As we enter the period of the year where there is little to do outside, I have been catching up on some movie viewing. I'm a big fan of science fiction movies and was wondering what your favorite sci-fi movies are.
To: sleeper-has-awakened
"The Day the Earth Stood Still" ... circa 1955? I fell deeply in love with Michael Rennie in that one.
"Gort barada niktu!" ... Patricia Neal said that to the metal robot, so Gort could rescue Michael Rennie.
Algort?. No, tho there was some visual similarity in the two. However, Gort had the power to destroy the world. On second thought, maybe Algort ... oh, nevermind!
g
42 Posted on 01/16/2001 09:34:58 PST by Geezerette
To: sleeper-has-awakened
There are some excellent SciFi movies from the 50's that are even better when done with todays technology. The Thing is a good example. Here's an article about another one that is one of my all time favorites.
The story of Forbidden Planet holds up so well because it is lifted almost straight from Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Starring Leslie Nielson, Walter Pidgeon and Anne Francis, it tells the tale of a ship from Earth investigating the missing expedition to Altair IV. When they arrive they find that most of the crew had died nearly two decades before with only a scientist and his daughter still alive. The scientist's inner hate for all things foreign to the world begins to lethally manifest through the alien world's advance technology (left by the Krull?), especially once love blooms between the ship's captain and the scientist's daughter.
Movie Remake
Recently there's been news about New Line Cinema working on a remake of Forbidden Planet. So far the news is good as they're planning to do a serious film.
45 Posted on 01/16/2001 09:38:08 PST by Ender@Game.now
To: sleeper-has-awakened
The movie titles I'm seeing here are quite a bit newer than those I remember most fondly from the 50's and 60's.
If I had to pick a favorite, I'd have to go with 'The Black Scorpion'. For those who never saw it, it's a B&W, low budget, 50's sci-fi cautionary tale about volcanoes and giant scorpions set in a kinder, gentler Mexico of days gone by.
Richard Denning played the lead. (He was also in 'The Day the World Ended', also a great flic) I seem to recall hearing that he passed away a few years ago.
There was a picture, released (or re-released) sometime in the early 60's that I've been trying to track down for years. I saw a coming attractions trailer for it at the old Drive-In theater, but never saw the movie.
I can only remember a single scene. There's a man, obviously a scientist/professor/paleontologist type, standing by a shoreline. He stoops down and reaches into the water, picks up a trilobite and holds it in the palm of his hand.
The implication is that this extinct creature's presence in the water portends the presence of other unexpected creatures too. It was probably a 'dinosaur in the modern world' story along the lines of 'Dinosaurus', but I can't be sure.
I'd love to know what the title of that movie was. Anybody who remembers it, I'd appreciate a heads-up.
47 Posted on 01/16/2001 09:39:52 PST by DWSUWF
To: sleeper-has-awakened
Its hard to pick the best of any movie genre and sci-fi films are no different. So heres the best of the best according to my tastes anyway. In no special order either.
The Thing (From Another World)
The Day the Earth Stood Still
War of the Worlds
Forbidden Planet
The First Men in the Moon
Planet of the Apes
2001-A Space Odyssey
Star Wars
Star Trek II-The Wrath of Kahn
The Empire Strikes Back
Aliens
Total Recall
Star Trek VI- The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek VIII- First Contact
Starship Troopers
55 Posted on 01/16/2001 09:44:53 PST by Reagan Man
To: sleeper-has-awakened
Let's not forget one of my all time favorites.
BR>
Synopsis:
A housewife
watches as a tomato emerges from her garbage disposal unit, her puzzlement turning into
terror as the tomato launches a savage attack upon her. All over America, tomatoes begin
attacking the populace: a man drinks tomato juice and collapses in agony; an old couple
sees their grandson devoured. At a facility run by the Department of Agriculture, police
officers battle with the attacking fruits. A helicopter crashes when a tomato flies into
it. A representative of the Department (Jack Riley) conspires to keep the uprising a
secret, putting together an investigative team comprising the most obscure generals and
scientists, and headed by a minor government functionary named Mason Dixon (David Miller).
Mason and his team hold a meeting attended by the President’s Press Secretary, Jim
Richardson (George Wilson), where Mason is assigned four operatives to help him, with Lt.
Wilbur Finletter (J. Stephen Peace) being appointed his assistant. Meanwhile,
tomato-related incidents continue to terrorise the nation. At a press conference, Jim
Richardson is horrified when, at the last moment, someone questions him about the growing
tomato menace. Richardson tells the gathered reporters that everything possible is being
done, including the formation of a Senate Investigating Committee. However, at the first
meeting of the Committee, it is discovered that a copy of the preliminary report on the
tomato situation is missing. This document has fallen into the hands of the editor of the
"Times" newspaper (Ron Shapiro) who, due to a shortage of qualified personnel,
is forced to assign the tomato story to rookie reporter Lois Fairchild (Sharon Taylor).
The President (Ernie Myers) sends Richardson to New York to meet with "Mind
Maker" advertising executive Ed Swan (Al Sklar), hired to create a advertising
campaign to reassure the American public. But it may already be too late: a giant tomato
captured by the military is examined by scientists and found to be only – a cherry
tomato!
64 Posted on 01/16/2001 09:49:23 PST by genesis
To: Jimhimself
It was so interesting how a severly delusional & arrogant elitist could take people to very bad places.
Yeah, but that was science fiction. That could never happen in real life.
Right?
Please?
(OK, let's ignore Bill, Hill, and Hitler for now ....)
67 Posted on 01/16/2001 09:51:01 PST by Jonah Hex
To: sleeper-has-awakened
1) Any Tom Baker Dr. Who serial viewed in total as a movie.
2) Zardoz - with Sean Connery
3) Planet of the Apes
4) Bladerunner
5) Silent Running
6) The running movie with Micheal York and dead 30 year olds.
7) The Red Planet
8) Independence Day
9) Matrix
10)Clockwork Orange (SF?)
Special mention - UFO - the BBC series with the big
knockered chicks in tight silver suits and blue "penis-head" hairdos, also nifty futuristic sport cars.
