On this day in 1997 (in France), The Fifth Element enjoyed its first theatrical exhibition ever at the Cannes Film Festival.  Written and directed by Luc Besson, the SciFi/Fantasy starred Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, and others. 

​According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"In the colorful future, a cab driver unwittingly becomes the central figure in the search for a legendary cosmic weapon to keep Evil and Mr. Zorg at bay."

For the record:
Luc Besson's The Fifth Element certainly garnered an awful lot of praise during its original run. 

• At the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony, it enjoyed a nomination for 'Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing.' 
• At the 1998 BAFTA Awards, it actually took home top honors in the category of 'Best Special Effects.' 
• For the 1998 Saturn Awards, the film sported four nominations (but no wins) in the categories of 'Best Special Effects,' 'Best Costumes,' 'Best Supporting Actress,' and 'Best Science Fiction Film.' 
• ​And it also enjoyed a Hugo Awards nomination for 'Best Dramatic Presentation.'

​
-- EZ
​

On this day in 2015 (in the U.S.), the good people of Hollywood, California were treated to the first theatrical engagement ever of Mad Max: Fury Road.  Written (in part) and directed by George Miller, the SciFi/Thriller starred Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, and others. 

​According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in search for her homeland with the aid of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshiper, and a drifter named Max."

For the record:
Mad Max: Fury Road went on to become one of the bigger films of the year, as well as one of the more decorated Science Fiction and Fantasy films of the past decade.

• At the 2016 Academy Awards, Fury Road took home top honors in six major categories: 'Best Achievement In Film Editing,' 'Best Achievement In Costume Design,' 'Best Achievement In Makeup And Hairstyling,' 'Best Achievement In Sound Mixing,' 'Best Achievement In Sound Editing,' and 'Best Achievement In Production Design.'
• At the 2016 Saturn Awards (sponsored by the Academy Of Science Fiction, Fantasy, And Horror Films), actress Charlize Theron took home the trophy in the category of 'Best Actress.'
• At the 2016 Hugo Awards, the film had to settle for the honor of being nominated in the category of 'Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form.'

​
-- EZ
​

On this day in 1943 (in the U.S.), the big city of Boston, Massachusetts played host for an exclusive theatrical premiere engagement of The Black Raven.  Directed by Sam Newfield from a story by Fred Myton, the film starred George Zucco, Wanda McKay, Noel Madison, Charles Middleton, and others. 

​According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"A group of strangers are brought together in an old, dark house and must contend with two murders and $50,000 in stolen money."

-- EZ
​

(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
From the film’s DVD packaging:
“In a future society where nearly all humans are linked to a vast collective consciousness, one young ‘Non-Connectable’ named M20 refuses to submit to the scientists determined to integrate him into the system.  Isolated yet fiercely independent, he becomes a symbol of resistance in a world where individual thought is nearly extinct.  With the help of Marie, a brilliant but conflicted scientist torn between duty and conscience, M20 fights to protect his autonomy and ignite a spark of rebellion.  Together, their struggle becomes a powerful stand for free will in the face of overwhelming technological control.”
 
Here’s the thing, folks …
 
If you’re anything remotely like me, then you probably read that plot description and said, “Hell yeah!  This sounds like my kind of ride!”  The simple lesson here is that making decision almost entirely on prose likely written by learned advertising professionals can be the Achilles’ Heel which, herein, leads to disappointment (as opposed to the Trojan War hero’s death).  These executives are paid to bring you to the table … to get you to purchase a theater ticket … to lure you into ponying up your own hard-earned cash for a digital rental or purchase.  A bit of restraint – along with a bit of research – sometimes goes a long way toward staving off some regret, and rest assured those will likely be the wisest words I can offer as it comes to I-Art (2018).
 
Alexandre Da Silva directs here from a script attributed to Benjamin Garnier; and while I can say that the direction, pacing, and performances are very good the resulting picture is more than a bit of a conundrum.  This happens because the vast majority of the plot as described above is presented through interpretive dance and not actual spoken word storytelling.  Yes, there are a few scenes presented by actors which serve as tissue stitching the tale together.  There’s even some rather obvious acting which helps to highlight the tensions between the players as well as their collective and individual circumstances … but the fact remains that – most likely – only those of you moved to tear by dance will know what to make of the events as they transpire.
 
