Film Utopia

In Part 3 of our Sci-fi sub-Genres in Film series, The FU trio dive into Space Opera – and spend much of the discussion debating precisely what defines the term, and what exactly constitutes a Space Opera in the first place!

From influential sci-fi authors of the 1940s, 50s 60s and 70s such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Philip K Dick, to the serials and comic strips of the 1930s such as Flash Gordon, right through to modern motion-picture epics and the revival of the genre – of sorts – in 90s television!

Expect the usual suspects of Star Wars and Star Trek, but also a few nods to other noteworthy examples along the way!

Archive Episode!

Originally recorded and published in 2015 for our old podcast, Filmwerk. Please excuse our less-than-stellar audio quality and editing efforts back then!

Ahead of Mad Max: Fury Road, Steven, Benjamin & Sean dig deep into the George Miller created Mad Max movie franchise! From the trailblazing 1979 original, to the seminal sequel, Mad Max 2 (1981) – or “The Road Warrior” in the USA – and the 1985 follow-up ‘Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome’. Also included is our review of Mad Max: Fury Road, recorded fresh upon release in May 2015. There's laughs, love and hate to be had as well as some pretty spicy language throughout – even more so back then than now!

Chapters included for supported platforms!

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At the time of preparing our latest Sci-fi Subgenres episode, ‘Post Apocalypse’, George Miller released his recent Mad Max spin-off; Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. As we’re all big Miller and Mad Max fans here and also, as Furiosa is topical to our last main show episode, Benjamin & Steven decided to have a chat and share their ever-so-slightly divided reaction to the Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth starring movie! Sean sits this one out as at the time of recording he hadn’t yet seen the film!

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Steven, Benjamin & Sean continue their exploration of the many Science Fiction sub-genres with a discussion on Post Apocalyptic set movies – and have plenty of debate over what constitutes a Post Apocalypse Movie in the first place!

From ‘Mad Max’ to ‘Children of Men’, with pitstops at ‘Akira’, ‘Wall-E’, ‘Waterworld’, the multiple ‘The Road Warrior’ clones of the 1980s and many more in between!

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Science Fiction!

The Film Utopia Podcast summer project gets rolling with a wide look at the sub-genre and concepts of time travel in movies. From time machines to time loops, and paradoxes to alternative histories.

Steven, Benjamin & Sean talk about some of their favourite time travel movies, as well as the ins and outs of time travel as a story telling device and macguffin.

Movies mentioned include Primer (2004), 12 Monkeys (1995), The Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Timecrimes (2007), Predestination (2014), The Terminator (1984), Back to the Future (1985) and many more!

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Steven, Benjamin & Sean conclude their deep-dive of iconic cult movie director Stuart Gordon with a thorough chin-wag about his latter filmography.

From Castle Freak (1995) to Stuck (2007). The FU trio discover some hidden gems among these lesser known films and find themselves with differing opinions on others!

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Between 1985 and 2007, a former theatre director named Stuart Gordon embarked on an iconic movie directing career which, in later years, catapulted his filmography to cult status. With the help of producer, Brian Yuzna – himself a H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe enthusiast – he directed the notorious, independently-produced ‘Re-Animator’ in 1985 which led to a three picture deal with the now defunct Empire Pictures International, resulting in From Beyond (1986), Dolls (1987) and Robot Jox (1990) – all becoming cult faves, both at the time and in later years.

In part one of our Stuart Gordon retrospective review series, Steven, Benjamin and Sean – resident Gordon fanatic - share their *slightly* divided opinion on these early films, as well as The Pit and the Pendulum (1991) and Fortress (1992) (-  or 1994 if you live in the UK like us!)

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Steven & Sean discuss their way through the many UK, USA and Australian boutique DVD/Blu-ray/4K UHD disc distributors out there; going A-Z from Arrow to Vinegar Syndrome. We chat about our own collecting habits, our experiences and opinions of each label as well as some of our favourite discs we've owned over the years!

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Special features, commentary tracks, cast & crew interviews and other bonus disc content have historically been a real selling point for movie fans. Nowadays, physical media collectors are even hungrier for additional material for their favourite films of yesteryear.

On this episode, Steven, Benjamin and Sean recall some of their favourite physical media releases both in terms of additional disc material as well as overall presentation and visual/audio quality.

