{"id":33656,"date":"2020-08-14T20:32:58","date_gmt":"2020-08-15T00:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=33656"},"modified":"2020-08-14T20:34:28","modified_gmt":"2020-08-15T00:34:28","slug":"tv-on-dvd-cursed-films-season-one-blu-ray-james-camerons-story-of-science-fiction-dvd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/14\/tv-on-dvd-cursed-films-season-one-blu-ray-james-camerons-story-of-science-fiction-dvd\/","title":{"rendered":"TV on DVD: Cursed Films: Season One [Blu-Ray]\/James Cameron\u2019s Story of Science Fiction (DVD)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Was \u201cThe Crow\u201d cursed? Did \u201cPoltergeist\u201d bring a hex upon the entire cast? Were there real satanic forces behind \u201cThe Exorcist\u201d? Did \u201cTwilight Zone: The Movie\u201d conjure up bad luck and ultimately a curse? Well, hell no on all fronts. The thing about \u201cCursed Films<\/a>\u201d<\/strong> (now on Blu-Ray from Shudder and Image Entertainment), is that if you\u2019re a movie buff and horror fan, you\u2019ve heard about literally everything that\u2019s explored in \u201cCursed Films.\u201d At five episodes and thirty minutes an episode, \u201cCursed Films\u201d basically goes over the same material we\u2019ve seen or read about a thousand times but in greater length.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>There\u2019s literally nothing you\u2019ll see here that we haven\u2019t entertained over the last twenty five years through filler on basic cable and whatnot. It was a tragic fate that Brandon Lee suffered on the set of \u201cThe Crow,\u201d but why do the producers take us on this whole journey exploring the potential for a curse, and then have the prop master explained how and why Lee died? It wasn\u2019t a curse, it was a horrible accident. The same can be said for the episode for \u201cTwilight Zone: The Movie\u201d which begins on this conceit that the whole shoot was cursed.<\/p>\n

Yes, it was cursed with negligence, irresponsibility, immense hubris. Not to mention the incredibly unnecessary deaths of Vic Morrow and two helpless children. And yes, it is weird that the set for \u201cThe Exorcist\u201d burned down except for Regan\u2019s room, but perhaps it\u2019s because they kept the room at low temperatures for the shoot? Maybe? I don\u2019t know. The only salvaging episode is \u201cPoltergeist\u201d which is such a compelling and dark series of events involving murder, illness, and unfortunate luck, all likely brought on from the use of actual human skulls as props during filming.<\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019re a believer in curses and the supernatural, \u201cCursed Films\u201d will have you second guessing the accounts in all five episodes. The rest will become the products of confirmation bias, when all is said and done. While I love a good bit of mythology and Hollywood urban legends behind the legacy of film, \u201cCursed Films\u201d feels like much ado about nothing, just exploring human misery and misfortune in the end.<\/p>\n

The Blu-Ray includes director\u2019s commentaries for all five episodes from season one.<\/p>\n

On the opposite side of the coin there\u2019s \u201cJames Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction<\/a>\u201d<\/strong> now on Blu-Ray and DVD. For all folks that loved the limited series on AMC TV, all of the episodes are now compiled for repeated viewing. If there\u2019s anyone who should be discussing the creation and evolution of science fiction, it\u2019s Cameron, a man who has helmed numerous science fiction juggernauts, and has a true respect for the genre. Thankfully \u201cStory of Science Fiction\u201d isn\u2019t shallow or brisk, but a much more thoughtful exploration of the genre and how it\u2019s come to help society and in so many ways reflects our society for better and for worse.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The episodes are split in to “Alien Life”, “Space Exploration”, “Monsters”, “Dark Futures”, “Intelligent Machines”, and “Time Travel.\u201d Cameron is able to gather some heavyweights of the genre and filmmaking to sit down and cover various topics and themes, while refreshingly jumping back and forth between decades to convey the weight of the topics discussed. Cameron and AMC compile a wonderful gallery of films and TV shows dissected including Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Matrix, Independence Day, The Twilight Zone, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Total Recall, Alien, Aliens, Robocop, The Fifth Element, E.T., and the Star Wars saga, respectively.<\/p>\n

Of course Cameron also covers his own iconic genre efforts including Aliens, Terminator 2, and Avatar. Cameron even sits down with Ridley Scott to discuss the \u201cAlien\u201d Series. He also dives into somewhat less well-known territory like The Thing from Another World, Stanislav Lem’s Solaris, and Childhood’s End, as well as a healthy dose of obscure 1950’s low-budget productions.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, a number of key cast and crew members from these and other featured films are also on board with the program as the series features interviews with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, screenwriter Eric Heisserer of \u201cArrival,\u201d special effects wizard Doug Trumbull, Guillermo del Toro, Will Smith, Sigourney Weaver, Paul Verhoeven and Ed Neumeier, Christopher Nolan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and dozens more.<\/p>\n

There are even archival interviews with Ray Bradbury, and HG Wells included. Being the science fiction geek that he is, Cameron also includes. Lisa Yaszek (Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech), Screencrush’s Matt Singer, Wired contributor Annalee Newitz, and several noted sci-fi authors and science fiction and technology pioneers. It\u2019s an embarrassment of riches for the respective science fiction fanatic. Cameron looks like he\u2019s having a ball with this series covering an array of fascinating topics and how much science fiction has predicted our future, both dark and hopeful.<\/p>\n

The Features for the Blu-Ray and DVD releases includes an extended series of interviews with the various guests that weren\u2019t included on the original TV airings.<\/p>\n

Remember: Purchasing through our links helps to support Cinema Crazed!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Was \u201cThe Crow\u201d cursed? Did \u201cPoltergeist\u201d bring a hex upon the entire cast? Were there real satanic forces behind \u201cThe Exorcist\u201d? Did \u201cTwilight Zone: The Movie\u201d conjure up bad luck and ultimately a curse? Well, hell no on all fronts. The thing about \u201cCursed Films\u201d (now on Blu-Ray from Shudder and Image Entertainment), is that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[88,292,477,526,906,1008],"class_list":["post-33656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collectors-den","tag-aliens","tag-documentary","tag-horror","tag-james-cameron","tag-science-fiction","tag-supernatural"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33656"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33661,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33656\/revisions\/33661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}