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2009's Sci-Fi Films To Watch For

slappy

Commodore
Commodore
Maybe sci-fi is making a comeback in cinema! Check it out:

Star Trek
Opens May 2009
Cast: Zoe Saldana, Chris Pine, Anton Yelchin, Simon Pegg, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy
Director: J.J. Abrams
Summary: The orignal characters return in this soft reboot of the Original Series. When Romulan baddie Nero travels back in time to destroy the Federation, the starship Enterprise comes to the rescue.

Avatar:
Opens Dec 18
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi
Director: James Cameron
Summary: Cameron described Avatar as "a futuristic tale set on a planet 200 years hence [...] an old-fashioned jungle adventure with an environmental conscience [that] aspires to a mythic level of storytelling." The January 2007 press release described the film: "Avatar is also an emotional journey of redemption and revolution. It is the story of a wounded ex-marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in biodiversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival," and "We're creating an entire world, a complete ecosystem of phantasmagorical plants and creatures, and a native people with a rich culture and language.

Moon:
Opens: TBA 2009
Cast: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Matt Berry, Kaya Scodelario, Benedict Wong, Malcolm Stewart, Robin Chalk
Director: Duncan Jones

Summary: Sam Bell has spent the last three years alone mining precious Helium 3 on a moon base. With just two weeks to go before his contract ends, he starts seeing things and feeling strange. He soon learns his bosses have their own plans for replacing him and the new recruit is eerily familiar.

Mr. Nobody
Opens: 2009
Cast: Jared Leto, Diane Kruger, Sarah Polley, Rhys Ifans
Director: Jaco Van Dormael

Summary: In the year 2092, a time when Mars is a vacation spot, Nemo Nobody is a 120-year-old man who is the last mortal among humans who have become immortal due to scientific advances. When Nemo is on his deathbed, he reviews the three possible existences and marriages he might have experienced.

Outlander
Opens: January 23rd 2009
Cast: James Caviezel, John Hurt, Ron Perlman, Sophia Myles
Director: Howard McCain

Summary: A spacecraft crashes into the majestic fjords of ancient Norway and into the time of the Vikings. From the wreckage emerge two bitter enemies: a soldier from another world and a bloodthirsty creature. As the later ravages the Viking world, the soldier forms an unlikely alliance with the primitive but fierce warriors.

Pandorum
Opens: September 4th 2009
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Norman Reedus, Cam Gigandet, Antje Traue, Cung Le
Director: Christian Alvart

Summary: A dark and claustrophobic tale about two crewmen who awaken aboard their spacecraft, unaware of their mission or their identities. As they piece things together, the men make a harrowing discovery that threatens the survival of mankind.

Game
Opens: September 4th 2009
Cast: Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall, Alison Lohman, Amber Valletta, Logan Lerman, Kyra Sedgwick, Ludacris
Director
: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor

Summary
: Set in a future-world where humans can control other humans in mass-scale, multi-player online gaming environments, a star player from a game called "Slayers" looks to regain his independence while taking down the game's mastermind.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Opens: TBA 2009
Cast: Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Verne Troyer
Director
: Terry Gilliam

Summary
: An immortal who made a Faustian-style deal to give up his first born when they came of age tries to stop 'Mr. Nick' from collecting. The wager is renegotiated with whomever seduces the five souls first winning the right to keep the child.

Push
Opens: February 6th 2009
Cast: Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, Djimon Hounsou, Maggie Siff, Scott Michael Campbell
Director: Paul McGuigan

Summary: Burrows deep into the deadly world of psychic espionage filled with artificially enhanced paranormal operatives. Against this setting, a young man and a teenage girl take on a clandestine agency in a race against time that will determine the future of civilization.

Cirque du Freak
Opens: TBA 2009
Cast: John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Chris Massoglia, Josh Hutcherson, Patrick Fugit, Ray Stevenson
Director
: Paul Weitz

Summary
: The frightening tale of a boy who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, he will fulfill his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares.

Cold Souls
Opens: TBA 2009
Cast: Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, Emily Watson, Dina Korzun, Lauren Ambrose, Katheryn Winnick
Director
: Sophie Barthes

Summary
: A famous American actor who, undergoing existential crisis, needs relief from his weary soul and decides to explore "soul extraction" as a distraction from the burdens of daily life .

District 9
Opens: August 14th 2009
Cast: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Mandla Gaduka, William Allen Young, Vanessa Haywood
Director
: Neill Blomkamp

Summary
: "District 9" depicts a fictional world where extraterrestrials have become refugees in South Africa.


Land of The Lost
Opening June 5th
Cast
: Will Ferrell, Danny R. McBride, Anna Friel, Jorma Taccone
Director
: Brad Silberling

Summary
: A has-been scientist, his crack smart assistant, and a redneck survivalist are sucked into space-time vortex and land back in prehistoric times. The trio have no weapons, few skills and questionable smarts to survive in an alternate universe full of marauding dinosaurs and fantastic creatures from beyond our world.

The Road
Opening Fall 2009
Cast: Viggo Mortenson, Guy Pearce, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Director: John Hillcoat

Summary: Post-Apocalyptic tale of a man and his son deperately trying to survive in a barren wasteland.

