A Better World SCI-FI envisions a more Hopeful, Progressive, and Positive Future — achieved through Advanced Technology or Social Progress, leading to a more fair and just, prosperous, or peaceful World for humanity.

Star Trek (1966-present)

Star Trek is an American SCI-FI TV series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and its crew. It acquired the retronym of Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) to distinguish the show within the media franchise that it began.

Storyline
The show is set in the Milky Way galaxy, c. 2266–2269. The ship and crew are led by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), First Officer and Science Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Chief Medical Officer Leonard H. “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley). Each episode starts with the “Where no man has gone before” intro.

The second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before” introduced other main characters (besides Spock): Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Chief Engineer Lt. Commander Scott (James Doohan) and Lt. Sulu (George Takei), who served as a physicist in the pilot, but then became a helmsman for the rest of the series. Ship’s doctor Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) joined the cast for the first season, and remained, achieving billing as the third star of the series. Also joining the ship’s permanent crew during the first season were the communications officer, Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), the first African-American woman to hold such an important role in an American TV series; the captain’s yeoman, Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney), who departed midway through the first season; and Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett), the ship’s nurse and assistant to McCoy. Walter Koenig joined the cast as Ensign Pavel Chekov in the second season.

Star Trek envisions an optimistic future where humanity has overcome poverty, war, and prejudice, thanks to technological advancements and collective wisdom, leading to a post-scarcity society focused on exploration, self-improvement, and unity within the United Federation of Planets. The franchise’s foundational humanist philosophy, promoted by creator Gene Roddenberry, emphasizes human potential and the rational, ethical application of technology for the betterment of all, creating an inclusive and hopeful vision of humanity’s future.

E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1982)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is an American SCI-FI film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an Extraterrestrial he names E.T. who has been stranded on Earth. Along with his friends and family, Elliott must find a way to help E.T. find his way home. The film stars Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, and Drew Barrymore.

Storyline
A race of diminutive Aliens visit Earth at night to gather plant specimens in a California forest. One of them, fascinated by the distant lights of a neighborhood, separates from the group, before U.S. government agents arrive and chase the startled creature. The Aliens are forced to depart before the agents can find them, leaving their lone member behind. While the agents search the forest, the creature takes shelter in a shed belonging to the family of ten-year-old Elliott Taylor (Thomas). Initially scared by the creature, who runs away, Elliott spends the following day leaving a trail of Reese’s Pieces to lure the Alien back to the Taylor’s home, where he hides the creature in his room. The following morning, Elliott feigns illness to stay off school and play with the creature, whom he dubs E.T. Elliott eventually introduces E.T. to his older brother, Michael (MacNaughton), and five-year-old sister Gertie (Barrymore), who agree to keep E.T. hidden from their hardworking single mother, Mary.

When the children ask about his origins, E.T. displays telekinetic abilities by levitating several balls to represent his planetary system, and later demonstrates other extraordinary abilities by reviving a dead chrysanthemum and instantly healing a cut on Elliott’s finger. As Elliott and the creature begin to bond, they start to share thoughts and emotions, the two being simultaneously startled when E.T. accidentally opens an umbrella in a different room. At school, Elliott becomes intoxicated because, at home, E.T. is drinking beer and watching television. Sensing E.T.’s desire to be rescued, Elliott impulsively frees the frogs about to be vivisected in his biology class, inspiring the other children to follow his lead, and romantically kisses a girl he likes because E.T. is watching John Wayne kiss Maureen O’Hara in The Quiet Man (1952); Elliott is sent to the principal’s office for his disruptive behavior.

Inspired by a Buck Rogers comic strip, depicting the character calling for help with a communication device, E.T. builds a makeshift device to “phone home”, using various parts around the Taylor home. E.T. also learns to speak English, and requests the children’s help to build the device. They agree to help find the missing components, unaware that agents are covertly searching for the Alien. On Halloween, the children disguise E.T. as a ghost and Elliott sneaks E.T. into the forest, where they set up the device to call E.T.’s people. Elliott begs E.T. to stay on Earth with him, before falling asleep and waking alone in the forest the next day. Elliott returns home to his worried family, while Michael searches for E.T., finding him pale and weakened in a culvert. He takes him home, where Elliott is also growing weaker, and reveals the creature to Mary (Wallace) just before government agents invade and quarantine the house.

The lead agent, Keys (Coyote), asks for Elliott’s help to save E.T., stating that meeting Aliens was his childhood dream and he considers E.T’s arrival a genuine miracle. However, E.T. dies while Elliott rapidly recovers. Left alone to say goodbye, Elliott tells E.T. that he loves him, so E.T.’s heart begins to glow and he is revived and restored to health. E.T. tells Elliott that his people are returning for him. Elliott and Michael flee with E.T. on their bikes, flanked by Michael’s friends who help them evade the pursuing authorities. Heading towards a roadblock, E.T. levitates the boys to safety and lands them in the forest. E.T.’s ship arrives, and he says goodbye to Michael and Gertie, who gifts him the chrysanthemum he previously revived. Elliott tearfully asks E.T. to stay, but E.T. places his glowing finger on Elliott’s head and tells him that he will always be there. The children, Mary, and Keys watch the ship blast off into space, leaving a rainbow in the sky.

Avatar (2009)

Avatar is an epic SCI-FI film co-produced, co-edited, written, and directed by James Cameron. It features an ensemble cast including Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver. (Distributed by 20th Century Fox, it is the first installment in the Avatar film series.)

Storyline
In 2154, Earth suffers from resource exhaustion and ecological collapse. The Resources Development Administration (RDA) mines the valuable mineral unobtanium on Pandora, a lush habitable moon orbiting a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system. Pandora, whose atmosphere is inhospitable to humans, is inhabited by the Na’vi, 10-foot-tall (3.0 m), blue-skinned, sapient humanoids that live in harmony with nature.

To explore Pandora, genetically matched human scientists control Na’vi-human hybrids called “avatars”. Paraplegic former Marine Jake Sully (Worthington) is recruited by the RDA to replace his deceased identical twin, who had signed up to be an operator. Avatar Program head Dr. Grace Augustine (Weaver) considers Jake inadequate, but accepts him as an operator.

While escorting the avatars of Grace and Dr. Norm Spellman, Jake’s avatar is attacked by Pandoran wildlife and flees into the forest, where he is rescued by the Na’vi princess Neytiri (Saldana). Suspicious of Jake, she takes him to her clan. Neytiri’s mother, Mo’at, the clan’s spiritual leader, orders her daughter to initiate Jake into their society.

Colonel Miles Quaritch (Lang), head of RDA’s security force, promises Jake that the company will restore the use of his legs if he provides information about the Na’vi and their gathering place, the giant Hometree, under which is a rich deposit of unobtanium. Learning of this, Grace transfers herself, Jake, and Norm to an outpost. Jake and Neytiri fall in love as Jake is initiated into the tribe, and they choose each other as mates. When Jake attempts to disable a bulldozer threatening a sacred Na’vi site, Administrator Parker Selfridge orders Hometree destroyed.

Despite Grace’s argument that destroying Hometree would damage the biological neural network that encompasses all Pandoran life, Selfridge gives Jake and Grace one hour to convince the Na’vi to evacuate. Jake confesses that he was a spy and the Na’vi take him and Grace captive. Quaritch’s soldiers destroy Hometree, killing many, including Neytiri’s father, the clan chief. Mo’at frees Jake and Grace, but they are detached from their avatars and imprisoned by Quaritch’s forces. Pilot Trudy Chacón, disgusted by Quaritch’s brutality, airlifts Jake, Grace, and Norm to Grace’s outpost, but during the escape Grace is shot and fatally wounded.

Jake regains the Na’vi’s trust by connecting his mind to that of the Toruk, a dragon-like creature feared and revered by the Na’vi. Supported by Neytiri and the new chief Tsu’tey, Jake unites the clan, telling them to gather all the clans to battle the RDA. Quaritch organizes a strike against the Tree of Souls to demoralize the Na’vi. Before the battle, Jake prays to the Na’vi deity Eywa via a neural connection with the Tree of Souls.

Tsu’tey and Trudy are among the battle’s heavy casualties. The Na’vi are rescued when Pandoran wildlife unexpectedly join the attack and overwhelm the humans, which Neytiri interprets as Eywa answering Jake’s prayer. Quaritch, in an AMP suit, escapes his crashed aircraft and breaks open the avatar link unit containing Jake’s human body, exposing it to Pandora’s poisonous atmosphere. As Quaritch prepares to kill Jake’s avatar, he is killed by Neytiri, who saves Jake from suffocation, seeing his human form for the first time.

In the aftermath of the war, the RDA are expelled from Pandora; only some humans are chosen to stay, including Max and Norm. Jake is permanently transferred into his avatar with the aid of the Tree of Souls, Neytiri, and Mo’at.

Tomorrowland (2015)

Tomorrowland is an American SCI-FI film directed by Brad Bird with a screenplay by Bird and Damon Lindelof. The film is based on the themed land Tomorrowland from the Disney Parks and a story by Bird, Lindelof, and Jeff Jensen. It stars George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Tim McGraw, Kathryn Hahn, and Keegan-Michael Key. In the film, a disillusioned genius inventor and a teenage science enthusiast embark to an intriguing alternate dimension known as “Tomorrowland”, where their actions directly affect their own world.

In drafting their story, Bird and Lindelof took inspiration from the progressive cultural movements of the Space Age, as well as Walt Disney’s optimistic philosophy of the future, notably his conceptual vision for the planned community known as EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow).

Storyline
Young boy Frank Walker attends the New York World’s Fair (1964) to sell his prototype jet pack, but is rejected because it does not work. He is approached by the young girl Athena (Cassidy), who hands him an orange lapel pin with a blue “T” embossed on it, telling him to follow her onto Walt Disney’s “It’s a Small World” attraction at the Fair’s Pepsi-Cola Pavilion. Frank obeys, sneaking onto the ride. There, the pin is scanned by a laser, and he is transported to Tomorrowland, a futuristic cityscape, where advanced robots fix his jetpack, allowing him to fly and join the secretive world.

In the present day, optimistic teenager Casey Newton (Robertson) repeatedly sabotages the planned demolition of a NASA launch site in Florida. Her father Eddie (McGraw), a NASA engineer, faces losing his job. Casey is eventually caught and arrested. At the police station, she finds a pin in her belongings. Touching it, the pin transports her to Tomorrowland. Her adventure is cut short when the pin’s battery runs out, leaving Casey stranded in a lake.

With help from her younger brother Nate, Casey finds a Houston memorabilia store related to the pin. The owners attack her when she is unable to divulge where she got the pin, insisting that Casey knows about a “little girl”. Athena bursts in and defeats the owners, actually Audio-Animatronics, who self-destruct, blowing apart the shop. After Casey and Athena steal a car, Athena reveals she is also an animatronic, purposed to find and recruit people who fit the ideals of Tomorrowland. She then drops Casey off outside an adult Frank’s house in Pittsfield, New York. The now reclusive, cynical Frank (Clooney) declines Casey’s request to take her to Tomorrowland, having been banished from it years ago. Inside his house, Casey finds a probability counter marking the end of the world. Frank warns her that the future is doomed, but she disagrees, thus lowering the counter’s probability.

