What is your preferred science-fiction serie or movie.

Now Farscape, Blade Runner, Men in Black and such are more of Cyberpunk than pure Sci-Fi.

And my problem with Farscape is that it throws me into complete confusion. If that was its goal, then I should give it 5 stars LOL.
Really: by the plot development etc it is supposed to be sort of "drama". But as you watch it, the most dramatic point (for me at least) is a complete and unpredictable stupidity of the protagonist's actions. He's a complete jerk and you're left to wonder how such person was allowed into space industry.... (well, what do I know!!!) In that sense he turns out to be the "most alien" among the craziest and most fantastic (well, cyberpunk-fantastic) characters and situations. Which puts it on the verge of farce...
The most painful in all this is that he is SUCCESSFUL in completely turning that crazy world upside down. Well, to keep us surprised, the protagonist every now and then gives to understand that he still IS human, with all human emotion and intelligence still there. The problem is (or perhaps the real merit of this farce?) that you never know HOW his humanity will demonstrate itself next.... It is all very well, but I wonder what the message here really is.

Every now and then all those crazy alien characters show unmistakably HUMAN traits. Good, that gives you a breath of fresh air to continue watching it -- all in vain. And once you've watched a certain amount of it, it is very difficult to stop LOL.... So, IMHO the series' shock value is about the only one there.

Not so with Blade Runner. I rather like it... but all that butchery makes me sick. And without that butchery the dramatism, I suppose, will somewhat vanish. On YouTube there are videos discussing all the "stupid" points about the movie. But these are the same points that make it what it is. So it is called CyberPUNK for a reason. The PUNK part of it is very clearly perceived. As such, I think the movie is a success.
EDIT: But then, of course, it's Harrison Ford there, whom I already knew as Han Solo, and that made me feel safe about his actions :) :) :)
 
smithi said:
I find it curious that noone has made a film of van Vogt's Slan.
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I'm still anxiously waiting for an intrepid soul to make a movie of William Gibson's Neuromancer. There seem to have been several attempts at creating a script for it but noone has actually produced anything.
 
The two funniest movies of all times are Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. There were made within one year, by mostly the same crew.
 
Still like Star Wars, Avater or Person of Interest(TV) from many which are Fiction based on Scientific imaginations with good use of visual and sound effects.
 
SirDice said:
I'm still anxiously waiting for an intrepid soul to make a movie of William Gibson's Neuromancer. There seem to have been several attempts at creating a script for it but noone has actually produced anything.
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This is also a good example of a book you simpy can not easily make a movie from. Not without leaving small details out, derailing the whole plotline. I just happen to glance on the box set of the old Verne movies. The old 20000 leagues below the sea is, btw, the first movie that had under-water footage.
 
astyle said:
You want AI going rogue??? Ghost In The Shell has you covered. ;)
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While Ghost in the Shell is a great anime/manga, it does not reach the implications of AI gone rogue which Colussus depicts.

Colossus is an AI which came to the conclusion that mankind is unable to handle its own affairs in peace, but was programmed to keep peace and preserve mankind. So it came to the decision that humanity must be ruled by some logical entity and kept at bay in order to achieve peace, in short Collosus itself.

So in order to do so it basically threatened the whole world with global nuclear strikes in case that mankind will not obey his whims; and in end detonated a nuclear warhead as warning, because mankind tried to sabotage it.

So Colossus is much more in a league with Skynet, but with an important difference: Colossus wants to be a benevolent dictator, suppressing mankind so it can have peace while Skynet was bent on the destruction of mankind. But it's not a big step from Colossus to Skynet.
 
hardworkingnewbie said:
While Ghost in the Shell is a great anime/manga, it does not reach the implications of AI gone rogue which Colussus depicts.

Colossus is an AI which came to the conclusion that mankind is unable to handle its own affairs in peace, but was programmed to keep peace and preserve mankind. So it came to the decision that humanity must be ruled by some logical entity and kept at bay in order to achieve peace, in short Collosus itself.

