Yesterday I was all proud of my Terminator blog. But when I went to the URL to check it out, the whole thing was a mess. All sorts of different fonts going on, and a whole group of text removed from it’s native paragraph and thrown to the end of the blog. I don’t know what was going on, but I had to manually go into the HTML and clean up all the messy code spewed everywhere. There really isn’t a lesson in all this, just maybe keep an eye on your work and don’t assume the “sys admins” will take care of things behind your back. So, go back to the last blog and read it now, it should make some sense, or at least look pretty.
In the past couple days I've watched a few episodes of The Prisoner. As I've said before it is currently enjoying it's 40th anniversary and the most recent episode to celebrate it's birthday is Living In Harmony on Monday. I was first introduced to the series when I was in High School, about 20 years ago. The one episode that made the most impact on me was this episode. It was my favorite, and after 20 years it still is. What makes it so special? The series is re-imagined as a western. No.6 is now a sheriff who retires, turning in badge, gun and horse. While walking across the country side, carrying his saddle, he's attacked by highwaymen and wakes up in a western village called Harmony. The local Mayor/Judge keeps harassing him to become the new sheriff, but No.6 refuses. He is attacked on a number of occasions but won't even wear a gun. Eventually after threatening to kill an innocent bar maid, Kathy, No.6 relents. This one creepy dude, who has been stalking Kathy and challenging No.6 to a gun fight, finally goes too far and kills Kathy. No.6 gets strapped and manages to kill everyone that gets in his way, except the Mayor who shoots him.
No.6 wakes up on the floor of a deserted bar, wearing his usual contemporary '60s clothes, and sees cardboard cutouts of all the people he met in town. As it turns out it was another trick by the new No.2 (as if there was doubt) who admits he drugged No.6 and had actors playing parts around him, hoping to keep him off balance long enough to learn why No.6 left "The Service," the whole point of the show. I think this episode gets the closest to explaining his motivations. More so than any other episode he shows a reluctance to fight, until an innocent is threatened. My guess is No.6 is the top operative of Her Majesty's Secret Service and he developed moral issues with what he was doing, assassinations and what not, I assume. Since it rare for anyone to leave "The Service", there is a psychological debriefing center, "The Village," to determine why someone wants to leave. No.6 has clammed up and refuses to cooperate, having been kidnapped and all, so a succession of No.2s try each week to break him. I've always had trouble deciding whether the other people populating The Village really live there in peace or are part of "The System." I've always thought it was all part of the act, but that's just my paranoia. I wouldn't trust anybody for anything. In fact, why he doesn't snap and kill his way out is beyond me, except that maybe that has to do with why he quit.
The Prisoner wasn't aired in America until a couple years after the series ended, still in the height of the Vietnam war. When the US Broadcasters came across this episode, a British western about non-violence, they decided to cut it. It never aired, until years later. It was controversial and thought to be anti-war. That could be said about the whole series, but this episode in particular stands out. It kind of reminds me of High Noon, except the exact opposite. Everyone wants to fight and No.6 doesn't. There's even a lynching in the episode as the Mayor/Judge "feeds" Kathy's brother to an angry mob. I always find myself drawn to the rifle rack, next to the front door of the police station, and how easy it would be to just unload on these people and "fix" the town. But, much like the Emperor tempting Luke Skywalker, the easy way out was the last thing No.6 wanted. I wouldn't recommend this one as a first episode because it requires you to know No.6's circumstances prior to messin' with yer mind.
In a previous blog I had discussed Speed Racer and briefly touched on Astro Boy. Something I had failed to mention at the time was just how important Astro Boy is to anime. It lit a torch that passed to Speed Racer, then to Starblazers, Battle Of The Planets, Voltron, Tranzor-Z, ROBOTECH, Sailor Moon, Pokemon & Yu-gi-oh (sadly), Dragon Ball Z, and (not finally) Adult Swim. This is just in America. The explosion that Astro Boy/Tetsuwan Atom ("Mighty" Atom) caused was even greater in Japan. Based on the manga of the same name written a decade prior, to entertain children during the post-war rebuild of Japan, the animated version (in black & white no less, just like manga still is) was first broadcast January 1, 1963. Thus, anime was born. It's distinctive style, an adaptation of the Disney character look, helped Japanese anime became it's own unique entity. And if my math serves me well, that means this year (this New Years, in fact) is Anime's 45 birthday. Tanjoubi Omedeto, Anime.
I am not as old as anime but there was a defining series that began broadcasting around the time I was born. SCIENCE NINJA TEAM GATCHAMAN. Currently it is 35 years old, just like me, and I've been watching a few episodes, to refresh my '70s memory. This series was "retooled" a couple times before coming to America, going by such names as Battle Of The Planets, G-Force, and Eagle Riders. In the past few years the original Japanese version has been released, subtitled, on 18 DVDs, and fairly cheaply from rightstuf.com. So I acquired the first four (4) volumes and began watching. The frame-rate of the series is about twice that of Speed Racer (twice nothing is still nothing) but the detail and character animation is unique for the time. With a room full a people only those that are talking are animated, but several other cinematic tricks are done to make it look like more is going on than the budget allows. And the stories are good, your usual "monster-of-the-week" encounter, but this is one of those series that defined the genre, so it comes off more fresh than it should. I love this series, but it looks dated. If you can handle it, then go get this series.
Gatchaman has an important role in anime. In its 105 episode run it created a legend on both sides of the Pacific pond. The "hero shows" of the time were general about one or two good guys versus evil. This was the first time a team of people, specifically five (5), assembled to fight the bad guys like Galactor. The five of Gatchaman started the trend of The Leader Guy, The Skinny Guy, The Fat Guy, The Short/Young Guy (in English has a goofy voice), and The Female Guy... I mean The Princess. In Gatchaman they wore specific bird outfits. This trend directly lead Battle Team or Sentai live action series we all know and love as The Power Rangers. This is the start of the colored outfits and vehicles and such of the main characters. I'm not going to get into the dynamic of the sixth person introduced later with a specialty color, but who can forget Tommy, The Green Ranger. This genre still stuck to sci-fi anime with such series as Voltron (aka GoLion) and Voltes V, and even to the Magical Girl genre with Sailor Moon. As girled-up and soap opera-like as Sailer Moon was, it followed every convention of the Sentai story arch-types. These types of stories general have secret identities, multi combining vehicles/robots and (sometimes) super powers, was an attempt to emulate the superhero stories of America. At least Gatchaman was, and it sparked a huge trend.
The episodes I watched were The Fearful Jellyfish Lens (my favorite title) and The Indestructible Machine. The latter title is a lie, as thanks to Jinpei, he stole some plans for this cool mech/vehicle thing that transforms into whatever the pilot needs. Stupid Galactor. Gatchaman took that thing out, but the nifty idea in it was the pilot who had to insert a Video Tape into a slot to make it transform. It so impractical its awesome. The Jellyfish Lens episode is about a group of modified Jellyfish with lots of eyes that can combine into a giant blob, with lots of eyes, and reflect the suns rays into deadly laser beams. Cool. Then the God Phoenix (that's Gatchman's ship made from combining their five vehicles) has to take it on. I don't want to spoil the ending, but it involves the Fiery Phoenix, the best anime attack along with Voltron's Blazing Sword. This show rocks. See you next broadcast.
Showing posts with label anime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anime. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
What Doesn't Kill Me Makes Me Stronger
This weekend I was occupied with the Army so I have blogging to make up for. I would like to point out this weekend that our commander sat us all down on Friday and wanted us to brainstorm any ideas we might have on how to entice people to join the CT National Guard. My two-cents involved changing the name of the Army to “The Justice League Of America.” It sounds way cooler and the name implies you could be issued a cape with your rifle. While in Iraq, I even saw a group of Blackhawks with Superman’s symbol painted on the Engine Covers. This goes to show a preponderance of DC support in Military aviation. Even my dad’s P-3 unit back in the 90s used Batman’s “batwing” symbol on their unit patch. Whenever I can I try to push “geek friendly” initiatives within the unit.
Last night (and Sunday before it) FOX aired the Terminator TV series. I’m not sure why it’s called subtitled “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” since John tends to be more important in the long run, but you’ve got no complaint from me. The series in the timeline of Terminator takes place a couple years after Terminator 2 and appears to completely ignore Terminator 3. I love time travel stuff because they tend to weave intricate threads of plot and timeframes to the point of self contradiction. Even in Back To The Future 2, Doc Brown had to explain stuff on a chalk board. Let’s not even mention Doctor Who. So far I like the show. I could watch Summer Glau all day. There are some creative ideas that are defining the show beyond its movie origins and it may become more of a serial than a “Terminator-of-the-week” drama. Hopefully the writers have mapped out a plan and aren’t here to insult our intelligence. With a fourth Terminator movie in the works, slated for summer 2009, the whole timeline threatens to become even more confusing with this line I read on Wikipedia; “Executive producer James Middleton confirmed in Variety that the series will contain a link to Terminator 4.” I guess pick your flavor of time line and prepare to be entertained. As odd as the fractured timeline the franchise is creating sounds this isn’t without precedent. The anime series Space Cruiser Yamato, aired in America as Starblazers, is made up of 3 TV series, 5 movies , and an OVA. Depending what order you watch them in creates a different timeline. The movies are all sequels to the first TV series, but tend to kill most of the characters. The later TV series are retellings of the movies but half the crew survives, where they originally died. Then new sequels are made from these altered versions and the timeline splinters more. It’s not as confusing as I make it sound, so track them down and watch them, already.
To understand the future lets see where The Terminator series has been:
1963: A bank is founded and is modified, by operatives from the future, to contain an isotonic weapon and a time machine for use by future Tech-Com resistance. (from TV)
May 12, 1984: The Terminator.
February 1985: 9 months after the main story of The Terminator, John Connor is born.
1995: Terminator 2: Judgment Day. John is age 10. New timeline created when Cyberdyne is destroyed, pushing Judgment Day from 1997 to 2004.
August 4, 1997: Skynet goes online in original timeline.
August 29, 1997: Judgment Day in original timeline.
1997: Sarah Connor dies of Leukemia in the new, post-T2 timeline, but only in the T3 timeline.
August 24 – September 10, 1999: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Pilot. John is 14 (he appears a little older). John, Sarah, and Cameron (a new protector) fight a new Terminator (T-888) and travel to the future.
September 11, 2001: A time point mentioned in the TV show explaining why it’s harder to "stay off the grid."
July 24, 2004: Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines. John is age 19. The new Judgment Day. (This time reference doesn’t occur in the TV show.)
2005: Sarah Connor dies of cancer in the new, new post T2, pre-TV timeline, if she didn’t jump to the future.
September 2007: Terminator: TSCC TV series. Sarah, John, and Cameron reappear in the timeline to bring the war to Skynet.
April 19-21, 2011: Skynet activated, bringing about the next new Judgment Day (ignoring T3).
