SPACE OPERA: IT AIN'T OVER TILL THE OBESE SPACE ALIEN INTONES

So, my last post was about a movie called Jupiter Ascending, not a terribly great movie but an example of a sci fi sub genre called space opera.

One of the best movies I've seen this year was Guardians of the Galaxy, also an example of space opera.

So .. you see this is where this is going .. time for my list of favorite space opera movies.

So, to start let's define my space opera. Or my definition of space opera because, let's face it, it's all about me. Unlike outer outer space movies which I also posted about, Space Operas can take place on planets, the more planets the better but they should also have a strong space component, ideally traveling through space in some sort of ship. They need aliens, the more the better and the aliens could be good bad or both. Space Operas are adventure stories with a strong action component. A typical space opera plot device is the innocent planet bound hero(ine) who becomes exposed to, and involved in, some greater galactic story. Space Operas do not all have to employ this device but there should be good guys and bad guys and some sort of resolution

Space operas saw their screen debuts in the form or the old movie serials like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, were our square jawed clean cut American hero finds himself thrust into the broader galaxy to fight monsters and squirmingly ethnic alien bad guys. 

This post will focus on movies, not TV, except in those cases where the two are interwoven, such as a movie spun off a TV series.

I will not be discussing novels except perhaps to identify the source of a movie. I was, and still am, a big fan of literary space opera; fave authors of the past would include Edmund Hamilton, Robert Heinlein, Leigh Brackett and C.J. Cherryh. Contemporary authors would include the Iain M Banks, Peter Hamilton and Dan Simmons. But that is a post for another day, let's get to the movies

As always this is in no way intended to be a definitive list. I can only comment on movies I've seen and naturally it's just my personal preferences. These are my faves, not necessarily the best. If you hang in till the end and no of some movies you'd include on the list, please leave a comment and let me know.

This list is not necessarily in any kind of order.

STAR WARS:

Maybe the most significant space opera of a generation. For the sake of this post I will be including all three movies, Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (and yes, there are only three, any thinking to the contrary would indicate your need to seek immediate psychiatric aid) so as to avoid redundancy.

These movies contain all the classic space opera elements: Luke Skywalker is a farm boy mired in his dull planetbound life who soon finds himself in the middle of a gigantic intergalatic turmoil. There are aliens, robots, space ships, many planets, heroes, villains, action .. and that most important, I think, of all space opera elements: sense of wonder. This is a phrase coined, I think, by the great Golden Age space opera author Jack Williamson. As we follow Luke on his journey across the galaxy to save the galaxy we experience that sense of wonder, a bit of wide eyed open jawed "holy spaceballs will you look at that"

STAR TREK:

I'm using here an image from the current J.J. Abrams Trek movies but I will be referring to all the films. Some are certainly better than others, my faves are both Abrams movies, Wrath of Kahn and The Voyage Home but I want to consider the entire franchise

Trek represents an important sub genre of space opera: military space opera. We still have our aliens, our ships, multiple planets but sense of wonder is often replaced with sense of paranoia and planetary alturism. Trek, of course, created one of the greatest aliens of all time: Spock and his inner conflict over his duelling human/alien identities, his conflict of logic vs emotion, is one of the greatest fictional creations in contemporary TV/film. Often copied, rarely duplicated

The best Trek movies, whether they be old or new, besides being action oriented, also include a true sense of humour. Much space opera is quite ernest and quite dour but as in most entertainments, humour elevates the art form

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY:

Speaking of humour ... this is a rather classic space opera that distinguishes itself from many others by levels of humour that range from slapstick to satire to parody to innuendo. But everything else is here. Earth boy Peter finds himself thrust into the greater galaxy; there are ships, lots of aliens, many planets, heroes, villains etc etc. In Rocket and Groot, two of my fave onscreen aliens and its planetary set pieces are some of the best I've seen. There is some nods to very classic space opera like Flash Gorden and Buck Rogers but as Rocket said "There ain't no thing like me except me"

BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS:

Speaking of humour ... this is a space opera that is actually a homage to a western, Magnificent Seven, that itself was a remake of a Japanese samurai movie, Seven Samurai. Battle is a bit of a parody, with lots of tongue in cheek humour that is smart enough to never take itself seriously. But as a B movie, it works quiet well. A sentient starship, a communal alien and lots of action and planets. And John Boy. What more could you ask for

THE LAST STARFIGHTER:

Another space opera with many classic components. Lonely Earth boy, dreaming of something more finds it in the guise of a galactic war, one that can only be won with his help. The twist in this movie is that the hero is identified as the Savior of the Galaxy by his propensity for video games. Fairly cutting edge at the time and sort of prophetic if you've seen footage of military pilots operating drones

SERENITY:

