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samboct -> RE: Best science fiction movie of all time (1/26/2008 6:25:08 PM)
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I'm kinda with bipolarber on this one- Star Wars is fantasy with sci-fi trappings. Simple definition-if it's got magic- it's fantasy. I wasn't real fond of any of the movies- liked the last one the best though.
I went with 2001- although I know that most film critics, being functionally illiterate, have no idea where its from. Try reading Thus Spake Zarathustra by Nietzche- it's a modernized version on man's ascent to something else and for Nietzche, it's rather readable. A broad hint was the music- Also Sprach Zarathustra- Kubrick was no dummy- he chose things well. Clarke's screenplay is useless, although his novel Childhood's End is actually on a similar theme. However, it's really tough to put such a complex philosophical theme to film and I have to admit it's not necessarily all that accessible- should you have to read a book to understand a movie? The first matrix movie is the old Bishop Barclay argument about a brain in a jar- shoulda quit while they were ahead- the rest of the series takes itself way too seriously.
I thought Lighthearted's comment about No Plan 9 was cute as well as some of the other snarky comments-and in that vein- what, no Damnation Alley? Its got George Peppard, Jan Michael Vincent and swarming cockroaches and the wackiest cross country vehicle ever- what more could you want? And Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce with Naked Space Aliens! (actually, Mathilda May is both very attractive and a fine actor.)
For the folks that might want to do some more pondering-
Another of Kubricks masterpieces that didn't make the list-A Clockwork Orange.
In the horror vein- but absolutely sci-fi (based on John W. Campbell's Who Goes There) John Carpenter's remake of the Thing. The first one gets comical- the second version is Carpenters pick for his scariest movie and having seen it in the theatre- it gets my vote as the scariest movie ever. They Live has a great soundtrack, and Village of the Damned is rather underrated- hokey in spots, but nevertheless somewhat thought provoking.
Another good underrated horror flick- H.P. Lovecraft's Reanimator as is The Hidden.
In the time travel vein- how about Time after Time? I've always like Nicholas Meyer- he's the guy that wrote the screenplay to Wrath of Khan and one of my favorite movies- the Seven Per Cent Solution- which in some ways, also counts as sci-fi- being an imagining of what happens when Sherlock Holmes meets Sigmund Freud.
Nobody's mentioned Harry Harrison's brilliant Soylent Green- guarantee you'll never eat a steak in the same way afterwards.
Sam
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