Top Science Fiction Films of 2012 #1: THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
Number One on my list of films (as well as many other people’s) for the remainder of 2012 is the final Christopher Nolan Batman film The Dark Knight Rises. It only makes sense that this film would have an even greater level of anticipation than it’s predecessor in the series, The Dark Knight, which was especially fueled by the tragic saga of Heath Ledger, who overdosed on prescription drugs just a few months before the film’s theatrical release. The film grossed just over $1 billion at the box office, which is the twelfth-highest mark of any film in worldwide sales to date.
The Dark Knight Rises (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Dark Knight Rises begins with Batman on the run from Gotham City Police after taking responsibility for the crimes of the late Harvey Dent to protect Dent’s reputation. It is eight years later when Bruce Wayne/Batman returns to Gotham. Now, the villains taking over the city are revealed to be Bane and Selina Kyle (Catwoman).
The film, directed by Christopher Nolan and written by Christopher and Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer, returns Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Oldman as James Gordon, and Morgan Freeman as Lucious Fox. Bane is played by Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway plays Selina Kyle. Secondary characters include Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, and Matthew Modine. Many members of the Pittsburgh Steelers have cameo roles as the Gotham Rogues football team. I would like to point out (as a side note) that this cast includes four (4) Oscar winners (Bale, Caine, Cotillard, and Freeman), an impressive feat for a big-budget action film.
One clue to at least a secondary plotline is the revelation that Liam Neeson has a cameo role, and while it is unclear whether it is in flashbacks or not, the importance to the plot remains.
English: Image of the Batwing filming in Pittsburgh in the The Dark Knight Rises. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There has been some speculation among fans as to if Bruce Wayne will even survive this final film. This theory comes about from a short conversation in the trailer between Batman and Selina Kyle:
Kyle: “You don’t owe these people any more. You’ve given them everything.”
Wayne: “Not everything. Not yet.”
Nolan was reluctant to return for this third film and killing off Batman would put an end to the series and alleviate any pressure on him to return for a fourth. As well, Bale has said that this is his last film as Batman, and he is becoming typecast in the role, which is never good for an actor. Nolan has said: “The key thing that makes the third film a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story…rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story…Unlike the comics, these things don’t go on forever…” That sounds like not only the end for the story but the end of Bruce Wayne.
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Top Sci-Fi Films of 2012 #2: THE AVENGERS
I finally saw The Avengers a few days ago, so I figured i would wait to write my preview of the film until after I had actually seen it, killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. I had meant to see it very soon after it’s release, but with finals and a move it did not happen so quickly.
The Avengers (2012 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Avengers is the culmination film of the Marvel Universe, bringing together superheroes from previous individual films as well as those not seen before. It essentially follows Nick Fury as he puts together this team, in spite of the government’s reluctance to put these heroes together under their watch, to fight Loki and his supernatural army from taking over the Earth.
It is the sixth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, following Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), and Captain America: The First Avenger.
The film is directed by Joss Whedon, who brings his brand of space-opera-type science fiction and humor, very welcome in my opinion in a film such as this.
The team is comprised of Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), along with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Loki is played by Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg reprises his role as Phil Coulson, and Cobie Smulders plays another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Stellan Skarsgard and Gweneth Paltrow reprise their roles from previous Marvel Universe movies as well.
What I liked about the plot was that it incorporated parts of the plots of previous films in the story problem. Loki, the villain of Thor, is the instigator, and the power is supplied by the Tesseract, the cube with infinite power that the Red Skull found and tried to use in Captain America. With this power, Loki commands an army to take over the Earth, his army arriving through a portal opened to another world by the Tesseract.
Under Whedon’s guidance, this film has taken the Marvel Universe another step forward, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing A-list actors participate in an ensemble film, each taking a back seat at points. I look forward to many more films by Marvel, as I am sure many of you do.
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Top 10 Science Fiction Films of 2012 #3: SKYFALL
Coming out in the UK on October 26th is Skyfall, the twenty-third James Bond film. I include it in the science fiction genre because of the technology aspect that has become integrated into the series over the last fifty years.
