ReturnOfTheJedi Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I grew up reading science fiction, thinking my beloved genre was all about the possibilities of the infinite: advanced civilizations inhabiting distant star systems; men with brains so large and hearts so beneficent they could barely be contained within their bodies; women with beauty so magnificent and intellect so stunning they would leave bystanders breathless.

And they I started watching movies and eventually realized it's all about death, destruction ... and more death.

This week's release of The Final Destination, which is obsessed with staging elaborate 'kill scenes,' got me thinking about memorable scenes of demise in science fiction films. Sci-fi is notably short of serial killers, but offers a wider range of death scenes, beyond simple murder and mayhem. Here's my list of the top 10 sci-fi deaths. (Of necessity, this list is nothing but spoilers, so you have been warned.)

1. The Emperor (Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi)

Everyone knows where they were when they saw the Emperor get what was coming to him. Me, I was in the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles, opening night, second showing, near 5:00 a.m., shouting (and ultimately cheering and applauding) along with the rest of the sold-out auditorium as Luke looked between his father and the Emperor, in pain, agonizing, understanding that the man he had hated was being tortured by the man who should be hated. And then he made the right call. Goosebumps still raise up in the glory of the memory.

Read the rest over at Sci-Fi Squad

The Browncoats strike again! The wacky fans of Joss Whedon's Firefly television series, and its feature film spin-off, Serenity, are continuing to show their strength on the internet, as SFX Magazine has declared Serenity the winner of an online poll, in which readers voted for the best science fiction film. This should be a big blow to George Lucas, whose Star Wars had certainly been the sci-fi fan favorite for most of the last three decades. Star Wars came in 2nd place with only 28% of the votes compared to Serenity's 61%. There was also a sad turnout for fans of Spielberg, Verhoeven and Star Trek, none of whom/which made the grade this time around. The winners, in order after Star Wars, are Blade Runner, Planet of the Apes (1968 version, I hope), The Matrix, Alien, Forbidden Planet, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Terminator and Back to the Future.

Lucas and his Star Wars franchise also fared badly in CNN's list of best and worst movie battles. Not only did no Star Wars film make it into the best ten, but two of the films held spots in the worst. The Battle of Endor, with its Ewoks, from Return of the Jedi and the Battle of Naboo, with its Jar-Jar, from The Phantom Menace are grouped alongside awful sequences from King Arthur, Dune and Pearl Harbor. Also among the worst, though, is a sequence from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which also features two battles in the best of group. Fortunately for Spielberg and Verhoeven, one film each of theirs was also highlighted among the greatest battle scenes of all time, which was topped by the helicopter attack from Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.

[via Fark.com]

• Peter Boyle (1935-2006) - Actor who played the best Frankenstein's monster next to Karloff. I also recommend him in Where the Buffalo Roam. Read Erik's obit post here.
• Ahmet Ertegun (1923-2006) - Legendary founder and longtime chairman of Atlantic Records. He appeared in a number of documentaries, including Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones, Make It Funky! and the recent Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos, and he was portrayed by Curtis Armstrong in the biopic Ray. On October 29, he suffered a fall while attending a Rolling Stones concert in New York and was in a coma from then until his death on December 14.
• Michael Gilden (1962-2006) - Actor who played an Ewok in Return of the Jedi and a page in Pulp Fiction. He also appeared in Freaked and had a small, uncredited role in the upcoming Southland Tales. He died December 5, in Los Angeles.
• Freddie Marsden (1940-2006) - Drummer for Gerry and the Pacemakers, who starred in their own film, Ferry Cross the Mersey. He died December 9, in Lancashire, England.
  
• Denis Payton (1943-2006) - Musician who played saxaphone, harmonica and guitar for the Dave Clark Five. He appeared with the band in John Boorman's debut film Catch Us If You Can (aka Having a Wild Weekend). He died December 18, in Bournemouth, England.
• Jay McShann (1916-2006) - Jazz pianist and bandleader who appeared in a few documentaries, including The Last of the Blue Devils and Ken Burns' Jazz series. He died of respiratory problems December 7, in Kansas City, Missouri.
• Don Snell (c.1949-2006) - Actor who appeared in Never Been Kissed, Traffic and Erin Brockovich. He died after a long illness December 2.
• Martha Tilton (1915-2006) - Vocalist (pictured) who was popular during the Big Band Era, often singing with Benny Goodman's orchestra. She appeared as herself in The Benny Goodman Story and also appeared in Topper, You'll Never Get Rich and Swing Hostess. She provided the singing voice for Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire and for Anne Gwynne in both South of Dixie and Murder in the Blue Room. She died December 8.