Reviews

A Sci-Fi cult drama of the beginning of the 70's, "The Omega Man" (98 minutes), was directed by Boris Sagal based on the novel "I Am Legend", of Richard Matheson. Charlton Heston is Robert Neville, a military scientist who developed an experimental vaccine in time to save himself of the devastating and apocalyptic biological war between China and Soviet Union. Living a boring and lonely routine, Neville has been in a bunker for three years in a ruined Los Angeles, and spends his time searching for food and armaments to fight the members of the "Family", some hundreds of survivors of the holocaust that had become albinos mutants and psychotic homicides. The group follows the rules, with a religious fervor, of the leader Matthias (the actor Anthony Zerbe), that before the catastrophe was a popular TV presenter. They now want to destroy Neville at any cost because they consider him pernicious, as a symbol of the science and technology that destroyed the humanity and transformed them into a group of dead-livings creatures. The soundtrack is of Ron Grainer and the film is unforgettable...

"Watch the Skies" (2005 - 60 minutes) is an excellent documentary about movies of Science Fiction. It was produced and directed by the critic Richard Schickel, author of more than 20 books on this theme. Mark Hamill is the documentary narrator. Schickel joins directors as Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, George Lucas and Ridley Scott to carry through a trip in time and space to show some of the most memorable science fiction movies of the fifties and also some more recent classics. The documentary shows six different approaches: The paranoia of the atomic war; The fantastic trips to the Moon; The enigmatic planet Mars; Good and evil aliens; The after-apocalyptic world; and The humanity future. It presents comments and scenes of the following classics: The Flying Saucers, Rocketship XM, Destination Moon, The Space Children, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, A Trip to the Moon, The Angry Red Planet, Forbidden Planet, The Thing From Another World, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, I Married a Monster from Outer Space, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Blob, The War of the Worlds, The Day the Earth Stood Still, ET: The Extra Terrestrial, The Omega Man, The Planet of the Apes, The Terminator, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Things To Come and Metropolis. Highly recommended to Science Fiction fans!

"Destination Moon" (1950 - 92 minutes), a classic of the 50's Sci-Fi movies, was produced by George Pal and was directed by Irving Pichel from the script of Alford Van Ronkel which was based on a novel of Robert Heinlen. The main actors are John Archer, Warner Anderson and Tom Powers. The plot is the following: the North American government develops a project under the command of general Thayer (Powers) to send a nuclear propulsion rocket to the Moon. To materialize this project is necessary the participation of the private initiative. For this, general Thayer contacts Jim Barnes (Archer), owner of the "Barnes Aircraft", and asks him to convince other industrials to participate of the enterprise. His main argument is that several other nations are also in this space race and the future of the United States will depend on to be the first ones to arrive at the Moon, therefore "Who first arrives in the Moon will control Earth". Based in "Rocket Ship Galileo", novel of Heinlein, this film is the first Sci-Fi that gives emphasis to the scientific side of Science Fiction stories. There are no aliens nor lost civilizations on the Moon. The film shows an "educational" video clip presented by the "Woody Woodypeeker" that is a special attraction. Robert Heinlein was born in 1907 in Butler, interior of the Missouri State, but lived most part of his childhood in Kansas City, among his seven brothers. In 1925 he went to university and later on to the Naval Academy, graduating in 1929. He served the Navy for five years as a lieutenant on board of a destroyer. He was relieved because he contracted tuberculosis, the first of a series of illnesses that would follow his life. After leaving the Navy he attended a Physics and Mathematics course in UCLA, University of California. During the Second World War he was detached by the Navy (even relieved) to work in an experimental flight laboratory. This laboratory was in Philadelphia and was the same where Isaac Asimov worked. Heinlein was one of the first writers of science fiction that lived exclusively of his work. He is considered one of the three great writers of Sci-Fi (together with Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke) and gained four Hugo Prizes during his career. The Hugo is the most important prize of science fiction literature.

