Saturday, January 14, 2012

Dystopia Flicks


All right, so, I did Halloween, Thanksgiving, X-Mas, New Years, took a little break, now it's back to these babies.

Time to finish off the leftover dregs of my big master list I did all these off of.
Without a holiday deadline, I can take it a bit easier...


Escape From New York



The film-

Well, they keep trying to get a Duke Nukem movie going, but...Duke is essentially a Snake & Ash hybrid, plopped down in well...post-apocalypse New York, essentially, so....THIS is Duke Nukem the movie, children.

Netflix it, and fire it up, you're good to go.

The history-

The real 1997 was a big steaming non-event compared to this, eh?

Um...well, Radiohead released "OK Computer".
There we go...


Escape From L.A.


The film-

Um....lacking...yeah...there we go.

Well, it's got good bits...the ending is nice and grim....but...basically, it's a note-by-note rehash of the first one...but not as good.

...and with 90's CD-ROM level effects. Especially on that wave. Bleh.

Well....you can see the layer to it where Carpenter is doing a satire on the bullshit of Hollywood, but....yeeaah, it's not enough to carry it.
I wanted to like it on that level, I really did.
Ah, well...

The history-

They should have done Snake's assault on Fort Knox.


The Warriors


The film-

From here...

Waaariooorrss, come out and plaaaay-aaayyy!!!
Wow, I saw this 5 years or so ago, and it clearly inspired every side scrolling street fighting video game like Double Dragon, Final Fight, Narc, etc.
They even did a Warriors game fairly recently.
Very ahead of its time.
Jaw dropping in its prescience.
Very cool.

The history-

See above.
Plus, I have it now, and have watched it like, 5 more times.
It's fucking great.

Oh, do NOT get the "director's cut", it's a George Lucas level butchery.


Equilibrium 


The film-

Silly.
Bale is good in it though.

Yeah, I said in the Ultraviolet review I wasn't gonna do this one, but...eh, seemed "off", to ignore it in this category.

The history-

Cable.


Daybreakers


The film-

Eh, it's a good premise.
Vampires rule the world, and they're out of blood?
Nice.
Kind of the end-game for the whole vampire thing if they ever won, someone finally did the follow through.
A bit of a parallel to human beings too.
Haven't seen it.
You folks tell me, any good?

The history-

N/A


Planet of the Apes


The film-

Yeah, the REAL one with Heston, dammit.

Accept no muthafuckin' substitutes.

The history-

Come on, this one is as ingrained as the Rankin/Bass specials.


Beneath The Planet of the Apes


The film-

I love this one better than the first one, actually.

They up the ante on everything, and I think it works.

That rare Empire Strikes Back type sequel that tops the first.

The history-

Ditto the first one.


Escape From The Planet of the Apes


The film-

Yeah, this is my favorite.
The one where Cornelius and Zira come back to our time.

This is real biting true Sci-fi.
Not space-western shit, real heavy message stuff.
Human condition type stuff.
Can't believe these got made.
Wonder if you could do 'em now...

These first three are a perfect trilogy.
And hey, Ricardo Montalban!
Star Trek crossover!

The history-

Ditto the first two.


Conquest of the Planet of the Apes


The film-

So, the time-loop starts to come back together, the apes take over, in an obvious allegory to the race divide, and race riots, so....it was still heavy, but...the budget cutting was starting to show.

From 3 on, it was all downhill.

The history-

Ditto the first three.


Battle For The Planet of the Apes


The film-

And the nuke war has happened, and the time loop back to Apes 1 is complete.

The character stuff is good, the social commentary and philosophy is still decent, but man...the suits were really tightening the purse.

The history-

Ditto the first four.


Planet of the Apes (2001)


The film-

Meh.

Say, how messed up was the precarious bestiality vibe between Marky Mark, and the Helena Bonham Carter monkey, eh?

The history-

Saw it at the theater.
Mnh.
*Shrug*


Rise of the Planet of the Apes



The film-

Friends have said it's good, but...it's a remake.

Had it up to here with these fuckin' remakes, man.

The history-

N/A


A Clockwork Orange



The film/history-

Well, the state controlling your mind is pretty totalitarian, so, I guess that counts....

See here.


Robocop


The film/history-

A world run by corrupt corporations?
Totally counts.

See here.


Judge Dredd


The film/history-

See here.


Surrogates


The film/history-

See here.


Tank Girl


The film/history-

See here.


Aeon Flux


The film/history-

See here.


Ultraviolet


The film/history-

See here.


V for Vendetta


The film/history-

See here.


Demolition Man

The film/history-

A world where PC and advertising won? Most definitely dystopia.

See here.


Bladerunner


The film/history-

See here.


Anything where the zombies/mutants/vampires have fully taken over.

See here.



Eh, that's a good batch, but, up next, part 2 of these.


2 comments:

Hyla Tracy II said...

Cool.

Surprised there was no snarling and frothing over the purported remake of 'Escape From New York'.

Who the fuck do you even get to replace Kurt Russel as Snake?

Nobody. That's who.

. . .

But probably . . . Mark Wahlberg.

. . .

Or fucking Taylor Lautner

>P

Diacanu said...

Ugh, the remake...I even had to sift through Google results for it to get to the poster art for the original, and STILL my mind blocked it out.

I've grumbled about virtually every remake in turn, I guess I finally got tired.

"Uncle", Hollywood. "Uncle".

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