Cube (1997) is a psychological thriller in the sci-fi setting. It features mainly unknown actors, but you will probably recognize David Hewlett if you’ve seen Stargate Atlantis. The movie was directed by Vincenzo Natali.
Six different people, each from a very different walk of life, awaken to find themselves inside a giant cube with thousands of possible rooms. Each has a skill that becomes clear when they must band together to get out: a cop, a math whiz, a building designer, a doctor, an escape master, and a disabled man. Each plays a part in their thrilling quest to find answers as to why they’ve been imprisoned.
First time I saw this movie is already quite some time ago, but I watched it many times after. I think I could say it’s a “cult” movie.
I thought it was quite brilliant – you follow a couple of people right after they have been imprisoned in these strange, futuristic looking boxes, cubes. The only way to escape… Well, they honestly have no clue. And there’s a catch (of course there is): all but one adjacent cube are set with deadly traps. The only way to recognize the right one? The one with only prime numbers…
I’m trying not too spoil too much, but this movie will definitely leave you wondering after it finished.
What would it be like to find yourself imprisoned in these cubes? What would it be like to not have any clue why you’re imprisoned, or how to get out?
What would it be like to know you should be able to get out, but have no idea how to?
Cube is absolutely haunting – the way the characters experience the ordeal is very extreme. The fear, paranoia and extreme tension keep you on the edge of your seat during the entire movie.
On July 4, 1981, one of the first persons killed by a robot was reported. Japanese 37 year-old Kenji Uruda worked in a Kawasaki Heavy Industries factory as a maintenance engineer. He was working on a broken robot. He had forgotten to turn off the robot completely, which resulted in his death: the hydraulic arm of the robot pushed him slowly into a grinding machine. His death was not made public until December 8 that year, after the investigation by the labor standards bureau was completed.
Uruda was not the first person to be killed by a robot. Two years earlier, a man named Robert Williams was killed after he was struck by a robotic arm in a casting plant in Michigan.
Were these the first signs that robots are innately evil?
Look at this video and see how far we have progressed toward total annihilation by our Cylon creations.
She looks a little clumsy still, but this was 2010. The One True God only knows where we stand now… Imagine that shaky, cold, evil looking thing approach you while you’re asleep. *shivers* I think she looks rather creepy.
I hope with this story and these videos I have inspired you to write another flash fiction story. Write a 1000 words on death caused by a robot (and that can be about our race’s destruction or a single death like, feel free to be very creative).
I love to read your stories so don’t forget to share it here!
Please share your thoughts about this phenomenon. I think this is an issue very much of today and our near future. Have you ever thought about the possibilities? The chance that we will actually be destroyed by robots I think is relatively small, but still… The idea gives me goosebumps.
The Day After Tomorrow (2004) is a science fiction disaster movie. It features Dennis Quaid and Donnie Darko (woops, I mean Jake Gyllenhaal) and was directed by Roland Emmerich. The movie depicts the possible effects of global warming, which eventually leads to a new ice age.
A summary:
As Paleoclimatologist Jack Hall was in Antartica, he discovers that a huge ice sheet has been sheared off. But what he did not know is that this event would trigger a massive climate shift that would effect the world population. Meanwhile, his son, Sam was with friends in New York to attend an event. There they discover that it has been raining non-stop for the past 3 weeks, and after a series of weather related disasters that occurred over the world. Everybody soon realizes that the world is going to enter a new ice age, as the rest of the world population tries to evacuate to the warm climates of the south. Jack makes a daring attempt to rescue his son and his friends who are stuck in New York, who have to survive not only a massive wave, but freezing cold temperatures that could possibly kill them.
It’s been some time since I last saw this movie, but I remember it quite clearly. I was particularly impressed by the visual effects, which conveyed the idea of “our modern world in an ice age” quite brilliantly.
The characters in this movie were one-dimensional – they were, just like the plot, a bit cliché. The worried dad who warned the whole world about the effect global warning might have goes out to save his son “and is the only one to go north while the rest of the world is heading south”. Please.
Now, story wise, this movie is obviously far from a gem. However, it is a very enjoyable Hollywood blockbuster, as long as you turn off your brain and eat a pound of popcorn.
The reason why I wanted to feature this movie for the sci-fi movie analysis is because the movie does make me think.
We have all been made aware of the possible effects of global warming. Do you, personally think that the next ice age is on our proverbial doorstep? Do you think that climate change will take such a sudden leap that the whole world will be covered in ice in a matter of months?
Do you pay attention to your “ecological footprint“? Have you done anything to reduce it? I especially wonder about my American readers – my National Geographic magazine told me the US citizens are the biggest consumers of our planet’s resources. Were you aware of this?
I am not a big “consumer”, I think. I personally don’t own a car, and although my boyfriend does we use it rarely (because we live in a city center we don’t need it often). I go places mostly by public transport or by foot. I turn off the lights in my house whenever I can and we eat very little meat. Things I could still improve… We don’t have insulated (or double) glazing at the moment – we live in a rented apartment that’s 150 years old and so its insulation could be much improved, I think. However, we can’t afford it and my landlord sure as hell is not going to change it (he’s rather frugal, so to speak). I could take shorter showers, although I think the average time I take to shower are around three minutes. I should probably fly (by plane) less often, too. If only there was a less polluting alternative for airplanes.
