The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

This month is the BIFFF which is the Brussels film festival which covers fantasy and sci-fi films. Tonight I saw The infinite Man which is a low budget Australian comedy / time travel film. Really quite funny.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_i...

Anybody else seen any good sci-fi films recently (old or new) ?

Coherence - i thought this was fantastic, low budget time travel distortion movie. 10/10

I also really enjoyed Edge of Tomorrow. 8/10. Groundhog day type sci-fi but enjoyable.

Not a sci-fi film but today I saw the documentary Lost Souls: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr Moreau (of which the book could well be June's group read). Absolutely brilliant and more ridiculous than most fiction. Richard Stanley did a Q & A afterwards and says it's 60% true which still makes it really crazy!

Saw Chappie at theatre the other day. I really liked it. Was kind of surprised at the negative reviews.

I have just today watched a movie called Future Sport, starring Dean Cain and Wesley Snipes. It is very similar to Rollerball from the 70's. Not a game-changer classic, but entertaining fun, not too bad.
Saw a low-budget sci-fi flick called Extraction a few nights ago. It was slow to get my attention, but in the end it was a fairly good scripted tight memory/time-travel kind of tale with some good drama.

I've just watched John Carter which was not great. I didn't realise it was based on A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I hope it's only loosely based on it as it's looking like that will be the group read next month.

Well, some of the characters are the same.
;)

Jim wrote: "Well, some of the characters are the same.
;)"

I look forward to it then :-D

On my way to work I started reading The Iron Heel and was surprised to see it also had a character called John Carter. It was only after a few pages I realised i'd opened the wrong book on my Kindle! I was very tired this morning :-)

Not sure if anyone likes documentaries but i've just watched Jodorowsky's Dune: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodorow...

It's an excellent film about how the director Alejandro Jodorowsky planned to make a film of Dune in 1973. Really a case of what could have been and certainly would have been a very different film from that which David Lynch made.

Esquire magazine put up a list of The 100 Best Sci-Fi Movies of All Time here:
http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/...

It's a hoot looking through & remembering them. They have some good, short commentary on each one, too.

#100 "Escape From New York" (1981) While I agree with a lot they said about it, they shouldn't have left out Ernest Borgnine as Cabby. He was fantastic.

#96 "Westworld" (1973) I'm looking forward to (or dreading) the new series.

#95 "Serenity" (2005) I'm not surprised it is on the list, just on how low down it is. (Yes, I'm a Firefly fanboy.)

#93 "Escape From the Planet of the Apes" (1971) I suppose one of the movies should be in this list, but I certainly wouldn't have picked this one.

#92 "Silent Running" (1972) made the list! It's so often forgotten even though R2D2 is a direct descendant of Huey, Duey, & Louie. Best film Bruce Dern ever did.

(I wonder if "Saturn 3" with Farrah Fawcett, Kirk Douglas and Harvey Keitel will make this list?)

#89 "Galaxy Quest" (1999) was fun with Tim the Toolman, Alan Rickman, & Sigourney Weaver.

#84 "Men In Black" (1997) was such a hoot. Loved the way Will Smith & Tommy Lee Jones played off each other. It's one of the last movies I remember seeing Rip Torn in, too.

#77 "Scanners" (1981) might deserve to be on this list, but probably not this high up. I liked it better than some of the cinematic types mentioned so far, but I'd put it below anything I've written here so far.

#76 "Outland" (1981) is about the new sheriff in town space station - Sean Connery. A fine one he made, too!

#71 "Rollerball" (1975) just never makes me think SF for some reason. James Caan did a great job, though.

#67 "THX-1138" (1971) certainly deserves to be on this list & should probably be higher. I've always like Robert Duvall, too.

#66 "Repo Man" (1984) was eerie & my youngest boy's favorite movie for ages.

#63 "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978) is my favorite make of the book, too. Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldbloom, & Leonard Nimoy helped make it so.

#59 "The Last Star Fighter" (1984) is still fun. I caught part of it the other day. A reason to play video games!

#54 "Predator" (1987) I don't really think of as SF.

#50 "Avatar" (2009) was great.

#46 "Soylent Green" (1973) starred Charlton Heston & Edward G. Robinson.

"Tron" & "A Clockwork Orange" are numbers 29 & 28, respectively. "The Matrix" is #25.

"Total Recall" (1990) made #23 on this list? Someone is crazy. Fun flick, though.

#17 "Terminator 2" (1992) has a good case made for it. I still would have picked the first one, though.

#14 "Forbidden Planet" (1956) had to make the list, of course.

#13 "Robocop" (1987) - sure, it should be on the list, but here?

#12 "Alien" (1979) - oh, yeah!

