SCIENCE FICTION MOVIES THAT ARE 'DIFFERENT' PART 2

 As the movie industry became adept at creating science fiction, it began to branch out. Soon studios incorporated comedy, horror, and even mysticism, into the films, sometimes separately, at other times together. The last four movies in this series are good examples.

 

Sci-Fi – Horror

Even the earliest sci-fi was meant to be scary. One of the first films was an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, published in 1886. The original opened in theaters in 1908 and since then, there have been dozens of movies, TV shows, and parodies based on the same plot. Originally, Science Fiction used lesser-known actors, but over time casts included stars like John Barrymore, Fredric March, Spencer Tracy, Abbot and Costello, and the Keystone Cops. At first, Europe produced most sci-fi, especially Germany, but in the 1930s, the United States started to pull into the lead by imprinting other tales like Frankenstein (1818) and The Invisible Man (1897) onto celluloid. In the process, actors like Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, Raymond Massey, Larry ‘Buster’ Crabbe, and Basil Rathbone (best known for portraying Sherlock Holmes), became household names. Even Humphrey Bogart got in on the act when he starred as Dr. Maurice Xavier in The Return of Dr. X, and by the 1940s, the American film industry had all but taken over the genre. Then, in the 1950s, a new contender entered the fray when Japan began specializing in films that featured gigantic creatures like Godzilla and Mothra, monsters that decimated entire cities and wiped out countless human lives.

Although most sci-fi movies were thrillers, they weren’t necessarily horror films. An essay “The Difference Between a Thriller and a Horror Film” by NewDawnFilms.com stipulates that the ending of a thriller needs to be unforeseeable to hold the audience’s attention, whereas horror depends on predictability. This is because a thriller achieves suspense by keeping the audience guessing, while terror needs to reveal the outcome early on so that viewers can develop feelings of foreboding and dread, which are at the heart of this type of entertainment. “It’s almost necessary for the audience to know who the main evil is in the horror film beforehand. Otherwise, it won’t work.” My example of a film that represents sci-fi horror is Brain Damage. Even though it was low budget with a cast of unknowns, it has become something of a cult classic.

 The Difference Between a Thriller and a Horror Film – New Dawn Films

 

Brain Damage (1988)

This movie meets the classification of a horror film because it introduces an evil alien at the very beginning. In the opening scene, a woman named Martha (Lucille Saint Peter) brings home a large package of animal brains that she and her husband, Morris (Theo Barnes) can feed to their pet, which they simply refer to as “he” and “him.” The problem is, they can’t find the animal. After frantically searching every inch of their apartment and not finding him, both collapse in convulsions and begin to foam at the mouth. Meanwhile, in an apartment down the hall, a young man named Brian (Rick Hearst) is in bed sleeping so soundly that his girlfriend Barbara (Jennifer Lowry) has difficulty waking him for their date. When he finally opens his eyes, Brian is disoriented and, upon trying to get up, is unable to stand. Begging off, he suggests that Barbara go with his brother Mike (Gordon McDonald), then lays back down.

A while later, Brian wakes up and notices that his pillow is covered in what looks like blood. He checks himself for wounds and feels a hole in the back of his neck. Stumbling into the bathroom to look in the mirror, he first notes that the tub is full of water, then sees a fat slug about the size of a rat. The thing says that its name is Aylmer (voice by John Zacherle) and makes outlandish promises to lull Brian into trusting him. “I am all you’ll ever need…I’ll do all your thinking for you…trust me.” Aylmer asks Brian to pick it up, and still in a daze, the young man complies. The thing moves to the back of Brian’s neck, opens its mouth wide, and excretes a blue liquid directly into the wound, filling his brain with a blue “juice” that causes climactic-like hallucinations.

