Dystopiarama! - Weekend triple feature!1!!!!!

Ah well, now that the £5 cheapo video games have all been completed (deffo £5 worth..nothing more), its time to get back to watching fillums of varying qualities.....

This time round I dredged up an old, but favourite, film topic..Dystopian futures!.

Saturn 3 (1980)

Eeh by gum!, this films as old as I am!.
So, plot wise this film is a sci-fi thriller, set in some unspecified future time when Earth has become ridiculously over populated and its inhabitants somewhat sociopathic, almost the entire film, save for the open sequence and a teeny bit at the end, takes place on an isolated botanical research station located on Saturns 3rd moon (which by astronomical standards would be Tethys, although which one it actually is is never stated, but this would make sense being as about 90% of Tethys' surface consists of ice, you know which is good for turning into water to grow plants with an shit, yo..anyway..).The moon is inhabited by Adam and Alex, a couple who are both there to research more efficient ways of growing plants to assist with Earths chronic food shortages. Adam and Alex (Kirk Douglas and Farrah Fawcett respectively) live a very comfortable life free form interference by the domineering Earth authorities, however one day their bliss is rudely interrupted by the arrival of Captain Benson (Harvey Keitel, although his voice was over dubbed by Roy Dotrice) , who brings with him a robot (arguably a cyborg) called "Hector".
Problem is, Benson wasn't supposed to be the one to deliver, and more importantly, train, via the use of direct mind impulse transference, the robot being as his mind was too disordered and prone to outbursts of extreme emotion and violence.
In the end, these violent, jealous and lustful thoughts (once he has got an eyefull of Farrah that is) end up being transferred to the robot, who, without any kind of moral guidelines, goes on a murderous rampage etc etc etc.

The film itself isn't a bad one, its not a good one either. For a start, Kirk Douglas was 64 at the time of filming, and even though he was in fairly good physical shape, theres something decidedly creepy about seeing a man who could be your grandfather engaging in simulated sex, nude scenes and sexual dialogue with a woman who was 32 years his junior.
The story is a tad predictable from the word go, and the special effects look extremely bargain basement, because the filming was fraught with problems, mainly stemming from the fact that ITC films had pissed a shit load of money up the wall on the film "Raise the Titanic!" which ended up being a massive box office flop, therefore the budget for this film ended up being stripped to the bare minimum required in order to get it finished.
The screen play was written by the semi famous writer Martin Amis, who later went on to write a thinly disguised book about the production, chronicling his own observations. He makes mention of an aging film star who is obsessed with his sexual virility (*coughkirkdouglascough*) as well as the numerous cost cutting measures and script changes required on short notice in order to accommodate them.

Entertaining?, not really, more, interesting than anything else.
Overall - 4/10

Omega Doom (1996)

Director Albert Pyun carved himself a nice little niche in the mid ninties through to the mid noughties, a niche which earned him the moniker "the Ed Wood of modern films" for a while.

Omega Doom is similar to Pyuns 1989 film "Cyborg", insofar as it concerns robots/cyborgs getting up to shennanigans in a dystiopian and post apocalyptic future.

Omega Doom (Rutger Hauer) is an android soldier who fought in world war 3, however on the last day of the war, a gun shot wound to the head erased his programming, making him forget his primary directive to KILL ALL HUMANS!!1!11!11one!1!.
Some time later, OD wanders into an abandoned French town (the original script called for the film to be set entirely within the boundaries of a post apocalyptic EuroDisney) to find that two factions are battling for control over the ruined buildings. One one side are the "Droids", a motley group of old robots, some of them ex-military, some of them servitor robots, and on the other side are the "ROMs", a trio of identical female robots who are much more advanced than the others, but are too few in number to take over completely.
The two factions share an uneasy peace, however secretly both sides are eager to find a rumoured cache of firearms that they believe to be hidden somewhere in the area.

This film is unashamedly a pastiche of  "Wandering Samurai" type films mixed in with "Mysterious stranger western" type films, hell, theres even a "saloon" in the town where a timid governess robot serves water to both sides to use as fuel.
OD appoints himself to be the local "lawman" and put an end to the feud, mainly via killing the leaders of the opposing factions who are constantly stirring up trouble and picking on the drifters that occasionally ride through the town.

The action scenes are silly in the extreme, with "gunfights" being replaced by quickdraw type duels in which both participants are armed with some sort of laser edged throwing knives.

Even though the film is very slowly paced, and the story isn't terribly demanding, "Omega Doom" still makes for a good viewing.

