Comprising nothing but small sounds recorded from the James Cameron masterpiece ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’, ‘Skynet Symphonic’ is my tribute to one of the greatest action features of all time!
Each section is composed entirely of sounds from a major scene in the film. For example, the Terminator pounding on the fire escape door is used as a kick drum. Bones breaking play the role of a snare. Electrical disturbance acts as a crash cymbal.
Turn up your cones and enjoy!
Want more pics? CLICK HERE.
Mike Brotherton – Every top ten list is biased, and so is this one. My particular biases are that the movies have to strive for, and achieve most of the time, scientific accuracy. At least nothing too grossly wrong, and some instances of, “yeah, that’s not intuitive but that’s how it would work!” I’ll limit my list to the physical sciences and space-oriented movies. There are many fine movies that won’t make the list simply because they skimp on the science in one way or another, or I’ve never seen them. Apollo 13 was very scientifically accurate, but that’s a historical movie, not science fiction.Here’s the list in chronological order, with a few words of explanation.
Destination Moon (1950). This movie was made with the involvement of the space community of the day and Robert Heinlein who wrote the story it was based on. Special effort was made for scientific accuracy and they got a lot of things right. Probably the biggest mistake was proposing that only private industry, not the government, would make it to the moon.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). A classic, and probably the film closest to error free in terms of the science. There wasn’t any sound in space, and gravity was supplied by rotation in a realistic fashion. Lots of good details that were right. Credit Arthur C. Clarke and Kubrik for listening and caring.
Alien (1979). Let’s give this one credit for also knowing that “In space no one can hear you scream.” This film isn’t heavy on the science, but we have slower than light vehicles that take many years to travel between the stars requiring humans to use hibernation. A planet with an unbreathable atmosphere requires air masks, as used, and not full space suits.
2010 (1984). Not as visually stunning or powerful (or slow) as 2001, but good science throughout, particularly with respect to working in freefall and vacuum environments.
Aliens (1986). This movie gets a lot of the same things right that the original did, along with having a smart plot and appropriate use of technology. One of my favorite films to boot.
Predator (1987). There were two great things in this movie. No, not future governors! Two nice science things. The first is the idea of an alien that sees in a different part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and having that actually play a role in the plot. The second was the camo suit, which is a technology we’re likely to develop this century at close to that level of effectiveness.
The Abyss (1989). This fine movie takes place underwater rather than in outer space, but it’s an alien contact story. A lot of the details of this exotic environment are treated correctly and play roles in the plot. I first watched this in Greg Bear’s basement at a party and it was fascinating to hear him give his commentary on some scenes. Another great Cameron film (but be sure to see the director’s cut).
Contact (1997). Probably the second-best movie on the list in terms of scientific accuracy. There are a few minor errors in it, but it gets so many things right including some concepts tough to convey to an audience. Credit Carl Sagan for helping here.
Deep Impact (1998). OK, this movie I didn’t love. I mean, we’re supposed to find sympathetic an annoying reporter vying for the first question at a presidential press conference? Some minor scientific errors here, but they tried and succeeded in getting a lot of things right, too.
Red Planet (2000). I was kind of surprised to see this movie on my list. While this isn’t a bad movie, it just goes to show how few movies out there are really based in science and make it part of the story. In any event, they did a good job with gravity on the space craft, fire in freefall, Martian gravity, and more. Taking along a robot with a “military mode” is just kind of dumb, but not bad science.
The much longer list of science fiction movies with bad science includes almost every space-based movie I haven’t mentioned, and most others. Armageddon currently holds a special place in my heart for its mind-numbing scientific ignorance and I use it for instruction in my Launch Pad Workshop. I’d like to recommend Phil Plait’s great website Bad Astronomy for reviews of science in some of these movies and many others.
SF Universe – Fox is working hard to make sure that everyone gets to see their new series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (my kingdom for a shorter title!). First they premiered the pilot online for 24 hours, next there will be a fabulous premiere and party at the ArcLight Cinerama Dome in Hollywood on Jan. 9 and then the show will have a two night premiere on Fox.