Like Star Trek, this is a movie with origins in television, specifically the short lived series Firefly. It will add something if you've watched the series but it is not strictly necessary. This one does not follow the "innocent thrust into the galaxy" format. It involves a civilization of many worlds, Star Trek like conflicts, a band of scruffy space pirates and a young woman (the always worthwhile Summer Glau) with a big secret. Lots of action, dollops of mystery and some entirely unique dialouge that suggests a rich and deep culture by the incomporable Joss Whedon

STARSHIP TROOPERS:

The film adaption of one of the most famous space opera novels by Robert Heinlein. This is military sci fi with, under the direction of Paul Verhooven, a large dollop of social commentary. On the surface, hardcore stuff here: Evil bug like aliens, ardent undermanned human space marines, xenophobia, paranoia and a few other noias that don't come quickly to mind. Amidst all this Verhooven takes some broad shots at class structure and the economics of war

THE FIFTH ELEMENT:

This is a sort of hybrid movie with strong space opera elements (elements, see what I did there?) We have threads of tomb raiding, cyberpunk, dystopia ... but lots of aliens, starships, action and for once, some actual opera in a space opera. Lots of  humour here, some satire and just the wonkiness one would expect in the best Luc Besson movies.

GALAXY QUEST:

This is, of course, a flat out comedy and a tribute to Star Trek but it still works as a space opera in its own right.  Military starship, aliens good and bad, planets, action ... this movie works because it is more tribute than spoof. At the heart of it the film makers actual enjoy the art form which it parodies and the actors understand that; they are not afraid to drop their parody veneers and let their characters have a moment. And yeh, it's pretty damn funny

ALIENS:

Whereas Ridley Scott's original Alien was a haunted house horror movie transported to a spaceship, James Cameron's sequel certainly bridges more into space opera territory. Whereas most of the action does take place on one planet we have the baddest of all bad aliens, a strong military component, the suggestion of events affecting a larger universe of some totally kick ass action. So, like Fifth Element, a bit of a hybrid but it wears it's space opera roots proudly, I think

CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK:

Thus far, only one of the Riddick movies that qualifies as space opera. It is such a space opera, I think, that it may not have a very broad appeal. It celebrates it's grandly realized galactic civilization, its many alien cultures and its involved back stories. Although Riddick is certainly no wide eyed innocent (part of this character's appeal is his badassery) he certainly discovers that he has a grander scheme in the galaxy than previously thought. The art design here, at times, verges into the rococco which I found also in Jupiter Ascending. I love "futures" that hint at the past, some classic space operas have the hero handling a sword as well as a ray blaster and we find that sensibility in this movie as well

JUPITER ASCENDING:

As I noted in an earlier post, this is not a great movie. There are some real problems here and overall I would not reccomend it. But it hits all the space opera points so well I have to include it on this list. Human (or is she) Jupiter Jones leads a mundane miserable life until she finds herself taking a pivotal role in a grand galactic schemes. Aliens, space ships, ray guns, planets that include (ridiculously) Jupiter, villains that are too villainous for us not to laugh at, it's all here. Hey, as a kid I devoured space opera novels that were far from art, so flawed as it is, this movie hoves true to the art form


That's my list at this point. The success of Guardians and the attempt of Jupiter Ascending shows that space opera is alive and well. And of course, more Trek and Star Wars movies to come. So keep your hand on your space blaster, always have your mix tape at hand and look to the stars

And again, if you have a movie you think should be on the list, please use the Comments section to let me know

HOW A RACCOON MADE ME CRYA

I'm just going to come out and say it. It's difficult. I have something to confess. Last week I went to see a movie and found one of the most entertaining and compelling characters I've seen in a long long time

And it was a raccoon

Yeh, a kick ass raccoon. He lives out there in the galaxy and he's a bad ass bounty hunter and all round criminal. He was created, against his will and he has a chip on his should about it. He also has a wicked sense of humour. Goes by the name Rocket. And he's a Guardian of the Galaxy

Rocket does not roll alone. He has himself a partner. Name of Groot. He's a giant .. tree. But he's alive. He has a lot of surprising abilities and a surprising personality. Groot is a man .. or tree ... of action but a being of few words. In fact his vocabulary consists of a single phrase "I am Groot." As Rocket explains "He pretty much can speak three words I and Am and Groot and always in that order." As it turns out though, those three words are an entire language, one which only Rocket can understand. Groot may be my second favorite character that I've encountered in a long time

