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Conference noted::sf

Title:	Arcana Caelestia
Notice:	Directory listings are in topic 2
Moderator:	NETRIX::thomas

Created:	Thu Dec 08 1983
Last Modified:	Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1300
Total number of notes:	18728

322.0. "The Anihilator -- Ugh!" by PEN::KALLIS () Tue Apr 08 1986 16:22

    On 7 April 1986 there appeared on NBC-TV a show that was one of
    the silliwer things to be foisted off on the viewing piblic this
    season.  Since it's nominally SF, a shoert ereview.
    
    Take a little of _The Street of San Franciisco_, a pinch of _V_,
    a bit of _Beyond the Bermuda Triangle_ and a dollop of _Battlestar
    Galactica_.  Shake until curdled, then pour into the mold used for
    _The Terminator_.  Let sit until rancid.  Yield: _The Anihilator_.
    
    This silly made-for-TV movie was half flashback.  Quick plot synoposis:
     Man is editor of a newspaper who has a very good news sense.  His
    girlfriend/lover wins a vacation to Hawaii for two; since he vcan't
    go, she takes a girlfriend along.  On the way back, the aircraft
    is an hour late, having disappeared for an hour [wonder what the
    ATC folk thought of _that_].  The girlfriend starts to act strasngely,
    including staying up all night to view home movies.  She inveigles
    our hero to go on a weekend in the woods, induces him to go to the
    edge of a lake, then tries to kill him.  Her eyes are glowing, and
    in defending himself, the hero discovers that the girlfriend is
    now a robot (a surprise only if you'd missed all the ballyhoo).
    
    He destroys her/it, then commes back to find the other girl who
    went to Hawaii is also a robot, as are (inferentially) all of those
    on the fateful flight.  He destroys her, and then becomes a fugitive,
    being picked up at the last miinute by a woman weho later brings
    him to a farmhouse home of a professor of parapsychology.  They
    all turn out to be robots (gee, how opriginal).  
    
    The hero manages to destroy them all, and goes out with the list
    of passengers to be a hunter while being hunted by the police.
    
    It was terrible and illogical (does a robot scream while injured?
     Why not kill the hero at any time rather than going through all
    the circuitious actions the robots did?).
    
    Bet they try to make a series of it.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
322.1	Another INVADERS series probably	ANGORA::MLOEWE		`Tue Apr 08 1986 17:46`	16
	RE -1 I couldn't help thinking of the old "INVADERS" series when I watched this last night. The film had some high points (I like all alien type movies). Some good effects where his girlfriend look-alike robot was on fire. A comical scene when the robot college professor after having his computer brain rattled by being hit on the head, tries to light his pipe but only sets fire to his arm which seems to go unnoticed. The robots were supposed to be highly intelligent, but seemed to lack common sense. I think the movie would of make more sense if everyone on the plane was a robot (Dematoids I think they called themselves). Apparently only some of the passengers were affected. The movie did not go into any explanation of what really happened out there when the plane disappeared. The movie lacked original sci-fi, but, hey! I'll take just about any science fiction.
322.2		AKOV68::BOYAJIAN	I am not a man, I'm a free number!	`Wed Apr 09 1986 01:29`	7
	Looks like I should be glad I passed this one by. By the way, I missed another sf tv-movie the other week, which starred Robert Conrad (I think), but I don't remember what the plot was supposed to be. Did anyone catch it? --- jerry
322.3	erase memory;	FRSBEE::FARRINGTON		`Wed Apr 09 1986 13:29`	11
	Definitely, Jerry, you were fortunate. What Steve did not mention was a touch of "The Terminator" as well as the others. Also, the film was filled with inane 'rock' and flashback videos (ala Miami Vice) which had to be filler for lack of both plot and dialog. (Question: how many times can the same car chase be shown in one movie ???) Both my wife (not an avid sci_fi fan) and myself (a fanatic) commented on the unfinish quality of the movie; ie, expect this to show up this summer or early autumn as a new series/filler. Reminds me of "V" to some extent.
322.4	recursive Ugh!	PEN::KALLIS		`Thu Apr 10 1986 11:56`	16
	re .3: Yes, I _did_ mention "The Terminator" in the base note -- I said to pour the mess into the mold used for _The Terminator_, and let sit until rancid. Which it certainly was, and be glad you missed it, Jerry! How many tiimes can the same car chase be shown? I can recall at least three times. More important, if you took all the long and short flashbacks out of the film, it would probably run only about 45 minutes. It was ....well, let's leave it with the base note title. Steve Kallis, Jr.
322.5	More than you think	MORRIS::MLOEWE	Mike_L	`Thu Apr 10 1986 15:37`	10
	RE: -1 If you count the advertisement right at the begining of the movie Steve, the same car chase scene was showed at least five times. That part with the statue of the tiger falling was really getting boring. They definately could of done without that music video portion. I still couldn't help laughing though when one of the robots with her arm torn off was using it as a club to beat the Annihilator with. Mike L
322.6		DONJON::BROGERS		`Fri Apr 11 1986 14:19`	7
	Gee....I kind of enjoyed it. But then I thought "The Terminator" was a masterful work of art. ;-) Becky