Category Nature

Sep 15 2024

Exploring The Land Of The Lost

Fifty years ago, the children’s program Land of the Lost premiered on Saturday morning on the NBC television network and surprised many viewers with its well written and imaginative scripts. Even though the production was undeniably low budget and the acting by some of the performers was a bit over the top, Land of the Lost quickly won over many fans thanks to its spirited presentation. The TV show was produced by Sid and Marty Kroft who ruled the Saturday morning TV landscape in the ’70s with many fantasy and comedic live-action programs. Land of the Lost stood out and was their best production because it ditched the juvenile humor seen in their other programs and focused on drama and sci-fi elements. Even though it was a program aimed at children, Land of the Lost had an unexpected mature and serious tone that was appealing to anyone.

The TV show followed the adventures of the Marshall family, Rick (Spencer Milligan) and his children, Will (Wesley Eure) and Holly (Cathy Coleman), who while out whitewater rafting in the Grand Canyon fell through an interdimensional portal that transported them to a timeless world full of dinosaurs. Trapped in the lost land, the trio struggled to survive while trying to find a way home. During their adventures the Marshalls encountered many unusual denizens including Cha-Ka (Phillip Paley), a member of the Pakuni, a primitive tribe of ape-like humanoids, and Enik (Walker Edmiston), an advanced reptilian/insect-like humanoid who was also trapped in the Land of the Lost. What made Enik’s backstory so fascinating was that his race the Altrusians actually devolved into the savage Sleestaks, who were the dominant species in the Land of the Lost. The Marshalls usually met other travelers from different eras who wound up trapped in the land and often found a way to return to their own time period.

The episodes were devoted to plots about environmentalism, family strife, survival and surprisingly imaginative sci-fi concepts, especially time travel. During the show, the Marshalls discovered these interdimensional constructs called pylons that could transport anyone who entered them into different dimensions including modern-day Earth, though navigating them was difficult. These devices were used to explain why Rick Marshall left the show (in reality Mulligan was removed from the TV show due to conflicts over merchandising) as the father was whisked back to Earth unexpectedly at the start of the third season and replaced by Uncle Jack Marshall (Ron Harper). As Jack explained to his nephew and niece, he was trying to find his brother and his children and followed the same route that stranded the Marshalls in the lost land.

By the third season, the scripts were less imaginative and more geared toward children. The storylines took on more fantastical elements as Uncle Jack, Will and Holly encountered the Medusa, fire-breathing dimetrodon, a unicorn and the ghostly captain of the Flying Dutchman ship. Still the first two season were very thought provoking as the Marshalls met an eerie translucent alien called the Zarn, mysterious human visitors, and alternate versions of themselves. One of the reasons why the scripts stood out was because many of them were written by acclaimed sci-fi authors like Ben Bova, Norman Spinrad, Theodore Sturgeon and Larry Niven. Star Trek scriptwriter David Gerrold was the story editor in the first season and recruited fellow Star Trek writers like D.C. Fontana, Margaret Armen and even Walter Koenig to write a few episodes.

Thanks to its dramatic tone, the stories that focused on survival were more impactful and viewers felt the constant dangers the Marshalls faced as they dealt with carnivorous dinosaurs, environmental dangers, temporal and interdimensional dilemmas and the barbaric Sleestaks. One haunting episode, “The Search” had Will and Holly struggling to save their father who was electrocuted by crystals that operated the pylons. Anyone watching it could sense the desperation and panic from the siblings who were forced to face the possibility of their father dying. Another eerie episode “Split Personality”, had the Marshalls encountering alternate versions of themselves who were frozen in time and needed their help.

Even though the series never had a concluding episode, due to the temporal nature of Land of the Lost it can be argued that the Marshalls did find their way back home in the first season finale episode called “Circle”. Inside one of the pylons, the family was able to return back to their home but it was revealed they were trapped in a Mobius loop and another version of themselves wound up trapped in the Land of the Lost by the time the episode concluded. So in a sense, at least one version of the Marshalls returned home and subsequent episodes followed their variants.

