wex@mcc.arpa (10/17/85)
From: Alan Wexelblat <wex@mcc.ARPA> Being used to seing only old movies on cable (Cinemax showed both The Thing (original) and Brother From Another Planet last week), I was *very* surprised by a 1/2-hour item from Britain, called "Max Headroom." Ignore the summary in your cable-tv guide, and *watch it*! I won't give the plot away (it looks like 'Max will run it again this month), but I will say this: The show starts with a long opening, part of which is the line "20 minutes in the future". It sets the mood and scene very well. The story appears to be about a newsman who stumbles onto a hot story that someone is trying to cover up. He works for a fictional network called Network 23, and he (like all newsmen of that time) is guided by a `controller.' The controller operates a computerized console and sees through cameras in the area. The newsman is guided to the story by his controller. One other thing: the computer animation is excellent, with realtime animation of line-drawings (buildings, elevators, city maps, helicopters) which really looks good. The images on the controller's screens zoom and pan quickly, which is good because the story moves at an amazing pace, and slow sfx would really hurt. No sex (yet), some small gore, some small profanity. My wife commented that the `feel' of the society is much like that of Blade Runner. --Alan Wexelblat WEX@MCC.ARPA