Once Brian is heavily dosed, Aylmer suggests they go out for a walk, and too disoriented to question the slug, the young man complies. Thanks to the fluid, Brian sees the ugly inner city transformed into a beautiful paradise bathed in shimmering light. In fact, he is so entranced, that he doesn’t notice when the slug burrows through the skull of a security guard and eats the man’s brain. As days pass, Brian’s personality undergoes dramatic changes. He doesn’t go out with Barbara, interact with Mike, or even go to work. Instead, he spends most of his time sleeping and changing the water in the four buckets that he has in his room. He only leaves the apartment when Aylmer needs to feed, a compromise he’s made to stop the slug from killing his brother and girlfriend. Finally, realizing that he must kick the habit to stop the killing, Brian breaks up with Barbara, tells Mike that he needs to be alone, then packs his clothes, and rents a room in a flop house. There, he tries to go cold turkey, but Aylmer’s “juice” has changed his brain’s chemistry to the point that he can barely function without it. To get revenge and drive home the message that Brian will never break free, Aylmer kills Barbara, and the young man returns to the apartment building in defeat. As he approaches the door, Morris appears.

He tells Brian that Aylmer is an evil creature that has been around for centuries, and that countries have gone to war for its “juice.” Morris warns Brian that he only has two choices, to suffer the pain of living without the hallucinogen, or to continue receiving it until it kills him. To shut the man up, Aylmer springs onto his head, drills a hole into his skull, and devours some of his brain. Then, believing that the man is dead, Alymer returns to Brian. Just it starts injecting the poison, Morris grabs the slug and squeezes it to death. Even though he has succeeded at destroying the creature, however, his act caused Brian to receive a near lethal dose of the “juice.” At the end, Brian is still alive, but irreparably changed, leaving the audience to ponder what will happen next.

 

Sci-Fi Comedy

The movie industry was slower at incorporating humor into sci-fi, probably because scaring audiences was the original goal of the genre. According to Wikipedia, there were twelve instances of science fiction horror in the 1930s, twenty-four in the 1940s, and dozens in the 1950s. However, during all three decades combined, there were less than 20 sci-fi comedies. However, in the 1960s, funny sci-fi became more common and by the 1980s, there were approximately the same number of sci-fi comedies as there were sci-fi horror. The next two films are good examples of science fiction comedy.

  

Amazon Women on the Moon – 1987

This film is a collection of scenes created by numerous writers and directors that poke fun at America’s fascination with sex, relationships, and technology. As the movie opens, a middle-aged Murray (Lou Jacobi) is fiddling with his new TV’s remote. Somehow, he manages to teleport himself into TV-Land (eleven years before Tobey McGuire and Reese Witherspoon do the same thing in the Academy Award nominated film Pleasantville). Murray’s wife Selma (Erica Yohn) grabs the device and begins clicking buttons to get him back, but she only succeeds in transporting him to whatever show or advertisement she lands on. Eventually, she finds the Channel 8 Late Show which is airing Amazon Women on the Moon (a mock film that was supposed to be from 1954) and stops to watch the movie within a movie.

Except for being in color, the feature film does a decent job of spoofing fifties science fiction by having amateurish special effects and casting bad actors. The story is about astronauts Captain Steve Nelson (Steve Forrest), and his subordinates Blackie (Robert Colbert), and Butch (Joey Travolta, John’s older brother), who are on an expedition to the moon. On film, the rocket looks like a toy and the flames coming out the back drip candle wax (Interesting aside, an episode of Xploration Outer Space actually interviews a scientist who is working on creating candles that can power rockets). The seats are rolling office chairs, the harnesses are seatbelts, and the gauges are speedometers and stereo system dials. Boulders, hills, trees, and grass cover the lunar surface, and the atmosphere and gravity are identical to that of Earth.

Upon touchdown, the astronauts disembark, and while investigating, end up in an ancient structure that looks abandoned, but is actually in use because the seats are still warm. All of a sudden, the film breaks, and when it starts rolling again, Blackie has inexplicably disappeared, and the Captain and Butch are surrounded by a tribe of buxom women dressed in sexy garb who are wielding primitive weapons. Then Queen Lara (Sybil Danning) and her second in command Alpha Beta (Lara Clarkson) enter the chamber. Although they act tough, the two women are noticeably attracted to the astronauts, and when a nearby volcano starts erupting, they abandon their subjects and accompany the men back to the ship, which blasts off just as the volcano blows the Moon to smithereens.