"Abrigo Nuclear" (1981 - 86 minutes) is a drama of science fiction distributed by Embrafilme, directed by Roberto Pires and written by Pires and Orlando Senna. The movie shows the harmful effects of the radiation, and the contamination of the human beings and the entire planet as a consequence of the soil saturation by atomic garbage. The humanity abandons the surface and has to live in nuclear shelters. The discussion about the dangers of the use of nuclear energy was a mark in the career of Roberto Pires. Due to his concerns about the controversial question he also directed the movie "Cesium 137, o Pesadelo de Goiânia", nine years later. Pires was a disciple of the Brazilian physicist César Lattes, and a kind of a voluntary consultant of his works. The cast of "Abrigo Nuclear" was: Marília Araújo, Marco Bahia, Norma Bengell, Bárbara Bittner, Antônio Fontana, Nonato Freire, Renato Lavigne, Leonel Nunes, César Pires, Ronny Pires, Fred Ribeiro, Conceição Senna, Sandra Valença and Roberto Pires. The Brazil contributed with another film of science fiction on the subject: "Parada 88: o Limite de Alerta "(1978), directed by José de Anchieta, about the problems of the nuclear energy before the accident of Chernobyl. Born in the city of Salvador-BA, Roberto de Castro Pires, photographer, producer, writer and director, died in 2001, at the age of 67 years. As a photographer and a student of optics, he invented his own lens, that he called "Igluscop". He worked in documentaries and was a participant of the New Cinema, in the beginning of the 60's with Glauber Rocha. With his lens he filmed "Redenção" (1959), the first movie produced in the state of Bahia.

"Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies" (1990 - 75 minutes), a documentary produced by Good Times and directed by Sandy Oliveri, presents an amazing compilation of classic films images of dinosaurs and monsters. It includes features of the masters Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen, Jim Danforth and trailers of many of their films. Take a look at what you are going to watch: "Gertie, the Dinosaur" (1909), "The Lost World", "Journey to the Beginning of Time", "King Dinosaur", "The Giant Behemoth", "The Spider", "The Giant Gila Monster", "The Loch Ness Horror", "The Land That Time Forgot", "Jack, the Giant-Killer", "It Came From Beneath the Sea", "Them!", "Valley of the Dragons", "Godzilla, King of the Monsters", "Tarantula", "20 Million Miles to Earth", "Godzilla vs. Mothra", "Journey to the Center of the Earth", "The Crater Lake Monster", "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", "Rodan", "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms", "Reptilicus", "The Land Unknown", "Jason and the Argonauts", "Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster", "At the Earth's Core", "The Valley of Gwangi", "Gorgo", "King Kong", "Son of Kong", "King Kong vs. Godzilla", "One Million Years B.C.", and" When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth ". Certainly this documentary is a collector item and a very good program for who likes this sort of film. Unfortunately, there are no extras in the DVD.

"40 Years of Sci-Fi Television" (1990 - 30 minutes), is a rare documentary produced by Simitar Entertainment Inc., also nominated "A History of Science Fiction Television". During half an hour you will watch a synthesis of what was the first forty years of the science fiction production for television. From precursors as "Rocky Jones, Space Rangers", "Space Patrol" and "Flash Gordon", to cult series of Irwin Allen ("The Time Tunnel", "Lost in the Space", "Journey to the Botton of the Sea" and "Land of Giants"), the documentary will glimpse at the best of the genre and bring a surprise that will please very much the fans of "Star Trek". The phenomenon is remembered through a 14 minutes special tribute with a collection of hilarious "out-takes" of funny goofs made by the actors that was wonderfully edited and given to the cast members as souvenirs. The scenes had been selected from all the three seasons. And the emotions do not stop there. You will remember scenes of "Tom Corbett's Space Cadet", "Captain Video", "Kolchak, The Night Stalker", "One Step Beyond", "The Twilight Zone", "The Invaders", "Superman", "Outer Limits", "Night Gallery", "The Prisoner", "Battlestar Gallactica", "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", "Logan's Run", "Six Million Dollar Man", "The Bionic Woman", "Hulk" and some episodes of fantasy series as "Batman", "Captain America" and "Wonder Woman". These classics inspire the current productions still today. An essential document for fans and researchers of Science Fiction.

