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Best sci-fi ever.

In terms of television, Farscape for its sheer lack of self-consciousness, Battlestar Galactica for its social and political relevancy, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for refining what had come before into a truly great and imaginative product.

In terms of film, Blade Runner for its total immersiveness in a world (and its deeper philosophical focus), and 2001: A Space Odyssey for taking science fiction seriously. Alien gets points for utilizing a science fiction setting in a modestly realistic way (even though I'd call that film horror first, and science fiction second).

In terms of written science fiction, I'm not an expert at all, but I'd pick out Arthur C. Clarke's The Fountains of Paradise and Rendezvous with Rama, which helped solidify him as one of my favorite authors. I'm just starting to get into PKD at this point.
 
Aleister Crowley's The Vision And The Voice is pretty freaking awesome, if one takes it as science fiction. So is the work of "philosopher" Jean Baudrillard.
 
The best scifi? Anything that takes you away from this messed up world and puts you into-an imaginary, messed up world.:lol:

Seriously, while opinions differ I think The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein might qualify, if only because of its re-readability. And wild story. And ground-breaking(for the time) plot ideas. And the layered, nuanced civilization that it portrays. Somebody said Blade Runner had an entire world buried in its premise-Moon does that and more.

For TV-Star Trek is the 800 lb gorilla. Or, to put it another way, if you don't agree with that then how the hell did you find this board?:)

Movies-Blade Runner. Most poetic piece of scifi movie-making. With 2001 a close runner up.
And for just plain fun-the original Star Wars-if you are the right age, which would be about ten in 1977.;) In that respect, only my generation was lucky enough to be a kid when it hit. My memories will never be clouded by Phantom Garbage or Attack of the Mindless Drones or any of the other crap Lucas foisted off on us-just like early memories of Christmas or the first time on a rollercoaster, a first visit to Disneyland or the taste of your favorite sugar-laden breakfast cereal, Star Wars remains something very special and perfect buried deep in my childhood memories.
 
Stargate SG-1 for "hitting the ground running" and never looking back. The chemistry and performances of the cast are just AMAZING, and the stories always impress...the LEAST episodes of SG1 never fell below the "average" level...
 
Film -- Forbidden Planet..it's a bit dated with it's 50s sensibilities, but a great story with the best effects of the 50s thrown in..

Literature-- Arthur C Clarke's Childhood's End. a story with "Intelligent Design" at it's very core.

Television--Star Trek as has been previously noted, the 800lb Gorilla in Science Fiction circles..
 
"Legend of Galactic Heroes". Can't praise this enough. Monarchy Vs. Democracy, the conflicting values between both and the view that it's not always the form of government that works best but rather the men in charge of that governement.

It's an epic series set in space with large space fleet battles that depend heavily on the tactical thinking of the commanders who often have high respect for their enemy.
 
Jeff Hawke was a terrific SF comic strip. I've read two volumes of it so far, and I hope more reprints become available.
 
Saul's Eye said:
"Legend of Galactic Heroes". Can't praise this enough. Monarchy Vs. Democracy, the conflicting values between both and the view that it's not always the form of government that works best but rather the men in charge of that governement.

It's an epic series set in space with large space fleet battles that depend heavily on the tactical thinking of the commanders who often have high respect for their enemy.
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Where does one find this? Never heard of it.
 
Mistral said:
Saul's Eye said:
"Legend of Galactic Heroes". Can't praise this enough. Monarchy Vs. Democracy, the conflicting values between both and the view that it's not always the form of government that works best but rather the men in charge of that governement.

It's an epic series set in space with large space fleet battles that depend heavily on the tactical thinking of the commanders who often have high respect for their enemy.
Click to expand...

Where does one find this? Never heard of it.
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It hasn't been offically dubbed or subbed but you can find fan subs of it on the net. All 160 Episodes of the main series and the side stories.
There is also a manga and novels upon which it is originally based on but neither have been translated either. Worth watching this though.
 
Ah, manga. Anime. Gotcha. Not my cup of tea. Akira was ok, Bubblegum Crisis was great while under the influence but that stuff generally is not my cup of tea. Thank you, though, for the answer.
 
Mistral said:
Ah, manga. Anime. Gotcha. Not my cup of tea. Akira was ok, Bubblegum Crisis was great while under the influence but that stuff generally is not my cup of tea. Thank you, though, for the answer.
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I wouldn't dismiss something simply because it's anime, remember not all anime is the same. As for as what I would say is the cream of the crop in Sci-Fi, as far as TV shows go I would go with Blake's 7 and Battlestar Galactica for how dark they are, Mobile Suit Gundam and Armored Trooper VOTOMS, for a more realistic and gritty approach to mech combat and Star Trek in all it's incarnations for sparking peoples imaginations every week wth thought provoking stories.
 
Mistral said:
Ah, manga. Anime. Gotcha. Not my cup of tea. Akira was ok, Bubblegum Crisis was great while under the influence but that stuff generally is not my cup of tea. Thank you, though, for the answer.
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No problem :techman: although I still recommend it to you. It's a very down to earth series nothing at all like Akira or Bubblegum Crisis. Far closer to BSG and B5.
 
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