TAKE A TOUR OF CYBERDYNE SYSTEMS WITH TERMINATOR 2: 3-D

Earlier this month, I promised reviews of popular Universal attractions to celebrate my upcoming Universal trip. Today, I deliver the first review: Terminator 2: 3-D.

Terminator 2: 3-D had it's grand opening on April 27, 1996 and has been entertaining Universal Studios guests ever since. If you had been keeping up with the films, last we left off The T-800, John Connor, and Sarah Connor had defeated the T-1000 and left Cyberdyne in ruins.  Several years later, Cyberdyne has risen from the rubble of that day to become a mega-corporation with heavy ties to the The U.S. military among other things.  We are V.I.Ps that have been invited to attend a special presentation of Cyberdyne's latest technological creations. Something they have lovingly named: The Terminators (the model is the T-70). Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?

The experience starts as soon as we step foot into Cyberdyne's lobby: a large, sprawling space the color of steel and chrome adorned with Cyberdyne posters, that includes an area where we can pick up our safety visors for the presentation (Really, their just 3D glasses). On the overhead TV monitors is a news broadcast produced by Cyberdyne itself, titled C.I.N (Cyberdyne Interactive Network), which keeps us updated on all things Cyberdyne including their latest products, achievements and etc. During breaks, we are treated to C.D.Y.N radio which plays clips from songs featured in Terminator 2. Once they are ready for us next door we are ushered into The Miles Bennett Dyson Memorial Auditorium (a spacious, futuristic looking pre-show room).  It is here where we meet the Cyberdyne Systems Director of  Community Relations and Media Control; Kimberly Duncan; who will be our hostess for the presentation. She is a very nasty, icy, controlling person....but she covers all this with a creepy facade of smiles and bubbly-ness. During the pre-show we are treated to a (dated, but still entertaining) commercial for Cyberdyne which is interrupted briefly by John and Sarah Connor who reveal their plans to crash the presentation in the hopes of stopping Cyberdyne once and for all. Undeterred, Ms. Duncan ushers us into a large theater where the action begins.

The theater is pretty large, able to seat 700 people. The seats are actually pretty comfortable for a theme park show. While the attraction's title says 3-D, the experience we are treated to here is so much more than that. We get several large animatronic robots (Terminators), in-theater effects (strobes, lasers, smells, fog, lights),  a 3-D movie, and live actors equipped with realistic looking and sounding guns (the actors often run into and out of the screen in one of the most impressive theme park effects I have ever seen. Even though I was able to figure out how this effect is created, it still manages to wow me every time I see it. The guns they use are pretty loud too). The total experience in the theater lasts around 12 minutes, but you will walk out feeling completely wowed and ready to go out and conquer the rest of your day.

Even though it's been 18 years since the attraction first opened, it honestly hasn't aged all that much (except for the pre-show vid, which features Shaq back when he was popular). Whenever anybody asks me what my favorite theme park 3D show is, without even having to think my answer is always Terminator 2: 3-D.  The theme is strong and consistent throughout the experience (It really does feel like you have entered Cyberdyne). The mix of live-action/actors, robots, 3-D, and in theater effects (the most impressive of which, in my opinion, is the final fog effect) all meld together to create a YOU-ARE-THERE experience that is pretty hard to shake off once the show ends. Naturally, I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting the parks (except maybe the wee ones, the entire experience is pretty intense). All in all, Terminator 2: 3D is a completely and wholly satisfying experience. As Kimberly Duncan would say: It's "Super"!

10/10

FUN FACT:  Helping with the authenticity of the overall experience was James Cameron (director and creator of Terminator 1 and 2), who directed the 3-D film we watch.

The entire experience cost USF 36 million dollars to make.

TERMINATOR 2 3-D: BATTLE ACROSS TIME AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA OFFICIALLY CLOSED ON OCT. 8 2017. RIP

BUG JUICE: NEW FROZEN RIDE TO REPLACE MAELSTROM

You may want to take a few steps back for this one folks, because I'm about to explode.

I am a Disney child, I was raised on Disney and would travel to the parks at least once a year during my childhood. I still count myself a fan of Disney, but that doesn't change the fact that I am most disappointed with their decisions as of late.

