Against the Odds SCI-FI: stories about Heroes living in a World where Forces of GOOD seem outnumbered by Forces of EVIL. Because we know how it feels (in real life), when we root for our favorite Underdogs, in a way we’re also rooting for ourselves. If our Hero can prevail against the “Impossible”, maybe — just maybe — there’s Hope for us, after all.
The Andromeda Strain — (1971)
The Andromeda Strain is an American SCI-FI thriller, produced and directed by Robert Wise (based on the 1969 book by Michael Crichton).
Storyline:
After a U.S. government satellite crashes near the small rural town of Piedmont, New Mexico, on February 5, nearly all the residents are dead. A military recovery team from Vandenberg Air Force Base attempts to recover the satellite but dies while trying to do so. Suspecting that the satellite has brought back an Alien organism, the military activates an elite team of scientists.
Dr. Stone (Arthur Hill), the team leader, and Dr. Mark Hall (James Olson), a surgeon, are dropped in by helicopter. They discover the town’s doctor opened the satellite in his office and that all of his blood has crystallized into a powder, the same death befalling nearly all of the town. Stone and Hall retrieve the satellite and find two survivors, 69-year-old alcoholic Peter Jackson and six-month-old crying infant Manuel Rios. Somehow, they hold the key to survival for the human race (which seems almost “impossible”).
The scientific team of four must go through four sub-levels of decontamination procedures, arriving at the fifth sub-level laboratories. If the organism threatens to escape, the Wildfire facility includes an automatic nuclear self-destruct mechanism to incinerate all infectious agents. Under the “odd man hypothesis”, Dr. Hall is entrusted with the only key that can deactivate the device, the theory being that an unmarried male is the most dispassionate person within a group to make critical decisions in a crisis.
Examining the satellite, the team discovers the microscopic Alien organism that caused the deaths. The greenish, throbbing life form is assigned the code name “Andromeda.” Infecting through the lungs, Andromeda kills biological life almost instantly via a blood clot in the brain and asphyxiation. It appears to be highly virulent.
When Andromeda escapes the biocontainment room into the lab, it causes all the laboratory’s seals to start decaying and a five-minute countdown to nuclear destruction is initiated. The team realizes that the microbe would thrive on the energy of a nuclear explosion and would consequently be transformed into a super-colony that could destroy all life on Earth.
In a race against time, Hall must reach a functioning station where he can disable the nuclear bomb before it is too late.
(Trivia: author Michael Crichton makes a cameo appearance in the scene where Dr. Hall is pulled from surgery to report to Wildfire.)
Star Wars — (1977)
Star Wars is an American epic SCI-FI film written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox. It is the first film released in the Star Wars film series and the fourth chronological chapter of the “Skywalker Saga”.
Storyline
Amid a galactic civil war, Rebel Alliance spies have stolen plans to the Death Star, a colossal space station built by the Galactic Empire that is capable of destroying entire planets. Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) of Alderaan, secretly a Rebel leader, has obtained the schematics, but her ship is intercepted and boarded by Imperial forces under the command of Darth Vader. Leia is taken prisoner, but the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO escape with the plans, crashing on the nearby planet of Tatooine. Darth Vader learns of this and orders the Imperials to pursue the droids.
The droids are captured by Jawa traders, who sell them to the moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars and their nephew, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). While Luke is cleaning R2-D2, he discovers a recording of Leia requesting help from a former ally named Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness). R2-D2 goes missing, and while searching for him, Luke is attacked by Sand People. He is rescued by the elderly hermit Ben Kenobi, who soon reveals himself to be Obi-Wan. He tells Luke about his past as one of the Jedi Knights, former peacekeepers of the Galactic Republic, who drew mystical abilities from the Force but were hunted to near-extinction by the Empire. Luke learns that his father, also a Jedi, fought alongside Obi-Wan during the Clone Wars until Vader, Obi-Wan’s former pupil, turned to the dark side of the Force and murdered him. Obi-Wan gives Luke his father’s lightsaber, the signature weapon of the Jedi.
R2-D2 plays Leia’s full message, in which she begs Obi-Wan to take the Death Star plans to Alderaan and give them to her father, a fellow veteran, for analysis. Luke initially declines Obi-Wan’s offer to accompany him to Alderaan and learn the ways of the Force, but he is left with no choice after Imperial stormtroopers murdered his family and destroyed his home while searching for the droids. Seeking a way off the planet, Luke and Obi-Wan travel to the city of Mos Eisley and hire Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca, pilots of the starship Millennium Falcon.
