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escape from terror
Posts Tagged “
Star Wars
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escape from terror
speed racer
Speed Racer Could Have Been Star Wars, Says John Scalzi
In an interesting column over at AMC, scifi writer and film critic John Scalzi explains why Speed Racer is doomed not so much because of its content, but because of the changing economics of film distribution. He points out that when Star Wars went into wide release in 1977, it garnered the equivalent (adjusted for inflation) of about $20 million its opening weekend — exactly what Speed Racer earned. And it was considered a monster hit. What has changed? For one thing, Star Wars was able to stay in theaters for nearly a year. More »
star wars
Force Unleashed Better Than Admittedly Bad Games, Says Lucas Employee
With The Force Unleashed about to hit consoles the world over, you may be slightly worried that it's not going to be "the greatest Star Wars game ever" (as some have said) and, instead, just another in a long line of crappy games based upon George Lucas' double trilogy of daddy issue movies. Thankfully, the people behind the game share your worries. Including that part about there being a lot of crappy games based on the Star Wars franchise. More »
morning spoilers
Meet The New Characters In Smallville Season 8
Smallville season seven doesn't end for another few days, but there are already new spoilers for season eight — including Clark's newest human adversary. Also, someone has posted the alleged ending of M. Night Shyamalan's new film The Happening. Also, there are new hints about Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, Lost, Stargate: Atlantis, and the next Star Wars novel. Oh, and we may finally get to find out what was the deal with Firefly's mysterious man of god, Shepherd Book — and the first details are already leaking out. Click through to get your spoilers on. More »
star wars
Clone Wars Looks Great, Except For The Humans
Lucas Films has released the trailer for Star Wars: Clone Wars in all its shiny, CGI glory. Everything mechanical and alien is quite sharp. The B1 battle droids look just as CGI crisp as they always have, but this time they actually blend with the surroundings. And the computer animation agrees with orange Jedi Padawan Ashoka Tano as well as with the green Nautolan. But as for the actual human beings, they stick out like a sore thumb. Update: We now have the full trailer. More »
space cocktails
Soak Your Head With The Greatest Cocktails From Science Fiction
After a long week of conquering the stars — which may seem like decades to a stationary observer — you deserve a stiff drink. Luckily, science fiction has a huge selection of bizarre cocktails, from the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster to the Flaming Rum Monkey. Sure, some of them may be poisonous to humans, but that's just part of the fun. Here's our round-up of the awesomest cocktails from SF. Just make sure to strap your drinks tray down, and away we go. More »
master strategists
The Greatest Space Strategists In Military History
Everybody always gives props to space captains: they're the ones sitting in the chair and commanding a spaceship going head-to-head with their bumpy-headed counterpart on the enemy ship. But one starship doesn't always win a space battle. Sometimes it's the general (or the admiral) sitting in an even bigger chair, who figures out where to send all the dozens, or thousands, of starships into battle like chess pieces. They're the tacticians and the master strategists, and we celebrate them below. More »
ask a biogeek
Reader Karen asks:
Where Is My Uterine Replicator (AKA Artificial Womb)?
Reader Karen asks: One of my favourite sci-fi conceits in the Vorkosigan works of Lois McMaster Bujold is the uterine replicator. Sticking a fetus in a regulated jar until it's come full term and I can get my new baby boy, girl or hermaphrodite without all the vomiting, constant peeing, strenuous pushing, pooping on the operating table, and possible endangerment to life, reproductive organs and blood sugar levels sounds like fucking bliss. When can you get that to me?Given the risk - and many months of what can charitably be termed "inconvenience" - what are the alternatives to signing up for nine months of incubator duty? Let's find out. More »
9:00 AM on Thu May 8 2008
By Terry Johnson
2,047 views,
32 comments
Latest by Y Duras: @ndgmtlcd: Actually, in the Bujold books, the placenta is included in the uterine replicator. more »
star wars
Star Wars Saga Has An End -- And An Ever-Expanding Middle
Want to know what happens after Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi? You have to venture into the "expanded universe" of books, comics and video games, says creator George Lucas, who reiterated that he never plans to make episodes 7, 8 or 9 of the series. For Lucas, the saga begins with Anakin's childhood and ends with his redemption and death. But Lucas is perfectly happy to keep stuffing the gaps in that narrative with more and more padding. More »
morning spoilers
The One Battlestar Plot Twist You Never Expected
Today's batch of spoilers include a shocking plot twist from the new Batman movie The Dark Knight, and a ton of details about a June Battlestar Galactica episode. We also have new plot details about Sam Rockwell's new movie Moon, and a new synopsis for Star Wars: Clone Wars. We dug up a dodgy description of how the current Doctor Who season climaxes, and a few new hints about the rest of the Lost season. All this, plus new spoilerific pics from Smallville, Transformers: Animated and Spectacular Spider-Man. Make a spoiler space in your mind, and then jump right in. More »
eradicating camp
Ever since the first cheesy monster or goofy robot leered out from the cover of a pulpy magazine, science fiction has struggled to shake off a certain tinge of campiness. No matter how hard creators may try to tell cool stories, that slightly ironic silliness is always lurking just outside the frame. And there will always be science fiction which takes those little hints of camp and amplifies them a million-fold. A little campiness may be fun to get stoned and giggle at, but it also stands in the way of telling amazing tales about the impact of technology on humans. Here's a rulebook for rooting out the campiness from science fiction.
