Serenity/The One/Stealth (15)

Collection of three features with sci-fi or futuristic themes. ‘Serenity’ (2005) is the epic sci-fi adventure from writer-director Joss Whedon. 500 years in the future, after a galactic civil war has united all the space colonies under the repressive Alliance, former rebel soldier Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) captains the Firefly class cargo ship ‘Serenity.’ When he picks up Simon Tam (Sean Maher) and his disturbed sister River (Summer Glau), Mal ends up with more trouble than he could have bargained for. ‘The One’ (2001) is set in the near future and sees deadly assassin Yulaw (Jet Li) use a newly-developed technology called ‘quantum tunneling’ to move from one parallel universe to the next, becoming more powerful each time. Back in our own dimension, ordinary police officer Gabe (Li again) also feels himself becoming stronger, and cannot explain why. When Yulaw arrives in this dimension looking for Gabe, the pair are soon locked in an explosive, special-effects-saturated conflict, leading to a final deadly showdown. ‘Stealth’ (2005) is an action adventure yarn starring Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel and Jamie Foxx as U.S. Navy pilots who are part of a close-knit elite division of test pilots. Then their Captain, George Cummings, (Sam Shepard) introduces them to their new wingman – an artificial intelligence-based unmanned combat aerial vehicle nicknamed ‘EDI’. To their amazement, ‘EDI’ proves to be a cracker-jack wingman and they successfully eliminate their first target together. On the return trip to their base, however, aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Carl Vinson, ‘EDI’ is struck by lightning. The drone’s brain expands in ways its creators could never have predicted. The danger escalates when ‘EDI’ decides to execute a sensitive top-secret mission that, if successful, could spiral into worldwide nuclear Armageddon.