#science fiction films

[lindahall]

George Pal – Scientist of the Day

George Pal, a Hungarian/American film animator, producer, and occasional director, was born Feb. 1, 1908.

read more...

#George Pal #science fiction films #histsci #histSTM #20th century #history of science #Ashworth #Scientist of the Day

[thefugitivesaint]

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983) A film that was almost instantly forgotten when it was released just days before ‘Return of the Jedi’ hit theaters. It was the one of the last movies to use 3D as a marketing gimmick to get audiences into seats. I was 9 years old when I saw it and I loved it. Adult me? *shrugs shoulders* It’s ok.  The stills I took (from a digitized VHS copy) where meant to give you a flavor of what the movie is like. The plot is as bare bones at a plot can get and the world building is severely undercooked. It all goes something like this: a luxury space ship suffers from some catastrophic space event that forces passengers to abandon ship. Three of those passengers land on Terra XI, a planet that was devastated by some kind of virulent plague and has become a kind of post-apocalyptic hellscape. Bounty hunter/mercenary Wolff (Peter Strauss) receives a “broadcast” about the stranded passengers and sets out to retrieve them and collect the reward of “3,000 Mega Credits.” Soon after arriving on Terra XI, while trying to rescue the three passengers, they are abducted by agents working for the local tyrant Overdog (Michael Ironside). Wolff decides to head off to free the women from Overdog and, along the way, runs into Niki (Molly Ringwald) and Wolff’s former colleague Washington (Ernie Hudson).  The story is a loose narrative of episodic action sequences involving strange creatures and weird people that are given almost no clarification as to who they are or why they do what they do. It is briefly mentioned that Overdog was once a scientist named McNabb who was sent to Terra XI to combat the plague (with two other scientists) but no explanation is given as to why they became tyrants or why they started experimenting on the Terra XI’s population. I guess that’s all the narrative the creators thought was necessary (this movie did come out in the wake of ‘Mad Max II: The Road Warrior’ and that movie is almost purely action with hardly a plot to drive it so..) This was Molly Ringwald’s second film and the score was composed by Elmer Bernstein (who also composed the music for ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘The Magnificent Seven’ to name two). The 3D-effects are as clunky as one might suspect. The overall effects (some of the miniature work is by legendary ‘Terminator’ animator Pete Kleinow) and production design (which is doing most of the heavy lifting here) are a mixed bag of competent execution and outright jankiness. Overall, it’s one of those modestly budgeted science fiction films from the 80s that didn’t hit it big, barely raked in a profit, and quickly faded into obscurity. It’s worth one watch if you’ve never seen it.  And, should you have any desire to put this movie into your brain, you can do so here (this might be a better quality copy than my digital VHS transfer). Oh, what folk have gabbed about the movie over at letterboxd. 

#spacehunter #science fiction films #b movies #3d films #80s movies #80s science fiction #molly ringwald #ernie hudson #michael ironside

[limbdolly]

Repoman (1984)

#movies #my screenshots #favorite films #Repo Man #1984 #80s #science fiction films #sci fi films #Alex Cox #Emilio Estevez #Henry Dean Stanton #weirdcore #weird movies #neon #neonwave #vaporwave #synthwave #visuals

[adaptationsvs-polls]

Which version of this do you prefer?

*There's no original or adaptation tags on this one because the two were written concurrently; both were additionally partially inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel"

#requests #films #books #literature #science fiction #science fiction films #science fiction books #2001 a space odyssey #2001: a space odyssey #arthur c clarke #stanley kubrick #the space odyssey series #space odyssey series #2001 a space odyssey novel #2001: a space odyssey 1968 #polls #adaptation polls

[kekwcomics]

BUSTER

#buster #buster crabbe #flash #flash gordon #pulp #ming #mongo #pulp sci fi #pulp science fiction #serials #sci fi serials #sci fi series #science fiction films #science fiction series #30s pulp #30s sci fi #30s science fiction #1930s pulp #1930s movies #1930s #vintage #retro #retro scifi #retro science fiction

[suometar]

Scifi/odd/mystery indie film rec list

Someone asked me to create rec list of less known/indie scifi/odd/mystery films, and, well, it kind got out of hand. Oopsie. You can thank my hubs who writes a review of all films we've watched. These all have been given at least 3/5 stars from me and/or him. Enjoy!

