Movies for hardcore sci-fi geeks

[Bandersnatch]

I've just finished watching 'Predestination' with Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook.

I went in expecting a rip-off of Looper, which I only liked so-so itself, and was thus pleasantly surprised. It's a very fun and well-done time-travel mind-bender (they pay me by the hyphen) with a somewhat unusual plot.
The time-travel shenanigans (and some biology) doesn't exactly hold together in places when subjected to closer scrutiny, and the 'big reveal' is pretty much apparent 2/3rds in, but it's forgivable considering the overall clever construction. Makes you spend a few minutes analysing all the pieces and how they do or don't fit each other, which is what I need from a time-travel film.
The treatment of temporal paradoxes and its mood reminded me somewhat of '12 monkeys', but with a more personal approach.
Turns out it's based on Heinlein's 'All you zombies', which I haven't read but heard good things about.

Worth seeing, if not exactly on par with champions in the genre (Primer, Triangle, 12 monkeys).In other news, apparently there exists such a thing as a four-part adaptation of Philip K. Dick's 'Man in the High Castle' that's apparently very good - I haven't seen it yet, but am already salivating. The pilot episode available for free from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RSI6NKS/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[Pete Cortez]

Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.

 

[Uollises]

About Solaris - book is much better than both movies. Love Farscape a very good sci-fi movie.

 

[Marco89]

Just want to add some words about Solaris - I haven't read book and watched only Tarkovsky's movie, but it really made a significant impression on me. I watched it at an quite early age, but it forced me to rethink many things in my life.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Just want to add some words about Solaris - I haven't read book and watched only Tarkovsky's movie, but it really made a significant impression on me. I watched it at an quite early age, but it forced me to rethink many things in my life.

I agree that it lingers. I disliked it when I saw it a few years back - felt it was too pretentious and archaic in form (what was it, a five minute scene of riding in a car silently?), and diverging too much from the source material. But some shots were just too well done to forget (e.g. the revival scene, the final shot), so it lodged itself in my mind and I've been thinking about it ever since, with my opinion on it gradually improving.

 

[zoeschmoe]

I watched Coherence a few months ago...wow! Never seen anything like that, a sci-fi movie that favours strong characters and interesting story over special effects. Highly recommend :)

 

[Hector Mata]

I find that Dark City is very underrated. Not as great as some others mentioned here, but constantly and undeservedly snubbed from "Top Sci-Fi" lists nontheless.

 

[Fredrik]

I don't think anyone has mentioned "FAQ about time travel". It's a cheap-looking movie from 2009 with Chris O'Dowd (The IT Crowd) and Anna Faris. It's a comedy of the type that tries to put a smile on your face rather than make you laugh out loud. Three guys who hate their jobs meet at the pub to drink and talk about how life sucks. Most of the movie takes place inside that pub. They end up having some wibbly wobbly experiences in there. I enjoyed it. I convinced two other people to see it, and they both liked it. One of them saw it several times.

I'm sure this has been mentioned already (it would be super weird if it hasn't) but the Doctor Who episode "Blink" is a must see. It's a standalone episode that isn't really about The Doctor. It's about a woman named Sally Sparrow (Carey Mulligan), who has some very strange experiences. You don't have to watch any other episodes of Doctor Who before you see this one. This is the episode that invented the phrase "wibbly wobbly, timey wimey".

 

[pvk21]

Interstellar is pretty amazing movie.its about wormhole.you will definitely like it.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Just came back from watching 'Ex Machina'. A very, very good sf. Smart and minimalistic (think Gattaca, Her, Under the Skin - probably more like the latter than the former).
Check it out if it's still playing in a cinema around you. Well worth the admission fee.

 

[Glenstr]

Has anyone else seen this yet?

It was slow and could have used a lot more editing, but all in all it was strange and enjoyable.

I went through this entire thread looking to see if anyone mentioned this movie(Another Earth), not being sure if it fell into the Sci-fi genre or not.

