March 26, 2011

EDITORIAL: 5 Science Fiction Films That Could Use A Prequel/Reboot

 A new trend lately has been prequels and reboots it first started with Batman Begins giving us the untold origins of Batman. Currently science fiction has been the new genre to get a new wave of prequels and reboots. The Thing, Robocop, Total Recall and a somewhat connected Alien prequel are all getting made. So I figured I'd give my opinion on some science fiction films that could use either a prequel or reboot.

SCREAMERS: It's one of the lesser known Philip K. Dick adaptions yet it's one that could be either remade or given a prequel and still be equally as interesting. Screamers focuses on a waring group of industrial colonists that have been fighting each other for years on a distant planet. One side decides on creating a super lethal robot that would only attack when it locates a heartbeat. In the film there is talk of a massive war that included the use of nukes. While the isolation thriller works on it's own a backtrack to the origins of the war and the introduction to the Screamers could be worth visiting. As the original film didn't actually show much of the fighting between the two sides likely due to the limited budget. There are also chilling stories told by characters of the evolved Screamers infuriating bunkers and massacring units which could be explored.


ALIENS:  I'm a die hard fan of Aliens and my favorite parts involve the cut scenes of colony that were in the director's cut. A Hadley's Hope prequel could give more insight of what actually happened with Newt's family and the horror show that she must have endured. I think it would be interesting to see the colony slowly taken over by a horde of aliens with limited weapons. The ending would be predictable but I still think there could be some thrills. I figure if 20th Century Fox was aiming for two Alien prequels an Aliens prequel wouldn't out of the question. If this was made a couple of years ago Chloe Moretz would have made a decent Newt. 

BLADE RUNNER: There has been buzz ever since the Blade Runner rights have been picked up for a new film. While I'm almost completely against a Blade Runner sequel, a prequel could be amazing. Picking up where the replicants staged an off-world revolution could be an intriguing story. It wouldn't even need to feature Roy Batty but could show how miserable the life of a replicant is off-world where they are treated like slaves.



JURASSIC PARK: Universal has been trying for years to make Jurassic Park 4 and has yet to crack a solid story. Well it's tough to come up with ideas of why people would be trapped on the remote island. A prequel set on Isla Sorna (Site B) could be way to solve this problem as we don't really know what happened there when the park was shut down on Isla Nublar. Perhaps they went through a similar problem with the island's security measures. This would take place before the events of The Lost World. I could see a group stranded group of scientists, crew/locals and game wardens fighting off dinosaurs and trying to get off the island. It would also remove the need to involve a child and end up more of a thriller in the end.

STARSHIP TROOPERS: Starship Troopers setups an exciting bug filled universe and needs to be explored again. Most will remember it for the film's graphic violence and campy nature. Yet it's one of the only films of it's kind, as it's an alien invasion movie where we are the destructive invaders. The film is littered with older soldiers already maimed from previous battles. I think instead of another direct-to-DVD sequel they could totally reboot the franchise and show how the war was started.

WHICH FILM WOULD LIKE TO SEE GET A PREQUEL/REBOOT?

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