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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 16:17:53 GMT -5
Oh, good. I was feeling reluctant to break into the "100 Theoretically Least Boring Post-Provoking Star Trek Films or Series or Whatever" subthread, but coke & comics thoughtfully returned us to our regularly scheduled topic, to which I attribute quite a bit of my recent viewing, including Rain Without Thunder (which I'd never even heard of till he mentioned it) &, at long last, Terminator. That one must've really spurred me to fill in some gaps in my '80s viewing, because last night I clocked about 40 percent of Predator as well, though I had to quit when the BluRay disc kept scrambling. A replacement is en route via Netflix even as I type.
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Post by coke & comics on Jul 24, 2014 16:24:46 GMT -5
Predator is an important milestone in American history. It has so far spawned two state governors, and I think the Predator itself has a strong chance in coming Republican state primaries.
He is unfortunately not a US citizen by birth, so the presidency is out.
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Post by coke & comics on Jul 24, 2014 16:30:45 GMT -5
I'm going a bit slowly because I've decided rewatching these films helps write a bit about them, as there are so many I haven't seen in years. And rewatching sometimes makes me shuffle the list order a bit.
I rewatched Logan's Run Last Night and Minority Report last weekend.
The next two entries are also ones I haven't seen in years, but I may just live with that and write from-memory descriptions to keep things moving. We will see.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 24, 2014 16:34:06 GMT -5
Logan's Run had Farrah Fawcett just as she was about to become a major star in Charlie's Angels. For awhile thats how they promoted the movie
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2014 9:06:32 GMT -5
last night I clocked about 40 percent of Predator as well, though I had to quit when the BluRay disc kept scrambling. A replacement is en route via Netflix even as I type. Amd son-of-a-gun if the same damned thing didn't happen with the replacement disc, albeit a couple of minutes later in the movie. I was hoping they'd have a non-BluRay version available, but no such luck. I'll try again, but at this rate I'm starting to wonder if some Higher Power doesn't want me to see the second half (more or less) of the flick. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 26, 2014 18:35:01 GMT -5
I remember being a bit disappointed with the Star Trek movie when it came out.I recall the long,long scene of the camera panning over the Enterprise in slow motion giving you plenty of time for a candy counter run.And with all this super-science on display,you'd think Kirk would be sporting a better toupee.Besides which,the bald woman got alot of fan attention When I watched the DVD version with some deleted scenes re-inserted it seemed to improve the plot I just stumbled across this thread and I will say this: I respect all of the posters in the CCf, but cmon, this movie was slow and boring and suffered from poor editing. If 40 minutes of flying through space was edited out, it would have been a decent movie. |
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Post by berkley on Jul 26, 2014 21:21:13 GMT -5
last night I clocked about 40 percent of Predator as well, though I had to quit when the BluRay disc kept scrambling. A replacement is en route via Netflix even as I type. Amd son-of-a-gun if the same damned thing didn't happen with the replacement disc, albeit a couple of minutes later in the movie. I was hoping they'd have a non-BluRay version available, but no such luck. I'll try again, but at this rate I'm starting to wonder if some Higher Power doesn't want me to see the second half (more or less) of the flick. It couldn't be your dvd player that's the problem, could it? What did you think of Terminator, seeing it for the first time? I was as impressed as everyone else by the SE in Terminator II when it came out, but, as the years have gone by, I've come to feel that the first, low-budget Terminator is the superior film. |
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Post by coke & comics on Jul 27, 2014 0:43:11 GMT -5
Amd son-of-a-gun if the same damned thing didn't happen with the replacement disc, albeit a couple of minutes later in the movie. I was hoping they'd have a non-BluRay version available, but no such luck. I'll try again, but at this rate I'm starting to wonder if some Higher Power doesn't want me to see the second half (more or less) of the flick. It couldn't be your dvd player that's the problem, could it? Or perhaps the operator of the dvd player? |
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Post by coke & comics on Jul 27, 2014 0:56:46 GMT -5
88. Westworld (Crichton, 1973)
Westworld is Michael Crichton's vision of a futuristic amusement park that goes horribly wrong. Since it will not be his last such story, I am left to wonder if he had a really bad experience at Disneyworld once.
This amusement part features different worlds, where you can play a part along with lifelike robots. Options include Medieval World, Roman World, and Westworld. It all goes great until the robots run amok. This would later inspire Itchy and Scratchy Land on the Simpsons.
Like many science fiction films and many films on this list, Westworld warns of an over-reliance on automation. Always include a failsafe. We saw this already for example in Wargames. West World also gives us an early vision of robots run amok, foreshadowing many robot apocalypse films.
