Few people have heard of it, yet many consider John Blankenbaker's KENBAK-1 to be the first commercial personal computer.
"Remastered" Sci Fi Home Movie Epics From 1970s
By bohus
Long time readers of Retro Thing may have noticed by now that I am a confirmed aficionado of old home movies. Of the hundreds that I've seen, few amateur filmmakers have turned their cameras toward making films that emulate the ones from the movie houses. There are plenty of movies about birthdays and Christmas trees, but very few amateurs tried their hand at making the next Star Wars.
In the 70's, Rob Hampton and some friends created their own versions of "King Kong", "Star Trek", and even an Alien homage called "Starbeast". Hampton unearthed those decades-old super 8 films and added in new sound effects, better editing, and dubbed in all the voices (including the girls). The results are tremendous fun. I really wish that more people would dig out their old home movies and get creative with them, even if they hadn't had aspirations of creating a blockbuster sci-fi hit.
I'd like to figure out which bits are original, and which were added recently. "Starbeast" features some quite nice stop-motion animation, and it's hard to believe that a kid had the patience and technical wherewithal to do such a good job. I've seen too many home movies shot by kids where just keeping the picture framed up and in focus is a significant achievement. Still, these are fun movies. A reminder of how much fun it might be to send your kids outside with a video camera to create future epics of their own. [Thanks Scott!]
link:
related:
12 year olds remake "Raiders Of The Lost Ark"
"Steam Trek: The Moving Picture"
"Homemade Hollywood - Fans Behind the Camera" book review
