Road To Hell Film Reviews

In today's episode, Nicky P and Danny review Soylent Green a film classic starring Charlton Heston in a post apocalyptic world ruined by global warming. What's To Review In Soylent Green? The year is 2022; the place, New York City. The world is on fire. A rash of heat waves has completed the desertification of Planet Earth, drastically reducing the global food supply and subjecting the majority of the population to lives of squalid poverty. New York is hot, dirty, and over-crowded. Only the elderly can recall a time when streams flowed freely, when deer roamed the woods, and when singing birds sailed in the sky. Only the elderly can remember a time when real food—steak, strawberries, apples, and cheese—was taken for granted. In 2022, with global agriculture nearly scorched out of existence, the only readily-available comestible is “Soylent,” a wafer apparently made from the ocean’s plankton. When a former director of the Soylent Corporation is found brutally murdered in his home, the cynical detective Robert Thorn is assigned the case. Soon encountering political pressure to drop the case, Thorn—along with his archivist friend Sol—discover that the dead executive was enmeshed in a mysterious and sordid conspiracy which, in the end, nearly drove him mad. Though hotly pursued by corporate hitmen, Thorn vows to uncover the conspiracy at the center of the Soylent Corporation and to prove it to the world. In this edition of The Road to Hell, Nicky and Danny discuss the meaning behind this sci-fi classic (while also addressing the film’s implicit and explicit reliance upon the controversial issues of man-made climate change and overpopulation). He who controls a nation’s food supply controls the nation. In Thorn’s 2022, the Soylent Corporation effectively controls America. Dive into the nightmarish world of monopolies and corporate crime, and discover the secret of “Soylent Green,” in this episode of The Road to Hell film review podcast! A Tropical Planet And Accidental Cannibalism In today's episode, we begin with Danny laying out his reasoning behind loving the film. He sees it as being a gritty archetypal police thriller with some strange dreamlike qualities. My own thoughts are slightly less enthusiastic. I see the film as a thinly veiled excuse to propagandize the fear of global warming. The flawed idea of global warming in which the entire planet continuously heats up is a fantasy used to push fascist plans of the elites. The way global warming would actually play out is by making a tropical planet with a better ability to produce plants and derivatively the things that eat plants. Politics aside, the heart of the story is Detective Thorn investigating a murder of a high-ranking member of the Soylent company. This leads down a rabbit hole ending in the unsettling secret at the heart of the dystopian society created in the film. The Soylent company which makes all the food required by an overpopulated planet, ostensibly out of plankton. But with loads of living people being scooped up and taken away and few people asking questions we have to wonder if the people are conditioned to ignore the obvious clues to the real origin of their food supply. The parallels to our own world give me shivers. A Hard World Makes Hard People But Humanity Lives On One of the first ideas that they hammer home is how different the world is. There are several scenes that show us that the standards of humanity have changed, the best of these include Detective Thorn. Thorn behaves like an aggressive, self-seeking, opportunist. He pilfers crime scenes for his own gain and bullies all witnesses to his own end. There's a scene in which Thorn is ransacking the dead man's apartment. He appears to be simply stealing things like meat, which have become luxuries in a world of scarcity. The truth is that even in a hard world not all of our humanity drains out. In another scene, Thorn interacts with a group of women companions, including one who belonged to the victim. Thorn interrupts and threatens the man acting as the defacto pimp for the women in his building for no direct gain for himself. In yet another scene Thorn refuses to back off of the case despite being directed to by his superiors. Despite the changes present, Thorn's humanity remains as intact as it can in the context of the world. Can Civility Reign In A Collapsing Society One of the big talking points we notice is the sexual environment of the movie. There are a number of interactions between Thorn and the female characters in the movie. Women are basically reduced to the playthings of the powerful men around them. This does not suggest that they aren't human but that there are serious changes in the gender roles of this far more scarce world. There is an implication that material conditions have a marked effect on the roles of individuals in society. In a world based on absolute physical power as a byproduct of scarcity, the progress of our civilized society feels like a reaction to our material comfort. I make mention of a point Jack Spirko makes about nations where violence reigns as a result of food scarcity. This is alleviated by the complex systems we have in place and when those systems collapse