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Did Children of Men rip off American Cyborg? And more
Children of Men courtesy Universal, Amercan Cyborg courtesy Warner
Send your movie questions to FlickChick.
Question: Someone told me that Children of Men was a total rip-off of a movie called American Cyborg. I find this hard to believe, but my local Blockbuster doesn't even
have American Cyborg, so I can't check it out for myself. Have you heard
about this? – Jake F
FlickChick: I had heard this rumor, but until your email I never got around to investigating. You piqued my curiosity, especially since Children of Men (2006) is based on a 1992 book by acclaimed novelist P.D. James and American Cyborg: Steel Warrior was released in 1994.
Here are the similarities:
Both take place in a post-nuclear future in which society has largely broken down and women have become infertile. In Children, it's been 18 years since the last child was born, in Cyborg, it's been 17.
In Children, a young, African-born woman named Kee (as in the key to the future) has become inexplicably pregnant and must be escorted to the coast of England, where representatives of a shadowy scientific organization called Human Project will pick her up in a boat and take her to safety. In Cyborg, a fertile woman named Mary (as in the mother of God) must be escorted to the west coast of the US, where French scientists will pick her up in a boat and take her to Europe; she's carrying her unborn baby in a sealed jar, the better for her to look super-foxy in leggings and a short tunic while still being a mother-to-be.
In both movies, the mother of the future has only a short time to reach the rendezvous or be left behind. In Children it's a couple of days, in Cyborg it's 37 hours.
In Children, Kee is threatened by both a racist government and a revolutionary group, and she's escorted by a world-weary former social activist. In Cyborg, Mary is threatened by a humanoid cyborg dressed like Rob Halford of Judas Priest and acting on behalf of "The System" – a Skynet-like artificial intelligence -- and various gangs, including a mob of cross-dressers in corsets and heels, and a community of radioactive cannibal mutants; her escort is an asocial, world-weary street fighter.
Even allowing for the fact that filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron and his screenwriting team (David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby and Timothy J. Sexton) took considerable liberting in adapting James' novel, as far as I'm concerned if there were any question of cross-influence influence, it probably went to other way. Director Boaz Davidson, who's credited alongside Christopher Pearce for the idea that writers Brent V. Friedman, Bill Crounse and Don Peqingnot fleshed out into a script, may well have read James' novel when it first came out and appropriated certain ideas. But American Cyborg also, shall we say, borrows liberally from The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Blade Runner, so we're hardly talking flat-out one-source plagiarism. More like some base form of filmmaking as collage.
And to top it all off, I recently ran across this quote online:
"[the character Vivia] was life and hope, as she is the only one carrying a child. This is a society without procreation, so that's why they make such a fuss about finding a girl being pregnant. I got that whole idea by reading about elks in Lapland: suddenly these herds would stop reproducing, and no one could figure out why."
That's the late Robert Altman talking about his own Quintet, which was released in 1979. Ideas, ideas that are worth anything, get around.
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Question: This is somewhat of a strange question, but you're my favorite film critic... Slaving away at a paper on North Korea, I stumbled on a movie called Pulgasari by director Shin Sang Ok. Given the fantastical story behind this Godzilla-as-capitalism (or so I'm told from various articles) movie (director and actress ex-wife kidnapped to North Korea to make movies) of it, I was wondering if you (or anyone else) have watched it, and particularly your thoughts on it. Perhaps I'm too young, but was this director really well known in the past and stupid me just happened to finally come across such a sensational story about the (in)famous director? Also, since you are an established author with your awesome Movie Lust, I also would love to know if you (or anyone else) have any thoughts on Kim Jong Il's book On the Art of Cinema. And finally, just want to say how strange it was to be researching for my paper one minute and to think of a question for FlickChick the next. – Belly
Life is strange. Thanks for calling Movie Lust awesome, but I have to confess that I've read only excerpts from Kim Jong Il's On the Art of Cinema and came away thinking he is, in fact, more interested in the uses of cinema. Which is more or less what you'd expect from a dictator. Joseph Goebbels was pretty sharp in that respect as well, though he never professed to be a dyed-in-the-wool movie fan, as Kim does. Both realized, movies are a powerful propaganda tool because many, perhaps even most, people regard movies as mindless entertainment and can't be bothered to examine the way in which they shape and reinforce cultural and political perceptions.
