Nexus6combatmodel

Love this artist

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Sat, 19 May 2012 01:23:00 +0000

Check out the designs of Synaptyx
Just happened to find this work while browsing pics from BR. Definitely have to get myself a hoodie and a print of this. Totally Awesome!! Other links are Synaptees
and also on Facebook

Blade Runner' Sequel Is Going to Happen

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Sat, 19 May 2012 00:56:00 +0000

May 18, 2012 04:35 PM EDT

Check out the article over at Blade Runner Sequel is going to happen

Hang on, sci-fi fans: the rumors of a sequel to Blade Runner are true. Ridley Scott, the director of the visionary 1982 film, is "in talks" with Hampton Fancher, one of the two original screenwriters, to develop a sequel, according to a press release from Alcon Entertainment.....

Blogger: LA’s Blade Runner Future Appears to Be Right on Schedule - FishbowlLA

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:18:00 +0000

Blogger: LA’s Blade Runner Future Appears to Be Right on Schedule - FishbowlLA

Blade Runner named greatest sci-fi film of all time

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:33:00 +0000

Ridley Scott’s futuristic tale, ‘Blade Runner’ has been voted as the greatest sci-fi film of all time in a new poll.

The film, starring Harrison Ford as android hunter Rick Deckard, triumphed after beating the ever-popular Star Wars in the poll for Total Film magazine.

The film, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year, had struggled initially at the box office but went on to be viewed as a classic.

“Once seen and heard, so many scenes from Blade Runner burn into your brain forever. It’s sci-fi at its bleakest and most brilliant,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Jamie Graham, deputy editor of Total Film, as saying.

The top 10 sci-fi films are:

1. Blade Runner (1982)
2. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
4. Alien (1979)
5. Star Wars (1977)
6. ET: The Extra Terrestrial (1982)
7. Aliens (1986)
8. Inception (2010)
9. The Matrix (1999)
10. The Terminator (1984).

Gearbox Talks Dropped Blade Runner License

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 06:34:00 +0000

Gearbox Talks Dropped Blade Runner License

Blade Runner No 1 over at IGN

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 16:02:00 +0000

Prequel to Philip K. Dick’s Electric Sheep Hits iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Fri, 14 May 2010 20:04:00 +0000

Nearly three decades after Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? sparked Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner movie, the novel has inspired a comic book prequel that explores Earth’s first wave of droid hunters.

Titled Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Dust to Dust, the $4 comic book by I Zombie writer Chris Roberson and 48 Stron artist Robert Adler lands May 26.

Roberson says the comic, offered in four variant covers (including the Trevor Hairsine art pictured above left), draws on a major theme running through Dick’s 1968 sci-fi classic. “There are a number of references to World War Terminus and the radioactive dust responsible for killing off nearly all animal life and rendering humans sterile,” he told Wired.com in an e-mail.

“Our story takes place in the immediate aftermath of that war as the populace comes to grips with the virtual extinction of animal life,” he said. “Meanwhile, the off-world colonies lure more and more people away, and androids originally intended for the battlefield are being repurposed to serve as the colonial workforce.”

To get a free sneak peek at the story, fans can eyeball an eight-page digital preview on an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. The Dust to Dust app, devised by comiXology and Boom Studios, includes a retail locator bundled with a preorder feature for those who want to purchase physical copies.

Harrison Ford's Blade Runner Gun on Auction

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:34:00 +0000

In 1982, you ran around your living room with a makeshift blaster, aping the mannerisms of Harrison Ford. The film Blade Runner grabbed hold of your imagination, and your life was changed forever.

Now, you can take your childhood dream of humanoid hunting to the next level. The very gun that you imitated with what seemed like a large stick is going to be auctioned by Profiles in History on April 30 and May 1, 2009.

