The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsBest Sci-Fi movie ever?
I love a good Sci-Fi flick but really good ones are few and far between. I'm hoping to find something really good that I've never seen before (probably a long shot but it will be fun trying). The best I've seen is definitely Blade Runner by a mile.
What's your best?
BootinUp
(47,165 posts)Early seventies, Charlton Heston.
TuxedoKat
(3,818 posts)was pretty good.
Pryderi
(6,772 posts)came out, but I tried to watch it again a couple of years ago and thought it was laughably terrible.
Kurt Russel in camouflage leotards.
TuxedoKat
(3,818 posts)so I'll take your word that it didn't age well.
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)BootinUp
(47,165 posts)BootinUp
(47,165 posts)kentauros
(29,414 posts)2001: A Space Odyssey
Solyaris (Russian version)
First Spaceship on Venus (by Stanislaw Lem, author of Solyaris)
Contact
Galaxy Quest
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
The Day the Earth Stood Still (original)
Forbidden Planet
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
Metropolis (both the silent and the anime)
Akira
Ghost in the Shell
(I'll stop here.)
And if you want to browse the bad ones, try this site:
Public Domain Torrents - Movies that made History... Sort of...
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)2001: A Space Odyssey
Contact
Galaxy QueAkira
Ghost in the Shell
Many of the others I've been meaning to see actually, thanks!
BootinUp
(47,165 posts)The Dead Zone
Dreamscape
Cheap_Trick
(3,918 posts)Here's some others:
Moon
Source Code
Outland
The Man From Earth
Starman
Dark Star
Frequency
Lathe of Heaven (the PBS original, NOT the A&E remake)
Strange Days
Silent Running
Sunshine
Time After Time
I'm sure you've seen most of these.
The Man From Earth was written by Jerome Bixby before he died. An absolutely fantastic film taking place in mostly one room.
Lathe Of Heaven was the first made for PBS film. Very low budget and strays a little from the novel by Ursula K. Le Guin but excellent nonetheless.
HarveyDarkey
(9,077 posts)I also uploaded the interview with Ursula K. Le Guin about it. Never saw the remake.
Cheap_Trick
(3,918 posts)I still watched it through your link. Mesmerizing film. The script, acting and score just draw me in every time.
HarveyDarkey
(9,077 posts)I never did, I was so afraid of being disappointed.
Cheap_Trick
(3,918 posts)It was a disappointment. Parts of it did stick closer to the book but it doesn't hold a candle to the original. If you can catch it for free give it a shot just don't get your hopes up.
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)HarveyDarkey
(9,077 posts)Well done story. Watch The interview too.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)It also has the distinction of being the only movie I can recall where the location is practically a character in the movie (in this case, San Francisco)
Cheap_Trick
(3,918 posts)"Jacklyn The Ripper" by the author of "Time After Time", Karl Alexander. Luckily I got it from Amazon for $3. Even that was too much.
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)Moon
Source Code
Sunshine
So no I haven't seen most of them, thanks for the suggestions, lot's to go through!
applegrove
(118,694 posts)flic I've been able to enjoy in a long while.
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)I don't care much for Tom Hanks and I find Steven Spielberg messes up most of his films.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)I'm not crazy about him, but I liked him in Collateral Damage. Didn't like him in the Minority Report.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Altered States
eXistenz
Scanners
Andromeda Strain
Soylent Green
BootinUp
(47,165 posts)Locut0s
(6,154 posts)Andromeda Strain
Soylent Green (not all of it)
I know of eXistenz and Scanners. Will have to check out Altered States.
Thanks.
ZRT2209
(1,357 posts)sakabatou
(42,157 posts)I really enjoyed that movie, especially the "Through the Gate Vision" and "Beach" scenes.
ZRT2209
(1,357 posts)ZRT2209
(1,357 posts)sakabatou
(42,157 posts)Kennah
(14,276 posts)Locut0s
(6,154 posts)of the film. Maybe that's cause I'm a strong atheist?
ZRT2209
(1,357 posts)by Carl Sagan. It's shows how closely related the two are - the religious and scientific views. The search for truth and meaning, the search for not being alone in the universe. "The only thing we found that made the emptiness bearable is each other." That's really quite brilliant. It can be religious, or completely secular, and still work.
Lionel Mandrake
(4,076 posts)"The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951),
after which everybody knew that music from outer space would be played on a theremin, and
"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956),
the authentic version of which featured the end of humanity, as did the first and best remake (1978).
Graybeard
(6,996 posts)The original (1956) is superior but the 1978 remake isn't bad.
Lionel Mandrake
(4,076 posts)But watch out for the tacked-on happy ending in some prints of the 1956 movie.
