Slashdot Mirror

Having lived through the 70's I can tell you with onitoligical certitude that US television at the time was a vast, vile, steaming heap of crap.

Got your back on that one. I wish my young brain had not been subjected to Charlies Angels, The Love Boat (ouch), Fantasy Island, Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, or The 6 Million Dollar Man. And what was with that whole 70s Bigfoot obsession? Lots of movies and TV shows about it including an episode from The 6 Million Dollar Man and The Night Stalker. Maybe it had something to do with the 70s fascination with supernatural horror (based on Christian mythology). Remember In Search Of with Leonard Nimoy? For me that symbolizes that decades fascination with stuff like that.

Doctor Who with Tom Baker, ST:TOS, and those campy Roger Corman-esque and Japanese (Toho Studios etc.) guy-in-rubber-suit Saturday afternoon monster movies (late 70s) were the high points of that TV era for me. Even cartoons like Speed Racer and Felix the Cat seem less embarrassing than 70s network TV. And the 'good' shows like Night Gallery and Night Stalker would be considered unwatcheable by modern standards. I have heard that there is one TV movie from that era, an ABC Movie of the Week about witches called Crowhaven Farm that stands out as the best television of that era. But it is impossible to find a copy. So I can't confirm it.

I can still remember coming home from school and flipping on my old telly that took more than a minute to 'warm up'. The so called remote had big rectangular buttons that seemed to use a loud clicking sound to turn it on and change the channels. I think simulating the clicking sound could shut the TV off.

Luckily I had a friend with a DEC PDP-11 by the late 70s. So that offered some degree of entertainment in the form of early computer games like Super Star Trek and Adventure (Collosal Cave).

Perhaps the biggest mind-rape of that era was the music and the hideous clothes (which ironically young girls of the current era seem to have copied). A decade that includes the Bee Gees and Barry Manilow playing on 8-track tapes, The Hardy Boys, platform shoes, bell bottoms, velour v-neck and button down shirts with those long pointy lapels, truly is (or should be) an embarrassment for everyone who had to live through it.

Even the feathered hair, skin-tight Jordache jeans, leg warmers (remember Flash Dance?) and synth-pop of the early 80s were a huge step up the evolutionary ladder for western culture. I don't know if it was a worldwide phenomenon or just in North America and Western Europe. I have to wonder what East Asian or South American culture, for instance, was like at that time.

I realize that Ron Moore has an executive producer credit and co-wrote several episodes, but then again, MacGyver has an executive producer credit on SG-1 but that doesn't mean he has squat to do with the show (other than making O'Neill cool). All I was responding to was the statment that "... if left with a free hand, do Moore's projects always have to have a messiah?" I would think that the fact that Hawkins is a Messianic character is something that the creator of the show is responsible for (otherwise it is just a story about some carnies in the dust bowl).

Ron Moore was one of the writers of the show, and the executive producer

Ron Moore was one of the writers of the show, and the executive producer

As to the last portion of point 2, the name of the movie is "Space Mutiny". I had the misfortune of seeing bits and pieces of it when it was on a late-late movie show. From what I could tell, it made the original BSG look very good. (From a character/plot view) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096149/IMDb info about Space Mutiny

Carnivale (one of Moore's other recent efforts
Sorry, but Daniel Knauf was responsible for Carnivale (also one of my favorites) Gotta love The Little Man From Another Place

Carnivale (one of Moore's other recent efforts
Sorry, but Daniel Knauf was responsible for Carnivale (also one of my favorites) Gotta love The Little Man From Another Place

Not too long ago, I stumbled across a BBC-produced show called Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets. A mockumentary about a manned spacecraft on a future grand scientific tour of the solar system, it surpassed the limitations of the edutainment genre and actually became a moving drama about human beings taking their first steps beyond Earth and into space. It felt like a whole season of a great sci-fi series packed into 100 minutes. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend adding it to your Netflix queue if you can.

One of the problems with Star Trek is that it is no longer believable. Our standards for willing disbelief increased from Star Trek: TOS to TNG, and they have increased just as much since then. The current Star Trek universe seems just as broad and fantastic now as Kirk's universe seemed in the 80s.

