Word: blinkings
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Relativistic Implosion. Eventually, as the spacecraft approached the velocity of light, some of the stars ahead of it began to blink out; their light had been shifted into higher, ultraviolet frequencies that are invisible to the human eye. Others, like Betelgeuse and Aldebaran, which look red to observers on earth, actually became brighter: their substantial lower frequency infrared output, normally invisible to the human eye, had been shifted into the visible range...
Their eyes won't blink...
...Swordfish have to be coddled into taking a bait; with a full stomach only the most dessert-happy sword can be tempted by mackerel or squid. Fishermen have been known to make ten or more passes before a lazing giant without achieving so much as a blink from those cold blue eyes. On the wildly illogical assumption that he does swallow the bait, the battle is generally lost then and there; the only soft part of a swordfish, naturally, is his mouth. More often he is foul-hooked-in the dorsal fin, back or cheek-as he rolls around, batting...
Finally, a group decides to kill the host and offer him as a sacrificial victim to the gods. Then, swiftly as it arrived, the mysterious ban is lifted. Joyously the prisoners pour out the door and blink at the unfamiliar sun. Days later, to commemorate their escape, the survivors reassemble to celebrate a solemn Te Deum Mass in gratitude for their rescue. As the ritual ends, they head for the church doors-and find that suddenly they are unable to leave...
What also makes the picture rather staid is that the dastardly plan works perfectly. Equipment doesn't go on the blink, nobody misses connections, thievery's too easy. A little fumbling and a little suspense would have made the situation more of a laff-riot. Even punchlines are terribly understated. It's as though the writer-director didn't intend us to die laughing: that's not refined...