BootinUp
(47,165 posts)BootinUp
(47,165 posts)Locut0s
(6,154 posts)Liberal Veteran
(22,239 posts)BootinUp
(47,165 posts)Zorro
(15,740 posts)If you're looking at a dystopian future type movie, A Clockwork Orange is extraordinary (if slightly dated).
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Brazil
SEMOVoter
(202 posts)Locut0s
(6,154 posts)The goofy humour in it almost ruins it for me. I wish Terry Gilliam could have kept a little more of Money Python out of the film.
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)Warning don't watch the remake
And of course Clockwork Orange is a masterpiece.
ZRT2209
(1,357 posts)limpyhobbler
(8,244 posts)ZRT2209
(1,357 posts)and I love the sound track.
And I love "Aziz! Light!" and "Yeah, yeah, I got all the snakes..."
limpyhobbler
(8,244 posts)Last edited Sun Feb 3, 2013, 05:42 PM - Edit history (1)
ZRT2209
(1,357 posts)Locut0s
(6,154 posts)BootinUp
(47,165 posts)Cheap_Trick
(3,918 posts)There's even a police spinner in the junkyard.
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)BootinUp
(47,165 posts)Its Kurt Russell, he does a decent job, story is good.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120157/
jobycom
(49,038 posts)pokerfan
(27,677 posts)Blade Runner - Any of the version. Harrison Ford as Sam Spade hunting replicants in a dystopian L.A. Science Fiction film noir. I like film noir.
Runners up:
Alien - Sequels have driven this franchise into the ground but the original holds up.
The Abyss - You don't have to go into space to find ET, or is that NT?
Contact - Not a perfect adaptation, but captures the essence of Sagan's novel.
The Day the Earth Stood Still - The original, not the Keanu Reeves remake. Classic fifties sci-fi.
Dune - I realize that this is probably controversial but I like it. I like the book better so perhaps in my mind I just combine the best elements of both.
The Wrath of Khan - Still the best of the Star Treks. KHAAAAAAAAN!!!
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)I liked it because I loved the book so much.
Another movie I enjoyed but seem to be in the minority on: Enemy Mine
Dennis Quaid and Lou Gosset Jr.
pokerfan
(27,677 posts)I remember the theater handed out single page Dune glossaries and my GF saying "what use are these once the lights go down?"
Enemy Mine is quite good as well and nearly made my also-ran list. Perhaps the fact that it isn't as epic in scale as the others kept it out. It would be a blast to see a theater production. Twelve Angry Men divided by six.
FleetwoodMac
(351 posts)... Peter Berg walked away from the new Dune project because Paramount was only willing to spend $175 million.
And I hated, hated the movie and the miniseries.
Dune is arguably the greatest science fiction novel ever written (in my mind, only Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama comes anywhere close).
I hope a movie that can do the book justice will be made in my lifetime.
pokerfan
(27,677 posts)The problem is that an adaptation is obviously just the director's interpretation. And his or hers interpretation might not be the same as mine. The other problem is what to toss out because you're going to jettisoning about 80% of any given novel. Yet no matter what any given director does to your favorite novel, the book remains. I look at film adaptations as a way to augment the novel, not replace it.
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)When I saw it with my son and nephew they ended up loving it because I told them all the inside knowledge about the characters and plot as we watched it.
SeattleVet
(5,477 posts)Saw it the week it came out, and at least a dozen times since (in theaters). I see something 'new' n it almost every time (little asides, inside jokes, etc.).
HarveyDarkey
(9,077 posts)Last edited Sat Feb 2, 2013, 08:24 PM - Edit history (1)
It's where Mad Max stole all of its ideas
On edit: found it on You Tube, starring a VERY young Don Johnson
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)The Day the Earth Stood Still is still the best even after all these years. However, I also highly recommend those below.
The Thing from another World (1951)
The Thing (1982)
Silent Running (1972)
Andromedra Strain (1971)
Them! (1954)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
War of the Worlds (1953)
Starman (1984)
When Worlds Collide (1951)
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Contact (1997)
Akira (1988)
Aliens (1986)
Bladerunner (1982)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
fadedrose
(10,044 posts)Went to see it and was so disappointed. The '51 version is the best and always will be...
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)fadedrose
(10,044 posts)I saw this one at a drivein many years ago and never forgot it. I thought it was good then, but don't know how I'd feel about it now....
Not sure of the spelling..
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)Great book, 1962 movie was only OK IMO. Not very faithful adaptation of the book. The 1981 TV series was very faithful to the book. Haven't seen the 2009 TV series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_triffids
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids_%28film%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids_%281981_TV_series%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids_%282009_TV_series%29
SEMOVoter
(202 posts)The beginning sequence of "Day Watch" is worth the price of admission.
Also the four books are very good.