If and when Star Trek returns, I'd love it if they followed this lead. Show us what a real human future in space might be like. No aliens, no transporters, just the real human drama of humanity conquering the solar system and questing to go further. There's so much there, so many stories to be told, and reality can be just as amazing and emotionally powerful as any fantasy. If they could make it half as good as the Space Odyssey mockumentary was, they'd rejuvenate the franchise in a heartbeat.

Superman 3 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086393/
Nah. Brewster's Millions.

Superman 3 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086393/
Nah. Brewster's Millions.

Yep. There is (among other things) footage from the movie Silent Running. Watch for the colony ship with the Eco-Domes .. it looks a lot like the Valley Forge.

And, regrettably, there is the re-re-re-reused shot of a jettisoned dome being blown up. Unfortunately, that particular shot isn't just "random spare footage" but one of the key scenes of Silent Running. It makes me cringe every time ;-(

In the interview, Sophia Stewart claims she sent the Wachowski Brothers her manuscript for "Third Eye" in or around 1986. The Terminator (the original movie) was released in 1984 according to the IMDB entry (and thus must have been in production since at least 1982, movies don't get made overnight ya know).

My first thought was, did she then send her manuscript back in time by 4 years? Okay, so I dismissed her initially too. But then she does say her manuscript was written by 1981, so there is at least a window of possibility when this could have happened.

Doing a little more poking around, some other interesting things that I gleaned from IMDB's trivia page for The Terminator - apparently there was already a lawsuit for that script by Harlan Ellison, with whom James Cameron reached a settlement that included giving him script writing credits for supposedly having used parts of two Ellison-written episodes of the Outer Limits and a short story.

The one thing that does make me suspicious is this blurb: "The initial draft for the movie was sold to Cameron's wife, Gale Anne Hurd for the price of $1 only."

But the primary script writing credit is given to James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. So why no credit for the person they supposedly bought the original script from?

At the very least it sounds like there might be some suspect lineage to the Terminator script as well. So maybe she's not entirely crazy, and maybe this isn't just a case of generally similar sci-fi themes in scripts originating from different sources.

In the interview, Sophia Stewart claims she sent the Wachowski Brothers her manuscript for "Third Eye" in or around 1986. The Terminator (the original movie) was released in 1984 according to the IMDB entry (and thus must have been in production since at least 1982, movies don't get made overnight ya know).

My first thought was, did she then send her manuscript back in time by 4 years? Okay, so I dismissed her initially too. But then she does say her manuscript was written by 1981, so there is at least a window of possibility when this could have happened.

Doing a little more poking around, some other interesting things that I gleaned from IMDB's trivia page for The Terminator - apparently there was already a lawsuit for that script by Harlan Ellison, with whom James Cameron reached a settlement that included giving him script writing credits for supposedly having used parts of two Ellison-written episodes of the Outer Limits and a short story.

The one thing that does make me suspicious is this blurb: "The initial draft for the movie was sold to Cameron's wife, Gale Anne Hurd for the price of $1 only."

But the primary script writing credit is given to James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. So why no credit for the person they supposedly bought the original script from?

At the very least it sounds like there might be some suspect lineage to the Terminator script as well. So maybe she's not entirely crazy, and maybe this isn't just a case of generally similar sci-fi themes in scripts originating from different sources.

1. You don't have as much vacation days as Europeans
2. Minimum wages are so low and without a wellfare state, some people have to work two jobs just to get by.
3. You have this collective 'Best <insert noun> of the world' attitude

While everyone's all "wah, what is slashdot coming to, why do I need to know what some so-called actress says", I'd like to remind you that Ms. Portman has long been a geekboy fantasy, and as such is entitled to a place of honor in good'ole Slashdot.

Plus, I challenge any red-blooded geek to see the film Garden State and not fall in love with the woman. I mean it; you really should check out that movie, the quirky, original script alone makes it worth it.

Now I'm going to have to take Keanu Reeves movies seriously again.

