There have been many attempts to marry the TV and gaming worlds with interactive features that encourage viewers to immerse fully in a fantasy universe.  Most don’t take.  But the Syfy channel and game developer Trion Worlds are betting big — like a reported $100 million big — that their collaboration of science fiction TV show and first person shooter MMO will turn out to be a hit.

Defiance is set a mere 33 years in the future, where humans now live side by side with a number of alien races.  The world looks exceptionally different than it does now, with alien technology augmenting our science, and something called the “Pale Wars” destroying much of the planet.  St. Louis, it turns out, is one of the only refuges of civilization left, but those within its gated walls still have plenty to fear.  Hit the jump for more on this new series, and whether it’s worth a watch.

[With A Good Day to Die Hard set to open this Thursday, we'll be taking a look back at the first four Die Hard movies.  These reviews will contain spoilers since the movies have been out for years.  Click on the respective links for my look back at Die Hard and Die Hard 2.]

I like to consider Die Hard with a Vengeance the true sequel to Die Hard.  It’s bigger, bolder, darker, but still retains the same sense of desperation, humor, and intensity of the first movie.  Unlike Die Hard 2, the purpose of Die Hard with a Vengeance isn’t to copy the plot elements of the first film, but to take the spirit of the original and paint it on a broader canvas.  Die Hard with a Vengeance takes what could have been a stolid, safe entry, and instead shakes up the formula to keep John McClane (Bruce Willis) alive and kicking, which is impressive for a guy who should have died many times over.

Kevin Costner’s moment at the top of his arc was undoubtedly Dances with Wolves – everything since has been part of his decline. He had box office hits/classics with such films as The Untouchables, Field of Dreams, No Way Out, and Bull Durham. He was a sex symbol, a guy’s guy, the next Gary Cooper – down to Earth, and sexy in a way that suggested distinct heterosexuality. Then came Dances with Wolves, and it was there the stage for Costner-backlash was set: Wolves trumped Goodfellas and Martin Scorsese for best picture and director. The film had been loved, but there were dissenters (including Pauline Kael), and by the time Costner got around to directing again (1997’s The Postman), he had already made Waterworld and a number of films that won him no fans. Twenty years on it’s interesting to revisit his Dances with Wolves, as the film has both been overrated and over-hated over the course of two decades, and my review of the film on Blu-ray in an extended director’s cut follows after the jump.