Sunday 26 March 2006

Sunday 26 March 2006

HEAT VISION & JACK

Heat Vision & Jack was a 1999 pilot for Fox. It was directed by Ben Stiller, but back in '99 Stiller was still the guy whose claim to fame was directing box-office turkey The Cable Guy, so Fox didn't show much faith with the oddball concept of the show. Little did they know it starred US comedians that would come to dominate Hollywood in the 00's...

HV&J is about Jack Austen (Jack Black), an astronaut with super-intelligence caused by a botched space mission, who goes on the run from NASA and villain Ron Silver (er, Ron Silver), with the help of his talking motorcycle Heat Vision (voiced by Owen Wilson).

It's a pastiche of silly 70's/80's sci-fi adventure shows like Knight Rider and The Six Million Dollar Man, in the same comedic style you'd expect from Black, Stiller and Wilson's involvement.

Fans of UK Channel 4 show Garth Merenghi's Darkplace will know the territory... and, thanks to the internet, the acclaimed Pilot is now available from YouTube
here. You can also check out a fansite here. Enjoy!!

- Is that blood?
- The blood of tomatoes.