-
"Never send a human to do a machine's job."
When Star Wars (now titled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) debuted in May of 1977, it forever changed sci-fi — and Hollywood’s perception of the genre — with its epic fantasy story and groundbreaking technology. It quickly became the highest grossing movie of all time and garnered numerous accolades, winning six of the ten Academy Awards categories for which it was nominated. Star Wars continually ranks near the top of just about every movie list category out there, including our own recent Best Sci-Fi Movies of the 1970’s and ‘80s, as voted by you, the Reelz.com readers.
The long-awaited prequel trilogy that was launched in May of 1999 with Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was a huge success for Lucasfilm, but, even though it boasted far superior special effects, it failed to make the same sort of impact on moviegoers as the original. Was Jar Jar Binks really the source of the ambivalence that many fans felt toward The Phantom Menace or was it that they had already had their minds blown by The Matrix, which opened two months prior? And how do the Star Wars prequels and The Matrix trilogy stack up against other sci-fi movies with next-level special effects like Avatar or more cerebral movies like Donnie Darko? Sit down, jack in and upload your choices of the best sci-fi movies from 1990 to today.
Rate the Top 10 Best Sci-Fi Movies (1990s - 2010s) >>
Posted 03.14.13 by BrentJS -
Last year's mega-hit The Avengers was, in some ways, the catalyst behind the spate of comic book movies created by Marvel Studios, who struck gold with 2008's Iron Man, which teased at a superhero team-up movie to come. After finding that success, Marvel followed by introducing more individual superheroes in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, 2010's Iron Man 2, and last year's Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, embarking on an unusual strategy of creating individual movies that also worked a little bit like sequels that fed into the story of The Avengers.
The Avengers 2 will arrive in 2015 and cap off a second phase of Marvel's "cinematic universe," and will face competition from what Warner Bros.and DC Entertainment hopes will be the start of their "cinematic universe," starting with 2015's Justice League. Gangster Squad screenwriter Will Beall has already been hired to write the screenplay for the movie which will follow (if recent rumors are true) an unsurprising lineup that includes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. With the release dates being so close together, we wondered which team could take down the other, and, since there will never be a movie where the two teams face off, there's only one way to solve this hypothetical dilemma: the cybernetic walls of our Character Cage Match!
check out the teams' strengths and weaknesses before weighing in on our poll >> Posted 01.10.13 by Ryan -
Comic book legend Stan Lee first started working for Marvel Comics in 1939, back when it was still known Timely Comics, eventually co-creating Marvel's most enduring characters, including the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the Avengers, to name a few. Still going strong at 90 years old, many might be surprised to know that Lee hasn't worked at Marvel Comics for years, as he is still seen as a figurehead for the comic book company. Lee continues to field questions and comments on Twitter, where he has a huge following, and continues his association with Marvel through his many cameos in Marvel movies.
Lee made his first onscreen cameo in the 1989 TV movie The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, and would go on to appear in 2000's X-Men, all four Spider-Man, 2003's Daredevil and Hulk, both Fantastic Four movies, 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, both Iron Man movies as well as 2011's Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger and last year's The Avengers (but not, inexplicably, 2003's X2: X-Men United or X-Men: First Class). Lee's entire, chronological cameo history has been compiled into a single video (via Mary Sue), including most of our ten favorites (sorry, Mallrats doesn't count) and excluding Lee's voice over work from Marvel's animated series.
watch the video >> Posted 01.09.13 by Ryan -
Back in 2008, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) declared he was Iron Man after defeating Obadiah Stane, aka Iron Monger (Jeff Bridges), who was working with foreign terrorist groups. In Stark's own words, the billionaire industrialist had essentially privatized world peace.
A few years later, Iron Man was instrumental in stopping Ivan Vanko, aka Whiplash (Mickey Rourke), earning a medal for bravery and being declared a national treasure. A few years after that, and Iron Man joined the Avengers Initiative, protecting the planet from invaders from another world taking over the city of New York.
Clearly, Iron Man is a hero, but perhaps not to everyone. Sure, he stopped Whiplash, but wasn't he also somewhat responsible for creating him too? It's not easy being a superhero, and when you also live your life as Tony Stark, there's plenty of crimes committed along the way, which is why a rap sheet exists for Marvel's metal superhero.
check out Iron Man's rap sheet >> Posted 11.24.12 by Ryan -
When they are not too distracting, celebrity cameo appearances in movies are a nice treat for the audience, a bonus of sorts that gives viewers a little something extra to talk about after the credits roll. Directors will often reserve small roles for their favorite collaborators — or themselves — and athlete cameos are relatively commonplace whenever sports are involved.
