FILM@LXG: CULT CLASSIC - They Live!

LXG welcomes movie-buff, comic reviewer and all-round action man Nick Talbot to its righteous Round Table of writers.

Nick's expertise delves deep into the annals of entertainment history and he kicks off his column with one of the grand-daddys of modern-day B-movie sci-fi flicks...

 

"They Live" is a film made in 1988 & was directed by John Carpenter who developed the screenplay by combining two short stories. 

 
Often considered a cult classic, the plot revolves around a drifter who discovers that the wealthy elites who are major cogs in business & who run the country are not in fact humans, but aliens. 

The alien elites & their cronies are capable of controlling human social affairs through subliminal messages & signals broadcast from a satellite dish mounted on the top of a television station.

The film is a very clever blend of both science fiction & horror. Those protesting with the current Occupy movement would relate well to the film's message which offers an explanation as to why the majority of the world's wealth is controlled by such a small percentage of its population. 

In the film's case however the ruling class are aliens assisted by humans that have "sold out", to better their social & monetary standing, in exchange for assistance with controlling the general populace.

Carpenter has done a masterful job of portraying western society as a people consumed by greed & mass consumption, leading shallow lives fulfilled by trivial distractions - including magazines, consumerism, advertising & television.

To this backdrop enters the character referred to as Nada (Rowdy Roddy Piper), who discovers sunglasses which reveal the alien lifeforms & also the subliminal messages used to control the populace.

There is however an underground movement which is manufacturing the sunglasses & jamming the subliminal television signal in an effort to awaken the populace to the alien control. 

After discovering the conspiracy to control the population, Nada clashes with the authorities & assists the underground movement to destroy the signal being beamed from the satellite dish.

"They Live" contains some brilliant action scenes with gunplay aplenty & combines a deft sense of humor within the science fiction/ horror plot. Rowdy Roddy Piper delivers some classic one liners (including one judged as one of "The 100 Cheesiest Movie Quotes of All Time").

This film has it all - science fiction, horror, humour & action all tightly bound up with a social commentary where the rich & powerful are the bad guys & the poor masses are the heroes. Special effects are definitely B grade, but to me this adds a certain charm to the film which harks back to the drive-in horror/ sci-fi films of the 1950's.

Another highlight of the film is a well documented fight scene which lasts for 5 minutes with (ex-pro wrestler) Roddy Piper going toe to toe with Keith David (who appeared in Carpenter's "The Thing).

I must confess I am an absolute fan of John Carpenters films & I prefer "They Live" to his massive hit film "Halloween". This film certainly isn't Shakespeare, but that is not what Carpenter is about with his films. In my mind, Carpenter is the Ed Wood of my generation & is the master of the modern day "B-flick". If you are a fan of this genre I thoroughly recommend "They Live" as a must see.

****  

Nick Talbot

FILM@LXG: DROK THAT! DREDD IS BACK!

Forget Superman, Spidey and the whole cast of Avengers - being a kid in the Eighties, there was only one real hero, and he didn't come with any superpowers - he was just a hard-ass tough guy, who never smiled and NEVER took off his helmet... Judge, Jury and Executioner - known to us all as JUDGE DREDD.

Of course he had his Lawmaster (high octane superbike), his Lawgiver (multi-calibre supergun), but what drove Judge Dredd and his storylines was that of a man bent on carrying out his mission; single-minded, stubborn and uncompromising, Dredd always got his man, and never let his personal life interfere with his duty (come to think of it, Dredd never really actually had a personal life in the first place).

Gracing the pages of that hallowed comic strip, 2000AD, The Judge was the first of many memorable characters brought to life on that distinct, newspaper-like publication - Rogue Trooper, Strontium Dog, Nemesis, the ABC Warriors, and Halo Jones among them - all of whom I hope will one day get the big screen treatment.

Dredd has already been there with the Stallone-led 1995 effort - which had its highs and frequent lows. Although I thought that as a standalone actioner the movie was actually alright - but with so much mythos behind the character and a legion of fanboys expecting the treatment to remain true to the comic strip - every mistake and every element straying too far from the original was gunned down without reproach.

Of course the Numero Uno mistake being that Dredd was portrayed with his helmet off for most of the duration of the 1995 film. And as we all know - Dredd Does Not Take Off His Helmet!

Its taken 17 long years, but Dredd is finally back on the big screen - and this time, those in the know are saying that at least the style and atmosphere of the story are in keeping with the original treatment of Dredd. It's even been given a thumbs-up by the character's creator, John Wagner.

The ever-reliable Karl Urban takes on the eponymous lead role. And by the looks of the trailer, they might just have the fanboys raving!