Animatronic assassins arrive to kill Casey, but she and Frank escape, meeting Athena in the woods outside his house. Frank resents Athena for lying to him about her true nature, but reluctantly agrees to help them get to Tomorrowland. Using a teleportation device, the trio travel to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Frank explains that Gustave Eiffel, Jules Verne, Nikola Tesla, and Thomas Edison co-founded “Plus Ultra,” a secret society of futurists, creating Tomorrowland in another dimension, free to make scientific breakthroughs without obstruction. The trio use an antique rocket, called the Spectacle, hidden beneath the Eiffel Tower to travel to Tomorrowland.

There, they find Tomorrowland in a state of decay. David Nix (Laurie), Tomorrowland’s governor, greets them. They travel to a tachyon machine, invented by Frank, which accurately predicted the worldwide catastrophe. Casey refuses to accept the world will end, causing the future to temporarily alter. Frank attempts to convince Nix to listen, who refuses and intends to have the group leave Tomorrowland. Casey realizes the tachyon machine is telling humanity that the world will end, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. They confront Nix, who admits he tried to prevent the future by projecting such images to humanity as a warning. Instead, they embraced the apocalypse, refusing to act to make a better future for their world.

Believing that humanity simply gave up, Nix has too and intends to allow the apocalypse to happen so he can rebuild the world to his liking. Casey, Frank, and Athena attempt to use a bomb to destroy the machine, leading to a fight with Nix. The bomb is accidentally thrown through a portal to an uninhabited island on Earth, the explosion pinning Nix’s leg. Athena sees a vision of the future where Frank is shot by Nix, and she jumps in the way of his attack, mortally wounding herself beyond repair. Making peace with Frank, Athena activates her self-destruct sequence, destroying the machine, which falls on Nix, killing him.

In the present, Casey and Frank lead Tomorrowland, recruit Eddie and Nate, and create a new group of recruitment animatronics like Athena, whom they were addressing at the beginning of the film. Given pins, the animatronic children set out to recruit new dreamers and thinkers for Tomorrowland.

Black Panther (2018)

Black Panther is an American SCI-FI film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. The film stars Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa / Black Panther alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis. In Black Panther, T’Challa is crowned king of Wakanda following his father’s death, but he is challenged by Killmonger (Jordan), who plans to abandon the country’s isolationist policies and begin a global revolution.

Storyline
Thousands of years ago, five African tribes warred over a meteorite containing the metal vibranium. One warrior ingests a “heart-shaped herb” affected by the metal and gains superhuman abilities, becoming the first “Black Panther”. He unites all but the Jabari Tribe to form the nation of Wakanda. Over centuries, the Wakandans use vibranium to develop advanced technologies and isolate themselves from the world by posing as an underdeveloped country. In 1992, Wakanda king T’Chaka visits his brother N’Jobu, who is working undercover in Oakland, California. T’Chaka accuses N’Jobu of assisting black-market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue with stealing vibranium from Wakanda. N’Jobu’s partner reveals he is Zuri, another undercover Wakandan, and confirms T’Chaka’s suspicions.

In the present day, following T’Chaka’s death, his son T’Challa returns to Wakanda to assume the throne. He and Okoye, leader of the Dora Milaje, extract T’Challa’s ex-lover Nakia from an undercover assignment so she can attend his coronation ceremony with his mother Ramonda and younger sister Shuri. At the ceremony, the Jabari Tribe’s leader M’Baku challenges T’Challa for the crown in ritual combat without the benefit of the heart-shaped herb. T’Challa defeats M’Baku when he persuades him to yield rather than die.

When Klaue and his accomplice Erik Stevens steal a Wakandan artifact from a London museum, T’Challa’s friend and Okoye’s husband W’Kabi urges him to bring Klaue back alive. T’Challa, Okoye, and Nakia travel to Busan, South Korea, where Klaue plans to sell the artifact to CIA agent Everett K. Ross. A firefight erupts, and Klaue attempts to flee but is caught by T’Challa, who reluctantly releases him to Ross’s custody. Klaue tells Ross that Wakanda’s international image is a front for a technologically advanced civilization. When Erik attacks to extract Klaue, Ross is gravely injured protecting Nakia. Rather than pursue Klaue, T’Challa takes Ross to Wakanda, where their technology can save him.

While Shuri tends to Ross, T’Challa confronts Zuri about N’Jobu, since Erik wore a necklace that belonged to him. Zuri explains that N’Jobu had become disillusioned with Wakanda’s isolationism and planned to share Wakanda’s technology with people of African descent to help them overcome their oppressors, with Klaue’s assistance. Before T’Chaka could apprehend N’Jobu, N’Jobu attacked Zuri, forcing T’Chaka to kill him. T’Chaka instructed Zuri to claim that N’Jobu had vanished and to leave behind N’Jobu’s American son, N’Jadaka, to uphold the story. This boy grew up to become Erik, a U.S. black ops Navy SEAL who took on the nickname “Killmonger.” Meanwhile, Killmonger kills Klaue and brings his body to Wakanda. He is presented before the tribal elders, revealing himself as N’Jadaka and asserting his claim to the throne. Killmonger challenges T’Challa to ritual combat and kills Zuri; without the powers of the heart-shaped herb, T’Challa is severely injured and presumed dead after Killmonger throws him over a waterfall. Killmonger ingests the heart-shaped herb and orders the rest to be incinerated, but Nakia manages to extract one. Killmonger, backed by W’Kabi and his army, prepares to distribute shipments of Wakandan weapons to operatives worldwide.

Nakia, Shuri, Ramonda, and Ross flee to the Jabari Tribe for aid. They find a comatose T’Challa, rescued by the Jabari as repayment for sparing M’Baku’s life. Healed by Nakia’s herb, T’Challa returns to fight Killmonger, who also dons a nanotech suit similar to T’Challa’s. W’Kabi and his army fight Shuri, Nakia, and the Dora Milaje while Ross remotely pilots a jet and shoots down the planes carrying vibranium weapons before they can leave Wakanda. M’Baku and the Jabari arrive to reinforce T’Challa. Confronted by Okoye, W’Kabi and his army stand down. Fighting in Wakanda’s vibranium mine, T’Challa disrupts Killmonger’s suit and stabs him. Killmonger refuses to be healed, choosing to die as a free man rather than be incarcerated; T’Challa shows him the Wakanda sunset, and Killmonger dies peacefully.

T’Challa establishes an outreach center at the building where N’Jobu died, to be run by Nakia and Shuri. (In a mid-credits scene, T’Challa appears before the United Nations to reveal Wakanda’s true nature to the world.)

A Better World SCI-FI encourages us to embrace a Hopeful and Optimistic view of the Future — where people live in a more fair and just, prosperous, and peaceful World — usually achieved through technological advancement or social progress. So, what’s the hitch to all this?

We have to Believe it’s Possible … before we can make it a Reality.

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(click image link to view YouTube video)

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Alien Influence SCI-FI explores the idea that an Outside Force — like Extraterrestrial Intelligence — may be secretly controlling or influencing life on Earth from behind the scenes, by manipulation of Events or Human behavior … highlighting our Fears related to Power, Control and the Unknown.

They Live (1988)

They Live is an American SCI-FI action horror film written and directed by John Carpenter, based on the 1963 short story “Eight O’Clock in the Morning” by Ray Nelson. Starring Roddy Piper, Keith David, and Meg Foster.

Storyline
A homeless drifter in Los Angeles, John Nada (Piper) meets fellow laborer Frank Armitage (David), who brings him to a soup kitchen and ad-hoc squatters’ community on the edge of the city. Early on, the local TV is occasionally interrupted by a pirated signal carrying the warnings of a bearded conspiracy theorist, who declares that the human race is being controlled by an unseen Force.

Nada learns that this signal is coming from a nearby church, home to an underground movement, whose mission is to awaken the world to this Force’s sinister plans. There he discovers a box of “Truth-Revealing” sunglasses. When Nada puts on a pair, he realizes that the richest, most powerful people in the world also happen to be … skeleton-faced ALIENS — concealing their appearance and manipulating people to consume, breed, and conform to the status quo via Subliminal Messages in mass media.

Will Nada be able to convince others to join his fight against the Aliens controlling humanity? Will he succeed in destroying their transmitter that disguises their True appearance and hidden propaganda? The eerie parallels between this story and modern attempts through Social Media to sway the masses are truly frightening — to say the least.

The most memorable parts of They Live are the scenes in which seemingly innocuous advertisements and pop-culture entertainments are exposed as nefarious means of Mind Control, delivering blunt subliminal messages like “OBEY,” “MARRY AND REPRODUCE,” and “NO INDEPENDENT THOUGHT.”

The X-Files (1993-2018)

The X-Files is an American SCI-FI drama TV series created by Chris Carter, starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi and William B. Davis.

Storyline
The story follows FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson), who investigate the “X-Files”: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder is a skilled criminal profiler, an ardent supernaturalist, and a conspiracy theorist who believes in the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life and its presence on Earth (springing from the claimed Alien abduction of his sister Samantha when he was 12) whereas Scully is a medical doctor and skeptic who has been assigned to scientifically analyze Mulder’s case files and debunk his nonconforming theories, often supplying logical, scientific explanations for apparently ‘unexplainable’ phenomena.

The main story arc involves the agents’ efforts to uncover a government conspiracy that covers up the existence of extraterrestrials and their sinister collaboration with said government. They come to trust only one another. Early on, Agent Skinner (Pileggi) is dismissive toward Mulder’s belief in Extraterrestrials, but later is moved to respect and agree with him. Mysterious men constituting a shadow element within the U.S. government, known as the Syndicate, are the major villains in the series; late in the series it is revealed that The Syndicate acts as the only liaison between mankind and a group of extraterrestrials that intends to destroy humanity. They are usually represented by the Cigarette Smoking Man (Davis), a ruthless killer, masterful politician, negotiator, failed novelist, and the series’ principal antagonist.

Mulder and Scully learn about evidence of a planned Alien Invasion piece by piece. It is revealed that the extraterrestrials plan on using a sentient virus, known as the black oil (also known as “Purity”), to infect mankind and turn the population of the world into a slave race. The Syndicate—having made a deal to be spared by the Aliens—have been working to develop an Alien-Human Hybrid that will be able to withstand the effects of the black oil. The group has also been secretly working on a vaccine to overcome the black oil; this vaccine is revealed in the latter parts of season five, as well as the 1998 film. (The X-Files: Fight the Future)

Counter to the Alien colonization effort, another faction of Aliens, the faceless Rebels, are working to stop Alien colonization. Eventually, in the season six episodes “Two Fathers” and “One Son”, the rebels manage to destroy the Syndicate. The colonists, now without human liaisons, dispatch the “Super Soldiers”: beings that resemble humans, but are biologically Alien. In the latter parts of season eight, and the whole of season nine, the Super Soldiers manage to replace key individuals in the government, forcing Mulder and Scully to go into hiding.