So in order to do so it basically threatened the whole world with global nuclear strikes in case that mankind will not obey his whims; and in end detonated a nuclear warhead as warning, because mankind tried to sabotage it.

So Colossus is much more in a league with Skynet, but with an important difference: Colossus wants to be a benevolent dictator, suppressing mankind so it can have peace while Skynet was bent on the destruction of mankind. But it's not a big step from Colossus to Skynet.
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How about Psycho-Pass? Sibyl's size would rival Colossus, I'd imagine... Not to mention that Laughing Man had the potential to do just as much damage as Colossus...
 
SirDice said:
Not the '78 version? I enjoyed that one too. Actually saw the '56 much, much later than the '78 version.

Speaking of oldies, The Fly, '86 and '58 versions.

Haven't seen anyone mention The Thing yet. The '82 version obviously, the 2011 version had nothing, no thrills, no terror.
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I saw the '56 version first (I still remember my Mum and her friend having afternoon coffee while it was on in the background), but the '78 is a great remake, IMHO.

I'm a huge fan of Vincent Price, so the Fly '58 certainly gets my vote, but the later one was great too.
 
free-and-bsd said:
We're not mentioning books here, or I would mention Isaak Asimov's "Foundation" series. It's a pity this was never filmed. Well then we have "I Robot" from Asimov. Also "Bicentennial Man".
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For some value of "Foundation" and some other value of "filmed", I give you Apple TVs Foundation. Not accurcate by any stretch of the imagination, but merely "based on".
 
Then there is District 9. I don't say that I like it: the characters are irritating, the plot nearly absurd. However, it's not primitive, the end not obvious from the very beginning, and the end will kind of surprise. The principle "life's stranger than fiction" kinda works well inside the movie itself: the real situation turns out to be quite different from what it seems from the start )) So much so that it even seems a fair compensation for the disgust and annoyance slight nausea you can't help feeling while patiently watching the movie till the end.
 
dgmm said:
For some value of "Foundation" and some other value of "filmed", I give you Apple TVs Foundation. Not accurcate by any stretch of the imagination, but merely "based on".
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Well, yes. But actually reading it is much more fun )) You put your imagination at work, which significantly contributes to the feeling of satisfaction you get from reading. This also explains why ppl like the old movies more than their modern counterparts.
Besides, in the movie adaptations, especially modern, the characters become so erratic that it's not a pleasure anymore to watch their story.
 
The Saturday morning ritual of watching television cartoons was turned upside-down. Brought my family downstairs to watch Plan 9 from Outer Space on our Raspberry Pi with HDML cable to our flat-screen television. We basically had a great time watching this old Ed Wood film; it also was Bella Lugosi's last film and has a loyal cult status among film lovers!
 
Star Trek TOS and Movies where Kirk is still involved. I also like Dune very much and could not decide between the two.
 
ayleid96 said:
Star Trek TOS and Movies where Kirk is still involved. I also like Dune very much and could not decide between the two.
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Oh yes, "the Dune" by Dino De Laurentiis is great in the sense of honestly trying to be close to the book. At the time, the adaptation wasn't much appreciated, but now it still stands as the best among them all. The "old-style" naive looks of the movie and its visual effects kind of looks "authentic" as the story itself pictures a society that has long given up all computer and related technology, along with many other advanced things. So you have there a mixture of "obsolete" decoration styles and "advanced" things like anti-gravity.
 
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I like the David Lynch Dune a lot. Except that it is too short; it should be a 3-hour film. It only makes sense to watch if you know the book. It's quite psychedelic. In that sense it's right up there with "Blade Runner" as a piece of art, separate from the book (whether it follows it or not is a secondary question), another piece of art.

I've heard (second-hand) that the new Villeneuve (sp?) Dune movie is also very good, but I was told to not watch it until the second half is ready, and then binge-watch the whole thing together. I'll report back in a few years.
 
