Fun General Science Fiction & Fantasy Thread

Doctor Omega

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Fiend Without a Face is a 1958 independently made British black-and-white science fiction-horror film from Amalgamated Productions, produced by John Croydon and Richard Gordon, and directed by Arthur Crabtree. The film stars Marshall Thompson, Kynaston Reeves, Michael Balfour and Kim Parker. The film was released in the UK by Eros Films; in the US it was released by MGMon a double bill with The Haunted Strangler.

Fiend Without a Face tells the story of mysterious deaths at the hands of a mentally created invisible life form that feeds on atomic power and then steals human brains and spinal columns to use as bodies in order to multiply its numbers.

The screenplay by Herbert J. Leder was based upon Amelia Reynolds Long's 1930 short story "The Thought Monster", originally published in the March 1930 issue of Weird Tales magazine.



 
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Doctor Omega

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Invasion of the Saucer Men (a.k.a. Invasion of the Hell Creatures, with the working title Spacemen Saturday Night), is a 1957 black-and-white science fiction/horror comedy film, produced by James H. Nicholson for release by his American International Pictures. The film was directed by Edward L. Cahn and stars Steven Terrell and Gloria Castillo. The screenplay by Robert J. Gurney Jr. and Al Martin was based on the 1955 short story "The Cosmic Frame" by Paul W. Fairman. Invasion of the Saucer Men was released on a double bill with I Was a Teenage Werewolf.



 

Doctor Omega

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Just Imagine (1930)


I saw some of this film last night, after meaning to watch it for ages, and was, frankly, appalled at the huge inaccuracies on display in it.

It is set in 1980...

Now, the 1980 that I remember went something like this.....


The first year of the decade was memorable for political drama, cable TV, and games we couldn't keep our hands off of.

Media tycoon Ted Turner announced the creation of CNN, the first 24-hour cable news network, on April 27. One day later, the U.S. made an abortive attempt to rescue American hostages being held in Iran. Historians say both would factor in Ronald Reagan's election as president later that year.

Arcades were jammed with people playing a new video game called Pac-Man. Some of those early gamers might also be fiddling with a colorful nine-sided Rubik's Cube.

The year was noteworthy for other events. In Washington, Mount St. Helens erupted in May, killing more than 50 people. And in December, singer John Lennon was assassinated in New York.


Popular Culture 1980
  • Millions of viewers tune into the TV soap opera Dallas to learn who shot lead character J.R. Ewing.
  • John Lennon is shot outside his New York apartment
  • The Rubik's Cube goes on Sale From Ideal Toy Corp ( invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik
    Check Out Our History of Toys Section
Rubik's Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle invented in 1974[1][2] by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik.
Popular Films

  • Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
  • Superman II
  • Nine to Five
  • Raging Bull
  • Coal Miner's Daughter
Popular Musicians

  • ABBA
  • AC/DC
  • Adam and the Ants
  • Black Sabbath
  • Blondie with " Call Me "
  • David Bowie
  • The Cars
  • Eric Clapton
  • Alice Cooper
  • Elvis Costello
  • KC and The Sunshine Band
  • Michael Jackson
  • Queen with " Another One Bites the Dust "
  • Pink Floyd
  • Diana Ross " Upside Down "
  • Paul McCartney
  • Olivia Newton-John with " Magic "
  • Electric Light Orchestra
  • David Bowie
  • The Police

In contrast, the 1980 depicted in this film went something like this...


New York, 1980: airplanes have replaced cars, numbers have replaced names, pills have replaced food, government-arranged marriages have replaced love, and test tube babies have replaced ... well, you get the idea. Scientists revive a man struck by lightning in 1930; he is rechristened "Single O". He is befriended by J-21, who can't marry the girl of his dreams because he isn't "distinguished" enough -- until he is chosen for a 4-month expedition to Mars by a renegade scientist. The Mars J-21, his friend, and stowaway Single O visit is full of scantily clad women doing Busby Berkeley-style dance numbers and worshipping a fat middle-aged man.


Not one character mentions DALLAS. Not one rubik cube on display anywhere. No Star Wars fans...

Nothing.

The entire film was a dumb insult to historical accuracy.


Having said that the song that starts at ten minutes in eerielie foreshadows some of Alice Cooper's raunchier numbers.

Were it not for the guitar. :emoji_confused:


I gave up after the song preffering a good dose of deep sleep, but am determined to watch the rest at long last, after all these years of knowing of it as an interesting curio.

Nearly two hours long though....

Sheesh! :emoji_head_bandage:








 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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Red Planet Mars is a 1952 American science fiction film released by United Artists starring Peter Graves and Andrea King. It is based on a 1932 play Red Planet written by John L. Balderston and John Hoare and was directed by art director Harry Horner in his directorial debut.


