Screamers is a bit of a mess. It has a solid pedigree but somewhere between its origin and its filming, I imagine a number of things went wrong, culminating in the disappointing movie it became. The film stars Peter Weller and is originally based on a story by Philip K. Dick and Dan O’Bannon had…
Tag: scientists
The Three Body Problem (2008) – Liu Cixin
Wang Miao and Ye Wenjie are the central characters in a vast cast in this epic Chinese novel that is the first in a trilogy, also known as The Three Body Problem. Treating its subject matter with intelligence, and pouring on the science, the story takes us through the first steps of contact with an…
Mission: Impossible (1967) – The Survivors, and The Bank
The second season of Mission: Impossible continues to up its game with The Survivors. In fact, three episodes in, and I feel this second season has a completely different feel from the first. Sure, there’s the arrival of Phelps (Peter Graves) but, so far, the stories feel sharper, arguably more tense, and pretty damned enjoyable….
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984) – W.D. Richter
For many people Peter Weller will always be RoboCop. For me, Weller will always be the super-cool Buckaroo Banzai, the neurosurgeon, rock star, comic book hero who fights Red Lectroids from Planet Ten with help from his back-up band (of fellow awesomely named scientists) The Hong Kong Cavaliers, as well as his fan club, the…
Star Trek: Enterprise (2003) – Regeneration, and First Flight
Captain’s log: 1 March, 2153 Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong pen this episode that debuted on 7 May, 2003, and brings the Borg into this Trek series. Of course, they can’t be mentioned by name, because at this point in Trek chronology humanity is unaware of them, except for the people involved in the events…
Robot Monster (1953) – Phil Tucker
DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book, by director John Landis brings me a 50s title that is so bad, it’s come around to good, passed that and slapped it for being out too late and travelled back to bad again. It’s also become iconic, in that the monstrous ape, the chapter I am currently…
Killer Ape (1953) – Spencer Gordon Bennet
I knew that they all can’t be winners, but this one was scrape off the bottom of your shoe bad. Killer Ape with one time Tarzan, Johnny Weismuller as Jungle Jim is the next film in DK Canada’s always enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book. This entry, in the chapter on monstrous apes, was just…
Evolution (2001) – Ivan Reitman
The next title to be featured in the Dragons & Dinosaurs chapter of DK Canada’s immensely entertaining Monsters in the Movies is the science fiction comedy, Evolution. Starring David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, and Julianne Moore, Reitman’s underdog scientists not only have to take on the government in the form of Ted Levine’s General Woodman, but…
War of the Worlds (1990) – The Deadliest Disease, and Path of Lies
The battle for Earth wages on, in this week’s installment of the science fiction series, War of the Worlds. The Deadliest Disease opens this week’s pair of episodes. It was written by Carl Binder from a story by Wilson Coneybeare. It debuted on 12 February, 1990. A fantastic, revolutionary ‘med cell’ (this actually sounds like…
Star Trek: Voyager (1997) – Scientific Method, and Year of Hell
Captain’s log: stardate 51244.3 Lisa Klink pens the teleplay for this episode from a story by Harry Doc Kloor and Sherry Klein. It first aired on 29 October, 1997. There are a number of strange illnesses and events occurring on the Voyager. The Doctor (Robert Picardo) and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) are the only…
The Mind Reels 