Responses to this message:
BE is a really bad movie. There are a few points we do need to consider as well though. First, it was based on a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, who was, other than a con man, sometimes an enjoyable enough writer. "Fear", for example, was very interesting. BE was written after he decided to get rich by creating a stupid religion (ok, ok, I know that's redundancy), though, and despite the fact we do have to give him credit for succeeding on his plans, the book is unecessarily influenced by some of the Scientology stuff. However, even with some unlikely events and a slightly predictable storyline, the book was consistent enough, a light and good paced science fiction.
The movie itself sure failed at many, many regards. The Pshyclos were really badly portrayed, the effects pretty poor overall, the acting following the same lines. I don't think it was the worst movie I've ever seen though, and some of the crictics I've read about stupid things in the movie are not really on the mark.
The book was slightly humorous. It was not supposed, I believe, to be taken strictly seriously. So not only the name of the Aliens, but the aliens themselves, stupid as some said they were, were a parody, and had their merits. Now, to the radiation effects on the Psychlos.... It is consistent. Just in case it was not clear, it wasn't the Psychlos themselves that were susceptible to radiation, but their atmosphere. Some said "That's stupid. LIGHT is a form of radiation". Radiation is a general term. Light is a form of radiation made of photons, close to weighless particles that are very unreactive. There are other forms, like those made of alpha and beta particles, given off from the material we are more used to call radioactive. These are higher energy particles that really get in the way of our biological processes. It's possible to have a world in which radioactivity in those terms is very low, and therefore could have an atmosphere which would go awry in the presence of radiation. There is not necessarily a physical inconsistency there.
As I enjoyed the book, I kinda hoped the movie would be good enough, and was disapointed by its many flaws. Since the movie showed just half the story on the book, a sequel would be certain. After the fiasco, I can only hope it won't have the chance to see the light of the day. No pun intended.
Responses to this message:
Post a response to this discussion thread