I once had the opportunity to ask David Lynch about his 1984 version, it’s a major regret for him.
Here’s hopping things go better this time around.
Favorite Science Fiction Movies
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Here’s hopping things go better this time around.
Great information. Thank you.
I was always curious why Lucifers Hammer and The Motr In Gods Eye never were adapted to film.
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I didn’t care for it. Maybe the new one will be better. I probably ought to read the novel.
It was a cinematic disaster in my, and apparently many other’s view, who had read Frank Herbert’s classic novel(s). I actually own a VHS copy of it and cringe every time I see the cover.
Painful movie to sit through really.
Yes, definitely read the book if you’re looking for an immersive read.
The original dystopian sci fi. I take some comfort in knowing that almost 100 years ago, they were worried about our entire civilization turning into an oppressive dystopian nightmare megalopolis, and we don't seem to be any closer to it now than we were then.
Wow, that link to the "original" science fiction film was more than I remembered. I wonder if NASA uses that for recruitment. I like the chorus line women in their cheesecake shorts and the extremely elderly astronauts, not to mention the interesting launch of the return vehicle, which was also the launch vehicle. I don't understand the commotion at he beginning, but the general drift of it all is clear. Thank you! It's even better than remembered.
The 1984 is almost universally disliked, but the new version does look good.
Difficult to add to that list but...
Solaris - the 1972 Russian version by Andrei Tarkovsky
Stalker - 1979; also by Andrei Tarkovsky
Iron Sky
Mars Attacks
The Matrix (and subsequent films)
Fifth Element is probably my all time favourite SciFi film
A slew of A and B list Hollywood, plus Slim Whitman and Tom Jones on the same soundtrack, amazing.
My wife loves this movie, I watch it from time to time because I love her.
I also liked "2001," the incredibly optimistic notion of how far we would have proceeded into space by that year. I also like various episodic scenes, like Hal, the computer's, nervous breakdown, and the strange lapses in the pace of the narrative that made it more rather than less dramatic. The ending is as much about mortality as it is about ending an odd space journey. I like the strange optimistic energy, the lightness of the scenes, despite it being a deathbed saga, and the apes throwing around the bone.
Dark Star - a 1974 low budget film by a budding film maker... ...John Carpenter
I was Warner Digital's art director and supervising matte painter on Mars Attacks. I had the distinction of completely weirding out Tim Burton on that film. I'd done a painting of the Reflecting Pond where greensmen are picking up the scattered bodies of dead Martians and placing them in wheelbarrows. I added dozens of dead Martians strewn in the trees and over the distant ground. Tim took one look at it and visibly paled. He asked me to please cut back the carnage as it was a bit "over the top" for him. What wasn't over the top on that film? The flaming cows?
The first time I saw Metropolis was when I was an undergrad at UCLA. What made the screening special was that Fritz Lang was there to talk about the film and the other two films that were shown. He spoke a little bit before each of the films was screened and after the screenings, hosted a Q&A with the audience. He must have been in his 80's, but still was a commanding presence.
- Brazil
- The Matrix
- ExistenZ
- The Thirteenth Floor
- The Fifth Element
Not a fan of the genre but, I enjoy Space Cowboys now and then.
I saw Metropolis in college as well, and up until that point, most of older movies I had seen just seemed hokey... my view on that has since changed, but I digress. Suffice it to say that I was very surprised at the seemingly-current theme about a high tech dystopia in such an old film. That impact of Metropolis stuck with me since first seeing it.
Now on the topic of groundbreaking genre-defining films (but perhaps somewhere opposite Metropolis on the scale of artistic merit) the original horror / low key comedy (with a strong sci fi element), and a personal “old movie” favorite:
The Creature From the Black Lagoon!
I loved Lucifer’s Hammer... the best post apocalyptic adventure novel, IMO. The religious cannibal cult was truly scary. I tend to forget some details in books, but it’s been quite a few years since reading that one, and I still remember the cannibals and their cauldron.
Poultrygeist.
I kid, I kid. It was by far the worst movie I have ever seen. It’s meant to be bad but they just took it too far and it’s a long movie.
I kid, I kid. It was by far the worst movie I have ever seen. It’s meant to be bad but they just took it too far and it’s a long movie.
I went to a local screening of Inland Empire with David Lynch doing Q&A at the end of the movie. I remember him saying the same thing. Said it was his biggest regret of his career.
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