In Yul Brynner, we see an amoral killing machine. A determined and deadly robot, emotionless and implacable. The movie allows us to see through his eyes, a digitized view of the world, as he relentlessly hunts his human prey.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2014 3:18:36 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure I've never seen that, but the synopsis sounds very familiar, possibly when I was little. Or possibly I saw part of it flipping through the channels one day. I'm definitely going to look into it.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 27, 2014 6:34:03 GMT -5
88. Westworld (Crichton, 1973) Westworld is Michael Crichton's vision of a futuristic amusement park that goes horribly wrong. Since it will not be his last such story, I am left to wonder if he had a really bad experience at Disneyworld once. This amusement part features different worlds, where you can play a part along with lifelike robots. Options include Medieval World, Roman World, and Westworld. It all grows great until the robots run amok. This would later inspire Itchy and Scratchy Land on the Simpsons. Like many science fiction films and many films on this list, Westworld warns of an over-reliance on automation. Always include a failsafe. We saw this already for example in Wargames. Westworld also gives us an early vision of robots run amok, foreshadowing many robot apocalypse films. In Yul Brynner, we see an amoral killing machine. A determined and deadly robot, emotionless and implacable. The movie allows us to see through his eyes, a digitized view of the world, as he relentlessly hunts his human prey. This was a great movie. I have fond memories of it and Yul Bynner was great. I can still remember the classic line by James Brolin " I'm Shot ! I'm Shot !" |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,201 
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Post by Confessor on Jul 27, 2014 6:48:55 GMT -5
I just stumbled across this thread and I will say this: I respect all of the posters in the CCf, but cmon, this movie was slow and boring and suffered from poor editing. If 40 minutes of flying through space was edited out, it would have been a decent movie. Sorry, I gotta disagree...if 40 minutes of flying through space was edited out (you're exaggerating, I know), then the film would've lost a lot of its weight and grandeur. I think the pacing and the editing of the movie was spot on for the sort of film it was. Does ST:TMP zip at you like Star Wars did? No, of course not....but this is Star Trek, a very different beast to Star Wars. last night I clocked about 40 percent of Predator as well, though I had to quit when the BluRay disc kept scrambling. A replacement is en route via Netflix even as I type. Amd son-of-a-gun if the same damned thing didn't happen with the replacement disc, albeit a couple of minutes later in the movie. I was hoping they'd have a non-BluRay version available, but no such luck. I'll try again, but at this rate I'm starting to wonder if some Higher Power doesn't want me to see the second half (more or less) of the flick. It couldn't be your dvd player that's the problem, could it? This is what I was thinking. What Dan's describing reminds me of a problem that my old DVD player developed, in which certain movies would get almost exactly half way through (up to where the dual layer transition was, maybe???) and then would start to scramble and freeze for long periods, making the film unwatchable. I had amazon send me 3 copies of Batman: The Dark Knight Rises before I concluded that I needed a new DVD player.  88. Westworld (Crichton, 1973) Westworld is Michael Crichton's vision of a futuristic amusement park that goes horribly wrong. Since it will not be his last such story, I am left to wonder if he had a really bad experience at Disneyworld once. This amusement part features different worlds, where you can play a part along with lifelike robots. Options include Medieval World, Roman World, and Westworld. It all grows great until the robots run amok. This would later inspire Itchy and Scratchy Land on the Simpsons. Like many science fiction films and many films on this list, Westworld warns of an over-reliance on automation. Always include a failsafe. We saw this already for example in Wargames. Westworld also gives us an early vision of robots run amok, foreshadowing many robot apocalypse films. In Yul Brynner, we see an amoral killing machine. A determined and deadly robot, emotionless and implacable. The movie allows us to see through his eyes, a digitized view of the world, as he relentlessly hunts his human prey. A great movie and a forerunner of Crichton's later Jurassic Park without a doubt. The major differance being a biological threat, rather than an automated one. But the over-reliance on computer systems and their safeguards is the same. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2014 7:02:17 GMT -5
It couldn't be your dvd player that's the problem, could it? Or perhaps the operator of the dvd player? Could be, but it hasn't happened (knock wood) with anything even remotely approaching consistency with any other disc (much less two of the same movie) on which obvious scratches, specks of material or the like aren't visible. I'm almost reminded of how (as I think I've mentioned before) with my previous TV, with which I had to use an RF modulator, I discovered that I couldn't watch Universal Studios DVDs. Every other manufacturers' discs played just fine. I eventually gave up & replace the modulator (a Philips), after which I had no further problems. Weird. As to whether my player has developed, through aging or whatever (it's maybe a couple of years old, tops), a problem reading (if that's the correct verb) BluRay discs, I have no idea. I've watched at least a couple of movies since I returned the first Predator disc, but I just checked, & my Netflix rental history doesn't indicate whether a given disc was was BluRay or not. I'm pretty sure Under the Skin was BluRay, though, & I had no problems with it. That was probably right before Predator, though. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 27, 2014 11:58:07 GMT -5
Dan-there was a certain method of DVD encoding employed a decade back, possibly called DVD-14 or something like that, that gave certain models of DVD players problems. Basically after one hour plus of playing time, the disc is supposed to change to the next layer for more recorded material. DVD-14 caused many models to freeze rather than successfully skip. Those early editions of Universal Legacy Monster sets of Frankenstein and Dracula gave lots of people problems too as I recall. Thankfully after many various complaints DVD-14 was abandoned
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2014 12:01:16 GMT -5
Basically after one hour plus of playing time, the disc is supposed to change to the next layer for more recorded material. DVD-14 caused many models to freeze rather than successfully skip. Those early editions of Universal Legacy Monster sets of Frankenstein and Dracula gave lots of people problems too as I recall. Thankfully after many various complaints DVD-14 was abandoned Interesting. IIRC, the Dracula disc from that set was the first one I ran into with that problem. Then again, the Universal discs didn't freeze for me; rather, I experienced really bad picture dropout, static, snow, etc., starting within the first couple of minutes of a movie. |
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