Sci-Fi movie of all time..
Event Horizon
Probably CE3K. I really don't know how many times I've watched that.
Edit, double post - forum aliens in the works
Does The Matrix count? I’m not a huge sci-fi guy, but I love that film.
Starship Troopers. Would you like to know more?
I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, I find many sci-fi films shallow and overrated. I hate it when they pretend their wafer thin plots are deep, meaningful philosophies. The matrix is probably the worst for this, but I feel the same about some of the most highly regarded movies. I'm not going to mention them as it usually makes people unaccountably angry.
Having said that there are many that I have really enjoyed ever since I was tiny - The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, The Time Machine, Logan's Run, Westworld.
A bit more recently I like Back to the Future, Robocop, Twelve Monkeys. does Being John Malkovich count?
I haven't seen anything I've really enjoyed for years - I thought Minority Report was good, but that was two decades ago.
Avengers Endgame: but is that Sci-Fi? If not 2001.
I can never resist "The Chronicles Of Riddick". It's extremely daft but I love the Necromonger design aesthetic and stuff keeps happening at a pretty decent pace.
Or Alien….Ripley in her smalls when you’re 15….
I saw Alien/Aliens back to back at the NMFP&T many years ago, before the franchise disappeared up its own arse. I remember noticing at the time that she goes into hypersleep at the end of Alien and is then rescued by the salvage team in Aliens wearing completely different underwear. It always amazes me what trivial nonsense my idiot brain remembers from what must be 40-odd years ago!
Solaris. The Tarkovsky one.
[i]she goes into hypersleep at the end of Alien and is then rescued by the salvage team in Aliens wearing completely different underwear.[/i] - possibly unrelated but I saw a program about male bats waking from hibernation to have sex with hibernating female bats. The female never wakes or is even aware of this but wakes up pregnant. Possibly something similar happens in hypersleep?
[i]she goes into hypersleep at the end of Alien and is then rescued by the salvage team in Aliens wearing completely different underwear.[/i] - I am not surprised the salvage team in Aliens were wearing completely different underwear, fashion change, even in deep space
possibly unrelated but I saw a program about male bats waking from hibernation to have sex with hibernating female bats. The female never wakes or is even aware of this but wakes up pregnant. Possibly something similar happens in hypersleep?
Well, that's taken a bit of a dark turn.
I am not surprised the salvage team in Aliens were wearing completely different underwear
I accept that I could have punctuated that better...
Aliens ...wearing ...underwear....
Different genre surely...
Batteries not included...
I don’t have favourites of any kind. I dislike and reject the concept of favourites, it’s restricting.
But I really liked the film Silent Running.
Don't worry, we won't tell all the other films. All those ones you like indistinguishably...
Probably Bladerunner. Especially because it gets occasional cinema releases- I've seen it a bunch of times this way and it always blows me away, I forget how good it is (even though I remember that I've previously forgotten how good it is, it's still better than I expect).
I do love Aliens though. And Mad Max 2
(@flyingox, what a gorgeous film that is...)
Bladerunner is my favourite, but it's also the best so I guess I don't get a vote.
Tough call. I really enjoy Inception.
Is Predator sci-fi enough?
Far too many to choose from but my favourite which they have never made a sequel to but should have is....
District 9
The Final Countdown (1980)
Aircraft/aircraft carrier porn in a thunderstorm. USS Nimitz goes back in time to the day before Pearl Harbour; F14 Tomcat v "Mitsubishi Zero" anyone?
Predator, I'm saying it's action sci fi so acceptable. It is a superb film, underrated imo but pretty much perfect on every level
District 9, good call.
Invasion of the body snatchers - the original 1956 version.
The Final Countdown (1980)
Aircraft/aircraft carrier porn in a thunderstorm. USS Nimitz goes back in time to the day before Pearl Harbour; F14 Tomcat v “Mitsubishi Zero” anyone?
This was on the shelves of the local video place when I was ten years old. The concept intrigued me but I never watched it until I found it on a dodgy DVD stall in Jakarta. Sadly, rubbish film.
The Martian
Terminator 2 for the generic answer
The Fifth Element for a less obvious answer
And I like Star Wars which hasn’t had a mention yet? That’s how uncool i am
[i]And I like Star Wars which hasn’t had a mention yet? That’s how uncool i am[/i] - Never seen it, worth watching?
Back to the Future.
If we're only talking space-based sci fi
Star Trek: First Contact
Prey was genuinely better than Predator.
Anyway the answer is obviously Galaxy Quest
Never give up, never surrender
If you like Ms Weaver in Aliens you'll love Galaxy Quest
Contentious opinion: I prefer The Terminator to T2, and Aliens over Alien.
