Sci-Fi

[Zeb_Carter]

Armageddon good current Sci-Fi - A could happen in the near future.

StarGate - the movie

StarGate - SG1 good, good. Have every episode on DVD.

Firefly - great series

Serenity - great movie

 

[CrazyCatGuy]

The thing about Twelve Monkeys was how all the little details were pieced together. It really was a brilliantly-written movie. The skipping back and forth from the present to the future kept you distracted enough to wonder what was going on, then . . . bam! It all makes sense.

Yeah, it was really well done. The scene that sticks out the most in my mind, other than the ending, was the World War 1 scene... it was sooo weird at first, but it does, indeed, all make sense, heh. But so depressing...

 

[rydia57]

Don't forget Matrix Trilogy, Starship Troopers, and Sin City not to mention Xmen

 

[Belegon]

I'm totally a Browncoat, so have to agree on Firefly/Serenity...

Also will echo Battlestar and B5.

Children of Men, which is sci-fi in a more classic sense... NOT Space Opera, but science fiction...

Most of what I would recommend has already been cited here...

Silent Running, if you can find it. Heavy on the enviromental message...

What was the horror/Sci-Fi "haunted ship" one I'm trying to remember.... not Solaris, which was just OK...

Event Horizon, that's it. Good if you like the horror/SF crossover thing.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Event Horizon, that's it. Good if you like the horror/SF crossover thing.

You just reminded me of Soldier. Same director. I have buy both on DVD still.

 

[xssve]

Silent Running is the one I was going to suggest, one of Trumball's early post 2001 efforts, setting standards for special effects ever since, with cute robots that were probobly the inspiration for R2D2.

There were a couple of good comet movies, both versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers are good, Mars Attacks is good for comic relief, a classic.

Repo Man with the Sheen/Estavez bros. had a long run on cable, but hasn't been seen much lately, and if you're younger you might not have seen it. Might as well throw Tank Girl in there too, you may have seen that , but it's in the similar ireverent vein, along with Hitchikers Guide, and Doctor Who.

The earlier version of the Thing is actually a good B movie, ruined mainly by Hawk showing the monster in full, it was supposed to only be shown in shadows, i.e., more Hitchcockian - it's one of the least menacing monsters ever devised for film, the infamous giant carrot, and the butt of a lot of jokes, but worth seeing. You might find a Science Fiction Mystery Theatre 3000 version, I dunno.

The John Carpenter version helped usher in the era of slasher flics, it's a real gore fest.

Couple of other must see films from that era include The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Forbidden Planet, a cult classic.

Speaking of splatter flics, Toxic Avenger is another semi-modern cult classic, from the C.H.U.D. era, and has some memorable scenes.

Maybe I ought to just name some directors:

Herschell Gordon Lewis, Lucio Fulci, George Romero, Sam Raimi, Frank Henenlotter, Peter Jackson, and of course, John Carpenter, all of whom have made significant contributions in splatter - mostly in the horror/occult genre however, but definitely gritty.

Jacksons Dead/Alive, AKA Braindead may well be the goriest splatter film ever made.

Goerge Lucas THX 1138 is worth seeing, as is the original Rollerball with James Caan, much better than the remake.

eXistenZ isn't bad, with Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh, though GATTCA is better known, another obscure Law SF is Repossesion Mambo.

Back to SF/Horror, David Cronenburg's films incude a lot of SF, including The Fly, Scanners, and Videodrome - with Debbie Harry in what remains one of the most controversial BDSM scenes ever relased in a mainstream movie - pretty intense. Cronenburg Horror includes The Brood, Dead Ringers, and several others.

Screamers is worth mentioning, hard SF, and pretty suspenseful.

I'll think of some more eventually, gotta get the kids to school.

 

[xssve]

You just reminded me of Soldier. Same director. I have buy both on DVD still.

Hokey plot, but a decent film - worth seeing just for Kurt Russels heroic acting performance protraying a guy with no emotions and no lines.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Hokey plot, but a decent film - worth seeing just for Kurt Russels heroic acting performance protraying a guy with no emotions and no lines.

I think Russel did a better job of acting with 18 lines of dialogue than most actors do with hundreds of lines. That character was all in the eyes, and his mannerisms, and it worked. Good job Kurt. Good job indeed.

 

[xssve]

Yeah, I gained a lot of respect for Russells acting in that one, and it has a very satisfying hokey ending.

 

[only_more_so]

I think Russel did a better job of acting with 18 lines of dialogue than most actors do with hundreds of lines. That character was all in the eyes, and his mannerisms, and it worked. Good job Kurt. Good job indeed.

I have to agree. It is actually harder to play a person with no emotions than you might think. He definitely had the mannerisms down pat as well.

Actually, he's been in quite a few memorable sci-fi movies:

The Thing - I didn't like it much, but it's been mentioned a dozen times in this thread
Escape from New York - Cult Classic!
Escape from LA - Not as classic, but worth mentioning in a list
Star Gate
Soldier

 

[rgraham666]

I loved Russell in Big Trouble In Little China. That movie was hilarious.

 

[MaeveoSliabh]

If you want to try gritty with a touch of humor, check out 'They Live.' It's a John Carpenter flick, so you know it's going to be a little weird. 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper and David Keith fighting aliens no one can see without special glasses.

Oh, and Meg Foster's in it, too. Damn, I love her eyes . . .

*gigglesnort* Somebody else has seen this??