Channel 8 repeatedly promises to air the movie without interruption, but the celluloid breaks repeatedly, giving Selma a chance to investigate what’s playing on other channels. My favorites are “Two IDs” and “Son of the Invisible Man.” The former stars Steve Gutenberg (with hair) and Rosanna Arquette (fresh from her success as Roberta in the film Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)). Gutenberg arrives at Arquette’s apartment to take her out on a blind date. She says that she’s almost ready, but first needs to see his ID and credit card. He hands them over (which would never happen today), and as he watches perplexed, she calls a number, keys his information into the phone, and hangs up. Seconds later, her computer printer spits out pages of Steve’s dating history. The report reveals that he flirts with other women while on a date, and never calls a girl back after they have sex. Naturally, Rosanna tells him to get lost, but Steve’s not about to have his evening ruined. He pulls out his little black book and starts calling girls he's dated in the past. Most turn him down for obvious reasons, but he keeps trying until he finds one that says yes. As he smiles triumphantly, she adds that she just needs his credit card information.

“Son of the Invisible Man” is another movie that’s airing, and it stars a thirty-something Ed Begley Jr. He confides to his friend that he has recreated his father’s invisibility potion and to prove it, drinks the brew, strips off all of his clothes, then heads downtown. Unfortunately, he doesn’t realize that the potion doesn’t work. He enters a local pub and starts bothering customers by moving their things around while making silly ghost noises. Apparently, this happens a lot because his “victims” roll their eyes and play along while waiting for the police to arrive and take him away. There are numerous other scenes which feature familiar faces like Michelle Pfeiffer, B. B. King, Kelly Preston, Carrie Fischer, and Arsenio Hall. A final warning: there is more than one version of this film, so if nudity and words like bullshit offend you, look for the one that was made for TV. (I didn’t know about this until it was too late.)

 

Earth Girls are Easy (1988)  

If you’d rather watch something that is less risqué and has more of a plot, you might prefer Earth Girls Are Easy. The dialogue contains a few swear words, but there are no blatantly raunchy scenes. Like Amazon Women on the Moon, this film pays homage to old movies including The Day the Earth Stood Still and Creature from the Black Lagoon, but at its heart, it’s a romantic comedy. The protagonist is Valerie (Geena Davis) a manicurist who is planning her wedding with live-in fiancé Ted (Charles Rocket). However, she’s starting to doubt his love because they haven’t had sex in two weeks. Finally, she catches him cheating, which confirms her doubts, and she kicks him out. The next day, as she’s taking a sunbath and feeling sorry for herself, a spaceship containing three fur covered aliens named Mac (Jeff Goldblum), Zeebo (Damon Wayons), and Wiploc (Jim Carrey) lands in her swimming pool.

Most people would be terrified, but Valerie is a naturally trusting and curious person, so she asks to see the inside of their ship. Unfortunately, she’s also a klutz and ends up causing the vessel to sink. Not easily daunted, Valerie simply calls her surfer handyman, Woody (Michael McKeon), to drain the pool, so the aliens can repair their craft and leave. While waiting, she invites her guests inside. Excited by all the new things they see, Wiploc and Zeebo destroy a lot of stuff, including Ted’s rare tropical fish, which they eat. To stop the aliens from causing any more damage, Valerie takes them to her salon, The Curl Up and Dye, where her best friend Candy Pink (Julie Brown) and the other girls remove the aliens’ fur. The women are pleasantly surprised to discover that under all that hair are three good-looking guys. This is especially true of Mac, who is smitten with Valerie. Hoping that Woody has succeeded in draining the pool, she takes the aliens back to her house, and Mac starts to make his move. Unfortunately for him, at that moment Ted calls and asks to come home and softhearted (headed?) Valerie, who has spent her life looking for Mr. Right, agrees to give him one more chance. She starts encouraging the aliens to finish their repairs and go, but Mac has magical abilities and since this is before the “Me too” movement, she doesn’t wonder why they end up in bed.

While Mac is making love with Valerie, Woody invites Zeebo and Wiploc on a trip to the beach, where people dance and sing like it’s a 1960s beach party movie. Everyone has fun, but the aliens need to get back to outer space, so Woody rounds them up and starts back to Valerie’s. Being low on gas, he stops at a mini-mart, fills the tank, and goes inside to pay. While he’s gone, Zeebo and Wiploc try their hand at driving and accidentally crash into a woman’s car. The cops show up and try to arrest them, but they also have magical powers, which they use to escape. Once back at the house, the aliens prepare to take off, but Mac hesitates because he doesn’t want to leave Valerie. Then Ted arrives and begs her to marry him. Noting that she seems on the verge of saying yes, Mac climbs aboard the ship and starts the engines. Before he can take off, however, Valerie realizes that he is actually her Mr. Right and runs after him. He pulls her aboard, and they fly away to live happily ever after.