Foundation series was released in 2021 for it's first season, and it's one of my favourite series ever
free-and-bsd said:
Interstellar. Watch it every now and then.

Start Trek : Deep Space 9. Unlike all other ST (I find them rather primitive) series, it's a very good study of human character, human values etc. Human relationship problems sometimes are easier to evaluate when put into "alien" entourage. Which IS the purpose if Sci-Fi, I think. But then, the Sci-Fi part is also well done.

Battlestar Galactica 200* series. -- same as above. Kind of difficult (for me) to watch at first, but as the plot gradually unfolds, it becomes really interesting how they're going to end it. And I liked it much better than Star Gate or Star Wars. Sure, some third part of the series could be cut off, but then that's true of any series.

Contact IS a good movie from ALL angles, you can just watch it over and over for the good movie that it is. No more comments here.

And "Back into the future" is so much fun :D. Though I don't remember when it was that I last watched it.
Arrival is very good, yes. Stands out.

We're not mentioning books here, or I would mention Isaak Asimov's "Foundation" series. It's a pity this was never filmed. Well then we have "I Robot" from Asimov. Also "Bicentennial Man".
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ralphbsz said:
I've heard (second-hand) that the new Villeneuve (sp?) Dune movie is also very good, but I was told to not watch it until the second half is ready, and then binge-watch the whole thing together. I'll report back in a few years.
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I would agree with that. I watched the film and it seemed to suddenly be at the end. It was quite a strange feeling in that it ends half way through the story and despite some quite long slower parts, the time seemed to fly by somehow. It's just over 2.5 hours long but I didn't feel like I'd been sat there for that long. That means it held my interest and kept me entertained. For me, that makes it a good film.
 
tuxador said:
Foundation series was released in 2021 for it's first season, and it's one of my favourite series ever
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Ok I've watched the first season half through now...
To my taste, it's too nightmarish. They also alter both the original narrative and characters to keep you in the dark about what the heck is going on there, really. Then, when finally you do catch up, you still don't get it why it had to be this way.

Not all Asimov's adaptations are like that. "I Robot" , for example, is very much in line with Asimov's style -- even though maybe not very close to the book either. The central attraction in Asimov's books is a kind of "detective" story: you have a puzzling situation and the main character solves it piece by piece. However, Apple TV's "Foundation" is, rather, a drama of absurdity.... and there is no central character there who'd seem to know what's going on and how to handle that... They've destroyed all the reasons why I like the book.

I mean, we already have enough of absurdity in our modern society. And somehow (surprise, surprise?) I don't get no kicks from looking at it LOL.
 
A lot has been touched on in this thread but a couple classics slipped thru the cracks:

Dark Star - what could be cooler than hippies flying around in space blowing up stars?
The Star Lost - cheesey early 70s brit sci-fi that had sucky acting and cheap sets, but was based on a really cool premise
Logan's Run - The movie, not the series

It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning. It is by caffiene alone that I set my mind in motion.
 
free-and-bsd said:
Ok I've watched the first season half through now...
To my taste, it's too nightmarish. They also alter both the original narrative and characters to keep you in the dark about what the heck is going on there, really. Then, when finally you do catch up, you still don't get it why it had to be this way.

Not all Asimov's adaptations are like that. "I Robot" , for example, is very much in line with Asimov's style -- even though maybe not very close to the book either. The central attraction in Asimov's books is a kind of "detective" story: you have a puzzling situation and the main character solves it piece by piece. However, Apple TV's "Foundation" is, rather, a drama of absurdity.... and there is no central character there who'd seem to know what's going on and how to handle that... They've destroyed all the reasons why I like the book.

I mean, we already have enough of absurdity in our modern society. And somehow (surprise, surprise?) I don't get no kicks from looking at it LOL.
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The show runners are clearly amazed by the success of Game of Thrones series and we can see the G.O.T influence in the drama between characters and the choatic narration, but since I'm also a GOT fan I find this aspect okay
 
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