In this installment in the Transformers franchise, Noah Diaz
is convinced by a friend in 1994 to steal a Porsche. He finds out that the
Porsche is really an Autobot named Mirage. Mirage and Noah then team up with
the rest of the Autobots team up with the Maximals, transformers that took the
forms of animals to defeat the planet eating Unicron. It also implies a
crossover between transformers and the GI Joe franchise. A fun addition to the Transformers franchise.
A really good Babylon 5 book that takes place between the
end of season 1 and Season 3 Episode 16. At the end of season 1, main character,
Jeffery Sinclair, is abruptly assigned as the Human ambassador to Minbar. The
real world reason for this change in the command of Babylon 5 is that the
actor, Michael O’Hare, was diagnosed with schizophrenia while filming season 1
and was physically unable to come back to continue the series. He was able to
come back for the two part episode War Without End and tie up his storyline.
This book fills in the time between the end of season 1 and those two episodes.
It tells us what happened to Sinclair’s fiancée, Catherine, and shows the
growing friendship between Sinclair and Marcus. It is a little slow in parts,
but for lovers of the series it helps to fill in some much needed gaps. In fact,
Drennan collaborated with Michael Straczynski, who wrote the original show.
With special effects by the amazing Ray HarryHausen, Earth
Vs the Flying Saucers is one of the great alien invasion movies. Aliens are
trying to take over the earth because their own planet has been destroyed. At
first it seems that the earthlings are being just paranoid, but it isn’t long
until we realize the aliens’ intentions are not benevolent. A great movie from
a master!
The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Doyle might be more known for his Sherlock Holmes stories,
but he actually wrote five books with another main character: Professor
Challenger. Challenger is abrasive, blunt, everything that Holmes is not. He’s
also a lot of fun. In this first story, Challenger with a group of other
scientists and a reporter to examine a plateau where a dinosaurs still exist.
It’s a fun story. However, you need to read it in the spirit in which it was
written. It was written in 1907. It is very sexist and racist, but if you
accept that you can then enjoy the adventure.
The Adventure of the Challenging Professor in the book The
Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes by James Lovegrove
In Doyle’s books Challenger and Holmes never met. They might
have as well lived in completely different Londons. Lovegrove, however, has
written a short story where Professor Challenger calls upon Holmes to solve a
murder in his house. His pet pterodactyl has killed a man in a locked room. It
is up to Holmes to discover how and why.
The Lost World (1925)
One of the only silent movies that I have seen. This movie
stays pretty close to the original book. The special effects were done by
Willis O’Brian who went on to do the effects for the original King Kong. A fun
fact, Doyle actually saw this movie and tricked Houdini into thinking that they
had really found dinosaurs by showing him a still.
The Lost World (1960)
A modern adaptation of the novel has Challenger and crew flying out to the Amazon to find their dinosaurs.
The Lost World (1992)
One of my favorite versions of this story. It is period.
John Rhys-Davies is amazing as Challenger and all the other characters are just
as great. If you only watch one version of the Lost World, I suggest you this
one.
The Return to the Lost World (1992)
A direct sequel to the above movie, Rhys-Davies reprises his
role as Challenger and everyone else comes back when the Lost World is
threatened by a corporation that wants to exploit the plateau and destroy the
dinosaurs.
The Lost World (2001)
Perhaps my least favorite version simply because I did not
appreciate the religious connotations. In this version they are stranded on the
plateau because a fanatical Christian is concerned that the locals will prove
evolution. I hate it when Christians are depicted as these horrible people. It
does have some redeeming qualities, however, which is why I still include it on
this list.