The film returns stars Daniel Craig and Judi Dench as Bond and M, respectively. The rest of the cast is dominated by Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the primary villain, Ralph Fiennes as a government agent, and Naomie Harris as the primary love interest. The film is directed by Sam Mendes, director of American Beauty, Jarhead, and Revolutionary Road.
Skyfall, according to what has been released so far, centers around Bond’s relationship with M after certain facts about her past are revealed. MI6 is attacked and Bond is challenged with the response.
Having been a lifelong Bond fan, I will definitely go see Skyfall as soon as I can when it comes out in the United States sometime in November.
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Top 10 Sci-Fi Films of 2012 #4: MEN IN BLACK 3
May 25’s Men in Black 3 is a film ten years in the making. It will be released almost a decade after it’s predecessor in the series and fifteen years after the original Men in Black. The film returns Barry Sonnenfeld as director, as well as Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.
The film will center around the adventures of Agent J (Smith) as he goes back in time to 1969 to stop an alien from killing Agent K (Jones) and changing Earth’s history in the process. The young K is played by Josh Brolin, while Alice Eve and Emma Thompson play young and old (respectively) versions of Agent O, obviously another agent of the Men in Black.
In the first trailers that have been released so far, it seems as if the Young Agent K’s voice has been edited in with Jones’ voice, but I would not be surprised to hear Josh Brolin replicate it that well. It will be interesting to hear which is the case, as I would not imagine an A-list actor such as Brolin would particularly enjoy having his voice covered-over.
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Top 10 Sci-Fi Films of 2012 #5: LOOPER
Of all the films on this list, Looper might be the most intriguing. Due out on September 28, the Rian Johnson-directed film, based on early reports, reflects shades of Blade Runner in it’s science-fiction/film noir style.
LOOPER: "Hunted by your future...Haunted by your past"
Looper stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt. It is set in 2042 in a “gangland” dystopia, where the main character (Gordon-Levitt) works as a “looper,” an assassin who kills and disposes of those sent back in time from the year 2072 by certain gangs. However, he recognizes one of those sent back for him to kill as himself (Willis) and he lets the future version of himself escape, setting off the gangs who pay him.
The time-travel aspect of Looper is what makes it especially interesting, to me. One the one hand, he could go ahead and do his job, killing his future self, knowing for the rest of his life exactly how he will die, being sent back in time to be killed by his younger self. He could regret that for the last thirty years of his life. On the other hand, if he does not do his job, the gangs which serve as his employers could kill him right then and there. However, if that happens, he would not live to be sent back in time in thirty years, thus eliminating the issue that killed him in the first place in 2042. This is the time-travel paradox which, while in reality proves that time travel is not and never will be possible, makes an interesting film premise.
I will definitely be going to see Looper in theatres, but it’s release is quite a ways away. I am sure I will have more about this one before then, though.
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Top 10 Sci-Fi Films of 2012 #6: PROMETHEUS
Prometheus is famed director Ridley Scott‘s newest masterpiece, a prequel/reboot of the Alien franchise, set to release on June 8th. It stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, and Charlize Theron.
The film follows the crew of the spaceship Prometheus as it explores an ancient alien civilization, based on a star map taken from the drawings of ancient Earth cultures. The film was originally conceived as a prequel to the Alien franchise, but after multiple rewrites, moved away from that premise. According to Scott, the story is based in the same universe and has “strands of Alien‘s DNA,” it is a separate story.
Scott is also famous in science fiction circles for (along with Alien) the film Blade Runner, considered a seminal work of science fiction film, released in 1982 and starring Harrison Ford. In future science fiction work he has been attached to a film adaptation of Aldous Huxley‘s Brave New World as well as a possible sequel to Blade Runner.
As far as Prometheus is concerned, I will see it because of Scott’s masterwork in science fiction, and I believe this will be an even better film than Alien, which I did not feel was particularly impressive, especially compared to Blade Runner. With the money, as well as nearly twenty years to develop the story as it relates to Alien, I think this will be one of Scott’s best films to date.