The humanoid replica killer Blade Runner gun is expected to gather somewhere between $100K and $150K in this auction, especially as we're talking about a unique piece. Only one of its kind was made for Harrison Ford a.k.a Rick Deckard, and the gun is even more special as it is, indeed, a truly interesting blend between a Steyr-Mannlicher Model .222 SL receiver with custom-made amber grips that has been attached to a dual-trigger Charter Arms .44 police bulldog double-action revolver and sports 6 “futuristic” LED lights (2 green and 4 red), controlled by a switch on the lower side of the blaster.

Update: Ford's Rick Deckard sci-fi weapon, the only firing gun used in the cult film, went under the hammer for a whopping $270,000. Other highlights of the spring memorabilia sale, which brought in over $4 million were the Creature From The Black Lagoon's mask, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze costume from Batman & Robin and Derek Meers' and Jason Voorhees costume from Friday the 13th.

Blade Runner’ Inspiration,‘Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep’ Headed To Comics

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:40:00 +0000

The Philip K. Dick story “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?,” which served as the inspiration for the 1982 science-fiction film “Blade Runner,” will be adapted into a 24-issue comic book series by publisher Boom Studios.

“‘Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?’ takes place in a world where San Francisco lies under a cloud of radioactive dust. The World War has killed millions, driving entire species to extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remained coveted any living creature, and for people who couldn’t afford one, companies built incredibly realistic fakes: horses, birds, cats, sheep… even humans. Rick Deckard is an officially sanctioned bounty hunter tasked to find six rogue androids — they’re machines, that not only look, sound, and think like humans, but are clever, and most of all, dangerous just like humans.”

2019: A Future Imagined

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:06:00 +0000

Visual Futurist Syd Mead (“Blade Runner,” “Aliens,” “Tron”) reflects upon the nature of creativity and how it drives the future.

'Blade Runner' named best sci-fi flick

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:00:00 +0000

A new poll has named Blade Runner as the greatest science-fiction movie of all time.

Editors at Moviefone placed the Ridley Scott film ahead of The Empire Strikes Back and Aliens.

"A box office dud at the time of its release, this movie has undergone more facelifts than Joan Rivers," the experts explained.

The futuristic film, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer, tops a list compiled by editors at Moviefone.com - beating all the Star Wars, Alien, and Terminator movies hands down.

The top ten is as follows:

Blade Runner, 1982
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980
Aliens, 1986
Star Wars: A New Hope, 1977
The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951
The Matrix, 1999
Terminator 2, Judgement Day, 1991
The Thing, 1982
Alien, 1979
Forbidden Planet, 1956.

All Those Moments

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:00:00 +0000

I guess this has been out for a bit but I just happen to run into it. Available in E-Book, Hardcover or Paperback over here at HarperCollins.

Its a nice little autobiography by Rutger Hauer detailing his life in film. here is a preview.

He came to mainstream prominence as a machine more human than his creators in Blade Runner, terrified us as a hitchhiker bent on his own death and the death of anyone who got in his way in The Hitcher, and unforgettably portrayed a lonely king roaming the night as a wolf and pining for the love of a hawk during the day in Ladyhawke.

Rutger Hauer has dazzled audiences for years with his creepy, inspiring, and villainous portrayals of everyone from a cold-blooded terrorist in Nighthawks to a blind martial arts master in Blind Fury, but his movie career was nothing compared to his real-life adventures of riding horses, sword fighting, and leaving home at fifteen to scrub decks on a freighter and explore the world.

From poverty to working with a traveling theater troupe to his breakout European performance in Turkish Delight and working with legendary directors such as Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop and Basic Instinct) and Ridley Scott (Alien and Gladiator), Hauer has collected All Those Moments here.

Ridley Scott puts off Brave New World for The Forever War

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:14:00 +0000

You wait 25 years for a new Ridley Scott science fiction film then two come along at once. Not content with hatching a plan to bring Brave New World to the big screen, the British director of Alien and Blade Runner is to adapt Joe Haldeman's 1974 novel The Forever War.