87 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:09:04 PST by JohnYankeeCmpsr
To: lovecraft
The matrix is great - Some see it as an allegory for the deluded state in which the "well-adjusted" citizen of our Repulic exists. (As George Will once said: Great emphasis is placed on being well-adjusted and not enough emphasis on what one is well-adjusted to. inexact quote re: riding N.Y. subway; re: Bernard Goetz)
Terminator 1 & 2 are also favorites of mine. One can play all kinds of mental games with the idea of time travel. Here there is a wonderful development on that, specifically the circularity that might be imagined to result. Briefly for those not familiar with the film. The machines are at war with humans in some future time. The machines send back the Terminator (android) to terminate the mother of the leader of their opposition before his birth; that leader sends back a man to protect his mother. In one brief romantic interlude, the protector and protected conceive the child who will become the leader.The android terminator is finally destroyed. Representatives of the government, not fully aware of what is going on, recover the remains of the android. From those remains, government scientists exploit and develop the advanced computer technology that eventually results in the development of self-awareness of the computers. This self awareness results in their eventual decision to destroy humanity and the resulting above mentioned war.
88 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:09:19 PST by Aurelius
To: sleeper-has-awakened
A. Star Wars. Nothing can touch the original. But it's not really science-fiction, it's a blend of space opera and sword-and-sorcery epics. And I love it.
Now the following, sort of ranked by enjoyment factor:
1. Aliens (actually not great SF, but as an adventure movie, top-notch)
2. Marooned (very factual, especially in light of recently-released material on what NASA and Nixon would have said if astronauts had died on the moon)
3. 2010: Odyssey Two (I liked 2001, but 2010 utilized what was known about the Jupiter system quite well)
4. The Terminator
4.5 Terminator II
5. Soylent Green
6. Logan's Run
7. The Hidden (and I also like Hal Clement's book
Needle, for hard-core SF lovers)
8. Sphere
9. Silent Running
10. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
92 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:10:16 PST by cogitator
To: sleeper-has-awakened
Forbidden Planet is a real classic which was, about a decade ago, turned into a stage musical Return to the Forbidden Planet. Anyone ever seen the latter?
The Day the Earth Stood Still is of course also a classic, and in rather a different way so is Ed Wood's remake, Plan Nine from Outer Space. What other movies have such great lines as "Atmospheric disturbances in outer space often interfere with transmitting"?
94 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:12:45 PST by supercat
To: Williams
I caught the TV version of the The Fifth Element and they used the directors cut for time reasons(They placed previously removed scenes to make up for the violence and language they cut out)
Anyway, I thought the the regular version sucked but with the added scenes it turned out to be a MUCH better movie. I ended up liking it a whole lot more, in outher words, it got chopped too much to be a good movie, but when you add in those scenes it bacame a damn good flick.
97 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:16:48 PST by lovecraft
To: sleeper-has-awakened
Gack! If you ever read the book "Starship Troopers" there would be no way you would list it as a top movie. They totally changed it from a conservative tale about the civic and spiritual growth of an individual in a conservative society to a shoot 'em up piece of liberal tripe.
That being said, here's my list:
1. The Fifth Element - Humor, drama, excitement, romance. Bruce Willis saves the world. Chris Tucker has a great role as an over the top future DJ. It takes watching this movie at least twice to "get" it. The best sci-fi movie of all time.
2. The Matrix - Whoa. What a concept. What execution. What a movie.
3. Alien - I first saw this movie in high school. Holy cow, it was great! A horror tale with a monster scarier than anything you could imagine crawling out from under your bed.
4. The Terminator - Arnold has been parodied to death, but when it first came out, he was an unknown and you really believed that he would never rest, never give up, never stop until you were terminated.
5. The Stand mini-series - Could have been done better, but was mostly true to the King book and stayed true for the most part. A bucket of water to King fans who have seen almost every book ruined by the movie.
Honorable mention: Total Recall, Star Trek II, Alien Resurrection, Predator.
101 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:21:54 PST by DouglasKC
To: sleeper-has-awakened
I'm sorry, but most of the movies being mentioned in this thread are NOT Science fiction. They are space-fantasy. Just because something has aliens or outer space, or a galaxie far, far away, does not make it science fiction. True science fiction, (my source being HG Wells) is when one or two plausible, but as yet unrealized, scientific discoveries are introduced into an otherwise realistic environment and then the consequences of these new elements are extrapolated on society.
In my opinion, two of the best TRUE Science Fiction movies in recent years was Gattica and 13th Floor. That was science fiction in the truest sense, and if you haven't seen it, you owe it to yourself to check it out. I would also count Arnold's latest movie, The 6th Day.
I have taken the liberty of some of the movies that were already mentioned in this thread which I think do indeed meet the criteria of true science fiction and have listed them below.
Gattica
13th Floor
6th Day
Time Machine
20,000 Leagues (the James Mason as Nemo one)
Terminator & Terminator II
Solient Green
The Matrix
Rollerball.
THX1138
2001, 2010
Blade Runner
Andromeda Strain
Metropolis
Planet of the Apes
The First Men in the Moon
Total Recall
Journey To the Center Of the Earth
102 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:22:20 PST by pjd
To: sleeper-has-awakened
Not >yet< a movie but one of the very first mini series with 17 episodes..."The Prisoner"
Patrick McGoohan stars as a secret agent who resigns. Before he can leave his London flat he's spirited away to a mysterious and unescapable utopia know only as The Village. People there have no names, only numbers. Most evey want is catered to with the main exception being the Freedom to leave. McGoohan is number 6, presumably someone of importance since The Village is run by Number 2.
Weekly Number 2 interrogates Number 6 seeking Information and the reason for the resignation. Number 6 resists and upon failure Number 2 is replaced by a new Number 2 who continues to try and break Number 6.
Number 6 continually tries to escape and never(?) succeeds usually foiled by a huge floating, growling Guardian know as Rover. A confrontation with Rover is seldom plesant, and usually ends with the escapee's injury..or death.
A recurring question is "Who is Number 1?" To which the reply is "You are Number 6". Or is that "You are, Number 6".
But as the series points out, "Questions are a burdon to others. Answers a prison to ones self."