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Top 10 Sci-Fi Films of 2012 #7: GI JOE: RETALIATION
One of the most feast or famine films of the summer is G.I. Joe: Retaliation. The first G.I. Joe film, The Rise of Cobra, was far too childish and action-figure-like, with very little real plot or character development past what a fourth-grader could have written. That being said, the special effects were great and the brand/franchise is a popular one, so there is no reason why another film could not be very successful.
The new film stars Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, and returnees Channing Tatum, Ray Park, and Arnold Vosloo, and is directed by John M. Chu (of Step Up 2 fame).
After the events of the first film, in which Zartan, under the influence of Cobra Commander, is undercover as the President of the United States, the G.I. Joes are soon framed as traitors. They are soon exterminated, leaving only a few left to defeat Cobra. These are led by Roadblock (Johnson), who recruits the original Joe, General Joseph Colton (Willis).
Before seeing the first full-length trailer, I do not think I would have bothered going to see this film in theaters. However, after seeing Bruce Willis in all his action-movie glory, I think I will.
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Top 10 Sci-Fi Films of 2012 #8: DREDD
Dredd, to be released on September 21, is another remake (like Total Recall) of a 1990’s film, this time Judge Dredd, the popular futuristic comic book drama starring Sylvester Stallone, made in 1995. Dredd stars Karl Urban as Judge Dredd, along with Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headey, and is directed by Pete Travis.
The plot is unrelated to the original 1995 film. This new version takes place in Mega-City One, where Dredd and a cadet (Thirlby) take on a terrorist organization (led by Headey) dealing a new drug called Slo-Mo that is capable of altering reality.
As corny (yet awesome) as the 1995 version was, this one should be much better. I will certainly see it when it comes out and update on how it was.
Judge Dredd (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)
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Top Science Fiction Films of 2012 #9: TOTAL RECALL
Total Recall, slated for an August 3 release, is a remake of the popular 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger film and is based on the Philip K Dick short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” (1966). The film stars Colin Farrell, Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Nighy, Brian Cranston, and John Cho, and is directed by Len Wiseman (of Underworld and Live Free or Die Hard fame).
Total Recall 2012
The film, set in the year 2084 in a dystopian world controlled by two states called Euroamerica and New Shanghai, includes many more political overtones than the original. The main character (Farrell) begins to have violent nightmares and suspects that he is a spy that has had his memory replaced, but he does not know which side he is supposed to be on or anything else. Biel plays a freedom fighter/prostitute he teams up with, Beckinsale plays his wife, and Cranston as the President of Euroamerica.
As has been the trend lately, this is another high-effect remake of a fairly old film. It seems as if Hollywood cannot come up with many new storylines, as remakes have constituted a good majority of films made since 2000. This seems like another in a long line.
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Top Sci-Fi Films of 2012 #10: BATTLESHIP
Battleship (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Number Ten of my Top Science Fiction Films for the remainder of 2012 is Battleship, releasing May 18. The premise is based on the popular board game, with the addition of aliens, advanced technology, and force fields.
As nearly everyone who saw the original trailer pointed out, this is very much a Transformers clone, and also based on Hasbro products.
The film stars Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna, and Liam Neeson, and is directed by Peter Berg. Since the plot is largely useless even to the movie, I do not feel the need to give a synopsis here, but here is the Wikipedia page with a very detailed plot.
Battleship looks like a good action/science fiction film with tons of great special effects, but does not seem to bring anything original to the table. Comment if you agree or disagree, and I’ll update once I’ve seen it.
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Top 10 Science Fiction Films: Summer 2012
This summer will be a big one for science fiction in Hollywood, and I’m looking forward to seeing many. Here are my Top 10 Upcoming Science Fiction Films for 2012:
The Dark Knight Rises (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
10. Battleship
9. Total Recall
8. Dredd
6. Prometheus
5. Looper
3. Skyfall
2. The Avengers
This list comprises nearly all of the major sci-fi film releases for the rest of the year. If I left anything out, or if you have an issue with the order, feel free to comment. In this list there are five sequels (7, 4, 3, 2, and 1) and two remakes (9 and 8), only leaving three original films (10, 6, and 5). I will soon be posting individually about most of these, if not all of them, previewing each one.
