Feature Discussion: Summer, Dave, Brian and Jen discuss the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Edward James Olmos and Sean Young, this movie set the standard for futuristic noir, and inspired an entire generation of scifi fans.

Listener Feedback: You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. You can also email all of us at ninjas-at-kickassmysticninjas-dot-com, or use the Contact Form… and yes, you can also email in recorded commentary.

Books and Films mentioned:

Promo: British Invaders
Promo: The Adventures of Indiana Jim
Promo: Slice of SciFi

Feature Discussion: Summer, Brian, and Jen discuss the 1984 pop culture sensation Ghostbusters, the lamentable GB 2, the ideas for more sequels, and even the different TV animated series.

Listener Feedback: You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. You can also email all of us at ninjas-at-kickassmysticninjas-dot-com, or use the Contact Form… and yes, you can also email in recorded commentary.

Books mentioned:

Promo: The WEIRD Show
Promo: Upside Down and Halfway to Happyland

Feature Discussion: Summer, Dave, Jen and special guest Krazy Joe discuss the 1982 scifi cult classic TRON, brought to us by Disney Studios.

Brief Story Description: Kevin Flynn is a young hotshot programmer who’s been ousted from his job at ENCOM after an older programmer, Ed Dillinger, stole the game code Flynn had been writing, and presented them to the ENCOM brass as his own work.

In his attempts to find proof of Dillinger’s theft, he’s been trying to hack his way back into ENCOM’s mainframes, which threatens to shut down the work of his friends Alan Bradley and Lora Baines.

Not realizing that Dillinger’s security program, MCP, is out of control and power hungry, Flynn uses Lora’s lab to try to access the information he’s been searching for. In retaliation, MCP digitizes Flynn to bring him into the cyber world, in an attempt to control and destroy Flynn.

But there’s another program MCP should be worried about: Alan Bradley’s TRON…

Related news: Yes, TRON 2.0 is a sequel currently in pre-production, slated for production start sometime later this spring. The electronica band Daft Punk has been signed to score the TRON 2.0 soundtrack

Go watch the lightcycle scene again just for that nostalgic kick.

Listener Feedback: You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. You can also email all of us at ninjas-at-kickassmysticninjas-dot-com, and yes, you can also email in recorded commentary.

Movies mentioned:

Link: Wikipedia: TRON
Link: Tron-Sector: dedicated to the original movie, and TRON 2.0
Promo: The British Invaders

Yes, it’s a longer than typical delay, but we think you’ll still enjoy the fun. Dave apologizes wholeheartedly apologizes to Steven Brust. Why can’t we just acknowledge that there really was no fantasy idea theft, and that maybe there were similar inspirations for the object back in the day?

Feature Discussion: Summer, Dave, Brian and Jen discuss 1987 cult favorite The Hidden, directed by Jack Sholder and written by Jim Kouf. There’s a Hidden II… supposedly. But there’s love, there’s hate, there’s humor for the first one, and we share it all with you.

Brief Story Description: A murderous rampage by a previously normal individual ends in a shootout after a bank robbery, one where the suspect doesn’t seem to be normally affected from multiple gunshot wounds. The police officer in charge of the investigation, Sgt. Tom Beck (Nouri), is convinced the case is closed when the suspect dies in the hospital, but he’s unaware that another man is about to continue the rampage where the previous man left off. This new “citizen” commits a new series of crimes around Los Angeles, leaving the police department perplexed, until FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher (MacLachlan) arrives with seemingly more information about what’s going on than he’s letting on…

Listener Feedback: You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. You can also email all of us at ninjas-at-kickassmysticninjas-dot-com, and yes, you can also email in recorded commentary.

Books mentioned:

Link: Wikipedia: The Hidden
Promo: Between the Lines Studios: Call for Firefly Writers

Feature Discussion: RoboDave, Brian-209, Summer and Jen discuss the 1987 hit movie RoboCop. A groundbreaking movie when it first came in, in terms of production as well as treading into new territories of movie ratings controversy, much can be said about RoboCop, and we try to hit all the fun points.

Brief Story Description: The city of Detroit is besieged by crime, and an overworked police force is struggling to keep from being outgunned. Because of the city’s financial problems, Omni Consumer Products (OCP) won the outsourcing contract to retool the city’s law enforcement ranks, in order to protect future plans to raze Detroit and build a better future city, Delta City, on top of it.

