Imagine a world, where every computer programs we use enter and have life.

A world where these programs are reflections of their users’ image, and this world is as living and pulsing as our own. A world of access, connections, digital data converging.

Tron (1982) is a Disney science fiction film. Written and filmed by Steven Lisberger in 1982, it tells a story of a young man named Kevin Flynn who was facing corporate evil and a villainous artificial intelligence. It dealt with issues of software piracy, hacking, information freedom and digital tyranny.Flynn used to work for Encom (a big software company) and made video games. One day, a colleague of his name Dillinger stole his programs with help of his Master Control Program AI. Months later, Dillinger got a promotion from creating ‘Flynn’s games’, while Flynn was fired from ENCOM and end up working as a video game arcade owner, Flynn spent countless nights trying to hack into ENCOM’s servers to find proof of his software theft. Fortunately, Flynn still has friends in ENCOM: Alan Bradley (a computer security expert) and Lora, Alan’s girlfriend and Flynn’s ex-girlfriend. Together, the three of them broke into the ENCOM building to find the proof.

Bradley said that his program TRON can help restore security access to ENCOM, which was now completely control by the MCP. Not wanting to lose, the MCP unleashed Lora’s project upon Flynn: a digitizing laser that can digitize objects and recreate them in the software world. Being shot by the beam, Flynn finds himself inside the computer world (imagine that for a 1982 story!). Forced to fight gladiatorial games, Flynn allies himself with Tron, who curiously looks exactly like Alan.

At that time, the story was pretty okay, characters were relatable, but the most interesting aspect of this film was its special effects. Many sources would agree that Tron was one of the first films to extensively use CGI (computer generated imagery) for its effects. It was pretty good, that the Motion Picture Academy refused to nominate Tron for Best Special Effects because they considered the CGI usage as cheating. But Tron was nominated for Best Costume and Best Sound. Ah the irony.

Tron 1982 trailer

There was a video game sequel Tron 2.0 in 2003,which curiously didn’t feature the character Tron.

Jet Bradley from Tron 2.0

The film’s true sequel however will be appearing December this year. The title: Tron Legacy.

Tron Legacy teaser poster

This is a poster for Avatar. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, 20th Century Fox, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist.

Avatar (2009) is written and directed by James Cameron, starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang and Giovanni Ribisi.

The year is 2154 and paraplegic ex-marine Jake Sully is sent to a distant planet called Pandora, on a mission initially meant for his dead twin brother. The rich and lush Pandora is inhabited by locals named Na’vi–a humanoid race of yellow-eyed, blue-skinned beings, each about 2.7m to 3.7m tall. Jake is to drive what is called an Avatar, which is a human-made Na’vi lookalike that is connected and controlled by a person’s mind while the person is kept safe somewhere else. What is once thought as a harmless mission of getting to know Pandora and the Na’vis turns complicated as the humans are willing to do whatever it takes to mine the planet’s rich mineral which is greatly valuable on Earth.

When people hear Avatar, they think “special effects”. And they are right, since Avatar flaunts an impressive, groundbreaking CGI work. Everything looks so surreal yet believable, out-of-this-world yet convincing. You might be skeptic about blue aliens being believable but when you see those aliens move, speak in their language, express their emotions, you’ll be immersed in the world. You will believe. Neytiri has yellow eyes, blue skin, a tail and is inhumanly tall, but damn she IS pretty. She IS sexy. The Na’vi culture and language feel so real that it seems like they really do exist. The abundant and luscious Pandora and the Na’vis feel like a version of Earth that we often dream of–green, untouched, harmonious. Who isn’t awed when seeing Pandora in night for the first time? With its glow-in-the-dark plants and wondrous animals? The stunning visual effects never fail to draw you in.

There is no denying that the plot is not as impressive as the special effects. When you’ve seen the 3-minute trailer, you’ve practically found out the plot of the whole movie. The characters develop like you think they will develop, no surprising plot twists whatsoever. But that does not matter at all. You are already engaged in Pandora, captivated by its beauty, charmed by the characters. The fact that the plot is so-so does not matter at all because Avatar gives you a movie experience that you don’t often get. That kind of movie experience that The Lord of the Rings trilogy gave you. Something mind-blowing, something awe-inspiring, an experience you’ll remember forever. Avatar reminds us why we go to the movies. Avatar shows us what 3D is for. For almost three hours Avatar never fails to keep us interested, keep us in awe. This is a movie to remember, an experience you’ll never forget.