I'm not fully sure if these films are all indie, but I'm quite convinced you at least haven't heard about most of them:

Another Earth (2011)

Archive (2020. On my Top 10 forever fave film list)

Automata (2014)

Boss level (2020)

Brainstorm (1983)

Breach (2020)

Coherence (2013, SO GOOD)

Color out of space (2019)

Coma (2019, russian, is available with english and german dubbing. Effing gorgeous film)

District 9 (2009)

Donnie Darko (2001)

Dual (2022. Fun fact: it was shot in the town in Finland where I was born)

ExistenZ (1999)

Gattaca (1997)

Girl on the Train (2016, mystery)

Hardcore Henry (2015)

High-Rise (2015, also highly recommend the J.G.Ballard book the film is based on)

Ink (2009. On my Top 10 forever fave films list)

Intrusion (2021)

Melancholia (2011)

Memento (2000)

Minor premise (2020)

Moon (2009)

Oxygen (2021, French)

Pi (1998)

Predestination (2014)

Primer (2004, can’t emphasize enough: this is a MUST for every scifi film buff. Goes without saying, on my Top 10 list)

Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021)

Splice (2009)

Sunshine (2007)

The Blackout (2019, Russian)

The Discovery (2017)

The Endless (2017)

The Invitation (2015)

The Repo-men (2010)

The Trip (2021)

Upgrade (2018)

Upside down (2012, technically fantasy but what the heck. Pretty as hell)

Vivarium (2019)

Westworld (original film from 1973)

Scifi/horror:

Blood red sky (2021, German)

Cube (1997) & Cube 2 (2002) (the rest are meh)

Event Horizon (1997, I wrote a homage to this film into my book :3)

Kyrsyä - Tuftland (2017, Finnish, it’s available online somewhere and en subtitles are available. Might require some digging though)

Additional mentions, not necessary indie films but MUST SEE:

12 Monkeys (1995)

Contagion (2011)

Dune (1984 + the new ones)

Ex Machina (2014)

In time (2011)

Logan’s run (1976)

Old (2021)

Prospect (2018)

Soylent green (1973)

Tetris (2023)

The Andromeda Strain (1971)

A Quiet Place (2018, 2020)

Split (2016, also the whole film series)

In general worth a watch (all basically under odd at least):

All Darren Aronofsky films

All M. Night Shyamalan films

TV shows (not indie, just worth the watch):

Dark Matter (SYFY, 2015-2017. First EP sucks, then it's absolute golden. A kin to Firefly)

The Expanse (Originally Netflix, moved to Amazon. Both TV show AND books. Oh the books are SO GOOD and better than the show imo)

Severance (Apple. I can't yell enough of this. It's just mindbogglingly good)

The X-Files (duh)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (yeah yea, I'm a trekkie)

Star Trek Picard

Resident Alien (SYFY, 2021-)

Foundation (Apple, 2021- *chef's kiss* goes for the books too)

#film recommendations #science fiction #scifi film rec list #recommendation list #films #science fiction films #Film rec list #Rec list

[chernobog13]

Captain James T. Kirk Commander John J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen) from the film Forbidden Planet (1956).

#Forbidden Planet #Commander John J. Adams #Leslie Nielsen #science fiction films #proto-Star Trek

[thedepartmentofdiscoveries]

Watch "The Terminator - all deleted Scenes" on YouTube

#deleted scenes #the terminator #1984 #sci fi films #sci fi movies #science fiction #science fiction films #science fiction movies #kyle reese #sarah connor #linda hamilton #michael biehn #Youtube

[adamwatchesmovies]

Chappie (2015)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

I’m man enough to admit I was wrong about Chappie. I was initially dazzled by its special effects and unique approach to the story. I see clearly now. This picture ultimately throws away its potential thanks to a dumb climax and a misguided belief that we care about its criminal protagonists.

What if the first fully self-aware, sentient artificial intelligence was raised by the worst people? in crime-ridden Johannesburg, Deon (Dev Patel) has created Chappie (voiced by Sharlto Copley). Unfortunately, the young robot isn’t being raised by its maker. It’s been stolen by criminals Ninja and Yolandi (played by the African rap artists of the same name): thugs who teach the robot to commit crimes and settle their drug debt.

