# best sci-fi movies i've never heard of



## wayward bob (Sep 13, 2015)

just watched robinson crusoe on mars (1964) by far the best scifi movie i've seen in years  what else would i like?


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## Belushi (Sep 13, 2015)

Forbidden Planet


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## Chilli.s (Sep 13, 2015)

District 9


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## Belushi (Sep 13, 2015)

Best specify what you liked about this film bob or you'll just have everyone recommending their favourite sci-fi films


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## wayward bob (Sep 13, 2015)

Belushi said:


> Forbidden Planet


racquel welch? didn't do it for me


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## wayward bob (Sep 13, 2015)

Chilli.s said:


> District 9


_details_


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## wayward bob (Sep 13, 2015)

> it was the blinky lights and analogue switches and the monkey :thumbs :



we'll never see its like again


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## wayward bob (Sep 13, 2015)

heh i massively messed up my quoting and posting here.

 move along, nothing to see.


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## butcher (Sep 13, 2015)

Zardoz.  Yup, cheesy weird and Sean Connery in thigh length boots and red knickers, but also a great expression of the time and a look at a dis/utopian future.


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## wayward bob (Sep 13, 2015)

butcher said:


> Zardoz.


it's got me in the first 60 seconds


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## Belushi (Sep 13, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> racquel welch? didn't do it for me



Nope, it does have analogue switches, blinky lights and a robot called Robby though.


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## two sheds (Sep 13, 2015)

Dark Star  

orange bouncy aliens ftw


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## prunus (Sep 13, 2015)

District 9 is great - aliens in internment camps in South Africa. Highly recommended 

Also: Primer. Low budget high concept time travel film. Will fuck with your head (in a good way)


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## butcher (Sep 13, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> it's got me in the first 60 seconds



Check this out then


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## two sheds (Sep 13, 2015)

My word Dark Star's on Youtube


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## Chilli.s (Sep 13, 2015)

Dark Star is great, also Silent Running a 1972 eco worrier in space thing.


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## wayward bob (Sep 13, 2015)

prunus said:


> District 9 is great - aliens in internment camps in South Africa. Highly recommended


seen that. meh


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## 8den (Sep 13, 2015)

The Andromeda strain is on Netflix


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 13, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> racquel welch? didn't do it for me



It was Anne Francis.

I only know that because of this song:


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## prunus (Sep 13, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> seen that. meh



Oh


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 13, 2015)

Starcrash.




It's bonkers. Plus it has a very young Hoff.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2015)

Enemy Mine



its really moving  and a total metaphor for the cold war


Fortress


you'll love it. Christopher Lambert at the height of his game

oh and for a modern one:

Edge of Tomorrow


I really can't work out why this one flopped? Its a great film, Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers



You must have seen Pitch Black of course. If you haven't then YOU ARE DEAD TO ME


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## Orang Utan (Sep 13, 2015)

Demon Seed - AI system gets the hots for Julie Christie - directed by Donald Cammell
Android - Klaus Kinski as mad scientist challenged by his creation
Seconds


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## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2015)

Stargate is still a great film. Not the series, the 1994 film with Kurt Russel. Its just such a great little sci fi actioner.


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## Sprocket. (Sep 13, 2015)

Another vote for Enemy Mine and Silent Running.
Also Slaughterhouse 5.


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 13, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Edge of Tomorrow
> 
> 
> I really can't work out why this one flopped? Its a great film, Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers



Seeing the promotional stuff for that movie I thought it was gonna be another lifeless Tom Cruise vehicle and was pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be pretty good.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2015)

SpookyFrank said:


> Seeing the promotional stuff for that movie I thought it was gonna be another lifeless Tom Cruise vehicle and was pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be pretty good.


Watching cruise get killed mid sentance a dozen or so times really helped


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 13, 2015)

Europa Report is a good recent one that doesn't seem to have got much attention. It's a found-footage type thing, but done with some real artistry. The first act is a bit muddled and non-linear when it doesn't really need to be, but it all comes together in the end.

For a low budget effort it looks fantastic as well.


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 13, 2015)

_Sexmission_


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## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2015)

oh shit bob, you have to watch Gattaca. 


its fucking mint.

Also, Logans Run (the uncensored version which has a topless Jenny Agutter for 30 seconds, but thats not the point its just a bonus). 

Soylent Green should be on your list of ones to check out as well. There are only two good charlton heston films. One is Soylent Green. The other is 'The Agony and The Ecstasy' where he plays michalangelo painting the sistine chapel. Obvs thats not sci fi but you should deffo watch it cos its ace


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 13, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Soylent Green should be on your list of ones to check out as well. There are only two good charlton heston films. One is Soylent Green. The other is 'The Agony and The Ecstasy' where he plays michalangelo painting the sistine chapel. Obvs thats not sci fi but you should deffo watch it cos its ace


 


_The Omega Man_


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## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> _The Omega Man_


hmm, wiki gives good pedigree. I'll check it out and decide if heston is allowed to have three good films.


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## adidaswoody (Sep 13, 2015)

I've recently had a scifi binge, I watched, extraterrestrial, looper, chronicle, chappie and skyline, enjoyed them all


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 13, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> _The Omega Man_



I've only seen that dubbed into Italian. Made Heston's crap acting even funnier.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2015)

Barbarella should be watched just because there is a machine that orgasms you to death and the baddie is called duran duran. I know right? like the band. Who came long after. But its still funny. Lavish production as well


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 13, 2015)

_The Mouse On The Moon_


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)




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## gosub (Sep 14, 2015)

Primer.