The videotapes are available for rent, sometimes at Blockbuster, West Coast or similar outlets, as well as for sale. The series has recently been released on DVD. Every once in a while it turns up on PBS, Sci-Fi channel or some other venue.
Rumors of a movie have been perisistant and recent hype includes the signing of a director and negotiations with the likes of Mel Gibson to play McGoohan's Number 6. Word that Gibson is a big fan of the series and friends with McGoohan, who is one of the film's producers, fuels the rumors.
Another rumor is that McGoohan submitted a script but it was rejected or is being reworked. Leaks claim the script was "artisitic" and confusing with most of the action and diolouge centering on Number 6 and Number 2 standing on the Village beach shouting nmbers and obscenties at each other.
There are several deep, intertwined themes including personal Freedom and Independence which make the series especially attactive to Conservatives in general, and FReepers in particular.
And of course the series is where I take my screen name...
prisoner6
BCNU
104 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:28:40 PST by prisoner6 (b_carnes@hotmail.com)
To: pjd
I'm sorry, but most of the movies being mentioned in this thread are NOT Science fiction. They are
space-fantasy. Just because something has aliens or outer space, or a galaxie far, far away, does not
make it science fiction. True science fiction...
blah, blah, blah...what are you, the SF gestapo?
Bump for Metropolis!
109 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:34:52 PST by JohnYankeeCmpsr
To: pjd
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Okay it's not classic science fiction, but it does have the funniest take on time-travel I've ever seen. At the end of movie, Bill and Ted need a key to get into Ted's Dad's locked cabinet (I forget why). The dialog that follows goes something like this (I'm paraphrasing):
Bill: Dude, where are we going to find that key?
Ted: Hey, I know. Once this is over, we'll borrow the key from my Dad, hop in the time machine, come back to this time and leave the key here.
Bill: Awesome. Where should we leave it?
Ted: Let's leave it those bushes there.
Ted checks the bushes and pulls out the key.
Ted: Got it!
Bill: Cool. Now we got to remember to leave the key there later.
114 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:44:05 PST by PMCarey
To: sleeper-has-awakened
Here's some favorites no one has mentioned yet:
"It, the Terror from Beyond Space"- I have wonderful memories of watching this with my father on Chiller Theater, WPIX. Also, this film was remade as "Alien"
"Armageddon" (sp?)- I know this is a silly flick but my kids and I really, really enjoyed it.
117 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:46:37 PST by jalisco555
To: Peter W. Kessler
1. Queen of Outer Space
If I'm not mistaken, the uniforms worn by the earthlings in "Queen" are the same uniforms worn by Leslie "And don't call me Shirley" Nielsen and friends in "Forbidden Planet" (which is one of my favorites).
I have to admit a soft spot for "Kronos", the one where the giant robot from "up there" (in the words of Dr. Eliot) tries to suck up all of Earth's energy since the administrators on Kronos' home planet evidently fell into the same predicament that California is currently suffering from. Besides, the guy who provided the voice for George Jetson (George O'Hanlon) actually has a leading roll in this one.
And "The Atomic Submarine" remains a favorite for having one of the best "giant eyeball" aliens of all time. Loved the interior of the UFO, with the "floating, angular pathways in the dark" that are strangely reminiscent of Marvin the Martian's environment.
And "The Invisible Boy", in which Robby the Robot makes another appearance. He/it is controlled by an evil computer and the programming that prevents him from harming humans appears to have been eliminated in this one (getting one's eyes poked out by Robby doesn't sound like much fun to me!).
And, according to the Internet Movie Database, Irving Block, whoever he was, had his hand in all four films somewhere.
118 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:46:40 PST by CubicleGuy
To: supercat
Forbidden Planet is a real classic which was, about a decade ago, turned into a stage musical Return to the
Forbidden Planet.
Considering that the planet was blown up at the end of the movie (by overloading the Krell fusion reactors), the concept of "Return to the Forbidden Planet" is a bit odd.
FP certainly ranks as one of my favorites -- it was one of the first DVD's I bought ... and watching Anne Francis makes me wonder if anybody has released the old Honey West series on video. (I'm slowly collecting The Avengers series, both the Diana Rigg and the original Honour Blackman episodes. But I digress...)
PS - interesting concept for a drinking game while watching "Forbidden Planet" -- take a drink whenever there appears something that Roddenberry "borrowed" for Star Trek.
121 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:54:35 PST by algol
To: Nubbin
Solient Green. (sp?)
Actually, it's Soylent Green. Just saw it a few weeks ago. Several years before Roe v. Wade made it official, this movie discussed a debased social order wherein humanity itself becomes a mere commodity.
I was strongly reminded of socialist "workers' paradises," where the strong prey on the week, and half the single young women are prostitutes.
122 Posted on 01/16/2001 10:55:13 PST by TomSmedley
To: correctthought
Under no circumstances, any Star Trek Movies. (They're space communists)
They can't help it: their technology has progressed to the point where they can manufacture as much of just about any material that they want or need (of course, there were a few TV episodes where they absolutely had to have certain things to keep the warp drive engines running that they couldn't manufacture (darned dilithium crystals!), so they had to make certain arrangements with certain inhabitants of certain planets in order to obtain the necessary items).
If you don't have to deal with any problems of scarcity (and apparently, the cost of manufacturing anything one could want has, by the 23rd century, become negligible), what else would we expect when people are no longer motivated by monetary gain?
129 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:03:32 PST by CubicleGuy
To: Geezerette
You're dating yourself, but I agree.
Editorial Reviews
That ol' cinematic devil the A-bomb has spawned a colony of giant murderous ants bent on destroying humanity in this, the seminal big bug movie (an obvious and oft-credited influence for Alien among countless others). The special effects may be dated, but this brilliantly rational-sounding film has held up wonderfully in all other regards, including some starkly effective location work in the high Arizona desert, a genuinely inspired sound design guaranteed to bring on the creepy-crawlies, and...
130 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:03:35 PST by BeamMeUpScotty
To: JohnYankeeCmpsr
I'd have to agree, a lot of those movies aren't really sci-fi, more like fantasy, but they generally get lumped into the sci-fi genre.
I wondered when someone would mention Logan's Run, one of my old favorites.