can we maintain our "civilized" natures when the world is no longer guaranteeing our luxury. One remarkable scene is the meal that Thorn and Saul, his elderly roommate, enjoy after looting the rich man's home. Thorn eats real food for the first time after a life of plankton. You have to appreciate the genuine interaction between these two over this meal. It is a small glimpse into the world we know within the context of Thorn's pitiful existence. Both Danny and I speculate on Thorn's reaction to the meal. A Truth Too Terrible To Live With Getting toward the end of the film we arrive at the separate ways both Saul and Detective Thorn arrive at the horrific realization of the film. Saul brings the books he received from Thorn to the exchange, a group of individuals who had careers like doctors and lawyers in the old world. They come to a realization that whatever they have been eating it cant be plankton because the oceanographic reports show there is not near enough in the oceans for the population. They look at the world around them and there is only one alternative available. Now that Saul knows that their life is a horror he decides he wants to go "home." Home is an assisted suicide facility that surrounds the willing participant with classical music and images of the beautiful natural world that used to be. The key to the scene is the beautiful images of the world as it was, set against the images of Earth's destruction we started the film with. Thorn arrives just in time to watch his friend die, but moreover, he sees the world his friend could never capture in words for him. The emotional moment sets up the final act of the movie where Thorn finds his final resting place is to be ground into food. As an observation, we note the victim of the original crime was so affected by the knowledge of Soylent's secret that he needed to confess to a priest. This is not a place a person of wealth would ever be found in this world. Churches exist as homeless shelters in this world of overpopulation. The priest is the first person to choose death over the knowledge of the secret. This makes us speculate on what happens after the final scene of the movie. The Soylent Corp Were The Good Guys And Environmental Heroes We chose to watch Soylent Green as a companion of sorts to Children Of Men. Both films cover population and civilizational collapse. I note that I only remember seeing one child in this film mirroring the world of Children of Men. Danny says that the same documents that were relevant in the previous film are still relevant here. The most notable is Malthus. In my mind, one of the great villains of history, the ideas Malthus spread are completely counter to the truth of history. In reality, wealthy nations struggle to even meet replacement levels. People only populate when survival is in question. For a variety of reasons including our modern chemical world and natural human instincts overpopulation isn't an obvious outcome. As an added note, Danny questions whether the Soylent company is the good guy in this film to those who subscribe to Malthusian premises as adopted by the modern environmental movement. It's About Control Not The Environment In the final segment of the show Danny and I discuss the modern environmental movement's degradation of human beings to "just any other animal." This is sad in comparison to the Christian mindset that human beings are something greater and are here to be stewards of the environment. The modern environmental movement captures the emotional fear we all share at the degradation of nature as a means to push fascist laws separating us even further from the world that we need to survive. As a final note, I bring up what I see as a far greater risk to human success within the environment, soil depletion. Many of the ideas posited by the heads of the MEM are actively detrimental to repairing our soil. Danny also notes that fixing the true issues we face is complex and makes for bad political slogans whereas creating a single villain like CO2 makes for a simple mobilization strategy where your goals are political and not in fact environmental. Hopefully today's discussion of Soylent Green has left you with new eyes and a greater understanding of the world around you. So go out into the world but remember keep one eye on the screen and the other over your shoulder. Director - Richard Fleischer Writers - Stanley R. Greenberg - Harry Harrison (author of Make Room! Make Room!) Starring - Charlton Heston as “Thorn” - Edward G. Robinson as “Sol” - Leigh Taylor-Young as “Shirl” - Brock Peters as “Hatcher” - Chuck Connors as “Fielding” Soylent Green Review Resources & Extra Media - Soylent Green (1973): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070723/ - “Soylent Green – Film, Literature, and the New World Order” – The Corbett Report: https://www.corbettreport.com/soylent-green-film-literature-and-the-new-world-order/ Shill Want to learn more about the Utopian Project throughout history or have an interest in esoterica & the classics? Check out Danny's work @ Story Of Nowhere or the Story Of Nowhere Library. Need help connecting with your audience for your business or creative endeavor? Check out Nicky P @ Iron Age Marketing