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## Fez909 (Sep 14, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> _The Omega Man_


Planet of the Apes? Touch of Evil?


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 14, 2015)

Fez909 said:


> Planet of the Apes? Touch of Evil?


 It's alright, the stoner Timothy Lumsden was just playing another damned dirty jape on us


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## lefteri (Sep 14, 2015)

Colossus: the Forbin Project, about supercomputers, I had never heard of and was amazed by


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 14, 2015)

adidaswoody said:


> I've recently had a scifi binge, I watched, extraterrestrial, looper, chronicle, chappie and skyline, enjoyed them all


If you can enjoy skyline, looper, chronicle and chappie, you can pretty much enjoy any old shit that gets mindlessly vomited on screen. 

To be fair, all the films at least 'try' something. Skyline is utterly terrible with horrific acting but there is something sweet about it. Looper has a good idea but plays it out in the worst possible way with such super bad science logic I couldn't get on board, and didn't even finish it. Chappie could be a great film, it just isn't, I really wanted to like it. It's just not very good. Chronicle is badly acted and people do things just to advance the plot rather than what seems realistic. I can only assume extraterrestrial is also shit, but I have never heard of it.


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 14, 2015)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> If you can enjoy skyline, looper, chronicle and chappie, you can pretty much enjoy any old shit that gets mindlessly vomited on screen.
> 
> To be fair, all the films at least 'try' something. Skyline is utterly terrible with horrific acting but there is something sweet about it. Looper has a good idea but plays it out in the worst possible way with such super bad science logic I couldn't get on board, and didn't even finish it. Chappie could be a great film, it just isn't, I really wanted to like it. It's just not very good. Chronicle is badly acted and people do things just to advance the plot rather than what seems realistic. I can only assume extraterrestrial is also shit, but I have never heard of it.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

Fez909 said:


> Planet of the Apes? Touch of Evil?


touch of cloth more like. And the remake of rise was better than the heston apes. Jon Lithgow ftw


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

highlander 2. I've had to watch it so everyone else should have to.


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## hot air baboon (Sep 14, 2015)




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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 14, 2015)

hot air baboon said:


>


Hardware is shit. It was even shit at the time. People only watched it for the theme music.
Cypher though is awesome, Liu is very cool. Even Northams shit acting somehow fits. The only problem I have with this film is that I have watched it too many times to properly enjoy it anymore.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

milla jovovich has been in some right old shit- all the resident evils

but Ultraviolet is quite good. Sci fi vampire violence.


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## Chilli.s (Sep 14, 2015)

I enjoyed Under the Skin, but it's not for everyone as it doesn't even try to explain itself, looking forward to watching it again, a bit The Man Who Fell To Earth, set in Scotland.


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## 8den (Sep 14, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> hmm, wiki gives good pedigree. I'll check it out and decide if heston is allowed to have three good films.



Don't bother, I am legend is a better film and its pants. The Heston version has him fighting zombie hippies and pretty much bludgeons you over the head with Christian symbolism. (His blood saves the world you see)


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## 8den (Sep 14, 2015)

Oh they're remaking Logan's Run.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

they can fuck off with that, they'll make it some shitty hunger games also-ran


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 14, 2015)

8den said:


> Oh they're remaking Logan's Run.


I used to enjoy the TV series remake. Ooh, I bet that's on you tube now. Oh God I bet watching it will screw up my childhood memories. I think I just liked the music, the car and the robot. Man, I want a sandman shirt now.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

Chilli.s said:


> I enjoyed Under the Skin, but it's not for everyone as it doesn't even try to explain itself, looking forward to watching it again, a bit The Man Who Fell To Earth, set in Scotland.


the book was odd, never bothered with the film. I'm told there is nudity? but yeah not much in the way of major lazers and spaceships but a good story none the less. Creepy


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## hot air baboon (Sep 14, 2015)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Hardware is shit. It was even shit at the time. People only watched it for the theme music.
> Cypher though is awesome, Liu is very cool. Even Northams shit acting somehow fits. The only problem I have with this film is that I have watched it too many times to properly enjoy it anymore.



...well one out of two ain't bad......going back to that era when you got down to Blockbusters so late on Friday evening all the decent stuff had aleady gone....I always get these 2 mixed up....OK I know Hauer wasn't too fussy about his roles but can;t resist the tagline....










8den said:


> The Heston version has him fighting zombie hippies...



..what's not to like...?


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 14, 2015)

Triangle is good fun. Though a little floored in its internal logic.


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## 8den (Sep 14, 2015)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I used to enjoy the TV series remake. Ooh, I bet that's on you tube now. Oh God I bet watching it will screw up my childhood memories. I think I just liked the music, the car and the robot. Man, I want a sandman shirt now.



It probably hasn't aged well. The forthcoming HBO WestWorld TV series looks interesting


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## MooChild (Sep 14, 2015)

Moon: The film follows Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), a man who experiences a personal crisis as he nears the end of a three-year solitary stint mining helium-3 on the far side of the Moon.

I really enjoyed this one.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 14, 2015)

MooChild said:


> Moon: The film follows Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), a man who experiences a personal crisis as he nears the end of a three-year solitary stint mining helium-3 on the far side of the Moon.
> 
> I really enjoyed this one.


Yeah, I just wish the trailer hadn't given the game away.


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## 8den (Sep 14, 2015)

Yeah my I can't give my whole Moon rant without Spoiling the movie. But it pissed me off.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

I should mention Running Man cos its possibly arnies best sci fi film, and yes I do rate it better than T2. T1 is a contender though.

But running man is ace


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 14, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> better than T2.



That's not a thing.


