The Cyberpunk Week, Day 7: All That Remains

Alright, as the Cyberpunk Week is over today, it's time to wrap things up properly. These are the things I'd loved to review during the Week, but did not for one reason or another. The most prominent is the fact that most of these movies do not need reviews at all, they're that famous already, and everybody in the world would do them better justice than I will ever be able to. Or hell, maybe I'll do the Cyberpunk Week 2 at some point. What do you think?

Terminator 1-4 (+ the TV show)


:|
A mandatory watch for everybody. The first two are probably the greatest action-sci-fi flicks ever, next only to Blade Runner and Star Wars Ep. 4-6. The third is a retarded fan fiction, but still worth sitting through. Haven't seen Salvation and The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but I don't miss them.


Whoever spots Bill Paxton among the punks, will get a cookie. AND PUT IT DOWN!
RoboCop 1-3 (+ the TV show, animated series, miniseries)


Don't you just feel being disintegrated now?
If you haven't seen either of them, then what the hell you're doing here anyway... the first one is a timeless action classic, the second is so bad it's great, and the third is surprisingly okay. Haven't seen the cartoon, but the TV series were good. Prime Directives was also pretty nice, despite its reputation.


Did he look like a bitch?!
The Matrix 1-3 (+ Animatrix)


Boo.
The definitive cyberpunk franchise of the 2000-s. It revolutionized the cinema in general, introducing a lot of concepts and cinematic gimmicks. While the basic idea was not exactly new, the first movie gained phenomenal success when it first came out. It looks dated and funny by today's standards, and personally I was never a big fan of its sequels or the Animatrix, but hey, at least they all follow the 'machines are not exactly evil' ideology.


I know John Woo...
Tron


Uh, yeah, that's Bruce Boxleitner in a funny outfit.
Another legendary classic that helped shaping the CG technology way ahead of its time. In fact, it was so ahead that the Academy rejected to include it to the list of 1983's Oscar nominees for special effects. Fuck you, Academy!!! There was also the famous arcade game that made more money than the movie, then a quickly forgotten FPS from Monolith, and finally, a glamorous 2 hrs long Daft Punk music video with The Divine (sarcasm) Olivia Wilde and something obsolete that once was Jeff Bridges. RIP, Tron.


Did you ever want to see the cockpit of the ship from Space Invaders?
Nirvana


Don't look at me, I didn't design that!
One of the childhood favorites of mine. It's like a cult classic for all the old-school cyberpunks, rightfully so: it somehow manages to capture everything that cyberpunk is all about, just like Johnny Mnemonic - evil corporations, virtual reality, messing with the brains and other organs, self-aware programs, you name it. The effects are great, the setting is great, Christopher Lambert is great - go see it.


Shop smart. Shop S-Mart.
Johnny Mnemonic


I freaking LOVE that tagline.
This movie has an ass reputation nowadays, but it doesn't work for me, since this is the exact pinpointed moment in time when I was hooked on cyberpunk. It may be a laughable exploitation piece of trash in the eyes of contemporary viewers, but it completely blew my mind back then. The virtual reality scenes are stunning as ever, Keanu Reeves is one badass dude, as are Dolph Lundgren, Takeshi Kitano, Ice-T and Henry Rollins. Yeah yeah, I know that the original Gibson short story is better, but it doesn't have such a huge nostalgic value to me. Sorry.


Hey, I forgot that Dina Meyer was in this, too!
The Lawnmower Man


No, it's not Virtual Girl... yet.
Wah, another classic from my childhood! This time it goes more for a thriller/horror genre, with then-unknown Pierce Brosnan as the star and a completely fascinating performance by Jeff Fahey as the titular character. Along the lines of WarGames, this one follows the message of 'computers are not evil, it all depends on the user', which is credible. It also has somewhat bad rep due to that silly Stephen King gimmick and lawsuit, but I still love it.


Welcome to the Uncanny Valley 101, muhahaha!
Gamer


I refer you to my last :|.
One of the recent attempts at modernizing the supposedly dead genre, now from the makers of Crank duology, Neveldine and Taylor. The basic idea is kinda awkward and not that new, being indirectly ripped off Nirvana, but the cinematography and social satire are real good. Gerard Butler is even more brutal here as he was in 300, and the main bad guy is played by that 13-years old hipsters' wet dream from Dexter. Last but not the least, as in Crank, there's a healthy dose of T&A, pissing in the gas tanks and comedic over the top violence. Nice try, overall.


