I mean, all of our allies are Monarchies, and plotting to coup our allies in the name of ideology when they have genuine popular support is a bad idea, as well as immoral.
Weird fact, their CAN be a differnt person other then a Coldern as leader of the TC, so if we did want to coup....we just need to divert the voting to new blood. Which uh, if where found out will make the TC effectively just leave our alliance. But if not, then they'll have a new leader....Who may or may not be effective so its a gamble.
MC however where out of luck, they got their leadership locked down!
Because "our ideology is right" and thinking that "we" know best for people how they should be ruled. So lets plot a coup that defiantly won't cause centuries of hatred for the Sphere to solidify into hatred of all outsiders, or you know the whole potential civil war issue that has a habit of creeping up on unsuspecting coups.
...and? I was given the impression that y'all are 4Xers. What's a little overthrow, annexation and subjugation compared to the glorious feeling of Painting The Map?
We also dont want to die, becouse keep in mind our OWN population might decide to revolt, along with a good chunk of military or navy for that matter, at such a underhanded betrayal. Where an open socity, doesnt MEAN our covert operations and schemes are public.
We also dont want to die, becouse keep in mind our OWN population might decide to revolt, along with a good chunk of military or navy for that matter, at such a underhanded betrayal. Where an open socity, doesnt MEAN our covert operations and schemes are public.
That and once you decide to effectively start using secret police on other nations to "correct" their politics, it doesn't take much of leap in logic to start "correcting" your own politics at home. And if something like that got out is not unbelievable that large chunks of our own military would see most of the upper parts of the government against a wall in short order.
That and once you decide to effectively start using secret police on other nations to "correct" their politics, it doesn't take much of leap in logic to start "correcting" your own politics at home. And if something like that got out is not unbelievable that large chunks of our own military would see most of the upper parts of the government against a wall in short order.
no , open society does not mean our covert operations and schemes are public cause then they would not be covert , it means that they will eventually be declassified to the public when they are active operations so long as said information is not a threat to national security if it becomes public
no , open society does not mean our covert operations and schemes are public cause then then they would be covert , it means that they will eventually be declassified to the public when they are active operations so long as said information is not a threat to national security if it becomes public
Was going to add that, but the main point still stands. Our population wouldn't take us trying to overthrow a government like our allies or even a Great houses that well. So far weve gotten away with it due to supporting local forces or have having foes who are genuinely just that evil. But for all the monarcy and shit the Great houses are, they arent Entirely evil, at least the ones closest to us. Even the Combine arent murder happy war crimes 24/7.
We have effectively gotten rid of all the rather obvious bad guys, Marians, Directorate, Cappelans and such. Just got to deal with Tortuga and boom were tabbed out of government we can overthrow without making our population more critical of us and push back.
Was going to add that, but the main point still stands. Our population wouldn't take us trying to overthrow a government like our allies or even a Great houses that well. So far weve gotten away with it due to supporting local forces or have having foes who are genuinely just that evil.
true , any nation we would be overthrowing would first have to start some pretty heavy shit with us first , to burn any public support or opposition at home for such measures , like that bio weapon attack that the Mandate supposedly launched (I think it was Com*) that saw massive demand from the public that we retaliate
Overthrowing the government of an ally via active action is silly. Our population is spreading ideas that are causing systematic changes all by themselves. Why do you think there's Taurian backlash?
We have already corrupted the youths of our allied countries with the evils Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité accompanied with a heavy dose of wealth distribution it is only a matter of time before The People's Republic of the Taurian Concordat, The Democratic Aurigan Coalition and The Federation of Canopus are instated, all according to plan.
Jokes aside, we don't need nor do we want to coup our allies, as Forgothrax said they are changing themselves.
Pinard n Taurian girl, sent to Pinards's countryside to stay with relatives, finds love and purpose while fighting for her survival as war envelops the world around her.