#11 "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (1951) is another no-brainer.

#10 "Planet of the Apes" (1968) - OK, but the franchise only deserves 1 slot.

#9 "Terminator" (1984) - see #10

#8 "The Wrath of Khan" (1982) - Yes! And this franchise deserves more than 1 slot, but not in the top 10.

#7 "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) - nope. No way should this be in the top 10. I'm not even sure that Star Wars qualifies as SF.

#4 "Aliens"(1986) - No way!

#2 "Blade Runner" (1982) - absolutely.

#1 "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) - I can live with this as #1. It's pretty slow, but iconic.

This was a pretty good list, but I didn't care for the ordering & I was disappointed that there were double entries from some franchises which means some really good flicks got left out. Some that I would have included:
- Resident Evil
- Pitch Black
- The Stepford Wives (1975)
- The Martian (2015)
- A Boy & His Dog
- Barbarella (1968) OK, maybe not, but this was hot when I first saw it.
- Dr. Strangelove (1964)
- First Spaceship On Venus (1959)
- Lathe of Heaven (1980)
- Pacific Rim (2013)
- Saturn 3 (1980)
- Screamers (1996)
- Surrogates (2009)
- Tank Girl (1995) Hey, it's no worse than some of their picks & the sound track was awesome.
- The Day After (1983)
- Tarantula (1955)
- The Butterfly Effect (2004)
- The Fifth Element (1997)
- The Fly (1958) over the newer version even if it starred Jeff Goldbloom & had better special effects.
- The Lawnmower Man (1992)
- The Thing - pick a version.
- Weird Science (1985)

Jim wrote: "Esquire magazine put up a list of The 100 Best Sci-Fi Movies of All Time here:
http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/...

It's a hoot looking through & remembering t..."

That's a great list - I've seen quite a lot, but i've got a list of films to see and i'm going to add some of those i've missed.

I have to admit I really like Total Recall (the original) but I have to agree maybe not the 23rd best sci-fi film of all time.

Some of the non-English language films on the list are good as well particularly Alphaville and Stalker.

I never seem to 100% agree with these kind of lists, but I suppose no one does.

I do think that both Terminator 2 and Aliens both belong there if only as proof that the sequel can sometimes be better than the original movie. Escape from the Planet of the Apes, however, does not share that distinction. Total Recall is a fun movie, but I agree its rated way to high, if it belongs on the list at all. Rollerball and Outland are two I'm not sure belong in a top 100 list at all. Both were pretty forgettable IMO.

I agree with at least some of your list. I think both The Thing (either version) and Dr. Strangelove belong on that list more than some of the titles that made it.

Some others that didn't make it, that I think should rate higher than some that did; Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Abyss (an often overlooked gem IMO), Gojira/Godzilla (1954), and Jurassic Park. If we want to include animated movies, I think Akira and Ghost in the Shell belong in the top 100, too.

I thought Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Gojira/Godzilla (1954), and Jurassic Park all made it. I'm sure Gojira did or I would have mentioned it.

I will admit that sometimes the actor makes the movie for me, but I still really liked Outland.

You don't think The Stepford Wives (1975) should be on the list? I don't why so many skip this one. Maybe it was just when I saw it, but that scared me badly. It's colored much of how I've viewed AI ever since.

On 'Jo's' comment on "the excellent film about how the director Alejandro Jodorowsky planned to make a film of Dune in 1973." Yes, that was an excellent film. Better than any of the Dune films that were made - and I can't help but agree, much of Star Wars had to have been inspired by this film script.

Good list Jim by the way.

I saw a special viewing of 2001: A Space Odessey on the big screen at the TIFF theatre in Toronto a while back. A truly cool experience that was.

Jim wrote: "I thought Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Gojira/Godzilla (1954), and Jurassic Park all made it. I'm sure Gojira did or I would have mentioned it.

I will admit that sometimes the actor makes t..."
Were they? I guess I managed to miss them!

I don't think I mentioned the Stepford Wives, but while its a good movie, its not oneI would buy for my own collection.

2013 "Snowpiercer" was actually a really cool under the radar Orwellian/Titanic sort of flick.

I don't watch a lot of movies, so I haven't seen many of these.

I was disappointed in Ender's Game. Great book - movie, not so much.

I'm looking forward to Arrival, based on Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others

I liked the snowpiercer a lot but

Shouldn't try to comment from my phone as you can't edit! :I liked the snowpiercer a lot but i'm a big fan of the director. Last year I tried to watch the best non-English language sci-fi films of which several are on the list. I don't know if anyone has seen On a Silver Globe but it's one of the oddest films i've seen in some time. It's very long as well at 166 mins.

Will look into that one

I also like that director. Memories of Murder is just brilliant.

