Video: HARDWARE WARS

Today is something called the "unofficial" Star Wars Day or "May the Force (the "4th") Be with You" Day.

Lucasfilm cites that the anniversary of the film's release is actually 3 weeks away.




But the actual release date anniversary is already taken up with the official "Towel Day," in commemoration of Douglas Adams and THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. I guess Mssrs. Adams and Lucas deemed that they would not share.

Regardless, it was 34 years ago this May 25th that the original STAR WARS movie was released. This was way back before it was called CHAPTER IV: A NEW HOPE.

The first time I saw it in a theatre was in an East Side Cleveland, Ohio suburb. I was there with my friend David Pogue. We were both young. I remember we had to call and get transportation to and from the mall where it was playing, so this was definitely early teen years. Good ol' David Pogue! I wonder whatever happened to that guy?

Anyway, the movie was fine. It was a lot of fun. I remember liking the jokes ("I forgot how much I HATE space travel!?) and being a bit confused by all that action -- the Y fighters, TIE fighters, X Wings, bla bla -- at the end of the movie. But, hey, this was 1977. Fast cuts and lotsa action on scale with the then-new MTV was fresh and maybe hard to follow for some kid raised on slower fare. I would have never thought that the movie was, like THE JAZZ SINGER, a watershed moment.

Since I'm waxing a little nostalgic, here is the unofficial "grandaddy of STAR WARS parodies" titled HARDWARE WARS. Ernie Fosselius's 1978 short parody is a lot of fun, and boasts veteran voice actor Pall Frees as the narrator. It's also extremely low budget, which is part of its charm.





"You can't destroy Basketball! Basketball's a peaceful planet"

Video: VOYAGE TO THE END OF THE UNIVERSE

I have no idea what this 1963 Czech movie IKARIE XB1 is all about, but I found it mesmerizing in its shadowy visuals and the sense of dread as the above 2 astronauts explore a derelict ship in space.

Stylistically more advanced than many other futuristic movies of its day, IKARIE XB1 is credited with being Czechoslovakia's first sci fi movie. If I was doing a sci fi graphic novel, I would want it to look as cool as IKARIE XB1.

American International, according to what I read, got the rights and hacked it up, releasing it as a movie titled VOYAGE TO THE END OF THE UNIVERSE. The look of the thing influenced Kubrick's 2001.

A hard to find DVD. Not impossible, just hard. Not for rent from Netflix. And, apparently it was not originally in black and white (although American International's recut of the film WAS released in B&W). Hard to believe since B&W really enhances the feel of the above scene. One of these days I'll have to find it.

Video: Doctor Who Christmas Special 2008

The new Doctor Who? Or is it a trick?

A special sneak peek of next month's new Doctor Who episode courtesy of the BBC's Children in Need special:



Big hat tip to Trekmovie!

Forrest J. Ackerman "Slipping Away"

Above: Forrest J. Ackerman, Ray Harryhausen and Ray Bradbury in a photo from the 1980s, nicked from the Official Sci-Fi Boys site.

Via Harry Knowles: " ... I was told that Forry was lucid, peaceful and not even on pain medication, but that he was progressively getting worse - and was ready to move on."

Ackerman, who is 91, helped found the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society and edited the Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine (1952-1983). His mailing address is at the above link.

Battlestar Computer

Who doesn't want their computer to look like Battlestar Galactica? Geek DIY has all the frakkin' details.

H/t to Trekmovie.

The Time Tunnel

"TWO AMERICAN SCIENTISTS ARE LOST IN THE SWIRLING MAZE OF PAST AND FUTURE AGES DURING THE FIRST EXPERIMENTS ON AMERICA'S GREATEST AND MOST SECRET PROJECT "THE TIME TUNNEL". TONY NEWMAN AND DOUG PHILLIPS NOW TUMBLE HELPLESSLY TOWARD A NEW FANTASTIC ADVENTURE SOMEWHERE ALONG THE INFINITE CORRIDORS OF TIME...."

THE TIME TUNNEL ran for 30 episodes, a full season, back in 1966. I have a distinct childhood memory of the opening credits, specifically that music, and the image of our two leads falling in slow motion against the woozy, sparkling lava lamp efx that signify ripples in time. John Williams, who was then billed as "Johnny," created the dissonant theme music. It alternately scared and thrilled me. When a CD was released in the 1990s with music from the series, I snatched it up. I still love it.

