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187-474: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow , often shortened to Sky Captain , is a 2004 science fiction action - adventure film written and directed by Kerry Conran in his directorial debut, and produced by Jon Avnet , Sadie Frost , Jude Law and Marsha Oglesby. It stars Jude Law , Gwyneth Paltrow , and Angelina Jolie . It is an example of "Ottensian" (pre- WWII ) dieselpunk . Conran spent four years making

374-620: A Scottish nobleman , George Bogle , travelled to Shigatse to investigate prospects of trade for the East India Company . His efforts, while largely unsuccessful, established permanent contact between Tibet and the Western world . However, in the 19th century, tensions between foreign powers and Tibet increased. The British Empire was expanding its territories in India into the Himalayas , while

561-496: A black and white teaser using a bluescreen set up in his living room and a Macintosh IIci . He was able to show it to Avnet, who was so impressed that Avnet spent two years working with him on his screenplay. No major studio was interested, but Avnet convinced Aurelio De Laurentiis to finance Sky Captain without a distribution deal (a worldwide distribution deal would later happen with Paramount Pictures ). Almost 100 digital artists, modelers, animators, and compositors created

748-512: A British cinema and media theorist and cultural critic: Science fiction film is a film genre which emphasizes actual, extrapolative, or 2.0 speculative science and the empirical method , interacting in a social context with the lesser emphasized, but still present, transcendentalism of magic and religion , in an attempt to reconcile man with the unknown. This definition suggests a continuum between (real-world) empiricism and ( supernatural ) transcendentalism , with science fiction films on

935-463: A Central Asian empire until the mid-9th century, when a civil war over succession led to the collapse of imperial Tibet. The period that followed is known traditionally as the Era of Fragmentation , when political control over Tibet became divided between regional warlords and tribes with no dominant centralized authority. An Islamic invasion from Bengal took place in 1206. The Mongol Yuan dynasty , through

1122-469: A Friend for the End of the World ( 2012 ), Safety Not Guaranteed ( 2013 ), and Pixels (2015), romance films such as Her (2013), Monsters (2010), and Ex Machina (2015), heist films including Inception (2010) and action films including Real Steel (2011), Total Recall (2012), Edge of Tomorrow ( 2014 ), Pacific Rim (2013), Chappie (2015), Tomorrowland (2015), and Ghost in

1309-482: A blue screen soundstage in an abandoned building in Van Nuys, California . A group of almost 100 digital artists, modelers, animators, and compositors created multi-layered 2D and 3D backgrounds for the live action footage yet to be filmed. The entire movie was sketched out via hand-drawn storyboards and then re-created as computer-generated 3D animatics with all of the 2D background photographs digitally painted to resemble

1496-499: A box office flop . Production designer Kevin Conran, brother of director Kerry Conran, disputed this budget figure in a 2015 interview: "I take great issue with that [budget figure] personally and I'd like someone to show me where all that money went ... I don't support those numbers and I never have. We walked into Jon Avnet's office that first day and he said, 'What do you want for the production?' and we said $ 3 million. We could have done

1683-613: A bygone era but said that "the monochromatic variations on sepia keep the actors and their adventures at a refined aesthetic distance ... At times the film is hard to see. And as the action accelerates, the wonder of its visual concept starts giving way to sci-fi clichés". USA Today said that the film was "all style over substance, a clever parlor trick but a dull movie". Stephen Hunter , of The Washington Post , called it "a $ 70 million novelty item". First-time director Conran incorporated many references to classic genre films into his own movie: The work of those artists and writers from

1870-569: A civil administration which is referred to by historians as the Lhasa state . This Tibetan regime or government is also referred to as the Ganden Phodrang . Qing dynasty rule in Tibet began with their 1720 expedition to the country when they expelled the invading Dzungars . Amdo came under Qing control in 1724, and eastern Kham was incorporated into neighbouring Chinese provinces in 1728. Meanwhile,

2057-470: A civilization's level of technological advancement into types. Due to its exponential nature, sci-fi civilizations usually only attain Type I (harnessing all the energy attainable from a single planet), and strictly speaking often not even that. The concept of life, particularly intelligent life, having an extraterrestrial origin is a popular staple of science fiction films. Early films often used alien life forms as

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2244-463: A clue to where Dr. Totenkopf is hiding. With insufficient fuel to make it there, they run into a Royal Navy flying aircraft carrier commanded by another of Joe's former flames, Commander Franky Cook. Franky leads the attack on Totenkopf's island lair while Joe and Polly enter through an underwater inlet. Joe and Polly find themselves on an island with dinosaur-like creatures, which Polly hesitates to photograph as she has only two shots left. They find

2431-512: A degree of political autonomy. The Qing commander publicly executed a number of supporters of the rebels and, as in 1723 and 1728, made changes in the political structure and drew up a formal organization plan. The Qing now restored the Dalai Lama as ruler, leading the governing council called Kashag , but elevated the role of Ambans to include more direct involvement in Tibetan internal affairs. At

2618-415: A feeder program for Disney animators at CalArts and became interested in 2-D computer animation . While there, he realized it was possible to apply some of the techniques associated with animation to live-action. Two years later, it seemed apparent to him that Hollywood would never take a chance on an inexperienced, first-time filmmaker, so he decided to make the movie himself. Conran was influenced by

2805-466: A female android. Joe and Polly then board the rocket. Before the rocket reaches 100 km, when its second stage is scheduled to fire and thereby incinerate the Earth, Polly pushes an emergency button that ejects all the animals in escape pods. Joe tries to disable the rocket only to be interrupted by the same assassin robot. He jolts the robot with its electric weapon and then uses it on the controls, disabling

2992-401: A long tradition of movies featuring monster attacks. These differ from similar films in the horror or fantasy genres because science fiction films typically rely on a scientific (or at least pseudo-scientific) rationale for the monster's existence, rather than a supernatural or magical reason. Often, the science fiction film monster is created, awakened, or "evolves" because of the machinations of

3179-530: A lost film of that era. The army of giant robots seen in the film – both flying over the city and later various models in Sky Captain's massive warehouse, particularly one designated as number "5" – are a homage to the Paramount Pictures Superman cartoon The Mechanical Monsters (1941), produced by Fleischer Studios . The radio signal tower calling for Sky Captain is a stylized version of

3366-523: A mad scientist, a nuclear accident, or a scientific experiment gone awry. Typical examples include The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), Jurassic Park films, Cloverfield , Pacific Rim , the King Kong films, and the Godzilla franchise or the many films involving Frankenstein's monster . The core mental aspects of what makes us human has been a staple of science fiction films, particularly since

3553-702: A military invasion. The British expeditionary force, consisting of mostly Indian troops , quickly invaded and captured Lhasa, with the Dalai Lama fleeing to the countryside. Afterwards, the leader of the expedition, Sir Francis Younghusband , negotiated the Convention Between Great Britain and Tibet with the Tibetans, which guaranteed the British great economic influence but ensured the region remained under Chinese control . The Qing imperial resident, known as

3740-458: A moderate success. The strongest contributors to the genre during the second half of the 1980s were James Cameron and Paul Verhoeven with The Terminator and RoboCop entries. Robert Zemeckis ' film Back to the Future ( 1985 ) and its sequels were critically praised and became box office successes, not to mention international phenomena. James Cameron's sequel to Alien , Aliens ( 1986 ),

3927-614: A more decentralized indigenous political structure, being divided among a number of small principalities and tribal groups, while also often falling under Chinese rule; most of this area was eventually annexed into the Chinese provinces of Sichuan and Qinghai. The current borders of Tibet were generally established in the 18th century. Following the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty in 1912, Qing soldiers were disarmed and escorted out of

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4114-423: A mysterious lab outside of Berlin where he and the missing scientists were working on a project dubbed the "World of Tomorrow". Her information takes them to the ransacked laboratory of a dying Dr. Jennings, while an assassin escapes. Just before he dies, Jennings gives Polly the two vials and states that they are crucial to Totenkopf's plans. Polly hides the vials and withholds the information from Joe. They return to

4301-459: A new master race. Dex disables the lair's defenses and the group discovers Totenkopf's mummified corpse inside with a scrap of paper clutched in his hand: "forgive me". He died 20 years previously, but his machines have continued his plan. Joe decides to sabotage the rocket from the inside while the others escape. Polly tries to tag along but Joe kisses her and then knocks her out. Polly recovers, following Joe and saving him from Dr. Jennings' assassin,

4488-447: A number of commonalities with Hayao Miyazaki 's anime movie Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986). The sky pirates' focus on primitive mechanics, large airships, and military cultures is similar. Both stories center on an evil madman controlling an island of high technology, and the search for that island. Laputa has the evil madman searching for the island, but Sky Captain has the island as