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)harmonicon
(12,008 posts)I really like how Bring it On is subtly sci-fi.
As for something less well known, I'd highly recommend Sunshine:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448134/?ref_=sr_3
It didn't get much press, which is a shame, because it's very good. Perhaps it's because it does have an awful lot of similarities with Even Horizon, which came out only ten years earlier:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119081/?ref_=sr_1
HarveyDarkey
(9,077 posts)It's been remade a couple of times, haven't seen them
fadedrose
(10,044 posts)Glad somebody else liked it...
I remember the lighthouse scene in the end - made me a nervous wreck
nuxvomica
(12,429 posts)But here are some special ones you might enjoy:
Altered States -- Still mind-blowing after all these years. I scientist uses sensory deprivation to get in touch with his primordial self.
Primer -- The most realistic and therefore confusing movie about time travel I've ever seen.
The Quiet Earth -- A dreamlike post-apocalyptic from New Zealand.
Safety Not Guaranteed -- A charming story about quirky people and their relationships but much better than "A charming story about quirky people and their relationships" sounds.
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)Someone already mentioned Altered States and I've been meaning to watch Primer for a while.
lastlib
(23,248 posts)"The City and the Stars" would be the next one.
"Dune" for now is #1. "The Andromeda Strain", "Marooned", and the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still" are next on the list.
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)Imagine the reaction by the Religious Right when the Overlords reveal themselves.
lastlib
(23,248 posts)bif
(22,720 posts)"Moon" was pretty good as well.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)baldguy
(36,649 posts)Serenity
Dark City
Until the End of the World
Children of Men
THX 1138
Spirited Away
Cloud Atlas
Twelve Monkeys
Big Trouble in Little China
Time Bandits
krispos42
(49,445 posts)Haven't seen it recently, tho
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)Dark City
Children of Men
Spirited Away
Cloud Atlas
Twelve Monkeys (Not quite all of it)
Will add the others to the list
jobycom
(49,038 posts)even without having seen the series. (I know this because I saw it not even knowing there had been a series. )
Children of Men is so good for so many reasons, especially the directing techniques used.
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)I don't like gross or scary movies, so that one is "just right" for me.
Great for the entire family.
Ron Obvious
(6,261 posts)Blade Runner is my favourite as well, but here are some less well-known ones:
The 13th floor
Dark City
Strange Days
eXistenZ
They're similar in concept to the Matrix but vastly superior to that much-overrated film.
On edit: "less well-known", not "lesser well-known", which changes the meaning completely!
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)bobclark86
(1,415 posts)/thread
Or not... Wrath of Khan, which saved the franchise after the box office abortion of TMP, Aliens (the second one)... I also really, really liked Equilibrium and Serenity. ID4 was great, and my roommate swears by Event Horizon.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)BUT I'm not sure how well it does of one hasn't watched and loved the TV series first...
kudzu22
(1,273 posts)And I thought it was ok, but nothing special. Years later a friend turned me on to Firefly, which I love dearly. Then I realized Serenity was the follow-up to the series and it was much better.
So, watch the complete Firefly series first (it's only 13 episodes), then watch Serenity.
Paulie
(8,462 posts)Locut0s
(6,154 posts)Drawing a blank I'm afraid and IMDB is no help.
Mosby
(16,319 posts)Escape From New York
Westworld
Repo Man
Brother from another planet
New Jack City
Fahrenheit 451
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)graham4anything
(11,464 posts)Jack Sprat
(2,500 posts)Jane Seymour was perfectly beautiful. Great love story too.
bif
(22,720 posts)A detective movie and a science fiction movie. Quite well done.
aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)Last edited Sat Feb 2, 2013, 10:53 PM - Edit history (1)
La Jetée (1962) which was later remade and expanded in English as "12 Monkeys", Alphaville by Godard (1965), and the Blade-Runneresque Renaissance.
Forbidden Planet which I saw in first run at the theater when I was six years old will always be special.
CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)French language, French author but very, very Czech in the animation. A true mind-blowing classic.
RILib
(862 posts)CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)I missed Rennaisance as the third french film and saw the reference to Forbidden Planet and made a leap of poor logic.
I have at times mistakenly switched the names of those two films but usually I know one from the other. I have watched both of them within the past six months. Forbidden Planet on amazon HD and I found an HD print of Fantastic Planet online when the DVD I had did not have a proper anamorphic print. I am a huge fan of both films.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Beautiful music, too.
kudzu22
(1,273 posts)Do yourself a favor and mute the sound at the beginning -- the voiceover gives away a major spoiler. Turn the sound back on after the guy looks at his watch.
