard doesn’t like it and refuses to stand by while a helpless race of people are abused. Picard’s insubordinate behavior recalls Capt. Kirk’s equally insubordinate attitude in previous “Star Trek” escapades.
The Rick Berman & Michael Pillar script hearkens back to those venerable 1930s’ Lone Star westerns with John Wayne where the city slicker bad guys try to steal the mineral rich ranch lands from under the naive pilgrims who don’t realize the wealth that lies beneath their lands. Like John Wayne, Capt. Picard decides to intervene. Already deeply in love with Amij, who has shown him the eternal beauty of a single moment in time, Picard disobeys Admiral Dougherty’s orders to clear out. Amij reciprocates and supports Picard when he reveals that the Son’a are going to destroy their way of life.
Shucking his insignia, Picard gathers an arsenal of weaponry and tries to sneak off the Enterprise, but the crew catches him as he is loading up the captain’s yacht. When Picard explains his intentions to help the Ba’ku, his loyal crew join sides with him. “Saddle up,” says Data in his best John Wayne impersonation as he shoulders a phaser rifle, “Lock and load.” Meanwhile, the impatient Ru’afo has grown as weary of Picard’s meddling as he has of Dougherty’s dawdling. Ru’afo wants to obliterate the Enterprise and harvest the rings. The mining process will also wipe out the Ba’ku and turn their planet into a wasteland. Ru’afo, it seems, doesn’t have long to live, and nothing can quell the blood lust boiling in his toxic veins.

F. Murray Abraham wears an occupational sneer throughout as the despicable Ru’afo. Unfairly, Abraham shoulders the burden of villainy. Surrounded as he is by an army of aliens, Ru’afo never assumes the kind of villainy of a Darth Vader. The Son’a never mount a wholesale attack like the Storm Troopers from “Star Wars.” Instead, the Son’s prefer to deploy technological devices, so that “Insurrection” never lingers long on battle-scarred action sequences. Despite all of the fireworks, only a handful of characters actually die. “Insurrection” lacks the massacre and mutilation of “Starship Troopers.” Although he proves his murderous aims when he kills Dougherty on a skin-stretching rack, Ru’afo is really the only character who suffers a horrible death that he deserves for this fiendish forays.

As cheery and good-natured as “Insurrection” is, this “Star Trek” has its share of problems. Although “Insurrection” generates warp-speed momentum in story-telling, too many things are left unexplained. Director Jonathan Frakes along with Berman and Pillar jettisoned a lot of exposition that would have shed more light on the blood-hate between the Son’a and the Ba’ku. Rarely do you find a movie that needs to exceed its running. “Insurrection” could have gone on a good 45 minutes without wearing out its welcome. The filmmakers rely on the yucky looks of the Saran-wrap-skinned villains who bleed when they become enraged, but Frakes never explains why the Son’a resemble burglars with pantyhose stretched across their faces.
Happily, Frakes and his writers reveal enough to keep the action going at full-tilt. Although the first hour or so is largely devoted to talk, the last half-hour provides an exciting dogfight in space and Picard’s showdown with Ru’afo on board a satellite that will mine the planet’s rings. Jerry Goldsmith’s familiar “Star Trek” tune livens up this last reel confrontation between hero and villain. The trick that Picard and crew pull on Ru’afo to spoil his plans is foreshadowed early in the plot but so well integrated into the story that you only realize it in retrospect.
No, you neither have to be a Trekkie nor a Trekker to appreciate “Insurrection,” but it wouldn’t hurt. History will record “Insurrection” as more of a more crew intensive adventure.

FILM REVIEW OF "METROPOLIS" (1927)

As one of the earliest examples of cinematic science fiction and fantasy, "Destiny" director Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" (**** out of ****) ranks as an unparalleled achievement in its size, scope, and vision. Forty years would elapse before Stanley Kubrick's “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) would rival Lang's epic spectacle about a troubled, dystopian society fractured along the fault lines of the economic inequality that isolated the haves and the have-nots. Nevertheless, nothing could ever be said to surpass "Metropolis" as a film of scale, special effects, and surrealism. According to Frank Miller at the Turner Classic Movies Website in his Overview Article about "Metropolis, "Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou were influenced by several writers: "They drew ideas from a variety of sources, including Karel Capek's play about a robot revolt, R.U.R.; the pioneering Soviet science fiction film "Aelita" (1924); and H.G. Wells' novels." Miller describes "Metropolis" as "the most influential science fiction film of all time." Miller may be going out on a limb to make sure an assertion, but the limb that he treads on his very sturdy. "Metropolis" deals with machines that allow its futuristic society to flourish and how those machines govern mankind's relationships. Nevertheless, moviegoers should keep in mind that "Metropolis" was not the first science fiction film. The definition of science fiction here is fiction of a speculative sort set in the future. French filmmaker Georges Méliès' short, 14-minute, black & white silent film "A Trip to the Moon" aka "Le voyage dans la lune" (1903) and the Soviet film "Aelita" (1924) preceded "Metropolis."