Having the crew recast was the only option, since two original actors have long since passed away.

DeForest Kelley, who played ship’s doctor Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy was the first member of the original cast to pass away, and the second was James Doohan, who played the Scottish engineer Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott.

Nevertheless, the rest of the original actors were way too old to portray their roles, with the exception of Leonard Nimoy who is famous worldwide for playing Mister Spock, the U.S.S. Enterprise‘s half-human half Vulcan first officer. Unlike us humans, the Vulcans of the planet Vulcan have an average life expectancy of over 200 years, so having Mr. Spock appear in the 24th century, still alive although very old, is very plausible.

Of course, having the premise ‘how the core crew of the original series (recast by younger better looking actors) came together’ sends the impression “Oh great, just another prequel story. Been there, done that.” Heck, even George Lucas started this whole prequel thing with his Star Wars episodes I-II-III, then apparently it became a trend… there’s Smallville, then there’s Hannibal Rising (origin story of Silence Of The Lambs), Fast and Furious (fourth film of the series, which is actually a midquel = sequel to The Fast And The Furious and 2 Fast 2 Furious, but a prequel to The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift). Oh, don’t forget the re-imagination of Battlestar Galactica.

Yep, even back in 2001 there was a prequel series titled Enterprise (named such way so the viewers can associate the series with Star Trek without using the word Star Trek) which was renamed into Star Trek: Enterprise (which beats the whole purpose of the naming it Enterprise in the first place). Set in 2151-2155, the series takes place 90 years after mankind’s first official contact with the alien Vulcans and before the founding of United Federation of Planets.

Still with the theme of exploring the stars and putting humanity’s mark among the stars, Enterprise (later renamed into Star Trek: Enterprise) was challenged with scrutiny by many hard core fans (and some considered in direct violation with established continuity). Because of low ratings, the show was eventually canceled in the fourth season. In fact, the last episode of the series titled These are the voyages… was considered by many fans and cast members alone the worst episode ever written as a series finale.

Okay, so back Abram’s Star Trek.
Things you really need to know:
1. It is set around the 23rd century, some time before Captain Kirk‘s famous five year mission.
2. While some sources stated it as a remake or reboot, writers Alex Kuzman and Robert Orzi of Transformers (2007) fame, went to considerable effort to honor the established timeline and essense. If you want me to spoil things for you, let’s just say that the story does involves Leonard Nimoy back as (a much, much older Mr. Spock).
3. The U.S.S. Enterprise will be very different from the one seen in the original series or movies. One reason of this more-than-cosmetic differences would perhaps be explained in the opening act.
4. Star Trek’s message of a hope for a bright future and peaceful exploration among the stars will still be the core theme.

As a Star Trek fan who lives in Indonesia I can’t help being a bit worried. In fact, very worried. I’m worried because of the assumption Star Trek isn’t as popular here as it is in other countries.
Also, our film distributor companies have a reputation of not showing films that have low market potential (example: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek Nemesis). Worst cast scenario, they won’t show it at all. But it might not come to this as I saw the movie poster in Blitz Megaplex last month.

Arvin at Blitz Megaplex, Mall of Indonesia. Jan 26 2009.

Still, it would be the best interest if the subtitling guy do not screw up the film’s translation into Bahasa Indonesia.

Heck, I’ll volunteer myself to make that translation/subtitling if the person involved is inexperienced with Star Trek.

-Arvin N. Chandra

I’ve written about five (hopefully) good (if not great) films that will be coming this year.

Here’s some thoughts I have regarding those titles:

1. Star Trek.

After four years disappearing from the airwaves and six years from the big screen, Star Trek is back. But a good question would be, which Star Trek is this? From the sources I’ve gathered around, I can say a few things. First, this new Star Trek is not a simple remake… starting a new Trek franchise from scratch. The guys behind this film are putting good effort in respecting 40 years of established Star Trek lore. Although it risks a lot of alienating old fans, in many ways I can imagine it will bring new fans as well. Second, this coming summer will be a real competition. Noticed that these next four titles are all releasing within 3 months? Right during holiday season. So to be honest, I hope that Star Trek really tops them all.

