Still pumped from our summer series in which we covered the major subgenres of science fiction in cinema, Steven, Benjamin and Sean have decided to revisit the topic in this bonus episode! We'll each be picking a film that we believe exemplifies the traits of all the subgenres we discussed previously: Time Travel, Science Out of Control/Machine Ove…

We’re back for Part 2 of our Halloween Hellraiser Special! On this episode, Steven, Benjamin and Sean unpack the remaining movies in the Hellraiser series, including Rick Bota’s Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002), Hellraiser: Deader (2005) and Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005), followed by Victor Garcia’s Hellraiser: Revelations (2011), Gary J. Tunnicliffe’s…

Happy Halloween! Continuing with our usual horror franchise "Halloween Special" format, this year Sean has picked the long running Hellraiser series for us to have a good old yarn over, across two episodes! Starting with the original 1987 movie based on The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker and directed by the man himself, the film series has develop…

We're back for part 2 of our Kathryn Bigelow theatrical retrospective! Things get a little heated on this episode with divided opinions between Steven, Benjamin and Sean as we discuss a more drama-focused and historically themed selection of movies from our beloved Bigelow, including; The Weight of Water (2000), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), The Hur…

It's Steven's choice for our latest director deep-dive and this time he has picked Kathryn Bigelow! With numerous accolades to her name, a filmography that runs the gamut from iconic cult horror to Oscar winning war drama, and one of the finest action directors of a generation, Bigelow has long been a high ranking filmmaker for the three of us at F…

Steven, Benjamin and Sean conclude their look at science fiction subgenres with an examination of the bizarre fascination with placing the noun ‘punk’ after various technological descriptors to create a subgenre within a subgenre for seemingly no other reason than superficial aesthetics. While Sean and Benjamin can barely contain their disdain for …

For the second time this year, the Film Utopia Podcast breaks from its traditional show format of legacy movie coverage to discuss Alien: Romulus, the latest film in the long-running Alien franchise. Hot on the heels of an impressive opening weekend, the Fede Alvarez helmed entry is certainly making waves; both financially and critically. But opini…

On the penultimate episode of our science fiction subgenres series, we discuss all things alien invasion, contact with other worlds and alien abduction stories in movies; including some literary influences to the world of cinema. Join us as we talk our way through the early days of the genre in the 1950s and 1960s with the likes of The Day the Eart…

For part 5 of our Science Fiction Subgenres Series, Steven, Benjamin & Sean dive into the world of oppressive societies, shady governments and brutalist aesthetics with Dystopian set movies. We're calling it Utopia/Dystopia, though, despite struggling to identify a Utopia set narrative that isn't a dystopia in disguise! Join us as we talk all thing…

In part 4 of our Science Fiction sub-genres series, Steven Benjamin and Sean tackle the topic of "science out of control", or "machine over man", or "we've created something, and now it's going to kill us all"! Join us as we discuss our way through the tropes of the sub-genre and touch base with a wide variety of movies such as The Matrix, Fantasti…

In Part 3 of our Sci-fi sub-Genres in Film series, The FU trio dive into Space Opera – and spend much of the discussion debating precisely what defines the term, and what constitutes a Space Opera in the first place! From influential sci-fi authors of the 1940s, 50s 60s and 70s such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke and Philip K Dick, to the serials…

Archive Episode! Originally recorded and published in 2015 for our old podcast, Filmwerk. Please excuse our less-than-stellar audio quality and editing efforts back then! Ahead of Mad Max: Fury Road, Steven, Benjamin & Sean dig deep into the George Miller created Mad Max movie franchise! From the trailblazing 1979 original, to the seminal sequel, M…

At the time of preparing our latest Sci-fi Subgenres episode, ‘Post Apocalypse’, George Miller released his recent Mad Max spin-off; Furiosa. As we’re all big Miller and Mad Max fans here and also, as Furiosa is topical to our last main show episode, Benjamin & Steven decided to have a chat and share their ever-so-slightly divided reaction to the A…