Bah. Check out the Roller Blade movies (not Roller Ball), such as Roller Blade, Roller Blade Warriors, The Roller Blade Seven, The Legend of the Rollerblade Seven, and Return of the Roller Blade Seven.

These are truly the worse movies ever. They're movies about post-apocalyptic roller-skating battle nuns. POST-APOCALYPTIC ROLLER-SKATING BATTLE NUNS!!!

Here's the plot summary of The Roller Blade Warriors from IMDB for example:
In the future, a warrior nun on roller skates must rescue a seer, who is to be sacrificed by a band of mutants.

Now, I haven't seen all of these movies, but the ones I've seen have been so attrociously bad as to be incomprehensible. The acting is awful. The dialogue ranges from bizarre to stupid. The cinematography is okay. The plot is nonsense. The characters are also nonsensical. I've seen a lot of bad movies. These are far and away the worst.

Although, I should note that we haven't yet worked up the guts to watch the other films from the same director, Hell Comes To Frogtown and it's sequels.

Keith

Bah. Check out the Roller Blade movies (not Roller Ball), such as Roller Blade, Roller Blade Warriors, The Roller Blade Seven, The Legend of the Rollerblade Seven, and Return of the Roller Blade Seven.

These are truly the worse movies ever. They're movies about post-apocalyptic roller-skating battle nuns. POST-APOCALYPTIC ROLLER-SKATING BATTLE NUNS!!!

Here's the plot summary of The Roller Blade Warriors from IMDB for example:
In the future, a warrior nun on roller skates must rescue a seer, who is to be sacrificed by a band of mutants.

Now, I haven't seen all of these movies, but the ones I've seen have been so attrociously bad as to be incomprehensible. The acting is awful. The dialogue ranges from bizarre to stupid. The cinematography is okay. The plot is nonsense. The characters are also nonsensical. I've seen a lot of bad movies. These are far and away the worst.

Although, I should note that we haven't yet worked up the guts to watch the other films from the same director, Hell Comes To Frogtown and it's sequels.

Keith

Bah. Check out the Roller Blade movies (not Roller Ball), such as Roller Blade, Roller Blade Warriors, The Roller Blade Seven, The Legend of the Rollerblade Seven, and Return of the Roller Blade Seven.

These are truly the worse movies ever. They're movies about post-apocalyptic roller-skating battle nuns. POST-APOCALYPTIC ROLLER-SKATING BATTLE NUNS!!!

Here's the plot summary of The Roller Blade Warriors from IMDB for example:
In the future, a warrior nun on roller skates must rescue a seer, who is to be sacrificed by a band of mutants.

Now, I haven't seen all of these movies, but the ones I've seen have been so attrociously bad as to be incomprehensible. The acting is awful. The dialogue ranges from bizarre to stupid. The cinematography is okay. The plot is nonsense. The characters are also nonsensical. I've seen a lot of bad movies. These are far and away the worst.

Although, I should note that we haven't yet worked up the guts to watch the other films from the same director, Hell Comes To Frogtown and it's sequels.

Keith

Bah. Check out the Roller Blade movies (not Roller Ball), such as Roller Blade, Roller Blade Warriors, The Roller Blade Seven, The Legend of the Rollerblade Seven, and Return of the Roller Blade Seven.

These are truly the worse movies ever. They're movies about post-apocalyptic roller-skating battle nuns. POST-APOCALYPTIC ROLLER-SKATING BATTLE NUNS!!!

Here's the plot summary of The Roller Blade Warriors from IMDB for example:
In the future, a warrior nun on roller skates must rescue a seer, who is to be sacrificed by a band of mutants.

Now, I haven't seen all of these movies, but the ones I've seen have been so attrociously bad as to be incomprehensible. The acting is awful. The dialogue ranges from bizarre to stupid. The cinematography is okay. The plot is nonsense. The characters are also nonsensical. I've seen a lot of bad movies. These are far and away the worst.

Although, I should note that we haven't yet worked up the guts to watch the other films from the same director, Hell Comes To Frogtown and it's sequels.

