Overview: Here’s another movie that ranks really high on the weird shitometer scale - yet another cyberpunk movie from the tour-de-force of cyberpunk movies that Korea has become. Save the Green Planet is one of the only movies that has just about every movie genre represented. You’ll find everything from Gilliam-like comedy to graphic horror, to action, to scifi-thriller here. And of course, we get a large dose of Japanese-like Cyberpunk torture visuals in this terrific Korean production.

The Story: Save the Green Planet is about a completely strange guy and his even wierder ballerina girlfriend - our antihero is convinced that a certain CEO is really an alien in disguise. He has determined its his job to root the alien out and kill him if necessary, just like all the other “potential” aliens he has found in the past. After capturing him, He cuts the CEO’s hair off, as the aliens use hair follicles to communicate. He has other reasons for requiring foot torture and chest ironing. After all, good torture must always have a reason, right?

The Bottom Line: Its hard to go too much further into the plot for fear of giving key aspects of the movie away. Suffice to say the ending is terrific and fully open to interpretation, and actually has interesting similarities to the ending of Brazil. On top of this, Save the Green Planet is expertly shot, and wonderfully edited. The pacing is simply superb. It’s really hard to imagine that this is Jun-hwan Jeong’s first movie.

Fair warning: Be warned though. This is a truly weird movie that his NOT for the squeemish at heart. While not a “true” Japanese cyberpunk movie in that, um, its Korean, and doesn’t totally take the “no boundaries” idea, it’s pretty darn close, and certainly merits mention in that sub-genre of cyberpunk. So much so that if you find real Japanese cyberpunk movies to be too much for you (And BTW, Tetsuo 2 doesn’t count, as this movie really doesn’t break ground and isn’t that good besides), Save the Green Planet is a decent entry to at least experience a similar pacing and mindset. Got to Page 2 for more screen caps.

Page 2: More Screen Caps–>>

Overview: Every now and then, soft core porn “as cyberpunk” provides a hilarious gem like Terminatrix. Then you find things like this. Yes, the cover looks cyberpunk-like, but no, none of that here. Just to be clear, if you wonder why I even bother reviewing shit like this, I made this site with the idea that ALL cyberpunk movies (or those that claim to be) will be reviewed (except hard core porn). Even pieces of crap like these ones (when the writer is credited with a “teleplay” you KNOW you should be worried!).

Their entire cyberpunk budget consisted of a blinking red Christmas tree rope light thing sitting on a table that you can buy for $7.49 at your local drug store. Well, that’s not completely true - there was also a piece of aluminum foil they used to wrap the chick’s midsection with. And anyways, I’m guessing that this was filmed right after Christmas, and someone brought the Christmas light from home.

So you wanna know the plot? Here it is: Some time way into the future (I’m gonna guess the year 2030), when sexual cravings have all diminished, in a feverish attempt to save the planet’s libido, a group of three scientists (two guys, one girl) develop a perfect and semi-hawt android (well, they seem to think she’s dynamite!). So while the other two scientists go to bed, the last one ends up accidentally waking up the android chick, has sex with her, and then, by accidentally typing something into the keyboard, accidentally sends her back in time! Even though they hadn’t invented a time machine! Cool, ey! Upon being sent back into the slipstream of time (our time of course) the hawt android chick surprisingly ends up in a down-and-out fetish lingerie studio in need of a hot model to compete with the mean lingerie studio down the street! She decides this is the perfect place to learn about love. From there, lots of cheesy soft core porn sex ensues, along with an occasional fetish lingerie show. No more plot talk needed.

So why a completely convoluted plot? So they could immediately leave the futuristic setting (consisting of the Christmas light on a table, the aluminum foil covering, and oh, a hot chick scientist with glasses in a white lab coat) to go for cheaper surroundings of course! Like the director’s living room! OK, well, maybe its not that bad, but we’re not talking high class here. Suffice to say, the only other thing you need to know about the plot is that

The Bottom Line: If you’re looking for your every day bouncing bimbo blondes with surgically enhanced breasts having soft-core porn sex while wearing fetish fishnet stockings and black PVC lingerie, this is your movie. The T&A rating is high, with your regular standard Skinemax standards in play. Now, as a movie this only really merits one star (if that), but I gave it an additional one because there were a few really nice fetish lingerie dancing scenes. But, um, no cyberpunk here (I think I need to add “non-existent” to my cyberpunk visuals rating). This is false advertising at its worst. Time travel and andriods? Yeah, right.

