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Blade Runner
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dystopia
anti-heroes
The first time I ever read the word "anti-hero," it was in an article about science fiction, and it's always seemed a very science fictional type of word — like anti-matter, or anti-gravity. Science fiction has its share of one-dimensional white hats, but the characters who capture our imagination are usually the morally blurred rascals, who have their own best interests at heart. You never quite know what an anti-hero will do next. Here's our guide to the roots of science fiction's greatest anti-heroes.
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Why Do Anti-Heroes Rule Science Fiction?
The first time I ever read the word "anti-hero," it was in an article about science fiction, and it's always seemed a very science fictional type of word — like anti-matter, or anti-gravity. Science fiction has its share of one-dimensional white hats, but the characters who capture our imagination are usually the morally blurred rascals, who have their own best interests at heart. You never quite know what an anti-hero will do next. Here's our guide to the roots of science fiction's greatest anti-heroes.
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blade runner
Massive Attack Makes Blade Runner Melt Down
Mixing 1980s SF dystopia with electronica, this year's Meltdown Festival in the UK will include a couple of performances that may be of interest to fans of Philip K. Dick, Ridley Scott or DJ-friendly orchestras. The annual festival, this year curated by Massive Attack, coffee-table favorites and creators of the House theme music. Plus the festival will give fans even a special one-off IMAX screening of Blade Runner: The Final Cut along with a hipper, younger version of the soundtrack. More »
pinnochio-bots
The Greatest Pinnochio-Bot Of All Time
When Summer Glau's Terminator started ballet dancing for no particular reason in a recent episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, it totally made sense: She's just another android/robot who wants to be human. Like the guy in this classic Johnnie Walker Scotch ad. It's like the fourth rule of robotics: The more autistic and socially clueless an android is, the more he/she/it will crave humanity. Click through to see clips of the greatest Pinnochio-bot of all time, plus a gallery. More »
concept art
Syd Mead's concept artwork for Blade Runner has always looked a bit like a jazz painting. It's meant to portray a saturnine view of downtown Los Angeles in the future, but the only things in it that are even slightly futuristic are the armored-looking dumptruck on the street, and the hulking mega-skyscraper in the background which is probably meant to be the Tyrell corporation. Besides that, the image is a wash of signage, mostly featuring Asian text. All it needs is an accompanying saxophone track and this could serve as the cover image to an album, circa 1963.
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The Jazz Album Cover That Became Blade Runner
Syd Mead's concept artwork for Blade Runner has always looked a bit like a jazz painting. It's meant to portray a saturnine view of downtown Los Angeles in the future, but the only things in it that are even slightly futuristic are the armored-looking dumptruck on the street, and the hulking mega-skyscraper in the background which is probably meant to be the Tyrell corporation. Besides that, the image is a wash of signage, mostly featuring Asian text. All it needs is an accompanying saxophone track and this could serve as the cover image to an album, circa 1963.
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triviagasm
Now You're Cooking With Tachyons: The Best Scifi Kitchen Gadgets
According to 1950s newsreels, the wonders of our age are supposed to include a dream kitchen that uses ultrasonic waves to clean our plates, automatically cooks our food for us and does all the shopping. But so far, all the best kitchen toys are still in science fiction. Check out our roundup of gadgets from the kitchens of the future that we want to see in our homes today. More »
triviagasm
All the Best Futuristic Guns for Your Holster
Science fiction has three iconic images that definite the genre: aliens, rockets, and rayguns. Whether due to our obsession with phallic guns, or the idea that a laser pistol is just too cool to pass up, the scifi gun has endured since H.G. Wells introduced them as a "Heat-Ray" in 1898's War of the Worlds. As good old Han Solo would later say, "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid." Read on for our list of the best things that go PEW PEW PEW! More »
triviagasm
The Best Sampled Lines from Scifi in Music
We've already told you about the scifi-themed songs you might be entertained (or tortured) by if you end up stranded on Asteroid B17-X. But the music-scifi relationship goes both ways: music has been sampling your favorite scifi movies and shows for years. When a musician decides to include a line from Solaris (the original, not the Clooney remake) in their work, that frightens us. Sometimes though, they get it right. We've got a list of the most-sampled scifi in the world of music. More »
sex robots
Reiko is a pleasure bot, designed to go out and collect sexual experiences for her corporate masters to sell as virtual reality recordings, in the cyber-porn movie I.K.U. She goes to sex raves and transforms from android to human form. Or she hangs out in a glowing pink web, spangled with dildos. Some of the coolest robots in science fiction are designed only for carnal pleasure. We have a roundup, with sexy but work-safe images and one clip, after the jump.
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Hottest Sex Robots Of Science Fiction
Reiko is a pleasure bot, designed to go out and collect sexual experiences for her corporate masters to sell as virtual reality recordings, in the cyber-porn movie I.K.U. She goes to sex raves and transforms from android to human form. Or she hangs out in a glowing pink web, spangled with dildos. Some of the coolest robots in science fiction are designed only for carnal pleasure. We have a roundup, with sexy but work-safe images and one clip, after the jump.
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super cars
Flying cars are dime-a-dozen in science fiction. But they don't all look as cool as Harrison Ford's cop car does in Sid Mead's original concept art. And some of them have cool extras, like voice-controlled color or a built-in ATM . But what you really want to know is, what's the fastest super-car in scifi? We rank them by speed (with a gallery) below.
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What's The Fastest SciFi Super-Car?
