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.
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
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.
Primer is great just as it is. It would have ruined it if it explained itself like a big budget movie would have.
Journey to the Center of the Earth - 1959 2001: A space Odyssey - 1968 Alien - 1979 The Last Starfighter - 1984 Stargate - 1994 Hollow Man- -2000
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.
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.
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.
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 .
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.”
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)
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!
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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