Little Dieter Needs To Fly

Every once in a while a picture comes along that brings us back down to Earth and reality- a little non-fiction if you will.

I was prompted to dig a little deeper upon learning Christian Bale's latest project, Rescue Dawn, was based on a true story. Furthermore, Director Werner Herzog had not only directed Rescue Dawn but had earlier directed a documentary upon which the film was based, Little Dieter Needs To Fly.

Herzog is more than an ingenius filmmaker, but one who understands and captures those intimate moments of humanity. He has directed a number of fine films least of which is the fairly well known Grizzly Man. You may have heard of that one.

Few have heard of the film Little Dieter Needs To Fly, the basis for Rescue Dawn, but this is a haunting, moving film so extraordinary it's hard to believe it's real. It's also hard to believe the man, Dieter Dengler, remains the kind of quality human being he portrays for us here on film to the people around him every day.

Even more striking this man, once a prisoner of war, walks so comfortably in this life freely leaving his home open to all. Can you imagine a world where you can leave your doors unlocked? It once existed, but is slowly becoming a thing of the past, however for Dieter he has experienced the chains of imprisonment and today happily soaks up freedoms we take for granted. He is indeed a special person.

This 74 minute feature revisits the dream of German-born Dieter Dengler and his desire to become a United States pilot from the very early years of his life. His impoverished life seemed like one unimaginable challenge after another and yet he persevered. As a young boy during World War II, his family boiled wall paper and glue for sustenance. His grandfather was the only man in his hometown who stood firmly against Adolph Hitler. Life was harsh on his family and for Dieter it would only get harder. Little did he know what awaited him as a prisoner of war during Vietnam.

Dengler never wavered in his mission to become an American citizen. He came to America at 18. Vietnam came along and the story continues as Dengler became a prisoner of war under the control of the Viet Cong after being shot down over Laos. Remarkably, following starvation and torture, he escaped. He refused to sign a paper against the country that gave him his wings. The story might not touch your life, but it should your heart if you have one. He is a simple man who figures himself not a hero, but a survivor. He recounts his day to to day experience weaving a tale of courage. Herzog masterfully chronicles Dieter's life and God bless Dieter Dengler for being the quality human being he is and sharing his story. He's an inspiration.

***

Note: Surprisingly, the trials in Dieter's life have not hardened his heart to show love for strangers even those who once bound his legs and hands and tried to smother his spirit.

This sequence speaks to the character of a good man, one to proudly call a fellow American. I highly recommend taking time out to see Little Dieter Needs To Fly and to follow up with Rescue Dawn.

Litte Dieter Needs To Fly: A

Nemesis

So, what was your favorite Stargate SG-1 Season finale? A recent poll indicated those pesky Replicators to be a fan favorite as the ultimate enemy of SG-1.

And thus the Replicators' legacy began...


One of my choices would have to be Nemesis. This could easily be the template for what a brilliant season finale should offer. Nemesis is a brilliant closer to Season 3. Again, it is a credit to the work of writer/ director Robert Cooper and Martin Wood with their fine cast and strong effects team.

It is Jack-packed full of exciting material, builds big time on mythology and single-handedly takes SG-1 into new unknowns. This is the episode that officially introduced the enemy of the Asgard [and now Earth], the Replicators, to the Gate universe. Pure sci-fi at its best as the Replicator introduction brought forth a most worthy adversary that has reverberated throughout Stargate well into Stargate Atlantis today.

In truth, the nasty bugs were first referenced informally by Thor back in Season 3, Episode 3 [Fair Game], but are unveiled here in all their metallic splendor.

A weakened Thor has summoned the assistance of Jack O'Neill [Richard Dean Anderson] to battle the Replicators aboard his ship which is quickly being usurped of control and its precious Asgard technology into the collective Replicator intelligence. SG-1 is in full-on team and battle mode here waging all-out war with these mechanical munchers as they literally overrun Thor's ship. O'Neill receives the help of Teal'c and Carter as they attempt to keep the Replicators at bay, not die, abandon the Asgard ship just prior to Earth entry, save Thor, and stop the Replicators from landing on the planet and overruning Earth. Whew! All in a day's work folks! It's a nailbiter.



Nemesis is genre television perfection, but it's also just great storytelling. They definitely set a new standard and really took Stargate SG-1 into untapped sci-fi realms and elevated expectations.

There have been some solid season finales but this ranks as one of the top 5 for this show. It simply kicks ass!

Oh, and that cliffhanger...


You'll have to checkout Season 4 opener Small Victories to catch the rousing sequel. I will admit, the Replicators storyline is one of my personal favorites in science-fiction and maybe someday I'll take the time to draw up a fan collective of the the entire thread. Now if I could only find some sort of time dilation device to make that happen.

Nemesis: A

The Return Of Starbuck

...and now the conclusion to Galactica 1980.

The title is rich. The Return Of Starbuck is laughable for many reasons not least of which is that it misleads you to think he's returning to the Galactica. Not so.

So the question is, does it refer to a return of the glory days of Battlestar Galactica? Does Dirk Benedict [Starbuck] redirect the course of Galactica 1980?

The fact that this is the last installment in the series speaks volumes, but the answer in short is NOT A CHANCE!

I have read on ocassion this one episode alone single-handedly rights the ship and validates the purchase of Galactica 1980. I'm hear to say it does not, so save your money.

The story begins with young, miracle child Dr. Z narrating as he speaks with Commander Adama about his dream of a warrior named Starbuck. This is the backstory of Starbuck's disappearance. Following a firefight with the cylons [alongside partner Boomer], his viper is hit and he and a cylon raider crash land on an unknown, but habitable planet. The story begins well. Credit goes to Herbert Jefferson and Dirk Benedict for raising the bar of this episode's results above the rest. It's better initially, but goes south quickly for the second half. The first half is kind of like Galactica's version of Castaway.

Here's a decent scene from the first portion of the show.