The preamble encapsulates the film's timeless, universal message: "It has a moral that grows on the pillar of understanding. The mediator between the brain and muscle must be the heart.” “Metropolis" inspired generations of filmmakers with its use of state-of-the-art visual effects that transformed the science fiction film. Thea von Harbou's saga about an evil robot designed by a vengeful inventor to impersonate a flesh & blood female Christ figure and incite anarchy can clearly be traced as a source of inspiration to many contemporary sci-fi films and television shows, such as the "Terminator" franchise, "Robocop" franchise, "Blade Runner," "Total Recall," "I, Robot," “Logan’s Run,” “The Fifth Element,” "Westworld," and Battlestar Galactic.” The "Metropolis" robot was not the first robot, but it was unmistakably the seminal one that sired a long line of cinematic robots. Robots appeared in films as early as Italian filmmaker André Deed's "The Mechanical Man" (1921)about a robot gone berserk, but only bits and pieces of the film have survived the ravages of time.

Meanwhile, according to Dominik Zunt at The Karel Čapek website, Čapek introduced the public to the word "robot" in his play R.U.R.("Rossum's Universal Robots")in 1920. Specifically, Čapek's drama took place in a factory that builds artificial people designated as 'robots.' Earlier examples of robots can be found in literature, especially the Greek and Roman myths. Indeed, robots are to sci-fi films what horses are to westerns. The famous science fiction author Isaac Asimov has written many novels and short stories about robots. The famous transformation scene where the robot turns into a human foreshadows the "Frankenstein" franchise.

Many detractors of Lang's visionary work—primarily noted sci-fi author H.G. Wells--derided it as shallow and Wells' criticisms are not without some justification. Indeed, the characters lack depth because they represent archetypes instead of individuals in this larger-than-life story set in the year 2000. The spectacle, this Marxist chronicle of humanity at odds with itself over machinery, and the anarchy that emerges from this division makes "Metropolis" a memorable mediation about our flawed society, part sci-fi, part horror and a statement about the incompatibility that comes about between those who control and those who are controlled. In this instance, those in control are the heads and those that carry out of the orders of those in control are the hands. Again, von Harbou’s theme re-echoes with greater intensity. The virtuous Maria would say that the head and the hands would need a mediator and the mediator would be the heart. You cannot understand and appreciate science fiction as a cinematic genre until you see that every sci-fi film owes a debt of gratitude to Lang's masterly work of genius. Actually, while Lang would make many great movies in a long career, the legendary Austrian director never made another sci-fi film that surpassed this milestone.

A malevolent robot, messianic crusaders, a patriarchal titan of industry, a vindicative mad scientist, and masses of mindless men and women enslaved by the patriarch constitute the array of characters in this milestone of German Expressionist cinema that embraces Art-Deco in his architectural designs. Scenarist Thea von Harbou and Fritz Lang assembled these protagonists and antagonists for the clash of the century with visuals that were designed to overwhelm 1920’s audiences by their sheer beauty and grandeur. In the annals of science fiction film, these special effects, involving the use of mirrors to supplement shots of live action, matte paintings for sprawling cityscapes, and miniatures of the city, were singular. All the planes, trains, and automobiles in the long shots were done either with wires pulling them along or shot-action photography. Reportedly, Lang got the idea for his cityscape from a trip to Manhattan, but there are too many undocumented stories about Lang and his inspiration so you’d have to read the biographies available about his life to sort out the fiction from the facto. One thing is certain Lang was more a film dictator than a director and he toiled endlessly and made his cast and collaborators toil to forge his vision. Lang drove his actors, actresses, and technical crew like a slave driver and often exhibited a sense of perfectionism that defied civility and common sense. He amounted to a cinematic Herod.

While “Metropolis” qualifies as sci-fi, the film also dabbles in the disaster film. The villainous father of the hero, Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel), enlists the evil inventor, C.A. Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), to create a robot look-alike of the virginal heroine, Maria, who preaches a gospel of sorts to unit the workers. Rotwang dresses in dark colors, has wind-blown hair, and wears a black glove on his right hand. Fredersen wants Rotwang to forge a robot that can assume the identity of Maria (Brigitte Helm), mislead the masses, and get them to destroy themselves. Joh has obtained secret plans about meetings among the workers in the catacombs and wants to thwart them. When they learn about the meeting, Rotwang escorts Joh down into the 2000 year old catacombs to witness Maria preaching her gospel of unification. During this scene, Joh spots his son Freder (Gustav Fröhlich) among the workers and watches as he embraces Maria.

