SF at the Movies - May '13

Here's the Sci-Fi on our screens for this month:

Star Trek: Into Darkness

And that's it!! Let me know if I missed one!!

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 39

So the Doctor is back on our screens and there are a few new exciting life forms for us to discover on his travels. As ever if you want more detailed discussion of the episodes themselves as well as Who in general I'll leave you in the expert hands of the Impossible Podcast team, who you can link to by clicking the sidebar.

Dalek Puppets

I'm not 100% sure about the term, but the Tardis wiki people use it and as I'm stealing this image from them I guess it'll work fine!! I liked this twist of the Daleks converting people into sleeper agents against their will and I even thought the Dalek probes coming out of their heads was a good idea. The only thing I didn't quite like was that the agent had too much personality when in Dalek mode, casually laughing about how they used her memories jarred a little and would have been better delivered devoid of emotion - the Alaska  crewers did a better job, starting confused and turning into scary Dalek mode.

And as for Oswin that was just tragic!

In the second episode we got a load of dinosaurs and a vaguely humanish guy plus a Silurian or two but nothing that could really classify as a new species - I did like the premise though, it remided me of Planetary stories - plus we did get a cool spaceship out of it!!

Silurian Ark Ship

Kahler

In this Western style episode the production team went down the Star Trek alien route featuring the 'basically human with a strange marking on the face' species type that so often encountered the Enterprise. This species seem to all feature distinctive green markings on their face, but on outward appearance are all basically human. However I suppose it did make sense for him to be more easily accepted by the townsfolk if he did basically look human.

The Kahler were a very technologically advanced race capable of building incredible forms of technology. At some point in their history they became embroiled in a catastrophic war that lead to the creation of cyborgs, mutilated beings that served to overpower their enemies. However, the cyborgs then turned on their masters and hunted down the men that made them into monsters.

More soon, probably Mass Effect

Dental Power!!

Oh yeah!

I've wanted to talk about Sci-Fi clichés for a bit, and in a brief, ill researched way, I'm going to talk about one that always tickles me as a way to add a tad more diversity to the ol' blog.

OK, what I want to talk about is the power of a main character in a film/tv show to overcome any odds by gritting their teeth - honestly it's like their Hollywood-whitened pearlies have some kind of superpowers.

Seriously, it doesn't matter whether the hero has had a building fall on them, been injected with elephant tranquilizer or had a hypnotic blast that is absolutely guaranteed to make them fall in love with the slug warriors of Varlgacb that cast it (that last one's mine, and it's copyright OK?) all they have to do is look at their comrades, maybe give their head a thought0clearing shake and then grimace for all their worth and they're bound to come through.

My favourite example of this is in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan where the eponymous warlord chucks some Ceti eels down the ears of a few cast members. One is an admiral, but not from the Enterprise - the other is Chekhov. The thing about Ceti eels is they get into your brain, cause you a lot of pain and kill you - guaranteed. The creepy thing bores into Admiral Redshirt's cerebelum and does it's thing, resulting in a dead admiral - one goes to work on Chekhov, but all the plucky lad has to do is grit those teeth and...







...pop goes the weevil! (eeewww grosss!)

Who knows, maybe as humanity slowly blazes it's trail across the stars what we really need to survive in the depths of space is a decent dental program - that or we only send recognizable Hollywood stars with the right training to fight the horde of terrifying beasts that await.

Stuff: Star Trek

Well I've decided to do something new as I'm fast becoming predictable, though this will end up likely being another series of semi-regular postings, that or fading into obscurity - time will tell. I also decided it was time to be a bit more geeky!! I've made my attempts to be a bit more analytical with some success and I think there's definitely room for that, but not at the expense of going "wow that was sooo coool!" and so I'm resorting to this post, which I'm labelling 'Stuff' to celebrate the amazing new ships, tech, aliens etc. that appear in new media focusing, for the time being, on movies. These posts will focus on movies a few months old so as to allow the relevant wikis and fan sites the time to get decent images and facts.