Eventually, Starbuck, clearly not a rocket scientist, somehow activates one of the centurians and its companionship serves up a second half that is like a perversion of Enemy Mine [1985]. The two work together for mutual survival. Actually, it's more for Starbuck's survival since the cylon is nothing more than a walking tin can. Where is Starbuck getting food from on this desolate planet? The cylon [dubbed 'Cy' by Starbuck] departs the encampment and brings back a "wo-man" for Starbuck albeit out of thin air. Where the hell did she come from? She's also preganant! Huh? Starbuck is dubbed the father and makes the baby a cradle! WTF! You see, it goes wrong quickly. Logic flies out the window at the half-way point and it becomes just another piece of hot, steaming Galactica 1980 crap. Oh, by the way, McCord and Van Dyke apparently got their walking papers because they're nowhere to be found!

Here's a scene from this complete debacle of a second half that degraded into utter kookiness.


In the end, more cylons land and it's a shootout, but Cy stands by Starbuck's side because they are "friends." Thank God this was the last episode. Have mercy. I couldn't take another morality play of this caliber again. Starbuck assembles a spaceship out of the scrap heap of parts. Hmmm, maybe he is a rocket scientist. Starbuck launches his "wo-man" into space with their newborn baby and he remains behind to die a lonely death. That baby turns out to be stupid Dr. Z. Thankfully Larson addressed this question because it had been really gnawing at me since the beginning to find out more. Dr. Z was such a well-defined character and such a likeable addition to the cast! NOT! Stupid! Die!

More importantly, what the hell happened to Apollo? Remember him, Adama's son. Yeah, the guy who made Battlestar Galactica special. That was the series and the man that helped propel the powers that be into spawning a modern day reimagining. Fortunately, Richard Hatch saw the writing on the wall, or the lack of writing perhaps, and stayed far away from this Galactica meltdown. It's like the space version of Titanic.

Had the episode killed off Dr. Z and Cy, left the woman out, gone with a sharper script and concentrated solely on a deserted Starbuck being hunted by the cylons you may have had an entry that belonged within the classic Battlestar Galactica cannon. The bottom line, Larson lost his way or was rushed or whatever. More importantly the original cast had charm and chemistry, which explains why Dirk Benedict elevates the material here briefly. Galactica 1980 missed all of that. Benedict, as good as he is, just can't save this poorly conceived, poorly written, poorly executed show.

Worse yet for me personally, I'll never get this time back.

The Return Of Starbuck: F
Galactica 1980: F

Galactica 1980

TV has come a long way indeed. This is embarassing stuff!

The 10 episode Galactica 1980 essentially ATTEMPTS to bring some sense of closure to the original Battlestar Galactica. Boy oh boy, does it fail miserably.

The cast includes the returning grey-bearded Lorne Greene, Herbert Jefferson Jr. [Boomer], Kent McCord [Troy aka Boxey], Barry Van Dyke [Dylan] and a stupid creation called Dr.Z [played by the kid, Oliver, on The Brady Bunch for the first three riveting episodes].

Guests include none other than the late Robert Reed [Mr. Brady- "goodnight Mr. and Mrs. Brady" fame], William Daniels [the voice of KITT in Knight Rider], Wolfman Jack [WTF!] and appearances by the little girl from the newer episodes of Little House On The Prairie [Missy Francis].

This is a space opera disaster of epic proportions that takes place mostly on low-budgeted Earth. The premise for the whole thing becomes preposterous as all of these crazy ideas sort of get tossed together. It's like someone said "What would happen if he we made space motorbikes for the colonial warriors?". It's bloody CHiPs Galactica!

Glen A Larson has clearly lost his mind.


Episode Guide:
Galactica Discovers Earth [D]: The premiere is like one big bad 'Bad'lestar nightmare. The score of old has been supplanted by a kind of hodgepodge that sounds like intergalactic CHiPs noodling. Pure cheese. Where's Jon and Ponch when you need them? McCord and Van Dyke are sent on a mission to Earth from the Galactica. Commander Adama assesses the planet is not technologically advanced enough to defend itself against a cylon invasion if the Galactica is followed there. The boys are sent to find Reed, a nuclear physicist where they pick up the token female, reporter Jamie Hamilton, for the series. McCord and Van Dyke play the whole 'fish out of water' routine as aliens on Earth on and off throughout the series and the writing fails them miserably. Terrible! At times, it's like Galactica's answer to Starky and Hutch. The whole thing is preposterous.

Galactica Discovers Earth Part II [F] The Earthbound antics continue and McCord drives a police car wishing he was still in Adam-12. He may has well have been. He plays essentially the same one-note character. Adama determines he must send McCord, Van Dyke and token female back in time to help prepare Earth. There are some NEW swirly effects and some swooshing tail effects for the vipers but NO writing talent to be found in this black hole of a series. Most of the effects shots and cylons are found in the opening credits, images clearly lifted straight from the original series. McCord and Van Dyke travel back to 1944 Nazi Germany. The exposition feels like a forced history lesson. There's no fun in this. It's a completely bizarre and boring political statement. There are so many continuity holes and farfetched scenarios it makes The A-Team seem realistic. Galactica 1980 feels less like Battlestar Galactica, less an homage to 70s television and more like a collision of show ideas. Weird stuff.

Galactica Discovers Earth Part III [F] The enthralling conclusion to the show's 3 parter. NOT! Terrible crap this stuff. Who on Earth or Caprica for that matter would have ever imagined the Galactica would find Earth, travel back in time to 1944, tangle with the Nazis, liberate the Jews from concentration camps!? Science-fiction!? No doubt, but the absolute worst and incomprehensible kind. It's a certified disaster. It's not fun to watch. My wife and I laughed most of the time making fun of it like we were the characters in Mystery Science Theatre. There's loads of stock WWII footage because the creators had no budget! Back to the future and McCord and Van Dyke are taken by the military.

The Earthly "you gotta be freakin' kiddin' me" adventures continue....