Oh hey, I didn't know DeathKnight666[l33t] was in this, too!
Akira


BTW, this is Kaneda.
Regarded as Katsuhiro Otomo's strongest work, this anime is frequently bashed for being a confusing retelling of the manga, despite being directed by The Man himself. I never read the source, but somehow was still able to get into the story. Maybe I'm a genius, dunno. This is not exactly a cyberpunk movie in terms of themes, but the visuals are undeniably influent, taking your basic Blade Runner cityscape and turning it to a riot zone with constant bloodshed, self-proclaimed prophets, and of course, the government's parapsychological project gone berserk. This is also notable for being the first anime to be running at 24 FPS, and there was even a separate studio formed just to make this one movie.


This is Kaneda, too.
GUNNM (a.k.a. Battle Angel Alita)


What asshole drew this? Couldn't they hire me?
Another example of the 'manga's better' fan whining. I will never bother reading all the over 9000 volumes (yeah, I know this joke isn't funny), but I actually liked the anime. It has cute protagonist, great soundtrack, bloody violence, a grimdark setting that's too much even by cyberpunk standards, and finally, two great romantic subplots. Don't listen to the fanboys, watch it and judge for yourself.


Alita. Ripping out the bad guys' guts before it was mainstream.
Judge Dredd


The ultimate in :| posters.
Another prime example of a so-bad-it's-good guilty pleasure, adapted from the famous European (sic!) comic book series. According to the brick-shitting fanboys, it's a real bad adaptation, but as the movie itself, it's entertaining as all hell. Despite having Rob Schneider and nobody being able to say the world 'law' properly (watch the Nostalgia Critic's review!), it still has great special effects and set designs, good ol' Sly Stallone is awesome as always, the action scenes are insanely fun, Alan Silvestri's score is beyond memorable, and also there's Diane Lane. ^-^


We'll see her again in my blog, I promise! With Michael Pare, no less!
Appleseed


I actually have a poster of this thing, but I can't even remember the guy's name.
Another adaptation of Masamune Shirow's manga, and honestly, a pretty mediocre one. There were actually two versions - one in the 80-s, and a remake somewhere in 2000-s. The old one had a nice story, I guess, but what kills it is the drawing style - it's way too primitive even for that time. It looks so generic that you'd think that Masamune Shirow didn't give a flying fridge (no Indiana Jones reference intended) about the end product. Well, the final action scene is okay. As for the remake, it's a total opposite - the cel shading is great, but overall it's another brainless action film with nothing much to offer. I know it has its fans, so give it a watch... not my highest recommendation, personally, though.


...Yay..!.. Is it the 4st Birthday or what?
Dominion: Tank Police


Holy molars.
This one is a milestone in anime comedy, again being based on Masamune Shirow's manga of the same name. It's not that much of 'cyber', but the 'punk' aspect is given full stride. The comedy is great, the action scenes are thrilling, the villain is not your average just-as-planner. And oh God, the Puma sisters are hotter than hell. See:


Why are you looking at the guy in the middle?..
Virtual Girl


I love the Virtual Boy. It's so bad.
A hilarious sexploitation crapfest from the 90s, one of the so-bad-it's-good attempts at cyberpunk. The plot is a total garbage, being sewn together from the ideas that were explored in much better films. The only parts worth a watch are obviously sex scenes, especially the ones that take place within the VR. The female characters are okay, but those backgrounds always make me laugh my ass off before I am even able to ever be turned on. So despite the hot titular character (heh, titular), don't expect to jerk off to it, because you'll be too busy dying of laughter.


I hope you don't expect any quality entertainment from it, do you? DO YOU?! Gotta love the 'ACTION' sign, though.
The Cyberpunk Videogames


That sums it all up!
Waaaay too many to even count. I actually wanted to cover some during The Week, but alas... My faves include the Marathon Trilogy, Deus Ex, the Crusader and System Shock duologies, Oni, BloodNet, Beneath The Steel Sky, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, Metal Gear Solid, Unreal Tournament '99 (I know I'm cheating here), Quake 2 (oooh, cheating here, too), Snathcer, Contra: Hard Corps, Shadowrun for the SNES, RoboCop 1-3 for the NES, Coded Arms... oh Jesus, I must really love cyberpunk.