I enjoyed Snowpiercer quite a lot, but it's hard not to look back on it and acknowledge all the flaws.

On The Silver Globe is on my to watch list but I just can't find it anywhere. Any ideas, Jo?

Joel wrote: "I also like that director. Memories of Murder is just brilliant.

I enjoyed Snowpiercer quite a lot, but it's hard not to look back on it and acknowledge all the flaws.

On The Silver Globe is on..."

In Belgium we have the mediateque which is like a library but for media (films, CD's etc.) and I was able to borrow it from there. I don't know if you want to buy it or just watch it, but if you don't mind streaming films it seems to be available on Netflix.

I recently watched The Minority Report, Ex Machina and Ghost in the Shell (animated). All three presented really mind-numbing philosophical questions and went about answering those questions in really entertaining ways.

Acting-wise and plot twist-wise I'd go for Ex Machina.

Ghost in the Shell is my fave because it has everything -- the philosophical dilemmas, the action, the suspense, the visuals, the culture you see in the various sceneries, etc.

The Minority Report has some great suspense in it. Forgot the ending, too, so it was worth the re-watch.

Jim wrote: "Esquire magazine put up a list of The 100 Best Sci-Fi Movies of All Time here:
http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/...

It's a hoot looking through & remembering t..."

Dude. How can Star Wars not be SF? Granted it might not be top 10. But c'mon. Yes, it follows tropes of space opera and other stuff, but isn't that still within the same scope (science fiction is very broad in scope) not like Predator where it's essentially a horror-action flick in a forest with an alien in it (basically the only reason it gets consideration as SF, so it's just on the borders). It's not hard SF and doesn't have to be. Even though it doesn't always dwell too much on the scientific and philosophical details, it creates a sort of awesome mythology based on what an intergalactic society might look like.

Daemon wrote: "...How can Star Wars not be SF?.."

I think Star Wars is basically a fantasy flick with space ships & aliens in it. I like it & might have included the first one in the list, but I don't think of it as SF any more than I do Predator or Roller Ball.

I'd consider Star Wars as soft Sci fi, but chiefly space opera/fantasy - it still isn't something I'd expect to see on a top Sci fi films list though. Mainly because it's something I'd watch purely for fun, rather than for the Sci fi elements.

The Death Star is probably the biggest Sci fi element in it though.

I watched Ex Machina quite recently. Good film - dark ending though!

Minority Report and Ghost in the Shell are classics. Good stuff!

If you don't mind your science fiction animated, then I'd recommend checking out:

Akira
Memories
Metropolis
Paprika
Angels Egg (more philosophy than Sci fi, but an interesting watch.)

Jo wrote: In Belgium we have the mediateque which is like a library but for media (films, CD's etc.) and I was able to borrow it from there. I don't know if you want to buy it or just watch it, but if you don't mind streaming films it seems to be available on Netflix.

Thanks, Jo. I don't mind streaming, but I've checked Netflix and it doesn't have it. I think their catalogue varies depending on the region.

The original Metropolis belongs on the top 100 list, too. Old, odd, & silent, it's still a great flick. It's available for free on Archive.org
https://archive.org/details/Metropoli...

They have a lot of good, old movies. I downloaded "Attack of the Giant Leeches" from there. They have quite a few which you can find here:
https://archive.org/details/SciFi_Horror

Arrival has just been released in Belgium and I went to see it today. Thought it was quite well done although i'm not sure it's going to appeal to anybody expecting a "blockbuster" style film as it's a bit slow in places. I enjoyed it, even including Jeremy Renner who is not one of my favourite actors.

I saw Arrival a couple of weeks ago. Really enjoyed our. Very refreshing.

I haven't seen the movie. it's based on Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life", which is very good. When they change the title to make a movie, it often means they've rewritten the story, too. I wonder?

Buck wrote: "I haven't seen the movie. it's based on Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life", which is very good. When they change the title to make a movie, it often means they've rewritten the story, too. I wonder?"

I've got a bit of a blank on the details of the story so I can't think how much is changed but the general story is the same, a linguist trying to communicate with aliens and the concept of language/time. It does make for an intelligent sci-fi film in it's own right.

For the title, Wikipedia says "Villeneuve ended up changing the title, partly because the resulting script became so far removed from the short story, as well as sounding "more like a romantic comedy".

With the recent death of John Hurt, I rewatched Alien at the weekend. Still a great film, can't believe it dates from 1979.

Not exactly sci-fi but if anybody likes documentaries I also watched Room 237 which is a documentary about what Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining really meant. Really quite entertaining.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_237

"Altered States" (1980). Not often refereed to for some reason.

It's the annual Brussels fantastic film festival so i've seen a couple of sci-fi films this weekend.