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## wayward bob (Sep 14, 2015)

SpookyFrank said:


> Europa Report


love this, seen it a few times :thumbs :


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## wayward bob (Sep 14, 2015)

Chilli.s said:


> I enjoyed Under the Skin,


i made a start but couldn't stick with it for some reason i don't remember...


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## wayward bob (Sep 14, 2015)

MooChild said:


> Moon:


another favourite  the making of blog is brilliant too


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## wayward bob (Sep 14, 2015)

well that's my evenings viewing sorted for a few nights :thumbs :


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 14, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> i made a start but couldn't stick with it for some reason i don't remember...



Mrs Frank almost ruined it for me (and everyone else in the cinema) by moaning about how shit the movie was and, at one point, snoring.

If you don't like the movie folks, get up and leave. Don't assume your opinion applies to everyone else in the room.


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## ohmyliver (Sep 14, 2015)

Boy and his dog.   Stars a very young Don Johnson.   Massively influential on the Fallout series of games. 

Really dark, bleak film with some fairly unpleasant undercurrents.


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## Gromit (Sep 14, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> just watched robinson crusoe on mars (1964) by far the best scifi movie i've seen in years  what else would i like?



If we are talking old skool sci fi...

This Island Earth (1955)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Village of the Damned (1960)


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

Metropolis. Not the remake. Its a bit old arty curiosity now but still worth it as a curio


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## Gromit (Sep 14, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Metropolis. Not the remake. Its a bit old arty curiosity now but still worth it as a curio



Dunno why but that remined me:

Dark City (1998)


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## Artaxerxes (Sep 14, 2015)

butcher said:


> Zardoz.  Yup, cheesy weird and Sean Connery in thigh length boots and red knickers, but also a great expression of the time and a look at a dis/utopian future.




I loved that film, it was a real bloody mess but it helps if you think of it as someone trying to describe AI with souls and VR environments and the singularity but they've never heard of a computer.

Also one I'm very fond of is Outland, basically a western in space but its fairly hard sci-fi considering.


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## Quartz (Sep 14, 2015)

Artaxerxes said:


> Also one I'm very fond of is Outland, basically a western in space but its fairly hard sci-fi considering.



High Noon in space.

And one of the best closing lines.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

Screamers

this is a relatively unknown gem from the mid 90's. The story is largely based on the Philip K Dicks set of shorts 'Second Variety'

As you expect from something adapted from PK Dicks there are deeply paranoid themes about identity and war and technology and healthy dose of cyniscism. I can't give it a higher rating then 7/10, because it lost something for me in translation to screen. Also, typical PK Dick sucker punch plot twists are not effective on film if you have already read them in the book


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## Idris2002 (Sep 14, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Metropolis. Not the remake. Its a bit old arty curiosity now but still worth it as a curio


I'd go further than that - I'd say it still works as a film. Of course, the Weimar-era class collaboration message is a bit naive in hindsight, but it deserves to be taken seriously as more than just a curio. 

It does need to be seen on a big screen, though.


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## 8den (Sep 14, 2015)

Artaxerxes said:


> I loved that film, it was a real bloody mess but it helps if you think of it as someone trying to describe AI with souls and VR environments and the singularity but they've never heard of a computer.
> 
> .



I think I mentioned on another thread how a lecturer of mine worked in the camera department of Zardoz and nearly got straight up murdered by a irate Sean Connery one day.


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## 8den (Sep 14, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I should mention Running Man cos its possibly arnies best sci fi film, and yes I do rate it better than T2. T1 is a contender though.
> 
> But running man is ace



No dotc. I'm aware you are stating an opinion and its a matter of personal taste, but in this instance you are wrong. The Running Man is not a better Film than Terminator 2.


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## 8den (Sep 14, 2015)

ohmyliver said:


> Boy and his dog.   Stars a very young Don Johnson.   Massively influential on the Fallout series of games.
> 
> Really dark, bleak film with some fairly unpleasant undercurrents.



Written by Harlen Ellison too


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

8den said:


> Written by Harlen Ellison too


hah, that makes sense. That bloke wrote some dark dark shit. 'I have no mouth yet I must scream' is a short that stayed with me for a long time in terms of sheer horror


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## Gromit (Sep 14, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I should mention Running Man cos its possibly arnies best sci fi film, and yes I do rate it better than T2. T1 is a contender though.
> 
> But running man is ace



I wish they'd kept the screenplay closer to the book. No rebels to help overthrow the man. It was one man vrs the system not knowing who to trust and out in the real world with citizens snitching on him to get a reward. The poor vrs the rich in a rigged game.

They actioned it up.

Funnyily enough there is currently a Channel 4 programme very similar to the book. Hunters tracking down regular peeps playing fugitive.


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## 8den (Sep 14, 2015)

Well I am sure you'd have done a better job if you produced it


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## Gromit (Sep 14, 2015)

8den said:


> Well I am sure you'd have done a better job if you produced it



Well I applied to direct it but y'know how it is, its all politics over talent.


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## Orang Utan (Sep 14, 2015)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Yeah, I just wish the trailer hadn't given the game away.


You've just spoilered Triangle!


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 14, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> You've just spoilered Triangle!


Not entirely, there a lot more to it than that. But yes I should take it down. The new DVD sleeve is worse, it totally gives the game away. Like the DVD box for planet of the apes with the buried statue of liberty on the cover.


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## 8den (Sep 14, 2015)

Gromit said:


> Well I applied to direct it but y'know how it is, its all politics over talent.


Yeah you ooze talent


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## Chilli.s (Sep 14, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> i made a start but couldn't stick with it for some reason i don't remember...