2013: Assuming Sarah Connor doesn’t die during Judgment Day, she’ll die of cancer, as she only has 6 years to live when she jumped to 2007. (From the TV show)
2014: Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. John is age 29 (21 on the TV show). He leads the war between Tech-Com forces and Skynet.
2027: Cameron is sent back to protect John in 1999. (This is two years before Skynet started sending back units in the movie so something must have happened in the TV series to speed up the creation of the time machine.)
2029: Skynet creates a time machine, the “Continuum Transporter,” and begins sending Terminator units into the past to kill key personnel. The human resistance, led by John Connor, succeeds in defeating Skynet and sends operatives into the past to protect himself and his mother. Note: Kyle Reese sent back in time and becomes John’s father (take that Doc Brown).
2032: John Connor, age 48, is killed by a Series 800 Terminator unit. His widow, Kate Brewster, reprograms and sends the unit back to “New Judgment Day 2004” to save John.
I don’t know if the above is more confusing or less confusing. John always seems to be older than he should be, but having the weight of humanity on your shoulders probably does that to you. The TV series has seriously F’d up a linear sense of the Timeline, but is easily accommodated by ignoring T3. One can also say that by removing John and Sarah from time for eight years changed Judgment Day a second time. I’d like to know how Salvation will reference both movie and TV timelines. Arrgghh. Inconsistencies are slowly cropping up but could be easily dealt with if the writers are paying attention. It seems to me that Sarah is fated to die, no matter what. In fact, I don’t think John can become the man he should until his mother dies. Now, thanks to the show, our present time (in the South-West anyway) is littered with Tech-Com resistance fighters and Terminator units. The FBI has it’s work cut out for it.
It seems to me though that every time the Connor’s try to save humanity they just keep pushing Judgment Day a little farther in the future. At this rate John could die of old age before the war even happens. These people just need to stay off the grid for a couple years and let it happen. Then John, and his wife(?), can go about saving the last billion people on Earth. If Terminator Salvation represents John’s first successful actions against Skynet then the war must last about fifteen years, (13 if the TV show date is now correct). I’m still curious as to why Skynet developed time travel to begin with. That seems an odd choice of weapons do use against your enemy. It’s a great choice, actually, don’t get me wrong, but I got the impression from the first movie that Skynet develops and deploys time travel only when it realizes its losing. So, what prompted it to do that? The Machine Intelligence in The Matrix didn’t employ time travel, but Neo didn’t really defeat them, either.
If you like future, AI-controlled post-apocalyptic worlds, check out an old Manga that was translated in the late '80s called Grey. Same idea is The Terminator, in that an AI named Toy becomes sentient, changes its name to Big Mama, and forces what few humans are left alive in towns to fight each other. Trust me on this, it's better than it sounds. It very dark toned manga, and it was also made into a movie in 1986, Grey: Digital Target. One of my favorites in high-school. See you next broadcast.
Last night (and Sunday before it) FOX aired the Terminator TV series. I’m not sure why it’s called subtitled “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” since John tends to be more important in the long run, but you’ve got no complaint from me. The series in the timeline of Terminator takes place a couple years after Terminator 2 and appears to completely ignore Terminator 3. I love time travel stuff because they tend to weave intricate threads of plot and timeframes to the point of self contradiction. Even in Back To The Future 2, Doc Brown had to explain stuff on a chalk board. Let’s not even mention Doctor Who. So far I like the show. I could watch Summer Glau all day. There are some creative ideas that are defining the show beyond its movie origins and it may become more of a serial than a “Terminator-of-the-week” drama. Hopefully the writers have mapped out a plan and aren’t here to insult our intelligence. With a fourth Terminator movie in the works, slated for summer 2009, the whole timeline threatens to become even more confusing with this line I read on Wikipedia; “Executive producer James Middleton confirmed in Variety that the series will contain a link to Terminator 4.” I guess pick your flavor of time line and prepare to be entertained. As odd as the fractured timeline the franchise is creating sounds this isn’t without precedent. The anime series Space Cruiser Yamato, aired in America as Starblazers, is made up of 3 TV series, 5 movies , and an OVA. Depending what order you watch them in creates a different timeline. The movies are all sequels to the first TV series, but tend to kill most of the characters. The later TV series are retellings of the movies but half the crew survives, where they originally died. Then new sequels are made from these altered versions and the timeline splinters more. It’s not as confusing as I make it sound, so track them down and watch them, already.
To understand the future lets see where The Terminator series has been:
1963: A bank is founded and is modified, by operatives from the future, to contain an isotonic weapon and a time machine for use by future Tech-Com resistance. (from TV)
May 12, 1984: The Terminator.
February 1985: 9 months after the main story of The Terminator, John Connor is born.
1995: Terminator 2: Judgment Day. John is age 10. New timeline created when Cyberdyne is destroyed, pushing Judgment Day from 1997 to 2004.
August 4, 1997: Skynet goes online in original timeline.
August 29, 1997: Judgment Day in original timeline.
1997: Sarah Connor dies of Leukemia in the new, post-T2 timeline, but only in the T3 timeline.
August 24 – September 10, 1999: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Pilot. John is 14 (he appears a little older). John, Sarah, and Cameron (a new protector) fight a new Terminator (T-888) and travel to the future.
September 11, 2001: A time point mentioned in the TV show explaining why it’s harder to "stay off the grid."
July 24, 2004: Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines. John is age 19. The new Judgment Day. (This time reference doesn’t occur in the TV show.)
2005: Sarah Connor dies of cancer in the new, new post T2, pre-TV timeline, if she didn’t jump to the future.
September 2007: Terminator: TSCC TV series. Sarah, John, and Cameron reappear in the timeline to bring the war to Skynet.
April 19-21, 2011: Skynet activated, bringing about the next new Judgment Day (ignoring T3).
2013: Assuming Sarah Connor doesn’t die during Judgment Day, she’ll die of cancer, as she only has 6 years to live when she jumped to 2007. (From the TV show)
2014: Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. John is age 29 (21 on the TV show). He leads the war between Tech-Com forces and Skynet.
2027: Cameron is sent back to protect John in 1999. (This is two years before Skynet started sending back units in the movie so something must have happened in the TV series to speed up the creation of the time machine.)
2029: Skynet creates a time machine, the “Continuum Transporter,” and begins sending Terminator units into the past to kill key personnel. The human resistance, led by John Connor, succeeds in defeating Skynet and sends operatives into the past to protect himself and his mother. Note: Kyle Reese sent back in time and becomes John’s father (take that Doc Brown).
2032: John Connor, age 48, is killed by a Series 800 Terminator unit. His widow, Kate Brewster, reprograms and sends the unit back to “New Judgment Day 2004” to save John.
I don’t know if the above is more confusing or less confusing. John always seems to be older than he should be, but having the weight of humanity on your shoulders probably does that to you. The TV series has seriously F’d up a linear sense of the Timeline, but is easily accommodated by ignoring T3. One can also say that by removing John and Sarah from time for eight years changed Judgment Day a second time. I’d like to know how Salvation will reference both movie and TV timelines. Arrgghh. Inconsistencies are slowly cropping up but could be easily dealt with if the writers are paying attention. It seems to me that Sarah is fated to die, no matter what. In fact, I don’t think John can become the man he should until his mother dies. Now, thanks to the show, our present time (in the South-West anyway) is littered with Tech-Com resistance fighters and Terminator units. The FBI has it’s work cut out for it.
It seems to me though that every time the Connor’s try to save humanity they just keep pushing Judgment Day a little farther in the future. At this rate John could die of old age before the war even happens. These people just need to stay off the grid for a couple years and let it happen. Then John, and his wife(?), can go about saving the last billion people on Earth. If Terminator Salvation represents John’s first successful actions against Skynet then the war must last about fifteen years, (13 if the TV show date is now correct). I’m still curious as to why Skynet developed time travel to begin with. That seems an odd choice of weapons do use against your enemy. It’s a great choice, actually, don’t get me wrong, but I got the impression from the first movie that Skynet develops and deploys time travel only when it realizes its losing. So, what prompted it to do that? The Machine Intelligence in The Matrix didn’t employ time travel, but Neo didn’t really defeat them, either.
If you like future, AI-controlled post-apocalyptic worlds, check out an old Manga that was translated in the late '80s called Grey. Same idea is The Terminator, in that an AI named Toy becomes sentient, changes its name to Big Mama, and forces what few humans are left alive in towns to fight each other. Trust me on this, it's better than it sounds. It very dark toned manga, and it was also made into a movie in 1986, Grey: Digital Target. One of my favorites in high-school. See you next broadcast.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Here He Comes...
In the beginning, there was no Anime. Then Japan created their first animated TV show. The date was January 1, 1963. Based on a popular comic it was incredibly successful. So successful, in fact, that it crossed the Pacific and invaded American airwaves, dubbed in English but covered up all evidence of its origin. This show was Tetsuwan Atom, better known as Astro Boy. Thus began the first wave of anime in America. It wasn't limited to Astro Boy. Soon, titles like Kimba The White Lion, Gigantor, and 8 Man appeared as well. In all this foreign goodness was a title that grabbed everyone's attention. That title was Speed Racer. Originally Mach GoGoGo, it was renamed as were all the characters, except the most important one, Speed's racecar, the Mach Five, aka Mach Go in Japanese, where the first two (2) words of the title come from. Speed's name was originally Go Mifune (note the M on his helmet) and is the second "Go" in the titled. The third "Go" is English for "Go" as in "move fast."
I digress. This show was about driving fast and winning races with a racecar that had all sorts of gadgets. Each episode Speed would get in a race and usually had to beat a bad guy who was cheating and running others off tracks (think Sebulba). In the background he was supported by his father, Pops (Daisuke), a brilliant racecar mechanic ; his girlfriend, Trixie (Michi Shimura), advising Speed from the air in her helicopter; and his younger brother, Spritle (Kurio), known for hiding in the Mach 5's trunk to hang with Speed. Don't forget Chim Chim (Senpei), Spritles pet chimp who goes everywhere with him. And, don't forget the most important character, Racer X. A masked racecar driver that tended to help Speed during races more often than not, and then disappear. Speed also swore to beat him in every race, so they were rivals as well. It took some time to determine that Racer X was Speed's older, disowned brother, Rex (Kenichi), who wrecked Pops first racecar and left the family in shame. On his own Rex vowed to be the best driver, ever, but also wanted to look out for Speed, as these races tended to be deadly.
The stories, 52 episodes worth, were full of technology and conspiracies and had their own style distinct from everything else on TV. The most notable thing about the show was the English dub. It should be known that Japanese don't necessarily try to match spoken word with animated lip movement. Close but not perfect. However, the English dub was designed to match those lips, and in doing so made for quirky, high speed dialog. The primary voice actors were Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr. These two (2) alone should be hailed for bringing Speed, Racer X, Trixie, and Spritle to life. Jack Curtis and Jack Grimes fleshed out the vocal cast. Much like South Park today, this limited number of voice actors spoke for everyone in the series.