Please share your thoughts and experiences. And if you have any ideas about what we can do to reduce our ecological footprint, please share!
Today we’ll discuss Avatar(2009), ranked #21 of best sci-fi movies of all time! It features Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver and was directed by the director of Aliens, Titanic and Terminator: James Cameron.
When his brother is killed in a robbery, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge’s intentions of driving off the native humanoid “Na’vi” in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland. In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na’vi people with the use of an “avatar” identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand – and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.
The first time I watched this movie, I watched it in 3D. It was the first movie I watched in 3D, too. I was breathless the entire movie. The visuals, the story, the… everything, made me wish the movie lasted longer than those three hours. I thought it was fantastic.
What I particularly enjoyed is how brilliantly they portrayed an alien world and the alien culture. It was done very creatively and in a way it was magical, not in the very least because of the spectacular graphics. Never have I seen a movie before where the computer graphics were so advanced and real looking. Watch this video if you’re interested in how they created the world of Pandora.
Some people might find Avatar a too moralistic story (or even corny), after all, it’s about how the human race comes to an alien planet to steal their resources, without respecting the inhabitants of the planet and nearly destroying them and their world in the process. Then, the locals “strike back” and somehow win, although they’re far behind in technological advancement. How often have we not seen or read stories like this?
It’s the execution that makes it work though. The story is well written, the writers make you care dearly about the Na’vi and make you hate your own kind – although you will without a doubt love Jake Sully, the hero of the story.
I know this is a question that’s highly subjective to social desirability bias, but what would you do if you were Jake Sully? Would you too want to protect the alien race? I think you’d be surprised how many people would just go ahead and follow the authorities (read this if you don’t believe me). Not many people go ahead and defy their leaders, whether it be a police or military officer, or any other authoritative figure you deem credible.
Would you be ready to give up your life for other people? Our Western individualistic consumer culture doesn’t really inspire these kind of selfless acts, I think.
Please share your thoughts about the philosophy behind this movie – did you pick up other philosophies than I?
If you haven’t seen this movie yet (which I doubt), you should go see it as soon as possible. If you’ve seen it, were you as amazed as I was, or did you think it was less great?
Before you go… Don’t forget to participate in this week’s Weird Phenomenon Flash Fiction Challenge: “The Hum“!
District 9(2009) is a science fiction thriller, starring Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope and David James, it was written and directed by Neill Blomkamp and produced by LotR dude Peter Jackson.
In 1982, a massive star ship bearing a bedraggled alien population, nicknamed “The Prawns,” appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. Twenty-eight years later, the initial welcome by the human population has faded. The refugee camp where the aliens were located has deteriorated into a militarized ghetto called District 9, where they are confined and exploited in squalor. In 2010, the munitions corporation, Multi-National United, is contracted to forcibly evict the population with operative Wikus van der Merwe in charge. In this operation, Wikus is exposed to a strange alien chemical and must rely on the help of his only two new ‘Prawn’ friends.
After I saw that trailer last year, I didn’t quite know what to think. This movie could be either REALLY bad or REALLY good. I’m happy to say I thought it was the latter (even if the ending’s a little crazy), but I heard many say they thought it was horrible. Ah, the fine line between loving and hating something.
What I particularly liked about this movie is that for once, the rest of the world was involved with the alien encounter. Many movies that are about alien “invasions” show only what happens in the US – which makes me, as a citizen of the rest of the world, doubt the movie’s credibility. Because come on, can you imagine an alien race only invading the US if it were bent on conquest? The arrogance (or ignorance or whatever you’d like to call it) of those writers and directors and otherwise creatively involved people makes me cringe. So, this movie is set in South Africa, which is a nice touch. No CIA, no FBI, no US military… But still lots of shooting and action, no worries.
This movie debates the arrival of an alien race and how the human kind would react to it.
How do you think people would react to an alien encounter?
Three months after the arrival of the aliens in 1982, their ship was entered, where the aliens were found sick and malnourished. They were initially helped back to health, then were sent to District 9, where they were put in camps what evolved to be not unlike the camps we know from the second world war – including the horrid experiments, excluding the mass murder.
It was interesting to see that even though the aliens weren’t necessarily evil, they were still viewed that way. They didn’t even do anything that could be seen as “evil” (or does causing “unrest” count as evil?). Maybe it was because the humans knew they had superior technology? That if it came to it, that they would be able to defend themselves if they got access to their mothership?
Do you think humans will always be as prejudiced as we are now?
Please share your thoughts!
Have you seen this movie? Did you like it or not? If you haven’t seen it yet, are you planning on seeing it?
Dutch 23-year-old SF/F YA writer, BSc in Psychology and soon MA in Global Criminology. She is creative, easily bored, and craves tea all the time. Also: "science isn't about why, it's about why not" - Cave Johnson.
June 23, 2011
4 Comments