Planet 8 Podcast

Arguably the best of the Star Trek film franchise, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan remains an important and highly rewatchable entry in the franchise. It took the films into a more action-oriented direction, giving the audience a movie with both personal stakes and dazzling space battles. Director Nick Meyer got the very best out of actors William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Ricardo Montalban, creating an intense struggle between our Enterprise crew and the twisted superman, Khan - despite the fact the rivals Kirk and Khan never share a scene physically together. Your Planet 8 crew is delighted to revisit this film on this episode.

We'll start with a quick look back at the classic Trek episode Space Seed. Beginning with the original story (where the Khan character was called Harold Ericson) and the changes to the script, we talk about how this episode developed and how it wound up influencing producer Harve Bennett to use it as the basis for the second film.

Moving to the film itself, we examine how that script evolved, and how it was necessary to keep the budget low. The film is essentially a "bottle show," with the action taking place mainly on the two ships (the Enterprise and the Reliant), which was actually the same set, redressed. Yet because of the excellent pacing and the suspense, it never feels claustrophobic or small.

There are many themes in the film, but foremost is the theme of aging and mortality. All of the cast had obviously grown older, and seeing our Captain having to struggle with middle age was striking, making him more human, and perhaps more sympathetic. Meyer said the secret to getting a great performance out of Shatner was essentially to tire him out; his first takes were always "big", so Meyer would make him do it over and over until he got bored!

But without a doubt, it is Ricardo Montalban's performance that steals the show. After years of doing Fantasy Island, even Montalban wasn't sure if he could carry off the role. But director Meyer worked closely with Montalban and elicited an amazing performance from him. And yes, that's his real chest!

Of course, you can't discuss Star Trek II without talking about Spock's death. At the time, it felt devastating to fans. It was beautifully done, but even now, it's heartbreaking. Does knowing that he returns in ST III diminish his sacrifice when watching the film now?  We also ponder what Trek might have been like if it had moved forward without Spock.

We close out with some thoughts on Star Trek: Into Darkness - it ain't pretty!

For the Sensor Sweep, Karen shares two books, both by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, called The Fifty Year Mission: The First Twenty Five Years, and The Fifty Year Mission: The Next Twenty Five Years: From The Next Generation to J.J. Abrams. These dense tomes are an oral history of the Star Trek franchise, as told by the writers, directors, producers, actors, and everyone else involved! They are highly entertaining and pretty much required reading if you are a Star Trek fan. You can find them on Amazon, or from other fine book sellers.

That's all for this episode. What are your feelings about Wrath of Khan? Have they changed over time? Let us know, either here, or at our other hangouts:

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A disaster movie - in space! That was the original premise for what eventually became 1979's The Black Hole! Disney's first foray into sci fi, and its first PG rated film, The Black Hole is a strange mix of adventure, gothic horror, sci-fi, and kiddie camp. The Planet 8 crew is once again joined by our friend (and yours), Lord Blood-Rah, to dissect and discuss this unusual Disney film.

We get into some of the background on how the film came together, and the obvious influences from Star Wars. We also take a look at the crew and cast - which was rather eclectic, including everyone from Psycho's Anthony Perkins, Ernest Borgnine, voiceovers by Roddy McDowall and Slim Pickens, and Academy Award winner Maximillian Schell. The director, Gary Nelson, had done Freaky Friday for Disney, but that certainly doesn't seem like preparation for an effects film like this one! 

The tone of the film is wildly uneven. Are they trying to give us a serious, epic film like 2001, a scary film, a kiddie movie? Despite some of the issues we have with the film, there are some things we did enjoy. The overall design of the production, which can be credited to Peter Ellenshaw, is excellent. The Cygnus spaceship is a mammoth structure and looks amazing. The visuals of the black hole itself are also incredible.  We also liked the shock of discovering the zombified crew on the Cygnus - that was a truly chilling moment. We get a bunch of robots in this film, from cutesy ones like V.I.N.C.E.N.T., voiced by McDowall, to Dr. Reinhart's evil robot, Maximillian, who is one of the baddest robots around. And there are some thrilling moments with an asteroid collision, although it made very little sense! 

The film also features a score by John Barry, best known for his work on the James Bond films, and the soundtrack might be a highlight. Interesting fact: this film and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which also came out in December 1979,  are the last two films to feature an overture at the beginning of the film.

Probably the main thing anyone who has seen the film will remember is the ending, because it is just so bizarre. Apparently, the film-makers didn't have an ending when they were shooting the film. They put together the ending we have, with its Biblical connotations, because...well, no one knew what to do! So you can interpret the ending however you please.  But it was certainly unexpected for a Disney film!

The Black Hole is now available for viewing on Disney Plus. If you haven't seen it, or it's been a very long time since you've seen it, give it a look. This is definitely an unusual offering from Disney, and a real artifact from the 70s.

