Movies for hardcore sci-fi geeks

[pinball1970]

I do know that the Hobbits got their legendary stoicism from the British folk during the war. Like the British Tolkien admired, Hobbits are all stiff upper lip, and just keep getting up and moving.

I was obsessed with the books when I was a teenager but a bit disappointed with cartoon when I got round to seeing it. Too much was left out.
Not nearly as disappointed as when I saw Peter Jackson version, all that hype money and great actors and beautiful New Zealand sets and they still messed stuff up and made pointless additions and story changes.

I'll never forgive the Guardian for claiming the film was true to the book in the review I read.
The reviewers had probably read a precis or teachers notes.

 

[Glenstr]

Recently watched Train to Busan, a Korean zombie flick that was actually pretty good. I'm not really into the Zombie genre (other than ones like Zombieland & Shaun of the Dead etc) but this one was pretty entertaining. Worth a watch.

 

[DaveC426913]

Just watched Into the Spiderverse.
Gorgeous artwork.
Preposterously silly plot.
But highly entertaining in true Marvel form.

 

[member 656954]

Has The Titan been mentioned? It is embedded with science, and is entirely believable if you accept the premise of bioengineering a human to swim the methane seas of Titan

 

[enorbet]

BTW while this might be "bringing coals to Newcastle" I figured I'd better be perfectly clear that my reference and kudos above for The Arrival does not refer to the Charlie sheen movie of a few years earlier. I was referring to this one https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543164/.

The Charlie Sheen movie isn't all that bad but it is like comparing 1990's Dick Tracy film to The Godfather in this case.

BTW while not a cinema house movie the TV series The Expanse is very decent. It's been mentioned here along with Black Mirror both of which i am indebted to this thread for the introduction. Isn't it great that a hard science forum also caters to serious imagination?

 

[Lord Crc]

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but I've been enjoying the Netflix series Dark. Not usual hard scifi, and ignore the few cases of technobabble but the core premise is handled a lot better than in most other sci-fi's IMHO.

 

[Arebennian]

Coherence, for anyone who is a fan of Primer and other low-budget, high-concept science fiction films. Zero special effects, and most of it takes place in a suburban dining room. It plays around with QM concepts - admittedly at the pop-sci level, but it's definitely no Endgame, and the ending is pretty fantastic. It's currently one of my favorite SF films.

Upstream Color, also by Shane Carruth of Primer fame, is another good one.

I enjoyed Annihilation a lot, though the book is better, and the film added a few dramatic elements that didn't need to be there. It's still pretty solid and the visual presentation is amazing.

 

[new6ton]

I watched Ghostbusters 2016 again to in time for Halloween mood. There were a lot of special effects and they lost hundreds of millions of dollars. I think the reason was they tried to make it as comedy. The story concept was sound yet those women like that blonde trying to act funny and silly was I think what destroyed it. It was just so uncalled for. They should have titled it 4 Stooges instead.

The last Ghostbusters movie was about opening gateway so that the realm of the ghosts or spirits would have access to our world.

I want to watch similar movies with same themes where there were gateways that got opened. Event Horizon and Hellboy was one of them. What have you watched that have stuff about gateways and opening them?

And in our physics. What are the gateways counterpart? Is it only wormhole, and nothing more?

 

[Bandersnatch]

What have you watched that have stuff about gateways and opening them?

Stargate
In the Mouth of Madness
The Gate
Pacific Rim

and of course:
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe ;)

 

[new6ton]

Stargate
In the Mouth of Madness
The Gate
Pacific Rim

and of course:
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe ;)

I haven't watched yet

1. The Gate
2. In the Mouth of Madness
3. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

Thanks. Will start looking for them. More guys!

 

[new6ton]

I haven't watched yet

1. The Gate
2. In the Mouth of Madness
3. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

Thanks. Will start looking for them. More guys!

