The Empire has taken over!
Rodney 24 comments Poll
The Empire has finally taken control of our puny galaxy and I for one welcome our intergalactic overlords! They shall bring peace and prosperity to all! As shown in this video, they have now gained complete control of all our financial institutions.
Actually, Wall Street has a history of getting "celebrities" to open the day's trading and Yesterday saw the famous charatcers from Star Wars open up the New York Stock Exchange for another day of mayhem. So if you were wondering why share trading was a little slow yesterday, you now know (actually I have no idea if trading was slow yesterday and I can't be bothered looking it up - let's face it, this is just a cheap excuse for me to stick another Star Wars story online).
Although Darth Vader is rated as the third most recognisable villain of all time, some might say he's probably one of the least evil people in the room.
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Star Trek > Star Wars
Rodney
Wednesday 23rd December 2009 | 09:37 AM...in response to this comment by Laiste. True - Star Wars fits the classic fantasy genre better than it does sci-fi, but it's been classified as such and so we must live with it. :-)
I still think Star Wars is a much more interesting & fun story than the tale of a group of space-bound-accountants and their never ending quest for more efficient spreadsheets that is Star Trek.
That said, I don't mind a bit of Star Trek. I liked Next Gen the most, personally.
Rodney
Wednesday 23rd December 2009 | 09:40 AM...in response to this comment by Mikey. Hey Mike.
Remember the time the the characters from Star Trek opened the NYSE?
Oh yeah... that never happened did it.
Star Trek:
11 Movies, 12th in production
726 episodes spanning 6 television series over 40 years
Shatner
Star Wars:
A handful of movies
A crappy cartoon
Luke Skywalker
Nuff said :-)
Rodney
Wednesday 23rd December 2009 | 09:53 AM...in response to this comment by Mikey. Ah, so it's a soap opera, then?
There's a lot of episodes of 'Days of our Lives', too - doesn't make it good, though.
...in response to this comment by Rodney. A franchise doesn't survive 11 movies unless there is considerable popular demand.
Star Trek will live long after George Lucas has finished molesting the Star Wars franchise. Look what he did to our beloved Indiana Jones.
Why does Luke keep popping up on the captcha for my replies here!??
It's not in the list but Battlestar Galactica (the new one) was the best SciFi ever.
Papa
Wednesday 23rd December 2009 | 10:02 AMI like them equally. But I do have to admit, the acting by Patrick Stewart is way beyond any acting performances that George Lucas ever directed.
...in response to this comment by Papa. That's probably why he's being knighted.
Star Wars does have Harrison Ford's acting cred though.
Rodney
Wednesday 23rd December 2009 | 10:05 AM...in response to this comment by Mikey. I thought about adding it, too.
Rodney
Wednesday 23rd December 2009 | 10:07 AM...in response to this comment by Mikey. Actually that'd be a good poll I may do next. Favourite actor of all time. Harrison Ford would have to rate a good few votes, I'd say.
Jake Farr-Wharton
Wednesday 23rd December 2009 | 11:39 AMThey're all good, though personally, I consider Firefly to be my 'favourite'.
Rodney
Wednesday 23rd December 2009 | 11:48 AM...in response to this comment by Jake Farr-Wharton. Man another one I considered including!
Joe Marco
Wednesday 23rd December 2009 | 03:00 PM...in response to this comment by Rodney. Are you kidding me? 'spreadsheets'!! When did Kirk ever give a damn about spreadsheets? Never! all he cared about was screwing and brawling.
V2
Wednesday 23rd December 2009 | 04:42 PMNow I see why I dont fit in
You are all .......!
I see too, that I don't fit in...
If only I had only not seen Stanly Kubrick's 2001 in Cinerama, back in 1968. It set me up for a lifetime of Sci Fi disappointment. I've been down this path before on this very forum. What was it about 2001's attention to correctness and the laws of the universe that made it work so well for me?
I see by looking at the poll, I am the only vote so far for favourite 'Space Sci-fi' movie to be 2001. That being the case, it makes me wonder how that movie came to be in the poll in the first place. Rodney, is there something in the back of your mind trying to make a point here about that movie?
This poll-to me-says something about the psyche of the movie goer of today, and I am not going to embarrass myself by talking about what that is.
That being said, I would like to say that I appreciate the entertainment value of all these films, and certainly Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galictica, and others have great value in our society today, perhaps allowing us to see into our dreams, and this is a good thing.
What Space Balls is doing in the poll, I have no idea.
F-
Trent Greguhn
Monday 28th December 2009 | 05:26 AMI think that's probably for the same reason that Metropolis, one of my favorite Sci-Fi films, isn't on that list.