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On the third and final episode of our Denis Villeneuve retospective movie review series, Steven, Benjamin and Sean conclude their journey with a detailed look at Dune (2021) and the recently released Dune Part 2 (2024). Benjamin arrives with a solid knowledge of the Frank Herbert books and a fondness for the David Lynch movie from 1984, Sean is as enamoured with all things sci-fi and high-concept as usual, and Steven isn't quite sure what all the fuss is about!

Stay tuned till the end where we summarize our thoughts on Villeneuve's movies and give our rankings for the entire filmography, where we all agree on at least one film. No prizes for guessing which one!

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With the release of Dune Part Two in theatres now, this is the second episode of our Denis Villeneuve retospective movie review series. In this episode, Steven, Benjamin and Sean continue discussing the Canadian director's filmography, from Arrival (2016) to Blade Runner 2049 (2017).

Having not participated in previous coverage of Blade Runner 2049 on our former podcast, Benjamin and Sean take full advantage of the fact and hijack almost three quarters of this episode's runtime to wax lyrical about Villeneuve's 2017 follow up to Ridley Scott's 1982 masterpiece, Blade Runner. Much to Steven's chagrin!

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Steven, Benjamin and Sean begin a detailed retrospective review series on the directorial filmography of French-Canadian filmmaker; Denis Villeneuve. 

In this episode, we cover August 32nd on Earth (1998), Maelström (2000), Polytechnique (2009), Incendies (2010), Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), and Sicario (2015).

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Physical Media is in danger of going extinct, thanks in no small part to streaming. But do we also have an issue with the buyers themselves? Have people become complacent with digital products, and are they aware of what is being sacrificed as a result?

In this episode, Steven and Sean rope Benjamin in for a long discussion about their journey with Physical Media Formats in their lives and talk about their experiences as consumers of multiple mediums, from Betamax and VHS all the way through to Blu-ray 4K UHD.

1989! A year of many team-ups, buddy comedies, underwater sci-fi fiascos, and of course; the summer show-down of the mega blockbuster!

What with Batman, Lethal Weapon 2, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, License to Kill, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Back to the Future Part II, Dead Poets Society, Look Who's Talking and Ghostbusters II, the Hollywood machine was in full force this year!

Join us as we discuss the highs and lows of 1989 in cinema, where we were, what we saw, what we loved and what we loathed!

Sadly, the franchise that made Jason Voorhees famous couldn't quite live up to its name; both by losing the 'Friday 13th' moniker of the series, and also not making it to a 13th movie entry! The good news is that not all of the movies at the tail-end of the long running horror series are that bad, so it'd be unfair to title this episode "The Arse-End of Friday the 13th"!

On this episode, Steven, Benjamin and Sean unpack Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), Jason X (2001), Freddy vs Jason (2003), and the 12th movie (to date), Friday the 13th (2009).

We are back for our second instalment of our Friday the 13th saga (Huh? huh? Saga?!) coverage to discuss Friday the 13th Pat V: A New Beginning (1985), Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) and Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989).

The three of us are pretty shocked by the extreme highs and lows on offer among this selection, including many fans' favourite and least favourite entries to the series. Enjoy! (We largely didn’t! (Especially Ben) (who chose to do this series) (Thanks Ben!)).

It's Ben's turn to choose our Halloween special this year, and he has seen fit to inflict the Friday the 13th franchise on us! However, he ended up just as quickly regretting it upon watching the films! Thankfully, Sean and Steven are old hats at this sort of crap; so there is plenty cheerful discussion to be had. So much so, that we have divided this up into three parts!

In part 1 we discuss the first four movies, from the Sean S. Cunningham original; Friday the 13th (1980), through to the rather inaccurately - and unfortunately - titled Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984). Enjoy!

Hi there movie lovers!

On this episode, Benjamin nominates award winning, mega-star actor William Bradley Pitt for another 'top 10 performances' discussion. Joining Benjamin is a woefully unprepared Sean and a patience-tested Steven as we discuss a bunch of Pitt's film (and TV) appearances over the years, highlighting each of our personal favourite performances from the man himself.

Expect to hear the likes of Thelma & Louise (1991), Kalifornia (1993), Se7en (1995), 12 Monkeys (1996), Meet Joe Black (1998) and Inglorious Basterds (2009) plus many more, including a few surprises!

The banter flies a little harder than usual in this episode, so we'd be remise not to declare a 'NSFW' notification. You have been warned!

Steven, Benjamin and Sean revisit a topic from way back in our first year of the Film Utopia Podcast to bring you another assortment of their go-to guilty pleasure movies. Apparently, there are a lot more embarrassing admissions than we all realised as there’s some right steaming tosh in this episode!

