Movies for hardcore sci-fi geeks

[Danger]

Only to you as far as I know.

No, it's pretty standard among SF fans. It's really quite insulting, equivalent to using the 'N' word for African North Americans or the 'S' word for those of Latin background. It very seriously offends us, when applied to real SF. The aforementioned crap movies deserve the moniker; true SF does not.

 

[Huckleberry]

Does SF mean science oriented fantasy? I guess I've always realized there is a difference between movies like 'Killer Clowns from Outer Space' and 'Aliens', but I never thought to separate them into individual genres. I've always thought of fantasy movies to be something like 'Krull' or 'Conan the Barbarian'.

So let's see if I got the classifications right.
Sci-fi = 'Toxic Avengers', 'Monster A-Go-Go' or 'The Blob'
SF = 'Back to the Future', 'Donnie Darko' or 'The Lathe of Heaven'
Science comedy = 'Mars Attacks', 'Coneheads' or 'Idiocracy'

Is there a horror genre? Can one movie fit into more than one genre? This could be a fun game all by itself; guessing which genre a movie fits into.

 

[Danger]

Does SF mean science oriented fantasy? I guess I've always realized there is a difference between movies like 'Killer Clowns from Outer Space' and 'Aliens', but I never thought to separate them into individual genres. I've always thought of fantasy movies to be something like 'Krull' or 'Conan the Barbarian'.

So let's see if I got the classifications right.
Sci-fi = 'Toxic Avengers', 'Monster A-Go-Go' or 'The Blob'
SF = 'Back to the Future', 'Donnie Darko' or 'The Lathe of Heaven'
Science comedy = 'Mars Attacks', 'Coneheads' or 'Idiocracy'

Is there a horror genre? Can one movie fit into more than one genre? This could be a fun game all by itself; guessing which genre a movie fits into.

One of the things that draws me to you as a friend, Huck, is that you challenge me on an intellectual level that few others can achieve.
You have the categories a bit off. 'Back to the Future' is in the same classification as MIB; science-oriented comedy. I have the book 'Lathe of Heaven', but haven't read it in over 25 years, so I can't comment upon it. Never saw the movie, or even knew that one was made. Straight SF are things like 2001, Charly, the book version of 'Altered States' by Paddy Cheyevsky (sp?) who had his name removed from the film version. Most of Star Trek was true SF, given that they had to make most species humanoid in order for human actors to portray them. (I always found it amazing that the universal translator not only changed alien speech to English, but also holographically altered the speaker's lip movements so that deaf people could understand them. ) As much as I detest Greenpeace, ST IV—The Voyage Home was my favourite Trek movie. I'm not sure if that's because of Scottie talking into the computer mouse or because of Catherine Hicks in a wet shirt. (Oh, who am I trying to kid...)
Horror/terror/psycho are a bit different, in that they are meant to scare the audience. In that regard, Alien qualifies as both horror and SF (the science was fairly accurate). There's a lot of overlap.
The main point is that true SF deals primarily with the human (or alien) condition in a setting that is scientifically plausible but beyond current technology. That's one of the coolest things about 'Charly'. It was total fiction when it was written ('Flowers for Algernon' by Daniel Keyes) and when it was filmed. The core technology that made it SF now exists.
Another thing that just fries my 'nads is the turn-around on movie rights. Phillip K. Dick wrote a pretty cool story called 'We Can Remember It For You Wholesale'. 30 or 40 years later, they decided to make it into a movie called 'Total Recall'. Once the movie hit it big, they novelized the screenplay into a book called 'Total Recall'. Same damned thing with 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep', which was filmed as 'Bladerunner', and then novelized as 'Bladerunner'.
I actually have more to say about the subject, but I'm staying over at W's place tonight. She's downstairs wearing not very much, and I'm up here conversing with you. My body took a vote, and the gonads won over the cerebral cortex by a significant majority.
I'll get back to you tomorrow.