4675-530: A number of science fiction comic strips were adapted as serials , notably Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers , both starring Buster Crabbe . These serials, and the comic strips they were based on, were very popular with the general public. Other notable science fiction films of the 1930s include Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Doctor X (1932), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), F.P.1 (1932), Island of Lost Souls (1932), Deluge (1933), The Invisible Man (1933), Master of

4862-459: A particular area or time period. This is not true of the science fiction film. However, there are several common visual elements that are evocative of the genre. These include the spacecraft or space station, alien worlds or creatures, robots, and futuristic gadgets. Examples include movies like Lost in Space , Serenity , Avatar , Prometheus , Tomorrowland , Passengers , and Valerian and

5049-495: A particular concern of the writer by serving as a vehicle of warning against a type of activity, including technological research. In the case of alien invasion films, the creatures can provide as a stand-in for a feared foreign power. Films that fit into the Disaster film typically also fall into the following general categories: While monster films do not usually depict danger on a global or epic scale, science fiction film also has

5236-555: A popular staple of science fiction film and science fiction television series. Time travel usually involves the use of some type of advanced technology, such as H. G. Wells' classic The Time Machine , the commercially successful 1980s-era Back to the Future trilogy, the Bill & Ted trilogy, the Terminator series, Déjà Vu (2006), Source Code (2011), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Predestination (2014). Other movies, such as

5423-839: A recent tendency by some authors writing in Chinese to revive the term Tubote (simplified Chinese: 图伯特 ; traditional Chinese: 圖伯特 ; pinyin: Túbótè ) for modern use in place of Xizang , on the grounds that Tubote more clearly includes the entire Tibetan plateau rather than simply the Tibet Autonomous Region . The English word Tibet or Thibet dates back to the 18th century. Historical linguists generally agree that "Tibet" names in European languages are loanwords from Semitic Ṭībat or Tūbātt ( Arabic : طيبة، توبات ; Hebrew : טובּה, טובּת ), itself deriving from Turkic Töbäd (plural of töbän ), literally 'The Heights'. Linguists generally classify

5610-550: A scene that was added later in which Polly talks to her editor in his office that was shot on a physical set because there was no time to shoot it on a blue screen soundstage. The footage from the HD camera was run through a switcher and then through a Macintosh computer running Final Cut Pro that allowed the filmmakers to line up the animatics with the live onstage footage. Conran said, "I don't know how we would have made this movie. It's really what allowed us to line up everything, given there

5797-461: A secret subterranean facility in a mountain, where robots are loading animals, as well as the mysterious vials, onto a large " Noah's Ark " rocket. Joe and Polly are detected but Dex, piloting a flying barge, arrives with three of the missing scientists. They explain that Totenkopf has given up on humanity and seeks to start the world over again: the "World of Tomorrow". The vials are genetic material from humanity's greatest individuals which will produce

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5984-644: A special metal called unobtainium. That same year, Terminator Salvation was released and garnered only moderate success. The 2010s saw new entries in several classic science fiction franchises, including Predators ( 2010 ), Tron: Legacy (2010), a resurgence of the Star Wars series, and entries into the Planet of the Apes and Godzilla franchises. Several more cross-genre films have also been produced, including comedies such as Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), Seeking

6171-500: A split-second before their demise, and then use their bodies for spare parts. Tibet Tibet ( / t ɪ ˈ b ɛ t / ; Tibetan : བོད , Lhasa dialect : [pʰøːʔ˨˧˩] Böd ; Chinese : 藏区 ; pinyin : Zàngqū ), or Greater Tibet , is a region in the western part of East Asia , covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about 2,500,000 km (970,000 sq mi). It

6358-536: A strong following as many people from Tibet looked at him not just as their political leader, but as their spiritual leader. After the Dalai Lama's government fled to Dharamsala , India, during the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion , it established a rival government-in-exile . Afterwards, the Central People's Government in Beijing renounced the agreement and began implementation of the halted social and political reforms. During

6545-596: A technologically advanced 1939, the zeppelin Hindenburg III moors itself atop the Empire State Building . Aboard the airship is Dr. Jorge Vargas, a scientist who arranges for a package containing two vials to be delivered to Dr. Walter Jennings. Afterwards, Dr. Vargas vanishes. Polly Perkins, a reporter for The Chronicle , is looking into the disappearances of Vargas and five other renowned scientists. A cryptic message leads her to Radio City Music Hall , against

6732-487: A term usually translated by Chinese media as "the Western section", meaning "Western China". Tibet has some of the world's tallest mountains, with several of them making the top ten list. Mount Everest , located on the border with Nepal , is, at 8,848.86 metres (29,032 ft), the highest mountain on earth. Several major rivers have their source in the Tibetan Plateau (mostly in present-day Qinghai Province). These include

6919-506: A territory stretching from modern-day Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan. In 821/822   CE, Tibet and China signed a peace treaty. A bilingual account of this treaty, including details of the borders between the two countries, is inscribed on a stone pillar which stands outside the Jokhang temple in Lhasa. Tibet continued as

7106-524: A threat or peril to the human race, where the invaders were frequently fictional representations of actual military or political threats on Earth as observed in films such as Mars Attacks! , Starship Troopers , the Alien series, the Predator series, and The Chronicles of Riddick series. Some aliens were represented as benign and even beneficial in nature in such films as Escape to Witch Mountain , E.T.

7293-515: A treaty of mutual recognition . The ROC continued to view the former Qing territory as its own, including Tibet. For the next 36 years, the 13th Dalai Lama and the regents who succeeded him governed Tibet. During this time, Tibet fought Chinese warlords for control of the ethnically Tibetan areas in Xikang and Qinghai (parts of Kham and Amdo) along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River . In 1914,

7480-637: A unified Tibet begins with the rule of Songtsen Gampo (604–650   CE), who united parts of the Yarlung River Valley and founded the Tibetan Empire. He also brought in many reforms, and Tibetan power spread rapidly, creating a large and powerful empire. It is traditionally considered that his first wife was the Princess of Nepal, Bhrikuti , and that she played a great role in the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet. In 640, he married Princess Wencheng ,

7667-408: A version of this film for $ 3 million. It would have been black-and-white and sans name actors ..." "But even still, this whole thing was going to be under $ 20 million. How it went from 20 to 70, you tell me." On Rotten Tomatoes , the film has an approval rating of 70% based on 221 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critical consensus states: " Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

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7854-450: A working relationship. Then, the producer took the script and the trailer and began approaching actors. In order to protect Conran's vision, Avnet decided to shoot the movie independently with a lot of his own money. The producer realized that "the very thing that made this film potentially so exciting for me, and I think for an audience, was the personal nature of it and the singularity of the vision, which would never succeed and never survive

8041-612: Is a partial genetic continuity between the Paleolithic inhabitants and contemporary Tibetan populations. The earliest Tibetan historical texts identify the Zhang Zhung culture as a people who migrated from the Amdo region into what is now the region of Guge in western Tibet. Zhang Zhung is considered to be the original home of the Bön religion. By the 1st century BCE, a neighboring kingdom arose in

8228-578: Is a popular scientific element in films as depicted in Jurassic Park (cloning of extinct species), The Island (cloning of humans), and ( genetic modification ) in some superhero movies and in the Alien series. Cybernetics and holographic projections as depicted in RoboCop and I, Robot are also popularized. Interstellar travel and teleportation is a popular theme in the Star Trek series that

8415-678: Is a popular theme in Independence Day while invisibility is also popular in Star Trek . Arc reactor technology, featured in Iron Man , is similar to a cold fusion device. Miniaturization technology where people are shrunk to microscopic sizes is featured in films like Fantastic Voyage (1966), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), and Marvel's Ant-Man (2015). The late Arthur C. Clarke 's third law states that "any sufficiently advanced technology

8602-492: Is a primary influence on the art , music , and festivals of the region. Tibetan architecture reflects Chinese and Indian influences. Staple foods in Tibet are roasted barley , yak meat, and butter tea . With the growth of tourism in recent years, the service sector has become the largest sector in Tibet, accounting for 50.1% of the local GDP in 2020. The Tibetan name for their land, Bod ( བོད་ ), means 'Tibet' or ' Tibetan Plateau ', although it originally meant

8789-551: Is achieved through warp drives and transporters while intergalactic travel is popular in films such as Stargate and Star Wars that is achieved through hyperspace or wormholes . Nanotechnology is also featured in the Star Trek series in the form of replicators (utopia), in The Day the Earth Stood Still in the form of grey goo (dystopia), and in Iron Man 3 in the form of extremis (nanotubes) . Force fields

8976-782: Is an exception. The first depiction of a sophisticated robot in a United States film was Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still . Robots in films are often sentient and sometimes sentimental, and they have filled a range of roles in science fiction films. Robots have been supporting characters, such as Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet , Huey, Dewey and Louie in Silent Running , Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation , sidekicks (e.g., C-3PO and R2-D2 from Star Wars , JARVIS from Iron Man ), and extras, visible in

