Artificial intelligence police drones run amok in The Last Sentinel
A low-budget knockoff of Battlestar Galactica, directed by stunt man-turned auteur Jesse Johnson and starring martial arts star Don "The Dragon" Wilson and Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck on BSG), came out the same year as the BSG pilot
- from The Last Sentinel (2007)
- Creator: Jesse V. Johnson
- Posted by Critical Commons Manager
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Artificial intelligence police drones run amok in The Last Sentinel
by Critical Commons ManagerIn this dystopian sci-fi narrative, a police force of artificially intelligent drones has run amok and is wiping out the entire human population, except for a few collaborators who operate the outdated personal computers tasked with bestowing human values and judgment on the drones in the hopes of one day achieving Nirvana on earth. The parallels with BSG are especially striking because of the casting of Katee Sackhoff as the (need I say?) tough rebel chick and unlikely love interest for the affectless, technologically-enhanced super-soldier Wilson. The Dragon is accompanied throughout the film by a disembodied AI (voiced by Dawnn Lewis) that is embedded in his rifle, offering advice and narrative exposition to cover the more egregious failings and implausibilities of the plot. The film superficially explores the implications of humanity's pursuit of artificial intelligence, including a scene in which The Dragon confronts two of the workers at the company responsible for his own cybernetic implants. In a cinematic moment that may well be unique in the history of Hollywood, The Dragon prevents the lead AI programmer from committing suicide by riddling him with bullets.
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