Star Wars: The Last Jedi: A Fan's Opinion

Rey confronting the sorrowful shadow
of days gone by.

I finally got to watch Star Wars: The Last Jedi today, and I've got some conflicting feelings about it. To begin with, it's a departure from the original Star Wars story line, wherein the Dark Side/Galactic Empire is portrayed as a well-oiled and efficient death machine, run by a fearsome, mysterious warrior-dictator, while the Light side/Jedi are portrayed by freedom fighters struggling for justice and peace.

When Fiction Becomes Fact

Back when I was in college I had a very wise English Literature teacher who said something that made me a very passionate futurist-observer. He said, "I grew up listening to stories about Buck Rogers and his adventures. He used to fly around in space in a rocket ship, had a laser gun that he'd used to help him fight crime and criminals. Fast-forward to the present, we're seeing lasers in nearly all facets of life as we know it." The comic stories took their turn at maturity, from paperback to radio to TV to the silver screen, all the way from the 1920's to the 1970's and early 1980's.

Fringe: Season Finale

Here it is, so good I had to share it! Shame, the series had some really mind-boggling concepts and theories that would have made at least two or three more seasons at least! Take the Cow, for example! And those observers, or watchers, or whatever, who are in each and every episode of the series, like 'Futhooli' in the Arabic children's magazine, "Majid"

Good Games Don't Die!

I used to be addicted to online games, until i realized that I was spending more time trying to beat online strangers that enjoying the game itself, so I'm much better now. But yesterday, as I was looking for some PC stuff, I came across one of my favorite games, Battlefield 2142, by Electronic Arts. They're the same people that just released Battlefield Bad Company 2, and it's latest addition, BC2 Vietnam, and all the other great EA titles like Simcity and the Sims. But Battlefield 2142 is something else completely!

Mad Max 4 without "The" Mad Max!

I just read this on Scifi wire, if its true it'll be a crying shame!

Mel Gibson talks Mad Max IV: Possible cameo

January 18, 2010
Mel Gibson, the original Mad Max, will appear in the long-awaited fourth installment in the post-apocalyptic movie series.

Or he won't.

SciFi Fans Rejoice: Neuromancer is coming!

For those of you who are not really into SciFi here's an introduction: Remember "The Matrix Trilogy"? Well, this is the story that made a direct influence over the story. IMHO, I would consider this to be the 'Grandfather' of Neo's adventures in the world of the Matrix. Some would say that it was a prequel to the story behind the Matrix.

Written by William Gibson, the story talks about a burned out Hacker who gets recruited by some shady characters in order to apply his skills towards stealing stored human consciousness, among other things. This is the surface of a much more and deeper plot. All in all, a terrific (and puzzling) read, if you like this sort of thing, that is.

The great thing about it is that this is the first of a trilogy of stories, called 'The Sprawl Trilogy', all inter-connected, and written by Gibson, and all portray a completely unorthodox view of futurism and I, for one, hope that this movie lives up to the author's written representation.

In the meantime, I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Star Trek Movie, due out on May 8th 2009, and not as I previously mentioned in my earlier post. And let's not forget the upcoming Terminator: Salvation....just click on this link and see for yourself!

2nd X-Files movie due in July 2008

Finally, production will start on the second X-Files movie. Filming will begin on December 10th, and the release is due on 25th July 2008.

Yes, I'm one of those people who'd collected all the Season's DVD's and read all the conspiracy theories associated with the series, and blah blah blah...it's fun....bite me!


Starwars is also due for a series introduction...I'm still looking at the details, but it won't be about the same heroes, although it'll be within the same universe...stay tuned.

Science Meets Science Fiction: Human-Animal Hybrids are possible!

Sounds something from the X-Files, doesn't it?! But it's true. Read on...

Not many people enjoy-or even want to tolerate-Science Fiction works. To each his own, I guess. I'm a big SciFi fan myself, as previously blogged. I enjoy how Scifi reflects the borderline between human imagination and scientific achievements. If you think about it, many avenues of technology we consume and use in our daily lives are either offshoots of science fiction or a result of it. Scientists like Einstein, Oppenheimer, Heisenberg,

For example, Jules Verne , H.G. Wells , and my favorite Scifi author, Isaac Asimov, have all been termed the "Fathers of Science Fiction" in one time or another. Their novels have inspired scientists and inventors to come one step closer to such Human achievements like Space Exploration, the Appolo moon landings, the Skylab project, the Hubble Space Telescope, underground dwelling concepts as a deterrent to Nuclear wars, Undersea dwellings for research, even the creation of Robotics, Bio-mechanics and Quantum Physics as new fields of science, to name a few examples.

Another example, take the Star Trek Teleportation Devices, where people are 'beamed' from the spaceship to another with the kind assistance of Scotty!! Research has shown that at some point in quantum mechanics, it had actually been created in a lab, using sub-atomic particles of light, but nevertheless, it's proved the theory!