Attraction - a Russian sci-fi blockbuster about a spaceship arriving in Moscow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attract...

A good film to see how Russia makes large scale films compared to the Hollywood films you usually see. Not bad but with the usual blockbuster flaws.

I also saw Hidden Reserves - An Austrian dystopic film

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni60118921/

The idea for this one is, death insurance to allow you to die rather than being kept in storage until your debts are paid off. It's quite a dark film but pretty good.

Today I saw Alien Covenant. Really ordinary even with a great performance by Michael Fassbender. Very disappointed, thought Prometheus looked like being the start of something good but no.

Good to know, Jo. Thanks. I'm not terribly surprised, though.

Jo wrote: "Today I saw Alien Covenant. Really ordinary even with a great performance by Michael Fassbender. Very disappointed, thought Prometheus looked like being the start of something good but no."

I have also seen it some time ago too. I honestly I didn't like prometheus. It unnecessarily complicated the alien franchise. Also it seem a waste of knowing your own creator. A good development on that could have been something really great. At least covenant was really good directed. ( god bless Ridley Scott)

Jo wrote: "With the recent death of John Hurt, I rewatched Alien at the weekend. Still a great film, can't believe it dates from 1979.

Not exactly sci-fi but if anybody likes documentaries I also watched Roo..."

Jo wrote: "With the recent death of John Hurt, I rewatched Alien at the weekend. Still a great film, can't believe it dates from 1979.

Not exactly sci-fi but if anybody likes documentaries I also watched Roo..."

Got me really curious about room 237. Thank you for the tip!

I saw Annihilation this weekend. It was very different from the book and included scenes from the 2nd book in the series and possibly the 3rd (which I haven’t read yet). I think I would’ve liked it more if the whole time I wasn’t thinking “that’s not what happened in the book!” For example, the Crawler, one of the most interesting aspects of the book was completely left out. I’m curious what people, who haven’t read the book think about it, strictly as a movie and not an adaptation. It’s hard for me to be objective.

It always bugs me when they mix up books like that. They did that with the Harry Bosch series, too.

Here's a list of the Top 10 Evil Robots in SF.
http://www.unboundworlds.com/2018/06/...

Some aren't true robots. The author of the article says that as he keeps the definition broad & writes a couple of short paragraphs about each. Definitely a fun article.

We are going to the late night opening of the latest Jurassic Park movie (not sure of the exact title) tonight with grandchildren and their friends, a total of 6 ranging in age from 13 to 17. We'll be outnumbered. Should be fun even if the film is a dud.

I want to see Incredibles 2. I think the latest Avengers is still playing, but I'm kind of burned out on them. The Incredibles was a lot of fun, though.

Re: Annihilation...

Pretty sure that the film was based on the first book, since the other two weren't out when production started. Although it's possible that the author gave insider info, I haven't gotten that impression from the comments I've read from the author.

I can't comment on the actual similarities between the film and the other books, since I just read the first one recently. Not sure if I'll be reading the others in the series or not.

Jim wrote: "I want to see Incredibles 2. I think the latest Avengers is still playing, but I'm kind of burned out on them. The Incredibles was a lot of fun, though."

Incredibles 2 was great. I hope Brad Bird keeps making Incredibles sequels until the end of time.

I saw Han Solo. Color me disappointed.

Pam wrote: "I saw Annihilation this weekend. It was very different from the book ...I’m curious what people, who haven’t read the book think about it, strictly as a movie and not an adaptation."

I've read the book and I saw the movie with two guys who have not. We all had pretty much the same reaction regardless whether we'd read it. It is OK, but not great. Some cool visuals, somewhat interesting story, but also not compelling.

It did not bother me that it was so different from the book. It would have been difficult to film some scenes of the book. And it preserved the overall feel.

I saw and enjoyed "Sorry to Bother You". It flirts with different categories, but there is a definite SF part to it, so I'll agree with wikipedia calling it a "science-fiction comedy". You wouldn't guess the SF part from the trailers, so I'll hide that here: (view spoiler)[a rich guy is trying to develop genetically engineered workers (hide spoiler)].

This small-budget film isn't as polished as a hollywood or HBO film, but it is worth seeing if you like the idea of comedy mixed with SF. Also, it was shot near where I live so it was interesting to see local sights.

Sounds neat, Ed. I'll look for it.

I watched the latest Pacific Rim. It was fun, but not as good as the first. I'm halfway through Ready Player One & am enjoying it. Didn't get to watch any more last night & probably won't tonight. Hope to get it finished up this weekend.

Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2. Sorry to bother you is next on my list to see. I met the director, Boots Riley about 15 or 16 years ago. Nicest celebrity I ever met.