On a side note, I was listening to the morning radio show I like on WPLR, last month, when the radio guys started talking about Speed Racer. Normally there is a certain amount of morning sarcasm and wit to start the day, but these guys (the one lady present never saw the show) regressed back to their childhood and started reliving the show on the air. They were remembering their favorite moments and car gadgets and such. They impressed upon me the love of the show they have. Its hard to find people that know about Speed Racer these days. Then, of all things, they put Peter Fernandez on the phone. He now sounds like an older Racer X. As it turns out Fernandez and Orr were appearing at New Yorks first Anime convention since 2001. Apparently a new Speed Racer show is coming and Fernandez will now play an adult Spritle (age 40ish), now a mechanic, but Speed is nowhere to be seen. That's all he said. He humbly played of his role in Anime history but it was awesome just to here on the radio. Thanks WPLR.
I'm not old enough to have seen it first run, but luckily I was an MTV junkie in college, in the early 90s, when the reruns began to air. As a huge anime I couldn't pass it up and became hooked immediately. Regardless of the fact anime had improved in the 25 intervening years, the plots were just as strong. We're not talking Masterpiece Theatre here, but a fun show about a dude with tricked-out, gadget-filled racecar that can beat anyone. I tried to get my friends to watch it too, but it was hit-or-miss. Some liked it, some didn't. If you've never seen it before it can be quite a shock. I think the frame rate is about 10 frames a second. I don't even think they employed inbetweeners back then. Its all hand drawn goodness. I am an Anime purest, though, and I don't like how much the edit (or "kid-ify" as I like to call it) more adult oriented themes. There was one episode about a father who doesn't want his daughter racing for fear she might die. The "Red Shirt" drivers die by the dozen in this show. So he tries whipping her for punishment then sabotages her brakes, before the big race, to prove she can't handle it. Gee, thanks pop. All these elements were edited out to "sanitize" the show, just a little bit. I suppose I can't blame them, but I like to see Anime the way the Japanese intended. I wish some company would release a subtitled version.
One of my favorite episodes is the Volcano race episode. Once everyone bunch of years a passage opens up in a volcano and people can race through it. Why this is a good idea I don't know. All the drivers had like an hour to race through the miles of lava filled tunnels before the passage closed again and you die. Everything is going smoothly but the bad guy starts messing with stuff and suddenly lava is all over the paths killing people left and right. I think more people died in this one than any other. At one point the drivers, including Speed come to a large cave with a statue in the way. The drivers stop to admire it when it suddenly crumbles and crushes half of them. Crazy.
Another A+ about this series is the way to catchy theme song. The music is the same, just the words re-sung in English. How can you not sing the theme when plays. Even the intro is distinctive. Of the many "geek" jobs I've had I did a two (2) year stint at an arcade, working at the Q-Zar arena in the basement. Then one day the Speed Racer video game was placed near the front counter and all day the game played the theme while in demo mode. I miss those days.
Several attempts have been done to re-make the show but none have ever come close to essence of the original. If anything, the only other anime I've seen that reminded me of Speed Racer is Initial D. A very different series, much more serious, and is probably the source of demand for the AE86 model Toyota Trueno. Then of all people, the Matrix brothers decide to make a live action version, their first family film. I've heard the rumor for years but never actually believed someone was going to try to tackle the project. And the people who found a way to combine wire-fu and over-the-top anime styling are the perfect directors for the project. When I find the preview I'll post a link, but locate it and observe it repeatedly. I can't believe they actually made a life size Mach Five and it looks cool. All the gadgets look intact and the hydraulic jump pad things look even better than the show. Okay, they were kind of corny in the show but who doesn't want a car that can jump. I want to know the saw blades are in the movie. Everything looks right down to the colors, with Spridle and Chim Chim hiding in the trunk. And John Goodman as Pops somehow makes sense. Man, the details look awesome, Speed still has the "M" on his helmet. He's a demon on wheels. See you next broadcast.
I digress. This show was about driving fast and winning races with a racecar that had all sorts of gadgets. Each episode Speed would get in a race and usually had to beat a bad guy who was cheating and running others off tracks (think Sebulba). In the background he was supported by his father, Pops (Daisuke), a brilliant racecar mechanic ; his girlfriend, Trixie (Michi Shimura), advising Speed from the air in her helicopter; and his younger brother, Spritle (Kurio), known for hiding in the Mach 5's trunk to hang with Speed. Don't forget Chim Chim (Senpei), Spritles pet chimp who goes everywhere with him. And, don't forget the most important character, Racer X. A masked racecar driver that tended to help Speed during races more often than not, and then disappear. Speed also swore to beat him in every race, so they were rivals as well. It took some time to determine that Racer X was Speed's older, disowned brother, Rex (Kenichi), who wrecked Pops first racecar and left the family in shame. On his own Rex vowed to be the best driver, ever, but also wanted to look out for Speed, as these races tended to be deadly.
The stories, 52 episodes worth, were full of technology and conspiracies and had their own style distinct from everything else on TV. The most notable thing about the show was the English dub. It should be known that Japanese don't necessarily try to match spoken word with animated lip movement. Close but not perfect. However, the English dub was designed to match those lips, and in doing so made for quirky, high speed dialog. The primary voice actors were Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr. These two (2) alone should be hailed for bringing Speed, Racer X, Trixie, and Spritle to life. Jack Curtis and Jack Grimes fleshed out the vocal cast. Much like South Park today, this limited number of voice actors spoke for everyone in the series.
On a side note, I was listening to the morning radio show I like on WPLR, last month, when the radio guys started talking about Speed Racer. Normally there is a certain amount of morning sarcasm and wit to start the day, but these guys (the one lady present never saw the show) regressed back to their childhood and started reliving the show on the air. They were remembering their favorite moments and car gadgets and such. They impressed upon me the love of the show they have. Its hard to find people that know about Speed Racer these days. Then, of all things, they put Peter Fernandez on the phone. He now sounds like an older Racer X. As it turns out Fernandez and Orr were appearing at New Yorks first Anime convention since 2001. Apparently a new Speed Racer show is coming and Fernandez will now play an adult Spritle (age 40ish), now a mechanic, but Speed is nowhere to be seen. That's all he said. He humbly played of his role in Anime history but it was awesome just to here on the radio. Thanks WPLR.
I'm not old enough to have seen it first run, but luckily I was an MTV junkie in college, in the early 90s, when the reruns began to air. As a huge anime I couldn't pass it up and became hooked immediately. Regardless of the fact anime had improved in the 25 intervening years, the plots were just as strong. We're not talking Masterpiece Theatre here, but a fun show about a dude with tricked-out, gadget-filled racecar that can beat anyone. I tried to get my friends to watch it too, but it was hit-or-miss. Some liked it, some didn't. If you've never seen it before it can be quite a shock. I think the frame rate is about 10 frames a second. I don't even think they employed inbetweeners back then. Its all hand drawn goodness. I am an Anime purest, though, and I don't like how much the edit (or "kid-ify" as I like to call it) more adult oriented themes. There was one episode about a father who doesn't want his daughter racing for fear she might die. The "Red Shirt" drivers die by the dozen in this show. So he tries whipping her for punishment then sabotages her brakes, before the big race, to prove she can't handle it. Gee, thanks pop. All these elements were edited out to "sanitize" the show, just a little bit. I suppose I can't blame them, but I like to see Anime the way the Japanese intended. I wish some company would release a subtitled version.
One of my favorite episodes is the Volcano race episode. Once everyone bunch of years a passage opens up in a volcano and people can race through it. Why this is a good idea I don't know. All the drivers had like an hour to race through the miles of lava filled tunnels before the passage closed again and you die. Everything is going smoothly but the bad guy starts messing with stuff and suddenly lava is all over the paths killing people left and right. I think more people died in this one than any other. At one point the drivers, including Speed come to a large cave with a statue in the way. The drivers stop to admire it when it suddenly crumbles and crushes half of them. Crazy.
Another A+ about this series is the way to catchy theme song. The music is the same, just the words re-sung in English. How can you not sing the theme when plays. Even the intro is distinctive. Of the many "geek" jobs I've had I did a two (2) year stint at an arcade, working at the Q-Zar arena in the basement. Then one day the Speed Racer video game was placed near the front counter and all day the game played the theme while in demo mode. I miss those days.
Several attempts have been done to re-make the show but none have ever come close to essence of the original. If anything, the only other anime I've seen that reminded me of Speed Racer is Initial D. A very different series, much more serious, and is probably the source of demand for the AE86 model Toyota Trueno. Then of all people, the Matrix brothers decide to make a live action version, their first family film. I've heard the rumor for years but never actually believed someone was going to try to tackle the project. And the people who found a way to combine wire-fu and over-the-top anime styling are the perfect directors for the project. When I find the preview I'll post a link, but locate it and observe it repeatedly. I can't believe they actually made a life size Mach Five and it looks cool. All the gadgets look intact and the hydraulic jump pad things look even better than the show. Okay, they were kind of corny in the show but who doesn't want a car that can jump. I want to know the saw blades are in the movie. Everything looks right down to the colors, with Spridle and Chim Chim hiding in the trunk. And John Goodman as Pops somehow makes sense. Man, the details look awesome, Speed still has the "M" on his helmet. He's a demon on wheels. See you next broadcast.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Fox Hunts, Quatloos, And Techno
This weekend I mostly watched TV and DVDs. Below are some of my edited highlights. Lately I've been addicted the the Law & Order and CSI marathons on all weekend. I won't be talking about those but I have thought CSI might be considered a geek show. Especial "CSI: Miami." This one practically borders on Science Fiction. Their computer systems and forensic collection equipment borders on Gattaca and The Island.
Kitsunegari: This episode is now ten (10) years old and as I saw this when it was first on, this fact begins to show my age. This episode is from the fifth season of the X-Files and is actually a sequel to a third season episode called "Pusher." The first episode dealt with a serial killer, named Modell, who had a "Jedi Mindtrick" ability to make other people kill themselves. He put his sights on Mulder, and Mulder shot him in the face with his Glock. Nice. Unfortunately Modell was in a coma and after two (2) years he wakes up, power intact, and escapes. More murders start popping up but Mulder thinks Modell isn't behind them, but the new wife of a recently killed judge. The name means "Fox Hunt" in Japanese, but there is little to do with Japan in either of these episodes. Modell thinks of himself as a Ronin and refers to himself as Osu, or Pusher. He can push his will on others, due to enhancement from a brain tumor. I don't usually like repeat performances in sequels, as I thought Mulder would have to jail Modell again, but this plot surprised me and in fact Modell was trying to warn Mulder. As it turns out Modell has a sister who wants revenge on her brother's capture. She has the same brain tumor so she has the same power. Luckily Skully comes packing heat and blows her away in the end. This second Modell story isn't as good as the first one, but there is some mystery in all this worth watching. But, some moments had me wondering if the script writers were paying attention. Mulder calls a real estate agent to find out her itinerary and the secretary gives all the information without once asking who Mulder is. She needs to be fired. Also, to add drama, Mulder faces Modell early on and Modell let's him go, only giving Mulder a warning message. When he reports this to Skully and AD Skinner they think he's been co-opted by Modell and refuse to listen to his theories. So Mulder strikes out on his own and is almost killed. Modell has never shown the ability to alter minds for this long so I don't get why Skully, at least, doesn't support Mulder. This is still before Skully is fully swayed to Mulder's way of thinking, but to believe in Modell's power may be all she was capable of. I still think the mid-episode drama between Skully, Skinner, and Mulder was forced. However, while Modell is in the hospital, after being shot by Skinner, his sister pays a visit (pulling a mass Jedi Mindtrick to look like an anonymous nurse) and kills him by talking his brain into shutting his body down; the creepiest scene in the episode.
