1997: The Year of The Insect
Having to choose the first post for my newly hatched blog was indeed a daunting task to say the least, however after many weeks of consideration I decided to start off not with a look at a single movie or fictional arthropod but rather a whole year.
I was 7 years old when 1997 arrived and while my young still developing brain must have filtered out or downright erased most memories from that year the number itself somehow remained stuck in my head. It was confusing to me especially years later when I became a teenager and could finally feel nostalgic for the 90s and what they represented for a young boy in a new millennium. I obsessively began to analyse and in a way catalogue fictional arthropods I came to know throughout my childhood and actively hunt down the ones I missed or forgot about when I finally realised exactly why the year 1997 was so important to me.
The whole 90s as a period are often regarded as one of the most creative and overall fun decades for fans of fiction and entertainment to the point many now look back in retrospective to see if it's all due to nostalgia or is there something truly unique and magical about those times.
I'm not writing this post however to try and analyse the 90s (while I do consider myself a child of the period I also can't deny the fact I spent almost half of it devoid of higher thoughts or any deeper appreciation of art) I am going to try and do something more fitting for the overall theme and purpose of this blog.
Lets all look back at the year 1997 together and maybe I can show you why I consider it to be The Year of The Insect!
One undeniable fact about the movie industry in the 90s is the introduction and gradual slow expansion of technology leading to an explosion in the use of more advanced, impressive and most importantly believable computer generated effects.
What all that meant for the decade was mainly that the design of creatures in movies was no longer limited to what an animatronic can pull off, the imagination of the creature designers was the new limit.
Of course the first impressive examples of advanced CGI in monster movies still used a healthy mix of animatronics and traditional practical effects alongside the digital presentation, movies like Jurassic Park in particular are still praised for how well they manage to blend the old with the new, I guess in a way mirroring the theme of the story itself, modern genetic technology versus the primal raw side of nature's past.
But all this opened the doors to designs previously too complex or costly to rely solely on practical effects or rubber suits. I am talking about the big bug subgenre of horror, sci-fi and fantasy.
Despite their small sizes arthropods are very complex and seemingly alien creatures to the human eye. They move and behave in ways we're not used to especially when sized up enough to pose a threat to a human being. These new advances in CGI allowed for easier animation and simulation of giant arthropods. Unfortunately it was still far from easy or even cheap but it was the boost the subgenre needed to re-emerge once more after its steady decline around the end of the 60s.
To say giant bugs were absent from the big screen prior to the technological mini bang of the 90s is of course far from reality but as a concept these creatures were either not the main stars of the movie or if the movie truly was a big bug creature feature it still had to be cheap and often relying on many tricks and effects to try and convince the audience of the insect monster's authenticity.
Big bug movies were essentially trapped in a perpetual B movie hell.
Then came the 90s and the age of monster movie blockbusters reached its apex.
But I want to focus on a single year during the decade, the year 1997 and why it was the most important time for bug movies and fictional arthropods as a concept in fiction.
1997 saw the release of many iconic and groundbreaking movies, ones that reshaped the industry and set new standards for the future of cinema but it also was the moment big bug movies crawled back onto the big screen leaving a trail that still serves as a guide and example for how fictional arthropods can not only compete with other more lucrative and popular monster types but often dominate entire franchises as the leading forces and stars of their respective setting.
Time to finally dissect the major bug movies of 1997 and how each one impacted fiction as a whole.
I will not go deep into every individual movie or theme it presents because I want to take the time and attention they all individually deserve, so expect future posts analysing them in a more appropriately detailed manner.
Our journey begins on January 10 with an unusual one for the list simply due to the titular beast of the movie not being an arthropod per se but rather an amalgamation of many different organisms, insects being but a part of the whole hybrid. Still I feel confident adding this movie to the list as a good introduction into The Year of The Insect.
Adapted from the original novel by director Peter Hyams this monster horror movie has often been referred to as "Alien in a museum" by critics and general audiences but still gained a cult status and following. The monster, known as Kothoga, is a chimera made up from the genetic material of several organisms including insects which led to its bizarre appearance and characteristics.
Sadly aside from the very obviously insectoid mandibles the overall creature's design is more akin to a reptilian or mammalian beast than anything with an exoskeletal and segmented body.
But then on July 2 something came from outer space!
His name is Edgar and he is one giant pissed alien cockroach with a massive superiority complex and a nasty dislike for bipedal mammals.