The Puppet Masters (1994)

The Puppet Masters is an American SCI-FI horror film, adapted from Robert A. Heinlein’s 1951 novel of the same title — starring Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Julie Warner, Richard Belzer and Keith David.

Storyline
When a flying saucer reportedly lands in rural Iowa, Andrew Nivens (Sutherland), who runs a secret branch of the CIA, sends two agents to investigate the crash site — who disappear shortly after their arrival. He then goes in person, accompanied by agents Sam Nivens, his son (Thal), and Jarvis (Belzer), as well as Dr. Mary Sefton (Warner), a NASA specialist.

At the crash site, now staged as a phony tourist attraction, they encounter people who appear to display no emotions. To test this theory when meeting with a local television station manager, Mary partially opens her blouse but gets no reaction from the manager who ignores her attempts to seduce him. Suspecting that the man is not who he seems, Sam attempts to take him into custody; however, a brutal fight takes place in the man’s office, killing the manager. The team then locates an Alien that looks like a slug attached to the man’s back. The team manages to capture the Alien and, after a chase during which multiple infected town citizens attempt to stop them, they return to their plane.

The slugs soon spread steadily from the infected town and during a staff meeting where the team discusses the situation, Sam notices that Jarvis has stopped chain-smoking. Suspecting that he may have been infected, Sam and the team attempt to restrain Jarvis and, after a brief chase, they locate the unconscious Jarvis who no longer has an Alien on his back.

After a search of the office building, unable to locate the Alien, Andrew orders all of his staff (at gunpoint) including Sam to remove their shirts. At this time, Andrew’s personal secretary refuses to remove her shirt and attempts to flee the building. Agents, including Sam, pursue her, and after a brutal one-on-one fight, Andrew and Alex Holland (David), Sam’s best friend and leader of the agency SWAT team, locate Sam and the now-dead secretary in the office’s kitchen. Sam tells his father that the Alien got away (but unbeknownst to them, Sam is infected.)

Andrew, Mary, Holland, and Dr. Graves (the lead medical researcher for the team) interrogate the infected Sam. They learn that the Aliens have complete control over their hosts, including killing them and bringing them back to life. (The race is on for the team to stop the invaders before they turn all of humanity into zombie slaves.) Andrew threatens the Alien by subjecting Sam to electric shocks, through which they then learn that electric shocks briefly break the Alien’s control, at the expense of injuring the host. The Alien tells Andrew that it will kill Sam to prove its power and when it stops his heart, Mary conducts massive electrical shocks to Sam, causing the Alien to leave his body after believing that Sam is no longer a viable host. After suffering significant withdrawal, Mary comforts Sam and they begin a personal relationship.

Later, Sam and Mary are back at Sam’s apartment discussing the events of the day and after Sam changes clothes, Mary attempts to seduce him. Sam then discovers that Mary had been infected by an Alien. After informing Sam that the Aliens now know everything that they know, and any attempts to harm the Alien would harm Mary, Mary makes a seemingly impossible jump from Sam’s third-floor apartment and flees in a car driven by Greenberg.

Sam finds Mary and, after nearly killing her to remove the Alien from her back, she informs him that they need to retrieve a child that had been kept in isolation from the infected townspeople. The child once suffered from encephalitis, which was apparently the reason a slug couldn’t possess him. The team tests the theory by infecting an Alien with the encephalitis virus, which causes the alien to explode and die. Biological warfare is adopted and seemingly all parasites die, freeing their victims.

During a later inspection of a hive, debris falls on Andrew. Sam realizes that his father is infected upon seeing him walk normally when he had previously needed to use a cane due to a leg injury. Sam pursues him when he tries to escape. After a brutal fight on a commandeered helicopter, Sam shoots his father, causing the Alien to flee — but is killed by the helicopter’s tail rotor. Now back on the ground, Andrew confirms that that was the last Alien and that he is aware of how much Sam loves him and how Sam and Mary feel about each other. While Andrew is treated for his injuries, Sam remarks to Mary that now she knows everything about him but he has to learn about her. Mary tells him that he has a lifetime to get to know her.

Dark Skies (1996)

Dark Skies is an American UFO conspiracy theory–based SCI-FI TV series that explores a hidden Alien invasion in 1960s America. Starring Eric Close, Megan Ward, J.T. Walsh and Jeri Ryan. The series tagline: “History as we know it is a lie.”

Storyline
John Loengard (Close) and Kim Sayers (Ward) are a young couple newly arrived in Washington, D.C. who become embroiled in a conspiracy involving an Alien race known as the Hive. This parasitic species has been covertly invading Earth since the late 1940s, manipulating historical events to facilitate their plans for domination. The couple’s journey takes them through various historical contexts, including the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which is depicted as part of the Hive’s strategy to maintain control over humanity.

As they uncover the truth, John and Kim must navigate the dangers posed by the Majestic 12, a secret government organization under Captain Frank Bach (Walsh) tasked with managing the Alien threat while simultaneously covering up their existence. When John and Kim become separated, he is later joined by extraterrestrial investigator Juliet Stuart (Ryan). The series intricately weaves real-life personalities from the 1960s, such as The Beatles and Robert F. Kennedy, into its narrative, enhancing the blend of fact and fiction.

Dark Skies explores themes of government conspiracy, Alien abduction, and the manipulation of history. The series is noted for its ambitious storytelling, attempting to connect various conspiracy theories and historical events into a cohesive narrative. (Despite its intriguing premise and production quality, the show was canceled after one season, leaving many plot threads unresolved.) Though short-lived, it remains a notable entry, particularly for its unique approach to blending historical events with SCI-FI elements.

Although the last episode produced provides some form of closure for the series, with John Loengard meeting his son and the head of Majestic 12 being apparently assassinated, the show’s creators had originally hoped to create five seasons, as indicated by the show’s Bible. According to Zabel and Friedman’s original plan, the pilot and first season (given the overall title “Official Denial”) would cover the period from 1961 to 1969, the second season (“Progenitor”) 1970 to 1976, the third season (“Cloak of Fear”) 1977 to 1986, the fourth season (“New World Order”) would cover 1987 to 1999, and the fifth and final season (“Stroke of Midnight”) would break from the decade-spanning format to encompass the apocalyptic final conflict against the invaders, taking place from 2000 to 2001.

Men in Black (1997)

Men in Black is an American SCI-FI action comedy starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith as “men in black”, secret agents who monitor and police undercover Aliens who have integrated into human society, with some holding positions of power. Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Rip Torn also appear in supporting roles.

Storyline
In 1961, the Men in Black (MIB) organization is founded after secretly making first contact with extraterrestrials. The MIB designates Earth as a neutral zone for Alien refugees who live in secret among humans. Agents monitor Alien activity and use memory-erasing neuralyzer devices to maintain secrecy.

In 1997, MIB Agents K and D disrupt a border patrol operation at the Mexico–United States border to capture an alien named Mikey. When Mikey becomes violent, K kills him and neuralyzes the patrol officers. D, feeling too old to continue, asks K to neuralyze him so he can retire.

Soon after, NYPD officer James Edwards apprehends a suspect, unaware they are an Alien –who warns of a coming threat before committing suicide. K, impressed by James’s performance, recruits him into the MIB. After completing a series of tests, James becomes Agent J, and his previous identity is erased from public records.

Meanwhile, a hostile Alien known as a “Bug” crash-lands in upstate New York. The Bug kills a farmer named Edgar and uses his skin as a disguise. K and J, tipped off by a tabloid news article, question Edgar’s wife. They learn that the Bug has killed two aliens who were living on Earth in disguise. Their bodies, along with their pet cat, are sent to a morgue overseen by coroner Laurel Weaver.

At the morgue, the Alien tells J and Laurel that “the galaxy is on Orion’s Belt” before dying. After neuralyzing Laurel, K identifies the alien as Rosenberg, a prince from the Arquillian Empire. K and J visit Frank the Pug, an alien informant, who explains that Rosenberg was protecting a miniature galaxy. The galaxy is a powerful energy source which the Bug wants to use to destroy the Arquillians. An Arquillian warship soon arrives in Earth’s orbit and demands the MIB return the galaxy or they will destroy the Earth.

J and the Bug both realize the galaxy is on the collar of Rosenberg’s cat, Orion, which is now with Laurel. The Bug captures her and swallows the galaxy. As the Arquillians prepare to destroy Earth to stop the Bug, the MIB locks down all transportation. J guesses the Bug will head to the New York State Pavilion, where the MIB hid flying saucers during the 1964 World’s Fair.

At the site, the Bug tries to escape with Laurel. She briefly breaks free, and the agents shoot down the ship. The Bug sheds its human skin and reveals its true form, swallowing the agents’ weapons. K allows himself to be eaten so he can retrieve his weapon from inside. J distracts the Bug until K shoots the Bug apart from within. Laurel uses J’s gun to finish the bug off.

After returning the galaxy to the Arquillians, K reveals that he was training J to take his place. J neuralyzes him so he can retire. Later, J continues his work with Laurel, who has joined the MIB as Agent L.

Alien Influence SCI-FI explores important themes like Paranoia, Conspiracy, Hidden Agendas, and Humanity’s vulnerability to Unknown Forces. It plays on our anxieties about Control and the possibility that Unseen Powers are shaping the world.

In this case, Reality goes beyond Fiction — according to UFO Abduction researchers like David M. Jacobs (Walking Among Us: The Alien Plan to Control Humanity).

Consider yourself warned.

***

(click image link to view YouTube video)

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Aliens Incognito SCI-FI: stories about ALIENS living on Earth — concealing their True Identity to appear Human (by disguise or adapting themselves through genetic breeding to create Alien-Human Hybrids). Motivations may include: Observation and Study, Guiding Humanity, or Infiltration and Takeover.

The Invaders — (1967)

The Invaders is an American SCI-FI TV series that aired on ABC for two seasons.

Storyline
Architect David Vincent (Roy Thinnes) accidentally learns of a secret invasion of Aliens from outer space already underway– disguising themselves as humans and gradually infiltrating our world. He travels from place to place, trying to thwart the invasion despite the disbelief of officials and the general public. Vincent’s grim and lonely determination to find “tangible proof of the invaders’ existence” is undermined by the Aliens — who kill anyone who discovers them in ways disguised as a natural death.

Over time, Vincent is able to convince a small number of people to help him in his never ending fight.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers — (1978)

Storyline
Invasion of the Body Snatchers begins with a dying, Alien race that stumbles upon Earth, and lands quietly in San Francisco where they transform themselves into small pods. Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) a laboratory scientist at the San Francisco Health Department, stumbles upon some in a park, and picks off a pink flower growing out of one of them. Oblivious to the danger, she takes it home.