In the decades since Land of the Lost stopped airing, the program has maintained a cult following thanks to a heavy syndication run that lasted many years. There were two attempts at remaking Land of the Lost. One included another TV show that aired for two seasons and featured the Porter family who were stranded in another dimension inhabited by dinosaurs and Sleestaks. Then there was a feature film in 2009 that starred Will Ferrell and as expected by the casting was more comedic. The film was a major dud with critics and fans and flopped at the box office. It also featured one of Leonard Nimoy’s last voice performances as he portrayed Enik. Sadly, the film ignored the dramatic survivalist aspects of the original Land of the Lost and insulted the memory of the original with its moronic humor. Regardless of how the remakes were received, Land of the Lost still has many devoted fans who appreciated the bright scripts and its imaginative, dramatic tone that engaged viewers.

José Soto

May 14 2024

After Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the latest entry of the long-running Planet of the Apes franchise. The film is both a continuation of the previous trilogy that came out in the last decade while being a new starting point for a new trilogy that expands the story of the Apes franchise. There will be spoilers for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

For anyone who hasn’t seen any of these films, the world of Planet of the Apes is one where humans have been supplanted by intelligent apes capable of speech, while humanity has become animalistic. The previous trilogy, consisting of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes, served as the origin story for the franchise. The trilogy provided the background for how apes gained human-level intelligence, which came about from efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease. The supposed cure, in the form of an artificial retrovirus, instead increased the intelligence of apes. But the retrovirus had the opposite effect on humans. First it spread like wildfire and killed millions of people and caused civilization to collapse. Then the virus mutated and caused the remaining humans to lose their intelligence and the ability to speak, and cemented the apes dominion on Earth.

The main character in the trilogy was Caesar (in a brilliant motion-capture performance by Andy Serkis), who was the first hyper-intelligent ape and the leader of an Ape Rebellion against the humans who tormented his species. Eventually, Caesar tried to live a quiet life as the leader of his ape colony in the forests beyond human civilization, but conflict arose between the two species. By the end of the last Planet of the Apes film, Caesar was able to defeat the humans that enslaved his fellow apes and led them to an oasis to start a new colony, but he died from wounds inflicted during his battle with humans.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes takes place “many generations” after the death of Caesar and apes have evolved further and multiplied while transforming from a hunter-gatherer society into an agricultural one. Meanwhile, humanity has devolved into mute, animalistic savages, however, Noa (Owen Teague), the lead ape character, meets Mae (Freya Allan), a young human woman who is actually intelligent and able to speak. Eventually it is revealed she comes from a human outpost that is quarantined from the world and located near a satellite base. These humans are still intelligent and by the end of the film have begun efforts to communicate with other humans who have not succumbed to the virus in order to reestablish human civilization. Obviously, this will set up a future conflict between humans and apes if Mae’s settlement is able to jump start civilization.

One of the later elements that made the films in this franchise so compelling was the eternal question of humanity being able to co-exist with another society, which was an obvious, and sadly still an ongoing, allegory to our inability to co-exist with each other. This theme was vaguely hinted at in the second Apes film, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, but was the main focus in the films that followed starting with Escape From the Planet of the Apes. After the violent revolution seen in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes offered the hope that both species were able to co-exist peacefully, though that was debatable.

In the final moments of that film, which took place hundreds of years in the future, several ape and human children were attending a lecture by an ape teacher, who was narrating the events of the film. Although this ape spoke about the ability of both species living in peace, a young girl and an young ape were seen squabbling with each other, hinting at a future conflict between the two. After this, a statue of the main character in that film (also known as Caesar, this time played by Roddy McDowall) was seen crying. It was left to viewers to ponder if these were tears of joy because the two species at last lived peacefully or if the tears were of sorrow because of a coming conflict between humans and apes.

This idea of trying to live peacefully is touched upon in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes as Noa questions Mae in the final scenes if it is possible to for the two species to share the planet. Mae answers that she does not know, but he doesn’t realize that as she is talking to him, she has a gun ready to shoot him, just in case. Of course, the very notion that she brings a gun with her while coming to Noa’s colony raises the question if she is trustworthy. Throughout the film, she gave little reason to trust her as she lied to Noa and his apes about her true motives from the moment she meets them.

Noa is rightfully suspicious of her and in turn, humanity, but he is willing to work with her during his conflict with Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), a despotic ape leader from another clan that enslaved his clan. Noa is also more focused on learning and passing knowledge to his people. He learns about Caesar and his peaceful ways as the ape has become a religious leader long after his death. It is implied that Noa will pass on the legend of Caesar to his clan while inspiring them to learn more about the world. This is best illustrated in the final moments when he takes his ape companion Soona (Lydia Peckham) to a decaying observatory and introduces her to the wonders of the universe via an old telescope.

