Sci-Fi Storm

The Matrix Trilogy has been available on Blu-ray for a while, but only as part of the [sfs=1051]Ultimate Matrix Collection[/sfs] Blu-ray release, the DVD version of which I reviewed way back in 2004. Now Warner Bros. is releasing the individual movies, first with [sfs=1049]The Matrix[/sfs] and now with [sfs=1050]The Matrix Reloaded[/sfs] this Tuesday, September 7th.
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Another Blu-ray release from Warner Bros. this September 7th is [sfs=1047]Lost In Space[/sfs] – no, not the TV show, but the 1998 theatrical reboot of the franchise, starring William Hurt, Mimi Rogers, Matt LeBlanc and Gary Oldman. An unsuccessful attempt to modernize the franchise into a series of movies, it was a visually spectacular feature, but tried to do too many things at once.
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It’s bizarre, it’s corny, it’s by Tim Burton – and it’s not [asin=B001HN6940]Alice In Wonderland[/asin]. In 1996 Tim Burton created Marks Attacks, a combination live-action/CGI movie based on a series of trading cards that Burton used to collect. It was done in a campy 50s sci-fi B-movie flick, but with a heavy-hitting cast list which included Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Piece Brosnan, Annette Benning, Michael J. Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker, and on and on. 14 years later, it gets [sfs=1047]its first Blu-ray treatment[/sfs] on September 7th, 2010.
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The winner of the 2010 Star Wars Fan Film Movie Challenge’s “George Lucas Selects” award has been announced by Lucas himself – this year, it is “The Unconscious Sith”. In addition all the other winners have been announced, all of them quite good. The Audience Choice award went to “Renaissance (Redux)”. Follow the link to see all the winners.

Some Bothan spies attending Celebration V down in Orlando (along with the “Last Tour To Endor” event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios to celebrate the upcoming Star Tours refurbishment) have transmitted a tidbit – that a Blu-ray release of all 6 movies will hit the streets sometime in the Fall of 2011. Here’s the kicker – at least for the foreseeable future, it will only be a single box set of all 6 movies, and it will be only the remastered version. But there will be new goodies – including some deleted scenes that haven’t been released before. They previewed one scene, from the beginning of Return of the Jedi, where Luke is seen completing his new lightsaber (and someone captured it and put it on YouTube, below). I wonder if it will include the infamous scenes where Luke meets with his friends on Tatooine…

(Video redacted due to copyright claim)

Update 8/16: Interesting…word is also getting out that at Comic-Con in 2009 Mark Hamill was asked about the rumored missing scene, and said he never filmed such a seen – although he did point out that there were some scenes done post-production without him actually being their, like the reconstructed hand closeup. But this begs the question – was this actually filmed, or is this another “update” that didn’t make the actual update?

Update 8/22: Or did he? Someone who was in attendance at the convention commented on Blastr that Mark Hamill was asked about the scene again, and he said he had recently seen it and now remembers it being shot.

Season 1.5 of Stargate Universe was released a couple of weeks ago on [sfs=1031]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1032]DVD[/sfs], and I’ve had a chance to catch up and review the DVD version.

SG-U is a different beast from the previous efforts. It tries to expand the plot that was the genesis of Stargate Atlantis – a team finds itself extremely distant from home at the other end of a one-way stargate trip, mostly in isolation. Whereas Atlantis was still able to receive supplies from Earth (and eventually solved the general problem between starships and the stargate bridge), the team this time is totally isolated except for the ability to use the consciousness transfer stones – which themselves bring up several plot points which are addressed in the series instead of simply ignored. This time as well, the “team” is a combination of military and civilian characters thrown together by circumstance rather than by mission, forced into that circumstance to escape an attack but also through the non-altruistic intents of Dr. Geoffrey Rush (Robert Carlisle), who would rather prove his theories and general greater intelligence than solve problems. And instead of a floating city, they are stranded on an empty Ancient ship (of ancient Ancient design 🙂 ) called the Destiny, where they have very little control over the ship, and few resources.
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Wondering where all that food came from that got air-dropped on the island in Lost? Here is a short clip from the epilogue included in the upcoming [sfs=1018]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1017]DVD[/sfs] release of the final season:

The following guest article was sent in by Mark Edlitz, director/producer of [asin=B003NVN0UK]Jedi Junkies[/asin]:

My friends and I made a movie about extreme Star Wars fans called JEDI JUNKIES. The film is 75 minutes long and took 4 years to make. Doing a little simple math (and using an online calculator) that means that it took an average of 19.4 days for each minute of screen time. Given that glacially slow work pace people ask me, “Why did you make JEDI JUNKIES?” That’s an easy answer: It was a labor of love.
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A little old, a little new: for those waiting for old standards, the original [sfs=1042]Bionic Woman: Season One[/sfs] will be released on DVD on October 19th. For the new visitors, the first season of V is available on both [sfs=1043]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1044]DVD[/sfs] on November 2nd. And don’t forget to check our Sci-Fi TV Store for the original V or the new Bionic Woman, both available now!

For what is apparently the last Star Wars spoof that Family Guy will apparently tackle, the Return Of The Jedi spoof Family Guy: It’s A Trap! will be available on [asin=B003X4KHQM]Blu-ray[/asin] and [asin=B003X4KHRG]DVD[/asin] on December 21st, just in time for some last minute shopping – although I hope you’ll order now through those links! Fans at Comic-Con got a short preview of it, but we can expect Carrie Fisher (or at least her voice) to make a cameo, along with Michael Dorn and Patrick Stewart in their Star Trek personae, and even Rush Limbaugh as the Rancor!