Again (for the haters): yes, there’s a bit of substance in I-Art that pushes the work forward.  Like it or not, legendary rapper Dr. Dre even provides a voiceover through a vignette here and there; and I suspect that Da Silva and Garnier employed this technique more as a means to book-end specific events – to underscore the importance of what you were seeing or about to see – and to a small degree that aids in lessening the downright obfuscation that likely would’ve resulted without those words.  I’m certainly not trying to disparage any individual’s contributions here: rather, I’m emphasizing that my critical assessment is that there just weren’t enough words and happenings to justify this web being spun the way it was.  Granted, I’m not the target demographic; and yet here I am offering you only my assessment of why it should be avoided.
 
The upside?
 
Well, it spools out at a lean 60+ minutes, so that minimally scored a point with me.  Given the story, this may’ve worked fine with even a bit of trimming and pairing it with other tales in some artistic anthology collection.  That alone might’ve made it a touch more interesting as it could’ve been presented alongside high art interpretations of SciFi tropes.  But … as it is?  Well, I’m glad it’s over.
 
I-Art (2018) was produced by Blackpills and Woow Your Life.  DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been handled by the fine folks at Darkside Releasing.  As for the technical specifications?  While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure readers that this is an exceptionally well-done effort: there are a handful of filler sequences – skylines with floating adverts, etc. – which are a bit underwhelming, but they still work for the purposes in which they were designed.  Special effects – when used – are actually also quite good.  Lastly, if you’re looking for special features?  Disappointingly, this is about as bare bones as one gets with only a theatrical trailer to keep you busy: even though I’ll admit right here that the flick wasn’t my ‘cup o’ tea,’ I still would’ve liked to know a bit more about the whole affair.  A big miss.
 
Alas … this one is Hard To Recommend.
 
For the record, I-Art (2018) wasn’t conceived and executed as a narrative film.  As best as I’ve been able to ascertain (there’s surprisingly little information about it on the World Wide Web), it began life as a TV/Web series; and all that’s been done here is Darkside Releasing (and any other partners) have stitched it together into one whole.  (Title inserts still denote the separate chapters when you get to them.)  Consumers of – ahem – fine arts might find something to appreciate in this futuristic society wherein – ahem – one character’s struggle against ‘the system’ is represented via interpretive dance; however, those of us who like to dabble in the particulars will find little substance with which to decipher what screenwriter Garnier’s message could possibly have been … except, well, dance it off.  Production details are solid, and performances are nice … but it’s still a bit out there.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Darkside Releasing (via Allied Vaughn) provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of I-Art (2018) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review.  Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

​-- EZ

​(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A ‘Man From the Future’ arrives at a diner in Los Angeles where he must recruit the precise combination of disgruntled patrons to join him on a one-night quest to save the world from the terminal threat of a rogue artificial intelligence.”
 
The sad truth of genre entertainment is that many of the truly best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror pictures don’t receive the recognition they’re owed in their proper time and place.
 
Productions like 1982’s Blade Runner failed to produce significant ticket sales when it was originally slotted into theater schedules; but now – decades later – the film is regarded as damn near the definitive cornerstone of Science Fiction storytelling.  The same could be said of John Carpenter’s The Thing, another 1982 release that didn’t inspire much passion with its original theatrical outing and yet continues to earn fans and accolades each and every time its discovered (or re-discovered) in the years since.  1990’s Tremors – a flick often considered as a personal favorite to a growing legion of genre fans – largely came-and-went from the multiplexes, but it’s eventual release on home video spawned an entire B-Movie franchise that chugs and chugs onward like the little engine that could.  Granted, this doesn’t happen for every entry that bears a passing resemblance to these stories, but it happens often enough in the realms of the Fantastic that it deserves being mentioned when well-made entries escape tickling society’s collective fancy in the here and now.
 
Such might be the eventual outcome to 2025’s Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die. 
 
Directed by the critically-acclaimed Gore Verbinski from a story by Matthew Robinson (the screenwriter behind 2020’s overlooked Love And Monsters), the film stars the always-watchable Sam Rockwell in the role of ‘The Man From The Future’ – we’ll call him FutureMan going forward – as a soldier sent back in time to the point wherein specialists believe the birth of Artificial Intelligence set our world into a decades-long death spiral.  Needing a few good men and women to essentially aid him in getting from Point A (the diner) to Point B (a suburban home only blocks away) so that he can insert a flash drive of appropriate safety measures into the system to save mankind from its worst technological impulses, FutureMan embarks on a brief but tumultuous road trip with those he corrals into service to salvage life as we know it from the algorithms of death.  (Nothing but nothing is going to stop us from inventing A.I., don’t you know?)
 