Steven, Benjamin & Sean continue their exploration of the many Science Fiction sub-genres with a discussion about Post Apocalyptic set movies – and have plenty of debate over what constitutes a Post Apocalypse Movie in the first place! From ‘Mad Max’ to ‘Children of Men’, with pit stops at ‘Akira’, ‘Wall-E’, ‘Waterworld’, the multiple ‘The Road War…

Science Fiction! The Film Utopia Podcast summer project gets rolling with a wide look at the sub-genre of Time Travel in movies, from time machines to time loops, paradoxes to alternative histories. Steven, Benjamin & Sean talk about some of their favourite time travel movies, as well as the ins and outs of time travel as a story telling device and…

Steven, Benjamin & Sean conclude their deep dive of iconic cult movie director Stuart Gordon with a thorough chin-wag about his latter filmography, from Castle Freak (1995) to Stuck (2007). The FU trio discover some hidden gems among these lesser known films and find themselves with differing opinions on others! Follow us on X Follow us on Instagra…

Between 1985 and 2007, former theatre director named Stuart Gordon embarked on an iconic movie directing career which, in later years, catapulted his filmography to cult status. With the help of producer, Brian Yuzna – himself a H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe enthusiast – he directed the notorious, independently-produced ‘Re-Animator’ in 1985 w…

Steven & Sean discuss their way through the many UK, USA and Australian boutique disc label companies out there; from Arrow to Vinegar Syndrome. We chat about our own collecting habits as well as our experiences and opinions of each label as well as some of our favourite discs we've owned over the years! Follow us on X Follow us on Instagram Follow…

Special features, commentary tracks, cast & crew interviews and other bonus disc content have historically been a real selling point for movie fans and nowadays, physical media collectors are even hungrier for additional material for their favourite films of yesteryear. On this episode, Steven, Benjamin and Sean recall some of their favourite physi…

On the third and final episode of our Denis Villeneuve retospective movie review series, Steven, Benjamin and Sean conclude their journey with a detailed look at Dune (2021) and the recently released Dune Part 2 (2024). Benjamin arrives with a solid knowledge of the Frank Herbert books and a fondness for the David Lynch movie from 1984, Sean is as …

With the release of Dune Part Two in theatres now, this is the second episode of our Denis Villeneuve retospective movie review series. In this episode, Steven, Benjamin and Sean continue discussing the Canadian director's filmography, from Arrival (2016) to Blade Runner 2049 (2017). Having not participated in previous coverage of Blade Runner 2049…

With the release of Dune Part Two in theatres now, this is the first episode of our retrospective review series of the directorial work of Denis Villeneuve. As we are going in chronological order, this episode covers all of his early work starting with August 32nd on Earth from 1998, right up to Sicario from 2015. Steven, Benjamin and Sean are all …

Physical Media is in danger of going extinct, thanks in no small part to streaming. But do we also have an issue with the buyers themselves? Have people become complacent with digital products, and are they aware of what is being sacrificed as a result? In this episode, Steven and Sean rope Benjamin in for a long discussion about their journey with…

A year of many team-ups, buddy comedies, underwater sci-fi fiascos, and of course; the summer show-down of the mega blockbuster! What with Batman, Lethal Weapon 2, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, License to Kill, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Back to the Future Part II, Dead Poets Society, Look Who's Talking and Ghostbusters II, the Hollywood machi…

We are back for our second instalment of our Friday the 13th saga (Huh? huh? Saga?!) coverage to discuss Friday the 13th Pat V: A New Beginning (1985), Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) and Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989). The three of us are pretty shocked by the ext…

It's Ben's turn to choose our Halloween special this year, and he has seen fit to inflict the Friday the 13th franchise on us! However, he ended up just as quickly regretting it once he started watching the films! Thankfully, Sean and Steven are old hats at this sort of crap; so there is plenty cheerful discussion to be had. So much so, that we hav…