Plot
An American astronomer obtains images of Mars suggesting large-scale environmental changes are occurring at a pace that can only be accomplished by intelligent beings with advanced technology. At the same time a colleague claims to have been contacting Mars by radio, using technology stolen from the Nazis after World War II. He communicates first through an exchange of mathematical concepts, like the value of pi, and then through answers to specific questions about Martian life. The transmissions claim that Mars is a utopia fueled by nuclear power, which has led to great technological advancement and the elimination of scarcity, but that there is no fear of nuclear war.

This revelation leads to political and economic chaos, especially in the Western hemisphere, and is said to have "done more to smash the democratic world (or Capitalist?) in the last four weeks than the Russians have been able to do in eleven years."[2] The U.S.government imposes a news blackout and orders the transmissions to stop due to fears that the Soviet Union could pick up and decode their messages. This ends when the next message reveals that the Earth is condemned to the constant fear of nuclear war as a punishment for straying from the teachings of the Bible. Revolution sweeps the globe, including the Soviet Union, which is overthrown and replaced by a theocracy, which is met with celebration in America.

But doubts about the authenticity of the messages remain. An ex-Nazi who developed the original communication device prototype wants to announce that he has been duping the Americans with false messages from a secret Soviet-funded radio transmitter high in the Andes mountains of South America. He says that he transmitted the original messages supposedly from Mars, but that the United States government made up the religious messages, which he allowed because he wanted to see the destruction of the Soviet Union. The mystery thickens as it appears the messages may have continued even after the secret transmitter was destroyed in an avalanche, but the American transmitter is blown up before the message can be received.

Cast
Reception
Critical response
When the film was released, the staff at Variety liked the film, writing, "Despite its title, Red Planet Mars takes place on terra firma, sans space ships, cosmic rays or space cadets. It is a fantastic concoction [from a play by John L. Balderston and John Hoare] delving into the realms of science, politics, religion, world affairs and Communism...Despite the hokum dished out, the actors concerned turn in creditable performances."

The New York Times, while giving the film a mixed review, wrote well of some of the performances, "Peter Graves and Andrea King are serious and competent, if slightly callow in appearance, as the indomitable scientists. Marvin Miller is standard as a top Soviet agent, as are Walter Sande, Richard Powers and Morris Ankrum, as Government military men, and Willis Bouchey, as the President."[4]

Allmovie critic Bruce Eder praised the film, writing, "Red Planet Mars is an eerily fascinating artifact of the era of the Red Scare, and also the first postwar science fiction boom, combining those elements into an eerie story that is all the more surreal because it is played with such earnestness."[5]

The film critic Dennis Schwartz panned the film in 2001, writing, "One of the most obnoxious sci-fi films ever. It offers Hollywood's silly response to the 1950s 'Red Scare' sweeping the country and promoted by the McCarthy senate hearings looking for commies under every bed cover. To realize how dumb this Cold War film is, try this question of the plot's summary on for size: Can it be that the Martians are signaling Earth and that their leader is actually uttering the very word of God? This is one of those really bad propaganda films that has no entertainment value, as it shows how paranoic this country can be and how it can use religion at the drop of a radio signal to promote materialism and Christianity as a superior way of life than communism. This one might be the strangest and most twisted Red Menace films of all time. It ends with a hydrogen explosion in the lab killing two good American scientists and one lousy ex-Nazi scientist now working for the Russian Communists. The last message heard from Mars is an abbreviated one (thank God!): 'Ye have done well my good ...' then there is just silence. The film leaves one with the impression that Mars is ruled by God."



 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
A historical curiosity. Another film that I have always meant to watch. And one day will. Looks pretty dreadful though, in every possible sense of the word. :emoji_head_bandage:
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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Starcrash is a 1978 American space opera film directed by Luigi Cozzi and written by Cozzi and Nat Wachsberger. The cast includes Marjoe Gortner, Caroline Munro, Christopher Plummer, David Hasselhoff and Joe Spinell


Main cast
  • Caroline Munro - Stella Star: a young smuggler, who is the best astro-pilot in the whole universe. She and her companion Akton end up helping the Emperor after a short prison sentence.
  • Marjoe Gortner - Akton: Stella's loyal sidekick, human in appearance but also endowed with considerable mystical powers (including the power to restore people to life); nothing is truly explained about his nature or his origins; he fights with a laser sword similar to a Star Wars lightsaber.
  • Judd Hamilton - Elle: A powerful robot policeman endowed with emotions who ends up helping Stella and Akton. Apparently destroyed by cavemen on the third planet, he comes back later after being repaired by the Emperor's men.
  • David Hasselhoff - Prince Simon: the Emperor's only son and the sole survivor of Zarth Arn's assault on his ship.
  • Christopher Plummer - The Emperor: The known universe's benevolent and wise ruler, whose only son has disappeared after an encounter with the space forces of evil Count Zarth Arn.
  • Joe Spinell - Count Zarth Arn: a megalomaniac renegade, who is bent on dethroning the Emperor and proclaiming himself supreme ruler of the universe.
  • Robert Tessier - Thor: Chief of the Imperial State Police, and Elle's superior, he turns out to be a traitor working for Zarth Arn. He knocks out Akton on the second planet, believing him dead, but is then killed by Akton, who is able to deflect laser blasts with his hands.
  • Nadia Cassini - Corelia: Queen of the Amazon women on the first planet that Stella and her crew visit. She is an ally of Count Zarth Arn.