Overall - 7/10

Battle Truck (1982)

(This film was also released under the title "Warlords of the 21st Century")

Mad Max and its sequel, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, set a standard in the film industry and created a new type of post apocalypse film which featured people using vehicles and scrapping it out over fuel reserves after some off screen war had pretty much fucked the world up.
"Battle Truck" came out 1 year after Mad Max 2, and features, you guessed it, a Truck that is used for battle, manly battle involving a gang of ruffians picking on people in order to steal their supplies of fuel, food and pretty much anything else that takes their fancy, and thus far they have done quite well out of this wrongdoing being as no one can stand up to their massive armoured behemoth.

A small village called Clearwater becomes the next target for these ne'er do wells, who are pretty easy pickings being as they generally live a peaceful existence similar to the Quaker lifestyle, however this time round the bad guys get some trouble in the form of a mysterious motorcyclist named "Hunter" (Michael Beck - in one of his many B movie roles since his A list career ended when he decided to sign on to star in the awful "Xanadu" ).
As it turns out, a young woman who Hunter brought to live in Clearwater after he rescued her from being attacked by the baddies is the reason they have come, because she is the Big boss baddies daughter!.

Yeeaaaahhhhhhhh....This is a shite film, even the titular "Battle Truck" looks rubbish, and Michael Becks acting in the role of Hunter is really poor, you can tell hes only doing it for the pay day and not out of any particular interest in starring in this piece of dodgy sci-fi shit.

Overall - 3/10

Dystopiarama - Zardoz (1974)

Zardoz, the 1974 sci-fi/fantasy film is another strange entry in this sub category, but again nonetheless, it depicts a bizarre future time period.

The film actually stars people I have heard of, in the form of Sean Connery (who spends the entire film wearing, as he himself stated was "a red nappy, thigh length boots, a pony tail and a zapata moustache") Charlotte Rampling and John Alderton (cast against "type" in the role of a bizarre and effeminate man) , and it makes good use of these stars while the surreal and sometimes disturbing storyline plays out.

In the future of 2293 AD, the Earth has been reduced to an almost medieval landscape (it is never really explained why, although it is hinted that there was some sort of global war) with tribes of "Brutals" living in the remains of the former world. One tribe of these people, called "the Exterminators" are favoured by the god Zardoz, who appears as a giant floating stone head and demands that the exterminators kill brutals in order to stop them from repopulating the earth as they once did. In return for killing people, and providing Zardoz with grain, the exterminators receive weapons and ammunition.
One of the Exterminators, named Zed, stows away in one of the grain shipments and rides the stone head back to its point of origin, where en route, he accidentally kills a rather strange man who calls himself "Arthur Frayn".
When the head lands, Zed finds himself in a surreal world occupied by people who refer to themselves as "Eternals", humans with highly developed mental powers, who live in a society of total democracy and equality, who devote their eternal lifespans to developing and maintaining human knowledge under the custodianship of a being referred to as "The Tabernacle".
Zed quickly finds that not is all it seems amongst these people, as their supposedly perfect society is just as fraught with infighting as it is in the outside world, with a group of staunch conservatives seeking to maintain the status quo of their society, and other smaller groups seeking to make changes, such as actually allowing people to die, or allowing them to explore the outside world and learn of any changes that have occurred while they have been locked away in "The vortex" (there are actually several vortexes, all of which are areas which are kept shielded from the outside world by an invisible and impenetrable force field)

During his time amongst the immortals, Zed learns much about both them and himself, including that his being there was part of a long term plan to liberate the Eternals from their never ending state of boredom and stagnation, having reached the limits of their capabilities long ago and being unable to progress further due to the dictats of the Tabernacle.

Zardoz is a wonderfully surreal film, the likes of which we will never see again. Its bizarre blend of science fiction and fantasy is skillfully used to tell a story which, in essence is about living life itself and coping with and accepting change.
The surreal imagery and hippy leanings of the Eternals contrast wonderfully with Zeds harsh upbringing and lifestyle, with his simple thoughts belying his hidden intelligence.


A definite watch id say!

Dystopiarama - Robot Jox (1990)

A bit of a bizarre entry for this sub heading but this film is, nonetheless, a Dystopic film.

Robot Jox is a 1990 Sci-fi/Action film directed by Stuart Gordon and starring Gary Graham and no one else of any note, well, apart from a very young looking Jeffrey Combs in a role credited as "Prole #1".

This film is unusual for its time as it makes extensive use of stop motion and puppetry in order to portray the battle robots that play a large part in the films plot.

The plot is thus:-
In the late 21st century, the Earth is suffering the after effects of global resource wars, and, having seen the devastation and total pointlessness of nuclear conflict, the remaining nations of the world have formed themselves into two power blocs, The Free Market and the Confederation, and totally banned open warfare.
Instead of fighting in senseless and wasteful war, conflicts are instead sorted via a gladiatorial contest known simply as "The Games".

