M.A.N.T.I.S.

M.A.N.T.I.S. TV series on Fox. Premiere episode 26 Aug. 1994. "Filmed on location in British Columbia, Canada" (apparently from Vancouver, BC). "Country of First Publication": USA; "Film XII Productions '94 Limited Partnership is the author of this motion picture . . . . " Renaissance Pictures, dist. through Universal, later Universal City Studios. Sam Raimi, co-exec. prod., and co-creator with Sam Hamm. Bryce Zabel, exec. prod., premiere script. David Nutter, premiere dir. Carl Lumbly, Roger Rees, Christopher Garlin, Galyn Gory, featured players.

Very near-future, high-tech action/adventure show, with the major urban setting of "Port Columbia," i.e., the nicest and the not-so-nice parts of Vancouver (none of which are postmodernly funky; contrast mise en scene of ROBOCOP (1987) and other cyberpunkish works, and the Gotham of the BATMAN movies). Significant here for the M.A.N.T.I.S. exoskeleton that allows the crippled hero not just to walk but to do heroic deeds (cf. and contrast "birth" of the Mantis with that of RoboCop and the rise of Dr. Strangelove from his wheel chair in the film DR. STRANGELOVE). In his exoskeleton in the Chrysalid aircraft, or in his underwater base of operations, the Mantis is contained within concentric shells of hi-tech, some of which he's interfaced with directly. The crippled hero's hope is that ". . . the limitations of the human body could be surmounted . . . "—and they are, through computer and other technology.