Who is Your Favorite Captain?

Where would science fiction be without a bold commander leading the charge? Lost in Space, that's where. Captains are the stalwarts of courage, morality, bravery and yes, sometimes even theatricality (I'm looking at you, Jean-Luc Picard). But as they say, the worst crew is a boatful of captains. So in a galaxy of capable commanders, who takes charge?

Who is your favorite Sci-Fi Captain? Are you a Kirk devotee, or is Picard more your warp speed? Is Han Solo a better smuggler than Mal Reynolds? Is David Bowman's Space Odyssey better than Admiral Adama's? Tell us what you think.

I have to go with the Shakespearian Picard, who manages to make any speech, no matter how filled with Treknobabble, a lesson in poetry.

SciFi Quotes

Here's a memorable quote from a Science Fiction film. The first commenter to guess the correct film posts the next quote.

"As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy, than to create."

Who said it, and in what film? Let the games begin!

Superhero Match-ups

Comic book artist Warren Ellis recently started a limited series for Marvel called Ultimate Human, which to make a long psychedelic (it is, after all, Warren Ellis) is essentially an Incredible Hulk vs. Iron Man story. I couldn't help but be struck with the coincidence that while we read Ellis' story we're all eagerly anticipating a Hulk and an Iron Man movie this year. There have even been hints that the two films will nod to each other in anticipation of an eventual Avengers movie.

My question is this: if you could make a movie that pits any two superheroes against each other regardless of price, publishing house, or comic canon, who would it be?

Aside from pitting Marvel heroes against their DC counterparts (Aquaman vs. The Sub-Mariner for control of Atlantis, anyone?), I have to say that I think the most interesting match-up would be Batman vs. Wolverine. Think about it, here are two guys that are literally barely hanging on to their humanity and composure (at least in the Frank Miller version of Batman). The Dark Knight might be at a slight disadvantage here, but if he could come up with some nifty toys to even the balance, I think we would have a no-holds-barred showdown between two extremely grizzled superheroes. What do you guys think?

Ten Best Science Fiction Films

My friends and I were trying to come up with a list of the top ten Sci-Fi films, and we couldn't seem to agree. Granted, the majority of the films on my list are relegated to the era in which I was alive to see them in the theaters. So I thought I would share my thoughts with my fellow Sci-Fi lovers and see what you all think.

10. The Day the Earth Stood Still -- An all-time classic, and a parable about mankind's potential savagery that maintains to this day
9. Star Trek: First Contact -- By far the best of the ten, First Contact could be enjoyed by Trekkies and non-fans alike
8. Twelve Monkeys -- Time traveling mind trip with Brad Pitt playing a nutcake? What's not to love?
7. Terminator 2 -- One of two instances of the sequel being better than the original, Terminator 2 was actually the first R-rated movie I ever saw. So it will always hold a special place in my heart.
6. Blade Runner -- The best Philip K. Dick adaptation (and there have been plenty). I am still disappointed the big reveal in the book is different from the movie -- typically for me it's the other way around.
5. Aliens -- The second instance of a sequel being better than the original. Bill Paxton deserves an Oscar for his role.
4. Back to the Future -- Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!
3. Star Wars -- I think it's required by law to include Star Wars in every Science Fiction list
2. The Matrix -- I don't care if it totally rips of Neuromancer, The Matrix made cyberpunk palatable to the masses, and also redefined the level of artistry and storytelling that we should expect from modern cinema.
1. Children of Men -- One of the most beautifully shot and poignant movies I've ever seen. The best Science Fiction doesn't need to remind you it's taking place in the future -- it hits so hard, it doesn't matter.

What do you guys think? What's on your list?

Jumper Wasn't That Bad

I've read a lot of flack about Jumper recently, and having finally seen it this weekend, I wanted to weigh in. People it's not that bad of a movie. In fact, I was pretty entertained.

Maybe it was the fact that I had read so many awful reviews, on this site and others, that my expectations were at all-time low levels, but here are my impressions.

1) The story. Many of the reviews said that there is essentially no plot. And to this I can say, I see where you're coming from. There seems to be very little motivation for the movie except that Paladins want to kill Jumpers and Hayden Christensen wants to bang Rachel Bilson. Yeah, that's not going to win any awards, but it's really all you need to keep the movie entertaining and moving along at a healthy clip. In addition, the story actually does raise an interesting topic that I see this forum has addressed in the past, and is something I've always wondered: Why do superhero movies always paint the heroes to be boy scouts? I like that our "hero's" only motivation here is to steal money and get the girl. Despite the fact that I'm watching Sci Fi, it seems more real to me.

2. Hayden Christensen. Is he going to win Best Actor any time soon? Probably not. But so what? Does he reek up the screen? No. As per point number one, you're not really going to the movie to see great story and character development.

3) The special effects are really incredible, and to me well worth the 10 bucks. Aside from the special effects, there are some really fun visuals from all over the world--I'm not sure they actually went to those locations, but given that we're talking about Bourne director Doug Liman here, I wouldn't be surprised.

I'm not coming out guns blazing in defense of this movie. I just don't think it's given a fair shake. It's entirely possible that our expectations were simply too high--had Michael Bay directed this film, we'd probably all be calling it a popcorn thrill ride. But Doug Liman did it, and so we raised the bar too high. Maybe he just wanted to make a popcorn thrill ride. Or maybe he faltered trying to make a more cerebral experience. Either way, he ended up with a half-decent thriller, which is about 50% better than most of the movies out there anyways.

That's just my opinion.