The Gamesters Of Triskelion: Saturday continues the 40th anniversary of Star Trek with The Gamesters Of Triskelion. This is a classic episode from the second season most people, even non-Trek fans, have probably seen. Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov are abducted off the Enterprise to the planet Triskelion to play in gladiator games. Spock is left in command of the ship trying to figure out what happened while McCoy annoys him to death. This first thing that comes to most people's minds when you think Kirk is his love of alien, and sometimes human, women. I wish to point out he never slept with a green alien woman (Orion Slave Girl, yum) but the female, Shahna, at least had green in her hair. This is one of those episodes Kirk woos a woman just to get something out of her. I especially love the part where he kisses her, twice, then punches her in the face to knock her out. This isn't really a favorite of mine, but Kirk gets some fighting in. We are also introduced to a Quatloo, a money(?) system used by the disembodied brains that rule over Triskelion. The three brains watch (somehow) their Thralls (slaves/gladiators) fight. Kirk, who is used to out-thinking computers, meets the brains and gambles his crews freedom against a fight with three Thralls. Kirk wins and Shahna has final, really corny, soliloquy, and everything ends happy. This is a great campy episode, but I have always hated the episodes where the crew is kidnapped for one reason or another. Another moment to add drama is McCoy who thinks Spock is doing everything wrong and second guesses him, on the bridge no less, in front of everyone. Spock eventually puts a stop to this bu quietly asking Bones if he intends mutiny. This is so unnecessary in the episode and was added for drama instead of plot. However, I can't not recommend seeing the episode at least once. When most non-Trek fans think of Star Trek, this is the episode they think of. And everyone knows what a Quatloo is, just not how brains in a tank can spend them.
Tekkaman Blade #47: Tekkaman Blade is 49 episode TV series from 1992-93, intended as a remake of the '75 Tekkaman series (that aired in America in eighties), it is animated in the classic non-CG, fully hand drawn style. This new series also ran in America under the name Teknoman, which is how I first saw it (on UPN if I remember). And you can't have Teknoman with Tekno in the background, so all the music was stripped out and replaced with club music, which in some ways worked. The dub wasn't too bad, and the story was pretty good, reminding me of the glory years of the eighties with Voltron, Robotech, and SilverHawks. Basically Earth is invaded by bugs Venomoids/Radam from space and some Tekka/Tekno enhanced humans. One of these enhanced humans joins Earth's side in the invasion and can become Tekkaman/Teknoman to save the day. Lots of things blow up and justice is dealt to the bad guys. The mechanic designs and Earth's tech level are outstanding. Humans have a Space Ring around the Earth attached to the ground by several Orbital Elevators. In the episode I watched alien tree pod things planted by the bugs (operating off the Moon) begin to blossom and grab the nearest human to absorb them. Earth is ordered to evacuate and everyone on the planet has to get to the Elevators. Neat stuff. The Japanese version is much better than our edited/butchered version, but I do miss the Techno. This series is 15 years old and if you're a fan 80's anime this is a definite hit. If you're used to the newer styles of anime this may be a bit of a shock as to how dated it looks. And it comes in two (2) flavors, American dub (43 episodes) or Japanese sub. The subtitles one comes in three (3) box sets for about $30 each. I hope I can find a soundtrack to the American version someday. See you next Broadcast.
Kitsunegari: This episode is now ten (10) years old and as I saw this when it was first on, this fact begins to show my age. This episode is from the fifth season of the X-Files and is actually a sequel to a third season episode called "Pusher." The first episode dealt with a serial killer, named Modell, who had a "Jedi Mindtrick" ability to make other people kill themselves. He put his sights on Mulder, and Mulder shot him in the face with his Glock. Nice. Unfortunately Modell was in a coma and after two (2) years he wakes up, power intact, and escapes. More murders start popping up but Mulder thinks Modell isn't behind them, but the new wife of a recently killed judge. The name means "Fox Hunt" in Japanese, but there is little to do with Japan in either of these episodes. Modell thinks of himself as a Ronin and refers to himself as Osu, or Pusher. He can push his will on others, due to enhancement from a brain tumor. I don't usually like repeat performances in sequels, as I thought Mulder would have to jail Modell again, but this plot surprised me and in fact Modell was trying to warn Mulder. As it turns out Modell has a sister who wants revenge on her brother's capture. She has the same brain tumor so she has the same power. Luckily Skully comes packing heat and blows her away in the end. This second Modell story isn't as good as the first one, but there is some mystery in all this worth watching. But, some moments had me wondering if the script writers were paying attention. Mulder calls a real estate agent to find out her itinerary and the secretary gives all the information without once asking who Mulder is. She needs to be fired. Also, to add drama, Mulder faces Modell early on and Modell let's him go, only giving Mulder a warning message. When he reports this to Skully and AD Skinner they think he's been co-opted by Modell and refuse to listen to his theories. So Mulder strikes out on his own and is almost killed. Modell has never shown the ability to alter minds for this long so I don't get why Skully, at least, doesn't support Mulder. This is still before Skully is fully swayed to Mulder's way of thinking, but to believe in Modell's power may be all she was capable of. I still think the mid-episode drama between Skully, Skinner, and Mulder was forced. However, while Modell is in the hospital, after being shot by Skinner, his sister pays a visit (pulling a mass Jedi Mindtrick to look like an anonymous nurse) and kills him by talking his brain into shutting his body down; the creepiest scene in the episode.
The Gamesters Of Triskelion: Saturday continues the 40th anniversary of Star Trek with The Gamesters Of Triskelion. This is a classic episode from the second season most people, even non-Trek fans, have probably seen. Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov are abducted off the Enterprise to the planet Triskelion to play in gladiator games. Spock is left in command of the ship trying to figure out what happened while McCoy annoys him to death. This first thing that comes to most people's minds when you think Kirk is his love of alien, and sometimes human, women. I wish to point out he never slept with a green alien woman (Orion Slave Girl, yum) but the female, Shahna, at least had green in her hair. This is one of those episodes Kirk woos a woman just to get something out of her. I especially love the part where he kisses her, twice, then punches her in the face to knock her out. This isn't really a favorite of mine, but Kirk gets some fighting in. We are also introduced to a Quatloo, a money(?) system used by the disembodied brains that rule over Triskelion. The three brains watch (somehow) their Thralls (slaves/gladiators) fight. Kirk, who is used to out-thinking computers, meets the brains and gambles his crews freedom against a fight with three Thralls. Kirk wins and Shahna has final, really corny, soliloquy, and everything ends happy. This is a great campy episode, but I have always hated the episodes where the crew is kidnapped for one reason or another. Another moment to add drama is McCoy who thinks Spock is doing everything wrong and second guesses him, on the bridge no less, in front of everyone. Spock eventually puts a stop to this bu quietly asking Bones if he intends mutiny. This is so unnecessary in the episode and was added for drama instead of plot. However, I can't not recommend seeing the episode at least once. When most non-Trek fans think of Star Trek, this is the episode they think of. And everyone knows what a Quatloo is, just not how brains in a tank can spend them.
Tekkaman Blade #47: Tekkaman Blade is 49 episode TV series from 1992-93, intended as a remake of the '75 Tekkaman series (that aired in America in eighties), it is animated in the classic non-CG, fully hand drawn style. This new series also ran in America under the name Teknoman, which is how I first saw it (on UPN if I remember). And you can't have Teknoman with Tekno in the background, so all the music was stripped out and replaced with club music, which in some ways worked. The dub wasn't too bad, and the story was pretty good, reminding me of the glory years of the eighties with Voltron, Robotech, and SilverHawks. Basically Earth is invaded by bugs Venomoids/Radam from space and some Tekka/Tekno enhanced humans. One of these enhanced humans joins Earth's side in the invasion and can become Tekkaman/Teknoman to save the day. Lots of things blow up and justice is dealt to the bad guys. The mechanic designs and Earth's tech level are outstanding. Humans have a Space Ring around the Earth attached to the ground by several Orbital Elevators. In the episode I watched alien tree pod things planted by the bugs (operating off the Moon) begin to blossom and grab the nearest human to absorb them. Earth is ordered to evacuate and everyone on the planet has to get to the Elevators. Neat stuff. The Japanese version is much better than our edited/butchered version, but I do miss the Techno. This series is 15 years old and if you're a fan 80's anime this is a definite hit. If you're used to the newer styles of anime this may be a bit of a shock as to how dated it looks. And it comes in two (2) flavors, American dub (43 episodes) or Japanese sub. The subtitles one comes in three (3) box sets for about $30 each. I hope I can find a soundtrack to the American version someday. See you next Broadcast.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Unmutual Dubtitles
Last night I saw a commercial which shows a teenage girl going about her life as strangers (ie sinister adults) approach her and ask when she’ll post a new blog. She’s happy prior to each incident, but becomes pensive as more strangers engage her. I guess this is some attempt to explain to kids/teenagers that blogging or internet use in general isn’t a private affair, anyone can see it. It made me feel guilty for not blogging as much I used to. I didn’t catch the whole ad so maybe there was something more to it but she must have an awesome blog to have all these random people in her town reading her stuff. I wish I had this problem. I want more people to read my stuff.
I have been quite remiss on my coverage of anime of late. As a huge anime fan that I am this seems quite odd, but so much to garner my attention from movies, TV, and Xbox. With several days off during the holidays I decided to watch an older series I acquired for around $8 called “Green Legend Ran.” I wish to point out how much I bought it for because I’m an “old school” collector of anime back in the days when anime was only on VHS. Each tape was $30 to $40 and you got like one or two episodes of something on it. These were the fledgling days (the dark ages) of anime when you had to go to the local comic shop for titles. I would save up what measly minimum wage I received to buy a couple new tapes every month or so. Green Legend Ran is a 3 episode OVA (original Animated Video), also known as Direct-To-Video, and as such was sold on three (3) Tapes for about $30 each, or $90 for the complete set. With great satisfaction I can now say I own the series on one (1) DVD and saved about $80 in the process. This time of anime is still a wonder to me. Many older titles are so cheap I can grab them up in bundles.
