When Sci-Fi loses the plot – Revolution

Revolution - our entire way of life depends on electricity. So what would happen if it just stopped working.....  15 years later, life is back to what it once was long before the industrial revolution

I've only watched a couple of episodes and I have a couple of questions, and an observation.

1. No electricity means no "lots of things", including combustion engines, and jet engines. So... back to horse and buggy then.

There have been a couple of scenes set around train tracks, so I get no diesel trains, but clearly "electricity also means that you can't have "steam trains", nor those amusing manual bogey cart things with the handle that goes up and down.

In town you can't have steam driving anything, and forgive me for a being a  naive but aren't bicycles pedal power? Yet to see one of those?

And there are scenes that have a clock in them, I probably need to include "clockwork" into "depends on electricity"

No windmills either. the ubiquitous electricity thing again.

No hang-gliders, dirigibles, kites either. It's really harsh having no electricity

1. Unfeasibly pretty people , and the chubby guy from Google.  All the female parts appear to be tick the box stereo-type not unattractive people. The men, well in a rehash of so many  plot devices we have to have the pretty-yet-needy-in-some-way boy, the (still) overweight chap, the dark recluse and the bad-man.




2. Shaving, did I mention that, seems that you can still forge knives and swords, and have a shave. No electricity needed there, if only they could remember how to harness the power of the flames to make steam......




3. Everything is in ruins, cities have crumbled. Concrete will do that without regular electricity.




4. The "Government" and the "Rebels" - somehow you have to stretch that there is a ruling government Thiefdom in some way, and they're all about crushing the "rebels"  by marching small groups of "militia" around taking taxes.




5. Guns. In 15 years guns are outlawed and illegal to own, says the militia, and everyone but everyone has a crossbow. Mostly. It's like either all the gunpowder ran out, or that all the manual bullet press machines broke, or something. Makes no sense. Crossbows make no sense.  At one point the Militia turn up with Muiskets!

Finally though. Electricity. Switched off, somehow, over the everywhere. But not so that it has any effect on the electrical impulses of the brain and body.  Perhaps they mean "mechanical electricity", the sort that keeps bridges from collapsing and buildings from crumbling and batteries. But not brain or body electricity, that'd be no story though, not even zombies

Finally finally... Which reminds me that they do have a fishing community but haven't yet figured out paddle steamers. Clean clothes appear to be in endless supply, they've invented the "everpress" technology to make them look crisp and new in the 15 years since they've not been able to manufacture "the everything"

Science Fiction. What's not to love?

Blogging is a bit of a self discovery, I thought that i'd scratch at things I like. Or precisely a thing I like.

Science fiction. Films.

There is one film that I'd go back to, and one of the few dvd's I own, and that's "The Man Who Fell To Earth" Which fascinates me.

On many levels, and possibly because you always remember your first love. Not coincidentally the album "Station to station" is also amongst my "go to" albums from about the same time.

There are other films that  I would pick in buy list, and these would include some old and some newer. The Film "Outland" for instance is one that I'd revisit, but I'd shy away from "Blade Runner" for instance, not that it's a bad film but it's been over-cooked.

"The Man from Earth" is also a wonderful film, a man who apparently has lived a long long time, he lives in history, he's met Jesus, fought in wars, lived through the great depression etc, but he can't predict the future, he lives in the now.

"The Impostor" is also another film that'll make you go mmm.

Philip K. Dick is responsible for many great stories that have been made to movies, you'll know many of them if you go check him out, they include "Total Recall" "Blade Runner" "Adjustment Bureau" and "Minority Report".

Yes of course I love the original "Star Trek", but I also really enjoy the original "Thunderbirds" and "Joe90" as well as the most excellent TV series "UFO".

So why? what is is about improbable premise that makes it compelling. Well some of it is not that improbable, Star Trek featured tablet based computers for instance, but equally as improbable was the sheer scale of the adventure.

There are a heap of other titles and films that I'd be happy to recommend, I might get to them one day. One final though is this; Why is it that in a film where space ships approach planets or earth or other space ships it's always on the same plane or orientation. Space ships never approach each other upside down to each other, or at 90 degrees to each other, and I've never quote figured out why.

Oh and finally, a bit more, the series, and film "FireFly" had the most accurate space thing going on, there is no sound in space you can't hear explosions and engine noises, and they are accurate in depicting that (oh FireFly is cowboys and indians in space - awesome)

Oh and the final final thought on alien vusitations and completely off topic, is; Why are they visiting here? Douglas Adams had is right, they might be building a super highway, but then he was always one step ahead.