ETA:
Enemy Mine is old, cheezy, not too horribly action filled, but good
Evolution was just HORRIBLE but in a good way
Slither was, again, horrible and cheezy, but good for a laugh
and check out The Last Starfighter

Keep in mind I'm just going through a ver small portion of the list of movies we've got. Just what's on my hard drive. Most of them have been copied to multiple external drives, are on the Bodyguard's computer, or are still in boxes.

 

[Oblimo]

Good lord, people! 62 posts and no one's mentioned the corniest, cheesiest, "hard" pretentious scifi of them all: ZARDOZ

I mean, Sean Connery in a red diaper and thigh-high go-go boots!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/Zardoz_zed.jpg

 

[CrazyCatGuy]

*gigglesnort* Somebody else has seen this??

ETA:
Enemy Mine is old, cheezy, not too horribly action filled, but good
Evolution was just HORRIBLE but in a good way
Slither was, again, horrible and cheezy, but good for a laugh
and check out The Last Starfighter

Keep in mind I'm just going through a ver small portion of the list of movies we've got. Just what's on my hard drive. Most of them have been copied to multiple external drives, are on the Bodyguard's computer, or are still in boxes.

O og The Last Starfighter! That movie was pretty awsome... or at least i thought it was when i was like 9 or 10 years old... I think i watched that on Beta... >_>

 

[slyc_willie]

O og The Last Starfighter! That movie was pretty awsome... or at least i thought it was when i was like 9 or 10 years old... I think i watched that on Beta... >_>

Not me. Saw it in the theaters and loved every minute

Surprised no one has mentioned Robocop. The sequels all sucked, but the first one was gritty, violent, and with enough action and Eastwood-esque 'tough guy' quips to appeal to its target audience.

I still cringe when Peter Weller gets his hand blasted off . . . .

 

[MaeveoSliabh]

O og The Last Starfighter! That movie was pretty awsome... or at least i thought it was when i was like 9 or 10 years old... I think i watched that on Beta... >_>

One of my favorites at that age was Flight of the Navigator. It's absolutely horrible now, but I have it anyway. Just cause.

 

[MaeveoSliabh]

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! OH!!!

They started making the Dragonlance books into animated movies!!!! Dragons of Autumn Twilight just came out not too long ago.

 

[slyc_willie]

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! OH!!!

They started making the Dragonlance books into animated movies!!!! Dragons of Autumn Twilight just came out not too long ago.

Ever see the Dungeons & Dragons movie on Sci-Fi? It wasn't bad. Bruce Payne was the evil wizard.

Speaking of Bruce Payne, there was a fairly good HBO movie, some fifteen or more years ago, loosely based on the Werewolf RPG. Bruce Payne was a werewolf/police detective in charge of a special crime-fighting unit. Starred Mario Van Peebles and Patsy Kensit. Some good action and a fairly good plot. It was called Full Eclipse.

 

[CrazyCatGuy]

Ever see the Dungeons & Dragons movie on Sci-Fi? It wasn't bad. Bruce Payne was the evil wizard.

Speaking of Bruce Payne, there was a fairly good HBO movie, some fifteen or more years ago, loosely based on the Werewolf RPG. Bruce Payne was a werewolf/police detective in charge of a special crime-fighting unit. Starred Mario Van Peebles and Patsy Kensit. Some good action and a fairly good plot. It was called Full Eclipse.

DnD movie? i heard it was terrible!

 

[MaeveoSliabh]

Ever see the Dungeons & Dragons movie on Sci-Fi? It wasn't bad. Bruce Payne was the evil wizard.

Speaking of Bruce Payne, there was a fairly good HBO movie, some fifteen or more years ago, loosely based on the Werewolf RPG. Bruce Payne was a werewolf/police detective in charge of a special crime-fighting unit. Starred Mario Van Peebles and Patsy Kensit. Some good action and a fairly good plot. It was called Full Eclipse.

No, haven't seen either of them. You're starting to talk about stuff that came out before I was old enough to watch them.

 

[slyc_willie]

DnD movie? i heard it was terrible!

The one made for the big screen sucked ass. I'm talking about the one that only came out on the Sci-Fi Channel. Can't remember it's exact name. It was "Dungeons And Dragons: " something.

 

[slyc_willie]

No, haven't seen either of them. You're starting to talk about stuff that came out before I was old enough to watch them.

Ah, well, thank you for making me feel old . . .

 

[starrkers]

Good lord, people! 62 posts and no one's mentioned the corniest, cheesiest, "hard" pretentious scifi of them all: ZARDOZ

I mean, Sean Connery in a red diaper and thigh-high go-go boots!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/Zardoz_zed.jpg

Oh dear god. I've been trying to erase that image from my memory for years!

The original Planet of The Apes wasn't totally terrible.

 

[MaeveoSliabh]

Ah, well, thank you for making me feel old . . .

Heh... I just had a protected childhood.

 

[rgraham666]

Watched one of a Dragonlance movie last week. Personally, I thought it blew chunks. The cell animation wasn't very good and neither was the CGI. And they were very badly integrated together. The script was obviously written by teenage D&D geeks during a Sgt. Pepper binge weekend.

One I caught two weeks ago, and that I found rather fun was Dragon Wars. The story and acting was a little weak but the FX were great. The battle between the U.S. Army and the army of demons and dragons was fantastic. The trailer gives a good idea of how the movie looks.