What's with Vin Diesel & religious-theme Sci-Fi?

Television, Movies Games and Books Other Science Fiction
#1

hey all,

I’m watching Babylon A.D. on Star Movies channel for the first time. It’s kinda like The Chronicles of Riddick - post-apocalyptic with deep religious overtones, where Vin has to transport the Chosen One from point A to point B (It’s been done before, it will be done again). Sic.

They should call this the Vin Diesel genre/trope. (It’s closest cousin - the Mad Max trope didn’t have heavy religious symbolism)

I like this scene where Vin is opening what looks like a paper-printed map, only to realise it’s a paper-thin display that can be folded like paper. One could zoom in and out on the map like how it’s done on the iPhone (my laptop has that same kind of touchpad). I hear that it’s really being developed in Japan.

There’s this one scene where the blond girl (the chosen one) was asking Vin Diesel about the 2nd generation cloned-tigers (all the Siberian ones were killed off in 2017) - it was reminiscent of Caprica Six where she declared that all are God’s creatures and we’re made in the image of Him.

Travelling eastward through Eastern Europe to Siberia throught the Bering strait, we see the occasional Catholic religious icons (yay for me - but shouldn’t they be Orthodox?), we watch the blond girl/chosen one constantly question why so many people have to die needlessly (wow, SyFy with a conscience).

Ooo, they reach the Canadian/American border which looks like a super-high-tech mall.

And they’re in a 747 with a Coca-cola logo on its’ side.

And Manhattan looks like Tokyo with all the crazy advertising everywhere.

They’re in a hotel room where the girl asks if she can turn-off multi-screens on the wall - Vin says you can change the channel but not turn it off.

(so sorry, i’m actually still watching as i’m typing this… )

#2

Should have made this a frak. I was dying to see Babylon AD ever since I saw the trailer. I’m a fan of Vin (except I haven’t seen the Furious movies yet) because he’s an uncloseted role playing geek who happens to look like he could break me in two.

As for the movie, I was disappointed when I actually saw it. But, the movie is so forgettable, I’d have to watch it again to remember why that was the case other than it underwhelmed me.

#3

I enjoyed the movie but the book kicked ass. Babylon Babies by Maurice Dantec. The religious overtones are really stripped down in the movie compared to the book.

#4

The DVD sucks because they changed the ending and removed the cool car chase, you have to go into the special features to see the better stuff. They should have offered the option for the directors version or the theatrical version at the begining instead of denying the viewer of re experiancing what they saw in the theater or of choosing which version they would prefer to watch.:mad:

And while I enjoyed the movie for the most part, I was bummed that Michelle Yeoh didn’t get to do more. I like her and felt she was not utilized nearly enough. And did she piss off her directors or what??? She was in two movies in the same month and she gets killed off in BOTH of them!!:frowning:

#5

I felt the movie was more commenting on how the corrupt and powerful minority abuse that which has sway over the powerless majority. Religion and commercialism was merely the medium used in the story as it mirrors much of the worlds social problems today.