In the final segment of the show Danny and I discuss the modern environmental movement's degradation of human beings to "just any other animal." This is sad in comparison to the Christian mindset that human beings are something greater and are here to be stewards of the environment. The modern environmental movement captures the emotional fear we all share at the degradation of nature as a means to push fascist laws separating us even further from the world that we need to survive. As a final note, I bring up what I see as a far greater risk to human success within the environment, soil depletion. Many of the ideas posited by the heads of the MEM are actively detrimental to repairing our soil. Danny also notes that fixing the true issues we face is complex and makes for bad political slogans whereas creating a single villain like CO2 makes for a simple mobilization strategy where your goals are political and not in fact environmental. Watch the full episode @ roadtohellfilmreviews.com

We chose to watch Soylent Green as a companion of sorts to Children Of Men. Both films cover population and civilizational collapse. I note that I only remember seeing one child in this film mirroring the world of Children of Men. Danny says that the same documents that were relevant in the previous film are still relevant here. The most notable is Malthus. In my mind, one of the great villains of history, the ideas Malthus spread are completely counter to the truth of history. In reality, wealthy nations struggle to even meet replacement levels. People only populate when survival is in question. For a variety of reasons including our modern chemical world and natural human instincts overpopulation isn't an obvious outcome. As an added note, Danny questions whether the Soylent company is the good guy in this film to those who subscribe to Malthusian premises as adopted by the modern environmental movement. Watch the full episode @ roadtohellfilmreviews.com

Getting toward the end of the film we arrive at the separate ways both Saul and Detective Thorn arrive at the horrific realization of the film. Saul brings the books he received from Thorn to the exchange, a group of individuals who had careers like doctors and lawyers in the old world. They come to a realization that whatever they have been eating it cant be plankton because the oceanographic reports show there is not near enough in the oceans for the population. They look at the world around them and there is only one alternative available. Now that Saul knows that their life is a horror he decides he wants to go "home." Home is an assisted suicide facility that surrounds the willing participant with classical music and images of the beautiful natural world that used to be. The key to the scene is the beautiful images of the world as it was, set against the images of Earth's destruction we started the film with. Thorn arrives just in time to watch his friend die, but moreover, he sees the world his friend could never capture in words for him. The emotional moment sets up the final act of the movie where Thorn finds his final resting place is to be ground into food. As an observation, we note the victim of the original crime was so affected by the knowledge of Soylent's secret that he needed to confess to a priest. This is not a place a person of wealth would ever be found in this world. Churches exist as homeless shelters in this world of overpopulation. The priest is the first person to choose death over the knowledge of the secret. This makes us speculate on what happens after the final scene of the movie. Watch the full episode @ roadtohellfilmreviews.com

One of the big talking points we notice is the sexual environment of the movie. There are a number of interactions between Thorn and the female characters in the movie. Women are basically reduced to the playthings of the powerful men around them. This does not suggest that they aren't human but that there are serious changes in the gender roles of this far more scarce world. There is an implication that material conditions have a marked effect on the roles of individuals in society. In a world based on absolute physical power as a byproduct of scarcity, the progress of our civilized society feels like a reaction to our material comfort. I make mention of a point Jack Spirko makes about nations where violence reigns as a result of food scarcity. This is alleviated by the complex systems we have in place and when those systems collapse can we maintain our "civilized" natures when the world is no longer guaranteeing our luxury. One remarkable scene is the meal that Thorn and Saul, his elderly roommate, enjoy after looting the rich man's home. Thorn eats real food for the first time after a life of plankton. You have to appreciate the genuine interaction between these two over this meal. It is a small glimpse into the world we know within the context of Thorn's pitiful existence. Both Danny and I speculate on Thorn's reaction to the meal. Watch the full episode @ roadtohellfilmreviews.com

One of the first ideas that they hammer home is how different the world is. There are several scenes that show us that the standards of humanity have changed, the best of these include Detective Thorn. Thorn behaves like an aggressive, self-seeking, opportunist. He pilfers crime scenes for his own gain and bullies all witnesses to his own end. There's a scene in which Thorn is ransacking the dead man's apartment. He appears to be simply stealing things like meat, which have become luxuries in a world of scarcity. The truth is that even in a hard world not all of our humanity drains out. In another scene, Thorn interacts with a group of women companions, including one who belonged to the victim. Thorn interrupts and threatens the man acting as the defacto pimp for the women in his building for no direct gain for himself. In yet another scene Thorn refuses to back off of the case despite being directed to by his superiors. Despite the changes present, Thorn's humanity remains as intact as it can in the context of the world. Watch the full episode @ roadtohellfilmreviews.com

