The fridge definitely isn't, given the implausibilities we've already seen in the earlier sequels. From a "physics" standpoint, we have the Indy 2 sequence in which the raft is dumped from a plane and everyone survives, and from a "contrived" standpoint we have the Indy 3 opening desert chase in which young Indy leaps on a train which just *happens* to be a circus train, full of hijinks, including a "magic disappearing" cabinet which allows Indy to escape... I mean, come on. Going into hysterics over the fridge in Indy 4 looks like a mighty big case of selective perception.
And the aliens are integral to the point of the film, which is that it "updates" the movies it's referencing to match the era it's representing. (I read somewhere that an earlier title considered for the film was "Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men from Mars" -- a phrase Jones actually uses in the film. I think that's a much, much better title than the one we got, and it would've cleared up a lot of confusion.) I've said it before: I actually prefer Indy 4 to either of the earlier sequels b/c it's the only sequel among them that, because of its shift forward in time, is explicitly "about other movies" (in this case, sci-fi, Cold War scare, and biker films) in the same way that the first film was.
Nor am I arguing for the "greatness" of the film or whatever. Plenty of flaws to discuss -- but more egregious than the those of the earlier films? Nah.
Personally -- and I have no idea if this has been discussed extensively elsewhere already -- I think it's both a structural flaw and a missed opportunity in the film that Jones is set up to be under suspicion by the Feds early on, and then that plot thread is dropped. I think it would've really opened up the film if *both* the Reds and Feds had been on his tail throughout.
Another, more modest option: still use wormholes, but such that the moon only goes astray within this solar system. Hey, at least there's stuff floating around somewhat nearby! (And if we hypothesize a moderately settled solar system -- that's taking us well past 2099, but who cares -- then there are more prospects for drama.) But no, the moon will probably go interstellar.
I definitely agree that an ongoing dispute over command of the base would really help the series. I've long thought that that was *the* obvious narrative step the original series never took, which is a shame, b/c then the series would have had some sort of credible dramatic focus. At least in the premiere episode, it looked like the character of... was it Simmons?... was being set up to play foil to Koenig, but he was promptly killed off.
I really like the look of that quasicrystal model at the top of the page and would love to have one of my own. But the link doesn't take me to a place that identifies the origins of the model. Any thoughts, anyone?
Quite apart from the fact that they're all attractive, about which I'm sure not complaining, the women in this video are very funny. There's something particularly appealing about women goofing off in this particular way.
Great article. Love the top illustration too; it had me all "My, what a pretty children's book picture" and then I was all "MY GOD, BLOODY STUMPS FOR HANDS!"
Echoing what some of the writers quoted above have said, sexapocalypse will come when the idea of even joining the concept of sex with such an over-the-top concept as apocalypse will seem ludicrous. And that really will be the end of the world as we (now) know it.
I quite like how Jones instinctively intuits that something is "not right" about one of the Can Openers and steers clear of him.
I also quite like that photo of Ripley, above.
Major animal stare-down going on there for a while.
And the Republicans running on a pro-government platform are...?
The "same cost"? You've mentioned mining and processing minerals, extracting and breaking down water for fuel, and building a magnetic rail -- versus launching a "little capsule." You're describing developing an entire industrial infrastructure for the moon. Cost aside, the whole development process would take fifty years at top speed. You're making my point for me.
Pretty remarkable: *not one* of the reasons listed in the article is an even *moderately* good reason to have a base on the Moon. Stepping stone to Mars? Nope. Getting to, landing, and staying on the Moon is a completely different set of problems from doing the same for Mars. Better to spend that same money and go directly to Mars. Going to the Moon as a stepping-stone to Mars would just be throwing an *obstacle* in the way of getting to Mars; it'd push back that trip by a good thirty years. (It's not like we had to go to some other celestial body to learn how to get to the Moon itself.) Helium-3 for power? A purely hypothetical technology; has in no way been demonstrated in the real world. Optical telescope? Could be built without people; our robots are only going to get better. Tourism? Let the entrepreneurs invest their money in it -- if they *really* think it'll pay dividends.
It's a mistake to be distracted by the "coolness factor" of a moon base, or by pie-in-the-sky "it'll produce fabulous wealth" schemes. There's really only one reason to put humans in space, and that's to live there -- or as an interim step, to figure out if they can live there. Maybe a Moon base would be useful for that interim step. Either humans *can* live in the reduced-gravity environment of the Moon, or they can't. And if they can't, then that's it for living on the Moon. (And possibly that's it for Mars too.) But you don't even need to go to the Moon to get an answer to this question: you could just set a torus-shaped station spinning in orbit at Moon-gravity and watch what happens to the crew.
Awfully fast out out of the gate with the troll accusation there.
You beat me to it; I was going to post on this as well. That was indeed an excellent article and interview.
But in the case of "Armored Lass" in particular I'd say the ridiculousness is the whole point.
I particularly like how the ostensible hero seems to be getting repeatedly creamed like Wile E. Coyote in shot after shot. Not a bad comedy concept -- when done intentionally.
Sounds like a scary experience. I've often wondered whether that strange, brief state of half-dream and "disordered thought" that immediately *precedes* sleep has some relationship to schizophrenia.
You're not alone re: the first two Gormenghast books; the third book is definitely a different animal from the first two, which "go together" pretty neatly. (The BBC TV adaptation of the books only did the first two.) Took me ten years before I finally finished the third one.
I'm with you on this one. Though the film has its moments, it hasn't aged nearly as well as "Alien".
Was going to suggest this one myself.
Also, Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser books. Great writing.
Also also, the entire Eternal Champion series by Michael Moorcock, which encompasses several series within itself: the sagas of Elric, Corum, Hawkmoon, and Erekose. And then there are all the other peripheral spin-off books and series as well. That'll keep anybody busy.
Also, Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser books. Great writing.
Also also, the entire Eternal Champion series by Michael Moorcock, which encompasses several series within itself: the sagas of Elric, Corum, Hawkmoon, and Erekose. And then there are all the other peripheral spin-off books and series as well. That'll keep anybody busy.
These are fantastic. I recognize a few of them from book collections of space art I've seen in the past. It'd be wonderful to see a facsimile reprint of "Sur les Autres Mondes," or a general collection of his work gathered in one book. (Must start noodling around online to see if such a book already exists...) Thanks so much for this post.
