Sci-Fi movies, TV Series

cherylpamela66

cherylpamela66

Live long and prosper!
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I probably didn't see the thread, Does anyone like Sci-Fi? I especially am a Star Trek, and Star Wars fan. I also love stuff like Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Quote: Spock would say "Live long and prosper" he was my favorite character, and Leonard Nimoy was sure awesome like all the actors, etc.
Star Trek A Pice of the Action.jpg
 

I know it's not a very popular opinion but my favorite Sci Fi series is the Battlestar Galactica reboot. And I enjoyed Star Trek Enterprise ! Yes, the theme song is out of place for a Star Trek series but that is easy to skip now.
 

A tough question to answer succinctly. We all probably have things we love and others we can't abide. I like Assignment: Earth, but I've seen it placed on many lists of "top worst episodes" of Star Trek.

I generally prefer the "harder" stuff that tries to extrapolate from reality rather than fantasy in pop sci-fi clothes. One of the best recent examples of the former kind of series is The Expanse. My problem with the Star Wars franchise is that it is sword-and-sorcery tricked out as sci-fi. If I want that kind of writing just give me Conan The Barbarian movies.
 
Yes I like sci fi and have written three sci fi novels and many short stories which are posted at Story Star.
I liked the Star Wars TV series. My favorite Sci fi movie is Forbidden Planet. Especially the scene where the monster from the Id attacks and the crew fights back.




 
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I own Forbidden Planet on DVD and it doesn't hold up to multiple viewings. It's too gimmicky and relies too much on the novelty of the robot, the spaceship.

Now The Day The Earth Stood Still does entertain no matter how many times you view it. That's because it relies on the story telling of regular people and their everyday lives and instead treats the sci-fi aspects more like a lens to filter out it's message.
Star Trek TOS tried the same thing. Try to give people something to think about.

I can never read books about things that don't exist. So reading SciFi/Fantasy doesn't interest me.
 
I tuned into Star Trek the very first week it aired. I also watched Star Trek: The Next Generation. I saw various episodes of the other Star Trek shows, but they weren't the same, nor did I enjoy them as much. Lost in Space was a joke.

When the original Star Trek aired, it showed viewers what real science fiction shows were meant to be. Other than the original Star Trek, the science fiction series I love the most was the original, The Outer Limits. People who really don't know much or anything about science fiction, would often make dumb comments about the special effects of the series. It was literally on a shoe string budget. What made The Outer Limits a great series was not the special effects. It was the story line and the subject matter of the series.

When I think of the greatest episodes of any science fiction series, I always think first of the 2 part episode of The Outer Limits, The Inheritors. I have never seen an episode of a science fiction series that even comes close to it in greatness.

The Inheritors (The Outer Limits) - Wikipedia
 
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GoneFishin said:




to name a few
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I agree with your choices. They indeed are very entertaining films. Especially enjoyed watching Mars Attacks repeatedly! However, there is one on your list that I found hard to watch again, The Body Snatchers. Probably because it reminded me of demonic possession, and of the voodoo like antics of my Pentecostal Aunt Felicita who terrified me as a child. Same with the film The Astronaut's Wife.
 
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Radrook said:
I agree with your choices. They indeed are very entertaining films. Especially enjoyed watching Mars Attacks repeatedly! However, there is one on your list that I found hard to watch again, The Body Snatchers. Probably because it reminded me of demonic possession, and of the voodoo like antics of my Pentecostal Aunt Felicita who terrified me as a child. Same with the film The Astronaut's wife.
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I didn't like ...The Body Snatchers. Paranoia is not an enjoyable state to maintain throughout a film.
The same thing is true about Alien which started out looking like it was going to be a great Science Fiction movie but deteriorated into a slasher film. WTF?
 
image.jpg


and i also liked

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Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) is better and more interesting to me than the schlock 1978 horror remake.

But the late 1960s and early 1970s had some good films: Soylent Green, The Omega Man, Planet of the Apes, The Andromeda Strain, Silent Running, Westworld, Colossus: The Forbin Project being just a few.
 
OldFeller said:
I own Forbidden Planet on DVD and it doesn't hold up to multiple viewings. It's too gimmicky and relies too much on the novelty of the robot, the spaceship.

Now The Day The Earth Stood Still does entertain no matter how many times you view it. That's because it relies on the story telling of regular people and their everyday lives and instead treats the sci-fi aspects more like a lens to filter out it's message.
Star Trek TOS tried the same thing. Try to give people something to think about.

I can never read books about things that don't exist. So reading SciFi/Fantasy doesn't interest me.
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To me, the coolest parts in The Day the Earth Stood Still, were how dramatically the flying saucer is shown very gradually appearing in the sky and its landing. Also, memorable is way that the robot neutralizes the weapons after a nervous soldier wounds the alien. However, I was never able to watch it again beyond the opening scene without becoming extremely bored with its extremely slow pace.

