Entertainment
Star Trek Just Ruined Its Best Alien Race, And The Explanation Makes No Sense
By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated
The fourth episode of Starfleet Academy, “Vox In Excelsio,” made some huge changes to the most famous alien race in all of Star Trek: The Klingons. The biggest change (and beware some spoilers the size of a warp core, this is your only warning!) is that the Klingon homeworld of Qu’onos has been completely destroyed because the Burn (introduced back in Discovery, Season 3) caused all of the planet’s dilithium reactors to explode. However, based on everything we know about dilithium from over 60 years of franchise history, this should have been completely impossible!
First, some context: since the days of Star Trek: The Original Series, we’ve seen starships traveling the galaxy thanks to the dilithium crystals that power their warp cores. After the crew of the USS Discovery jumped to the 32nd century, they discovered that both interstellar travel and the Federation had been devastated by an event called the Burn. The Burn caused dilithium throughout the galaxy to go inert, and this caused countless starships to explode because these crystals regulate the matter/antimatter reaction necessary to achieve warp speed.
Avoiding The Mistakes Of The Future, Today
Once the crystals went inert, the matter and antimatter collided in any ship with an active warp drive. This instantly caused the last thing any Starfleet captain wants to deal with: a warp core breach. Because of this, the Federation is still rebuilding by the end of Star Trek: Discovery, and Starfleet Academy is all about training the next generation of cadets who will make the galaxy a safer place as various planets and space empires continue recovering.
That brings us to the most recent episode of Starfleet Academy, “Vox Excelsius,” in which a reporter casually mentions that the Klingon homeworld of Qo’noS has previously been destroyed by the Burn. How did this work, mechanically speaking? The only explanation we get (aside from a dismissed conspiracy theory that “they blew it up themselves”) is that “the Burn caused dilithium reactors on Qo’noS and other worlds to explode.”
What The Experts Have To Say
At first glance, this probably makes sense. After all, we know that the Burn affected dilithium in a way that made starships throughout the galaxy explode. Dilithium is both mined and stored on various planets, so the reporter’s breezy comment might make you think that the dilithium simply exploded with enough force to either destroy the Klingon homeworld outright or render it completely uninhabitable.
However, the starships destroyed by the Burn were only lost because the dilithium going inert caused instant warp breaches. While Starfleet Academy doesn’t really explain what a “dilithium reactor” is, it’s fair to assume that the Klingon homeworld was not attempting to travel anywhere at warp speed. The reactor is presumably meant to be a power source for Qo’noS, but at no point in Star Trek history has matter/antimatter been used to power anything other than warp drive.
Therefore, it’s only logical (Spock would be so proud) to determine that Paramount ruined the Klingons because the writers forgot how the Burn worked, which was established in the show that Starfleet Academy spun off from. This isn’t a case of the writers forgetting some obscure factoid introduced in The Original Series or even The Next Generation. Instead, they are ignoring a major story element that was introduced just a few years ago, a mistake made even worse by the other logical problems of this bizarre plot point.
Almost All Klingons Died For No Reason
For example, even though the Klingons are canonically stupid, why would they rely on dilithium as a power source? Even if we were to expect the idea (that flies in the face of established lore) that dilithium works as a planetary power source, Discovery previously established that dilithium had started becoming super scarce years before the Burn happened, which is why the Federation was researching alternative methods of achieving warp speed without dilithium crystals. Facing that same dilithium shortage, the Klingons could have easily traded out their dilithium reactors to power planets with fusion or solar power, both of which the Federation was relying on nearly a millennium ago.
Now, before the Star Trek fanboys come for me, I’ll concede that Starfleet Academy might explain all of this away in a future episode. Maybe we’ll get a technobabble explanation as to how dilithium reactors work, or we’ll get an in-universe reason why the Klingons never switched to another, more convenient power source once dilithium got insanely scarce. Heck, we might even get an explanation as to why the Klingons had these reactors on every single planet of their empire, something which seems like it would be overkill for smaller, more remote colonies.