Blade Runner would have to rank way up there for me, to.
Star Wars Episodes IV and V were pretty cool space fantasies.
I love The Prisoner. That show had so many cool little mind games going on - definitely a product of the 60's. "We want information...Information..."
Some of the Star Trek movies were OK, but II was the only really good one.
I wonder, could you consider Farenheit 451 to be a sci-fi flic? It is set in the future, but really it's a piece of social commentary. Good parable about censorship and thought control, the use of mind-altering pharmaceuticals, etc. And the movie version has such a funky feel to it - that 60's influence again, everyone in turtlenecks.
131 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:03:43 PST by Ryan Craig
To: supercat
Forbidden Planet is a real classic which was, about a decade ago, turned into a stage musical Return to the Forbidden Planet. Anyone ever seen the latter?
Don't Reverse the Polarity!!!
Shakespeare's forgotten rock & roll classic was a wonderful experience. You had to feel sorry for Prospero -- he was just a soul whose intentions were good ...
TS
(have it on CD, British cast unfortuantely. I liked the off-Bway folks better.)
134 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:04:55 PST by Tanniker Smith
To: genesis
I would say that your definition is a very Liberal one, in the way that the Liberals have corrupted so many definitions these days. But it is certainly not consistent with the Classical definition.
I would prefer to take my definition from one of the greatest pioneers of SciFi writing rather than some unknown source. Rather than HGWells, I would prefer, actually, Jules Vern's definition, but I don't have it, although I expect it to be consistent with HGW's.
More from HGW:
..Touches of prosaic detail are imparative and a rigorous adherence to the hypothesis. Any *extra* fantasy outside the cardinal assumption immediately gives a touch of irresponsible silliness to the invention...-H.G. Wells
If you want to call all of these movies SciFi, then what is Fantasy? Let's be a little descriminating.
135 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:05:39 PST by pjd
To: kachina
I agree with your opinion on what they did to "Starship Troopers". They got a few elements right, but mostly butchered the main points. And they totally skipped the armored fighting suits that made the Mobile Infantry mobile and inspired a whole generation of Japanese anime.
"The Puppet Masters" was another Heinlein-inspired movie that didn't come up to the level of the book, although wasn't too bad as a movie.
I have a problem picking "best SF movies" because in general Hollywood is incapable of doing justice to a good thought-provoking SF story. Partly it's the nature of the medium, partly it's the targetting of a wider (and hence, lets be honest, stupider) audience. "GATTACA" was a good counter-example, though. "Fahrenheit 451" is one of the few books that survived translation to film. Some of the best cinematic SF has actually been made-for-TV by, typically, British filmmakers (and no, I don't mean Dr. Who or Red Dwarf although those are enjoyable in their own way).
I enjoy a good space-opera as well as the next person, but too often the movie maker will substitute special effects for story.
140 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:08:07 PST by algol
To: DouglasKC, sleeper-has-awakened
Agreed about Starship Troopers, but the effects in that movie are just awesome (the book is a different experience altogether) I still love the film. Haven't seen Gattaca mentioned, the science and implications of the latter are mind-boggling. Also, I must agree with sleeper-has-awakened, the Dune movies (both the Sci-Fi and the '84 release), were poor representations of the book (hey, how about a Dune Messiah or Children of Dune sequel?).
Don't want to forget the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Bladerunner (best Harrison Ford performance ever), Logan's Run, and also Star Trek III (particularly Kirk's trick with the destruction of the Enterprise, still gets me!)
Titan A.E. was probably the worst I've seen, with no offense to anyone--not too much thought went into this one. But the Macross series of Robotech were just incredible, Southern Cross was awesome too, as well as the Invid Invasion, all worth seeing over and over again.
142 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:09:34 PST by steveisright
To: InvisibleChurch
I remember that episode, and the Jerome Bixby story "It's A Good Life" that inspired it.
I remember hearing Bill Mumy tell a story about working in an Alfred Hitchcock production (I forget which one). Mumy kept fidgeting, and the production was approaching the day's limit for how long a child actor could be kept on the set. Hitchcock walked up to him between takes and told him, "Young man, if you do not stay on your mark I shall nail your feet to the floor and the blood will run like milk."
Mumy stood still for that take. From then on, even after he grew up, he avoided going near Hitchcock's office.
159 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:23:28 PST by steve-b
To: CatoRenasci, TC Rider, staytrue, commish
In case the link was bad:
A BOY AND HIS DOG (1975)--Directed by L.Q. Jones. Stars Don Johnson, Jason Robards, Susanne Benton, and the voice of Tim McIntire. George Miller has reportedly claimed that THE ROAD WARRIOR, which he directed, was inspired by this cult science-fiction black comedy. In 2024, after World War IV has reduced the United States to a desert wasteland, Vic (Johnson) roams the post-apocalyptic landscape with his dog Blood (Tiger from “The Brady Bunch”), which can speak to Vic telepathically. While foraging for food and seeking women to rape (life is pretty grim in the 21st century), Vic and Blood encounter Quilla June (Benton), who seduces Vic and lures him to her underground community, Topeka, which is run by Craddock (Robards). Topeka is a bizarre place in which people wear white face makeup, smile blandly, and are sentenced to “The Farm” for having a bad attitude. The men are sterile, so Craddock presses Vic into stud service to impregnate 35 young women, which Vic thinks is a pretty good idea until he finds himself strapped to an artificial insemination machine!
McIntire, who also composed the musical score (except for the Topeka sequence, which was done by Jaime Mendoza-Nava), scores with some great one-liners as Blood, including the last line of the movie, which received a lot of controversy at the time and seems to be either loved or hated by audiences (I think it’s hilarious). A BOY AND HIS DOG is an interesting movie to look at; Jones, who also penned the screenplay, and cinematographer John Morrill have composed some striking images, using their unusual sets and stark California desert locations to strong effect. Topeka, with its always dark “sky” lit up with bright fluorescent lights, is particularly creepy. The movie does lose steam almost exactly two-thirds into it when Johnson descends to Topeka; I don’t think these sequences, despite nice work by Robards and unusual photography, work as well as the scenes on the surface. One reason is Blood’s absence, since the movie’s best moments consist of the verbal give-and-take between Blood and Vic. Director Jones believes his movie to be a love story between the two characters, and I would agree.
