Sci-Fi Odyssey: Exploring the Galaxies of Cinema
From Dystopias to Alien Encounters: A Cinematic Guide
A cinematic journey through diverse sci-fi worlds: From post-apocalyptic seas to futuristic dystopias, explore the visual wonders of "Waterworld," "Rollerball," "Predestination," "Blade Runner 2049," "Serenity," and "Cyber City Oedo 808."
by Steven Hurst
On the Film Utopia podcast, every summer we take on a larger project than we might normally do in a month and span it over the summer months. Previous projects include covering the entirety of Star Trek (films and shows), action heroes from the 80s, and the entire filmography and film scores from John Carpenter. This year we decided to tackle Science Fiction. We broke this down into 7 shows, each focusing on a well-worn sub-genre of Science Fiction: Time Travel, Post Apocalypse, Space Opera, Science Out of Control, Utopia/Dystopia, Alien Contact and The Punks
We took a breather after these shows in favor of other topics and then we came back to sci-fi for our November show - where we rounded up our discussion on all the sub-genres by presenting one film pick from each and talked about how well it did the brand it was categorised in. For this article, I will present my seven choices, and I will have a look at them to see what the best possible options are on physical media
So, let’s get cracking!
Time Travel
Predestination
We discussed many different aspects of time travel and this one is the whole snake eating its own tale, or “Ouroboros.” Predestination is a tightly scripted thriller with two very compelling performances at the centre of it from Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook (of Succession fame). The MacGuffin of an agency that uses time travel to solve crimes takes second fiddle to the engaging drama of the people at the centre of the mystery. How life has treated them, the circumstances they found themselves in and the consequences of the decisions they made going forward. To say anything else would spoil the experience.
The best Blu-ray you can get out there seems to be the Australia JB Hi-Fi release and the Sony release as they have identical extras. There are two feature “making-of” documentaries and additional smaller extras. The one to avoid is the UK release where there are no extras and the film’s aspect ratio is also cropped!
Best Option: Australia JB Hi-Fi and Sony release
We discussed many different aspects of time travel and this one is the whole snake eating its own tale, or “Ouroboros.” Predestination is a tightly scripted thriller with two very compelling performances at the centre of it from Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook (of Succession fame). The MacGuffin of an agency that uses time travel to solve crimes takes second fiddle to the engaging drama of the people at the centre of the mystery. How life has treated them, the circumstances they found themselves in and the consequences of the decisions they made going forward. To say anything else would spoil the experience.
The best Blu-ray you can get out there seems to be the Australia JB Hi-Fi release and the Sony release as they have identical extras. There are two feature “making-of” documentaries and additional smaller extras. The one to avoid is the UK release where there are no extras and the film’s aspect ratio is also cropped!
Best Option: Australia JB Hi-Fi and Sony release
Post Apocalypse
Waterworld
Waterworld wasn’t treated well upon its release, but time does heal all wounds. Waterworld was and still is an engaging romp set in the distant future where the polar icecaps have melted leaving nothing by the vast seas for people to live on. And somehow it also manages to be a decent action flick that’s more family-friendly than a Mad Max, and yet still can be defined within that harrowing future-scape that Miller created. Kevin Costner and director Kevin Reynolds delivered a hugely enjoyable and engaging film that stands up very well today, especially in terms of the practical set work and stunts on display. James Newton Howard also provides a terrific music score throughout the film.
It took forever and a day for a decent Waterworld Blu-ray to come, but finally Arrow Video managed it. It comes with some fairly decent extras including a documentary from some of the participants of the film. Costner is the most notably absent here which is a shame as he did show up for the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves commentary with Reynolds, but sadly neither of them deliver a track here. Reynolds does show up for the documentary though. There are also two other cuts of the film. A TV cut which comes minus swearing (which isn't a big deal as there is barely any swearing in the film anyway) and the almost 3-hour version of the film show on the sci-fi channel is worth checking out for more depth about the world created. Waterworld also comes in a lovely box set including various art cards and a poster. Since this release, Arrow have given a 4K upgrade as well.
Best Option: UK Arrow Video
Waterworld wasn’t treated well upon its release, but time does heal all wounds. Waterworld was and still is an engaging romp set in the distant future where the polar icecaps have melted leaving nothing by the vast seas for people to live on. And somehow it also manages to be a decent action flick that’s more family-friendly than a Mad Max, and yet still can be defined within that harrowing future-scape that Miller created. Kevin Costner and director Kevin Reynolds delivered a hugely enjoyable and engaging film that stands up very well today, especially in terms of the practical set work and stunts on display. James Newton Howard also provides a terrific music score throughout the film.