And, I am happy to report that Green Legend Ran (GLR) was worth it. Pioneer in the early nineties produced quite a few quality OVA’s (Tenchi Muyo! and Moldiver come to mind), not based on pre-existing manga or novels (which tends to be the norm now), but original work that spoke volumes of the creativity of the animators and story tellers. Tenchi was so successful it has spawned several TV shows, movies, and more OVA episodes. Sadly, GLR goes no further than it’s three (3) episodes. What you do get is decent. GLR was animated during the transition from traditional cell animation to CG based work, and as such, looks much older than its 15 years due to the completely hand drawn art. Sometimes the characters look too simple but the backgrounds are all hand painted, no CG anywhere, just the way I like it. The story is nothing new; In the future humanity is fighting a war after ruining the Earth when aliens, known as Rodo, land in giant stature-things and drain all the water and life out of the environment. Over a hundred years later a religion has cropped up around the Rodo (which are still as mysterious as when they landed) and the few people still living have to eek out a life in shanty towns of a post-apocalyptic desert. Like I said, nothing really new, and the first 45min episode is about a teenager, Ran, who has to grow up quick when he gets caught up with terrorists, known as Hazard, that are against the Rodo-based military, which hold a water monoploy over the people. If the first episode is all I ever saw, I probably wouldn’t have continued, but episode 2 (another 45min) and 3 (almost a whole hour) make up for this.
I tend not to like the current batch of teenager anime on TV (Pokemon & Yugioh come to mind) for their sterility, but Pioneer pulled no punches in GLR and people get killed and there are consequences to Ran’s actions. Ran’s mother is gunned down by a man with a scar on his chest and he wants revenge, so he joins the terrorists and learns the scarred-man is the leader. Ran gets involved with a silver haired girl, Aira, who becomes a pawn of both Hazard and the Rodo. Priests of Rodo wander the streets looking for silver-haired chosen ones and kill any child who is an imposter. The true chosen ones have a psychic link to the Rodo and any child captured by the Priests (all deformed in some way), and are tortured until the truth behind the original invasion is exposed, or the child dies. Episodes 2 and 3 are set on the back drop of desert that acts like an ocean, as desert skiffs and battle ships move about. Hazard’s main ship, with Aira as a captive, is attacked by four (4) Rodo ships, taking Aira to Green 5, the main city of the Rodo, and the location of the prophecy of the chosen one. In all this Ran has to put aside his desire for revenge and chases after Aira (he always seems one step behind), whom he realizes is in great danger no matter who possesses her.
This may all seem confusing, but the last two (2) episodes more than make up for the first one in plot and characters. There are cliche characters in a number of places but that doesn’t hinder you too much as you are able to focus more on the mysteries at hand than worrying about a lot of odd characters. There is something in all of this that seems more than familiar and that is because the writers borrowed heavily from the look of the movie Dune. From the desert back drop to deformed priests, these are re-dressed elements that actually work in the story. The ending is a bit predictable though, borrowing from Total Recall it seems, but how the events unfold are interesting. Sadly, they don’t spend a lot of time with the Priests, each with a different deformity due to their proximity to the Rodo statues. The Priests are slowly turning into trees. Weird. If you are not a big anime fan I would steer clear of this, but the title is a good example of the better stuff coming over the Atlantic during the early nineties. The characters become more interesting over time as their secrets start coming out. Ran changes the most over the course of the 140 or so minutes as he starts to make choices about the future, save the girl or kill the dude with the scar.
The DVD itself is the worst aspect of the anime, as it is one of the early Pioneer DVDs from 1998 (prior to them becoming Geneon), and it shows. There is no menu, so you have to jump forward and backward across the chapters on your own. There are two (2) different subtitle tracks without an explanation as to which one to use. The first (and best) are actually “dubtitle,” a fabricated word meaning subtitles of the English dub, not the actual Japanese translation. These tend to be more different than you realize. The second track is closer to the original Japanese but for the hearing impared, so sound effects are also subtitled (usually before the sound, ruining the surprise). I didn’t bother with the English dub, but I was never impressed with early US dub attempts. Streamline (American translation company that made Robotech, under the name Harmony Gold) was the best at the time, but they were going out of business. Maybe in five (5) years someone will make a 20th anniversary special edition and show off this title for the quality that it is.
Speeking of fabricated words I came across one in an episode of The Prisoner; Unmutual. My spellcheck is going nuts on the word as I type it. Unmutuals are people who don’t fit into a regimented society. Specifically “The Village” of The Prisoner, which requires a certain amount of penance from the accused and a small lobotomy. This was all faked for the benefit of Number 6, who was drugged to believe he was lobotomized, just so Number 2 (what an jerk) could learn why 6 left “The Service.” (I’m reminded during 6’s lobotomy scene of “The Host” which has a similar [much more graphic] part, but the lobotomy in the movie was real, the reasoning for it was fake.) This series is a strange “what-if” series for a James Bond type character who leaves the service and is being debriefed in “The Village” with someone playing mind games with him, or he is in the hands of the enemy. It's hard to tell. Only a handful of episodes were ever made, but they were brilliant. And it currently shares the 40th anniversary spotlight with Star Trek as The Prisoner aired from 1967-1968. The episode I watched, “A Change Of Mind,” was a little different than the others (like any two were alike) in that 6 wasn’t trying to escape, just harass everyone around him in charge. I love the image at the end when prison doors slam over the image of him, the metaphor of a failed escape, but in this episode it just seems out of place. 6 did turn the tideon his captors and managed to get Number 2 labeled “Unmutual” with a mob of villagers chasing him off. The Prisoner is open to so much interpretation that anyone can almost see anything, anywhere. My feeling on The Village was that it was all a front and all The Citizens were all designed to elicit reaction from 6. I’m sure there are a number of instances this is contradicted, but that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.
Star Trek had a term Klingons used that was like “Unmutual.” The word is “Discommendation.” it took a while to define in the series, but applied to Worf it meant he was no longer considered a Klingon and neither was his family; less that livestock. Discommendation is harsher that Unmutual but I like these Orwellian 1984 made-up words that define something we already have a word for. Outcast would be fine in both instances, but Unmutual just sounds creepier, implying Mutuals must be happy, law-abiding, do-as-you’re-told citizens. Damn The Man. For those keeping track track Worf was Discommendated as a way of helping the Klingon Empire save face during The Next Generation, Season 3 episode “Sins Of The Father.” It will be some time before he Worf is Undiscommendated or Recommendated or Commendationalized or something. Trust me, Worf survives the dishonor, and the Klingon Empire almost collapses.
Today is Deep Space Nine's 15th Anniversary. The pilot episode "Emissary," a 90 minute feature, aired 15 years ago today. Deep Space 9 lasted seven (7) seasons on the air, from 1993 to 1999. The series lasted so long that while the "Head" of the proverbial snake is 15 today, the "Tail" (in this case Season 6) is 10 years old. I didn't like "emissary" that much, aside from the action parts, when I first saw it in college. I've watched it a few more times since then, including tonight, and I've come to appreciate what the creators of the show wanted to do. This isn't traditional Star Trek and it was the first series made without Roddenberry. His vision of a future of humans with "evolved sensibilities" exporing the galaxy to make the Federation a beter place to live is inspiring, and unique during the 60s (and the height of the cold war and racial tension). He then went on to create The Next Generation, set about 100 years later, with the same ideas that humans put aside their prejudices and try to run a collective group of alien worlds for mutual benefit. There was generally no strife between characters, until Deep Space Nine. The creative staff wanted to make a show where there were issues between people and cultures and religions and the future. This is more real and made for greater drama (or space opera) than the previous two (2) shows. At first the whole idea didn't settle with me, since everyone is on a space station, not exploring anything. But after a year they tackled many more issues and created a grand story arc as the Federation, of the Alpha Quadrant, went to war with the Dominion, of the Gamma Quadrant.
This all starts with a Pilot Episode that introduces us to the galaxy's first stable wormhole, in orbit of Bajor (a planet established during TNG), and a crew of mixed Starfleet and Bajoran nationals working to protect the wormhole while serving on a former Space Station used to mine the Bajor. Renamed Deep Space Nine by Starfleet, the new Commander, Sisko, has some deep seated issues over the loss of his wife and ship during the battle of Wolf 359. To any Trek fan this is the most recognized battle in Trek history, next to the Battle of the Mutara Nebula. Wolf 359 is Starfleet's Alamo against the Borg. Led by Locutus (an assimilated Picard), a single Borg cube wiped out most of Starfleet and continued to Earth, before Enterprise-D stopped them. This battle was only heard over subspace during the two-parter "The Best Of Both Worlds," but "Emissary" flashes back to the battle and shows it to us. This is a huge geek moment in Star Trek history, and it was awesome. Once Sisko takes command we're introduced slowly to the rest of the cast and the religion of the Bajorans and the militarism of the Cardassians, Bajors former occupiers. The part I hated before, but I understand and applaud now, is Sisko's meeting with the "wormhole aliens." They have no sense of linear time or death so he has to use baseball as a metaphor for the human condition. They finally understand and let the Federation use the wormhole for scientific exploration of the Gamma Quadrant. Deep Space 9 becomes the most important "border outpost" on the frontier. Most Trek has shied away from dealing with religion but DS9 embraced it and showed a spirituality to the Bajorans which flares up on more than one occasion as the see the atheistic Federation as evil.
While Deep Space 9 enjoys it's 15 year, the Season 6 episode "The Magnificent Ferengi" enjoyed it's 10th anniversary on New Year's Day. Loosely based on "The Magnificent Seven" (and "The Seven Samurai" before it), the story tells the tale Quark, Rom, and Nog putting a team together to rescue their mother from the Dominion, without Federation help. DS9 became (in)famous for its Ferengi episodes. Either you love them or hate them, there is no middle ground. I hated the Ferengi from TNG but the writers of DS9 were allowed to develop them and they are much better for it. This episode is almost a comedy as three (3) other Ferengi join the group and do a prisoner transfer for Quark's mom. Ferengi and money-loving greedy things, but manage to negotiate their way up the creek without a paddle and save the day. Of note is guest star Iggy Pop as a Vorta named Yelgrun, who has the best line. Quark explains the odd behavior of his brother, Rom, and his mother, "Family. You understand," and Iggy Pop follows up with, "Not really. I was cloned." Perhaps an unintention tip-of -the-hat to the classic episode "Spock's Brain" occurs when one of the Ferengi accidentally kills they hostage to trade and Nog hooks up a device to make him walk down the corridor with the appearance of life, (think Weekend At Bernies). In the classic Trek episode Spock has his brain removed and McCoy must hook up a remote control to make him walk around. I guess in the hundred years since then a Junior Officer in Starfleet can cobble this device together. An amusing story if you can stomach Ferengi. One other nice touch is that every character, save Iggy Pop, who shows up is from a previous episode, helping to push a continuity of episodes. I love Space Opera. See you next broadcast.
Friday, December 14, 2007
I Am The Last Omega Man Legend On Earth
I Am Legend begins today. The next big vehicle for the Fresh Prince. Hollywood continues their trend (when did they ever stop) of redoing classic movies, and this one is the redo of The Omega Man. I have claimed in the past I am a sci-fi geek, but I've never seen this movie, so I found it today on HD-DVD and I will absorb it in all its glory before seeing the new one. Both movies are based on the book by Richard Matheson named I Am Legend which also spawned a graphic novel. I have heard a few origin arguments and I'm here to tell you (thanks to Wikipedia) The book came first. There have actually been four (4) movies made but Omega Man has been the most famous, presumably until now. However, The Omega Man differs in many areas from the novel and I suspect Will Smith's version will be more accurate, so I'll hold off on any comparisons until I see both movies and get a book in my hand.