According to Jones, A BOY AND HIS DOG played in theaters for 18 years (!) until the prints became so beat up they couldn’t be used anymore. Produced by Alvy Moore (Hank Kimball from "Green Acres"!), who also plays one of the Topeka committee members. Also with Helene Winston, Hal Baylor, Ron Feinberg and Charles McGraw. Based upon a novella by Harlan Ellison, who has expressed unhappiness with this film (especially the last line, which is not in the novella and was written by Jones). Director Jones is a noted character actor who made several westerns with Sam Peckinpah.
The DVD features a strange theatrical trailer, a trailer for its 1982 reissue which concentrates on praise from film critics, and a commentary featuring Jones, Morrill and Los Angeles Times critic Charles Champlin. Jones is a great storyteller, and has many neat anecdotes concerning the making of A BOY AND HIS DOG, although he's very self-effacing concerning his own abilities as a director. The source print contains quite a few scratches and color fades, but I didn't really mind that much. The DVD also restores the original 2.35:1 ratio, which is essential, not only for enjoying Morrill's compositions, but also because so much information is rendered non-verbally by actors (and canines) in two-shots that the film becomes confusing seen any other way.
-- I always liked Hank Kimball ;-)
160 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:24:39 PST by HalfIrish
To: sleeper-has-awakened
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
A deliciously wicked John Lithgow as Dr. Emilio Lizardo, a suave Peter Weller as Buckaroo Banzai, and Vincent Schiavelli as one of the many "Johns."
"Wherever you go, there you are."(I think that's the quote)
162 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:27:43 PST by Carolina
To: HalfIrish
Since it's been mentioned so many times, I should point out that "A Boy And His Dog" is based ont he story by Harlan Ellison.
Ellison also sued James Camerion et al. to get credit for The Terminator, which he contended was based on/ripped-off from one of his stories (I believe "The Soldier" which was filmed as an episode of the old Outer Limits, starring Robert Culp). Babylon 5 was also mentioned, Ellison was a consultant on that series, but never got his sh*t together enough to write an actual script, unfortunately.
As long as I'm posting to this thread, I'll point out that a few of the movies mentioned as favorites have been done on Mystery Science Theater 3000, including Black Scorpion, Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, This Island Earth (for the movie) and The Green Slime (actually, I think only a few minutes of this one was done as a pilot for KTMA-Minneapolis). And of course, a bunch of the crapfilm mentioned by Peter Kessler as his favorites.
As for my favorite sf films, I think they've all been covered here by others. The Prisoner, The Matrix, Star Wars, Empire, Gattaca, Planet of the Apes, X-Men . . . Hey, has no one mentioned Terry Gillaim's "Brazil"? Anyone here who hasn't seen it, go rent/borrow/buy/steal a copy NOW. (Admittedly fantasy, not science fiction, but the parameters used on this thread tend to fall under the more-encompassing "speculative fiction," than "science fiction.") Gilliam's "12 Monkeys" hasn't been mentioned either, actually. What is wrong with you people?
Back to work. . .
169 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:32:05 PST by Plummz
To: Carolina
You are so right. Buckeroo Bonzai is truly High Art.
"Big Boo-TAY, big Boo-TAY, dammit!"
Also, I'm suprised no one has mentioned the immortal "They Live", with it's classic 6 minute fight scene between Rowdy Roddy Piper and the black guy.
175 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:35:21 PST by Cernunnos
To: sleeper-has-awakened
In no particular order:
Frankenstein (the original) - One of the few movies that can send chills down your spine, and make you think.
THX1138 - Predicted Ritalin. Who defines utopia?
Forbidden Planet - Strikes at utopian fantasies that believe man is basicly good, and that we can solve our problems by putting "good" men in positions of power.
Galaxy Quest - The best sci-fi parody out there. The space aliens are a great analogy for the "sheeple" who believe anything they see on TV.
Several people have mentioned Dune. I don't think either of the movies are that good, but the book is so good that it makes you want the movie to be good.
Best parts of Dune (the book): The person that can destroy a thing, controls that thing. Beware elevating a person to a "god" status. Just because you put them there doesn't mean you will be able to control them.
183 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:40:16 PST by Brookhaven
To: Geezerette
Ah yes...
The place: Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, Japan.
The time: 1990, the morning after the Armed Forces Network showed Soylent Green. It's Saturday Brunch at the mess hall.
The trigger: I saw this spinach cornbread: a pale green square, sitting there on my tray.
So I yelled, "SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!"
EVERYBODY got grossed out...BWAHAHAHAHA!
184 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:40:42 PST by Poohbah
To: steve-b
Mumy stood still for that take. From then on, even after he grew up, he avoided going near Hitchcock's office.
I really enjoyed Bill Mumy's character in Babylon 5... unfortunately, I got halfway through Season 3 and moved, and couldn't get the show in my new location, and couldn't afford cable at the time.
A favorite Lennier (Bill Mumy) line:
"If you intend to kill me, do so. Otherwise I have considerable work to do."
So can you buy taped Babylon 5 episodes anywhere?
185 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:41:47 PST by Oberon (nobody@null.net)
To: esoteric
No offense but both Dune movies were horrible. The books were great.
Agree, but the first Dune movie had one aspect that I liked.
Everything WASN'T made out of white plastic --everywhere I looked, there was beatifully finished wood, copper, brass, glass and leather. It really contributed to the atmosphere, and to the notion that this was a civilization that acheived flight and advanced implements of warfare on a different technological track than what we're used to. It was, well, otherworldly.
Having also read the books before seeing the movie, I was disappointed in the film. When it pops up on TV though, I usually watch it just for the background visuals. :-)
190 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:43:36 PST by Riley
To: COBOL2Java
Lots of greats on this list. I'd like to add THE OMEGA MAN. Chuck Heston kicking biological mutant butt while crusing around an abandoned L.A. in a convertable Mustang. His swagger and nonchalant sub-machinegun technique must be seen to be believed. Anthony Zerbe is great as the monk-robed, albino leader with the funky eyes covered in way cool shades. There's also some forbidden love, 70's style, as Chuck and Rosalind Cash (and her huge afro) get a little funky jungle fever thang goin' on. And Heston crucified on the fountain sculpture outside his fortified pad at the end of the movie is one of film's most enduring images.
