Tag / dan o’bannon

by Jaime Rebanal

Alien – Review

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Ridley Scott’s Alien remains one of the defining works in both the horror and science fiction genres, a film that, like any of the best of their genres, invented a whole new universe by starting small. From the many films that the Alien series has spawned, Ridley Scott’s original film still remains my favourite of the bunch for good reason. It remains my favourite because it shows how little is necessary in order to start a universe of its own from scratch. Although eventually this rule was broken by eventual sequels (as much as I love James Cameron’s Aliens), it’s already impossible to deny the impact that Ridley Scott’s original film would have left behind on science fiction and horror within years to come. In itself it would easily have been just a “haunted house movie in space,” but perhaps there’s a whole lot more that results in the final product actually turning out to be all the more clever.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Total Recall – Review

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My first memories of Total Recall have gone on in the same way that my own for RoboCop had. I was thirteen years old and I saw both films back to back on television (where they were both uncensored, surprisingly) and although both had been helpful factors in allowing myself to accept the sight of graphic violence on the screen, I merely came out just liking them because all I saw was an action film. Growing older was a different story as I looked into these films and suddenly saw another layer of brilliance on Paul Verhoeven’s end, the loud satire it presents in your face. With a Philip K. Dick story and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead, he’s clearly at some of his most inviting. And with Total Recall, there comes Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best film yet.

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