Pinard
Review by Paul Fincher
Set ten years into the Reunification War, Taurian teenager Charlotte, played by Sunny Lowell, flies into Melantha's Continental airport where heavily armed soldiers patrol and TV monitors report a complete shutdown of civilian space travel by order of the government. Charlotte, an obviously bitter girl after quarrelling with her father and stepmother, has come to stay with her cousins in the countryside, but at first expresses her unhappiness by a cold veneer of disdain. Gradually she begins to warm to her cousins, precocious Isaac, played by Theodore Salazar, handsome David, John Mckay, cheeky Suzzie, Margot Hines, and their friend Joe, Tobias Wexler. Charlotte's aunt, played by the inestimable Anna Gilroy, forever busy with Melantha's numerous factories, is barely glimpsed. And then, courtesy of Amos Furlough, the unimaginable happens.
Not having read the book on which this impressive film is based I was completely unprepared for the way the narrative developed. The early scenes are a bit annoying as the anti-social Charlotte rebuffs her friendly relatives, and the jittery hand-held camera mirrors her edginess. But as disaster strikes and the Star League invades, Charlotte and the film's visual style undergo a change, and the film - beautifully directed by Newt Ronan, develops into a terrifying and haunting rite of passage in a dangerous world. Lowell is quite wonderful in the leading role.
PAUL: Julia?
JULIA: Paul, you and I are on different wavelengths.
PAUL: Good.
JULIA: I just didn't believe it. I did not believe what was happening. I didn't particularly like the performances. I found her motivations spurious. I found the presentation of her at the beginning of the film unsubtle.
PAUL: I found it all too convincing, actually. I think at the beginning of the film, she's a typical teenager who is not getting her own way and is angry about it.
JULIA: Well, yes.
PAUL: For me the whole film was very realistic, I must say, given what happens.
JULIA: Yes. It's just this set up of this angry, unlikeable thing into a heroic young thing. Look, I'm a fan of Newt Ronan. I think they're such a good director.
PAUL: I think they're a great director.
JULIA: But for me this one lost me and I just really did not like this film. Sunny Lowell is drastically underserved by Charlotte's writing and the cliches are out in full force. Even her natural charisma couldn't save the film from its own decisions.
PAUL: I'm sorry because I thought it was really good. For something shot on such a small budget, only five million Marks or so, it's a fantastic little film that sells the horror of the Reunification War without dipping into the kind of gratuitous and, dare I say, almost fetishistic worship of war that so often afflicts similar films.
For Charlotte there is no glory to be found on Pinard, just the fallout of the Star League's imperial ambitions.
JULIA: Paul, I sense we're going to continue this after the show.
PAUL: What are you giving it?
JULIA: I'm giving it two and a half.
PAUL: I'm giving it four.
JULIA: Whoa.
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Immortal Warrior 6 Agent Smit has Ricardo and Brian reassemble their crew in order to take down a mastermind...
Immortal Warrior 6
Review by Julia Anker
JULIA: Immortal Warrior 6 or IMMORTAL W6RRIOR as it's called on the film, bursts onto our screens from the get-go as two mechs thunder out of a mountain tunnel racing one another on the dangerously windy road. The planet is Van Diemen IV which significantly supposedly doesn't have extradition with the Federated Suns. The competing MechWarriors, the titular Warrior - Ricardo Hunt - and Brian - Michael Schwimmer - are racing to the birth of Brian's first child with Mia - Alice Barnes. But domestic bliss doesn't last long because who should come calling but Lyran Intelligence Corps Agent Smit - Rachel Carver - who shows the Warrior a photo of Omi - Zaida Nakamura - who apparently is not as dead as she appeared in Immortal Warrior 5. Smit wants the Warrior and his team to hunt down bad guy and Helghan patriot Peiter Van Dijk - Shawn Evans - who is one step away from getting hold of a final component to a bioweapon that can kill entire planets.
But enough of this standing around talking, action is what this holofilm is about and the more revs the better.
Strangely I do enjoy this franchise, it's a no brainer, the plot is ridiculous, the dialogue is not going to get any literary awards, but the creation of the action sequences is truly imaginative, they're outrageously over the top. Ricardo Hunt remains the same stoic character, Michael Schwimmer is most probably not going to get too many award nominations but after all this practice he seems comfortable in the role of Brian. And there's humour in the banter between two team members Roman - Hideki Gibson - and Tej - Todd Bourgeois. Rachel Carver has biceps. Director Christina Lim, now with three of the Immortal Warrior seasons and two films under her belt, knows how to keep the momentum up.
JULIA: Paul?
PAUL: They all have biceps, don't they, including the women, I thought?