The Super Scouts [F] Four episodes into the series and finally we see cylons and not the ones in the opening credits. These cylons don't say a damn thing! The cylons attack one of the fleet's ships. A fire in space. Perfect, cut to the action footage edited out of the original series' episode Fire In Space. Fake smoke is blown onto the video image. WTF! There isn't actually smoke in the new sequences. No one is coughing or sweating. It's hysterical. McCord and Van Dyke escape to Earth again [no special effects needed except for those flying motorbikes] this time with 12 super children. To blend, all dress as cubscouts and scout masters. The delinquent space kids come down with an illness thanks to a nearby chemical plant near the lake they have camped upon. Cue the ecological message episode! Once again the colonial warriors take time from their survival mission to teach us how to care for the environment. This is a solid entry in the series! NOT! Terrible again!

I found Jon and Ponch and that cheesy CHiPs and Galactica hybrid musical noodling! This is the epitome of Galactica meets CHiPs meets Starsky & Hutch fashion. I kid you not!


The Super Scouts Part II [F] The storyline was so good it needed 2 parts. WTF! This makes Earth 2 feel like quality science fiction. Really. The episode is filled with pursuit by the military, illness and kids jumping into and over trees like Six Million Dollar Babies or, ....ummm Super Scouts. Disgusted!

Spaceball [F] McCord and Van Dyke are adrift in space after being manipulated by one of their own who is essentially the Baltar of the series. Lucky for them they get to sit this one out. Jamie takes the 12 kids to a special needs campground to playout another terrible script. This is, by all accounts, the Bad News Bears riff. The formula is applied as they need to win a baseball game for the failing kids' camp. Yes folks, only the very best in science fiction for our Galactica fans.

The Night The Cylons Landed [F] This might be more aptly titled The Night 2 Cylons Landed. Yeah, a real invasion. Actually there were like 4-5 cylons but a few died in the landing. The on-board computers even warned them that survival was unlikely, but what the hell land anyway. This is the first glimpse at the idea of Cylon evolving [clearly not too smart]; one humanoid, one centurion. They even talk in this episode. The cylons crash in New York in the hopes of transmitting a signal to their brothers in space. Meanwhile, McCord and Van Dyke are aboard a hijacked plane enroute to intercepting the cylons. What really grates the nerves is Greene's character. Commander Adama is so out of character from the original series. He's like a wuss always leaning on the advice of this ill-conceived brain child prodigy Dr.Z. Any sense of leadership he had in the classic series is out the window. He's pathetic! For God's sake grow a pair of balls, you're fucking Commander Adama! What the hell was Glen A. Larson thinking with this entire series? He should be ashamed of himself writing such tripe. Not a shining moment.

The Night The Cylons Landed Part II [F] And now "the exciting conclusion"...well, that's what they would have you believe despite the fact excitement is exactly what they forgot to put into this thing. McCord and Van Dyke attempt to locate the cylons, but not before dancing on stage to the "Goodship Lollipop" in white tuxedos and saving a boy and dog from a raging blaze. WTF!? Meanwhile the cylons are passed off as costumed partygoers on Halloween. This is nothing more than a goofy, lame-ass piece of garbage. Just stupid.

Space Croppers [F] Believe me. I was praying I could root for just one episode. The Imperious Leader makes an appearance, but I think it's nothing more than borrowed footage from the original series complete with British accent. WTF again? The cylons attack the Galactica's food supply. McCord and Van Dyke are sent to Earth in the hopes of escaping this terrible show....I mean to try and establish a food source. This time the theme is prejudice and raciscm. They help some down-on-their-luck migrant Mexican farmers. The family even gets help spreading the seed from the Super Scouts. It just keeps getting better. The farm is saved. Everyone is one big happy family with food for all and the kids have found their new home away from the special needs baseball camp. Incredulous!

The Return Of Starbuck [?] The final episode.

I'm not exactly sure why I gave the first episode a 'D', perhaps I was blinded by my own fanboy excitement in seeing Lorne Green and the Galactica again. Maybe seeing a few roaming daggits gave me hope. In hindsight, I was generous. The best thing about Galactica 1980 is the box and sleeve the DVD contents are shipped in. It's pretty and clearly the special effects budget was spent on that box. The show looks amazing on that box, so don't expect to see it in the show.

So does The Return Of Starbuck, as some fans have touted as a throwback to the charms of the original, make it worthwhile to purchase this 10 episode 20 dollar mini-DVD Set of drivel? Can Dirk Benedict single-handedly save this disaster and return some sense of self-respect to all that was right with Battlestar Galactica?

Stay tuned for our exciting conclusion...

Back To The Office

Yuck....Back to the grind...



I think someone over at The Office likes Star Trek.

Beyond Loch Ness

You know I was really itching to call the title of this blog entry, Don S. Davis, What The Hell Were You Thinking? Maybe I should have. Maybe they should have called Beyond Loch Ness the same.

Looks Like Game Over for this poor fellow.


Yup! Definitely Game Over....


I know Sci-Fi Channel has to be paying these actors good money because the "spare no expense" approach is not being applied to the special effects. Granted, they weren't terrible. The key to CGI is slowing down those monster movements!!! Damn! They move way too fast. It makes creatures look rediculous. Van Helsing and Hulk both had bad CGI and when it's applied poorly it's hard to suspend our disbelief. Thats' why they both sucked!

Paul McGillion [Stargate Atlantis] has a role, a very brief one. He gets the luxury of being eaten alive by the beast in the first 5 minutes. It sets up the revenge tale as his son looks on. Don S. Davis [Stargate SG-1] is in law enforcement and attempting to navigate through some very bad dialogue [he even says "What the hell?" at one point- times are tough since SG-1 closed the gate]. People basically die and keep dying on Lake Superior, Vancouver. The kid who played Teal'c's son, Rya'c, makes an appearance too, yeah, a real brief appearance. He winds up kibble and bits for old Nessie.

