Back in 2004, a news surfaced about CCTV producing it’s first ever science fiction TV show, Angel Online (天使在线). Sina.com.cn had a whole page devoted to it, complete with quote from the director and Chinese scifi writers talking about the need for science fiction in encouraging creativity, and how this would be China’s Star Wars, Matrix and Heat Vision and Jack rolled into one. (You can read a synopsis here, in which artificial intelligence “Net Babies” (网婴) become all the rage, only for one becomes all-powerful on the Internet). And then it became impossible to find anymore news about it – and not only because 天使在线 is the name of a popular MMO gaming webpage. Then I noticed that Seed Magazine’s China Science section mentioned it last September, and I figured I’d check Baidu again. Turns out in January Sina reported that Jackie Chan might join the show?!?? I’ll believe it when I see it, since in 2004 principal photography was suppose to start in 2005 and now Sina says it’ll be out in 2008. But in the mean time, it turns out a major fan has been working on a Chinese machinima movie: 原始地带 ZONE OF BARBARISM! You can watch a short confusing clip here, which consists of helicopter animations, the back of a head that could be Chuck Norris, and a gorilla. Perhaps it involves a search for the mysterious 野人 of 神农架? Personally, I love the description:
“Not Completely Purely Imaginative”. This is going to rock.