underated SCIFI movies

[trekkiedane]

I'm going to with the movie "Monolith Monsters". It's fairly obscure, B-movie, shot in black and white, which seems to be the kiss of death for so many people today.

I thought it was original, fun, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's no academy award winner, but as a SF popcorn flick it succeeds on many levels.

I

Jack Arnold films!

I don't remember hearing anybody hate on it but Silent Running never seems to get the respect I think it deserves. Bruce Dern was terrific and the 'droids were delightful. A very moving ending, too.

One of my favourite space-films.

Brazil - you'll have the song stuck in your head

I remember sitting on the edge of my seat for 'two hours +' that was so brilliant!

If not being well-known counts as being underrated I will go for "The Quiet Earth". I believe it is an excellent movie that suffered because it was made in New Zealand in the mid-eighties.

Great film! -perhaps it suffers from not having a lot of special effects.

Phase IV (1974) is both creepy -in that good old fashioned cold war way- and pretty well made for a mid-seventies SciFi -I've always loved it.

The 5'th Element is a very underrated yet highly entertaining modern B-type SciFi comedy IMHO.

Speaking of comedies, Space Truckers is also a favourite of mine.

 

[Reverend]

Also overlooked (as opposed to underrated) is FREQUENCY, a cool time-travel movie from a few years back.

...which is sat right over there on my DVD shelf next to 'Enemy Mine' and 'Explorers'. Love that film.

 

[Finnegan]

Dark City is a favorite of mine. It's practically ignored by tons of people, but it's a great sci-fi film.

Mars Attacks is always good for a laugh whenever it comes on, another favorite.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Dark City is a favorite of mine. It's practically ignored by tons of people, but it's a great sci-fi film.

Mars Attacks is always good for a laugh whenever it comes on, another favorite.

I think DARK CITY is superior to Matrix. It 'noir' style of the film is far better than Blade Runner, IMO. The best part of the movie is that it doesn't even seem like a science fiction movie even when it is clear that it is...this movie has atmosphere and style that no other scifi movie, IMO, can touch...

Rob

 

[Ptrope]

Another film in the vein of The Matrix (and which was overshadowed by it when they both came out at about the same time) was The Thirteenth Floor, a film with Craig Bierko and Gretchen Mol (yum!!), where he is the lead programmer for a company developing virtual reality and the prime suspect in the murder of its founder, who it turns out was living a double life within the virtual L.A. of the '30s that existed in the simulation. It asks many of the same questions as The Matrix, as well as the big one: what if your characters in the VR don't know they are simulations, and have free will?

Good film!

 

[RobertScorpio]

Another film in the vein of The Matrix (and which was overshadowed by it when they both came out at about the same time) was The Thirteenth Floor, a film with Craig Bierko and Gretchen Mol (yum!!), where he is the lead programmer for a company developing virtual reality and the prime suspect in the murder of its founder, who it turns out was living a double life within the virtual L.A. of the '30s that existed in the simulation. It asks many of the same questions as The Matrix, as well as the big one: what if your characters in the VR don't know they are simulations, and have free will?

Good film!

Yes..that was a good film!! Good pick.

On an off topic subject; I was at a bookstore fanning through some physics book where the author stated that it was possible that our actual reality IS some form of a hologram...huh???

Rob

 

[Chris_Johnston]

^^^Hmmm, I saw Dark City at the Cinerama Dome on opening night, but never had a desire to see it a second time, even when the DVD shows up in the clearance bin for $1.99.

I was first in line for The Matrix at Grauman's Chinese, then saw it a second time there... and an additional 7 times when it played at the $3 theater for two months.
Got the DVD on the day of release and played the hell out of it.
As for the sequels, well, I was at the early shows on their opening days at Grauman's, but I waited until the DVDs showed up in the Under $10 bin to see them a second time.

 

[Chris_Johnston]

On an off topic subject; I was at a bookstore fanning through some physics book where the author stated that it was possible that our actual reality IS some form of a hologram...huh???

http://www.simulation-argument.com/

 

[SilentP]

I'll agree with those saying the Event Horizon is underated. The scares were pretty good and the innate 'wrongness' of the titular ship is just perfect; remember the crew's reaction when they were told what ship they were going after? That tells you need to know in a way The character of the crews was laid out pretty well for how little time they were given to be introduced, like the little tidbits with crew interactions suggesting a real familiarity between them all.

Pity how they ended with the crazy man angle ended up making the threat too 'human', if that makes sense.

I agree with those talking about the Chronicles of Riddick movies, they were an interesting change from things I had seen up to that point.

I remember liking Bicentennial Man as well, though not so well, since I was quite young when I watched it.