Trying to think of films not already mentioned. Depending on your definition of sci-fi:
Cube
Cypher
Pitch Black
Harrison Bergeron
Titan AE
I don't think Aliens over Alien is all that contentious. Though I'd expect the venn diagram of Aliens preferers to overlap more strongly with T2 preferers.
I couldn’t pick just one, it would have to be a top five.
Star Wars as a trilogy - it’s one story.
The Martian,
Interstellar,
The Fifth Element,
Star Trek First Contact or Wrath of Khan.
Oh I forgot about Prey, I really enjoyed that. When I first watched it I didn't even know it was a Predator film.
I once watched Blade Runner on a big screen outdoors in Battersea Park. There was low misty cloud that evening with jets lining up for Heathrow flying directly overhead with their lights shining through the murk. At one point during one of those shots of the city you couldn't tell where the edge of the screen was.
Favourite, I'm going with Dark Star.
At the moment it's still science fiction for humans to be on Mars so for me it's still sci-fi until they step foot on Mars.
Wrath of Khan - Ricardo Montalban is equally camp and sinister
Re: Prey, is the pistol she has at the end the one in Predator 2 (Danny Glover gets it at the end)?
Coincidence.... I am watching Predator 2 now and it is waaaay better than I remember it being. So 80's/90's, but an all-star cast and a genuinely different film as a sequel. Gary Busey in his prime too.
Favourite though? Too many to choose from. I love Aliens, Blade Runner, Akira, 2001, so many others. How can you choose just one?
I think it is the pistol from predator 2
I’m not a huge sci-fi fan, I find many sci-fi films shallow and overrated. I hate it when they pretend their wafer thin plots are deep, meaningful philosophies. The matrix is probably the worst for this, but I feel the same about some of the most highly regarded movies.
And yet…
there are many that I have really enjoyed ever since I was tiny – The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, The Time Machine, Logan’s Run, Westworld, Back to the Future, Robocop, Twelve Monkeys
😏
I watched predator 2 weeks ago, first time in maybe 20 years. My mate sent me a YouTube link as it's on there under 'forest lizard' 😆
It is brilliant, I thought I'd just watch the intro for a couple of minutes but suddenly I was half an hour in and hooked. I've seen it maybe 3 times before, know the story and lines pretty well but by christ the hair on the back of my neck was stood very firmly to attention. The effects are brilliant, no CGI and the forest lizard I have since learnt was filmed using 2 slightly different lenses to get the invisibility effect. It's remarkable in that a lot of the film is very low key, slow moving and all about looks on faces and close crops in a jungle. Basically guys moving through a dense jungle slowly looking for something unknown and invisible. But it works and has definitely stood the test of time, it still looks completely fresh. The cinematography is first class too, right from the start, and I was completely gripped the whole way through.
Good to see a couple of votes for Solaris and Silent Running in here. Two of my favourites, I love that slow, spacious, 70s vibe.
Moon and Arrival are two more that I really enjoyed, in a similar sort of vein. I probably prefer Moon because it's just so sparse. One robot, one human trying to figure out what's going on. Completely compelling.
Rollerball. Monsters, Bladerunner (controversially the original movie release with the voice-over) Alien, Primer. Under the Skin (instant classic, nothing really like the book its based on, but still, a proper future cult burner) Repo Man, The Iron Giant, the obligatory Ghilbhi...Today I'm saying Spirited Away, but could easily be one of two or three others tomorrow Ex-Machina gets an honourable mention, and The Thing for horror sci-fi and that ending. Ghosts in the Shell, lets say the original, but I like the film version as well, I know it gets panned by fans, but its clear it comes from a place of respect.
Read Kormoran’s Predator précis as Predator 2, thinking ‘nah definitely no jungle’, but makes me think I should give P2 another go after *many* years.
Ha ha I just reread my post and thought it sounded like I was talking about predator 2. Which I wasn't as it was bobbins
I’m aware of the seeming contradiction CountZero. The reason I don’t count myself as a sci fi fan is that I dislike so many of the ‘classics’, most of which have been mentioned on this thread.
For example I understand that many people have real love for Blade Runner, and I respect that. I found it a bit dull. Loads of people love the Matrix, and I’m happy that they enjoy it, but I thought it was unbelievably trite with laughable fight scenes. 2001 is supposed to be this all time great movie but it did nothing for me. I liked Star Wars (whatever the original one is called now) when I was 12, but not when rewatching it. Alien is an ok movie, but I’ve never understood all the fuss. If I was going to rewatch a Ridley Scott film it would be Thelma and Louise.
