GREAT SCIENCE FICTION IS MINDBLOWING! BLADE RUNNER, 2001 AND THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON!!

As I've often noted we are serious lovers of quality film. To be a serious cineaste that entails having an appreciation of great cinema throughout the ages. From the infancy of cinema as devised by the Lumiere brothers to the modern day science fiction has always possessed a hallowed place in the pantheon of great cinema. It's undoubtedly true that sci-fi has probably more detritus or trashy movies than any other genre, but when it’s done well its seismic and wondrous like almost no other genre!

I've been very fortunate to see a collection of some of the serious masterworks in the last month or so. It started with Jack Arnold's camp classic "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" filmed in 1954 and starring the beautiful Julia Adams. As a film it’s the most campy and kitsch of the four and yet I still consider it a masterpiece. Jack Arnold's directing is economical and precise and the plot centering on a group of American scientists searching for a mysterious underwater creature is spellbinding. I saw this film as a teenager and was transfixed...and a little scared. To see it for free at the Cinematheque on the big screen was an enormous treat. Is it just me or have a lot of modern film stars lost the allure and beauty of the classic film stars. Adams has the "old fashioned virtues", quiet femininity and beauty that few modern actresses possess. I'm lucky to have a fiancé with the same attributes!

Now to Blade Runner! I've just seen the double of the original 1982 version and the recent sequel. I was lucky enough to see both on the huge screen with free tickets. My first interpretation of the original starring Harrison Ford was not without reservation. I saw it in my teens on DVD and I found it cold and somewhat tedious. But seeing it on the big screen with a monstrous score bellowing from the huge Cinematheque speakers made it an entirely different proposition. Again it doesn't have the immediate commercial appeal of Creatures...., but its dark undercurrent and the beautiful love story of Ford and the radiant Sean Young -the replicant robot that he initially hunts as a replicant hunter. The sets look amazing and in many ways are only bettered by the magnificence of Fritz Lang's futuristic sets from perhaps the greatest sci-fi film of all time, Fritz Lang's 1927 masterpiece, Metropolis!

Now to the sequel, Blade Runner 2049! This time directed by the French Canadian Denis Villeneuve, this movie looks breath-taking on the big screen. Ryan Gosling stars this time as the replicant hunter and whilst the film misses the menace of Rutger Hauer from the original its great entertainment. For mine, though it’s all on a bigger scale than the original, Ridley Scott's version has the more human characters and also the humour.2049 is extremely earnest and whilst admirable a touch of humour would have been appreciated to ameliorate the overall darkness and serious approach. Jared Leto is good yet he and Gosling don't have the same impact of Ford and Sean Young in the original. I've always wondered how Sean Young - born Mary Sean Young never made it bigger in film. It’s not well known that she was originally to play Kim Basinger's role in the massive blockbuster Batman by Tim Burton. During rehearsals she broke her arm falling off her horse. How fate and destiny intervene?

Finally, 2001: A Space Odyssey! The film has been rereleased on its 50th anniversary and I was fortunate to see a free screening at the State Library! Stanley Kubrick's visionary film perhaps is only rivalled in its sheer audacity by the aforementioned Metropolis! Essentially charting the progress of humankind from its genesis from the apes to the modern day it’s a one of a kind film. Pedestrian and leisurely at times but always riveting, and in the computer juvenile character HAL has one of the most engaging and haunting inventions in film. A great watch and one every serious cineaste should see in their lifetime!

Science fiction can be special! I'm still always fascinated by the books of great sci-fi authors like Brian Aldiss and Arthur C. Clarke and am along with my fiancé massive fans of Star Trek particularly the original series. Add to that great series like the original 1960s Outer Limits and the more recent Babylon 5 and in many ways science fiction charts the human condition better than more traditional genres. Science Fiction is far more than the modern Marvel movies and in seeing the four masterpieces I've denoted above, it’s a genre that will always endure!!