 

Sci-Fi Mysticism

At first glance, Science and Mysticism don’t seem to go together, but according to Hesiod in his treatise “The Hidden Theology of Science Fiction Films” mysticism (which he likens to religion) is at the very core of Sci-Fi because it contrasts the logical and analytical perspectives of the modern world against the emotional and natural views of the ancient world. Although his discussion is not about Christianity, in itself, he points out that numerous movies feature Christ-like characters that save humankind through self-sacrifice. The first of these, he states, was the Japanese film Godzilla, which underscored the destruction that science and technology wrought in Japan with the atom bomb. He points out that a lone mad scientist, Serizawa, uses one of his inventions to defeat the monster even though he knows that the machine will kill him. Another film the author sites is The Terminator (1984). That story again highlights the damage that uncontrolled technology, in this case computerization, can cause and contrasts it with the healing effect of love. His example is the romance that develops between Sarah Connor and time traveler Reese who, through sexual expression of their feelings, conceive John Connor, the person destined to save the world.

Finally, I think it is important to talk about the relationship between spirituality and mysticism. Per Nils Holm, Professor of Religion at Stromstad Academy in Sweden, mysticism is “a way to reach the inner dimensions of human life…where man achieves unity with the Divine Being.”  Spirituality, on the other hand, is an endeavor “to grasp…ethics and norms in a globalized world.” What do these esoteric terms mean? According to Joel Blackstone, a therapist who utilizes both concepts, mysticism is the thing you seek, and spirituality is what develops while you’re pursuing it.

https://minervawisdom.com/2020/09/12/the-hidden-theology-of-science-fiction-films/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326889779_Mysticism_and_spirituality

 

The Fifth Element – 1997 

It’s funny how I’m not a huge fan of Bruce Willis, and yet he is the headlining star in three of my favorite movies. Two of them are The Sixth Sense (1999) and Unbreakable (2000) both created by M. Knight Shyamalan. The third is The Fifth Element, which was written and directed by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kaman. The plot combines science fiction with mysticism, horror, and comedy into a story about a character so evil that only the “divine light” can defeat it.

When the film opens, it is 1914 and, as a gargantuan spaceship approaches the Earth, Professor Pacoli (John Bluthal) and his apprentice Billy (Luke Perry) are in an obscure temple in the Egyptian desert trying to translate unfamiliar markings. The professor believes the symbols warn of an evil that only the natural elements fire, water, earth, and air along with a fifth element designated as the “divine light” can dispel. According to the message, four carved stones represent the natural elements, but it doesn’t indicate what embodies the fifth. As the spaceship lands outside, darkness descends upon the room, and humongous creatures known as Mondoshawan disembark the craft and shuffle toward the temple. Suddenly, a heretofore unnoticed priest (John Bennett) who has been spying on Pacoli emerges from the shadows and offers him a drink. The concoction contains poison, and the Professor dies just as the aliens enter the temple. Surprisingly, rather than being destructors, these creatures are actually guardians who have come for the stones because a terrible evil is on the horizon, and only the elements can vanquish it. The chief Mondoshawan hands the priest a key, take possession of the talismans, and returns to the ship which ascends into the heavens.

Three hundred years later, Earth is a Federated Territory of an interplanetary community and New York City is so overcrowded that the inhabitants occupy both vertical and horizontal planes. One resident is retired special forces major, and current taxi driver, Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis). He lives in a one-room flat overflowing with weapons he has taken from the various thugs that have tried to rob him. In fact, along with having the same basic technology as everyone else, Korben also has a slew of devices capable of detecting and outsmarting criminals and law enforcement alike. While he is getting ready for work, back at Federation headquarters President Lindberg (Tom Lister, Jr.), General Staedert (John Neville) and members of the Federation military are shooting missiles at a dark sphere that is approaching the planet. Yet oddly, instead of sustaining damage, the entity becomes more powerful with each hit. Suddenly, two unidentified spacecrafts appear, and one destroys the other.

