Apocalyptic Cinema, books etc....

[retro72]

Originally Posted by slowdiver

Something that actually shocked me the first time I saw it (not that long ago, within the last decade at least) is the Doctor Who story "Dalek Invasion of Earth". NOT the Peter Cushing film, which is good in it's own campy, silly 1960's way, but the original TV serial on which it was based.

Brought up on the later Pertwee through Tom Baker shows, I was used to the casual, flippant approach of the programme, often interspersed with (sometimes laugh out loud) humour. This serial plays it very straight and any humour to be found (which is rare in this particular script) is often of the gallows variety, the sort of jokes made by people who don't know if they'll live to see another dawn.

The story is almost unremittingly bleak in its approach, something which characterises a lot of Terry Nation's Dalek tales. The opening shot of a Roboman (humans modified by Daleks and used as slave labour) walking from the banks of the Thames into the river itself, deliberately to his death is still quite shocking now. The camera pans back to a poster on the wall which reads simply: "Emergency Regulations: It is forbidden to dump bodies into the river."

Each episode of the show at that point still had it's own title, rather than the "Part One, Part Two etc" format that they used later in the series. When the title of the episode "World's End" appears on the screen, you know you're going to be in for a grim ride.

In later seasons, Who became a little bit too obsessed with its own history and rules about how things should be done and occasionally fell into the traps of parody and/or cliche. Back then however (the show was still only a year, possibly two old) there were no such boundaries. This was only the second time that the Daleks had appeared and the first time they did so in an earthbound setting. The human characters in the story aren't yet simply cannon fodder for the metal pepperpots and although the serial does now show its age somewhat, it still makes for interesting and quite chilling viewing. Definitely worth a hunt for if you haven't seen it before.

It's quite interesting to note the Tom Baker storyline of the "Genesis of the Daleks" in light of this. The parallels between the scientific experiments that create the daleks from a humanoid species - The "kaleds" (an anagram) had many obvious references to the evils of the nazi regime.

[retro72]

Originally Posted by tabler

A lot of people disagree but I thought the 1981 BBC dramatization of 'The Day of the Triffids' (Book by John Windham) was far superior to the 1962 film.
The Film was far too removed from the original plot.

Anyone who thinks that the film was better than the series is very easily pleased IMO. I very much doubt they'd have read the book either...

[retro72]

Here is the link to "Threads". It's certainly dated in some regards but as a graphic depiction of the horrors and insanity of nuclear war it completely hits the mark IMO

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/plotsummary

[technoallah]

Some good films mentioned here, one of my favourite genres, 'The Road' which is out soon I feel is going to be amazing.

Anyway, if you want a surreal comic edge, then go pick up The Bed Sitting Room, you're in luck as it's finally been released onto DVD. With a cast made up of the likes of Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Marty Feldman, Arthur Lowe, Roy Kinnear.. you can't do no wrong!

An utterly fantasticly hilariously bizarre gem that one!

Another favourite being 'Stalker' by Tarkovsky. Visually kind of similar to The Bed Sitting Room actually, but far from funny. Excellent film though.

[retro72]

Originally Posted by technoallah

Some good films mentioned here, one of my favourite genres, 'The Road' which is out soon I feel is going to be amazing.

Anyway, if you want a surreal comic edge, then go pick up The Bed Sitting Room, you're in luck as it's finally been released onto DVD. With a cast made up of the likes of Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Marty Feldman, Arthur Lowe, Roy Kinnear.. you can't do no wrong!

An utterly fantasticly hilariously bizarre gem that one!

Another favourite being 'Stalker' by Tarkovsky. Visually kind of similar to The Bed Sitting Room actually, but far from funny. Excellent film though.

The Bed Sitting Room was nuts! People start turning into wardrobes as I recall...Worth a watch though definitely.

[videodrome]

If you guys are up for watching some B-Movies, there is... "2019 After the Fall of New York" from 1983, and "The New Barbarians" aka "Warriors of the Wasteland" from 1982. Both are pretty good movies if you can get past some of the bad special effects.

[meetmeat]

I find it interesting that 'Zombie' films seem prolific. I include "I Am Legend, the "Resident Evil" series, "28 Days," "28 Weeks Later," etc. I guess these could be classified as apocalyptic disease motifs. The thing I wonder about concerns the 'undead' threatening survivors, and thus the survival of humanity. From where does this proposition come? What does this story line reflect about the state of our minds? Does this amount to an illustration 'tipping point,' i.e., a fad, or can we see a subconscious fear displayed in our cinema?

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by retro72

Anyone who thinks that the film was better than the series is very easily pleased IMO. I very much doubt they'd have read the book either...

The 1981 series was better than the film made with Howard Keel in 1962: and I agree that the series was closer to the book (I read the book as a teenager). There's certainly room for a new and better series, and frankly a better film would be welcome. Hopefully a film which will not cast Tom Criuse or Nicholas Cage as Bill Mason, and will not cast Andie McDowell or Jennifer Lopez as Josella Playton.

[scoundrel]

I haven't seen the 2001 version with Helena Bonham Carter but word of mouth isn't very promising. Never mind.

The one I'm talking about, already mentioned by se7en, is the Big Daddy original 1968 film with Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell as the chimpanzee scientist Galen, and who could forget Linda Harrison as Nova (looks like Linda Harrison, adores Charlton Heston and can't speak a word: Charlie's perfect girl).

Here's the film I mean:

And here's the girl I mean:

The film is loosely adapted from a book by Peirre Boule, which I haven't read, but of course the hero is now an American astronaut whose mission has gone somewhat off course (using satnav instead of a decent road atlas probably) and is forced to adapt to an extremely altered reality. The film actually has some thought provoking themes: the tensions within the Ape society between troll-stupid and thuggish Gorrilla warrior types and the cultured, more liberal Chimpanzees are suggestive of both racial and class divisions in our own societies; the use of humans as cattle and beasts of burden has historic resonances of our long and still ongoing struggle to rid ourselves of slavery. The Poitier-like moment when Heston's character recovers from his throat wound and snarls the wonderful defiant challenge to Ape hegemony:

Get your hands off me you dirty Ape!

is for me the high point of the film.

The apocalypic theme is a final brilliant and dark flourish: Boule himself openly praised this departure from his book. Colonel George Taylor (Heston) is forced to accept that his world failed and he will never go ''home''. This is the iconic moment, the climax of the story:

The thumbnail is rather too small but focus on the bottom-left corner of the image...

Planet of the Apes inevitably spawned a run of derivative sequels, plus a very run-of the-mill TV series [showing, amongst other weaknesses, the ignorance of the TV executives regarding the problems suffered by ordinary Luddites when expected to learn using computers], a less than brilliant cartoon series and, of course a re-make in 2001.

Never mind the bollocks. Watch this one.

[tabler]

Guys for anyone interested BBC day of the triffids has just started on BBC4, I just found it fiicking around