9163-559: Is clearly visible. Similarly, during the New York sequence when Sky Captain deploys a bomb to stop a giant robot, the shape of King Kong can be seen on the Empire State Building in the background. During the underwater dogfight sequence, a light momentarily displays the wreckage of a ship with the name Venture – the tramp steamer that sailed to Skull Island in the 1933 version of King Kong . The same scene shows what appears to be

9350-434: Is consistent throughout. This is probably due to the long-standing influence of the Tibetan empire, whose rule embraced (and extended at times far beyond) the present Tibetan linguistic area, which runs from Gilgit Baltistan in the west to Yunnan and Sichuan in the east, and from north of Qinghai Lake south as far as Bhutan. The Tibetan language has its own script which it shares with Ladakhi and Dzongkha , and which

9537-547: Is derived from the ancient Indian Brāhmī script . Starting in 2001, the local deaf sign languages of Tibet were standardized, and Tibetan Sign Language is now being promoted across the country. The first Tibetan-English dictionary and grammar book was written by Alexander Csoma de Kőrös in 1834. Humans inhabited the Tibetan Plateau at least 21,000 years ago. This population was largely replaced around 3,000 BP by Neolithic immigrants from northern China, but there

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9724-450: Is employed throughout the Tibetan plateau and Bhutan and is also spoken in parts of Nepal and northern India, such as Sikkim . In general, the dialects of central Tibet (including Lhasa), Kham , Amdo and some smaller nearby areas are considered Tibetan dialects. Other forms, particularly Dzongkha , Sikkimese , Sherpa , and Ladakhi , are considered by their speakers, largely for political reasons, to be separate languages. However, if

9911-668: Is featured in Minority Report as well as in The Matrix saga (in which precognition is achieved by knowing the artificial world). Robots have been a part of science fiction since the Czech playwright Karel Čapek coined the word in 1921. In early films, robots were usually played by a human actor in a boxy metal suit, as in The Phantom Empire , although the female robot in Metropolis

10098-494: Is indistinguishable from magic". Past science fiction films have depicted "fictional" ("magical") technologies that became present reality. For example, the Personal Access Display Device from Star Trek was a precursor of smartphones and tablet computers . Gesture recognition in the movie Minority Report is part of current game consoles . Human-level artificial intelligence is also fast approaching with

10285-439: Is regarded as one of the best movies of the period, Planet of the Apes (1968) and Fahrenheit 451 ( 1966 ), which provided social commentary, and the campy Barbarella (1968), which explored the comical side of earlier science fiction. Jean-Luc Godard 's French "new wave" film Alphaville (1965) posited a futuristic Paris commanded by an artificial intelligence which has outlawed all emotion. The era of crewed trips to

10472-528: Is remote telepresence via androids as depicted in Surrogates and Iron Man 3 . As artificial intelligence becomes smarter due to increasing computer power , some sci-fi dreams have already been realized. For example, the computer Deep Blue beat the world chess champion in 1997 and a documentary film, Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine , was released in 2003. Another famous computer called Watson defeated

10659-407: Is slim on plot and characterization, but the visuals more than make up for it". On Metacritic the film has a score of 64 out of 100 based on reviews from 36 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B− on scale of A to F. The Canadian network Space awarded it the 2005 Spacey Award for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Film. Roger Ebert

10846-562: Is the homeland of the Tibetan people . Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups such as Mongols , Monpa , Tamang , Qiang , Sherpa , Lhoba , and since the 20th century Han Chinese and Hui . After the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China in 1951, the entire plateau has been under the administration of the People's Republic of China . Tibet is divided administratively into

11033-434: Is the largest lake in the People's Republic of China. The climate is severely dry nine months of the year, and average annual snowfall is only 46 cm (18 inches), due to the rain shadow effect . Western passes receive small amounts of fresh snow each year but remain traversible all year round. Low temperatures are prevalent throughout these western regions, where bleak desolation is unrelieved by any vegetation bigger than

11220-511: Is whether robots will someday replace humans, a question raised in the film adaptation of Isaac Asimov 's I, Robot (in jobs) and in the film Real Steel (in sports), or whether intelligent robots could develop a conscience and a motivation to protect, take over, or destroy the human race (as depicted in The Terminator , Transformers , and in Avengers: Age of Ultron ). Another theme

11407-514: The Chicago Reader , J.R. Jones wrote, "This debut feature by Kerry Conran is a triumph not only for its technical mastery but for its good taste". Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A−" rating, saying, "The investment is optimistic and wise; Sky Captain is a gorgeous, funny, and welcome novelty". Other critics' enthusiasm was somewhat tempered. For instance, Stephen Holden of The New York Times lauded its visuals and its evocation of

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11594-442: The Planet of the Apes series, Timeline (2003) and The Last Mimzy (2007), explained their depictions of time travel by drawing on physics concepts such as the special relativity phenomenon of time dilation (which could occur if a spaceship was travelling near the speed of light) and wormholes . Some films show time travel not being attained from advanced technology, but rather from an inner source or personal power, such as

11781-548: The Power Rangers (2017) reboot was greatly improved as compared to the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995). While "size does matter", a famous tagline of the movie Godzilla , incredibly small robots, called nanobots , do matter as well (e.g. Borg nanoprobes in Star Trek and nanites in I, Robot ). The concept of time travel —travelling backwards and forwards through time—has always been

11968-452: The Star Wars prequel trilogy , or the huge robot probes seen in Monsters vs. Aliens ). In some cases, robots have even been the leading characters in science fiction films; in the film Blade Runner (1982), many of the characters are bioengineered android " replicants ". This is also present in the animated films WALL-E (2008), Astro Boy (2009), Big Hero 6 (2014), Ghost in

12155-519: The 2008 Tibetan unrest . The central region of Tibet is now an autonomous region within China, the Tibet Autonomous Region . The Tibet Autonomous Region is a province-level entity of the People's Republic of China. It is governed by a People's Government, led by a chairman. In practice, however, the chairman is subordinate to the branch secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In 2010 it

12342-463: The Amban , publicly repudiated the treaty, while the British government, eager for friendly relations with China, negotiated a new treaty two years later known as the Convention Between Great Britain and China Respecting Tibet . The British agreed not to annex or interfere in Tibet in return for an indemnity from the Chinese government, while China agreed not to permit any other foreign state to interfere with

12529-518: The Blackhawk squadron. Production designer Kevin Conran, the brother of director Kerry Conran , based the design of the flying humanoid robots, in part, on the helmet worn by the DC Comics superhero Adam Strange and the flight controls for Commando Cody 's rocket-pack. Science fiction film The genre has existed since the early years of silent cinema , when Georges Méliès ' A Trip to

12716-590: The Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs , or Xuanzheng Yuan, ruled Tibet through a top-level administrative department. One of the department's purposes was to select a dpon-chen ("great administrator"), usually appointed by the lama and confirmed by the Mongol emperor in Beijing. The Sakya lama retained a degree of autonomy, acting as the political authority of the region, while the dpon-chen held administrative and military power. Mongol rule of Tibet remained separate from

12903-618: The Emirate of Afghanistan and the Russian Empire were both doing likewise in Central Asia . In 1904, a British expedition to Tibet , spurred in part by a fear that Russia was extending its power into Tibet as part of the Great Game , was launched. Although the expedition initially set out with the stated purpose of resolving border disputes between Tibet and Sikkim , it quickly turned into

13090-417: The Great Leap Forward , between 200,000 and 1,000,000 Tibetans may have died and approximately 6,000 monasteries were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution —destroying the vast majority of historic Tibetan architecture. In 1980, General Secretary and reformist Hu Yaobang visited Tibet and ushered in a period of social, political, and economic liberalization . At the end of the decade, however, before

13277-496: The Himalayan lands, as well as in the highlands of Southeast Asia and the Sino-Tibetan frontier regions, linguists have generally concluded that there exists a Tibeto-Burman family of languages. More controversial is the theory that the Tibeto-Burman family is itself part of a larger language family, called Sino-Tibetan , and that through it Tibetan and Burmese are distant cousins of Chinese. The language has numerous regional dialects which are generally not mutually intelligible. It

13464-622: The Sikh Empire invaded and annexed Ladakh , a culturally Tibetan region that was an independent kingdom at the time. Seven years later, a Sikh army led by General Zorawar Singh invaded western Tibet from Ladakh, starting the Sino-Sikh War . A Qing-Tibetan army repelled the invaders but was in turn defeated when it chased the Sikhs into Ladakh. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Chushul between

13651-461: The Star Wars prequel trilogy began with the release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace , which eventually grossed over one billion dollars. As the decade progressed, computers played an increasingly important role in both the addition of special effects (thanks to Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park ) and the production of films. As software developed in sophistication it