Thankfully, Good Luck explores everything – its ideas, its construct, and its characters – with a humorous and often satiric tone.  Verbinski’s film depicts the current generation of youth as iPhones-obsessed zombies who can’t part themselves from their Tweets and TikToks to save themselves, and it’s here wherein Robinson’s script becomes immediately relatable, especially for folks who buy-in to the whole SciFi/Fantasy premise.  Juxtaposing fantastical and fringe science (like time travel) against technology of the day is a tactic that rather subversively reminds skeptics to not overthink their biases: after all, yesterday’s Star Trek communicator was little more than today’s iPhone, separated only by a few decades, so it isn’t entirely implausible to suggest that the invention of social media is just the first step toward the zombification of an entire generation.  This is the territory in which Good Luck excels – especially in its first half – though the tale turns a bit more conventional (and maybe even mildly bloated) once FutureMan and his few bumbling soldiers come face-to-face with the phantom menace in the final reel.  In the end, our world both is and isn’t saved – another noteworthy distinction between what Good Luck does with the idea of time travel as compared to other flicks – but there’s still a resolution that suggests the best is yet to come.  Maybe.
 
To his credit, Rockwell shines in the role, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders in each and every scene.  Dare I say this is perhaps the part he was born to play?  As an actor, the guy manages the kind of comic intensity rarely seen any longer on the silver screen; and, personally, I think it’s a crying shame we haven’t seen the guy in vastly more comedies than he’s headlined.  Verbinski and Robinson were smart in surrounding him with a talented ensemble – each with some small part to play in this trip toward redemption – but I’m hesitant to say much more because I’d rather not spoil those surprises best learned on their own.  Suffice it to say, Haley Lu Richardson’s Ingrid (aka Princess) is another delight, proving she’s a talent still evolving into something special when the right material presents itself.
 
For what it’s worth, I’ve read an incessant amount of online commentary comparing Good Luck to 1993’s Groundhog Day, so much so that I feel the need to sound-off on the issue.
 
For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure, Groundhog Day takes the overtly self-centered weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) and imprisons him in a time-loop that forces him to relive a twenty-four-hour period over and over (and over!) again until he finally breaks the vicious circle by ‘getting the day right.’  The joy of the picture is experiencing this pervasiveness of Connors’ successes and failures as he tries to deduce precisely what combination of deeds – good or bad – that’ll inevitably release him from his existential prison sentence.  It’s a sometimes hectic, sometimes funny, sometimes heart-wrenching construct; and the experience was so highly regarded that in 2006 it was inducted into the U.S.’s National Film Registry, that organization that attempts to preserve stories which have demonstrated some ongoing artistic merit.
 
Now, Good Luck only circumstantially aligns with Groundhog Day and isn’t – as some have suggested – merely a variation on that theme.  Yes, the story posits that its unnamed traveler has found himself trapped in a time loop not unlike Murray’s famous weatherman; but we – as the audience – aren’t taken on any ‘road movie’ through those experiences.  At best, there might be some occasional glimpse which surfaces as one of Rockwell’s memories of those efforts; but, otherwise, his present predicament unfolds as an almost entirely original concern.  Like Murray, Rockwell’s intent is to finally set things right; but even when Good Luck concludes that hasn’t quite happened, giving the feature a vastly different feel – more sobering, in fact – than its 1993 predecessor.
 
That’s not a complaint.  It’s only a clarification for those thinking the pictures are two sides of the same coin.  I strongly disagree, and I felt it necessary to explain.
 
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2025) was produced by 3 Arts Entertainment, Blind Wink Productions, Constantin Film, Robert Kulzer Productions, and WAM Films.  According to a quick search of Google.com, the film is presently in wide theatrical release across the U.S.  As for the technical specifications?  While I’m no trained video expert and I viewed this one via streaming, I can still assure readers that the provided sights and sounds are exceptional: not unlike a fair number of genre entries, a few of the effects sequences might not be exactly ILM-quality but that’s because there’s an inherent charm kinda/sorta ‘baked in’ to a few comic bits.  (In other words, they’re somewhat tongue-in-cheek, given the subject matter.  Don’t overthink it.)  Lastly, if you’re looking for special features?  Alas, I viewed this one entirely via streaming, so there were no special features under consideration.
 
