London Rogues Sci Fi Fantasy Six

Managed to finally get some time off of work to attend a Science Fiction Con close to my neck of the woods. In the two days I was there I managed to display both my stormtrooper and my Cobra Commander outfits. Needles to say I was a big hit with the crowds and the pictures didn't stop.

Along the way I met some other incredible cosplayers as well as some great people who helped out a LOT. Kudos to all who attended and I hope to make it again next year... with possibly some new surprises along the way...

Here are some of the pics:

Photos courtesy of the London Rogues.

The Cobra Commander CQBR Project

Just working on another addition to my Cobra commander costume, this time I'm putting together a CQBR (Close Quarter Battle Receiver). This particular rifle was developed specifically for urban warfare. The CQBR is an attempt to combine the hitting power of an assault rifle with the compactness of a sub machine gun.

I managed to find the remains of this rifle in the bargain bin of my local Mil-surplus store and through a little perseverance, paint and parts hunting have come up with something that's not too bad and that old CC himself has given his nod of approval.

The rifle as I found it.	Didn't look like much at the time.
A stock I found in the parts bin.
A little bit of paint can work wonders.	Starting to show some promise.
Fully painted with stock & magazine added.
Added a scope.	And a tactical light.
The finished product.

And the final result:

COBRA!

Sci Fi Rifle WIP

A work in  progress. The main body is a Nerf Praxis rifle that I thought had an interesting profile and I added an M-4 handle from some spare parts that I found in the bargain bin of my local Mil-surplus store. Overall I'm pretty pleased with the way it's starting to look. What I'll use it for is still pretty much a guess but I want to come up with some kind of original sci-fi costume to go with it.

The Hidden II: Stay Hidden!!!

The Hidden II (1993) directed by Seth Pinsker starring Raphael Sbarge and Kate Hodge. Produced by New Line Cinema.

Kyle Maclachlan takin' care
 of business in the Hidden.

 Every sci -fi fan should be familiar with The Hidden!!! 

This was a great movie featuring Micheal Nouri and Kyle Maclachlan and was a sci-fi sleeper featuring a good alien tracking an evil alien down the streets of Los Angeles, using human hosts to carry out heinous crimes. 

While not original it was still an adrenaline thrill ride replete with action and witty humour. (If you haven't seen it go rent it, torrent it, buy it or whatever it is you do right now!!!... go... what you're still here? I'll wait... go on... GOOOOOO!!!!). Just remember kids video piracy is wrong.

Kate Hodge as Juliet.

Okay now that you've seen it DON'T go out of your way to see the sequel. In fact the only reason I knew the sequel existed was because it was already included as a double bill on the DVD that I bought for the original movie. 

Man this movie was bad and not in the so bad it's good way but in the so bad it reeks way. Whereas the first Hidden portrays the 80's with lavish fashion, cocaine, expensive cars and cassette tapes the sequel screams 90's by showing us homeboys, raves, ecstasy and vinyl records... yeah I know how ironic that sounds.

Look!!! It's Nick Nolte!!!

The main problem with this movie is that it contradicts many elements of the first film, the other is that it's just plain boring.

At the end of the first film Maclachlan's character Gallagher saves the life of Earth detective Thomas Beck by inhabiting his body and assuming his life... all well and good. The second movie opens with a transmission  from Maclachlan's character Gallagher, stating that he is pursuing the alien criminal and requesting for backup. 

This really makes no sense for reasons to be explained later on, and there's some exposition that the creature could be preparing to spawn... again making no sense as this was never hinted at in the first film.

The worst part is that fifteen minutes of the opening is just a recap of the final sequences that took place in the first film doing not much more than padding out the movie. 

It also serves as a reminder that the first film was a better movie.

There's some additional footage where we see a dog enter the crime scene where the first alien was killed and it decides to snap up a piece of fried alien meat for a snack (Who let's a stray dog saunter into a crime scene anyway?). 

Later we find that poor Benji turns out to be an incubator for the new alien spawn. 

 Funny, you'd think that agent Gallagher would have had the foresight to deal with this problem before hand to prevent this from happening, especially if he had mentioned it in his report. In fact if this report had been sent why did it take fifteen years to get back up, and did they not know that the bad guy was incinerated and blown up with an alien phaser? Wouldn't Beck/Gallagher have filed a report about killing the alien at the end of the movie?

Remember kids:
 improperly cooked, strange alien meat
 is bad for your pets.

Fifteen years later we find that after saving Beck's life the years of inhabiting a human body takes a huge toll resulting in rapid aging. Hmmm, this seems a bit out of line but we'll go with it for now.

The Green Sliiiiiime!!!!

Beck/Gallagher has retreated from his home life to one of a hermit and is no longer played by Micheal Nouri, but has been replaced by another actor (Michael Weldon) in a bad make up job (hence the necessity of making the actor looked aged). Plodding on... The new aliens decide to lay dormant in an abandoned factory where they patiently await new human hosts. 