"Mandrake, the Magician"(1939 - 214 minutes - 12 episodes), is one of the classics B&W cinema serials of Columbia, directed by Sam Nelson and Norman Deming. Based on the known Comics created by Lee Falk and Phill Davis in 1924 and written by Joseph F. Poland, Basil Dickey and Ned Dandy. Mandrake (the actor Warren Hull) is a sagacious detective who is traveling in a maritime cruise when he knows the professor Hudson (the actor Forbes Murray), the author of a machine that uses the energy of the radio waves. Developed for the good, the powerful device becomes a dangerous weapon when it falls in the hands of an evil genius known as "Wasp". Mandrake and his faithful assistant, Lothar (the actor Al Kikume), will fight Wasp and his gang, living an intensely battle between the good and the evil. The Mandrake's dress style with the black and red layer, ternary and top-hat, had immortalized the figure of the magician. The English word "Mandrake" is the name of a root that was always associated with magical powers and miraculous cures. Lothar was an African prince and one of the first black character treated in a serious way in Comic books, he was always considered as an intelligent and loyal ally. With original special effects for that time, the film deserves reverence to the great performance of Warren Hull, that gave life to one of the biggest icons of the Comic books of all times.

"Amazon Women on the Moon" (1987 - 91 minutes), is a very funny comedy written by Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland who has a simulation of a Sci-Fi classic movie as a link to the stories. The movie is divided in 23 sketches directed by the movie makers: Joe Dante ("Hairlooming", "Bullshit or Not", "Critic's Corner", "Roast Your Loved One", "French Ventiloquist's Dummy" and "Reckless Youth"); Carl Gottlieb ("Pethouse Video", "Sound of the Invisible Man" and "Art Sale"); Peter Horton ("Two I.D.'s" and "The Unknown Soldier"); John Landis ("Mondo Condo", "Hospital", "Blacks Without Souls", "Don 'No Soul' Simmons" and "Video Date");and Robert K. Weiss ("Murray in Videoland", "Amazon Women on the Moon", "Silly Paté", "Video Pirates", "First Lady of the Evening" and "Titan Man"). A hilarious satire to the TV advertisements, to the low budget movies and to the cine maniacs, this movie congregates a constellation of stars as Rosanna Arquette, Ralph Bellamy, Griffin Dunne, Carrie Fisher, Steve Guttenberg, Arsenio Hall, B. B. King, Joe Pantoliano, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kelly Preston, Henry Silva, and others.

"Kirikou and the Sorceress" (1998 - 71 minutes) is a Franc-Belgian animation of highest quality, based on a Western Africa traditional legend. Written and directed by Michel Ocelot tells the history of Kiriku, a very small boy who already spoke when still in his mother belly. His fate: to face the powerful and evil Karabá sorceress, who dried the water source of his village, swallowed all the men who went to fight her and that still caught all the gold they had. To achieve his goals, Kiriku has to face many dangerous situations and venture for places where only a very small person could enter. At first, his tribe laughs at his small size, delaying to recognize his courage, brightness and wisdom. But Kiriku faces the power of the sorceress and her guardians, while the others can only fell fear of her. Kiriku goes to consult the wise old man of the mountain, who knows the secret of Karabá and, after that, goes to face the terrible sorceress. According to Michel Ocelot his film is a great chance to show to the African people some of their values. The script runs away from the obvious situations, has captivating characters and sound track signed by the Senegalian Yossou N ' Dour. A fascinating story of determination in the fight for freedom.

"The Tingler" (1959 - 82 minutes - B&W), is a classic of horror and science fiction produced and directed by the remarkable master William Castle, who was known for setting tricks in the cinema rooms in fifties and sixties in order to interact the audience with the film. (In "The Tigler", Castle placed an equipment, the "Percepto", inside the cinema armchairs so that, when the audience shouts during the movie, they felt a shock).

In this masterpiece, Vincent Price is Dr. Warren Chapin, an obstinate doctor of legal medicine who discovers that fear causes the "tingler effect" with the growth of a parasitic creature near the vertebral column. Chapin could isolate and remove the creature of a deaf and dumb woman (the actress Judith Evelyn) but the "thing" escapes and runs away to a full cinema. A way to defeat the creature is to shout loud. According to John Waters, of the "Film Comment", the film shows the first citation of LSD of the cinema. The writer Robb White had heard about the lisergic acid from Aldous Huxley, he went to the UCLA to try the drug in himself (before it became illegal) and then he introduced the drug in the story.

