Exhaust Port
03-28-2004, 04:06 PM
I'm a sucker for great sci-fi movies so I'd like to see what other people would recommend. Here are a few of mine:
Logan's Run: I just watched this one last night for the first time in about 10 years and it was still great. The utopian society images are timeless as well as the older special effects. The acting is great and the plot is even better. It was filmed in 1976 so it's a bit campy in spots but I think it just adds to the film. The one detractor for the film is the futuristic music. There are a few scenes that are overrun with the annoying digital sounds but thankfully they are few and manyly near the beginning. There is also quite a bit of nudity for a non-rated movie so beware (or be interested :) )
Briefly the plot is about a utopian society where on your 30'th birthday you go to carrousel where you are "reborn." Some folks aren't too keen on being reborn so they run. Michael York is a Sandman who's job it is to track down and kill the Runners. But some runners apparently have escaped to a place called Sanctuary and Michael York becomes a Runner to find it.
War of the Worlds: This was one of the first sci-fi movies I remember watching as a kid. The alien space craft and even the brief images of the aliens are awesome (especially to a 10 year old). In some scenes you can see the wires but as with all old sci-fi movies I think it adds to the films character.
I don't think you need to know about the plot, I'm sure you're aware of this one. :)
Gattaca: Even though it's not very old it already seems timeless to me. My absolute favorite thing about this movie is the music. Michael Nyman does the score and it's used amazingly throughout the movie. At times I can't tell if the music is driving the images or the other way around. Great stuff.
The movie plot is a close second to the music. It tackles the issue of genetic manipulation of humans into improved/super humans. Uma Thurmans, Ethan Hawke and Jude Law give my favorite performances for each actor/actress in this movie. It's nice to come across a great sci-fi movie that doesn't include aliens or space battles.
Forbidden Planet: If it wasn't for the hair styles and the fact that Leslie Nelsen doesn't have gray hair this movie wouldn't appear to be made almost 50 years ago. The special effects are dated but not too bad in my opinion. In fact I think some of them coudn't be improved upon even with our CGI abilities. Robby the Robot has to be the best looking 1950's movie robot. He blows away that stupid looking Robby want-to-be from Lost in Space. Plus he can make whiskey. :)
The story revolves around the crew of a spaceship when they set down on a planet occupied by only a scientist and his daughter. The scientist has been studying the remains of a long gone advanced civilization that has powers well beyond even the understanding of this future human crew. He also warns that what killed the rest of the original colony will come after the crew of the spaceship if they don't leave. Before they can leave several of the crew are killed which makes the captain even more determined to stay and find out what monster did it.
Aliens: This is my absolute favorite movie. The cast of characters that Cameron created are the best. This one started my love for secondary roles played by Bill Paxton. Even though the Alien is more visible in this movie compared to the first movie, Alien, Cameron is still able to make it scare the *#$% out of you. And if the images weren't enough to keep you on the edge of your seat, the James Horner soundtrack would. Even after tons of viewings the open sequence with the eerie music still makes my skin crawl. On the flip side, the heart pumping sequence of Ripley racing in and out of the hive in the APV with the driving music is outstanding.
A brief plot for those of you under some rock is that the only survivor from the first encounter with this species, Ripley, is asked to return to the same planet as a technical supervisor. It turns out that a colony was established on the planet that had the aliens and they've lost contact with them. Ripley this time is going in with a platoon of soldiers to figure out what happened and wipe out the aliens if they should be responsible.
OK, now share a few of your favorites....
Logan's Run: I just watched this one last night for the first time in about 10 years and it was still great. The utopian society images are timeless as well as the older special effects. The acting is great and the plot is even better. It was filmed in 1976 so it's a bit campy in spots but I think it just adds to the film. The one detractor for the film is the futuristic music. There are a few scenes that are overrun with the annoying digital sounds but thankfully they are few and manyly near the beginning. There is also quite a bit of nudity for a non-rated movie so beware (or be interested :) )
Briefly the plot is about a utopian society where on your 30'th birthday you go to carrousel where you are "reborn." Some folks aren't too keen on being reborn so they run. Michael York is a Sandman who's job it is to track down and kill the Runners. But some runners apparently have escaped to a place called Sanctuary and Michael York becomes a Runner to find it.
War of the Worlds: This was one of the first sci-fi movies I remember watching as a kid. The alien space craft and even the brief images of the aliens are awesome (especially to a 10 year old). In some scenes you can see the wires but as with all old sci-fi movies I think it adds to the films character.
I don't think you need to know about the plot, I'm sure you're aware of this one. :)
Gattaca: Even though it's not very old it already seems timeless to me. My absolute favorite thing about this movie is the music. Michael Nyman does the score and it's used amazingly throughout the movie. At times I can't tell if the music is driving the images or the other way around. Great stuff.
The movie plot is a close second to the music. It tackles the issue of genetic manipulation of humans into improved/super humans. Uma Thurmans, Ethan Hawke and Jude Law give my favorite performances for each actor/actress in this movie. It's nice to come across a great sci-fi movie that doesn't include aliens or space battles.
Forbidden Planet: If it wasn't for the hair styles and the fact that Leslie Nelsen doesn't have gray hair this movie wouldn't appear to be made almost 50 years ago. The special effects are dated but not too bad in my opinion. In fact I think some of them coudn't be improved upon even with our CGI abilities. Robby the Robot has to be the best looking 1950's movie robot. He blows away that stupid looking Robby want-to-be from Lost in Space. Plus he can make whiskey. :)
The story revolves around the crew of a spaceship when they set down on a planet occupied by only a scientist and his daughter. The scientist has been studying the remains of a long gone advanced civilization that has powers well beyond even the understanding of this future human crew. He also warns that what killed the rest of the original colony will come after the crew of the spaceship if they don't leave. Before they can leave several of the crew are killed which makes the captain even more determined to stay and find out what monster did it.
Aliens: This is my absolute favorite movie. The cast of characters that Cameron created are the best. This one started my love for secondary roles played by Bill Paxton. Even though the Alien is more visible in this movie compared to the first movie, Alien, Cameron is still able to make it scare the *#$% out of you. And if the images weren't enough to keep you on the edge of your seat, the James Horner soundtrack would. Even after tons of viewings the open sequence with the eerie music still makes my skin crawl. On the flip side, the heart pumping sequence of Ripley racing in and out of the hive in the APV with the driving music is outstanding.
A brief plot for those of you under some rock is that the only survivor from the first encounter with this species, Ripley, is asked to return to the same planet as a technical supervisor. It turns out that a colony was established on the planet that had the aliens and they've lost contact with them. Ripley this time is going in with a platoon of soldiers to figure out what happened and wipe out the aliens if they should be responsible.
OK, now share a few of your favorites....