Overview: Mamoru Oshii, the master of philosophical cyberpunk animes ventures into a real world cinema production. The actors, dialogue and sets all take place in a Poland. Although this isn’t anime, the characters, cinematography and philosophy bare a striking resemblance to Oshii’s latest anime (which might show up on this list soon…). There is also many aspects of the Arthurian legend intermixed here, including the quest for the holy grail (understanding the nature of reality?), the search for the nine sisters of Avalon, and wizards, warriors and bishops. If you’re an Oshii fan, this is a must see. If you love VR game films this is a must see. If you like embedded philosophy and symbol laden movies, you will probably enjoy this. But if you’re coming purely for the action, there are probably better movies for you to spend your time on.

This movie takes place in a cyberpunk, dystopian future where the world is stark, devoid of real life or color, and where the only real enjoyment for young people exists in an illegal virtual reality game called Avalon. Avalon in mythical terms is the island where souls of the departed heroes come to rest. In the Virtual Reality Game of guns, tank and helicopter battles called “Avalon,” the players are the heroes, but there is a risk of actually becoming brain-dead while playing this game. In real life, the “unreturned” victims who never leave the game become human vegetables who sit around drooling in an insane asylum (this explains why the game is illegal).

The main character is a hot warrior chick named Ash (wonderfully played by Malgorzata Foremniak). Once, she was a part of the best team in Avalon called Wizard. But something happened which caused one of the team members to panic under fire and call for a “reset” of the program (This is a traumatic action which causes all sorts of bad things to happen). This caused the team to disband and in Ash’s case, led her to be disconnected from all other players including Murphy, her team leader. Instead she becomes a supra-warrior who attempts to win the game going solo.

During her adventures, she learns that Murphy also went solo, and eventually worked himself up to finding a secret level called “Special A” that does not have a “reset” function. If you don’t complete the level, you don’t return. In essence, this level IS Avalon in the mythical sense. In Murphy’s case, he did not win, and ended up becoming one of the “unreturned” who lives out his “real” existence drooling in the asylum. Ash becomes obsessed with reaching this secret level so that she might find Murphy and return him. To complete this level, Ash needs to kill an illegal “unreturned” player. If she does wins, she will be offered a game admin job with Avalon. Unfortunately, Class Real is filled with “neutrals.” If Ash kills any neutral person she will lose, never to return.

When Ash asks the Game Master if he’s real or not, his response is telling: “Does it matter if I’m real or not?” Like GITS:2 there is this notion that the line between what is real and what is imaginary almost doesn’t matter. What matters is what is actually occurring inside someone’s head: that is the “true” reality.

Use of a Dog as a metaphor for the “real” world: Again, similar to When Ash plays with her dog, she is participating in the “here and now.” Most of the time, Ash’s consciousness is situated in a timeless world where the actual real life moment is secondary to one’s perceptual reality. At one point early in the movie Ash wonders aloud, “Real life, is that what this is?” When she starts working at the computer, the dog goes to sleep, indicating that she has left real life and is in the game reality, if not in body, then definitely in spirit.

The cinematography: The cinematography in Avalon is strikingly familiar to Oshii’s latest anime. The same use of lighting, camera angles, and bright orange/yellow/brown tones are used. Interesting shots involving shadows abound. Throughout, the sets and camera pans are designed to elicit a closed-off, claustrophobic feeling. Everything, from Ash’s apartment to the train to the virtual reality headset rooms to the alleyways are bare and boxed in. Slow moving but sweeping pans add to the claustrophobia. Scenes are rarely at regular speed.  Instead, the pacing is very slow moving to allow the audience time to take in the essence of the mood. In line with the pacing, Oshii continualy composes set shots similar to how he does in animes. In essence, we see glorious and elongated still shots of visually textured and wonderfully balanced objects.

