Comments | robinpen: Daft Skiffy

robinpen

Daft Skiffy

Mar 08, 2009 08:20

Watched last night, neither for the first time, the alien invasion films "Independence Day" and "Plan 9 From Outer Space".

I can assure you that one is no less stupid than the other.

Comments 6

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stephen_dedman March 8 2009, 00:25:07 UTC

I do laugh at ID4. I'm fairly sure we're meant to. And all the acting is at least competent.

The high point of Plan 9, IMHO, is "And someone is responsible!", which is almost as funny as the bondage scene from Robot Monster.

stephen_dedman March 8 2009, 00:20:21 UTC

That may be true, but "Independence Day" is arguably less pretentious, with more intentional humour (didn't you once watch it in a double with "Mars Attacks!" and declare "ID4" the funnier of the two?).

I think a better double would have been "Plan 9" and Spielberg's "War of the Worlds".

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robinpen March 8 2009, 09:17:24 UTC

Watched "Earth vs the Flying Saucers" the night before. Very entertaining even though Harryhausen's saucers have more personality than the actors. I'm not kidding.

EvFS is clearly superior to ID4 and would have been more of a thrill in its day.

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Thread 7

ataxi March 8 2009, 02:14:14 UTC

"Greetings, my friend. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown... the mysterious. The unexplainable. That is why you are here. And now, for the first time, we are bringing to you, the full story of what happened on that fateful day. We are bringing you all the evidence, based only on the secret testimony, of the miserable souls, who survived this terrifying ordeal. The incidents, the places. My friend, we cannot keep this a secret any longer. Let us punish the guilty. Let us reward the innocent. My friend, can your heart stand the shocking facts of grave robbers from outer space? "
One's no less stupid than the other perhaps, but Plan 9 is still far better. I love Criswell's introductory diatribe, a sequence of framing terms for the pulp weird that creates a mood while saying almost nothing. To my way of thinking respect must be shown for things that ( ... )