If I remember correctly, fandom was widely split over just how effectively the original Jedi Master – George Lucas, himself – launched an all-new delivery of films to the masses.  His Prequel Trilogy began with a little something something called Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
 
Without reliving the entire controversy, I think it’s safe to suggest that viewers were a bit confused about why this saga would begin with Anakin Skywalker being so young.  This wide-eyed, peace-loving Tatooinian (is that the proper word?) brought with him some kinda/sorta juvenile antics and attitudes that took Star Wars back to the realm of the kids.  JarJar Binks delivered a kind of ‘babyspeak’ to everyone around him in the film, pushing the envelope for what level of intellectual development Lucas was truly going for with the picture.  And cries of ‘yippie’ and the like were a far cry from the late teen years of Luke Skywalker and the decidedly more adult tone audiences had embraced with A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, so maybe – maybe – there’s something legitimate to their complaint.  I’m not saying it’s right or wrong: I’m only saying it’s likely grounded in reason, flawed or not.
 
Think what you will of the Sequel Trilogy (personally, I didn’t much care for it), I’d agree with anyone who said that JJ Abrams and his collaborators at least ignored some of that kidcentricity (now I’m just making words up!).  Though Finn, Rey, and Poe may’ve been hamstrung by these creative worldbuilders’ collective inability to craft a suitable outline (for consistency’s sake alone), none of the rebels or resisters approached young Anakin’s naivety or JarJar’s goofiness.  Tonally, the Sequel Trilogy ‘felt’ a bit closer to the Original Trilogy, though I’m already on record as saying the Disney stuff lacked consistency as well as coherence in a few places.
 
So I was honestly a bit surprised when the Mouse House announced that they wanted to revisit the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi in a new streaming property, and I’ll tell you why simply: what more truly needed to be said about his character?
 
I dabble in writing fiction from time-to-time, and one of the tools I cling to as an author is making sure that each character has both a narrative purpose and is used to that best potential.  I don’t craft them casually: I want to know why I made them and put them in this universe because – once they accomplish the reason for being – they do have a shelf-life.  Like (hopefully) you and me, they do reach the end of their usefulness; if that sounds cold or crass, I apologize … but of all things I’ve ever been called that I agree with is that I’m a realist.  Stories function on their own economy, and something that doesn’t need to be there shouldn’t be.  That involves characters, and so far as I can tell the great Kenobi had met and delivered all of his ‘beats.’

To resurrect a character whose – ahem – best narrative days were behind him can be a treacherous task, and I’m kinda/sorta feeling the folks behind this limited series may have bitten off more than a Bantha can chew.  Part I debuted just last week (along with Part II, which I’ll review separately), and I found so very much of it underwhelming if not a bit confusing.  It's nearly all 'set-up' -- a curious but necessary choice -- but kinda/sorta spoils some of what has been already established in lore (i.e. Kenobi's secret isn't so secret, it seems).

The installment opens with a review of the greater Star Wars history involving the character, and this recap is used to segue into another look at some younglings trapped inside Coruscant’s Jedi Temple during the execution of Order 66.
 
Masters very quickly come under attack, and – instead of focusing on their own wellbeing – they take to defending their pupils.  It appears as if a small group of trainees gets away – hint: we’re never given the identities of these students, but I’m guessing that’ll play into the series’ full arc before all is said and done.  Before you know it we’re whisked off to Tatooine – ten years later – where a band of Imperial Inquisitors show up knowing full well that there are Force users in hiding on the planet.  Despite their successfully finding (and losing!) a former youngling in a tavern, it would appear that not all is well amongst the Inquisitor staff; there's some obvious infighting, along with trust issues, and then we zoom in on a distant slaughterhouse where the older, grizzled Kenobi spends his days chopping up meat, troubled by Force visions, and guarding young Luke Skywalker from afar.
 
Before this first episode is over, however, it would seem that Kenobi’s secret isn’t quite as protected as Star Wars fandom had been previously led to believe.  Jawas know where he is (and they’re known to share anything for a price).  He’s been seen in town and recognized by that young user almost caught earlier by the Inquisitors.  Why, even Bail Organa comes a’callin’ when he needs the master’s help: young Leia Organa is kidnapped, and – you guessed it – “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.”
 
To the show’s credit, both Skywalker children get a bit of screen time – Leia vastly far more than Luke (this is the era of Kathleen Kennedy, after all, where men and boys are lesser creatures) – but the focus shifts comfortably between the known locales of Tatooine and Alderaan.  Bail and his daughter have a healthy cinematic relationship – he’s rearing her for the role she'll eventually play in the wider Star Wars’ mythology, and their father/daughter dynamic elevates the otherwise slow hour – though he probably allows her a bit too much legroom when it comes to expressing her (oh so snarky and negative) opinions a bit too freely, especially for a ten-year-old.  (No wonder she gets kidnapped!)

That's why I opened this review referencing Star Wars' kidcentricity (Ok, I'm using it again, so does that make it an official word?).  The kids are back.  Kenobi's young Leia 'felt' very similar in some ways to Lucas's young Anakin.  Clearly, Disney knows kids are watching, and they've created a spark with li'l Leia.  Let's see if they can properly cultivate this spark to a full rebellious fire.  And I said 'properly,' Disney!  Let's get it right!
 
Alas, it’s hard to make all that much positive or negative of Part 1.  I thought the pace was a bit slow: once the opening action sequence at the Jedi Temple ends, there’s really nothing new in this universe it would seem.  Clearly, most of the time is spent setting up the particulars needed to take this particular journey to that galaxy far, far away.  Character introductions and re-introductions are about as efficient as we’ve come to expect from these streaming series.  Production quality is excellent, and the hour ends as Kenobi accepts the responsibility handed to him – albeit reluctantly – and heads into space on an available transport … secret be damned.