Again, taking a Star Trek adaptation, Warp Speed. New research based on previous research has proven-in theory-that Warp speed, or FTL (faster-than-light) travel may be possible, and that it's simply a matter of enough energy generated to enact this in fact, and the invention of 'exotic matter' to build the engines...not far off, but one step closer!

Another popular SciFi literature, Buck Rogers, utilized Einsteins paper 'On the Quantum Theory of Radiation' initiated - albeit loosely - the concept of the Ray Gun, or the Laser, which is being used in different ways, even right now on our CD/DVD devices.

My point is, with imagination and creativity, science can re-create science fiction. But what this report shows is sheer imagination in practice!! Imagine humans cross-bred with animals, and you'll see what I mean. The Ethical problems alone outweigh any Religious decisions to begin with, but it's research drawn from a creative community of scientists, inspired by Creative works like Science Fiction.

Of course, the scientists discuss the research as a tool to find out how Stem Cells can be manipulated more efficiently to suite humanity. Again, drawing from Science Fiction, and more closely, Star Trek's "Eugenics Wars". (I just HAD to put that in there!!)

Dream on...maybe we can find someone that can alter the weather so it'll be a standar 23 degrees celsuis all year :)

Star Trek XI is on for December 25, 2008!!!

Word on the grapevine is, the Star Trek movie is slated for release on Chrismas Day 2008, and that it will have a 'prequel' theme to it. J.J. Abrams of the famed "Lost" series will Direct the movie, and will star, among unannounced others, Zachary Quinto (Heroes) and Leonard Nimoy (Spock in Star Trek).

The last movie, Star Trek: Nemesis, while a commercial failure, does fill in many blanks in the Star Trek universe (for those of us who are into the genre, anyway), and does go to explain some of the past events, like the Earth-Romulan War and the rise of the United Federation of Planets, the Treaty of Algeron and the signing of the Khitomer Accords. I liked it, and so did some of the fanbase, but others dismissd it as a failed attempt by the producers/writes to live up to the original theme of the late Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the Star Trek genre.

Hopefully, the new production team will be able to dismiss all controversy surrounding the future of the gener. In short, I hope it'll be as good as the series!

Well, it's SciFi, you get the idea..

Battlestar Galactica Wikipedia

Great! Finally, there's a Wiki for my favorite SciFi show. Now, whenever someone asks me what it's all about, all I have to do is refer them to this website! Ain't technology just grand?!

And to top it all off (and as a fresh reminder to myself), there's going to be a movie released this year as well...Long Live eMule!!

This show has far exceeded anyone's expectations, to the extent that it's actually won these fine awards:
VES Award, 2006 and 2007
2006 LEO awards
2005 Hugo Awards
2006 Saturn Awards
...and to top it all off, the cream of the crop (so far!) the 65th Annual Peabody Awards! This is not mentioning the many nominations it's received in the process. Yes, it's THAT good!

Oh yeah, interestingly enough, there are already some action figures out over this show.

The Best SciFi Movies Poll

BBC just quoted SFX Magazine that "Serenity" has been voted the Number 1 Scifi Movie in terms of Special Effects! Here's the complete list:

1. Serenity (seen it)
2. Star Wars (seen it)
3. Blade Runner (seen it)
4. Planet of the Apes (seen it)
5. The Matrix (seen it)
6. Alien (seen it)
7. Forbidden Planet (seen it)
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey (seen it & read the book)
9. The Terminator (seen it)
10. Back to the Future (seen it)

My number one favorite out of this list would have to be "The Matrix", followed by "Blade Runner", and I include Sound, storyline, ingenuity as well as special effects.

And on that note, The X-Files universe is looking towards making another movie, finally!! I miss watching Mulder & Scully fighting off their attractiveness to each other as well as the evil aliens!!

The End of SG1

Well, it's finally over. Stargate SG1 has broadcast it's final episode of it's final season, the tenth! I have to say, it was one of the world's best SciFi shows on TV to date, in terms of storyline, fantasy, continuity and production. Some of it's original cast are being shifted, so they'll still be around.

The good news is, MGM is releasing two complete movies as a continuation to the TV series; Stargate: Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum. So it's not a total loss, and in any case, Stargate: Atlantis is still scheduled for it's 4th season, and it's as good as (if not better than) SG1. Of course, my all-time favorite is still Battlestar Galactica, and there's no end to the plots, stories or adventures this show presents. Why SciFi, you ask? IMHO, it's way better than what's going on around us, and more interesting. At least the bad guys get what's coming to them without crybabies shouting "Foul" all the time.

A newcomer to my TV collection is The Unit, a TV series based on a book written by an ex-Delta Force Sergeant Major, Eric L. Haney called "Inside Delta Force". The Unit is a covert Special Forces team that doesn't exist, and go off fighting baddies everywhere througout the world, while their wives remain in the dark, fending for themsleves while their husbands are away. The interesting thing about this show is that some of the stories are derived from actual missions performed by the U.S. forces in the past, and so the show has a flair of being 'closer to the truth' than most A-Team type shows (Remember those guys?)

"The human race is governed by its imagination."
-Napoleon Bonaparte-