Yesterday (December 13) was the 5th anniversary of Star Trek: Nemesis (aka Star Trek X). Next December will be the new JJ Abrams Star Trek so doing the math equals six (6) years between Star Trek movies. This is the longest gap between Trek movies, ever. Like Blue Harvest before it the Trek movie has a code name disguising its purpose. That name was used this week at the Long Beach City Hall building that's doubling as who-knows-what for a project called Corporate Headquarters. This is the same thing Abrams did with "Cloverfield," however that name stuck. I don't care who is the cast I may not spend my money to see "Star Trek XI: Corporate Headquarters." I can see the tagline now, "Star Fleet HQ... not even close to a frontier... these are the jobs of StarBase 1... to search for meaning in a sea of computer work... to boldly head to the break room before everyone drinks the coffee." If it's done like Office Space uhh.. in space... I am so there. BTW the City Hall site was used as part of Caprica in the original Battlestar Galactica.
The past two (2) Trek movies, Insurrection and Nemesis, didn't do to well in the box office. I have always felt Insurrection as the weekest of the four (4) Next Generations but Nemesis is an excellent Trek movie. This movie exemplifies Space Opera and becomes theatrical in nature during some of the scenes. This was supposed to be Picards "Wrath Of Kahn" but it slightly missed the mark. Of note on the writing staff is John Logan, one of the co-writers of Gladiator, and a professed Star Trek fan who loves Romulans and pushed the movie to include them. He even went so far as to rally the powers to be to let him write the Romulan episodes of Enterprise, but sadly that show as cancelled before the Earth-Romulan war could be told. Where "Wrath Of Kahn" had an established villian to mirror Kirk, Picards "Nemesis" is a clone of him named Shinzon, raised in the hell pits of Remus, Romulus' slave/mining planet. If the writers had layed some clue as to the Romulan Cloning project or Shinzon himself during Deep Space 9 or Voyager the impact of who Shinzon is to Picard would have been batter. All this aside once you see him face-to-face with Picard you can feel the tension, and you know it will have to be relieved by an all-out starship battle. You don't introduce an awesome ship like The Scimitar and not use it in battle. It should be noted STX came out around the same time as the next movies in the Harry Potter, Lord Of The Rings, and 007 (Die Another Day) franchises. No wonder nobody saw it.
SPOILERS. Star Trek Nemesis is about a revolution on Romulus by the Remans, lead by Shinzon, to regain the glories of the Empire and attack the Federation while it is weak, I'm guessing from the end of the Dominion War. In a lesser plot point Shinzon needs Picard's DNA to cure a fatal illness indemic to his type of cloning. In the background is Riker and Troi's wedding and his Captaincy of the USS Titan. This movie repesents the most current (or farthest) point in the Star Trek timeline, set in 2379 and the novels have picked up where the movie left of to Chronicle Riker and the Titan. This is a darker toned movie which slowly builds to an impending starship battle we've all come to love in Trek movies. The slow parts are almost too slow. If the writers hadn't given away the "punchline" for Shinzon they could have kept us in suspense much better during the dinner scene. That is probably my biggest problem with the movie. That and the amount of character development that hit the cutting room floor in favor of the action scenes. Many of the scenes in the previews were all axed by the time film reached the screen. John Logan gave fans a starship battle we've been waiting for, all the things we hoped to see and more. You didn't have to be a genius to understand the tactics and it really felt like battleships were going at broadsides-to-broadsides. It reminded me a lot of the Leiji Matsumoto's Captain Harlock space battleship attacks.
Some oddities appear in the movie worth mentioning, like Wesley Crusher. He left during season 7 of Next Generation by quiting Starfleet Academy, becoming a trans-dimensional being, and exploring the universe with The Traveler. But now he's back from Outer Space, with that look upon his face (sorry, I don't know how that happened) and he's at the wedding reception in uniform again. According to the editted stuff he's even an engineer on Riker's Titan. Someone just glossed over nine (9) years with no explanation. Shinzon is bald, and appears at the young age Picard was at the Academy. But Picard had hair during his early years and only began loosing it after the death of Jack Crusher, an event that takes place a decade before Picard gets Enterprise D. My only guess here is that during some of his academy days he shaved his head (or maybe Starfleet has a Boot Camp with mandatory head-shaving rituals). It is possible that since we only see the above two (2) time periods of Picard with hair during a Q flashback and an unballanced dream sequence, maybe he lost all his hair in his youth and he just remembers wrong. When Picard rams the Enterprise into the Scimitar (wicked cool) Shinzon orders full reverse and breaks free. Huh? It should have just dragged Enterprise around. He must have pushed Enterprise with a Tractor Beam and but the transmission in backwards. Finally, I think Shinzon went through a huge ordeal to find another Soong-type Android, called B-4, scattered across a pre-warp planet just to bait a trap for Picard so he can steel some DNA, and declare war on the Federation. It seems some his machinations could use some explaining. Regardless, this movie still kicks ass when it has to and takes names. All hail Data, pour some Romulan Ale on the curb.
Tarantino has claimed many of his influences have come from Japanese and Chinese cinemas and their bloody, violent obsessions with killing everything on screen. Now Japan has a new movie sure to be a cult hit, and their answer to Planet Terror, called The Machine Girl. Another Asian movie doing the Hollywood remake rounds is The Eye. A buddy of mine showed me the original a few years ago and I was impressed, sort of a Sixth Sense thing about a blind lady who gets an eye transplant and can see things others can't. The remix now has Jessica Alba (thank you God) and now I'm definately gonna see it. BTW Office Space is airing once again on Comedy Central this Sunday (December 16) and I know I'll be watching it for the 87th time. I own this on VHS and DVD and I still watch it on TV. I love this movie. However, this writer's strike has got to end before I start watching more Reality Shows.
I used to build Star Wars models when I was a kid (I think I still am) but this dude built the coolest AT-AT model since the one used for filming. In a close second is this Vader's TIE/N64 morphling. If only I can mash one thing not Star Wars with one thing Star Wars and output an awesome psuedo Star Wars item. Like a Land Speeder and a Space Shuttle model duck taped together and try to sell it to NASA to replace the Shuttle Fleet. What happened to replacing something with something better. I know the Orion is gonna be better, but it still looks like the Apollo capsules it's based on. You know, cars now don't look like cars of the late 60's. C'mon NASA I want to see the Lambo of interplanetary space craft.
Now for a not-so-cool idea: GLOW IN THE DARK CAT CLONES. Yeah, South Koreans are still trying to clone things (remember the guy who faked his experiments and is in a heap of trouble) like cats, and they succedded. I'm not gonna get technical but through some gene therapy (I think) with a florescing DNA something or other... look just read the news here. At least they get to experiment with cloning, not like America where some confusing religious zelousness ruined our T-Cell research. So now the world has UV glowing kittens from South Korea and not America. We should be making glow-in-the-dark clones bunnies or meerkats or something. We're going to learn that a glow-in-the-dark kitten in every home cures cancer, reduces road rage and lowers the planets temperature. All that will go to South Korea's credit while we keep occupying Arab/Muslim/Persian countries looking for free oil. This week the price of Munchkins went up at my Dunkin Donuts, solidifying my theory they're made from Crude Oil. See you next broadcast.
Yesterday (December 13) was the 5th anniversary of Star Trek: Nemesis (aka Star Trek X). Next December will be the new JJ Abrams Star Trek so doing the math equals six (6) years between Star Trek movies. This is the longest gap between Trek movies, ever. Like Blue Harvest before it the Trek movie has a code name disguising its purpose. That name was used this week at the Long Beach City Hall building that's doubling as who-knows-what for a project called Corporate Headquarters. This is the same thing Abrams did with "Cloverfield," however that name stuck. I don't care who is the cast I may not spend my money to see "Star Trek XI: Corporate Headquarters." I can see the tagline now, "Star Fleet HQ... not even close to a frontier... these are the jobs of StarBase 1... to search for meaning in a sea of computer work... to boldly head to the break room before everyone drinks the coffee." If it's done like Office Space uhh.. in space... I am so there. BTW the City Hall site was used as part of Caprica in the original Battlestar Galactica.
The past two (2) Trek movies, Insurrection and Nemesis, didn't do to well in the box office. I have always felt Insurrection as the weekest of the four (4) Next Generations but Nemesis is an excellent Trek movie. This movie exemplifies Space Opera and becomes theatrical in nature during some of the scenes. This was supposed to be Picards "Wrath Of Kahn" but it slightly missed the mark. Of note on the writing staff is John Logan, one of the co-writers of Gladiator, and a professed Star Trek fan who loves Romulans and pushed the movie to include them. He even went so far as to rally the powers to be to let him write the Romulan episodes of Enterprise, but sadly that show as cancelled before the Earth-Romulan war could be told. Where "Wrath Of Kahn" had an established villian to mirror Kirk, Picards "Nemesis" is a clone of him named Shinzon, raised in the hell pits of Remus, Romulus' slave/mining planet. If the writers had layed some clue as to the Romulan Cloning project or Shinzon himself during Deep Space 9 or Voyager the impact of who Shinzon is to Picard would have been batter. All this aside once you see him face-to-face with Picard you can feel the tension, and you know it will have to be relieved by an all-out starship battle. You don't introduce an awesome ship like The Scimitar and not use it in battle. It should be noted STX came out around the same time as the next movies in the Harry Potter, Lord Of The Rings, and 007 (Die Another Day) franchises. No wonder nobody saw it.
SPOILERS. Star Trek Nemesis is about a revolution on Romulus by the Remans, lead by Shinzon, to regain the glories of the Empire and attack the Federation while it is weak, I'm guessing from the end of the Dominion War. In a lesser plot point Shinzon needs Picard's DNA to cure a fatal illness indemic to his type of cloning. In the background is Riker and Troi's wedding and his Captaincy of the USS Titan. This movie repesents the most current (or farthest) point in the Star Trek timeline, set in 2379 and the novels have picked up where the movie left of to Chronicle Riker and the Titan. This is a darker toned movie which slowly builds to an impending starship battle we've all come to love in Trek movies. The slow parts are almost too slow. If the writers hadn't given away the "punchline" for Shinzon they could have kept us in suspense much better during the dinner scene. That is probably my biggest problem with the movie. That and the amount of character development that hit the cutting room floor in favor of the action scenes. Many of the scenes in the previews were all axed by the time film reached the screen. John Logan gave fans a starship battle we've been waiting for, all the things we hoped to see and more. You didn't have to be a genius to understand the tactics and it really felt like battleships were going at broadsides-to-broadsides. It reminded me a lot of the Leiji Matsumoto's Captain Harlock space battleship attacks.