I like to seek out "off the wall" / under rated movies, and found this one when I was reading an article about "parallel Earth's" , it looked interesting so I found & downloaded it. For a low budget Indie production I thought it was very good, and quite enjoyable to watch. Yeah the "sciency" parts didn't get a lot of attention, but the story line was interesting, it was pretty well acted and the ending was kind of cool.

Another one of my favorites, The Fifth Element" also got one mention. I liked it because of it's off the wall funky feel, the characters, quirky sound track and last but not least, Mila Jovovich - whom I have a full blown teenage crush on (and I'm 57..)

 

[Borg]

John Carpenter's first major film - Dark Star. I love the alien in that one.

 

[enorbet]

Having finished the series of books (quite good) I was apprehensive about Ender's Game but it was well done and stuck tightly to the book which gives some hope that the rest of the series will play out. It even has some of the longterm social and political cycles like Foundation Trilogy Inception is quite good as well.

I don't enjoy being negative but someone mentioned Starship Troopers as good Science Fiction and I hated it. It's even worse than Puppet Masters which is at least 2 in a row toward the hypothesis that Hollywood just cannot do Heinlein.

Had to watch 2010 AND The Quiet Earth just to "cleanse my palatte". :) The piece de resistance (hopefully) is that I'm watching The Man From Earth which for a time I confused with The Man Who Fell to Earth. Tonight I will see the difference.

 

[collectedsoul]

What a great thread! I've added a lot of the recommendations to my to-watch list. I'll make a couple myself, both European sci-fi films. The first is Icarus XB-1, an old Czech film based on a book by Stanislaw Lem. The second is the newer Cargo, Switzerland's first and only sci-fi film. Special effects are decent for the time in the first one and fantastic for the budget in the second.

 

[Vergil_gerbil]

Ex-machina is superb.

Also try Cloud Atlas (book is better than the film) and Love.

 

[DaveC426913]

Ex-machina is superb.

I liked it but I thought they missed a chance to pose some deeper questions about humanity that might have made the film a winner, more like Silent Running, Soylent Green and 2001.

Also try Cloud Atlas (book is better than the film) and Love.

Really liked this. Book was excellent.

 

[enorbet]

I very much enjoyed Ex Machina and I don't view it as missing the mark at deeper questions. It just doesn't hit us over the head with those questions. We are left to our own on that score and in many ways that is substantially more sophisticated and enigmatic.

 

[Prof.gaming]

I am hooked to see that my most favorite sci fi movie is not on the list ...
One word , just one word ... the matrix ...
I just loved it ... mostly because I am a computer man myself ... and I loved the philosophy behind it ...
Im not sure if they had already mentioned it or not , but (( lucy )) was a really good movie too !
I liked inception too ...
And the movie (( fifth element )) ... um , I am asking my mother and she's telling me the movie avatar ... but I didn't liked it ...
If you're looking for a classic I highly recommend (( The Day the Earth Stood Still ))
If you are looking for a good sci fi about aliens (( close encounter of the forth kind )) was really realistic and awesome ...

 

[montoyas7940]

Almost everything I think is worth watching has already been mentioned.

I remember being terrified by "Demon seed" as a child. Maybe it is worth another viewing.

edit: Another I could not remember the name of at first -"Phase IV"

 

[diogenesNY]

How about _Robinson Crusoe on Mars_

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058530/?ref_=nv_sr_1

I suspect that many of us may have fond but fuzzy memories of watching this movie as a kid on some Sunday afternoon in the 1970s on some mercurially received broadcast TV.

This is really a surprisingly technically and dramatically solid movie. It was released in 1964, and most of our specific knowledge of the conditions on Mars may have been a bit more fanciful then not. Nonetheless, if one can tolerate the premises of what the conditions on Mars were supposedly (in the movie) like, the film seems to make a real effort to depict a consistent and 'internally plausible' depiction of what would reasonably follow for a stranded military astronaut struggling with survival and then security issues. There are aliens and a few deus ex machanae, but things mostly unfold in a pretty 'hard science' vein. One of the most interesting things is the depiction of the human space exploration technology. It is heavy, tends to need assembly, and seems to follow rules. No Star Trek magic tech here.