By the way. The language used for Ghostbusters 2016 is "Barrier". Not "Gateway". I think there is a distinction between Barrier and Gateway? Gateway is more physical. Barrier more subtle and natural. So what other sci-fi flicks with ideas about Barrier?

 

[DaveC426913]

I think there is a distinction between Barrier and Gateway?

Certainly. They are polar opposites.

A gateway provides access.
A barrier prevents access.

Now, a gateway can have a barrier - such as a gate. So, in the 2016 GB, they're talking about the barrier preventing the greeblies from passing through the gateway.

 

[hmmm27]

Anything on Terry Pratchett's Discworld. I thought Going Postal was quite well done ; their depiction of

Spoiler

Adora Belle as a Goth with S&M overtones

was brilliant and apropos IMHO (something I missed in reading the novel, if it was even there in the first place).

 

[DaveC426913]

Anything on Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

?
Is this a movie?

Trying to tie your post to the thread topic...

 

[hmmm27]

Trying to tie your post to the thread topic...

An internally consistent(ish) fictional science framework ; alternative to deciding which handwavium elements to ignore in a future "real world". (Embedded link added to previous post, for clarification).

 

[new6ton]

Certainly. They are polar opposites.

A gateway provides access.
A barrier prevents access.

Now, a gateway can have a barrier - such as a gate. So, in the 2016 GB, they're talking about the barrier preventing the greeblies from passing through the gateway.

How about the atmosphere of the planet. Do you call it a barrier (or gateway) against very strong UV rays or how about the magnetic field that enclose the planet that protects it from cosmic rays, is it a barrier or gateway?

In this context. Barrier means it is all around us, but barrier is there to allow major filtering. It's better to use than saying "The atmosphere of the planet serves as gateway to powerful UV rays". Or the "magnetic field of Earth serves as gateway to cosmic rays". Are there people using such language?

So when I said I wanted movies about Barriers. I guess it is about something that protects from what is all around us. Not about Stargate which is a one place gateway.

 

[new6ton]

Certainly. They are polar opposites.

A gateway provides access.
A barrier prevents access.

Now, a gateway can have a barrier - such as a gate. So, in the 2016 GB, they're talking about the barrier preventing the greeblies from passing through the gateway.

I want to know whether to use the language of gateway or barrier when presenting the following to physicists someday for example (Today is Holloween day, so let me share this in this special day).

In our body, and when we got the right quantum interpretation. It will be known that there are extensions (to so called astral plane) that is directly connected to our awareness in addition to neurons.

For your Halloween adventures. Try to meet people with the shield (barrier? not gateway, right?) broken. You would see he is like possessed by entities from the astral planes. There is a tested method in the world now that can seal the crack barrier. Result is instant relief from the intrusion from the astral plane. Note all drug addicts who commit very violent crimes is due to the shield (barrier) damaged resulting in intrusion from astral entities that obssessed them to do crimes. This is also present in many patients in mental institutions. So just the science of this can change society for the better and affect millions and millions of lives.

I want to watch movies with themes about barriers just to think about it. Just to give me ideas what language when one will present it to Michio Kaku or the world's top physicists.

 

[Lord Crc]

Recently saw a movie that I really enjoyed. It's not an action packed one, and not much explicit sci-fi, but still I think it fits. Really made me think. "Welcome the stranger" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5716280/

Also saw "Under the skin". A slow burner, but again one that made me think, though this time more in the sense of putting myself in her shoes kinda. Really intrigued me. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441395/

 

[enorbet]

I recently watched what may come to be an important milestone in Sci Fi. Don't get excited yet since it is by no means a "pulse-pounder". It is the 2017 film, The Beyond .

I liked this movie rather a lot while at the same time understanding it's low rating and probably low appeal as far as numbers are concerned. It's not visceral. It's intellectual. I've loved Sci Fi since I was a child but over time I came to realize that much of it is just Cowboys and Indians in Space and while it often pays homage to Science and Technology it is most often rather fearful of them, which is probably a reflection of how the unscientific, the vast majority of the population, view Science and Technology. It may well play a part in the current suspicion, distrust and skepticism that gives us Flat Earthers and Moon Landing Denial, etc etc etc.

