I enjoy fantasy, science fiction and period pieces when they offer to transport me to somewhere I'll never be able to visit in person, not even if I blow the money to go on a vacation to the far corners of the Earth. Most of the time when I get a video game, it's because it features some location that I would like to explore.
I'm not quite so enamored with modern-day sci-fi, particularly when they don't even bother pushing it into a bit of "near future." I know it's to save on the budget, but I like to have at least a step or two out of the mundane - even if the best they can do is recycle some back-lot leftover Western set. I figure Cowboys vs. Aliens is a step up from that, so I'm fine with it. ;) I mean, even "Max Headroom" managed to create an interesting environment on a low budget. Is it really that hard?
I've been watching Falling Skies, and I wouldn't necessarily automatically be disappointed just because it's in the mundane modern day (except, of course, aliens have invaded), but for whatever reason the writers seem compelled to have the main characters repeatedly fail to take their situation seriously. I'd have to go through point-by-point to try to make my case, I suppose, but, seriously, would real people behave this CASUALLY about their predicament? The alien invaders are not just bugs with guns; THEY HAVE SPACESHIPS. There's far too much camping in the open, strolling around casually in the streets back in "base camp," for me to buy it as a world transformed by alien invasion.
Anyway, I do wish I could see sci-fi use a little more of the technology we've got for CGI sets. I've had a lot of fun watching people do stuff with "machinema" ("films" made with video games); I can tolerate a bit of less-than-cutting-edge CGI if it means that we can have a little bit less of people just running around concrete-walled basement corridors and pretending that it's a space station (seriously - from modern Dr. Who, not the old stuff).
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-07-06 08:06 pm (UTC)I'm not quite so enamored with modern-day sci-fi, particularly when they don't even bother pushing it into a bit of "near future." I know it's to save on the budget, but I like to have at least a step or two out of the mundane - even if the best they can do is recycle some back-lot leftover Western set. I figure Cowboys vs. Aliens is a step up from that, so I'm fine with it. ;) I mean, even "Max Headroom" managed to create an interesting environment on a low budget. Is it really that hard?
I've been watching Falling Skies, and I wouldn't necessarily automatically be disappointed just because it's in the mundane modern day (except, of course, aliens have invaded), but for whatever reason the writers seem compelled to have the main characters repeatedly fail to take their situation seriously. I'd have to go through point-by-point to try to make my case, I suppose, but, seriously, would real people behave this CASUALLY about their predicament? The alien invaders are not just bugs with guns; THEY HAVE SPACESHIPS. There's far too much camping in the open, strolling around casually in the streets back in "base camp," for me to buy it as a world transformed by alien invasion.
Anyway, I do wish I could see sci-fi use a little more of the technology we've got for CGI sets. I've had a lot of fun watching people do stuff with "machinema" ("films" made with video games); I can tolerate a bit of less-than-cutting-edge CGI if it means that we can have a little bit less of people just running around concrete-walled basement corridors and pretending that it's a space station (seriously - from modern Dr. Who, not the old stuff).