​-- EZ

Good morning, readers!

And ... yet ... sigh.

It's never been truer that we, culturally, lose a little something something with each passing generation, you know?  I don't say that as an insult: rather, it's just an honest observation made by a fellow such as myself in response to watching our society grow and change across a generation or two.  My contemporaries were brought up understanding 'history' or 'facts' to be certain nuggets of acquired knowledge, and they weren't open to opinions or interpretations.  What we knew we knew ... and what we have proven through the establishment of standards never changed.

But today's young'uns do look for a bit more ... erm ... flexibility, I guess would be the right word.

Back when blogs were first made into a thing on the Information Superhighway, they were about allowing the voice of a single person being heard in this public square; however, I've been informed by a "Millennial" that (cough cough) blogs stopped being that about a decade ago and now they're meant to be centers for the open exchange of ideas, opinions, preferences, whatnot, etc.

While I still argue that's nonsense -- if you want to voice your opinion, then go and start your own blog -- I'm not above giving fans who are interested the opportunity to share and share alike, but there still has to be reasonable parameters.  Message boards (yes, I'm that old) are set up for that kinda web-based dialogue -- not blogs, at least not so far as I'm concerned -- but I do agree that reader opinions have merits when and if they're substantiated by authentic journalism.

Wow.  I'm really a dinosaur, no?

In any event, I'm going to cater to a suggestion I received in the way I see fit, not the way it was entirely offered.  Here's the thing: on July 17th, the phenomenal Science Fiction classic RoboCop turns an incredible 35 years young.  To celebrate, I've just begun -- behind the scenes -- to put together some trivia announcements and the like -- I'm looking at possibly doing a thirty-days-of-posts kinda thing -- so I'm inviting anyone interested in offering up his or her or it or they's (geesh) opinion of the seminal film alongside mine in these posts.  If you want to get in on the affair, then here are my requirements:

First, you must be a real person.  I'm not getting into allowing others to broadcast their fictional identity (unless it's already established AND proven) as little is truly gained by that.  If you're willing to have your name attached to your opinion of RoboCop (the first film, the franchise, etc.), then I'm willing to look at what you have to say and include it in an article or blog post or whatever.

Second, you must be alright with some editorialization.  Here, I'm talking about the obvious, folks: language.  If you're only interested in stringing along a series of F-bombs and some otherwise colorful metaphors, then I'm going to EDIT your opinion so that's it's usable.  I have a reputation to protect in this space, so be prepared for me to make editorial changes.  (I'm not changing your opinion; I'm just making sure it's been expressed in such a way as it makes both of us look like we know what we're doing.)

Third, you can send me said opinion -- preferably in 100 words or less (unless, of course, you and I agree otherwise) -- in an email (not attachments) to editor@SciFiHistory.Net.  I'm willing to read, review, and respond to anyone wishing to get in on this small affair.  My only wish is that we keep it to 100 words or less because posts have a way of growing untenable otherwise.

This way, I'm giving truly interested readers who want to participate a bit more in my blog space with the opportunity to do so.  Should the responses demonstrate to me that folks are legitimately fascinated with such input, then yes I'm willing to do more of it.  As I tried to be clear above, that's really what message boards are for -- not traditional blogs -- but I can certainly understand and appreciate anyone who wishes to up the ante a bit.  I just have to have some control over it as I've seen all too well the kinds of spam I have to navigate if I don't.

So there.

I'm meeting interested parties halfway.

Put up or shut up.

And, yes, I'd love to see folks put up.  I've always believed this space could be so much more than what it is conventionally; I've just never had readers reach out enough to warrant doing more.  Now that I've invited it, let's see what happens.

As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

-- EZ

Though I could be wrong, I think it’s obvious that a character named ‘Crash Corrigan’ was likely meant to appeal to the same audience of its day that was heading into to movie houses for a trip to Mongo with a fellow named ‘Flash Gordon,’ don’t you?  Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a little competition, especially when it benefits fans of genre entertainment who do so appreciate the exploits of our heroes up on the silver screen, so let’s assume that’s exactly what the folks at Republic Pictures intended with their release of Undersea Kingdom on this day in 1936.
 
Here's the plot summary as provided by our friends at IMDB.com:
“Crash Corrigan, a recent graduate of Annapolis, and Diana, a go-getting reporter, join Professor Norton for a search for the source of a string of earthquakes, Atlantis.  They ride Prof. Norton’s rocket submarine searching the sea, and little Billy Norton, the professor’s son, stows away, of course.  When they find Atlantis they are caught in a war between peaceful Atlanteans, note their white capes, and war-mongering Atlanteans, note their black capes.  After many harrowing moments for Crash, Diana, Prof. Norton, and Billy, they barely get away with their lives when they escape a tower of Atlantis raised to the surface for the sole purpose of dominating or destroying the Earth (which one depends on the compliance of the upper world dwellers.)”
 
Ahem …
 
So it’s easy to see the similarities.  Both franchises have a leading trinity of characters – the hero, the heroine, and the scientist – as well as a blazing rocketship that’s going to deliver them to some far off, exotic location wherein evil has its sights set on destroying our Big Blue Marble.  In fact, the film’s Wikipedia.org citation suggests in its opening paragraph that Undersea was Republic’s direct response to Flash’s popularity at the box office, so I think it’s safe for us to conclude the property was always intended to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in film history as similar theatrical fare.
 