"The Man From Atlantis" (1977 - 17 episodes of 60 minutes), is a cult TV series created by Herbert F. Solow and Mayo Simon for NBC. The pilot episode begins when a man (the actor Patrick Duffy) is found unconscious on a beach after a storm. Taken to a hospital, the doctors discover that this man is not a simple victim of drowning. The Doctor and sea biologist Elizabeth Merril (the actress Belinda Montgomery) is called to investigate the case and find evidences that the mysterious man has characteristics of amphibians. Impressed by her discovery and with the desire of helping her new friend, she decides to take him to the scientific foundation of aquatic research for which she works and she decides to call him Mark Harris. The sea abilities of Mark attract the attention of everybody, including the Navy, and Doctor Merril thinks that he is probably one of the last survivors of the legendary Atlantis. From there, the man of Atlantis lives many adventures with Doctor Merril in a submarine, that travels into the great depths, always investigating the mysteries and the dangers related to the oceans. Mark had membranes in his hand fingers and his eyes was extremely sensitive to the light. The series made success in Brazil and Patrick Duffy became famous, years later, in "Dallas". As the series had more success in the foreign countries than in the U.S.A., "The Man From Atlantis" was canceled after only one year of exhibition.

"Where the River Runs Black" (1986 - 97 minutes), directed by Christopher Cain, is a beautiful adaptation for the cinema of the awarded novel "Lazaro", of David Kendall. The film mix religion and mysticism when tells the history of a boy created in the Amazonian forest that is taken to be educated in an orphanage. The tram starts when an American missionary, the idealistic priest Mahoney (the actor Peter Horton) - that works in the region where the waters of the River Amazon becomes black -, knows a mysterious and sensual woman. A child is born of this relation and Mahoney dies. The boy, Lazarus, is played by a 10 years old Brazilian boy, Alessandro Rabelo who carried out the film side by side to the experienced actor Charles Durning (priest O'Reilly). Educated in the forest, Lazarus develops a strange relation with the "botos" (dolphins of the Amazon River). Of the wonderful landscapes of the Amazonian forest to the dirty and hard urban scenes, the story of magical realism maintain its attraction due to the delirious photograph of Juan-Ruiz Anchia. Entirely filmed in Brazil, the film had the participation of some Brazilian technicians and actors as Marcos Flaksman, Chico Diaz and Ariel Coelho

"Captain Scarlet" (1967 - 32 episodes), is a brilliant production of the English couple Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, of "Thunderbirds", responsible for the Supermarionation technique that used plastic marionettes operated by fine threads of nylon. The plot starts in 2068 when the Spectrum organization - responsible for the world-wide peace - was making research in the Mars planet and, without thinking, attacks the base of the Mysterons. The attitude causes a great misunderstanding since the aliens were pacific. Hurt, they swear to destroy the human civilization for judging us maleficent and dangerous. After being dominated by the Mysterons, Captain Scarlet - the one direct responsible for Mars exploration - managed to revert the process and becomes immortal. The humanity had sufficient evolved to elect a world-wide president and Captain Scarlet was charged to protect him of the terrible attacks of the Mysterons. Main agent of the Spectrum, he will use his powers to fight against the powerful extraterrestrial race that has the power to invade and to take control of the body of the human beings.

"Vampyr" (1932 - 75 minutes - B&W), is a shady spectacle of morbidity, directed by the brilliant Danish director, Carl Theodor Dreyer (1889-1968), one of the most important names of the cinema history. The movie is based on the classic "Carmilla", of Sheridan Le Fanu, and tells the story of a man called Allan Grey (the actor Julian West), a studious of vampires. He arrives at a city to investigate a supernatural case and find, in an half-abandoned inn, an enigmatic old man and his daughters. The old man, without explanation, gives a book to Grey and asks him to open the book only after his death. The book contains important information about vampires. Carl Dreyer began his career as a journalist making summaries of films. In Germany, he knew the photograph director, Rudolph Maté, the wizard of the gray and black and white tones. With the partnership of Maté, Dreyer could caught all the ways of the German Expressionism movement in its beginning, with the delirious scenes, a lot of make-up, subjectivity of the characters, light effects to show the contrast between darkness and lightness, and the emotional and Metaphysical narrative. The first film of terror to show a strong emotional and psychological content was "Nosferatu", of Murnau, in 1922. But was with "Vampyr" that the style was more evident. In the film, where dream and reality mixes, the director studies many styles, exploring the light contrasts, to talk about aspects of the interior and supernatural universe of his characters, what allowed the Dreyer-Maté partnership to place all their originality. For example: they used until gauze on the lenses to create some Metaphysical and misty effects in some scenes of the story.

