Mr March

Well, finished the V For Vendetta graphic novel last night. I have to say I am impressed. Once again Alan Moore delivers the goods, presenting a quasi-Guy Fawkes inspired story about a post-Cold War Britian deep under facist control and the insurgent "Codename V" who attempts to supplant it. Like many of Moore's comic books I have read and enjoyed (Watchmen, The Killing Joke), Moore tells a tale deep in revelations about the true nature of human existence and the natural tendancy to fight against oneself in the cause of change. Not only is V For Vendetta a quality treatise on the nature of mankind's struggle for fair self-government, but it's also a personal tale about looking past much of the propaganda that fills our lives, both external and those within ourselves. The action is actually very light, mostly consisting of brief fights that move the plot into place. While V is certainly an accomplished anti-hero, he appears far more human than most comic book super humans. The plot is wonderful, always surprising and retaining theme consistently throughout. Anyone who saw The Matrix will instantly identify aspects of V For Vendetta which inspired the plot for the Wachowski's film. V For Vendetta is obviously a less magical work however and enjoys a good grounding which adds credibility to the tale. In a way, V For Vendetta is like 1984 as a comic book. Definitely a worthwhile read. Any fan of Moore should not pass this up and it's probably a good idea to read this graphic novel before you see the film; you may appreciate both much more if you do.

HAHAHAHAHA. It's so childish, I can't help but adore it

You can correctly call yourself "terran" should the occasion arise

Repulsorlifts enable even massive objects to remain intact against the gravity wells of planets, such as the kilometer long Venator Star Destroyers in Revenge of the Sith. As for the Death Star, it can sustain structural stress from acceleration measured in the hundreds of g's, so I doubt the gravity of any planet is a concern. Though to be honest, I can't imagine why the Death Star would manuver so close to a planet anyway. As mentioned above, spacecraft in Star Wars can endure accelerations measured in hundreds-thousands of g's, so mere atmospheric stress would pose no threat to the hull of a TIE fighter. The only unknown is how manuverable fighters are utilizing repulsors alone in an atmosphere. I can't recall the films ever depicting an atmospheric fight between space superiority fighters. Mostly, all we see is the X-Wing, Millenium Falcon, Slave One, Naboo Royal Cruisers, and an assortment of other spacecraft transversing very quickly from surface-to-orbit and vice versa.

*this is so much fun* The term "mecha" has a much broader meaning than that applied to giant humanoid robots by science fiction anime fans. The term is actually a japanese abbreviation of the english word "mechanical" which is the japanese use to refer to vehicles, computers, and even guns. Applying a japanese abbreviation of an english word to "western" artists and designers would mean a great deal more. Everything from sci-fi fighter planes and tanks to powered armor and robots would be considered mecha in western stories. Most fans would point to the following as the more famous examples of "western" mecha: Tripod - War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells arguably the first mecha ever AT-AT, AT-ST, AT-TE, AT-RT Walkers - Star Wars Power Loader - Aliens Hunter-Killers and the T-800 Terminator - The Terminator ED-209 - Robocop APU Armored Personnel Unit - The Matrix Powered Suit - Starship Troopers To a lesser degree, creations like the Stormtroopers/Clonetroopers (Star Wars), Spartans (Halo), and other such powered armor suits would be defined as mecha.

That's actually a misnomer. North American political correctness has attributed to the mislabelling of "oriental" as a derogatory/erroneous term. In reality, it is not a slur nor is it incorrect as a descriptor compared with other nomenclature. It was originally criticised mainly for the vagueness of meaning and as a dated word. However, even attempted replacement words like "asian" have been criticized as insufficient and equally vague. Thus, this example once again exposes political correctness as a barrier to proper communication *selfish, socio-political rant* "Oriental" is no more incorrect than calling people "westerners" or "middle eastern."