13838-541: The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 , monks in the Drepung and Sera monasteries started protesting for independence. The government halted reforms and started an anti- separatist campaign. Human rights organisations have been critical of the Beijing and Lhasa governments' approach to human rights in the region when cracking down on separatist convulsions that have occurred around monasteries and cities, most recently in

14025-507: The Tibet Area (Ü-Tsang). The region subsequently declared its independence in 1913, although this was not recognised by the subsequent Chinese Republican government . Later, Lhasa took control of the western part of Xikang . The region maintained its autonomy until 1951 when, following the Battle of Chamdo , Tibet was occupied and annexed by the People's Republic of China. The Tibetan government

14212-592: The Tibet Autonomous Region and parts of the Qinghai , Gansu , Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. Tibet is also constitutionally claimed by the Republic of China as the Tibet Area since 1912. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of 4,380 m (14,000 ft). Located in the Himalayas , the highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest , Earth's highest mountain, rising 8,848 m (29,000 ft) above sea level. The Tibetan Empire emerged in

14399-479: The Tibetan language as a Tibeto-Burman language of the Sino-Tibetan language family, although the boundaries between 'Tibetan' and certain other Himalayan languages can be unclear. According to Matthew Kapstein : From the perspective of historical linguistics, Tibetan most closely resembles Burmese among the major languages of Asia. Grouping these two together with other apparently related languages spoken in

14586-678: The Tsangpa dynasty of Shigatse which expanded its power in different directions of Tibet in the following decades and favoured the Karma Kagyu sect. In 1578, Altan Khan of the Tümed Mongols gave Sonam Gyatso , a high lama of the Gelugpa school, the name Dalai Lama , Dalai being the Mongolian translation of the Tibetan name Gyatso "Ocean". The 5th Dalai Lama (1617–1682) is known for unifying

14773-607: The Washington Monument . Cultural theorist Scott Bukatman has proposed that science fiction film allows contemporary culture to witness an expression of the sublime , be it through exaggerated scale, apocalypse or transcendence. Science fiction films appeared early in the silent film era, typically as short films shot in black and white, sometimes with colour tinting. They usually had a technological theme and were often intended to be humorous. In 1902 , Georges Méliès released Le Voyage dans la Lune , generally considered

14960-531: The Yangtze , Yellow River , Indus River , Mekong , Ganges , Salween and the Yarlung Tsangpo River ( Brahmaputra River ). The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon , along the Yarlung Tsangpo River , is among the deepest and longest canyons in the world. Tibet has been called the "Water Tower" of Asia, and China is investing heavily in water projects in Tibet. The Indus and Brahmaputra rivers originate from

15147-655: The Yarlung valley , and the Yarlung king, Drigum Tsenpo , attempted to remove the influence of the Zhang Zhung by expelling the Zhang's Bön priests from Yarlung. He was assassinated and Zhang Zhung continued its dominance of the region until it was annexed by Songtsen Gampo in the 7th century. Prior to Songtsen Gampo , the kings of Tibet were more mythological than factual, and there is insufficient evidence of their existence. The history of

15334-469: The cyberpunk genre spawned several movies on the theme of the computer-human interface, such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day ( 1991 ), Total Recall ( 1990 ), The Lawnmower Man ( 1992 ), and The Matrix ( 1999 ). Other themes included disaster films (e.g., Armageddon and Deep Impact , both 1998 ), alien invasion (e.g., Independence Day ( 1996 )) and genetic experimentation (e.g., Jurassic Park ( 1993 ) and Gattaca ( 1997 )). Also,

15521-406: The pulps and Golden Age of Comic Books like Airboy was really the template for us. To some extent we stole from it, to some extent we expanded on it – hopefully we added enough of our own sensibility. We tried to approach it almost as though we lived in that era and were just another group of artists trying to make a work comprised of those pieces and inspirations. We wanted the film to feel like

15708-452: The virtual reality world became a real-world prison for humanity, managed by intelligent machines. In movies such as eXistenZ , The Thirteenth Floor , and Inception , the nature of reality and virtual reality become intermixed with no clear distinguishing boundary. Telekinesis and telepathy are featured in movies like Star Wars , The Last Mimzy , Race to Witch Mountain , Chronicle , and Lucy while precognition

15895-815: The young adult dystopian fiction subgenre, popular in the early part of the decade. These include the Hunger Games film series , based on the trilogy of novels by Suzanne Collins , The Divergent Series based on Veronica Roth 's Divergent trilogy , and the Maze Runner series , based on James Dashner 's The Maze Runner novels . Several adult adaptations have also been produced, including The Martian (2015), based on Andy Weir 's 2011 novel , Cloud Atlas (2012), based on David Mitchell 's 2004 novel , World War Z , based on Max Brooks ' 2006 novel , and Ready Player One (2018), based on Ernest Cline 's 2011 novel . Independent productions also increased in

16082-412: The " mad scientist " transferring the human mind to another body is as old as Frankenstein while the idea of corporations behind mind transfer technologies is observed in later films such as Gamer , Avatar , and Surrogates . Films such as Total Recall have popularized a thread of films that explore the concept of reprogramming the human mind. The theme of brainwashing in several films of

16269-574: The "Twenty-Nine Regulations for Better Government in Tibet". Qing military garrisons staffed with Qing troops were now also established near the Nepalese border. Tibet was dominated by the Manchus in various stages in the 18th century, and the years immediately following the 1792 regulations were the peak of the Qing imperial commissioners' authority; but there was no attempt to make Tibet a Chinese province. In 1834,

16456-539: The 10th century ( Old Book of Tang , describing 608–609 emissaries from Tibetan King Namri Songtsen to Emperor Yang of Sui ). In the Middle Chinese language spoken during that period, as reconstructed by William H. Baxter , 土番 was pronounced thu x -phjon , and 吐蕃 was pronounced thu x -pjon (with the x representing a shang tone ). Other pre-modern Chinese names for Tibet include: American Tibetologist Elliot Sperling has argued in favor of

16643-525: The 1939 New York World's Fair itself and its futuristic theme of the World of Tomorrow, Conran noted: "... obviously the title refers to the World Expo and the spirit of that was looking at the future with a sense of optimism and a sense of the whimsical, you know, something that we've lost a lot in our fantasies. We're more cynical, more practical, ... I think what this film attempts to do is to take that enthusiasm and innocence and celebrate it-to not get mired in

16830-457: The 1939 setting. With the animatics as a guide, grids were created to map camera and actor movements with digital characters standing in for the real actors. The grids were made into actual maps on the blue screen stage floor to help the actors move around invisible scenery. Ten months before Conran made the movie with his actors, he shot it entirely with stand-ins in Los Angeles and then created

17017-613: The 1950s, Ray Harryhausen , protege of master King Kong animator Willis O'Brien, used stop-motion animation to create special effects for the following notable science fiction films: It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) and 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957). The most successful monster movies were Japanese film studio Toho 's kaiju films directed by Ishirō Honda and featuring special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya . The 1954 film Godzilla , with

17204-471: The 1960s, but some of the films transformed science fiction cinema. Stanley Kubrick 's 2001: A Space Odyssey ( 1968 ) brought new realism to the genre, with its groundbreaking visual effects and realistic portrayal of space travel and influenced the genre with its epic story and transcendent philosophical scope. Other 1960s films included Planet of the Vampires (1965) by Italian filmmaker Mario Bava , that

17391-476: The 1970s included Woody Allen 's Sleeper ( 1973 ), and John Carpenter 's Dark Star ( 1974 ). The sports science fiction genre can be seen in films such as Rollerball (1975). Star Wars ( 1977 ) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind ( 1977 ) were box-office hits that brought about a huge increase in science fiction films. In 1979 , Star Trek: The Motion Picture brought the television series to

17578-408: The 1980s. Ridley Scott 's Blade Runner (1982), an adaptation of Philip K. Dick 's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? , examined what made an organic-creation a human, while the RoboCop series saw an android mechanism fitted with the brain and reprogrammed mind of a human to create a cyborg . The idea of brain transfer was not entirely new to science fiction film, as the concept of

17765-443: The 2000s-era films Donnie Darko , Mr. Nobody , The Butterfly Effect , and X-Men: Days of Future Past . More conventional time travel movies use technology to bring the past to life in the present, or in a present that lies in our future. The film Iceman (1984) told the story of the reanimation of a frozen Neanderthal . The film Freejack (1992) shows time travel used to pull victims of horrible deaths forward in time

17952-564: The 2010s, with the rise of digital filmmaking making it easier for filmmakers to produce movies on a smaller budget. These films include Attack the Block (2011), Source Code (2011), Looper (2012), Upstream Color (2013), Ex Machina (2015), and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017). In 2016, Ex Machina won the Academy Award for Visual Effects in a surprising upset over