Flying cars are dime-a-dozen in science fiction. But they don't all look as cool as Harrison Ford's cop car does in Sid Mead's original concept art. And some of them have cool extras, like voice-controlled color or a built-in ATM . But what you really want to know is, what's the fastest super-car in scifi? We rank them by speed (with a gallery) below.
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Yep, I'm a Replicant
Ridley Scott's dystopian sci fi classic Blade Runner was released in a special edition DVD this week called The Final Cut, and he answers once and for all the age-old question, "Was Deckard a replicant?" The answer: yes. That is until Blade Runner: The Really Final Ultimate Last Cut comes out in a capsulized ingestable form in 2019.
Ridley Scott's dystopian sci fi classic Blade Runner was released in a special edition DVD this week called The Final Cut, and he answers once and for all the age-old question, "Was Deckard a replicant?" The answer: yes. That is until Blade Runner: The Really Final Ultimate Last Cut comes out in a capsulized ingestable form in 2019.
jules verne adventure film festival
io9 Talks to Malcolm McDowell at The Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival
The Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival "where Science meets Fiction" started this weekend in Los Angeles, and io9 was there. This is only the second year the festival has been in the United States (they've been running it for several years in France), but they've managed to draw a host of science fiction talent from Ray Bradbury to Buzz Aldrin. Check out our interview with festival host Malcolm McDowell after the jump. More »
holiday shopping dvd blitz
Top Six SciFi DVD Sets of the Season
Like a mutant virus that wipes out most of humanity, the holidays are upon us once again. If you've been slipping into the Grinch-like ease of just picking up gift cards for everyone at your local supermarket instead of putting real thought into your gift giving, then you need to buck up and give some quality items this year. In fact, we'll make it easy for you. Whether you're picking something up for the scifi fan in your life, or you're spreading your own geeky love, these brand-new DVDs are well worth getting, or giving. More »
Science Fiction Movies Sold Out In 1982
The decade that began with 2001: A Space Odyssey was the heyday of smart, socially relevant science fiction, writes Grady Hendrix in the New York Sun. Back then, science fiction films looked down on The Man. But today's corporate sci-fi spectaculars are The Man. The turning point came in 1982, when the candy-munching E.T. crushed the dark thriller Blade Runner at the box office. [NY Sun]
The decade that began with 2001: A Space Odyssey was the heyday of smart, socially relevant science fiction, writes Grady Hendrix in the New York Sun. Back then, science fiction films looked down on The Man. But today's corporate sci-fi spectaculars are The Man. The turning point came in 1982, when the candy-munching E.T. crushed the dark thriller Blade Runner at the box office. [NY Sun]
blade runner
Blade Runner: The Final Cut is coming out on DVD next month, and packaged with it is a feature-length documentary about making the movie called Dangerous Days. Everyone is in this doc, including Ridley Scott and the ever-elusive Harrison Ford. After the jump, check out io9's exclusive clip from the documentary where writer David Webb Peoples talks about writing Rutger Hauer's famous speech as his character is dying at the end of the movie.
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Exclusive New Clip From Blade Runner: The Final Cut
Blade Runner: The Final Cut is coming out on DVD next month, and packaged with it is a feature-length documentary about making the movie called Dangerous Days. Everyone is in this doc, including Ridley Scott and the ever-elusive Harrison Ford. After the jump, check out io9's exclusive clip from the documentary where writer David Webb Peoples talks about writing Rutger Hauer's famous speech as his character is dying at the end of the movie.More »
blade runner 2
Blade Runner is enjoying a resurgence in popularity — the new cut hit theaters last month, and a five-disc ultra edition coming out on DVD next month. Now, rumors have it that Hollywood may churn out a sequel to this classic about rogue androids and the reluctant "Blade Runner" cop (Harrison Ford) who tracks them down. Author Paul Sammon, who has made an entire career out of talking about the movie, says that Director Ridley Scott is "not loathe" to the idea of a sequel to the classic 1982 film. But a sequel would be a disaster.
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Blade Runner Sequel Rumors Start Replicating
Blade Runner is enjoying a resurgence in popularity — the new cut hit theaters last month, and a five-disc ultra edition coming out on DVD next month. Now, rumors have it that Hollywood may churn out a sequel to this classic about rogue androids and the reluctant "Blade Runner" cop (Harrison Ford) who tracks them down. Author Paul Sammon, who has made an entire career out of talking about the movie, says that Director Ridley Scott is "not loathe" to the idea of a sequel to the classic 1982 film. But a sequel would be a disaster.
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syd mead
Put Futurist Syd Mead On The Hot Seat
Syd Mead has had a hand in designing everything from Ford automobiles, to V'Ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, to the Sulaco ship design in Aliens, and even the look and feel of the cities in Blade Runner and Tron. He's definitely a giant in the field of future design, and if you could ask him any question, what would it be? More »
blade runner
Blade Runner Final Cut Is De-Fuckified
Darwin over at AICN just checked out the Final Cut edition of Blade Runner in LA, and he says that the scene where psycho replicant Roy (Rutger Hauer) confronts his maker Tyrell has been made more family-friendly. In the original version, Roy tells Tyrell: "I want more life, fucker." Final Cut has him saying: "I want more life, father." But when Roy pops Tyrell's eyeballs out in the very next scene, more gore and goo has been restored. I'm all in favor of more eyeball glop, but has Ridley Scott gone all Steven Spielberg on us? This is much worse than Spielberg editing out "penis breath" from his E.T. 25th Anniversary Edition. Roy is supposed to be wrathful and strung-out, not a petulant son going Menendez on daddy.Blade Runner Final Cut [via AICN] More »