A very good Macross-specific example. Hmmm, I beleive Star Wars uses some other term, but that sounds appropriate. Actually, there was never a canon source stating the Imperial Star Destroyers were capable/incapable of planet fall. Since even the Death Star was equipped with repulsorlifts (novelization), its unlikely any mere capital ship is incapable of floating in a planetary atmosphere, unless specifically designed as such. The Rebel Transports on Hoth and the Trade Federation Core Ships on Geonosis are basically bricks using repulsorlifts to fly and manuver. How well repulsorlift flight translates to fighters for actual combat manuvers is an open question.

I hope there's plenty of good Macross lineart I haven't seen in other books, otherwise I'm not going to be that excited.

That's not a chick. That's this actor: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1080974/

The answer is simple, if you pay attention. Most western artists understand that when they are creating science fiction spacecraft, there is no such thing as drag and other atmospheric conditions in the vacuum of space. Further, these artists are often told to design spacecraft using the fictional technology inherent in the created sci-fi universe (such as anti-gravity, anti-acceleration, etc). Most anime stories don't use the more "magical" technologies found in western sci-fi. Case in point, most anime stories featuring fighter jets are still bound by the limitations of gravity and g-forces (including Macross). Western science fiction shows - particularly the big franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek, and Stargate - include various "mundane" technologies as part of their fictional universe. Often, these technologies nullify dependance upon aerodynamics or in some rarer cases, the fictional spacecraft aren't meant to operate planet side at all. Take Star Wars as an example. From the beginning, the Star Wars universe has included a technology called the Repulsorlift drive which allows any vehicle so equipped to defy gravity. This is why non-aerodynamic craft fly effortlessly within an atmosphere (snow speeders), using the repulsorlift to fly rather than relying upon aerodynamic lift. It is also why those massive, kilometer long captial ships can easly float above ground without crumbling under their own mass (Star Destroyers). So an X-Wing doesn't have to be aerodynamically sound. Hell, the X-Wing's primary role is a space superiority fighter, so why waste time making the thing aerodynamic for an atmosphere when you can just build it with a miniturized repulsorlift drive? Now look at Yukikaze or Macross. These universes enjoy no such miniturized technology for fighter craft (such anti-gravity tech is available only for capital ships like the Macross), so they must still design craft capable of aerodynamic lift. When one examines other franchises, like the Starfury fighter from Babylon 5, it's clear the craft can operate only in space and not in an atmosphere. At least until they designed the Thunderbolt Starfury, which could do both

At last the trailer shows a little more plot. The story sounds good, a little bit more believable version of the mutant supression devices seen in the older comics. I can't help but feel more dread at every new snippet of the third movie that is revealed. I can only hope this third film is at least good enough, then I'll be content with a good trio of films (even though the original intention of Singer and gang was to keep the films going as long as interest could be maintained).

Realizing that I'm rapidly running out of time before the V For Vendetta film adaptation is released, I've purchased a copy of the graphic novel and I've read half already. I can only hope the book sustains quality because the first half is fantastic!

I was somewhat interested in viewing this film, but I must say the response is so universally hateful I am terrified to spend any money to see this movie. Perhaps if I can obtain some more free passes soon I'll watch this film, but even the diehard fanboys that masturbate to repeated viewings of Battlefield Earth are screaming bloody murder over Ultraviolet. Something's gotta be wrong with that

LOL I like it!

Double post, damn

Ditto JsARCLIGHT's opinion. The symphonic stuff is great, the j-pop is lousy.