There is a Criterion DVD release that contains all the footage that the TV edit cut out, which include several of the best and most important scenes, including Capt. Draper's battle with psychiatric distress and the rather violent and distressing back-story of 'Friday' ... so if finally makes sense who he was and how he got there.

https://www.criterion.com/films/821-robinson-crusoe-on-mars

I first saw this movie as a kid, essentially in the abovementioned Sunday afternoon on my fathers color Zenith sometime in the early 1970s - smack dab in the middle of the Apollo 13-17 run...

I don't want to get too wistful, ruminative or polemic, but I still think that we as would-be civilized humans must always challenge our frontiers or succumb to the fate of history's backwash.Highly recommended.

diogenesNY

 

[cleggmasta]

Probably all said earlier on but my favourites are:

Cube (1997)
Event Horizon (1997)
Alien: Resurrection (1997) (didnt even realize all three of those came out in the same year)
The Thing (1982)
The Abyss (1989)
Pi (1998) <- I especially love this movie, very unnerving, only sort of sci fi but math geeks will enjoy it
The Fly (1986)
Re-Animator (1985)
Pitch Black (2000)
Species (1995)
Moon (2009)
Donnie Darko (2001)
Sunshine (2007)
Contact(1997)

and of course, every hardcore sci-fi fans favourite movie, Wall-E.

 

[DiracPool]

Probably all said earlier on but my favourites are:

Nice list. btw, there's no "u" in favorites, just saying..

I'm not going to challenge that list, but perhaps re-order it as it fits me. Although, admittedly, you didn't state that you were seriating the list according to some preference, I'm going to assume you are doing so and seriate my preferences accordingly: I will add a few not on your list, though, for completeness...

1) 2010: The year we make contact
2) Pi (1998)
3) Alien (the original)
4) Aliens (the sequel)
5) The Thing (1982)
6) Moon (2009)
7) Terminator
8) Terminator 2: Judgement day (1991)
9) Total Recall
10) Invasion of the body snatchers (1978), with Donald Sutherland

 

[DaveC426913]

9) Total Recall

It pains me to say so but you have not been specific enough.

 

[Bandersnatch]

It pains me to say so but you have not been specific enough.

I am confident no sane person would put the remake on their list of favourites, so I think it's as specific as outright stating that it features Arhnold's bulging eyes. ;)

 

[DiracPool]

I am confident no sane person would put the remake on their list of favourites, so I think it's as specific as outright stating that it features Arhnold's bulging eyes. ;)

Ya, what he said...

 

[AkshayJain]

Supernova
Moon
Ghosts of Mars
Pitch Black
Screamers
Jason X (probably way off what you'd like though)

I own Event Horizon. It was creepier than I figured it would be on first viewing.

 

[enorbet]

Ping deggmasta -----
If you loved Pi I have every confidence you will go crazy over Primer (2004). Truly a must see.

 

[JorisL]

Nice list. btw, there's no "u" in favorites, just saying..

It depends on the kind of English you prefer.
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/5317/favorite-vs-favourite

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Pitch Black

This was a fun rainy day movie.

 

[enorbet]

Has anyone mentioned or seen "Transcendence"? I am considering streaming it in as AI seems to be "in the wind" a lot these days with dire warnings from Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking but I'd like to know ahead of time a bit of what to expect - a fun ride or foolish scare tactics.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Has anyone mentioned or seen "Transcendence"? I am considering streaming it in as AI seems to be "in the wind" a lot these days with dire warnings from Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking but I'd like to know ahead of time a bit of what to expect - a fun ride or foolish scare tactics.

I remember being dissuaded from watching it by generally tepid reviews on RT.

 

[1oldman2]

dire warnings from Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking

I recently read that Bill Gates is echoing the warnings also, Sounds like people "in the know" are concerned so we probably shouldn't turn our backs on AI.

 

[1oldman2]

How about _Robinson Crusoe on Mars_

Ironically I was thinking of that movie just a couple days ago, I remember watching it as a kid and it still strikes me as a great Sci-fi flick. Especially the concept of heating rocks to get breathable air, Pretty cool considering most of the old movies dealt with irradiated mutant crabs rampaging etc. I still consider The Twilight Zone as a good source of older Sci-fi also, plenty of good episodes in that genre.

