INASCIFI BLOG

This is a poster for Avatar. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, 20th Century Fox, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist.

Avatar (2009) is written and directed by James Cameron, starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang and Giovanni Ribisi.

The year is 2154 and paraplegic ex-marine Jake Sully is sent to a distant planet called Pandora, on a mission initially meant for his dead twin brother. The rich and lush Pandora is inhabited by locals named Na’vi–a humanoid race of yellow-eyed, blue-skinned beings, each about 2.7m to 3.7m tall. Jake is to drive what is called an Avatar, which is a human-made Na’vi lookalike that is connected and controlled by a person’s mind while the person is kept safe somewhere else. What is once thought as a harmless mission of getting to know Pandora and the Na’vis turns complicated as the humans are willing to do whatever it takes to mine the planet’s rich mineral which is greatly valuable on Earth.

When people hear Avatar, they think “special effects”. And they are right, since Avatar flaunts an impressive, groundbreaking CGI work. Everything looks so surreal yet believable, out-of-this-world yet convincing. You might be skeptic about blue aliens being believable but when you see those aliens move, speak in their language, express their emotions, you’ll be immersed in the world. You will believe. Neytiri has yellow eyes, blue skin, a tail and is inhumanly tall, but damn she IS pretty. She IS sexy. The Na’vi culture and language feel so real that it seems like they really do exist. The abundant and luscious Pandora and the Na’vis feel like a version of Earth that we often dream of–green, untouched, harmonious. Who isn’t awed when seeing Pandora in night for the first time? With its glow-in-the-dark plants and wondrous animals? The stunning visual effects never fail to draw you in.

There is no denying that the plot is not as impressive as the special effects. When you’ve seen the 3-minute trailer, you’ve practically found out the plot of the whole movie. The characters develop like you think they will develop, no surprising plot twists whatsoever. But that does not matter at all. You are already engaged in Pandora, captivated by its beauty, charmed by the characters. The fact that the plot is so-so does not matter at all because Avatar gives you a movie experience that you don’t often get. That kind of movie experience that The Lord of the Rings trilogy gave you. Something mind-blowing, something awe-inspiring, an experience you’ll remember forever. Avatar reminds us why we go to the movies. Avatar shows us what 3D is for. For almost three hours Avatar never fails to keep us interested, keep us in awe. This is a movie to remember, an experience you’ll never forget.

Greetings!

After some considerations with my Indonesian friends, it has been decided that Inascifi.com will stay online for the moment. As we’re finishing the first quarter of 2010, a plethora of science fiction productions have appear. Of course, one of 2009’s production that’s bringing a lot of media attention is James Cameron’s Avatar.

I can tell for the first two months in Indonesia, Avatar was in the top ten box office list in Blitz Megaplex.

How related this is to science fiction fandom in Indonesia remains to be seen, but for now we have our first review of Avatar from Naomi Lie.

Once again, enjoy reading through Inascifi. We hope to bring more content online!

Hi all!

Before I start getting into reviews, info or any other topics related to science fiction, let me first apologize for the lack of updates in this blog for the past few months.

Anyway, I’m happy to report about my recent experience attending a local Indonesian fan community celebrating their 6th Anniversary. Yes, The Indonesian Star Trek Community has turned six years old this year, and 2009 has been a very wonderful year for them. Aside the new movie that came out last May (or June in Indonesia), the community have received lots of support (including from PT Indosat, one of Indonesia’s local telecommunications provider) and had a wonderful birthday party at Pisa Kafe Mahakam (near Blok M, Jakarta Selatan).

I wish I could post pictures and stuff like that, but unfortunately my camera never left my bag. Well, I’ll post some pics from the Indo Star Trek’s facebook page.

Qa’pla! (Success in Klingonese)

GUYS…

Indonesian Star Trek Community

these Indonesian Star Trek fellows are impressive.

This year they had a gathering in Bandung, another gathering in Jakarta, and many other gatherings before that.

Still, as much I am a Trekker, I still love Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly and other science fiction related literature/media.

I know there are two Star Wars groups in Indonesia (one dedicated to Jedi, the other to the Sith).

Where are they now?

Wow, we’re close to the end of 2008 and the year 2009 is just right on the horizon.

Now, being a blog related to science fiction I find it imperative for me to write something about that year.

Aside the upcoming new year’s resolutions (don’t ask me what I had for 2008, leave that matter to my other blog), there will be some interesting scifi related flicks coming.

Here’s a brief list that I can come to mind, and a short description following them.
Note: Dates are listed as United States premiere dates… I’ve little info on Indonesian premiere dates)

1. Star Trek (May 9 2009) link
My most anticipated movie of 2009, awaited by millions of fans around the world. Well for one thing, it has been three years since Star Trek graced the airwaves. Unlike the last movie (Star Trek Nemesis), Star Trek will be a kind of ‘origin story’ for the original crew of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701.
Official synopsis: From director J.J. Abrams (“Mission: Impossible III,” “Lost” and “Alias”) and screenwriters Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (“TRANSFORMERS,” “MI: III”) comes a new vision of the greatest space adventure of all time, “Star Trek,” featuring a young, new crew venturing boldly where no man has gone before.
A note for us Indonesians, the local distributor (Cineplex 21 or what other powers to be) has a bad history with this franchise. The demographic of the Indonesian movie goers seems to shun away from anything related to Star Trek (as it seems to be too geeky for their tastes) and thus the last two Trek movies to ever show here was Star Trek: Generations and Star Trek: First Contact. Star Trek Insurrection and Nemesis never came through the local distributors.
So a good question for us scifi enthusiasts in Indonesia would be, will Star Trek play here?

2. Terminator Salvation (May 22 2009) link
My 2nd most anticipated movie of 2009. This is both a sequel and prequel to first three Terminator movies. Unlike the previous ones, this will not feature Arnold Schwarzenegger as the pivotal terminator, and this one will prominently set in the post-Judgment Day future era.
Official synopsis: “Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor (Christian Bale), the man fated to be the leader of the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators, and the future he was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a Terminator whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they find out a terrible secret that may lead to the possible annihilation of mankind.”
Okay, I had to cut the official synopsis a little bit since it spoils a good info regarding this movie. I take it’ll be very interesting

3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June 26 2009)
No official synopsis is out yet, but I can say this is a sequel to the 2007 blockbuster Transformers. Need I say more?

4. G.I.JOE: Rise of Cobra (August 2009)
Ah, the live-action movie based on one of my favorite 80’s cartoon series. The cast mix is quite interesting, and the costume design and storyline will make this show quite a worth. The Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, a ultra elite international armed forces will face the rising force of COBRA.
From what I can tell from some leaked sources, the story will be set in the near future, and will feature familiar favorite GI Joe characters. But from the production stills and the plot, it is a far mature version than the old cartoon series.

5. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May 1 2009) link
Ah, Hugh Jackman as the Adamantium-laced bad-ass mutant Logan aka Wolverine. Snikt!!!! To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with X-Men: The Last Stand. But any movie that has Wolverine will definitely rock!

I know there are plenty of scifi productions coming next year, but I’ll save mentioning them for a later time.

-Arvin Chandra