sci-fi

Watch video of Boba Fett's first screen test

Thirty-five years ago, sound designer Ben Burtt introduced an early version of legendary "Star Wars" bounty hunter Boba Fett to director George Lucas and select members of the "Empire Strikes Back" production team -- an epic behind-the-scenes moment you can now watch as if you were there.

"The Boba Fett character is really an early version of Darth Vader," George Lucas says in the visual novel The Making of the Empire Strikes Back. "He is also very much like the man-with-no-name from the Sergio Leone Westerns." … Read more

Pharmacy sends customer brilliant e-mail from Zombie future

When you keep getting mail addressed to someone you don't know, you might feel annoyed, inquisitive, or even suspicious.

Or you might e-mail the company sending it and wonder whether it's intended for some future resident of your home.

Andrew Gardner took the latter route with quite beautiful results.

The Toronto resident e-mailed Shoppers Drug Mart and asked to be removed from its mailing list because, well, he clearly isn't "Matthew."

As the Globe and Mail reports, Gardner wondered whether "Matthew is a future resident of this address, and seemingly against the laws of … Read more

Meet the 23-ton X-Wing, the world's largest Lego model

There's big, then there's really big, and then there's colossal, which might be a good word to use when describing a near 46,000-pound Lego X-Wing that made a triumphant debut Thursday in New York's Times Square.

The full-size replica, about 42 times the size of the Lego "Star Wars" X-Wing (#9493) set available on store shelves, celebrates the debut of Cartoon Network's "The Yoda Chronicles," which premieres on May 29 at 8 p.m. … Read more

'Star Wars' and 'Doctor Who' fans in altercation at sci-fi convention

I had always imagined that attendees at sci-fi conventions were peaceable sorts.

I know they turn up waving lightsabers and other implements of war, but I imagined that these served no greater threat to society than an elongated ball-finder at a golf course.

And yet word reaches me that fans of "Star Wars" were embroiled in a confrontation with aficionados of "Doctor Who" at a sci-fi convention in the U.K.

Alright, that word initially came from my religious reading of the Sun. But it is supported by reports from august organizations like the BBC.

It … Read more

'Ender's Game' trailer debuts; fans seem hyper, skeptical

If you've ever read "Ender's Game," you should probably find a new pair of underpants before watching the newly released trailer for the upcoming movie -- it's chock full of lush CGI and epic spaceship battles.

The film, which arrives on November 1, features Asa Butterfield as Ender Wiggin, and also includes some pretty heavy hitters such as Harrison Ford (Colonel Graff), Ben Kingsley (Mazer Rackham), and Viola Davis, as well as up and coming stars Aramis Knight, Abigail Breslin, Hailee Steinfeld, and Jimmy Pinchak. Gavin Hood directs the movie.… Read more

'Trek' visions unite at Beam Me Up art expo

When "Star Trek" hit television screens nearly 47 years ago, little could series creator Gene Roddenberry have imagined he'd created a science fiction phenomenon still celebrated to this day. A recent exhibit of "Trek" art called Beam Me Up in downtown L.A.'s Q Pop gallery brought together 80 artists who shared their unique interpretation of Roddenberry's vision (and its various spinoffs). You can even buy some of the artwork if it's still available.

Our gallery below highlights a handful of art from the exposition, which concluded earlier this month after a multiweek run. With works ranging from a bright neon Spock to larger-than-life Picard playing a flute on top of the Enterprise, there's probably a little bit of something for everyone. … Read more

Top 5 sci-fi robot girlfriends

Valentine's Day is a horrible tradition. It's a romantic "musical chairs" where you either stand alone in a metaphorical puddle of rejection, or turn to your partner and price out the worth of their love in flowers and chocolates.

To hell with it.

To level the playing field, I say we need to put science fiction's premise of the humanoid robot companion on the fast track to becoming a reality. … Read more

A Monty Python sci-fi movie? With Robin Williams? What?

Have you ever had the kind of feeling where, after hearing a piece of news, your mind-body continuum is so confused that you don't know how to react?

This is largely how I felt on hearing there will be a new Monty Python movie. A new Monty Python sci-fi movie. A new Monty Python sci-fi movie in which Robin Williams will have a role.

It is nowhere near April 1.

So I have to take Forbes' word for it that this may actually come to pass.

It seems that the storyline will revolve around the original Python members involved … Read more

J.J. Abrams grants movie wish to dying Trekkie

Sometimes it's easy to forget the incredible social power of the Internet, but this story about director J.J. Abrams granting a dying man's "Star Trek" wish serves as a great reminder.

Last week on popular link-sharing site Reddit, a user named ideeeyut described how his 41-year-old friend Daniel -- a Manhattan man who has been afflicted with leukemia, another unrelated cancer, and additional health problems -- wanted to see the latest "Star Trek Into Darkness" movie but may not have the chance.

To get a taste of the upcoming sci-fi epic before his … Read more

Watching 'Looper' in a theater? Bring headphones

You know how most Blu-ray discs and DVDs come with audio commentaries as a bonus feature to play along with the movie? Well, to encourage repeat viewings in cinemas, the director of sci-fi action movie "Looper" wants you to bring an iPod into the theater to listen to details of how each scene was filmed. However, he reminds audiences not to listen to the commentary on the first viewing or before seeing the movie.

In a Tumblr post on October 5, Johnson, who also directed the AMC TV show "Breaking Bad," provides a downloadable MP3 fileRead more