Favorite Sci-Fi Movies (1 Viewer)

[TheDuke]

eXistenZ
13th Floor

These were released the same year as Matrix so they kind of got overlooked.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Beat me to it. If you’re looking for obscure 90s sci-fi this one is worth a watch.

Cube falls into the category of one of the worst films I have ever suffered through to the end.

To be fair, I also despised the Saw series. I suspect fans of Saw who also enjoy Sci-fi would rate Cube highly.

 

[Eloe2000]

Cube falls into the category of one of the worst films I have ever suffered through to the end.

To be fair, I also despised the Saw series. I suspect fans of Saw who also enjoy Sci-fi would rate Cube highly.

I don't like horror nor gore but the psychological aspect was very interesting. Similar to Cabin in the Woods. I hate the gore but love the concept.

 

[raynmanas]

Upstream Color

Primer is one of my favorites, so I really wanted to like this movie, but I just could not get into it.

 

[Legend5555]

Some additional meta movies that most consider sci-fi

• Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
• Melancholia
• Children of Men
• Another Earth
• Circle
• Exam
• Cube
• Upstream Color

Upstream Color is a weird one. It's like Sci-Fi adjacent. It also makes me sad that Shane Carruth doesn't make more movies, and he may never make another.

 

[Legend5555]

I don't like horror nor gore but the psychological aspect was very interesting. Similar to Cabin in the Woods. I hate the gore but love the concept.

Cube falls into the category of one of the worst films I have ever suffered through to the end.

To be fair, I also despised the Saw series. I suspect fans of Saw who also enjoy Sci-fi would rate Cube highly.

Doom with The Rock is up there for me. I almost walked out of that movie.

I love Cube though. Cube Zero is also pretty good. But nobody should EVER watch Cube 2. I'm trying to save you all the trouble

 

[Poker Zombie]

Doom with The Rock is up there for me. I almost walked out of that movie.

I love Cube though. Cube Zero is also pretty good. But nobody should EVER watch Cube 2. I'm trying to save you all the trouble

Sadly I also watched Cube 2: Hypercube.

I was looking for Cube to redeem itself, and somehow managed to be worse.

 

[Legend5555]

Sadly I also watched Cube 2: Hypercube.

I was looking for Cube to redeem itself, and somehow managed to be worse.

I don't think "worse" is a strong enough word.

 

[BonScot]

Not really sci-fi but the last movie had aliens in it.

Next Indiana Jones being filmed next to my office.

 

[Legend5555]

Not really sci-fi but the last movie had aliens in it.

Next Indiana Jones being filmed next to my office.

View attachment 735670View attachment 735671View attachment 735672View attachment 735673View attachment 735674

I'm not optimistic. And not just because Crystal Skull was terrible. Most "major" Hollywood films these days are just bad. And trying to recapture the magic of a beloved series with aging stars has been shown to not work more often than not.

 

[BonScot]

aging stars

Indiana Jones and the Nursing Home of Doom

 

[TheDuke]

Didn't know they were making another Indiana Jones movie.

You'd think they would just replace Harrison Ford with a new actor and do a reboot. In the same time span of this franchise you look at something like Batman that's had half a dozen different guys in the role now. Which is probably expected over a 30-40 year time span.

He's almost 80. These are supposed to be action adventure movies. He's better suited for the action of Downton Abbey. Time to move on from him. These newer films just diminish the franchise and tarnish the original trilogy.

 

[Apache]

I watched "Tomorrow War" yesterday on Prime. I thought it was really good.

 

[Legend5555]

I did recently watch what I thought was a good sci-fi adjacent film about a time loop called The Fare. It was on prime.

 

[Eloe2000]

I rewatched Monsters (2010) this week. It is a very good and well shot/beautiful alien invasion movie in its own right, but very impressive when you realize it was made for only $500k. It is also a good example of a film that engages you and creates drama while only showing a glimpse of the aliens in a couple scenes.