Scott confirmed in October that he would be bring Aldous Huxley's dystopian classic to cinemas with Leonardo DiCaprio in the main role. At the time he was quoted as saying: "I waited for a book for 20 years and I have got the book. That will definitely be what I do next after Nottingham, the Robin Hood film (with Russell Crowe)."

It now appears the tome in question may not have been Brave New World, although Scott still seems certain to film Huxley's novel at some stage. Variety reports this morning that The Forever War will be the film-maker's next project after Nottingham.

"I first pursued The Forever War 25 years ago, and the book has only grown more timely and relevant since," Scott told the trade bible. "It's a science-fiction epic, a bit of The Odyssey by way of Blade Runner, built upon a brilliant, disorienting premise."

Haldeman's novel centres on a soldier who returns home from battling aliens for a few months in space to find his home planet has advanced many years into the future, and is unrecognisable. One aspect of the new society which jars with returning military types is the pre-eminence of homosexuality, which has been encouraged by the government to help relax overcrowding.

Scott recently acquired the rights to the book and is now looking for a writer to adapt it for the big screen.

Screenwriter Travis Wright Responds to Blade Runner 2 Story

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:23:00 +0000

I'm up for some persuasion if someone can truly convince me that Blade Runner 2 may be a worthwhile sequel.
Travis Wright, who was one of the screenwriters working on this and was the one who mentioned it during the Q&A, got in touch with SlashFilm in order to clarify all the details, from his own history to misconceptions to thoughts on sci-fi and why exactly he wanted to write this.

Here's the thing - Wright will immediately be starting at the very bottom and he'll have to fight his way up. There's no way around it and he's got to prove to millions of hardcore sci-fi fans that his story for the sequel ain't so bad after all. But before he can even get to that, he's got to prove that he's someone fans can trust. "I am a geek. I am a total fan boy. I have toys all over my office that [writing partner John Glenn] has always made fun of (we've been friends since third grade)," Wright explains. So he confirms that he's a geek that is potentially worthy of taking on a monumental task like this while at the same time respecting everything about the original Blade Runner. So what's next after gaining our trust?

John Glenn and I were paid to explore a potential secret sequel from [2003 to 2005] and wrote several [Blade Runner] sequel approaches working with Bud Yorkin.
"My only intention as a writer, in pursuing this project, is to help explore some of the questions Blade Runner raises that were the fodder for endless debate among my friends for two decades now," he explains.

So what are the questions that he is hoping to answer in a sequel?

"What does it mean to be human? That's the central question in life and the paramount question in Science Fiction. More pointedly: Is or isn't Deckard a replicant? What happens to Rachel? What are the off world colonies like? What happens to replicants once Tyrell is killed by one of his creations? These are some of the questions we explored with Bud Yorkin for a few years and I believe are a great basis for a story many fans like me are dying to see. Working on them has been a dream."

Blade Runner 2 ?

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:31:00 +0000

It’s being written, but there’s probably no reason to think it will ever happen. According to Slashfilm though, Travis Wright and John Glenn, the guys who wrote Eagle Eye are currently working on writing a sequel to Blade Runner.

The reason you don’t need to panic, is that this is just something they’re doing on their own. Obviously they want this to be turned into a movie, presumably because they hate the world, but they don’t seem to have the support of anyone that matters. It’s not backed by a studio or supported by anyone who actually owns any of the rights to the original movie. This is two guys writing Blade Runner 2 because, well, I guess they weren’t creative enough to come up with their own idea. At least that’s what I assume, whenever I hear someone is writing an unasked for sequel script.

This sort of thing happens all the time by the way. Every other week or so there’s some lower level Hollywood writer trying to get attention for himself by writing a sequel to something people care about. In every case, it amounts to nothing. No doubt this will too, especially once all of you start screaming about what an obviously awful idea this is. Blade Runner is a self-contained classic. There’s no room for a sequel, and I’m pretty sure that except for Travis Wright and John Glenn, no one wants one.