Strongly Recommended, but …
 
While this may not come to pass, my humble and learned critical opinion is that Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2025) will most likely join that growing list of Science Fiction and Fantasy films that will fail to find an audience in its original theatrical run but most deservedly might find long life amongst a growing cult crowd that finds it entirely on their own somewhere down the road.  Chiefly, methinks this is because its general idea – that of mixing a kinda/sorta time travel Comedy with satirical social commentary – rarely translates well for mass consumption and needs to percolate across the movie-going generations to be truly appreciated for what it accomplishes.  Quirky.  Original.  Relevant (especially for today’s social media driven youth).  Definitely worth a view even though it’s a bit overlong.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Briarcliff Entertainment (via Allied Vaughn) provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2025) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review.  Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

-- EZ

So many movies ... so much to celebrate!!!

There were a lot of truly great movies that came out of the 1980's ... but -- ahem -- 1984's Firestarter wasn't one of them.  Of course, I mean no disrespect to author Stephen King and director Mark L, Lester because their efforts were just fine.  Methinks the problem herein lies with a great many King adaptations, that being that the ideas, concepts, and characters don't always work as well on the silver screen as they do in the reader's imagination.  Some of what's in there just gets lost in translation, and the end result often times is that the films feel like cheap interpretations of the seminal bullet points presented in the original story.  As they say ... it is what it is.

For purists who generally gripe about the way in which SciFiHistory.Net catalogues these features, this was not the full U.S. theatrical release (which a great many tend to respect).  IMDB.com indicates that this was a special theatrical premiere engagement held in the big city of Wilmington, North Carolina.  According to Google.com, the picture did so because it allegedy was the first flick filmed in the town; and it's even reported that the production brought a good deal of follow-up work to the area for the motion picture industry.  Firestarter would go on to premiere nationally on May 11th across the United States; and it rolled out in other regions over the course of the next few months.

According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"A couple who participated in a potent medical experiment gain telepathic ability and then have a child who is pyrokinetic."

For the record:
At the 1985 Saturn Awards (sponsored by the Academy Of Science Fiction, Fantasy, And Horror Films), Firestarter enjoyed a pair of nominations -- but no wins -- in the categories of 'Best Performance By A Younger Actor' and 'Best Horror Film.'

-- EZ
​

From Google.com:

Released in 1984, Firestarter is a science fiction-horror thriller based on Stephen King's 1980 novel. The film stars a young Drew Barrymore as Charlie McGee, an eight-year-old girl born with pyrokinesis—the ability to start fires and control heat with her mind.

Plot Overview

The story follows Charlie and her father, Andy (David Keith), as they are pursued by a secret government agency known as "The Shop".

• The Origin: While in college, Andy and his future wife Vicky participated in a government experiment involving a drug called "Lot 6." This gave them psychic abilities and resulted in Charlie being born with her volatile pyrokinetic gift.
• The Conflict: After The Shop murders Vicky and attempts to kidnap Charlie, Andy goes on the run with his daughter. The agency seeks to capture Charlie to study and potentially weaponize her power.
• The Climax: The pair is eventually captured and taken to a facility where an assassin named John Rainbird (George C. Scott) manipulates Charlie into testing her powers. The film concludes with a massive practical-effects showdown where Charlie unleashes her full fury to destroy the facility.

Cast and Production
​

• Director: Mark L. Lester.
• Key Cast:
  • Drew Barrymore as Charlie McGee.
  • David Keith as Andy McGee.
  • George C. Scott as John Rainbird.
  • Martin Sheen as Captain James Hollister.
  • Heather Locklear as Vicky McGee.​
• Practical Effects: The film is notable for using real flames and elaborate practical stunts rather than CGI to depict Charlie's powers.
• Soundtrack: The German electronic group Tangerine Dream provided the film's moody synth score.

​Reception and Legacy
​

• Critical Response: The film received mixed reviews upon release. While critics like Roger Ebert praised the cast but found the plot boring, it has since gained a cult following for its practical effects and Barrymore's performance.
• Stephen King's View: King famously described the adaptation as "flavorless" and "one of the worst of the bunch" of his work's adaptations at the time.
• Follow-ups: A TV miniseries sequel, Firestarter: Rekindled, aired in 2002, and a feature film remake starring Zac Efron was released in 2022.