The games differ from previous gladiatorial contests, as they are fought using battle robots, piloted by warriors known as "Robot Jox".

The rules of the games seem fairly simple (or as simple as I can make them out to be from watching this movie) :-

#1 - Both sides may only enter one robot to fight per battle.
#2 - The robot may be armed with whatever weapons or technology the owners choose, and there is no obligation for either side to reveal what weapons or technology their robot is equipped with.
#3 - Once a robot has entered the battle arena, regardless of who is piloting it, it is considered that the challenge has been accepted. Leaving the arena without referee permission results in disqualification.
#4 - Combat will continue until one robot or Robot Jox is unable to continue.
#5 - All referee stipulations and directions are to be obeyed immediately and without question, failure or refusal to do so results in disqualification and forfeiture of the match.

The "Markets" best pilot is Jim, who fights under the alias "Achilles". Achilles is on the verge of surviving and winning 10 matches in a row, a feat only accomplished by his mentor, the Texan tactical advisor Tex Conway, who 10 years previously managed to destroy the Confederations most powerful robot with what he claims was a lucky shot from his vehicle, which was little more than a super heavy tank back in the days when bipedal walking war machines were unheard of.

Achilles is to fight the Confederations "Alexander", a ruthless russian pilot for the territory of Alaska, which if he wins will mark the end of his contract with the Market, however Alexander says he will kill Achilles and stop him achieving his goal.
Their match gets off to a good start, with both robots exchanging ranged fire with machine guns and missiles, before opening up on each other with lasers.
Alexanders robot fires a long blast from its laser cannon, but Achilles manages to deflect it with a piece of reflective armour located on his robots arms, then he plans to hit back with their secret weapon, the "Green Laser", which their science boffin, Dr. Matsumoto, says should guarantee them victory, however, they soon find that they have a spy in their midst when Achilles fires his Green Lasers, only for Alexander to deflect the blasts using his own reflective armour plates. The referees switch off both robots ranged weapons, so the action switches to melee combat, and Achilles is placed at a disadvantage as Alexander relentlessly pummels him with repeated blows from his robots hydraulic fists, but, just as Achilles thinks he has regained his advantage and damages his opponents robot with a hidden cutting torch, Alexander cheats and reveals that his secret weapon is the ability for his robot to fire one of its fists like a missile, which malfunctions and veers towards the crowd. Achilles throws his machine in the way and manages to block the out of control missile, but his robot falls on to the bleachers, and 300 people are killed. The match is declared a draw, as although Alexander won the match, he broke the rules by using a projectile weapon when at the time they were prohibited, so a rematch is to be fought in 1 week.

Achilles then decides he has fulfilled his obligation and decides to retire, but is alarmed when he is told his place will be taken by a new breed of genetically engineered soldiers called "Gen-Jox", who have superior strength, endurance and reactions, but who are completely inexperienced and extremely arrogant.

As the film goes on, The spy is revealed and Achilles ends up fighting Alexander once more for revenge.

The film is really good, considering its subject matter, and the special effects for the robots are amazing considering not one bit of CGI was used.
That said, the acting is somewhat hammy and the characters spew out line after line of cliched dialogue, but this doesnt alter the fact that this film is a nice, fun film, which will appeal to young and old alike.

If you want to watch this film, you can find it HERE

Dystopiarama - THX 1138 - Directors Cut (1971/2004)

Its not often I see the phrase "directors cut" mentioned in association with one of George Lucas's films and think "ooh!", although that said, I'm one of the few that quite likes what hes done with the original star wars movies, well to a certain extent (fuck you Jar Jar!).

So yeah, THX 1138 was George Lucas's first "proper" film as a professional director, and was based on his earlier short film "Electric Labyrinth - THX 1138 4EB" (which is included as a bonus feature on the directors cut DVD/Blu-Ray).

Set in some unspecified future period, of which the film makes no attempts or efforts to explain whatsoever it stars Robert Duvall as the titular THX 1138, a "drone" worker who lives in a society where there are no real individuals, and society is controlled according to the strict dictats of a computerised economical system, and where the law is enforced by silver faced and extremely amiable police robots.
The people of this bizarre future are kept in a permanent state of sedation as they mindlessly go about their assigned and extremely rigorously micromanaged work duties, with failure to take their state prescribed medications being a crime.
The state also ruthlessly enforces strict controls over individuals private lives, for example, each citizen is billeted to live in spartan accommodations with a roommate, sexual activity of any sort between people is completely banned, and the only entertainments allowed to the citizens revolve around watching banal "entertainment" holographic propaganda (one scene features THX watching a pornographic hologram while a machine masturbates him, this is the only permitted sexual release afforded to the people of this bizarre future).