The next morning she finds her boyfriend, Dr. Geoffrey Howell (Art Hindle), acting odd. She tells, Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland), about it. He recommends she talk to his shrink/friend Dr. Kibner (Leonard Nemoy). Kibner logically says that Elizabeth is trying to sabotage her relationship with Geoffery so she can dump him.

In another part of town, where Matthew’s friends, Jack (Jeff Goldblum) and Nancy Bellicec (Veronica Cartwright), find a deformed body on a bed. They call Matthew to investigate. Matthew thinks the body looks similar to Jack. He then runs off to Elizabeth where he finds her clone growing in the bedroom garden. He whisks her away, and returns with police, but by then, Elizabeth’s double is long gone. Matthew assumes what he is seeing is out of this world and calls the government for help. Unfortunately, they push him to keep quiet so the public doesn’t panic.

Later, Matthew, Elizabeth, Jack, and Nicole doze off, and the Aliens nearly duplicate Matthew. Nicole wakes him and the group flees the house they are in. During their escape, the couples separate from one another. Matthew and Elizabeth end up at the office they work at. In time, the clones of Jack and Dr. Kibner arrive. They tell Matthew that what they are doing is the only way for their species to survive.

He sedates Matthew and Elizabeth so they will sleep, but they took speed beforehand to counteract its effects. Once again, the two escape. They reunite with Nancy, who tells them to hide their emotions to trick the Aliens. With that in mind, they go outside with the Aliens. Matthew and Elizabeth end up at the docks where they find a cargo ship.

Matthew runs off to get a closer look. When he returns, he finds that Elizabeth has fallen asleep, and her Alien clone has risen. He then sets fire to the warehouse; destroying many pods. As this happens, Elizabeth’s clone rats out Matthew and he flees.

In the morning, Matthew watches some children shuffle into a theater for conversion. Nancy, who has been successful hiding among the aliens, sees him and tries to talk to him. He turns and points at her with the Alien scream. She too lets out a shriek of terror.

“V” Miniseries — (1983)

Inspired by It Can’t Happen Here (a 1935 dystopian novel by Sinclair Lewis about a fictional politician who quickly rises to power, becoming America’s first dictator) director–producer Kenneth Johnson in 1982 scripted a miniseries entitled Storm Warnings. NBC executives rejected the original idea, which they considered too cerebral for the average viewer. To make the story more marketable, it was revised into an “Alien invasion” story. It premiered as V on American TV May 3, 1983.

Storyline
Aliens arrive on Earth in huge, saucer-shaped motherships and reveal themselves, appearing human (in red, Nazi-like uniforms) but requiring special glasses to protect their eyes. They initially pose as humanity’s friends, promising to share advanced technology. When strange events begin to occur, a TV journalist (Marc Singer) discovers that beneath their human-like façade, the Visitors are carnivorous reptilian humanoids. They interrupt his broadcast, taking control of the media.

Key humans are subjected to mind-control which turns them into Alien pawns, while others are subjected to horrifying biological experiments. A Resistance movement (symbolized by a blood-red letter V for Victory) means to expose the Visitors’ true purpose: to conquer planet Earth, steal its water and harvest the human race as food. Humans strike their first blow against the Aliens, obtaining weapons from National Guard armories to carry on the fight … but the war is not over.

The original miniseries ends with Visitors virtually controlling the Earth. Humans send a transmission into space to ask other Alien races for help. (Followed by V: The Final Battle and V: The Series.)

Roswell — (1999)

Roswell is an American SCI-FI TV series that presents a timeline where the Roswell UFO exists, and Aliens are hiding in plain sight as a trio of high school-aged teenagers. The show is built on their relationships with humans.

Storyline
Living among the citizens of the infamous New Mexico city of Roswell are some (three young Alien/human hybrids with extraordinary gifts — gifts that are “not-of-this-earth”) who are not there by choice. They are there to follow a destiny given to them by the members of their dying race, a race that they are someday destined to save.

For the past 10 years, Max Evans (Jason Behr) his sister Isabel (Katherine Heigl) and his best friend Michael Guerin (Brendan Fehr) have been living a somewhat normal existence, with their hybrid biology of human and Alien DNA helping them to fit in. Surviving descendants from beings on board the fiery crash of an Alien spacecraft that popular legend says plummeted to the desert in 1947, the three teenagers have grown up quietly among the Roswell residents since emerging from incubation. Their peaceful existence was shattered the day Max forged an otherworldly connection with fellow classmate Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby) by using his mysterious powers to heal her gunshot wound, putting aside a pact of secrecy and ultimately risking his own life.

With this simple twist of fate, their secret is sacrificed and their identity exposed, forced to trust Liz and her best friends Maria DeLuca and Alex Whitman in order to stay one step ahead of forces from this world and beyond that would do anything to destroy them. They are also aided by Sheriff Valenti (Michael Trevino) who is driven by a very personal need to learn the truth about what happened on that fateful night in 1947.

Resident Alien — (2021)

Resident Alien is an American SCI-FI mystery comedy-drama TV series about an ALIEN sent to destroy Humanity but starts to understand human emotions and helps solve local crimes while posing as a doctor. (Based on the comic book of the same title by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse.)

Storyline
After crash-landing on Earth in a small Colorado town, an Extraterrestrial (Alan Tudyk) sent to wipe out humanity kills a vacationing physician and takes on his identity. He is asked to do an autopsy on the town’s doctor, who has died in unknown circumstances, and eventually takes over for the doctor at the town’s clinic. He wrestles with the moral dilemma of his secret mission, while also dealing with the mayor’s young son, who can see his true Alien appearance. He develops compassion for humanity and ends up defending them from other Extraterrestrial threats.

The series explores themes of identity, morality, and the challenges of fitting in.

Aliens Incognito SCI-FI presents a view of Life on Earth from an ALIEN perspective — appearing Human to conceal their True Identity (by disguise or adaptive breeding to create Alien-Human Hybrids). According to UFO Abduction researcher David M. Jacobs, (Walking Among Us, 2015) this process has already been underway for decades — Hybrids adapting to blend in with the help of human Abductees (who really have no choice).

An invisible CHANGE is happening … with Aliens adapting to life on Earth.

Hopefully, it will make the world a better place.

***

(click image link to view YouTube video)

Displaced People SCI-FI: when characters (Human or Alien) are forced to leave their Homes — due to War, environmental Disasters, or other cataclysms — and seek Sanctuary elsewhere. Often inspired by Real-World Crises, these stories explore Refugee struggles … to Survive, Adapt, and find a sense of Belonging in unfamiliar or hostile environments.

ALIEN NATION — Film, TV Series & TV Movies — (1988-1997)

Alien Nation is a SCI-FI TV Series (adapted from the 1988 film) starring Gary Graham as Detective Matthew Sikes, an officer of the Los Angeles Police Department reluctantly working with “Newcomer” Alien “George” Francisco, played by Eric Pierpoint. [Followed by 5 TV movies: Dark Horizon (1994), Body and Soul (1995), Millennium (1996), The Enemy Within (1996), and The Udara Legacy (1997)]

Storyline
In 1988, a flying saucer crashes in the Mojave Desert carrying 250,000 ALIENS, Tenctonese, former slaves controlled by “Overseers” (who exit the ship at the same time, blending in with other Refugees) — all attempting to make new lives for themselves on Earth. They are Humanoid but have certain anatomical differences and have been bred with greater physical strength and intelligence. These “Newcomers”, as they are called, become the latest immigrants to the United States, facing struggles with integration into our multicultural society.

The storylines (set 5 years after Alien arrival) are often morality plays on the evils of Racism and Bigotry, using Newcomers as the discriminated minority. As fictional Alien immigrants, Newcomers can stand in for Social Issues about various races, as well as sexual Minorities such as Gays and Lesbians, inverting the usual expectations.

One example: mid-way through the series, George becomes pregnant (the male of his species carrying the fetus for part of its gestation), and during much of the episode, dialog includes lines like, “If you females had to feel the pain we males feel during pregnancy, there wouldn’t be any babies.” The series offers social commentary (and a healthy dose of Humor) by illustrating what it means to be Human and the often bizarre rituals we observe.

On RACISM: “Purists” oppose the integration of Newcomers into Human society, and are against granting them Civil Rights (including the right to Vote), saying they should stay with their “own kind”. Since it is considered only “a matter of time” until Newcomers and Humans interbreed, they also believe that this would “pollute” our gene pool — and cause Humans to become Extinct. Conspiracy theorists fear that with their superior physical attributes (enhanced strength, longer lifespan, higher intelligence, superior adaptive physiology etc.) the Aliens will try to take over planet Earth.

STAR TREK: INSURRECTION — (1998)

Star Trek: Insurrection is an American SCI-FI film directed by Jonathan Frakes, starring the cast of Star Trek: TNG, with F. Murray Abraham, Donna Murphy, and Anthony Zerbe in main roles.

Storyline
Lieutenant Commander Data is temporarily transferred to an undercover mission observing the peaceful Ba’ku people. He suddenly malfunctions and reveals the presence of the joint Federation–Son’a task force observing the Ba’ku. Vice Admiral Dougherty contacts the USS Enterprise-E to obtain Data’s schematics for recovery purposes, but adamantly states the Enterprise’s presence is unneeded. captain Jean-Luc Picard ignores orders and takes the Enterprise to recover Data. Upon successfully recovering Data, Picard becomes suspicious when Dougherty insists that the Enterprise is no longer needed and orders Data’s malfunction to be investigated.

The crew discovers that the Ba’ku are technologically advanced with warp capabilities, but have rejected the use of technology for simpler lives. Due to unique “metaphasic particles” emanating from the planet’s rings, the inhabitants are effectively immortal. By contrast, the Federation’s allies, the Son’a, are a decrepit race who rely on medical technology to delay death; excessive cosmetic surgery gives them a mummified appearance. The Enterprise crew experience the rejuvenation effects of the planet: Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge can now see without ocular implants, Lt. Commander Worf experiences puberty, Commander William Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi rekindle their long-abandoned relationship, and Picard develops a romantic relationship with Anij, a Ba’ku woman.

Data and Picard discover a submerged Federation ship containing a gigantic holodeck that recreates the Ba’ku village. Data’s malfunction stemmed from a Son’a attack, the result of his accidentally discovering their vessel. Picard confronts Dougherty and learns that top Federation officers colluded with the Son’a to relocate the Ba’ku to another planet deceptively, allowing the particles to be collected massively (poisoning the planet in the process). Dougherty then orders Enterprise to leave. Picard defiantly retorts that the particles’ medical benefits do not justify Dougherty’s plans for the Ba’ku and that they violate Starfleet’s Prime Directive.