For those of you raised on an island, the 1980 single-season series Galactica 1980 is, frankly, a show best forgotten.  Yes, it pains me to say such a thing, being as hard school a fan of the original franchise as I am, but sometimes the truth is meant to hurt.  As painful as it was seeing the Battlestar Galactica go down in flames, it was even more painful to suffer a redux that utterly obscured the greatness of the main series.  And yet ... thank the Lords Of Kobol that it at least went out with a series' finale deserving of some reconsideration.

The tenth and final episode of Galactica 1980 was titled 'The Return Of Starbuck," and the installment saw actor Dirk Benedict back in top form as the veteran space jockey.  In the script attributed to series' creator Glen A. Larson, our intrepid hero winds up crash-landing on a distant world wherein he learns that the Cylon ship that forced him down has also suffered the same fate.  After the Colonel warrior spends some time amongst the wreckage and grows weary of remaining in isolation, he opts to re-assemble a companion of sorts from the remains.  Naturally, his mortal enemy initially considers carrying out his programming and murdering the pilot; but after some convincing, the robot begrudgingly agrees to joining forces when a woman named Angela requiring assistance with her unborn baby appears on the planet.  Temporary allies for the time being, Starbuck and 'Cy' construct an escape vehicle for Angela and her child -- whose identity ties directly to a character in Galactica 1980 -- only to come face-to-face once more with the crew of a newly-landed Cylon craft.  Faced with watching his new friend perish, Cy raises his weapon against his metallic compatriots in Starbuck's defense.  Cy dies in the pilot's arms ... only after dubbing the human his 'friend.'

​While there are some who might dismiss Return as being relatively typical SciFi television fodder, I'd insist that it's still the kind of storytelling that the Boob Tube did immeasureably well.  Benedict is, indeed, in top form; and I never got tired of seeing those Cylons as the proverbial baddies when Galactica wasn't so heavily invested with political and existential skullduggery as the reboot was.  I believe I've read that the installment was only one of several scripts actually prepped to be part of the original series' first season (had it been renewed); and -- if that's the case -- then it's a shame the franchise never got the chance to continue the first journey toward Earth as this chapter would've worked very well with what the initial outings had established.  Either way, it served as a respectable final adventure for Galactica 1980 ... though not everyone was thrilled with the manner in which that follow-up series bowed out.

Also culling from what I've read (and I believe it up on IMDB.com in the Trivia Section pertaining to Return), Galactica 1980's regulars were a bit disappointed that their roles were excluded from what was -- for all intents and purposes -- their swan song.  Regulars Kent McCord, Barry Van Dyke, and Robyn Douglass were so disappointed that they allegedly had planned to fully sit out the production to any future episodes if the show somehow miraculously came back to life.  (Again, I've never had this confirmed anywhere, but I've no reason to discount it, either.)  Such a boycott arguably would've led to the series being halted anyway; so perhaps all involved should be thankful for small favors.

In any event, "The Return Of Starbuck" deserves to be considered amongst the better Science Fiction and Fantasy exploits for May 4th ... and I stand by that opinion.

​-- EZ

(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A farmer lives alone in an Italian rural area. when a mysterious woman shows up with an unexpected gift, Fosco's daily routine is disrupted.”
 
There’s a rather solid fifth season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called “The Game.”  In it, Starfleet cadet Wesley Crusher (played by the insufferable Wil Wheaton) takes a vacation from his studies in returning to the Starship Enterprise only to slowly discover that most of the crew have been overcome by a virtual reality game that lothario-turned-officer William Riker brought back from a randy bout of shore leave.  Slowly, the game has been hypnotically reprogramming the ship’s complement to answer to the Ktarian people as this alien species had their heart set on somehow overtaking Starfleet piece by piece.  In customary small screen Star Trek fashion, Crusher uncovers the plot and saves the day, once again proving that we – as a species – are prescient to approach all of these technological wonders with a healthy dose of skepticism.
 
A few decades later, writer/director Marco Calvise has kinda/sorta re-interpreted the premise but with the vastly more contemporary framework of internet-based interconnectivity, social anxieties, and the growing backdrop of untethered Artificial Intelligence.  In his film The Marianas Web (2025), the storyteller has essentially shaved off all of the niceties of civilization, instead setting his Tech Noir in the unlikely setting of rural Italy: a simple, lonely farmer named Fosco (played by Ruben Maria Soriquez) tends to what remains of his deceased family’s herd of cows.  Though Fosco has taken a romantic shine to the comely local Adelaide (Asia Galeotti) in a relationship that extends to ‘friends with benefits,’ he’d rather spend his evenings online in the vast array of faux courtships he’s cultivated with exotic women all around the world.  It’s here – in this highly sanitized and industrial setting clinically void of human contact – that he feels most at ease with himself, expressing his thoughts and desire to nameless and largely faceless acquaintances.
 