Yeah, think it took me 3 goes to get through it and I know many people just gave up on it. Its a long way away from yer typical film, kinda felt like a fly on the wall type documentary. Bits seemed unscripted and with an ad-lib/free form directing of the actors. The end was unexpected and pulled the whole thing into some kind of perspective. Disturbing and spooky.


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 14, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> hah, that makes sense. That bloke wrote some dark dark shit. 'I have no mouth yet I must scream' is a short that stayed with me for a long time in terms of sheer horror



Urgh, I hate shit like that. Using the freedom of speculative fiction to create something as miserable as possible, with no concern for whether it's coherent or plausible or has any other point to it besides upsetting people. He probably came up with the title first and then thought up a plot sufficiently horrible to justify it.


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## adidaswoody (Sep 14, 2015)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Triangle is good fun. Though a little floored in its internal logic.


A little? It's completely flawed, as are most films these days, but I still enjoy them


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 14, 2015)

Coherence is a good little one-room zero-budget idea movie.


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## Indeliblelink (Sep 14, 2015)

The One I Love also used the same plot idea but in a more rom-com way.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

SpookyFrank said:


> Urgh, I hate shit like that. Using the freedom of speculative fiction to create something as miserable as possible, with no concern for whether it's coherent or plausible or has any other point to it besides upsetting people. He probably came up with the title first and then thought up a plot sufficiently horrible to justify it.


its great. The utter horror of the last band of humans left in an ever shifting maze of hurt. The AI in charge of it all won't let them die, a sadistic evil machine. Makes most dystopias look like a vicars tea party.


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## andysays (Sep 14, 2015)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Triangle is good fun. Though a little floored in its internal logic.



Watched that just the other day on youtube. Not sure I'd class it as sci-fi though, and what you're describing as flawed internal logic I'd put down to unexplained/supernatural shit.

Definitely worth a look, IMO


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 14, 2015)

adidaswoody said:


> A little? It's completely flawed, as are most films these days, but I still enjoy them


Not as bad as looper, its time travel (i)logic was enough to make me quit before the end. It wasn't, quirky enough to be anything other than a mind bending thriller, and when the 'mind bending' bit was bullshit, it had nothing left. Any film that sets itself up with five or ten minutes of voice over explaining the premice of the film is almost certainly heading for shitsville, and was probably screwed up by a meddling studio.


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## Indeliblelink (Sep 14, 2015)

*The Hidden (1987)* Kyle Maclachlan chases a shape shifting alien around LA. Fun 80s action film that doesn’t seem to get mentioned that often.
on Youtube ATM


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## emanymton (Sep 14, 2015)

I'm surprised  of one has mentioned lifeforce yet,  I'm not going to recommend it as frankly I can't remember anything about other than energy sucking alien vampires. But it seems to come up a lot on this sort of discussion. 

Anyway I was presently surprised by source code recently.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

emanymton said:


> I'm surprised  of one has mentioned lifeforce yet,  I'm not going to recommend it as frankly I can't remember anything about other than energy sucking alien vampires. But it seems to come up a lot on this sort of discussion.
> 
> Anyway I was presently surprised by source code recently.


nudity and patrick stewart is all I remember.


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 14, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> its great. The utter horror of the last band of humans left in an ever shifting maze of hurt. The AI in charge of it all won't let them die, a sadistic evil machine. Makes most dystopias look like a vicars tea party.



Won't let them die? How does it do that then? Plot magic? This is the kind of shit I'm talking about, you know your reader is just gonna think 'why don't they kill themselves?' so you state that they can't. Why can't they die? Computer says no. How does the computer stop them dying? Shut up and look over there, someone else is being horribly tortured. Wouldn't the humans simply go completely insane to the point where they no longer registered anything that was happening to them? No, never mind that, here's some more torture.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

SpookyFrank said:


> Won't let them die? How does it do that then? Plot magic? This is the kind of shit I'm talking about, you know your reader is just gonna think 'why don't they kill themselves?' so you state that they can't. Why can't they die? Computer says no. How does the computer stop them dying? Shut up and look over there, someone else is being horribly tortured. Wouldn't the humans simply go completely insane to the point where they no longer registered anything that was happening to them? No, never mind that, here's some more torture.


the way the character who is left screaming with no mouth 'wins' is to make it possible for the others to die. Its all covered, I don't rate torture porn in sf or fantasy and this isn't that. Its just a horrible, horrible vision of a _wrong _future. If he'd made a novel of it I should imagine it would have got a bit salaciously lingering. But as a short, nasty little slice of the future it did exactly what the best sci fi short stories do, something fantasy isn't quite so equipped to do in the space of a short story really. Punched you in the gut. Often considered a writer from the 'deviant age' of sci fi between golden era rocket men and pulpy male wank fantasies and the later splintering into a dozen or more sub genres. 

I don't read sci fi for accuracy wrt science, especially not shorts. Serious, give it a whirl, it'll be free to read if you google it. Its the despair and grim that makes it. Short and brutal.


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 14, 2015)

I'm off now to write a book about a nightmarish future where shoes no longer exist and all the floors are made of loose bits of lego and plugs. And all the USB ports are hexagonal so you have to try plugging everything in _six_ different ways before you get it the right way round.

No you can't just pick up all the lego. And no, there are no sharpies so you can't just mark where the top is on your flash drive.


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 14, 2015)

And they move the best TV shows to different time slots every week so you keep missing them. Christ it's awful.


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## 8den (Sep 14, 2015)

emanymton said:


> Anyway I was presently surprised by source code recently.



Also by the director of Moon and again there's another niggling flaw that completely undoes the whole films premise. 