JULIA: Not like Rachel. Hers are like that.
PAUL: Well, unlike you, I'm not a huge fan of this franchise. I mean the mech scenes, well, the stunt drivers obviously are very efficient at what they are doing and some of it is imaginative but most of it is really silly, starting with the opening sequence where they're racing along these narrow roads very dangerously and pointlessly; pointlessly because it turns out that there's no chase. They're just getting there to be there in time for the birth of the child. If they timed it a bit better they wouldn't have to drive the way they do.
JULIA: Well, I don't know why he wasn't sitting by the bedside anyway.
PAUL: Well, there you go. So, look, I mean, it...
JULIA: Paul, I don't think intelligence is really a noun that you apply to this movie. You just...
PAUL: But you're an intelligent person and you're loving it.
JULIA: You get to smell the myomer burning and the coolant burning and the thundering of the ground under your feet and it sets up this excitement in your chest.
PAUL: Does it?
JULIA: Yes. Hell, yes.
PAUL: Well, you see, it's horses for courses, I guess. It just doesn't really appeal to me very much.
JULIA: I watched too many Portland cattle runs when I was a kid. It's in the DNA.
PAUL: But doesn't it bother you that once again the antagonist in the film is from Helghan? You'd think they'd wait another movie before presenting us as irrepressibly evil.
JULIA: It would if Evans wasn't such a charismatic villain. He may have been planning to blow up Atreus and blame it on Melissa Steiner, but it was just so much fun to watch him chew the scenery. And of course, when he and Hunt are on screen together, it's like watching two pigs in a trough.
PAUL: Oh, well.
PAUL: If there is something I'll credit this holo with, it's sustaining the tension across a full 91 minute runtime. I mean, the tension in this film is sustained right through, I think, and it's very effective. It comes from the fact that it is one set piece with incredible tension; next set piece incredible tension.
JULIA: It's also very nicely shot by Dillion Eggby, a Lyran cinematographer, who, years and years ago I think, shot the original THUNDER ROAD. So the film looks good. It has a rousing music score by Graeme Revell, another Lyran.
PAUL: So there are some nice things about it, but I find Ricardo Hunt implacably boring.
JULIA: I'm giving this three and a half stars.
PAUL: I'm giving it two.
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Pitch Black A WarpComms engineer and an astronaut work together to survive after an accident leaves them adrift in deep space.
Pitch Black
Review by Paul Fincher
Far out in deep space, three Taurian astronauts have left their shuttle to work on a warp communications relay; we barely get to meet one of them but the other two are veteran astronaut Jacob Ricadro, played by Steven Kowalski, and first-timer Dr. Stephanie Rivers, Kiara Lorde. The atmosphere is relaxed, Ricardo cracks jokes to help his colleague overcome her nervousness. And then disaster strikes as a faulty bit of wiring triggers a catastrophic explosion that destroys both the satellite and the shuttle and sends the surviving pair of astronauts hurtling away into deep space. The first film Taurian director Alan Cuaron has made since the very impressive In The Valley of Eden seven years ago is the best space movie since 3035. The long, 13-minute, opening shot in which the camera follows the astronauts on what for them should be a routine mission is mesmerising - the more so if you see it in 3D, and I urge you to do that. Cuaron's screenplay, written with his daughter, Sofia, isn't strongly plot-driven; there are none of the trappings of conventional science fiction, no monsters, no bad guys at all. Just human beings in the vastness and eeriness of space, trying to survive after an unexpected disaster. The camerawork by Emmanuel Shraplen is amazing, the production design by Amy Nicholson is equally outstanding.
Unfortunately, Pitch Black isn't quite a masterpiece; there's some rather clunky dialogue and, more importantly, there's a scene in the second half that should never have been included and which brought unintended laughs from the audience when I saw it. Despite these flaws, Pitch Black is an amazing experience.
PAUL: Julia?
JULIA: It is an amazing experience. It is 90 minutes of sweaty palms.
PAUL: It sure is.
JULIA: I was on the edge of my seat.
PAUL: Absolutely. So was I.
JULIA: It looks so fantastic. To maintain that tension of that period of time with a limited number of players, it's a situational drama absolutely.
PAUL: Yes.
JULIA: It's just really clever.