In today's episode, we begin with Danny laying out his reasoning behind loving the film. He sees it as being a gritty archetypal police thriller with some strange dreamlike qualities. My own thoughts are slightly less enthusiastic. I see the film as a thinly veiled excuse to propagandize the fear of global warming. The flawed idea of global warming in which the entire planet continuously heats up is a fantasy used to push fascist plans of the elites. The way global warming would actually play out is by making a tropical planet with a better ability to produce plants and derivatively the things that eat plants. Politics aside, the heart of the story is Detective Thorn investigating a murder of a high-ranking member of the Soylent company. This leads down a rabbit hole ending in the unsettling secret at the heart of the dystopian society created in the film. The Soylent company which makes all the food required by an overpopulated planet, ostensibly out of plankton. But with loads of living people being scooped up and taken away and few people asking questions we have to wonder if the people are conditioned to ignore the obvious clues to the real origin of their food supply. The parallels to our own world give me shivers. Watch the full episode @ roadtohellfilmreviews.com

In today's episode, Nicky P and Danny review Children Of Men and discuss the origin of Eugenics as well as collapse economics. What's To Review In Children Of Men? Global civilization has fallen. Britain alone hangs on by a thread. Migrants and refugees are flooding into a nation that can’t sustain them. The government, struggling to maintain order, exerts whatever power it has with as much force as it can as the bombs of desperate terrorists explode in the streets and as more and more people succumb to misery. This vision of England in the year 2027 is bleak indeed, for no baby has been born on Earth for eighteen long years. Suddenly, without explanation, people just stopped being able to reproduce. There are no more children. There is just a world of adults—sullen, hopeless adults—with no future to fight for and no reason to live. Theo Faron, a jaded former activist turned low-level government bureaucrat, is introduced by his estranged wife to Kee, a poor refugee seeking passage through England. Theo’s wife is killed in an ambush, leaving Kee in his reluctant hands. Kee reveals to the cynical Theo that she is pregnant; she is the first person to be pregnant in nearly two decades. Discovering that his wife’s ambitious comrades were responsible for her death and that they planned to use Kee’s baby as a political tool, Theo and Kee flee their wicked designs and set out to get Kee to the mysterious Human Project, a much-fabled band of scientists working to cure humanity’s infertility. Fear And Self-Loathing In A Children Of Men Review In this episode of The Road to Hell, Nicky and Danny explore the dismal subject of human infertility and how, as Children of Men aptly displays, a world without children is not worth living in. Nonetheless, there are those in power here in the real world who would like to limit human reproduction, supposedly in order to “save the planet.” However, the control of human breeding has always been a key element in political Utopianism throughout history. For an introduction to eugenics in the United States and much more, tune into this episode ofThe Road to Hell film review podcast! Today's episode was certainly a doozy. We covered the failing modern economic model when applied to the natural plateauing of human population growth. We also covered the origins of the Eugenics movement as well as it's connections to the current antihuman population movement. It sounds impossible not to be more informed than you were beforehand. Director Alfonso Cuarón Writers Alfonso Cuarón Timothy J. Sexton David Arata Mark Fergus Hawk Ostby Starring Clive Owen as “Theo Faron” Clare-Hope Ashitey as “Kee” Michael Caine as “Jasper Palmer” Chiwetel Ejiofor as “Luke” Julianne Moore as “Julian Taylor” Children Of Men Review Resources & Extra Media Children of Men (2006): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/ War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America’s Campaign to Create a Master Race – Edwin Black: https://edwinblack.com/war-against-the-weak “The Scientific Racism of Eugenics and Social Darwinism” – Peace Revolution Podcast #64: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/peacerevolution/episodes/2012-10-05T12_01_59-07_00 UNESCO: Its Purpose and its Philosophy – Julian Huxley: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000068197 Excerpt from pg. 19: “At the moment, it is probable that the indirect effect of civilisation is dysgenic instead of eugenic; and in any case it seems likely that the dead weight of genetic stupidity, physical weakness, mental instability, and disease-proneness, which already exist in the human species, will prove too great a burden for real progress to be achieved. Thus even though it is quite true that any radical eugenic policy will be for many years politically and psychologically impossible, it will be important for Unesco to see that the eugenic problem is examined with the greatest care, and that the public mind is informed of the issues at stake so that much that now is unthinkable may at least become thinkable.” “Forced Sterilizations are Still Legal in 31 States, New Report Shows” – TruthOut: https://truthout.org/articles/forced-sterilizations-are-still-legal-in-31-states-new-report-shows/ “How & Why Big Oil Conquered the World” – The Corbett Report: https://www.corbettreport.com/bigoil/ “Meet Paul Ehrlich, Pseudoscience Charlatan” – The Corbett Report: https://www.corbettreport.com/ehrlich/ Shill Want to learn more about the Utopian Project throughout history or have an interest in esoterica & the classics? Check out Danny's work @ Story Of Nowhere or the Story Of Nowhere Library. Need help connecting with your audience for your business or creative endeavor? Check out Nicky P @ Iron Age Marketing or Nicky P Copywriter.