Groot, of course, is also a Guardian of the Galaxy though they never intended to be such a thing. He and his kick ass raccoon partner start out trying to fulfill a bounty. They need to capture a notorious intergalactic outlaw who is on the run from his previous partners and who has in his possession a mysterious orb that is desired by some very very bad people. The outlaw's name is Peter Quill. He is a Terran, a citizen of Earth and he prefers to be known my his nom de guerre, Starlord. A name that very people seem to take seriously. Upon an adversary's blank stare Peter mumbles "Yeh man, you know .. the Starlord" Another great character and the only one in an entire movie who does wear heavy makeup or who is CGI

So, yeh, I'm talking about the movie Guardians of the Galaxy. It follows the three aforementioned characters and several more on a romp through the galaxy. And romp is the right word. This is one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time and yes, for a sci fi space opera with superhero undertones, all the humour is intentional. It also has tons of action, some really high end special effects, clever Marvel dialogue and some solid performances

There are more Guardians of course. Two more, in fact, all heading off to find the orb and lay waste to the bad guy who so badly wants it. Yes, there is a plot and no, it doesn't really matter. It really is about the characters and the humour and that wide eyed "oh shit did you see that" quality of classic space opera; like the original Star Wars movie. But where that movie seemed to have been dreamed up in a little boys bedroom, Guardians was definitely written in a bar. In Texas. With a fight in the background

The other Guardians are Gamora, the deadliest assassin in the galaxy and a woman with some very personal reasons to protect the orb. Deadliest assassin may be a bit of hyperbole, she often finds herself on the wrong end of a beat down but then even in space, the kick ass heroine needs to be rescued every now and then.

Then there is Drax the Destroyer, a giant hulking dude on the vengeance trail and the most literal being in all of space.  When the big man misconstrues one of Peter's Terran references it is suggested that the statement went over his head. Drax responds "Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast. I would catch it"

The dialogue in this movie is flat out hilarious, the best example of Marvel smart assery I've seen since the original Iron Man. And it is perfectly delivered by a very strong cast.

Before this movie I really did not know much about Chris Pratt, who play Starlord but damn the guy is amazing. He is a very brave actor, not afraid to be goofy, to be silly, to temper the smart assery with vunerability. And he gets some juicy lined "I come from a planet of outlaws, Billy the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, John Stamos ..."

As Drax, WWE wrestler Dave Bautista acquits himself well. He has the dry delivery of Literal Man down perfectly and wisely underplays the emotional content. Most of these characters are strangers to each other and must be shoved together to form a superhero team, this is done quickly and some of the details of their lives are omitted in the process but that just makes us wanting more and yes, there will be more.

Zoe Saldana plays Gamora. She is a seasoned hand at this sci fi thing. Avatar, both of the Star Trek reboots, not to mention kick ass female action movies like The Losers and Columbiana. She knows how to go about her job, mixing her high kicks with just the right amount of emotional content. And like Pratt, she is not afraid to be a little goofy. When Peter observes that a race has stick up their butts Gamora responds "Who was it that put the sticks up their butts?"

Now we get back to my two favorite characters, Rocket and Groot. They are not real. As in, they are CGI or mostly CGI and in Rocket's case all CGI. Animated. But damn, how well they are animated. The expressions on the raccoon's face are incredibly realistic, from the wrinkling of the muzzle, the movement of the whiskers to the glint in his teeth. It matches one of the best performances in the movie, the incredible voice work of Bradley Cooper.

I really really love this character. Funny, tough, poignant all at the same time. You can't take your eyes off him. He is a genetically altered raccoon with a stick up his butt and nothing makes him happier than laying down some mayhem, usually for no reason whatsoever. There is sadness to Rocket's story but the script and Cooper know just when to drop that in and just when to pull it back and let the raccoon blow up something. In Rocket's words "There ain't no thing like me, but me!"

Fucking eh brother

Then there is Groot. Ah, Groot. The giant sentient tree who can only express three words and can only be understood by Rocket and who has a lot of secrets and surprises up his sleeve ..er... bark. Groot is voice by Vin Diesel. Compared to Bradley Cooper, Mr Diesel seemed to have the easier job. But he is good at this. He uses that deep scratchy voice to good effect with very few words. Diesel has done this again, see The Iron Giant. Groot and Rocket's partnership is never fully explained but that is a story I really want to explore more fully

I started this post after seeing Guardians on its debut but got side tracked before I got posted it. So you have heard about this movie. I won't go into spoiler mode here. All I have to say about it, is that it genuinely one of the most entertaining experiences I've had at the movies in a long time. There are flaws in this film, the bad guys are not as compelling as they should be and some of the plot seems a little rushed but this is a crowd pleaser. People were laughing and applauding and all in the right places. The visuals and the 3D (and I'm not often a fan of 3D) are exceptional so if you can, see it in the theatre. But, regardless I really only have one thing to say

GO SEE THIS FUCKING MOVIE AND MAKE YOURSELF HAPPY

And oh yeh .. We are Groot