Bonus Post -- Invasion of the Saucer Men

HILARIOUS!

Knight Rider ***Spoiler Alert***

***SPOILERS!!!***

PLEASE NOTE: There are some small spoilers herein.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like the new Knight Rider TV series, but I thought I should at least give it a chance when it premiered last Sunday on NBC. It wasn't the greatest premiere I've ever seen for a new series, but based on the pilot I'd have to assume the show will be good enough to watch again.

The new KITT's voice lacks some of the charm that William Daniels brought to the original KITT (some of you may remember him on the TV series "Boy Meets World" as Mr. Feeny and mostly recently was a guest on Scrubs), which is odd since the new KITT is voiced by Val Kilmer who often appears charming during interviews and such; I saw no sign of any Turbo Boost (but there was no mention the new KITT doesn't have it); I kind of don't like that the new KITT calls the new Michael "Mike" (admittedly that's a small matter of contention); and I miss the bumpers that appear just before the commercial break where KITT is in the desert driving towards your TV screen. However, the introduction of The Hoff as Mike's father and a decent storyline with some action instead of the usual talking-heads script so common in this era of television writing is what interests me about this series.

A small suggestion of what I'd like to see, though it may add to the cheesy factor of the show (but then, hey, it's Knight Rider we're talking about and the love of the cheese is standard fare here): I'd like to hear Busta Rhymes' song "Fire It Up" get some play on the new series and Michelle L'amour needs to make a guest appearance.

SHOUT OUT: You might also want to check out Jason Ho's Sketchblog. He posted a drawing of the original KITT this last Tuesday.

Here's some Knight Rider videos.

New Introduction


Old Introduction


Knight Rider Stripper from America's Got Talent


Busta Rhymes' "Fire It Up"

BONUS POST! -- Outer Limits

Here's a collection of old school TNT bumpers that aired during an Outer Limits marathon. Enjoy!

The Great Garloo!

Sorry for the belated post, folks. I'm still battling illness.

Enjoy this classic commercial from 1961!

BONUS POST! - Classic Dr. Who Intro and Orbital

A classic Dr. Who Intro



The band Orbital doing their version of the Dr. Who theme

A Long Time Gone

It's been a long time since I last posted. I want to apologize for that. I spent about 2 weeks missing out on posting over the course of the Christmas holiday because we had family visiting. Then I posted for a couple weeks, then I became very ill to the point where sitting at the computer on a regular basis became uncomfortable. The end result was that I missed 3 more weeks of posting. I again apologize and only hope everyone understands.

I'm hoping for a good year insofar as my writing goes. If - E - Zine(tm): The Free Online Magazine of Thrilling Speculative Fiction! will turn five-years-old this August. As such, I have a feeling I may do more than one issue this year to commemorate the occasion. Five years... that's longer than a lot of other recent ezines have lasted! It seems as though many have a life span of about 3 years. Without meaning to brag, I have to admit I'm pretty proud of that.

I'm unsure if I'll be carrying on the tale "At the Peony Tea House" this Friday. I will be posting, however... at least in some small way. I'll return to "Peony" ASAP... I can't leave my audience hanging. I also can't leave myself hanging! I want to know what happens, too!

Until then, enjoy this scene from The Brain That Wouldn't Die.

"I Am Legend" once more on the big screen

I'm posting early (Thursday instead of my usual Friday) because I've been ill lately and want to take tomorrow to rest. I have some energy now so... here goes!

In the past year or two one of my growing favorite science fiction authors has been Richard Matheson. His credits include scripts for The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and, his most famous and perhaps most influential work, the novel I Am Legend.

I Am Legend has once again been adapted for the silver screen and will be released into theaters tomorrow.

The previous film renditions of I Am Legend include The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price and The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston.

Why is Matheson worthy of my praise? The power and epic nature of his writing. His tales, while generally decent narratives, almost always takes on a meditative nature that looks into the reality of life and an individual's place in the universe. And I do mean the universe. Yeah, he can be that epic.

Not all of his writings are worthy of praise, however. He also wrote the novel that the Robin Williams movie What Dreams May Comes was based on. It was a very slow tale and more of a Jean-Luc Godard-style talking-heads piece than a real story. It didn't work for me.

He also scripted *ulp* Jaws 3-D. If you've not seen it, don't. It's not exactly the best movie in the franchise.