Clint Mansell score is easily the best thing about Moon


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## 8den (Sep 14, 2015)

SpookyFrank said:


> And they move the best TV shows to different time slots every week so you keep missing them. Christ it's awful.



That isn't Science Fiction that's BBC scheduling during the 80s and 90s


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 14, 2015)

8den said:


> That isn't Science Fiction that's BBC scheduling during the 80s and 90s



That's what makes it satire.


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## BigTom (Sep 14, 2015)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Triangle is good fun. Though a little floored in its internal logic.



My cousin produced this  He said he went half-mad working with the writer trying to get everything straight! I never bothered trying to work out if it was internally consistent, couldn't be bothered, it's a really good film, I'd agree it's not really sci-fi though.

Similar ideas in a pretty different film is Los cronocrímenes (Timecrimes) which definitely is sci fi, and also decent, although I prefer Triangle.


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## magneze (Sep 14, 2015)

SpookyFrank said:


> Coherence is a good little one-room zero-budget idea movie.


Great film


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## wayward bob (Sep 14, 2015)

SpookyFrank said:


> And all the USB ports are hexagonal so you have to try plugging everything in _six_ different ways before you get it the right way round.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

If you want another evil evil little short you should try 'sandkings' by George R R Martin. Posthuman, post scarcity, grim.


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## golightly (Sep 14, 2015)

The World, The Flesh and the Devil with Harry Belafonte. Interracial shenanigans in a post apocalyptic world from 1959.


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## mentalchik (Sep 14, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> If you want another evil evil little short you should try 'sandkings' by George R R Martin. Posthuman, post scarcity, grim.



Was that one of the features in "The Outer Limits" ?

remember that episode fondly


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

mentalchik said:


> Was that one of the features in "The Outer Limits" ?
> 
> remember that episode fondly


If it was I never saw it! I won't type out the last line of the short because its spoilerish to do so but its a very unsettling tale. Even though the protagonist is a massive dick, what fate george gave him reminds you that the bloke is as well grounded in sf and horror as he is fantasy


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## andysays (Sep 14, 2015)

BigTom said:


> My cousin produced this  He said he went half-mad working with the writer trying to get everything straight! I never bothered trying to work out if it was internally consistent, couldn't be bothered, it's a really good film, I'd agree it's not really sci-fi though.
> 
> Similar ideas in a pretty different film is Los cronocrímenes (Timecrimes) which definitely is sci fi, and also decent, although I prefer Triangle.



Also available on youtube - dubbed into english by the look of it


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## mentalchik (Sep 14, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> If it was I never saw it! I won't type out the last line of the short because its spoilerish to do so but its a very unsettling tale. Even though the protagonist is a massive dick, what fate george gave him reminds you that the bloke is as well grounded in sf and horror as he is fantasy




Yeah it was you should watch it !


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

mentalchik said:


> Yeah it was you should watch it !


holy shit google says it deffo was adapted for Outer Limits as well, excellent news. I bow respectfully in your direction. Torrenting that shit forthwith


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## Kaka Tim (Sep 14, 2015)

_Them!_ The original and best giant bug movie. Scared the shite out of me when i was a kid and they showed it on the telly.


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## Kaka Tim (Sep 14, 2015)

_Phase iv_

Similar Subject matter - but darker and weirder.


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 14, 2015)

Currently struggling through _Left Behind, _a one-star Nic Cage movie recommended- yes, _RECOMMENDED - _by Netflix. It's very slow going; already a quarter the way through a hundred minute movie billed as "an apocalyptic thriller", and not yet any apocalypse or thrills.

On paper it sounded like Stephen King adaptation _The Langoliers_, which (shonky FX aside) I have real affection for. Unfortunately it appears. To be a big bag of sweaty balls.

Astonishingly, it appears to have turned a profit, making nearly $20m off a $16m budget. You've probably heard of the director, though. Just a shame he's a stuntman not an auteur.


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## Artaxerxes (Sep 14, 2015)

8den said:


> That isn't Science Fiction that's BBC scheduling during the 80s and 90s



I missed so many episodes of Farscape, Star Trek and Voyager thanks to this 



DaveCinzano said:


> Currently struggling through _Left Behind, _a one-star Nic Cage movie recommended- yes, _RECOMMENDED - _by Netflix. It's very slow going; already a quarter the way through a hundred minute movie billed as "an apocalyptic thriller", and not yet any apocalypse or thrills.
> 
> On paper it sounded like Stephen King adaptation _The Langoliers_, which (shonky FX aside) I have real affection for. Unfortunately it appears. To be a big bag of sweaty balls.



You did see the bit where it stars Nic Cage right?


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## TheHoodedClaw (Sep 14, 2015)

Artaxerxes said:


> You did see the bit where it stars Nic Cage right?



And that it's based on the religious nutter Left Behind series of books.


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## Orang Utan (Sep 14, 2015)

Anyone seen Right At Your Door? Low budget thriller based on the premise of dirty bombs going off in LA. It has a tiny cast and set mostly just in one house, but they do a lot with it. No massive explosions or CGI, just sweaty tension, mistrust and paranoia. Great little movie.


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 14, 2015)

Artaxerxes said:


> You did see the bit where it stars Nic Cage right?


Harsh 

But fair


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## Orang Utan (Sep 14, 2015)

i will watch anything with nicolas cage in. _anything.
_


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## 8den (Sep 14, 2015)

Kaka Tim said:


> _Phase iv_
> 
> Similar Subject matter - but darker and weirder.