Some of the "Science" in The Beyond is.. well... silly but it's not a deal breaker to the main thrust of the concept and some of those can keep your thoughts and imagination highly stimulated especially if you're at all intrigued by Kurzweil's "singularity".

Some of the plot mechanics are silly too unless you are able to suspend disbelief when presented with many so-called Sci Fi plots that actually imagine the current state of humanity has a snowball's chance in Hell of defending against a civilization that can travel interstellar distances let alone routinely command energies equivalent to orders of magnitude greater than our Sun over it's entire lifetime, but then quite a few movies not only seem to imagine this possible and reasonable but hold it up to be somehow heroic. Because of this fact, I can forgive The Beyond, especially in the service of the Big Picture that finally get's presented with a positive message and displays trust in Science and Technology while doing it.

Since fearful, suspicious Sci Fi and Technology has also led to the TLDR generation, here's the skinny. If you loved "Aliens" AND hated "Star Trek: The Next Generation" or even preferred "Star Wars" to "Star Trek"this probably isn't your "cuppa". If you liked "Contact" it very well might be. It's not quite as well done as the recent "Arrival" (not the Charlie Sheen movie) but it is broader and equally high minded with a far greater reach. It could keep you thinking about anyone of a number of points for a very long time.

The way it addresses human-technology singularity is extremely thought provoking and quite possibly rather prescient.

 

[enorbet]

I just realized there's a gap in my reading here. I did finally get to see a few seasons of "Expanse" and it's really quite good. I also recently viewed High Life and I concur. It's good and the blend mention is accurate and who wouldn't love a blend of Solaris and Silent Running?

 

[new6ton]

I recently watched what may come to be an important milestone in Sci Fi. Don't get excited yet since it is by no means a "pulse-pounder". It is the 2017 film, The Beyond .

I liked this movie rather a lot while at the same time understanding it's low rating and probably low appeal as far as numbers are concerned. It's not visceral. It's intellectual. I've loved Sci Fi since I was a child but over time I came to realize that much of it is just Cowboys and Indians in Space and while it often pays homage to Science and Technology it is most often rather fearful of them, which is probably a reflection of how the unscientific, the vast majority of the population, view Science and Technology. It may well play a part in the current suspicion, distrust and skepticism that gives us Flat Earthers and Moon Landing Denial, etc etc etc.

Some of the "Science" in The Beyond is.. well... silly but it's not a deal breaker to the main thrust of the concept and some of those can keep your thoughts and imagination highly stimulated especially if you're at all intrigued by Kurzweil's "singularity".

Some of the plot mechanics are silly too unless you are able to suspend disbelief when presented with many so-called Sci Fi plots that actually imagine the current state of humanity has a snowball's chance in Hell of defending against a civilization that can travel interstellar distances let alone routinely command energies equivalent to orders of magnitude greater than our Sun over it's entire lifetime, but then quite a few movies not only seem to imagine this possible and reasonable but hold it up to be somehow heroic. Because of this fact, I can forgive The Beyond, especially in the service of the Big Picture that finally get's presented with a positive message and displays trust in Science and Technology while doing it.

Since fearful, suspicious Sci Fi and Technology has also led to the TLDR generation, here's the skinny. If you loved "Aliens" AND hated "Star Trek: The Next Generation" or even preferred "Star Wars" to "Star Trek"this probably isn't your "cuppa". If you liked "Contact" it very well might be. It's not quite as well done as the recent "Arrival" (not the Charlie Sheen movie) but it is broader and equally high minded with a far greater reach. It could keep you thinking about anyone of a number of points for a very long time.

The way it addresses human-technology singularity is extremely thought provoking and quite possibly rather prescient.

Your suggestion "The Beyond" looks cool. I acquired it and will watch it tonight.

