Sam Neill did a super podcast with Marc Maron a few years ago. He came across as a really stand-up bloke - genuine, funny, smart and kind; and every obit I've seen today seems to echo all that. It's well worth a listen. https://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1202-sam-neill
Sam Neill has died
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Re: Sam Neill has died
#82RIP. Here in Sweden the headlines mention primarily his role in Ivanhoe, a movie that has aired on Swedish TV almost every New Years for over 40 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanhoe_(1982_film) He posted this video message to the Swedish people for New Years 2023: https://www.svt.se/kultur/ivanhoe-skadespelarens-nyarshalsni... Great movie.
It was great fun to see him interact with viewers regarding this every/many Jan 1. He kind of embodied that global village spirit.
E.g.
https://x.com/TwoPaddocks/status/1212188526348890112 (2020)
I am relaxed, fit , and ready to fight the dreary Ivanhoe once more.
https://x.com/TwoPaddocks/status/1080048522492145664 (2019)
SWEDEN ! I have strapped on my body armor, renewed my courage, got my evils back, and am braced once again to Sweden's MOST HATED. And this year I WILL WIN . #HappyNewYear2019 #Ivanhoe
https://x.com/TwoPaddocks/status/947971082018889728 (2018)
Yes, my annual disemboweling seems to please Swedes every year. #Ivanhoe
Etc, going back to 2015.
Re: Sam Neill has died
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
also the Event Horizon, his change of character is something you don't forget..
Not my favourite movie though. The horror in space trope is a very tired one. Alongside the poorly lit spaceship. Spaceships are workplaces and workplaces should provide adequate illumination so you can see what you are doing. But I LOVE what he did for the New Zealand flag.
Australian flag.
* Their Southern Cross is more astronomically accurate (it includes Epsilon Crucis) our one omits it
* They have an additional seven pointed star to represent the six territories/states of Australia, the seventh point being added when they took control of Papua to represent anything else they added to the federation as time went on
* Their stars are white, ours are red
But fully agree, I loved that it the Union Jack was replaced with the Aborigine flag at Sam Neill's behest, because after all, it _is_ the future right?
Re: Sam Neill has died
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not my favourite movie though. The horror in space trope is a very tired one. Alongside the poorly lit spaceship. Spaceships are workplaces and workplaces should provide adequate illumination so you can see what you are doing. But I LOVE what he did for the New Zealand flag.
Pretty sure it's "But I LOVE what he did for the Australian flag." - he is a kiwi but that's arguably the Aussie flag with the colonial bit replaced with the local one
It's got white stars, it has the seven pointed "Commonwealth star", and astronomically, it's more correct as it includes Epsilon Crucis.
Our flag has red stars, no bonus commonwealth star, and for some reason, whoever designed our flag decided that ε Cru could go fuck itself.
And I love him to bits for insisting that in the future, Australia would surely have a) become a republic and b) embraced the Aborigine first peoples. It's a remarkably hopeful vision of the future for a movie where he ends up running around without eyes saying creepy shit.
Re: Sam Neill has died
#85So sad. Jurassic Park had a tremendous impact on me as a dino obsessed teenager ( was 13 when it came out). RIP.
That I have a DevOps company working entirely on Linux can be directly attributed to realizing as a kid that Unix was a real thing and I needed to install it on my own computer. Interesting it was soon after this movie came out that FreeBSD and Linux were becoming popular.
Re: Sam Neill has died
#86I'll never forget Neill as Damien in Omen III. I'd very much like to forget Neill as Damien in Omen III. Chilling.
Good performance, not really a good movie. It was a bit of a letdown after parts I and II, but he was well cast. The writing wasn’t there: didn’t quite stick the landing.
Re: Sam Neill has died
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
Australian flag. The black, red and yellow flag he replaced the Union Jack with is the Australian first nations flag
My bad. I need to retake my geography classes from high school
You're sweet as mate, we're used to it eh.
Hell, it's why one of our former PMs had a referendum to try to replace our flag.
He got seated under an Aussie flag once at an international big important meeting, thus he decided to spend $21 million getting people to vote on whether or not to adopt a flag that looked like the logo a meat company would stick on a frozen leg of lamb being exported to the EU [0]. We ultimately voted against the meat wrapper.
My personal preference was for either the Black Jack [1] (because I loved how it co-opted the Union Jack with Māori design elements - the curved white koru) and tbh, we do love the colour black, or...
...Seeing as we're having a bit of a silly referendum anyway, good ol Laser Kiwi [2] (the white feather thing is the silver fern/ponga, adopted as our national plant when pteridomania was running rampant in the British Empire, and is often used as a logo for national sports teams, and for naming several female sports teams - Silver Ferns, White Ferns, Black Ferns), because who doesn't love the idea of shooting lasers out of your eyes?
John Oliver had a lot of fun with the whole debate. [3]
Oh, and fun fact, I believe during the anti-ICE protests, some Minnesotans were inspired by Laser Kiwi and brought about Laser Loon. [4]
----
[0]: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/NZ...
[1]: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/NZ_flag_...
[2]: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/sites/default/files/styles/wide/pu...
[3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_2tL--HMIo
[4]: https://images.thespinoff.co.nz/1/2026/02/Tinas-FeatureImage...
Re: Sam Neill has died
#88"I would have liked to have seen Montana..." You are forever in our hearts, Vasili.
I’m in Montana now, and I spent the weekend with a very energetic palaeontologist who has unearthed many dinosaurs.
My son isn't college age yet but is interested in this route. Any tips for potential future paleontologists?
Re: Sam Neill has died
#89He was an amazing actor. One of his best roles was “Reilly: Ace of Spies”.
Re: Sam Neill has died
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
also the Event Horizon, his change of character is something you don't forget..
Not my favourite movie though. The horror in space trope is a very tired one. Alongside the poorly lit spaceship. Spaceships are workplaces and workplaces should provide adequate illumination so you can see what you are doing. But I LOVE what he did for the New Zealand flag.
> Alongside the poorly lit spaceship. Spaceships are workplaces and workplaces should provide adequate illumination so you can see what you are doing.
I always thought the same about CSI. Have the set designers ever been to a lab?