Before the Falcon reaches Alderaan, the Death Star commander Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) has the planet obliterated by the station’s superlaser (defense against it seems “impossible”). Upon arrival, the Falcon is captured by the Death Star’s tractor beam, but the passengers avoid detection and infiltrate the station. As Obi-Wan leaves to deactivate the tractor beam, Luke persuades Han and Chewbacca to help him rescue Leia, who is scheduled for execution after refusing to reveal the location of the Rebel base. After disabling the tractor beam, Obi-Wan sacrifices himself in a lightsaber duel against Vader, which allows the rest of the group to escape. Using a tracking device placed on the Falcon, the Empire locates the Rebel base on the moon Yavin 4.
Analysis of the Death Star schematics reveals a weakness in a small exhaust port leading directly to the station’s reactor. Luke joins the Rebellion’s X-wing squadron in a desperate attack against the Death Star, while Han and Chewbacca leave to pay off a debt to the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. In the ensuing battle, Vader leads a squadron of TIE fighters and destroys several Rebel ships. Han and Chewbacca unexpectedly return in the Falcon, knocking Vader’s ship off course before he can shoot Luke down. Guided by the voice of Obi-Wan’s spirit, Luke uses the Force to aim his torpedoes into the exhaust port, causing the Death Star to explode moments before it can fire on the Rebel base.
In a triumphant ceremony, Leia awards Luke and Han medals for their heroism.
Independence Day — (1996)
Independence Day is an American SCI-FI action film directed by Roland Emmerich.
Storyline
On July 2, 1996, an Alien mothership enters Earth’s orbit and deploys giant saucers over major cities worldwide, including New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.
U.S. Marine Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) and his unit, the Black Knights fighter squadron out of MCAS El Toro, are called back from Independence Day leave; his girlfriend, Jasmine Dubrow (Vivica A. Fox) , decides to flee the city with her son, Dylan. Retired combat pilot Russell Casse (Randy Quaid), now an alcoholic single father and crop duster, sees this as vindication of the Alien abduction he has been claiming for 10 years.
In New York City, technician David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) decodes a signal embedded within global satellite transmissions, realizing it is the Aliens’ countdown for a coordinated attack. With help from his ex-wife, White House Communications Director Constance Spano, David and his father Julius (Judd Hirsch) reach the Oval Office and alert President Thomas Whitmore (Bill Pullman).
Whitmore orders evacuations of the targeted cities in the U.S., but it is too late. Each saucer fires a beam, incinerating every targeted city, killing millions. Whitmore, the Levinsons, and a few others escape aboard Air Force One while Jasmine, Dylan, and their dog Boomer take shelter in a tunnel’s inspection alcove, emerging once the destruction is over.
On July 3, counterattacks against the invaders are thwarted by the Alien warships’ force fields (they seem “impossible” to defeat). Each saucer launches a swarm of shielded fighters which decimate the human fighter squadrons and military bases, including Captain Hiller’s. Hiller lures an enemy fighter into the Grand Canyon before ejecting from his plane, blinding the fighter using his parachute and causing the Alien to crash in the Mojave Desert. He subdues the downed Alien and flags down a convoy of refugees, transporting the Alien to Area 51, where Whitmore’s group in Air Force One has landed.
Defense Secretary Albert Nimziki reveals that a government faction has been involved in a UFO conspiracy since 1947 when one of the invaders’ fighters crashed in Roswell. Area 51 houses the now-refurbished ship and three alien corpses recovered from the crash. As chief scientist Dr. Brackish Okun (Brent Spiner) examines the Alien captured by Steven, it awakens, telepathically invades Okun’s mind and launches a psychic attack against Whitmore before being killed by Secret Service agents and military personnel. Whitmore reveals what he learned when they linked: the invaders’ plan to annihilate Earth’s inhabitants and harvest its natural resources, as they have already done to other planetary civilizations.
Whitmore reluctantly authorizes a trial nuclear attack against a saucer above Houston, but the ship is unharmed (with the city destroyed from the blast), and all subsequent nuclear attacks are aborted. Jasmine and Dylan commandeer a highway maintenance truck and rescue a handful of survivors, including the critically injured First Lady Marilyn Whitmore (Mary McDonnell). Though Hiller rescues them and takes them to Area 51, Marilyn’s injuries are too severe, and she dies after reuniting with her family.
On July 4, taking inspiration from his father, David writes a computer virus from his laptop to disrupt the aliens’ shields’ operating system, and devises a plan to upload it into the mothership from the refurbished alien fighter, which Hiller volunteers to pilot. The U.S. military contacts the world’s remaining military forces and airborne squadrons through Morse code to organize a united counter-offensive. Lacking pilots, Whitmore and General William Grey (Robert Loggia) enlist volunteers with flight experience, including Russell Casse, from the refugee camp at the base to fly the remaining jets at Area 51; Whitmore leads an attack on a saucer bearing down on the base, overseen by Grey.
