Make It Blow – Star Trek: Picard
The Ruse There’s a sheer artistry about the latest Star Trek instalment, Star Trek: Picard (2020 – ), but it has nothing to do with storytelling. We begin with shots of space. They’re gorgeous. Then it’s the Enterprise 1701-D, which we last saw way back in Star Trek: Generations (1994). Specials effects have come some way since then. This shot is amazing. I imagine fans of The Original Series (1966 – 1969) felt this way when they saw the Enterprise 1701 on the big screen for the first time in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). There’s something epic about the Enterprise 1701-D navigating the deepest reaches of space (or,…
Polar Extremes – Highlander and Highlander II
One of my favourite guilty (movie) pleasures is Highlander (1986). In 1518, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) is born in the clan MacLeod in a small village in Scotland. During a battle with a rival clan, the Frasers, in 1536, the Black Knight, Kurgan (an amazing Clancy Brown), stabs Connor through the belly. Kurgan declares, ‘There can be only one!’ and is about to decapitate Connor when his clansmen save him. But it’s all for nothing. Connor’s wounds are fatal. He dies that night. The next day, he’s up and about and as healthy as ever. Fearing he is possessed, his clan drives him from the village. We rejoin him some…