Highway To Mars

This is one of those you have to experience kind of movies, there is no way to easily describe it.  I enjoyed this one in a way I haven’t enjoyed movies for a long time and it rightly deserves to be listed as a sci-fi classic.  It takes the genre into new territory and I truly hope others will follow.

This week on HWTM we look at two transhumanist movies that explore the same idea (that we can use more of our brain via chemical means) from quite different perspectives.  I look not just at the ideas but some of the science and explore the central themes of the movies.  There are some really good elements to these movies, recommend them to all.

Falling Skies series 5 promises Apocalypse Now, then seems to forget that.  Far from driving to a conclusion it wanders all over the place with stories that seem out of place with the state of the world and the war.  It’s not all bad, there are some good moments and episodes but in terms of delivering on it’s promises it’s light on.

The Pern series is iconic in science fiction terms and this week we look at two of the Pern – DragonsDawn and All the Weyrs of Pern to look not just at the role they play in the Pern universe but the interesting ideas that relate to our world.

A taut thriller that succeeds in dealing with the rise of AI where many have failed.  I’d buy that.  This is an excellent movie that on the one hands delivers a great story about AI and on the other subverts the mythology of relationship archetypes and embraces female emancipation.  Seemingly straight forward yet more complex the more you look this is a science fiction lovers dream.  Best viewed with a good wine and cheese platter.  Hold the popcorn.

This is not a movie I expected to be covering but when another planned podcast was derailed I thought I would give it a try.  I always have trepidation with movies that have strong critical reviews because I often don’t like them but this one really engaged me on many creative and personal levels.  This is a movie for anyone that feels that they aren’t where they need to be in their life.  Change comes with risks and heartbreak but unless you face the world in your own truth you can never quite be the person you need to be.

We haven’t covered too many animated series on HWTM and this one is definitely one worthy of mention.  Detentionaire makes a virtue of that dreaded part of High School combining mystery and science fiction with many of the things anyone who has been to high school will remember.  From cliques to cloned teachers, monsters, robots and cyborg principals, this is high school as I wish it was.

We have done a couple of episodes on Bioshock but really neither of them have in any way done the series justice.  So rebooting (hey even podcasts can get a reboot!) I look at Bioshock Infinite a second time and in the process discover what might now be my all time best game.  This game is just about everything you could want from an interactive story, rich world, amazing characters and a fleshed out storyline that challenges not just in gameplay but intellectually. My only gripe now is there is only one Bioshock.

The “G-Man” is back.  Gareth Edwards is back after compiling the longest set of shows on a topic highway to mars is likely to ever see, to talk the movie “The Giver”.  This is a movie that wasn’t super successful but it’s got a lot going for it, especially with the teenage dystopian future genre being so maxed out.

Set in a post war future earth, this movie explores what it is to be human through the lens of a world that has given away it’s humanity in exchange for peace.  It’s thoughtful and mostly well executed, even if the ending is a little too contrived.  That does not detract from the fact this movie makes a serious attempt at some hard core science fiction and human dilemmas.  Enjoyed the movie and especially enjoyed catching up with Gareth.  Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy here we come.

I avoided this one at the cinemas as I was bitten by Elysium and didn’t want to end up disappointed.  In the end I wasn’t but probably not due to the Science Fiction.  Chappie doesn’t have a lot to add to the science fiction canon when it comes to artificial intelligence but as with District 9 it’s a window on South Africa and I think that science fiction should step away from the comfortable territory of the US & UK from time to time.  This more than anything is what is attractive about Chappie.  The idea that science fiction doesn’t require a clean laboratory or that a conflicted world doesn’t have to be dystopian future appeals to me.  Science and humanity are more likely to come into conflict away from the western world. I am not sure Blomkamp realises that but where he doesn’t Ninja and Yolandi Visser give it their best go.