To say that Men in Black was a huge hit would be the understatement of pretty much any century.
Blending old school 50s and 60s UFO mythology and aesthetics with amazing alien designs and effects this sci-fi comedy movie directed by Barry Sonnenfeld was a sensation! Men in Black brought back the campy UFO aliens trope and pretty much solidified Will Smith's role as the charismatic alien butt kicking hero we all fell in love with. But this movie also did something else that few people realise, it introduced Edgar The Bug, a seemingly alien insect design that looks way too believable and yet at the same time stylish and wacky in all the right ways!
The extraterrestrial bug species of Men in Black's universe are quite frankly fascinating to me as a concept. While not explored in much detail, at least in the movies, these arthropods seek out war not for conquest or domination but rather to feed... How many alien bugs in fiction use such a simple yet utterly haunting concept? A whole race that depends on galaxy-wide carnage and devastation in order to feed, grow and thrive, that is an idea almost too perfectly fitting for a giant insect even if it's not a cockroach with some really poor manners!
But if you think the men in black have some serious roach problems? Well then Guillermo del Toro's take on the concept on August 22 will show you exactly how much of an issue a giant bug infestation can become.
There is just too much I want to say about this movie... From its development to the core concepts and creature creation, but as I already noted I have plans to look deeper into all of the movies above and what they individually meant and still hold for arthropods in fiction. So for now let me just say how ahead of the time this less appreciated del Toro classic was.
Earlier I wrote that this is a roach movie. I lied. The marketing lied. Guillermo del Toro lied. But they were also right.
Confused?
What is a cockroach? An insect obviously... A pest? Sometimes. A pet? Can be (miss you my hissers colony)! But to be more scientific cockroaches are insects in the order Blattodea. So what does that have to do with this movie? Well the giant insects called Judas Breed that are the main antagonists of the movie are once again a hybrid, the mix of termite and mantis DNA. So then they're not technically cockroaches as surely mantises and termites hardly have anything to do with those nasty roaches under your fridge and sink right now? Not really...
When the movie came out termites and mantises were indeed their own order of insects, however recently the order Isoptera, which includes all termite species, was very gently inserted into that of the cockroaches Blattodea in essence making termites honorary cockroaches! And mantises? They are still their own thing but pretty much arouse from the same ancestors as the whole Blattodean order.
So yes in the end Mimic is a movie about giant cockroaches, the catch is that it technically wasn't on release! I cannot hide my fascination and respect for del Toro enough, he himself has claimed to be an amateur entomologist and I pretty much believe him possessing some impressive knowledge on all things crawling!
And now we are nearing the end of The Year of The Insect!
What could possibly be the best way to send off one of the most influential and unique years of cinema history?
How about show everyone what the power of giant insects truly looks like? And Paul Verhoeven did just that on November 7!
A movie that needs to introduction I hope? 1997's movie adaptation of Heinlein's classic sci-fi military novel Starship Troopers took the world by surprise! Often called a flop both financially and critically this movie is far from any definition of failure. The fact that the whole franchise it spawned is around and kicking today is a testimony to what a bug movie can be... something that just can't and won't die!
The Arachnids, or simply Bugs, are the archetypal insectoid swarm for me and still is for many creature designers who took inspiration from them after the movie completely infested pop and geek culture!
Their design, look, feel, philosophy, biology and tactics are far too perfect for the whole concept of galaxy devouring invasive pests! Humanity has no hope of truly and completely eradicating them and have resorted to creating a quarantine zone in order to try and maintain the inevitable infestation of the whole galaxy.
Whether you like the movie solely because of the gore, action, military aesthetics, humour, alien design, music or acting there is something for everyone.
All the previous bug movies in this list were game changers but lets be honest... Starship Troopers outright bugged the whole game!
Alas we have to end the year now... And what an year it was! Dinosaurs, aliens, giant insects... The 90s were filled with monster movies and other legendary cinematic gems but it was 1997 that brought back the infestation, be it from outer space, from within a dusty museum collection or even bellow in the underground of a city, the insect is always there, it is always waiting and it knows its time always comes sooner or later... So while the 90s are gone we are now at the very start of a whole new decade and I am more than certain the potential of it being infested with new groundbreaking bug movies is there, as long as any insect is willing to crawl out and onto the big screen once again!
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