More »
21 Ways To Eradicate Campiness From Science Fiction
Ever since the first cheesy monster or goofy robot leered out from the cover of a pulpy magazine, science fiction has struggled to shake off a certain tinge of campiness. No matter how hard creators may try to tell cool stories, that slightly ironic silliness is always lurking just outside the frame. And there will always be science fiction which takes those little hints of camp and amplifies them a million-fold. A little campiness may be fun to get stoned and giggle at, but it also stands in the way of telling amazing tales about the impact of technology on humans. Here's a rulebook for rooting out the campiness from science fiction.
More »
morning spoilers
Sex Secrets Of Hancock And Smallville's Clark Kent
Spoiler fiends are the truest afficionados of media SF. We're endlessly curious about everything: we actually care about drunken superhero Hancock's sex life, and exactly what Mulder and Scully's status is in X-Files 2. We pore over toy announcements to decipher the secret of Doctor Who's season finale, and read between the lines to dope out Smallville's next female villain. We scan every bit of new Speed Racer footage, and comb through hints about Heroes season three. We spy on Lost's finale shooting. We even pay attention to the reports about Eureka's next season and news about Star Wars books, that's how omnivorous we are. If it's a spoiler, we're interested. More »
sidekicks
The Cutest Science Fiction Sidekicks, And Why They Fail
All sidekicks must have certain key lovable qualities, or else they lose that sparkle that makes them so endearing. But sometimes the cute-overload factor goes too far and a gag reflex kicks in, making people want to destroy that character. Compiled after the jump is a list of the most adorable sidekicks in science fiction TV and movies, some good, some too cute for their own good. More »
public service announcements
Scifi PSAs: Because Knowing Is Half The Battle
G.I. Joe's Recondo teaches that the more you know, the less likely you are to hide in a fridge. Thanks, Recondo! Although honestly, it is a pretty great hiding place. Back in the day, Saturday mornings weren't just a place for awesome science fiction cartoons, they were also a chance for the government to instill morals into the minds of children via their favorite characters. After the jump a collection of some of our favorite science fiction Public Service Announcements, including Transformers, He-Man and Power Rangers. More »
international space station
On the International Space Station, You Can Watch Star Wars But Not Star Trek
In a stroke of weird genius, the people at GovernmentAttic.org issued a FOIA (freedom of information act) request to the US government to reveal the contents of the multimedia library on the International Space Station. Probably happy that they weren't being asked about the Patriot Act, the government happily complied, supplying us with a 13-page document containing the titles of every book, movie, and TV show in the ISS library. Not surprisingly there's a lot of science fiction in the mix, plus (of course) The Right Stuff. But there are some shocking choices in terms of what got put in — and what got left out. More »
star wars: the force unleashed
io9 got a sneak peek Star Wars: The Force Unleashed yesterday. The untold chapter between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope follows a new Sith apprentice who dodges rebels and Stormtroopers alike. Get a sampling of the story line, meet some new characters (and find out who's coming back), and read about the overall feel of the game below.
More »
Meet The New Characters In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
io9 got a sneak peek Star Wars: The Force Unleashed yesterday. The untold chapter between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope follows a new Sith apprentice who dodges rebels and Stormtroopers alike. Get a sampling of the story line, meet some new characters (and find out who's coming back), and read about the overall feel of the game below.
More »
star wars
Final Proof That Darth Vader Should Not Haggle
Last night's special Star Wars-themed Deal or No Deal left no cliché untouched, from the "may the force be with you jokes" to the Leia-slave and Stormtrooper costumes and blaster sound effects. I'm all for camp, but watching the Darth Vader brokering with the contestants as the night's replacement "Banker" really seemed to cheapen the whole "let's sell out Star Wars" experience. But all was redeemed seeing the night's winner Brad Flinchum knees buckle, voice crack and practically faint when he was presented with a congratulatory light saber signed by Mr. Lucas himself. Video recap after the jump. More »
star wars