Expect cringe, hesitant declarations, and nervous laughter as the trio own up to a fondness for the likes of: The Three Musketeers (1993), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), Wayne’s World 2 (2003), Clash of the Titans (2010) and Dune – no, not THAT ‘Dune’, the earlier one – (1984) and a whole host more!

Upon realising the shocking lack of Comedy coverage on The Film Utopia Podcast, Steven, Benjamin and Sean go some way to amend this glaring omission with an epic 160 minute episode about a slew of the films that tickle us the most!

The three of us each bring two comedic actor legends to the discussion; Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy, Jim Carrey and Michael Palin, and Gene Wilder and John Candy, and have each picked a favourite film starring them, for a total of 18 films' worth of discussion (and excessive laughing and quoting).

But that’s not all! We’ve included some bonus comedy movie sub-genre picks to discuss, including a movie each for Black Comedy, Spoof Comedy, Romantic Comedy (for some atrocious reason) and Miscellaneous Comedy.

Expect to hear the likes of Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), Uncle Buck (1989), Coming to America (1988), Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979), Young Frankenstein (1974), American Psycho (2000), Airplane! (1980), The Wedding Singer (1998), Clue (1985) and an absolute shed-load more!

Steven, Benjamin and Sean conclude their epic John Carpenter retrospective with a discussion on the legendary filmmaker’s music score work. Having composed music for the majority of his own films, starting with Dark Star (1974), Carpenter has become as recognisable and prolific for his scores as he has his movies.

With absolutely iconic title themes from the likes of Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Halloween (1978) and Escape From New York (1981), as well as a slew of incredibly underrated cues from scenes in films such as The Fog (1980), Big Trouble in Little China (1986) and Prince of Darkness (1987), this episode speculates on the particulars of Carpenters creative processes, technical practices and workflow as well as his collaboration with Alan Howarth, Ennio Morricone, Jim Long, Anthrax & many more across his career as a film composer.

Steven, Benjamin and Sean close out their John Carpenter filmography retrospective with a look at the latter movies of his career and share their disappointment with the rather unfortunate diminishing returns on offer. With much of what made Carpenter’s earlier works awesome to behold now absent, and instead replaced with derivative stories and lacklustre film making, it’s a shame to end our retrospective on a sour note. But not all is lost, Film Utopia will be back next time with a look at Carpenter’s incredible music score work from the mid 70s right up till today!

On this episode, we discuss Escape From L.A. (1996), Vampires (1998), Ghosts of Mars (2001), and The Ward (2010).

With the 1980s coming to an end and during the start of the 1990s, John Carpenter’s output makes a few left field turns in terms of quality compared to the tour-de-force of previous years. But the unmistakable and magical vibe of Carpenter’s idiosyncrasies are still very evident among this mixed bag, and there’s plenty for the Film Utopia hosts to unpack and disagree on!

In this episode, Steven, Benjamin and Sean discuss the cult classic They Live! (1988), the job-for-hire Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), the under-seen (and under-appreciated) In The Mouth of Madness (1994), and the missed opportunity Village of the Damned (1995).

Welcome to Part 2 of our John Carpenter retrospective review series!

In this episode, we unpack and discuss the movies made during period of Carpenter’s filmography that most consider his absolute peak – and we completely agree! With one film in particular ranking tops among Carpenter’s work for all three of us, and for Sean in particular; his favourite film of all time.

In this episode, we discuss pressing matters like:

• If you’re a ‘Thing’, do you you know you’re a ‘Thing’?

• What happened to Fuchs?

• So, just who did get to Blair?

• Sweden.

• Why does it take over an hour for anyone to die in the horror film Christine?

• Where’s all the gore? I thought this was a horror film!

• Why is Dean Cundey such an incredible Cinematographer?

• Could you have done without seeing Jeff Bridges’ bare backside?

• Why is the character of Jack Burton so bloody funny?

• Big Trouble in Little China’s finest moments of sheer brilliance.

• What the hell was wrong with movie critics in the early 1980s?

• Aren’t those blokes a bit too old to be college students?

• A radio to talk with the future? The devil is a vat of green goo? Say what, now?

• Damn, is that Alice Cooper? I thought it was Harry Dean Stanton!

Yes sir! We’re absolutely over the moon to be talking The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Starman (1984), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), and Prince of Darkness (1987)!