The Flux Capacitor 12.07.07: Week 11 - Blobs, Beasties and Best Mates

Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 12.07.2007

The past, present and future of science fiction - this week we look at aliens. Plus, all the latest from the world of SF.

Welcome to "The Flux Capacitor", the column that examines the past, present and future of the science fiction genre. I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield, and each week I'll be taking a look at films, TV shows and a whole lot more that exemplify a particular theme within SF. Apologies for the no-show last week - I'd claim it was food poisoning but Scott Hall has already beaten me to that excuse. I'm sure the loyal readers will forgive me. For now though, let's get the DeLorean on the road - this week's theme is:

ALIENS

The Past

Aliens! Bwwaaaagghh! Scary things, aren't they. Of course, science fiction has a vast history depicting aliens as vicious marauders, murderous insects or otherwise malignant beings, and quite frankly, why shouldn't it? Humans fear nothing so much as they fear the unknown, and little green men represent the ultimate unknowable - extraterrestrial life. Although aliens did feature in sci-fi cinema's early gestations, they rose to fame with a series of classic American movies through the 1950s and 60s that brought pulp thrills to the drive-in, and provided many a date with the impetus to reach first base. Science fiction devoted its time to presenting as many ridiculous alien creations as possible, and predictably, the vast majority of them wanted to eat or enslave us.

The pulp-style aliens of the 1950s are probably best exemplified by The Blob. You see that blobby thing up there in the picture? That's The Blob. He/it lent his/its name to a 1958 sci-fi / horror B-movie that has since gained a reputation as one of the most quintessential - and I'd say most enjoyable - films the genre has to offer. Also noteworthy for featuring the first lead movie role of a certain S. McQueen (some people will tell you it was his first starring role, but they can be dismissed with a wave of the hand), The Blob showcases what malicious aliens were all about back in the day - lots of eating screaming humans in as camp a manner as possible. Although the events of the film attempt to portray the Blob as a serious threat, it's undermined by a jaunty theme tune courtesy of Burt Bacharach, a poster declaring "Indescribable!" (I bet I could describe it one word), and the fact that the Blob itself resembles nothing more sinister than a big old lump of jello. While the appeal of pulp sci-fi will be covered in future columns, The Blob goes to show that old-school SF aliens were hard to take without a pinch of salt. Of course, Paramount is planning a remake, but I seriously doubt it will ever match the kitsch appeal of the original blob-tacular alien.

The Present

And so we come to the present day, where aliens have evolved far beyond the camp-if-amusingly-scary creations of the early years, into something far more menacing. Ridley Scott and John McTiernan were the men initially responsible for introducing us to the collective aggression of the Aliens and the Predators, but more recently cinema has seen a direct clash of these two titans, and is looking for another in just a few weeks' time. The first sighting of H.R. Giger's creation aboard the Nostromo in 1979 caused people to sit up and notice, showing that aliens could in fact be a genuinely terrifying prospect. This alien couldn't be bargained with, couldn't be negotiated with, couldn't be played chess with - it was simply intent on ripping anyone it encountered limb from limb. It was the most prominent indicator yet that in motion picture SF, aliens don't want to play nice; the trend has proven the basis for the majority of alien movies since.

One of the most iconic expansions on the Alien template was Predator, which showcased a seven-foot armored motherfucker of an alien, who came pretty damn close to taking down Ahnuld in his action flick heyday (no mean feat) and established itself as one of the more famous aliens in science fiction history. Predators came to symbolize a more calculating, but equally hostile alien intelligence, one that killed for sport rather than malice, and were tooled up to the nines with a shload of weaponry capable of taking down a small militia (we will, of course, ignore the pussy Predator who couldn't finish off an out-of-shape Danny Glover in Predator 2). So, of course, bringing these two harbingers of doom together for an apocalyptic battle on earth couldn't fail to prove that above all else, aliens despise humanity and embrace conflict. Of course, the first Alien vs Predator wasn't a great movie experience, but it serves as a great example that alien species' have never heard Edwin Starr's 'War'. And now it seems that the violence is going to continue with Aliens vs Predator: Requiem, the trailer for which is fantastically bloody and features many exploding heads. Surely this is the apex of aliens engaging in hostilities with the human race, and with each other?

The Future

Credit where it's due, I didn't draw that picture, but it represents what I think should be an emergent trend in alien-oriented science fiction - friendly aliens. I mean when was the last time we saw a truly decent movie focusing on an alien that didn't want to blow up / eat / assimilate any humans it came across? E.T.? Flight of the Navigator? Well I'm sure there have been some since, but they escape my memory at the moment, possibly because I don't want anything factual to derail my ideas. The point is, I'm fed up with watching movies about alien invasions. Do all filmmakers really believe that an alien race sophisticated enough to develop the capacity for faster-than-light travel would locate another sentient species and immediately blow the shit out of us? I'm pretty sure they'd like to get a taste, so to speak, of what we're all about, before they discover things like McDonalds and Tim Westwood, and realize they probably need to exterminate us for our own good. And god forbid we have another movie where aliens are not only stupid enough to invade first and ask questions later, but to prove themselves blithely ignorant of the fact that some random component of Earth's atmosphere is actually quite fatal (Signs, I'm looking in your direction...).