 

[gopherblue]

2001: A Space Odyssey (how did you all miss this?!?)
The Matrix (first one only)
Fifth Element
Blade Runner
Oblivion
The Edge of Tomorrow
The Martian
Mars Attacks
Minority Report
Ex Machina
Contact
Aliens
Gattaca
Stargate
The Adjustment Bureau
Inception
Total Recall
Star Wars (Episodes 1-3...kidding!)
Rogue One

 

[BonScot]

2001 (and I didn’t mind 2010)

Alien

Star Wars

Empire Strikes Back

Planet of the apes

Thing

Event Horizon

Terminator

Back to the Future

They Live

Moon

Robocop

Wrath of Khan

Guardians of the galaxy

12 monkeys

Dredd



and a bonus…



Battle Beyond the Stars (you know the one where the spaceship has tits).

 

[DeeVee8]

I'm not as old as my movie tastes, honest.

 

[Poker Zombie]

2001: A Space Odyssey (how did you all miss this?!?)

Not missed

Perhaps I'm a little older than you but for me, older standouts (films that I watch over and over again):
2001
The Thing
The Fly
Alien
Aliens
Predator
And can't forget Star Wars, especially given the date.

I watched Tenet over the weekend and enjoyed it, much as I enjoyed Inception. From your list, Arrival, Contact and Interstellar are my faves.

Personally, I'm not at all a fan of the "Event Horizon" style of films where you arrive on a ship and someone has gone crazy or possessed and wreaks havoc. These are just horror films set in space.

I would just add Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049 (done by Villeneuve - like Arrival), Alien, Aliens, and Terminator 2 to your list as my favorites list. Others I enjoy are The Fifth Element, Inception, Minority Report, The Martix, The Martian, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. If The Prestige counts, then that too, but that's murky and expanding on that is too much information for those that have not seen it.

For the most part though, I found 2001 to be... dull. Not the whole thing, but enough of it to be excluded from my "Best Sci-fi" list. Perhaps if I read the book first, it would have been better, but a movie should never have to fall back on the book to explain something (like the monolith).

Don't get me wrong. For it's time it was a cinematic masterpiece. However, I never saw it when it came out (I was under a month old, so I blame it on my poor money management skills, 'cause I had literally none). By the time I saw it I had already seen Star Wars, and was well aware of the cultural significance of "H.A.L.", so I had grander expectations.

 

[BonScot]

Not missed




For the most part though, I found 2001 to be... dull. Not the whole thing, but enough of it to be excluded from my "Best Sci-fi" list. Perhaps if I read the book first, it would have been better, but a movie should never have to fall back on the book to explain something (like the monolith).

Don't get me wrong. For it's time it was a cinematic masterpiece. However, I never saw it when it came out (I was under a month old, so I blame it on my poor money management skills, 'cause I had literally none). By the time I saw it I had already seen Star Wars, and was well aware of the cultural significance of "H.A.L.", so I had grander expectations.

The book was written at the same time as the movie was being filmed. The setting was originally meant to be Saturn and the monolith was on Titan (I think). They couldn’t get the special effects right for the rings of Saturn so they switched it to Jupiter.
I’ve read the 4 books (2001, 2010, 2064 and 3001) and you’re not missing much.

 

[Legend5555]

The book was written at the same time as the movie was being filmed. The setting was originally meant to be Saturn and the monolith was on Titan (I think). They couldn’t get the special effects right for the rings of Saturn so they switched it to Jupiter.
I’ve read the 4 books (2001, 2010, 2064 and 3001) and you’re not missing much.

I think Rendezvous with Rama (just the first one) is one of his best works. It would make an interesting visual spectacle as a movie, but they'd have to inject some excitement and drama as it really doesn't have any.

 

[surfik]

Strongly recommend "Hardware"

 

[Budha]

Most have already been mentioned, a couple to add that I liked:

- Red Planet
- Prometheus

Both predicated on life on earth was seeded by a more advanced civilization - which I have always found to be very thought provoking..!

- Fantastic Planet (love this movie, used to show it on late nite TV before there were 700 channels - lol.

- Heavy Metal as how can this not be on the list!

 

[ekricket]

Most have already been mentioned, a couple to add that I liked:

- Red Planet
- Prometheus

Both predicated on life on earth was seeded by a more advanced civilization - which I have always found to be very thought provoking..!

- Fantastic Planet (love this movie, used to show it on late nite TV before there were 700 channels - lol.