First up is the new Star Trek film, which recast the original crew and has 'rebooted' the series with a time-travel induced series of plot twists. It also introduced us to a great bunch of new spaceships!! By the way this will constitute spoilers for people who are waiting for the DVD.

Narada














This image is concept art, but I can't find many images of the full ship and I guess you've seen the promo images from the film anyway. With the Federation ships beinbg designed in 'classic' style this was a great way to put something new and alien into the movie. The long, spiky tendrils just screamed menace and the sheer size of the thing made me gawp first time it appeared. The later revelation that it was a mining ship - but a super advanced mining ship from the future made it fit even better. It set up the conflict well, even with the Enterprise in command, this was way out of their league. I love seeing original designs that can be cooked up be creative teams and don't stick to what we expect in ship design, this definitely pushed the boat out in creativity I felt.
There isn't much in terms of technical information on this ship other than what you see in the movie - one source claims the ship was upgraded with modified Borg technology, explaining it's appearance.

USS Kelvin











The team did create some great new Federation starships too. The USS Kelvin, commanded by Kirk's father was prominently featured at the start and was a fun mix of old and new. There was the classic round disk, but it featured 'top and bottom' nacelles, which marked it out from previous ships. Seeing new Federation designs is always a treat, from the first time I saw Voyager or Enterprise - E and then spotting my first Akira class in a movie was fun and so to be treated to a new class of ship right at the start was fantastic.
For geeks like me who love to know in-universe info: This ship is a Kelvin - class starship (presumably making it the first of it's type) which has a crew of 800 and used primarily as a survey ship.

Jellyfish












Another ship from the future, belonging to 'Spock Prime'. It was a smaller, one man craft and had gryoscoping sections that rotated as it glided through space like it's namesake. I thought this worked well, like the Narada as it just yelled 'other' at you and could not be attributed to the designs of Federation or other ships from the present era. It had an interesting set of weaponry and proved a decent match for the enemy vessel despite it's size. I enjoyed this innovative spaceship design.
Not much info on this one either. It is a prototype designed by the Vulcan Science Academy and described as their fastest ship. It was designed to be able to transport 'red matter' to create black holes and stop dangerous supernovas.

And that's enough on spaceships for now, before moving on I'll just leave you with two images, one of a spacedock and one of a Federation fleet.











OK one more thing before I ramble on too long - aliens!! Now I wouldn't rank Star Trek the highest in alien race creation, most species look like humans with funny bone structure, but they have put real effort into the personality and background of each of their races...and they also make some pretty darn good monsters!!

Hengrauggi

















This monster had everything you need, big teeth, large limbs and a way of catching you even after you think you've gotten away. Again the creature had a fairly original design with a pink body unusual for it's snowy domain and large gangly limbs. Perhaps unsurprisingly it was designed by the guy Abrams hired to create Cloverfield in his hit movie and you can see some similarities. But it was no copy of Clover and made for a good chase sequence across the snow.

I hope I wasn't too rambly here, I hope it was fun anyway. Possibly more 'Stuff' on the way soon!

And I'd also like to thank Memory Alpha the Star Trek Wiki for the info and some images as well as Ex Astris Scientia a Star Trek fan site which had a lot of good ship info.

SF at the Movies - May/June/July 09 + Word out to my people

Well it's been a long time since I've posted here and an apology again to all r4eaders who expect to actually see something here on a regular basis. Things are starting to return to normal and with the holiday season approaching I anticipate more time to dedicate to the blog. You'll know about these already, but I like to keep up traditions and so here are the contents of my latest 'at the movies' post.

