Sci-Fi Freeks and Geeks...........

Posted by The Omnipotent Mr. Tinkles on June 4, 2008 at 7:26pm in About Movies

Ok...

Aside from Star Trek and Star Wars..........what science fiction movie/tv show changed the way you feel about science fiction?

For me, it was Silent Running and Dr. Who.

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Permalink Reply by Alex DeLarge on June 4, 2008 at 9:10pm: SILENT RUNNING is a great science fiction film with an environmental message. Bruce Dern is fantastic! I grew up in the 70s and began reading Asimov and Bradbury while my friends were still perusing THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR! My mother was a child of 50s science fiction and that love was shared with me in my formative years...and beyond. I'm tired of soap opera "sci-fi" and have seen the genre minimized in the last twenty years until the only dreck that is produced shows on the Sci-Fi channel. Garbage. I've always considered it an important genre becasue it's a way of extrapolitating and wondering what the future holds for homo sapiens. But sometimes the genre is too interested in the technology and not focused on the important aspect: how does the technology affect us, individualy or as a society? Philip K. Dick is the most interesting science fiction writer because his stories are about people and their personal/mental crisis. I suppose seeing BLADE RUNNER theatrically in 1982 really did change how I viewed the genre because it led me to Kubrick and Tarkovsky. But INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL have always been favorites and are still important cinema. CHILDREN OF MEN and DONNIE DARKO are recent films that give me a modicum of hope that the genre isn't dead. I hope readers in this forum can rise above the spoonfed pablum that is today considered science fiction.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by leela42 on June 4, 2008 at 9:37pm: I love thought-provoking and challenging sci-fi, but must admit I often choose space operas when I want a bit of the old mindless veg. Babylon 5 is a favorite.

Speaking of the former, I just watched The Lathe of Heaven (based on Ursula Le Guin's novel) this past weekend. I highly recommend it. It's more "spec-fic" than sci-fi, focusing on social issues and psychological interplay. Fascinating.

It was the very first PBS made-for-TV film (in 1980), so effects are fairly cheesy. The print isn't great either, since it was made from someone's recording of the original broadcast. PBS didn't save a copy in their archives, thinking that rights issues would hold up rebroadcast and rerelease forever. It was finally remastered for its 20th anniversary.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by NetflixJunkie on June 4, 2008 at 9:50pm: Watching these older movies with my dad when I was wrong shaped what I thought sci-fi should be about and how it should entertain.

The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Fly (the original); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alex DeLarge on June 4, 2008 at 10:13pm: Great films! Richard Matheson wrote THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN novella and screenplay. He also wrote I AM LEGEND which has yet to be made into an intelligent film. I think you would enjoy the original WAR OF THE WORLDS and, believe it or not, I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE. Very corny title but a great little B-movie gem that is often overlooked in science fiction cannon!; ▶ Reply to This