Top 5 sci-fi films

verbosity · Post by **verbosity** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:57 am

post your top 5, give reasons:

1.Blade runner: for a film that over 25 years old it hasn't aged a day ( neither for that matter has Harrison Ford :s ). A film that never fails to deliver, yet leaves you with more questions than answers....
" theres a turtle on its back........"

2.Dune:
(David Lynch version), classic music ( Toto and David byrne) and one of the best stories ever written ( seriously, read the books!) 'nuff said!

3.Serenity: A film thats more a big fat finger to the studios for canning the TV series, serentiy brings the wild west into space, and does so with style! Sure it has failings, but its a taste of what the television series could have been!

4.The Last Starfighter:
A film about a boy who is recruited for an intergalatic war after playing a spaceship game. ok it hasn't aged well at all, but I'm willing to bet money that Vice is really an android

5.Starwars saga:
This would have been number 1 if it had not been for the prequels. Saved by Revenge of the Sith, though still not a patchon the originals. IT is still the classic fairy tale, complete with wizards, heros princess' and Dark castles

Lunaraia · Post by **Lunaraia** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:56 am

I'll bet against you on that Verb, say 150 mill Cash?

Storm · Post by **Storm** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:58 pm

Ditto on Serenity / (Firefly)! I have the TV series and the movie DVDs.

Dune: I like the John Harrison / SciFiChannel version of Dune / Children of Dune better. Truer to the books, and David Lynch took some liberties that were a little "off".

edit : oops you said to say "why", give reasons...

(my picks are just "off the cuff", ask me another day and you might get a different answer, and these are not necessarily ranked in order).

(1) Serenity. Just because. Classic space opera, with Whedon's unique humor and views on life. Correspondances with present day politics.

If you include miniseries:
(2) I LOVE "The Lost Room" (SciFi channel) - I have that on DVD. There is a good wikipedia section on it - with a list of all of the "objects" and what they do, etc. This movie (3 part as I recall) is just UNIQUE, an idea thats never been done before.

Another miniseries:
(3) Wild Palms (David Lynch, first aired in America in 1993). More a "future political fiction" than scifi, but with scifi elements. William Gibson (author of the Neuromancer series et al) had a cameo appearance, as himself. Intriguing. Amateurish, a bit "off", but entertaining.

(4) Zardoz - maybe some people want to see Sean Connery run around in red underwear (hehehe - just kidding - I'm straight). Just an interesting, entertaining movie.

(5) Logans Run. Just an interesting concept. Age discrimination taken to the extreme. A totally hedonistic "youth culture" run by a self-righteous psychotic computer. Scantily clad women, including Jenny Agutter - always had a crush on her, I think I still do.

And...
the one book or series of books that I want most to to see turned into a GOOD movie (or miniseries, or series of movies); The Amber Chronicles. Roger Zelazny ** IS ** my number one favorite aci-fi author. There IS talk / plans for this, but they will probably muck it up.

Another one (and they ARE filming it! John Travolta is in it - but I haven't heard recent news, maybe the project died): "Roadside Picnic". See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadside_Picnic
... its a fascinating book.

[Edited on 1-7-2009 by Storm]

Lunaraia · Post by **Lunaraia** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:09 pm

The best Sci-Fi movie I ever saw gotta be A.I, that thing is just so sad, made even me cry

WeirdWill · Post by **WeirdWill** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:24 pm

My Top 5 are:

1. Star Wars 4,5,6 (especially 5)
The prequels were ok except the first one. But the difference in style and technology didnÂ´t make it for me.

2. Serenity
The characters make the movie. And i really like the independant freetrader/roguetrader theme.

3. Battlestar Galactica (Pilot) (the classic series)
Dogfights and an interesting plot (at least for a 9 year old boy). I really like the art-style of the ships and all. Oh and I think female pilots were a big step towards gender equality back in this times.

3. Star Trek 2 - The Wraith of Khan
2 big Ships in a duel

4. Ghost in the Shell
An Anime, but really well done. The philosophical aspects and phrases in that movie are outstanding and looking it more than one time is necessary to really understand whats going on (a lot of technobubble).

5. Various movies like:
Alien, Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick, Dune, The Last Starfighter (saw it first time as a little child), Blade Runner...

Graven · Post by **Graven** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:07 pm

1. Serenity+Firefly. Because it is just great and I want to fly in their world.
2. Dune. Just glorious.
3. Stargate sg1, an insomniacs best friend
4. The Star wars films, 1,2,3,4 (not 5 and certainly not that awful ewokopia 6)
5. New BSG series. Stunning in space vision.

MMaggio · Post by **MMaggio** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:14 pm

Originally posted by Lunaraia
The best Sci-Fi movie I ever saw gotta be A.I, that thing is just so sad, made even me cry

I'm with you on that one Lunaria! It made me cry also!
[Just don't tell anyone]

Daedalao · Post by **Daedalao** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:38 pm

Some of my favorite scifi films might be a bit old for some of you... but

1. This Island Earth

2. The Day the Earth Stood Still (And no, that's not the new one)

3. Forbidden Planet

4. Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan

5. They Live

I can't agree with the star wars films being great science fiction, because it's just World War 2 in space. I can give it credit for decent special effects though. They just don't fit into my list... although... well, there are quite a few more... five just wasn't fair.

