ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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gort



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All right, you space rats! Put out those butts, fall in, and listen up!

The important data below should be thoroughly reviewed by all members of the Space Force. Gentlemen, this information might someday save your life . . . so learn it, and learn it good!

First off, you're required to familiarize yourselves with the events that occurred during the War of the Worlds back in 2005. Failure to do so just might mean this global tragedy could happen again!

You're also ordered to study the records we've obtained from a parallel universe, in which an alternate history took place between the years 1936 and 2036. You'll find this information under the file labeled Things to Come.

Finally — and perhaps most importantly — I strongly advise you to study the file called What really happens when you get sucked out of an airlock.

Trust me, gentlemen . . . that's not a situation in which "experience is the best teacher".



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What really happens when you get sucked out of an airlock

Based on all I read above, it sounds like the scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey did it exactly right. Dave Bowman arranged his dramatic entrance into the ship without a helmet perfectly.



He increased the air pressure in the pod so that when he opened the hatch the air would explode into the airlock and push him out while filling the airlock briefly with air. He was pushed into the airlock by this air, and then he quickly closed the ship's hatch and caused the airlock to be flooded with air from the ship.

To me, this is the best scene in the entire movie. A man thinks his way out of a dangerous situation. I love it.
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Things to Come (1936)

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THINGS TO COME- (1936) H. G. Wells' epic book became an equally epic movie, based on a screen play by Wells himself. In fact, H. G. Wells had an amazing amount of control over the production of "Things to Come", a situation due primarily to the fact that producer Alexander Korda wanted Wells to craft the film exactly as he thought best. Wells was frequently present on the sets during filming, actively influencing the look of "Things to Come", right to down to the costumes and set design. He was even allowed to the choose composer Sir Arthur Bliss to handle the musical score.

The direction by William Cameron Menzies ("Invaders from Mars", etc.) remains true to Wells' intention concerning characterization; the characters are presented primarily as symbols of the story's concepts. For this reason the characters seem a bit cold and melodramatic. Raymond Massey -- whose striking and wonderfully inflexible face is perfectedly suited for bigger-than-life characters -- plays two roles, spanning a ninety-six-year slice of mankind's history which begins in 1940 and ends with a fantastic future in 2036.

The story is a skillful blend of two opposing attitudes towards mankind: a dark pessimism that wonders if our own savagery will destroy us, and a bright optimism that insists we are capable of the most exalted achievements imaginable. H. G. Wells was sixty-eight years old when he penned the screenplay for "Things to Come", and it perfectly protrays Wells' dream of a technological utopia.

With Europe poised on the brink of World War II, Wells' message was no mere academic exercise. Adolf Hitler was so impressed by the film's opening scenes of the destruction of "Everytown" that he ordered his generals to view it. Winston Churchill was equally impressed -- especially with the scenes of the giant airships -- and he urged the Air Ministry of England to step up production of heavy bombers.

The public, however, was less enthusiastic. Despite the good reviews which "Things to Come" received, its box office performance was so poor it failed to recover the whopping production costs (almost one and a half million dollars) which producer Alexander Korda invested.

"Things to Come" may fail as mere entertainment, but most viewers agree that it succeeds handsomely as a vehicle for a magnificent message. At its very heart, the message which "Things to Come" attempts to impart is far above the mere technological utopia that mankind has established by the end of the story. Massey delivers the dramatic closing lines, and his words are intended to define the ambitious destiny that H. G. Wells has conceived for mankind:

"For man [there is] no rest and no ending . . . He must go on, conquest after conquest . . . And when he has conquered all the depths of space and all the mysteries of time, still he will be beginning."

"Things to Come" is a highly recommended movie experience -- especially for anyone who has lost their faith in mankind's loftiest ambitions.
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War of the Worlds (2005)

I agree that Cruise is a good actor and this version of the story does offer some interesting ideas.

However, I kinda wish Spielberg hadn't tried to do what Signs actually did better -- tantalizing the audience with things NOT shown.

The battle that took place on the other side of a hill so we couldn't see it, and the people who were pulled inside a tripod which we never see the interior of -- these parts just frustrated me instead of making me try to imagine what I hadn't seen. The concept worked much better in movies like Signs and the original The Thing from Another World.

After seeing Man of Steel recently I was reminded of how special effects have replaced story in today's movies. Man of Steel was so determined not to give anyone in the audience a chance to go to the bathroom that it piled action FX onto action FX and rarely took the time tell a story.

Despite my frustration at things not seen in War of the Worlds, I'm beginning to think they erred less in that direction than I originally thought.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)