Some oddities appear in the movie worth mentioning, like Wesley Crusher. He left during season 7 of Next Generation by quiting Starfleet Academy, becoming a trans-dimensional being, and exploring the universe with The Traveler. But now he's back from Outer Space, with that look upon his face (sorry, I don't know how that happened) and he's at the wedding reception in uniform again. According to the editted stuff he's even an engineer on Riker's Titan. Someone just glossed over nine (9) years with no explanation. Shinzon is bald, and appears at the young age Picard was at the Academy. But Picard had hair during his early years and only began loosing it after the death of Jack Crusher, an event that takes place a decade before Picard gets Enterprise D. My only guess here is that during some of his academy days he shaved his head (or maybe Starfleet has a Boot Camp with mandatory head-shaving rituals). It is possible that since we only see the above two (2) time periods of Picard with hair during a Q flashback and an unballanced dream sequence, maybe he lost all his hair in his youth and he just remembers wrong. When Picard rams the Enterprise into the Scimitar (wicked cool) Shinzon orders full reverse and breaks free. Huh? It should have just dragged Enterprise around. He must have pushed Enterprise with a Tractor Beam and but the transmission in backwards. Finally, I think Shinzon went through a huge ordeal to find another Soong-type Android, called B-4, scattered across a pre-warp planet just to bait a trap for Picard so he can steel some DNA, and declare war on the Federation. It seems some his machinations could use some explaining. Regardless, this movie still kicks ass when it has to and takes names. All hail Data, pour some Romulan Ale on the curb.
Tarantino has claimed many of his influences have come from Japanese and Chinese cinemas and their bloody, violent obsessions with killing everything on screen. Now Japan has a new movie sure to be a cult hit, and their answer to Planet Terror, called The Machine Girl. Another Asian movie doing the Hollywood remake rounds is The Eye. A buddy of mine showed me the original a few years ago and I was impressed, sort of a Sixth Sense thing about a blind lady who gets an eye transplant and can see things others can't. The remix now has Jessica Alba (thank you God) and now I'm definately gonna see it. BTW Office Space is airing once again on Comedy Central this Sunday (December 16) and I know I'll be watching it for the 87th time. I own this on VHS and DVD and I still watch it on TV. I love this movie. However, this writer's strike has got to end before I start watching more Reality Shows.
I used to build Star Wars models when I was a kid (I think I still am) but this dude built the coolest AT-AT model since the one used for filming. In a close second is this Vader's TIE/N64 morphling. If only I can mash one thing not Star Wars with one thing Star Wars and output an awesome psuedo Star Wars item. Like a Land Speeder and a Space Shuttle model duck taped together and try to sell it to NASA to replace the Shuttle Fleet. What happened to replacing something with something better. I know the Orion is gonna be better, but it still looks like the Apollo capsules it's based on. You know, cars now don't look like cars of the late 60's. C'mon NASA I want to see the Lambo of interplanetary space craft.
Now for a not-so-cool idea: GLOW IN THE DARK CAT CLONES. Yeah, South Koreans are still trying to clone things (remember the guy who faked his experiments and is in a heap of trouble) like cats, and they succedded. I'm not gonna get technical but through some gene therapy (I think) with a florescing DNA something or other... look just read the news here. At least they get to experiment with cloning, not like America where some confusing religious zelousness ruined our T-Cell research. So now the world has UV glowing kittens from South Korea and not America. We should be making glow-in-the-dark clones bunnies or meerkats or something. We're going to learn that a glow-in-the-dark kitten in every home cures cancer, reduces road rage and lowers the planets temperature. All that will go to South Korea's credit while we keep occupying Arab/Muslim/Persian countries looking for free oil. This week the price of Munchkins went up at my Dunkin Donuts, solidifying my theory they're made from Crude Oil. See you next broadcast.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Travel Storms and Cyborgs and the Outer Zone, Oh My
I hold a huge conceit against every movie Sci-Fi channel makes. I've tried watching the Saturday night monster flicks but I usually can't take more than a few minutes before giving up. Thus, I turned to Tin Man, not expecting them to do any justice to "The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz." I came to the conclusion after the first 10 minutes, "this doesn't suck." We're not talking Shakespeare here, but the retelling is quite inventive. Maybe I should say re-imagining because this is the Wizard Of Oz in concept only. There are little tidbits of the familiar, flying monkeys, tornadoes... that's about it. The Munchkins are more like the new Oompa-Loompas, but more colors (and pissed off); No Lollipop Guild; The Yellow Brick Road isn't yellow, and barely made of bricks; Tornadoes are for dimensional travel; The Wicked Witch Of The West isn't green or ugly, she's a hottie in a chromed out bustier and shoulder armor (and she has leather clad Nazi shock troops); Dorothy is only known as DG; No dog (yet); A town of Cyborgs; The Wizard does a show in drugged out burlesque theater; The Horse Of Many Colors is a 2-and-a-half-ton truck with every color of paint from Home Depot spilled on it; The Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man aren't the Scarecrow, Lion, or Tin Man; DG is a waitress like Sarah Conner. The list goes on. This doesn't make it bad at all, however. The same kind of thing was done to BattleStar Galactica and that show turned out fantastic. BTW DG is played by Zooey Deschanel, Trillion from the new Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy movie.
For everyone that plays 2nd Life news has come out recently of a creative, yet simple hack that strips you of your in-game money. You are basically being virtually pick pocketed, which is bad (duhh) because the in-game Linden Dollar which can be traded for real money. This threat to you can easily be disabled with a trip to the menus.
Other little tidbits of news have popped up. Ready for the holiday season is a quick review/reference guide to the new Star Trek novels of the season. Since we sadly have no new Trek to watch the books do provide a good diversion until next Christmas. Use the guide to avoid the few bad Tribbles in the list. The best book on the list is a Next Generation book, Q&A, about Q and some connection to Encounter At Farpoint. This is on my Christmas wish list. Speaking of books, the Barnes & Nobles on Post Road in Orange is closing and a lot of books are going on sale. Now's a good time ransack their wares.
Wizard's Of The Coast is creating an online campaign for the Star Wars roleplaying game, Dawn Of Defiance, and the first chapter of ten became available this week. The game is set between Episode III and Star Wars, letting PCs play out one of the crucial moments in the formation of the Rebellion. I haven't picked up the game yet, but maybe this Xmas/Light Day I'll get lucky.
I'm beginning to think I should have a Nintendo Wii. After watching the trailer for No More Heroes, I decided it's about time to ad this to my Xmas list too, along with Super Mario Galaxy.
I looked around for a while trying to find a descent top 100 all time anime from Japan list and I came a cross one from TV Asahi. At some point I'd like to write a review of each of the series that are available in America. Gives me an excuse to watch more anime.
#78 on IGNs list of games is Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening. I never had a GameBoy but I did have a Super Nintendo, so I bought a Super GameBoy. The Super GB is fantastic, stick it in the SNES cartridge slot, then put your GB game in the cartridge. The screen was a little smaller than the TV screen but you could add a border and even change the game colors so they weren't black and white (okay, black and pea soup green). Like all Zelda games before me I sat in front of it with my full attention to get all the puzzles and absorb all the game play. I never imagined, at the time, that a GameBoy game could be this deep. It took me two (2) months to complete and it's a great addition to the pantheon.
#76 is FINAL FANTASY VII. This is one of the most important games ever made. Why it's so low on the list makes me question the validity of this list. This game moved the esoteric, fan-boy loving RPG genre into a gloriously weaved story of artistic proportions. I bought a PSX just to own this game, and it was well worth it. There isn't much more I can say that hasn't been experienced/written before. My love of Square Soft (now Square Enix) began here, and it continues to be my favorite. From the pre-rendered cut scenes to random Star Wars references, this game created the standard for future installments, brilliantly leading to FFX. This game, however, created my true hatred, Sephiroth. I don't need to tell you of my love of Aris (I prefer this over the re-release Aerith). I spent so much time with her, learning the city, understanding the resistance, traveling the world. I trained as best I could to be a warrior and spurned other women in the party just for her attention. I loved her. Until Sephiroth stabbed her in the F'ING BACK and ended my happiness, forever. I hate him so much. I ruined a relationship with the girl I was seeing to kill him. It took 20 minutes and everybody I had, down to my last spell and hit point. I thought it was over. Then he resurrected somehow, and with great joy I watched his punk-ass die again. Rewind, and I get to watch him die, again and again and again. I F'ING HATE HIM. I hope I never meet the voice of him because, so help me, I'll snap. I'll have a flashback/PTSD moment and kill him. Sorry, my therapist told me not to bottle up stuff like this.
#75 is GoldenEye 007. Best damn FPS made, until Half-Life & Halo. Using only one (1) analogue stick on the N64 you could still play the game. Prior to this was Turok, but it didn't compare. GoldenEye created a polygon filled environment that just seemed right. All the weapons and enemies, and friends, were perfect. This is a rare moment when everything in development of a game meshes, creating an experience, more than a game. The familiar music and the incredible multi-player just added frosting to the 007 cake. Proximity Mines have got to be the most important weapon created for an FPS until the Gravity Gun in Half-Life 2. This team of developers would later go on to make Perfect Dark.
#73 is Resident Evil. I have one tale to tell, a listen well. At a friends house he powered up the extraordinary PSX (at the time there was nothing like the pixilated 3D worlds of Sony) and loaded Resident Evil. I was amazed at the mansion I ran around in. Trying to get a feel for menus and clunky controls I bravely walked down the corridor of doom that introduced me to survival horror. This isn't the unsettling environs of Silent Hill, RE created the in-your-face Survival Horror genre. As I walk down the quite corridor I pulled out me pistol. I didn't trust the hallway but the reassurance of a nine-millimeter in my hand was almost as good as liquid courage. I approached a window when suddenly two (2) undead dogs burst forth in shattered glass and barking and howling. I think I dropped my controller. What ever happened I stabbed every button I could in three seconds time and to no avail. The dogs ended me in no time. I threw the controller down and never played again. I thought the first movie was great. Those few seconds of horror I experienced was well put into the movie, and then some.
Here's the viral video of the week. Don't try this at home unless you're a drunk guy with a Suzuki Sidekick, and a giant dirt ramp. See you next broadcast.
For everyone that plays 2nd Life news has come out recently of a creative, yet simple hack that strips you of your in-game money. You are basically being virtually pick pocketed, which is bad (duhh) because the in-game Linden Dollar which can be traded for real money. This threat to you can easily be disabled with a trip to the menus.
Other little tidbits of news have popped up. Ready for the holiday season is a quick review/reference guide to the new Star Trek novels of the season. Since we sadly have no new Trek to watch the books do provide a good diversion until next Christmas. Use the guide to avoid the few bad Tribbles in the list. The best book on the list is a Next Generation book, Q&A, about Q and some connection to Encounter At Farpoint. This is on my Christmas wish list. Speaking of books, the Barnes & Nobles on Post Road in Orange is closing and a lot of books are going on sale. Now's a good time ransack their wares.