For a beast that has alluded cameras and videographers for centuries....it sure seems like it's looking for attention. Those baby Nessies aren't helpful either. Everyone seems to congregate at the lake and ... wah lah dinner is served! So the "Beyond" part of Beyond Loch Ness is that Plessie has been busy in the old loch of love. Don doesn't even get to collect his check in the end. The whole thing is all wet!

Look, you know things aren't good when the wife pleads with you to turn back to the football game. She called the film "one nudie scene away from Friday the 13th." That's priceless. I'm not sure, but this may have been worse than Showdown At Area 51.

Folks! Remember, the budget is injected into Stargate Atlantis and that show rocks!!!

Deadman Switch

Every once in a while you have to stop to appreciate and admire the singular greatness of one episode of your favorite television. Stargate SG-1 certainly had its fair share of brilliant moments as well as a solid handful of duds to boot.

I was reading Jo Storm's Approaching The Possible when she reviewed Deadman Switch from Season 3 of Stargate SG-1 as being one of her favorite "humor"-based episodes of the "genre". I couldn't agree more. Storm is certainly unafraid of critiquing the show or showering it with praise where it applies. I found myself in disagreement over a number of episodes she disliked and others she loved. Storm loved Urgo. I did not. Not a big fan of the Dom Deluise schtick as much as I LOVE his son Peter Deluise' contributions to the success of SG-1. Hathor was one I enjoyed a great deal. Storm hated it. Perhaps it's a male hormone thing, but I really dig chicks with red wigs and lipstick.

Again, with Deadman Switch we agree. Despite its apparent lacking of hot chicks, it's a fantastic science-fiction episode. It's also the quintessential hostage-taking episode within the SG-1 series. It has all of the best elements of sci-fi, but most of all it's the dialogue in this puppy. The whole thing has chemistry. I think alot of that is owed to the laser-sharp writing/directing team of Robert Cooper and Martin Wood who helm this gem.

Sam Jones [a la Flash Gordon "flash a-ahhhhhh savior of the universe" fame] guest stars and he's simply brilliant as an aged bounty hunter for hire. Showing his battle scars benefits the character as a kind of war-hardened, gun-for-hire type just looking for the next big job to survive. His next big hit is capturing SG-1 for the Goa'uld.

Richard Dean Anderson [the comedian] and Michael Shanks [the straight man] are pitch perfect and really highlight the team chemistry and humor throughout the proceedings.

It ranks as one of the best for me in Season 3 next to Pretense and Nemesis [the season finale that introduced the Replicator legacy, not surprisingly also by Cooper and Wood]. Deadman Switch is rewatchable time and again.

Deadman Switch: A -

Ah, The Office

So, the New Year is going absolutely terrific so far, of course it's only been less than a whole day. Granted I suppose I should count my blessings. Somewhere out there someone has already started the year off badly. Needless to say, I like to take my time easing into the new year before everything goes to pot!

At the moment, I am sadly paralyzed after having a few days off and now I await my inevitable fate with the arrival of the daily grind. Vacations have a funny way of doing that. It's not like a weekend where every Monday comes and it's expected and dealt with accordingly. Vacations cause a kind of 'deer in the headlights' feel. I can't explain it. I like work alright, but I like time off a whole lot more. My wife can vouch for me on that, she's always trying to get me to do work. : )

Speaking of pot or in this case 'shite', it seems fitting that the other half and I have been watching The Office, the English version. I howl at the American version. The English version is actually, well, very English. At first, I was having a hard time adjusting to the accents and quick mumbling combined with the offbeat English sense of humor, but it grew on me fast.

I was really surprised to find there were only 2 Seasons. Get this, each season is comprised of 6 bloody episodes. That's it folks, then call it a day. Can you imagine if American programming allowed for 6 episode seasons. What is up with that? It makes Jericho's greenlit partial, second season look normal by British standards. Shoot, I'll be back on sci-fi before you know it, which reminds me. If I ever get off topicit's perfectly legitimate. This blog is Musings Of A Sci-Fi Fanatic, not Sci-Fi Musings Of A Sci-Fi Fanatic. I think I'm covered. Besides, despite being heavily Sci-Fi driven here, man or woman cannot live by science fiction alone, unless of course I was single.

Anyway, there are loads of funny bits in the English version of The Office and it's well worth checking out as it has its own loveable and eccentric cast of characters. It's easy to see where the US version was clearly influenced by set design. America's Office has the hysterical Steve Carell, a dynamic office manager in his own right, while comedian Ricky Gervais is equally brilliant. Two shows carved from the same stone that are both uniquely splendid.

As for me, I head back to the office grind too and I can tell you this, it won't be half as much fun or half as funny.

Showdown At Area 51

So the question is, what do you get when you cross Party Of Five's Jeremy London [now known as Jason London] with Farscape's Gigi Edgley? The answer: Bad Science Fiction in the form of your latest Sci Fi Channel movie. Maybe even NO Science in your Fiction movie.

As I stumbled through the house taking care of dishes and other assorted odds and ends I essentially watched Sci Fi Channel's latest doozy of a film, Showdown At Area 51. You're probably saying to yourself, 'damn I missed that one' or 'shoot! I meant to watch that!' or 'huh?'. I'm hear to tell ya, -ya didn't miss much!

I mean, don't get me wrong Gigi is near damn the cutest, hottest, little sex kitten you'll ever see, but she's wasted here. London is always cool enough to watch, but again, there isn't a believable word of dialogue in the 2 hour script.

From the always, spare no expense special effects of Sci Fi Channel's movies and the initial crash landing of the spaceship [at least I think that's what that grey block of CGI was that smoked up the screen in the forest- is that Vancouver again?] to the silly plotlines, Showdown At Area 51 is just plain laughable.