- Heavy Metal as how can this not be on the list!

Bonus points if you actually have them, lol

 

[Frogzilla]

Ad Astra isn’t bad for a recent film

 

[Darson]

For the most part though, I found 2001 to be... dull. Not the whole thing, but enough of it to be excluded from my "Best Sci-fi" list. Perhaps if I read the book first, it would have been better, but a movie should never have to fall back on the book to explain something (like the monolith).

Don't get me wrong. For it's time it was a cinematic masterpiece. However, I never saw it when it came out (I was under a month old, so I blame it on my poor money management skills, 'cause I had literally none). By the time I saw it I had already seen Star Wars, and was well aware of the cultural significance of "H.A.L.", so I had grander expectations.

What I like about 2001 is that it's "hard" sci-fi. The real world is often dull and I think we're spoiled with the expectation that science fiction also has to be fantasy. But I also read the book before watching the film so perhaps my view is clouded. But the visuals and score are amazing. I liken it to more like going to watch an opera rather than a film.

Then again, I'm also a big fan of David Lynch's Dune. I had to watch it several times before I fully understood it. And the novel is incredible - I fully understand why they had to take so many shortcuts to bring it to screen.

I think Rendezvous with Rama (just the first one) is one of his best works. It would make an interesting visual spectacle as a movie, but they'd have to inject some excitement and drama as it really doesn't have any.

Rendezvous with Rama is an excellent book. I only recently found out that the sequels were all written by Gentry Lee which explains why I thought they were rubbish in comparison. Childhood's End is another good one.

 

[Machine]

Echos:
#1 - Gattaca
Dune - all of them
eXistenZ (moar jude law)
13th Floor
Aliens (prometheus)

Shit missed:
Equilibrium
They Live
Planet of the Apes franchise
Dark City
The last star fighter
Enders game

 

[Colquhoun]

What I like about 2001 is that it's "hard" sci-fi. The real world is often dull and I think we're spoiled with the expectation that science fiction also has to be fantasy. But I also read the book before watching the film so perhaps my view is clouded. But the visuals and score are amazing. I liken it to more like going to watch an opera rather than a film.

Then again, I'm also a big fan of David Lynch's Dune. I had to watch it several times before I fully understood it. And the novel is incredible - I fully understand why they had to take so many shortcuts to bring it to screen.


Rendezvous with Rama is an excellent book. I only recently found out that the sequels were all written by Gentry Lee which explains why I thought they were rubbish in comparison. Childhood's End is another good one.

The Rama sequels were “co-written”by Clarke...apparently Gentry Lee wrote, and Clarke provided the story. Not nearly as good as the original, agreed. Each book got successively worse.

 

[MatB]

Outlander
Aliens 1,2,3
Prometheus
Monsters
District 9


As entertaining as the MCU movies are , I would never say they were 'great'

Tomorrow World probbably the most mediocre of all Chris Pratt movies ever.

"hey Chris Pratt.. go be Chris Pratt in another movie for us will you... we'll just green screen it and edit in a storyline and special effects later.... Cheeers bud."

 

[Poker Zombie]

What I like about 2001 is that it's "hard" sci-fi. The real world is often dull and I think we're spoiled with the expectation that science fiction also has to be fantasy. But I also read the book before watching the film so perhaps my view is clouded. But the visuals and score are amazing. I liken it to more like going to watch an opera rather than a film.

Then again, I'm also a big fan of David Lynch's Dune. I had to watch it several times before I fully understood it. And the novel is incredible - I fully understand why they had to take so many shortcuts to bring it to screen.


Rendezvous with Rama is an excellent book. I only recently found out that the sequels were all written by Gentry Lee which explains why I thought they were rubbish in comparison. Childhood's End is another good one.

Dune - great book. Dune movie - crap.

Lord of the Rings - great book. Lord of the Rings trilogy - Great movies.

I cannot excuse crap because it is old. I can excuse poor special effects because they did not yet exist, but the story is paramount. There are no excuses. Dune failed, 2001 failed.

Quite frankly, most books to movies fail. They just depend on the book's "fan-boys" to make it bigger/better that it really is - often to great commercial success.

Commercial success ≠ Best Sci-fi ever. Not even remotely close.