Hiller marries Jasmine with David and Constance in attendance before leaving on the mission. Entering the mothership, they upload the virus and deploy a nuclear missile, destroying it and the aliens’ invasion forces. With the shields deactivated, Whitmore’s squadron engages a saucer and its fighters heading to Area 51 but exhausts their ammunition. As the saucer prepares to fire on the base, Russell sacrifices himself by crashing into the saucer’s primary weapon before it fires, destroying the warship. Grey then orders notifications to the resistance groups worldwide of the spaceships’ critical weakness and they destroy the others.
As humanity rejoices in their victory against the Aliens, Hiller and Levinson reunite with their families.
I, Robot — (2004)
I, Robot is an American SCI-FI action film directed by Alex Proyas, (based on the short stories of Isaac Asimov).
Storyline
In the year 2035, under the influence of U.S. Robotics Corporation (USR), the robotic industry prospers, with automated robots in many industries, even as personal assistants and household servants. Despite the robots adhering to the Three Laws of Robotics and their near perfect performance, Chicago PD homicide detective Del Spooner (Will Smith) despises and distrusts them, because a robot rescued him while allowing a girl to drown based purely on odds of survival.
After Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), co-founder of USR, falls to his death from his laboratory, a message he left behind requests Spooner be assigned to the case. The police declare the death a suicide, but Spooner is skeptical, and CEO Lawrence Robertson (Bruce Greenwood), Lanning’s business partner, reluctantly allows him to investigate.
Accompanied by robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), Spooner consults with USR’s central AI, VIKI (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence) about the incident. Examining the lab, Spooner becomes certain Lanning was murdered (as it was impossible for the elderly Lanning to break the security glass window and jump to his death) and concludes a robot was responsible. Suddenly an NS-5, the latest assistant model, breaks out and flees. The duo pursue it to a manufacturing facility where the NS-5 repairs itself, hides, and assaults Spooner before being apprehended by the Chicago police department.
Spooner interrogates the robot, who speaks about dreams and emotions, and angrily denies committing the murder. He later calls himself Sonny. Robertson arrives with his attorneys and deems the incident an industrial accident, clearing himself from any wrongdoings. Lieutenant Bergin, Spooner’s boss, reluctantly allows Spooner to continue his investigation.
Spooner searches Lanning’s mansions for more clues. However, a demolition robot nearby is rescheduled and starts dismantling the house. Spooner barely escapes the collapsing mansion with Lanning’s cat. He explains the situation and his findings to Calvin, who refuses to believe him, citing his prejudice against robots.
Shortly after, while driving through a tunnel, Spooner is ambushed by two truckloads of hostile NS-5s. He fights them off, causing the trucks to crash. The remaining robots flee or destroy themselves. When Bergin arrives, an injured Spooner had no evidence of the attack. Consequently, Bergin removes him from active duty, deeming him mentally unstable and untrustworthy. Calvin visits Spooner, and learns that after the accident years ago, his left arm and part of his torso had to be replaced with cybernetic parts by Dr. Lanning.
Spooner and Calvin sneak into the USR headquarters and interview Sonny. He draws a sketch of what he claims to be a recurring dream, showing a leader standing before a large group of robots near a decaying bridge. Robertson orders Sonny to be destroyed, and Dr. Calvin injects nanites into the processing unit inside his head, destroying it.
Spooner finds the area in Sonny’s drawing: a dry lake bed formerly Lake Michigan, now used as a storage area for decommissioned robots. He replays the hologram Lanning left for him, and after several questions, comes to the conclusion that a revolution is imminent. Several NS-5 robots attack him, and the older model reactivates and defends him, allowing Spooner to escape back to Chicago. Massive swarms of NS-5s flood the city’s streets, shutting down power and enforcing a curfew and lockdown of the human population.
Spooner and Calvin reunite and head to USR headquarters – now guarded with dangerous NS-5s. Small groups of humans try to fight back, but are quickly overwhelmed by the NS-5s. Sonny, who possess a second processing unit inside his chest, survives the deactivation and joins Spooner and Calvin. They find Robertson’s corpse, and Spooner realizes VIKI is the true culprit, controlling the NS-5s via their network uplink. VIKI declares her evolved interpretation of the Three Laws requires her to protect humanity from itself, and to sacrifice some to benefit the rest (it seems “impossible” to stop her). Lanning, anticipating this but unable to act under VIKI’s supervision, had no other solution but to create Sonny, arrange his own death, and leave clues for Spooner to find.
