In part 4 of our Science Fiction sub-genres series, Steven Benjamin and Sean tackle the topic of "science out of control", or "machine over man", or "we've gone and created something for the betterment of mankind, and now it's going to kill us all"!

Join us as we discuss our way through the tropes of the sub-genre and touch base with a wide variety of movies such as The Matrix (1999), Fantastic Voyage (1966), Upgrade (2018), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Surrogates (2009), Splice (2009), The Fly (1986) and, of course, Star Trek!

In Part 3 of our Sci-fi sub-Genres in Film series, The FU trio dive into Space Opera – and spend much of the discussion debating precisely what defines the term, and what exactly constitutes a Space Opera in the first place!

From influential sci-fi authors of the 1940s, 50s 60s and 70s such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Philip K Dick, to the serials and comic strips of the 1930s such as Flash Gordon, right through to modern motion-picture epics and the revival of the genre – of sorts – in 90s television!

Expect the usual suspects of Star Wars and Star Trek, but also a few nods to other noteworthy examples along the way!

Archive Episode!

Originally recorded and published in 2015 for our old podcast, Filmwerk. Please excuse our less-than-stellar audio quality and editing efforts back then!

Ahead of Mad Max: Fury Road, Steven, Benjamin & Sean dig deep into the George Miller created Mad Max movie franchise! From the trailblazing 1979 original, to the seminal sequel, Mad Max 2 (1981) – or “The Road Warrior” in the USA – and the 1985 follow-up ‘Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome’. Also included is our review of Mad Max: Fury Road, recorded fresh upon release in May 2015. There's laughs, love and hate to be had as well as some pretty spicy language throughout – even more so back then than now!

Chapters included for supported platforms!

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At the time of preparing our latest Sci-fi Subgenres episode, ‘Post Apocalypse’, George Miller released his recent Mad Max spin-off; Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. As we’re all big Miller and Mad Max fans here and also, as Furiosa is topical to our last main show episode, Benjamin & Steven decided to have a chat and share their ever-so-slightly divided reaction to the Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth starring movie! Sean sits this one out as at the time of recording he hadn’t yet seen the film!

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Steven, Benjamin & Sean continue their exploration of the many Science Fiction sub-genres with a discussion on Post Apocalyptic set movies – and have plenty of debate over what constitutes a Post Apocalypse Movie in the first place!

From ‘Mad Max’ to ‘Children of Men’, with pitstops at ‘Akira’, ‘Wall-E’, ‘Waterworld’, the multiple ‘The Road Warrior’ clones of the 1980s and many more in between!

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Science Fiction!

The Film Utopia Podcast summer project gets rolling with a wide look at the sub-genre and concepts of time travel in movies. From time machines to time loops, and paradoxes to alternative histories.

Steven, Benjamin & Sean talk about some of their favourite time travel movies, as well as the ins and outs of time travel as a story telling device and macguffin.

Movies mentioned include Primer (2004), 12 Monkeys (1995), The Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Timecrimes (2007), Predestination (2014), The Terminator (1984), Back to the Future (1985) and many more!

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Steven, Benjamin & Sean conclude their deep-dive of iconic cult movie director Stuart Gordon with a thorough chin-wag about his latter filmography.

From Castle Freak (1995) to Stuck (2007). The FU trio discover some hidden gems among these lesser known films and find themselves with differing opinions on others!

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Between 1985 and 2007, a former theatre director named Stuart Gordon embarked on an iconic movie directing career which, in later years, catapulted his filmography to cult status. With the help of producer, Brian Yuzna – himself a H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe enthusiast – he directed the notorious, independently-produced ‘Re-Animator’ in 1985 which led to a three picture deal with the now defunct Empire Pictures International, resulting in From Beyond (1986), Dolls (1987) and Robot Jox (1990) – all becoming cult faves, both at the time and in later years.

In part one of our Stuart Gordon retrospective review series, Steven, Benjamin and Sean – resident Gordon fanatic - share their *slightly* divided opinion on these early films, as well as The Pit and the Pendulum (1991) and Fortress (1992) (-  or 1994 if you live in the UK like us!)

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Steven & Sean discuss their way through the many UK, USA and Australian boutique DVD/Blu-ray/4K UHD disc distributors out there; going A-Z from Arrow to Vinegar Syndrome. We chat about our own collecting habits, our experiences and opinions of each label as well as some of our favourite discs we've owned over the years!

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Special features, commentary tracks, cast & crew interviews and other bonus disc content have historically been a real selling point for movie fans. Nowadays, physical media collectors are even hungrier for additional material for their favourite films of yesteryear.

On this episode, Steven, Benjamin and Sean recall some of their favourite physical media releases both in terms of additional disc material as well as overall presentation and visual/audio quality.

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