Mae for her part is shown as being worried about Noa and the evolving ape civilization that will prevent humanity from making a comeback. In one scene she silently watches Noa repair a cattle prod that was used by one of Proximus Caesar’s soldiers and is worried at his ability to repair a tool. During the film, she and Noa are captured by Proximus Caesar’s forces and is ordered by the ape tyrant to help him open an abandoned vault used by the human military long ago. She is adamant that apes should not have access to old human weapons and technology inside the vault and was willing to let innocent apes die to prevent their access.

During her mission to enter the vault, Mae killed a fellow human, a collaborator called Trevathan (William H. Macy), who threatened to expose her to the apes. Though it was understandable why she was distrustful of the apes and the collaborator, her actions made her untrustworthy and ignoble. On the other hand, her actions are meant to help resurrect human civilization and it is seen through Proximus Caesar that the apes are not much better than humans and full of humanity’s worst traits.

It will be interesting to see where the Apes franchise will go after Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. It is clear that a new trilogy is been set up that will put ape and humanity into conflict once again. There is also a tantalizing hint that space travel will be involved, as Noa is seen being fascinated by space and images of astronauts. As wild as it sounds, having apes evolve to the point of venturing into space is a great idea. Who knows? Maybe space exploration could wind up being the means for both species to learn how to cooperate and live in peace if space travel is needed to help save the Earth.

It also hints at the possibility of the new Apes films linking back to the original films. Think about it. The very first film featured astronauts who wound up on Earth in the far future and Rise of the Planet of the Apes featured Easter eggs of a lost space mission, which could be these astronauts that could show up again at the end of the new trilogy. Anyway, no matter which direction future films go, the Apes franchise has demonstrated the uncanny ability to move into new and exciting directions as most recently seen with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Dec 26 2022

Beyond Avatar: The Way Of Water

Despite what many naysayers predicted, Avatar: The Way of Water has proven to be a box office hit, which means that future films will be produced.

At this point, the third Avatar film is already done and will be released in two years. There are reports that the fourth film has been partially filmed, but that could just be effects shots that would be unfinished if the film never comes to be.

Given that director James Cameron envisioned five films to tell his Avatar story, where would the story go? There will be spoilers below for both Avatar films released to date.

One of the best features of Avatar: The Way of Water is that unlike the previous film, it actually opened up the worldbuilding in the franchise and dropped tantalizing hints of where the story will go.

The Kiri Connection

The film introduced many new characters and gave new and interesting developments for established characters. The most interesting new character was Kiri, the adopted daughter of Jake Sully and Neytiri. It was revealed that she is the daughter of Grace Augustine, who was killed in the first Avatar, but there are questions as to who is her father. More importantly, Kiri was shown to have a deep, spiritual connection to Eywa, a life force that is connected to all living creatures on Pandora, the alien moon in Avatar where the characters live. Her connection to Eywa was quite evident as she used it to defend herself against humans hunting her and her siblings, and when she was able to get bioluminescent fish creatures to help find her adopted mother and sister, who were in danger of drowning.

It has been theorized that Kiri does not have a father and is a product of an immaculate conception, which has many echoes of not only the Star Wars prequels but Christian religion. Another theory has it that Kiri is actually the personification of Eywa, who has taken physical form to better understand Pandora and the Na’vi. In either case, Kiri is being set up to be a conduit or a savior of the moon against the human invaders, and this will be the needed advantage the Na’vi people will need against the humans.

In our history, whenever a technologically advanced culture first encountered a native culture that was not as technologically advanced, the results were grim for the native culture, as it was overwhelmed. The Na’vi face a similar fate in the overall story of Avatar, and the Eywa connection will probably be the only way they could fight back against the humans. We’ve seen this already in Avatar, when out of nowhere armies of native animals viciously attacked human forces trying to destroy a Na’vi stronghold, and we saw it again to a lesser extent in the sequel when Kiri used her connection to Eywa to protect her.

