Film Face-Off: Attack of the Pt. 2
mannybolone
Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
vs.
I watched both on cable yesterday. One has aged very well. One has not. (Hint: the better one has the Fantasy Island dude). DISCUSS.
Comments
I don't remember Star Trek II very well.
I can't wait for the new superman. It better be awesome.
'Kneel before Zod!'
was this the one where homegirl gets changed into a robot? that scared the shit out of me in the theatres.
VS
It's
ALL
ABOUT....
KHAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Yeah that scene where the huge computer envelopes her and then she comes out like a crazy cyborg!!! That shit gave me CRAZY bad dreams when I was a kid!
Robots turning humans into robots =
What makes ST2 successful is that it gets back in touch with what makes ship to ship combat compelling.
The film borrows heavily from the Blind Man's Bluff aspect of The Enemy Below, particularly in the Mutara Nebula sequence but also in the initial confrontation. You see two captains using all of their "skill" in a game of cat and mouse (where the feline and murine roles flip as the situations develop). What really matters is that both act admirably, in the best interest of their goals of victory. Of course, Kahn is a shameless ripoff of Ahab seeking his white whale, after all his final lines "From hell's heart I stab at thee blah blah blah" are a direct quote, but this all goes to psychological motivation. How many Star Trek films even have[/b] an interesting psychological motivation whatsoever?
Also, a significant component is the immediacy of the peril of space combat (or naval combat). You see the ships literally trade broadsides as the phasers crash into the hull of their respective foes. While the trading of space blows are not textbook examples of Eisenstein's theory on montage, they do create a connection between the action of players. Most space moves have a single laser hit resulting is the anonymous annihilation of the target.
I guess the point is that this movie is ultimately successful because it relies upon the conventions of cinema rather than the wiz bang of the SFX, although the montage of the Enterprise leaving the space dock is a bit gratuitous.
I was just watching that the other day. It has some freshness to it but I do find movies that are from the 60's and before to be exceptionally corny and bland. I gotta say though, while some of the acting is eh, I still like the "special effects" like the giant statue and shit like that.
In my quest for cheap VHS tapes, I've picked up all 6 of the original Star Trek movies.
I didn't find Star Trek 2 nor 3 particularly compelling. They're ok but... well, the whole Spock dying thing was kinda not my thing. One, why the fuck are you gonna kill off a main character? And two, why the fuck are you going to bring him back to life? Nah. I thought that was stupid. And I just don't like Kahn.
My favs have got to be 5 and 6. 5 I liked cause they went to see God, the shit was just trippy. 6 was good with the prison breakout and the whole scandalous plotline.
1 was ok. Kinda standard but lacking in fighting like you said. The end where the huge cloud ending up being Voyager coming back home was a dope twist though.
The only one I completely fucking hate is 4. WHAT THE FUCK. How the FUCK are you going to make a Star Trek movie that isn't set in space? WTF? Why do I want to see Kirk and Spock running around in San Francisco chasing some whales and touring factories? That movie was god awful, and whoever came up with that story, along with those who gave it the green light, need to be smacked in their fucking heads.
I've seen some of the other Star Trek TNG and generations and all that and they are mildly entertaining but nothing special.
Did I mention I don't have cable?
7 Skeletons man... 7!#!@!#
But Willow... that's some classique shit.
part iii had the lady turn into a robot.
speaking of robots and bad dreams i have this one xian children's record where a kid has a dream about being the only kid in a world full of robots.
STARCRASH (Adventures of Stella Star) Slaughters all.. well except maybe for Jason & the Argonauts...
This was finally released stunningly on DVD last year from it's country of origin, Italy. Yeah it's a Star Wars/Battlestar Galactica copy, but thats the fun of it...
Everything about this film is amazing. Oh, okay, some of the acting is crap (mostly from that priest cum actor Marjoe Gortner) but really who cares about that stuff.
The set design is also incredible, especially considering it was made on a b-movie budget.
The director Luigi Cozzi also made the Alien rip-off Contamination.
Cylon copies, Harryhausen type sequences, dope Amazon babes walking around, & an early Hasselhoff appearance...
Heaps of cool stuff.... & Caroline Munro (the 'Spy Who Loved Me' Bond chick) walking around in a skimpy bikini with knee high boots... What's to knock there....
Loads more imagery here: http://www.pachanko.com/starcrash/
Yeah that Superman scene scared the shit out of me too as a kid, especially how they showed her gettin wrapped up with all the wires and whatnot.
Speaking of being in a world full of robots, I'd take it if it was a world full of FemBots!
Notice the extra orifice in her forehead. Sexy.
No offense...but you are FUCKING TRIPPING.
Episode IV is commonly revered as at least the second best in the whole franchise. Yeah, sure, it doesn't take place in space but the plot and humor is very much owing to the original series and Roddenberry's vision. It's my favorite in the batch though I think II is a more ambitious film.
V was completely wacktacular and VI was pretty bad too, though partially redeemed by some good space fights. "Generations" was at least as bad as "V". Of the TNG movies, only "First Contact" is worth the price of admission though at least "Nemesis" was easier to stomach than that piece of shit "Insurrection."
Granted, I agree that this results in added enjoyment for the Star Trek Real Headz???, but I think that the movie stands up well even if you've never even seen the Kahn episode.
Oh, and I saw Star Crash in the theater when it came out at the Empire Theater on West Portal in SF when I was 7. I distinctly remember it was the first movie I ever saw that I specifically thought "this is a piece of crap". I think what did it for me was the space ship in the shape of a hand that turns into a fist when they go into battle mode. I guess I was not ready for campy Itallian/Roger Corman Star Wars ripoffs. Now that I'm older and have the VHS, I can appreciate that it has the dad from Sound of Music in one of the most humilating character roles for a former big actor on screen until Olivier's turn as Zeus in Clash of the Titans.
And this guy below looks like Santino from Project Runway (or vice versa):
While Supermans were good when you're a kid, Christopher Reeve was a bad actor. OK dude, bad actor. The upcoming remake seems fairly unnecessary, like most remakes of late though.
Peace
T.N.