As I’ve not seen any box office reportage from the era regarding Undersea’s numbers, I have also read that this was only Republic’s second cinematic serial (it was a twelve-chapter affair delivering a total of 226 minutes).  I also know that there were still producing serials into the 1950’s, so I’m willing to assume that their productions did well enough to fuel these efforts for, at least, two decades, though I do know that serials pretty much disappeared in that era as audiences were transitioning (of sorts) from the silver screen to the small screen.  Even Republic’s Commando Cody: Sky Marshal Of The Universe underperformed in theaters but found new life on the Boob Tube.  (Isn’t it interesting that in today’s market – the days of ten-episode limited streaming series – it would seem that the big budget serial has made a return to form?)
 
Folks wanting to know a bit more about Crash are encouraged to check out the film’s Wikipedia page as that’s the best source of info I’ve been able to find on it to date.  I have seen a couple of low-priced versions available on DVD over on Amazon.com, so it appears as if the property is in public domain.

​-- EZ

Happy Monday, people, and welcome to the start of an all-new week!

In case you somehow missed it, the annual Star Wars Celebration -- the annual event that gets held at the Mouse House's official grounds -- took place over the weekend.  As you can imagine, a fair amount of news bytes and blurbs have emerged from the expensive fan-friendly event, some of which I might be featuring in this space over the next several days.  (Sorry, kids, I'm not like other outlets, the kinds with a wealth of staffers who can run through press releases and scribble up rundowns.  At present, this is all just me, so I've gotta find the time.)  Not all of it looked all that interesting -- if I'm being perfectly honest -- but we'll see what rises to the top.

One of the biggest announcements -- so far as this knucklehead is concerned -- in the return of Star Wars: The Bad Batch for its second season this fall.  It streams on Disney+, and it explores the events and situations involving a group of defective clones in the days when the Empire was beginning to weed out these troops in favor of trained -- ahem -- normal folk.  Set after Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith but well before A New Hope, it explores that fertile period in which that galaxy far, far away was in transition to what it would become when audiences were first introduced to it by George Lucas and company back in the late 1970's.

For what it's worth, Season 1 was pretty glorious.  We spent a fair amount of time getting to know these irregulars -- Tech, Wrecker, Hunter, Echo, and Omega -- and establishing the particulars of their circumstances (being on the fringes of a burgeoning Empire as well as being on-the-run from a brother-at-arms who bought the Imperial line); so it'll be nice to get back into action to see what awaits them in this all-new crop of episodes.  I don't have a press release to copy-and-paste -- I'm not yet on the inside with the Lucasfilm folks, though I was for a time -- but I can post the released trailer as it's up on the good ol' reliable YouTube as of today.
​

As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

-- EZ

In the late 1980’s, I worked in home video retail, and one of my coworkers was a young fellow who claimed to know anything and everything about Science Fiction films.
 
He was a young whippersnapper … and that’s putting it mildly.  He’d obviously done a lot of reading on film and the various productions that had come down through the ages.  He was the kind of guy who’d always have a bit of trivia – some nugget of knowledge – about practically anything you could pull off the shelves.  As you can imagine, that sometimes goes over well with customers; other times, it gets a bit grating, especially when he’d dip into those ‘I know more than you know’ waters.  So far as I was concerned, I never professed to knowing much; I’ve always been the type of watcher who knows what I like, knows why I like it, and pretty much stick to the straight and narrow.
 
Anyway, one of the tales he loved to spin to anyone (if not everyone) trying to rent a copy of James Cameron’s The Terminator (1984) always raised eyebrows: “You realize that’s just a remake of The Outer Limit’s 1964 episode ‘Demon With A Glass Hand’ written by Harlan Ellison, don’t you?”  Occasionally, a customer would push back, trying to get a word in the debate, only to be cut off with, “Well, you do know that James Cameron was successfully sued over stealing Harlan Ellison’s ‘Demon With A Glass Hand’ from The Outer Limits, right?”  As you might guess, it was always best to just surrender and let the young man go about his business.
 
To clarify the historical record all these years later: I knew then and I know now that, no, there was no successful lawsuit.  (Mind you: I avoided debating the issue with him.  I wasn’t going to get sucked down that rabbit hole.)  What there was was a settlement, meaning that the issue never went to trial, meaning that no one sued anyone over the matter.  The two parties got together, ironed out the relevant issues, and a check was written.
 
But …
 
What’s always troubled me beyond that misconception is that – having seen ‘Demon With A Glass Hand’ – I’ve always been of the opinion that the two properties had negligible similarities, at best; but when you combine that Ellison work with another second season installment – ‘Soldier’ – then the legal position of Cameron perhaps using both as inspiration for his contributions to The Terminator script (FYI: he didn’t write it alone) becomes maybe undeniable.  Individually?  Mmmm.  Hard to say.  Combined?  Yeah … it starts to look like there may have been some – what do they call it – unintended or unconscious inspiration drawn from the series at some point along the way.
​

I’ve read that ‘Demon’ is oft-cited as one of the best (if not the best) hours of the popular mid-1960’s anthology series, and I suppose (in my humble opinion) that’s a merited assessment.  It’s an hour that’s certainly been the recipient of a lot of praise over the years – from viewers and organizations alike.  In fact, in 1965 the Writer’s Guild christened it with the ‘Best Screenplay’ award – only one of four Ellison received over his life in screenwriting – and, in 1972, Ellison won the Georges Melies Fantasy Film Award for Outstanding Cinematic Achievement in Science Fiction Television (per Wikipedia.org).  The story also had a graphic novel adaptation in the mid-1980’s (I think I’ve read that, may even still own my copy somewhere in my boxes of whatnot), and – for a time – there was talk of Ellison penning a sequel or even a big budget theatrical script.  Alas, no film was made (yet!!!), but it’s a property that gets talked about when studios dabble in remakes.
 
As for the story?
 