Great film directed by graphic designer Saul Bass (creator of oodles of iconic film title sequences and posters)


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## wayward bob (Sep 14, 2015)

triangle on tonight's playlist. i managed to avoid any spoilers by not paying proper attention :thumbs :


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## butcher (Sep 14, 2015)

Has anyone mentioned They Live yet?


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## Orang Utan (Sep 14, 2015)

i've heard of a lot of these movies


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## wayward bob (Sep 14, 2015)

go you - i haven't and it's my thread


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## Gromit (Sep 14, 2015)

butcher said:


> Has anyone mentioned They Live yet?



I've come to kick ass and chew bubblegum...


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## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2015)

good film They Live. I only watched it this year and its v. funny and a bit unsettling


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## 8den (Sep 14, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> good film They Live. I only watched it this year and its v. funny and a bit unsettling



RIP Mr Piper even if you became a Alex Jones loopy spud.


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## Orang Utan (Sep 14, 2015)

8den said:


> RIP Mr Piper even if you became a Alex Jones loopy spud.


they live was a documentary not a movie!


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## butcher (Sep 14, 2015)

Enjoy


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 14, 2015)

BigTom said:


> My cousin produced this  He said he went half-mad working with the writer trying to get everything straight! I never bothered trying to work out if it was internally consistent, couldn't be bothered, it's a really good film, I'd agree it's not really sci-fi though.
> 
> Similar ideas in a pretty different film is Los cronocrímenes (Timecrimes) which definitely is sci fi, and also decent, although I prefer Triangle.


I don't mind the time loop logic, its just that it's inconsistent. I love the bit where we see the same woman murdered hundreds of times, but it doesn't tie up with the other people on board.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 14, 2015)

magneze said:


> Great film


Interesting. Also on you tube. 

How about king fury.


I bet everyone has seen this by now though.


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## wayward bob (Sep 14, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> triangle on tonight's playlist. i managed to avoid any spoilers by not paying proper attention :thumbs :



right own up people that voted triangle  not fuckin scifi


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 14, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> right own up people that voted triangle  not fuckin scifi


Just as sci fi as coherence.


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## wayward bob (Sep 15, 2015)

two sheds said:


> My word Dark Star's on Youtube


not here it isn't, it's all weirdy 3d


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 15, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Serious, give it a whirl, it'll be free to read if you google it. Its the despair and grim that makes it. Short and brutal.



Well I read it. Two paragraphs' worth of plot filled out with word salad. Doesn't explain how they didn't all mange to kill themselves a hundred years earlier. 

I see your man has written nearly 2000 short stories so he's obviously not the sort to worry about quality control. Reckon I'll give the other 1,999 a miss tbh.


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 15, 2015)

Character 1: Please explain the premise of this story to me.
Character 2: Oh alright.
Narrator: He'd explained the premise countless times before of course. If I point that out maybe it won't seem so implausible that he's doing it again for the benefit of my narration even though he doesn't know I'm narrating because this is all inner monologue.
Character 2: So the premise is that blah blah blah.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 15, 2015)

it was an era where pulp was paying bills and bangin out the words was aided by dubious pills from the doctor that might have been of the 'phet family. Quality control! what rot, there is bills to pay. No harlan like many of his era was extremely prolific and not at the expense of quality. Obviously you disagree but thats because you are wrong, its ok to be wrong and I have no doubt you'll claim not to be wrong. But you are. Sci Fi of that era is like malt whisky or aged wine. It is an aquired taste savoured by me. Word salad lol, I've not heard that one before. Makes me think of them fruit salad sweets you used to get in the penny sweets section of the shop.


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 15, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Word salad lol, I've not heard that one before.



I nicked it from an episode of Buffy. When they try and teach the Buffybot to do wisecracks but all they get is gobbledegook.


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## Orang Utan (Sep 15, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> it was an era where pulp was paying bills and bangin out the words was aided by dubious pills from the doctor that might have been of the 'phet family. Quality control! what rot, there is bills to pay. No harlan like many of his era was extremely prolific and not at the expense of quality. Obviously you disagree but thats because you are wrong, its ok to be wrong and I have no doubt you'll claim not to be wrong. But you are. Sci Fi of that era is like malt whisky or aged wine. It is an aquired taste savoured by me. Word salad lol, I've not heard that one before. Makes me think of them fruit salad sweets you used to get in the penny sweets section of the shop.


Dotty, you are the Raymond Chandler of Urban 75


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## DangDarn (Sep 15, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> i will watch anything with nicolas cage in. _anything._



This sounds like a challenge!


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## MooChild (Sep 15, 2015)

The man from Earth is another one i really enjoyed. Mainly just a dialogue in one room with several people, no special effects etc. Just a really interesting story.

"An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he never ages and has walked the earth for 14,000 years."

Written by Jerome Bixby, who did some of the original twilight zone and star trek scripts.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Sep 15, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> i will watch anything with nicolas cage in. _anything._


Even left behind?


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## Orang Utan (Sep 15, 2015)

Shippou-Sensei said:


> Even left behind?


Yeah. Can't wait to see it. The worse the better


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## Shippou-Sensei (Sep 15, 2015)

This one isn't fun bad.  This is "I really should have looked at my taxes earlier" bad. 

It is appropriately soulless.  No bear punching in this.


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## Orang Utan (Sep 15, 2015)

I want to see what he does with his hair.
It deserves its own tumblr


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## 8den (Sep 15, 2015)

Time After Time. HG Wells actually builds a time machine and it is stolen by his good friend who turns out to be Jack the Ripper. Welles chases him down to 70s San Fransciso. 