Slowly, Fosco finds himself drawn to a single voice: Mariana (Alexa Ocampo) bills herself as an ‘internet model’ seeking a soulmate who is ready, willing, and able to play the ‘Dark Master’ to her online schtick as a ‘Dark Mistress.’  Unable to resist the temptation, our lowly farmer succumbs to a casual bit of sexting with the lady, but he seemingly breaks off the relationship once a Virtual Reality headset shows up via a shipping courier despite the fact that he’s never exchanged his real identity and address with Mariana.  Believing he’s been hacked – the ultimate invasion of his privacy – Fosco instead recommits to blending in with his few local friends, including Adelaide and her family.  However, the young woman is suddenly and tragically struck dead by the freak explosion of her cell phone after exchanging texts with her beau, leaving the impression that Mariana has indeed gone to great lengths to ensure that she – thus far little more than a digital creation – must remain the center of Fosco’s affections.
 
The title – The Marianas Web – is a play on words meant to align with the real-life location of the Mariana’s Trench.  Considered one of the most dangerous places on the Earth, the trench lies deep, deep, deep beneath the sea wherein absolutely crushing pressure and near total darkness make human life impossible without the of technology.  Even with the proper gear and acceptable conditions, it’s still a location prone to seismic activity as well as leaving submarines essentially cut off from any type of effective communication.  Comparatively, Fosco wanders into his own Marianas terrain – this one with the advent of an optical sensor that seemingly taps into his neurological systems – and he finds himself doing and saying and believing life itself is collapsing.  Seemingly, his only way out is to act on some of his own darkest impulses, plunging his fragile psyche down into a rabbit hole wherein no one returns.
 
Chiefly, the problem with stories like Web is that they invest heavily in the ‘unreliable narrator.’  Reality and unreality collide in Fosco’s daily life, so much so that it grows increasingly difficult to ascertain fact from fiction.  While we see him committing a few dark deeds in the build-up to the finale, Calvise presents these events in a way that leads them open to interpretation by the audience.  Sometimes, Fosco behaves badly while wearing the evil-inducing visor; and at other times he’s displayed as not wearing it, and flickering images of contrary scenes burst across the screen.  Even though I believe that the farmer fully embraced the bloody choices Mariana and (seemingly) the World Wide Web required of him, there’s just enough space left for doubt.  Such narrative trickery might work for some, but I’ve always rather critically insisted that descents into madness – while visionary – should still provide the closure necessary for me to accept one conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt.  That doesn’t quite happen here.
 
Additionally, Web is the kind of picture that percolates.  It definitely takes its time to make what few noble points it does; and I’m wondering if some might turn it off before the good stuff finally arrives.
 
The film opens with a scene of violence – a crazed woman wearing the film’s seminal eyewear goes on a bloody rampage through a backroom nightclub – only to them dissolve into the wider story exploring Fosco, his life, his cows, and the like.  It isn’t until, roughly, thirty minutes later that the audience is let in on the opening’s connection when our humble farmer receives his own set of tech glassies via courier.  Frankly, nothing would have been sacrificed in the story had that early sequence had been completed truncated, leaving this entirely the story of a simple man and how technology suddenly hijacked the very core of his existence.  If anything, the opening merely pads Web’s running time; but even in that case what remained could’ve been a vastly better paced short film, one that could even have served as a single episode in some Black Mirror or The Twilight Zone style anthology.
 
What’s important to keep in mind regardless is that The Marianas Web isn’t some big budget stylized extrapolation about how unchecked, self-aware machinery might be the death of us all.  It’s an independent production constructed with that foundation; and – on that level – I think it worked quite well with its limitations.  The performances – though small – hit the proper notes; and it never reaches the level of feeling forced or preachy with artifice the way some Hollywood blockbusters do.  Yes, it’s a bit long for what it does; but there’s still something in here for those of us who like cerebral stories as opposed to bloated cinematic spectacles that have been done before.  We’ve seen this story … but we’ve rarely seen it on this small scale.
 
