movie review
Reviewing the best science fiction movies from the past, present, and future.
'Mad Max' Tracks on 'Fury Road'
The video editing team at OMNI was curious to see just how similar the 1979 Mad Max trailer was to the Mad Max: Fury Road trailer. Taking the trailer of George Miller's famous Mad Max, the team overlaid the audio track from his updated masterpiece, Fury Road. They then repeated in reverse. Once again, what happened was surprising. The two trailers seem like their audio can be swapped without any issues, confirming one of the purest re-imaginings by an iconic director.
By Eddie Wong8 years ago in Futurism
David Bowie's 'The Man Who Fell to Earth'
Let us consider the genre of classic rock-music movies. We had Magical Mystery Tour, featuring The Beatles. It was amusing in 1968, but it is an embarrassment by today's standards. Groundbreaking effects then, but Millennials don't have much patience for the limitations of the past. Then there was Tommy, so garishly produced, over-acted, over-hyped, and generally insensitive that it was cut-rated down to second-run theaters within weeks of its release, and Lisztomania, its follow-up, fared even worse. About the only decent movies of this type from the original rock era was the Beatles's early effort and Dylan's Don't Look Back.
By Eddie Wong8 years ago in Futurism
'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' Holds Up
What made the movie special was the way it approached the topic of first contact. It was not through the typical science fiction fare and space battles we have come to expect from 21st century Hollywood. Much like 2016's, Arrival, nearly 30 years earlier, 1977's Close Encounters of the Third Kind took a very original and very cerebral approach to sci-fi storytelling. Rather than the challenges of interspecies linguistics, the film used music as the unifying language between man and extraterrestrials. This theory was later explored by then OMNI editor Claire Evans. Perhaps the success of Arrival is why Close Encounters of the Third Kind holds up for me. Sci-fi films that, at their core, are not relying on special effects but rather challenge the intellect in a more organic fashion often best stand the test of time.
By Mike Mavenful8 years ago in Futurism
Interview with 'Alien' Co-Creator Dan O'Bannon
In the below excerpt from Film Fantasy Magazine, Ed Sudden II interviews Alien co-creator Dan O'Bannon. In excerpt, O'Bannon recounts that the concept of the movie Alien began as a simple story called “Gremlins”. I was about a World War II B-17 bomber crew on a mission over Tokyo who are terrorized by a horde of midget monsters. Dan O’Bannon began his career as the the co-author and director responsible for design, editing, and special effects on the movie Dark Star. He also co-starred as Sgt. Pinback. Pinback’s scenes with his alien, a mean-looking and very mischevious beach ball with feet are notable high points of humor in sci-fi film history. Dan went from Dark Star to pre-production work on Jodorowsky’s Dune, the Frank Herbert novel, to effects work on Star Wars and his most iconic movie Alien.
By Futurism Staff8 years ago in Futurism
Q&A With Brett Ryan Bonowicz, Director of 'The Perfect 46'
In The Perfect 46, genetic engineers match couples by their genome to create perfect babies. Whit Hertford plays the CEO of The Perfect 46, Jesse Darden, who wants people to choose their partners logically rather than falling in love. Darden believes genetically compatible couples will create babies resistant to disease. Society lashes out against The Perfect 46, leading to a home invasion of Darden's residence.
By Natasha Sydor8 years ago in Futurism
'Rogue One,' Take Two for 'Star Wars'
***This article contains major spoilers. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, this is your only warning.*** Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a movie that gets it right! For the first time in more years than I care to remember, I left the theater genuinely in awe and wonder after a Star Wars movie. Episode 7: The Force Awakens was a fun movie, but it had nowhere near the same emotional impact as Rogue One. The performances are great, the real-world celebrity and Star Wars celebrity cameo character appearances are a huge treat, and the suspense is real. Unlike Episode 3 where everyone knew exactly how the plot would turn out, all anyone knows about Rogue One is that it’s about the mission to steal the Death Star plans, which leads to the destruction of the Death Star in Episode 4.
By Zach Foster8 years ago in Futurism
Scientific Romances in the Atomic Age
The resolution to the War in the Pacific in 1945 threw a wholly new anxiety onto the shoulders of the world: the heretofore impossible spectre of actual global annihilation. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki culminated a trend begun with The Great War. In that first conflict, the "Christian Century" of infinite moral progress was crushed beneath the violence of technological warfare predicted by the likes of H.G. Wells, George Tomkyns Chesney, and the other 19th century writers of doomsday invasion stories. Often they predicted an apocalyptic outcome to the oncoming war, but humanity's execution was blessedly stayed in 1919. Even with advances in tank, aeroplane and explosive technologies, truly obliterating humanity was beyond humanity's power.
By Cory Gross8 years ago in Futurism
OMNI's Early Review of Star Wars Rogue One
Of all the things Turkey is known for, early theatrical releases of international blockbusters isn't one. And yet--Turkey debuted Rogue One on December 14th, 2016...two days ahead of the U.S. release date. Which means, if you live in Turkey (and I do) then you're ahead of the pack!
By Matt Cates8 years ago in Futurism
The Mightiest Motion Picture of Them All
After several years of production, design and location shooting, Walt Disney released his first Hollywood produced live-action motion picture in 1954. If the advertising was to be believed, it was in fact the mightiest motion picture of them all. Considering that the film was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, this is a credible claim.
By Cory Gross8 years ago in Futurism
Word-Worlds
Ted Chiang is among the greatest short story writers in the history of science fiction, and I've been recommending his work to students for years. That said, I was somewhat disappointed by Arrival, Denis Villeneuve's recent film adaptation of Chiang's masterful short story "Story of Your Life." The film, in my view, is too noncommittal genre-wise. It doesn't know what it wants to be—action-adventure or philosophical meditation, Independence Day or Ex Machina. I suppose there's a way to elegantly split that difference, but I don't think it happens here. To be fair, it's a tough story to adapt: high-concept, but cerebral and exposition-y. "Story of Your Life" features none of the fate-of-the-Earth-hangs-in-the-balance testosterone of Arrival; what's most interesting about it is the peculiar linguistics of the alien language, particularly the written script, which Chiang's narrator explores in depth. The film dumbs all this down. We get squiddy aliens ejaculating ideograms, and some montage-like scenes of Amy Adams' character trying to decipher them at her desk, but we're not really privy to her insights, and, though a major plot twist depends on it, we never get the full picture of how the aliens' language is a natural outgrowth and/or determinant (or both?) of their relationship to time, which is, or ought to be, the story's great payoff.
By M. Thomas Gammarino8 years ago in Futurism