 

[RobertScorpio]

On an off topic subject; I was at a bookstore fanning through some physics book where the author stated that it was possible that our actual reality IS some form of a hologram...huh???

http://www.simulation-argument.com/

Yep..I think this was it...thanks for the link.

On a non-related subject? I am right now spending a lot of time reading about the clashing theories as to how the native-Americans first came to be here. The going theory is that they came over the berring straits and populated N and S America overtime. This is true, but there is evidence that other humans made it over here BEFORE the berring straits were passable after the last ice age...

Those early humans may have come from, get this, Austrailia!!!


Rob

 

[backstept]

Outlander was great, but had virtually no exposure in the US

 

[RobertScorpio]

Outlander was great, but had virtually no exposure in the US

I saw that on the new-release shelf last night a Blockbuster. Maybe I'll give it a try...

Rob

 

[Vonstadt]

Hmm some great movies that I like mentioned in here.

For me it is "The Omega Man", "Silent Running" , "Bicentinnel Man", "Dark City" and "Outland" (High Noon in Space) and of course "The Last Starfighter".

I still love the Ko-Dan Officer "Sir! What do we do?" <as their heavily damaged Mothership is about to crash into a Moonof Rylos>

Ko-Dan Commander : "We...Die" <BOOM!>

Classic!

Also there is a campy cheesey film called "The Last Chase" with Lee Majors and Burgess Meridith (Who's performance as the Sabre Pilot totally rocks )

Vons

 

[AmbassadorKosh]

One of my favorite movies, that I deem under rated in the present time, is Soylent Green. Heston gave a great performance and the plot was....unique. I also really like Rutger Hauer's scifi movies; Omega Doom, Salute of the Jugger, Split Second et al.

 

[Yoda]

I liked Waterworld and The Postman, though I haven't seen them since I was in my teens. Maybe they wouldn't hold up to my memories

I've put Pitch Black/Riddick, Sky Captain, and Dark City on my to watch list. Bicentennial Man has Robin Williams in it? Do not want. Picking which Robin Williams movie you want to watch is like picking a form of Cancer to die from.

12 Monkeys and The Prestige are great.. but underrated? Not by anyone I know anyway. 5th Element was really fun, I'm also a fan of Enemy Mine and the Last Starfighter.

I don't know if I have any movies to add... Willow? Err wrong category... I tried.

 

[RobertScorpio]

I liked Waterworld and The Postman, though I haven't seen them since I was in my teens. Maybe they wouldn't hold up to my memories

I've put Pitch Black/Riddick, Sky Captain, and Dark City on my to watch list. Bicentennial Man has Robin Williams in it? Do not want. Picking which Robin Williams movie you want to watch is like picking a form of Cancer to die from.

12 Monkeys and The Prestige are great.. but underrated? Not by anyone I know anyway. 5th Element was really fun, I'm also a fan of Enemy Mine and the Last Starfighter.

I don't know if I have any movies to add... Willow? Err wrong category... I tried.

Nah..as the OP I think Willow is highly acceptable in this conversation. Willow is a pretty good movie that my kids and I enjoy whenever we watch it...

Rob

 

[DigificWriter]

Mars Attacks is always good for a laugh whenever it comes on, another favorite.

I can't believe I forgot about Mars Attacks; that movie is awesome (President Jack: "Why can't we all just get along?" ).

 

[RobertScorpio]

Mars Attacks is always good for a laugh whenever it comes on, another favorite.

I can't believe I forgot about Mars Attacks; that movie is awesome (President Jack: "Why can't we all just get along?" ).

I loved the exploding brains...and when playing the game where you try to connect one actor to another actor? Mars Attacks is a great one to try and bridge to...I mean..look at the cast..Nicholson, James Brown, Portman, Haas, Tom Jones, Danny Devito, Martin Short, Michael J Fox, Pam Grier (hotty that she is) and the species babe!!!

Hard to believe that this movie is nearly 14 years old...

Rob

 

[Kegg]

I'll go batting for Moon, which seems like an odd pick because it was both 1. released this year and 2. recieved favourable reviews, but I often feel like it was then completely forgotten as if it never existed, and worse still seems completely ignored in far too many geeky circles.

As far as I'm concerned the rest of the decade's sci-fi offerings can go home, this was the best of them by a comfortable margin and an instant classic in a Silent Runnings meets 2001: A Space Odyssey and then becomes wryly, understatedly hip sort of way.

But if people feel that movie isn't obscure enough, then, um. Delicatessen? There's a quirky, amusing, Terry Gilliam-ish little marvel of a movie that's really worth viewing.

 

[Harvey]

I still need to see Delicatessen. Jeunet certainly caught my eye with The City of Lost Children, which is worth a look, too, although I would classify it very much as fantasy, not science fiction.