What sci-fi/science DVDs should I add?

[larkspur]

I am looking for more DVDs to add to my collection. My current collection includes the following:

Cosmos
IMAX Cosmic Voyage
Stargate SG-1 through season 7
Star Trek Voyager complete series
Star Trek DS9 complete series
Star Trek TNG seasons 4,5,6, and all TNG movies
The Universe- a guided tour
Understanding the Universe-The Learning Channel

I have S. Hawking's Universe, and TLC's The Universe 2001 on vhs.

Any recommendations to add?

 

[Daverz]

The BBC Planet Earth series narrated by David Attenborough is stunningly filmed. Each episode has a epilogue showing how they got some of the more spectacular shots. I don't know where you can DVDs

That brings to mind the SF film The Quiet Earth, a hidden gem.

 

[larkspur]

The BBC Planet Earth series narrated by David Attenborough is stunningly filmed. Each episode has a epilogue showing how they got some of the more spectacular shots. I don't know where you can DVDs

That brings to mind the SF film The Quiet Earth, a hidden gem.

Thanks! I will look for those.

 

[JamesU]

Alien
Aliens

forget 3 and 4

 

[Janus]

2001: A Space Odyssey
Silent Running
Bladerunner

 

[larkspur]

2001: A Space Odyssey
Silent Running
Bladerunner

Never heard of Silent Running...I'll have to check it out sometime.
Thanks!

 

[Daverz]

The BBC Planet Earth series narrated by David Attenborough is stunningly filmed. Each episode has a epilogue showing how they got some of the more spectacular shots. I don't know where you can DVDs

That brings to mind the SF film The Quiet Earth, a hidden gem.

I took a look at what was at Amazon, and I couldn't find the actual recent BBC series. Pretty sure this one is it, so if you have a region-free player that can do PAL to NTSC...

(And actually, I got it from mininova.org...)

 

[Pythagorean]

Logan's Run
Zardoz
The Returner
Lifepod
Pitch Black
Clockwork Orange

 

[larkspur]

Logan's Run
Zardoz
The Returner
Lifepod
Pitch Black
Clockwork Orange

I have Pitch Black on VHS and would like to have it on DVD.
Never heard of the others except Clockwork Orange.
Thanks for the suggestions. I will check them out too!

I am also thinking of getting the first season of Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict.

 

[Daverz]

Well, if TV is OK, the new Battlestar Galactica is great, very well written, produced, and acted, nothing like the old cheesy BSG.

I liked Earth: Final Conflict the first season, but it really jumped too many sharks after that.

 

[JamesU]

2001 and Clockwork are great-you should get them

Also, Contact is a great movie

 

[larkspur]

2001 and Clockwork are great-you should get them

Also, Contact is a great movie

Yes, Contact is a great movie. I think I have that on VHS too. There are a lot of things I have on VHS and need to upgrade to dvd.

 

[shmoe]

Logan's Run
Zardoz

Logan's Run is excellent. Zardoz is, well, Sean Connery in a diaper.


Planet of the Apes- The first is terrific, only die hard sci fi fans have made it through the rest of the series with me but I like them all (especially Escape from the Planet of the Apes). The new one was, flashier I guess. Can't go wrong with Helena Bonham Carter in a monkey suit though.
Red Dwarf- BBC comedy series, very funny for the first 6 seasons. Season 7 is not so good, season 8 is a shambles.
Spaceballs- corny, but amusing
Soylent Green- parodied many times
Rollerball (the old Norman Jewison one, not the recent one)
The Time Machine (the 1960 one, the new one had a few good moments)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (Klaatu Barada Nicto!)

Next on my Sci-Fi to watch list is Solaris, the original Russian version. The new one with Clooney was lousy, but I've heard good things about the original so I have my hopes up.

 

[Pythagorean]

Next on my Sci-Fi to watch list is Solaris, the original Russian version. The new one with Clooney was lousy, but I've heard good things about the original so I have my hopes up.

I remember watching that. It wasn't so terrible that I shut it off, but I can't remember the plot either.

The russian verson, that is. Subtitles :/

 

[DaveC426913]

Why do people collect DVDs?

How many times on average do you rewatch a movie?

 

[JamesU]

Why do people collect DVDs?

How many times on average do you rewatch a movie?

IDK, but we have ~200

 

[shmoe]

I remember watching that. It wasn't so terrible that I shut it off, but I can't remember the plot either.

