Adapted from a comment I made over at Chris’ blog to help him and his buddies kick start their science fiction club, by suggesting films they should watch.
Generally speaking, I think you could say that Science Fiction films have roots in ideas, whereas fantasy have root in the fantastic. To use a comparison from one of my friends, while a whole batch of films coming out these days could be considered science fiction, like Iron Man or any James Bond movies (ever), since they make use of technology currently unavailable to us, that isn’t really the crux of science.
I’ll try and stray away from the obvious ones, but you can’t get around 2001: A Space Odyssey. And if you do watch it, make sure the sound is so loud that you’ll think on more than one occasion: “Should we turn it down just a notch?”. And then don’t.
For a modern ‘true’ science fiction film that’ll make your head spin, go for Primer. Don’t read about it too much ahead of time, and then read the hell out of it afterwards.
If you’re up for some archive diving, go for Forbidden Planet, the base of what would become Star Trek and ‘inspiration’ for Cameron’s Xenogenesis short. Starring the classic hottie Anne Francis and an unlikely but surprisingly good Leslie Nielsen. This is classic science fiction at its very best. And the soundtrack. Oh dear. Best. Ever.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) is one of the best sf films in the history of ever. And it actually manages to stand tall even today, carrying with it some grand moral themes from back when sf was about ideas, and not explosions.
I would also recommend the original War of the Worlds, but then we’re slowly moving into slightly cheesier territory. But it’s worth it for its historical value alone (for the time, crazy good effects) and its slight influence on E.T. (arguably one of the best films of all time). And if that doesn’t convince you, this poster will, though it oversells it a tad.
And of course, don’t forget Mars Attacks!!
Though Star Wars is almost too obivious, even if it is Science ‘Fantasy’, you should check or re-check THX 1138, which is quite honestly a masterpiece from a bygone era. Its cold and distanced style only makes its human qualities so much more endeering. I love it. And its worth also checking out the American Zoetrope documentary on the DVD while you’re at it.
Back in the modern era, Children of Men along with AI. (lalala, I can’t hear you, cuz it’s AWESOME!) and Minority Report, is one of the few great sf films to come out in the last decade or more. If you haven’t seen it, it’ll definitely leave a mark.
A few obvious ones:
Blade Runner: Final Cut if you haven’t seen it yet. Make sure, if at all possible, that you see it in HD.
The Abyss is fairly obvious, but sometimes forgotten. Other than the raw matter-of-factness of the first Terminator, this is certainly Cameron’s best.
And finally, since it’s also the only Spielberg film out on blu-ray, Close Encounters is definitely worth a re-visit.
Finally I’d say stuff like Omega Man, Soylent Green, TRON, The Last Starfighter, Logan’s Run and When World Collide. They’re all flawed in their own way, mostly by dragging their feet here and there, but worthy of watching for completeness sake for sure.
And of course Josh Whedon’s Firefly and Serenity, in that order.
Finally, if all else fails, Hobgoblins will save the day (and make you ready for the sequel!) The horror. The horror.
Have fun! :D
PS: Comments are open for further suggestions and discussion.
I have a soft spot for low-key sci-fi, which is why I also love ‘Primer’.
If you already haven’t, you should give ‘The Andromeda Strain’ (1969) a go. It’s subtle but still very dramatic and has great ideas about our demise.
A remake of ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ is coming out in december of this year. It’s on my calendar. Should not be a problem to watch the original before the end of the year.
What about Planet of the Apes (classic old version) and Tarkovsy’s Solyaris? Compulsory material I think.
Some of my favorites are Richard Stanleys Hardware aka M.A.R.K.-13, A Scanner Darkly (by Richard Linklater), Ghost In The Shell (by Mamoru Oshii), I better stop myself now, could go on and on …
To be honest, I haven’t seen ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’, but I’ve seen THX 1138 and I consider it a good exampla of dystopia – I also recommend it.
BTW, did you know that there are rumors about a remake of ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’?
Yes. And I loathe it. Hollywood is suffering from a horrible case of the sequalitis combined with a nasty bit of remakeitis, and it’s strangly any leftover creative spark there might be left, hiding somewhere in those hills.
Where is Solaris on your list; both the new and the old?
Well, they’re not missing for lack of being great movies (I’d recommend them to anyone), but since it’s Chris and his buddies, I thought I’d go for wonder and spectacle over introvert romantic fatalism, as endeering as it is :)
Whisky Galore! (released in the US as Tight Little Island) was a 1949 Ealing comedy film based on the novel of the same name by Compton MacKenzie.
Thanks Adida, for trying to spam me. It is much appreciated.
That said, Whiskey Galore!, while not being a sci-fi flick, is actually quite entertaining. I saw it quite a few times when I was a kid.
Ehm… Gattaca perhaps?
Cameron was influenced by films such as ‘Forbidden Planet’ his special effects always get the headlines but really his strengths lie in his script writing skills.
I am a fan of the original War of the Worlds film – underrated in my view.
‘Alan’, seriously, maybe you can help me here; why would you write a semi-coherent comment and then link back to ‘www.pain-relief-medication.info’? I mean, do you take me for a fool?
So I’ve changed your link to unicef.com instead, since they probably need the traffic more than you, or whoever you work for, do.
As for your comment; yeah, that’s what I wrote in the entry. Except Cameron isn’t actually that strong a script-writer. He’s very economical, in the sense that his scripts are as tight as they can be, but it’s so much so that they sometimes almost end up suffocating themselves.
And I love his films; they’re some of the most influential films in my library. But there just isn’t a lot of room for the audience to fill in the blanks in films like Aliens and T2.
But luckily he’s fantastic at getting his money’s worth on the screen, which is his saving grace.
Or was. After all, he hasn’t made a fiction film in over a decade, so Avatar will be quite interesting in that respect.
Back to the Future Trilogy. Although it’s a mix of genre with sci-fi and comedy and with a western in the third, I still consider the BTTF movies as sci-fi films. Many may not consider it hardcore sci-fi, maybe because the movies don’t dwell too much into sci-fi, but more with the characters. (Many of the best sci-fi movies do that).
And surely these movies are one of the best time travel movies. And what is more sci-fi than time travel :), so these definitely qualifies in the league of other sci-fi films.
I heard a sequel to ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ will be released later this year (2008).…?
Remake it will be :P
Quote: A remake of the 1951 classic sci-fi film about an alien visitor and his giant robot counterpart who visit Earth.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970416/
According to IMDb, we can expect the movie to be released in December…
I’m sure I will watch the original movie first – I like to spot differences.
The only “remake” (well, not really a remake, but a movie based on the same script) that I liked was I Am Legend (based on 1971’s Omega Man)
this is a very vague and weird question, but i saw a preview for a movie a long time ago and ive always wanted to see it but i dont know the name of the movie and all i remember are a few vague details from the preview. If anyone can tell me the movie you are amazing at movie knowledge. All i remember is an Indian guy (by indian i mean little clothing) running from some giant spike thing and a really cool looking guy with a western, black, very long trench coat with something covering most of his face and a hat..and he has a stick thing…in the rain. Once again, very strange and vague but im dying over here
Interesting to hear the origin of The Day The Earth Stood Still, I’d always seen it in one of my favourite Futurama episodes (The Day The Earth Stood Stupid) but embarassingly didn’t know what it referred to.