reddsun1

To his credit, at least G. Lucas acknowledged that a big influence on SW was those earlier WWII films, as well as the Saturday morning matinee shorts like The Rocketeer, Buck Rogers, et. al. Supposedly, one of the more influential WWII films was Air Force (1943); the look of Chewbacca was purportedly influenced by the mascot dog that flies with the B-17 crew in that one (can't remember where I read/heard that though). And don't worry, I get it; I remember the old addage from my film class back in college: every film is to some degree or another influenced by one or more of the films that have been made before it. I've just always thought that ID4 was an example more than just "influenced by," it borders on blatantly copying in some places. When it comes to that movie at least, Devlin & Emmerich have established themselves as "blockbuster makers," when they did so by basically copying-off-of-the-other-kids'-desks-during-the-quiz, to coin a phrase. They attained lofty heights in Hollywood by standing on the shoulders of giant (robots).

Apparently from a promo film for Swiss training exercise? The Mig 29 appears to be capable of higher roll rate & perhaps better turn radius? 2:08 - very ballsy move by the Swiss pilot, inverting down into the canyon. *hook! hook! hook*

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! If you're gonna tell a lie, you could at least tell a good one! Somebody at their propaganda bureau needs to be sacked! And give their guy in the editing room his walking papers, too!

Yes, thank you. 1/18 scale, dammit! But fix the canopy. The cockpit canopy on the 1/48 is too damn big.

I think there's a lot of similarities in some of the space battles between Galactica and Macross as well; with the long distance shots filled with swirling fighters, explosions all over, and such. But it never really struck me as a "rip-off" per se, as much so as an homage to that visual style of epic space battle.... But don't get me started on ID4, though. I guess it just irked me a little that people gushed over it like it was some tour de force or something. Even back when it first came out, all I could think when I saw certain parts was: "man, this is such a f'ing rip-off of Macross/Robotech." Sure, the sfx were very good for the day; but everything else--the acting, the dialogue, the plot--were hackneyed and disappointing and annoyingly simplistic. Invasion-movies-for-dummies. Oh sure, I like Will Smith in movies well enough. But I can only sum his "breakout" role up with: You, sir, are NO Roy Focker! All I know is: whatever that big-a$$ thing is coming up out of the ground at the end of the new B:LA trailer, it'd better not be a godda*ned giant robot with buildings for arms, in "storm attack mode."

Okay, I'll admit: the SuperBowl trailer got intrigued me a little. I may actually go see this in the theater. But still.... you telling me NO ONE else's ever noticed these things?

Kinda figured it would go a long ways towards eliminating some of the debate--at least one side of it, anyway--over whether modern drivers could cope with the demands/skills needed for grand prix cars of old; but of course, whilst making concessions to safety so as to not repeat those dreadful days, when nary a season passed without striking one (usually more) name(s) of the fallen from the rosters. Alas, we'd never satisfy the other side of that endless debate, i.e. whether Fangio, Nuvolari, Hill, et. al. could match times with drivers like Hamilton, Senna and Schumacher in modern cars. But I suppose it's a moot point? I think a very large part of what made grand prix/sports car drivers so heroic back in the day was the very fact that they plied such a dangerous trade. As Denis Jenkinson put it, they were after all "diceing with Death" every time they took to the track. I guess a Lotus 49 or Alfa 158 with a carbon tub, fuel cell, roll bars, and radials just wouldn't be nearly as thrilling to watch?