After a disastrous demonstration of the ED-209 enforcement robot, the corporate plans to implement RoboCop program is fast-tracked, but the project can’t proceed until a Detroit office has been gunned down.

Part man, part machine, all cop. And something more.

Listener Feedback: You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. You can also email all of us at ninjas-at-kickassmysticninjas-dot-com, and yes, you can also email in recorded commentary.

Movies mentioned:

Link: Criterion Collection: RoboCop
Link: Wikipedia: RoboCop
Link: RoboCop Archive
Promo: Adventures in SciFi Publishing

Not surprisingly, the Ninjas voicemail number is gone. But we can probably handle smallish recordings emailed to us… check first before sending longer comments.

Feature Discussion: Summer, David, Brian and Jen tackle Invasion of the Body Snatchers, both the 1956 version startting Kevin McCarthy, and the 1978 remake starring Donald Sutherland and Jeff Goldblum. The 1956 version was based on a story called “The Body Snatchers” by Jack Finney, that was first serialized in Collier’s Magazine in 1954, and published as a novel in 1955.

Brief Story Description: A handful of people uncover an alien plot to take over the human race, and go to great lengths to remain themselves and warn the rest of the world.

Silly aliens… Earth is for Humans! You might catch something here unless you’ve had all of your shots.

Listener Feedback: Give us some! You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. You can also email all of us at ninjas-at-kickassmysticninjas-dot-com, and yes, you can also email in recorded commentary.

Movies mentioned:

Link: Wikipedia: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Link: Wikipedia: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 Film)
Link: Wikipedia: “The Body Snatchers” by Jack Finney
Promo: The GeekSpin

Feature Discussion: David, Brian and Summer chat about the 1987 cult feature Near Dark, written by Eric Red and Kathryn Bigelow, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, starring Adrian Pasdar, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein and Tim Thomerson, and featuring a soundtrack by Tangerine Dream.

The Ninjas talk about this not-too-widely known vampire film with both a wild west and a romantic twist in it. The second twist comes from the fact that the word “vampire” is never once uttered during the entire movie… not by the immortals, and the victims don’t really stick around long enough to be able to say it either.

Did you know that Kathryn Bigelow is planning a remake/reimagining of Near Dark? We didn’t, but an IMDb listing is rarely wrong… it’s still In Development, so no public details are available yet.

For those of you with premium movie channels, Near Dark will be airing on TMC on December 24, 2007. Check your local listings, and have some fun. But for some real fun, definitely check out the 2-disc DVD set… the bonus features are almost as long as the feature itself.

Listener Feedback: Give us some! You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. If you want to leave a voicemail comment on anything we’ve discussed, you can call us at 206-666-5266.

Movies and music mentioned:

Promo: PodCulture: Equal Opportunity Geekness
Link: IMDb: Near Dark (1987)
Link: Wikipedia: Near Dark

There are a lot of books and movies and tv shows that we won’t get to, or at least not get to any time soon, so I don’t see any reason why we can’t post written reviews here, or include the occassional audio review in a KAMN episode. Same Ninjas rules apply… anything 10 years old or older is fair game.

If you want to submit some reviews, just send them to summer [at] kickassmysticninjas [dot] com or brian [at] kickassmysticninjas [dot] com. Submit written reviews as included plain text, not attached Word docs, and audio reviews should be kept to 3 minutes or less (MP3 format please, to conserve space). If you can’t email them, then use something like YouSendIt.com, or maybe we can arrange something else.

Also, the old reviews I had done for Fantastica Daily (a site that no longer exists) will be online here soon. I will most likely post them with their original post dates, from 2004, so keep an eye out.

Fathom Events is promoting theatrical screenings of Poltergeist all across the US on October 4th, to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

The complete list of theaters having anniversary screenings includes three locations in the Phoenix area. Although I dislike seeing movies on Friday nights, I may have to make an exception, if I can round up enough geeks to make a field trip out of it…

Feature Discussion: Summer, David and Brian join forces to discuss Poltergeist, a 1982 offering from Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper. Despite the fact this movie is now 25 years old, there is some disagreement on whether this movie can rightfully be called “classic”.

The Ninjas talk about a few elements of daily suburban life that are obviously dated (TV channels going off air), the sharp contrast in tone between the first part and the second part of the movie, and whether or not the movie and it’s special effects can stand the test of time. There’s some disagreement, but it’s all in good fun.

