ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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What’s on the menu today?

~ Who’d have thought that dragons could become a science fiction concept? Well, Reign of Fire (2002) did it.

~ Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002) came right in the between The Phantom Menace (which is not real popular) and Revenge of the Sithe (which I disliked by the time it was 2/3 over). But Clones[i/] is so magnificent that it makes the other two look even worse than they are!

~ [i]Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) should have been a slam-bang blockbuster, based on the exciting trailer that came out before it’s release. Sadly, it did NOT slam my bang or bust my blocks. Go figure. ;(
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Reign of Fire (2002)



What kind of story could you make out of a hibernating dragon, a desperate group of global holocaust survivors, and a crop of unripened tomatoes.

This kind. And not a bad one at that.

It turns out the dinosaurs weren't killed off by some wimpy old asteroid, they were barbecued by a race of dragons who apparently liked to huff and puff even more than the Big Bad Wolf. When the world was reduced to mostly ash and the dragons started starving, one great big one went to sleep under the future site of London and waited for fresh meat to evolve, go forth, and multiply.

That's the backstory for the plot. The movie itself is about the last uncooked portion of mankind and their desperate efforts to raise the makin's for a good salad before the dragons can track them down and prove conclusively that smoking is bad for your health — especially when it comes right after you've been completely engulfed in flames.

And just for the record, the dragon's fiery breath is actually the second hottest thing in this movie . . .

_______________Izabella Scorupco


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Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002)



This one is my third favorite of the Star Wars movies, behind "A New Hope" (for reasons partly due to nostalgia) and "Return of the Jedi" (just because it's good).

"Attack of the Clones" works pretty hard to be a true Star Wars movie, and it gets it mostly right. Admittedly I think having Yoda leap around like Tinker Bell during the climatic fight was way over the top. They rub our noses in this fact when, after the fight, Yoda slowly picks up his cane and starts hobbling along like he usually does.

A funny scene, yes — but it wasn't the right place for a gag.

The arena battle was a show-stopper, no complaints there. All in all, this was quite a rousing visit to the galaxy far, far away.
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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)



I was all set to love this one plum to death. The trailers had me sold completely.

Alas, the movie just didn't live up to the hype. First of all, a story set in the days of Technicolor shouldn't have a fuzzy, washout picture. It's like they didn't have the nerve to make it in black & white, and they didn't have the sense to make it in vibrant color. It should have looked like those magnificent Fleischer Superman cartoons

The money-saving strategy of doing so much with green screens works like a charm these days, but back in 2004 it just wasn't very convincing. The story was pretty good, but the fact that there was no real villain was sorta weak.

This is another of those movies that disappoint you the first time you see it, but you can enjoy it much more after you get over being mad at it for letting you down.

Although the critics gobbled it up with big spoons (oddly enough) the movie is considered a box office flop because it only made $58 million on a $70 million budget.

Too bad. A sequel might have done a better job.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)