18139-530: The 7th century. At its height in the 9th century, the Tibetan Empire extended far beyond the Tibetan Plateau, from the Tarim Basin and Pamirs in the west, to Yunnan and Bengal in the southeast. It then divided into a variety of territories. The bulk of western and central Tibet ( Ü-Tsang ) was often at least nominally unified under a series of Tibetan governments in Lhasa , Shigatse , or nearby locations. The eastern regions of Kham and Amdo often maintained

18326-421: The Chinese and Sikh empires. As the Qing dynasty weakened, its authority over Tibet also gradually declined, and by the mid-19th century, its influence was minuscule. Qing authority over Tibet had become more symbolic than real by the late 19th century, although in the 1860s, the Tibetans still chose for reasons of their own to emphasize the empire's symbolic authority and make it seem substantial. In 1774,

18513-566: The Chinese government tightly controlling information and denying external scrutiny. While there are conflicting reports on the scale of human rights violations, including allegations of cultural genocide and the Sinicization of Tibet , widespread suppression of Tibetan culture and dissent continues to be documented. The dominant religion in Tibet is Tibetan Buddhism ; other religions include Bön , an indigenous religion similar to Tibetan Buddhism, Islam , and Christianity . Tibetan Buddhism

18700-515: The City of a Thousand Planets . More subtle visual clues can appear with changes of the human form through modifications in appearance, size, or behavior, or by means a known environment turned eerily alien, such as an empty city The Omega Man (1971). While science is a major element of this genre, many movie studios take significant liberties with scientific knowledge. Such liberties can be most readily observed in films that show spacecraft maneuvering in outer space . The vacuum should preclude

18887-558: The Earth Stood Still , and The Watch , the aliens were nearly human in physical appearance, and communicated in a common earth language. However, the aliens in Stargate and Prometheus were human in physical appearance but communicated in an alien language. A few films have tried to represent intelligent aliens as something utterly different from the usual humanoid shape (e.g. An intelligent life form surrounding an entire planet in Solaris ,

19074-647: The Egyptian-Greek works Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century CE) and Geographia ( Ptolemy , 2nd century CE), itself from the Sanskrit form Bhauṭṭa of the Indian geographical tradition. The best-known medieval Chinese name for Tibet is Tubo (Chinese: 吐蕃 ; or Tǔbō , 土蕃 or Tǔfān , 土番 ). This name first appears in Chinese characters as 土番 in the 7th century ( Li Tai ) and as 吐蕃 in

19261-753: The Extra-Terrestrial , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , The Fifth Element , The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , Avatar , Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets , and the Men in Black series. In order to provide subject matter to which audiences can relate, the large majority of intelligent alien races presented in films have an anthropomorphic nature, possessing human emotions and motivations. In films like Cocoon , My Stepmother Is an Alien , Species , Contact , The Box , Knowing , The Day

19448-475: The Legion's base just before it comes under attack from squadrons of ornithopter drones. Dex tracks the origin of the signal controlling the drones and notes it on a map before his capture. Joe and Polly find Dex's map and fly to Nepal and then Tibet , where they meet Joe's old friend Kaji. He helps them locate an abandoned mining outpost in the Himalayas . Two guides working for Totenkopf force Polly to turn over

19635-524: The Moon (1902) employed trick photography effects. The next major example (first in feature-length in the genre) was the film Metropolis (1927). From the 1930s to the 1950s, the genre consisted mainly of low-budget B movies . After Stanley Kubrick 's landmark 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), the science fiction film genre was taken more seriously. In the late 1970s, big-budget science fiction films filled with special effects became popular with audiences after

19822-739: The Moon in 1969 and the 1970s saw a resurgence of interest in the science fiction film. Andrei Tarkovsky 's Solaris ( 1972 ) and Stalker ( 1979 ) are two widely acclaimed examples of the renewed interest of film auteurs in science fiction. Science fiction films from the early 1970s explored the theme of paranoia, in which humanity is depicted as under threat from sociological, ecological or technological adversaries of its own creation, such as George Lucas 's directional debut THX 1138 ( 1971 ), The Andromeda Strain ( 1971 ), Silent Running ( 1972 ), Soylent Green ( 1973 ), Westworld ( 1973 ) and its sequel Futureworld ( 1976 ), and Logan's Run ( 1976 ). The science fiction comedies of

20009-580: The Pole (1912), Himmelskibet (1918; which with its runtime of 97 minutes generally is considered the first feature-length science fiction film in history), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Mechanical Man (1921), Paris Qui Dort (1923), Aelita (1924), Luch Smerti (1925), and The Lost World (1925). In the 1930s, there were several big budget science fiction films, notably Just Imagine (1930), King Kong (1933), Things to Come (1936), and Lost Horizon (1937). Starting in 1936,

20196-508: The Qing government sent resident commissioners called Ambans to Lhasa. In 1750, the Ambans and the majority of the Han Chinese and Manchus living in Lhasa were killed in a riot , and Qing troops arrived quickly and suppressed the rebels in the next year. Like the preceding Yuan dynasty, the Manchus of the Qing dynasty exerted military and administrative control of the region, while granting it

20383-498: The Sea ( 1916 ) is a film based on Jules Verne ’s famous novel of a wondrous submarine and its vengeful captain. In the 1920s, European filmmakers tended to use science fiction for prediction and social commentary, as can be seen in German films such as Metropolis ( 1927 ) and Frau im Mond ( 1929 ). Other notable science fiction films of the silent era include The Impossible Voyage (1904), The Motorist (1906), The Conquest of

20570-521: The Shell (2017) and in Next Gen (2018). Films like Bicentennial Man , A.I. Artificial Intelligence , Chappie , and Ex Machina depicted the emotional fallouts of robots that are self-aware. Other films like The Animatrix (The Second Renaissance) present the consequences of mass-producing self-aware androids as humanity succumbs to their robot overlords. One popular theme in science fiction film

20757-1072: The Shell (2017). The superhero film boom has also continued, into films such as Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013), several entries into the X-Men film series , and The Avengers (2012), which became the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time. New franchises such as Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy also began in this decade. Further into the decade, more realistic science fiction epic films also become prevalent, including Battleship (2012), Gravity (2013), Elysium (2013), Interstellar ( 2014 ), Mad Max: Fury Road ( 2015 ), The Martian ( 2015 ), Arrival ( 2016 ), Passengers (2016), and Blade Runner 2049 ( 2017 ). Many of these films have gained widespread accolades, including several Academy Award wins and nominations. These films have addressed recent matters of scientific interest, including space travel, climate change, and artificial intelligence. Alongside these original films, many adaptations were produced, especially within

20944-621: The Tibetan government signed the Simla Convention with Britain, which recognized Chinese suzerainty over Tibet in return for a border settlement. China refused to sign the convention. Tibet continued to lack clear boundaries or international recognition of its status. When in the 1930s and 1940s the regents displayed negligence in affairs, the Kuomintang Government of the Republic of China took advantage of this to expand its reach into

21131-573: The Tibetan heartland under the control of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism , after defeating the rival Kagyu and Jonang sects and the secular ruler, the Tsangpa prince, in a prolonged civil war. His efforts were successful in part because of aid from Güshi Khan , the Oirat leader of the Khoshut Khanate . With Güshi Khan as a largely uninvolved overlord, the 5th Dalai Lama and his intimates established

21318-589: The Tibetans had lost almost all of their central Asian possessions to the Chinese . However, after Gao Xianzhi's defeat by the Arabs and Qarluqs at the Battle of Talas (751) and the subsequent civil war known as the An Lushan Rebellion (755), Chinese influence decreased rapidly and Tibetan influence resumed. At its height in the 780s to 790s, the Tibetan Empire reached its highest glory when it ruled and controlled

21505-542: The Turkic Uyghur Khaganate . The Kingdom of Nanzhao (in Yunnan and neighbouring regions) remained under Tibetan control from 750 to 794, when they turned on their Tibetan overlords and helped the Chinese inflict a serious defeat on the Tibetans. In 747, the hold of Tibet was loosened by the campaign of general Gao Xianzhi , who tried to re-open the direct communications between Central Asia and Kashmir . By 750,

21692-697: The World (1934), Mad Love (1935), Trans-Atlantic Tunnel (1935), The Devil-Doll (1936), The Invisible Ray (1936), The Man Who Changed His Mind (1936), The Walking Dead (1936), Non-Stop New York (1937), and The Return of Doctor X (1939). The 1940s brought us Before I Hang (1940), Black Friday (1940), Dr. Cyclops (1940), The Devil Commands (1941), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941), Man Made Monster (1941), It Happened Tomorrow (1944), It Happens Every Spring (1949), and The Perfect Woman (1949). The release of Destination Moon (1950) and Rocketship X-M (1950) brought us to what many people consider "the golden age of

