Missouri State University graduate and filmmaker Jonathan Stratman released the DVD of his film Roberto and the Robot for sale this week at the Moxie theater in Springfield and online.  The film was one of two major collaborative senior projects produced by MSU’s Electronic Arts program last spring.

Stratman said the most rewarding part of his experience making Roberto and the Robot was his collaboration with many talented people, both inside and outside the Electronic Arts program.  “The [Electronic Arts] program is great because they highlight your interest, but also focus on collaboration, which is a key part of all electronic arts generally and films specifically,” he said.

“Springfield has a great film community,” Stratman said, “You mention that you’re shooting a movie, and the word gets out, and people start calling you to be part of it.”

Stratman also praised the faculty and facilities at MSU in helping to create the film. “In fact,” he said, “a couple of teachers came up to me on the first day of shooting, wished me luck, and gave me $50 a piece.  That bought food on the first day of shooting.”

According to Stratman, the entire production cost around $3,000. Most of this money came from donations.  The rest, Stratman said, is on credit cards he’s still repaying.

The DVD has a very low price tag, which Stratman said is set just to cover the cost of making the DVD. Stratman described the DVD sales as “non-profit.”

The Roberto and the Robot DVD includes a commentary track recorded by Stratman, a behind the scenes featurette, and three other shorts produced at MSU: Roommate Wanted, American Psalm, and Circumvolve.

The soundtrack will also be available at the Moxie and online, featuring eight original rock tunes written and mixed by MSU student Isaac Crawford, who is also the sound designer for Roberto and the Robot.  Crawford cites early Rolling Stones and Velvet Underground as inspiration for the songs he wrote for the movie. “As the film progresses,” Crawford said, “the music also changes, adding the synthesizer sounds of the robot.”

Stratman expressed concern MSU’s Electronic Arts program might be seen by some as too difficult to join.  It should require a commitment, he said, but should also encourage a wide variety of students to join to enrich the collaborative process.

Stratman’s advice for students interested in the program is to start early. “Don’t wait to take a class you want to take, don’t wait to jump in and help with other people’s projects,” he said, “and don’t let people scare you off from trying to apply for the program.”

You can find out more about the movie at robertoandtherobot.com. DVDs are available at kunaki.com.

The author of this article participated in the production of Roberto and the Robot.

Who would have thought that a screen adaptation of a television series over four decades old would feel this fresh, new and exciting?

Director J.J. Abram’s simply-titled Star Trek takes us back to the 23rd century, the days of Kirk, Spock, Bones and the rest of the crew of Gene Roddenberry’s famous U.S.S. Enterprise.

But here, we see how these famous characters come together as young cadets and form a lasting bond of friendship. The special effects and action are strong  in this new chapter in the Trek saga, but it is the character interaction that drives this film and gives it a necessary sense of light-hearted adventurous fun.

As an admitted die-hard Trekkie, I had my doubts about this film. How could new actors hope to fill the shoes of characters that were almost ubiquitous with the people who originally portrayed them? Thankfully, the cast took the roles in their own direction, while still capturing the essence of what made these characters so memorable. The film focuses on the origin of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto). Early scenes of animosity between young cadet Kirk and Spock are some of the highlights of the film, as are subsequent events as they slowly learn to trust one another.

Star Trek had started to grow stale and convoluted over the course of five television series and 10 feature films, bogging down good storytelling with the need to maintain the massive plot continuity of over 100 years of back story.

With a plot involving time-travel, Abrams effectively wipes out the original Trek time-line (without simply acting like it didn’t exist), opening up some interesting scenarios for future films with old characters and cultures from the Star Trek universe. (I’d like to see Kirk go toe to toe with Khan again, or maybe we could see an early appearance by the Borg? What if Khan was assimilated by the Borg? Oh, the possibilities!)

With virtually unknown young actors at the helm (much like in the original series), the new cast brings a sense of vigor and fun to a film that could have been a simple money-grubbing rehash of an aging, but still popular franchise.

But what would a Trek film be without a good villain? Nero (Eric Bana) is a conniving Romulan bent on avenging the destruction of his home world, which he blames on a (future) Ambassador Spock. While Nero doesn’t rank up there with the best villains of Trek, the character more than adequately plays foil to Kirk and the Enterprise.