Two aliens go head to head over the Omega Seed [don't ask- it merely drives the plot to this unbearable freakfest] and one scene pays goofy homage to the old Spaghetti Westerns or maybe The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. There's one big clunky, chunky alien that is clearly invincible. It's impervious to a hail of gunfire and rocket launchers. It does yield some nifty effects at times, but it's clear the folks with the guns need a better plan and it never comes. The other alien sports some goofy tattoos that basically let us know- yup! he's an alien. But like just about any Sci Fi Channel film, we never care about the characters and gleefully look forward to their inevitable deaths amidst dodgy special effects and terrible scripting. Then it's on to next week's film...

Clearly Showdown At Area 51 is great, like Alien Lockdown and other assorted Sci Fi cheese is great from our favorite channel. It's great when you are completely wiped out and you have no strength left to get up and leave the room. Perhaps you are so weak you can't even lift your fingers to change the channel. Or it's a train wreck and you can't take your eyes off 'em.

Having said all that, I love the channel for giving us some of the best in Sci Fi. Stargate Atlantis, Doctor Who and SG-1 are simply amazing and Atlantis just keeps getting bigger, badder and better.

Hey look there in the water, it's Don S. Davis and Paul McGillion from SG-1 and Atlantis and they're in the latest movie, Beyond Loch Ness [Jan 5, 2008].

Folks, remember that old loch ness photo, yeah don't hold your breath and don't expect much with the movie either, but I'll be watching. I've always wanted to see the Loch Ness in bad CGI. I'll even try and get a photo of it!

She Sells Sanctuary

... and I'm not talking about the hit single by The Cult [I always liked Edie].

This is the latest smokin' hot side project by Stargate SG-1 alumnus and busy bee actress for its latest incarnation, Stargate Atlantis, Amanda Tapping. She's back trying her hand at the latest ground-breaking endeavor- on-line television. Yes, TV made just for the internet. And Yes, she looks fabulous yet again! WOW! Amanda Tapping in full on brunette. She's sellin' it and bringin' it for the internet-based only series dubbed Sanctuary!

This tasty little sci-fi refuge is an internet only series of 8 high definition webisodes that I've taken the pleasure to download. http://www.sanctuaryforall.com/home.php

If you're a fan of the always sexy, always strong Amanda Tapping and you like a healthier dose of monster interplay [not found in her stint as Major Samantha Carter in Stargate SG-1] bursting from your screen then Sanctuary may just be what the doctor ordered. For a small price [roughly 17 dollars] you can download this splendid series drenched in breathtaking backgrounds almost entirely created via green screen on computer. It creeps in with a deliciously terrific little Mid-Eastern theme score by Ian Browne. The show is brought to life by solid direction and a fine cast. Tapping plays the eternally youthful Dr. Helen Magnus, an immortal monster hunter if you will.



At the helm is Stargate SG-1's Damian Kindler. His involvement as executive producer assured you a whole assortment of guest appearances including Stargate Atlantis' own David Hewlett, Paul McGillion, Christopher Heyerdahl and Kavan Smith. Michael Adamthwaite [Herak] of SG-1 acclaim also figures into the proceedings. Additional surprises include a role for SG-1 Director Peter Deluise and Leah Cairns of Battlestar Galactica. It succeeds with great writing and a surefire cast of talents from the streets of Vancouver. If that wasn't good enough longtime journeyman SG-1 Director Martin Wood lends his extraordinary skill behind the camera and pen co-writing alongside Kindler.

*

What you can expect is a show that's completely refreshing. It's entirely unique. The supernatural elements are reminiscent of X-Files meets Jack The Ripper, but it's wildly special in its execution and its visual style. There's humor, drama, action, monsters and rain, lots of CGI rain. It's always raining. Tapping is a delight and will blow you away! Her English accent and acting chops truly shine [yet again]. She's unrecognizable from her most famous character of over a decade. She's also equally sexy as drenched in black Magnus. Hot black leather and tights and blond partner Ashley also in accompanying sex kitten leather hot pants never hurts. She works with a team that even includes a man-servant/ back up buddy who just happens to be Bigfoot [anyone remember Bigfoot And Wild Boy?] and a CGI amphibian-like creation. This is a top flight, if small scale, operation and its easy to see the huge potential conceptually regarding exactly where Sanctuary could go. This is impressive stuff on what is clearly an extremely tight, little budget no doubt. With a bit more financial backing the folks over at Sanctuary really could have something here. I have to believe Sanctuary is sure to reach television. It's a great concept. If it doesn't I hope the creators take the time to get back to the webisodes. The eight created thus far leave you on the ultimate cliffhanger of cliffhanger even after seeing Bigfoot, Ashley and Magnus open up a might can of whoop ass! I cannot bear to see Bigfoot and Magnus left this way. I won't spoil it you'll need to see for yourself.

[The following clip does not contain spoilers!]

So look out creatures of the night! The question is, will the one selling Sanctuary be your executioner or savior?

Starlog Back Issues BURNED

About a year ago I jot down all of the Starlog back issues that I wanted to buy that had stories pertaining to some of my favorite science fiction shows. I ended up purchasing quite a few including some of my favorite series like SG-1, Atlantis and Farscape to name a few. I recently wrote about my disappointment with Starlog in never featuring a Stargate Cover Story. See previous post. Anyway, I was actually kind of shocked to read about the company's misfortune regarding their entire inventory of back issues.

This from their website in edited form:

"On Dec. 5th, a warehouse fire in Oregon, IL destroyed the Starlog Group's extensive back issue holdings. STARLOG and FANGORIA Magazines' entire line of back issues, as well as"Best Of" collections, discontinued publications, STAR TREK and other movie tie-ins were burned or water damaged by the blaze. It's believed the massive fire was started when a forklift driver in the warehouse punctured a gas line, which was close to a space heater. Over 100 fire fighters from 20 different companies were needed to bring the conflagration under control. Apparently, the warehouse's sprinkler system was not functioning, which is being investigated by the fire marshals. Total damages are currently estimated at 8 million dollars. Starlog will not be able to supply the majority of these back issues as listed in the magazine and Starlog.com store. A few recent issues may be on hand, but it will take some time to be clear what may remain.