PAUL: It conveys the feeling of being isolated in deep space, too. You really feel this sense of loneliness and isolation you don't get anywhere else, and it's entirely due to Cuaron filming in deep space.
JULIA: Well, and it taps into our deep fears of being out there alone and cut off from others and help me! Help me! But I think he's done a wonderful, wonderful job. I think he's a really intelligent filmmaker. I think those two, it must have been very uncomfortable for them to film in those suits let alone on location, but I just think it's one of those films that you can be just honestly enthusiastic about. I didn't even mind that scene.
PAUL: Well, I did because it broke the spell. It was sort of corny and it wasn't of a peace with the rest of the film and that was a shame, I thought.
JULIA: Well, there was maybe a slight demure in me about it, you know, but I thought the whole was so terrific that I went, ah, I'm going to allow you that little flip.
PAUL: The whole is pretty good. I'm unforgiving.
JULIA: I'm giving this four and a half stars, Paul.
Did I use reviews from Australia's brilliant (and sadly finished) movie review show At The Movies with David and Margaret as the basis for reviews of in-universe films? Yes. Yes I did.
Did I use reviews from Australia's brilliant (and sadly finished) movie review show At The Movies with David and Margaret as the basis for reviews of in-universe films? Yes. Yes I did.
PAUL: But doesn't it bother you that once again the antagonist in the film is from Helghan? You'd think they'd wait another movie before presenting us as irrepressibly evil.
JULIA: It would if Evans wasn't such a charismatic villain. He may have been planning to blow up Atreus and blame it on Melissa Steiner, but it was just so much fun to watch him chew the scenery. And of course, when he and Hunt are on screen together, it's like watching two pigs in a trough.
I am sad I will never see this movie. The Helghast really are just so good at being villains. I just kinda hope they got a Helghast to play the character.
I am said I will never see this movie. The Helghast really are just so good at being villains. I just kinda hope they got a Helghast to play the character.
I really want to villain to have scene wearing a modified version of our already bladder emptying PA design. If we are to be bad guys let us be just completely ham.
I like the idea that whoever made Immortal Warrior 6 just looked at individuals from the Visari regime for inspiration for the main villain and went 'this is good, slap some Republic symbols on it… but we're going to have to tone it down a bit as nobody's going to believe anyone could be this evil'.
I mean, all of our allies are Monarchies, and plotting to coup our allies in the name of ideology when they have genuine popular support is a bad idea, as well as immoral.
That said, the Davions aren't our allies, so its open season on them
I thought, for the periphery nations which are our allies, this was more a remnant of the star league takeover, and the Camerons ... streamlining the leadership process so that they only had to really answer to one leader. Also, so that they could have one 'local' leader who they needed to watch, instead of letting a rebellion form around any charismatic individual mechwarrior. I remember that this explicitly happened in the rim worlds republic, which installed the Amaris family from ambassadors to tyrants of the nation, and ultimately ended the republican form of government there. I also thought at least the Taurian Concordat had a more democratic system of government before the reunification wars, if not the Magistracy as well.
I mean, yes, the reunification wars drastically altered the economies of periphery nations so that they were reliant on terra, but I also thought they resulted in political changes to make their continued control easier. Unfortunately, I really don't have the source material on hand to back this up.
Anyways, I did enjoy the movie reviews. I know these were basically based on real world movies, but you did a good job of converting it all to something that worked in the BT universe. Also, why do I feel like the next 3 or 4 immortal warrior movies are going to have us (or one of our allies) as the bad guys? It feels like this is going to be a thing.
I, uh. I'm pretty sure that those aren't astronauts so much as astronaut-textured globules?
Assuming this is just a matter of AI-produced art's idiosyncracies, but if this actually was a movie about Cronenbergian flesh horrors writhing in deep space I'm surprised the reviewers didn't bring that up.
I really want to villain to have scene wearing a modified version of our already bladder emptying PA design. If we are to be bad guys let us be just completely ham.
Make sure to have the reveal be an ominously backlit shot, the suit nothing more than a silhouette - then the signature glowing-red eyes of Helghast armor lights up, and the heroes know they're screwed.
My first thought when I read Helghan Patriot is that he was one of our leftover fascists and part of the plot would be the current Helghan government helping hunt him down. Sadly it would appear we didn't get jolly cooperation and are being demonised.