As to Pulgasari and South Korean filmmaker Shin Sang-Ok, bizarre though the tale of Shin and his ex-wife, actress Choi Eun-hee, being kidnapped and forced to make propaganda pictures may be, it's apparently all true despite persistent official denials by the North Korean government. Choi Eun-hee, newly divorced from Shin, was kidnapped in 1978 and Shin – who produced and directed dozens of South Korean films in the 1950s, '60s and '70s -- was abducted when he went to Hong Kong to look into her disappearance. The two of them made a series of films before escaping together during a 1986 business trip to Austria. They were granted asylum by the US and moved here. Shin worked a little in Hollywood under the pseudonyms Simon Sheen and Sang-Ok Sheep – grim stuff like the 3 Ninjas movies -- and moved back to South Korea in the mid 1990s. He died in 2006.
Pulgasari, Legendary Monster (1985) is absolutely awful in the way the later Godzilla movies – the ones in which he becomes a friend to small children – are, though the circumstances of its production add some interest. Set in the 14th Century, it begins with the emperor's soldiers confiscating all metal goods from a village of poor farmers. The local blacksmith is told to forge weapons from the plows and bowls, but he secretly returns them to his neighbors. When the soldiers find out, he's beaten and locked in a small cage. Realizing that he's dying, the blacksmith fashions a little figurine of an upright, stump-tailed lizard out of mud and rice grains, imbuing it with the "last of [his] true heart". His grief-stricken grown daughter, Ami, and her younger brother rescue the little thing from their father's grasp as his body is taken a way for burial. While mending her brother's shirt, Ami accidentally pricks her finger and a few drops of blood fall on the e little statue, which comes to life. The creature, Pulgasari, eats metal and soon grows to child size. It rescues Ami's boyfriend from the emperor's executioners, eating their swords and growing still larger. Pulgasari eventually achieves Godzilla-like stature, and protects the villager from the emperor's army, who come at Pulgasari with everything they've got, including a pair of new-fangled cannons called "Lion Gun" and "General Gun." They just don't get that the more metal they throw at Pulgasari, the bigger and stronger he becomes. Of course, the villagers eventually realize that they have, quite literally, created a monster. To keep from starving, Pulgasari eats up all their farm tools, water jars and cooking pots. Ami realizes that sooner or later, the only way she and the other villagers will be able to survive is by using Pulgasari as a weapon to conquer neighboring villages and countries for their crops. "Then the whole world would be at war," she thinks, "and humanity will fall. That's not good." So brave Ami sacrifices herself to destroy Pulgasari. I guess that's an allegory of rampaging capitalism unchecked, though it could equally well be read as a parable about apparently populist leaders who get too big for their britches and start thinking some pigs are more equal than others.
The good news is that you don't have to take my word for it: Pulgasari, Legendary Monster is available in its entirety here. Be amazed. Be very amazed.
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Question: I remember watching part of this really bizarre movie a few years ago in high school that has stuck with me ever since, I just can't remember the title of the movie. It's a German movie, but it's set in New York City and I remember this one scene where a man is about to put on a condom when the condom comes to life and bites off his, well, you know. Did I dream this all up, or is it an actual movie? – Sarah
FlickChick: I think you'll be relieve to know you did not dream up the idea of condoms dentata. There is a German movie called Kondom des Grauens (1998) – which I believe translates "condom of screams," and was retitled The Killer Condom when it was released in the US by Troma, your one-stop shop for crappy movies. You can get it on DVD under the typically Troma new-and-improved title Killer Condom: The Rubber That Rubs You Out.
Send your movie questions to FlickChick.
Question: I saw a zombie movie on TV back in the fifties, when I was a young girl. I remember an old voodoo woman who summoned the zombies to the table to eat. One was named Jeff; I don't remember the name of the actor , but he was short and chunky. When he started to use salt, the woman said "no" -- zombies can't have salt because they'll dry up. Can you please tell me if this scene is in White Zombie or whether I'm looking for another movie. – Curious
FlickChick: You're not looking for White Zombie (1932), an uneven, Hatian-set picture with a couple of very creepy and stylish sequences. The scene you describe is in King of the Zombies (1941), a low-budget picture that combines zombies, Nazis and some pretty offensive – if typical of its time -- race-based humor. Ironically, the role of the Austrian scientist Dr. Sangre, played by Henry Victor, was intended for White Zombie star Bela Lugosi. Given all the junk he made, it's a wonder he got out of this one, but he did. King of the Zombies appears to be in the public domain and is therefore available on DVD from several small companies, alone or on double/triple bills. If you want to revisit your childhood memories, go for the least expensive.