Now the series is reaching out far and wide to connect with even more fans!
In an unprecedented move, Fox and Warner Bros have joined with the American Forces Network to bring Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles to the troops! Normally, our American fighting forces have to wait months to see the latest in US TV, but not this time. The pilot episode of the series will air on AFNprime, Monday, January 14, just hours after the US network premiere of the series. To make this event a real party, AFN will also air all three Terminator movies on either side of the show’s premiere. (The TV series takes place between movies 2 and 3.)
Stateside, Fox and Verizon invite you to Get Terminated! The Chronicles bus will be touring the US from January 9 to January 30 making stops in dozens of cities including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, Dallas, Washington D.C., Phoenix, St. Louis, San Diego and Charlotte. Terminator street teams will distribute branded premium items and invite fans aboard the bus to Get Terminated by filming an action scene opposite a Terminator in front of a green screen. The completed video clip will be sent to the fans email and/or Verizon Wireless phone, where it will then be available to share with friends and family, and to post on social-networking sites like MySpace.
Verizon V CAST subscribers will also have access to specially-produced Chronicles videos, wallpapers and ringtones which can be unlocked using a code word delivered each week on the TV series.
io9 – io9 talks to the producer James Middleton and star of the show Terminator: Sarah Connor chronicles, Lena Headey
io9 spoke with star Lena Headey and producer James Middleton of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles today to try and torture secrets out of them, Skynet-style. Luckily, we also sent robot duplicates of ourselves back in time to infiltrate the set while they were filming, and to take out the future leader of the human resistance. Check out what we learned after the jump, and tune in when this show gets started on Sunday night.
- The show ignores everything laid down by Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, especially since Sarah Connor is dead in that movie. Ouch. Although she wasn’t originally supposed to be. According to James Middleton, “Early drafts of T3 had Sarah in it, and while that was eventually unable to happen, I think that was a good thing for us because it has allowed Lena Headey to come in and do such a good job as Sarah in this show.”
- So during what time period is this new series set? Is it pre-internet? Middleton: “No, it’s not pre-internet. Through the pilot, we deposit our heroes in the present day.”
- If you’re wondering how the T4 film will affect this new television series, Middleton said “I think they will naturally cross promote each other. In terms of the timelines, we’ve created an entirely new one for the show. We’ll be following Sarah’s journey through this new timeline, and we’ll be staying with her on that journey. Sarah is always concerned about her mortality, if she dies, will her work be done? In terms of our show, the pilot establishes that we move away from T3 entirely. The plot is informed much more by Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
- He’s also working on a new animated Terminator project, which will be a series of short animated pieces done by different animation directors, just like The Animatrix. “I’m working on a production called Termination that would use animation directors from all over. It will be like The Animatrix, but will be much more worldwide in flair. We’ll have European animators along with Japanese anime auteurs.
- Since production was shut down after only 9 episodes were completed, is there any hope for more episodes this season? Middleton: “I don’t know, I have a feeling that the nine shows we have will be our first season. It takes a show about nine weeks to get back up and running. Our show is very involved in terms of CGI, costumes, and sets so that preparation time is crucial. It would really be up to Fox.
- Does that mean episode nine serves as a season finale? “Actually, yes. It turns out that episode has a very big cliffhanger ending.”
- Given the shortened season, where does that leave Sarah emotionally at the end of these episodes? Headey: “I think it’s such a kind of ongoing evolution. Her relationship with John is reaching new depths. There’s a lot of things going on with Sarah, she’s learning to be a mother, she’s learning what it is to live like this. It’s a complete realization of what’s going on.”
- Are you sick or being compared or contrasted to Linda Hamilton at this point? “Yes, I’m a little tired of that comparison. Linda Hamilton will always be the original Sarah Connor, but I’m hoping to bring fresh eyes to it. It’s a new era and I’m approaching it in a new way.
- Did you get banged and bruised up during the filming? Do you have any stunt injuries? “Just a lot of hand injuries, because it seems like every “breakable surface” never breaks. So you have experts telling you to ‘Just hit it’ and it doesn’t break!”