The Marianas Web (2025) was produced by See Thru Pictures and Singularities Film Production.  DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been handled by the fine folks at Leomark Studios.  As for the technical specifications?  While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure readers that the provided sights and sounds are mostly quite good: there’s a bit of special effects trickery here and there that isn’t exactly the best quality stuff, but it works just fine for the purposes of the web being spun.  (snicker snicker)  Lastly, if you’re looking for special features?  Well, unless I miss my guess, there isn’t anything on here.  Seriously.  I couldn’t even access a disc menu.  It happens, I guess.
 
Alas … only Mildly Recommended … and – even then – only for diehard SciFi junkies who are willing to wait awhile for the plot to find itself.
 
Honestly, it isn’t that The Marianas Web is a bad movie because – as a low-budget import – it’s actually quite interesting if not occasionally engrossing.  Its biggest flaw is the pacing as writer/director Calvise simply takes far too (damn) long to establish the central premise after a frenetic set-up that completely disappears until the last reel (or so).  (Casual viewers might wonder if they’re stumbled into a National Geographic milking tutorial, so be patient.)  Furthermore, it isn’t that the idea of a coldly, calculating, invasive technological villain hasn’t been done to death in film; but it is rather pleasant seeing that A.I. – or Skynet, if you know the reference – will never ever lose sight of compromising even that nothing-of-a-specimen who lives in a van down by the river (or on a cow farm in the middle of nowhere).  This one would’ve likely worked better as an hour-long episode of some genre-based anthology than it does a fully-realized theatrical production.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Leomark Studios (via Allied Vaughn) provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of The Marianas Web (2025) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review.  Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

​-- EZ

Ahhh … the 1980’s!
 
What a time it was at the cineplexes in the 1980’s.  A great, great many theatrical outings definitely paved the way for pushing storytelling to its creative limits.  Granted, not every flick that came out in that imaginatively fertile decade was an absolute blast; and yet almost every single feature tried in its own way to bring something a bit different to life.  The effects that George Lucas and Industrial Light And Magic had pioneered in the mid-1970’s were finally in expansive use; and as one trick or technique became commonplace these magicians were pushed to “find another way.”  New processes were emerging almost every summer movie season; and this certainly gave audiences one fundamental reason to keep going back to these screens one feature production after another.
 
Sadly and surprisingly, 1987’s Innerspace was one of those efforts that didn’t resonate with moviegoers of the day.  Shot on a budget of $27M (per Google.com), the Science Fiction and Fantasy Comedy produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Joe Dante couldn’t even muster enough box office clout to make back its budget; and it only really found an audience once it was kinda/sorta dumped into the home video marketplace.  (Frankly, that’s not a bad thing because a great many of these lesser efforts almost always found incredible success on VHS.)  Granted, the film didn’t quite have any big names (of the time) attached to it, though lead Dennis Quaid was arguably emerging as one to watch in Tinseltown.  Otherwise, Martin Short and Meg Ryan were really at the cusp of becoming known commodities, so maybe this little film never quite built the momentum it needed in its theatrical run to face the competition.
 
However …
 
Fate often has something to say about hard work paying off.  Despite coming and going from screens fairly quickly, Innerspace still managed to see its technical experts behind-the-camera justly rewarded for their illusions when the team scored a huge Academy Award win in the category of Best Visual Effects.  Their singular ability to bring to life and inner workings of the human body astounds to this day (with only a few dated blemishes); and perhaps its this notch in the film’s belt that gave it enough spark to light the fire it did on video.  Decades later, it’s still a favorite to many; so I was thrilled to crack open Arrow’s newest release to reconsider what worked and perhaps some of what didn’t.
 
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“When a test pilot taking part in a secret miniaturization experiment is accidentally injected into a hapless store clerk, the two must work together in order to prevent the technology from falling into the wrong hands.”
 
Growing up as I did through the 1970’s, I can assure you that there was one place wherein families could go for entertainment: the Walt Disney Company – with its plethora of very kid-friendly motion pictures – had an impenetrable lock on what was possible and probable for theaters.  And – for the uninitiated – not each and every one of these entries were animated: in fact, the fabled Mouse House put out an incredible stable of live action Comedies – a great many of them with a fantastical angle – that kept the mommies and daddies and all their little children happen to spend an afternoon in the dark before the silver screen.  From musicals like Bedknobs And Broomsticks (1971) to Freaky Friday (1977), Walt Disney chiefly worked to entertain (and only entertain), never much slowing down even when a lackluster clunker or two (and there were a few) slipped into the mix.  Simply put, the studio just kept them coming.  Even though many of these productions are forgotten today, they were the cat’s meow – even when they were something like The Cat From Outer Space (1978) – and families just couldn’t look away.
 
