Science Fiction Archives | Otaku No Culture

Breaking Down Gojira, Living at the City of the Edge of Battle

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

For a brief moment, I thought TOHO animation‘s curiously titled Gojira, City on the Edge of Battle (決戦機動増殖都市) will become a Star Trek episode. Knowing Mecha Gojira would appear, I thought about Hasbro’s Transformers and a city transforming into a figure like Trypticon than Metroplex. Thankfully, this movie is nowhere close to realizing that, but I knew Mecha Gojira was making a comeback. I wondered how?

Part two is on Netflix. While it’s tough to beat a theatrical presentation, as it was presented in Japan, anyone with a 72 inches (or more) television will be in for a treat. The surround sound mix is very good, and it requires more oomph to make the windows of my home to rattle. I bought a 7.2 audio receiver so I can have two subwoofers than one and hoped to test it out with the right movie. This film comes close to tearing down the house.

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YTV’s June 4th, ReBoot with The Guardian Code Reviewed

Had ReBoot: The Guardian Code been titled anything else, this television program would not have been so derided.

ReBoot By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Had ReBoot: The Guardian Code been titled anything else, this television program would not have been so derided. This series is available to most fans to see on Netflix worldwide. In Canada, YTV has exclusive rights and no firewall can stop crackers to use a VPN service to see the series online. It will soon broadcast on June 4th for those living north of the 49th who do not as technically savvy.

By not making this new chapter part of a much-beloved part of animation history would give this product a better chance for love. Also, the fact this series borrowed a lot from Code Lyoko did not help. This series did not do justice to those who loved ReBoot, the original series, like myself. Nothing is followed up on. A few real-world details connecting the past to modern day are offered, but nothing is said to explain how computer programmers know about the Guardians. This backstory is the only reason I’m going to continue watching.

Some decades have obviously passed. The location of Mainframe is revealed to be located in the basement of a school, and this fact strikes me as odd. I do not expect such a computer system which is home to Bob, Dot and Enzo to exist there. Perhaps the system they discovered is a backup server; the real one is lurking in some forgotten hallway at Electronic Arts Burnaby.

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Season Three of Trollhunters is Not an End but a New Beginning

ReBoot By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Sadly, all good Trolls must come to an end. No, the species are not going extinct in the finale of DreamWorks Trollhunters on Netflix but instead, Jim Lake Jr’s rite of passage into manhood is. Minimal spoilers will be revealed as this series has become a definitive hero’s journey for viewers of all ages to appreciate.

Most of the main characters are richly developed and Richard Hamilton’s books (The Way of the Wizard takes place after “For the Glory of Merlin” and Welcome to the Darklands in between seasons and two) fills in the blanks. The mythology takes a few cues from Arthurian tradition and this latest season does a triumphant job at exploring the virtues of what defines the knight. Traditionally, they should be on generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry and piety. This animation sees valour, justice and courage just as important.

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Is Alex Garland’s adaptation of Annihilation About Enlightenment?

ReBoot By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Alex Garland’s adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s book, Annihilation is a thoughtfully compelling film. The narrative defies the norm for science fiction. It takes elements from survival horror and turns a few ideas I recall from Robert Zemeckis’ Contact around. If I had to deal with meeting aliens in the same way this film suggests, let them have this planet! Part of the story’s DNA may have taken inspiration from John Carpenter’s The Thing. However, this idea goes beyond cloning or regenesis.

In this film, a trip into the light fantastic known as The Shimmer to figure out what’s happening to a small part of Planet Earth is required. Many governments are worried. If this weirdness took place during Jesus Christ’s time, some may call the mission is to approach the Burning Bush. After Moses encountered God to obtain the Ten Commandments, he was positively glowing.

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Top Five Most Anticipated Nerdy Films of 2018 that are not Marvel or DC

With the month of January in full swing, this new year offers plenty of films to look forward to. Not all of the lists have to include that comic book film. Yes, I will go see it, but no, Infinity War is not in my top five of the must-see. The better story from the comic book world is Infinity Gauntlet. This tale is told through short moments in the various films of 2018 and during the credits.

ReBoot With the month of January in full swing, this new year offers plenty of films to look forward to. Not all of the lists have to include that comic book film. Yes, I will go see it, but no, Infinity War is not in my top five of the must-see. The better story from the comic book world is Infinity Gauntlet. This tale is told through short moments in the various films of 2018 and during the credits. While that cannot be stitched together coherently to its own product, I feel that’s a missed opportunity Kevin Feige of Marvel Studios did not want to get explored; the War movie is a two-parter which puts this film out of the running for being a truly 2018 product.

Other movies I’m excited to go see are:

Iron Sky: The Ark (Feb 15, Germany)

This movie is technically a comic book product, but it is one that is non-American. The first film had an amusing premise of Nazis living on the moon and they decide to invade the Earth in 2018. This year is happening now and fortunately, we do not have to worry about any real-life invasions.

Honestly, we do not know as the year has just begun, but to see this series of films which seems to borrow on the crazy conspiracies conjectured by Ancient Aliens will have some curious in how much fiction is going to imply reality. In this film’s case, it’s with two university dropouts (from China) who set out to decode a strange message coming from the moon. Somehow, the Illuminati get involved!

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Reopening “Code 8” to Crowdfunding & Expanding it to Release 2019

maxresdefault By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

When not busy with CW’s Arrow, Stephen Amell and cousin Robbie (in other projects) are having fun in the independent movie scene. Fans do not see them working together often, and I for one am curious in how the 2016 crowdfunded sci-fi thriller, Code 8, will expand from a short (available on Youtube, or continue reading to view here) into a full-blown movie set to release in 2019. Principal photography has begun in Toronto.

The original product offers fantastic social commentary worth examining. The feature-length version will no doubt add to it, but kicked up a notch with some top notch special effects work.

People interested in helping further the budget can contribute on Indiegogo. The original campaign reopened (so folks can own the DVD/Bluray of the original short or obtain a few of the perks like t-shirts, hoodies or autographed scripts) as production continues until mid-July, 2017, with a release (handled by Elevation Pictures in Canada) in 2019. with XYZ Films handling foreign sales.

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