Picard and some crew help the Ba’ku escape abduction while Riker moves the Enterprise to transmission range to communicate the violation to Starfleet. The Son’a launches robotic probes to locate and capture the fleeing Ba’ku. The Son’a leader, Ahdar Ru’afo, convinces Dougherty to allow two Son’a ships to attack the Enterprise, but Enterprise escapes after taking damage and destroying a Son’a ship. With the Son’a plan exposed, Ru’afo insistes on immediately harvesting the radiation source. Picard, Anij, and several Ba’ku are transported as prisoners onto the Son’a ship. Dr. Beverly Crusher discovers that the Son’a and the Ba’ku are the same race. Picard then informs Dougherty that the Son’a are a splinter faction of Ba’ku who abandoned their bucolic existence a century earlier and embraced technology. Their attempt to seize power failed, and the Ba’ku elders exiled them from the planet, denying them the rings’ rejuvenating effects. The Son’a developed an artificially imperfect means to extend their lives at the cost of disfigurement and now seek revenge. Ru’afo kills Dougherty after he reneges on their plan.

While Picard is prepared for execution, he convinces the disillusioned Son’a Gallatin to help him stop Ru’afo. Picard masterminds a ruse to transport Ru’afo and his bridge crew to the holoship and disable the harvester. Ru’afo discovers the deception and transports to the harvester ship to manually restart the process. Picard follows and sets the harvester to self-destruct, killing Ru’afo just as the Enterprise rescues Picard. The remaining Son’a are forgiven and welcomed back by the Ba’ku. Picard arranges a meeting between Gallatin and his Ba’ku mother to thank him for his help. The crew takes a moment to enjoy their rejuvenated selves before returning to their previous mission.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA — TV series — (1978-2009)

Battlestar Galactica is an American SCI-FI media franchise created by Glen A. Larson — the original TV series in 1978, then a reimagined version aired as a two-part, three-hour miniseries developed by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick in 2003, followed by a 2004 television series, which aired until 2009.

Storyline
In a distant part of the universe, a human civilization has extended to a group of planets known as the Twelve Colonies, to which they have migrated from their ancestral homeworld of Kobol. The Twelve Colonies have been engaged in a lengthy war with the Cylons, a cybernetic race whose goal is the extermination of the human species.

The Cylons offer peace to the humans, which proves to be a ruse. With the aid of a human named Baltar, the Cylons carry out a massive nuclear attack on the Twelve Colonies and the Colonial Fleet of starships that protect them, devastating the fleet, laying waste to the Colonies, and destroying all but a small remaining population.

Survivors flee into outer space aboard a motley fleet of spaceworthy ships. Of the Colonial battle fleet, only the Battlestar Galactica, a gigantic battleship and spacecraft carrier, appears to have survived the attack. Under the leadership of Commander Adama, the Galactica and the pilots of “Viper fighters” lead a fugitive fleet of survivors in search of the fabled thirteenth colony … known as Earth.

SUPERGIRL — TV Series — (2015-2021)

Supergirl is an American superhero SCI-FI TV series that aired on CBS and later The CW from October 26, 2015, to November 9, 2021 (Based on the DC Comics character). The series follows Kara Zor-El (played by Melissa Benoist), Superman’s cousin, and one of the last surviving Kryptonians from the planet Krypton. As Supergirl, Kara uses her powers to protect National City.

Storyline
Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth from Krypton as a 13-year-old by her parents, Zor-El and Alura. Kara was tasked with protecting her infant cousin, Kal-El, but her spacecraft was knocked off course and trapped in the Phantom Zone for 24 years. By the time her spacecraft crash-landed on Earth, Kal-El had already grown up and become Superman. The series begins 12 years later, with Kara embracing her superhuman powers and adopting the superhero alias “Supergirl”.

(Season 1) Kara reveals her powers to become National City’s protector. She discovers that numerous criminals her mother imprisoned have escaped to Earth, including her aunt Astra and her uncle Non. Kara works with her adoptive sister Alex Danvers, the Green Martian J’onn J’onzz, James Olsen, and tech genius Winn Schott to fight these threats.

(Season 2) Kara and her allies face tensions between humans and extraterrestrials while investigating Project Cadmus, run by Lillian Luthor, Lex Luthor’s mother. Kara befriends Lena Luthor, Lillian’s adoptive daughter, and navigates her romantic feelings for Mon-El, a prince from Daxam, Krypton’s neighboring planet. Meanwhile, James becomes the vigilante Guardian, Alex begins dating Maggie Sawyer, and J’onn forms a bond with M’gann M’orzz, a White Martian.

(Season 3) Kara grapples with Mon-El’s departure, only for him to return from the 31st century, where he has founded the Legion and married Imra Ardeen. J’onn reunites with his father, M’yrnn J’onzz, and Kara’s new friend, Samantha Arias, unknowingly transforms into the world-killing weapon Reign.

(Season 4) Kara confronts rising anti-alien sentiments fueled by Lex Luthor, who manipulates Ben Lockwood into forming a human-first group, the Children of Liberty, forcing her to fight against prejudice and for the civil and political rights of aliens. Meanwhile, a Kara clone, dubbed Red Daughter, is trained by Kasnian forces to fight Supergirl at Lex’s request. Tensions arise as Col. Lauren Haley joins the DEO, demanding that Supergirl reveal her identity, which she refuses to do.

(Season 5) Kara and her friends face a new threat, Leviathan, while adjusting to life on the newly created Earth-Prime following the multiverse-altering Crisis on Infinite Earths. Kara also faces challenges working under Lex Luthor, as Leviathan continues their covert operations.

(Season 6) the final season, Lex seeks to continue the Anti-Monitor’s work by conquering the multiverse and imprisons Kara in the Phantom Zone, where she discovers her father is also trapped. After being rescued, Kara and her team face the fifth-dimensional imp Nyxlygsptlnz, who escaped the Phantom Zone and seeks revenge on her father. Lex eventually allies with Nyxlygsptlnz, leading to the final showdown in the series.

VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS — (2017)

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a space opera SCI-FI film written and directed by Luc Besson, (based on the French SCI-FI comics series Valérian and Laureline). It stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as Valerian and Laureline, respectively, with Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, Herbie Hancock, Kris Wu and Rutger Hauer in supporting roles.

Storyline
In the 28th century, cooperation between the Earth and extraterrestrial species has expanded the former International Space Station to the point its mass threatens gravitational disruption to Earth. Relocated to deep space, it becomes Alpha, a space-traveling city inhabited by 3,236 species from hundreds of planets. Valerian and Laureline are partners in the United Human Federation police.

Valerian has a dream of the planet Mül, where a low-tech humanoid race fishes for pearls containing energy, which is converted by a small animal for use. A huge spacecraft crashes into the planet, causing an extinction event. The planet’s princess, Lihö-Minaa, is stranded outside, but before she dies, she conveys an energy wave containing a telepathic message.

Valerian and Laureline are on a mission to retrieve the last Mül converter animal, which is in the hands of black market dealer Igon Siruss. In a marketplace on planet Kirian in an alternate dimension, Valerian disrupts a meeting between Igon and two hooded figures similar to the humanoids from his dream. They, too, seek the converter. Valerian and Laureline recover the converter, and Valerian steals an energy pearl. They learn that Mül was destroyed 30 years earlier, and information about it is classified.

Onboard Alpha, commander Arün Filitt informs them that the center of the station has been irradiated by an unknown force, rendering it highly toxic. Troops sent into the area have not returned and the radiation levels are increasing. Laureline and Valerian are assigned to protect the commander during an interstation summit on the crisis; against the commander’s wishes, Laureline maintains possession of the converter.

During the summit, Mül humanoids attack and kidnap Filitt. Valerian chases the kidnappers to the irradiated area but crashes his spaceplane. Laureline enlists Alien information brokers to find Valerian at the edge of the irradiated zone. She is kidnapped by a primitive tribe and presented as the choice course at their emperor’s dinner. Valerian infiltrates the tribe’s territory with the help of a shape-shifter named Bubble. Laureline and Valerian escape, but Bubble is fatally wounded. Valerian and Laureline venture into the irradiated area, discovering it is not dangerous and contains an antique spacecraft. They find the humanoids, the Pearls, with an unconscious Filitt.

Pearl Emperor Haban Limaï explains that his people lived peacefully on Mül until a battle occurred on their world between the Federation and a hostile Alien race. The human commander Filitt ordered the use of fusion missiles to destroy the enemy mothership, but inadvertently resulted in Mül’s destruction. Upon her death, Princess Lihö-Minaa transferred her soul into Valerian’s body. Haban and some of Mül’s inhabitants survive in a previously crashed vessel. Trapped in the spaceship, the surviving Pearls repaired it and learned human technology and history. Scrap ships took them to Alpha, where they assimilated knowledge from different species and built their own ship. They need the converter and pearl to launch it, so they can find a new home.

Filitt admits his role in the genocide but argues it was necessary to end the war and cover it up to prevent humans from losing credibility and influence in Alpha. Valerian and Laureline argue that the commander is trying to avoid the consequences of his actions. When Filitt becomes belligerent, Valerian knocks him out.

Valerian hands over the pearl he took from Igon, and Laureline persuades him to return the converter. While the Pearls prepare their spacecraft for takeoff, Filitt’s K-Tron robot soldiers attack them, but Valerian and the surviving government soldiers defeat the robots. The spacecraft departs, and Filitt is arrested.

Valerian and Laureline are left adrift aboard an Apollo Command/Service Module, where she answers his marriage proposal with a “maybe” as they await rescue.

Displaced People SCI-FI: depicts the struggles faced by Refugees (Alien or Human) who are forced to leave their homes — by War, environmental Disasters, and more — seeking Sanctuary in unfamiliar places. Often inspired by Real-World Crises, these stories can better help us understand the sacrifices people make to Survive.

May we learn from them … to appreciate the place we call Home.

***

(click image link to view YouTube video)

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Lost Loved Ones SCI-FI explores the (seemingly impossible) RETURN of People Lost — through Extraordinary means (Resurrection, Time Travel, Parallel Universe, Cloning or Alien Abduction) — triggering a range of Emotions: including grief, joy, and confusion. Characters face the challenges of rebuilding relationships and adjusting to a CHANGED REALITY after a prolonged absence.

Starman (1984)

Starman is an American SCI-FI romance drama directed by John Carpenter, starring Karen Allen and Jeff Bridges.

Storyline
When the Voyager 2 space probe (launched in 1977 carrying a phonographic disc with a message of peace, inviting Alien civilizations to Earth) is intercepted by another planet, they send a a scout vessel to establish First Contact — but instead of greeting the vessel, the U.S. government shoots it down.

Crashing in Chequamegon Bay, Wisconsin, the lone Alien occupant, looking like a floating ball of energy, finds the home of recently widowed Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen). The Alien uses a lock of hair from her deceased husband, Scott, to clone a body for himself. The Alien “Starman” (Jeff Bridges) has seven spheres with him which provide energy to perform miraculous feats. He uses the first to send a message to his people stating that Earth is hostile and his spacecraft was destroyed. He arranges to rendezvous with them in three days’ time. He then uses the second sphere in self-defense and the third to create a holographic map of the United States, coercing Jenny into taking him to the rendezvous in Arizona.