Previously, Freder has been smitten by Maria since he saw her first early in the film. She entered the Club of Sons where Freder cavorted with various women. Freder was so stricken by Maria that he descended to the depths where the workers operated the machines and witnessed a meltdown. Joh is worried about his son’s dalliance with the workers because it threatens to destroy everything that he has worked for so many years. In fact, Joh fires his secretary Josaphat (Theodor Loos) because Josaphat didn’t inform him about the incident with the machines. Joh replaces Josaphat with the Thin Man (Franz Rasp) and orders him to keep him constantly abreast of his son’s whereabouts. Eventually, the false Maria does mislead the workers into destroying the Heart Machine and the loss of power leads to a flood that wipes out their homes. Grot, the foreman in charge of the machines, warns Joh, but he orders Grot to open the gates so that the workers can destroy the Heart Machine. The evil Maria leads the men and women workers alike to the machine hall, but she slips out a back exit while they destroy the machines. What the workers fail to realize is that the destruction of the Heart machine.

Meanwhile, Freder and the real Maria rescue the children below as the flood waters rise from an underground river that Joh had constructed. They use the air shafts to escape from the depth and take the children to the Club of the Sons above the earth. At the same time, Grot alerts the workers about the dangers of what they have done and how it will jeopardize their children. The furious workers now want to kill Maria. The evil Maria has gone to a nightclub where she is celebrating her triumphant masquerade over the workers. The nightclub revelers leave the club with Maria on their shoulders and go out into the night air. The virtuous Maria has gotten separated from Freder and the children and is now being pursued by the mob of angry workers. She runs into the revelers and wicked Maria and the mob grabs the evil Maria. They tie her to a stake and set fire to her. Rotwang captures the real Maria and takes her to the top of the cathedral. Freder spots Rotwang with Maria over his shoulder and sets off in rapid pursuit. They fight on the roof-top and Rotwang plunges to his death below. In the last scene, the virtuous Maria calls on Freder to serve as the mediator between his father and Grot, the worker’s representative, to work together.

“Metropolis” concerns one of Lang’s favorite themes—mob violence. Later, he explored this theme in “M” (1931) with Peter Lorre and “Fury” (1936) with Spencer Tracy. Although “Metropolis” has been available as a cheap, inexpensive public domain film for over 40 years, Kino Video has released a splendid restored version that true movie lovers will genuinely appreciate for its clarity of picture. Meanwhile, this is one hell of a silent German movie!

FILM REVIEW OF ''THE TERMINATOR'' (1984)

“Piranha 2: The Spawning” director James Cameron scored his first major cinematic hit with “The Terminator,” (*** out of ****) a gritty, on-the-run, rough-hewn, low-budget science fiction actioneer about time travel with a curious twist. Body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger of the “Conan” movies virtually guaranteed that this 107 minute exercise in murder and mayhem would be a blockbuster with his villainous, straight-faced portrayal of a relentless cyborg that will allow nothing to stand between its programmed objective of executing a woman, Sarah Connor, in the past. According to the Internet Movies Database, sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison took James Cameron to court over “The Terminator.” Ellison accused Cameron of plagiarizing two “Outer Limits” episodes that the former penned, specifically, "The Outer Limits: Soldier (#2.1)" (1964) and "The Outer Limits: Demon with a Glass Hand (#2.5)" (1964). Cameron has stated that these two episodes inspired him to make “The Terminator.” He may also have lifted the idea of "Skynet" from Ellison’s short story "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream." The producers reached an out of court settlement with Ellison and acknowledged the writer in the ends credits. Later, director Franklin Adreon’s “Cyborg 2087” (1966) with Michael Rennie featured a similar plot about a cyborg dispatched back to the past, but it had a different mission. The cyborg in “Cyborg 2087” sought to curb government abuse in the future by going back to the past where free thinking is coming under attack.

“The Terminator” opens in Los Angeles in 2029 A.D., at night while enemy Hunter Killer hovercraft prowl the post-apocalyptic rubble of the city for human prey. Heavy combat vehicles with massive treads on their wheels crush hundreds of human skulls into powder while human survivors exchange fire with skeletal metal terminators with fiery red eyes. A preamble of sorts comes up and sets the scene: The machines rose from the ashes of the nuclear fire. Their war to exterminate mankind had raged for decades, but the final battle would not be fought in the future. It would be fought here in our present . . . tonight. The actual story unfolds at 1:52 AM when a garbage truck driver watches crackling blue plasma-type waves envelope him and his vehicle.