Here’s the plot summary as provided by IMDB.com:
“Days ago, Trent awoke with no memory of his past.  Since then, sinister men have pursued him constantly.  He manages to stay one step ahead of them by following the advice of his hand.  Made of glass and apparently capable of speech, Trent’s hand can answer many of his questions.  But it cannot tell him who he is or why his enemies seek him until he finds all of its fingers.  The only trouble is that they’re in the hands of his enemies.”
 
The synopsis ignores perhaps the episode’s biggest narrative construct (and it’s a doozy): Trent’s enemies are not men of today but in fact are from a distant future, one cited to be a few thousand years into tomorrow when Earth has fallen to these warriors from Kyba.  Though they look like Earthlings, I’ve read elsewhere that the appearance is merely a disguise: they couldn’t hunt their sole adversary in Earth’s past in their given form without corrupting the timeline, possibly risking their own place in human history.  Largely, this explains why not much was invested in their costumes as the bulk of the Kyben force comes off looking like low-budget background thugs from any of the Republic (i.e. 1936’s Undersea Kingdom) or Universal serials (i.e. 1936’s Flash Gordon).  Occasionally they’re sporting rubbery swim caps (with adornments) over their heads or – ahem – sheer panty hose over their faces, a development that quite possibly produced a bit of unplanned laughter from its mid-1960’s audience.
​

Alas, we never learn all that much about the Kyben or what their collective gripe with Earth people was in those days of tomorrow.  Ellison’s script functions well on its economy – only give the viewers enough information as is absolutely necessary to spin this tale – and any other particulars were left up to anyone’s best guess.  What is established, however, is that Earth as we know it is all but gone.  Somehow, the planet’s 70 billion inhabitants have also vanished in hiding, and the Kyben believe Trent knows where they are, which is what puts them hot on his trail through time … and, yet, just how he got here, who sent him, and why they chose the distant past remains a mystery (though some questions will be answered before the credits roll).
 
So the general thrust of ‘Demon’ is a general locked box procedural with Science Fiction, Fantasy and Mystery elements: Trent is directed to a downtown building wherein he unknowingly finds himself trapped with the enemy closing in, and the bulk of the episode deals with his race against time to recover the missing fingers of his glass hand, uncover the secret of his identity, or outwit the alien aggressors before they capture him.
 
Veteran character actor Robert Culp makes the most of this hour, though he eventually shares a good amount of screen time with Arlene Martel; as ‘Consuelo Biros,’ she kinda/sorta befriends Trent after their conflict gives way to a somewhat predictable love interest.  (It’s probably the episode’s weakest and most predictable development.)  They’re forced together out of sheer narrative contrivance, but they do share a telling moment in the climax that deftly underscore’s the hero’s plight of ‘forever marching on’ with little thought given to rest or recuperation.  And, of course, it never hurts having the famed Bradbury Building in any production: it serves as the show’s visual centerpiece wherein all of these people inevitably collide in the race against time.
 
Because this is Science Fiction, after all, audiences need to have some visual confection, and nothing quite surpasses the level of greatness delivered by Trent’s glass hand.  (We do so love our gadgets, don’t we?  Especially the handy ones?)  Though it’s gloved throughout most of the action sequences, the hour truly comes alive when the hero secludes himself into a dark corner, peels off the cloth, and talks to that wonderful, computerized gizmo.  It isn’t all that big in size, but just the thought of it blinking away, robotically advising Trent what to do next, is the stuff lovers of SciFi and Fantasy show up to see.  Ellison knew his audience, and he undoubtedly ‘handed’ it right to them, along with the craftsmen in the props and production department.
 
To say anything further would be to spoil the mix(these shows survive on their surprise twist endings), and you folks have read here long enough to know that I don't do that.  I will say that, though I don’t see ‘Demon’ as the work of sheer genius most contend the episode to be (I left it with a fair number of unanswered questions regarding this world and Trent’s circumstances), it’s still easy to accept this as a highwater mark in the world of genre entertainment.  Capturing a perfect fifty-one minutes will always be monumentally elusive, but if this is as close as The Outer Limits ever got then let’s all give them a hand.

​-- EZ

I think it goes without saying that Ray Liotta is, certainly, no 'known commodity' in the realm of Science Fiction and Fantasy, but this isn't to say that he didn't give it a try.

Folks, believe it or not, I've actually been to Iowa's Field of Dreams, the very place where the much beloved cinematic fantasy of the same name was made in 1989.  No, I didn't run the bases or take a place at home plate for a swing, but the wifey and I did walk through the corn in that goofy way wherein we both imagined we were travelling through the ages.  It's a fabulous place to visit if for no other reason than you kinda/sorta get to re-experience the magic of that seminal film entirely on your own: walking around, you feel almost giddy as you watch folks coming from near and far to, simply, be on that baseball field with one another.  Why, it oughta be in pictures!

Ray Liotta in the guise of 'Shoeless Joe Jackson' certainly delivered some of the film's best moments.  Though I've never read what he thought of the picture (I'm quite certain it's out there, I've just never taken the time to research it), one would hope that it touched him in even a small way, as the message of the feature continues to ring true with folks decades later.

Still, genre never much called for Liotta, so far as I can tell.  His appearances in the truest forms of the imagination are pretty few and far between.  (That's not a complaint, folks, it's just an honest observation.)  I do recall him appearing in 1994's No Escape -- a futuristic prison movie -- along with Lance Henriksen.  A quick glance at his IMDB.com page also shows a visit to the world of Muppets In Space (1999) and some work in Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014) of note.  Otherwise, that's about all I find.

