Posted on 12/12/2008 3:10:10 AM PST by mattstat
Since we had so much fun with the Military List. Plus, it’s Friday.
1. Star Wars The original 1977 theatrical, error-filled release only. Han did shoot first. The storm troopers did want the blast doors to be closed only to then want them re-opened. Darth did do the wagging finger gesture for no apparent reason after his speech in the war room to Tarkin was over. When I saw the movie when it came out I wanted a light saber so bad it hurt. I was 13. I could still find a use for one.
2. The Thing from Another World Original; the remake is excellent, too, but probably better classified as Horror; see below. If you have never seen this, you are in for a treat. I have seen this movie dozens of times, and each viewing I hear a new line I somehow missed before. This is one of those Rosalind Russell fast talking comedy dramas. It’s hard to keep up. Dr Carrington’s motivations are natural, believable, and consistent throughout. The only, very minor, jarring point is when Scotty faints at the end, when he had been on Okinawa during the end of World War II. Anybody who made it through that would not pass out when seeing a vegetable cook. This movie does not follow the now usual conventions and will surprise you. You also have to keep in mind that this came out at the height of the Great Saucer Scare.
3. The Day the Earth Stood Still. The original!...
(Excerpt) Read more at wmbriggs.com ...
The science stuff is what you think about when the film is boring you (I spent a lot of time when I first watched The Poseiden Adventure mentally calculating how long the air trapped in the ship would last before those fires went out and the people suffocated), and gets overruled by the Rule of Cool. Spaceship sounds are Cool, so I justify them by assuming I have a First Person Omniscient view.
On the other hand, "Water is their only weakness" fals into Rule of Lame.
The Gripping Hand is Mel Gibson playing a farmer less well armed than Micheal Gross in Tremors
Ping!
The point of the whole movie was renewed faith and redemption.
Yvette Mimeaux later stared in the Black Hole in 1979..
Ditto..
PKD somewhat influenced Ron Moore.. To me the new BSG is kinda like Blade Runner..
I’d drop Highlander from the list. Replace it with The Wrath of Khan.
I agree. I also put Serenity on the list.
The Thing From Another World. (it was about a walking carrot, for cryinoutloud!)
Close Encounters (silly movie, but the effects were good)
Highlander (are you serious?!)
Escape from New York (are you serious?!
The Thing (Carpenter's remake) was way better than the original. Creepiest movie I've ever seen.
It should qualify as Sci-Fi, because the zombism was " the result of radiation emanating from a Venus space probe that exploded in the Earth's atmosphere".
I have that on VHS. If I see it for a buck on DVD, I’ll consider it. I usually watch it once every 2 or 3 years. It’s been a while.
Definitely, ‘The Thing From Another World’! One of the grestest 1950s ‘Red Scare’ Sci-Fi classics.
No other film can touch it for dialog, pacing and its underlying sense of claustrophobia. John Carpenter knew he couldn’t match the superior snappy patter and opted for shocking, scary superior special effects.
Would also add ‘Colossus: The Forbion Project’. One of the few great Made for TV Sci-Fi paranoia flicks of the 1970s. America military develops its own super computer. So do the Russians. The two super computers connect with surprising results. When asked, ‘Is there a God?’, the computer(s) reply, “There is one now!”.
Add ‘It! The Terroer From Beyond Space’ to the list. A little know, 1950s no-budget B-cheapie with Marshall Thompson that delivers the good as the original ‘Alien’!
Jack.
Way too intellectual for me.
My partial list:
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
The Brain from Planet Arous
World Without End
Queen of Outer Space
Them
The Giant Behemoth
Plan Nine From Outer Space
...and the absolute worst movie ever made (one of my particular favorites)...
Robot Monster (in 3D)
I forgot a few...
Monolith Monsters
Invaders from Mars (the ORIGINAL w/ Hillary Brooke)
Hee-hee. And Soylent Green is their agriculture and farming program?
-PJ
Anyway, if anyone cares, here are my TOP TEN with a few honorable mentions:
1. War of The Worlds (1953)
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
3. Forbidden Planet (1956)
4. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
5. The Thing From Another World (1951)
6. Alien (1979)- more of a horror flick than sci-fi, but still cool.
7. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
8. Star Wars (1977) the original - before Lucus messed with it.
9. They Live! (1988) - most under-rated sci-fi movie, ever.
10. The Planet of the Apes (1968)
Honorable Mentions:
- Tron (1982)
- Fantastic Voyage (1966)
- Inner Space (1987)
- Sleeper (1973) - Best sci-fi commedy ever. Back when Woody Allen was funny.
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Minority Report (2002)
Three of the above honorable mentions use an identical plot device - guess which three.
This was eventually explained to me.
Where is:
Them
The Time Machine
When Worlds Collide
The Time Travelers
War of the Wolds
Monolith Monsters
The Blob
Earth vs The Flying Saucers
20 Million Miles to Earth
Forbidden Planet
All those great 50’s Sci Fi Flicks. They are memorable because they scared the crap out of us as kids.
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