In today's episode, Nicky P and Danny review RoboCop and examine it's take on the deep state and transhumanism. What's To Review In RoboCop In the future, the city of Detroit is overrun with crime. Violence occurs daily, drugs flood the streets, and no one feels safe. Even the police are powerless to protect the citizenry; police are routinely (and viciously) murdered. In an effort to combat this dystopian state of affairs, the city has granted control of the police department to Omni Consumer Products, hoping that the corporation will come up with some technological solution to the problem. It’s a difficult and highly-competitive challenge within OCP: two competing programs vie for the CEO’s approval. The first has totally robotic walking battle-tanks patrolling the streets. The second has a human police officer merged with cybernetic technology in order to make the perfect cop. When the former program causes disaster in a demonstration, the latter is given the green light. So, murdered cop Alex Murphy is technologically revived and becomes “RoboCop.” RoboCop proves highly effective until memories of his human life begin to seep into his consciousness. As the memories persist, he tracks down his murders, leading him to the city’s biggest and most ruthless crime boss. As he climbs to the top of this criminal organization, he finds that the city’s problem is much bigger than was first thought, and that there is more to OCP than meets the eye. With everyone against him save for his former partner, RoboCop fights a lone crusade against power, corruption, and the technological Utopianism of the city’s corporate government! RoboCop And Lessons On The Deep State In this episode of The Road to Hell, Nicky and Danny analyze the messages of this seemingly silly 80s action movie. Behind the gore and the cheese, there are valuable insights to be gleaned concerning the complicated relationship between technology and power. This movie also touches brilliantly on the nature of the true “Deep State,” a term whose meaning has unfortunately been obfuscated in recent years. For all this and more on the message behind the movie, tune into this episode of The Road to Hell film review podcast! Hopefully, you walk away from today's episode with a clearer idea on what a "deep state" really is. Don't fall prey to the cartoonish versions touted by either side of today's political pundits. Writers - Edward Neumeier - Michael Miner Directors - Paul Verhoeven Starring - Peter Weller as “Alex Murphy”/“RoboCop” - Nancy Allen as “Anne Lewis” - Daniel O’Herlihy as “The Old Man” - Ronny Cox as “Dick Jones” - Kurtwood Smith as “Clarence Boddicker” RoboCop Review Resources & Extra Media - RoboCop (1987) - “RoboCop Tech: Science Fact and Fiction” - “Knightscope’s New Crime-Fighting Robots” Shill Want to learn more about the Utopian Project throughout history or have an interest in esoterica & the classics? Check out Danny's work @ Story Of Nowhere or the Story Of Nowhere Library. Need help connecting with your audience for your business or creative endeavor? Check out Nicky P @ Iron Age Marketing or Nicky P Copywriter.