One of my other fascinations is vintage crime stuff -- I've always been a junkie on the American Prohibition Era and tales surrounding Murder, Inc. and Al Capone and Lucky Luciano -- so, yes, I've seen Liotta's work in Martin Scorsese's much-heralded Goodfellas.  I couldn't say why exactly, but the film really did very little for me.  Performances were all great, and -- as is the case with much of Scorsese's work -- there's no denying the quality; but aside for a few sequences I just wasn't as captivated as others were with the tale.  I am liable to pick up the book it was based on someday and read that -- like I said, crime and general mob yarns excite me -- but I'd always be hesitant to revisit the film as I just think there are many more choices out there vastly more engaging.

Lastly, I do remember Liotta serving as the series narrator for AMC's great non-fiction miniseries The Making Of The Mob.  It was a historical accounting of the rise of true gang crime in New York of the late 19th century and early 20th.  Fascinating and incisivie, the program made a great choice in having the actor weave audiences through the intricacies of gangland origins, especially given the man's screen persona with so much of mainstream audiences.

Alas, none of us last forever, and word has reached the editor's desk this morning that the man passed overnight in his sleep.  Hollywood and beyond has lost a true original.

Thoughts and prayers are extended to the family and friends of Mr. Liotta.

​-- EZ

​Mark my words, folks: Fox TV’s The X-Files was (and remains) one of the best genre series in the history of television.
 
Now, I don’t want to get into some of the smaller arguments involving the show.  Chiefly, when I talk about The X-Files I’m essentially speaking of the original series run – the 1993-2002 9 series event – and not the – ahem – curiously uninformed relaunch (Series 10 and 11) and the movies.  X worked best when it stayed reasonably true to its original formula; while I’ll concede that Seasons 8 and 9 also had their share of problems, many of those hours are still vastly superior to what audiences were subjected to when Fox and Chris Carter decided to go back to the well.  In many cases, the stories of Mulder and Scully and the supporting crew hold up exceedingly well even today, and I’m always encouraging folks to go out and either discover it (if they’ve not seen it) or re-discover it (if they’re interested in reliving it).
 
Thankfully, there’s another way for those of us who experience that phenomenon in its original run: in 2020, publisher Harry N. Abrams teamed up with author Paul Terry with the release of The X-Files: The Official Archives: Cryptids, Biological Anomalies, And Parapsychic Phenomena (ISBN 1419735179).  I actually finished this thing a few weeks back and have been meaning to put up a short review for interested parties as it just might be the kind of thing to get your fellow X-phile as a birthday or holiday present.
 
It's not what you’d call a hardcover edition, but the front and page are prepared on super heavy cardboard style stock.  Printed in dimensions similar to the basic coffee table book, the inside pages also appear heavier than normal as Terry’s construction is dynamic – he’s actually assembled the reproduced FBI reports (along with supporting printed evidence) that the agents would’ve filed in their office subsequent to completing many of their biggest, boldest, brassiest investigations.  Many of these incident reports are only a handful of pages, but for those of us who like to kinda/sorta relive the better episodes this is one way to go about it that might give you a new perspective.

​Based on the title alone, however, I want you to understand one thing: this isn’t a full accounting of The X-Files episodes.  This isn’t a compendium, though it certainly functions in ways similar to one.  This volume explores only those installments featuring said ‘cryptids’ (think monsters), biological anomalies (plagues, viruses, etc.), and parapsychic phenomena (ghosts, near death events, etc.); and it covers the entirety of X’s run up through the films and Seasons 10 and 11.  Any plotlines touching on these foci in even the smallest way get some exposure here, and in some cases you get reportage from more than just our two major players.
 
To my surprise, it’s an incredibly brisk read, as well.  I’m not one who – when reading – likes to get bogged down in a lot of details or exposition, so reading the agents’ summation of the details (the who’s, how’s, what’s, etc.) was a fascinating way to relive many of the show’s great stories.  From time-to-time, Mulder or Scully might slip in a bit of a quip about or against the other, so I even got a chuckle out of the occasional offhand observations that crept into the work.  After I finished it, I passed it over to the wifey, as she’s honestly an even bigger fan of the show than I am, also considering it one of TV’s best franchises ever.
 
I offer this up with the highest recommendation … and, unlike other sites, I’m not paid to pass along product endorsements.  This was a purchase all of my own – I would have made it whether or not I intended to pen a quick review of it – and I loved it through-and-through.  As I thought about the work as reading it, I realized that – yes – likely any and every fan of the show would get a real kick out of an all-new way of revisiting the past … so I wanted to share it with you folks today.
 
Link: Amazon.com
 
As always, thanks for reading … and the truth is out there!
 
-- EZ

​The kind folks at Liberation Hall have been good enough to provide yours truly with a complimentary set of RoboCop: The Series; and I’m going to spend a fair amount of time with it over the next few days.  Interested readers are encouraged to watch this space as I’ll be doing some individual episodes reviews – and maybe even a few extra articles – in order to both promote the product as well as relive a show I’ve read so much about but am only just getting to know.
​
If you’re interested in picking up your very own copy of RoboCop: The Series, then you can follow the link right here for more details.  It’s available in either Blu-ray or traditional DVD.
​

​The transition from the big screen to the small screen can be a risky proposition.
 
By their very nature, feature films invest a significant chunk of their change into making characters, costumes, environment, and set pieces look larger-than-life: it’s why they call it ‘the movies,’ after all.  In some cases – especially when you’re dealing with franchise properties – no expense is spared in giving the motion picture the visual clout needed to compete in the ultimate venue of cinematic ideas.  Audiences can expect to be more than reasonably entertained in exchange for the price of a ticket, and studios are inclined to put-up-or-shut-up with the hopes of wooing them back again should the prospect for a sequel get introduced.
 