Chappie begins with a solid idea. When we typically explore the subject of "artificial intelligence", it's either misunderstood until it befriends a friendly child or becomes evil immediately and plots mankind’s extinction. Chappie may be made of metal and circuits but it’s little more than an easily-impressionable child in a body whose strength and endurance exceed any normal person’s. It’s endearing to see it misinterpret the deluge of profanities uttered by Ninja and you’ll grow nervous watching the criminals trick it doing their dirty work. You feel for Deon, who desperately wants to get his creation back.

Along with this unique take on the Frankenstein story, the picture’s got a lot of style. The soundtrack by Ninja and Yolandi fits perfectly with their bizarre vernacular, graffiti-laden hideout and the film's general tone. They’re childish but dangerous all at once. One thing you could never call Chappie is "generic".

As the story moves along, details about it foreshadow trouble. Deon is one of the dumbest scientists we’ve ever seen. He’s got absolutely no sense of preservation whatsoever. He's constantly coming back to visit Chappie and his family despite having guns waved in his face. He never even considers calling the authorities when every sign points towards the former police robot being used to commit crimes. You might say it’s because he’d get in serious trouble with his boss (Sigourney Weaver, doing Neil Blomkamp a favor by appearing but having little to do) but who are they going to believe, the scientist, or the criminals? Even if the seemingly reasonable Amerika (Jose Pablo Cantillo) corroborated their story, there’s no way the police wouldn’t side with the robotics genius!

Oh but it gets worse. In the end, this film is about much more than artificial intelligence: it’s also about ripping off Robocop. With a smidge of transhumanism thrown in. The film’s villain isn’t actually the criminals who have adopted Chappie; it’s Hugh Jackman as Vincet Moore. He's a cartoon character obsessed with pushing his urban pacification robot as the next best thing. One look at it, and you wonder what the hell he’s thinking. It’s a 10-ton, bipedal behemoth that can fly, shoot rockets, slice people up with its saw OR its giant mechanical pincer and is equipped with infra-red sight, a railgun and who knows what other goodies. This beast would feel out of place even on the lawless streets of Escape from New York. Why hasn’t he been shut down yet? Every scene with Moore might as well be set in front of a giant neon sign that reads "evil”.

The strategy seems to have been “introduce an even BIGGER villain so that we forget how unlikable Ninja and Yolandi are. Na-unh. It doesn’t matter how action-packed and explosive the film’s last scenes may be. They’re not enough to make you overlook what happened before, certainly not when they're as predictable as this. It only gets worse from there. It’s a giant misstep following a long trip down the stairs.

It doesn’t even take long to see what’s wrong with Chappie. The signs are all there from the start and no effort was made to deviate from the wrong direction it was headed for. I enjoyed Chappie very much when I saw it in theatres. Now, it’s a little embarrassing to have been that enthusiastic about it. Maybe if you’re a big fan of Ninja and Yolandi, or if you get a kick out of seeing your hometown of Johannesburg in a movie, you’d get something out of this picture. Otherwise, stay away. (February 22, 2019)

#Chappie #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Neill Blomkamp #Terri Tatchell #Sharlto Copley #Dev Patel #Hugh Jackman #Ninja #Yolandi Visser #jose pablo cantillo #Sigourney Weaver #2015 movies #2015 films #science fiction movies #science fiction films

[onenakedfarmer]

Currently Watching

THEM! Gordon Douglass USA, 1954

#watching #science fiction films #mutation #Gordon Douglass #James Whitmore #James Arness #Edmund Gwenn #Joan Weldon #Sandy Descher

[djhamaradio]

On Seeing the movie the Creator

I saw the new movie the creator helmed by future or current lead man John David Washington, and directed by the Rogue One, director Gareth Edwards. I liked the look of it when I saw the trailer the sort interesting look of the Robots with some of them reminding me of some of the Robots, steampunk looking futuristic gear, juxtaposed with some of the replicants which have very naked visible machine technology undergirding them. That for me is a huge aspect of why I fuck with Sci-Fi its the ability to speculate on our futures and what said speculation says about our present moment and the issues we are grappling with in our time. In this movie you are grappling with of course Atomic Energy, the most exciting subject AI, subtle issues of Racism and how the developing world will perhaps reckon with these pieces of technology, and use them to advance which is something I rarely see grappled with.

