Fanboys

Having seen Trekkies just afterward, Fanboys went from being just another mediocre comedy with a silly plot to a mediocre comedy with an almost believable plot.  The story is about four friends who travel cross country to break into Skywalker Ranch and watch the new Star Wars movie before it comes out.  The only reason they go is because one of them has cancer and they want to have a memorable trip for him, so off they went.  Of course, they only reason they went is because they are massive Star Wars fanatics, and they couldn't wait for the movie to open normally.  Even though this movie is a work of fiction, people who are super fans of things like Star Wars of Star Trek would totally do something like this, especially if they had nothing to lose.  If nothing else, this movie was made in favor of those super fans.  There was never a scene where you get the impression that the movie was making fun of or looking down on those people.  Even the Star Trek people that chased everyone around the casino seemed completely normal after seeing Trekkies.  Also, because Fanboys isn't really a science fiction movie like the rest we've seen, it was able to avoid the common cliches that many other films have.  However, it embraces the tropes common in other genres of movies.  There's the predictable ending, predictable character death, obligatory bad guys showing up at the perfect time, and annoying older brothers.  Despite the predicable plot, the movie could have done a decent job of respecting the real super fans out there if it wasn't for the terrible humor and jokes.  Whoever wrote the dialogue was either trying way to hard to get a laugh, or had no idea what actually made people laugh.  This movie could have been so much better if it was shot like a mockumentary rather than a straight up comedy, because the comedy part doesn't work.  The cringe worthy humor does nothing to relate to actual super fans and their passions.

Starship Troopers

Starship troopers is a funny take on the militaristic tendencies of modern civilizations, specifically the United States.  A race of giant alien bugs hurled an asteroid at earth and destroyed Brazil in the process.  This causes the military of earth, who apparently are all white and speak english, to retaliate in the most violent and over the top way possible.  As one character says in an implied recruitment ad, "The only good bug is a dead bug."  This mindset is shared by all the soldiers as they fill the alien with a ridiculous amount of bullets.  What is interesting about the movie is that, despite taking place in the future and having spaceships with (probably) giant cannons, the foot soldiers have the tactics and strategies of revolutionary and civil war eras.  They don't take cover and aim, but instead run straight at the enemy, shoot recklessly, and then retreat.  This makes it hard to feel bad when one, or dozens, of them are impaled by the aliens.  Even though the characters have stories and emotions, their complete incompetence contributes to the viewer's lack of sympathy.  Also, based on the aliens ugly, spider like figure, and the fact that they kill by impaling people with their legs, the audience is clearly not supposed to feel bad for them.  In one scene, the group of marines are holed up in a base being overrun by hordes of aliens in what is a scenario similar to the Alamo.  This, and numerous scenes from the training camp part, enforces the notion that these soldiers are expendable.  This is something that has been discussed frequently in the last few decades, with people beginning to question the reason for and value of going to war.  Many people believe that our soldiers are expendable in the eyes of the people in power who stand to profit from wars.  This idea is central in Starship Troopers, as unquenchable bloodlust is favored over discipline and strategy.  Although the soldier's run and gun tactics might just be a way to amp up the absurdity of the movie, it at least unintentionally makes the statement that throwing people into a war without a clear strategy or reason is not a good thing.

Them!

Perhaps no other cold war era sci-fi film is as nonthreatening as Them!  Because of nuclear bomb tests, ants have grown to massive size and threaten to destroy the world, kind of.  Although the characters speak of unimaginable terror and destruction, all the ants do is tear down some wooden walls and hide in a hole for the rest of the movie.  The team of characters, led by a scientist and his scientist daughter, plan to kill all the ants in their nest before they can multiply and spread out, but they fail.  Later, the military is called to Los Angeles as giant ants were spotted going into the sewers.  Eventually the military kills all the ants in the sewer, and then wonder how many others are out in the world as a result of other nuke tests.  This film is closely related to the Japanese Gojira movie.  Nuclear tests have created mutated animals that want to destroy civilization.  The only difference is that in Them! there are a lot of ants.  The effects of radiation from the bombs is more evident as there are many ants irradiated.  In Gojira, there is only one giant monster.  The audience might make the assumption that the lizard that mutated into Gojira was unique enough to begin with, otherwise there would be a lot of Gojiras.  They make up for this by having Gojira completely demolish the city.  The opposite is true in Them.  There are so many ants, but they do so little damage to anything.  This might be interpreted as pointing to the destructive capability of nuclear weapons without explicitly showing their actual destructive power.  Whatever the case, have a large number of ants definitely gives the sense that nuclear weapons are a worldwide problem, and not just a singular, local issue.