Today's episode is our Johnny Mnemonic review, Nicky P and Danny discuss transhumanism and how the vision of future technology changes. What's To Review In Johnny Mnemonic The year is 2021. The world is in the grip of a deadly pandemic, Nerve Attenuation Syndrome, or NAS. Society is breaking down. Corruption reigns supreme. People willingly subject themselves to cybernetic augmentation in order to compete in the new technological economy. For its role in treating NAS, Pharmakom, a gigantic pharmaceutical company, has gained immense international power. But, power doesn't maintain itself, and Pharmakom has outsourced its security to the Yakuza, and the Japanese mob is a ruthless security force. In the midst of all this, a mnemonic courier named Johnny has been cybernetically augmented to store copious amounts of digital information in his brain. He is hired to transport data for a group of scientists. He quickly learns that he’s bitten off more than he wished to chew, as the Yakuza appear in hot pursuit. Escaping into the New jersey underground, Johnny learns the nature of the data he is transporting and hopes to have it removed from his memory. Pharmakom, still hunting Johnny, calls upon the services of Karl, a sadistic cyborg street preacher. Johnny and his rag-tag band of renegades are able to get online with the help of Jones, a “modified” Navy test subject, and reveal the truth about Pharmakom and NAS to the public. What We Discuss In Our Johnny Mnemonic Review In this episode of The Road to Hell, Nicky and Danny discuss the potential unexpected, and unwanted, consequences of untrammeled technological progress. They consider what this bleak view of the future says about the people and the generation that made this movie. They discuss the quasi-Christian imagery present in the movie and ask what message it was intended to convey. Join us for our Johnny Mnemonic Review, episode number six of The Road to Hell film Review podcast! Writer William Gibson Directors Robert Longo Starring - Keanu Reeves as “Johnny” - Dina Meyer as “Jane” - Dolph Lundgren as “Karl” - Takeshi Kitano as “Takahashi” - Ice-T as “J-Bone” - Henry Rollins as "Spider" Johnny Mnemonic Review Resources & Extra Media - Johnny Mnemonic (1995) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113481/ - Johnny Mnemonic (William Gibson Story) (1986) - https://sporastudios.org/mark/courses/articles/Gibson_Johnny%20_Mnemonic.pdf Shill Want to learn more about the Utopian Project throughout history or have an interest in esoterica & the classics? Check out Danny's work @ Story Of Nowhere or the Story Of Nowhere Library. Need help connecting with your audience for your business or creative endeavor? Check out Nicky P @ Iron Age Marketing or Nicky P Copywriter.

Set in post-Cold War Moscow, Branded portrays the arrival and dominance of capitalism in the former Soviet Union. We follow a high-ranking marketing executive, Misha, as he rises to the top of his cutthroat field, only to be suddenly and traumatically interrupted by a spiritual awakening. Endowed with the ability to actually see brands – odd, alien-like entities which attach themselves like parasites to unsuspecting consumers – Misha uses his marketing prowess to wage war against harmful and unhealthy brands. Misha’s end goal is obscure. Has his spiritualism led him to forsake all capitalism and commercialism? Has he become some sort of neo-communist? Or, has he come to see that some brands are better than others and that a market can only be safe when there is a marketer-prophet such as himself around to clean house? The film is riddled with political and occult symbolism – which itself raises questions about the subconscious, primitive, and archetypal “branding” – while the plot itself sparks interesting and important questions about how influential advertising and marketing really are. Just how malleable are human beings, really? How much – or how little – control do we have over our decisions? Writers/Directors Jamie Bradshaw & Aleksandr Dulerayn Starring - Ed Stoppard as “Misha” - Leelee Sobieski as “Abby” - Jeffrey Tambor as “Bob” - Max von Sydow as “The Guru” - Mariya Ignatova as “Master of Ceremony” Branded Review Resources & Extra Media - Branded (2012) - “Marketing Effectiveness – How to Measure Your Marketing Success” - The Story of Nowhere Podcast #7: “The Constitution of the Invisible Government” Want to learn more about the Utopian Project throughout history or have an interest in esoterica & the classics? Check out Danny's work @ Story Of Nowhere or the Story Of Nowhere Library. Need help connecting with your audience for your business or creative endeavor? Check out Nicky P @ Iron Age Marketing or Nicky P Copywriter.