MMaggio · Post by **MMaggio** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:08 pm

I had not given it much thought 'till now, but I think I have to agree with your pick right down the line.
I haven't seen, "This Island Earth" on TV for some time, but your mentioning it refreshed my memory.
Good choices, all!:D

verbosity · Post by **verbosity** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:21 pm

Originally posted by MMaggio
I had not given it much thought 'till now, but I think I have to agree with your pick right down the line.

2,3 and 5 are classic films, they shouldn't be allowed here, but in the top 5 films ever list!

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:58 pm

I havn't seen # 1 but I just put it on my Netflix Que.

IckleChesh · Post by **IckleChesh** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:40 pm

mmmm, tough choice...

Lets see...

1. 2001. And why not. Great film, visually, and technologically considering it was made before the moon landings. Amazing vision by both Stan and Mr C. Read the original shorts that the film was based on, and that just made it even better.

2. Star Trek 2, or 10, not sure. Both great for their own reasons. (Big Trek fan so looking fwd to number 11!!)

3. Chronicles Of Riddick. Great story.

4. Alien. Got to be the best of the 4 by far. 1st saw it when I was about 14 I think, scared the stuffing out of me! (Thanks dad!) Aliens comes in a close joint 4th as well.

5. Event Horizon. Horror, space, ships, explosions, black holes, crazed scientists. Its got the lot!

There so many more that should get an MiD but a classic that my brother reminded me of over Christmas was Starchaser: The Legend of Orin. Amazing animation, and just great fun. Also Akira, have watched that so many times, in both English and Japanese and still miss things, and the giant toy section is just a great big mind trip!

verbosity · Post by **verbosity** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:16 pm

Originally posted by IckleChesh
1. 2001. And why not. Great film, visually, and technologically considering it was made before the moon landings. Amazing vision by both Stan and Mr C. Read the original shorts that the film was based on, and that just made it even better.

Shorts it was based on?

I'm lost, it was a book......

IckleChesh · Post by **IckleChesh** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:39 pm

2001 the screenplay was writen by Kubrick and Clarke. It was based on a 2 short stories written by Clarke called The Sentinal and I think the other one was called 1st Dawn. The book of the film was writen at the same time as the screen play and both took ideas from the other, but the book was not published until after the film was released. That is why the book 2001 and the film are so alike. The Sentinal was used as a starting point. They did plan to write to book first, but studio and time restrictions ment that could not happen. Both Kubrick and Calrke are credited as writing the screen, but only Clarke was listed for the book.

When I read The Sentinal and the other short, the film made so much more sence. One big difference between the film and book, is that the film goes to Jupiter, but the book goes to Saturn. Jupiter was chossen for the film, because, I think it was Voyager, had just made a fly by and so there was a lot more interest in it.

The following books (2010, 2061 and 3001: A Final Odessy) all mention Jupiter. 2010 the book was writen before 2010 the film however, and the film is directly based on the book. Clarke originaly did not want a 2nd film, but MGM convinced him.

(Geek moment over. Sorry

)

[Edited on 1-8-2009 by IckleChesh]

verbosity · Post by **verbosity** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 12:23 am

thanks, I'll go check them out............

MMaggio · Post by **MMaggio** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 1:44 am

Did you know that Mr. Clarke lived on an island in indonesia and his house was swept away by the Tsunami? Mr. Clarke has never been found and is presumed dead.

[A moment of silence please...]

IckleChesh · Post by **IckleChesh** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:49 am

I thought he died 19 March 2008 of heart failure? I remember reading the obit in the papers.

Daedalao · Post by **Daedalao** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:00 am

Interestingly enough, another scifi movie that I was skeptical about was Sunshine. The last 30 minutes of it kind of ruin the movie, but up until that point it's down right depressing... The payload isn't very realistic but most of the conversations being had about what has to be done.... Oh man. Some of the younger actors show their abilities in it. Definitely recommend it for anyone that likes a good... well, I don't know how to classify it other than as science fiction.

Enemy Mine should also be on this list somewhere. It is similar to 1968's Hell in the Pacific with Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune. Two soldiers (or pilot's) stuck together having to learn to live together. Although Hell in the Pacific portrays a much more realistic relationship developing, Enemy Mine should not be cast aside as a lesser film. I liken it to the Last Starfighter if Alex and Grig were on opposite sides of the fight. If you've seen or watched either of these, you will see what I mean.

Anyways, I didn't realise that it was two in the morning

MMaggio · Post by **MMaggio** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 1:29 pm

Originally posted by IckleChesh
I thought he died 19 March 2008 of heart failure? I remember reading the obit in the papers.

I just checked, you are right. Some sorry sick-minded pervert started that black-humored rumor out of jest!
I will give myself 30 lashes with a wet noodle!:(