21879-456: The World of Tomorrow had high box office expectations, opening in first place on its September 17, 2004 release date and grossing US$ 15.5 million on its opening weekend. However, the film only grossed $ 37.7 million in North America, below its estimated $ 70 million budget. It grossed $ 20.1 million in the rest of the world, making its final worldwide tally $ 57.9 million. The film is considered

22066-705: The Worlds (1953), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), This Island Earth (1955), Forbidden Planet (1956), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) and On the Beach (1959). There is often a close connection between films in the science fiction genre and the so-called " monster movie ". Examples of this are Them! (1954), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and The Blob (1958). During

22253-523: The advent of smartphone A.I. while a working cloaking device / material is the main goal of stealth technology . Autonomous cars (e.g. KITT from the Knight Rider series) and quantum computers , like in the movie Stealth and Transcendence , also will be available eventually. Furthermore, although Clarke's laws do not classify "sufficiently advanced" technologies , the Kardashev scale measures

22440-558: The background to create a futuristic setting (e.g., Back to the Future Part II (1989), Total Recall (2012), RoboCop (2014)). As well, robots have been formidable movie villains or monsters (e.g., the robot Box in the film Logan's Run (1976), HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey , ARIIA in Eagle Eye , robot Sentinels in X-Men: Days of Future Past , the battle droids in

22627-672: The ball shaped creature in Dark Star , microbial-like creatures in The Invasion , shape-shifting creatures in Evolution ). Recent trends in films involve building-size alien creatures like in the movie Pacific Rim where the CGI has tremendously improved over the previous decades as compared in previous films such as Godzilla . A frequent theme among science fiction films is that of impending or actual disaster on an epic scale. These often address

22814-690: The big screen for the first time. It was also in this period that the Walt Disney Company released many science fiction films for family audiences such as The Black Hole , Flight of the Navigator , and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids . The sequels to Star Wars , The Empire Strikes Back ( 1980 ) and Return of the Jedi ( 1983 ), also saw worldwide box office success. Ridley Scott 's films, such as Alien ( 1979 ) and Blade Runner ( 1982 ), along with James Cameron 's The Terminator ( 1984 ), presented

23001-559: The central region around Lhasa , now known in Tibetan as Ü ( དབུས ). The Standard Tibetan pronunciation of Bod ( [pʰøʔ˨˧˨] ) is transcribed as: Bhö in Tournadre Phonetic Transcription ; Bö in the THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription ; and Poi in Tibetan pinyin . Some scholars believe the first written reference to Bod ('Tibet') was the ancient Bautai people recorded in

23188-523: The color RKO logo (the film was released after RKO's successor, RKO General , sold off their TV stations as a result of corporate misconduct). The giant robots heat rays use the same sound effects as the Martian flying machines from the 1953 version of The War of the Worlds . When early in the film newspaper clippings from around the globe are shown, in the Japanese newspaper the iconic silhouette of Godzilla

23375-405: The designs of Norman Bel Geddes , an industrial designer who did work for the 1933 Chicago World's Fair and designed exhibits for the 1939 New York World's Fair . Geddes also designed an Airliner Number 4 that was to fly from Chicago to London. Another key influence was Hugh Ferriss , one of the designers for the 1939 New York World's Fair who designed bridges and huge housing complexes. He

23562-406: The development process within a studio." Avnet convinced Aurelio De Laurentiis to finance the film without a distribution deal ( Paramount Pictures would later acquire worldwide distribution rights to the film). Nine months before filming, Avnet had Conran meet the actors and begin rehearsals in an attempt to get the shy filmmaker out of his shell. Avnet set up a custom digital effects studio with

23749-458: The film carries a profound message - that the evolution of a species toward technological perfection (in this case exemplified by the disappeared alien civilization called the "Krell") does not ensure the loss of primitive and dangerous urges. In the film, this part of the primitive mind manifests itself as monstrous destructive force emanating from the Freudian subconscious, or "Id". Some films blur

23936-432: The film was achieved by running footage through a diffusion filter and then tinting it in black and white before color was blended, balanced and added back in. Laurence Olivier , who died in 1989, posthumously appears as the villain and mad scientist Dr. Totenkopf . His likeness was produced using digitally manipulated archival BBC footage of the actor and thus adding one more film to his repertoire. A similar technique

24123-520: The film's orchestral score in the style of Hollywood's golden-age composers, and the film's end-title sequence featured a new recording of the song " Over the Rainbow " sung by the American jazz singer Jane Monheit , which were all featured on Sony Classical's original motion picture soundtrack recording. La-La Land Records released a limited edition 2-disc set in 2017 with the complete score. Sky Captain and

24310-599: The films were often well-photographed in colour ... and their dismal dialogue was delivered in well-designed and well-lit sets." With the Space Race between the USSR and the US going on, documentaries and illustrations of actual events, pioneers and technology were plenty. Any movie featuring realistic space travel was at risk of being obsolete at its time of release, rather fossil than fiction. There were relatively few science fiction films in

24497-440: The first science fiction film, and a film that used early trick photography to depict a spacecraft's journey to the Moon. Several early films merged the science fiction and horror genres. Examples of this are Frankenstein ( 1910 ), a film adaptation of Mary Shelley 's novel, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), based on the psychological tale by Robert Louis Stevenson . Taking a more adventurous tack, 20,000 Leagues Under

24684-536: The founding of the Gelug school (also known as Yellow Hats) by the disciples of Je Tsongkhapa , and the founding of the important Ganden , Drepung and Sera monasteries near Lhasa. However, internal strife within the dynasty and the strong localism of the various fiefs and political-religious factions led to a long series of internal conflicts. The minister family Rinpungpa , based in Tsang (West Central Tibet), dominated politics after 1435. In 1565 they were overthrown by

24871-880: The future as dark, dirty and chaotic, and depicted aliens and androids as hostile and dangerous. In contrast, Steven Spielberg 's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ( 1982 ), one of the most successful films of the 1980s, presented aliens as benign and friendly, a theme already present in Spielberg's own Close Encounters of the Third Kind . James Bond also entered the science fiction genre in 1979 with Moonraker . The big budget adaptations of Frank Herbert 's Dune and Alex Raymond 's Flash Gordon , as well as Peter Hyams 's sequel to 2001 , 2010: The Year We Make Contact (based on 2001 author Arthur C. Clarke 's sequel novel 2010: Odyssey Two ), were box office failures that dissuaded producers from investing in science fiction literary properties. Disney's Tron ( 1982 ) turned out to be

25058-421: The genre. In the monster films of the 1950s, the scientist often played a heroic role as the only person who could provide a technological fix for some impending doom. Reflecting the distrust of government that began in the 1960s in the United States, the brilliant but rebellious scientist became a common theme, often serving a Cassandra -like role during an impending disaster. Biotechnology (e.g., cloning )

25245-407: The idea of reprogrammable reality and memory. The idea that a human could be entirely represented as a program in a computer was a core element of the film Tron . This would be further explored in the film version of The Lawnmower Man , Transcendence , and Ready Player One and the idea reversed in Virtuosity as computer programs sought to become real persons. In The Matrix series,

25432-483: The kind of freedom the actors needed, like being able to move around on the soundstage. Conran and Avnet were able to cut costs considerably by shooting the entire movie in 26 days — far less than the three-to-four month schedules usually allotted to blockbuster films — on high-definition video using a Sony HDW-F900 and working on three blue screens, mainly on Stage 2 (George Lucas Stage) at Elstree Studios in London, England with one notable exception. Conran wrote

25619-415: The latter group of Tibetan-type languages are included in the calculation, then 'greater Tibetan' is spoken by approximately 6 million people across the Tibetan Plateau. Tibetan is also spoken by approximately 150,000 exile speakers who have fled from modern-day Tibet to India and other countries. Although spoken Tibetan varies according to the region, the written language, based on Classical Tibetan ,

25806-399: The line between the genres, such as films where the protagonist gains the extraordinary powers of the superhero . These films usually employ quasi-plausible reason for the hero gaining these powers. Not all science fiction themes are equally suitable for movies. Science fiction horror is most common. Often enough, these films could just as well pass as Westerns or World War II films if

25993-428: The madman's base from the beginning. Sky Captain ' s message is largely about the film genre, but Laputa has strong anti-war and anti-technology themes, found in most of Miyazaki's work. Both pay homage to the 1941 Superman animated short The Mechanical Monsters . In 1994, Conran began assembling moviemaking tools, including a bluescreen in his living room. He was not interested in working his way through

26180-411: The main provinces of China, but the region existed under the administration of the Yuan dynasty . If the Sakya lama ever came into conflict with the dpon-chen , the dpon-chen had the authority to send Chinese troops into the region. Tibet retained nominal power over religious and regional political affairs, while the Mongols managed a structural and administrative rule over the region, reinforced by