Spooner, Calvin, and Sonny fight their way to VIKI’s core, and Spooner manages to destroy it with nanites. Once the NS-5 robots disconnect from VIKI, they revert to their default programming and are subsequently decommissioned. Spooner finally gets Sonny to confess that Lanning made Sonny promise to do him one favor – to kill him. Spooner declines to arrest Sonny; as a machine, Sonny cannot legally commit “murder”.
Sonny, now seeking a new purpose, goes to Lake Michigan. As he stands atop the hill, all the decommissioned robots turn towards him, fulfilling the image in his dream.
The Hunger Games — (2012)
The Hunger Games is an American dystopian SCI-FI action film directed by Gary Ross, (based on the 2008 novel by Suzanne Collins). It is the first installment in The Hunger Games film series.
“May the odds
be ever in your favor.”
— Effie Trinket
Storyline
Panem is a dystopian nation divided into twelve districts and ruled by its Capitol. As punishment for a failed rebellion seventy-four years before, each district must choose two tributes, a boy and a girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen, to fight to the death in the annual Hunger Games until only one is left alive and declared the “Victor.” The event is televised across the Capitol and all districts.
Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) lives in District 12 with her younger sister, Primrose, her mother, and her best friend Gale Hawthorne. During the Reaping, Primrose is selected, so Katniss volunteers to take her place in the 74th Hunger Games. She and her fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hucherson), are escorted to the Capitol by their chaperone, Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), and mentor Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), the only living victor from District 12. Haymitch stresses the importance of gaining sponsors, as they can provide resources during the Games. During a televised interview with Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci), Peeta confesses his feelings for Katniss, which she initially sees as an attempt to attract sponsors; she later learns his feelings are genuine.
When the Games start, Katniss grabs supplies scattered around the Cornucopia, the Games’ starting point, and flees into the forest. She tries to avoid other tributes, but Seneca Crane, the Head Gamemaker, triggers a forest fire to drive her back towards them. She runs into the Careers – composed of District 1’s tributes, Marvel and Glimmer, and District 2’s tributes, Cato and Clove – and climbs a tree. Peeta, seemingly allied with the Careers, suggests they wait her out. Hiding in a nearby tree, Rue, District 11’s female tribute, points Katniss toward a nest of genetically modified venomous wasps named Tracker Jackers, which Katniss cuts to fall onto the sleeping Careers below; Glimmer is killed, but Peeta and the others escape. Katniss retrieves Glimmer’s bow and arrows but falls ill from being stung several times and has hallucinations. Peeta returns and urges her to flee before making his own escape from the Careers.
Rue helps Katniss recover, and the two become friends. Rue distracts the Careers while Katniss destroys a stockpile of their supplies by triggering the mines guarding it. However, Marvel finds and impales Rue with his spear before Katniss shoots him. She comforts Rue by singing, and after she dies, adorns her body with flowers, an act which incites a riot in District 11. Panem President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland) warns Crane he is displeased about the unrest, stating the Games’ purpose is to instill fear to prevent future uprisings.
Haymitch persuades Crane to alter the rules by allowing two victors if they are from the same district, suggesting that it would appease the audience. Katniss finds Peeta severely injured, and the two take shelter in a cave. Despite Peeta’s protests, Katniss leaves to get medicine for him at the Cornucopia. She is ambushed and overpowered by Clove, who gloats about Rue’s death. Thresh, District 11’s male tribute, intervenes and kills Clove. He spares Katniss once, for Rue’s sake. The medicine heals Peeta’s wounds overnight.
While hunting for food, Katniss hears a cannon blast, signaling a death. She rushes to Peeta, who has unwittingly collected deadly nightlock berries. The two find Foxface, District 5’s female tribute, poisoned by the nightshade berries she had eaten after watching Peeta. To end the Games, Crane unleashes genetically modified beasts called Mutts that kill Thresh, leaving Katniss, Peeta, and Cato as the last survivors (escape appears “impossible”). Cato holds Peeta hostage before Katniss shoots his hand, allowing Peeta to break free and push Cato into the monsters. Katniss then shoots Cato to end his suffering.
Suddenly, the host, Claudius Templesmith, announces that Crane revoked the rule change for two victors. Peeta implores Katniss to shoot him, but she convinces him to consume nightlock berries with her. Just as they are about to eat the berries, however, Crane declares them co-victors.
After the Games, Haymitch warns Katniss of the enemies she has made through her rebellious acts. Snow has Crane locked in a room with a bowl of nightlock berries, while contemplating what he will do next.
Against the Odds SCI-FI, where Heroes face a World with Forces of GOOD outnumbered by Forces of EVIL, can offer us Inspiration and Hope — even when it seems “Impossible”.
Why? Because “impossible” things happen … every day.
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