Anyway, I'd love to see a movie taking a leaf out of the book of Alien Nation, a classic Mandy Patinkin / James Caan flick that postulates an Earth where humans live side by side (not always peacefully) with a humanoid alien race. While that film takes the setup and uses it to craft a pleasingly original buddy cop action movie, it'd be hugely interesting to see a similar idea fleshed out on a grander scale, with a peaceful alien race "moving in" as it were, and seeing the troubles our new roommates caused. The potential for political satire is absolutely rife, and in fact I'm surprised some clever, dogmatic filmmaker has yet to really cotton on to the concept. Lord knows there are plenty of those guys n' gals around. I won't go in to all the possibilities, because I'm sure anyone reasonably intelligent can flesh out the creative prospects for themselves. But just consider the math for a second - for every grain of sand on the planet, there are a million stars in the observable universe. Given those odds, isn't it a reasonable bet that we might one day share the planet with an alien race? I know I'd like Hollywood to give me an idea of what that might be like before it actually happens.


The Infosphere

Lots of stuff to catch up on from the past fortnight, so let's start with the oldest news.

Heroes creator Tim Kring has issued a public apology to the fans of the show for the disappointing second season.

You know what the problem is? People just aren't patient enough to follow developing storylines anymore. The second season isn't disappointing, it's intriguing - if you want the adrenaline rush of a bunch of unwitting superheroes using their powers to kick the shit out of each other, watch X-Men 3. Speaking of which…

Director Joe Carnahan has gotten people thinking that another X-Men spin-off, this one about Juggernaut, could be in the works.

A bit of an odd choice, really, as I don't think Juggernaut has quite the fanbase of Wolverine or Magneto. But hey, at least they're treating the whole franchise relatively seriously. Next up is Nightcrawler, hopefully!

Kevin Falls, creator of NBC's time-traveling series Journeyman, told the Premium Hollywood Web site that it's possible the freshman show will end with Episode 12, the last one produced, given the show's low ratings and the ongoing writers' strike. (courtesy of Sci Fi Wire)

Good lord, why aren't people willing to give things a chance in the world of TV! The show hasn't gotten off to a fantastic start, but the premise has plenty of potential and it would have been nice to see how Journeyman could have developed. Fingers crossed, I guess, but I wouldn't hold out much hope.

Ain't It Cool News reports that Christian Bale is set to play John Connor in the upcoming Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins for director McG.

Did I just complain about people being unwilling to give things a chance? Well, call me a big fat hypocrite if you like, but McG is not the right choice. I said my piece on that last week, so let's instead consider that Christian Bale is a fantastic actor and would probably be very good in the role of John Connor. Now If they can just get The Rock in to star as a T-100... or:

Producers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek recently spoke with EW.com, and they left the door open for an Arnold cameo in T4.

Yes! Return of the Governator!

Billie Piper, who played Rose Tyler during the first two seasons of the BBC's revived Doctor Who series, will return for three episodes in season four, the BBC confirmed. (courtesy of Sci Fi Wire)

Mixed feelings about this one - Rose is a great character, and with the Doctor in danger of suffering the companionship of Catherine Tate and Kylie Minogue for the majority of season four, it'd be nice to see the return of someone who wasn't really annoying. However, she was beautifully written out of the show, and it'd be a shame to see that imbalance affected. Still, at least the Doctor will be happy.

David Benioff, the screenwriter of the forthcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine, recently spoke with JewReview.net about the movie and confirmed that Silver Fox will be Wolverine's love interest.

Maggie Q is rumored for the role, apparently, which would be a decent choice in my book. Hopefully the inclusion of Fox hints at some emotive depth in this film, which is pleasing.

Billy Connolly, Amanda Peet and rapper Xzibit have signed on to appear in Chris Carter's upcoming X-Files sequel film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Buh? Eclectic doesn't even begin to describe that line up. Well, X-biscuit is charismatic if annoying, and Billy Connolly is surprisingly versatile as an actor, so I guess we'll have to wait and see what their roles are.


And finally…

As always, reader feedback and suggestions are welcome, I respond to everything so just drop me a line. You can also check out my column "The Wonder Years" over at 411 Games. Next week in "The Flux Capacitor" - we're taking to the road. Until then - keep watching the skies.