The next KAMN show will cover “War for the Oaks” by Emma Bull. She lives in Arizona now, so you never know who may make a guest appearance on the show.

Listener Feedback: Give us some! You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. If you want to leave a voicemail comment on anything we’ve discussed, you can call us at 206-666-5266.

Movies mentioned:

Promo: Heaven, Season 3: Earth

Summer, David and Brian join forces to discuss the 1970 feature film, Colossus: The Forbin Project.

Voicemail: caller is excited about the possibility of the Ninjas talking about “War of the Worlds”, and wants to know who does our theme song. The song is “Ninja” by 7 Seconds of Love, and while I have neglected to credit them in the show, they are completely credited on the Special Features page, where we link to the MP3 and the cute music video they created for the song.

C2 calls in with sentiments about Joe’s passing; Woody comments on the “Highlander” discussion and the retconning that happened in the sequels (that never really happened), and Summer comments on the breaking that happened in the Matrix sequels (that should never have happened); Trevor from MMM Commentaries calls in also letting us know about the HG Wells collaboration with Starship Sofa on the books and movies; Lucid Dream from Anime Roundtable offers his condolences on Joe’s passing. David reads an email from John about “Fire Upon the Deep”, and how our commentary inspired him to go out and buy the book, and the theory that the Slow Zone also affected the mental abilities and acuities of the people living there.

Feature Discussion: Summer, Dave and Brian give an overview of the film, and discuss some of the relatively groundbreaking computer usage (for 1970), and talk a bit about the understated acting performances and how they help create create the slow build up of human desperation in the face of an powerful and inscrutable adversary.

The Ninjas also talk about the original book, it’s two sequels, and the plans for an upcoming remake of the movie; one potentially directed by Ron Howard and one that would incorporate story elements from all three novels, to give the story a longer storyline with more depth, and possibly an ending that doesn’t seem quite as desolate as the original film.

Consumer warning: this film is NOT in widescreen format on the DVD. The only known widescreen home video version appears to be the laserdisc. Summer suggests merely renting the DVD, in the hopes that a widescreen version may be released as the remake gets closer to completion.

Promotional Notes: David’s pop culture show, Moldawer in the Morning, is a new member of the FarPoint Media Network!

The next KAMN show will cover “Galactic Patrol” by E. E. “Doc” Smith, and Tim Callender from The Babylon Podcast will join us for that commentary.

If you have a promo you’d like us to play, send it or send a link to it to us!

Listener Feedback: Give us some! You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. If you want to leave a voicemail comment on anything we’ve discussed, you can call us at 206-666-5266.

Movies and Books mentioned:

Promo: Podcasting: Now and Beyond: The Dragon*Con Podcasting Track
Promo: George Hrab: Geologic Podcast
Wikipedia: Dennis Feltham Jones
Wikipedia: Colossus: The Forbin Project

Dave is joined this time by stunt ninja Brian Brown, who’s quickly becoming a regular all over FarPoint Media. For this, you can lay thanks or blame at Summer’s feet… this week, Brian is thankful because Highlander is one of his all-time favorite movies.

Dave and Brian go over the highlights of the movie, and some lively discussion about what does and doesn’t work for the story and the myth. It’s much easier to ignore the continent-hopping accents and origins than it is to ignore some of the plot problems. The humor and the wonderful acting by Clancy Brown truly shoot this movie to higher levels of appreciation, as well as some of the more unique camera work.

The boys also talk about the mystical quality of the swords in both the movie and the TV series… where did they hide those blades all the time? Theory 1: the coats and jackets had tesseract pockets. Theory 2: it was in the script.

As for those other movies, Dave lets us know his feelings on those abominations to the original myth, and some other storyline rewriting that happened in the series. Really, as far as the movies go, there really is only one.

Voicemail: A comment on John Keats being the inspiration for “Hyperion”; John in Seattle suggests “Big Trouble in Little China” as a pulp companion to “Buckaroo Banzai”; Curt in St George equates “A Question of Conscience” to “Far-Seer” in terms of book covers that inspire odd casual reactions, and wants to know if any of the Ninjas have read “A Bridge of Birds”.

Don’t forget to donate and help Joe out (second Paypal button on the right sidebar), and you can call the special voicemail line, 206-202-5179, and leave a message for him.

Listener Feedback: Give us some! You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. If you want to leave a voicemail comment on anything we’ve discussed, you can call us at 206-666-5266.