Disney used to be the big theme park in Florida, the ultimate family destination in the world. In the 90's they kept churning out hit attractions like Splash Mountain, Test Track, and The Extra-Terrorestrial Alien Encounter (an underrated classic that was ripped from this world way ahead of its time).  They even opened two brand new theme parks: Disney's MGM Studios (Now Disney's Hollywood Studios), and Disney's Animal Kingdom. Heck, the Disney Hotels like Disney All Star resorts and Port Orleans were top notch destinations as well. Yes, in the 90's life was good if you were a Disney kid. Now, let's fast forward to the present day where things have taken a surprising turn for the worse. With the sub-par re-do of Test Track (Let's get rid of that cool story, throw our guests into Tron, and while we're at it let's make everything BLUE.....cuz blue is a cool color, right?), the continuously malfunctioning Yeti on Expedition Everest (which was touted as the most advanced state of the art Audio-Animatronic at the time), The highly hyped New Fantasyland (which suffered from a slashed budget, and a new family roller-coaster that took around four years to build. In the lands defense, the area is indeed very visually pleasing). It seems that Disney's new motto is :The less we have to spend, the better.

As sad as it is to say, I can completely understand Disney's new brand of non-logic. Even with Universal continuing to pummel Disney into the ground with USO's new found quality, Disney hasn't even attempted to fight back. The reasoning would seem to be: "Why should we have to spend any money? We're Disney, people are always going to come back to us because we have the power of nostalgia on our sides." It saddens me that Disney seems more than content to sit on their laurels and laugh at us fans. It is true that currently Disney is working on creating an Avatarland (Avatar, a property that has already grown stale) in Animal Kingdom, and while the concept art looks amazing I can't help but feel that the land will suffer from the same slashed budget that New Fantasyland did (just look at Beast's castle's concept art compared to what we actually got...so disappointing. There is a reason that the restaurant inside went from taking place inside his castle, to instead just being inspired by the film).

Anyways, Disney seems very big to jump into big fads and milk them cows for all their worth. Disney's newest and fattest cow is a little film called Frozen. Originally, I had counted myself as one of the film's fans but now with how over-saturated it has become in our culture (the amount of times Let It Go has been played on the radio is just ridiculous), I have done a complete 180. I don't really care for the film anymore, just the mention of it makes me feel a bit queasy. Disney, naturally, has jumped on the Frozen bandwagon. They quickly introduced a Frozen character meet and greet (the wait times for Anna and Elsa would stay consistently at well over 300 minutes), then a Frozen Summer Fun at Hollywood Studios (consisting of an indoor Frozen play area, a sing-along show, and even a special fireworks show. The Frozen Summer Fun has now been extended through September 28), and now....Frozen: THE RIDE (formerly known as Maelstrom).

That's right, Disney has made the BOLD (and DUMB) decision to replace one of their classic attractions with a Frozen ride. Details about the ride are scarce, the press release states: "The new attraction, which replaces Maelstrom, will take guests to Arendelle and immerse them in many of their favorite moments and music from the film." From that brief description, many fans have speculated that the new Frozen ride will be nothing more than a quick (and permanent) overlay of Maelstrom, meaning that the ride's layout and track will be exactly the same, except the cool scenes inside will be replaced with lame scenes from Frozen. I'm not expecting much to be spent on the ride (especially since it's supposed to be open sometime early 2016). Along with this, Disney has also announced that it is adding Frozen characters into their Christmas festivities including Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (where Elsa will ice over Cinderella's castle every night) and Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade.

EPCOT stands for Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow. World Showcase was built to educate people about (and promote business for) other countries around the world including Mexico, Norway, Morocco, England, China, Germany, Italy, The US, Japan, France, and Canada. So, tell me: How exactly does a Frozen ride promote travel to Norway? The short and simple answer is: It doesn't. This is just Disney carelessly cashing in on the latest fad. Eventually Frozen's popularity will dim, and then we will be left with a lame ride where a cool ride used to stand. Maybe Disney will surprise everyone for a change and churn out a really cool, brand new experience for guests to enjoy.....but I can't help but be a bit skeptical. With the current state of things over at "The Happiest Place on Earth", can you really blame me?