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Question: Is there a secret trick or combination of buttons that will let me go straight to the start of a DVD and skip all the ads and government warnings? -- Dewey
FlickChick: This is not usually the kind of question I answer, but also hate the hell out of having to sit through ten minutes of coming attractions for movies in which I have zero interest. Nothing I know of will save you having to watch the FBI warning, but once that's over, hitting the "disc menu" button on your remote should bypass all the coming attractions and anti-piracy skits.
Send your movie questions to FlickChick.
Question: Everyone thinks I'm nuts, but I know I saw this movie and I may very well be the only one. It was about a town that paints all the buildings pink in order to attract tourists. It may have had something to do with getting an exit off the interstate? No one knows what I'm talking about, but I swear someone made this movie! -- Jess
FlickChick: And you're right. John Schlesinger made it, it being the ensemble comedy Honky Tonk Freeway (1981), in which the residents of tiny Ticlaw, Florida, try a variety of nutty ways to get tourists to visit after the new freeway entirely bypasses the town. They include a water-skiing elephant and painting the whole town pink. The film was shot in Mount Dora, Florida, and the whole downtown really was painted pink for the film, much to the dismay of some locals.
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Question: I just watched Eragon with my kids and they loved it. They're already asking if they can see the next part, which I assume will be named Eldest. I've tried to find information about the sequel, but the only things I can find are about the book. Can you help us? – Kirsten
FlickChick: Not much. Although Eragon (which just came out on DVD) opened to scathing reviews in the US and didn't do much theatrical box office, it was reviewed just as badly abroad and did fine. So it makes sense that 20th-Century Fox would go ahead and greenlight Eldest, based on the second book in Christopher Paolini's fantasy trilogy. But it's not on the company's current schedule, and after putting in calls to various Fox employees in New York and Los Angeles, I came away with nothing except a strong sense that nobody wants to talk about Eldest. I got bounced from one office to another until I dead-ended on some senior VP of disinformation's voicemail. I don't expect a callback, but if I uncover anything I'll post it later.
Send your movie questions to FlickChick.
Question: Loved the first edition of Movie Talk (at least, this was the first time I saw it). My question: will this become a permanent deal...you guys talking about movies and everything that comes along with this territory? I must say, I don't usually pay close attention to movie reviews on TV or something like that, but I certainly very much enjoyed your entertaining yet informative show. – Svetislav
FlickChick: Thank you, and yes: Movie Talk is a weekly feature. New segments go live every Friday in the movies section. Cynics, stop it right now. This is a 100% real letter. If I were making it up, I wouldn't sign it Svetislav.
Send your movie questions to FlickChick.
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Apr 25, 2007 4:47 PM
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I'd actually like you and Ken to do your own podcast. I heard Ken on the podcast from the Borders book signing and really enjoyed him. I love you on the TV Guide podcast, but I wish more time was dedicated to movies. With your own podcast you could not only go further in depth with the week's opening movies, but also discuss movies in general, answer FlickChick letters and discuss recently released DVDs. I'm not sure how you feel about doing another weekly podcast on top of your vodcast, but I'd certainly listen.
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Apr 25, 2007 8:58 PM
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I would also listen, of course! I pine for some interviews with Maitland and, say, the masters of horror (domestic and foreign)!
Elle, do you read the DVD posts that Maitland makes on Tuesdays?
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Apr 25, 2007 10:36 PM
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I can't believe that someone asked about Honky Tonk Freeway. I just saw it and I want to give a severe warning. I was seduced by the fact that John Schlesinger-Midnight Cowboy/Marathon Man/Far From The Madding Crowd/Darling and Billy Liar-was directing (of course I should have taken into consideration that he also directed Cold Comfort Farm which caused me to squirm with boredom and The Falcon and the Snowman which put me to sleep) and by the cast of semi-stars and soon to be stars (this was 1981)-William DeVane/Beverly D'Angelo/Beau Bridges/Daniel Stern/Geraldine Page/Hume Cronyn/Jessica Tandy/David Raisch-but this movie is a bigger dog than Marmaduke on steroids.
This movie is a monument to the cocaine fueled projects of the late '70s and '80s a time when films were conceptualized, written and greenlighted from the business end of a rolled up dollar bill. You'll find more laughs in an According to Jim Marathon.
Oh...Thanks for that link Maitland. I was surprised to see the number of full length films available there.
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Apr 26, 2007 4:18 AM
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achyfakey, I do read the posts Maitland makes, though I'm rarely aware of which movies she's speaking of. I'm not very well versed in lesser known films. I also tread lightly because I'm a bit spoiler-phobic.
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Apr 26, 2007 6:48 AM
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But Elle, there are always questions at the end that you can respond to. You don't have to have seen the movie of the week to share your opinion! I hope you will next week...
