James Cameron's Time Tunnel

"Michael Rennie was ill,

The Day The Earth Stood Still,

but he told us where we stand..."

-- Richard O' Brien Science Fiction Double Feature

So AVATAR is now the biggest blockbuster of all time with apparently no end in sight, but it was a long time a comin' because ever since the initial sensationalism of Bwana Devil and the first successful 3D hit 1953's "House Of Wax" the format nearly died and was barely kept alive by cheaply shot soft-core porno flicks in the '60's & '70's, and another attempt in 1982 -83 with "Coming At Ya", "Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone", "Metalstorm: The Destruction Of Jared-Syn" (a real letdown as I thought that 'Jared-Syn' was like a phantasmagorical mythical sci-fi planet or city but alas, another Aussie villian leftover from the

Mel Gibson "Road Warrior/Mad Max" movies), and even "Jaws 3D".

Years ago I told my then Trekkie friends that both 3D movies and 3DTV would become commonplace soon-- this was 1980 before the early '80's 3D 'fad' --but it took about 30 years

to get it right, mostly through the diligent efforts of master auteur James Cameron.

Cameron topping Kubrick when it came for having elaborate sets and rigging-- 2001's centrifuge was the first for verisimilitude when it to simulating weightlessness and artificial gravity --witness the sealab and actual underwater filming for "The Abyss", or the recreation of the various areas of the Titanic in "Titanic", really goes the distance to the nth degree by making the audience a part of the show.

Not just stuff thrown at you, but you enter a world of for all intents and purposes virtual reality.

Yeah, I know it sounds cliche, but that's what it is.

Too bad Don LaFontaine wasn't around to do the trailer, "In a world...", eh?

But what is really of interest to me and I'm certain of to you (or otherwise you wouldn't be reading this) is the influence of Michael Rennie whether directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, consciously or sub-consciously.

Huh? What?? Isn't this one going to about James Cameron and The Time Tunnel?

Well consider this-