The Vietnam War remains one of the deadliest and most brutal military conflicts in history. Film and television have explored it from different angles, but very few projects have sought to introduce science fiction elements. The new short film by Neill Blomkamp and Oats Studios goes exactly in that direction. Firebase presents itself as a less linear and more chaotic film than its predecessor, but that doesn't make it any less interesting. Quite the opposite: you need to see it now..
Predator showed that science fiction and a hostile environment like the jungle can work very well together. Besides the natural dangers that exist there, introducing an unknown factor that several characters interpret as supernatural generates a great impact on screen. Now, if we move from Central America in the '80s to the heart of the Vietnam War in the '70s, the potential is even greater. What kind of horrors have the soldiers on both sides seen, camouflaged among the trees? Is it the heat, the malaria, the drugs... or something else? Neill Blomkamp tries to develop an answer to these and other questions through his latest short, Firebase. The result? Here it is:
A creature born from fury and pain, immune to conventional weapons, with the ability to alter reality and manipulate the dead from flesh to bone. A soldier increasingly disconnected, obsessed with hunting it and destroying it. A CIA agent who knows much more than he appears to. And in the midst of all that... blood. Death. Fire. Space and time failing. Blomkamp explained in a recent interview that Firebase is based on the simulation hypothesis. The creature, this river god is the equivalent of a bug, an anomaly out of control, while the soldier is something like the patch of the universe to correct that error.
As with Rakka, there are no guarantees that Firebase will become a full series or a film. Oats Studios is still trying to create a viable model, and although the initial response has been very positive, it all comes down to economic issues.