Wizard's Of The Coast is creating an online campaign for the Star Wars roleplaying game, Dawn Of Defiance, and the first chapter of ten became available this week. The game is set between Episode III and Star Wars, letting PCs play out one of the crucial moments in the formation of the Rebellion. I haven't picked up the game yet, but maybe this Xmas/Light Day I'll get lucky.
I'm beginning to think I should have a Nintendo Wii. After watching the trailer for No More Heroes, I decided it's about time to ad this to my Xmas list too, along with Super Mario Galaxy.
I looked around for a while trying to find a descent top 100 all time anime from Japan list and I came a cross one from TV Asahi. At some point I'd like to write a review of each of the series that are available in America. Gives me an excuse to watch more anime.
#78 on IGNs list of games is Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening. I never had a GameBoy but I did have a Super Nintendo, so I bought a Super GameBoy. The Super GB is fantastic, stick it in the SNES cartridge slot, then put your GB game in the cartridge. The screen was a little smaller than the TV screen but you could add a border and even change the game colors so they weren't black and white (okay, black and pea soup green). Like all Zelda games before me I sat in front of it with my full attention to get all the puzzles and absorb all the game play. I never imagined, at the time, that a GameBoy game could be this deep. It took me two (2) months to complete and it's a great addition to the pantheon.
#76 is FINAL FANTASY VII. This is one of the most important games ever made. Why it's so low on the list makes me question the validity of this list. This game moved the esoteric, fan-boy loving RPG genre into a gloriously weaved story of artistic proportions. I bought a PSX just to own this game, and it was well worth it. There isn't much more I can say that hasn't been experienced/written before. My love of Square Soft (now Square Enix) began here, and it continues to be my favorite. From the pre-rendered cut scenes to random Star Wars references, this game created the standard for future installments, brilliantly leading to FFX. This game, however, created my true hatred, Sephiroth. I don't need to tell you of my love of Aris (I prefer this over the re-release Aerith). I spent so much time with her, learning the city, understanding the resistance, traveling the world. I trained as best I could to be a warrior and spurned other women in the party just for her attention. I loved her. Until Sephiroth stabbed her in the F'ING BACK and ended my happiness, forever. I hate him so much. I ruined a relationship with the girl I was seeing to kill him. It took 20 minutes and everybody I had, down to my last spell and hit point. I thought it was over. Then he resurrected somehow, and with great joy I watched his punk-ass die again. Rewind, and I get to watch him die, again and again and again. I F'ING HATE HIM. I hope I never meet the voice of him because, so help me, I'll snap. I'll have a flashback/PTSD moment and kill him. Sorry, my therapist told me not to bottle up stuff like this.
#75 is GoldenEye 007. Best damn FPS made, until Half-Life & Halo. Using only one (1) analogue stick on the N64 you could still play the game. Prior to this was Turok, but it didn't compare. GoldenEye created a polygon filled environment that just seemed right. All the weapons and enemies, and friends, were perfect. This is a rare moment when everything in development of a game meshes, creating an experience, more than a game. The familiar music and the incredible multi-player just added frosting to the 007 cake. Proximity Mines have got to be the most important weapon created for an FPS until the Gravity Gun in Half-Life 2. This team of developers would later go on to make Perfect Dark.
#73 is Resident Evil. I have one tale to tell, a listen well. At a friends house he powered up the extraordinary PSX (at the time there was nothing like the pixilated 3D worlds of Sony) and loaded Resident Evil. I was amazed at the mansion I ran around in. Trying to get a feel for menus and clunky controls I bravely walked down the corridor of doom that introduced me to survival horror. This isn't the unsettling environs of Silent Hill, RE created the in-your-face Survival Horror genre. As I walk down the quite corridor I pulled out me pistol. I didn't trust the hallway but the reassurance of a nine-millimeter in my hand was almost as good as liquid courage. I approached a window when suddenly two (2) undead dogs burst forth in shattered glass and barking and howling. I think I dropped my controller. What ever happened I stabbed every button I could in three seconds time and to no avail. The dogs ended me in no time. I threw the controller down and never played again. I thought the first movie was great. Those few seconds of horror I experienced was well put into the movie, and then some.
Here's the viral video of the week. Don't try this at home unless you're a drunk guy with a Suzuki Sidekick, and a giant dirt ramp. See you next broadcast.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Technical Difficulties
Last night I intended to write a new post in between sessions of Guitar Hero III. Luckily (or not) my laptop wasn't wirelessly communicating with my router. Usually they have a spat for about ten minutes every evening but they're right back talking like old friends. But last night my laptop as in the "doghouse" and I couldn't get online. So, more GH3 for me. I beat Medium and have transcended to hard. You would think that with four skill levels the differences would be minor, but they are not. Adding another button each level is a huge spike in difficulty. However, trying to go for 5 stars on all songs does help subconsciously prep you for harder levels. Kind of like the "wax on, wax off" of plastic guitar prop playing. I even played a song on expert and I beat it, bearly.
I haven't talked much about anime and manga since I started this. After getting addicted to anime watching Star Blazers, Voltron, Battle Of The Planets, Tranzor Z, and (my personal favorite) ROBOTECH, I wanted more. Being an unemployed junior high and high school student I needed a quick fix of something Japanese and manga was just hitting the comic book store shelves. Akira, Area 88, Mai: The Psychic Girl, Legend Of Kamui, and Xenon all became parts of my obsession with Japanese story telling. My love affair with manga lasted many years until I could afford anime tapes, then DVDs, and sadly I haven't looked back. There are many good titles I have never even read and some I never finished. One such title is Parasyte, Kiseijuu in Japanese.
Parasyte is a story of an insidious alien takeover of people on Earth. The parasites quietly landed on Earth and began taking over people by eating their heads and assume control of the body. Not like zombies, but with a taste for the flesh of the species they inhabit. The main character is wearing earphones when he is attacked and the parasite merges with his hand. They both become strange friends and begin to hunt down all other parasite-infected humans. The original English translations have been out of print and even harder to find on eBay. Del Rey Publishing just bought the license to reissue it and it is for sale once again. The art style is unique and a great horror story , with elements of The Thing, Terminator 2, and lots of original style. Very visual even though it was never adapted to anime. A Live Action movie has been reported, with a release time somewhere in 2008.
On with my video game musings. #88 is the Star Wars arcade game. The original wire-frame Death Star attacking arcade game. As far as I remember it is the first first-person perspective game of the whole franchise, and you attack the Death Star, with the voices from the movie talking you through it. Released when Return Of The Jedi hit theaters, in 1983, this was the only thing I ever wanted to do, fly an X-Wing, destroy TIE-Fighters, and blow up the Death Star. Even Obi-Wan tells you, after the Death Star is reduced to wire-frame debris, "the Force will be with you always." This is a great game for anyone who grew up with the Holy Trilogy. And after you blew up the Death Star, you got to do it all over again, with a harder Death Star. By the third time through the trench is filled with obstacles akin to the Second Death Star. If I owned arcade games this would be on top of my wish list with Star Castle, TRON, and Tempest.
#86 is Perfect Dark. The company that brought you (and me) GoldenEye made another perfect FPS. The single player "story mode" was intelligently written, with plenty of surprises, and made you (and me, as well) want to keep playing 'til the bitter end. A point I've mentioned before in this genre is about the amount of killing. Some games become a work in tedium to kill everything to move on. Moving from fight to fight never gets boring with Perfect Dark and walks the line from movie plot story telling to FPS moments, never over-doing one or the other. Then comes the multi-player, as deep as the single player game. With so many options, even giants like Halo pale by comparison to GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, and Time Splitters multi-player. Why doesn't Halo have bots? Why doesn't Halo have random weapons? All I can say is Laptop Gun. Throw it on the ground and it becomes a machine gun auto-turret. And to top it off, you didn't need a Dual Shock to play it, just an N64 controller with one analog stick. Perfect Dark Zero is another matter. Don't confuse the two.
#81 is Space Invaders. A game so simple, the reason I loved it as a child is the same reason everyone still loves it and the genre it started. I could go on about how it started the overhead and side-scrolling shooters of the 90s. Its not only the precursor to classics such as Xevious and Zaxxon but it was the first game you played as a "survival mode." It's strange to think about but there wasn't a name for "playing as long s you can on one quarter." All arcade did this, and Space Invaders was the first to track a high score (and have music). For those that may not know, Survival Mode is just a term for holding out in a game as long as possible until the bitter end. Trek fans would refer to this as the Kobayashi Maru test. As a child I played this and Radar Scope little realizing they were Japanese. I apparently had no choice but to fall for all things Japanese even from an early age. The most import thing I can say about this game is the psychology of the people (Japanese) who invented it back in '78. There were whole arcades in Japan that only had Space Invaders. This is an un-winnable game about holding the line until you are stomped on. Sure, you have a couple extra lives and some bases to hide behind but it won't help. Sooner or later it'll be time to pay the piper. This is a game created by a country that lost a war and a people who are shamed by the loss. This may sound mean, but we won the war and invented Space War and Pong using oscilloscope circuits from ICBM targeting computers of the 60s. I don't think it would have occurred to us to make a game you lose, until Pong started making money in bars, and the Japanese sucked all our quarters out of our pockets and into the Space Invaders coil slot.
Look at the early games of the Atari 2600. Air-Sea Battle, Combat, Circus Atari, Football, Maze Craze, Indy 500, and (one of my favorites) Adventure. All these games either pit one player against each other or gives you a goal to achieve. Sure you could die, every conflict has losers, but you weren't guaranteed to lose. Play well enough and you win every time. Asteroids and Missile Command, both Atari games and seminal works themselves, still were created after Space Invaders. And to nitpick, Asteroids is you against Mother Nature (uhhh... Mother Space) with a little space ship thrown in to shake things up. Missile Command is the American version of the Space Invaders mindset, and certainly points out it's cold war origins.
I love the Terminator franchise, but I only like the third movie. Nothing really against it but Rise Of The Machines wasn't exactly on the caliber of T1 or T2. Not only do we have a Terminator TV series in the works, with River from Firefly as a Terminator, that ignores the third movie, but there is news now of a fourth offering to the theater gods. Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins hopefully will finally show us a complete future when John Connor totally kicks SkyNets ass. The whole reason for the first movie is that John Conner, and humanity, beats the AI and returns the Earth to flesh-based intelligence. Not even Neo in the Matrix could do that after three movies, and John Connor is pre-destined to win. And who is John this time around? Christian Bale, someone used to fighting for humanity in the future. Picture Reign Of Fire with a leader like Maximus from Gladiator killing Androids, Robots, AI Tanks, AI drop ships, and whatever else SkyNet has. It better be that cool. Sadly James Cameron is once again not attached to the project, but at least he's helping NASA out with the Mars program if he's going to waste my time not making movies. So it looks like we have two (2) different Terminator Time Lines to follow. Along with Back To The Future and Bill & Ted, this 80s movie helped define the current trend in pre-determination, time travel plots. Watch the new Time Machine movie to see what pre-destiny does to the original plot. See you next broadcast.
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