Sci-Fi Quote: Was Anakin the Good Guy?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Anakin Skywalker from the Star Wars movies. (Lucasfilm Ltd.)

“The point I’m making is obvious when one considers other popular, compelling fictional protagonists who commit unspeakable evils; no serious person really thinks that Breaking Bad’s murderous drug dealer Walter White and The Sopranos’ even more murderous gangster Tony Soprano are great role models. Yet when it comes to Anakin, some large number of right-wing guys on X seem to earnestly think he had the right idea because they imagine that deep down, his politics matches theirs.”

-Quote from a Reason magazine article titled, “Anakin Skywalker Is a Great Character, Not a Great Role Model.” The bottom line is that the actions of a moody teenager with a light saber are not the best model for present-day mortals. I think the youth today would be better following in the steps of Luke Skywalker. If that doesn’t work for you, follow the original Yoda, or even Baby Yoda. We already have enough moody males making deals with the devil.

The Original Star Wars Returns: Get Your Tickets

Posted on by onespaceman2000

If The Mandalorian and Grogu was not your favorite film this summer, you have plenty of time to prepare for the release of the original Star Wars film on its 50th anniversary. That’s right, it will be 50 years old next year.

The original Star Wars film was released on May 25, 1977. The re-release on IMAX will be available on February 19, 2027. You can sign up here to be notified when tickets become available in your area.

By original, I mean the version of the film before George Lucas started mucking it up with extra effects, such as the addition of a CGI Jabba the Hutt. You will be able to watch what everyone was watching in 1977.

And if that’s not enough, next year will also see the release of Star Wars: Starfighter with Ryan Gosling. It will premiere on 28 May, 2027, the same week as the original film in 1977. Starflighter was filmed for IMAX screens, so that will be an option as well.

Space Quote: Star Wars is Real

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Jim Cooper from Pixabay.

“Due to their actions, it is no longer a question that space is a warfighting domain…Space control is part of how the joint forces protects national security interests. The space domain is contested, and we must be able to secure our nation’s interests in space — that is why the Space Force was established as the sixth military service. Open communication strengthens deterrence, prevents adversary miscalculation and normalises space operations alongside the other services.”

-Statement by a US Space Force spokeswoman to The Times related to a comment this week by US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink admitting the US had weapons in space. The space race was always related to politics and military goals in addition to science, as evidenced by the US Space Force. The question is whether we will continue to support programs sending rockets to the stars or keep our rockets pointed at one another.

Movies: The End of the Mandalorian

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Anzellans and Grogu in The Mandalorian and Grogu. (Lucasfilm)

If you were awaiting last week’s streaming roll out The Mandalorian and Grogu on Disney+, you may have come away both happy and disappointed. I was happy that I did not pay $18 for a movie ticket to see the Mandalorian mess, but I was disappointed about every other part of the experience.

This film is more evidence, if you needed it, that multi-billion companies are capable of producing lousy products. I am now glad that Star Wars: Andor came to a respectable end and did not go through this big screen process.

Basically, the Mandalorian television series started as an adult show with some extras for the kids, while the movie was basically a kids show with little adult supervision. We started with a sole Mandalorian defeating three ATATs with his bare hands, and ended with a multi-day montage of Grogu feeding a comatose Mandaloria in the woods. How did we get here?

It reminded me of the earlier movie disaster Star Trek: Section 31, where all of the pieces were there, but they were put into a blender with nothing but gray goo coming out of the other end.

If the Star Wars franchise needed a kids show, they should have stuck with the one season and done series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. That was an okay series. But The Mandalorian started as something else – more of a western like the initial Star Wars (IV, not the I crap) – that also spoke to re-establishing earlier traditions and fighting for something in common. I saw none of that in the film. We only had a metallic superman with a stuffed animal fighting large slugs for some nebulous Republic that never seemed worth fighting for. It was like the Ewoks on steroids by the end of the movie.

So is the Mandalorian series dead? It would seem so, and those who saw this movie were given no reason to go back to the original material. Maybe without the movie some people would have stumbled onto the Disney+ series and given it a try, but now they have been scared away by a silly story set in a galaxy far, far away.

It that’s what the universe has in store for all of us, let’s dismantle the rockets now.

Television: Blade Runner 2099

Posted on by onespaceman2000

If you are not in the mood this weekend to see The Dog Stars, the latest Ridley Scott film, remember we still have another Ridley Scott show coming later this year.

Blade Runner 2099, a new 8-episode series, premieres on Amazon Prime this November 25th. While Mr. Scott was not involved with this production, his view of the future continues to amaze and haunt us.

Set in Los Angeles 50 years after the last film, the new series includes plenty of humans and Replicants, but this time it is the Replicants who are on top. It is quite a twist in the story at a time when AI is everywhere and AI-related unemployment is a continual worry.

This trailer on Youtube shows you what to expect from the new series.

Unfortunately, Harrison Ford will not be returning for this new series, but it still boasts a good number of well known talent, including Michelle Yeoh (Star Trek: Discovery), Hunter Schafer (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), Dimitri Abold (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), Lewis Gribben (Somewhere Boy), Matthew Needham (House of the Dragon), Maurizio Lombardi (Ripley), and others.

I want to walk into the future with my eyes wide open, so I am eager to watch the new series.

Update: As far as the role of AI in books, movies and television, I recommend a YouTube video by The Art of Storytelling titled “Sci-Fi Was Right About AI.” It touches on Blade Runner and Dune, as well as Star Trek, Star Wars, The Matrix, and many earlier works as well.