Right now, though, none of this makes any sense, which is effectively bad news for Star Trek as a whole. The writers just ruined the franchise’s most iconic race, and they did so with a plot point that proves even they weren’t watching Discovery. You should act accordingly, when this kind of narrative stupidity causes you to unsubscribe from Paramount+, don’t forget to write in “exploding warp reactors” as the reason you are leaving.
Don’t think the Skydance Corporation will believe it? Trust me: if they bought Paramount, these guys will buy anything.
Entertainment
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How to unblock Pornhub for free in Texas
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Entertainment
Perfect, Forgotten 80s Thriller Is Hitchcock Meets Mad Max
By Robert Scucci
| Published
Road thrillers always make for a great time because there is nothing more unnerving than barreling down the highway when you are either in danger yourself or trying to help somebody else who might be. 1981’s Road Games, an Australian thriller that plays like a strange middle ground between Mad Max and a Hitchcock-style serial killer story, has no shortage of tense moments. It shows just how badly the road can mess with your head after a long day’s work as a commercial trucker who just wants to grab a few hours of sleep between jobs. Perspectives grow hazy, lines begin to blur, and you are almost certain you have seen that green van and its driver doing something suspicious on multiple occasions, even if you cannot quite prove what they are up to.
A tense, white knuckle experience from start to finish, Road Games is a lean thriller built around an exceedingly simple plot. That simplicity should not lull you into a false sense of security, though, because not everything is what it seems, especially once the horizon darkens, the road goes quiet, and a radio news broadcast suggests you may be sharing the highway with somebody who is very, very dangerous.
A Road Best Left Untraveled
Road Games introduces us to trucker Patrick Quid (Stacy Keach) and his pet dingo, Boswell. Patrick makes a point of telling anyone who will listen that there is a difference between a man who drives a truck and a trucker, implying that he views his current line of work as something beneath him, even if it pays the bills for now. He travels alone with Boswell, often taking back-to-back jobs against his better judgment. There is nothing to suggest Patrick is unstable, but his dispatcher encourages him to push through sleep deprivation with caffeine pills so he can take on more work.
While sleeping in his truck outside a motel one night, Patrick notices a man driving a suspicious looking green van who checks in with a female hitchhiker. The next morning, Patrick sees the man leave alone after stopping at the dumpster and climbing into the van before heading back out onto the road.
Once he is driving again, Patrick encounters a recurring group of colorful characters. There is an elderly man hauling a boat, a face-masked motorcyclist who keeps popping up, a nagging woman named Frita (Marion Edward) and her visibly annoyed husband, and another woman standing roadside looking for a ride. Against his better judgment and company regulations, Patrick picks up Frita after her husband abandons her on the side of the road. During this stretch, he spots the green van again, this time catching its driver burying suspicious looking bags in the desert and carrying around a small cooler.
Frita becomes uneasy with Patrick’s calm attitude about the encounter, especially after hearing a radio report about a possible serial killer operating in the area. She eventually parts ways with him, but not before Patrick picks up the hitchhiker he passed earlier, known only as Hitch (Jamie Lee Curtis). The two hit it off almost immediately, and Hitch reveals herself to be Pamela Rushworth, the heiress of a wealthy US diplomat who wanted to go on an adventure of her own, suggesting that she may have been reported missing from her high-profile life. As Patrick continues his route with Pamela, the green van keeps resurfacing, prompting them to investigate its driver under the assumption that he is the killer mentioned in the news.
A Series Of Escalating Events
As sleep deprivation takes hold, Pat and Pamela get separated, and Pat finds himself unsure of who he can trust. Everywhere he turns, the green van seems to be there. He starts pushing his truck at reckless RPMs to make his delivery on time, becoming increasingly unhinged along the way. Pat is convinced he needs to track down the green van to stop anyone else from getting hurt, but things spiral further when Frita reports him to the authorities. She suggests that Pat himself might be the killer, and that the story about the green van is nothing more than a distraction.