Many of these magazines, pieces of the company's thirty year history,will now only exist in the hand of collectors."

How do I like my collection now? WOW! I was completely stunned and I'm glad no one was hurt, but I can't imagine losing that kind of inventory. A sad day at Starlog indeed. To think I could have missed obtaining this great collection from one of my favorite publishers. It'll be interesting to see how this affects the value of our Starlog collections.

Stepping Through The Stargate

Folks. When I'm not busy running around like a chicken with my head cut off over family or work I like to read a good textbook full of geekspeak. This is essentially a book review. Some of you may have checked out Finding Serenity by Jane Espenson, a beautiful book based upon the Firefly verse [that review for another day] published by Benbella. This one, also by Benbella, is Stepping Through The Stargate: Science, Archaeology and the Military in Stargate SG-1, a collection of essays edited by P.N. Elrod and Roxanne Conrad. It's not entirely cohesive from start to finish, but it's a load of fun on the whole.

Back when I first launched this blog I mentioned comparing Star Trek to Stargate and I'm going to take the opportunity to highlight one of the articles in this book that hilariously compares the two. The piece, Stargate Trek, is by by none other than sci-fi writer David Gerrold the man behind Star Trek's 1967 episode The Trouble With Tribbles. His observations are spot on and he should know. Gerrold puts it like this, "when you talk about science fiction on television, there's Star Trek- and then there's everything else. And that's unfortunate because a lot of the 'everything else' is pretty damn good- oftentimes even better than Star Trek. Case in point: Stargate SG-1". I'm not arguing because Gerrold should know. To be clear, I'm a bigger fan of Stargate SG-1, but I love the Star Trek universe almost as much. It's just a far less rabid, obsessive kind of addiction. Gerrold goes on to look at how closely tied the two programs are as sci-fi formulas go, in many ways identical, but points out distinct differences that make the shows unique pointing to SG-1's success in breaking away from the pack of the 'everything else' in establishing its own mythos and cannon.

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Similiarities

• both have a homebase [SGC/ the Enterprise]
• both have independent, sometimes anti-establishment styled heroes [O'Neill/ Kirk]
• stoic unemotional aliens [Teal'c/ Spock]
• beautiful female members with great cheekbones, chests and brains [Carter/ Uhura]
• authority can be disregarded
• team is family, everybody else isn't [other SGC teams/ most 'red shirts']
• aliens speak English [or stilted English]

Differences

• Star Trek takes itself too seriously [even the jokes are important]/ Stargate SG-1 is self-mocking [these people are real and likeable]
• Star Trek has to only solve a problem once/ Stargate SG-1 never seems to quite solve the problem [ie Replicators]
• Star Trek technology is fabulously inexplicable/ Stargate SG-1's is rooted in attempted explanations

Now I'm offering you the condensed digest version. You really need to read the article for all the dirty details and it's a bang up piece. There's plenty I've left out. But the crux of it being if Star Trek wrote the formula so many programs aspire to be, Stargate SG-1 has transcended that formula to create its own identity. Stargate SG-1 may be the first to child to step out from its parents' shadows. Where there was one franchise now there are two.

The articles in Stepping Through The Stargate [the best ones are in BOLD]:

1. Highly Top Secret [on the alien technology and weaponry of Stargate SG-1]
2. Stargate Trek [Star Trek vs Stargate]
3. Through The Apple [fun with physics and wormholes]
4. Yasureyabetcha: S-F Speak That Doesn't Make You Wince [the humor of one Jack O'Neill aka RDA]
5. Exploring The Archaeology Of Stargate SG-1: From Childhood Westerns To Interstellar Imagination [Stargate as the vehicle for classic entertainment and education]
6. Artificial Intelligence And Genuine Stupidity [clever stuff]
7. Help! The Aliens Have Landed And Taken Over My Brain [an analysis of the Goa'uld]
8. Time Travel For Beginners [serious Astrophysics geekspeak]
9. We Need You Back [the concept of bringing back characters to drive a series in this case Jack O'Neill]
10. Spin The Gate [Sex in and through the orifice that is the Stargate]
11. Where Am I? [a philosophical analysis via episodes Tin Man and Double Jeopardy]
12. I Think He's Called Homer [referencing Beneath The Surface - analyzes homage within the SG-1 verse]
13. Stargate: The Final Frontier? [more astrophysics as well as inconsistencies within the SG-1 verse]
14. When In Rome, Don't Wear That [fashion faux pas within the SG-1 verse by character and race]
15. I'm Not An Archetype But I Play One On TV [heady archetype analysis on the four main characters
16. Fear And Loathing On Cimmeria [an analysis of Thor's Hammer via Norse mythology]
17. A Season Of Stargate [a production diary by Visual Effects Producer extraordinaire James Tichenor]
18. The Villians I Love To Hate [a humorous play by play on the plethora of baddies from SG-1]
19. Creativity, Continuity And The Modern Licensed Comic Book [fascinating analysis on SG-1 comics]
20. Jack's Brain: What Were The Asgard Thinking [... so why exactly did The Asgard choose O'Neill anyway?]
21. Vacuum Tubes And Intergalactic Portals [insights from a retired, female, Air Force Colonel]
22. Ruminations From A Rat Bastard [Tom McBeath, aka Colonel Maybourne himself, reflects on SG-1]

The book entertainingly breaks down a phenomenal series with a massive mythology. It mostly succeeds taken as a whole and it's a fun ride. This is clearly for the Gatecon set.

The book is well worth seeking out and Amazon may be your best shot. Good luck cowboys!

Battlestar Galactica the Original

Ah yes, the classic, original Battlestar Galactica. Okay, so it doesn't hold a candle to the new series in many respects. The thing about the original was its charm and sincerity. It was made at a time when pretty much everything on TV was wholesome. So sure it doesn't have near the teeth of the reimagined series running on Sci Fi Channel, but it had adventure. It had vipers! Okay so what if it was the same shot played over and over. I never knew it. It had Starbuck and Apollo. Watching that show through my wide-eyed innocence was like watching Santa bound down the chimney. It was awe I tell you! And man it had that damned daggit too [wee cute monkey in a robo-dog suit]. I just loved that dog ....errr robot. Whatever. It was the coolest dang dog daggit I'd ever seen.