Nicky P & Danny Live @ Midwest Peace & Liberty Fest 2022 Synopsis: Where will the future of technology carry us? What fate will man make for himself? James Cameron’s classic two “Terminator” films force these two critical questions before his audience by painting a grim picture of what our future might be: A dystopian hell-scape ravaged by a war between the last straggling bands of humanity and their cold, calculating, and cruel robot overlords. But the future is not set. The first battle of this apocalyptic war—the battle to determine whether or not the war ever even takes place—is waged not in the irradiated world of 2029, but some forty years earlier, in the unsuspecting and seemingly innocent 1980s and ‘90s. Causal chains often begin further back than most would think to look. When the dictatorial AI discovers the identity of the human resistance’s leader, it sends a Terminator—an anthropomorphic killing machine—back in time to kill the hero’s mother before he can be born. But the humans confound the AI’s plan by sending back a lone agent to protect the young Sarah Connor. Together they destroy the Terminator, clearing the way for humanity’s savior, John Connor, to be born. A decade later, two more Terminators arrive from the future. This time, the mission is to kill the child John Connor himself. However, while the one Terminator was sent to slay the boy, the other was reprogrammed by the humans and sent to save him. This Terminator, along with Sarah and John Connor, does battle against the super-advanced T-1000 Terminator to stop the rise of the AI and prevent the eventual nuclear destruction of the human race. In this special episode of The Road to Hell Film Reviews Podcast, your hosts break down The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day in front a live studio audience at the 2022 Midwest Peace and Liberty Fest. The future role of AI in domestic and military affairs is discussed, as is the possibility of actual killer robots enslaving mankind. Plus, there are a number of sci-fi and technology tangents, and much, much more. You won’t want to miss this fun, fast-paced live episode! Director: James Cameron (Both) Writers: James Cameron & Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator); James Cameron & William Wisher (Terminator 2) Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger as “The Terminator”/“T-800” (Both) Linda Hamilton as “Sarah Connor” (Both) Michael Biehn as “Kyle Reese” (The Terminator) Edward Furlong as “John Connor” (Terminator 2) Robert Patrick as “T-1000” (Terminator 2) Misc.: The Story of Nowhere Podcast #20: “The Domesday Device”: https://storyofnowhere.com/domesday/ The Rise of the Machines: A Cybernetic History by Thomas Rid: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34068514-rise-of-the-machines “James Cameron’s Evolving, Veiled Take on the Military-Industrial Complex” – BigThink: https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/james-camerons-evolving-veiled-take-on-the-military-industrial-complex/ “Norbert Wiener Invents Cybernetics” – Living Internet: https://livinginternet.com/i/ii_wiener.htm The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society by Norbert Wiener: https://monoskop.org/File:Wiener_Norbert_The_Human_Use_of_Human_Beings_1989.pdf

Set in 1999, on the eve of Y2K, we follow former cop turned black market tech dealer, Lenny Nero. Civilization is coming apart at the seams, all while a strange device called “The Squid” circulates the city streets: a machine which allows its wearer to relive the memories and feelings of nearly anyone. Lenny begrudgingly stumbles into a conspiracy involving the police force, the music industry, and the city’s seediest elements. This millennial, dystopian thriller puts on full display the specter of social rot and discord, corruption and incompetence in high places, and a public engrossed in and addicted to immersive technology. Prophetic and jarring, Strange Days paints a bleak picture of the 21stcentury’s looming technological society. Can society survive tensions that have been brewing for generations? Are human beings equipped to deal with the implications of their creations? Is technology a progressive force, which will carry us out of our primitive lives and into a prosperous future? Or will it only serve to exacerbate our most abominable traits and enslave us to our basest urges? Through all its intrigue and adventure, this film ultimately forces the viewer to ask that all important question, “What does it mean to be human?” Director: Kathryn Bigelow Writers: James Cameron & Jay Cocks Stars: • Ralph Fiennes as “Lenny Nero” • Angela Bassett as “Lornette ‘Mace’ Mason” • Juliette Lewis as “Faith Justin” • Tom Sizemore as “Max Peltier” • Michael Wincott as “Philo Gant” Misc.: Strange Days (1995): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114558/ “Kathryn Bigelow” (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Bigelow The Story of Nowhere Podcast #20: “The Domesday Device”: https://storyofnowhere.com/domesday/ “Hollywood & The Military: A Special Relationship” – Big Picture Film Club: https://bigpicturefilmclub.com/hollywood-military-special-relationship/ “How Hollywood Films Get the US Military as a Co-Star” – Military.com: https://www.military.com/off- duty/how-hollywood-films-get-us-military-co-star.html