 

[Huckleberry]

Haha! I should have read the end of your post first. What are you wasting your time with me for? Yup, that's me; always frustrating my friends on any level I can. Glad to be of service.

'Lathe of Heaven' is about George Orr (a Portlander) who is just an average guy who's only notable quality is his lack of personality. He discovers that his dreams change reality and this frightens him, so he decides not to sleep. He goes to see a psychiatrist who starts manipulating his dreams to his own advantage. I haven't seen the movie myself.

I also haven't seen 'Charly'. Looks like I'll have to add that to my list so I know what you're talking about.

Ok, I can already see I'm going to have a bit of a problem with the classifications. With advanced enough technology I might consider anything plausible. Something like time travel or faster than light velocity I would consider plausible with some hokey exposition. Something like 'A Boy and His Dog' with psychic dogs, or 'Lathe of Heaven' with reality changing dreams I didn't even stop to consider the plausibility even though there is no technology involved. I only consider the plausability within needs of the story itself. So... I'm guessing both of those movies would go into the sci-fi category because they aren't plausible outside the story, but just about anything with technology would go into the SF category.

And then again with the second part of the qualification, I see issues of the human condition in everything. Meaning can be applied to any event or sequence of events in layers upon layers. Characters exist in in settings, and the whole thing spins together on every axis in a plot that is unpredictable enough to provide an epiphany to the viewer, but not so unpredictable that the pattern becomes unfathomable in retrospect. All that is required for me to see an issue of the human condition in a story is that it provides that epiphany of meaning. Like that scene from 'American Beauty' where that videophile kid films a plastic bag floating on the breeze like a weird, purple jellyfish. Depending on the observer it could evoke a response of loneliness, or freedom, or purposelessness, or adventure or just about anything.

Now that I think about it, a plastic bag floating around says more to me about the human condition than say, 'Transformers 2'. So while that movie has robots and technology it doesn't appeal to the human condition and could safely be placed in the sci-fi category? What about something like 'Iron Giant' made into a live action film, or if Godzilla were a giant robot gone haywire?

Eh, I think I get the point I guess, though it's still a bit rough around the edges. There always seems to be something that defies being readily categorized. I don't like categorizing things specifically. It feels cumbersome. I can only imagine the arguments that shelf stockers at Blockbusters must suffer through.

Nobody has mentioned 'Contact' yet. That was a brilliant movie.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

...or if Godzilla were a giant robot gone haywire?

Done!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cc/Mechagodzilla.jpg

;-)

 

[Huckleberry]

Oh cool! I've never seen this guy. Not a fan of the movies so I probably still won't see him, but it will be at the top of my list of movies I would watch but never intend to see.

 

[Borek]

Mechagodzilla if memory serves me well.

 

[Kronos5253]

Mechagodzilla if memory serves me well.

Yup lol Was a pretty good one

 

[Borek]

Danger, please contact me privately - I can't reach you through the PM and your forum mailbox is full.

 

[DaveC426913]

Short Circuit was popular and pretty good but not sci-fi.
I really enjoyed Explorers and Enemy Mine.
Gattaca was more serious science fiction.

 

[Borek]

Speaking of Godzilla...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPoxF4gJPyY

 

[Borek]

THX 1138: I saw it when it first came out but that was in 1971. I just watched it again and amazingly it is still quite futuristic. Great movie! It stars Robert Duvall; directed by George Lucas and produced in part by Francis Ford Coppola.

Interesting world, but I wasn't convinced by the plot. About 6 out of 10

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Interesting world, but I wasn't convinced by the plot. About 6 out of 10

I'm sorry, but you can't link to Godzilla and be a sci-fi critic on the same day.

 

[Borek]

I'm sorry, but you can't link to Godzilla and be a sci-fi critic on the same day.

In my time zone I wasn't

 

[Borek]

Has anyone mentioned Outland?

 

[Danger]

Danger, please contact me privately - I can't reach you through the PM and your forum mailbox is full.