Indeed, RoboCop was a force to be reckoned with up in the lights, but the constraints of weekly television production understandably meant dialing some of that cinematic excess.  The premiere installments – a two-parter titled “The Future Of Law Enforcement” – picks up a few years after the events of the 1987 motion picture, completely (and thankfully) ignoring the developments of the inferior sequels.  That’s not such a bad thing, per se – anyone showing up to watch anything with ‘RoboCop’ in its name is certainly most interested in our hero himself – but that’s why maybe the show made a calculated gamble with this script serving as its debut:
 
Alex Murphy isn’t in a good percentage of it.
 
(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 product packaging:
“RoboCop and Officer Lisa Madigan uncover a deadly conspiracy between insane genius Dr. Cray Mallardo and ruthless OCP executive Chip Chayken to create Neuro Net, a computer linked to a human brain designed to run the entire city.  The hitch: finding a brain capable of doing the job.”
 
It’s certainly no weakness to build a weekly police procedural around an established character like RoboCop, and showrunners Kevin Gillis, Brian K. Ross, and Stephen Downing made great strides in adapting the property’s cinematic constructs for the Boob Tube.  The satirical newscast, the unintentionally funny commercial advertisements, and the grim urban landscape of Old Detroit all come along for active duty.  Actor Richard Eden takes on the big task of filling those big cybernetic shoes, but – for some reason I’ve not yet been able to uncover – the character of bubblegum-chewing Officer Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen in the film) is jettisoned in favor of bubblegum-chewing Lisa Madigan (played here by the lovely Yvette Nipar).  Given the fact that both female partners would appear to be the same person, I’m at a loss to understand why the change.
 
In any event, the action is toned down considerably from what one experiences in the movie – I’m certain TV network censors would’ve had issues with that anyhow – but that’s a negligible change: what matters most is that RoboCop is back on the job, and that fact alone make much of “The Future Of Law Enforcement” (Parts 1 and 2) watchable.
​

The villainy here is a bit more cartoonish, and (again) I’d suggest that’s largely owed to the fact that TV properties typically don’t go all hardcore in their politicizing yarns.  Both OCP baddies – Chayken (John Rubinstein) and Mallardo (Cliff De Young) – are a bit over-the-top, coming off much dastardlier and more mischievous than they are truly evil.  Their goal is to secretly take charge of any and all technological wonders within the city of Detroit is an interesting one, and the stakes are raised when it’s shown how far they’re willing to go to silence those who oppose them.  The script even introduces a street thug – William Ray ‘Pudface’ Morgan – to kinda/sorta serve as a gang-level enforcer who has an axe to grind with RoboCop, and – whether you like the general goofiness of it or not – all of it certainly feels authentic to this TV incarnation.
 
And – dare I say? – actor Eden does an admirable job picking up the Robo-mantle from his theatrical counterparts.  Granted, one might think that getting suited up into that alleged 90-pound cybernetic carriage alone gives any Thespian ample leverage to use in executing a character, but the man clearly has the movements down as well as some effective speech patterns maximized in every scene.  He’s clearly done some work to prepare for the gig, and I’m excited to see where he’ll take this journey over the twenty-plus episodes.
 
If I have any significant gripe with the debut (and – c’mon – it’s me, you know I’m gonna have at least one gripe), it’s the choice of story.  Without spoiling too much of it, our singular hero gets – ahem – significantly sidelined for much of the second half.  IMDB.com reports that the script emerged from a script penned originally for RoboCop 2 by Robo’s creators Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner; and perhaps they were thematically trying to take these events in a slightly more ‘redemptive’ direction than one generally gets in episodic television.  There’s nothing wrong with anyone rising from the grave, but I think that ‘Second Coming’ is stuff best left to religion and those who practice it.
 
RoboCop: The Series was produced by Robocop Productions Ltd., Rysher Entertainment, and Skyvision Entertainment.  DVD distribution (for this particular release) is being coordinated via Liberation Hall.  This Blu-ray set contains five discs and boasts a runtime of approximately seventeen hours.
 
As for the technical specifications?  Well, I’ve read online that some longtime fans of the show are a bit upset with this release: the episodes have all been formatted 16:9 for widescreen televisions but the show was original broadcast in standard 4:3.  My expertise is certainly not in the technical areas covered by some who do reviews, but I can say – after viewing a few episodes – there are some hiccups regarding cropping.  It’s nothing glaring – only a handful of scenes ended up looking shot with a person’s head out-of-frame – so I’m not inclined to make a big deal out of it.  However, there are also a few scenes of obvious grain I suspect are a result of the increased focus; again, it’s nothing ‘tragic,’ but it is what it is.  (I’ve seen other shows broadcast on HD channels reformat older programming that looks vastly worse than this.)
 
As for the special features?  The set provides a handful of the typical behind-the-scenes whatnot including extras kinda/sorta repackaged from the show itself.  Cast profiles are also a nice touch, along with some other documentary-style shorts about the show, some of its props, etc.  For what it’s worth, I thought it a nice assortment for folks either casual or die-hard enthusiasts of the greater RoboUniverse.  Well done.
 
Recommended.  I think it’s fair to say that RoboCop: The Series really only got off to an affable start in “The Future Of Law Enforcement: Part 1” and Part 2.  Honestly, Part 1 is vastly better than Part 2 – largely because the plot as constructed has our hero sidelined for much of the action (won’t spoil it, but it’ll be damn obvious), and the tone of the big climax gets a bit too wacky for my tastes.  The conventions and restrictions of episodic television might keep the big guy from achieving status anywhere near what he did on the silver screen (even in the lesser sequels), but I’m holding out hope that the producers have a little something up their sleeve for future installments.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Liberation Hall provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Robocop: The Series by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review; and their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

​-- EZ

​From time-to-time, it’s good for this old brain of mine to practice a bit of renewal; and because I’m such a huge fan of all films I do like to watch and reflect on some outside the realms of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.  I’ve always promised not to do it that often in this space, and given the fact that I haven’t done it in a long, long while I figure it’s time to stretch my legs with a favorite potboiler from the late 1990’s: John McNaughton’s exceptional Wild Things.