Representatives of the Federation send a rescue team, but it only finds one survivor, a peculiar cell that consists of such complex DNA, the chief scientist (George Khan) declares it “perfect.” The engineers encase the cell in an indestructible tube and rebuild the form, which turns out to be a young female. When she attains consciousness, the girl starts to scold them in an unknown language, then breaks out of the enclosure, and escapes into the ventilation system. It isn’t long before she reaches a locked gate; unwilling to be a prisoner, she forces the barrier open and steps out onto the ledge of a building that floats hundreds of feet in the air, where vehicles zip past in all directions. With no other option, the girl free-falls into the melee, and crashes through the roof of Korben’s taxi, costing him four of the last five credits on his driver’s license.

The police quickly surround the cab and demand that Korben turn the girl over to them, but he senses that would be a mistake, and flees. The strange girl only knows a few words in English, but three of them are a man’s name: Priest Vito Cornelius (Ian Holm). Intuiting that’s where she needs to go, Korben finds the man’s address and takes her there. At first, the priest doesn’t want anything to do with them, but when he sees a tattoo of the four elements on the girl’s arm, Cornelius agrees to let her stay. Brusquely thanking Korben for his help, the man rudely ushers him out. Feeling like he’s done his good deed for the day, Korben goes home. However, he can’t stop thinking about the mysterious passenger he risked his life to save, who calls herself Leeloo.

This wouldn’t be a horror film if there wasn’t an evil character. In this case, it’s the dark force that inhabits the black orb that is threatening the Earth. It goes by the moniker, Mr. Shadow and depends on a soulless villain to do its dirty work, a quirky fellow named Zorg (Gary Oldman). Zorg, in turn, has an army of mercenary soldiers called Mangalores that carry out his foul deeds. They are the creatures that blew up the Mondoshawan’s spaceship, so they could steal a box that is supposed to contain the elemental stones. They hand it over to Zorg, who preens with self-satisfaction until he opens it, and sees there’s nothing inside. Enraged, he accuses the lead Mangalore, Akanit (Aron Paramor), of screwing up, and tells him to find the stones or else. Using a special spying device, Akanit eavesdrops on Federation headquarters and learns that, rather than the stones, the ship was carrying the Fifth Element. Apparently, It escaped, however, and ended up with Korben Dallas, who took it to Father Cornelius. Akanit also discovers that rather than being on the spaceship, the stones are actually in the care of the singer Plavalaguna (Maiwenn Le Basco).

A famous opera singer, the Diva is going to perform at an exclusive resort on the planet Fhloston. Thus, President Lindberg arranges for Korben to win a ticket to attend her show and has this information broadcast over the radio. Korben, who’s had a very busy day, doesn’t hear the announcement, and only finds out about the trip when his mother calls and asks to be his plus one. Cornelius and Zorg do hear the news, however, and both make their way to the retired soldier’s apartment to get the tickets for themselves. Cornelius arrives first, steals what he came for, and rushes to the airport with Leeloo in tow. Korben who is right behind them, manages to reclaim the tickets, grab Leelou, and escort her onto the airship which resembles a Carnival Cruise Liner that floats on an ocean of ether rather than water.

Upon disembarking, Leeloo and Korben separate. She hides in a hall and waits for the Diva, an impressive presence with iridescent azure skin who stands over seven feet tall and has a voice so ethereal (sung by Inva Mula-Tchako) that it mesmerizes audiences. Meanwhile, renowned radio host Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker) escorts Korben ed to the show. No one is aware that Zorg and the Mangalores are also aboard the ship until Leeloo witnesses the mercenaries break into the Diva’s room to steal the stones. She dispatches the soldiers easily, but Zorg has a machine gun, so she disappears into the ventilation system. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take him long to figure out where she’s gone, and he fires into the ceiling, seriously wounding her. Afterwards, he and the Mangalores enter the auditorium and start shooting, hitting the Diva. Her injuries are fatal, but before dying, she manages to tell Korben that the stones are inside of her body. He retrieves them, then goes searching for Leeloo, who he finds barely hanging onto life. As he carries her onto a lifeship (space version of a lifeboat), Ruby Rhod joins them, and they fly back to the Egyptian desert where the story started three hundred years before. There, Korben places Leeloo on an altar so she can vanquish Mr. Shadow.