Fan Art

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:19:00 +0000

I was just surfing around over at Blade Zone and found this awesome picture of some fan art submitted to Blade Zone by Gabe Farber. Very Cool!!!

Blade Runner Extreme Fan

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:40:00 +0000

Jovanka Vuckovic is Editor-In-Chief of Rue Morgue Magazine and an avid fan of my fav flick. Check her out over here at Jovanka Vuckovic and check out some of the art she has done. There are also pics of her at the Blade Runner gala in LA where she mingles with Sean Young and others associated with the film.

15 Blade Runner Style Animated Buildings

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:28:00 +0000

A few months ago an LA real estate mogul revealed his plans to light up the LA skyline with giant animated bilboards. Love it or hate it, that was not the first time someone had the idea of creating building facades like those found in Blade Runner. OObect has put together a list of 15 of these architectural marvels--and the best part is that there are plenty of designs that are not all about advertising.

Check em out over here at OObect

10 of the most influential, trend-setting, jaw-dropping summer releases of the past four decades.

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:28:00 +0000

10. The Sixth Sense (1999)

M.N. Shyamalan blew ghost stories and traditional big, loud summer fare out of the water with this unheralded smash. Alas, his later efforts haven’t come close. Spiritual descendant: The Others (2001)

9. Independence Day (1996)

Summer biggies are one thing, but this one brought event movies to a whole new level, being big, bold, unpretentious fun and delivering on the hype. Mechanical offspring: Transformers (2007)

8. Jurassic Park (1993)

Come on ? dinosaurs never looked so alive before this. And who doesn’t love dinos? Raised the bar for utterly convincing special effects. From the same DNA, but not quite family: Godzilla (1998)

7. Die Hard (1988)

The best Christmas movie with hot lead and explosions (I say this to pacify those It’s A Wonderful Life traditionalists), a perfectly executed action thriller with a now-iconic hero, a fine villain and great sidekicks on both sides. Pint-size descendant: Home Alone (1990). All kidding aside.

6. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Simply put, it raised the bar on stunts, action and special effects and thrust Robert Patrick upon the world. Alternate future descendant: Terminator: Salvation (2009) ? we hope.

5. Jaws (1975)

Would we even have summer movies without this one? A largely unproven young director named Spielberg took a mediocre bestseller and turned it into a terrific adventure/suspense yarn that spawned dozens of imitators (and, unfortunately, a few crappy sequels of its own). Worthy progeny: The Ghost and the Darkness (1996); black sheep of the family (a.k.a. guilty pleasure): Anaconda (1997); disinherited relative: Jaws: The Revenge (1987)

4. The Matrix (1999)

Wow. This film inspired a new generation of film geeks after our #1 film, and in fact it was the film many a geek would have loved to make, if we only had the money and talent. Back in its day, The Matrix redefined “cool” for the upcoming millennium. Underrated clone: Equilibrium (2002)

3. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Yeah, I’m just going to ignore the revised title. This one was just perfect as it was, and no alternate-dimensional beings and flying-saucers-that-aren’t-really-UFOs can sully its memory. Goddaughter: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

2. Blade Runner (1982)

Sure, E.T. made tons more money and buried films like this one at the ’82 boxoffice slaughter, but here’s the thing: I can’t sit through E.T. any more, while there are a good many Blade Runner viewings in me yet (and no, it’s NOT because of all the revised editions that keep coming out). Its vision of the future, philosophy, characters, story and score all came together to create ? man, what else can you call it but cinematic poetry. Replicant: Battlestar Galactica with its meaning-of-life-seeking Cylons (the 2004 series, of course)

1. Star Wars (1977)

Forget the prequels, the tacked-on “episode title”, the cynical merchandising overkill, or the way our youthful memories were dashed to smithereens in recent years. What other unheralded movies can you think of that had such a profound effect on the dreams and imaginations of so many millions? No ? I am your father: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), a sequel that was even better in some ways than the original (which still had the benefit of novelty, though).

