“Good” SF movies
Part of the problem I have with picking “good” SF movies or TV shows is that there are some where the SF premise is good but the execution is flawed, and there are some with great execution where the premise is flawed. Trying to get both right for a two-hour movie (let alone for every episode of a TV series) is very hard.
For example: time-travel movies. “Back to the Future” was executed very well, but the SF elements were flawed. (And I don’t mean making a time machine out of a DeLorean. I mean things like people gradually being erased from a photograph as the possibility of their being born changes. And what happened to the Marty McFly who grew up with a non-wimpy dad?)
On the other hand, there’s “The Final Countdown.” If you grant the premise that a freak storm could transport a nuclear aircraft carrier to December 1941, there are no loose ends. But the quality of the movie itself is about average.
So with that in mind, here are my SF movie recommendations:
Gattaca: Perhaps a little slow, but well-made with thought-provoking SF premise.
Contact: Missing my favorite parts of the novel, but still an all-around great movie.
Terminator & Terminator 2: Second one’s better movie even though the time travel aspect is better in the first one.
The Abyss: The ending’s a little disappointing (and that was before the director’s extended version) but a great movie nonetheless.
Robocop: I’m serious. Good SF premise, good action, and the satirical future newscasts and commercials are a hoot.
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure: OK, it’s really more of a comedy, but it handles the intricacies of time travel better than most SF movies about time travel.
Jurassic Park: The science was pretty good, and it was well-made.
Sword & Sorcery Fantasy Movies:
Lord of the Rings: Need I say more?
Willow: Has some problems here and there, but overall a lot of fun.
Comic Book Movies (sort of a separate genre):
Unbreakable: Great examination of the idea of comic-book archetypes.
Superman & Superman II, Spiderman, Batman, X-Men, X2: X-men United: With varying degrees of faithfulness to the comic-book canon, they succeed in bringing the spirit of their respective comic books to the screen. (Deleted to make this post focus on science fiction. I may split these out into separate posts later.)
(Originally posted as a message here: Good SciFi/Fantasty movies/TV? - Hatrack River Writers Workshop)
You’ve only gone as far back as the mid-80s. Was that intentional? You can’t forget Bladerunner and 2001 and, um STAR WARS. I know there are more great sci-fi flicks I can’t think of right now since it’s midnight. I’ll come back with a longer list later maybe.
You should add the monster category too. My latest faves are Underworld (which has a sci-fi element) and 28 Days.
For the fantasy category I recommend the 3rd Harry Potter. MAJOR improvement over the first two. The cinematography was gorgeous.
First, I should point out that this post was originally part of an online discussion elsewhere, so it’s a little bit out of context. And I probably confused things by adding in the Sword & Sorcery Fantasy Movies and the Comic Book Movies categories.
Star Wars is a great movie and I love the entire original trilogy. But it’s not really science fiction — it’s a traditional sword & sorcery fantasy dressed up in science fiction clothes.
As for Blade Runner and 2001: A Space Odyssey — this may reduce my geek credentials somewhat, but I found both of them boring.
I’ll probably do a separate post later about other genres.
Personally, I think any movie that involves time travel is inherently flawed in logic. For the sake of suspense, the bad/good guys beam into a moment in time just before their nemesis deals the death/saving blow. You mentioned Back to the Future… Just think how much easier it would have been for Marty to stop the terrorists if he had zipped back to 1985 with an hour or two to spare before they struck Doc, instead of the few minutes he felt were enough. Granted, he did preempt himself by stuffing the message in the Doc’s coat… But this last-minute thing is the tired strategy of all silver screen time travelers.
Closest I’ve seen of great time travel sci-fi is OSC’s “Pastwatch” novel. Just plain makes sense to me.