Maelstrom's last day of operation will be October 5, 2014 so if you want to go say your goodbyes, the sooner the better.

Till then, consider yourself BUGGED!

SEPTEMBER IS THE MONTH OF ADVENTURE!

Now, what ever could that head line mean? Well, in a little over a month I will be making the trek back to Universal Studios Orlando and Islands of Adventure. By the time I arrive it will have been around ten months since I last stepped foot into the property. While that may not seem all that long, remember in college I would often travel there at least once a month, often much more than that. For me, it's been a while. To celebrate, Throughout the month of September I will be posting reviews of some of my favorite Universal and Islands of Adventure rides. So, buckle your seat belt and hang onto that lap bar, because my first review should be posted shortly. HUZZAH!

GOODBYE JURASSIC PARK: RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH PASSES AWAY

Sometimes you just can't get a break. Today, legendary actor and director Richard Attenborough passed away at the age of 90. He appeared in The Great Escape, Doctor Dolittle, Ten Little Indians, Miracle on 34th Street (as Santa Claus), and directed films such as Ghandi, A Bridge Too Far, A Chorus Line, and Chaplin. For myself though, he will always be John Hammond from Jurassic Park. He has always been one of my favorite parts of that film, and his performance was absolutely superb portraying a man that is obsessed with control but only has the best intentions at heart. His is a character that is filled with human faults but is still ultimately lovable (and pretty darned cool too). I can't say I've really seen any of his other films, but I'm aware of his rich history on the silver screen, both in front of the camera and behind it. It really sucks that we have to lose two Hollywood legends, one after the other. So, farewell Richard Attenborough and thanks for the memories.

R.I.P Richard Attenborough: August 29, 1923-August 24, 2014

BEST FILMS OF SUMMER 2014

Well, as sad as it is to say, Summer is once again officially over.  I had a good deal of fun, and to commemorate another summer ended here is my top films of summer 2014 list.

6. Transformers: Age of Extinction- Almost 3 hours of things going BOOM and giants robots fighting.  Can it get tiring? sure! However, this was still the event film of Summer 2014. This really was like Michael Bay dropping the mic and walking away. Michael Bay made his point, and now he can retire from the directors chair for the Transformers films (which he has). He's earned some down time.

5. 22 Jump Street- Every bit as funny, cool, and fun as the original.

4.  Purge: Anarchy- I walked in expecting this film to be crap. Imagine my surprise when it ended up being great, grind house fun.

3. Edge of Tomorrow- Tom Cruise's best film in quite a while. It is refreshing to see him play such a whimpering coward for the first act of the film, and it is always endless amounts of fun watching him die again and again and again. This is pretty meaty sci-fi with top notch action, not to mention the 3-D was surprisingly top notch.

2. Dawn of Apes- The film delivered everything I was expecting and more! Great action scenes, some of the best acting we've seen this year, a great story, and some great complex themes and messages, not to mention it actually made me think.

1. Guardians of The Galaxy- DUH! A film that understands sometimes all you need is some classic tunes, some good laughs, some amazing characters, and some cool action. This film had it all. Laughs, emotions, character development! I could go on for hours about my love  for this film, but I'll leave you with this: The film's main message is that dark, brooding evil will never ever win over good-hearted goofiness. The pure hearted weirdos of the world will always win in the end. That's a message I can get behind!

SMALLS SEES BEYOND WITH THE GIVER

The Giver and I go back a long way. The first time I read it I was in 6th grade, and it immediately became one of my all time favorite novels. I must have read it at least two or three times. I have been eagerly awaiting a film adaptation ever since, and now, around thirteen years later my wish has finally been granted.

In The Giver, Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) is a teenager living in a utopian/dystopian post-apocalyptic society where everything seems to be perfect. Everyone is essentially the same, people are assigned the roles they are to play within the society (and are also assigned who they are to live with and which children they will take care of), there is no war, no pain, ....in fact, there are no emotions or memories of the far past at all. When Jonas is assigned the role of receiver of memories, he begins intensive training with The Giver (Jeff Bridges), and he begins to realize that the life he and others have been living may not be so perfect after all. Perhaps it's time for a change.