True. True. How about this for a true test to be worthy of the "World Champion" title: Cut the number of races in the current, modern F1 cars back from 18 to say, 12 races. The remaining 6 races can be run in different, difinitive styled chassis; a.)one styled on the post-war, front engined cars like those piloted by Fangio and the other "greats," b.)the other chassis styled on the rear-engined monocoques like the Lotus 49, that heralded F1's next great leap/transition, 3 races for each type. Obviously, the cars would need to be replicas, using modern materials and safety equipment; carbon fibre cockpit structures; fuel cells; proper roll bars; modern tyre compounds (but in similar to historic sizes/profiles). While it'd make the cars look slightly different, the main thing would be: the emphasis on driving style & artistry needed to extract the most from cars that rely primarily on mechanical grip, with relatively low HP (450-500?), and no electronic nannies.

yeah, I noticed Chevy had a lot of spots this year, too. A LOT. Sure are throwin' the advertising dollars around, aren't they? I mean, did we not JUST have to bail they broke a$$es out of bankruptcy? And damned if they haven't gone back to spending money like water, advertising their overpriced trucks and mediocre cars... Chevy Volt... *hooooccckk. patoo!* how about you plug it in yer A$$, GM--see what kind of mileage you get then.

Indeed. It would be interesting to see how the current crop of F1 hotshoes could cope with crash boxes; dog rings, and 3-pedal setups. Driver's skill with synching shifts and such would arguably play a critical role in overtaking in the passing/braking zones.

LOL, good one. Cameron's reaction to the car's theft, and the garage odometer scenes are classics... --What'd I do? --You killed the car. Got a "meh" from me. Struck me as less than genuine. Somehow I doubt Eminem would be caught in a Chrysler 200...a gilded, gussied up, blinged-out 300? maybe.

LOL, showoff!! This guy is like, a legend in Oz I would like to have seen him when he was at Watkins Glen and Mid Ohio on the Torana, a few years back...

LOL! Well, he's no Arnold Schwarzenegger, that's fer sure!

Love that commercial, LOL funny. Little Darth can thank the Force it's not an Audi [insert tacky 'sudden acceleration' joke here]. ed: if it were a Toyota, it'd just be the owner's fault...

Hehe, cool.

I don't know who those Japanese scientist guys think they're fooling. We all know where they're going with this... 6:00 - "...who on God's green earth wants to buy one, used?"

A.I. wasn't so bad. Overall impression I got was a futuristic re-telling of the Pinocchio story.

In retrospect, I think there's a whole new character in that premise. Cougara could be Cheetarah's mother, the perpetually in-heat older femme fatale, who's always trying to seduce/make it with Lion-O, whose naive innocence and boy-hero nature makes him spurn her advances. Loads of subtle comic sexual tension to be had from that, I'm sure... That was always a bit of a "plothole" for me too, even as a kid; i.e. why was it Lion-O was aged in hybernation through space, but no one else was--particularly the other kids (forgot their names)?

I suppose it's their re-selling for (potential) profit that's the issue? Perhaps if they were to "give" them away to a "friend," who was in turn so grateful that they were to just loan them some money or other form of gift at a later date, then it wouldn't be a legal issue? If that were to be the case, then they could stand up in court and tell Toei to kiss their entire arse(s).

Hehe, well said!

Oh yeah. I'd hit that... It's funny to see more modern renditions of her character that are so ridiculously over-enhanced or sexualized, when it really wasn't necessary. She was hot enough as-is.

As animated femmes go, it's the original Cheetarah ftw. Had the MILF vibe going, back before anyone even coined the phrase. The new one looks too young.

electric indigo's "Rubber" thread got me to thinking about favorite cars from the movies again. Can't believe I almost forgot about Christine. I can't think of any other movie car that can inspire at once so much admiration AND fear from just about anybody who sees one (and knows that movie). Let's face it: the '57 Fury is an awesome car (if you like the big-fin era), but I'd be just a little bit scared to drive it, if I owned a movie replica. this is still one of my all time favorite car-movie scenes... FU*K CGI...

gotta admit: the exploding crow was kinda funny though.

Ummmmm. Yeah. Looks like 90 mins of "Reno 911," only with dark undertones instead of cheesy humor. And cut-scene explosion effects to add gratuitous gore(?) Pass... ed: but why the Christine reference? Now there's a film that does NOT need a remake. Christine is f'ing classic. Even all these years later, I still love the "regeneration" scene. "Okay...show me."