Here's a look back at one of the most memorable sequences from my childhood waaay back in the original from 1978.

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The sequel [so to speak] to the original series, Galactica 1980, is coming out [finally] on DVD the day after Christmas. To be honest, I've never seen it, but I intend to despite everything I have heard to the contrary of it even being close to good. Kent McCord [of vintage era "1 Adam-12, 1 Adam-12" fame and later a role in the remarkable Farscape] stars.

Oh and those nasty, shiny, metal cylons are a whole lot shinier and easier on the eyes now. Yes, they've come up with something a whole lot sleeker and softer and they come with skin and legs, yes long legs, in the form of number 6. These cylons look strikingly like Playboy bunnies. Somehow I couldn't see my mom letting me watch number 6 [played by Tricia Helfer] as a kid.

No definitely not! That is just way too hot for TV and way too hot for my corruptible and fragile mind. Cable didn't exist! And this cylon would have no shot at primetime in the 1970s. Ouch! [gulp!] Bad guys never looked so good! Please take me! Take me now!

Earth 2

Where to begin? From old-fashioned shutter/ slo-mo effects for dream sequences to bad writing Earth 2 never gets off the ground. Weak on story despite some solid performances from a decent cast including Jessica Steen and Terry O'Quinn. Steen, of course, would first appear on Stargate SG-1 as Dr. Elizabeth Weir in Lost City Part 1 & Part 2 before being replaced by Torri Higginson who would go on to play the regular Dr. Weir in Stargate Atlantis. The much beloved O'Quinn has an incredible track record from his roles in Alias and Harsh Realm to John Locke on Lost. He plays a mysterious figure allied with The Council. Shocker! Admittedly, thanks to O'Quinn, his entrance in the episode Water is where things start to get interesting on the show. Still, he's only one man. Here's a scene with O'Quinn and Steen.



Meanwhile the make-up lies somewhere between a Jim Henson knock-off and Land Of The Lost. What the hell is this?



Oh, and we can't forget the worst in child-acting. Two of the show's main characters are child actors. Terra-ble!



Seriously, animatronic-styled rubber muppets and cheesy music combined with weak acting- not a good combination! By the way, them there fingernails on the little varment are down right nasty if you get one in the neck. Where is Boxey the Daggit [from the original Battlestar Galactica] when you need him! At least it was a real live monkey in a robot dog suit.

Perhaps I just didn't give Earth 2 a fair shake. I actually tried to enjoy this show after watching 10 straight seasons of the genre masterpiece that is Stargate SG-1. It just didn't have a chance to hold a candle. Earth 2 will reaffirm your belief in the best of science fiction. It's readily apparent why Stargate and Star Trek are just so damn good after watching this conceptual mumbo jumbo about Terrians and a transparent attempt at being an environmental letter, sci-fi style. Just stupid. Messages are good but you don't want to get beat over the head with them.

I have to come clean. After watching the first 8 episodes of the series I just couldn't bear to watch another. Turning on the DVD player each night was becoming a chore. I was pained to actually have to sit through roughly 42 minutes of an Earth 2 Episode, commercial free no less. What I would have given for a bathroom break! Making the command decision to shelve it was like lifting the weight of the world off my shoulders. Actually, it was the weight of Earth 2 and it was a relief. I can't tell you what happens to that poor crew or the Terrians or the creatures that inhabited the planet nor do I care. I never want to go there ever! One thing is certain to me now, there's no place like home.

Earth 2: In a word- TERRA-ble!

SG-1's Walter Harriman

Recurring characters on Stargate SG-1 have always been part of the fun. Who was yours? The classic series has a vast contingent of players that surely made the mythology of the show legendary from Thor [voiced by Michael Shanks] and Narim [Garwin Sanford] to Ishta [Enterprise' Jolene Blalock] and Martouf [J.R. Bourne]. Tom McBeath as Colonel Maybourne was brilliant. Colin Cunningham's straight guy Major Davis was another that I loved to see. I have a hard time putting Teryl Rothery and Don Davis in that category. I loved them both, but they were more like major players for me despite qualifying for 'recurring'. Oh and let's face it, Cliff Simon was spot on, pure dead delicious evil as Baal. He's the ultimate baddie. He's the James Bond of the bad guy set - perfectly cast. There are some I would like to have seen return, but that's for another day. I would have to say that Walter Harriman, played by Gary Jones, was the guy for me who never got his just due. A little more air time here and there with some substance would have been nice. Here's a great example why he's a much beloved character within the Stargate verse. It is arguably one of his finest moments.

Starlog's Greatest Injustice

This is the best Starlog could do for Stargate. These are the two best covers featuring Stargate's Richard Dean Anderson and Stargate Atlantis' Torri Higginson. You could say pathetic!

There is still time left to pick up the latest issue of Starlog [#360] featuring an article on actor David Hewlett's film A Dog's Breakfast and his role on Stargate Atlantis. Look Starlog is still one of the premiere news sources on our favorite science fiction, but I do have one bone to pick with the publication.

