Awesome Science Fiction

The Super Bowl had lots of exciting moments from halftime on, but none that gave us such childlike giddiness as the first teaser spot for the second season of Stranger Things, which hits Netflix on 10/31/17. Bonus points to Eggo for their Facebook post.

(PG-13: Language) After looking at Rick and Morty’s many references, Wisecrack delves into the show’s exploration of human nature and belief systems peppered throughout Get Schwifty, in which giant heads descend from the heavens with less than altrustic motives.

For their scene in the feature-length Robocop remake, Ghostlight built this fantastic replica of the villanous, but flawed ED-209 robot from the original Robocop. But instead of just being a static mockup or a scale model, this one is full size, and can be walked in by a puppeteer.

Anyone who watches Doctor Who knows that their favorite doc will eventually die and come back to life with a new actor in their place. The Garo Studios looks at the more recent Doctors’ facing their inevitable fates. Capaldi isn’t long for the universe either.

It’s been a couple of years since Gravity first blew our minds. Filmscapel looks back at Alfonso Cuarón’s masterwork, which deftly combined tension, incredible cinematography, and groundbreaking visual effects, accentuated by a shockingly minimal plot.

Heading back to work after the holidays can be pretty stressful. So sit back, put on your headphones, and decompress a bit with the help of some of the universe’s greatest foes. If that didn’t work, try this.

Jake Roper from Vsauce3 talks about some of the different kinds of time travel paradigms in science fiction and pop culture, and along the way finds himself stuck in an endless (or at least a 10-hour long) causal loop.

A brief look Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat’s final season, as Doc No. 12 is joined by a new companion – a young woman from planet Earth (surprise) named Bill, played with Spice Girl like enthusiasm by Pearl Mackie. Bonus points for the Wilhelm Scream at 0:32.

“I don’t know a Stormtrooper who hasn’t at some point fallen over.” Great Big Story introduces us to Ralph Morse, who played a Stormtrooper in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and shares his experiences wearing the impractical armor.

Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Arrival) takes over the directorial reins from Ridley Scott for the long-awaited sequel to one of the greatest science fiction movies of all time. We know little about the plot yet, but we can’t wait until October 2017 to see this one.

A new Netflix series about a girl who vanishes and reappears many years later, as she recalls the strange and mystical experiences she encountered while she was gone. We’re just excited to see Herschel from The Walking Dead on screen again. Premieres 12/16/16.

Even if its story is a bit enigmatic, we love the look of Luke Saunders‘ colorful animated short film about a future in which sea creatures seem to have evolved into some sort of flying species who thrive off of electricity. It also turned us on to the cool new sci-fi channel DUST.

It reads more like a video game plot than a feature film, but we’re still gonna watch this Netflix original film about a mysterious and nearly invisible force that’s been killing civilians in a wartorn city, and the special ops and scientific operation to stop them. Drops 12/9/16.

For Hero Complex Gallery’s Sci-Scapes exhibit, illustrators Josan Gonzalez and Laurie Greasley made The Raid, a massive cyberpunk artwork filled with famous science fiction and fantasy characters, including Judge Dredd, Ellen Ripley, Tetsuo and Major Kusanagi.

Luc Besson’s latest sci-fi film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets looks like a futurist’s wet dream, with eye-popping visuals, and a lighthearted, but action-packed world which brings back memories of his classic The Fifth Element. We can only hope it’s as much fun.

Stephen Vitale’s short is a fantastic entry into the realm of Star Wars fan films. It follows the story of a girl’s journey to become a Jedi master, but whose eagerness leads her to make a tragic mistake along the way.

Auralnauts reinvents the story of Star Wars in this mock trailer which stars C-3PO (or is it Creepio?) as the main protagonist, chopped up from bits of the original trilogy, prequels, and a commercial for breakfast cereal (which we still have a box of in the Awesomer office).

Corridor got their hands on a prototype of the year’s most hotly anticipated new toy, the Anki Cozmo Robot, and sent him on a mission to take on an army of angry machines, a couple of which happen to come from Anki’s biggest competitors. Behind the scenes here.

Hélène Jeudy & Antoine Caëcke’s animated video for LORN’s retrofuturist track envisions a future in which overpopulation is “cured” by making humans terminate their bodies, and upload their souls into a social network. Let’s hope Facebook doesn’t get any funny ideas.

For all of the good Doctor’s quirks and personality flaws, TheGaroStudios reminds us that this Time Lord’s efforts are ultimatelty for the betterment of the universe. A great, emotional tribute to one of science fiction’s longest standing heroes.

(PG-13) HBO gives us a better look at the A.I.-filled western theme park featured in their upcoming sci-fi/horror series, based on the classic 1973 Michael Crichton film. The process of making synthetic humans looks especially creepy this time around.

2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000, and Her’s Samantha are the two of the most famous artificial intelligences in the history of motion pictures. Tilmann Ohm carefully selected lines from both characters, and combined them to form a surprisingly coherent conversation.

Video essayist Kaptain Kristian takes a look at one of our favorite animated shows ever, Matt Groening and David X. Cohen and their writers infused the show with geek culture, intricate plots, one of the best comedic ensembles ever, and a balance of cynicism and hopefulness.