It took forever and a day for a decent Waterworld Blu-ray to come, but finally Arrow Video managed it. It comes with some fairly decent extras including a documentary from some of the participants of the film. Costner is the most notably absent here which is a shame as he did show up for the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves commentary with Reynolds, but sadly neither of them deliver a track here. Reynolds does show up for the documentary though. There are also two other cuts of the film. A TV cut which comes minus swearing (which isn't a big deal as there is barely any swearing in the film anyway) and the almost 3-hour version of the film show on the sci-fi channel is worth checking out for more depth about the world created. Waterworld also comes in a lovely box set including various art cards and a poster. Since this release, Arrow have given a 4K upgrade as well.
Best Option: UK Arrow Video
Space Opera
Serenity
Wanting to step away from all things Star Wars or Star Trek, my pick for Space Opera was harder than I thought as it turns out that “Space Opera” is my least favourite of the science fiction sub-genres. Still, that doesn’t mean that there are not worthy films out there and Serenity took me by surprise back in 2005 when it came out. It was a welcome alternative to George Lucas’ Revenge of the Sith that same year.
Serenity - as many of you know - is a direct follow-on from the notoriously cancelled show Firefly. The cast is all back and the world gets a big budget boost as Joss Whedon takes us on an adventure that starts to answer some of the questions the show raised and characters are developed further.
Most of the Blu-ray and 4K versions have existing extras from the film's first DVD release. A couple of audio commentaries with director Joss Whedon, and one with some of his cast - which can also be viewed as a video commentary. And there are a bunch of extended and deleted scenes and short featurettes. It does seem likely that this will swing back around some day with a retrospective look on the film. But until then, this is decent.
Best Option: Any
Wanting to step away from all things Star Wars or Star Trek, my pick for Space Opera was harder than I thought as it turns out that “Space Opera” is my least favourite of the science fiction sub-genres. Still, that doesn’t mean that there are not worthy films out there and Serenity took me by surprise back in 2005 when it came out. It was a welcome alternative to George Lucas’ Revenge of the Sith that same year.
Serenity - as many of you know - is a direct follow-on from the notoriously cancelled show Firefly. The cast is all back and the world gets a big budget boost as Joss Whedon takes us on an adventure that starts to answer some of the questions the show raised and characters are developed further.
Most of the Blu-ray and 4K versions have existing extras from the film's first DVD release. A couple of audio commentaries with director Joss Whedon, and one with some of his cast - which can also be viewed as a video commentary. And there are a bunch of extended and deleted scenes and short featurettes. It does seem likely that this will swing back around some day with a retrospective look on the film. But until then, this is decent.
Best Option: Any
Science out of Control
Blade Runner 2049
One of the few belated sequels that came and exceeded expectations. Blade Runner 2049 expands the world created 25 years ago and delivers a thought-provoking and frankly beautiful piece of science fiction. And as it is a Blade Runner movie, you can expect a fair number of overpopulated streets, harsh punishments, tech vs human ingenuity and a lot of soul-searching whilst searching for and hunting down replicants.
Blade Runner 2049 is likely one that will be revisited with a more substantial release in the future. However, the existing extras on most discs include a few featurettes about the making of the film and three short prologue films that are worth investigating.
Best Option: Any
One of the few belated sequels that came and exceeded expectations. Blade Runner 2049 expands the world created 25 years ago and delivers a thought-provoking and frankly beautiful piece of science fiction. And as it is a Blade Runner movie, you can expect a fair number of overpopulated streets, harsh punishments, tech vs human ingenuity and a lot of soul-searching whilst searching for and hunting down replicants.
Blade Runner 2049 is likely one that will be revisited with a more substantial release in the future. However, the existing extras on most discs include a few featurettes about the making of the film and three short prologue films that are worth investigating.
Best Option: Any
Dystopia/Utopia
Rollerball
In the future, the world is run by big energy companies, women are commodities, and the violent sport of Rollerball is the most popular entertainment at the time. The most popular player is Jonathan E who heads up the Huston team. The film opens with them beating Madrid and looking forward to two more games to define their win of the season. The game is brutal and violent and Jonathan finds himself slowly being partitioned away from the limelight by his superiors. They want him out and not asking questions along the way. The games that follow have the rules twisted and bent to make it more savage and up the ante. Jonathan has other ideas about quietly slinking away into the dark and instead stands up to the authorities that have been controlling him and everyone else.