The magazine has had some nerve over the past decade. It has spotlighted covers on Star Trek [41 times], Battlestar Galactica [5], Farscape [2], Babylon 5 [2], Andromeda [1], Lost [1], Firefly [2] and even Heroes [1], not to bloody well mention Earth 2 [1] [more on that sore excuse for science fiction later]. I won't even go into the other nonsense that received cover shots over the years, but not a single issue has ever been dedicated to Stargate or Stargate Atlantis. Would not a 10th Year Celebration issue have been appropriate? Would not the launch of a new Stargate series in Atlantis have counted? Something? Oh sure, there have been the ocassional inset pictures, but never has there been a cover story for one of science fiction's greatest storied series. Hell, Stargate has made The Guiness Book Of World Records for longest-running science fiction series, but apparently is undeserving of a Starlog cover photo. What is wrong with this picture? How could a publication with the word 'Star' in its very title not once dedicate a cover to Stargate? A travesty I say. Starburst, Cult Times and TV Zone in the UK have all dedicated covers to the heroes of SG-1. But not once in over 10 years could America's finest science fiction magazine find a single month to highlight Stargate and let it grace its own historical run. Now how on Earth does that happen? Perhaps, Starlog in an alternate universe summoned the will to commit the series to a cover print or some Starlog publisher out there on P3X-118, but certainly not here apparently. Hmmmm....... that's one crime I'll never understand.

If there is one thing to be learned by this, it's you don't need the COVER to be a success.

Unending

Okay not sure I could close the door on her?

Seriously, ten years later, and Stargate SG-1 finally ended or unended, if you will, bidding farewell.

The final episode, Unending, was a truly special departure as far as television goes indeed.

It's remarkable to me the mythology that has been cultivated so richly like Star Trek. It is spectacularly detailed and original building year after year on the vision of its creators. Where Star Trek has the Klingons and Borg, Stargate the Goa’uld and Replicators.

Such unique, wholly orginal and thoroughly realized worlds are precisely why these franchises succeed. It is why it was so hard to say goodbye to the original SG-1. They are like old friends.

Star Trek has existed much longer and Stargate might seem in its infancy by comparison, but like the Enterprise it is the Stargate that delivers the adventure. The imagination, the writing, the acting, the entire collaborative was pure genius thanks to the likes of Peter Deluise, Brad Wright, Jonathan Glassner, Robert Cooper and the cast and crew. It was this combined effort and chemistry that made such a lasting impression on modern science fiction.

Unending culled many elements from the show together [time dilation, the Asgard, the Ori, hyperdrive] and came up with yet another entirely refreshing new story, not to mention reversing time.
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In my opinion, it was one of the most emotionally resonant shows from Stargate's entire catalog [much to debate here] next to the 2 part episode Heroes. Perhaps it was the combination of writing, directing and performance combined with knowing it was the end. It was bittersweet. It was the end of an amazing run. It would seem fitting it was written and directed by one Robert C. Cooper.

Unending's focus: the comraderie of Ben Browder, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, Christopher Judge, Claudia Black and Beau Bridges [with a bit of old friend Thor voiced by Michael Shanks]. A montage of the cast's interaction plays over "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" by Creedence Clearwater Revival [the first pop song used in the series]. It is genuine, heartwarming and entirely appropriate as longstanding friendships sustain hope in sheer isolation. The sequence is sheer poetry and especially for the fans that had been watching for 10 years understanding the cast dynamics. It is not random filler, but friends coping yet again with extraordinary circumstances. The performance between Claudia Black and Michael Shanks is absolutely raw emotion. There isn’t a single note of dialogue that doesn’t ring true - not a false note in Daniel's reaction to Vala in terms of their relationship and it is simply heartrending. Tapping, Browder, Judge and Bridges all serve up star turns in this 42 minutes of stunning television to cap what amounts to an amazing finish. This beautiful swansong brings it all home. There is a nostalgic quality to this pitch perfect finale. As this family sits to dine and laugh, we laugh and dine with them as our own. Interestingly, Robert C. Cooper's hand in this feels just as personal as it is to us. There is an elegiac tone to Unending's proceedings from the fading flames of the Asgard to the sheer helplessness our heroes face while still finding comfort in each other.

Special effects aside and they are always brilliant, as they say, 'it's about the characters stupid.'

I won't give it all away, but if someone reading this hasn't lived through the Stargate SG-1 experience, you need to begin here.
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Funny thing is, whenever the creators had to write their season finale they never knew if it would be their last and some were certainly good. Thank the television gods we got to this one. Unending couldn't be a more fitting end and farwell. It is hard to say goodbye to this one indeed.

Captain's Log Stargate 101607

Blogspace: The final frontier. These are the musings of a self-professed, unabashed Sci-Fi Fanatic boldly going where just about every man and woman has gone before but what the heck. A five year mission? We'll see. Maybe I'll make 5 months.

I thought it appropriate even fitting to kick off my very first post with classic lines from Star Trek's opening theme.

I am a collector of Stargate autograph cards among many other things. It is an insane passion and one that can be altogether expensive. Not only does it have an adverse affect on the bank account but it tends to affect the nerves and mind as well as one jockeys for position to win on ebay just prior to the end of an auction. Then comes those harrowing days praying for the safe arrival of said MINT card. We fear their journey through the massive, untrackable, unmerciful US Postal network. I actually like them generally speaking, but it's scary out there. We all simply sit back and pray the cards find their way.

In the meantime, this is one of my own personal classics, an official Richard Dean Anderson auto. His John Hancock was the first to grace the ongoing Stargate card series by Rittenhouse.

That's right, Richard Dean Anderson [MacGyver- though that show never really did it for me], the epitome of hero on Stargate SG-1. In fact, as much as I love Farscape's fantastic Ben Browder as a semi-Anderson replacement in Season 9 of Stargate SG-1, Anderson is still the MAN in that series in much the same way William Shatner was the MAN for Star Trek. The two men are the faces for their respective franchises [topics for another day perhaps].

Star Trek and Stargate respectively, clearly are the respected powerhouses of science fiction franchises as of this writing. We have not crossed those fragile lines of debate on the subtleties, nuances or even broad statements of fact as to which is clearly the better show. Obviously the success of Stargate Atlantis in the footsteps of SG-1 continues to prosper [sorry Spock] in much the same way Star Trek's many variations of its storied franchise prospered. So which science fiction program is better, Stargate or Star Trek and why? Let the debate begin.

Stay tuned for more from Musings Of A Sci-Fi Fanatic. We're just getting started.... indeed.