title: Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); <br> studio: Paramount Home Video MPAA rating: PG starring: Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Gambon, Bai Ling, Omid Djalili film release year: 2004 DVD release year: 2005 film rating: Three-and-a-Half Stars sound/picture: Three-and-a-Half Stars reviewed by: Paul Lingas “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” is an homage to ‘30s and ‘40s serials, comic books and other stylistic adventures that utilizes some of the most advanced and up-to-date computer-generated (CG) technology available. Conceived of and directed by Kerry Conran, the film was shot entirely in front of blue screens, with minimal props and set design. Everything besides the actors was created digitally and the result is a look that both reflects and mimics serials, as well as the comic books from which the creators divined their inspiration.

title: Species III function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close();  studio: MGM Home Entertainment MPAA rating: Unrated starring: Sunny Mabrey, Robin Dunne, Robert Knepper, Amelia Cooke DVD release year: 2004 film rating: Three Stars sound/picture rating: Three Stars reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein Following the theatrical releases “Species” (1995) and its sequel “Species 2,” the direct-to-video “Species III” marks a slight change in the evolution of the series. The previous two installments were horror with a science-fiction base, whereas the new installment is science-fiction with a few scares and a number of gross-outs. If you’re wondering what the difference is, the original was out to create dread, whereas “Species III” actually generates some modest character development, with the first suggestion that maybe the scientists dabbling with alien DNA aren’t complete idiots after all.

Riddick, the violent anti-hero first introduced in “Pitch Black,” returns in an all-new blistering movie, “The Chronicles of Riddick,” by creator/writer/director David Twohy. This time, Riddick is the key to the fates of several worlds and has a mysterious past revealed that viewers of the first movie could never have guessed at. At first blush, “Pitch Black” comes across as an SF film. But by the end of that film, Riddick confronts some of the bloodthirstiest monsters ever revealed in cinema and “Pitch Black” becomes, for all intents and purposes, a horror movie with SF overtones. “The Chronicles of Riddick” remains SF all the way through. In fact, this sequel proves to be a galaxy-spanning romp that is pure adrenaline-charged fun.

title: Altered States function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); studio: Warner Home Video starring: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid release year: 1980 film rating: Two and a half stars reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein There’s something kind of endearing about ‘Altered States,’ even though it looks even more overheated and loopy now than it did in its original 1980 theatrical release. Writer Paddy Chayefsky, who wrote the novel the film is based on, had his name taken off the screenplay (officially credited to Sidney Aaron) after clashing with director Ken Russell. Even without reading Chayefsky’s book and script drafts, it’s not hard to give him the benefit of the doubt--Russell’s fever-dream narrative style doesn’t exactly support the intellectual concepts struggling to surface through the story’s Jekyll-and-Hyde trappings. Still, many of the special effects, both makeup and optical, hold up remarkably well. There’s also a kick to be had in seeing the talented cast gamely tackle enormous mouthfuls of technological, scientific and metaphysical hyper-speech. William Hurt, in ...

title: Starship Troopers 2: Hero Of The Federation function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close();  studio: Columbia-Tristar Home Video MPAA rating: R starring: Richard Burgi, Lawrence Monoson, Colleen Porch, Ed Lauter release year: 2004 film rating: Three stars sound/picture rating: Three-and-a-Half Stars reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein 1997’s Starship Troopers was a big, bloody, science-fiction special effects extravaganza, with so much spectacle in the clash of giant extraterrestrial insects and heavily armed humans that a lot of viewers didn’t quite catch the sly political satire rolling through it. The film spawned an animated series, a videogame and now a straight-to-home video sequel.