When you see this ingame, you will shit bricks.

The Cyberpunk Week, Day 6: WarGames [1983] (sci-fi, thriller, adventure, comedy)

Studio: MGM,
Director: John Badham,
Screenplay: Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes, Walon Green,
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller, Adventure, Comedy,
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, Ally Sheedy, Barry Corbin

For the Cyberpunk Week, one important thing I would've liked to do is to bring some veriety to the reviews. We have covered an action-packed movie, a film noir, an anime film noir, an independent arthouse thriller, and finally, an action-packed anime. This time I'll try to bring you something different again.


Take your pick.

Unlike both Blade Runner (which has become a cult classic long after its release) and Nemesis (which sadly doesn't seem to be considered a cult classic at all), the 1983's John Badham classic was a big commercial blockbuster that not only didn't bomb at the box office, but also has 97% 'Fresh' at Rotten Tomatoes and 7.0 on IMDB, was nominated for three Oscars and got four stars from Roger Ebert, but what's most important to us, it did an incredible job of capturing and reflecting the 80-s pop culture and injecting one notable character to the modern urban mythology: The Hacker.


The most hideous one ever. ^_^.

This is David Lightman, played by then-unknown Matthew 'That's a lot of fish' Broderick. To tell you the truth, he's really good in this role, being a stereotypical geek who is so perfectly represented, that nowadays this movie feels even like a documentary at times. David is a socially awkward schoolboy who likes comic books, pizza, and kicking everybody's ass at videogames. He fails to establish any connection with his parents who are genuinely afraid of his obsession with computers. Turns out, David happens to have this weird 'modem' thingy that allows him to use phone lines to connect to some sort of a global network and, uhh... That's right, folks - this movie also happened to introduce the internet to the masses.


While you are bothered by your 'likes' on Facebook, this guy is hacking into the friggin' Pentagon.

One day, awkwardly trying to pick up on his pretty schoolmate, Jennifer, David manages to break into a secret network hosted by NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) and activate Joshua - an artificial intelligence operating the latest Pentagon invention, WOPR (War Operation Plan Response), which is a sort of a digital advisor for the measures to be undertaken in case of prospected World War III (remember, the movie was made and took place in 1983). Thinking that it's only a videogame, David triggers the wrong gears within Joshua's mind, unknowingly making him schedule the launch of real nuclear missiles as a means of response to the virtual Soviet attack.


Creepy. I guess, that's what the PlayStation Network's central server looks like...

Once this happens, movie starts following the classic formula - the kid is suspected to be a Russian spy, gets captured by the authorities, makes a daring escape to finally settle down the score - all using his wits and skills accumulated by sitting at his computer and gaining some smoking experience points in electronics. Halfway through the movie, Joshua's creator shows up, Dr Stephen Falken. He reveals the full backstory behind the creation of Joshua and plays a key role in one of the most thrilling non-violent finales ever put on film.


The NORAD interior.

A bit of trivia for you: I actually saw this movie rather recently, but before that, I've read David Bishof's novelization, and it was so fascinating that I've managed to chew the whole book in one single day! I was really gripped by all this 'good old days' atmosphere - Hell, I did have a ZX Spectrum - not to mention the expanded plot and dialogue. Compared to the book, the only thing I didn't quite like in the movie is Falken's portrayal. I don't mean the acting itself, as John Wood is fantastic in this role, but rather the writing. He had a lot of very interesting monologues in the novel, however in the movie it's more substituted by him just grinning in fascination with his own work.


Now that's some HDTV for ya.

From the technical standpoint, WarGames still holds up today, in my opinion. The sinister black coffin-shaped WOPR mainframe, the old arcades, David's computer, this old atmosphere of dial-up connections and jerking the floppy drive to improve reading of the diskettes, while looking at the text console; the NORAD interiors were decorated so thoroughly that there was no necessity for post-production at all, and the movie has even received a special Academy Award for that. The action scenes are okay, too, though it's not an action movie in the usual sense - it'd rather be ranked along with the likes of Back To The Future, The Fugitive or maybe even some of the Hitchcock's mistaken identity thrillers. And do I have to mention that Ally Sheedy is hot as shit in her role of David's love interest?