Just for fun, we discuss how we would do a remake of The Black Hole. Disney, are you listening? 

This episode's Sensor Sweep turns the spotlight on Lord Blood-Rah. Coming this August 7th, he will be hosting the Universal Monster Party at the Orinda Theater in Orinda, California. This will be a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the classic Universal monster films, and they will show Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Wolfman. Also present will be author and film commentator David J. Skal and film host John Stanley. There will be vendors and a costume contest, as well as an after-party. Tickets are available at Creaturescon.com. Tickets will be limited, and may sell out, so order soon! Our friend Lord Blood-Rah has also been nominated for the Horror Host Hall of Fame! We wish him the best of luck with that well-deserved honor.

Let us know what you think of this episode, and of The Black Hole. Did you see it as a kid? Have you seen it since? What do you think? Let us know, either in the comment section here or at our other locations:

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That's right, this time on Planet 8, we take on that ugly mutha f#@%! -The Predator! An iconic creature design, and a classic original film, your crew takes a look at not only that first film, but the maybe not so great films that followed! 

The 1987 Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is one of the great sci fi action films, but the Predator itself went through many changes before we got the amazing alien hunter we see on screen. We'll go through all the mis-fires and how we eventually got the brilliant design from legendary Stan Winston and his team. Of course, you have to bring the suit to life, and we can't forget the portrayal of the Predator by the late Kevin Peter Hall. He gave the Predator a real sense of intelligence and personality.

The first film also featured a very entertaining cast as the special crack team of commandos. Besides Arnold as the leader, Dutch, there was Jesse Ventura, Bill Duke, Sonny Landham, and Carl Weathers. This strong set of characters contributes to the enjoyment of the film, so that the viewer is glued to the screen even when the Predator is not around. 

Predator moves from action film to sci fi to horror and back around again, but does it flawlessly, with perfect pacing, keeping the suspense going in the early parts, right up to the final battle between Dutch and the Predator. It's hard to find fault in this film. Even Alan Silvestri's score is perfect!

However, the subsequent cinematic appearances of the Predator have never measured up to the first one. Predator 2, with Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Ruben Blades, Maria Conchita Alonso, and Bill Paxton, was set in Los Angeles in 1997 (released in 1990) and featured a new predator hunting in the sweltering city. While it's still fun seeing the Predator, it just isn't as interesting as the original. The cast doesn't gel as well. But there are some cool bits, especially towards the end when Glover faces the Predator and enters his spaceship.

The further we get away from the original, the more the quality suffers. AVP -Alien vs. Predator - seems like a sure fire concept, but it was a bit of a mess. AVP:Requiem -well, we didn't even rewatch it! 2010's Predators is somewhat entertaining, but we all agree, Adrien Brody was miscast as the tough special forces guy. It had some nice variations on the basic predator design though. But the worst of all the follow ups was 2018's The Predator - there are stories that this film was heavily rewritten and edited, but even so, good lord, what a terrible film.

Will anyone ever be able to make another truly terrific Predator movie? What would it take? Is it just a limited concept? What do you think?

For our Sensor Sweep this time, Recon Office Karen shares one of her beloved pieces from her collection, her Sideshow Legendary Scale Bust of the unmasked Predator. This was produced in 2011 and is still available from certain stores and on eBay. It's about 16" high and has all the fine detail we've come to expect from Sideshow. So if you're a big fan of the Predator, you might want to hunt it down!

That's all for this time. Let us know what you think of the different Predator films, and what we discussed in this episode.

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Remember: If it bleeds, we can kill it!

Welcome all to Planet 8's third anniversary episode! Yes, we have been doing this insanity for three years now. We thought the best way to celebrate would be to tackle the biggest question we could think of: what are the ten best science fiction films of all time?

Through an arcane process which we describe in the episode, we devised a list of ten great science fiction films. Now these are not necessarily our favorite films, but the films which we think are the most influential, most impactful, unique, and had artistic and/or technical achievements which set them apart. 

It was surprising to us which films we agreed upon, and which ones only one of us selected. But there were just so many great films to choose from. It was very difficult to cut some films, or choose between certain films in a series. 

We also noted that all of our selections fell between the 1950s and 1980s. Maybe it has to do with giving a film time to build a legacy. Or it could be we're just old farts who prefer older films!

If you want to be surprised by what films we chose, then skip over the section below. Otherwise, proceed! 

10.  Robocop

9. Tie - Predator and Empire Strikes Back 

8. War of the Worlds (1953)

7. 2001: A Space Odyssey

6. Forbidden Planet

5. The Thing (1982)

4. Alien

3. Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

2. Planet of the Apes (1968)

1. Star Wars

 We're sure this list may inspire some debate -we know it did with us! While these are all fine films, you can make an argument for where they should be positioned in the list, or if other films should take their place in the top ten. For some more insight into our thought processes, here are our individual lists.

Bob's List

1. Forbidden Planet

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey

1. Star Wars

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