​I ask you: who among us doesn’t like a good monster movie?
 
As I’ve always cautioned, monsters – even in this world – come in all shapes and sizes, but the deadliest by far has been, remains, and always will be man itself.  Why?  Well, that’s because despite all we know about ourselves we are always fundamentally unpredictable.  Circumstances can change in a heartbeat, and such pervasive uncertainty might cause us to act in a way against our long-term self-interest.  We’ve always had a measure of intellectual cunning – even (gasp) the dumbest among us – and we’ve proven time-and-time-again that – in the heat of the moment – we’re liable to do damn near anything to save ourselves from that inevitable ending which ultimately awaits us all.
 
Still, films like Wild Things (1998) are a gem because they pull back the curtain on what we’re willing to do in order to achieve “the very best life” before that inevitable ending.  As an audience, we get to see vicariously how those responding to darker impulses might very well think things, say things, do things … some very wild things, as it were … to speed themselves either to (at best) utopia or (at worst) their doom.  Logic be damned.  Safety be damned.  Morality be damned.
 
It's truly a walk on the wild side.
 
(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 product packaging:
“Popular and charming, student counselor Sam Lombardo is no stranger to being the focus of female attention within the moneyed cliques of Florida’s Blue Bay. His fortunes are about to change dramatically, however, when one of the wealthiest students at his high school, sultry Kelly Van Ryan, accuses him of rape. The charge looks sure to stick when another girl from the other end of the social spectrum, Suzie Toller, steps forward with her own allegations, but Detective Duquette smells something fishy, and the truth is as murky and dangerous as the alligator-infested swamps in the hinterlands of this affluent beach community.”
 
Upon its original theatrical release, Wild Things created a bit of a cultural stir: it was heavily advertised as a silver screen sexual thriller, much along the lines of Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct (1992).  In the earlier film, one of actress Sharon Stone’s (ahem) “finer assets” was rather famously shown up in the lights and shadows during a now infamous police interrogation scene.  That sequence and the flick’s hot-and-heavy sex sequences kinda/sorta suggested that Hollywood was willing to push boundaries that had been already broken decades earlier with conventional pornography; and many of the films that followed in the years after tried to pick up that mantle and run with it.  Few truly did, but promotional executives thought they had the next incarnation with the McNaughton film.
​

Though Wild tried to be wilder, I found it rather tame by comparison.  The film’s famed menage a trois between actors Matt Dillon, Denise Richards, and Neve Campbell certainly musters some screen heat – which gets ramped up with a bottle of champagne – but that and a rather brief sequence with actress Theresa Russell were the sum total of Wild’s actual commitment to the act.  Everything else in there that comes close involves the obvious tension of attraction and flirtation – the social, cultural and legal taboo of an adult engaging in intimate acts with children (laws are laws, folks).  Yes, it’s all delivered with aplomb, but if that kind of things doesn’t float your Florida boat then this picture barely leaves the dock.
 
However, what intrigued audiences far more – and deservedly so – was screenwriter Stephen Peters’ labyrinthian plot along with director McNaughton’s masterful construction.  Though occasionally a bit convoluted, the tale worked as a conventional crime thriller with an unconventional presentation, taking the audiences indeed on a wild ride through the present and then unspooling it (in the climax) with some narrative flashbacks.  Viewers found out who the guilty culprit was (I won’t spoil it), only then needing to be taken back through the events to understand the exact how and why of it all.  It’s a calculated risk – one I’ve only seen achieved sparingly on the screen – but the payoff works incredibly well, making these Wild Things an absolute treat.
 
Wild Things (1998) was produced by Mandalay Entertainment.  DVD distribution (for this particular release) is being coordinated by the reliable Arrow Video Films.  As for the technical specifications?  Well, I’ve frequently reminded regular readers that I’m no ‘tech junkie,’ but I thought this film looked and sounded downright fabulous in this 4K presentation.  As one who has spent a fair amount of time in and around Florida communities kinda/sorta like this one, the shooting locations and overall feel of the production is spot on.  Very well done by the production choices.
 
As for the special features?  Arrow Video is no slouch, and they’ve given audiences something special to enjoy here on top of the 4K restoration.  First up, the set boasts the original theatrical version along with an Unrated Version.  (FYI: I watched the Unrated, and I couldn’t say specifically what was added to the original.)  There are not one but two commentary tracks, both involving McNaughton (obviously) at various stages in his life.  (His recollections are very good in both, maybe even a bit too lively in a few cases.)  Naturally, there are the usual interview shorts, production stills, and even a few outtakes (all centered on Bill Murray, who I honestly had completely forgotten was in this.)  Lastly, there’s a great collector’s booklet with multiple essays as well as some new art and postcard-sized reproductions of lobby cards.  As usual, Arrow does not disappoint.
 