"The Man of Planet X" (1951 - 70 minutes), is a delicious cult of science fiction directed by Edgar G. Ulmer from the story of Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen, and with the main actors: Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, Raymond Bond and William Schallert. Professor Elliot (Raymond Bond) works in an observatory in the Scottish island of Burray and discovers a new planet in the Solar System, Planet "X". The route of the enigmatic celestial body will pass quite near the planet Earth. John Lawrence (Robert Clarke), an American journalist friend of Elliot, goes to the island to get information about the unusual fact and finds Dr. Mears there (William Schallert), an unscrupulous scientist and his disaffection. The professor Elliot's daughter, Eunid (Margaret Field), is the first one to see a stranger alien spaceship and its occupant, after having her car damaged in a road with much fog, at night. The mysterious space traveler makes contact with professor Elliot and his friends and will use a device to control their minds. Is the visitor friendly? What are his intentions? What is his relationship with Planet "X"?

"Slaughterhouse-Five" (1972 - 104 minutes) is a classic drama of science fiction, directed by George Roy Hill from the script of Stephen Geller that was based on the masterpiece of the North American writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. The film shows the attempt of an American former-soldier (that fought in the Second World War and that witnessed the bombing of the city of Dresden) to write his experience of the war. Billy Pilgrim (the actor Michael Sacks), the protagonist, is a citizen who travels in time, goes to the Tralfamadore planet where he makes contact with aliens and revisits diverse moments of his own life, in the past, in the present and in the future. The crucial point of his existence is the episode where he was made prisoner during the Second War, when he lived the bombing of the German city in which had died 135 thousand people, the double of deaths of Hiroshima. The narrative is marvelous, fantastic, sarcastic, funny, satirical, ironic, sad, overwhelming and full of sense.

"The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen" (1995 - 100 minutes), is a definitive documentary in DVD about the career of the unforgettable producer and director the new yorker Irwin Allen, deceased on November 2 ,1991. Directed by Kevin Burns, the documentary make a tribute to the creator of the cult TV series "Lost in the Space", " Voyage to the Botton of the Sea", "The Time Tunnel", "Land of Giants" and classic movies as "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno". Allen was known in Hollywood as the "Master of Disaster". Introduced by the actors June Lockhart and Bill Mumy and with the delicious participation of the Robot and Johnathan Harris, the histrionics doctor Smith, the documentary shows behind the scenes and enlightening interviews with the main actors of the TV series and movies. An indispensable document for all the Science Fiction fans.

"The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal" (1985 - 93 minutes), written, produced and directed by Arnold Leibovit, is a spectacular documentary about the life and workmanship of the director George Pal. It presents some very cool testimonies of Rod Taylor, Ray Bradbury, Tony Curtis, Joe Dante, Barbara Eden, Ray Harryhausen, Roy Disney, Charlton Heston, Walter Lantz, Janeth Leigh, Tonny Randall, Gene Roddenberry and Robert Wise. Originally an architect, the Hungarian George Pal (1908-1980) is one of the best references of the fantastic cinema and the animation in stop-motion. Pal became famous in Europe for his advertising films using animation of dolls, technique named by him as "Puppetoons". The first one of them, in 1932, was a great success and showed cigarettes dancing. Running away from the Second World War, the director went to United States where he began to work to Paramount Pictures. He started making a series of short animations and soon he was producing and directing movies, always with his particular touch of fantasy and special effects. During five decades Pal produced and/or directed classics as "War of the Worlds", "Seven Faces of Doctor Lao", "Destination Moon", "The Time Machine", "Conquest of Space", "When Worlds Collide", "Atlantis: The Lost Continent","Sinbad ","Aladdin" and "The Wonderful Worlds of Brothers Grimm". "The Power"(1968) and "Doc Savage"(1975) were his last productions. An indispensable documentary.