Brenton Thwaites is pretty perfect as Jonas, the young man who finds that it is up to him to save his society. His reactions to feeling emotions and seeing colors for the first time are pretty spot on, and he makes for a likable protagonist that is very easy to root for. Odeya Rush plays Fiona, one of Jonas' cute childhood friends that later becomes sort of a love interest for our lead. She is absolutely adorable and lovable, and she plays her role convincingly. Meryl Streep plays a good bitch as the Chief Elder, who is essentially our villain for the film (although she's not in it much, she still is pretty good whenever she's on screen). Alexander Skarsgard is pretty great and charming as Jonas' Father, who is tasked with caring for newborns and carrying out mysterious procedures called the releases to Elsewhere.  Jeff Bridges is the standout (naturally) as The Giver. He puts on the best performance possible with what he is given to work with, and it's really hard not to completely love his character by the end. Bridges puts a lot of heart and hard work into crafting his character, and it works. For those who cried out in fear when they saw Taylor Swift was in this film, there is no reason to worry. She is only in two very short scenes (and is the subject of one of my favorite lines, which essentially says she doesn't exist anymore.)

The Giver is a film that is exquisitely shot. The first part of the film is black and white, but once Jonas receives the memory of color, different colors start to slowly seep into the film in beautiful ways. The first shot of full color is gorgeous, and from then on out the film is filled with beautiful and sometimes haunting shots (often times switching from color back to black and white, and at times having only a few colors present in a scene). It's definitely a visual feast for the eyes.

Running at a swift 97 minutes, the film never fully digs into the source material's rich depths, but it still manages to present most of the books themes and ideas adequately enough for newcomers. It's filled with emotions, and I especially liked the scenes where Jonas and Fiona discover the feeling of love for the first time (and the joy of a kiss). It's a heart-warming film that is really about how much we would lose if we were to lose our emotions and memories.

While it goes without saying that the novel is far better than this film, The Giver is still the best YA film/adaptation I've seen. While it can be a bit bland at times (what the hell do you expect, this is a society without emotions), this film still manages to get you invested in the cast, make you feel, and even make you think a good deal (dare I say it's a bit cerebral at times). This is a film that's got a message and a meaning, which is more than I can say for any other YA film I've seen thus far. It's beautifully shot, the performances are great, and it's got a good deal of heart too (the scenes with Jonas and Gabriel are just too cute and heart warming). While it's not the perfect adaptation of the novel I was looking for, this film still delivers in all the ways that count. I'd say it's indeed quite memorable.

5 STARS

I MOURN THE LOSS OF ROBIN WILLIAMS

Today,  Robin Williams was found dead inside his home around noon from an apparent suicide (reports say asphyxia). Williams' publicist says he had been battling severe depression.  I am still reeling from this sad and sudden news. I have always loved Robin Williams, but I never realized just how big of a figure he was in my life until I went back and looked at his filmography: Aladdin, Ferngully, Hook, Jumanji, Flubber, Dead Poets Society, Mrs, Doubtfire, and the list goes on and on (other films of his include The Fisher King, Good Morning Vietnam, Patch Adams, What Deams May Come, Good Will Hunting, Insomnia, Death To Smoochy, A.I, Bicentennial Man, The Birdcage,  and Jack). I literally grew up watching his films, he was a large part of my childhood (I'd say my personal favorite film of his is probably Jumanji). He was a great source of laughter and joy, a real light...and now he's gone. I can't believe that according to IMDB his last films will be Night At The Museum 3, Merry Friggin' Christmas, and Absolutely Anything. A sad end to a rich legacy.  Williams' was one of the most respected and loved actors in Hollywood, he was a man who fought alcoholism and drug abuse and came out on top (though apparently he recently checked himself back into a rehabilitation clinic to work on his sobriety). He made the world laugh and cry, and he inspired me a great deal. It's true his latter films seemed to be of a lesser quality, but he had already proven his worth long ago with one of the best modern day film legacies around. Robin Williams was a talented actor, mastering both drama and comedy while also being a top stand-up comic as well.  I know I'm going to miss him a great deal, and he leaves a void that no one else can really fill quite the way he could.

RIP Robin Williams: July 21 1951-August 11 2014