# Discovering Sci Fi on Film



## M. Robert Gibson (Jun 11, 2021)

There's a documentary on Sky Arts next Thursday 17th June.  I know there are a couple of people on this site who are interested in Sci-Fi, so might be worth a watch   


			https://www.3ddproductions.com/discovering-sci-fi-on-film
		


"
The 90’ programme features the “Discovering” team gathered for an evening to discuss and review their Top 25 Sci Fi films of the last 100 years.

Our Team
· Ian Nathan, author of “Stephen King at the Movies” & contributing editor Empire Magazine
· Neil Norman, Film Critic and Writer
· Stephen Armstrong, Writer and Film critic The Sunday Times

Films include

Things to Come
Silent Running
War of the Worlds
22 The Abyss
Solaris
Soylent Green
The Time Machine
The Thing
Minority Report
ET The Extra-Terrestrial
Alien
Forbidden Planet
Contact
The Fifth Element
Westworld
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Planet of the Apes
Metropolis
Back to The Future
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
The Matrix
A Space Odyssey
Blade Runner
Terminator 2
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
"


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## Danny McG (Jun 13, 2021)

M. Robert Gibson said:


> There's a documentary on Sky Arts next Thursday 17th June.  I know there are a couple of people on this site who are interested in Sci-Fi, so might be worth a watch
> 
> 
> https://www.3ddproductions.com/discovering-sci-fi-on-film
> ...


I've saw every one of them on that list at least twice apiece


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## M. Robert Gibson (Jun 13, 2021)

I've not seen 'Things to Come', but all the others I've seen at least once


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## reiver33 (Jun 13, 2021)

I’ve not seen ‘Soylent Green’ all the way through, but all the others, and at least 3/4 more than once.


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## Dave (Jun 13, 2021)

I've seen _Things to Com_e and _Metropolis_ online, but not sure I've seen _22 The Abyss. _The others I've seen multiple times.


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## BAYLOR (Jun 13, 2021)

M. Robert Gibson said:


> I've not seen 'Things to Come', but all the others I've seen at least once


Ive seen all of those films multiple times,


* Things to Come* 1936  based H G Wells book which a outline of Future history , *The Shape off the Things to Come* . H G Wells wrote the screenplay for the movie and AlexandER Korda directed the film . The film stared Raymond Massy, Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir Cedric Hardwick . It's a terrific film , for it era its great special effects and production values .


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## M. Robert Gibson (Jun 14, 2021)

Dave said:


> but not sure I've seen _22 The Abyss_


I assumed that was just a typo on that web site and they actually just mean _The Abyss_.


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## Dave (Jun 14, 2021)

I've not seen that either. That's the James Cameron money-pit right? I never got around to it and the reviews were poor, but if it is one of the top 25 films of the last 100 years then I'd better watch it?


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## hitmouse (Jun 14, 2021)

Dave said:


> I've not seen that either. That's the James Cameron money-pit right? I never got around to it and the reviews were poor, but if it is one of the top 25 films of the last 100 years then I'd better watch it?


Well, its OK, and the cgi was pretty amazing in the late 80s, but it is a bit turgid in places, and not really in the same class as some of the others on that list.


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## Dave (Jun 14, 2021)

I own 8 of those on DVD and Empire Strikes Back on VHS (the proper version) so 9/25


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## paranoid marvin (Jun 19, 2021)

hitmouse said:


> Well, its OK, and the cgi was pretty amazing in the late 80s, but it is a bit turgid in places, and not really in the same class as some of the others on that list.



I agree. It's a little on the long side, and it struggles to decide what type of film it wants to be; scifi, horror or adventure. Unbelievably the extended version apparently brings in the themes of world disaster/conflict.

As for the programme, it was in equal parts great and disappointing. Great that there was a tv show dedicated entirely to sci-fi, but disappointing that too little time was devoted to each movie. Understandably considering it was only just over an hour show (without ads), but it would have been great to have a serious discussion about the best scifi movies spread over several episodes. 

Apparently next week's will be westerns, which I greatly look forward too; hopefully they will do a fantasy themed one as well.

There are always going to be movies that we have as personal favourites. I assume that they were excluding other movies from the same genre, as otherwise the omission of Star Wars, Terminator and Aliens would seem very odd. But I feel that Spaceballs as the ultimate parody of the scifi genre - and a great movie in itself - should have made the list. Then again this was a list of their personal favourites rather than 'the best'.


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## paranoid marvin (Jun 19, 2021)

Oh , and thankyou M.Robert Gibson for giving the heads-up about this show being on, I would have missed it otherwise so thankyou.


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## HareBrain (Jun 19, 2021)

I had to abandon. The presenters had obviously been told they needed to move their hands to avoid looking stiff, but it clearly wasn't natural to them and they looked like overactive puppets. It was worse than watching _Curb Your Enthusiasm_ for vicarious awkwardness.



paranoid marvin said:


> but disappointing that too little time was devoted to each movie.



Also this.


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## Dave (Jun 19, 2021)

HareBrain said:


> they needed to move their hands to avoid looking stiff,


I think that was a totally different film, Thunderbirds are Go (1966)


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## BAYLOR (Jun 19, 2021)

Dave said:


> I've not seen that either. That's the James Cameron money-pit right? I never got around to it and the reviews were poor, but if it is one of the top 25 films of the last 100 years then I'd better watch it?



It's a terrific. film one by far one of James Cameron's  best and,  it has. a great cast.  and a great musical score by  Alan Silvestri .  My advice is to see the extend  version of this film .


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