Cameo appearances by actors playing characters from other movies are far rarer, however, and far more likely to enhance the moviegoing experience for those who recognize the character. Rather than destroying the "suspension of disbelief" that moviegoers are expected to achieve in order to enjoy a fantastical situation or story, a character cameo, when done properly, can actually broaden the fictional universe playing out on screen, making it seem more inter-connected with other fictional universes, more "real." And, sometimes, character cameos are not meant to broaden anything at all, except for the viewer's smile. Click on the link below to check out our list of the best character cameos in movies.
The best character cameos in movies >> Posted 10.03.12 by BrentJS -
.jpg)
Remember that rumor about Marvel bringing its entire cinematic universal in one deluxe package? Well, those rumors turned out to be true.
Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase One: Avengers Assembled is every comic book-fan boys’ dream. Beginning with 2008’s Iron Man, Marvel has carefully merged its characters from comic books to the big screen and all that hard work pays off with this ultimate movie collection, which features not only the Blu-ray 3-D version of The Avengers but also Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, and a bonus disc, The Phase One Archives. The blu-ray set also includes collectible packaging with exclusive memorabilia from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the rest of the Marvel collection is already available on Blu-ray, Avengers won't hit home theater until Sept. 25 (Amazon actually doesn't list a release date for Phase One but it's safe to assume it will be released around the same time).
With dubbing this collection Phase One, Marvel is telling us there’s a lot more in store for comic book and movie fans alike.
You can preorder the collection on Amazon for $153.30. So are you ordering Phase One?
Posted 06.03.12 by Chris -
Though the character of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson did not originally appear in Marvel's comic books prior to making his debut in 2008's Iron Man, the character has been making stronger footholds in Marvel's Cinematic Universe. Played by actor Clark Gregg, Agent Coulson got his biggest role yet in the May release of Thor, and was even included in the "assembled" line-up of the upcoming adaptation of The Avengers that debuted at the 2010 Comic-Con.
In a recent interview with Crave Online, Gregg revealed that the character's increasing presence will continue in The Avengers, with writer-director Joss Whedon giving Coulson "definitely new stuff" to handle in his latest mission.
Much different, new stuff for Agent Coulson to do in this one. You know, it’s kind of "all hands on deck" in terms of combating the threat that has shown up. And Joss… Joss is a master at taking what we know about each one of these characters, the superheroes and Agent Coulson, and building on what’s already there.
spoilers ahead on coulson's future >> Posted 09.06.11 by Ryan -
Marvel Studios is currently in production in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on its most ambitious comic book movie to date, The Avengers, which brings together the heroes, villains, and artifacts from the rest of the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — Captain America: The First Avenger, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor — in one titanic movie.
Threads of The Avengers have been popping up in all of Marvel's movies going back to a just-glimpsed shot of Captain America's shield lying on the table in Tony Stark's (Robert Downey, Jr.) lab in Iron Man right up to the last appearance of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in an end-of-credits scene in Thor that links the movie to Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers, with countless more in between. It might all seem like a carefully orchestrated grand scheme set up by Marvel President of Production Kevin Feige — and it most assuredly is now — but following the screening of Iron Man at the recent Hero Complex Film Festival, director Jon Favreau revealed that all of the little "clues" in the movie were really "just a joke" at the time, with no expectation that they would be anything more than fun "easter eggs" for die-hard comic book fans.
what did Favreau say about the origins of The Avengers movie? >> Posted 06.16.11 by BrentJS -
After the success of both Iron Man and Iron Man 2, director Jon Favreau announced on Los Angeles radio station KROQ that Tony Stark will hang up his metallic boots, at least until Marvel incorporates all of its characters in 2012's The Avengers.
Joss Whedon to direct? >> Posted 06.01.10 by Ryan -
Samuel L. Jackson's cameo as Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division) after the credits of the original Iron Man was so well received by the fans that it earned Jackson a nine-picture deal to reprise the role in other Marvel Studios movies. Jackson had a much beefier role as Fury in Iron Man 2 and revealed that, while he won't appear in Thor, he will star in The First Avenger: Captain America and in The Avengers. However, that only accounts for three of the nine movies that he is under contract to appear in, which has left many comic book movie fans scratching their heads over what those other six movies might be. In a recent interview with Radio Big Boy, Jackson revealed what at least one of those other movies will be.
any other S.H.I.E.L.D. details from Jackson? >> Posted 05.14.10 by BrentJS