And it's being remade FFS
Obscure But Awesome '70s Time Travel Movie Inexplicably Becomes New TV Procedural


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 15, 2015)

8den said:


> And it's being remade FFS
> Obscure But Awesome '70s Time Travel Movie Inexplicably Becomes New TV Procedural



...remade by the man behind Dawson's Creek and the Vampire Diaries. Two of the worst things that have ever been on TV.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 15, 2015)

Gromit said:


> Dunno why but that remined me:
> 
> Dark City (1998)


That's a weird one. Cool end.


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 16, 2015)

Just watched Triangle, it's kind of impressive but a bit too much like hard work following it all.


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## Gromit (Sep 16, 2015)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Interesting. Also on you tube.
> 
> How about king fury.
> 
> ...




I hadn't but i have now. Its too awesome for words.


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## DangDarn (Sep 16, 2015)

Infini. Trailers crap, but the movie is actually pretty good. It's a weird, trippy, hardcore indie sci-fi movie. Can watch it on Netflix (or others sources, I'm sure.)


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## Chilli.s (Sep 18, 2015)

just watched Zardoz last night, good fun with lots of early 70s vibe. A fine tip urbs.


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## 8den (Sep 18, 2015)

Zardoz or as I like to call, proof that everyone in the 70s were doing absolutely fuck tonnes of drugs.


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 19, 2015)

Finally got round to watching _Miracle Mile_ - a romcom with a twist  - which Reno (and May Kasahara) have raved about for years. Pretty darn good, and definitely different.

Worth having a look through this earlier thread for other reccos:

Ultimate 80's collection: Sci-Fi, Horror and Horror-Fi!


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## 8den (Sep 19, 2015)

Have to admit I've started and given up in miracle Mile a few times. It's just so 80s


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## youngian (Sep 19, 2015)

Has any seen or met anyone who has seen Hu-Man?


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 19, 2015)

8den said:


> Have to admit I've started and given up in miracle Mile a few times.



No stamina, you youngsters 

(My own cinematic kryptonite is Uwe Boll. Started watching four of his films, only made it through to the end of two of them, neither in a single sitting.)


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## Orang Utan (Sep 19, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> No stamina, you youngsters
> 
> (My own cinematic kryptonite is Uwe Boll. Started watching four of his films, only made it through to the end of two of them, neither in a single sitting.)


have you tried In The Name Of The King? Entry level Boll


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## wayward bob (Sep 19, 2015)

netflix told me coherence was scifi. they lied


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## Orang Utan (Sep 19, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> netflix told me coherence was scifi. they lied


looks like scifi to me?


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## wayward bob (Sep 20, 2015)

pretty sure the presence of a !comet! isn't the _only_ entry requirement


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## Orang Utan (Sep 20, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> pretty sure the presence of a !comet! isn't the _only_ entry requirement


alternative realities?


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## wayward bob (Sep 20, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> alternative realities?


all of which are equally tedious dinner parties


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## wayward bob (Sep 20, 2015)

tried several suggestions from teh thread, cheers, but not hit gold yet...


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 20, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> pretty sure the presence of a !comet! isn't the _only_ entry requirement


 You want comets? You can have comets!

Night of the Comet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 20, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> love this, seen it a few times :thumbs :


 What's that, the sixth, seventh time?


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## andysays (Sep 20, 2015)

wayward bob said:


> tried several suggestions from teh thread, cheers, but not hit gold yet...



Try this one



It's definitely sci-fi and it's pretty good, only question is if you've seen it already.


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## Gromit (Sep 20, 2015)

andysays said:


> Try this one
> 
> It's definitely sci-fi and it's pretty good, only question is if you've seen it already.



Its watchable but the overall plot is horrific.


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## 8den (Sep 20, 2015)

Gromit said:


> Its watchable but the overall plot is horrific.



It's a decent episode of the outer limits padded out for a feature film


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## Artaxerxes (Sep 20, 2015)

This was really good actually, give it a whirl.

LFO (2013) - IMDb


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## alfajobrob (Sep 20, 2015)

I assume you have all seen Westworld.


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## 8den (Sep 20, 2015)

Quiet looking forward to the Westworld HBO Series


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## DotCommunist (Sep 20, 2015)

There is a series of Westworld due to air later this year. HBO, so should be worth watching the first two eps to see if its any good.

There is also an Evil Dead series coming out which should be lol


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## Red Sky (Sep 20, 2015)

Anyone mentioned "Snowpiercer" yet? Possibly the daftest premise to ever end up on the big screen and yet a fantastic film. Class struggle, climate change , steam trains? It's all here.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 20, 2015)

Amtrak Wars on Ice


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## Red Sky (Sep 20, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Amtrak Wars on Ice



It'd be great if that ever got the Battlestar Galactica treatment.


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## alfajobrob (Sep 20, 2015)

Red Sky said:


> Anyone mentioned "Snowpiercer" yet? Possibly the daftest premise to ever end up on the big screen and yet a fantastic film. Class struggle, climate change , steam trains? It's all here.



Not even seen it tbh,

I've got lots of ideas.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 20, 2015)

Red Sky said:


> It'd be great if that ever got the Battlestar Galactica treatment.


what, Amtrak Wars? The money they chuck at TV series these days it could well easily be done and its not a bad tale (some awful writing in places). I'd watch it.


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## 8den (Sep 20, 2015)

Red Sky said:


> Anyone mentioned "Snowpiercer" yet? Possibly the daftest premise to ever end up on the big screen and yet a fantastic film. Class struggle, climate change , steam trains? It's all here.



It's not steam it's some form of fusion. No mention of Tilda Swindons teeth?