Best line...
Heston tosses a machine gun to Cash.
Cash: What's this for?
Heston: Comfort.
There is talk of a remake. Here's hoping it comes to pass. A classic.
191 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:43:40 PST by bootyist-monk
To: real saxophonist
UFO probably gets my vote for best TV SF, along with a Gerry and Sylvia puppet show, Captain Scarlet.
Three highly unusual things about both series: A) The bad guys aren't uniformly bad, B) Sometimes, the Earthlings are in the wrong, and C) Sometimes, the good guys lose.
193 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:45:03 PST by Physicist (sterner@sterner.hep.upenn.edu)
To: Carolina
Blade Runner
ST2: The Wrath of Kahn
Forbidden Planet
Predator
Alien and Aliens (The others became same ol', same ol'.)
Planet of the Apes
Logan's Run
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Across the 8th Dimension - YES!
A Boy and His Dog
Honorable mention to Galaxy Quest.
Hey, doesn't anybody remember The Day of the Triffids? I saw that on b/w TV when I was a kid. I couldn't eat corn on the cob for a month.
Has anybody heard anything about a movie of "Rendezvous with Rama"? Now that would be a great movie.
194 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:46:22 PST by Lee'sGhost
To: Plummz
Hey, has no one mentioned
Terry Gillaim's "Brazil"? Anyone here who hasn't seen it, go rent/borrow/buy/steal a copy NOW.
(Admittedly fantasy, not science fiction, but the parameters used on this thread tend to fall under the
more-encompassing "speculative fiction," than "science fiction.") Gilliam's "12 Monkeys" hasn't been
mentioned either, actually. What is wrong with you people?
...not to mention "Time Bandits" my personal fave, it has
it all - drunken midgets, a big noncorporeal head, time portals, God...
I'm afraid the oversight is merely a function of an embarassement of riches.
197 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:47:18 PST by JohnYankeeCmpsr
To: sleeper-has-awakened
Sorry to all who tagged this one, but "Starship Troopers" was a dog of a movie. "Close Encounters" was very apt at showing the uniquely strange humanist zealotry and awe: "Aliens are our saviours! May ET be praised!"
Now, "The Lathe of Heaven" was great, as were the BBC "Dr. Who" sci-fi-lite series. Worthy of mention: Christopher Walken in "The Dead Zone," the cult movie "Dark Star," and Sir Alec Guinness in "Kind Hearts and Coronets."
203 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:50:34 PST by Cultural Jihad
To: JohnYankeeCmpsr
"Time Bandits" is good, as I recall -- it's been ages since I've seen it. "Brazil," however, is such a perfect fit for the FReeper ethos -- a statist dystopia of error-prone bureaucrats, no-knock raids, papers, forms, and receipts, and the bottomless human callousness wrought by it all . . .
207 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:52:58 PST by Plummz
To: sleeper-has-awakened
OK, In no particular order....
1. Forbidden Planet
2. The Thing (both versions)
3. War of the Worlds (1950's version)
4. The Time Machine
5. The Blob....need some humor here, Steve McQueen and the diner are too good to miss..
6. The Matrix...awsome
7. The Fifth Element, great conservative message here
8. Blade Runner
9. Alien (and Aliens), it got real old after that...
10. Galaxy Quest.. you just gotta have a good laugh
Best scenes: ship squeaking against dock, pig lizard (obvious Tim Allen spoof) transported inside out
209 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:54:12 PST by gwmoore
To: sleeper-has-awakened
In no particular order, and differentiating thought-provoking SF from just-for-fun space opera (or "skiffy"):
SF
- (Shapes of) Things to Come
- Forbidden Planet
- Fahrenheit 451
- Gattaca
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
A little less serious, but still good:
- Alien
- Blade Runner
- Stargate (although I like the TV series Stargate: SG-1 even better)
- The Ghost In The Machine (anime)
- Silent Running
- Quatermass and the Pit (aka Five Million Years to Earth)
And the space opera:
- Star Trek II - Wrath of Kahn
- Star Wars (the original, as first released)
- The Empire Strikes Back
- Aliens
Some of the others that people have mentioned I certainly enjoyed, but in my opinion have flaws that make the movie less than it could have been.
211 Posted on 01/16/2001 11:55:44 PST by algol
To: Plummz
Speaking of Ellison, you didn't mention that wonderful </sarcasm > TV series "The StarLost", on which Ellison and Ben Bova consulted. Later immortalized in Bova's book "The Starcrossed". The show was so bad that Ellison made them use his pen-name "Cordwainer Bird" in the credits, a name he reserves for the true turkeys.
And yes, Gilliam's "Brazil" certainly rates a mention (sort of, but not quite, a "Monty Python's 1984") -- as does in a lighter vein, his "Time Bandits".
221 Posted on 01/16/2001 12:01:22 PST by algol
To: drjimmy
I enjoyed the film without recreational pharmaceuticala as well as ... well anyway.... of course I'd never do anything illegal my dears. I must say that good as the film was, it was not as good as Ellison's novella, which I always regarded as one of his best pieces. Sort of the way Ender's Game was a great great short story, that suffered from being turned not only into a novel, but a whole series of novels. Each decent, enough, workmanlike and worth reading, but not on the same level of inspiration as the original story.
224 Posted on 01/16/2001 12:05:08 PST by CatoRenasci
To: Brett66
I usually don't buy games based on movies (especially one which only took the action from a book and left out the cerebral aspects like "Starship Troopers"), but I did buy a copy of the Starship Trropers PC game this weekend. It has scout, marauder, and command M.I armor!! And MISTie snipers! Plus shoulder-fired nukes! It's a bug hunt, man!
According to their web site, the developers have plans to introduce the Skinnies and a "historical" Roughnecks campaign as well as other aspects from Heinlein's book in a follow-on scenario pack. No drop capsules however (sigh).
Remember Rodger Young ...........