I don’t want to spoil the ending, so I’m not going to reveal anything more, except to say that I found the film delightful to watch. It even impressed Roger Ebert (although he thought some scenes were redundant). In closing, I just want to say The Fifth Element incorporates all three characteristics discussed in this posting. Mr. Shadow provides the horror, Ruby Rhod, who acts girly but behaves heterosexually, delivers comedy, and as the Fifth Element incarnate, Leeloo embodies mysticism. In contrast, bad characters like Zorg and his mercenaries, guns and bombs, the biggest explosion on a film ever, along with really cool costumes and truly likeable characters add up to a film that delivers tons of edge of your seat action along with light-hearted laughter and a satisfying ending.

https://screenrant.com/the-fifth-element-hidden-details/

 

Summary

Although these four films differ significantly, they have some themes in common. For one thing, they speculate what might happen if humans and aliens ever met. In three of the films, beings from different worlds find common ground, while in the fourth the alien mistakes people for sustenance. And, when it comes to relations between different lifeforms, love is always present in one form or another. In Brain Damage, Brian allows Aylmer to use him to save the two people he cares about most, his brother, and his girlfriend. In Amazon Women on the Moon, Queen Lara and Alpha Beta choose to be with Captain Steve and Blackie rather than perishing with their subjects. In Earth Girls Are Easy, Jennifer leaves everything behind to be with Mac, and in The Fifth Element Leeloo and Korben don’t let saving the universe stop them from falling in love.

 

Discussion

While scrutinizing the movies for this post, I watched for signs of mysticism by focusing on characteristics like self-sacrifice and rebirth. I noted those features in Brain Damage and The Fifth Element. In the former, Aylmer dies because Morris has drained his life force, while his “juice,” transforms Brian from an average human being into something new, although what the ending does not explain what that means. In the other, Leeloo saves the universe by sacrificing herself. She does this even though she has learned the awful things that people sometimes do to one another, and wonders aloud to Korben, “What’s the use of saving life when you see what you do with it?”   

https://fifth-element.fandom.com/wiki/Elemental_Stones

 

Conclusion

Overall, Brain Damage it received mediocre ratings on both Rotten Tomatoes (67%) and IMDB (65%). Currently, you can watch the film for free on Kanopy and Tubi, or if you have a membership, you can stream it on AMC+ and SHUDDER. If you prefer, you can buy it on eBay or Amazon, but it’s expensive because new DVDs run $25 or more. For those that like collectibles, sellers on eBay also have posters, keychains, and even Aylmer figurines, but most are used.

Rankings for Amazon Women on the Moon are atypical because critics liked it more than the general audience did (65% vs. 57% on Rotten Tomatoes). That could be why it’s not streaming anywhere, but If you’re dying to see it, you can buy the DVD for less than $10 on Amazon, eBay, and Walmart or purchase the Blu-ray disc for $20 to $25 on Amazon. Just remember that there is more than one version, and the ones not made for TV include nudity and rough language.

Earth Girls Are Easy also did better with critics than it did with audiences (68% vs. 42%). This surprised me because I thought the critics like it too much, but the audience overlooked all of the popular actors that were in the cast. (To be honest, I didn’t love it either.) If you decide to check it out, don’t be tricked into paying $4 on Amazon or Apple because you can stream it for free on Freevee, Pluto, and Tubi. Walmart, eBay, and Best Buy are selling both the limited edition and the Blue Ray version for about $10.

Fortunately, just when I’d about given up on people’s taste, rankings for The Fifth Element renewed my faith. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB loved it, and the audience awarded it a respectable 86%. I loved it too because even when the scenery isn’t beautiful (which is rare) it’s intriguing, the special effects are spectacular, and at nineteen, Milla is amazing, especially her athleticism and well-timed delivery of comedic lines. The movie is streaming on several sites, but not on any of the free ones, which means you’ll need a subscription on Spectrum or Showtime or have to pay $4 to rent it on Amazon Prime or Apple TV. Of course, you could just buy it to round out your sci-fi movie collection. Amazon has the Blue Ray edition for $8, and the Ultimate version for under $15. Prices at Walmart and Best Buy are comparable, but a better choice might be the 4-movie DVD at Best Buy which has Johnny Mnemonic, Gattaca, and Starship Troopers and only costs $10.