A garbage truck operator is emptying trash bins when a plasma-like web of jagged blue lighting bolts envelopes his vehicle and shuts off the vehicle’s power. He flees when the T-101 Terminator assassin (Arnold Schwarzenegger) appears naked out of nowhere. Skynet has sent the T-101 from the future back to the year 1984 to kill the mother of resistance leader John Connor. The naked t-101 saunters up to a trio of punks at the Griffith Park Observatory overlooking Los Angeles. An obnoxious, blue-haired punk (Bill Paxton of “Aliens” and “Twister”) and his friend (veteran heavy Brian Thompson of “Sudden Impact” and “Cobra”) ridicule T-101. The Terminator kills both of them while the third strips off his clothing. Meanwhile, elsewhere in L.A., another naked man, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn of “The Rock”) materializes from the future. He steals a homeless man’s pants, evades the L.A.P.D., and breaks into a clothing store, steals Nike sneakers and a trench coat. Whereas the T-101 wants to kill Sarah, Kyle wants to save her! Not surprisingly, young Sarah Connor doesn’t have a clue that anybody yearns to either murder her or save her life.

Sarah works at a fast-food restaurant. The T-101 finds three Sarah Connors in the L.A. phone book and kills the first two and then invades Sarah’s apartment and kills her roommate Ginger and Matt (Rick Rossovich of “Top Gun”) her boyfriend. Eventually, Sarah discovers what is happening and holes up at a night club called Tech Noir where the T-101 tracks her down. Kyle Reese rescues Sarah and they flee, but the L.A.P.D. capture them and Reese has to cough up his far-fetched story to a by pompous psychologist Dr. Peter Silberman (Earl Boen of “Alien Nation”) who doesn’t believe a syllable of Reese’s saga. Silberman diagnoses Reese as suffering from paranoid delusions and boasts that he make a career out of analyzing the guy’s stories. During Reese’s interrogation scene at police headquarters with Silberman, Cameron and co-writers Gale Ann Hurd and an uncredited William Wisher, Jr., provide audiences with crucial expository information about Skynet and the war with the cyborgs that seek to annihilate mankind.

The bulk of “The Terminator” concerns the T-101’s tireless efforts to kill Sarah while Reese struggles to lead her to safety. During their flight, Reese and Sarah become romantically involved and Reese gets Sarah pregnant with future resistance leader John Connor. Talk about twisted time travel?! Cameron intersperses a flashback to the future where a T-101 (Schwarzenegger’s pal Franco Columbu of “Beretta’s Island”) invades a resistance bunker and goes on a murderous rampage before he is eliminated. Throughout the blazing action sequences, Cameron gradually strips the T-101 down to its alloyed metal endoskeleton. Reese explains to Silberman that a Terminator is a cyborg, half-man, and half-machine that will never stop until it kills Sarah. Everybody at the police station regards Reese as a fruit cake with his unbelievable story until the T-101 shows up with an arsenal of weapons and shoots up the premises, killing at least 17 cops. Reese and Sarah escape, hid out in a motel where they build pipe bombs, but the resourceful T-101 finds Sarah’s mother, kills her off-screen, and imitates her so that it can learn Sarah’s whereabouts. Another ramped up chase ensues with the T-101 caught in a blazing 18-wheeler. The fire scorches its entire body in the last 15 minutes so that all that remains is the skeleton. Reese dies blowing the skeleton in two. The torso of the T-101 continues to stalk Sarah until she crushes it in a tool manufacturing factory so that only the hand and forearm, which appears in the sequel “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”

James Cameron has more road trip action in this thriller than actual science fiction, but the action-packed scenes more than deliver their quota of thrills and chills. One of the earliest scenes in a pawnshop has the T-101 gathering an arsenal of hardware from an unsuspecting clerk (Dick Miller) and then killing him instead of paying for it. The “I’ll be back” scene at the police station massacre is probably the best scene in this supercharged little spine-tingler. The irony in the last scene is that Sarah Connor destroys the T-101 in a machine press.

The chief science fiction element in Cameron's film is the use of predestination paradox where it appears the history is being altered, when in fact, it is really being fulfilled. Cameron rehashed much of the "Terminator" action in the sequel, but he made the Schwarzenegger more sympathetic by having him serve as young John Connor's bodyguard. Ironically, again, this $6-million plus movie (remember the ABC cyborg series "The Six-Million Dollar Man?")wasn't that original because cyborg type characters have been around in fantasy literature as early as Edgar Allan Poe's writings. Nevertheless, "The Terminator" put cyborgs on the marquee more than "The Six-Million Dollar Man" ever did and eventually inspired the "Robocop" franchise.