I'm hoping the new I Am Legend starring Will Smith will at least be decent. I can't say it will be. While Will Smith's movies have always done well financially, I find them generally far from the best science fiction ever made for film. I don't think I Am Legend will be bad, but I don't think I can expect it to carry the weight of the novel. Maybe I'll be surprised... maybe it will. One can only hope. And I'm willing to give it a shot.

Here's some stuff from off YouTube about Richard Matheson and I Am Legend.


A PIECE DISCUSSING RICHARD MATHESON:



THE OMEGA MAN TRAILER:



THE LAST MAN ON EARTH TRAILER:



THE NEW I AM LEGEND STARRING WILL SMITH (TRAILER):



RICHARD MATHESON ON DARK DREAMERS SPEAKING ABOUT HIS WORK:

Bonus Post! Giant Robo

This is TOEI's orignal tokusatsu TV series for kids called Giant Robo. Here in the United States it was dubbed Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot.



SEE ALSO:

GIGANTOR

KAIJU FAN ONLINE

Voyage Dans La Lune -- A Trip to the Moon by Georges Méliès

Today's offering comes from the earliest parts of film history. "A Trip to the Moon" is widely acknowledged as one of the first, if not the first, science fiction film. Made in 1902 by Georges Méliès, a stage magician, the film was then hailed as a technological feat with astounding special effects including its blend of animation and live actors. The story is loosely based upon From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne and The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells, both being very popular at the time.



A Side Note: The band The Smashing Pumpkins made a relatively famous homage to the film with their music video Tonight, Tonight which can be viewed here.

KAIJU! KAIJU! And more KAIJU!

While doing some research on Wikipedia I came across a list called "List of unproduced Toho kaiju". For those not in the know, Toho is most famous for creating the character Godzilla. Kaiju is a general term for any giant-sized monster.

Here today I present to you the list of unproduced Toho kaiju (the pictures provided are a mix of concept art and fanart):


Film Kaiju

Bagan

Bagan, as originally slated to appear in Godzilla vs. Bagan.
Bagan is a monster that appeared in a Godzilla video game called, Super Godzilla. He was planned to battle against Godzilla in the original script for The Return of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Bagan and he was also planned to fight Mothra in Mothra vs. Bagan, but he somehow did not have the chances to fight the two kaiju. There is a kaiju that has a similar appearance to Bagan named Monster X who appeared in Godzilla: Final Wars.

Ghost Godzilla

Ghost Godzilla was the spirit of the Godzilla killed by the Oxygen Destroyer. He was planned for a film called "Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla" (also referred to as "Godzilla vs. Godzilla") that was dropped in favor of "Godzilla vs. Destroyah". In the film he would have rematerialized and fought Godzilla at several points across Japan during the film. The outcome allegedly had Ghost Godzilla kill Godzilla and then fade away but the full details are unknown. This idea came about as a result of Toho wanting Godzilla to be the one to kill himself.

Gigamoth

Gigamoth was originally meant to be a pollution spawned dark twin of Mothra, possessing similar powers to Hedorah. He was to appear in Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), but was later replaced with Battra.

Deutalios

Deutalios is a rat-like monster that was originally going to be in Godzilla vs Biollante, but was scrapped in favor of Super-X2 and Biollante's first form.

Erabus

Erabus is a kaiju that was expected to appear in the planned Godzilla movie, Godzilla vs. Redmoon, but also got scrapped. She was to be the mate of Redmoon and the mother of Hafun. The Erabus suit is a modified version of Daigoro's Mother's (a Toho monster) suit.

Hafun
[NOTE FROM CHARLES: Sorry, no good pics were available at time of posting]
Hafun is a kaiju that was also expected to be in Godzilla vs. Redmoon, but he became a failed creation. He was to be the son of Redmoon and Erabus. The Hafun suit would have been a modified version of Daigoro's suit.

Hitodah

Hitodah is a kaiju that was supposed to appear in a planned sequel to Godzilla vs. Hedorah, but got scrapped. Hitodah's appearance is supposedly a mutated starfish.


Majin Tuol

Majin Tuol is a sword wielding god statue that became a failed creation. He was expected to appear in a lost project, Godzilla vs. the Space Monsters: Earth Defense Directive.

Mogu

Mogu is a red dragon-like kaiju that was supposed to be in the planned The Return of King Ghidorah, however she did not make it.

Nessie

A 1978 project was to be made about the Loch Ness Monster.

Redmoon
[NOTE: No picture actually exists]
Redmoon was a gargoyle/dinosaur like creature that appeared on the moon (hence his name) in the canceled movie Godzilla vs Redmoon, he was to be the mate of Erabus and father of Hafun. His suit was a modified version of Goliath's suit.