PLOT:


In a distant galaxy, a starship searches for the evil Count Zarth Arn (Spinell). Closing in on a planet, the ship is attacked by a mysterious weapon which drives the crew insane. Three escape pods launch during the attack, but the ship crashes into the atmosphere of the planet and is destroyed.

Meanwhile, smugglers Stella Star (Munro) and her sidekick Akton (Gortner) run into the Imperial Space Police, led by robot sheriff Elle (Judd Hamilton) and Police Chief Thor (Robert Tessier). Akton and Stella escape by jumping into hyperspace. When they emerge, they discover an escape pod from the attacked starship, and in it, a sole disoriented survivor. Before they can escape, they are apprehended by the police, who have tracked their hyperspace trail.


Production

In an interview with Variety, director Luigi Cozzi described Starcrash as "science fantasy" as opposed to science fiction. Cozzi also stated that although people assume Starcrashwas an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Star Wars, he claimed that the design of the picture and its script were developed prior to the release of Star Wars. The film's producer and screenwriter, Nat Wachsberger, and his son, producer Patrick Wachsberger, who had just developed the American production company Film Enterprises Productions, signed on to the film in May 1977 during the Cannes Film Festival after viewing sample work created by Cozzi for investors.

Principal photography began on October 15, 1977 at the Cinecittà studios in Rome, Italy.[3] The Hollywood Reporter stated that shooting also took place in Morocco, Tunisia and in Hollywood.[3] The film was scheduled to be completed by mid-December 1977. The budget was $4 million.

Plummer said of the filming, "Give me Rome any day. I'll do porno in Rome, as long as I can get to Rome. Getting to Rome was the greatest thing that happened in that for me. I think it was only about three days in Rome on that one. It was all shot at once". Discussing his role as the Emperor, he said, "How can you play the Emperor Of The Universe? What a wonderful part to play. It puts God in a very dicey moment, doesn't it? He's very insecure, God, when the Emperor’s around".

Cozzi stated that the miniatures were completed by Italian artists, while American developers were recruited for the special effects, including snorkel photography, computer photography and mechanical effects. Shooting took over six months and was frequently brought to a halt due to financing problems. The film was originally made for American International Pictures, but after seeing the final cut, they declined to release it. New World Pictures stepped in instead.



 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Cozzi also stated that although people assume Starcrashwas an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Star Wars, he claimed that the design of the picture and its script were developed prior to the release of Star Wars.
What a staggering, incredible coincidence!

And they should have definitely sued Lucas, the thieving Nerf-Herder! :emoji_rage:
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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H. G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come (1979)

H. G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come'

Beyond the earth... Beyond the moon... Beyond your wildest imagination!

Directed by George McCowan
Produced by John Danylkiw (associate producer)
William Davidson (producer)
Harry Alan Towers (as Peter Welbeck) (executive producer)
Written by Mike Cheda (adaptation)
Joseph Glazner (adaptation)
Martin Lager (writer)
H.G. Wells (novel)

Starring Jack Palance
Carol Lynley
Barry Morse
John Ireland
Anne-Marie Martin

Music by Paul Hoffert
Cinematography Reginald H. Morris
Edited by Stan Cole
Distributed by Film Ventures International (FVI) (1979) (US) (theatrical)
Astral Video (Canada)
Blue Underground (2003) (US) (DVD)
International Film Distributors (Canada)
Release date
  • May 4, 1979 (Canada)
  • May 24, 1979 (UK)
  • August 1979 (U.S.)
Running time
98 minutes
Country Canada
Language English

H. G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come is a 1979 Canadian science fiction film.[1] Although credited to H. G. Wells, the film takes only its title and some character names from The Shape of Things to Come, Wells' speculative novel from 1933. The film's plot has no relationship to the events of the book. The book predicts events such as a Second World War and the collapse of social order until a world state is formed, whereas the film involves a high-tech future involving robots and spaceships. The film was an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of such recent successes as Star Wars, Starcrash, and TV series such as Space: 1999 and Battlestar Galactica, although the film had only a fraction of the production budget of any of these.


Critical reception

G. Noel Gross of DVD Talk said, "Released in 1979, the sets and FX look more akin to 1959 with the aptly named 'Sparks' and his robo-ilk who precariously teeter along like oversized popcorn poppers with great big salad tongs for arms.



 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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When an atomic war on Mars destroys the planet's women, it's up to Martian Princess Marcuzan and her right-hand man Dr. Nadir to travel to earth and kidnap women for new breeding stock. Landing in Puerto Rico, they shoot down a NASA space capsule manned by an android. With his electronic brain damaged, the android terrorizes the island while the Martians raid beaches and pool parties.



 
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