Star Trek

Released 08/05/09












A movie taking us back to the lives of Kirk, Spock and the original cast brought back to life by a new cast and a new director. J.J. Abrams seems to want to put his stamp on everything and Star Trek is the latest brand to succumb. The movie was bold and daring and made good use of the character's quirks without pandering to the typical self-referential dialogue these types of films go for. The plot was exciting and dramatic, and the enemy was intense. The whole 'enemy from the future' angle was very fitting to the genre, but I did find the whole alternate timeline it throws up a little bewildering from a fan perspective - still very enjoyable though.

Terminator Salvation

Released 21/5/09












The latest addition to the famous franchise took us right into the scenario only glimpsed in the previous movies - the war between humans and Skynet. The setting and the casting were very well done, you got a real sense of the impact of the war on the survivors and a glimpse into more groups than just the resistance. John Connor was well placed as an enigmatic soldier, but not yet the leader figure he would become. The inclusion of Marcus Wright, a terminator who thinks he's human, and the reintroduction of Arnie via CG made this film a non-stop action thriller well worth seeing, and a worthy follower of the Terminator saga.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Released 24/06/09












Not necessarily the best of the movies out, but certainly one of the most enjoyable. The movie starts with a force of Autobots, allied with the U.S. Military taking out Decepticons hidden on Earth. We see Sam, the hero of the first movie, heading to Uni, but as he goes he finds a piece of the allspark, which burns information into his mind and attracts the attention of a powerful figure - The Fallen who sets a plan and raises a Decepticon army and resurrects Megatron to fight the Autobots to get his hands on a power source that will make him invincible...and destroy humanity. Very, very entertaining.

OK - enough of that, I've a feeling I missed something, let me know if that's the case. Lastly I'd like to put the word out for some of my readers who are following the blog on Facebook and on here. Most are personal friends of mine but it's been good to know that other people read this blog so I'd like to thank:

Cleo and Clayton - who have been following the blog for a while now

Chrissy for commenting and for reading - you can read her excellent blog, chronicling her TV-watching adventures HERE

Jayson for being my first follower on Blogger - read the best and latest Sci-Fi news at Nerdvana

And...erm...Hockey HotChicks, I'd like to thank er...them too!

Species of the week #4 -Cardassians

I have been away for some time, and will be away for two weeks more with my free time sapped so I shall post next weeks species post now. I bring you the Cardassians, one of the most interesting species of the Star Trek universe I feel. What makes them so interesting is, despite them being a major part of the plot of the Deep Space Nine series and subsequent appearences in Voyager and various novels and comics there is relativley little known about them when compared to the vast amounts of knowledge regarding the Federation, Klingons, Romulans etc.

Cardassians hail from the planet Cardassia in the Alpha Quadrant, and have formed their own empire known as the 'Cardassian Union'. It is unsure how expansive this empire is or what other species are members of it, aside from the once captive Bajorans. Its is speculated that the size of the Cardassian union is roughly a third of the size of the Federation making it vast and likely including many planets and potentially as many species. While the Bajoran's are the only species documented as 'conquered' by the Cardassians their well equipped military and experienced espionage and intelligence division, the Obsidian Order, would hint at a past of war and conquering considering their imperialistic nature. At the same time, they have good relations with a number of neutral species though never had any formal relations with the other major powers of the quadrant save for non agression treaties along the neutral zone. With no solid relations it would suggest they are indeed a powerful group to be able to deter any possible attacks from the Klingon and Romulan empires. At the end of the Dominion war, while their military was drastically reduced it is believed they are still a major power and certainly have the capacity to rebuild.
The species themselves are humanoid in appearence with thick leathery skin and scales and have raised ridges along their eyelines and centre forhead . They are a cold blooded reptilian species favouring arid climates. They are a very proud and well educated race, largley as a result of the strict upbringing and education system within the Union, and while being more than capable warriors seem to also have a natural gift for using words as weapons. They are quite aristrocratic and seem to share a preference for upper class luxuries and goods again reflective of their proud nature. Their intelligence network is second to none in the alpha quadrant, rivalled only by the Tal Shiar of the Romulan empire. Their adeptness in this field is greatly enhanced by two main factors the species have, all Cardassians have a nearly or completley photographic memory and are naturally resistent to all but the strongest of mental, empathic and telepathic probes. Their memory allows them to adapt quickly to situations and pick out an opponent's flaws with little difficulty.
However, their memory has also been a great weakness on occassion. Relying too much on recalled information than trying something new a number of Cardassian captains have come out of a fray on the losing side, particularily when opposing humans who also adapt quickly though rely far less on memory and more on imagination. Another major weakness of the species is thier inability to cope in cold climates, as the low temperatures slow their metabolism.
The species has a great deal of untapped potential and unexplored regions of their 'Union' making them prime candidates for future novels and comics of the Star Trek expanded universe.