The russian verson, that is. Subtitles :/

Subtitles don't bother me, there's enough great films not in english that I've gotten used to them. Hardly any conscious effort to read them now. Much better than dubbing, unless it's some horrible kung-fu movie to begin with- cheesy dubbing adds to the effect.

Why do people collect DVDs?

How many times on average do you rewatch a movie?

The cost of a dvd can be up to about 6 or 7 times the cost of renting it once. Good ones I own, I'll probably watch once a year or so. Admitedly, I would watch them less if they weren't on hand and convenient, but a great film is well worth it for me to own. They'll usually make their way through a few friends hands as loans as well.

Some older dvds can be had cheap, I picked up Logan's Run for about $8 I think, the cost of renting it twice. Easily worth it.

Also, for new movies, buying the dvd is about the same price as seeing it in a first run theatre with my girlfriend. If we expect it to be worth owning, we sometimes just wait for the dvd and skip the theatre.

 

[Pythagorean]

Subtitles don't bother me, there's enough great films not in english that I've gotten used to them. Hardly any conscious effort to read them now. Much better than dubbing, unless it's some horrible kung-fu movie to begin with- cheesy dubbing adds to the effect.

I'd have to say I agree. Pactis De Lupis (brotherhood of the wolf) is an excellent example of this. French audio, subtitles, kick ass movie, but for the english version, the actors that did the dubbing made the movie suck.

 

[shmoe]

I had high hopes for Le Pacte des Loups and found it fell short. It was still pretty good though. (I only watched the french audio version)

Big advantage of dvd over vhs is having multiple audio tracks on the same disc, so you don't have to worry about the good version being available.

 

[DaveC426913]

Also, for new movies, buying the dvd is about the same price as seeing it in a first run theatre with my girlfriend. If we expect it to be worth owning, we sometimes just wait for the dvd and skip the theatre.

"Watching a movie on TV is like getting a kiss over the phone."

 

[Janus]

Never heard of Silent Running...I'll have to check it out sometime.
Thanks!

Here's a brief plot teaser:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067756/plotsummary

 

[shmoe]

"Watching a movie on TV is like getting a kiss over the phone."

Depending on who or what you are kissing, over the phone might be the better choice.

Once upon a time I probably averaged more than 3 movie outings per month, back when tickets cost less than half what they do now. At home I get my couch (more comfy than any theatre seat), my own food (cheaper and 100 times tastier), and control over the volume (I find most theatres painfully loud). There has to be a really good reason to get me to the movies these days.

 

[DaveC426913]

Depending on who or what you are kissing, over the phone might be the better choice.

Um. Normally, one would try to maximize the pleasure derived - from both kisses and from movies.
If you're kissing the wrong thing, then maybe you should consider changing your tastes in movies.

I worked in a repertory (2nd run) theatre for almost two years, saw a different double feature every night.

Personally, I find that, despite all the inconveniences and irritations, movie-going is a social experience - to be shared with the public at large. It's OK to cocoon sometimes, but for me, movies are a chance to mingle with the unwashed masses.

 

[shmoe]

Um. Normally, one would try to maximize the pleasure derived - from both kisses and from movies.
If you're kissing the wrong thing, then maybe you should consider changing your tastes in movies.

You don't *know* if a movie is worth watching in the theatre until you've actually seen it. At least if you've bought something that turned out to be junk you can be dissapointed in the comfort of your own home and you can find someone who likes it and give the sucker away.

I'm very discriminating though, and have rented or purchased few movies that have dissapointed me. The most recent rental dud was House of Flying Daggers, which I was tempted to see in the theatre from the many positive reviews and my love of this style of movie. I would have been very irritated if I wasn't able to fall asleep on my couch (while holding the $20 I saved) during the movie.

Personally, I find that, despite all the inconveniences and irritations, movie-going is a social experience - to be shared with the public at large. It's OK to cocoon sometimes, but for me, movies are a chance to mingle with the unwashed masses.

Watching movies at home can be a social experience as well, that's what friends and ample couch space are for.

Some are well worth the theatre though. I'll never forget the midnight showing of the Phantom Menace I went to on the first night. The movie was a dissapointment, but the crowd before the movie was a great atmosphere (for the record it involved a total of 1 hour of waiting in line, I wasn't camping out or anything like that).

 

[larkspur]

The last time I went to the movies, some uncouth man behind me coughed a hunk of phlegm into my hair.
Since then I tend to wait until the movie is at Blockbuster...