Jenny, however, attempts to escape. Having a very basic understanding of the English language from the phonographic disk, the Starman learns to communicate with Jenny and assures her that he means no harm. He explains that if he does not reach the rendezvous point, Arizona’s Barringer Crater, in three days, he will die. Jenny teaches him how to drive a car and use credit cards, so he can continue the journey alone. When he resurrects a dead deer, she is moved and decides to stay with him. The authorities pursue the pair across the country. A police officer shoots and critically wounds Jenny. To escape, the Starman crashes their car into a gas tanker and uses another sphere to protect them from the explosion. They take refuge in a mobile home that is being towed. He uses another sphere to heal Jenny. After being assured that Jenny will recover, he proceeds to hitchhike toward Arizona without her, but Jenny reaches him while he and his driver are stopped at a roadblock. Reunited, they hitchhike together, resuming their journey towards the crater.

Later, while stowing away on a railroad boxcar, the two have sex. The Starman tells Jenny, “I gave you a baby tonight.” Jenny reveals that she is infertile, but he assures her that she is pregnant. He explains that Scott is the posthumous father, as Starman used Scott’s DNA to clone himself. As a child also of Starman, their son will possess all the Starman’s knowledge and will grow up to be a teacher. Starman offers to stop the pregnancy if she wishes, but Jenny embraces him, accepting the gift. They accidentally travel too far on the train and arrive in Las Vegas. Jenny loses her wallet. The Starman uses one of their last quarters in a slot machine, which he manipulates to win the $500,000 jackpot. They buy a Cadillac to complete their journey to Arizona.

National Security Agency director George Fox learns that the Starman’s flight trajectory, prior to being shot down, was to the Barringer Crater and arranges to have the Army capture the Starman, dead or alive. SETI scientist Mark Shermin, another government official involved in the case, criticizes Fox’s heavy-handed approach and reminds him that the Starman was invited to Earth. Appalled to learn that Fox is planning to vivisect the Alien, Shermin then resolves to help the Starman escape rather than let Fox capture him.

Jenny and the dying Starman reach the crater as Army helicopters pursue them. Just as they are surrounded, a large spaceship appears and descends into the crater. Light surrounds the couple and the Starman is fully healed. While preparing to leave, he tells Jenny he will never see her again. Jenny asks him to take her with him, but he says she would die on his world. He then gives her his last sphere, saying that their son will know what to do with it. Jenny watches as the ship departs.

The Forgotten (2004)

The Forgotten is an American SCI-FI psychological thriller starring Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Gary Sinise, Alfre Woodard, Linus Roache, and Anthony Edwards.

Storyline
Telly Paretta (Julianne Moore) grieves the loss of her son Sam, who died 14 months prior in a plane crash. She holds regular vigils in his undisturbed bedroom, visits his grave, and meets with a therapist to deal with her grief, though her husband, Jim, (Anthony Edwards) wants to move on.

Returning from work one afternoon, Telly finds that her photo album of Sam no longer contains his photos. Furious, she confronts Jim for trying to forget, but her husband shocks her with a counter accusation: That she is, in actuality, delusional and that they have never had a son.

Hurt, Telly begins reaching out to acquaintances to confirm Sam’s existence; however, her friend Eliot doesn’t appear to believe in Sam’s existence despite her closeness to him. Looking for concrete evidence, Dr. Munce, (Gary Sinise) her therapist, meets with her and Jim. She is told that she was pregnant, but that she miscarried and “Sam” is her delusional fantasy about how her life would have been different if he had lived. He recommends that she be sent to a hospital, but she runs away.

Fleeing and still adamant that Sam is real, she locates her neighbor Ash, (Dominic West) whose daughter Lauren was Sam’s friend and died in the same crash. She finds Lauren’s drawings underneath wallpaper in Ash’s apartment, and tries to convince him they were made by his daughter. However, he claims he never had a daughter and calls the police. Shaken by Telly’s certainty, Ash looks again at the drawings and remembers his daughter.

Chasing after Telly, he rescues her from the police and they go into hiding, pursued by NSA agents. On the run, they speculate about who would have the power, resources, and motive to want to make them forget about their children.

Telly and Ash capture and threaten a pursuing agent, who reluctantly reveals that he and other agents are merely helping “them” in order to protect humankind. Without warning, the roof of the house blows off and the agent, along with the roof, is sucked into the sky—presumably taken by “them”—and Telly and Ash flee.

Eventually, Telly visits Dr. Munce again and he reveals that the disappearances are the work of “them”, and that the government monitors their trials, all too aware that they have no power to stop “them” from doing whatever they want.

Munce takes Telly to an airport and the dilapidated hangar of Quest Airlines, where he introduces her to an agent of “them”. He tells the agent that it is over and to stop the experiment, because it will only cause more harm. But the agent replies that it is not over. He reveals to Telly that she has been a part of an experiment to test whether the bonds between mother and child can be diminished. In her case, her memories could not be fully erased.

Telly refuses to deny her son’s existence. The agent mentions that if he fails to erase her memory then he will look like a failure. The agent then subdues her and convinces her to think of the first memory she had of Sam. Telly thinks of the day he was born in the hospital, which allows the agent to successfully erase Sam’s memory from existence.

As the agent is walking away thinking he has succeeded, Telly’s motherly bond kicks in deeper to the time she was pregnant with Sam, triggering her memory that she indeed had life in her at one time. All of her memories of Sam return. Before the agent can comprehend what’s happening, part of the hangar roof is suddenly blown off, and he is yanked into the sky himself for his failure to erase her memory. This ends the experiment.

Telly finds herself living a normal life, with memories of everything that has happened. She reunites with Sam at a park. Also at the park is Ash, watching over his daughter. Like Sam, she has no memory of what has happened. Telly reintroduces herself, and the two sit and watch the kids play in the playground.

The 4400 (2004)

The 4400 is a SCI-FI TV series starring Joel Gretsch and Jacqueline McKenzie.

Storyline
A mysterious ball of light enters the atmosphere, and just when it looks like humanity is about to be destroyed, the ball slows, hovers, and touches down. Soon after, the light shrinks to an intense point, then explodes outward, leaving behind 4400 people, including men, women and children of all ages. All are missing persons who have been gone anywhere from a few months to 50 years — and none have aged a day since they were last seen. Confused and disoriented, they have no memories of what transpired prior to their return.

The National Threat Assessment Command (NTAC), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, is in charge of dealing with the return of the 4400. Dennis Ryland is the head of NTAC. Ryland assigns Tom Baldwin (Joel Gretsch) and Diana Skouris (Jacqueline McKenzie) as the lead team to investigate the 4400. In the second season, Ryland goes to Washington and is replaced by Nina Jarvis. In the fourth season, Meghan Doyle takes over as the head of NTAC.

Many of the returnees have trouble getting their lives back on track after being gone from the world for years. More significantly, a small number of the returnees begin to manifest paranormal abilities, such as telekinesis, telepathy and precognition, as well as other “gifts”. For example, in the pilot, Shawn Farrell manifests an ability to heal the broken neck of a dead bird, bringing it back to life. In addition, one of the 4400, Lily Moore, has become pregnant between her disappearance and return.

The first-season finale, “White Light”, reveals that the 4400 were abducted not by Aliens, but by humans from the Earth’s future, that Kyle Baldwin was to be their “messenger”, and that they were returned to avert a catastrophe.

By the second season, it is revealed that all 4400 have a fictional neurotransmitter, promicin, in their brains, which gives them their powers. The government, afraid of what this large group would do with such power, had secretly been dosing all of the 4400 with a promicin inhibitor, which had worked on most, but not all, of the 4400. One of the inhibitor’s side effects is a potentially fatal immune deficiency. The inhibitor is ultimately removed from the 4400 by a dose of promicin extracted by Kevin Burkhoff from the blood of the infant Isabelle, who was never given the inhibitor.

At the beginning of the third season, the Nova Group, a terrorist faction made up of 4400s, emerges. Originally formed as a “defensive” group in the aftermath of the promicin-inhibitor scandal, the Nova Group eventually carries out numerous terrorist attacks against the government and NTAC. The group is responsible for many terrorist attacks including the assassination of the men involved with the promicin-inhibitor conspiracy; the attempted assassination of Ryland; the framing of Baldwin for murder; and the driving of another person to insanity.

During the third and fourth season, it is revealed that only a certain faction from the future wants to see history changed. Another faction, which prefers the status quo, opposes the 4400, and has sent their own operatives, including Isabelle Tyler and “the Marked”, into the past. The exact motives of both factions were not revealed.

Eventually, Jordan Collier, a returnee who declares himself the savior of humanity, makes promicin shots available to the general public. However, only half of the human population can actually tolerate promicin, and thus develop superhuman abilities, while the other half die upon taking the shot. Although the government outlaws promicin use, thousands of previously ordinary people have developed superhuman abilities, severely complicating NTAC’s task. Collier later annexes a part of Seattle and transforms it into “Promise City”, a self-proclaimed paradise open to all people with superhuman abilities. The US government attempts to reclaim Promise City but meets with little success.

At the conclusion of the series, Danny Farell’s uncontrolled ability exposed some of the residents of Seattle to promicin, resulting in about 9,000 deaths and as many newly empowered humans, while at the same time forcing the remains of NTAC (now themselves mostly promicin-positive) to ask Jordan Collier and his followers (as the only group immune to the 50% chance of death from exposure) to become the de facto government of Seattle. The series ended with a cliffhanger, with Collier pledging to build the future he had promised, while the government watches uneasily as Collier’s militia remains in control of Seattle, now known as Promise City.

Glitch (2015)

Glitch is an Australian supernatural SCI-FI drama TV series, set in the fictional country town of Yoorana, Victoria. It stars Patrick Brammall and Genevieve O’Reilly.

Storyline
Glitch explores themes of life, death, and redemption. The story begins with the inexplicable resurrection of six people who crawl out of their graves with no memory of who they are or how they died. Local police officer James Hayes (Patrick Brammall) discovers them and, with the help of the town’s doctor, Elishia McKellar (Genevieve O’Reilly), works to keep their reappearance a secret while unraveling the mystery of their return. As the series unfolds, the mystery of their resurrection intertwines with their personal struggles and the larger consequences of their return.

The “Risen” soon discover they cannot leave Yoorana without suffering excruciating pain and disintegration. This “boundary” keeps them tethered to the town but remains unexplained. Dr. Elishia, who seems to know more than she lets on, helps the group navigate their new existence, but her motives remain questionable.