Vehicle of the week 10 - Borg Cube

Well, this article will wrap up the weekly articles, covering the vehicles of various Science Fiction franchises, there's plenty more I could have done (and if you've read through my list and are incensed that I've left you're favourite out I'd be more than happy to pick it up again) but for now I think ten is a good number to stop before I run out of steam. I'm having a week off, so there won't be a weekly article for a bit, but hopefully I'll come back fresh with a new category and a bunch of other articles I've got in the pipeline - but for now it's time for the last ship, which falls to Star Trek and the infamous Borg Cube

Borg Cube



















Multi-purpose Borg combat vessel
Manufacturer: Borg Collective
Length: 28 kilometers
Speed: Transwarp capable
Weaponry: Tropedoes and cutting beams
Affiliation: Borg Collective
Captain: Borg Collective

The simplicity of the design for this ship is a remarkable feat in my opinion, before we even meet the borg, the fact that their ships are designed to look like simple geometric shapes says a lot about them. Of course the workings of the cube are much more intricate then it's general shape, but to see the design tells you the owners of this ship don't care about aesthetics, a need to create a tactical superiority or any need to try and prove to you that they are stronger - and that is what makes them scary. Whenever a cube shows up it is always an impressive sight - not least because they are absolutely huge - completely dwarfing pretty much any other ship in Star Trek, with a design as cold and frightening as their merciless inhabitants.

Cubes were the primary vessels of the Borg Collective, serving as bases, warships and centres from bringing new species for assimilation. Their basic design was signature borg, all their ships had simple designs from spheres to rectangular scout ships - even the Borg Queen's ship was a basic diamond. Aside from the sprawling technological masses of their larger bases, such as Unimatrix One, the Borg kept thing simple and always functional. Cubes were always a terrifying sight for any species that shared the Delta Quadrant with them or were subject to their further raids. One cube was sufficient to combat several of the warships of other species - at the battle of Wolf359 only 1 of the 40 Federation ships there survived against a cube. The Cube's strenth was the same strength as the species - assimilation. A Borg vessel could quickly understand the technology of other species and adapt it, and even steal it in the midst of a battle, and the capture of one valuable member would endow the Borg with enough tactical knowledge to hold off most assaults. It took all the combat power and ingenuity of other species just to hold them off.
It is unclear what the primary function of the cubes were - the presence of "Tactial Cubes" with greater armour and firepower suggests that they were not primarily combat vessels, though the Borg certainly used them as such. It is more likely that the cube's main function was to assimilate species and technology, and it was generally assumed that a cube could get past any defences stopping their way. Above all Cubes and thei crew lived to serve the collective and, despite their strength, were considered expendable as demonstrated when the Borg Queen detonated several cubes just to erradicate a small number of disconnected drones aboard them. Very few ships were able to survive multiple encounters with the Borg and escape assimilation - the most notable being the USS Voyager who'se crew proved remarkable adaptable to Borg techniques and successfuly survived attacks and even managed to take the fight to the Borg and win on several occasions. Before returning home Voyager was able to criple Unimatrix One and the Borg Transwarp hub, severely damaging the Collective and killing the queen - but it's unlikely the galaxy has seen the last of a borg cube.