Another Earth

It wouldn't be a stretch for some people, myself included, to say that Another Earth is not really a true sci-fi film.  Although there is the idea that 'aliens' exist, the movie is more of a drama than it is a science fiction.  The story is about a young girl who kills a man's family in a car accident while looking up at the sky at another earth that mysteriously appeared.  After a stay in jail, she struggles with guilt and tries to decide whether or not to apologize to the man, who has become an alcoholic.  The sci-fi aspect of this film, the second earth and moon, is only a backdrop to the main story.  Eventually, Rhoda tells John that the car crash was her fault, and to try to make it up to him, gives him her ticket to the other earth that she won in a contest.  The movie explains that there is a possibility that peoples' clones on the other earth may have not led the exact same life as their other.  Rhoda thinks that John's family might still be alive on the other earth, so he gives him the chance to find out.  At the end on the movie, Rhoda returns home to find her clone from the other earth standing in her driveway.  This would mean that her other also won the ticket, but didn't give it away.  It is open to interpretation whether or not this means that Rhoda II never had the crash to begin with, or did and just kept the ticket for herself.  While calling this a sci-fi film would technically be correct because there are aliens and alien worlds, this is more a story about guilt and forgiveness that just happens to involve the other earth.
    Having seen the Hunger Games prior to this film, there are many differences between the two female main characters.  Obviously, Rhoda is no warrior or hero type as Katniss is, and neither is she very concerned with protecting her own loved ones.  Katniss was thrown into her situation against her will, while Rhoda's car crash was entirely her fault and avoidable.  Probably the only noticeable similarity between them is that both characters exhibit guilt, but for different reasons.  Katniss feels guilt for having to kill people for sport, while Rhoda is guilty for killing people on accident.  Their own kind of guilt is what makes them choose their actions later in the films.  The main similarity between the two is that they're both emotionally driven and emotionally flawed.  Rhoda tries to apologize to John when she first meets him, but backs out when she sees the state he's living in.  Katniss has a bond with Peeta, but almost compromises the plan to survive to avoid being separated from him.  Rhoda shows in the end that she is a strong character, and not a kind of coward as she has been acting like.  By giving up her ticket and chance to start a new life, she behaves selflessly and gives someone else an ounce of hope, just like Katniss had.

Hunger Games

The Hunger Games franchise is well regarded for having both a strong female lead character, and a gripping portrayal of a futuristic authoritarian society.  The movie starts with Katniss out hunting rabbits to feed her family, as she had in the previous movie.  This opening scene sets up her personality and motivations for the rest of the film.  She is not so much interested in fame or popularity, but rather protecting or looking after her loved ones.  This would be shown again many times throughout the movie, however mostly involving Peeta and not her family.  One thing that about Katniss that is unusual for a female main character was her willingness to sacrifice herself to protect Peeta.  Usually in action movies, females have a sort of supporting role in which they are rescued by the male hero or act as a love interest and motivation for the hero.  Katniss explicitly says that she would rather die than have Peeta die, which is a kind of statement usually heard from strong male characters.  Couple that with her physical prowess with bows and she ends look being more of a hero and less of a female hero.  However, she is not without flaws as she exhibits some cliche characteristics usually associated with female characters.  For one, she is emotionally weak when it comes to survival.  Towards the end of the film when she is tasked with taking the copper wire to the beach, she gets upset when Peeta is told to stay at the tree.  Clearly she is trying to protect both of them, but her emotions got in the way and could have caused the plan to completely backfire if she would have gotten her way after all.  Also, when she is making her unplanned speeches to the crowds, her emotions end up almost inciting a riot.  Instead of just reading the preplanned speech that she was told would prevent her family from being hurt, she ad libs a speech about her dead friend from the last movie, and freaks out when the predictable outcome occurs.
     The movie's fictional world plays an important role, not only in establishing the overall plot, but also in representing aspects of the real world.  As noted in one of the reviews, the inspiration for writing the trilogy came from the author seeing both reality shows and Iraq war coverage on TV at the same time.  One was fake reality, and the other was actually happening.  This translated into her writing in the form of the 'games' and the twelve districts.  The games were a way to, in a sense, hide the living conditions of the people, or at least make them scared and intimidated enough to not do anything about it.  The games, for some people at the top of the social latter, are essentially their real reality, since they have no interaction with the impoverished people of the districts.  Another thing pointed out in the review was the opinion that the movie was made to make us people feel better about living in bad conditions.  This is wrong for two reasons.  For one, it's just a movie.  Seeing a fictional story about a revolution and martyrdom probably make someone forget about their own terrible life in the long run.  For the duration of the film, sure, but if right after they go home to a bad neighborhood or to an abusive home, trying to replay the scene where people get executed for starting a riot probably won't help much.  The second reason is that it's just obvious that the movie wasn't designed for this reason.  First and foremost, it is entertainment.  The more subtle meanings and themes seem to be more of a commentary on the brainwashing effect of reality television and voyeurism.  The move was more of a social criticism than a safe place for the imagination.  Even though this reviewer's point was far fetched, the movie was still fun and loaded with messages about the value of today's entertainment and culture.