Highly recommended.  Performances are spot on, the narrative couldn’t be any tighter, and Wild Things gives one of the screen’s best jaunts through the sexy and sweaty underbelly of screen revenge.  (FYI: you won’t know it’s a revenge flick until the very end, folks, so watch closely.)  Like a good book, the feature film is the kind of experience that can be enjoyed across multiple viewings, and the guiltier pleasures just get seedier each time you experience them.  The twists are not always perfect, mind you, but they’re imminently watchable.  (Here’s looking at you, Denise Richards!)  Enjoy … you bad, bad boy, you.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Video provided me with a complimentary 4K UltraHD Blu-ray of Wild Things by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review; and their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

​-- EZ

The kind folks at Liberation Hall have been good enough to provide yours truly with a complimentary set of RoboCop: The Series; and I’m going to spend a fair amount of time with it over the next few days.  Interested readers are encouraged to watch this space as I’ll be doing some individual episodes reviews – and maybe even a few extra articles – in order to both promote the product as well as relive a show I’ve read so much about but am only just getting to know.
​
If you’re interested in picking up your very own copy of RoboCop: The Series, then you can follow the link right here for more details.  It’s available in either Blu-ray or traditional DVD.
​

1987’s RoboCop is – without question – one of the greatest Science Fiction films ever made.
 
The script from Michael Neumeier and Michael Miner balances just the right ingredients of SciFi, Fantasy, comedy, drama, and horror consistently while maintaining a focus on each character’s identity.  The performances by all of the onscreen players (Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, and Kurtwood Smith in the biggest roles) have their respective moments and end up playing exceedingly well off one another in the film’s eventual payoff.  And the effects work certainly pushed the bar on what was achievable, combining some practical work with some post-production trickery in ways that also complemented the other, evening garnering a Saturn Award nomination for his craftsmen.
 
Given the fact that the wider landscape of television has focused for so very long on police officers, crimefighters, and the like, I suppose it was only natural (at some point) for some studio executive to realize this character might do very well in its own weekly procedural.  TV dramas – after all – allow storytellers to utilize both static players and guest stars in ways that support character development over time; given officer Alex Murphy’s slowly awakening memories regarding his past and the gradual rediscovery of his human potential, I’m actually a bit surprised that RoboCop didn’t happen on TV well before it became a movie franchise!
 
The truth is: it did … but in a vastly different presentation.  ABC TV’s popular and long-running The Six Million Dollar Man saw astronaut Steve Austin return to work in a devastating crash.  But we had the technology, so we rebuilt him better than before.  Better.  Stronger.  Faster.  Like that bionic man, it was going to be great having RoboCop back in the guise of weekly adventure program; I’m disappointed that the Detroit cop was only given a single season.
 
(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 series’ IMDB.com profile:
“Alex Murphy is RoboCop, a cybernetic policeman.  A creation of a vast corporation, he fights crime and occasional corporate conspiracy in the near-future of Old Detroit.”
​

​For those unaware of the particulars, the TV series for RoboCop was shot and produced in Canada, meaning that – for folks like me – it aired in television syndication in the United States.  As a consequence, I missed quite a bit of this back then; I caught it when I could find it, which was honestly extremely rare.  (Syndicated markets airing local sports programming would dump whole episodes if and when games ran long, and the stations would never publish when those make-up airings would take place.)  From what I’ve come to know, the series essentially honors only the original 1987 Paul Verhoeven-directed film, ignoring completely the characters and events of the two sequels.  (Honestly, that’s as good a choice as any, given the curious nature of those uneven flicks.)  Though I’ve not read exactly how much time has transpired between the film and the series, it’s safe to say that only a handful of years have passed: Murphy’s recall of his original death even takes place in the pilot episode.
 
Given that I’m somewhat new to the property, I’m going to withhold any true judgment on it at this point; but I’m going to say – as I did above – that the concept of RoboCop is perfectly conceived for television.  Culturally, we’ve always enjoyed programs centered on justice and good deeds, and this fact alone makes this cybernetic crime fighter ideally suited for the serialized format.  He’s certainly enjoyed a share of success on the silver screen, along with the assorted comic books and even an animated incarnation (heavily geared for the youngest among us).  His central programming calls out for these stories, and I’m thrilled to spend time in this ride-along on behalf of the DVD set’s distributors.
 
RoboCop: The Series was produced by Robocop Productions Ltd., Rysher Entertainment, and Skyvision Entertainment.  DVD distribution (for this particular release) is being coordinated via Liberation Hall.  This Blu-ray set contains five discs and boasts a runtime of approximately seventeen hours.
 
As for the technical specifications?  Well, I’ve read online that some longtime fans of the show are a bit upset with this release: the episodes have all been formatted 16:9 for widescreen televisions but the show was original broadcast in standard 4:3.  My expertise is certainly not in the technical areas covered by some who do reviews, but I can say – after viewing a few episodes – there are some hiccups regarding cropping.  It’s nothing glaring – only a handful of scenes ended up looking shot with a person’s head out-of-frame – so I’m not inclined to make a big deal out of it.  However, there are also a few scenes of obvious grain I suspect are a result of the increased focus; again, it’s nothing ‘tragic,’ but it is what it is.  (I’ve seen other shows broadcast on HD channels reformat older programming that looks vastly worse than this.)
 
As for the special features?  The set provides a handful of the typical behind-the-scenes whatnot including extras kinda/sorta repackaged from the show itself.  Cast profiles are also a nice touch, along with some other documentary-style shorts about the show, some of its props, etc.  For what it’s worth, I thought it a nice assortment for folks either casual or die-hard enthusiasts of the greater RoboUniverse.  Well done.
 
Recommended.  I’m only starting to make my way through the pilot and the subsequent twenty-one one-hour episodes, so it’d be uncouth of me to render any massive judgment on the series as a whole.  However, I’m a Science Fiction junkie who likes what he’s seeing thus far, so I’m definitely looking forward to spending a fair amount of time getting to know an incarnation that completely passed me by on its original airings.  While much of it ‘feels’ authentic to the first movie, it’s clearly been toned down – maybe even a bit too kid-friendly in a few places – yet that’s the nature of serialized television.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Liberation Hall provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray box set of RoboCop: The Series by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review; and their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

​-- EZ