What are your top 5 sci-fi movies?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Pizza, Sep 14, 2021.

  1. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Six is cheating. :cop:
     
  2. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    The movie was good, but the title made me cringe. It's up to the viewer to decide whether something was "incredible". For the producers to tell the public in advance that it was incredible is patronising, and makes it sound as if the movie is pitched at five-year-olds.
     
  3. steelinYaThighs

    steelinYaThighs "I'll be dancin' on Diamonds..."

    Location:
    U.S.A.
    1 - Demolition Man, 1993.
    2 - Mad Max 2 (The Road Warrior), 1981.
    3 - Escape From N.Y., 1981.
    4 - A Boy & His Dog, 1975.
    5 - Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 1991.

    I tend to like those sci-fi films with a dystopian backdrop as they--especially Demolition Man--aren't so much science fiction as they are actual documentaries given the current trajectory of the world.

    - siyt
     
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  4. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    I'm a sucker for anything involving time travel, and the best one I've seen in a long time, maybe best period, was "Predestination".

    I was also surprised how much I enjoyed "Total Recall", given that I consider Schwarzenegger a pretty mediocre actor. The story was of course nonsense, more fantasy than SF, but it was executed well enough to work, and Arnie did not ruin it.

    I still have not made up my mind about "Primer". I know the creators were determined not to insult the audience's intelligence by explaining too much, but I think maybe they overdid the complexity.

    Although "The Time Traveller's Wife" is supposedly not really SF but a romantic drama with a science fiction theme as the vehicle, I would add that to my list of recommendations.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2021
  5. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    I remember how shocked I was by the ending of A Boy and His Dog when I saw it back in the day.
     
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  6. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Primer is great just as it is. It would have ruined it if it explained itself like a big budget movie would have.
     
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  7. konut

    konut Prodigious Member. Thank you.

    Location:
    Whatcom County, WA
    Journey to the Center of the Earth - 1959
    2001: A space Odyssey - 1968
    Alien - 1979
    The Last Starfighter - 1984
    Stargate - 1994
    Hollow Man- -2000
     
  8. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    You folks just can’t count. Lol! Does no one understand what “top 5” means? :yikes:
     
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  9. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    I don't get too uptight about people listing six, or only four, when five was asked for. Just as long as they don't list a couple of dozen, without naming their top 5. That's just laziness, and misses the point of the "top 5" or "top 10" lists, which is to pick candidates that you think stand out above the rest.

    I'm thinking of all these "Your best albums of 19__" threads, where some people proceed to basically post a list of all albums released that year.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2021
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  10. konut

    konut Prodigious Member. Thank you.

    Location:
    Whatcom County, WA
    Your chain is just too easy to yank! :uhhuh:

    Just remember, Ghoulardi loves you!
     
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  11. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    As an aside, I think the best visual medium SF that I have seen was not in full length movies but in episodes of TV series such as The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone. There was also a British series of science fiction TV plays, which I believe were dramatisations of classic SF short stories. This was where I was first introduced to Frederick Pohl's "The Tunnel Under the World". I'm afraid I don't remember the name of the series.

    The science fiction genre is ideally suited to the short story medium, and by extension to the medium of TV series with 30-minute episodes. That's enough to present and develop a novel idea, which is at the heart of science fiction, and for the story to reach a satisfying resolution. Writing a full length novel or creating a full length movie is harder, because interest has to be maintained, and it takes a good writer to do that without filling the pages/time with chases, fights, spaceship battles or irrelevant sex scenes.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2021
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  12. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Oh please, my chain isn’t too easy to yank. I realize some folks around here like to have their fun like yourself. Still, the “rules” are in the title and some think too hard on it and can’t self edit. I think that takes the fun out of it. Someone else is guaranteed to name that potential 6th or 7th title in their top 5 list.
     
  13. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Which is why I would include Soylent Green in my list. I'm even having second thoughts about recycling Logan's Run.

    The original Invasion of the Buddy Snatchers is a staple in my diet. It also seems to be more relevant than ever, as the world is absorbed by AI .
     
  14. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    It’s interesting how much of an impact the “twist” in Soylent Green has had. Even my father-in-law had jokingly said “it’s people.”
     
  15. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    The latest, "Now, with more girls".
     
  16. RexKramer

    RexKramer Senior Member

    Location:
    Outside of Philly
    Metropolis
    A Clockwork Orange
    Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind
    Alien
    Blade Runner

    I tried sticking to sci-fi and not fantasy (i.e. the Star Wars universe disclaimer)
     
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  17. Eno_Fan

    Eno_Fan Staring into the abyss: Brockman BIF, Pilbara WA

    Location:
    Izieu, France
    A lot of well-know selections here, but this is a great way to find what you haven't seen so I shall omit the non-obvious examples and some of my own favourites (e.g., Silent Running, Blade Runner, Primer) for those that might have slipped under your radar. In no order:

    1. Europa Report
    2. Timecrimes
    3. Magellan
    4. Piano Tuner of Earthquakes
    5. L'Invention de Morel (the French version, avoid the Italian one)
    6. Safety not Guaranteed
    7. Moebius

    Oops, that's seven. But you gotta see them -- 2, 3, 5, and 7 are mind-blowing.

    Beware: many of these have the dreaded substitles!
     
  18. Jim B.

    Jim B. Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    John Carpenter's The Thing.
    Alien.
    Donnie Darko.
    T2.
    Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior.

    But I could list another 100.

    Star Wars is fantasy not sci-fi.
     
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  19. Schoolmaster Bones

    Schoolmaster Bones Poe's Lawyer

    Location:
    ‎The Midwest
    Alphaville (1965)
    2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
    Zardoz (1974)
    Under the Skin (2013)
    12 Monkeys (1996)
     
  20. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    A number of posters have stated that. For me, it's got robots, aliens and space ships so I've always looked at it as sci-fi but I certainly see why folks call it fantasy. I think this could make for a fun debate so I started a thread on the topic.
     
  21. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    I'll definitely have to check out some of those films!
     
  22. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    Moebius is based on the classic SF short story "A Subway Named Mobius". The story is set in the Boston underground rail network rather than that of Buenos Aires, and it's in English so no need for subtitles!

    At the time of the story being written, the Boston transport network was known as the MTA. "M.T.A." is also the name of a song written about the same time, and made famous by The Kingston Trio, concerning a man who finds himself trapped on the subway and is doomed to keep riding the subway system for the rest of his life. There must be something about the Boston M.T.A. that inspires people to write wacky stories about it.
     
  23. Eno_Fan

    Eno_Fan Staring into the abyss: Brockman BIF, Pilbara WA

    Location:
    Izieu, France
    Let the man watch the film without spoilers. Oh, and your "without subtitles" version is a dub -- the original (which anyone interested in film always pursues) is in Spanish
     
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  24. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    What??? Did you actually read my post?
    I was referring to the short story - in PRINT form (and written in English), on which the film was based. Since the story was published in 1950, I think we can confidently say that was "the original" rather than the film.

    Also, as far as I can tell, I did not give away any spoilers.
     
  25. SunSon

    SunSon Lucky Boomer

    Location:
    Sea Of Holes
    The Empire Strikes Back
    2001: A Space Odyssey
    Alien
    Blade Runner
    Godzilla - the 1954 movie not the 1956 with Raymond Burr, the one for Japanese audience.
    Godzilla (1954 film) - Wikipedia
     
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