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Favorite Sci Fi Movies


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Greg, the only bad thing about the movie Ender's game is the trailer, there you get the idea it is only about flying spaceships. You should definitively give it a go. Btw, I also read the book (first), I liked it but not so much as the sequels. I hope they make the movies of the sequels.

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Greg, the only bad thing about the movie Ender's game is the trailer, there you get the idea it is only about flying spaceships. You should definitively give it a go. Btw, I also read the book (first), I liked it but not so much as the sequels. I hope they make the movies of the sequels.

Great to hear! I'll go watch it sometime this week. thanks!

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What is you favorite sci fi movie?

Picking one is tough! For me, it's either 1997's The Fifth Element, or 1964's Robinson Crusoe on Mars.

 

What's the last good one you watched?

By strict chronology, the most recent SciFi movie I watched that cleared my personal "good" bar (for which some would rightly question my taste and judgement regarding what I consider good, and whether a movie with horror elements should be classified as SciFi) was 2013's The Last Days on Mars.

 

I haven't gone to see or rented a sci fi movie in a couple years. What would you recommend?

My first recommendation is 2013's Academy Award winning Gravity (If you're a easily offended orbital mechanics pro or fan, brace yourself).

I recommend 2013's Europa Report, too. If you have real ambition, or merely fantasies, about making high-quality SF movies on a low budget, this is one to study.

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Picking one is tough! For me, it's either 1997's The Fifth Element, or 1964's Robinson Crusoe on Mars.

 

 

Endorse: Those are two at the top of my list too.

 

I lean toward Kubrick, so 2001, Clockwork Orange and Dr. Strangelove ("speculative" rather than "science" fiction I suppose)

 

Just rewatched I, Robot and Minority Report, both of which are marvelous. Blade Runner is in the queue and I've always loved that.

 

Chac: A.I. scares the bejeebus out of me, and although I own the DVD, I've never been able to watch it again....

 

I have not seen it, but like Sanctus, my daughter read and then saw Ender's Game, and liked both.

 

Of course anything that has been post-processed by the Mystery Science Theater/Cinematic Titanic folks has been made watchable. I especially like Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

 

The OP was about movies, but I'd like to say if you're not watching Orphan Black (on BBC America and available on Amazon) you don't know what you're missing.

 

 

Don't "come on, Ma" me. I should be there, not you! I need a tan! I need a cocktail! :phones:

Buffy

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Ender's Game was wonderful, but not the masterpiece the book is. I concur with my son's analysis. He pointed out that so much of the delight of the book is witnessing the internal mechanisms of Ender's throught processes and growth. So while the book is very character driven, the movie is almost exclusively action driven. It is understandable; what screenwriter could resist the lure of the climactic battle as the cornerstone of the action? Yet the defining event of the book is the betrayal and triumph Ender experiences as a result of the battle.

 

All that said, the production value was excellent, and the casting was spot-on.

 

A recent movie I enjoyed was Looper. My brother sneered at my enjoyment, as apparently the film is derrivative of a "better anime" film. That's as may be, but I liked Looper anyway.

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Forbidden Planet, from the 1950s, is one of the more thoughtful SF movies and has - for its time - state of the arts special effects. It is one of the few SF movies I can watch repeatedly.

 

2001 was astounding - the problem is that viewing it on anything less than a widescreen cinema loses much of its power.

 

There is an astonishing effort on a miniscule budget from 2010 called Monsters. Find it if you can.

 

Since I am terrified of spiders, John Carpenter's remake of The Thing is creepy.

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  • 1 month later...

I have three top movies but I could never pick just one. A Clockwork Orange, Planet of the Apes & 2001: A Space Odyssey. I tend to like things that play into time travel too (Butterfly Effect, Philadelphia Experiment, Donnie Darko, etc.). Speaking of time travel, is anyone else excited that Dr. Who is coming back?

Edited by arissa
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  • 3 months later...
  • 8 months later...

ELYSIUM

 

Part 1:

 

Elysium is a 2013 American dystopian science fiction action thriller film. It was written, directed, and co-produced by Neill Blomkamp, and starring Matt DamonJodie FosterAlice Braga and Sharlto Copley. It was released on 9 August 2013, in both conventional and IMAX Digital theaters; I saw the film on TV on 9 July 2015 here in Australia. In my 16 years of retirement from a 50 year student and paid employment life, 1949 to 1999, I have found that, if I wait, the movies and DVDs that come onto the market eventually turn-up on television. 

 

This film takes place on both a ravaged Earth, and a luxurious space habitat on a rotating wheel space station called Elysium.  The space station reminded me of the one in 2001 Space Odyssey. The film explores political and sociological themes such as immigration, overpopulationhealth careexploitation, the justice system, and social class issues. Although the film's story is set in 2154, the director-producer has stated that the film is a comment on the contemporary human condition. "Everybody wants to ask me lately about my predictions for the future," the director said, "No, no, no. This isn't science fiction. This is today. This is now."

 

Part 2:

 

I leave it to readers with the interest to find the details about the plot, cast, production, critical reception, and general details. Wikipedia has an informative overview of the film.  I have taken an interest in the leading science fiction authors of the last two centuries from Mary Shelley to George Lucas. In many ways these authors have predicted and, accordingly, influenced the development of scientific advancements by inspiring many readers to assist in transforming their futuristic visions into everyday reality. The stories of these two centuries of science-fiction are now told in cyberspace through: film clips, re-enactments, illustrations and interviews.

 

Back in the 1950s I joined the Baha’i Faith which, among other things, is a religion with the very future in its bones. In my 60 years of association with this newest of the Abrahamic religions I have found it has often been criticized as far too utopian with an unrealistic picture of the future. Perhaps this is yet another reason why I have taken an interest in the genre of science fiction.

 

Part 3:

 

You’re getting older Jodi,

but there is still plenty of

bloom on the rose. Matt’s

in his element pushing his

body, his exo-skeleton, as

far as it could be pushed.

 

I said to myself, as I watched

this film: “this is not 2054…

this is now.” Science fiction

& fact into conversation with

one another.  I tried to write

sci-fi back in the late 1980s,

but it was not for me, and

neither was novel-writing.

 

I settled for essay-writing,

poetry, autobiography, &

internet posting on 1000s

of topics with millions of

words.  I was not a writer

of sci-fi: no Isaac Asimov,

no Robert Heinlein, nor a

Jules Verne…We all have

to find our place in space,

our skills, our abilities, our

raison d'etre for living in this

time, this climacteric of history.

 

Ron Price

11/7/’15.

post-14749-0-16183700-1436613300.jpg

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It's difficult to really choose since some are strong in some areas and other movies in other areas, but for sheer awesomeness I would have to rate Avatar as close to the top, it is what all science fiction should aspire to if not in story at least in realistically portraying an alien planet and it's life forms. The plot was kind of weak but for ease of suspension of disbelief it was awesome, I think it set a new standard for realistically portraying the unreal.   

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