If you are expecting to see a Chinese Superman when you sit down with your popcorn to watch the new science-fiction film Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg , you’ll be sorely disappointed. True, the robot De Ming (Alex Fong) featured in the movie isn’t a bird or a plane, but neither is he a character that will linger in your mind beyond 2009.
当你抱着爆米花，坐在影院里观看最新的科幻大片《机器侠》时，如果你期待能看到一个中国式超人，那么你要大失所望了。诚然，片中的机器人德明(方力申饰)既不是鸟也不是飞机，但他也不会是2009年度令你印象深刻的电影角色之一。
Jeffrey Lau’s Kungfu Cyborg disappoints much like most of China’s sci-fi films have. This suggests that the genre is nowhere close to competing with the sci-fi movies that Hollywood turns out, such as the recent Transformers.
同许多国产科幻电影一样，刘镇伟的《机器侠》让人感到失望。这也表明，国内此类电影还远远无法与好莱坞出品的科幻大片相提并论——比如说最近的变形金刚系列。
Set in the year 2046, Kungfu Cyborg tells the story of a police robot who falls in love with a pretty human officer named Su Mei (Sun Li). Naturally, there is a bad guy--an evil robot named K88--but the movie never really advances beyond your typical romance flick.
《机器侠》故事背景被设置在2046年，影片讲述了一个机器警察的故事，片中他爱上了漂亮的人类女警花素梅(孙俪饰)。自然也会有坏人出现——一个代号为K88的邪恶机器人，但整部影片在情节的推进上还是落入了爱情片的俗套。
The film’s weaknesses include predictable plotting as well as unimaginative characters and settings. "Advanced robots, bioweapons, or supernatural abilities themselves aren’t enough to make a sci-fi film," the film critic Yang Jinsong told 21st Century. "Instead, sci-fi films should be all about imagination. They have to depict the future, or create a futuristic atmosphere that we’ve never dared to think about. I have yet to see anything unpredictable [in Chinese sci-fi films]."
这部影片的缺点包括老套的情节设计，以及缺乏想象力的角色和布景。影评人杨锦松向21世纪报记者说：“先进的机器人，生化武器或者是超能力这些事物本身不足以构成一部科幻电影。相反，科幻电影应该是充满想象力的。他们应该描绘未来，或者营造出一个我们从未敢想的超现实氛围。在中国的科幻电影中，我还没有看到任何超乎想象的事物。”
Chinese filmmakers are at a disadvantage when it comes to using special effects. Kungfu Cyborg’s relatively small budget can’t hold a candle to the billions of dollars thrown at movies like Terminator and Transformers.
一旦涉及到特技运用，中国电影人就会处于劣势。相对于像《终结者》或《变形金刚》这样大片动辄上亿美元的投入，《机器侠》的预算少得可怜。
But Yang points to another reason for China’s disappointing sci-fi films: culture. Chinese filmmakers’ cultural orientation, he says, tends to focus on the past and the present--not the future. "We feel more at ease exploring the problems of present metropolitan life, or reminiscing about the old days," said Yang. "We’re not so used to thinking imaginatively about the future world."
但杨锦松也指出了国产科幻片让人失望的另一个原因：文化。他说，基于自身的文化背景，中国电影人更倾向于关注过去和现在，而不是未来：“探讨现代都市生活问题或缅怀过去时光，这些我们更拿手，我们还不习惯富有想象力地去思考未来世界。”
The Chinese sci-fi film and TV tradition dates back to the 1970s and 1980s. Many in the post-80s generation will remember, for instance, Pili Beibei or Thunderbolt Baby. This popular film version told the story of a clever, electrified schoolboy born on the night of a UFO visit. It was made by Zhang Zhilu in 1987, on a budget of only 470,000 yuan.
中国科幻电影、电视剧的渊源可以追溯到上世纪七八十年代。许多80后都会记得《霹雳贝贝》一片。这部曾风靡一时的电影讲述了一名聪明机智、身上带电的小男孩的故事，他出生于一个飞碟来访的夜晚。影片由张之路于1987年拍摄，预算仅47万元人民币。
Wu Yan, a sci-fi expert and professor at Beijing Normal University, attributes the film’s popularity to its human touch. "Most of us would secretly like to have super abilities to accomplish whatever we want, especially when we are children," Wu said. "The director turned that dream into reality, so it satisfied the viewers."
北京师范大学教授，科幻文学专家吴艳将此片的成功归功于它的人性化：“我们很多人可能都偷偷幻想过自己拥有超能力，可以随心所欲，尤其是在童年时代。影片导演将这种幻想变成了现实，从而满足了观众的心理。”
But like most of the sci-fi films that followed it, Thunderbolt Baby failed to imagine the future. Wu believes it will take years for China to improve its sci-fi filmmaking. In addition to a good story, the industry will need a whole new force of people with a futuristic sense.
但与后来的许多科幻电影如出一辙，《霹雳贝贝》没能想象未来。吴艳认为中国科幻电影制作业的发展尚需时日。除了好的故事，这个行业还需要一支具备超现实感的全新队伍。
Lu Xinwen, a 19-year-old business major at Nanjing University, thinks his generation might be the one to make a Chinese Superman. After all, they have grown up in the world of cyber games and Harry Potter. For now, though, Chinese filmgoers can only wait.
卢新文，19岁，就读于南京大学国际贸易专业，他认为或许他们这一代可以创造出中国的超人。毕竟，他们生活在一个充满网络游戏和哈利波特的世界里。现在中国观众能做的只有翘首以待了。 |
大学英语---