228 Posted on 01/16/2001 12:15:18 PST by Jonah Hex
To: real saxophonist
Hey, thanks for posting that picture. I followed the link back to the others, boy that brings back memories!
Strangely enough, my English teacher in senior year high school looked exactly like Cmdr. Straker (and a couple of us would refer to him by that). And one of my boys' pre-school teachers looks just like Lt. Ellis, only with black not purple hair (or the silver suit :-)
231 Posted on 01/16/2001 12:18:28 PST by algol
To: UCANSEE2
Oops.
To: PLUMMZ and BMWCYLE ,
I believe it was KLAATU BARADA NIKTO EST. But It has been a long time since I have seen T.D.T.E.S.S.
These are either favorites or ones that really stick out in my memory.
A Boy and his Dog
Buckeroo Banzai
Heavy Metal
The Lathe of Heaven
The THING
THEY LIVE
ZARDOZ
Escape from New York
The Day the Earth Stood Still
REPO MAN
Martian Chronicles, the Series
CHERRY 2000
DARK STAR
KILLER CLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE
THE WRAITH
WAR OF THE WORLDS
235 Posted on 01/16/2001 12:25:28 PST by UCANSEE2
To: Carolina
God Bless you! I loved this movie also!
I like the succeeding intercut scenes when Buckaroo is in his jet vehicle, and the oscilloscope says:
1."Sined"
2."Seeled"
3."Delivered"
John Big Booty, John this, John that, Rasta spacemen, world's leading scientist AND guitarist in a rock 'n' roll band...
It is a truly inspired movie!
238 Posted on 01/16/2001 12:30:06 PST by mumbo
To: sleeper-has-awakened
Add all of Arnold's sci-fi efforts to your list.
"LEXX" on the SCI-FI channel.The first four episodes where 2 hour movies, and to understand the LEXX series, you need to see the first movie "I Worship His Shadow" at a minimum. Good story, great FX.
"Giga-Shadow" is the other one that looks good.
LEXX is on the Sci-Fi channel - mondays at 10 p.m.
FARSCAPE is an excellent series from Austrailia
Babylon 5 is on weekdays from 7-8 p.m.
242 Posted on 01/16/2001 12:35:39 PST by muleskinner
To: Pietro
I managed to tape all of "The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy" TV series when it was doing the PBS rounds (about 15 years ago!). It also was a radio serial as well as a book (actually, a couple of books) and an Infocom computer text adventure game.
All a little bit different from each other, with no one being the "definitive" version. (Author Douglas Adams was involved in the production of all of them.)
Ford: It's alright now, we're safe.
Arthur: Just where are we, exactly?
Ford: We're in the cargo hold of the lead ship in the Vogon destructor fleet.
Arthur: Ah, this must be some obscure meaning of the word "safe" of which I was previously unaware.
...
Trillian (sees Arthur entering room): Arthur, you're safe!
Arthur: Am I? Oh good.
248 Posted on 01/16/2001 13:08:30 PST by algol
To: Physicist
UFO probably gets my vote for best TV SF, along with a Gerry and Sylvia puppet show, Captain Scarlet.
I'd love to catch an old "Fireball XL-5" episode again sometime before I die if possible. There's a brief glimpse of one in "That Thing You Do!", but it's just enough to whet the appetite.
Hey: maybe that's what "IT" is! One of those old scooter thingies that Steve Zodiac and Venus used to zip around on...!
253 Posted on 01/16/2001 13:22:40 PST by CubicleGuy
To: InvisibleChurch
I loved Galaxy Quest - a real hoot, and a sweet-hearted paen to Star Trek (I've always wanted to use the word "paen" in a sentence).
"Oh, that's not RIGHT!"
Also: Blade Runner, Forbidden Planet, Star Trek II, Empire Strikes Back (both the dark second episode), The Matrix, They Live (for its un-PC-ness and sick sense of humor), War of the Worlds #1, hmmm. Gotta think of some more...
254 Posted on 01/16/2001 13:25:48 PST by bootless
To: TC Rider
... a hopeless lib who wrote a lot of great sci-fi tv in the 60s and 70s.
It seems to me that Ellison was the original author of the classic Star Trek episode where McCoy goes back in time and changes history by saving Edith Keeler's (Joan Collins) life, and Kirk and Spock have to make sure that she dies in order to preserve the timeline and make sure that Germany doesn't end up winning WW II. (Episode title was "The City on the Edge of Forever".)
I don't know the whole story, but I understand that Ellison is extremely bitter about the whole thing, because his original script for "City" would have been unbelievably expensive to film as written (Star Trek was already pushing the budget limits every week due to the number of special effects that had to be created and edited into the show on a weekly basis), and so he ended up washing his hands of the final result, even though the episode was voted (by Trekkies) the best episode of the series.
263 Posted on 01/16/2001 13:38:22 PST by CubicleGuy
To: Cernunnos
(Speaking about installing mirrors in John Wayne's house) "...and he came to the door...in a dress"
LOL! "John Wayne was a fag!"
My favorite Repo Man lines, "Everybody could stand 50 chest x-rays a year...and they ought to have them too!"
"Let's go commit some crimes"..."Yeah, let's order sushi and not pay"
271 Posted on 01/16/2001 13:57:11 PST by Hugin
To: The Skeptic
"The "Omega Man". Maybe not my most favorite but with all the military toys in that picture, I can't help but think this movie had some kind of early impact on Charlton Heston and the NRA."
I loved the way he had it worked out to a system... A Ford convertible (with the top down) and a Smith & Wesson Model 76 submachinegun on the seat next to him.
Come to think of it, that's probably a fairly good system to use, while driving through large cities, even now. (LOL)
272 Posted on 01/16/2001 13:58:51 PST by DWSUWF
To: jalisco555
""It, the Terror from Beyond Space"- I have wonderful memories of watching this with my father on Chiller Theater, WPIX."
Do you mean WPXI in Pittsburgh, formerly WIIC? Chilly Billy Cardille?