The show, however, was a typical Irwin Allen show of the 1960s. That is, the thing started off strong and then fell back on silly plots, clunky-to-non-existent characterization; with each episode full of running and jumping. Our two leads, Tony & Doug, were forever landing in Krakatoa, on the Titanic, War of 1812, etc. And they were always saying, "You might not believe me, but I'm a time traveler." And then they'd get beaten up. Ugh. Predictable!

I still like the IDEA of the program, but not the execution.

Below is a short documentary overview of TIME TUNNEL, with interviews with all the principle actors. I'm guessing that it was part of the larger documentary The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen (1995). And below those vids are a series of YouTube links to a 2002 revamp of the series that I came across. Please watch it. I haven't. Tell me if it's good.







TIME TUNNEL (2002) Part One
TIME TUNNEL (2002) Part Two
TIME TUNNEL (2002) Part Three
TIME TUNNEL (2002) Part Four
TIME TUNNEL (2002) Part Five


Above photo from the highly informative Time Tunnel page here.

There are a lot of Trek links to the cast. We don't just like Trek here, we love love love Trek. Here are just a few:

TOS (STAR TREK:THE OLD SHOW): Lee Meriweather was in a third season episode , That Which Survives; Whit Bissell was Space Station K-7's Commander Lurry in The Trouble with Tribbles. James Darren was in eight episodes of DS9, as well as regularly appearing on The Shat's show T.J. HOOKER.

And there are more in the TT supporting cast. Of particular note is Lawrence Montaigne, who played "Stonn" in the TOS episode Amok Time (where Spock goes into heat) and then he repeated that same character in the 2007 Web series STAR TREK:OF GODS AND MEN.

Arthur C. Clarke 1917-2008

Influential science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke passed away Wednesday in Sri Lanka, where he had lived since 1956. He was 90 years old and had been suffering from breathing problems. He had also been living with a "post-polio condition" for the past twenty years.

New York Times obit.

THE QUESTOR TAPES (1974)

[Mild spoiler alert]

THE QUESTOR TAPES pilot echoed a lot of Gene Roddenberry's favorite ideas: an android trying in a Pinocchio-like way to understand what it is to be human, searching for its creator, and we even touch on a superior benevolent alien race that's attempting"to prevent Earth from destroying itself before it can mature into a peaceful society." Plus the movie has Dean Wormer (John Vernon), acting as bad guy, so it's got that going for it. Not to mention the ever-so-likable Mike Farrell and the commanding presence of Robert Foxworth as Questor.

The series, if it had been made, would have been a buddy series with Mike Farrell helping the android become a bit less of a fish out of water as they had a series of adventures.

The best of the post-TREK pilots, QUESTOR's themes were woven into the next 2 Roddenberry produced projects; principally the characters of V'ger from STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE and, I know you all ready know it: Data, from NEXT GENERATION.

Richard Colla, the director, is quoted in Retrovision Magazine's fond and thorough overview of the pilot titled Gene Roddenberry's The Questor Tapes: The Unfulfilled Promise:

"It was a wonderful experience for me," he says. "We were kind of reinterpreting Spock and Kirk, because that's really what it was -- the emotional side of man and the intellectual side of man and they come into conversation with each other. So what you really have is a character talking to himself, and that's delightful."

Above: the cover to the novelization by D.C. Fontana. Below, the pilot, cut into its requisite YouTube wee chunks:

THE QUESTOR TAPES Part 1

THE QUESTOR TAPES Part 2

THE QUESTOR TAPES Part 3

THE QUESTOR TAPES Part 4

THE QUESTOR TAPES Part 5

THE QUESTOR TAPES Part 6

THE QUESTOR TAPES Part 7

THE QUESTOR TAPES Part 8

THE QUESTOR TAPES Part 9

THE QUESTOR TAPES Part 10

THE QUESTOR TAPES Part 11

THE QUESTOR TAPES Part 12

A note on the Gil Melle music that's heard at a minute plus in: yes, that theme is the same music that Melle used for the later 1970s NIGHT STALKER series. Melle was so fond of that cut, that rather than see it forgotten in this unsold pilot, he played it for STALKER's producer Dan Curtis, who agreed and used it in the main title for the short-lived series. This is all from my memory of reading TV’s Biggest Hits (Schirmer Books, 1996) by Jon Burlingame.