The FX and Sound: The special effects, while not on par with the high-end blockbusters, hold up well when compared to most VR type movies. Most impressive are the digitized explosions.  When people and tanks "die" they digitally decompose in interesting ways.  Similarly, when you enter the game, buildings  auto-form. Also, the score is both haunting and moving. It highlights the slow build-up of thought and emotions. The mood of the film is clearly expressed through the score, which often serves as a catalyst for the pacing changes.  As the major plot points change, so does the score radically follow suit.  And the ending Avalon opera is just beautiful.  I would pay to go see someone sing that.

The Bottom Line: In short, Avalon is a wonderfully deep philosophical cyberpunk flick that fully explores whether reality truly matters. In essence, does it really matter if the fantasies we have running in our heads don’t really match the “reality” of the outside world? Or more to the point, is anyone really experiencing the reality of the outside world, or are we all just in our own personal Avalon? I hesitate to add more here, as doing so would spoil this most excellent movie for those few unfortunate souls who have yet to experience it. I have just one piece of advice - do so now!

But if you have seen it, I’d be happy do discuss detail philosophical thoughts with you concerning Avalon on Page 2: the Avalon Interpretive ending page. Many have expressed confusion over the ending, so I thought I’d share some thoughts on it. So if you have spoiler type questions about this movie, put them on page two (which also has more screencaps).

Page 2: Spoiler Discussion –>>

Overview: It’s not cyberpunk, mkay? No, truly, it’s not!

• Yes, it was based on a very good cyberpunk short story written by cyberpunk Godfather, William Gibson,
• Yes, New Rose Hotel is on most every list of cyberpunk movies you can find on the internet, some of which are only 10 movies deep,
• Yes, this movie seems to be a throwaway mention in about half the cyberstudy reviews of modern cyberpunk movies.

Please trust me here - I’ve seen (and own) at least 95% of all cyberpunk movies currently in production and a very high percentage of the ones out of print (all that I can find out about and get). New Rose Hotel is NOT cyberpunk. These people are lying to you. I’m betting major bucks that the vast majority of those who have New Rose Hotel mentioned as cyberpunk have never seen it. If they had seen it, New Rose Hotel would not be on their cyberpunk list. Why do I say this?

• This movie has NO cyberpunk visuals,
• This movie has NO interesting philosophical message,
• This movie has NO cyberpunk themes embedded in it, and
• This movie takes place in modern time, not in a near future.

On top of its lack of cyberpunknesss, New Rose Hotel as a movie is boring as shit! Ferrara needs an award for taking a high quality cast consisting of Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe (both of whom I LOVE as actors) and Asia Argento and producing this steaming pile of dung!

The story: So what’s it about, you ask? Dafoe and Walken try to use a hooker (Argento) to convince a high profile geneticist to defect from one corporation to another. If they do, they pocket major bucks! In short, things go bad after an affair develops between Dafoe and Argento. But the bottom line is nobody watching this cares as the story as the cinematography and the acting are poorly enacted and uninspired. Worse, the last 15 minutes involves replaying of scenes from the first half of the movie. Why? For absolutely NO reason! Believe me when say that I look for meaning in films even when there isn’t really a basis - there was absolutely no reason for the flashbacks.

Truly, this movie sucks on just about every aspect of movie making one can imagine. But I really don’t berate it for this reason - I intensely hate the fact that everyone has engaged in a cow-like groupthink in continually mentioning this as one of the main cyberpunk movies out. New Rose Hotel is only interesting in that it seems to have turned into a virus meme, infecting as many as possible with the mistaken belief that it’s something worthy of mention. As punishment for New Rose Hotel’s atrocities against good cyberpunk, I’ve dropped it a few stars in my rating (if I was unbiased, I might have given it a 3 out of 10 star rating). So in closing:

Memo to other movie sites who have this listed as cyberpunk: Admit it, you haven’t seen it. Please remove New Rose Hotel from your cyberpunk movie list.

Memo to cyberstudies researchers who list this movie as a representative cyberpunk movie: Please remove it. There at minimum 80 movies which would come before New Rose Hotel as far better examples of cyberpunk. If you are looking for specific movies to back up a particular point you are trying to prove, just drop me a line, and I’ll be happy to provide you detailed assistance in selecting more appropriate movies. Just PLEASE stop spreading the belief that this movie is cyberpunk!

