It’s not easy being an astronaut: studying vectors, fuel consumption reports, star charts, and demonstrating fast reaction times, all while piloting a 135-ton space vehicle roaring against the unrelenting pull of Earth’s gravity. What happens […]
Category: Warp Factor!
‘Creature’: Alien Knock-Off or Misunderstood ‘80s Sci-Fi/Horror? (Yes, this is a terrible title)
Classifying films by genre can be a harrowing experience and not for the faint-hearted. Last year, a mere one year into the pandemic, a Twitter user caused online apoplexy by daring to ask if Alien […]
DISNEY’S ‘THE BLACK HOLE’: RIPE FOR A REBOOT?
By the late ‘70s, Star Wars mania was so infectious, it jolted awake the slumbering, science-fiction-loathing Hollywood studios, as they scrambled to put together their own space-fantasy knockoffs or dust off dormant sci-fi IPs. Steven […]
OUT OF THE SKY: HOW ‘EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS’ (1956) CHANNELED WAR TRAUMA INTO CINEMATIC FANTASY
No single artifact is more synonymous with ‘50s sci-fi than the flying saucer. You see one and you can almost hear a theremin playing. And no single movie has done more to solidify the conventions […]
THE (RETRO) FUTURE IS FANTASTIC! THE ‘SPACE: 1999’ MOVIES
Warp Factor examines overlooked or nearly-forgotten science-fiction artifacts from the recent past with a 21st Century perspective. In this inaugural entry, the journey of Space: 1999, from being an original TV production to becoming a […]