Nobody "watches" the Oscars! Just check the results on the IMDB and avoid all the self-congratulatory butt-kissing for 2+ hours

I'm surprised Crash took Best Picture. I figured for sure the Academy was going to shower Brokeback Mountain with the award. Course, it wouldn't be an Academy Awards show if it didn't dissappoint me off more than it pleased me. Gyllenhaal was robbed and poor Joaquin is once again passed over. Burton should have won with Corpse Bride and as much as I disliked Narnia, it should have beat King Kong for visual effects. All in all, this year's Academy Awards was almost everything I've come to expect

In my opinion, long multi-page threads are the bane of message boards. They are simply too cumbersome and I for one have not read through any of the super threads on MacrossWorld; in fact, I make an effort to avoid them. I use the internet for news/weather/sports so that I DON'T have to sit through hours of sensationalized flash to obtain the few pertinent pieces of information I want. I use message boards for the same reason, because whenever anything happens, invariably some member will post a thread about it, a NEW thread that I know to check. If we continue the tradition of this super thread concept, I'd like to ask that they cease to become pinned and the current selection be reconsidered for trimming. In the stead of these pinned threads, I'd suggest ONE pinned thread called SUPER THREAD DIRECTORY, which functions as reference thread filled with nothing but links to each super thread (with a brief, explanatory header of course). If interest doesn't keep a given Super Thread on the first page of a given forum, it falls off. The pinned directory thread will always be there for quick reference when the subject is to be revisited. Simple, clean, concise...the way me and my instant gratification complex likes the internet

That's some very interesting wording. I understand you're discussing themes and concepts, but it's a misnomer to allude that guns are in the book if you interpret it with a skewed perspective. It's also incorrect to retroactively interpret the book according to the film. Weirding modules as guns are absolutely not in the book. In the book, Paul and Jessica teach the Fremen the Weirding Way to give them an edge their enemy lacks, which author Frank Herbert describes as a catch all term for the mystical or witchcraft. In the film, Lynch alters the concept in favor of a more politically correct, audience friendly technology (weirding modules as guns) to communicate the fighting edge Paul and Jessica give to the Fremen. Same end result, but like I said, I don't like the way that response was worded.

This reminds me of a quote from Paul Haggis' Crash: How in the lunacy of your mind is Hip-Hop "music of the Opressor??" Listen to it! Nig**-this, nig**-that; You think white people walk around calling each other honkies? "Hey, Honkey, how's business?" "Goin' great, cracker, we're diversifying."

Mr. March is actually a two fold name. First, I was once watching a science fiction show (now I forget which one) in which one character exclaims "Mr. April! Mr. May! MR. MARCH! Why don't you just say who you really are?". The character was refering to the code names and how silly they were. Since I've always thought of internet handles as kinda silly and wondered why people rarely use their real names, the quote stuck and thus the name Mr. March was born! Secondly, March is the month of my birth. So technically, I am Mr. March

I've read Year One, Two, and Three. Indeed, Year One is some fantastic Batman, but I don't own it, so I'm embarrased to say I've forgotten to post about it. I too noticed the elements of Year One in Batman Begins, probably helps explain why I love the Nolan film so much

Uh, weren't these questions already asked and answered, by my posts and those made by others in the previous pages? I'm starting to get suspicious...

Been out of comics for a long time, but every once in a while, I stick my head into a comic shop and get interested in one title. Just one, usually nothing else interests me. Last time I was in a comic book shop was just after the release of Batman Begins. The mini comic included in the Two-Disk special edition convinced me to try Batman: The Long Halloween. It was a pretty good read, but not the best Batman story I've read. So, that's it since October last year. I'm pretty much out of the loop and have only a vague idea what's going on in the comics world. Most of that which I do know involves old favorites whose careers I still read about on occassion (Frank Miller, Alan Moore, Jim Lee, Joe Michael Straczynski, etc). If it involves a film, I typically know more. The best comics I read were Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Batman The Killing Joke, Watchmen, and Rising Stars. Guilty pleasures were early Jim Lee era X-Men, Ron Lim/Ron Marz era Silver Surfer, Jim Lee era Wild C.A.T.S., Jim Lee era Punisher War Journal, all the early Dark Horse Aliens/Predator/Aliens vs. Predator, and Walt Simonson era (way back) Thor. To date, the only Manga I've read was the complete Nausicaa Of The Valley of Wind series and Volume One of Lone Wolf and Cub.