Keith

Bah. Check out the Roller Blade movies (not Roller Ball), such as Roller Blade, Roller Blade Warriors, The Roller Blade Seven, The Legend of the Rollerblade Seven, and Return of the Roller Blade Seven.

These are truly the worse movies ever. They're movies about post-apocalyptic roller-skating battle nuns. POST-APOCALYPTIC ROLLER-SKATING BATTLE NUNS!!!

Here's the plot summary of The Roller Blade Warriors from IMDB for example:
In the future, a warrior nun on roller skates must rescue a seer, who is to be sacrificed by a band of mutants.

Now, I haven't seen all of these movies, but the ones I've seen have been so attrociously bad as to be incomprehensible. The acting is awful. The dialogue ranges from bizarre to stupid. The cinematography is okay. The plot is nonsense. The characters are also nonsensical. I've seen a lot of bad movies. These are far and away the worst.

Although, I should note that we haven't yet worked up the guts to watch the other films from the same director, Hell Comes To Frogtown and it's sequels.

Keith

Bah. Check out the Roller Blade movies (not Roller Ball), such as Roller Blade, Roller Blade Warriors, The Roller Blade Seven, The Legend of the Rollerblade Seven, and Return of the Roller Blade Seven.

These are truly the worse movies ever. They're movies about post-apocalyptic roller-skating battle nuns. POST-APOCALYPTIC ROLLER-SKATING BATTLE NUNS!!!

Here's the plot summary of The Roller Blade Warriors from IMDB for example:
In the future, a warrior nun on roller skates must rescue a seer, who is to be sacrificed by a band of mutants.

Now, I haven't seen all of these movies, but the ones I've seen have been so attrociously bad as to be incomprehensible. The acting is awful. The dialogue ranges from bizarre to stupid. The cinematography is okay. The plot is nonsense. The characters are also nonsensical. I've seen a lot of bad movies. These are far and away the worst.

Although, I should note that we haven't yet worked up the guts to watch the other films from the same director, Hell Comes To Frogtown and it's sequels.

Keith

Ice Pirates should certainly be up there (or down there?) in the worst movie list.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0087451/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD 0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9MXxmYj11fHBuPTB8cT1pY2UgcGlyYXRl fGh0bWw9MXxubT0x;fc=1;ft=20;fm=1

Also, Santa Clause Conquers the Martians.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0058548/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD 0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9MXxmYj11fHBuPTB8cT1TYW50YSBDbGF1 c2UgQ29ucXVlcnMgdGhlIE1hcnRpYW5zfGh0bWw9MXxubT0x;f c=1;ft=1;fm=1

Ice Pirates should certainly be up there (or down there?) in the worst movie list.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0087451/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD 0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9MXxmYj11fHBuPTB8cT1pY2UgcGlyYXRl fGh0bWw9MXxubT0x;fc=1;ft=20;fm=1

Also, Santa Clause Conquers the Martians.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0058548/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD 0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9MXxmYj11fHBuPTB8cT1TYW50YSBDbGF1 c2UgQ29ucXVlcnMgdGhlIE1hcnRpYW5zfGh0bWw9MXxubT0x;f c=1;ft=1;fm=1

Cool, thanks! For anyone else still reading this old thread, this page has the 14 movies and TV shows based on his works. Cheers!

I like this wiki better. It talks about how Japan was already devastated by firebombing, a fact which Robert S. McNamara finally admits in the recent Fog of War documentary.

"The first firebombing raid was on Kobe on February 3, 1945, and following its relative success the USAAF continued the tactic. Much of the armor and defensive weaponry of the bombers was also removed to allow increased bomb loads; Japanese air defense in terms of night-fighters and anti-aircraft guns was so feeble it was hardly a risk. The first such raid on Tokyo was on the night of February 23-24 when 174 B-29s destroyed around one square mile (3 km) of the city. Following on that success 334 B-29s raided on the night of March 9-10, dropping around 1,700 tons of bombs. Around 16 square miles (41 km) of the city was destroyed and over 100,000 people are estimated to have died in the fire storm. The destruction and damage was at its worst in the city sections east of the Imperial Palace. It was the most destructive conventional raid of the war against Japan. In the following two weeks there were almost 1,600 further sorties against the four cities, destroying 31 square miles (80 km) in total at a cost of only 22 aircraft. There was a third raid on Tokyo on May 26."