It really wasn’t until the early 1980’s that cracks began to show in the great damn separating the Disney Company from other studios.  Of course, George Lucas’s Star Wars (1977) was the first strike – one that reverberated around the world, in fact – and the 1980 follow-up – The Empire Strike Back – really set the stage for a total industry takeover for producing family-friendly fare.  By the time 1982 rolled around and Spielberg released his groundbreaking E.T. The Extraterrestrial it was increasingly clear that Walt Disney no longer held the monopoly on the nuclear family; and the consumers truly benefitted from this much needed change of pace.
 
In the latter half of the 1980’s, the theatrical marketplace had taken on a vastly different feel than only the decade before.  Gone were the serious and sometimes dour Dramas; and in their place screens were filled with frenetic action, most of which relied heavily on special effects to deliver a good portion of the entertainment.  Because there was so much of it, I suspect Innerspace (1987) couldn’t quite compete solely on those merits; and it needed something a bit bigger or grander in order to resonate.  Screenwriters Chip Proser and Jeffrey Boam’s throwback to obviously more physical Comedy – the kind once elevated by the likes of Jerry Lewis or the bumbling Peter Sellers – hadn’t yet found a personae that showed the level of promise required to re-ignite a fickle moviegoing crowd.  1994’s Pet Detective would eventually do that (with a young Jim Carrey); but, alas, as good as Martin Short was in the role of blundering hypochondriac Jack Putter that just wasn’t quite enough.
 
Still, Short definitely wasn’t known as a box office draw; and the picture – which mixed some modest science with pratfalls and a rather adult love triangle – likely lacked the interest of the true nuclear family.  While Quaid, Short, and Meg Ryan mustered enough chemistry to make this dubious relationship work, it never felt relatedly organic alongside Short’s comic schtick much less Robert Picardo’s downright tomfoolery as ‘The Cowboy,’ an international arms dealer with a bad accent who looked more like he was fired as an unnecessary extra from some failed 70’s disco comedy.  The narrative highs never quite meshed with the low-brow antics in Innerspace; and those few moments when it all did congeal nicely just wasn’t enough to give the effort more than a passing nod.
 
Like Lt. Tuck Pendleton inside his famed capsule, Innerspace shrunk in the marketplace when it should’ve grown.  It wasn’t a bad experience in any measure: it just wound up being so thematically uneven that no one knew what to make of it, and there’s no greater treachery for completed art that possible misdirection.  While looking good, the film brought nothing new to the adventure … but like so many 80’s flicks it’s still a welcome spot to revisit.
 
Innerspace (1987) was produced by Warner Bros., The Guber-Peters Company, and Amblin Entertainment.  DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Arrow Films.  As for the technical specifications?  While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure audiences that the provided sights and sounds are exceptional: the effect sequences still work very well decades later, though a few obvious miniatures might throw a viewer or two for a loop.  Lastly, if you’re looking for special features?  This is Arrow, and they do definitely set a high standard.  The archival audio commentary is the better of the two: critic Drew McWeeny’s newly-recorded one is good, but I found it a bit light in spots.  Additionally, there’s a FABULOUS one-hour documentary that should be standard viewing for fans of the flick: Joe Dante and an immensely talented effects crew take the audience from start-to-finish, reflecting on what they feel they got right along the way.  They even have some opinions as to why Innerspace maybe didn’t quite work back in the day, and their love for the work still shows.  Lastly, there are a few other extras – much of it provided from Dante’s personal collection – so buckle up for a wild behind-the-scenes ride.
 
Recommended.
 
Critically, 1987’s Innerspace has always been a tough nut to crack for me.  While it definitely stands shoulder-to-shoulder with so many other great films that emerged from the 1980’s, the script and its supporting lunacy occasionally goes a bit too far into farce for my tastes: that may not be a dealbreaker for some, but Dante tonally could’ve dialed back those few scenes and produced a more cohesive Comedy.  Regardless, I’ll still insist that Innerspace arguably proved that that once-entertaining juggernaut that was the Walt Disney Company no longer had a stranglehold on Hollywood as to provided quality family fare: Warner Bros. and Amblin Entertainment – under Steven Spielberg – finally broke through that firewall and set their own fires creatively to give other studios a better chance at getting the nuclear family’s butts in the seats for good.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Films provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Innerspace (1987) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review.  Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

​-- EZ