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In Reply to: Greatest Science Fiction movie of all time: posted by tinear on May 09, 2002 at 10:49:15:
... 2001 is NOT the Greatest SF film of all time in my estimation. Don't get me wrong, I regard Kubrick and 2001 quite highly, especially since I was one of the fortunate ones to see this film in Cinerama during it's initial run. However, other movies with science fiction themes have stronger stories with visionary concepts that have aged much better than those presented in 2001.Here are some SF films I consider generally more inspired than 2001 (no particular order):
Metropolis (Fritz Lang)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegal)
The Thing (John Carpenter) Note: This choice will be controversial to some fans of the original release. However, this version is somewhat closer conceptually to the original John W. Campbell story without the cold war overtones of the Hawks/Nyby version
Clockwork Orange (Kubrick) Note: I find this bleakly ironic near future SF tale to be a greater achievement in just about every way to the film Kubrick directed immediately preceeding it.
Blade Runner (Ridley Scott) Note: Scott's noirish interpretation of Phillip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" is a thoughtful cautionary SF fable that ages like fine wine.
--- Guilty pleasures (movies I love but might not be on everyone's "greatest" list):
Forbidden Planet (greatest Shakespeare in Space flick, with a scantily clad Ann Francis guarded by Robbie the Robot and her overprotective father's ID)
Starship Troopers (The greatest CGI bug movie ever made; more Verhooven's vision than Heinlein's, but what the hey! It's action all the way, with a non-judgmental subtext about patriotism taken to the level of fascism (i.e., in an overpopulated world trying to colonize other planets while at war with aliens); pretty good SF fare, IMO.
Just Imagine (the greatest straight SF/musical/comedy ever made, Rocky Horror Picture Show being the greatest not-so-straight SF/musical/comedy ever made)
Well, this "greatest SF hits" list is far from complete, but perhaps I'll come back with an addendum later.
Cheers,
AuPh
Follow Ups:
but you're a bit off on 2001. The scope of the story, the cinematography, the humor, the mystery (is it really a 500# slab of Afghani hash?), and the special effects tour de force ending...c'mon. It's in another dimension from the other films. Except, perhaps, Clockwork Orange. Hint: Kubrick rules, in my dimension.
I liked many of your selections, but couldn't suspend my disbelief because of the poor special effects. That's excusable in early movies, but Star Wars? Very disappointing stuff. If 2001 had never been made, ok. Anyhow, SW has always seemed rather juvenile to me. Those silly creatures. The black and white, good and bad. Ho hum.
It is in the form of classic myth. Most classic myths are fairly unambiguous about who the good guys are and who the bad guys are.
one-dimensional characters...I mean, it's jolly good entertainment. With a childish hero (Luke Skywalker), a child-like hero helper (Hans Solo), and dialogue that a teenager or youngster....Oh, what's the use. It either reminds you of your childhood sci-fi tv programs, or it doesn't. You see it as childish drivel or you don't. But it fails at anything resembling a thinking person's creation.
the characters are hardly one dimensional. They may be bigger and better than life but far from one dimensional.
on Ann Francis. And...who's that strangely square commander making goo-goo eyes at her??? Also, the special effects of the energy shaft still are superb! FB rules...
And the best Sci Fi film that most people don't pay much attention to...... Quatermas and the Pit.
"...it's...BROWN!"Here this one's getting a remake.
It seems we will be getting the new DVD by the end of this year or very early next year. Ridley Scott is working on some commentary. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll get a DTS version from Warner.
.
But is it sci-fi? I would be curious to hear what leads to you to regard the film as science fiction. This is one I've been meaning to dig up and watch again sometime soon. An excellent adaption of the rather fine novel as well.
Bryan K.,
Music Lover & President-elect of C.C.A.C. (Concerned Citizens Against Cilantro)
Is it SF? Perhaps not in a simplistic sense. But I was put in that mood by the list of offerings here. Is Star Wars a SF? Hardly. What is so scientific about it? It was my impression that most films mentioned here would actually be better described as fantasies.I admit to not having read a sci-fi novel in decades, but I still recall the better ones of the day moving from the tech talk to philosoply, the human element. In that context I could easily see the Kobo Abe novel fit right in.
I recall actually being irritated by the novels like that, that would be included in the Sci-Fi libraries, as back then I was still firmly in the ray gun and space travel camp.
***... 2001 is NOT the Greatest SF film of all time in my estimation.Thank you for saying that. It is not a great film by many standards, not just SF.
I think even the Pi is a far more elegant effort. Is it a SF? I have no idea.
And I promise not to reopen our old debate.
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