It's all about what people are familiar with-- the younger the person is, the more familiar that person is going to be with more recent cinema. Certainly very few today are familiar with 2001. Although I love all of Kubrick's films, I think the allure of Star Wars or Star Trek is in it's long lasting franchise, Star Trek being around for 40 years now, and Star Wars 30. Although 2001 has been around as long as Star Trek it just doesn't have the same longevity that Star Trek has as evidenced by it's most recent movie.
All in all, every one of the movies on the poll has something to contribute to a cinmatic experience one way or another.
...in response to this comment by Trent Greguhn. You're right...For 2001 to have remained around as long as Star Wars, it would have taken the work of the entire career of Stanley Kubrick. One has to consider the tools available to him (Stanley Kubrick) at the time when 2001 was produced. It was a triumph of model making, and ingenious creativity. Of course, Mr. Kubrick aspired to the Art of film making, as opposed to money making.
I am sure that in today's film making industry, film actuaries crunch plotlines against numbers and make determinations based on the predicted bottom line of any film on the drawing board. Sadly, the art of film making is lost in the persuit of the dollar, and what will sell to the masses. Still, a step above T.V., but not too far removed.
Trent, you say: "every one of the movies on the poll has something to contribute to a cinematic experience." and it's probably true, but based on that premise, "The Tony Blair Witch Project", and "The Apocalypse" have something to offer as well. Do you really think these offer something to anyone?
Anyway, as movies are something I understand a bit, I enjoy tossing around the ball in the movie review department. Great to have you on board, and good to chat with you via this medium.
F-
Trent Greguhn
Monday 28th December 2009 | 07:42 AM...in response to this comment by Friendo. While I defends the movies on the poll, in no way to I defend consumer drived cinema. For example, any of the Scary Movies, Meet the Spartans, Date Movie, Epic Movie etc. Those filmmakers should be ashamed at tryin' to make a buck off of a fad.
Then there are less than engaging films like 'The Box' or some other film like that, but I do understand that they have their audience.
All in all we live in a time where no one has seen The Thing and 10 year olds don't know who Batman is. It's a new generation I guess.
Cheers Friendo, I feel the same.
Rodney
Monday 28th December 2009 | 09:06 AMHi Friendo,
Popularism was certainly what I had in mind for the poll - picking movies that the majority of people would now. Spaceballs is on the list for people to select as "parody genre" rather than for the movie itself.
When I am honest with myself, I don't love Star Wars because it's a brilliantly made movie - it's not. I love it because of my childhood association with it. I love it because as a little kid, I wanted so badly to have a lightsaber and be like Luke. Seeing it for the first time as an adult would not have been the same.
...in response to this comment by Rodney. Rodney...Interesting...
When I am honest with myself, I love 2001 Space Odyssey because it's a brilliantly made movie. I love it because of my teenage association with it. I love it because as a teenager, I wanted so badly to understand the dimension of, and complexity of the Universe. Seeing it for the first time as an adult would have been exactly the same. I don't know if you can still watch movies in 70mm Cinerama however.
I never before thought about what life era I was in when I saw a movie as having an effect on how I carried it with me through life, but I 'spose this would have allot to do with it. Which brings up the question: If I had seen 2001, or Star Wars in the last two weeks, would I have a different opinion of either of them today? Hmmm, give me a couple minutes....er
a.....Times up, and the answer is.........No.
Where is HAL now that we need him? What a cool name is Heywood!
Thanks for getting me going....
F-
Hey...wait a minute...
Does this have anything to with your profile photo? Is that a lightsaber in your hand? Something is very, very strange here...
Trent Greguhn
Wednesday 30th December 2009 | 05:59 AM...in response to this comment by Friendo. Well, Star Wars definitely hasn't aged too well, especially thanks to George Lucas "remastering" the oringal trilogy. It's no secret how much true fans of the series loathe the decisions George has made lately.
For me, Star Wars has become something to play and read. The games based off the movies are incredible, as are the novels in a guilty pleasure sort of way. Star Trek on the other hand has had some pretty boring games which I hope they turn around.
All in all I think Star Wars has a great mythology, and Star Trek has a better story based in semi-reality.
2001 is just awesome. Though I must say I have watched it differently when I was 13 and recently as an adult.
Laiste
Wednesday 23rd December 2009 | 09:25 AMI confess that I am a Star Trek girl, even more so now with this years movie. I just think it has so much more to offer. Besides, Star Wars is really a fantasy movie that happens to be set in space so i don't think it should count as sci-fi.