Favorite SciFi?

[dnl42]

@hendie posted a fine RFI for his favorite SciFi movie, Forbidden Planet.

 

I'm curious what are peoples' favorite SciFi movies?

For me, it's Arrival (2016). I catch some new nuance every time I watch it. Next is Coherence (2013)--check it out if you haven't seen it! Both of these demand your full attention.

 

How say you?

[Graham Boak]

I liked Arrival, but 2001 has to top my list with the original Solaris a close follower.

 

Hmm.  Common theme of first contact, but Arrival a bit too predictably Hollywood, especially the ending.  

[593jones]

For me it's 'Quatermass and the Pit', 1967, and the tv serial from 1958.  Nigel Kneale was a great writer!

 

[psdavidson]

2001, because, well, it's 2001

What else is there to say

 

Oh, and Blade Runner in all its incarnations

 

/P

 

[cmatthewbacon]

Star Wars, Aliens, Forbidden Planet, Blade Runner, Dune (the new ones), Starman, The Fifth Element, The Thing (John Carpenter)…

best,

M.

[Pete in Lincs]

I'll start with Blade Runner. Alien, Aliens and The Thing.Three iconic Sci fi films that have been copied ad infinitum by others.

Close encounters of the third kind still works for me. Dune, I think the second one? Where I realised they were speaking Arabic in the background!

I haven't watched the new one. Haven't even been to the cinema in years, 

Forbidden planet had some great effects in it. Blade Runner, BTW, I still prefer the original UK release. The one with the Deckard voice over.

2001. I can't listen to the Blue Danube on Classic FM without seeing the docking sequence in my head. But then. Leonard Rossiter? Rigsby in space?

2010. I like too. Contact with Jodie Foster. That one with the space sanctuary in orbit & aliens living in shanty towns. Predictable ending.

What's that one with a returning spaceship with a big ball of evil in it? I never got to see the end. It always gave me the willies!

Fifth Element had it's moments, but a bit too cartoonish? in others.

Star Wars. The original live action ones yes. But I can't get into the animations and have lost track of who's who now.

No one has mentioned the original Star Trek Movies. Made, of course for the cinema they looked great on the big screen.

But not quite so good on the Smaller TV screens we had back then. I think we were used to that clean, equality universe from the TV series.

Things have got darker out there nowadays. Is it for the better?

EDIT - I just had a look on another a hard drive full of films that I have. So here are some more goodies...

Dark city. A quirky little film. But I liked it.

Galaxy Quest. Great stay in, watch and smile movie.

Pitch Black. Crash land on an Alien planet. What could go wrong?

Quiet Earth. A gentle Film from down under. Where did everyone go? The survivors have to figure it out.

Serenity, From the sadly cancelled TV series which I also really enjoyed. Great characters and writing.

Tron Still, for the time, great effects and worth another look.

An Animation that I like is Appleseed. Great graphics and action.

I've not seen some of these in years so am looking forward to do so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 4 by Pete in Lincs
Updated

[spruecutter96]

Just to be the contrarian here, folks should check out a 1970's (?) sci-fi parody called "Big Meat Eater". Made on a budget of around 10 Dollars, but the script is super-sharp and very ironic. They certainly don't make them like that, anymore...

 

Only issue with this one? It is VERY difficult to find these days. I saw it for sale on E-Bay recently and an ex-rental VHS copy (remember those?) was going for a mere £80! I've never seen it on any streaming service. 

 

If you like weird, low-budget, made-with-real-love movies, this one's a genuine gem. 

 

Cheers. 

 

Chris. 

 

PS: Solaris and Stalker? Regularly upheld as two of the top Sci-Fi films of all time.... I just don't get Tarkovsky's way of telling a story. And I doubt I ever will, to be honest. Really not my cup-of-tea.

 

Just as an aside, it's reckoned that filming next to the heavily-polluted river in Stalker might have given a lot of the crew cancer, including Tarkovsky himself.   

 

  

[spruecutter96]

On 3/4/2024 at 2:13 AM, Pete in Lincs said:

That one with the space sanctuary in orbit & aliens living in shanty town

I think we might be getting our Neil Blomkampf films mixed up here. The first part sounds like "Elysium" and the second part sounds like "District 9". Both worth a watch, although District 9 is the better movie, IMHO. 

 

Cheers. 

 

Chris.  

[spruecutter96]

On 3/4/2024 at 2:13 AM, Pete in Lincs said:

No one has mentioned the original Star Trek Movies.

The first one was one of the most self-important, dull, poorly-written, turgid movies I've ever seen. A 45-minute story, stretched into a two-and-a-half-hour film. AWFUL.

 

Two, three and four were good, space-opera romps and worth the effort. 

 

Five............I've been in therapy ever since and it still gives me nightmares. Utter bilge. 

 

The rest of the flock? Range from watchable to just embarrassing.  

[spruecutter96]

Throwing another one into the mix...... Akira. Possibly the best animated film I've clapped eyes on. 

 

Allegedly, Taika Waititi was going to make a live-action version of it, but that has gone very quiet indeed (probably because it would need a $500 Million budget to really do it justice - not impossible, given that Disney apparently spent nearly that much on "Solo: A Star Wars Story", when you include the cost of the re-shoots).

 

Cheers.

 

Chris.