There was plenty enough conventional massacre by the time Fat Man and Little Boy rolled around, my friend. Japan wasn't a virgin isle of paradise when the two nukes dropped. It was a war-torn, bombed out nation. Fog of War documents it to numbing effect.

There's a lot of history that America doesn't teach its children.

OK looking at IMDB.com, it appears that if a movie has something in it that we currently cannot build, or an alien, then it's sci-fi (or SF?).

http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Genres/Sci-Fi/

So I guess Firefly is SF.
But, I don't understand how it helps make a show more interesting to have the guns shoot lasers instead of bullets. Or spaceships instead of boats.

In your example:
"(There's a great scene in "Objects in Space" where they're discussing River's possible psychic abilities. Wash says something like "I don't believe that science fiction stuff". Zoe gives him a look and says "You're living on a space ship". Wash looks at her, "so?")
"

Serenity is intended to be a very unremarkable spaceship in their world. The space pirates almost passed it up entirely. My point is that living on a space ship would not be SF to them. It's science reality. Serenity would be as mundane to them as a volkswagon bus or an ocean-going boat is to us.

In star trek they were truely expanding their knowledge of science as they met strange new creatures and data "developed" and had "offspring". Those new technologies and capabilities and cultures broguht up a lot of interesting questions that could be applied to our lives in the 21st century - like, what is "life" and what should be accorded the rights of a life-form?

None of that in Firefly. They just meet other humans - and backwards ones at that. There are more advanced cultures on 21st century earth!

I mean, there are horses in the opening credits! Gaahhhh!

This is the worst movie I've seen
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0106642/

now i can even watch Plan 9 and find it interesting....

Bubba Ho-Tep. Baby.

Just a small aside from whether campbell crunches kernal code, if you have the chance you should watch the 2002 film Bubba Ho-Tep, with Bruce Campbell playing a retired Elvis in a Nursing home. In the film he and a very old JFK have to battle an egyptian mummy, as the tagline says "The King of Rock vs. The King of the Dead". I realise it's an relatively old film to be pimping but it well worth watching whether or not you are a Campbell fan or not as it's incredibly funny, with an extremely poignant ending. http://imdb.com/title/tt0281686/

...Throg, the Movie? Makes Plan 9 look like a Paul Verhoeven flick.

Bruce Campbell is a cult film actor. Cult films are generally appreciated by Nerds. This is so because of the often campy, but entertaining, material of the cult films.

In a related subject, Nerds are known to "Geek out" when they see a cult film actor, such as Bruce Campbell, in major films.

Bruce Campbell is a cult film actor. Cult films are generally appreciated by Nerds. This is so because of the often campy, but entertaining, material of the cult films.

In a related subject, Nerds are known to "Geek out" when they see a cult film actor, such as Bruce Campbell, in major films.

Bruce Campbell is a cult film actor. Cult films are generally appreciated by Nerds. This is so because of the often campy, but entertaining, material of the cult films.

In a related subject, Nerds are known to "Geek out" when they see a cult film actor, such as Bruce Campbell, in major films.

Bruce Campbell is a cult film actor. Cult films are generally appreciated by Nerds. This is so because of the often campy, but entertaining, material of the cult films.

In a related subject, Nerds are known to "Geek out" when they see a cult film actor, such as Bruce Campbell, in major films.

Bruce Campbell is a cult film actor. Cult films are generally appreciated by Nerds. This is so because of the often campy, but entertaining, material of the cult films.

In a related subject, Nerds are known to "Geek out" when they see a cult film actor, such as Bruce Campbell, in major films.

Bruce Campbell is a cult film actor. Cult films are generally appreciated by Nerds. This is so because of the often campy, but entertaining, material of the cult films.

In a related subject, Nerds are known to "Geek out" when they see a cult film actor, such as Bruce Campbell, in major films.