Dat hair! *_*

There was a direct-to-video sequel which I'm hesitant to see, and an okay videogame for the PC and PlayStation. It didn't follow the movie at all though, implying that WOPR's plan was successful, and mankind has united in a war against Joshua's robotic minions. Despite the facepalm-inducing plot, it's a pretty decent RTS-shooter, though.


Ugh... okay.

I won't lie: WarGames may seem real outdated and hilarious to some people nowadays, but if you are not one of them, then this movie is real fun and interesting to watch - like I said, it has a documental quality, serving as great tribute to the iron age of internet and a very important film in the history of IT, because it spoke to the mainstream audience, bringing the computers and hackers into pop culture and coining several well-known terms, such as 'firewall' and 'wardialing'. Even the word 'DefCon' (Defense Condition, a governmental version of the infamous Doomsday Clock prominently featured in the plot) became a meme of sorts, as one of the first hacker conventions was named after it. All in all, I highly recommend WarGames - if not for the cinematography, then at least for its historical value. You gotta respect the genre's Grandfather, cyberpunks!

The Cyberpunk Week, Day 5: Cyber City Oedo 808 [1990-1991] (anime, action, thriller, obviously cyberpunk)

Studio: Madhouse,
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri,
Screenplay: Akinori Endo, Jyuzo Mutsuki (story),
Genre: Anime, Action, Thriller, Obviously Cyberpunk,
Starring: Hiroya Ishimaru, Tesshō Genda, Kaneto Shiozawa, Norio Wakamoto, Kyousei Tukui

When it comes to anime, I usually prefer the classic period of late 80-s until the beginning of 2000-s. There were so many awesome movies and TV shows to even count, and naturally, my most favorite anime of all time was also released during that timespan. You might think that I'm talking about GiTS, judging from that big epic post I've rolled out on Day 3. But nope, as much as I adore GiTS, Akira, Jin Roh - you know, the dark, mature stuff - there's one little OVA that has a very special place in my heart. Behold:



I'm pretty sure you've never heard of it before, but I swear it's one of the best animated sci-fi films out there. Well, it may lack the technical sophistication of GiTS, darkness of Akira or social commentary of Serial Experiments Lain (by the way, I'm not a fan of the latter), but as a work of visual media, it delivers one hell of a pleasure. I first saw it late at night on our local television, while I was eight-something years old. Never before and after was I so speechless about any movie - after all, before that I've been raised on Disney, and now, all of a sudden there comes this violent, badass Japanese cartoon, darker than anything I could even imagine at the time. After that night I was never the same again, getting hooked up on anime for life. So one thing can be said for sure - unlike Blade Runner and GiTS, Cyber City Oedo has a serious nostalgic quality to me.


But let's put nostalgia aside for a bit and talk about the movie. It's the year 2808, the city of Oedo - basically, rebranded Tokyo with the Homen feudal system in effect. The police force is now hiring its top operatives from among the dangerous convicts, the ones who were supposed to be crushed by the system, and instead got employed by it. Their payment is measured in reduction of their suspension periods. And of couse, this is where our main characters show up:


Sengoku (center), a near-psychotic fellow sworn to kill enough criminals to get finally released. During his off-duty time, he pursues a relationship with one of the Police's secretaries (which appears to be mutual, weird as it is) and drinks his ass off. However, there's an annoying robot named Varsus that is responsible for storing Sengoku's weapons and preventing his partner from getting too wasted. At first, the latter may seem a dumb and obnoxious unsophisticated nature, but by the end of the first episode you can see that Sengoku does have a code of honor... of sorts.


Gogul (left), a classic 90-s hacker with mohawk and stuff, who's also skilled with firearms. No defense mechanism can stand against him, and at one point of backstory, he was even able to hold hostage the government's satellite codes - now that's some balls. He also likes reading Dostoyevskiy, as he can be seen with 'Crime and Punishment' (well, more accurately, "НАКЗАНИЕ ДОСТЕВСБАГО") at the beginning of the first episode.