THX  however, along with his room mate, a female designated "LUH 3417" have ceased taking their state prescribed medications, and have embarked on a sexual relationship, however the omnipresent observers note this and soon enough they both begin to run afoul of the law, especially so when THX finds himself unable to concentrate at his mundane job assembling police robots, which almost causes a nuclear accident.

The film itself is a rather surreal one to watch, as the bizarre environment and emotionally stunted behaviour of the characters can become somewhat confusing to the casual viewer, a matter on which one of the characters (SEN 5241 - played by Donald Pleasence) actually muses upon in the films final act, as he ponders why there appear to be gaps in the fabric of the society whilst standing in front of a picture of Jesus (named OMM 0910 in the film, representing the official religion of the state, whom citizens "worship" by entering phone booth like chambers and telling the picture their woes while a series of pre recorded responses offer empathy and understanding, but provide no advice or assistance. All conversations with OMM are recorded and anyone found to be in violation of any law is arrested).

As this is the Directors Cut, and following in his tradition of "doing up" his older films, this version of the movie restores some scenes cut from the original theatrical release, alongside newly shot scenes and scenes "improved" by use of modern CGI. 

Make no mistake about it, first time viewers will more than likely not understand the films content and will miss some of the references made by characters featured, but, when viewed "in the proper manner", THX 1138 is a skillfully crafted piece of nihilistic cinema, and Duvall does a wonderful job of playing a man whose brain has been "switched on" for the first time in his life and caused him to question and rebel against his surroundings.

This may not be a film to all peoples tastes, and can be considered to be rather boring in some places, but I quite like it.

Dystopiarama! 2 - Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

Fahrenheit 451 is a 1966 film based on Ray Bradburys 1953 dystopian sci-fi novel of the same name.

The film, although not a direct translation of the book, manages to take the storyline as a whole and improve on it in some places.
One particularly clever bit of cinematography is that at no point during the film, other than the occasional glimpses of books found by the firemen, do you see anything in written form, even the films titles and credits are spoken by an off screen narrator, and on the odd occasion where any of the characters read from books, they always speak the words out loud.

Set in an unspecified future time (which looks remarkably like what people in the 60s view of what the world would look like in the 21st century, with futuristic monorail trains being there alongside big clunky 60s pieces of electronic equipment) the film stars German actor Oskar Werner in the role of Guy Montag, a "Fireman" who unlike the fire fighters (theres no political correctness in this future time either...thank fuck) of today, actually start fires rather than put them out.
You see, in this bizarre pseudo futuristic world of tomorrow, all books and forms of written communication have been outlawed by a oppressive government, simply because they can be used to promote ideas about rebellion or contain information which in contrary to the carefully crafted propaganda and revisionist history they allow.
For entertainment, the state actively encourages people to watch mind numbingly banal television programs, inviting friends round to watch TV together, not only that but the people are allowed access to a staggering array of harmful recreational drugs, many of which they don't even know the names for, simply referring to them by the colour the tablets are.

Guy is quite happy in his job, and his station master has him tipped for promotion because he has been doing such a good job in burning books and rooting out people who collect and preserve illegal libraries, however all this contentedness gets turned on its head when one day whilst riding the train home from work he strikes up a conversation with Clarisse, a young woman who bears a striking resemblance to his wife (Julie Christie in a dual role), except that unlike his wife, Clarisse actually has the zest of life about her, where his wife is content to just laze around their home all day watching TV and taking various drugs.
After a few conversations with her, Clarisse asks Guy about his opinion on books, which at first he dismisses as being "just so much rubbish that we don't need any more", but he soon becomes curious, and from that point on he finds himself keeping one or two books whenever he finds any while he is at work, but he finally comes to love the written word when he sees a woman immolate herself after he and his fire crew raid her home and find it packed to the rafters with illegal reading materials, thus he begins to lose interest in his boring life and begins expanding his mind by reading various pieces of philosophy, poetry and fiction.




As I said, the film is very cleverly made, and uses familiar cinematic techniques in new and bizarre ways, such as rewinding the film so the firemen slide UP the fireman's pole instead of down it, which would normally look silly but for some reason in this film it works so well with the bizarre and surreal world the film creates.

They would never be able to make a film like this now, simply because it would quickly degenerate into a series of CGI explosions and hidden messages about terrorism, and Guy Montag, would be some sort of confused emo-esque character with some defining element of tragedy tacked into his back story, rather than the quiet unassuming man he is as played by Werner.

This is a very, very good film which contains a lot of commentary which is still relevant today about such matters as the "dumbing down" of western culture, the almost militant rise of anti-intellectualism in recent years and the problems with simply obeying what someone else says without question.