Alex Rogan lives in a trailer park. There is an arcade game
in the park called Starfighter. Alex gets the highest score and finds out that
it was not just a game but a recruitment program for an alien race and he is
taken into space to help aliens defend their universe. A fun movie, although
Alex does whine a lot.
A series of seven episodes where you played as Commander
Keen, aka 8 year old Billy Blaze, who defends earth from alien attack with his
raygun and pogo stick. I remember this game was fun with slugs you had to jump
on with your pogo stick. I don’t remember what “episode” I actually played. I
do remember it was fun though. You can find Commander Keen on Steam if you’re
interested in playing.
Based on a book that I have not read, Ready Player One is
about a virtual reality world called the OASIS and the people who compete to
control it. It’s the year 2045 and the world is a mess. It is such a mess that
people escape into the OASIS spending most of their lives there. One of these
players is Wade Watters who plays as a character named Parzival. Wade is one of
many Gunters who are trying to get the Easter Eggs that the late James Halliday
hid in the OASIS. The person who finds all the keys will own the OASIS. Also
out to get the keys in the evil IOI who wants the OASIS for themselves. Wade
gradually gains a group of allies and together they beat IOI. The movie is
great and the cultural references are spot on. I have been told that they took
great liberties with the text of the book, but since I have never read the book
I enjoyed the movie for what it was.
Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key
The book that started the Witch Mountain franchise. In it,
orphans Tia and Tony are running away from a rich billionaire that wishes to
exploit them for their powers. They’re aliens you see. In the book Tia only
speaks telepathically to Tony. She’s mute to everyone else. Jason O’Day in the
original book is a priest. One of my favorite science fiction quotes comes at
the end of this book when Day tells Bolt, “Do you think my God is so small that
he could not create other worlds like this one?”
Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
The movie stays pretty close to the book except that Jason
O’Day is not a priest and Tia is not mute. This was one of my favorite movies
growing up (and I still think it’s pretty great). I actually watched this movie
before reading the book. It was many years later when I discovered that it was
a book. For that reason I like the movie slightly better than the book.
Return from Witch Mountain (1978)
I don’t think this movie is as good as its predecessor.
Basically Tony gets captured and brainwashed my unscrupulous individuals and
it’s up to Tia and a group of children that are skipping school to start a
street gang to save him.
Return from Witch Mountain by Alexander Key
This is listed after the movie because it is basically a
movie novelization. You know you have made it when the writer of the original
book liked it well enough to write the movie novelization.
Escape to Witch Mountain (1995)
In this version twins with purple light magic beamed down to
earth and were separated. They have to be together for their magic to work.
It’s a different version to be sure but has many of the same elements. A fun
movie.
Race to Witch Mountain (2009)
Tooted as a sequel instead of a remake this movie has alien
kids Sara and Seth trying to find their parents’ research while outrunning a
terminator/Gort creature sent from their home planet who are not interested in
finding a solution to saving their dying planet and the Men in Black. They team
up with taxi driver Jack Bruno who acts as their Jason O’Day. I loved this
mainly because they weren’t trying to make a remake.
