ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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You couldn’t ask for three more enjoyable and diverse sci-fi movies.

~ James Cameron’s brilliant sequel to The Terminator.

~ A very different Invisible Man movie that does things in new ways.

~ A skillful blend of action, comedy, and science fiction with the perfect cast.

Please think of something clever to say about these movies and then rejuvenate the threads with a reply. We can’t just read the threads on All Sci-Fi without adding to them.

They wither and die when that happens.
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Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)



This has got to the wildest ride since Mr. Toad stole the model T.

The special effects don't look dated twenty-four years after the movie's release, because when you get 'em right they never look old. They just keep on looking right.

Edward Furlong as young John steals every scene until Linda Hamilton opens her mouth and steals it right back.

Arnold uses his minimalist acting to good advantage, completely convincing us he'd kill us in heart beat if our name was on his list, even though deep down he really cares about us -- right after we adjust his CPU.

I've always felt the music was a little too focused on the unstoppable Terminator theme. But maybe a more complex, rousing score would have been a little too enjoyable when we're supposed to be watching John and Sarah living in a waking nightmare, chased by a walking mass of oozing mercury that can turn its hands into cutlery that never gets dull, never gets tarnished, and never needs washing.

If you've never watched the special edition that has the scenes deleted by people who should be terminated, you've never seen the real movie. The "thinking" parts of the story are in those scenes, and that's always the parts I like best in any movie.

I used to crack up my 2nd grade students when I'd put on my sunglasses, make my face real stiff, and say in a deep voice --

"I am the Ed-ju-cator. Come with me if you want to learn."

Bear in mind, they were only seven years old . . .
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Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)

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John Carpenter isn't known for comedies, but this one works surprisingly well. He tries something different from most invisible man movies — the folks in the movie can't see the invisible Chevy, but the audience can (except in certain scenes).

The trick works well. We get to see Chevy's amusing performance, even when he's sneaking around in room with people who don't know he's there.

This is an adaptation of a very enjoyable (and long) 1987 novel of the same name by H.F. Saint. I read it when it was first published, and I was surprised when I learned it had been made into a movie.

The changes they made were necessary. The book is a very detailed account of the first year or so of the main character's life after he becomes invisible — hiding from everyone and finding places to live.

The cast is competent, but the weakest link is Sam Neill as the villainous government agent who pursues Chevy. Neill is fine as the paleontologist in "Jurassic Park" but he just doesn't convince us in this movie that he's a smiling-but-ruthless bad guy.

All in all, a good movie.
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Demolition Man (1993)



This is the kind of movie I like -- a bold blend of comedy and action. Sylvester Stallone is a supercop who is wrongly blamed for causing the deaths of busload of hostages held by homicidal maniac Wesley Snipes.

They both end up cryogenically frozen by the near-future penal system, and when they're thawed out decades later, the world has become a strange place indeed. Crime has ceased to exist, and the citizens are like the offspring of Valley Girls who mated the Eloi men!

Rough-and-tough Sylvester and psychopathic Wesley are wolves among sheep -- which results in wild action and wicked comedy.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)