Teleporting In Movies And Television
As Jumper hits DVD next week, we offer a quick salute to the films and TV programmes that throw teleportation into their list of plot devices. There are some light spoilers ahead...
With Jumper hitting DVD next week, and with its central concept sat around the idea of teleportation, what better excuse did we need to find a series of other geeky TV programmes and films that made ample use of the teleport…?
Star TrekCharacters in Star Trek would, it seems, often teleport rather than walk, such was the temptation to be beamed up. It’s amazing they all managed to keep their waistlines…Willy Wonka & The Chocolate FactoryDoes this count? We’re talking about the bit where Mike TeeVee gets turned into a load of television data and gets teleported into the telly? Maybe, maybe not. But we’re not above a bit of cheating…
Doctor WhoThe Doctor only occasionally teleports, and then it’s someone else’s (see this season’s Sontaran two parter for an example). But The Invasion Of Time saw the Sontarans making use of teleportation technology, and we even saw Daleks using matter transportation – surely a teleport by any other name? – in Remembrance Of The Daleks…
Blake’s 7 You didn’t need much budget for a teleportation effect, and that’s as much reason as the good folks of Blake’s 7 needed. Everyone on the Liberator seemed au fait with the teleportation technology, and used it with the frequency of an Easyjet flight to Majorca…X2: X-men UnitedThe awesome opening sequence sees Nightcrawler using teleportation to perhaps the best effect seen to date on the big screen. It’s a great film too, of course.
The Tomorrow PeopleClassic British sci-fi TV, and something we really need to write more about on this site. Among the selection of abilities that the group of characters possessed was teleportation, with TIM the computer helping sending them long distances as required. It’s quicker than waiting for the bus, after all…
The PrestigeChristopher Nolan’s film may feel a bit of a cheat on the first run through, and may even trouble the mind on the second, but it’s a cracking piece of work, and the teleportation device that comes into play at least guarantees a good couple of hours of debate…
The FlyIt’s a teleportation attempt that lies right at the heart of The Fly (and we’re focusing on the 1986 Cronenberg version here, although the Price version is, of course, just as pertinent), as Jeff Goldblum’s experiment goes badly wrong, but proves the catalyst to a superb piece of cinema.
Dante’s CoveWe’re reliably informed that there’s teleporting here, too, with the Tresum witches listing teleportation on their CV (cheers to Jenny for that one!)The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The GalaxyDoes the electronic thumb count? We certainly think so, so it makes the list. Hurray!
Zeta OneThey couldn’t afford spaceships in this low-budget British flick (that we’ve talked about here), so the teleport was the only way to go…
Have we missed any off? Add them to the comments field!
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