"Fail Safe" (1964 - 112 minutes), photographed in Black & White, is a drama of science fiction directed by Sidney Lumet from the script of Walter Bernstein, based on the book of Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. Fails in the system of the Strategical Air Force Command of the United States sends orders for six B-58 bombers, equipped with nuclear ogives, to bomb Moscow. General Bogan (the actor Frank Overton), Commander of the Air Force, tries desperately to establish contact by radio with the bombers pilots, but they had been taught that once exceeded the "security limit" any order of reversion must be disrespected, because the enemy can know how to imitate the voice of the commanders and even of the president. Running against time, the president (the actor Henry Fonda), helped by Buck, an interpreter (Larry Hagman), informs to the Russian prime minister the imminent nuclear disaster. Working with the Strategical Air Force Command, the Russians send all their antiaircraft armory to knock down the American bombers. Unhappyly, an aircraft commanded by colonel Grady (Ed Binns) escapes and continues in its fatal mission. Perceiving that Moscow is doomed, the president takes then a radical decision to prevent the Third World-Wide War. In Time: There was a remake of "Fail Safe" produced in live with 85 minutes by CBS in 2000, directed by Stephen Frears. In this film, also in times of the Cold War, an unidentified flying object intrigues the American army that orders some bombers to investigate. When they arrive, they discover that it was only a commercial airplane out of its route. However, a fail in the computers of the Department of Defense sends to a squadron of bombers a transmission of the codes of a nuclear attack. The orders are irreversible and indicate that the target is Moscow. From now on, the Pentagon and the proper president of the United States fight to prevent the Third World-Wide War.

The Golem" (1920 - 85 minutes), a mute film photographed in black & white, was written and directed by Paul Wegener that also was the star of this classic movie of the German Expressionism. Golem is a clay being - a myth of a Jewish medieval legend - that gains life when Loew, a rabbi and astronomer of Prague, in the XIV century, finds a magical formula in an old book of Cabala. One of the most relevant moment in the film is when the clay "monster", created to protect the Jews against anti-semitic attacks, manifests affective feelings for a little girl. Paul Wegener had taken for two times the myth of the Golem to the cinema, and this movie was the most beautiful form. More recently, the legend of the Golem was rewrite by two great authors: Isaac Bashevis Singer, that published the book "The Golem" in 1982, and Elie Wiesel, that also wrote a book with the same heading. "The Golem" have influenced many Hollywood productions and certainly will inspire other writers of future generations.

"Les Vampires" (1915 - 398 minutes - B&W) is a classic of the mute cinema series directed by Louis Feuillade. In ten episodes, it counts the adventures of a masked assailants group who haunt Paris. The mythical actress Musidora [ the first "Vamp" of the European cinema ] is the star in the series, that achieved fame due to the great admiration among the surrealists (Andres Breton and Luis Buñuel were its bigger fans), seduced by the dreamily scenes that sometimes appears in the narrative. At first "Les Vampires" was rejected for the French vanguard directors, that considered it like a mere policeman series. The film was saved from destruction thanks to the efforts of the founder of the French Film library, Henri Langlois, and after years forgotten, "Les Vampires" was exhibited again in the sixties, in concurred sessions that had marked time, especially in Paris, London and New York, causing a reevaluation of the critics relatively to the work of Feuillade. Andres Bazin, the great critic of the French cinema, said that "Les Vampires" was "one of the biggest film of all the times", admiration shared with the directors of the new French cinema. Today, Feuillade is placed side by side to other geniuses of the mute period of the cinema, as Griffith, Stroheim, Murnau and Gance. The episodes: 1: The Cut Head (31 minutes); 2: The Ring that Kills (13 minutes); 3: The Red Book (39 minutes); 4: The Specter (30 minutes); 5: The Escape of the Dead Man (35 minutes); 6: Hypnotic eyes (53 minutes); 7: Satanus (42 minutes); 8: The Master of the Thunder (50 minutes); 9: The Poisoner (48 minutes); 10: The Terrible Marriage (57 minutes).