GENESIS II (1973)

A "lost" Roddenberry pilot for your viewing pleasure.


Four years after STAR TREK ended, CBS broadcast GENESIS II, a new pilot by Gene Roddenberry. It dealt with Dylan Hunt, a 20th century man who awakens from suspended animation in 2133 -- and a brand new Earth.

Using the Sub Shuttle (photo above), Dylan Hunt (a name reused in the Roddenberry-created ANDROMEDA TV series) and the PAX Team of friends, travel from society to society, encountering different social problems and solving them.

The series was in development, and the first season was roughed out. But CBS pulled the plug, deciding to go with a PLANET OF THE APES TV series.

Mariette Hartley guest stars in the pilot, sliced into bite-size YouTube linkies below:

GENESIS II Part One

GENESIS II Part Two

GENESIS II Part Three

GENESIS II Part Four

GENESIS II Part Five

GENESIS II Part Six

GENESIS II Part Seven

GENESIS II Part Eight

Related: Roddenberry's 1970s projects from TVParty.com.

New Doctor Who Series Four Cinema Preview

If you go to the movies in the UK, chances are you might have seen this 90 second preview for the new TV season of DOCTOR WHO. This was shot with a video camera by an audience member. Warning: there are a couple of spoilers, including a big one that's been rumored for a while.

STAR TREK Movie Opening Delayed

Above: A pre-release poster. Now it's as collectible as those REVENGE OF THE JEDI posters.

The new STAR TREK movie, originally scheduled for release Christmas Day 2008, has been pushed back five months until May 2009. Trekmovie.com has the latest.

GALACTICA Premiere

Galactica.com reports that season 4 of the Peabody award winning show will arrive on April 4. There was a full season of the show planned before the WGA strike. The good news is that the strike has been settled and there will still be ten episodes airing this year, and another ten (the final ten of the series) in 2009. Trekmovie.com has an update here: WGA Strike Over - Learn Fate Of Your Fave Shows.

For your viewing edification, here is The Women of BSG video:

Darth Vader's Christmas List

The Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun Blog is always a regular read for me. Recently, Bully gave us Darth Vader's Christmas Amazon.com Wish List. Funny stuff, Bully!

"I feel the Holiday shopping is strong with this one!"

And keep reading for the Amazon.com wishlists for Superman, Popeye, Batman and The Incredible Hulk!

Related: speaking of sci fi icons: Bully has a preview of the new Dr. Who Christmas Special "Voyage of the Damned."

STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC

Submitted for your weekend viewing pleasure ....

STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC (2005?) is a version of STAR WARS (1977) that's full of filmed alternate takes, actors speaking through imperial soldier masks and c-3PO masks, and deleted scenes re-cut in according to early existing script drafts.

It's "a look behind the scenes at what didn't make it to the final cut of the Star Wars trilogy," put together painstakingly by fan and filmmaker Garrett Gilchrist. I was hooked early on. Here's the first couple of minutes via YouTube:




I'm not a huge WARS fan (more of a TREK guy, as ya'll know), so this was all new to me. Better watch this now as those YouTube folks tend to yank vids like this. It's in 17 parts:

1. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 1
   
2. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 2
   
3. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 3
   
4. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 4
   
5. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 5
   
6. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 6
   
7. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 7
   
8. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 8
   
9. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 9
   
10. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 10
    
11. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 11
    
12. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 12
    
13. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 13
    
14. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 14
    
15. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 15
    
16. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 16
    
17. STAR WARS DELETED MAGIC 17
    

Isaac Asimov on The Golden Age of Science Fiction

For your perusal: A short (just over 3 minutes) bit of film from 1971 with Asimov talking about John Campbell's influence on science fiction writing.

All Things Bionic

OK, I haven't seen the new BIONIC WOMAN show, but it'll be better than those Lindsay Wagner mattress ads, you bet. After all, it's produced by one of those guys who did the new BATTLESTAR show (David Eick) and the villainess is gonna be Katee "Starbuck" Sackhoff.