You meant to say geiger-counter-remembers. Giger was the artist behind the Alien design

I don't know if Plan 9 is truly the worst movie ever. I have to agree with the MST3K crew that there are several others even worse, like Manos.

What I hear is that 'Manos' - The Hand of Faith is scoring below its level because of MST3K. One reviewer in IMDb claims that the MST3K version was hevily edited so the movie appears worse than it is. Is he right? I don't know, and will never find out as I have no intention to watch two different versions of a crappy movie.

Anyway, the point remains: people should undeline that they are speaking of "MST3K: 'Manos' - The Hand of Faith" not "'Manos' - The Hand of Faith". Thay are two different movies like "Blade Runner" and "Blade Runner - Director's Cut" are two different movies.

I don't know if Plan 9 is truly the worst movie ever. I have to agree with the MST3K crew that there are several others even worse, like Manos.

What I hear is that 'Manos' - The Hand of Faith is scoring below its level because of MST3K. One reviewer in IMDb claims that the MST3K version was hevily edited so the movie appears worse than it is. Is he right? I don't know, and will never find out as I have no intention to watch two different versions of a crappy movie.

Anyway, the point remains: people should undeline that they are speaking of "MST3K: 'Manos' - The Hand of Faith" not "'Manos' - The Hand of Faith". Thay are two different movies like "Blade Runner" and "Blade Runner - Director's Cut" are two different movies.

So the owner of the store is at fault for storing his customers valuables somewhere that it is easy to steal?
Yes. As I recall from my Law professor, "If you take someone's dog for a walk, and it gets hit by a meteor, you ARE responsible for injury to the dog, because you took the dog to a place that was susceptible to meteor showers."
That's pretty much how the system works.

Is that the kind of laws we want?
Um, no. Take that up with your Representative, President, etc.

and I am to blame for not replacing the locks?
Yes.

What if the Jewlery store did not want any locks?
Then he's probably a dumbass. And an optimistic one at that.

What if all they wanted was for people to obey the law?
Aw. How sweet. Wouldn't that be nice. Maybe in Demolition Man. But even that system wasn't quite perfect.

Are we living in a society with no honor?
Um. Yes. Money is our new form of honor. Money and lawyers.

Are we living in a time when everything that is wrong is okay, the "poor me" I did not mean to do it, but it was too tempting?
This kind of reminds me of the story of the guy and the girl that both get wasted and both decide to hook up. For some reason the next morning, the guy is at fault, and the girl is a 'victim'.

Many fewer people stole, lied, and cheated.
Now we have computers, cooler cars, and all in all more cool shit to steal. It's more tempting.

It seems like every deviant lifestyle is being accepted as normal.
Yeah. And it sucks. We need to bring back corporal punishment.


I dunno what to tell you. Life's a bitch.

This is.

JET-FLAME ACTION! JET-HOT THRILLS! No man can pay the price for what this woman offers!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070948/

zardoz is the absolute worst ever.

Watched this a couple of weeks ago. My eyes stopped bleeding yesterday.

Not an old, putrid carcas like "Plan 9" or some others cited; more like fresh roadkill, still steaming on the road side...

Gay Nigger from outer space : 6.0/10 (1,104 votes)
Plan 9 from outer space :3.5/10 (7,854 votes

So it seems the world at large agrees with you, still I wonder how both of those film could get more than 0.5/10...Oh, well, there is something for all taste.

Gay Nigger from outer space : 6.0/10 (1,104 votes)
Plan 9 from outer space :3.5/10 (7,854 votes

So it seems the world at large agrees with you, still I wonder how both of those film could get more than 0.5/10...Oh, well, there is something for all taste.

I am NOT kidding. This movie is BAD.

Obviously you've never watched Manos, The Hands of Fate. That movie makes Plan 9 seem like a brilliant tribute to life.

Nothing beats The Skydivers, according to IMDB's bottom 100. The biggest loser, though, is 'Manos' the Hands of Fate. If you notice, only a few actors in that Manos played in other films.

I just downloaded the original Fantastic Four, not this years release, but 1994's release just because I had read it was so bad. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109770/ I wonder how it will stack up for worst movie :)