"Soylent Green" (1973 - 96 minutes), was directed by Richard Fleischer. We are in 2022. The city of New York has more than 40 million inhabitants. All the world suffers with the overpopulation and the main problem is the food scarcity. A pot of strawberries jelly can cost a human life and the voluntary death is stimulated by government clinics. In this picture of no life, synthetic food is produced in industries and the alimentary choices of the people are among the products Soylent Blue, Soylent Yellow and Soylent Green. When William Simonson, a high executive of the powerful Soylent Company, is mysteriously murdered, the detective Thorn [the actor Charlton Heston] starts to investigate the case. He counts with the aid of his old and wise partner, Sun Roth [the actor Edward G. Robinson, in his last work in the cinema]. Sun is the only one that still remembers how Earth was, with trees, fruits and democracy. Thorn solves the crime and the hideous truth about the secret ingredient of the Soylent Green. A classic cult of Science Fiction!

25th Century. The humanity crawled until the underground to live as insects in a computerized beehive. Men and women work in state of lethargy caused by the use of tranquilizing drugs. They do not have names, identities, necessities, nor memory of the world they had abandoned...

THX 1138 is an anonymous and androgynous diligent human being who divides his cubicle with a female, LUH 3417. Suddenly, they start to reject the daily quota of the drug that they are obliged to take and begin a forbidden romance. Then they start to feel, to want, to think...

The first film written and directed by George Lucas - of the "Star Wars" saga - tells the history of a society ruled by a rigid machine totalitarianism. We can notice the deep influences of "Brave New World" of Aldous Huxley and "1984", of George Orwell. The narcotic isolation of this future world is transmitted by rich visual effects, taking "white" scenes on white backgrounds of a sterile and cold environment. Bitter parable, "THX 1138" makes an evaluation of the danger of the increasing technology dependence in our lives. But the director does not abandon the belief of that even a most common man can be a rebel... In these 1971 production, the anonymous hero runs away from this overwhelming society to meet himself under the sky of a new age. Puzzled... but triumphant!

Robert Duvall was the star in these film [the THX 1138 of the heading ] and for the release in DVD the movie was digitally restored. As he made with the original trilogy of "Star Wars", Lucas brought up to date the film with modern visual effects and new scenes. Among the extras, it is possible to know the first sketch of this landmark of the scientific fiction - a short movie that Lucas made when he still was a cinema student -, to see a documentary about the partnership with the director Francis Ford Coppola, that financed the film, and to hear the astonishing noises of the future. "THX 1138" is famous for its futuristic noises, transformed into a musical track. Don't miss it! Visit the official website of the film: http://www.thx1138movie.com/

In time: Lucas invented and patented a sophisticated system that improves the audio quality of electronic equipment and named it as THX.

"Gattaca" (1997 - 112 minutes) is one of the best scientific fiction movies of the 90 years. Deep, overwhelming and controversial, it was written and directed by Andrew Niccol. Gattaca, the name of a specific DNA strain sequence of the human body, is also the denomination of a space trip megacorporation. The society described in the narrative adopts the genetic manipulation to improve the attributes of each human being. In fact, the people are classified as "valids" perfect conceived in laboratory] and "invalids" [conceived by the natural method]. Vincent Freeman [the actor Ethan Hawke] is one of "invalids" having to support his stigma of birth, beyond other imperfections. He has an illness that limits his life to 30 years - in contrast to his younger brother, Anton [Loren Dean], that was designed genetically and is a member of the elite. But Vincent did not accept his destiny. He aims for changing his life and fulfill his dreams, traveling to other planets. To qualify himself as a space pilot, the young one would have to be "perfect" or "valid". As in that society the identity of someone was not confirmed by documents but by their genes, Vincent perceives that he has to turn himself into another person to obtain what he wants. Through a DNA trader, he knows Jerome Eugene Morrow [the actor Jude Law], a superior being that was paralyzed in an accident and was excluded from the society. Using samples of blood, hair, skin and urine of Jerome, Vincent assumes his identity, becoming a navigator. Vincent also falls in love for the pretty Irene [the actress Uma Thurman], his colleague in Gattaca, that does not know his true identity. One week before the space mission, a murder in Gattaca starts an inquiry led for Anton, that is a policeman. Vincent is in a great danger to be discovered. The main message of the film is that there is no genes for the spirit. Extraordinary.