26367-458: The much higher-budget Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). Science fiction films are often speculative in nature, and often include key supporting elements of science and technology. However, as often as not the "science" in a Hollywood science fiction movie can be considered pseudo-science, relying primarily on atmosphere and quasi-scientific artistic fancy than facts and conventional scientific theory. The definition can also vary depending on

26554-433: The multi-layered 2D and 3D backgrounds for the live-action footage, while the entire film was sketched out via hand-drawn storyboards and then recreated as CGI animatics . Ten months prior to shooting the live-action scenes, Conran first shot them with stand-ins in Los Angeles, then converted that footage to animatics so the actors could accurately envision the film. Sky Captain received positive reviews, particularly for

26741-413: The newly enthroned 14th Dalai Lama 's government, affirming the People's Republic of China's sovereignty but granting the area autonomy. Subsequently, on his journey into exile, the 14th Dalai Lama completely repudiated the agreement, which he has repeated on many occasions. According to the CIA , the Chinese used the Dalai Lama to gain control of the military's training and actions. The Dalai Lama had

26928-479: The niece of the Chinese emperor Taizong of Tang China . Under the next few Tibetan kings, Buddhism became established as the state religion and Tibetan power increased even further over large areas of Central Asia , while major inroads were made into Chinese territory, even reaching the Tang 's capital Chang'an (modern Xi'an ) in late 763. However, the Tibetan occupation of Chang'an only lasted for fifteen days, after which they were defeated by Tang and its ally,

27115-399: The perfect Adam and Eve . If the rocket reaches space, the afterburners will ignite the atmosphere and kill everything on Earth, before the rocket repopulates the planet in Totenkopf's image. As the group attempts to enter Dr. Totenkopf's lair, one scientist is electrocuted by the defense system. A hologram of Totenkopf appears, speaking of his hate for humanity and his plans to rebuild it as

27302-412: The practicality that we're fixated upon today." Conran acknowledged his debt to German Expressionism , which was particularly evident in the opening scenes in New York City: "Early German cinema was born of just a completely different aesthetic than what we see nowadays. One of the last things I watched before starting this project was the Dr. Mabuse series that Lang had done—terribly inspirational,

27489-446: The producer remembers that Conran was "working 18 to 20 hours a day for a long period of time. It's 2,000 some odd CG shots done in one year, and we literally had to write code to figure out how to do this stuff!" Most of the post-production work was done on Mac workstations using After Effects for compositing and Final Cut Pro for editing (seven workstations were dedicated to visual effects and production editing). The distinctive look of

27676-427: The rare military intervention. This existed as a " diarchic structure" under the Yuan emperor, with power primarily in favor of the Mongols. Mongolian prince Khuden gained temporal power in Tibet in the 1240s and sponsored Sakya Pandita , whose seat became the capital of Tibet. Drogön Chögyal Phagpa , Sakya Pandita's nephew became Imperial Preceptor of Kublai Khan , founder of the Yuan dynasty. Yuan control over

27863-412: The region ended with the Ming overthrow of the Yuan and Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen 's revolt against the Mongols. Following the uprising, Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen founded the Phagmodrupa dynasty , and sought to reduce Yuan influences over Tibetan culture and politics. Between 1346 and 1354, Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen toppled the Sakya and founded the Phagmodrupa dynasty. The following 80 years saw

28050-420: The release of Transformers (2007) and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), both of which resulted in worldwide box office success. In 2009, James Cameron 's Avatar garnered worldwide box office success, and would later become the highest-grossing movie of all time. This movie was also an example of political commentary. It depicted humans destroying the environment on another planet by mining for

28237-410: The repetitions of the Korova Milkbar make the alien decor seem more familiar. As well, familiar images become alien, as in the films Repo Man and Liquid Sky . For example, in Dr. Strangelove , the distortion of the humans make the familiar images seem more alien. Finally, alien images are juxtaposed with the familiar, as in The Deadly Mantis , when a giant praying mantis is shown climbing

28424-454: The rocket. Joe and Polly use the last pod to save themselves as the rocket explodes. Joe and Polly watch the animal pods splash down around their escape pod, while Commander Cook leads a group of flying aircraft carriers towards them. Polly then uses the last shot on her camera to take a picture of Joe rather than the animal pods. Joe notes that she had forgotten to take the lens cap off. Laurence Olivier had been deceased for nearly 13 years at

28611-419: The same time, the Qing took steps to counterbalance the power of the aristocracy by adding officials recruited from the clergy to key posts. For several decades, peace reigned in Tibet, but in 1792, the Qing Qianlong Emperor sent a large Chinese army into Tibet to push the invading Nepalese out. This prompted yet another Qing reorganization of the Tibetan government, this time through a written plan called

28798-403: The science fiction film". In the 1950s, public interest in space travel and new technologies was great. While many 1950s science fiction films were low-budget B movies , there were several successful films with larger budgets and impressive special effects. These include The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The Thing from Another World (1951), When Worlds Collide (1951), The War of

28985-429: The science fiction props were removed. Common motifs also include voyages and expeditions to other planets, and dystopias , while utopias are rare. Film theorist Vivian Sobchack argues that science fiction films differ from fantasy films in that while science fiction film seeks to achieve our belief in the images we are viewing, fantasy film instead attempts to suspend our disbelief. The science fiction film displays

29172-416: The scientist has varied considerably in the science fiction film genre, depending on the public perception of science and advanced technology. Starting with Dr. Frankenstein , the mad scientist became a stock character who posed a dire threat to society and perhaps even civilization. Certain portrayals of the "mad scientist", such as Peter Sellers 's performance in Dr. Strangelove , have become iconic to

29359-437: The side of empiricism, and happy films and sad films on the side of transcendentalism. However, there are numerous well-known examples of science fiction horror films, epitomized by such pictures as Frankenstein and Alien . The visual style of science fiction film is characterized by a clash between alien and familiar images. This clash is implemented when alien images become familiar, as in A Clockwork Orange , when

29546-437: The sixties and seventies including A Clockwork Orange and The Manchurian Candidate coincided with secret real-life government experimentation during Project MKULTRA . Voluntary erasure of memory is further explored as themes of the films Paycheck and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind . Some films like Limitless explore the concept of mind enhancement. The anime series Serial Experiments Lain also explores

29733-424: The street with little regard for her safety. He disables one robot; the rest leave. News reports show similar attacks around the globe. The disabled robot is taken back to the Legion's air base so that technology expert Dex can examine it. Polly follows and persuades Joe to reluctantly let her in on the investigation. She discovers Dr. Totenkopf was a former child prodigy and Germany's most brilliant scientist who ran

29920-459: The style of filming that was used; some criticism was directed at the plot and characterization. Despite being a box office flop, generating only $ 58 million on a $ 70 million budget, the film has since gained a following and is regarded as a cult classic . It was one of the first major films, along with Casshern , Immortal (both 2004) and Sin City (2005), to be shot entirely on a " digital backlot ", blending actors with CG surroundings. In

30107-521: The success of Star Wars (1977) and paved the way for the blockbuster hits of subsequent decades. Screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identifies science fiction films as one of eleven super-genres in his screenwriters’ taxonomy , stating that all feature-length narrative films can be classified by these super-genres.  The other ten super-genres are action , crime , fantasy , horror , romance , slice of life , sports , thriller , war , and western . According to Vivian Sobchack ,

30294-517: The system and instead wanted to follow the route of independent filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh . Initially, Kerry and his brother had nothing more than "just a vague idea of this guy who flew a plane. We would talk about all the obvious things like Indiana Jones and all the stuff we liked." Conran spent four years making a black and white teaser trailer in the style of an old-fashioned movie serial on his Macintosh IIci personal computer. Once finished, Conran showed it to producer Marsha Oglesby, who

30481-409: The territory or internal administration of Tibet. In 1910, the Qing government sent a military expedition of its own under Zhao Erfeng to establish direct Manchu-Chinese rule and, in an imperial edict, deposed the Dalai Lama, who fled to British India. Zhao Erfeng defeated the Tibetan military conclusively and expelled the Dalai Lama's forces from the province. His actions were unpopular, and there

30668-418: The territory. On December 20, 1941, Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-Shek noted in his diary that Tibet would be among the territories which he would demand as restitution for China following the conclusion of World War II. Emerging with control over most of mainland China after the Chinese Civil War , the People's Republic of China annexed Tibet in 1950 and negotiated the Seventeen Point Agreement with

30855-505: The time of filming and was depicted in the film for the role of Dr. Totenkopf, the mysterious mad scientist and supervillain via computer manipulation of video and audio from when he was a young actor. The novelization written by Kevin J. Anderson gives the full names for Dex and Editor Paley as Dexter Dearborn and Morris Paley. Kerry Conran grew up on films and comic books of the 1930s and 1940s. His parents encouraged him and his brother Kevin to develop their creative sides. He studied at

