In honor of the Mars Science Laboratory’s successful landing this week, I decided it’s appropriate to share my Top 5 rovers in sci-fi. Of course, these aren’t quite as cool as the real thing on Mars (the science gets more incredible as we progress from Sojourner to Spirit/Opportunity and now Curiosity). But I think the fictional ones here might be a great way to travel on other planets or around future versions of the Earth.
1. Mobiles
Rovers on patrol in the British sci-fi show “UFO” — a cult favorite.
These awesome vehicles, from the 1969 TV series UFO, were pretty ahead of their time — like virtually all tech showcased in Gerry Anderson projects. Airlifted on large transport planes and deposited where needed, they were a key element in the ground-based fight against strange alien invaders.
2. Ark II
The super-sleek mobile home from “Ark II” was the last hope for a future society.
Ah, those future scientists with their hopeful visions for a post-apocalyptic world. The Ark II vehicle was the centerpiece of an odd (eponymously named) CBS Saturday morning program where a small team tries to bring order to a chaotic 25th Century world. While I didn’t dig the show’s story, I watched every week to see this baby zipping around. It included a smaller open vehicle and a righteous jetpack!
3. Landmaster
The Landmaster was a tougher, steroid-swallowing big brother of Ark II.
Damnation Alley was one of those movies, like The Day After, that scared the hell out of me. At the time it was made, we really were on the brink of nuclear destruction. If the world’s going to end, you might as well have a kick-ass vehicle like this to use while you eke out your survival. It was able to withstand radioactive fallout, attacks from mutant insects, and cross large bodies of frothing irradiated water.
4. Argo Rover
Yes, that’s really Patrick Stewart (not a stunt driver) putting some air between buggy and dirt.
Prime directive, be damned! It was fun watching Captain Picard and company zip across a barren planet in this futuristic space buggy. It included a convenient shuttle remote control and phaser pulse gun for Worf to blast hideous aliens who also happened to have futuristic ATVs.
5. RT01
Directors like Ridley Scott and James Cameron always deliver very realistic tech in their films.
Seeing this ultra-modern rover cruise across the surface of LV-226 in the trailers for Prometheus was enough to get me into the theater. It’s an amazing design both inside and out with cool gull-wing doors. Like most of the tech in Ridley Scott’s movies, this thing felt like it could be real.
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5 Comments
You forgot Luke Skywalker’s beat up old jetcar! It’s the Chevy El Camino of Tatooine. If there were fuzzy dice in the Star Wars ‘verse, Luke would have a pair dangling from the windshield.
Have to disagree a bit on this one. Big agree with your love of the 1999 Eagle transporters. Mostly agree with your 5 best robots list. These.
Big agree with the landmaster. Ark-II was a little to much a standard truck – and not really designed for of road – but it was a kid show.
The Argo Rover just screamed Star Treks channeling Mad Max. It was so wildly out of place in the Star trek world — it was like they traded in phasers for colt revolvers as the standards star fleet side arm.
Kinda the same as the RT01. It looks like a smaller version of a current military off road truck with cooler body work. You rteally expect something a bit more advanced for a century or so in the future – its fun like the Drop Ships in Aliens, but not worth top 5.
I don’t remember the name of the land rover in Aliens, but for its time…it was nniice. I would drive it to work! LoL
The APC. And you are 100% right that it should be on this list. I just forgot about it!
This personnel carrier from Soldier with Kurt Russell is pretty cool, too.