I'm still trying to save my old PM's to HD, and having difficulty with it. Unfortunately, I can't send a PM while the box is full. I can't delete any, for the same reason that I never throw out a birthday card; they all are of significance to me. I'll try harder to get them stashed away, but I'm scared of losing some. For some reason, the 'save as txt' function isn't working properly for me.

 

[Borek]

Try borek at chembuddy dot com.

 

[Danger]

I did try that, Borek, and was totally lost. I can't read Polish. The 'kontakt' button seemed obvious, but didn't do anything as far as I could tell.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I just watched A Boy and His Dog and Six String Samurai last night. I enjoyed both of them. Six String Samurai is definitely very cheesy though. Oh, and that band I mentioned was on the soundtrack is actually in the movie too.

 

[Huckleberry]

I just watched A Boy and His Dog and Six String Samurai last night. I enjoyed both of them. Six String Samurai is definitely very cheesy though. Oh, and that band I mentioned was on the soundtrack is actually in the movie too.

Are they the band playing at the first community Buddy comes to after rescuing the boy? I seem to remember a band playing there.

I like the music in your link, but the video is terrible. There is film footage in it, but I don't remember anything like that video in the movie.

Glad you liked the movies. I thought you would.

Over the weekend I saw both versions of Metropolis. It was refreshing to watch just for its differences from modern movies. The original remastered version had more subtitles and made a clearer story, but the Moroder version soundtrack was a great addition to the movie too. My favorite song was "Here She Comes" by Bonnie Tyler, followed by "Destruction" by Loverboy. Overall I think I prefer the remastered version for its effectiveness in telling the story, but watching both of them added to the enjoyment. It's the kind of movie I would watch several times and take a little something different away each time. Some may not be comfortable with the religious references and attitudes, but the main theme of the movie is a humanist message. Great movie!

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Are they the band playing at the first community Buddy comes to after rescuing the boy? I seem to remember a band playing there.

I like the music in your link, but the video is terrible. There is film footage in it, but I don't remember anything like that video in the movie.

Yes. They were the band playing in that ruined bar, the ones with the "nice shoes" and all of them are wearing bright big lapeled suits. There are only two short clips of them from the movie in that video but it was the only one I could find quickly.

Over the weekend I saw both versions of Metropolis. It was refreshing to watch just for its differences from modern movies. The original remastered version had more subtitles and made a clearer story, but the Moroder version soundtrack was a great addition to the movie too. My favorite song was "Here She Comes" by Bonnie Tyler, followed by "Destruction" by Loverboy. Overall I think I prefer the remastered version for its effectiveness in telling the story, but watching both of them added to the enjoyment. It's the kind of movie I would watch several times and take a little something different away each time. Some may not be comfortable with the religious references and attitudes, but the main theme of the movie is a humanist message. Great movie!

This is another I need to see. I keep thinking of it but never get to it. I think that there is also an anime reinterpretation of it aswell. I'm not sure if you are interested in anime at all.
Which reminds me, I was going to try to think of good animated sci fi. I'll have to come back and do that later.

 

[DaveC426913]

Buckaroo Banzai!

 

[Huckleberry]

This is another I need to see. I keep thinking of it but never get to it. I think that there is also an anime reinterpretation of it aswell. I'm not sure if you are interested in anime at all.
Which reminds me, I was going to try to think of good animated sci fi. I'll have to come back and do that later.

I like some anime, though not all of it. I haven't really seen enough to explain exactly what kind I prefer and why. I've already mentioned one animated sci-fi 'Iron Giant', which is actually pretty good. I was surprised.

There was also a 'Macross Plus' movie that I enjoyed, though it's been forever since I've seen it. It was about two pilots who are almost polar opposites of each other, but they both love the same woman. I seem to remember something about a computer trying to take over the world too. It's kind of fuzzy, but I remember I enjoyed it at the time. The aerial battles were spectacular in both exaggeration and effect.

