I said at the beginning of the summer that I had access to a wondrous treasure trove of film oddities at my local rental establishment but have for the most part reviewed recent films. This was mostly due to the fact that I have had more to say about the recent ones…and I’ve been busy. But I feel that I have to get some of these in because they are low budget gems that show a lot of creativity and hard work on the part of everyone involved. As promised I’m here to talk about the 1994 sci-fi western Oblivion.
Now most of you might think of a fantasy adventure game when you hear “oblivion”, but watch the movie, that will be your first thought for the rest of your life whenever you hear that word. In a nutshell it’s a traditional rise to sheriff and bringing order to an outlaw plagued town kind of story. There’s really nothing wrong with the plot, but it’s nothing special. This movie did do three things very well. The sets and costumes were very well done, the comedy was unpredictable and always on the mark, and the sci-fi elements were integrated well and were not simply gimmicks but were important to the plot and character development.
So far nothing I’ve said has made this movie sound that amazing. However if you are a fan of George Takei this can’t be missed. The production company Full Moon Entertainment has a history of finding actors and staff who have connections to one or more Star Trek series which makes for a lot of fun for Star Trek fans. Another major project they released was Groom Lake which was starred in, written, directed and produced by William Shatner. I’m not sure what the connection between this company and Star Trek is. I suspect there is a common agent somewhere, but that’s not important. What is important is that the script has no Star Trek jokes aside from one character, Doc Valentine, played by George Takei. His antics as the drunken doctor and cyborg engineer were heavily marketed in the trailer with such memorable lines as “Great Scotty!” and “Jim Beam me up.”
Full Moon Entertainment was originally founded as a low budget horror and dabbled a bit in low budget science fiction after a few successful horror franchises. They quickly found their niche market in both horror and sci-fi creating two more branches of the company, Torchlight Entertainment which specialized in adult sci-fi titles and Moonbeam Entertainment, which focused on the family market, all the time with the continuous theme of low cost output. When looking at the cast lists for Full Moon movies it is common to see actors and much of the crew filmographies overlap with other titles from the company. While this is true for Oblivion, the special effects department was quite impressive.
While the comedy is great, the special effects are amazing. By amazing I’m not referring to the eye popping CGI that we get nowadays, oh no! I’m talking about the old time Ray Harryhausen Claymation effects! The movie takes place on a desert planet and as far as the audience can tell, the only native animals are giant monster scorpions. Stop motion animator Joel Fletcher headed these segments. He also did work on such movies as The Nightmare Before Christmas, King Kong, and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. And while the visual effects department for this film consisted of only six people, only one did not have an impressive filmography of summer blockbusters and A-list movies.
However this film is far more cerebral than you might think given that it is a western with a generic plot set in the future on a cowboy planet. The special effects while entertaining are few and far between. The cast is made up of mostly extras or actors making the rounds as guest “stars” on television. The real entertainment comes in when you realize that there is actual conflict and character development in this movie, something Hollywood has rejected as an outdated mode of film making in recent years. There is genuine conflict in the town brought under the control of the outlaw gang and the only person who can stop them, the son of the slain sheriff, is unwilling to help for unexplained reasons facing ridicule and hate from the townsfolk. It’s one of those movies where they don’t push a moral message as character motivation making the character universal but bland, but instead there is are actual unique circumstances for all the characters that dictate their motivations and actions. I have to say that it was very refreshing. And even though on paper the plot is deathly grim and George Takei actually gives an amazing performance, legitimately pulling at our heartstrings, it never loses sight of the fact that it’s a silly movie, and the next brush with comedy is never far away.
The comedy is a success on several levels. There is the dark comedy of the shadowy undertaker who is never rattled but everyone is terrified of. There is the ridiculousness of the scenario of cowboys on an alien planet. There are numerous references to Star Trek. There are many instances where westerns as a genre are lampooned. The great thing about it though is that most of it is spoken. There are a few instances of slapstick but for the most part the humor is in the dialog, and a movie that is both visually rich and captures your auditory attention is always a winner.
One of the reasons I was so upset with Cowboys & Aliens was that it took itself too seriously. But let me ask you what really good action movie doesn’t have comedy. Ok, so maybe The Terminator wasn’t funny, but Terminator 2 had great comedy and so did Die Hard, a trait that it kept all the way through 3 sequels. Seeing a movie like Oblivion really eased my mind after watching Cowboys & Aliens. This is an old idea and one that budding creators have typically dabbled in for fun. The idea of mixing westerns and science fiction go back to Edgar Rice Burroughs and The Princess of Mars. Lost in Space did it, Star Trek did it, Battlestar Galactica did it, numerous comics have played with the idea including like Iron West. Hollywood made a crucial mistake in forking over the money for Cowboys & Aliens and that was underestimating the power of creativity. Oblivion and all of the other projects I have mentioned here went in new directions and took risks making fresh new stories and images that spur the imagination, and that’s what people expect from this mix of themes. Oblivion stands as a testament to what a small group of talented and creative storytellers can do with limited resources. You may not think much of the final product, but you can sure tell everyone had a good time making it.
Movies Referenced:
2011-Cowboys & Aliens
2005-King Kong
2002-Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2002-Groom Lake
1994-Oblivion
1993-The Nightmare Before Christmas
1991-Terminator 2
1988-Die Hard
1984-The Terminator
