What sci-fi/science DVDs should I add?

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The discussion revolves around expanding a DVD collection focused on science fiction and nature documentaries. Recommendations include the BBC's "Planet Earth" series, "The Quiet Earth," and classic films like "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Silent Running," and "Logan's Run." Participants also mention the value of owning DVDs for convenience and the social aspect of movie-watching at home versus theaters. The conversation touches on preferences for subtitles over dubbing and the nostalgia associated with older films. Overall, the thread highlights a shared enthusiasm for sci-fi and nature documentaries while exploring the reasons behind DVD collecting.
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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?
 
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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.
 
Daverz said:
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.
 
Alien
Aliens

forget 3 and 4
 
2001: A Space Odyssey
Silent Running
Bladerunner
 
Janus said:
2001: A Space Odyssey
Silent Running
Bladerunner
Never heard of Silent Running...I'll have to check it out sometime.
Thanks!
 
Daverz said:
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...)
 
Logan's Run
Zardoz
The Returner
Lifepod
Pitch Black
Clockwork Orange
 
Pythagorean said:
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.
 
  • #10
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.
 
  • #11
2001 and Clockwork are great-you should get them

Also, Contact is a great movie
 
  • #12
yomamma said:
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.
 
  • #13
Pythagorean said:
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.
 
  • #14
shmoe said:
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 :/
 
  • #15
Why do people collect DVDs?

How many times on average do you rewatch a movie?
 
  • #16
DaveC426913 said:
Why do people collect DVDs?

How many times on average do you rewatch a movie?
IDK, but we have ~200
 
  • #17
Pythagorean said:
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.



DaveC426913 said:
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.
 
  • #18
shmoe said:
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.
 
  • #19
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.
 
  • #20
shmoe said:
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."
 
  • #22
DaveC426913 said:
"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.
 
  • #23
shmoe said:
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.:biggrin: :biggrin:

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.
 
  • #24
DaveC426913 said:
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.:biggrin: :biggrin:

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.

DaveC426913 said:
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).
 
  • #25
The last time I went to the movies, some uncouth man behind me coughed a hunk of phlegm into my hair.:eek: :cry: :mad:
Since then I tend to wait until the movie is at Blockbuster...
 
  • #26
shmoe said:
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 :smile:
shmoe said:
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
 
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  • #27
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)
 
  • #28
yomamma said:
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...
 
  • #29
Pythagorean said:
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
 
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  • #30
May I suggest the two Sci-Fi channel mini-series, "Dune" and "Children of Dune". They are both about four hours long.

KM
 

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