I admit, I was amazed by Star Wars (what’s now episode IV) in 1977, admiring its lived-in look, the newly invented special effects (psst, kids -- the original Death Star explosion -- no ring -- was awesome because the story MADE it awesome!) and the tried-and-true adventure plot and cheesy dialogue (“You know of the rebellion against The Empire?” exclaims space farmboy Luke).
After episode VI, what came out was all extra stuff trimmed off the original, like dough snipped from the edge of a pie. With apologies to the Fetts, dough was plainly what they were about. I’ll give Star Wars ‘Most Influential’ -- after all, we’ve hardly seen a shiny space ship on film or TV since.
For me, the most amazing sci-fi movie was Kubrick’s 2001. I was a kid when I saw it, as I was a kid when I saw the first Moon landing...and I saw 2001 first. Kids back then were space-savvie beyond what sci-fi in tv and movies had taught us. Images of an astronaut absolutely alone and beyond human help near Jupiter, I saw as the epitome of how completed screwed a guy can be. But he chose to venture out and continue exploring with only the air in his pod and maybe a tank for his suit. Out of human curiosity, he approached the floating monolith/stargate. The moment before the stars began to shoot by, I felt something I’d only felt at the top of the hill on a rollercoaster -- Here.We.GO!
I left the theater confused by what I’d seen (I was eleven) but I knew what I’d understood of it would stay with me, as would the music and a story to ponder for years.
Also by Kubrick, A Clockwork Orange was a hoot -- Alex was the first anti-hero I could really side with, and I became a fan Ludwig Van. The music and art direction were unforgettable, and I still have a melanky bit of Nadsat stuck up in my razzadook.
But the best? Alien.
Star Wars was a western shoot-em-up, but Alien was a gothic, finally climaxing, as gothics do, with a desperate, pursued woman in a dismal place, terrified, her head and heart full of the horrors she’s seen. What gave it a new twist was, this was a woman with grit. She gave orders. She was overridden at times, but never backed down, and she made, or would’ve made, the right decisions from the start. She certainly did in the end. At least Princess Leah rarely stood and watched the guys do hero stuff, but Ripley took it to another level...even in her undies, she was a hero, not eye candy.
And art direction by two incredible artists -- Ridley Scott and HR Geiger -- created a function-oriented, pipes-exposed, ugly, beat up space-going job shop of a shipship, as well as a monster that would make the one in Frankenstein back away drenching his drawers....Damn good flick! The only movie that’s ever kept me scared all the way out to the car after.
Serenity, without a doubt, is also way up there. Brilliant, believably outlandish dialogue, good guys and bad guys in shades of dirty, grey, black and whatever shade implies abomination. And, God’s BALLS, women who done Ripley proud! The only big-haired blonde in make-up was (fittingly) a robot.
Joseph Campbell said sci-fi is a great way to continue spinning stories featuring the unreality and truths present in human myths. The truth of a myth is the pulse of good science fiction; the story, and people to give a damn about, not CGI or 3-D, no matter how well done. Proof?
A Boy and His Dog J