 

[Astronuc]

Logan's Run is excellent. Zardoz is, well, Sean Connery in a diaper.

LR is good, and well Sean Connery is Sean Connery, even in a diaper :rofl:

Planet of the Apes- The first is terrific, only die hard sci fi fans have made it through the rest of the series with me but I like them all (especially Escape from the Planet of the Apes). The new one was, flashier I guess. Can't go wrong with Helena Bonham Carter in a monkey suit though.

Soylent Green- parodied many times

Soylent Green is pretty good, and also The Omega Man (1971, Heston as well).


Serenity is good, and the whole Firefly series (Joss Whedon).

Time Machine (1960) - Rod Taylor.

The War of the Worlds (1953) - Gene Barry

Genesis II (1973) (TV) - Alex Cord as Dylan Hunt

The Andromeda Strain (1971) - but they changed some of the story, although the lasers were better than darts.

The Island (2005) - Ewan McGregor as Lincoln Six Echo/Tom Lincoln

 

[JamesU]

The Thing (1982) is a great movie

And if you care to get the 'sequels' to The Thing:
Prince of Darkness (1987)
In the Mouth of Madness (1995)

 

[Pythagorean]

The Thing (1982) is a great movie

And if you care to get the 'sequels' to The Thing:
Prince of Darkness (1987)
In the Mouth of Madness (1995)

are you serus? mouth of madness was a sequel to the thing? I don't get it...

 

[JamesU]

are you serus? mouth of madness was a sequel to the thing? I don't get it...

i saw The Thing and Prince of Darkness, I haven't seen MoM yet, but there's no plot similarities, John Carpenter just calls them his apocalypse trilogy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse_Trilogy

 

[Kenneth Mann]

May I suggest the two Sci-Fi channel mini-series, "Dune" and "Children of Dune". They are both about four hours long.

KM

 

[Pythagorean]

May I suggest the two Sci-Fi channel mini-series, "Dune" and "Children of Dune". They are both about four hours long.

KM

Blaspheme! These are mockeries of the original Dune (which I'd like to add to my list of awesome sci-fi movies)

 

[shmoe]

Dune- Sting in a, hmm, not a diaper, kind of a wing shaped thing.

I haven't seen the original Dune movie in probably 15 years. I remember the worms looking much better than the cg ones in the miniseries, but I might be blinded by nostalga. I don't remember enough of the original to compare well. I quite liked the new miniseries though.


Looking back, Dr.Who hasn't been mentioned yet? What error is this? Is it too obvious? Best tv sci-fi of all time.

Gattaca and Strange Days are also absent. As are eXistenZ and Cube for some Canadian content. Oh, I'd forgotten about Dark City as well.

The last time I went to the movies, some uncouth man behind me coughed a hunk of phlegm into my hair.

This happens when watching movies in my living room as well, I don't know who keeps inviting that guy :yuck:

 

[larkspur]

Looking back, Dr.Who hasn't been mentioned yet? What error is this? Is it too obvious? Best tv sci-fi of all time.

The original Dr. Who or the new series on Sci-Fi channel?

Gattaca and Strange Days are also absent. As are eXistenZ and Cube for some Canadian content. Oh, I'd forgotten about Dark City as well.

I loved the Cube. Wasn't there a Cube Two as well?

This happens when watching movies in my living room as well, I don't know who keeps inviting that guy :yuck:

:rofl: :rofl:

 

[shmoe]

The original Dr. Who or the new series on Sci-Fi channel?

I can't speak for the David Tennant series (I haven't seen it yet). Otherwise all of it is good. Opinions vary though, I have a few friends that were traumatized as children from watching Dr. Who that it's brown trousers time when they hear the themesong.

Some say it's best viewed while cowering behind the sofa, but that's sheer folly unless you like being snuck up on by Daleks. I prefer to build a sofa cushion and blanket fort in front of the sofa so the sofa covered my back. It's closer to the immediate danger, but I'm terribly brave.

I loved the Cube. Wasn't there a Cube Two as well?

Yea, Cube 2ypercube. Best to forget it even exists. They set it up for a Cube Cubed sequel (that would have been my name for it at least) but that hasn't arrived yet that I know of). A sequel may end up justifying the second ones existence, but it would have to do an amazing job of wrapping things up.

 

[DaveC426913]

Oh, I'd forgotten about Dark City as well.

I can synopsize Dark City in exactly six words:



Truman's World run by the Borg