 

[gjonesy]

Don't know if this qualifies as Sci-fi but its very realistic: Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outbreak_(film)

If a viral apocalypse ever happens this will be the way it goes most likely.

 

[enorbet]

@gjonesy - That movie scares me just to recall it!

 

[gjonesy]

That movie scares me just to recall it!

The concept and the plot, the fact that something like this can really happen, for me made it a great movie. For me its Sci-fi that can become a reality. One of my favs.

 

[SlowThinker]

Has anyone mentioned or seen "Transcendence"? I am considering streaming it in as AI seems to be "in the wind" a lot these days with dire warnings from Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking but I'd like to know ahead of time a bit of what to expect - a fun ride or foolish scare tactics.

It's OK. Fairly logical and interesting, even if I'm not entirely happy with the ending.

 

[enorbet]

@gjonesy - I agree it is great. It wouldn't be so scary if it wasn't. It is scary exactly because it is so well-developed and believable.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Fantastic Planet will be out on Blu-ray June 14th.

 

[Battlemage!]

Primer is one of my favorite movies ever. The OP spoke of it. If you haven't seen it and can stomach non-linear time, give it a try.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

"Lucy" was, imho, an old-school sci-fi story. Not complicated, but fun to watch.

 

[Hoophy]

Fantastic Planet will be out on Blu-ray June 14th.

I am definitely going to watch this!

Edit: So I just finished watching it, the movie was amazing! Does anybody know of any good movies similar to it?

 

[DaveC426913]

Does anybody know of any good movies similar to it?

Fantastic Planet? I'm not sure there are any movies similar..

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Am I wrong, or was "Fantastic Planet" inspired by a William Tenn story about humans traveling to the stars the same way Norwegian rats traveled to the New World?

 

[Hoophy]

Fantastic Planet? I'm not sure there are any movies similar..

I agree! Afterwards I proceeded to watch "The Time Masters" but it was not the same...

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Watched "2001: A Space Odyssey" last night. Still boring. An FX exposition with no real plot or characters I could care about.

 

[DaveC426913]

Watched "2001: A Space Odyssey" last night. Still boring.

That's because you were clean and sober at the time.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

That's because you were clean and sober at the time.

You obviously don't know me.

 

[enorbet]

Watched "2001: A Space Odyssey" last night. Still boring. An FX exposition with no real plot or characters I could care about.

Stanley Kubriick's relationship with author, Arthur C. Clarke, was reportedly a nightmare for Mr Clark on that project and not a little because Kubrick wished to be more vague in the interest of achieving some kind of "Transcendental State" allowing for wider interpretation. In his defense I suppose he is correct that there is no objective way to characterize something completely without precedent, which may indeed require something transcendental. Perhaps I lack those genes but as much as I enjoyed the movie, it wasn't until I read the book that I had the real "Oh Wow!" moment. I feel exactly the same way about "Contact". In both movies the truly Big Picture in the books is lost.

I did rather enjoy 2010 however. I'm still somewhat haunted by "Will I dream?"

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Stanley Kubriick's relationship with author, Arthur C. Clarke, was reportedly a nightmare for Mr Clark on that project and not a little because Kubrick wished to be more vague in the interest of achieving some kind of "Transcendental State" allowing for wider interpretation. In his defense I suppose he is correct that there is no objective way to characterize something completely without precedent, which may indeed require something transcendental. Perhaps I lack those genes but as much as I enjoyed the movie, it wasn't until I read the book that I had the real "Oh Wow!" moment. I feel exactly the same way about "Contact". In both movies the truly Big Picture in the books is lost.

I did rather enjoy 2010 however. I'm still somewhat haunted by "Will I dream?"

"2010" was criticized for not being "2001B". When I read reviews that stated such I was convinced that it would be worth the price of admission. (I didn't pay to see "2001", they were showing it on the mess deck.)