Not only is Kiri the key to saving Pandora, but possibly Earth itself. It was mentioned in Avatar: The Way of Water that Earth was dying, which was why humans showed up in greater numbers to begin colonizing the moon. The title of the third film is for now, Avatar: The Seed Bearer, this could be referring to Kiri. If she turns out to be a manifestation of Eywa, she could provide the means to somehow saving Earth from ecological devastation.

James Cameron has said that at some point in either the fourth or fifth planned film, part of the story will take place on Earth. This is where Kiri and Earth’s salvation could come into play.

Other Points of Views

The director elaborated that Neytiri will visit Earth and be exposed to other aspects of humanity. She will learn that not all humans are evil. This is a bit odd given her romantic relationship with Jake Sully, who was once human, and that he has close ties with sympathetic humans on Pandora, who have aided the Na’vi. Then again the fact that her son was killed by humans could have hardened her against humans. A clue for this development was when she grabbed Quaritch’s human son Spider and threatened to kill him. For a moment in that scene, it really looked like she meant to do it, given her earlier rampage against human soldiers who killed her son.

On Earth, Neytiri will probably find human allies who are ready to join the struggle against human invaders on Pandora. It is possible the franchise could conclude with epic battles taking place on Pandora and even on Earth as Na’vi and human allies fight the invading humans who are bent on world conquest. One of those possible allies could be Quaritch himself.

When Quaritch was first introduced in Avatar, he was a one-note villain who only saw the Na’vi as savages or pests to be eliminated. He was killed at the end of the film. In the sequel he was resurrected in a way when an avatar body (a clone grown out human and Na’vi DNA) was created in his image and implanted with his memories. Throughout Avatar: The Way of Water Quaritch is out hunting Jake Sully, but in a Na’vi body. This allowed him to better blend in and survive the deadly environment of Pandora. In the film, Quaritch makes great efforts to adopt the Na’vi way of life to better understand his prey. This could eventually make him sympathetic to the Na’vi even though Cameron said he would be the villain in the next two films. We saw him soften from his tough-as-nails militaristic demeanor in Avatar: The Way of Water. He forms a fragile bond with the son of the original Quaritch to the point that he gives in to Neytiri when she threatens his son.

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Dec 17 2022

A Breathtaking Return To Pandora With Avatar: The Way Of Water

Never bet against filmmaker James Cameron, or yes, it was well worth the wait for Avatar: The Way of Water.

Some like to rant about the visionary director and his reported massive ego, as well as his previous film Avatar. Others openly derided the long wait for its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, with claims that the sequel was unwanted or that it would not be on par with Cameron’s earlier works. But James Cameron demonstrated again with Avatar: The Way of Water why he is one of our best filmmakers.

Avatar: The Way of Water takes place about a decade and a half after the events of the first Avatar film. Former human marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) has fully integrated into his second life as a chief of a Na’vi tribe on the habitable moon Pandora. He lives a quiet life with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their four children until the humans that he helped drive off the moon in the last film have returned.

Instead of coming to mine the moon for minerals, humans have arrived en masse to turn Pandora into a new home for humans fleeing a dying Earth. Among the returning humans is Quaritch (Stephan Lang), who was actually killed in the last film, but his DNA was used to clone a new hybrid Avatar body, which was also imprinted with his memories. This was done so he could blend in with the Na’vi people and move freely on Pandora. His mission is to hunt down Sully, who is leading a successful guerilla campaign against the human colonists.

Sully soon realizes that his family is imperiled so he steps down as chief of his tribe and leaves his forest home with his family. Their travels lead them to an island tribe of Na’vi along the seashore, who grant them shelter under the provision the Sullys adapt to their aquatic lifestyle. The film’s narrative shifts to the Sully children as they struggle to learn the culture of their new home, particularly Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), who suffers from middle-child syndrome, and Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), the Sullys’ adopted daughter, who has a mystical connection with Eywa, Pandora’s life force that is connected to all of Pandora’s living creatures.

Meanwhile, as Jake and his family adapt to their new home, Quaritch becomes obsessed with hunting down his foe with the unwilling help of his prisoner Spider (Jack Champion), a teenage human who has adopted the Na’vi way of life.

As these stories go, the paths of Jake and Quaritch soon collide with an epic Cameron-style flourish. Certainly, James Cameron is in his watery element when it comes to framing the film’s spectacular confrontations in the final act. Combine the action scenes on the sea with awe-inspiring underwater cinematography, and it becomes clear that the director was born for aquatic filming!