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## 8den (Sep 20, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> There is also an Evil Dead series coming out which should be lol



Bruce Campbell is involved I'll watch with trepidation,


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## hot air baboon (Sep 20, 2015)

George Lucas ofcourse did his a take on Orwellian dystopia before going all ewok on us ...

THX 1138


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## Red Sky (Sep 20, 2015)

8den said:


> It's not steam it's some form of fusion. No mention of Tilda Swindons teeth?



Nuclear reactors are steam engines! We live in a steampunk world. 

The teeth are great but I don't want to stray into spoiler territory. This film was one of those I started watching on sufferance (an insistent brother in law) and realised rapidly was fucking brilliant.


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## Red Sky (Sep 20, 2015)

The writing is bloody awful - found them all in a jumble sale recently and was shocked at the crap I could digest when I was fourteen. Cracking story though. Best character - Mr Snow


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## 8den (Sep 20, 2015)

Red Sky said:


> Nuclear reactors are steam engines! We live in a steampunk world.
> 
> .



Where's my fucking warzepplin then [emoji16]


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## gosub (Sep 21, 2015)

Red Sky said:


> Nuclear reactors are steam engines! We live in a steampunk world.



the engine bit is closer to a jet engine.


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## DangDarn (Sep 21, 2015)

Also going to recommend Predestination. Some of the twists can be predicted but it is slick, well acted, and awesome time travel sci-fi.


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## Red Sky (Sep 21, 2015)

8den said:


> Where's my fucking warzepplin then [emoji16]



I regret to inform you that HMFS Alexandria was lost with all hands during the retreat from Constantinople. God Save the King!


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## Indeliblelink (Sep 21, 2015)

*The Year of the Sex Olympics* *(1968)*

BBC TV Play written by Nigel Kneale -  A TV producer in a dystopian future comes up with the concept of a TV show where people are filmed 24 hours a day. Stars Leonard Rossiter & Brian Cox
The Year of the Sex Olympics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## wayward bob (Sep 21, 2015)

8den said:


> The Andromeda strain is on Netflix


good call :thumbs :


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## andysays (Sep 23, 2015)

Not sure if this film (Primer, 2004) has been mentioned already, but here it is on youtube.


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## Chz (Sep 24, 2015)

Chilli.s said:


> Dark Star is great, also Silent Running a 1972 eco worrier in space thing.


The eco-thing came out in a script re-write. The original script idea actually sounds like it would've made a better film.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 24, 2015)

The Day the Earth Stood Still
Things to Come
Source Code
Grabbers


----------



## sleaterkinney (Oct 2, 2015)

It's a Disney movie, but I really liked Tomorrowland.


----------



## TrustmeImaJedi (Oct 2, 2015)

sleaterkinney said:


> It's a Disney movie, but I really liked Tomorrowland.



Oh I want to see that one.


----------



## youngian (Oct 2, 2015)

Kaka Tim said:


> _Them!_ The original and best giant bug movie. Scared the shite out of me when i was a kid and they showed it on the telly.


The giant ants are impressive even now, an audience it 1954 must have crapped their pants. The terror on the little girl's face must is memorably scary as well.


----------



## Mungy (Oct 3, 2015)

The Quiet Earth. I enjoyed it when I first saw it in the early 90's. Don't think it has aged that well.


----------



## Sirena (Nov 25, 2015)

Sorry if this has been listed before but this is a very interesting 1935 Russian sci-fi film with loads of cool special effects.

80 years old!


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## DaveCinzano (Nov 25, 2015)

Whilst by no means flawless, _The Machine_, which I saw recently on Netflix, has a lot going for it - near future British military programme to develop enhanced human soldiers...

The Machine (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Reno (Nov 25, 2015)

*Upstream Color* is my favourite film of the last few years, must have watched it nearly ten times by now. Superficially it could be summed up as being like a David Cronenberg style sci-fi horror film as made by Terrence Malick and edited by Nic Roeg, but its really its own thing. It's a film primarily told in visual associations and it teaches you its visual language while watching it. That's why it may work best on a second viewing.

A lot of people found the film bewildering and obtuse for the sake of being arty, but everything makes total sense once you wrap your head around it. It just doesn't have expansionary dialogue, you have to figure it out while watching it, especially in the why it juxtaposes scenes and images. While the film seems like a cool intellectual puzzle the first time round, I found it overwhelmingly moving on a second watch.


----------



## seventh bullet (Nov 25, 2015)

Sirena said:


> Sorry if this has been listed before but this is a very interesting 1935 Russian sci-fi film with loads of cool special effects.
> 
> 80 years old!




Stalinists in space, mentioned on the Workers' Girder thread, and made for educating and inspiring Komsomols, but it fell foul of the government in matters of characterisation vis-a-vis Socialist Realism and enjoyed only a brief release.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Nov 25, 2015)

Gibel sensatsii [Loss of Feeling] is another fun soviet sci-fi from the same era. Workers battle the robots.


----------



## Corax (Jun 26, 2017)

I watched Coherence yesterday and loved it.  It appears to have been shot on shoestring, but manages to hold a cracking parallel worlds plotline together with zero CGI or special effects.  Released in 2013, I was surprised I'd never heard of it.


----------



## magneze (Jun 26, 2017)

Corax said:


> I watched Coherence yesterday and loved it.  It appears to have been shot on shoestring, but manages to hold a cracking parallel worlds plotline together with zero CGI or special effects.  Released in 2013, I was surprised I'd never heard of it.


Fantastic film


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## hot air baboon (Oct 10, 2017)

ADAM sci-fi short film by Neill Blomkamp


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