And finally, Benten (right), a bishounen who relies mostly on Ninjitsu and acrobatics. Despite having the most tender side of all the trio, contrary to the likes of Tuxedo Mask or say, the cast of Weiss Kreuz, he's still as much badass as his teammates. Also, according to the third episode, Benten is no stranger to Oedo's hookers, which clearly identifies him as a guy fore some doubting viewers. Finally, he has one of the coolest weapons ever invented - a molecule-thin thread that can cut through pretty much anything. His hobby is astrology, and that's where his 'The stars are not aligned tonight. That's a bad omen' catchphrase comes from.


Each of them has an imprisonment term occupying 300-something years, so when the police chief Hashegawa offers our heroes a chance to redeem their past shenanigans, all three eagerly accept. The twist in this case is their explosive collars that can be triggered anytime by the superior, forcing our heroes to be good boys all the way.


Despite some occurrences of crossover, each episode of the OVA is dedicated exclusively to one of the main characters. In Sengoku's segment, an unknown hacker captures and holds hostage 50,000 civilians in Oedo's tallest building. The police suspects that it's somehow connectted to death of the skyscraper's original architect, so our heroes are sent to investigate.

Gogul's deal is a distress call from his ex-lover, who asks him for help, only for a horrifying military project to be uncovered. The hacker has to stand against a cybermechanical abomination named Molcos and bring it down for good.

As for Benten, he gets assigned to a series of strange murders caused by a creature that can be best described as... vampire. All the victims were found with tooth marks on their necks, as well as their blood partially drained. Vampires and cyberpunk - isn't this the best combination ever? Unlike the first two dark, gritty and bloody episodes, this one is more romantic in approach, leading to a great bittersweet ending.


Cyber City Oero is one of the earlier works of Yoshiaki Kawajiri, probably my most favorite anime director. He later went on to make such classics as Demon City Shinjuku, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Highlander: Vengeance. All his trademark elements are present here: fast, hard-hitting slam-bang-in-your-face action, curvy females, dark backgrounds, detailed character designs and loads of attention to atmosphere. There's blood all over the place, you can clearly see all the inventive futuristic ways of people and things hurting each other, though it does go a little over the top at some points - most notably, during Gogul's segment. Also, the animation is top notch, the plot is gripping, and the protagonists are likable, no matter how ass they can get at times.


One thing that needs to be addressed is the English localisation. While the voices are okay, the dubbing itself is done adequately, with all the slang, swearing and such. But the main difference between the English and Japanese versions is the music. In the original, we get a decent electronic soundtrack by Kazz Toyama, though the main selling points for it are the opening and closing songs, 'Burning World' and 'I May Be In Love With You'. However in the English version, the score was completely rewritten by Rory McFarlane in a more heavy metal oriented style. The credit songs are instrumental now, though, but still as catchy as their original counterparts. So take your pick, as both versions are equally strong and worth a watch.


Despite its obscurity, Cyber City Oedo 808 seems to be well popular and respected in the cyberpunk circles. It's real funny how IMDB has no less than two questions in their FAQ, asking if this anime is as good as its reputation goes. Thankfully, the folks who answered these questions, assured everybody that yes, it is a good movie that deserves much wider acclaim than just being a cult classic. There was also a videogame released, for the PC Engine CD, no less, however only in Japan. That's sad, as the anime was popular enough in the US, so I can't see a problem with releasing the game for TurboGrafx-16. From what I can gather looking at the screenshots, it's sort of a mix between Snatcher's visual novel style, and overhead adventure not unlike Shadowrun for Sega Genesis.


While Cyber City Oedo doesn't really raise any mind-boggling dilemmas of human existence, it really does excel in atmosphere and presentation. All the traditional cyberpunk ingredients are prominent here - high tech, low life, the police serving as your mega-corporation, the contrast of slums littered with junk and the glamorous skyscraper that reaches into space. You know, they say that cyberpunk is a likeable kind of future where nobody wants to live - that's this anime. Before I start repeating myself, I'd like to point out that Cyber City was one of the things that shaped my tastes and artistic preferences for life, as I rank it no lower than Star Wars or Tim Burton's Batman duology in this regard. All these beautiful movies have arrived just in right time at the right place, making yours truly the one who am I today. I can't be not biased when judging such things, but if you, too, saw Cyber City Oedo 808 when you were a child, you will understand me. These are the three 40-minute episodes larger than life!