More like it please. Movies that can make you think of the future and possible technological marvels especially regarding the brain and its extensions.

 

[DaveC426913]

Your suggestion "The Beyond" looks cool. I acquired it and will watch it tonight.

More like it please. Movies that can make you think of the future and possible technological marvels especially regarding the brain and its extensions.

This is the purview of speculative fiction - of which science fiction is a subset.
You will find no end of material about how technology affects mind and culture in the field of speculative fiction.
But due to the fact that it's more conceptual and more subtle, it lends itself better to the written word than the screen, where abstract ideas can be fleshed out in exposition, rather than in action.
There are some great authors that specialize in this field.

 

[Borg]

I don't know if it's been mentioned but this was a favorite of mine - Timerider

Motorcycle racer Lyle Swann (Fred Ward) is cruising through the Mexican desert when he accidentally stumbles into a time-travel experiment and finds himself transported back to the Old West of the 1870s. There he encounters an attractive local woman (Belinda Bauer) and a gang of criminals led by Porter Reese (Peter Coyote). Lyle's motorized bike is impressive in the past -- until it runs out of gas. Now Lyle must rely on his wits to take care of business and return to his own time.

 

[enorbet]

Incidentally for those of us who enjoy positive message Sci Fi suitable for whole family viewing Disney's Tomorrowland is a decent experience. It poses a great riddle for kids (and maybe some adults) to ponder -

You have two pets
One is Darkness and Doom
The other is Brightness and Hope
Which one survives and flourishes?

Some of the Science is typically Disney child-like but it displays a trust in Science and Technology and accepts and champions a responsibility in people as well as displaying the joy and empowerment of grasping "how things work" that is fundamental to all enthralled with Science. Your kids, especially the girls, will love it and rightfully so.

 

[BillTre]

Here is a Science mag news interview of Naren Shankar, showrunner of "The Expanse".
Covers his physics background, motivations, and how he got into showbiz.

New show in about a week.

 

[member 656954]

I can't see that Tom Cruise's Oblivion has been mentioned (the noise made by the sentinel bots is terrific), but it's a solid little sci-fi mystery, as is his Edge of Tomorrow.

 

[enorbet]

I'm rather impressed with a new (2019) gem from the UK which may be rather unfortunately titled Cosmos as there is bound to be some confusion and blurring over that title, but it is well worth seeking unless you don't enjoy the geekier films of the genre. It starts very slowly and takes a long time to begin accelerating and does have a few crude plot devices to bring the visceral to the cerebral, but once it gets the base revealed it rapidly becomes a true "mind blower". Even some of the plot devices will have you imagining how seemingly minor random events in real life could utterly alter how the plot unfolds on perhaps THE most compelling question anyone interested in Science-driven imagination can pose, and how the answer may one day unfold.

 

[enorbet]

On a lesser note I binge watched the new season of The Expanse and while the cast and production are as compelling as ever, I found it mildly disappointing but that is probably due to the "tough act to follow" syndrome. Not every writing team or story can conclude a brilliant story as perfectly as The Sopranos or Six Feet Under. It's still worth watching and does retain some possibility of greater things to follow, but for me, this season was a bit of a lull. Hopefully it's just the "eye of the hurricane".

 

[BWV]

On a lesser note I binge watched the new season of The Expanse and while the cast and production are as compelling as ever, I found it mildly disappointing but that is probably due to the "tough act to follow" syndrome. Not every writing team or story can conclude a brilliant story as perfectly as The Sopranos or Six Feet Under. It's still worth watching and does retain some possibility of greater things to follow, but for me, this season was a bit of a lull. Hopefully it's just the "eye of the hurricane".

FWIW it seemed to me that the book series ran out of ideas and steam

 

[BWV]

Somewhere in production limbo is Neal Stephenson's SevenEves, which would be killer if done right

https://deadline.com/2016/06/sevene...r-bill-broyles-apollo-13-skydance-1201769130/