Judge for yourself:
     

FILM@LXG: Prometheus_ Android Love

I watched Prometheus. Epic. It took about five minutes after the end credits for me to remember to close my mouth. Mostly for the right reasons... although there were some scenes that just left me stunned and I'm still not sure why - perhaps just waiting for my brain to still catch up.

Ridley Scott goes to places few other directors dare to venture - and on this wild celluloid ride into humanity's future/destiny/fate/origins, his pivotal character is ironically not human at all...

"David" is a state-of-the-art android; caretaker and steward of the human crew who set out for the stars aboard the starship, Prometheus.

He is just the latest incarnation of a line of memorable, more-human-than-human robot characters brought to life by Ridley Scott and those that followed in his wake. In the Alien franchise alone, we now have A, B, C, and D: Ash, Bishop, Call and of course David.

But to me the greatest on-screen rendition of a robot at odds with his prime directive is Roy Batty, the Nexus-6 Replicant, who stole every scene in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner.

Scott's love affair with the robot has taken him full circle, and in the disturbingly perfect semblance of humanity that is David, we see what in many ways may have been the beginnings of Roy, before the experiences of his volatile 4-year existence had taken their toll.

As Tyrell refers to Roy Batty as his 'prodigal son', so too does Peter Weyland describe David as the 'closet thing he ever had to a son'; that similar, tragic relationship between machine and maker...

Given time to develop, 8th Gen. David  may one day question his role of carrying out tasks that his "human counterparts find... distressing." But of course that's a potential storyline for Scott to decide on. Hopefully he will.

There are many things that can be said about Prometheus, and its obviously going to be spoken about for many years to come. But David as portrayed by Michael Fassbender (the performance of his career, thus far) is set to become a truly iconic character.

(I always believed there could be no-one else to reprise the role of Roy Batty in any sequel/reload of Blade Runner, which was why I have been against such an idea. But now in Fassbender, I see a fitting successor to Rutger Hauer's haunting portrayal).

Mr. C

FILM@LXG: Valhalla Rising

Yes, yes yes - we, the entire human population have watched The Avengers and have all been suitably gobsmacked by the stunning visual effects, the wise-guy script, the incredibly entertaining rendition of the Hulk, and a storyline that actually kept us enthralled for all of it's 2+ hours of screen-time.

Threading all the story tie-ins neatly together from the previous films, which in a sense served as a prequel to The Avengers, (namely Iron Man 1 + 2, Captain America, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk), my main concern was how to incorporate Thor into the mix...

With origins and powers based almost completely around magic and mythology, Thor's character initially seemed at odds with the others who herald from a more reality-based world of science and technology.

Although The Avengers did manage to involve him satisfactorily in the script, if the true story (nay, legend) of Thor is to be adhered to, the fact remains that he is a God, and could in effect squash all those puny humans if he so desired - in fact more in keeping with the way his father Odin was portrayed in the Thor movie.   

Which is why, if you will now kindly remove yourself from the popcorn fantasy feel-good world of The Avengers, and follow me to a very different world - far, far away...

I have always felt that the subject and origins of Norse Mythology must be treated on celluloid as it was recounted in legend. In a landscape at the dawn of civilization; in a state of primal instinct; in a culture of mud and mist. Very few films have ever been made with this treatment; never really bringing to life the savagery of the Viking existence.

But Valhalla Rising changed all of that...

I would be the first to admit that my initial reaction was "WTF is this?!" The central protagonist is mute throughout the entire story. He is named One-Eye for obvious reasons, but none of the other few characters are ever mentioned by name. There are some exceptionally brutal scenes of violence; and some epically stunning visuals of harsh highland landscapes.

It seems like a complete contradiction to begin with, but director Nicolas Winding Refn has a cunning plan, solemnly unfolding his primitive world of life and death - until he rips you out of your comfort zone and plunges you into a harsh, unforgiving place where your next breath could very well be your last.

This is the story of One-Eye; in a sense it traces his personal journey from brutal beginnings to a brutal end.

There is an obvious comparison to be made here between his character and the one-eyed Odin, Lord of Valhalla. Some may even interpret Valhalla Rising as just that - the beginnings of a Legend, the origins of a mythology.

But it also could be seen as the eradication and demise of a pagan religion, wiped away by the onslaught of the then all-engulfing Christian Crusades.

Valhalla Rising is yours to interpret. It will do your head in - but in a good, thought-provoking way. If you give the film some justice and see it through to the bitter end, I'll guarantee it will leave you with plenty to think about, long after the credits have rolled...

Mr. C.

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