The supernatural elements intensify when Vic Eastley (Andrew McFarlane), James’ colleague, becomes violent and starts hunting the risen. Vic, seemingly under the influence of an unknown force, acts as an enforcer for the natural order, trying to restore balance by eliminating the resurrected.

As the Risen dig deeper, they discover that their resurrection is not divine but a result of experiments involving energy fields and ley lines conducted by Dr. Elishia McKellar. Elishia’s role as both a scientist and a pseudo-protector of the Risen becomes more complex when it’s revealed she herself had been resurrected long before the events of Season 1.

Season 1 uncovers a tragic truth: the Risen are not meant to stay in the world of the living. Their presence creates disruptions, and their connection to the Boundary grows stronger as the series progresses.

Season 2 builds on the emotional and philosophical questions posed by the first season, delving deeper into the nature of the resurrection and the forces behind it. Relationships are tested, alliances shift, and the stakes rise as the Risen grapple with their second chance at life.

Season 3 serves as the final chapter, providing answers to the mysteries surrounding the Risen and the Boundary. The season builds on the emotional stakes and philosophical questions posed by earlier seasons while diving deeper into the science behind the resurrection. Relationships reach their breaking points, moral dilemmas intensify.

The final episodes revolve around a desperate attempt by the Risen to escape the Boundary and find freedom. Dr. Heysen’s experiments inadvertently create a catastrophic surge of energy that destabilizes Yoorana, bringing the supernatural and scientific forces into direct conflict.

The ending of Glitch is bittersweet, providing closure for some characters while leaving others’ fates uncertain. The show emphasizes themes of acceptance, redemption, and the eternal struggle to make peace with life’s mysteries — leaving its audience with a haunting meditation on mortality and the meaning of life.

Replicas (2018)

Replicas, an American SCI-FI thriller starring Keanu Reeves, Alice Eve and Thomas Middleditch, explores the possibility of bringing family members back to life through cloning and consciousness transfer, raising ethical questions about the nature of Life and Identity.

Storyline
William Foster (Keanu Reeves) and Ed Whittle are biomedical research scientists working for Bionyne Corporation in Puerto Rico, attempting to transfer the mind of a dead soldier into an android with superhuman strength, codenamed Subject 345. Foster specializes in synthetic biology and mapping of the mind’s neural pathways, while Whittle’s specialty is reproductive human cloning. Foster successfully captures the soldier’s neural map and transfers it into the android’s synthetic brain, but the experiment fails when the soldier recoils in horror at the android body and destroys it, killing himself again. Foster’s boss Jones warns him that if he cannot get Subject 345 to work, the company’s shareholders will shut the project down.

Foster takes his wife Mona and three children Sophie, Matt, and Zoe, on a boating trip, but on the way all except Foster are killed in a car crash. Determined to resurrect his family, he coaxes Ed to bring him the Bionyne equipment necessary to extract his family’s neural maps and to clone replacement bodies for them. He successfully extracts their neural maps and tells Whittle to dispose of the bodies, but the first major obstacle to his plan presents itself: only three cloning pods are available, forcing him to choose one to sacrifice. He chooses Zoe, the youngest, and erases her memory from the neural maps of the other three.

Whittle starts the seventeen-day cycle required to create mature replacement clones for Foster’s family, and tells him he has only that long to solve the problem of integrating the neural maps into the cloned bodies, or else they will start to deteriorate by aging at an abnormally fast rate. Integrating the mind into a biological clone was phase two of the research project, to be solved after android transfer. Foster is forced to keep this secret, since he and Whittle have stolen millions of dollars of Bionyne equipment and are breaking bioethics. He spends the seventeen days removing evidence of Zoe’s existence from his home, and creating cover stories of illness to explain his family’s absence from work, school, and social media contact.

When Foster notices his wife’s central nervous system reacting to his touch, he realizes that Subject 345 failed because the mind expects connection to a biological body with heartbeat and respiration, rather than a synthetic one. He knows now that transfer into the clones will not be a problem, and the failure of android transfer can be solved by programming a simulated mind-body interface to make the android body appear biological. He successfully transfers the minds of his loved ones into the cloned bodies, then goes back to work creating a synthetic mind-body interface. When the next dead body he receives has suffered too much brain damage to be viable, Foster resorts to recording his own mind for the android transfer. Meanwhile, Sophie has a nightmare of her mother’s death, and Mona catches Foster erasing her memory of the event. He confesses that they died in a car crash and that he resurrected them. The family soon discovers evidence of Zoe’s existence that he missed, and he admits that he couldn’t save Zoe and erased their memories of her.

Jones confronts Foster and reveals that he is aware of what Foster and Whittle have done. He tells him the research is not actually intended for medical purposes, but is being financed by the U.S. government to provide a military weapon, and that Foster’s family are loose ends to be eliminated. Foster destroys the mind-body interface, incapacitates Jones, and flees, attempting to escape by boat. Jones’ henchmen capture Foster’s family. He pursues them to Bionyne, where it is clear that Whittle has sold them out. Jones kills Whittle and forces Foster to finish Subject 345. Foster uploads his own mind into Subject 345, who kills the henchmen and mortally wounds Jones. The two Fosters make a deal with Jones: he can live in a cloned body and become rich by working with Foster-345, selling clone transfers to wealthy people looking for a second life. Meanwhile, Foster is able to retire in peace with his family, including the newly cloned Zoe.

Lost Loved Ones SCI-FI — with its focus on the (seemingly impossible) RETURN of Lost People, gives us all an opportunity to share in a wide range of Emotions … including grief, joy and confusion — as we try to imagine what it would mean in our own lives.

It also helps us realize that “everything happens for a reason” and reversing Fate (through extraordinary means) can have its own set of tragic Consequences — worse than grieving the Loss of people we Love.

May we all learn to Accept bitter REALITY … and move on.

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(click image link to view YouTube video)

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World Gone Wrong SCI-FI explores the Dark side of a Future where Science, Technology, Human Ambition (or all of the above) have chipped away at personal Freedoms, Identity, or Prosperity enough to make us realize — we don’t want to go there. These stories often involve Time Travel — with the Hero hoping to somehow go back and fix things — to make the World right again.

Planet of the Apes (1968)

Planet of the Apes is an American SCI-FI film loosely based on the 1963 novel by Pierre Boulle. The film stars Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly, and Linda Harrison. In the film, an astronaut crew crash-lands on a strange planet in the distant future. Although the planet appears desolate at first, the surviving crew members stumble upon a society in which apes have evolved into creatures with human-like intelligence and speech. The apes have assumed the role of the dominant species and humans are mute primitives wearing animal skins.

Storyline
Astronauts Taylor (Heston), Landon and Dodge awaken from deep hibernation after a near-light-speed space voyage. Their spacecraft crashes into a lake on an unknown planet; Taylor’s estimate places them in Orion’s Bellatrix System, 300 light-years from their home Solar System. Before they abandon their sinking vessel, Taylor (the mission commander) reads the ship’s chronometer as November 25, 3978 – two thousand and six years after their departure in 1972. The three astronauts have been in hibernation pods and have aged slightly less than one year. However, a fourth astronaut, Stewart, is found to be dead, having aged rapidly after her hibernation pod was compromised.

The men travel through desolate wasteland, coming across eerie scarecrow-like figures and a freshwater lake with lush vegetation. While the men are swimming, their clothes are stolen and shredded by primitive mute humans. Soon after, armed gorillas raid a cornfield where the humans are gathering food. Taylor is shot in the throat as he and the others are captured. Dodge is killed and Landon is captured in the chaos. Taylor is taken to Ape City. Two chimpanzees, animal psychologist Zira (Hunter) and surgeon Galen, save Taylor’s life, though his throat injury renders him temporarily mute.

Taylor is placed with a captive woman, whom he later names Nova (Harrison). He observes an advanced society of talking apes with a strict caste system: gorillas are the military force and laborers; orangutans oversee government and religion; and intellectual chimpanzees are mostly scientists and doctors. The ape society is a theocracy, while the apes consider the primitive humans as vermin to be hunted and either killed outright, enslaved, or used in scientific experiments. Taylor convinces Zira and her fiancé, Cornelius (McDowall), that he is as intelligent as they are by communicating through written messages and by making a paper airplane. Dr. Zaius (Evans), their orangutan superior, arranges for Taylor to be castrated against Zira’s protests. Taylor escapes and finds Dodge’s stuffed corpse on display in a museum. He is soon recaptured, and regains his voice, which alarms the apes.

A hearing to determine Taylor’s origins is convened. Taylor mentions his two comrades, learning that Landon was lobotomized and rendered catatonic. Believing Taylor either is from an unknown human tribe beyond their borders or was the subject of a mad scientist who gave him the power of speech, Zaius privately threatens to castrate and lobotomize Taylor for refusing to reveal his origins. With help from Zira’s nephew Lucius, Zira and Cornelius free Taylor and Nova and take them to the Forbidden Zone, a taboo region outside Ape City where Taylor’s ship crashed. Ape law has ruled the area out of bounds for centuries. Cornelius and Zira are intent to gather proof of an earlier non-simian civilization – which Cornelius discovered a year earlier – to be cleared of heresy; Taylor focuses on proving he comes from a different planet.

When the group arrives at the cave, Cornelius is intercepted by Zaius and his soldiers. Taylor holds them off by threatening to shoot Zaius, who agrees to enter the cave to disprove their theories. Inside, Cornelius displays remnants of a technologically advanced human society pre-dating simian history. Taylor identifies artifacts such as dentures, eyeglasses, a heart valve and, to the apes’ astonishment, a talking human doll. Zaius admits he has always known about the ancient human civilization. Taylor wants to search for answers. Zaius warns Taylor against finding an answer that he will not like, adding that the now-desolate Forbidden Zone was once a lush paradise. After Taylor and Nova are allowed to leave, Zaius has the cave sealed off to destroy the evidence, while charging Zira, Cornelius and Lucius with heresy.

Taylor and Nova follow the shoreline on horseback. Eventually, they discover the remnants of the Statue of Liberty, revealing that this supposedly alien planet is actually Earth, long after an apocalyptic nuclear war. Understanding Zaius’ earlier warning while Nova looks on in shock, Taylor falls to his knees in despair, cursing humanity for destroying the world.

Twelve Monkeys (1995)

12 Monkeys is an American SCI-FI thriller film directed by Terry Gilliam. It stars Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Plummer. Set in a post-apocalyptic future devastated by disease, the film follows a convict who is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.

Storyline
A deadly virus released in 1996 wiped out almost all of humanity, forcing survivors to live underground. A group known as the Army of the Twelve Monkeys is believed to have released the virus. In 2035, James Cole (Willis) is a prisoner living in an underground compound beneath Philadelphia. Cole is selected to be sent back in time to find the original virus to help scientists develop a cure in exchange for a reduced sentence. Cole is troubled by dreams involving a foot chase and a shooting at an airport.