- Given that the show is called Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, it’s obvious that there is going to be a lot of interaction between Sarah and Cameron. Can you talk about that at all? “It’s very complicated because Sarah has a well-earned fear of machines, yet she must keep this machine close to her in order to protect her own son. But, as the series goes on, it’s impossible for Sarah and John to not become attached to Cameron as a being. We’re watching Sarah deal with what is her biggest nightmare and have her embrace it each day.”
- You had to re-shoot some of the scenes in the pilot because of the shootings at Virginia Tech. Would the network still make you re-shoot it today?? Were you upset about it? Middleton: “No, we actually found very clear headed people at the network, and we were all horrified by the Virginia Tech shootings. One must remember that the premise of our show is that Terminators and others are coming from the future to kill a child, and that might happen in public places. One thing we do in the show is that we really value human life. Sarah is really conscious of this as the show goes on and in thinking about who must die in the fight against Skynet.
- If you had the power to go back in time and change anything, what would you change now to make a better future? Lena: “I can’t choose an answer to this one! I guess mine would involve world politics, but I won’t go into that right now. Or…give me a time machine so I can erase wrinkles but not my wisdom.”James: “I think I’d go back and change a certain election in 2000.”Lena: “Uh, I think that’s what I was trying to say, James.”
This is interactive sci-fi movie where author, Tania, is writing and directing it by listening comments from users on Youtube who watch the scenes she posts. Very interactive and interesting. If you wanna be a part of this go visit her Youtube profile or website
SF Universe – Though it sounds like some wacked out Discovery Channel version of Celebrity Deathmatch, it’s actually a SCI FI Channel original movie that hits DVD this week.
Mammoth (bet they stayed up all night thinking of that title) stars Firefly’s Summer Glau as “Jack” (yes really) the fiesty daughter of the only man alive who can save the world from this reanimated beast.
You know how it goes, meteor smashes into a Pleistocene museum, giving life to a frozen, 40,000-year-old mammoth who is pissed as hell and not going to take it anymore. Said mammoth goes on rampage and who will stop it?
Special Agents Powers (Leila Arcieri) and Whitaker (Marcus Lyle Brown) are given 17 hours to kill the mammoth (17? You couldn’t make that a full 24?) or else the entire town will be decimated.
The agents recruit local paleontologist Dr. Frank Abernathy (Vincent Ventresca) to help them hunt down the creature with the aid of his daughter and his (get this) “B-movie-fanatic father”, Simon (Tom Skerritt).
There’s a whole lot of stomping going on as the digital beast wrecks havoc and that’s not to mention what he does to the town!
Let the rampage begin!
“You can’t release this movie! I have a career now! I’m starring in the new Terminator TV Show! I’ll get you for this SCI Fi!!!”
SF Signal – You probably know by now that James Cameron is hard at work on his new movie, Avatar. We have the supposed teaser poster to the right, and our Bevy of Blue and Green Babes post even has a picture of the Avatar alien. But did you know that Cameron is filming Avatar in 3D? Yes, 3D.Not the crappy red/blue 3D of yesteryear, and not even the new fangled polarized 3D you see every now and then. No, Cameron created a brand new 3D camera, that works like a pair of human eyes, and shot the entire thing using this new camera. You’ll still have to wear polarizing glasses though. You may wonder how/why this is different. I know I did. Then, thanks to the magic of the Internet, I found this explanation on 5Min.com.
From a technical standpoint, this is really cool, watching the camera in action is interesting. Of course, we can’t really see how the film looks because the Internet isn’t in 3D. Yet. Now I’m even more curious about this movie, aside from the SF-nal aspects and is Sigourney Weaver the hardest working actress in the SF genre? Although, since I wear glasses, I hate wearing yet another pair over them to get the 3D effect. Summer 2009 seems quite a ways off though. Must be all the post-production work.
Has anyone seen Cameron’s Titanic documentaries that are in 3D? I’m assuming they use the same 3D camera as Avatar. Maybe the new Imax theater down the street will show them when it opens.
scifirama 