Above: Any excuse to run a photo of Katee Sackhoff, now a smokin' adversary to THE NEW BIONIC WOMAN. I'm hoping her lungs are bionic so she doesn't have to worry about cancer.

I went to the NBC site that promises that the "most anticipated" show will either appear tonight, Wednesday, September 26, according to the video preview, or, as it says twice on the page, on Wednesday, September 25. Screen capture of that NBC site above. Typos, goofs -- I see 'em a lot more. Today's lesson: "Most anticipated," at NBC, does not mean "most copy edited," OK? OK!

Regardless, if you miss it tonight regardless of what the date is, you can download the premiere tomorrow over at Amazon Unbox for a couple of bucks. "Unbox" is the trade name for its viewing on your computer service. Any truth to the secret malicious spyware stuff that I hear about this service? Anyone got anything to hide? FISA Act? Hello? Anyone? Wanna go thru my underwear drawer? Well, Katee can, if she drops by. But, smoke outside, babe.

Tenuously related: Bill Haverchuck dresses as the Bionic Woman for Halloween in this FREAKS AND GEEKS clip.

MAN FROM ATLANTIS Pilot 1

Here's a link to one of the highest rated TV movies of 1977, MAN FROM ATLANTIS, starring the pre-Dynasty star Patrick Duffy. I haven't seen it since it aired, and maybe it's as good as I remembered. Maybe not. There was a short-lived series, after a couple more of these TV movies aired, and they were of diminishing interest. This is due to either their not being so good, or me getting more involved with girls.

STAR TREK alums Herb Solow and Bob Justman produced.

The 1970s had scant Sci Fi on TV, and most of it was drek. But some of it was rather fun drek. Enjoy until YouTube pulls!

31 Years Ago Today: SPACE:1999 Season 2 Premiere

This is what I was doing Thursday, August 19, 1976: watching the second season premiere of SPACE: 1999 on WUAB Channel 43 in Cleveland, Ohio.



Honestly, it really sounds like actress Catherine Schell, who had been in one of the Bond movies (ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE) and RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER, is smilingly consoling us for enduring the cosmic boringness of the first season. The show tended to be ponderous and bleak in its stories. Ms. Schell reassures us that now that she's on board, there will be "bigger and better" monsters and things blowing up real good in the new season. And where is co-star Barbara Bain?! The woman had won 3 consecutive Emmies for her MISSION IMPOSSIBLE run. She was a pretty big star! And she was, in real life, the wife of star Martin Landau. She's not in any of the previews!

Big hat tip to Videoholic for taping this waaay back then on his then-cutting edge Betamax when it happened! Like him, I was watching all this on WUAB TV Channel 43 in Cleveland!

Just Like STAR WARS -- But with Hippos!

OK, I'll put up with Lego STAR WARS, but HIPPO STAR WARS?!?!

More at Becca's always fun No Smoking in the Skull Cave blog.

Space:1999 as Architectural Design

There are certain times in your life when something happens. It's a surprise and you are touched and maybe affected deeply. Maybe it's a piece of music, a novel, a movie -- whatever it is, you are moved by the experience.

Who knew that someone would be so moved by a 1970s British TV space show as to recreate the sets and then live in them.

A while ago, I posted about a fellow who lived in a STAR TREK apartment.

And now ... there's a woman who took the set designers of SPACE:1999 to heart. Catherine Bujold Sorellarium 13 is going to live in Moonbase Alpha, gang. Go, look. She's lost her mind, bless her heart. But she seems to have found her joy, which is more than most.

I remember the reviews for the show. One was titled "Space:1999, Marked Down from 2001." It was not a mass-audience hit, but now there is a kitsch factor going for it. The title sequence is still a lot of fun. The theme, by Barry Gray, is full of cool guitar licks. You'll see that in the middle of the titles there's a placard that says THIS EPISODE and you get quick cuts of all sorts of action/explosions/running/explosions/ray guns zapping/explosions previewing the adventure, a practice that the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA show has borrowed in its own titles, Ron Moore, the BSG producer, has openly credited 1999.

Hat tip to Eye of the Goof blog.