Cole arrives in Baltimore in 1990, not 1996 as planned. He is arrested and incarcerated at a mental hospital on the diagnosis of Dr. Kathryn Railly (Stowe). There he encounters Jeffrey Goines (Pitt), a mental patient with extreme environmentalist and anti-corporate views. Cole is interviewed by a panel of doctors and tries to explain that the virus outbreak has already happened and cannot be prevented.

After an escape attempt, Cole is sedated and locked in a cell but he disappears and awakens back in 2035. He is interrogated by the scientists, who play a distorted voicemail message that asserts the association of the Army of the 12 Monkeys with the virus. He is also shown photos of numerous people suspected of being involved, including Goines. The scientists offer Cole another chance to complete his mission and send him back in time. Cole briefly arrives at a battlefield during World War I, where he sees another prison inmate who was sent back in time, José. Cole is shot in the leg and gets transported to 1996.

In 1996, Railly gives a lecture about the Cassandra complex to a group of scientists. At the post-lecture book-signing, Railly meets Dr. Peters, who tells her that apocalypse alarmists represent the sane vision while humanity’s gradual destruction of the environment is the real lunacy.

Cole arrives at the venue after seeing flyers publicizing it. When Railly departs, he kidnaps her and forces her to take him to Philadelphia. They learn that Goines is the founder of the Army of the 12 Monkeys before they set out in search of him. When Cole confronts Goines, he denies any involvement with the group and says that in 1990, Cole originated the idea of wiping out humanity with a virus stolen from Goines’ virologist father, Dr. Leland Goines (Plummer).

Cole is transported back to 2035, where he reaffirms to the scientists his commitment to his mission and asks to be sent back to complete it. When he finds Railly again in 1996, he tells her that he now believes himself crazy as she had suggested. Railly has discovered evidence of his time travel to the Great War which she shows him, believing he is sane. They decide to depart for the Florida Keys before the start of the plague.

Cole and Railly learn that the Army of the 12 Monkeys was not the source of the epidemic; the group’s major act of protest is releasing animals from a zoo and placing Goines’ father in an animal cage. At the airport, Cole leaves a message telling the scientists that they are on the wrong track following the Army of the 12 Monkeys and he will not return. Cole is confronted by José, who gives Cole a handgun and instructs him to follow orders. Railly spots Dr. Peters at the airport and recognizes him from a newspaper as an assistant of Goines’ father. Peters is about to embark on a tour of several cities that matches the viral outbreaks chronologically and geographically.

Cole is informed of Peters by Railly, then forces his way through a security checkpoint in pursuit of Peters. Cole draws his gun, then is shot by police. As he lies dying in Railly’s arms, she scans the crowd around her. She makes eye contact with a small boy: the young James Cole witnessing the scene of his death, which will replay in his dreams for years to come. Peters, aboard the plane with the virus, sits down next to Jones, one of the scientists from the future, who comments that her job is “insurance”. The young Cole watches a plane take off from the ground outside the airport.

The Hunger Games (2012)

The Hunger Games is an American Dystopian action film, based on the 2008 novel by Suzanne Collins. It is the first installment in The Hunger Games film series. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland. In the film, Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson) are forced to compete in the Hunger Games, an elaborate televised fight to the death consisting of adolescent contestants from the 12 Districts of Panem.

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 (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 (Hutcherson), are escorted to the Capitol by their chaperone, Effie Trinket (Banks), and mentor Haymitch Abernathy (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 (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, half of the tributes are killed in the initial brawl, while Katniss grabs supplies from the Cornucopia and flees into the forest. She avoids other tributes, but Seneca Crane, the Gamemaker, triggers a forest fire to drive her back. She encounters the Careers – Marvel, Glimmer, Cato, and Clove – and climbs a tree. Peeta, seeming to ally with them, suggests they wait her out. Hiding in a tree, Rue, the District 11 female tribute, points Katniss to a nest of Tracker Jackers, which she cuts to drop on the sleeping Careers; Glimmer dies, but Peeta and the others escape. Katniss retrieves Glimmer’s bow and arrows but falls ill from stings and hallucinates. Peeta returns, urging her to flee before escaping from the Careers himself.

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, she adorns her body with flowers, inciting a riot in District 11. Panem President Coriolanus Snow (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 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, Katniss hears a cannon blast signaling a death. She rushes to Peeta, who unknowingly collected deadly nightlock berries. They find Foxface, the District 5 female tribute, poisoned by the nightlock berries she ate after observing Peeta. To end the Games, Crane unleashes Mutts that kill Thresh, leaving Katniss, Peeta, and Cato as the last survivors. Cato holds Peeta hostage until Katniss shoots his hand, enabling Peeta to escape and push Cato into the Mutts. Katniss then shoots Cato to end his suffering.

Suddenly, Crane revokes the rule change for two victors. Peeta urges Katniss to shoot him, but instead, Katniss suggests they consume nightlock berries together to commit suicide. Just before they eat the berries, Crane stops the games and declares them co-victors. After the Games, Haymitch warns Katniss about the enemies her rebellion created. Snow has Crane locked in a room with night lock berries while contemplating his next move.

The Man in the High Castle (2015)

The Man in the High Castle is an American Dystopian Alternate History TV series (based on Philip K. Dick’s 1962 novel) set in a parallel universe where the Axis powers of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan rule the world after their victory in World War II. It stars Alexa Davalos, Rufus Sewell and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. It is set in America in the year 1962, with Hitler still alive and heading the Reich. America is partitioned into two parts: the Greater Nazi Reich and the Japanese Pacific States.

Storyline
Juliana Crane (Davalos), a San Francisco woman becomes entangled with the resistance after her half-sister, Trudy is murdered while trying to transport a film reel to Canon City, Colorado in the Neutral Zone and had given the film to Juliana just before being murdered. The film reel contained a newsreel-style footage, entitled The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, depicting an alternate history in which the Allied Forces won World War II. It was part of a series of similar newsreels being collected by someone referred to as ‘The Man in the High Castle’. Juliana decides to travel to the Neutral Zone to complete the mission of her sister, leaving behind his boyfriend Frank Fink, who is a Jew and lives in the paranoia of being caught.

In Canon City, she encounters Joe Blake, a double agent working for the Nazis under Obergruppenfuhrer John Smith (Sewell), a senior officer in the SS who previously served in the US Army. Joe is pretending to be a member of the resistance in order to find the resistance contact in Canon City, which happens to be Juliana.

Nobusuke Tagomi (Tagawa), a high-ranking Japanese official, the Trade Minister in San Francisco meets secretly with Nazi official Rudolph Wegner to discuss their concerns about the power vacuum that will be caused by either death or forced stepping down of Adolf Hitler. Wegner fears that Hitler’s successor will use the Reich’s nuclear bombs against Japan to gain control of the rest of America. The Japanese are lagging far behind the German technology.

When the Japanese and the Nazis become suspicious of Juliana’s activities, Frank is arrested and questioned by the authorities about the whereabouts of Juliana. They kill his sister and her two children, using their Jewish heritage as an excuse for their execution, after Frank is unable to provide them any information. Frank plans to kill the Japanese Crown Prince and Pricess but finally decides against it.

Season 1 ends with Tagomi standing confused in a different world where America is going through the Cuban Missile Crisis.

It becomes clear that the film reels are not a propaganda but are realities from ALTERNATE WORLDS. It is also clear that there are more than one. The one in a film reel which has video of San Francisco being bombed by a nuclear bomb is different from the one to which Tagomi travels to at the end of the first season as he arrives in a world where Allied forces have won the war. The alternate worlds are also parallel as Juliana discovers through a film that Joe is a Nazi. But Tagomi is the only character who has been shown till now, who can travel between worlds, (and in season 2 he even goes to meet his family and finds out that his son is married to Juliana in that reality.)

(If you have not seen this entire series — be sure to check it out. You won’t be disappointed.)

The Handmaid’s Tale (2017)

The Handmaid’s Tale is an American Dystopian TV series based on the 1985 novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It stars Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Joseph Fiennes, Ann Dowd, O-T Fagbenle and Bradley Whitford. The plot features a dystopia following a Second American Civil War wherein a theonomic, totalitarian society subjects fertile women, called “Handmaids”, to child-bearing slavery.

Storyline
In a world where fertility rates have collapsed as a result of sexually transmitted diseases and environmental pollution, the totalitarian, theonomic government of Gilead has established its rule in the former United States in the aftermath of a civil war. Society is organized by power-hungry leaders along with a new, militarized, hierarchical régime of religious fanaticism and newly created social classes, in which women are brutally subjugated. By law, women in Gilead are forced to work in severely limited roles, including some as natal slaves, and they are not allowed to own property, have careers, handle money, or even read and write (apart from the Aunts).

Worldwide infertility has led to the enslavement of fertile women in Gilead determined by the new régime to be fallen women, citing an extremist interpretation of the Biblical account of Bilhah. These women often include those who have entered marriages following divorce (termed “adulteresses”, as divorce is not recognized under Gileadian law), single or unmarried mothers, lesbians (homosexuals being termed “gender traitors”), non-Christians, adherents of Christian denominations other than the “Sons of Jacob”, political dissidents, and academics.

These women, called Handmaids, are assigned to the homes of the ruling elite, where they must submit to ritualized rape (referred to as “the ceremony”) by their male masters (“Commanders”) in the presence of their wives with the intent of being impregnated and bearing children for them. Handmaids are given names created by the addition of the prefix Of- to the first name of the man who has them. When they are transferred, their names are changed.

Along with the Handmaids, much of society is now grouped into classes that dictate their freedoms and duties. Women are divided into a small range of social categories, each one signified by a plain dress in a specific color. A Handmaid’s outfit consists of a long red dress, a red cloak, heavy brown boots, and a white coif, with a larger white bonnet (known as “wings”) to be worn outside, which conceals her from the public view and restricts her vision.

June Osborne (Moss), renamed Offred, is the Handmaid assigned to the home of the Gileadan Commander Fred Waterford (Fiennes) and his wife Serena Joy (Strahovski), key players in the formation and rise of Gilead, who struggle with the realities of the society they helped create. During “the time before”, June was married to Luke (Fagbenle) and had a daughter, Hannah.

At the beginning of the story, while attempting to flee Gilead with her husband and daughter, June was captured and forced to become a Handmaid because of the “adultery” she and her husband committed. June’s daughter was taken and given to an upper-class family to raise, and her husband escaped into Canada. Much of the plot revolves around June’s desire to be reunited with her husband and daughter and the internal evolution of her strength to its somewhat darker version.

(Powerful storytelling not to be missed — be sure to watch the entire series!)

World Gone Wrong SCI-FI explores Dark Futures where personal Freedoms, Identity, or Prosperity are Lost — through evil Science, Technology or Human Ambition. Let us hope these tales will serve as a timely Warning to all — to NOT fall prey to those who would try to bend our will with Empty Promises to lift up a few — while trampling the rights of others underfoot.

May such grim Realities … NEVER come to pass.

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(Click image link to view YouTube video)

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