ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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We start off today with a low budget movie starring an actor who’s seen better days, especially in science fiction roles.

Then we have a movie with a deeply intellectual plot about a sporting event in the future that must have inspired the video game, Grand Theft Auto.

Finally ther’s a movie which gives new meaning to the words “download”, “copy”, and “user friendly”.
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Cyborg 2087 (1966)

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CYBORG 2087 - (1966) Fifteen years after "The Day the Earth Stood Still", Michael Rennie starred in another sci-fi tale (his third, counting "The Lost World" in 1960).

"Cyborg 2087" concerns a time traveler from the future who journeys back to 1965. His mission is to persuade a famous scientist not to invent a mind-control device which will make it possible for a world dictatorship to enslave mankind in 2087 A.D.

Eduard Franz ("The Thing from Another World") plays the scientist. Karen Steele ("Star Trek: Mudd's Women")is the attractive heroine. Warren Stevens ("Forbidden Planet") is the hero, and Wendell Corey ("The Astro-Zombies") is the thick-headed local sheriff who struts around talking like someone out of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof".

The music by Paul Dunlap is annoyingly repetitive. Rennie lends plenty of class and dignity to his role, but the low budget detracts from the film's enjoyment. It was originally made for TV (and it shows). Directed by Franklin Adreon from a screenplay by Arthur C. Pierce.
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Death Race 2000 (1975)

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In a grim future society, David Carradine ("Kung Fu") competes with Sylvester Stallone ("Rocky", "Rambo") in a cross country auto race that awards points for each pedestrian killed along the way.

The concept seems silly until you remember that we already have a sport that awards points for the largest amount of brain damaged inflicted -- it's called "boxing".

This Roger Corman production has Carradine dressed like "The Devil Girl from Mars" in black cape, skull cap, tights, boots, and gloves. He and Stallone drive customized hot rods with big teeth for grillwork. The fascist government of this near-future age condones the sport.

Directed by Paul Bartel from a screenplay by Robert Thom and Charles B. Griffith, based on a story by Ib Melchior (screenwriter for "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" and director of "Angry Red Planet").
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Demon Seed (1977)



The basic idea of a super-computer that decides it can run the world better than mankind has been done in several other movies, but in "Demon Seed" the emphasis is not on the computer's desire to conquer the world. This version focuses on the computer's desire to conquer its own limitations; in other words, the computer wants to procreate like a human.

Sounds impossible -- but remember, this is a supercomputer, and it succeeds in achieving this ambitious goal with the forced assistance of Julie Christie.

Christie's husband, Fritz Weaver, is the designer of the supercomputer, called Proteus. Proteus slyly establishes an electronic link between itself and Weaver's hi-tech, computer-managed house. When the computer begins its plan to procreate, it uses the house's automated systems to lock Miss Christie in — and then it literally rapes her.

The basic concept is extremely interesting, but the treatment it receives is fuzzy, arty, and uninvolving. There are far too many jerky slow-motion shots, and the film is padded with "2001-ish" light show effects which seem to have no purpose.

On the positive side, the voice of Proteus is provided by Robert Vaughn ("Teenage Caveman", "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.).

Also starring Gerrit Graham, Berry Kroeger, Alfred Dennis, and Lisa Lu. Much of the credit for the film's success goes to the screenplay by Robert Jaffe and Roger O. Hirson, which they based on the novel by Dean R. Koontz. Directed by Donald Cammell.

*********** SPOILER ALERT ***********

In the film's climax she gives birth to an unusual offspring who combines the attributes of man and machine.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)