But not everything is new here. The Enterprise (NCC 1701, with no bloody A, B, C, or D) is back and looks remarkably similar to how we last saw it, a classic design that the filmmakers were wise to leave intact. Called into action on its maiden voyage, the awe factor is back as Kirk is shuttled aboard the magnificent ship, an homage to a similar scene in the franchise’s first feature film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

While this film effectively re-invents the franchise (for a broader audience), it doesn’t do so at the expense of the rest of the previous four decades of Trek. Little homages (the death of a red shirt), choice dialogue (set phasers to stun), a simulated training voyage to save the ill-fated Kobayashi Maru, and a role for a time-traveling Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy), along with some well-timed classic musical interludes, tie this film to the overall franchise and brought a smile to this long-time fan’s face.

While I wouldn’t say this film is the best feature in the franchise (The Wrath of Khan still holds that banner), it definitely ranks among the best and opens itself up for a promising series of sequels. I highly recommend it.

Grade: A+

Terminator: Salvation, the newest entry into the famous sci-fi franchise, far eclipses previous Terminator installments in the action and special effects department, but in exchange it sacrifices some of the emotional core that distinguished the previous films.

It is, however, one exciting ride and well worth the price of admission.

While the original Terminator films were always set in the present day, this new film is set nine years in the future, the year 2018. The future, apparently, is set and the goal is no longer to prevent the apocalypse and the war with the machines, but rather to fight that war. This future war was glimpsed at before, but to see it brought to life with the size and scope of a real battlefield is a treat and something to which many fans surely have been clamoring.

The film starts off rather mysteriously as a convicted death row felon, Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), reluctantly agrees to donate his body to Cyberdyne Systems for an experiment in the year 2003.

The next thing you know, it’s the year 2018, the future war is in full swing, and the action commences. John Connor (Christian Bale) is leading the human resistance (although not in charge of it) and he doesn’t like terminators. In fact, he’s got one heck of a grudge (probably something to do with the darn things coming back in time to try and kill him and his mom). The resistance has some kind of trick up its sleeve that may just end that war, though.

Meanwhile, Marcus wakes up in the future, confused and with no memory of anything after his execution, he discovers the world is not what he left it. Wandering through post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, he quickly draws the attention of a burly T-600 (a predecesor to the model of terminator played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the first three films).  Luckily, a teenager named Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) rescues this lost soul from the battered remains of the city (“Come with me if you want to live,” Kyle declares to Marcus in a good bit of foreshadowing – postshadowing? – to the original film).

Salvation, despite a different director (McG), a new setting, and an entirely different style and focus from the original films, still manages to feel like a part of the larger franchise. Linda Hamilton lends her voice as Sarah Connor for narration through the audio tapes that we saw her creating in the first film. John still listens to the same music and enjoys riding motorcycles like he did as a teen. We even get a brief (but really cool) cameo of The Governator himself back as the Terminator. These, along with a few other instances, both help tie this film to the overall franchise and pay homage to what came before (although hearing Bale borrow Arnold’s “I’ll be back” catchphrase was a little strange).

Through a series of action sequences, Kyle Reese ends up getting captured by the machines despite Marcus’s best attempts to save him. After Marcus works his way back to resistance headquarters, John must decide whether or not to trust this new half-human/half-terminator hybrid who truly believes he is human.

In the midst of a organizing a potential war-ending attack on the machines, John must find a way to save Kyle Reese (who holds the key to John’s and humanity’s future survival).

The plot serves its purpose for the most part, although some of the characters are very two-dimensional and a few of the events make little sense. Still, the plot really only serves to set up the action sequences. Worthington, and Yelchin put in good performances and Bale cements his status as the modern action star.

The movie is a thrill-ride. The explosions are plentiful. The terminators are intimidating. The post-nuclear holocaust setting is chilling. The effects and action sequences are top notch and the movie will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Lost in the shuffle, though, are some of the strong, emotional undertones seen in the first two films. Those movies had an intimate setting as the characters ran from and fought off the singular force known as the terminator. Audiences connected emotionally with the characters on a level not found in this film. We could relate with those characters and we felt their pain.

Whereas the original films were primarily non-stop action chase sequences, this new film brings to life an entire battlefield where man faces off against the seemingly-unstoppable machines. The characters and the drama of their situation is lost in the shuffle to some degree. This movie won’t bring a tear to your eye, but it will make you break a sweat.

Much like James Cameron came in and redefined and reinvisioned director Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise with his sequel, Aliens, so too has McG borrowed Cameron’s mythos, honored it, but took it in a whole new direction with a larger scale. The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day remain great films ( Jonathon Mostow’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was a decent film, but not close to the level of the other films). Salvation feels fresh and new, but not inferior to the other entries (nor repetitive, as was the case with T3).

Terminator: Salvation is a great film in its own right, just in a different way from its predecessors.

For any sci-fi, action, or Terminator fans, this is a must-see movie.

Grade: A