Oh yeah, Indonesia also have its own Indo-Star Trek chapter. They’re located on http://www.indo-startrek.org/

In respect for the other titles:
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Wolverine is awesome. No doubt. Hugh Jackman is the perfect cast for Logan. And after the rather disappointing third flick (X-Men: The Last Stand), the guys decide to bring it a bit back behind. We get to see an origin story of Wolverine. Please know that in the comic universe itself, Wolverine’s origin has been rather recently fleshed out… and the way film media treat the source material tend to be… either good, or really really… ugh. Good example: Batman Begins (2005), Spider-Man (2002), Iron Man (2008). Bad examples: Batman Forever (1995), The Spirit (2008) the Smallville series (2001-present, although it’s a TV series instead of a film). From the trailer I’ve seen… Wolverine has potential to be a real action pack and violent movie. But hey, so was Punisher: War Zone (2008). (I still don’t get why many don’t like 2003′s The Punisher).

3. Terminator Salvation. I’ve got mixed feelings for this one. The premise is quite simple… man vs machine in a post apocalyptic future. We got a man destined as mankind’s savior. We got killing machines. There’s probably no Schwarzenegger on this one, but hey… at least there’s no Keannu Reeve (Neo) or Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith.. or Megatron), but what? We got Christian Bale as JOHN CONNOR? Isn’t this a bit… a.. hmm… overcast? Bale is so successful in the Batman franchise! Why is he into the Terminator franchise? As the sixth (or is it seventh) person to play John Connor?
Note: The first John Connor to appear is the future scarred Connor in the opening segment of T2:Judgment Day. Then there’s also the teenage John Connor played by Edward Furlong. Then there’s the young adult 20-some John Connor played by Nick Stahl in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Then there’s the teenager John Connor played Thomas Derek in the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (which conveniently disregard the continuity of T3)… as well one or two child actors playing John in flashbacks. Okay… brief rundown: “This is not the future my mother warned me about. In this future, I’m not sure we can win.” The future has changed… can John Connor follow his destiny to save mankind from Skynet?
This is my second most anticipated movie of this year.

4. G.I.JOE: The Rise of Cobra. An action film based on an old cartoon serial, of an elite American task force fighting the global terrorist group Cobra… where no blood has never been spilled, nobody ever apparently die… and … goodness, the animations and morality back then was so simplistic. But hey, it was the 1980′s. Now, Step Up’s actor Channing Tatum is playing Duke? Funnily, I sort of accidentally read the movie script… and it was awesome! Hope this movie rocks!

5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Hmm… the plot for this movie is very tightly sealed. I couldn’t find much about this, except we’ll have more Autobots and a lot more Decepticons… and humans. Shia and Megan are back… which should be a good thing. Cool vehicles-transforming-into-robots… check. Exploding buildings with cool visual effects… check. Big Bad Villain making a Huge Comeback…. errr W.H.A.T.?

You can check the trailer.

Now I’m having doubts, whether I’m going to watch this or not.

In this time where most Indonesians are either (low key) humor or (uneducating) horror films, Poernomo is creating this, which is meant to educate its audience and an alternative for the smart moviegoers who are sick of the other genres.

“Saya mau bikin film yang selangkah lebih maju, ngga mau takabur sih, tapi pertama kali rasanya sebuah film sci-fi drama yang lebih pintar untuk penonton Indonesia,” Poernomo said in a recent interview.

Coincidently, the number of Indonesian scifi films are very limited compared to the other genres.

“Inilah movie yang kita persembahkan untuk mereka yang tertarik dengan genre lain.”

said David Poernomo.

Anyway, here’s the basic premise: Recent analysis of the 2004 tsunami disaster (which afflicted Aceh, Thailand and others) the Earth’s rotation stopped for 3 milliseconds. These three milliseconds might not seem much, but was enough to cause time-spatial anomalies that screws up the characters’ lives.

As with most Indonesian productions, here are some challenges they will face:
Acting talent, visual effects and the script.
Those three are all connected and SIGNIFICANTLY important.

If either one of them fails, I see no hope for this movie to succeed.

One more thing, David Poernomo is the director of the (ugh) Pocong vs Kuntilanak.