I find it a genuinely pleasant surprise when I find a sci-fi movie I like (someone mentioned Silent Running earlier, that’s another good one). Westerns though, I love westerns. I could - and sometimes do - watch those all day.
Jurassic Park.
I hate sci-fi
,
I am with Easily on matrix
However for my statement of individuality i will fo with John Carpenters They Live.
With side helping of Bad Taste
I love westerns
Serenity then!
[I love westerns]
So BTTF3 then......
Total Recall, the first one. The scenes showing the huge alien complex under the pyramid are fantastic. Reminds me a bit of the huge underground "machine" in Forbidden Planet.
Forbidden Planet had held up amazingly well imo. When the creature attacks the spaceship, first invisible, then glowing as it hits the perimiter fence... Just really well done.
One I reckon most on here haven't watched but I recommend is City of Ember. A family film but dont let that out you off. Has a brilliant Silo/ Fallout feel to it. You might notice a couple of detectorists make an appearance, too. 😉
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0970411/
I like the 60s/70s films mentioned but Omega Man is top of that pile for me. Dark Star has dated very badly, though. More recently I liked the Planet of the Apes reboots so looking forward to this next month:
Alien is an ok movie, but I’ve never understood all the fuss. If I was going to rewatch a Ridley Scott film it would be Thelma and Louise.
I like Thelma and Louise, and it's a groundbreaking film in its own right, but if everyone else thinks the film you just think is "ok" is a masterpiece, I dunno, maybe its you, eh? 😉
Ooh World of Tomorrow!
Immortal, 2004 film based on Enki Bilals graphic novels. They chose to blend in live actors and variety of less-than-perfect-CGI characters to underline certain characters synthetic nature which made most viewers hate it from the very first seconds.
The plot doesn’t make any sense in the books either but I really like the lost, absurd and hopeless feeling of the movie. It is probably 2/5 star film for most people.
The original Bladerunner I love too, I think I have box which has most versions of the film. And that old PC game.
The Thing
They Live
Pandorum
Psycho Goreman
Bad Taste
Space Truckers
I'll watch any sci-fi, even the low budget stuff that gets crappy ratings. Best one I've watched in the last couple of years was Psycho Goreman.
Upgrade
Ex Machina
Alien/Aliens
The Thing
They Live
Fifth Element
Robocop
Predator
Prey
The most recent Planet of the Apes trilogy
It is impossible to pick one tbh. I’m one of the few that isn’t that enamoured with Blade Runner. It looks great but I find it quite boring. Same with the sequel.
Westerns though, I love westerns. I could – and sometimes do – watch those all day.
Guardians of the Galaxy is basically a space western. So is 'The Mandalorian' (even has Timothy Olyphant reprising a sheriff role).
I like “Guardians…”. I haven’t seen Mandalorian, I might check that out. Do I need to have Star Wars knowledge to enjoy it? I haven’t seen anything SW related since the one that had Ja Ja Binks.
For someone who isn’t a sci-fi fan I’ve been on this thread quite a lot haven’t I? Apologies to anyone who feels I’ve spoiled the debate.
I think it is the pistol from predator 2
Confirmed.
https://imfdb.org/wiki/Prey_(2022)#Miquelet_Lock_Pistol
Serenity then!
I nearly said Serenity. Though it's really the final episode of the TV series (with a bit of retreading for new viewers). As a coda to Firefly it is excellent, but it loses something standalone because you haven't spent fifteen hours previously investing in the ensemble cast. When... events happen, I imagine those who haven't seen the show would think "why should I care?"
I'd recommend Serenity, but I would very strongly recommend watching Firefly first. I would also strongly suggest staying away from spoilers.
2001 is the best film of all time, not just sci-fi. Fact.
Preferred Rogue One to Star Wars
I haven’t seen Mandalorian, I might check that out. Do I need to have Star Wars knowledge to enjoy it?
Not really, if you've seen the original trilogy that should be plenty. There are some characters from Clone Wars that pop up, but I'm not sure it matters if you know their backstory.
I haven’t seen anything SW related since the one that had Ja Ja Binks.
Understandable. But you'll need a primer on trade relations and the political structures of the republic, and how that impacts on tax policy and security in the outer rim systems (not really).
2001 is the best film of all time, not just sci-fi. Fact.
Definitely an opinion there. Wouldn’t even make a top fifty for me.
2001 is the best film of all time, not just sci-fi. Fact.
It's all right, but not even Kubrick's best film.
Also, Star Wars was a kid's film. If it's your favourite, well, you know...
Also, Star Wars was a kid’s film. If it’s your favourite, well, you know…
Give Drac his sponge back.
death machine
tank girl
spaceballs
time bandits
flight of the navigator
explorers
dark city