Lego Blade Runner Spinner Video

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:06:00 +0000

A one-of-a-kind official LEGO version of Mead's "Spinner" flying car from Blade Runner, presented to Syd by LEGO when he attended a design summit in Billund.

Syd Mead with Joel Johnson, part 3: BLADE RUNNER.

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:50:00 +0000

The 1982 cyberpunk cinema classic Blade Runner remains one of the most influential science fiction movies of all time, and tops many a nerd's favorite films list.

Syd explains he envisioned the world of Blade Runner as a place "you wouldn't want to be for too long," and describes the challenges of designing for "a love story with moralistic underpinnings... if we could actually make people, would we treat them like dishwashers? Just use them up and throw them away?"

Joel Johnson interviews Syd Mead: part 2.

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:47:00 +0000

In this installment, we go inside Syd's studio in Pasadena, CA, and learn more about the creative process behind his work for movies, television, and automobile design -- both Hot Wheels and life-sized -- and how Syd feels about design in the video game industry.

Mead is a former designer for Ford Motor Company and US Steel. His designs have appeared in many movies, including Aliens, Tron, and Blade Runner.

Profiles in History

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:55:00 +0000

If you've ever wanted to be able to own a piece of movie history, whether just to admire it, to collect it, or to lord it over your geek friends, you're about to get the chance. If you've got the money to spare, or don't mind spending your kids' college fund on something else as long as it's really cool, Profiles in History has got an auction for you. On July 31 and August 1, they'll be auctioning off a ton of Hollywood props, costumes, and one-sheets, among other things, and just reading the catalog is enough to make a geek's mouth water.

As mentioned in the title, you can buy the actual Holy Grail prop from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, or the Ten Commandments props used by Charlton Heston in the movie named after them, for a mere $20-25,000 for the former or $30-50,000 for the latter. You can also buy, in no particular order, the Operative's sword from Serenity, a rabbit mask from Donnie Darko, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones' suits from Men in Black, and a dress actually worn by Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine. And there's way more Star Trek items (I covet Captain Picard's desktop computer, but don't think my wife would understand spending quite that much money on it). There's stuff from Blade Runner, Alien, Conan the Barbarian, Austin Powers, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Back to the Future.

(Warner Bros., 1982) Principal light up elevator miniature used on the Tyrell Building in the film Blade Runner. This elevator is visible in the climactic scene in the film when William Sanderson “J. F. Sebastian” and Rutger Hauer “Roy Batty” gain access to Joe Turkell “Dr. Eldon Tyrell’s” penthouse. It measures 1 in. x 3 in. and includes a letter of authenticity from Paul Curley, model maker on the film, stating that this miniature was given to him when filming was completed

Once again check it all out over at Profiles in History

Museum of the Rockies movie display is 'Out of this World'

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:29:00 +0000

Whether you're hoping to be transported to a galaxy far, far away or simply want to boldly go where no man has gone before, Bozeman is the place to be this summer.

Sporting some of the most classic and iconic pieces of movie costumes ever assembled, the exhibit is an almost religious experience for those who walk the halls, said Jamie Cornish, director of marketing and public programs at the museum.

There's plenty of "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" memorabilia to admire, all of which were used in filming movies and television shows for the two franchises. The magic comes in seeing the real movie garments up close, Cornish said.

Other film artifacts include the Riddler costume worn by Jim Carrey in "Batman Forever," the hat worn by the wicked witch in 1939's "Wizard of Oz," Dumont's robe from the '80s computer flick "Tron," the mask worn by Louis Gossett Jr. in "Enemy Mine" and an outfit used by Daryl Hannah in "Blade Runner."

Check out the MuseumoftheRockies

Roy Batty is truly one of the best of the worst

noreply@blogger.com (Nexus 6) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:57:00 +0000

George Bernard Shaw observed, "Really bad men are just as rare as really good ones."