Trekkies

     Trekkies is a documentary that seems to be confused with what it's message is.  On one hand, the film shows the intense passion and love that people have for the Star Trek franchise and the lengths they go to make it a part of their lives, and on the other hand, it perhaps unintentionally mocks and shames them for their choices.  The film takes a look at the various Star Trek conventions held around the country and the people who visit them, both fans and actors.  Although the actors are the main reason why the superfans exist, the film focus most on fans of all ages.  This is one of the better aspects of the documentary.  One person interviewed throughout is a thirteen or fourteen year old kid who has custom made costumes and a giant collection of toys and such.  Other people are middle aged or older, like a lady who got known for wearing a Star Trek costume to jury duty.  The director did a good job showing that Star Trek influences people of all ages and generations.  Obviously the teenage kid wasn't alive or able to remember watching the original series, but the newer shows had enough of an impact on him to make him become obsessed with the show, past and present.  One small section of the movie was about fan fiction, similar to what was discussed in the reading.  The text was correct in that most of the fan fiction shown in the movie was written by women.  There was no reason given for this, but one could guess that women might make more of an emotional connection with the characters and have more interest in exploring their stories, or creating new ones.  Most people interviewed or showed in the film were made to look like people who just really like the show and like interacting with the fans.  Some learned klingon in their free time, or organized meetings with other fans.  However they made the show a part of their life, for most of them that's all it was: a hobby.  For some of the people however, the film makes them look foolish or obsessed to a point of unhealthiness.
     During one scene, an auction for a piece or rubber worn on the head of an alien was taking place.  Looking at what was for sale, a non star trek fan would see the headpiece and think it might be worth a hundred or so dollars to a collector.  Someone in a full klingon outfit ended up paying almost two thousand for it.  When interviewed, he said there was no way he was leaving the building without it, no matter the price.  Although we don't know if he is extremely wealthy, I can't imagine most middle class people would spend that kind of money on a tiny piece of rubber that went on someone's head for a brief period of time.  Sure he's a star trek fanatic, but the way he was hell bent on getting the rubber mo matter how much he might have to pay implies he might have some issues.  This guy was far from the most crazy in the film.  One scene that was particularly strange was when a group of people dressed as klingons were talking about volunteering at kids hospitals.  Assuming they wear the costumes while there, which is again implied, they must make the kids extremely uncomfortable if they don't know anything about star trek.  They surely have good intentions and hearts, but scaring sick kids isn't a very good idea.  Even though there were some unusual characters in the documentary, the majority of it was positively shot and a good way to show how sci-fi can change people's lives.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Of all the nuclear apocalypse movies of the cold war era, The Day the Earth Stood Still stands out as being about saving earth rather than destroying it.  Rather than taking a pessimistic view of what could happen as a result of nuclear weapons like so many other films, this one is more optimistic with the future of the world.  Although it seems there is a light at the end of the tunnel as far as the future of humans are concerned, the plan laid out by Klaatu has some resemblances to communism and other oppressive governments.  He basically says that if the earth gives up fighting each other and threatening the survival of the planet, humans will join some sort of alien community that is constantly watched over by robots like Gort.  However, the robots are more of a threatening presence than peacekeepers of guardians.  The slightest act of moving violence into space would mean the destruction of earth, no warnings or individual punishment.  While it makes sense that this harsh supervision might be the only way to make sure planets aren't blowing each other up constantly, the threat of annihilation as the 'happy ending' seems very similar to people's fear of the Soviets.  Relating to this, one ironic thing about the plot is that the only way to save the planet is to threaten to destroy it.  During his speech at the end, Klaatu tells the scientist people that unless they stop with the nuclear weapons and wars, everyone will die.  The only way to end violence is to threaten with violence as far as Klaatu is concerned.  Maybe he thinks that, because humans are already so accustomed to war and killing, this message is the only one that they would pay any attention to.  While the ending of the film is satisfying since Klaatu isn't completely dead yet, it is also not very happy since there is still a strong possibility that the earth will be destroyed.  In addition to the cold war connections, the film is also a look back at how people socialized in the fifties, something that other sci-fi films in this era lacked.  From Helen letting her young son run around with a stranger that just moved into their house, to her one sided relationship with Tom, the social norms of this time period are shown in detail throughout the film.  However, this movie is unique in that one of the main protagonists is a female, and a rather strong one too.  When Tom refuses to listen to her and decides to get rich, she doesn't back down and go into housewife mode, and instead tells him off and moves on.  Later, she escorts Klaatu to his ship and says the secret code to Gort, effectively saving multiple lives.  Many sci-fi films around this time feature male lead characters, with the females having some sort of support roles.  Helen is, in a way, responsible for saving the world.  By getting Klaatu to his ship, she made it possible for him to deliver his message and warn of the impending alien holocaust.  Helen's heroism and Klaatu's timely message are the main reasons this film stands out among the countless cold war inspired movies of the era.