Movies and Shows mentioned:

Promo: Firefly Talk
Promo: ADPOV: Support TD-0013 in the Arizona MS Walk, April 14, 2007
Wikipedia: Highlander
Link: Official Highlander Message Boards
Link: Highlander Official Store

Joe Murphy is out, still dealing with Kuato, and Brian Brown sits in to help with the analysis for this show. Don’t forget to donate to the Kill Kuato Fund, and help Joe out (second Paypal button on the right sidebar), and you can call the special voicemail line to leave a message for him.

Two Ninjas plus One discuss the 1984 cult classic film, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. I apologize ahead of time for the audio quality.

It’s a little hard to classify this movie because it pulls elements from so many different genres: a smattering of extraterrestrials, a lot of swashbuckling action, a little rock-n-roll, and a little romance. It’s a busy film, both in terms of how much is going on visually in each frame and sonically with background effects and conversations, and it appeals to most geeks on several levels, which is why it’s a cult classic that still entertains today.

Did you know there’s a new comic coming out, from Moonstone Books? You do now. It’s a new story, “Return of the Screw”, written by Earl Mac Rauch and picks up right where the movie left off.

Voicemail: Will the Computer Guy comments on the audio levels from Show #24 (it’s not Mike, it’s Summer); Cisco from OK with some trivia about “The Day the Earth Stood Still”; Bill in the Bronx on Show #24, mentioning another difference between the original short story and the movie, and has an upbeat message for Joe; Curt from St George comments on Show #22, “The Omega Man” and relays some Charlton Heston trivia, and David tells us about traffic being rerouted in Manhattan for filming of Will Smith’s version of “I Am Legend”; CA in Phoenix comments on Show #24, particularly the boring car chase scenes, and the flatness of the extra characters in the boarding house, and Summer still recommends the 90min documentary that comes on the newest DVD release.

Listener Feedback: Give us some! You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. If you want to leave a voicemail comment on anything we’ve discussed, you can call us at 206-666-5266.

Movies mentioned:

Promo: The Butcher Block
Promo: ADPOV: Support TD-0013 in the Arizona MS Walk, April 14, 2007
Link: Buckaroo Banzai Frequently Asked Questions
Link: The Banzai Institute

The Ninjas discuss the 1951 classic scifi feature, The Day The Earth Stood Still. Once again, the Ninjas disagree.

Both David and Joe were disappointed and displeased with the story, leaving Summer alone to defend it’s merits. She also adds a little bit more historical perspective, in terms of it being the film to create what would later become the “standard” for B-movies of the 50s and 60s, and also of it’s thematic message, especially given that Fox made this film in a political climate that was increasingly suspicious and fearful of everyone, and with a cast member who would later be blacklisted after this film’s release.

Listener Feedback: Give us some! You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. If you want to leave a voicemail comment on anything we’ve discussed, you can call us at 206-666-5266.

Movies mentioned:

Promo: The Signal: Songs from the Black
Promo: Mighty Seek Podcast
Link: Wikipedia: The Day The Earth Stood Still
Link: IMDb Robert Wise

The Ninjas discuss the The Omega Man, the 1971 movie adaptation of Richard Matheson’s classic “I Am Legend”, starring Charlton Heston, Rosalind Cash and Anthony Zerbe.

While we don’t go into any detailed discussion about the book, we do note the major differences between the source material and what happens in this cinematic adaptation. There’s also a lot of discussion about the savior symbolism running rampant through the film, and touch a bit on how dated some of the story aspects seem after 35 years. We also wonder how it’ll compare to the new adaptation, currently in production featuring Will Smith in the lead role of Robert Neville.

Doing a separate show on “I Am Legend” is a definite possibility for a future KAMN show.

Listener Feedback: The Ninjas respond to voicemails about Show #20 from Philip from Australia, Tim from The Babylon Podcast, and Neutrino in NJ.

If you have a comment on anything we’ve discussed, let us know! You can call us at 206-666-5266, or send us an email us and let us what you think.

Movies and Books mentioned:

Link: Wikipedia: The Omega Man
Link: Omega Man Script (early draft)
Link: Movie Cliches List
Link: The Top 100 Things I’d Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord
Link: 36 Dramatic Situations by Georges Polti
Promo: Adventures in SciFi Publishing

The feature topic for this show is the cult classic mythology fantasy, Clash of the Titans. This 1981 feature film stars Harry Hamlin, Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Ursula Andress, Burgess Meredith, and some of the most memorable creature effects Ray Harryhausen created during his illustrious career (he retired from filmmaking after this movie).