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My Top Asimov Stories #1: “The Last Question”
My favorite short story of all time is Asimov’s “The Last Question.” It’s scale, both in space and time, is very extensive for a short story, and it is very plot-based, not centered around a particular human character but around the computer Multivac, a recurring “character” in Asimov’s stories set in the Robot Era. “The Last Question” was published in the November 1956 edition of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been anthologized many times.
The story follows a series of characters, each who by one circumstance or another end up asking Multivac how the total entropy (or heat death, or “running-down”) of the universe can be reversed. However, each time, despite the vast resources and power of the computer, it cannot come up with an answer and each human character is disappointed.
As the story progresses, we see the evolution of both Man and Multivac. The computer begins as an extensive machine, occupying multiple buildings much like the computers which were being developed when the story was written. Soon, however, Multivac becomes both smaller and farther-reaching, until it has become the central control of everything for humanity. Humanity, to the same effect, expands it’s control over countless millions of planets and multiplies to the trillions of trillions. Their evolution parallels each other, Multivac moving entirely into hyperspace (without physical parts) and humanity separating themselves from their physical bodies, becoming only consciousnesses. In the final stages of this evolution, all the consciousnesses of humanity combine into one to become Man, and ask the entropy question one last time. But the all-knowing Multivac still can’t answer, and as the universe dies Man merges with Multivac and disappears. But Multivac continues to ponder the answer, outside of the limitations of space and time, and eventually comes up with the answer, and I’ll let you read the solution.
Part of what makes this story incredible, once again, is the scale at which “The Last Question” operates, at which most novels would not attempt. In one short story Asimov has traipsed through the entire future evolution of Man to it’s pinnacle and come back, and as usual, makes the reader think about life and the Universe in general.
Asimov consistently said that this story was his favorite, and I certainly agree with him. Normally I would not do this (because I want you to go buy the works) but this may or may not be the full text.
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My Top Asimov Stories #2: “Bicentennial Man”
“Bicentennial Man” is a novelette about a robot who, over a period of about 200 years, becomes human. It was published in 1976 and won both the Hugo and Nebula awards the same year.
The story revolves around a robot named Andrew, who by some irregularity in his positronic pathways is able to independently create wooden carvings. As creativity is not a part of a robot’s skills, his owner, Gerald Martin (Sir), sees him as extremely unique and allows Andrew to sell his carvings, keeping half.
Image via Wikipedia
As his family gets older, Andrew uses his money to keep himself in good shape, and expands his creativity and knowledge beyond what any ordinary robot would. Andrew asks Sir to allow him to buy his freedom, and on his deathbed, Sir relents, not accepting Andrew’s money. Andrew begins wearing clothes and going to the library to further his knowledge. He also, with the help of Sir’s grandson, a lawyer, begins to change the legal system as it pertains to robots, starting by banning orders to self-harm, meant to protect Andrew.
Soon, Andrew begins to drastically alter his own body, experimenting and designing parts himself, with the ultimate goal of being unrecognizable as a robot. He gives himself digestive and excretory systems, hoping that eventually he will be officially declared to be a man. However, on his 150th birthday, he is called the “Sesquicentennial Robot.” Their reservations seem to be because of his immortality.
His final modification changes their minds: He alters his positronic brain so that it will decay with time, arranging to live through his 200th birthday. He goes before the World Legislature, telling them what he has done from a wheelchair, and on his birthday they declare him the “Bicentennial Man.”
If this plot sounds familiar, that would be because it was made into a film in 1999 starring Robin Williams. The film follows the basic premises and names fairly closely, but in it’s details it is not particularly faithful to Asimov‘s original. The story, like “Nightfall” and “The Ugly Little Boy,” was expanded into a novel by Asimov and Robert Silverberg in 1993 called The Positronic Man.