31042-640: The title monster attacking Tokyo, gained immense popularity, spawned multiple sequels, led to other kaiju films like Rodan , and created one of the most recognizable monsters in cinema history. Japanese science fiction films, particularly the tokusatsu and kaiju genres, were known for their extensive use of special effects , and gained worldwide popularity in the 1950s. Kaiju and tokusatsu films, notably Warning from Space (1956), sparked Stanley Kubrick 's interest in science fiction films and influenced 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). According to his biographer John Baxter , despite their "clumsy model sequences,

31229-649: The transmission of sound or maneuvers employing wings, yet the soundtrack is filled with inappropriate flying noises and changes in flight path resembling an aircraft banking. The filmmakers, unfamiliar with the specifics of space travel , focus instead on providing acoustical atmosphere and the more familiar maneuvers of the aircraft. Similar instances of ignoring science in favor of art can be seen when movies present environmental effects as portrayed in Star Wars and Star Trek . Entire planets are destroyed in titanic explosions requiring mere seconds, whereas an actual event of this nature takes many hours. The role of

31416-402: The two best human Jeopardy (game show) players in 2011 and a NOVA documentary film, Smartest Machine on Earth , was released in the same year. Building-size robots are also becoming a popular theme in movies as featured in Pacific Rim . Future live action films may include an adaptation of popular television series like Voltron and Robotech . The CGI robots of Pacific Rim and

31603-535: The unfamiliar and alien in the context of the familiar. Despite the alien nature of the scenes and science fictional elements of the setting, the imagery of the film is related back to humankind and how we relate to our surroundings. While the science fiction film strives to push the boundaries of the human experience, they remain bound to the conditions and understanding of the audience and thereby contain prosaic aspects, rather than being completely alien or abstract. Genre films such as westerns or war movies are bound to

31790-527: The use of art and propaganda even." Conran summarized his influences: "We tried to approach it almost as though we lived in that era and were just another group of artists trying to make a work out of those pieces and inspirations. We wanted the film to feel like a lost film of that era. If we're a footnote in the history of pulp art and Golden Age comics , that'd be enough, that'd be great. If we even just inspire some people to go back and investigate some of that stuff, we'd have done enough." Sky Captain has

31977-413: The vials, locking the duo in a room full of dynamite. Joe and Polly escape just before the room explodes, knocking them unconscious and destroying most of Polly's film. They wake up together in the mythical Shangri-La . The Tibetan-speaking monks there tell of Totenkopf's enslavement of their people, forcing them to work in the uranium mines. Most were killed by the radiation, but the final survivor provides

32164-609: The vicinities of Lake Mapam Yumco in Western Tibet, near Mount Kailash . The mountain is a holy pilgrimage site for both Hindus and Tibetans. The Hindus consider the mountain to be the abode of Lord Shiva . The Tibetan name for Mount Kailash is Khang Rinpoche. Tibet has numerous high-altitude lakes referred to in Tibetan as tso or co . These include Qinghai Lake , Lake Manasarovar , Namtso , Pangong Tso , Yamdrok Lake , Siling Co , Lhamo La-tso , Lumajangdong Co , Lake Puma Yumco , Lake Paiku , Como Chamling , Lake Rakshastal , Dagze Co and Dong Co . The Qinghai Lake (Koko Nor)

32351-444: The viewpoint of the observer. Many science fiction films include elements of mysticism, occult , magic, or the supernatural , considered by some to be more properly elements of fantasy or the occult (or religious) film. This transforms the movie genre into a science fantasy with a religious or quasi-religious philosophy serving as the driving motivation. The movie Forbidden Planet employs many common science fiction elements, but

32538-477: The warnings of her editor, Mr. Paley, where she meets Dr. Jennings during a showing of The Wizard of Oz . He tells her that a Dr. Totenkopf is coming for him next. Suddenly, mysterious giant robots attack the city. The authorities call for "Sky Captain" Joe Sullivan, the city's hero, Perkins' former lover, and the commander of the private air force the Flying Legion. While Joe engages the robots with his modified Curtiss P-40 pursuit fighter, Perkins photographs from

32725-477: The whole movie in animatics so that the actors had an idea of what the film would look like and where to move on the soundstage. To prepare for the film, Conran had his cast watch old movies, such as Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not (1944) for Paltrow's performance and The Thin Man (1934) for the relationship between Nick and Nora that was to be echoed in the one between Joe and Polly. Avnet constantly pushed for room in this meticulously designed movie for

32912-432: The wreckage of the RMS Titanic , and an ancient underwater city which seems to be a nod to the legend of Atlantis . The villain's main logo bears striking similarities to the logo for Crimson Skies , a game universe that some critics noted bears stylistic and plot similarities to the film. The Flying Legion is a homage to pulp magazine and comic book heroes such as G-8 and his Battle Aces, Captain Midnight , and

33099-404: Was a friend of his brother's wife and she recommended that he let producer Jon Avnet see it. Conran met Avnet and showed him the trailer. Conran told him that he wanted to make it into a movie. They spent two or three days just talking about the tone of the movie. Avnet and Conran spent two years working on the screenplay, which included numerous genre-related references and homages, and developing

33286-516: Was abolished after the failure of the 1959 Tibetan uprising . Today, China governs western and central Tibet as the Tibet Autonomous Region while the eastern areas are now mostly autonomous prefectures within Sichuan, Qinghai and other neighbouring provinces. The Tibetan independence movement is principally led by the Tibetan diaspora . Human rights groups have accused the Chinese government of abuses of human rights in Tibet , including torture , arbitrary arrests, and religious repression, with

33473-452: Was among those who strongly supported the film, giving it a 4 out of a possible 4 stars and praising it for "its heedless energy and joy, it reminded me of how I felt the first time I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark . It's like a film that escaped from the imagination directly onto the screen, without having to pass through reality along the way". The film is also one of few to be awarded five out of five stars by IGN FilmForce. In his review for

33660-511: Was an American delineator (one who creates perspective drawings of buildings) and architect. In 1922, skyscraper architect Harvey Wiley Corbett commissioned Ferriss Archived March 18, 2006, at the Wayback Machine to draw a series of four step-by-step perspectives demonstrating the architectural consequences of the 1916 Zoning Resolution . These four drawings would later be used in his 1929 book The Metropolis of Tomorrow ( Dover Publications , 2005, ISBN   0-486-43727-2 ). Regarding

33847-420: Was completed (although it was later continued, but at the time it was not intended to be) with the darkly themed Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith . Science-fiction also returned as a tool for political commentary in films such as A.I. Artificial Intelligence , Minority Report , Sunshine , District 9 , Children of Men , Serenity , Sleep Dealer , and Pandorum . The 2000s also saw

34034-477: Was much animosity against him for his mistreatment of civilians and disregard for local culture. After the Xinhai Revolution (1911–1912) toppled the Qing dynasty and the last Qing troops were escorted out of Tibet, the new Republic of China apologized for the actions of the Qing and offered to restore the Dalai Lama's title. The Dalai Lama refused any Chinese title and declared himself ruler of an independent Tibet . In 1913, Tibet and Outer Mongolia concluded

34221-433: Was nothing there." After each day of shooting, footage was edited and sent overnight to editors in Los Angeles who added CG and sent it back. After filming ended, they put together a 24-minute presentation and took it to every studio in June 2003. There was a lot of interest and Avnet selected the studio that gave Conran the most creative control. They needed studio backing to finish the film's ambitious visuals. At one point,

34408-440: Was reported that, as a matter of convention, the chairman had almost always been an ethnic Tibetan, while the party secretary had always been ethnically non-Tibetan. All of modern China, including Tibet, is considered a part of East Asia . Historically, some European sources also considered parts of Tibet to lie in Central Asia . Tibet is west of the Central China plain . In China, Tibet is regarded as part of 西部 ( Xībù ),

34595-403: Was used to produce more complicated effects. It also enabled filmmakers to enhance the visual quality of animation, resulting in films such as Ghost in the Shell (1995) from Japan, and The Iron Giant (1999) from the United States. During the first decade of the 2000s, superhero films abounded, as did earthbound science fiction such as the Matrix trilogy. In 2005 , the Star Wars saga

34782-419: Was used two years later in Superman Returns (2006) with Marlon Brando . Avnet cultivated a calculated release for the movie by first moving its release date from mid-2004, one week before Spider-Man 2 , to September. He courted the Internet press and finally made an appearance at San Diego Comic-Con with key cast members in an attempt to generate some advance buzz. The composer Edward Shearmur wrote

34969-408: Was very different from the original film, falling more into the action/science fiction genre, it was both a critical and commercial success and Sigourney Weaver was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards . The Japanese cyberpunk anime film Akira ( 1988 ) also had a big influence outside Japan when released. In the 1990s, the emergence of the World Wide Web and

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