Robinson Crusoe on Mars is a colourful science-fiction adaptation of Daniel Defoe’s 18thC classic tale of solitude. After crashing on Mars, Commander Christopher Draper finds himself as the sole human survivor, accompanied only by a space monkey named Mona. With little apparent chance of survival, Draper makes some fortunate discoveries with the help of his furry friend which allow him to survive – at least until alien mining ships appear, threatening his lonely existence. While Robinson Crusoe on Mars is engaging, largely owing to Mantee’s credible performance, the near endless firing of alien ray guns from War of the Worlds style spaceships seemed unnecessarily annoying (Klaus Ming January 2012).

The Navigator is a historical fantasy which brings to life the fantastical vision of a young boy who shares his tale with his fellow 14^th century villagers on the eve of an oncoming pestilence. In his story, he and a small band of men dig their way through the centre of the earth with the aid of a machine to reach a great city on the other side of the world. Their impossible journey, which is reminiscent of a Terry Gilliam film, is at times darkly comedic, yet frightening surreal. The juxtaposition of medieval characters thrust into the 20^th century is a surprising and ingenious interpretation of an uncertain and superstitious medieval worldview (Klaus Ming January 2012).

Back to the Future is a comical coming of age science fiction story about Marty McFly – a teenager with a temper for an Achilles Heel who travels thirty years back in time only to sabotage his own future by attracting the romantic interests of his teenaged mother. The film established Fox and his time travelling buddy as cultural icons. It also had a notable impact on popular culture through movie sequels, advertising and video games based on the hugely popular franchise. The film’s continued appeal lay not only in its comedic elements, particularly Christopher Lloyd’s bumbling character Doc Brown, but in an engaging screenplay and a kitschy nostalgic soundtrack (Klaus Ming January 2012).

Pickup on South Street is film noir about secret negatives that are inadvertently stolen by Skip McCoy, a hard-boiled local thief who pickpockets the purse of an unsuspecting woman named Candy. Upon the discovery of the importance of the negatives, Skip attempts to extort a large sum of cash, which initiates a series of surprisingly violent events involving a group communists and federal and local law enforcement. As a classic anti-hero who is unconcerned about his country’s security, we eventually learn that Skip at least has a heart by way of the film’s fittingly romantic, albeit formulaic conclusion (Klaus Ming January 2012).

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman is a tragic love story about a femme fatale whose seductive charms bring misery to herself and those men who love her, until she meets a mythical ship captain who is given a chance at redemption if he can convince her to sacrifice her life for love. Though this romantic fantasy requires a suspension of disbelief, and is marred by overly dramatic narration by an archaeologist who pieces together their story as he would a broken relic – the film’s creative artistic references and cinematography make up for these shortcomings in what is otherwise a surprisingly intriguing and beautiful film (Klaus Ming January 2012).