They showed some of the absolutely worst B movies ever made! I remember being about 12 and they ran THX1138...unedited. It was a 12 year old boy's dream...nekkid wimmen ;o)
287 Posted on 01/16/2001 17:23:02 PST by RayBob
To: sleeper-has-awakened
A few that I will watch as they appear, in no particular order:
2001: A Space Odyssey:
Absolutely smashing space opera. We have most of what Arthur C. Clark predicted, albeit in a much less ambitious form.
The Thing (John Carpenter):
Really more horror than Sci-Fi, but worth it, it is a bit startling.
A Fire in the Sky:
Same, and for mostly the same reasons. I also appreciate that the aliens are so utterly, well, alien, instead of obvious humans with putty stuck to their foreheads. It provokes the notion that, in encountering an extraterrestrial intelligence, that we might have NOTHING to discuss.
289 Posted on 01/16/2001 19:13:38 PST by Riley
To: sleeper-has-awakened
A favorite I've been looking for on video for a while is "Without Warning." A cheapie movie of the week about asteroids striking the Earth, it ran on CBS a couple of years ago on or near Halloween. I've got most of it on video, but I screwed up the start time and didn't start recording until about 30 minutes into the picture.
The only actors of any note I can remember from it were Sandur Vanocur (plays a newsman in just about every movie you've ever seen), John DeLancie (played Q on ST:TNG), and the guy who played Kevin Costner's father in Field of Dreams.
It played at the time much like War of the Worlds - many clueless panicked fools flooded CBS' phone lines sniveling about being killed by falling asteroids.
294 Posted on 01/16/2001 19:43:33 PST by strela
To: cogitator
India is socialist? I guess they just think they're a democracy.
When India deregulated agriculture in the 70's, India ceased to be overpopulated. India became a net exporter of food, grew a middle class that numbers more than 270 million folks, and now sends brilliant computer scientists to the US.
For the record, Hitler was the HMFIC of a democratic socialist regime.
299 Posted on 01/17/2001 05:29:03 PST by TomSmedley
To: TomSmedley
When India deregulated agriculture in the 70's, India ceased to be overpopulated. India became a net exporter of food,
grew a middle class that numbers more than 270 million folks, and now sends brilliant computer scientists to the US.
I thought we were talking about overpopulation, not economics. Here's two numbers for you: 29.3 and 307.0. They are the population density of the United States and India, respectively, in persons per square kilometer. India has a population density that is more than 100x greater than the United States.
Census of India
Now, there is no doubt that India suffers from excessive government control due to a choking bureaucracy. Better free market economics could help to lift up the more than 40% that live below the poverty line (which in a country where the per capita income is $320 is saying something). But India is overpopulated in every sense of the word. More than 185 million people, which is 2/3 of the population of the United States, do not have access to safe drinking water.
302 Posted on 01/17/2001 07:18:59 PST by cogitator
To: elwoodp
Best Twilight Zone ever has to be "Willoughby."
You're only the second person I know to say that (I'm the first I know ...). Oddly enough, I caught my wife on that one -- there was a TZ marathon on TV and she wanted to know, "do all the shows end that way?? Don't wish for something you think you want because you really don't want it; don't try to be better than you are because you're better off where you are." She was actually PO'ed and I saw the commercial for "A Stop at Willoughby" next, and told her to just watch this one.
She liked what she thought was the ending, but her jaw dropped when the door slammed. (And that's all I'm saying in case someone hasn't seen it.)
TS
305 Posted on 01/17/2001 07:59:56 PST by Tanniker Smith
To: Scarlet Pimpernel
In Harlan's version, Kirk saves Edith and to hell with history.
Unfortunately, the big problem with doing it Ellison's way is that Star Fleet was supposed to cease to exist (as had the Enterprise and everyone on it, supposedly, prior to Kirk and Spock jumping through the "wayback machine" in search of McCoy), and with it, any excuse for NBC to continue to reserve a spot on their schedule for Roddenberry's show.
The big question, of course, is: why did the away team that had beamed down to the surface of the planet continue to exist after McCoy changed history, even though the Enterprise and the rest of the crew no longer did? I guess the time portal had some kind of built-in insulating effect that caused those within its sphere of influence to be shielded from pesky things like minor alterations of history.
I hope that ol' Doc Brown figured out how to build that handy capability into his time-traveling steam locomotive.
308 Posted on 01/17/2001 10:16:49 PST by CubicleGuy
To: Zipporah
YES!! Someone else actually knows about Robinson Crusoe on Mars!!!
This great film was cursed with a hokey title that put it in the same class as "Santa Vs. the Martians".
The reality was a well scripted space romp with far above average special effects for the time. It was well thought out and well acted, too bad it's not shown on TV more often.
Even today, you still hear about "cooking" rocks on the Moon and Mars for O2.
309 Posted on 01/17/2001 11:13:30 PST by TC Rider
To: sleeper-has-awakened
A little late, but throwing my two cents in:
- Star Wars trilogy
- The Stand (a movie that stuck to the book)
- Planet of the Apes
- When Worlds Collide
- Exorcist
- Crack in the Earth (or something like that)
- Most Godzilla movies
Now if we are talking TV series:
- Outer Limits (B&W)
- Twilight Zone
- Star Trek (Original and Next Generation)
- Ultraman!!!!
- Johnny Socko and his Flying Robot
- X-Files
- Outer Limits (New Series)
My favorite Twilight Zone was "Talking Tina". My favorite Outer Limits was the one where they altered some guy's body to make the world think he was an alien, which was supposed to unite the world.
I grew up watching Ultraman and Johnny Socko. I just got all 39 of the original Ultraman episodes from someone on Ebay. My kids (5 yrs and 3 yrs) love 'em.
317 Posted on 01/19/2001 11:49:25 PST by Mannaggia l'America
To: TC Rider
In addition to Robinson Crusoe on Mars, Byron Haskin was responsible for another sleeper sci-fi movie of the period, The Power. The Eric Frank Russell-esque plot concerns the hunt for a malevolent uber-mind at a scientific research institute. Oodles of atmosphere: sixties LA, Suzanne Pleshette getting drunk at a party, black Lincoln Continentals in underground parking garages, Michael Rennie as the super-scientist, George Hamilton's plastic face. Still not available on VHS, dammit.
318 Posted on 01/19/2001 11:57:46 PST by Clinton's a rapist