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Animated Sci-FI:


Monsters vs. Aliens
Opens: March 27th 2009

Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Stephen Colbert, Kiefer Sutherland, Paul Rudd
Director: Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon

Summary: A group of people turned into monsters by accident find their government incarceration cut short when a mysterious alien robot lands on Earth and begins storming the country. The motley crew is enlisted to combat the Alien Robot and save the world.
Planet 51
Opening November
Cast
: Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Seann William Scott, Gary Oldman, John Cleese
Director: Joe Stillman

Summary: On a remote planet, the inhabitants live in fear of an alien invasion. Their paranoia is realized when astronaut Capt. Charles "Chuck" Baker arrives from Earth. Befriended by a young resident, the astronaut has to avoid capture in order to recover his spaceship and return home.


Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Opens July 1st 2009
Cast
: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah
Director
: Carlos Saldanha

Summary
: The third adventure of the CG animated prehistoric creatures. On a mission to rescue the hapless Sid, the gang ventures into a mysterious underground world, where they have some close encounters with dinosaurs, battle flora and fauna, run amuck - and meet a relentless, one-eyed, dino-hunting weasel named Buck.
 
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I notice that Avatar is not in the list. Is it supposed to be out this year?

There is a lot of movies in that list that sound interesting, many I have not heard of. District 9 sound like it must be a feature length version of Neill Blomkamp's short film Alive in Joburg.
 
GAME sounds intrig-intrigu-interesting!;)

Mr. Nobody sounds good and Pandorum and District 9 will defin-defina-yeah, I'm gonna wanna see those.

Sorry about the stutter, not enough sleep last night.;)
 
I'm excited about Doctor Parnassus, as it reunites Gilliam with Charles McKeown for the first time since "Baron Munchausen". Maybe Gilliam can reclaim his mojo. And of course, it'll be the final movie to feature Heath Ledger. :(
 
I heard their was a Sci-Fi movie to be released around May or something.
It starts with a Star and ends with a Trek...
 
And isn't there something involving killer robots known as Terminators . . . ?

A small, obscure art film, no doubt. :)
 
How about this movie featuring people with different genetic patterns, one of whom had metal surgically fused to his bones?
 
I'm looking most forward to Dr. Pharnassus...great cast and it looks like an interesting story. Also in September Tim Burton's animated movie is being released, saw a trailer yesterday on EP Daily and it looked pretty sci-fi. I believe it's called 9...and has Chris Plummer, Elijah Wood, and Jennifer Connelly providing voices. Looks pretty interesting.
 
Most of these seem like Sci-Fi Saturday night movies. Except for Push. That seems like an episode of Heroes.

And isn't there something involving killer robots known as Terminators . . . ?

A small, obscure art film, no doubt. :)

Is that the same one where we'll get two and a half hours of giant ass robots beating the shit out of each other? Or am I transforming something I heard about another movie into this one?
 
And isn't there something involving killer robots known as Terminators . . . ?

A small, obscure art film, no doubt. :)


I think its an art film right? About a Juan Connor visiting Europe and his brother.

How about this movie featuring people with different genetic patterns, one of whom had metal surgically fused to his bones?

That's a stupid idea. No one will watch this movie (or three previous movies that focuses on a man with claws)
 
Also in September Tim Burton's animated movie is being released, saw a trailer yesterday on EP Daily and it looked pretty sci-fi. I believe it's called 9...and has Chris Plummer, Elijah Wood, and Jennifer Connelly providing voices. Looks pretty interesting.
Someone posted a link to that here a couple of weeks ago, just before Christmas. Looked interesting and very nice animation.

Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIpZxBczWUg
 
District 9
Opens: August 14th 2009
Cast: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Mandla Gaduka, William Allen Young, Vanessa Haywood
Director
: Neill Blomkamp

Summary
: "District 9" depicts a fictional world where extraterrestrials have become refugees in South Africa.


I thought that was just a short film on YouTube...they're making a full movie out of it?

It's a South Africa produced film (think Charlie Jade)........sort of a South African take on Alien Nation, except that the aliens aren't as human and are actually flat out refugees in the poorest slums (as opposed to the Newcomers, who tried to integrate themselves into the workforce and while working class immigrants did fairly well)
 
Also in September Tim Burton's animated movie is being released, saw a trailer yesterday on EP Daily and it looked pretty sci-fi. I believe it's called 9...and has Chris Plummer, Elijah Wood, and Jennifer Connelly providing voices. Looks pretty interesting.
Someone posted a link to that here a couple of weeks ago, just before Christmas. Looked interesting and very nice animation.

Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIpZxBczWUg


The two films I'm looking forward to are "Coraline" and "9", both stop-motion.
 
There is one film that may spear head the revival, think its called Star Journey or something.
 
Nice list, thanks! A surprising number of these sound good. Interested in...

Moon: I like Sam Rockwell. Just hope the plotline isn't some tired Twilight Zone twist.

Outlander: I like James Caviezel. Just hope this isn't a cheesefest of a flick.

Pandorum: Intriguing premise.

Game: Michael C. Hall and Ludacris play homicidal video games! I am so in! :rommie: Hey, according to IMDB, Milo Ventimiglia and John Leguizamo are also in this thing. If Dexter Morgan slaughters Peter Petrelli in some particularly gruesome manner, this stands a good chance of being the BEST MOVIE EVAH! Regardless, this one's got a hell of a cast. They'd have to really blow it on the plotline to keep me away.

Push: I'd like to see what Chris Evans can do outside of the FF milieu, but the premise sounds tired.

Cirque du Freak: Sounds enough like Carnivale to pique my interest...

Cold Souls: Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, check. Plus the premise sounds cool.

And of course Star Trek and Avatar are total no-brainers.
 
And, oh yeah, isn't there a movie about costumed people who don't want to save the world? Clockmakers or something like that? ;)
 
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