To say that Avatar: The Way of Water is epic or breathtaking is a serious understatement. The film’s visuals simply overwhelm our visual senses as Pandora comes to crystalline life. At times it is so easy to get so involved and engrossed with what the big screen unfurls. It was like watching a National Geographic nature special, but with alien flora and fauna. The film’s visual effects were so revolutionary that I had to remind myself at times that these were imaginary animals and characters. Clearly, the effects set a new bar that will be impossible to overcome for a long time and help explain why it took so long for this film to be made. Seriously, just give the film the Oscar for best visual effects at this point without bothering to list other! On a final note, yes, Avatar: The Way of Water must be seen on a big screen, in 3D if possible, as a home viewing will lessen the visual experience.

As breathtaking as the return to Pandora was, the experience would have felt empty if not for the film’s story. There are some themes and story beats that are familiar like the adaptation to new cultures, or its pro-environmental messages. However, there are interesting twists and turns that keep the overall story fresh. Admittedly, some plot developments are predictable, yet the characters are much more engaging than in the previous film. For example, Quaritch has more depth than the two-dimensional villain he was in the first Avatar, being that he is in a unique situation that he is no longer human. Meanwhile, Jake Sully struggles between his roles as a warrior and a father to his children, while dealing with the human threat. But there are some characters that do get lost in the vast story and wind up in the background without leaving much of an impression.

The film also sets up intriguing arcs that will be resolved in future films such as with Kiri and her spiritual connection to Eywa. Then there are many questions about how the Na’vi will survive, let along be able to stop human colonization. The outcome may be dire for the Pandora natives given our own real-life history of when indigenous people first encountered invading forces with superior technology.

These questions alone made me enthusiastic for James Cameron’s upcoming sequels: Avatar: The Seed Bearer, Avatar: The Tulkin Rider, and Avatar: The Quest for Eywa.  Some reports have it that the fifth film will take place on Earth, as the Na’vi will visit the planet. Hopefully, all planned films won’t take so long to be released. Remember that Avatar: The Way of Water was delayed many times, so with some luck, the sequels will be released during this decade as planned, and they will deliver the same jaw-dropping experience as Avatar: The Way of Water.

José Soto

Apr 26 2022

Soylent Green In 2022!

We’ve all seen the memes when 2022 began a few short months ago. The posters and images of the famous sci-fi film from 1973, Soylent Green, which made sure we were aware that the film took place in 2022 and we were now in that year. So, we were supposed to conclude we would become food source for the starving masses. Well, to be short, that has not happened.

The film’s prediction about humanity becoming food is wildly off the mark, but there are many worthwhile messages in the film, and the book it’s based on, Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison, that are very relevant today.

The most important and obvious one has to do with environmentalism and how we are failing as shephards of our planet. In Soylent Green, overpopulation has choked most of the world’s resources and the film’s location of an overcrowded New York City was a disturbing example. The city’s population was 40 million and society was crumbling as it struggled to feed humanity. Basic necessities that we take for granted like running water and fresh food were reserved for the mega rich. Actually, small and simple images of the film’s main character, Detective Robert Thorn (Charlton Heston), coming upon fresh beef, vegetables, air conditioning and even a bar of soap were the most disturbing as he celebrated his newfound treasures.

Another barely mentioned situation in the film that catches anyone’s ear today was that global warming had taken hold and was wrecking our world. Thorn and the other characters were sweltering in the constant heat. A couple of times, characters mentioned that it was not cold in New York anymore and that the oceans, the final food source for starving billions, were dying. Hence, the need to turn from plankton as a food source to humanity.

The film is disturbing in that many images feel so real and remind us of our social strife. From the unfed masses crying out for justice and basic needs to failing infrastructure to gigantic corporations choking our society with their monopolistic holds on us.

Thankfully, while our current environmental situation is dire with unpredictable weather, we have not reached the apocalyptic situation of Soylent Green. But as many scientists and activists are warning, time is short for us to prevent some of the situations in that film from becoming reality.

So, yes it’s 2022 and the memes are fun and the film is an excellent cautionary tale about how things could turn out for us. But our situation is a lot better than shown in Soylent Green. Let’s keep it that way.