While most of the characters in the movie have some basis in classical Greek mythology, and the framework is based on the myth of Perseus and his quest to rescue Andromeda from the punishment meted out for a rash boast of her mother’s, Cassiopeia, that disparaged the beauty of her sisters, the Nereids, the filmmakers took a little artistic license with some of the story and plot points to make the movie work.

If you have a comment on anything we’ve discussed, let us know! You can call us at 206-666-5266, or send us an email us and let us what you think.

Movies mentioned:

Promo: Geek Survival Guide
Link: IMDb: Clash of the Titans
Link: Wikipedia: Clash of the Titans

Summer, Joe and David sink their tsais into the 1980 campy cult classic Flash Gordon, starring Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton, and Brian Blessed. The cheese factor is strong with this one.

You can’t take this movie too seriously, and you can’t completely dismiss it either. It also made them want to dig into the backs of their closets just to make sure that any remaining photos of themselves with big hair and parachute pants were safely burned.

The Ninjas also talk a little about the original Flash Gordon serials, starring Buster Crabbe, and Summer shares what she knows about a kick-ass Flash Gordon novel that was commissioned, but may never see the light of day because of legal wranglings, and perhaps for being too damned good.

If anyone wants to watch some of the public domain Flash Gordon serials, go check out Public Domain Torrents list of old scifi shows.

thumbnail image courtesy of the Richard Amsel website

Movies mentioned:

Promo: Geek Fu Action Grip
Promo: Silent Universe
Link: SF Site: A Conversation with Matthew Woodring Stover (part 2)
Link: SFFWorld Free Flash Gordon! call for petition (petition no longer active)
Link: SFFWorld Questions for Matt Stover (see post #168)

I am sure you’ve already run across this news, but just in case I’ve included the text and link for the article. Thanks for a great show!

The original Star Wars Trilogy to be released on DVD

No, Brad, I actually had no idea this was happening. Can’t you tell from listening to the show that I don’t really know much of anything about science fiction? Summer and Joe knew all about it, I’m sure, but I rely on helpful listeners like you to keep me abreast.

That’s wonderful news, though. I’d heard that Lucas had no intention of ever doing this. It’ll be a real treat to watch Star Wars the way it was meant to be seen, with Han shooting first and no stupid T-Rex’s lumbering around in the back of every crowd scene.

This time around, we discuss the 1976 cult classic film, Logan’s Run.

The Ninjas also share their thoughts on comparing the original film with the novel, and what the impending remake by Joel Silver might look like. None of us ever saw the short-lived TV series, so there’s not much we can say about that.

Aaron from the Weekly Anime Review has a brand new review for us, of the classic 1970s hit series Space Cruiser Yamato, which aired here in the US in the early 1980s as Starblazers.

We also present a large handful of listener feedback, via email and voicemails, so the show runs a little longer than we normally have in the past:

• John Hook on Dune
• Tim C on Dune
• a LadyHawke comment
• Bruce from Ellicott City on LadyHawke and Dune
• Tim Scott from SC on Dune
• a Dune super fan, complete with a reference to toys: http://www.damageready.com/dune/
• Audio commentary on LadyHawke from Charles

Books and movies mentioned:

Promos and Links:
Promo: CIC: The Galactica Podcast
Link: The World of Logan’s Run
Link: TheFandom’s interview with Free Enterprise director Robert Burnett (enhanced LR sequence on DVD)
Link: The Highly Unofficial Logan’s Run FAQ

This week, we discuss Dune, the 1965 Frank Herbert novel that continues to have an impact on the way people think about science fiction.

The Ninjas also cover the theatrical movie (several different versions of it), and the more recent SciFi Channel miniseries treatment of the book. Listen to their varied opinions on the creative interpretations.

Also, courtesy of Jesse Willis, SFF Audio has listed a large number of available audiobook options for Dune novels. Thanks, Jesse and Scott… the work you guys have done was in a way an inspiration for the creation of this show.

Books and movies mentioned:

Promos and Links:
Promo: Mur Lafferty’s I Should Be Writing
Link: The Official Dune Website
Link: Wikipedia: Dune (novel)
Link: SparkNotes Study Guides: Dune