Satan
[NOTE: No picture exists]
Godzilla was supposed to fight "Satan" in Godzilla vs. The Devil, but did not make it, possibly from use of religious characters. It was given the go ahead after the completion of Terror of Mechagodzilla. Toho's rendition of "Satan" would've been in a form of a demonic dinosaur, shark, and lion.

Titans
[NOTE: No pictures exist]
The Titans are two separate prehistoric kaiju that were supposed to form Titanosaurus in Terror of Mechagodzilla, but they failed to appear in the movie.

Video Game Kaiju

Firelion

Firelion was a kaiju that was expected to be a playable character in Godzilla: Unleashed, but was out-voted by Obsidius along with two other kaiju made just for Unleashed. The four monsters were contestants on an IGN poll to see who would be a new playable character in the game, which ended April 20th, 2007.

The Visitor

The Visitor was another kaiju created specifically for Godzilla: Unleashed. The Visitor was controlled by the Vortakk aliens. He was out-voted by Obsidius on the IGN poll.

Lightning Bug

Lightning Bug was the final monster in the voting roster at IGN, created for Godzilla: Unleashed. He was, however, out-voted by Obsidius.

SOURCES:
"List of unproduced Toho kaiju" article
Wikipedia
Toho Kingdom (fan-site in English)
Toho (official Japanese site)
Toho article on Wikipedia
IGN Readers: Roster Vote article on IGN


Also, a quick note: Sorry I've not really kicked off any serials yet on this blog. I am genuinely working hard on this year's Halloween issue of If - E - Zine(tm) and the site re-design. I'll start posting serials here as soon as I am able.

BONUS POST! Diseased Meteor Will Kill Us All!

LIMA (AFP) - Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.

Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.

Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.

Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.

Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene, where the meteorite left a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) and 20-foot-deep (six-meter-deep) crater, said local official Marco Limache.

"Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned," he said.

SOURCE


OTHER RELATED HISTORICAL AND FICTIONAL METEOR STORIES:

TUNGUSKA EVENT

The Tunguska event, sometimes called the Tunguska explosion, was a massive explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya (Under Rock) Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai of Russia, between 7:00 and 8:00 AM on June 30, 1908.

The explosion was most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet fragment at an altitude of 5 to 10 kilometers (3–6 mi) above Earth's surface. Different studies yielded varying estimates for the meteor's size, including 60 meters, 90 to 190 meters and up to 1200 meters in diameter.

Although the meteor or comet is considered to have burst prior to hitting the surface, this event is still referred to as an impact event. The energy of the blast was estimated to be between 10 and 20 megatons of TNT — 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The explosion felled an estimated 80 million trees over 2,150 square kilometers (830 sq mi). It is estimated to have measured 5.0 on the Richter scale.

The Tunguska event is the largest impact event in recent history. An explosion of this magnitude had the potential to devastate large metropolitan areas had it occurred over a large city. This possibility has helped to spark discussion of ways to potentially stop large asteroids or comets from hitting Earth.

SOURCE

THE BLOB



THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN

RIP Madeleine L'Engle

Madeleine L'Engle Camp Franklin, 88, of Goshen, CT and New York City, died Thursday, September 6th. Born November 29, 1918, in New York City, to Charles Camp and Madeleine Barnett Camp, she was educated in Switzerland and South Carolina, before graduating from Smith College. She was the author of over 60 books, including the award-winning A Wrinkle in Time.



RIP Madeleine L'Engle


OFFICIAL SITE

BONUS POST! Free Serials!

Hey folks,

I've stumbled across this site more than once. They've taken old skool serials and other media that have fallen into public domain and placed them on their site for you to enjoy them for free. Yes, absolutely free! Right now they have Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon and Radar Men from the Moon under serials. They have other things you can check out, too. Below is a collected preview of what they have to offer. Why not give them a peep?


http://MoviesInYourHome.com

Giving Shout-Outs

Hey folks,

Serials will be coming soon, or so I hope. I've been very busy editing stories and working on the website. The serials are just sitting on the back burner for now. They're on their way.


For today's weekly post I bring to you some shout-outs and links to favorite sites and people, all with an old skool sci-fi flair. Let me know what you think and be sure to check them out. Enjoy.









SUPER ATOMIC TV





CIVIL DEFENSE MUSEUM





DRIVE-IN THEATERS





THE GHASTLY ONES