First things first this movie was bold it was not a paradigm shift, and to be honest it doesn't even tread bolder territory than Rogue One whcih the director helmed. I like the visuals, it doesn't look cheap despite being comparatively cheap. it has some good acting but my lord, is it jam packed with attempts at being deep, which fall flat half the timeThe first thing I hate is the religious themes and oriental new age bullshit, which I think is unoriginal as fuck (Star Wars did it, Matrix did it and a bunch of Sci-Fi since) .

I hate how the secret weapon kid (The young female main character) always has to do some Bhuddist zen meditation act to utilize her powers, which speaks to a very long tradition of Orientalism thats all over American film, always displaying it as exotic and full esoteric magic and beliefs which is a messed up trope if you ask me. Also the idea that AI is going to be dumb enough to also fall head over heels for religiosity, I would assume at that point humans would have figured out religion kinda didnt help us before but that is me projecting. As far as humans I know why we are religious but the director did quite explain why AI fell in love with religion, and I thought the director would try to explain this. Also why is all the AI so compeled by Bhuddist or Hindu culture why not African religions or other immigrant groups beliefs which they hinted at a little when they briefly showed Arabia but I felt this was lazy. I do love that he tackles the issue of what will poorer nations do when AI, and tech becomes more widespread around the world how will these Asians and Africans utilize AI and all the tech to create their future worlds. I also didn't like the whole savior narrative. I did like all the actors they did a good job but characters seemed very undercooked, as is Hollywoods ways. Despite these flaws it was a good solo self date at my theatre thats down the street, it is worth the watch but doublt I will be watching it on repeat.

#Duppy Echoes #Duppy Echoes Movies #Gareth Edwards #Science Fiction films #Youtube

[jpf-sydney]

Tsuburaya Eiji

New item:

Shelf: 778.21 TSU (@ tadoku section) Tsuburaya Eiji : Urutoraman o tsukutta eiga kantoku. commentary by Ichikawa Shin'ichi ; manga by Kobayashi Tatsuyoshi.

Tōkyō : Shōgakukan, 1996. ISBN: 9784092701076

159 pages : chiefly illustrations (some colour), portraits ; 23 cm. (Shōgakukan-ban gakushū manga jinbutsukan)

Text in Japanese with furigana on all kanji characters.

#tsuburaya eiji #motion picture producers and directors #biography #science fiction films #tadoku level 4

[humanoidhistory]

On the set of PLANET OF THE APES. Photo by Dennis Stock.

#planet of the apes #film #science fiction #photography #black and white #monkey

[biglisbonnews]

Do Movie Androids Want to Love Us or Kill Us? Pretty Much Pop: A Culture Podcast #144 Your Pretty Much Pop hosts Mark Linsenmayer, Lawrence Ware, Sarahlyn Bruck, and Al Baker talk through various ethical and narrative problems having to do with the creation of artificial life. We all watched M3GAN and Steve Spielberg’s A.I., and also touch on After Yang, Ex Machina, Bicentennial Man, the BBC show Humans, and of course this is an element in classic sci-fi […] https://www.openculture.com/2023/02/do-movie-androids-want-to-love-us-or-kill-us-pretty-much-pop-a-culture-podcast-144.html

#Film #Pretty Much Pop #Sci Fi #artificial intelligence #science fiction films #Mark Linsenmayer #Open Culture

[adaptationsvs-polls]

Which version of this do you prefer?

#the martian #the martian book #the martian film #films #books #science fiction #sci fi #science fiction films #science fiction books #andy weir #mark watney #polls #adaptation polls

[kekwcomics]

HANDS OF STEEL (Sergio Martini, 1986)

#sergio martino #dystopia #dystopian #pulp #pulp movies #cyborg #science fiction #science fiction movies #science fiction films #sci fi movies #sci fi film #scifi movies #80s movies #80s films #80s science fiction #80s sci fi #1980s science fiction #1980s sci fi #1980s movies #1980s films #italian movies #italian film #john saxon