That's certainly true of Hollywood's rogues gallery. For all the action thrill rides, chillers and comic-book adaptations produced each year that hinge upon acts of villainy, betrayal and lawlessness, few cinematic evil-doers make an imprint as effectively as Heath Ledger's vicious Joker in The Dark Knight. Expect him to be an automatic addition to the ranks of all-time cinematic killers and creeps, typified by the following esteemed (and not-so-esteemed) company:

10. Hans Gruber (Die Hard, 1988): As this thriller's upscale hostage taker, Alan Rickman exuded a calculating intelligence that not only adroitly countered Bruce Willis' blue-collar cop, but stood apart from the monosyllabic no-neck knuckle-draggers who menaced Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980s. If it's true any action film is only as compelling as its antagonist, then Die Hard's status as one of the smartest and exciting ever made is due in no small measure to Rickman's Gruber.

9. Frank Booth (Blue Velvet, 1986): Dennis Hopper received an Oscar nomination for his willies-inducing performance as the gas-inhaling sadist at the black heart of David Lynch's masterwork of small-town dementia. A rapist and killer, Frank has at least two personalities: "Baby" and "daddy." Unlike most big-screen schizoids, though, both of them are equally foul and unforgettable.

8. HAL (2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968): Unlike other homicidal machines, the HAL 9000 (voiced by Canadian Douglas Rain) is not programmed to take lives, making its murderous malfunctions in Stanley Kubrick's opus a result of flawed design and psychological dysfunction. In that respect, he may be the most movingly human villain on this list.

7. Anton Chigurh (No Country for Old Men, 2007): Javier Bardem's sociopath is less a person than an unstoppable force of nature, the embodiment of fate and the cruelty of luck. As Woody Harrelson's character says when asked how dangerous is Chigurh: "Compared to what? The bubonic plague?"

6. Roy Batty (Blade Runner, 1982): Another man-made creation driven to violent self-preservation, Rutger Hauer's "replicant" is a desperately-hunted futuristic slave in search of his God. When he finds him and is asked what he wants, his answer -- "I want more life, f---er" -- is devastating and evocative. He was built, after all, to be more human than human.

5. Annie Wilkes (Misery, 1990): It's fitting that Stephen King's most-memorable monster would be an unbridled perversion of fan worship. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her performance as a sledge hammer-wielding nurse whose existence seems increasingly prescient given our current celebrity culture.

4. Keyser Soze (The Usual Suspects, 1995): "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." So says lowly crook Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey), the narrator of this labyrinthine crime drama in which Soze and the filmmakers succeed at the same sleight-of-hand: Orchestrating a tale that is all smoke, mirrors and few answers.

3. Norman Bates (Psycho, 1960): Anthony Perkins was so convincing as twisted mama's boy Bates he found himself straitjacketed by the role for the rest of his career. Just as difficult to imagine as Alfred Hitchcock's classic without Perkins, though, is what the film landscape would look like if not for Bates, arguably the original movie psycho.

2. Darth Vader (Star Wars, 1977): Say what you will about George Lucas' prequels -- which made the galaxy's most-feared figure into a whiny kid and simpering teenager -- but few villains suggested as much menace or mystery as when the fallen Jedi Knight first strode onto screens in the 1977 classic, armed with a scuba-gear-inspired breathing apparatus and James Earl Jones' legendary voice.

1. Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs, 1991): Before he stumbled into all the traps most pop predators do -- lesser sequels, inclusion into the lexicon as more a punch-line than a personification of evil -- Anthony Hopkins' Lecter (and before him, Brian Cox in 1986's Manhunter) was a perfect storm of intelligence, manipulation and sadism (he is nicknamed "Hannibal the Cannibal" for a reason) -- all of it contained behind a cage presumably intended to make us and his visitors feel safe. It doesn't.