Arrow Video did a decent Blu-ray years ago, but more recently Shout Factory did the 4K restoration which has all of the extras of the Arrow set and more. The film may be dated by the 70s fashions and haircuts, but the message is clear and the proximity of how accurate the film has become is very scary indeed. The game itself is excellent and whilst it was made with the intention to make commentary about violence, you also can’t help but get caught up in how glorious the violence is.
Best Option: USA Shout Factory.
In the future, the world is run by big energy companies, women are commodities, and the violent sport of Rollerball is the most popular entertainment at the time. The most popular player is Jonathan E who heads up the Huston team. The film opens with them beating Madrid and looking forward to two more games to define their win of the season. The game is brutal and violent and Jonathan finds himself slowly being partitioned away from the limelight by his superiors. They want him out and not asking questions along the way. The games that follow have the rules twisted and bent to make it more savage and up the ante. Jonathan has other ideas about quietly slinking away into the dark and instead stands up to the authorities that have been controlling him and everyone else.
Arrow Video did a decent Blu-ray years ago, but more recently Shout Factory did the 4K restoration which has all of the extras of the Arrow set and more. The film may be dated by the 70s fashions and haircuts, but the message is clear and the proximity of how accurate the film has become is very scary indeed. The game itself is excellent and whilst it was made with the intention to make commentary about violence, you also can’t help but get caught up in how glorious the violence is.
Best Option: USA Shout Factory.
Alien Contact
Mars Attacks
Tim Burton went full science fiction satire and aped the alien invasion films from yesteryear. Giant-brained aliens from Mars arrive and start setting the world ablaze. A hilariously game-supporting cast has fun running away from and getting zapped by the little terrors and it’s all done with its tongue in its cheek. You can tell that the filmmakers laughed as they made it. The film is very stylish and has a super score from Burton regular Danny Elfman. The third act plays it maybe a little too straight with only a boring set of survivors left standing from the cast, but it was a gas getting there!
The best disc? Utter bullshit!
One does not exist yet that is worthy of any collector, but that can surely mean that it is only a matter of time before one of the houses puts together a package worthy of this delicious bit of sci-fi alien invasion fun.
Best Option: None!
Tim Burton went full science fiction satire and aped the alien invasion films from yesteryear. Giant-brained aliens from Mars arrive and start setting the world ablaze. A hilariously game-supporting cast has fun running away from and getting zapped by the little terrors and it’s all done with its tongue in its cheek. You can tell that the filmmakers laughed as they made it. The film is very stylish and has a super score from Burton regular Danny Elfman. The third act plays it maybe a little too straight with only a boring set of survivors left standing from the cast, but it was a gas getting there!
The best disc? Utter bullshit!
One does not exist yet that is worthy of any collector, but that can surely mean that it is only a matter of time before one of the houses puts together a package worthy of this delicious bit of sci-fi alien invasion fun.
Best Option: None!
The Punks
Cyber City Oedo 808
Box set of "Cyber City Oedo 808," featuring detailed packaging, bonus booklet, and two discs with the complete series.
Back in the early 90s, fans of cyberpunk anime were treated to a three-episode series focussing on criminals becoming lawmen. Criminals of the future seem to have hundreds of years on their sentence and working for the police allows them to have some of that time chipped off their record. The downside is that the work is highly dangerous and often life-threatening. But that doesn’t stop our trio of leads from diving in and taking on the cases that come along.
The show is stylish, very reminiscent of what we saw in the likes of Akira, but goes even further with the technology. The characters are all likeable, foul-mouthed, and we get to have each episode focus on one of them whilst the other two support the action. Oh, and the action in the show is superb.
A UK Blu-ray finally made its way and came with some surprising extras from Anime Ltd. A 60-minute online chat with various people involved in the UK production, especially the score that was written for the short series is very interesting. The makers themselves from Japan deliver two commentaries for the first two of the three episodes. Why they didn’t deliver a track for the third for completeness is a mystery. It also comes in a hardcover box with several art cards featuring the main characters. It would have been worth it for the upgraded picture alone, but with these extras it’s a real treat.
Best Option: UK Anime Ltd
Film Utopia consists of Steven Hurst, Benjamin Begley and Sean Kennedy. We are a monthly podcast, but often do extra shows as we tend to do a lot of retrospective specials. You can find all of these shows and more from Film Utopia at: https://filmutopia.podbean.com/
Co-host of Film Utopia