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Apr 26, 2007 12:18 PM
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Most DVDs will let you hit the "skip" button at the beginning of the FBI warning, each preview, the various production company logos, etc. It doesn't work for all of them, but it does for the majority that don't respond to hitting "Main Menu" or the equivalent.
And I don't think ALL Troma movies are crappy. A lot of them are fun, especially if you have beer. Troma is a valuable resource for independent filmmakers who otherwise might have trouble getting their films released, and some folks who started out with Troma went on to bigger and better things (Oliver Stone, Trey Parker & Matt Stone). Plus, Lloyd Kaufman is a genuinely nice guy who loves movies, so he's aces in my book.
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Edited by texasannie at 04/26/2007 2:57 PM
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Apr 26, 2007 5:57 PM
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Yeah SurealELLE. Don't be shy. Achy and I have spoken to each other about the reasons for the lack of participation and one which we both considered was that people might feel shy about expressing themselves for the very reasons you give. It doesn't matter how much you know (and I bet you know a lot more than you think you do) it's what you think and feel that's important. You never know...your perspective could give someone who is, or thinks they are "well-versed" to give more thought and consideration to their own opinions. We can all learn something from any and everyone. You definitely seem like someone I'd like to hear from. I bet others would feel the same way.
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Apr 27, 2007 2:58 AM
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Thank you, DaMess. I really would like to encourage people insecure about their thoughts to speak up: Fruitful discussion comes from multiple perspectives, and knowing a lot of movie trivia doesn't necessarily equal insight.
What I'd really love to see are delayed responses by people who hadn't seen the featured film before but subsequently checked it out and have some fresh thoughts to bring to the floor.
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Apr 28, 2007 1:07 PM
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Spoiler Alert Spoiler Alert for Notes On A Scandal and The Night Listener.
What I'd really love to see are delayed responses by people...etc.
Well I'm glad you said that Maitland.
I recently watched both Notes On Scandal and The Night Listener. While I enjoyed both films I don't know if I agree with the way either film was assigned such gravitas and intellectual weight by a lot of critics.
Scandal seemed mostly a black comedy to me and I think it would have played well on a bill with those trapped-with-a-nut flicks of the 1960's like Whatever Happened To Baby Jane. I had to turn off the DVD extras featuring the interviews with the films creators and the writer who wrote the book on which the film was based. I mean if the Judi Dench role wasn't made for a Joan Crawford style histrionic tooth clench-fest what was?
The Night Listener wasn't quite as much fun but it was more than watchable. But there were a lot of bothersome inconsistencies. I mean, what kind of dog isn't aware of a possibly threatening person following its master. It only takes a couple of days of feeding a pet to instill that kind of protectionist loyalty in them. And how did Toni Collette's character get that house setup and cleaned out so fast?
I also had problem with the fact that Bobby Cannavale's Terry Anderson based character becomes suspicious that the same person is providing both voices. I can't be alone in having mistaken the voice of the teenaged or pre-teen son of a friend for that of his mother when he answers the phone. I can recall embarrasment and irritation when it happened to me when I was 11 or 12.
But mainly, with Listener, I felt as though I was watching a high budget extended episode of the Twilight Zone. I think that both it and Scandal were attributed a heaviness that they don't really deserve. What you think Maitland? Achy? Elle? Anybody?
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Apr 30, 2007 4:40 AM
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To harken back to an earlier discussion...I just saw a very nice little film about children that is definitely not for children. Pure was a moving albeit unsentimental look at drug addiction at the mid-lower end of life in London. It had several great performances including that of Deadwood's Molly Parker as an addicted mother of two young boys, The Lord of the Rings' David Wenham as her boyfriend/dealer, Keira Knightley as an addicted pregnant teenaged waitress/hooker and Geraldine MceWan and Karl Johnson as the parents of the Parker character's late husband.
But the film belongs to then 12 year-old but playing 10 Harry Eden as Parker's older son who at first unknowingly aids her addiction and then fights like a tiger to help her kick her habit, keep his family together and to make sense out of a life in which he is deceived and or manipulated by everyone he trusts.
Eden's is the strongest performance I have seen from a child actor since Eammon Owens' Frankie Brady in The Butcher Boy-another film that should have been on my list of the best films about children but not for them.
Pure is not quite as brutal or as hopeless as The Butcher Boy (a great film) but it has its hard edges and it never descends into sentimentality or sensationalism. Pure is an extremely well balanced film and I plan to take a look at as many of director Gillies MacKinnon's films as I can find.
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May 1, 2007 3:40 AM
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