Googd call on Annilation. The visuals really blew me away and the whole story has an unsettling, insidiousness about it.
Forbidden Planet. Another great one, first time I got drunk I was watching that! Excellent story and fx, way ahead of what most think of as 50's SF.
Was going to suggest the Wool trilogy, but given what you do like, I don’t know if they would be your thing. All three are good though.I enjoyed the film version of Annihilation, I’d read the trilogy before and couldn’t make up my mind about it at all, as they are in parts; beautifully written prose but exasperating from a plot and clarity perspective.
Reading though this thread though (and like all the others that proceeds it)...there’s an awful lot of shit TV and film sci-fi been made over the years, the CGI might have improved but in many ways we’re no further forward than the Flash Gordon series of the 30’s
Solaris - the original and the remake are worth a watch
other than the massively overrated 2001 space oddity)
I watched it for the first time a few months ago*. It was very odd, very much of its time and generally pretty dreadful. The bit with Reggie Perrin was.....random, to say the least.
*my parents took me to watch it in the cinema in the 70s. We all fell asleep. I was only about 8.
Not many think of pre star wars sci fi (other than the massively overrated 2001 space oddity) but silent running and rollerball are classics with social commentary that is startlingly relevant now.
I think of it but contemporary tastes for sci-fi (understandably) co-evolved with the demand for thrills and CGI. Also a lot of the older films seemed to be either overly-long/meditative/depressing or overly camp/schlocky/ridiculous. The latter can be enjoyed for kitsch value at least. I’d also agree that there are some classics that stand up with the social commentary and don’t require too thick irony-specs to enjoy on their own merit. Spring to mind:
THX1138
A Clockwork Orange
Planet Of The Apes (1968)
The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
Also enjoy quite a few of the (usually low-budget) 1950s for the creepy-kitsch thrills and (rarely) thought-provoking subtext (mix and match)
Most of them seemed to be various workings of the same two themes:
1. freedom-loving bed-time story where a square-jawed All-American alpha-male saves the free world from (ugly, foreign, big-brained, lock-step, mass-mind elite*) invaders* so that mom and the kids can get on with the gingham and pie. (*Spoiler - they mean ‘commies’)
2. Atomic monsters = ‘Run, the (invariably giant) mutant/s!’
WW2 has a lot to answer for!
‘Invaders From Mars’ (1953) is my long-term favourite of the 1st theme on account of it’s low-budget eeriness, art-direction/set-pieces. For my 10/11 year old self it was a powerful and unsettling film. Especially as it was told from a young boy’s perspective. Obviously at the time I missed any hidden political subtext, but the story is more about the creepy (and lonely) knowledge that the people you thought that you knew (and trusted) were/are not who you thought they were. Even (especially) your parents/guardians. And what’s worse than that? You guessed it - not being able to escape! For a young kid the theme and delivery of the film was probably too disturbing tbh. I wonder if any/how much of the current paranoia/conspiracy/ affecting the Trumpians and boomers of our times was initially seeded by such films during our/their childhoods? Just a thought...
(other than the massively overrated 2001 space oddity)
You’re thinking of the David Bowie video. 2001 - A Space Odyssey is highly regarded for the outstanding quality of the physical effects used in its making, there was no CGI available for years.
I was a teenager when I saw it on its release, it was pretty mind-blowing!
I watched Annihilation this afternoon. It was ok but won't make it onto my top ten list.
Some not mentioned yet:
Enders game
Oblivion (ok it's got Tom Cruise, but it's a really good film)
Arrival
You’re thinking of the David Bowie video. 2001 – A Space Odyssey is highly regarded
It may be highly regarded, but it's still a gigantic pile of poo after the "star gate". It's clearly designed to impress hippies.
Yeah I really enjoyed Enders Game and Oblivion. I thought Pacific Ring was ok too.
Most have been mentioned already, but Channel 4's Humans is worth a watch.
Most have been mentioned already, but Channel 4’s Humans is worth a watch.
First series was OK, but it seemed to turn pretty rapidly into Eastenders with androids after that. I stopped watching after season 2 because the family were too annoying.
thought Pacific Ring was ok too.
Nah. I thought it was weak. It was to science fiction classics what ‘Inrearendence Day’ was to alien invasions, and ‘Raiders Of The Lost Arse’ was to adventure-romance.
Seymour Butts has a lot to answer for.