SalviaBlue
(2,917 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)Excellent and true sci-fi rather than space opera. But be warned: you'll want to see it more than once
Link to Roger Ebert's review, which is what led me to it in the first place:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041028/REVIEWS/40920013/1023
WhoIsNumberNone
(7,875 posts)Honorable mentions to:
The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
2001
Logan's Run
Metropolis
Rollerball (1976)
District 9
Clockwork Orange
Sunshine
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)Nothing can compare with the original film. The remake was terrible. I have a tape of the movie. Someday I will have it converted to a DVD.
FleetwoodMac
(351 posts)The Jacket
The soundtrack is crazy good too, especially Roger Eno's Fleeting Smile and the cover of We Have All The Time In The World (with Iggy Pop). Takes you to another time and place.
CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)Most people don't.
datasuspect
(26,591 posts)Mosby
(16,319 posts)lastlib
(23,248 posts)A total waste of celluloid!
(IMHO....)
Never could make any sense of it.....It's a clinic on how NOT to make a movie!
lastlib
(23,248 posts)whistler162
(11,155 posts)Everyone knows it is Plan Nine From Outer Space.... GEEZ!
RILib
(862 posts)and remember when watching it that the special effects of the time in other sf movies were on the order of paper plates = flying saucers. Also, it's about, you know, thinking, vs. toys.
Galaxy Quest is my second fav.
aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)and I still am. By the way, Journey To The Center The Earth which I also saw as a young kid immediately turned me into an avid spelunker.
RILib
(862 posts)the version with James Mason and Arlene Dahl.
Royal Sloan 09
(406 posts)both have movies and TV series, Good stuff!
Cheap_Trick
(3,918 posts)Demonaut
(8,919 posts)Cheap_Trick
(3,918 posts)A great sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey
Lionel Mandrake
(4,076 posts)repetitions of a certain clip from "2001".
Kubrick tried very hard to prevent anything like "2010" from being filmed.
jobycom
(49,038 posts)Cheap_Trick
(3,918 posts)Dr. Strange
(25,921 posts)edbermac
(15,941 posts)A classic that will never be equaled.
krispos42
(49,445 posts)The veterans of MST3k do something called "RiffTrax", and a few times a year they do a live simucast via satellite.
They did the replay of the riff of "Plan 9" just last Thursday.
What a horrible movie!
mucifer
(23,550 posts)Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)SecularMotion
(7,981 posts)limpyhobbler
(8,244 posts)In 89 posts nobody has said it???? I don't know about you guys.
MrMickeysMom
(20,453 posts)I have the DVD set. It never was as huge a TV mini series as may have been thought. Dakota Fanning's great debut.
Anyway, I love the story line of the three families and the sci-fi mixed with history.
Skip Intro
(19,768 posts)Kennah
(14,276 posts)aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)and as an apocalyptic end-of-the-world story was very scary to young people living in those times.
840high
(17,196 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,670 posts)Dragonbreathp9d
(2,542 posts)I was not prepared for the depth of this movie. It will blow your mind!
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)Separation
(1,975 posts)That was a really good movie.
Dragonbreathp9d
(2,542 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,444 posts)Bill and Ted Got Time Travel Right!
1983law
(213 posts)End the thread.
TexasBushwhacker
(20,202 posts)How about "They Live"? Cheesy sci-fi with nice political subtext.
SEMOVoter
(202 posts)Haven't seen this in a long time.
dogknob
(2,431 posts)dogknob
(2,431 posts)I know Nicholas Roeg is a problem for many, but really? Nobody?
SEMOVoter
(202 posts)Haven't seen that one in awhile either.
Graybeard
(6,996 posts)Quirky and funny but with strong social commentary this is Sci-Fi refreshing in it's originality. The special effects are great and the CGI aliens are amazing.
The search of a huge disabled space-ship reveals a large group of suffering aliens in what seems to be the steerage hold. They are soon determined to be docile and harmless and are allowed to live together openly. But their refugee camp becomes a segregated slum and in their little inter-action with humans they are always disparaged as 'the prawns'.
This one is worth a look.
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)AI
District 9
Minority Report
Galaxy Quest
5th Element
Contact
Event Horizon
Twelve Monkeys
2001
Aliens
Alien
Liberal Veteran
(22,239 posts)I think a lot of the flack the movie gets is from the last scene. I could have lived with the movie had it not been there and ended in the previous fade to black, but I didn't hate the final scene (except maybe how the mechas were portrayed which confused a lot of people about the ending).
Demonaut
(8,919 posts)Paladin
(28,264 posts)CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)70's Fassbinder version of the same novel that was later adapted into The 13th floor and scavenged for plot elements of The Matrix. Made for German TV.
Downtown Hound
(12,618 posts)Prometheus
Alien
2001: A Space Odyssey
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Dark City
District 9
The Time Machine (the 1960 George Pal version)
Blade Runner