 

[Borek]

I did try that, Borek, and was totally lost. I can't read Polish. The 'kontakt' button seemed obvious, but didn't do anything as far as I could tell.

"borek at chembuddy dot com" was intended to be read as an email address

You can always go to and use feedback form there - I did my best to make it look as if it was in English

Edit: note, you will have to leave your email address to be sure I can get back to you. Feedback goes straight to my desk, so nobody will see it but me. If you will enter you email you should get a copy of your feedback; if you will not receive it - something went wrong and I will be able to answer...

 

[Borek]

To post something on the subject - if you will ever have a chance please watch Seksmisja (Sexmission) - Polish SF comedy shot in 1984. Cult movie here, will probably lost part of its charm outside of Poland, but should be still worth seeing.

 

[Huckleberry]

To post something on the subject - if you will ever have a chance please watch Seksmisja (Sexmission) - Polish SF comedy shot in 1984. Cult movie here, will probably lost part of its charm outside of Poland, but should be still worth seeing.

Haha! They have this on netflix. I'll check it out for sure. Sounds funny from the description they give.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I like some anime, though not all of it. I haven't really seen enough to explain exactly what kind I prefer and why. I've already mentioned one animated sci-fi 'Iron Giant', which is actually pretty good. I was surprised.

There was also a 'Macross Plus' movie that I enjoyed, though it's been forever since I've seen it. It was about two pilots who are almost polar opposites of each other, but they both love the same woman. I seem to remember something about a computer trying to take over the world too. It's kind of fuzzy, but I remember I enjoyed it at the time. The aerial battles were spectacular in both exaggeration and effect.

I enjoyed Iron Giant too. I've not seen any of the Macross and similar movies.

The only major Sci Fi anime movie I can remember watching right now is Akira. Oh, and Ghost in the Shell. Both are very anime in style with extreme action sequences, incredibly soft boiled science, the obligatory questioning of what it means to be human, and a good dose of the surreal. They are good though perhaps an acquired taste.

Right now I have a few sci fi anime queued up. I'll get back to you after I watch them.

 

[DaveC426913]

The only major Sci Fi anime movie I can remember watching right now is Akira. Oh, and Ghost in the Shell. Both are very anime in style with extreme action sequences, incredibly soft boiled science, the obligatory questioning of what it means to be human, and a good dose of the surreal. They are good though perhaps an acquired taste.

Right now I have a few sci fi anime queued up. I'll get back to you after I watch them.

I watched Akira on the reco that it was the quintessential anime. I did not get it. I could not understand the point of the climax or why it went on and on and on.

It was Galaxy Express 999 that drew me into Anime. Oh, and of course Spirited Away, though that isn't really Anime.

 

[Borek]

Spirited Away, though that isn't really Anime.

Nor Sci Fi

 

[Danger]

"borek at chembuddy dot com" was intended to be read as an email address

Oops...
Done. Mail on the way.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Danger, just to add insult to injury, the SciFi channel is now the Syfy channel.

 

[Danger]

Danger, just to add insult to injury, the SciFi channel is now the Syfy channel.

Oh, geez...

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I watched Akira on the reco that it was the quintessential anime. I did not get it. I could not understand the point of the climax or why it went on and on and on.

It was Galaxy Express 999 that drew me into Anime. Oh, and of course Spirited Away, though that isn't really Anime.

I think Akira is rather heavily laden with symbolism. Alot of the backdrop is apparently a historical allegory which is probably fairly obvious though much of the more subtle aspects are probably lost on those of us who do not know the history very intimately. That battle at the end that stretches on and on is definitely over the top though, I have no idea what that is all about except that the director may have wanted to make it seem particularly epic.

I've not see the two you mention though I have heard of Spirited Away. Recently I have been wanting to watch the animated films I never saw so I should check these out.

 

[Borek]

The fifth element.

 

[Topher925]

Speaking of anime, anyone ever see HellSing?