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Top Asimov Stories #3: “The Ugly Little Boy”
“The Ugly Little Boy,” much like “Nightfall,” is a very famous and well-anthologized story, and one that Asimov counted among his own favorites. It was published in Galaxy Science Fiction in September 1958 as “Lastborn,” and then anthologized in Nine Tomorrows in 1959 under the current title.
Image via Wikipedia
The story is about an experiment in time travel, in which a Neanderthal child is brought forward to our time, but must be kept in a single building which serves as a bridge between the two times. To bring him out would take enormous amounts of energy and would cause time paradoxes, so he must be kept there for study. To care for him the company hires a nanny, named Edith Fellowes. At first she is disgusted by the child (who she names Timmie), but eventually she comes to love him and treat him as her own.
However, the company that brought him to our time only sees him as an experiment and he is scheduled to be sent back to make way for another experiment. At first, Edith tries to smuggle Timmie out of the building, but is repulsed. In desperation, she returns to the past with the child.
The story was expanded into a full-length novel by Robert Silverberg in 1990.
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Top Asimov Stories #4: “Nightfall”
“Nightfall” is a widely popular story, often listed as one of the greatest science fiction stories of all time. It was published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1941 and it was voted the best science fiction short story to be published before the establishment of the Nebula Awards in 1965 (and therefore not eligible for one). The story was adapted into a full-length novel by Asimov and Robert Silverburgin 1990.
Asimov says in his autobiography that the story was inspired by a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown!
The editor of Astounding at the time, John W. Campbell, thought that, on the contrary, men would go mad. So the story’s primary theme is the juxtaposition of the two theories. It takes place on a planet with six suns, on a day in which there will be darkness for the first time in two thousand years: five of the suns have rotated to the other side of the planet, and the sixth will be eclipsed by the planet’s satellite. The story revolves around a certain columnist’s interactions with a group of scientists who believe that this darkness will cause widespread madness and the destruction of their civilization. The fear is of the “Stars,” which to people who have never seen them before would cause great anxiety.
The story puts in proportion the stars we see every night and take for granted, showing that they are beautiful and much more mysterious than we often realize. And isn’t that what every great story is supposed to do, put things in better perspective?
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My Top Five Asimov Stories, In Detail
Image via Wikipedia
Yesterday was Isaac Asimov’s birthday, so I’ll be celebrating here. A long time ago I posted a list of my favorite Asimov short stories, and over the next few days I will be detailing each of the top five, all of which I enjoy and think are very good examples of the hard science fiction genre. The order has not changed:
10. Sally (1953)
9. I’m in Marsport Without Hilda (1957)
8. A Matter of Principle (1984)
7. Robbie (1939)
6. …That Thou Art Mindful Of Him (1974)
5. The Evitable Conflict (1950)
4. Nightfall (1941)
3. The Ugly Little Boy (1958)
2. The Bicentennial Man (1976)
1. The Last Question (1956)
While there are ten stories in this list, I will only be posting about the top five, beginning with “The Evitable Conflict” tomorrow.
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My Top Five Hard Science Fiction Authors
My personal Top Five Science Fiction Authors, subject to change. Profiles of each of these authors will be coming soon.
5. H.G. Wells
1. Isaac Asimov
Top Ten Hard Science Fiction Films
My top ten films that have themes that fall under the classification of “hard” science fiction (based on real scientific ideas):
10. Back to the Future (1985)
9. Armageddon (1998)
8. 2012 (2009)
7. Bicentennial Man (1999)
6. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
5. Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
4. Blade Runner (1982)
3. I, Robot (2004)
2. Planet of the Apes (1968)
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Top Ten Asimov Stories
My favorite Asimov stories, in reverse order (some have full-text links, some do not):
10. Sally
9. I’m in Marsport Without Hilda
7. Robbie
6. …That Thou Art Mindful Of Him
4. Nightfall
Expanding Consciousness 