Well. I guess that Just demonstrates how very diverse we humans are in our entertainment preferences. :)
 
Radrook said:
To me, the coolest parts in The Day the Earth Stood Still, were how dramatically the flying saucer is shown very gradually appearing in the sky and its landing. Also, memorable is way that the robot neutralizes the weapons after a nervous soldier wounds the alien. However, I was never able to watch it again beyond the opening scene without becoming extremely bored with its extremely slow pace.

Well. I guess that Just demonstrates how very diverse we humans are in our entertainment preferences. :)
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I'm more of a human interest story person and the SciFi category often overlooks that. TDTESS combines both things. I like the cast.
Whereas I don't like Walter Pidgeon in anything. What a horrible actor. I feel like he had a ruthless agent who muscled better actors out of starring roles LOL.
 
OldFeller said:
I didn't like ...The Body Snatchers. Paranoia is not an enjoyable state to maintain throughout a film.
The same thing is true about Alien which started out looking like it was going to be a great Science Fiction movie but deteriorated into a slasher film. WTF?
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Well you are definitely not alone in your evaluation of the film. I once saw a film review of Alien by a well-known film critic and he finished the review by nervously proclaiming to the other reviewer that he didn't need the aggravation of watching a little girl in danger of being cocooned and other such scenes! LOL!
 
OldFeller said:
I'm more of a human interest story person and the SciFi category often overlooks that. TDTESS combines both things. I like the cast.
Whereas I don't like Walter Pidgeon in anything. What a horrible actor. I feel like he had a ruthless agent who muscled better actors out of starring roles LOL.
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Strange! The actor who played the Alien visitor in The Day the World Stood Still Michael Rennie, falls into the category you just described. In fact, he was far more boring to watch than Pidgeon. He displayed one static facial expression and emotion during the entire film. So compared to him, the actor who played Morpheus resembled a veritable a firebrand!
 
Morpheus was maniacally insane and wrought with guilt, and the over-the-top facially animated performance and exaggerated speech was meant to communicate that.

Klaatu was mature and wise and self-possessed, and so was played as an icon of ideal manhood. His facial expressions were purposefully calm and subtle.
 
They cast Michael Jennie since he was an unknown. He was supposed to appear otherworldly and he did.
His characterization was exactly what the script called for.
Walter Pidgeon is about as engaging as a soap opera actor.
But he's not the only reason why Forbidden Planet is lame.
It's a one dimensional story. A one trick pony.

TDTESS is a movie that contains so many cool things. A race of policing robots. The ability to restore life. The fear that makes people do crazy things. And it's contrasted against life in America in the 1950s which on the surface seems peaceful but hides a darker nature.

By showing concern from outer space, it asks the audience to consider if that's the kind of world you want to live in.

This is classic science fiction.
 
Radrook said:
Yes I like sci fi and have written three sci fi novels and many short stories which are posted at Story Star.
I liked the Star Wars TV series. My favorite Sci fi movie is Forbidden Planet. Especially the scene where the monster from the Id attacks and the crew fights back.
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Forbidden Planet is one of my favorite SciFi pictures from the '50s. I was blown away with it when it came out in '56. I remember thinking that there was no way that they'd ever stop that "mind force". I was so relieved when they got away...:) It was similar to the relief I felt when they figured out how to stop The Blob (1958).

My pal and I went to see them all, including the great monster movies like Them!, The Thing from Another World, and of course War of the Worlds.
 
Radrook said:
Strange! The actor who played the Alien visitor in The Day the World Stood Still Michael Rennie, falls into the category you just described. In fact, he was far more boring to watch than Pidgeon. He displayed one static facial expression and emotion during the entire film. So compared to him, the actor who played Morpheus resembled a veritable a firebrand!
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Yeah, for years I mistakenly thought that Rennie played James Cody (the guy trying to horn in on the 3 guys' gold) in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). But it was Bruce Bennett. They look similar to me.
 
ChiroDoc said:
Forbidden Planet is one of my favorite SciFi pictures from the '50s. I was blown away with it when it came out in '56. I remember thinking that there was no way that they'd ever stop that "mind force". I was so relieved when they got away...:) It was similar to the relief I felt when they figured out how to stop The Blob (1958).

My pal and I went to see them all, including the great monster movies like Them!, The Thing from Another World, and of course War of the Worlds.
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Well, most people do agree that Forbidden planet is a unique film that was far superior to the ones that were being produced then and even far superior to many that have been produced since.

The original War of the Worlds is very unique in how the narrator credits a creator for having made the germs that sickened the aliens. This occurs immediately after one of the Martian machines attacks a church where people are praying. Of course, the remake, starring Tom Cruise with his frequent trademark sprinting displays,



and this little girl actress who plays his daughter constantly producing this annoying high-pitched screaming,


refrains from doing that.


BTW:
My parents took me to see the film Them when I was approx. four years old. Unfortunately, I became ill after the film due to the nervous tension that I had experienced while watching it at the local movie theater. Once home, I suddenly began shaking with fear imagining one of those huge insects converging on me, and feeling as if I was about to black out. I only regained my composure after I had thrown up.
 

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