And um, yes, there are MANY other selections due for a rant like this. Escape from New York, anyone?

Overview: If you’ve been hankerin for a nice quality ultra-surrealistic medium-core porn Japanese cyberpunk flick, then look no further than I.K.U. Japanese cyberpunk movies are all about no boundaries and I.K.U. takes this notion to heart, coming up high on the wierd shitometer scale. For the soft-core goods, you get a bit of everything here: guy-on-girl, guy-on-guy, girl-on-girl, girl-on-transgender, voyeuristic sex through a fish tank while eating sushi, sex in a spider-web…well, you get the idea. And while if what you’re looking for is naked body parts, I.K.U. definitely delivers (some cases its pixelated out, but in most cases its definitely NOT pixelated out, even when you wish it was…). Fair warning though - this is NOT a “take care of yourself” type movie, as you will spend most of the time dumbfounded while watching it. I.K.U is an EXTREMELY strange, but well-done mind-fuck, pure and simple.

I.K.U. takes place in a very strange near-future Japan and follows a day in the life of a sex-roid from the GENOM corporation, who has the ability to change her outside shape to mimic different female body types. Her job is to collect “sexual experiences” by engaging in sexual acts with various people. The experiences are collected in order to produce virtual reality-like I.K.U. chips that are then sold in vending machines. The idea is that people can buy the chips and then “wire in” on the sexual encounter. Unfortunately, a rival corporation has developed rival androids who’s job is to insert a virus into the sex-droids and steal their “experiences” so that it can make its own rival chips.

But truly, the story is not the reason you get this. In fact, the visuals distract you so much from the story that I strong recommend reading the story bits on the extras prior to watching this film. The reason you watch this is for the extremely weird but interesting set designs and cinematography. Every “vignette” offers some truly interesting cyberpunk visuals. Shocking neon is the order of the day here. Shocking “you” is the point of the film.

The Bottom Line: If you’re a “no boundaries” kind of film watcher, and are interested in something WAY off the beaten path, give I.K.U. a try. Just to be clear, I.K.U. opened at the Sundance Film Festival, so again, this is not your average skin flick - this is an artsy skin flick. And honestly, rating this film is a complete waste of time, as I really have nothing to compare it to (I’m giving it a 6, just because…).

PS - one word of caution - the guy-on-guy oral sex scene is one that is NOT pixelated out, nor is the scene with the transgender (I think that’s what he is…a guy with an “in-between” part). Both only last for a few seconds or two, but are QUITE graphic if you get my drift…

Again, I could go on, but truly, commentary is a waste of time on a flick like this. What you need to evaluate whether you want to see this or not are screen captures. On to Page 2 of this review if you are so inclined. Fair warning - while I worked hard not to show any body parts, page 2 is clearly meant for adults.

Page 2: Screencaps–>>

Overview: f8 is a truly wonderful 13 minute film short that captures almost all the key elements of cyberpunk without using any dialogue! f8 was well received in many of the 2001 best animated film short awards (including the Hollywood Film Festival, the Jury Award, and others). The 3D graphics, while not as high quality as might be found in a large budget movie, are more than adequate. Wen’s selection of viewpoints, lighting decisions, movement and shadows are able to emphasize the best qualities of the 3D animation.

f8 centers on a nameless lead character in a strange futuristic society who wants to gain individuality. He lives in an oppressive, metropolis-like controlling society, where your fate and role is predetermined. But an underground has developed where individuality appears to be the key for admission. The plot follows the plight of our protagonist who attempts to steal a “face,” and thus, will have the ability to express an individual personality.

Unfortunately I cannot divulge too much more of the plot for fear of spoiling it. You can get this movie at Best Buy for about 10 bucks - even though its only 13 minutes, I think its worth it. You get 5 commentaries, and truly, the story is interesting enough that you’ll watch it more than a few times. But instead of a plot, here’s some more screen captures of it - these should give you an idea of f8’s visual splendor. Like many cyberpunk films, one color tends to dominate f8 - in this case, yellow is the predominate color.