Over the Rim Part Two – Wide Open Outer Spaces

By Bennett Owen

Wow! Four days, 13-hundred miles and four states behind us, now that is a My-West road trip! Makes you wonder how many miles … make that light-years … these guys had to travel, just to get their butts kicked by Harrison Ford!

Whooo-peee-dooo, this is gonna be good watching!

But as I mentioned in my last post, there is nothing new under the sun no matter which solar system you wander into.  So happens that Sci-Fi Westerns have a long and illustrious history … just check out stardate 4358.3 when the Starship Enterprise, under command of Captain James T. Kirk makes contact with the ‘Melkotians’, only to find himself and his crew in a gunfight at the OK Corral …

Credit: Chicago Tribune

Credit: YouTube

Or, The Time Tunnel, 1967, where two time-traveling scientists get a birds-eye view of the Battle of the Alamo … (click here to watch the full episode)

And not to mention The Wild, Wild, West, with two government agents outfitted with gadgets just slightly ahead of their time …

Credit: Steampunk

Credit: Visual Feast

And the silver screen has a history of genre-creep as well with offerings such as:

-       Westworld

Credit: Michael Heilemann

-       Back to the Future Pt. 3

Credit: bttfstore 

-      Ghost Rider (featuring the mighty Peter Fonda)

Credit: Montrealfilm

And many others, not to mention the iconic, the legendary, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter!

And of course the genre proved irresistible to Rod Serling in ‘The Twilight Zone.’  In this episode, a down-on-his luck pioneer takes a walk ‘100 Yards Over the Rim’ and encounters modern-day Arizona. Well. Modern as in 1961.  Here is all 25 minutes and it’s well worth the time.

Now if I could just transport myself ahead to July 29^th!

Credit: Beyond Hollywood