Fortunately for them there happens to be a bunch of guys scouting out the place to hold a rave and one of them becomes a victim to the alien menace.

Looks like he ordered the special from Space Balls.

The victim whom I shall refer to as "Rainbow shirt guy" goes on the usual killing spree that alerts Beck/Gallagher to come out of hermitage and on to the scene. Beck and Rainbow shirt guy kill each other resulting in failure to take out the rest of the offspring.

I don't think that's the bubble boy Jerry.

Enter Juliet Beck (Kate Hodge), Thomas' daughter (Biologically, not an alien/human offspring). She manages to identify the body of her father and later she is sought out by Maclachlan (Played by Raphael Sbarge). Really? 

Sbarge's character is named Maclachlan? Oh well. Sbarge is no stranger to the science fiction arena as he is known to have played roles as Micheal Jonas (Star Trek Voyager), Carth Onasi (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic), an un-named Tech Commander (Independence Day), Mark Simonson (Dark Skies), Major Kaiden Alenko (Mass Effect) and who could forget... Sherman from My Science Project. Just to name a few. 

 While Sbarge does a good job of playing an alien he does it too well. Whereas Loyd Gallagher could blend in and do a serviceable job of passing as human, Sbarge (Who looks an awful lot like Jerry Seinfeld in this movie) plays the fish out of water part a little too over the top.

Major Kaiden Alenko.

Buuurrrp!!! Sbarge,
proving he's an alien
by releasing his essence.

They manage to investigate Beck/Gallagher's apartment where they find a video tape of the dog that was the poor victim of the alien parasite. Wait a minute... If Beck/Gallagher had a tape of the dog could he not have followed it? 

How did he get that tape? How did anyone have the foresight to film this and manage to be at the exact moment that the dog showed up? 

In the fifteen years he had on Earth how did he not have time to clean up this mess?

Makes no sense to me. This is a plot hole big enough to bury a Cadillac.

In the next scene they automatically find the factory where the creature is spawning... How did they do this? Was there a copy of the script conveniently lying around?

There's a rave sequence that is just as pointless as the one in the Matrix Reloaded, where you think that multiple possessions would take place but the budget didn't allow for that many extras to be turned into psycho killers so only one creature emerges to change bodies and fight Maclachlan in a battle of fisticuffs.

The alien manages to get a hold of Maclachlan's phaser and destroys it, leaving and claiming that since he cannot be stopped that our hero isn't even worth killing.... so isn't he aware that Beck/Gallagher had a phaser as well? You know the one that actually KILLED him in the first place!!! If these weapons are the only things that can kill them wouldn't the space cops carry more than one?

There are some attempts at character development and explaining the aliens, but it becomes totally incongruent with many of the elements of the first movie. The random subplot thrown in tries to explain that the good and bad aliens are of the same species just different branches... which makes no sense because the first movie clearly established the good aliens as Altairians which the bad alien described as being a filthy race. In other words he just insulted himself... I guess the producers were going for a demon/angel angle with this point which could have been good if it was actually explored but the opportunity was missed.

After that there's just more pointlessness... Aside from the poor dialogue and execution, lack of: action sequences, continuity, car chases, suspense, and humour the Hidden II is actually quite entertaining... if you had to choose it over something else... like Sunday School.

There is a sequence that involves the creature taking over a homeless guy who goes on a rampage and this scene actually imitates the spirit of the Hidden I, but its a case of too little too late.

I like this radio!!!

I doubt the writers even watched the original before penning the first draft. Here's a sample of the German trailer which actually manages to make this movie look epic.

In conclusion the Hidden II well deserves its distribution in the direct to video market and serves as another studio quickie that was created as a tax write off. Take my advice if you see this movie on the shelf, keep it hidden.

Crusher Joe

Crusher Joe クラッシャージョウ Sunrise Animation created by Haruka Takachiho

Just got in a set of Kodansha Anime film comics featuring Crusher Joe from a fine gentleman in Japan. This five volume set covers the events in the first movie.

My fascination with Crusher Joe stems from the fact that my first scale anime models came from this series. Back in 1981 I was perusing an issue of Starlog magazine and I stumbled across an ad for sci fi anime models from a mail order company called Cosmic Connection. A few weeks later I received a catalogue filled with... TREASURES the likes I had never seen before. Naturally I ordered a beautiful looking spaceship called the Minerva from Crusher Joe as well as a mech called an Ostall (From the same title) and a Gundam kit.

The Minerva.

Ostall.

When they arrived I was amazed at the intricate details of the models and was longing to see them in their animated adventures that I had never watched.

Soon after my next door neighbour and I probably ordered enough models to have been considered shareholders in the company. It would be another eight years before I would get to see the Crusher Joe movie and my obsession would be cemented in this franchise forever.