In the woods of Sweden there lives a commune of white-clad nature-worshipers. They live in harmony with the land and with one another, wearing wreaths of flowers and singing songs to the earth. Having avoided the trappings of progress and materialism, the members of this small society enjoy lives of quiet peace and tranquility. Having long cast off all forms of division, they exist as one loving, unified family. It is, for all intents and purposes, Utopia. When a group of American college students is brought by Pelle, a native of the commune, to see what it’s all about, they expect an educational and refreshing summer vacation. But (of course) things are not as they seem! Every Utopia comes with a cost, and this Utopia is no exception. Stranded in the commune during Midsommar – the height of summer when the sun does not set in the far north – the Americans are made to pay the price of living in “harmony” with Mother Nature. This film very bluntly captures the essence of Utopianism: On the surface, everything seems ideal, but underneath (and not even that far underneath) there is a swirling cauldron of consuming darkness. Listen as Nicky P and Danny M break down – and criticize – 2019’s Midsommar. Director: Ari Aster Writers: Ari Aster Stars: Florence Pugh as “Dani” Jack Reynor as “Christian” Vilhelm Blomgren as “Pelle” William Jackson Harper as “Josh” Will Poulter as “Mark” Misc.: Midsommar (2019): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8772262/ “Midsummer” – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer In Pursuit of Utopia, Part 6: “...And No Man Improves” – School Sucks Podcast, Ep. 634 (Danny M and Brett Veinotte break down historical communal and “back-to-the-land” Utopias in America): https://schoolsucksproject.com/and-no-man-improves-in-pursuit-of-utopia-part-6-free-a-v-634/ The Bohemian Grove and Other Retreats – G. William Domhoff: https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottabad-compound/FC/FC8AEB056C2C32F10AFC327BA91F4A45_The_Bohemian_Grove_and_Other_Retreats.rtf.pdf

At the crossroads between sci-fi and conspiracy stands Road To Hell Film Reviews. This week we take on the Charlton Heston classic: The Planet Of The Apes.

When we know we are being watched, we behave better. If we knew we were being watched at all times, we would always be at our best. This is the philosophy of Eamon Bailey, founder and pilot of the tech company, “The Circle.” For all of human history, we have lived lives of isolation; our thoughts and experiences have only been our own. But now, with modern technology, it is possible to tear away the veil of privacy and universalize each individual experience, making each person’s life “transparent” to every other. This is this mission of The Circle. And the purpose of this mission? It is, in the words of the company’s founder, nothing less than the perfectibility of man. When the ambitious young Mae Holland joins The Circle, this mission begins in earnest, and as Mae carries it out, we observe the cascading effects of having technology totally grafted into the life of an individual. Listen as Nicky and Danny dissect the themes, realities, and symbolism behind this movie about total surveillance and technological utopia. In a bonus segment, Nicky and Danny delve further into the symbolism of The Circle, looking at historical examples of circles being used as symbols of utopia and control. Director: James Ponsoldt Writers: James Ponsoldt & Dave Eggers (Based on the Novel by Dave Eggers) Stars: Emma Watson as “Mae Holland” Tom Hanks as “Eamon Bailey” John Boyega as “Ty Lafitte” Karen Gillan as “Annie” Ellar Coltrane as “Mercer” Misc.: The Circle (2017): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4287320/ “Jeremy Bentham” – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/bentham/ “Jeremy Bentham and the Panopticon Prison”: https://criminologyweb.com/jeremy-bentham-panopticon/ “Michel Foucault on the Panopticon Effect”: https://fs.blog/the-panopticon-effect/ “The All-Seeing Eye, the Eye of Providence: Meaning, Origins, and Symbolism Behind”: https://mythologian.net/all-seeing-eye-eye-providence-meaning-origins-symbolism-behind/ “Eye of Horus / Eye of Ra”: https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/eye/