As Pat unravels while searching for Pamela and the van, all while evading police and trying to finish his route, his sanity is put into question. Every possible pressure point is hit, and Pat is fully aware that he is starting to lose his grip. With law enforcement closing in, his hitchhiker companion missing, and the green van’s driver still at large, Pat is forced to pull himself together and see his increasingly bizarre job through before the road swallows him whole.
Road Games toys with the familiar tropes you see in films like the grossly underrated Black Dog. Hallucinations feel inevitable, and the job itself takes a back seat to the strange, inexplicable encounters that keep piling up. Stacy Keach’s straight faced performance as an expatriate American trucker tearing through the Australian outback with a pet dingo is half the fun. His deadpan presence grounds the film even as everything around him starts to feel unreliable.
If you want to find out whether Pat finally snaps or if the world around him is the real problem in Road Games, you can fire it up on Tubi, where it is currently streaming for free.
Entertainment
Sci-Fi Hit That Redefined Summer Blockbusters Now On Netflix
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Steven Spielberg invented the Summer blockbuster with Jaws, and then did it again with E.T. and Jurassic Park, but in terms of sheer spectacle, Roland Emmerich invented the visual language used by today’s Summer blockbusters with 1996’s Independence Day. The shot of a massive alien ship hovering over the White House and then blowing it to smithereens was everywhere that year, from the Super Bowl to every primetime TV ad break.
Story became secondary, special effects on the biggest screens possible took over as the real reason to go to the theaters, and Hollywood was never the same. Now you can relive the experience on Netflix.
Welcome To Earth
Independence Day wastes no time starting off the massive alien motherships moving into position above the world’s largest cities. In the most realistic moment of the entire film, there’s a group of people who decide to gather directly under the ships to welcome the aliens. That’s when they open up and unleash a devastating blast that destroys Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C. It’s hard to understand today what it was like to see this level of devastation on a scale never seen before, with this budget and looking this good.
The other half of Independence Day, the plot, is supported by an all-time great cast, including Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch, Mary McDonnell, Randy Quaid, Mae Whitman, Brent Spiner, Bill Pullman as one of the greatest fictional Presidents ever, and the breakthrough role of a sitcom star: Will Smith. No one cares that the plot is as thin as Flat Stanley. From top to bottom, every member of the cast understood the assignment. This is one of the most fun movies ever.
You can pinpoint the exact moment when Will Smith became a movie star. After Captain Steven Hiller is shot down, he walks right over to the alien fighter he took with him, pops open the hatch, and drops a one-liner, “Welcome to Earth,” as he punches the alien in the face. He was no longer The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; he was King of the Summer Blockbuster.
Independence Day Reshaped Movies Forever
According to Rotten Tomatoes, Independence Day has a critic rating of 69 percent and an audience rating of 75 percent, both of which seem irrelevant. Roland Emmerich’s follow-up to Stargate is a pure popcorn movie. For every bit of horrible dialogue, there’s Bill Pullman’s triumphant speech. For every contrived plot device, there’s an extended dogfight between alien saucers and F/A-18 Hornets. This is the ultimate “turn off your brain” and enjoy movie.
At the time of its release, Independence Day became the second-highest-grossing film of all time with $817 million, making Jeff Goldblum, star of Jurassic Park, the then-highest-grossing film star of all time and one of the most successful box-office stars of the 90s. Decades later, every superhero movie, every Summer blockbuster, can trace its visual style back to Emmerich’s groundbreaking disaster film.
For years, fans wanted more. Finally, in 2016, the sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, which brought back Pullman, Goldblum, and Hirsch, hit theaters with Liam Hemsworth as the new hotshot pilot. After 20 years, no one cared.
Don’t let the forgettable and pointless sequel deter you from going back and streaming Independence Day now that it’s on Netflix. Some movies are hits, some become cult classics, and then there’s Independence Day, which managed to transcend Hollywood and reshape the world of entertainment in its image. Whether it’s the hundredth time or the first time, you will get hyped when Will Smith punches the alien, Bill Pullman announces today is our Independence Day, and when Randy Quaid gets his revenge. Just don’t think about it too hard. It’s not that type of movie.
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