Best Sci-Fi flick of ALL time

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Ethelred


According to IMDB there is no DVD. I checked that last night.

Jurasic Park IS SF as no one has found any dino DNA at all.

Dr. Strangelove isn't really SF. I don't think the Doomsday Bomb should count as a science fiction device. The rest was pretty much real technology.

Stalin's Soviet Union actually planned the construction of such a device. They were going to fill a freighter docked in the Artic ocean with nuclear bombs. When Stalin died the plan was cancelled. If you think about it the doomsday bomb plan was sufficient reason to quietly terminate the aging dictator in and of itself.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Wraith
--"And how can we possibly exclude "Enemy Mine""

That was an interesting one, although the science-fiction portions weren't the central focus. They could have made basically the same movie without it.

One of the great American sci-fi writers once said something to the effect that science fiction is never really written about science, but is instead merely a vehicle to tell a human story.

Considering that idea then "Enemy Mine" is certainly as much sci-fi as anything ever written.

Can someone provide the exact quote and the name of the author who said it?

[Ethelred]

Originally posted by Snapcase
Most DVD players nowadays are multi-region, or can be made multi-region by changing a chip. Certainly on this side of the atlantic a lot of people order american DVDs that otherwise would not be available...

This is true in Europe. That is because a lot of DVD's are released in the US first since they are Hollywood films. The US market hasn't developed that way. There is little call for Region 2 DVDs here. I think I could get a hacked firmware for some DVD roms anyway. I just haven't ever seen the need.

For one thing many European TVs can handle NTSC signals. Very few US TVs can handle PAL. I learned about the differences back when I still used my Amiga. You have 25 frames a second. We have 30.

[SpencerH]

European tv's also have more lines than american tvs.

[Boris Godunov]

ESB

Akira

Alien

Metropolis (the old silent one)

[SpencerH]

Metropolis, yes. The cleaned version with the cut scenes re-inserted.

There's just too many ........ I cant choose just one.......

[Wraith]

--"It was really good, but not as much as I had expected it to be"

Akira does suffer from overhyping in the US. It's been around so long, and has an important historical place for anime in the US, so that's only natural.
Which version did you watch? The new sub/dub or the old Streamline dub?

--"I also watched the Neon Genesis Evangelion series, which I have very mixed feeling about."

Yeah, a lot of people react that way If your problem is the last two episodes, they were done that way due to budget problems at Gainax. End of Evangelion is basically the last two episodes the way they were originally meant to be done.
End of Evangelion includes one of the best action sequences of all time. You will know it when you get to it.

If we're going to count alternate history stuff as sci-fi, then I have to add Jin-Roh. One of the best movies I've seen recently.

--"So Ned can't use it. He lives in California same as me."

He might be able to use it. Region free DVD players are getting more common.

Wraith
"Man fears the darkness, and so he scrapes away at the edges of it with fire."
-- Rei Ayanami

[Boris Godunov]

Why choose only one? False dichotomy!

I don't have one singular favorite of anything, except symphonies, so why start now?

[SpencerH]

thread title

"Best sci-fi flick of all time"

The first and second generation apex DVD players were available here and they could play DVD's from any region (the 2nd gen were easily hackable). Unfortunately the company must have bowed to pressure from companies like Sony and the 3rd generation players couldnt do it (and couldnt be hacked as easily).

[Boris Godunov]

Best is utterly subjective, and some are better than others at certain things, while the others are better at different things. So there is no single one!

I forgot to mention...Flash Gordon!

[SpencerH]

Flesh Gordon?

[Boris Godunov]

That one's a whole different brand of sci-fi

[Zkribbler]

Whoa. Just saw on cable a new version of On the Beach made in 2000 with Armand Assante and Rachel Ward. I'm still shaking. Incredible acting and directorial work.

Blows the old Gregory Peck version out of the water.

There's nothing like watching the end of humanity to get Memorial Day off the a cheery start.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by MosesPresley
Liquid Sky, NYC's Repo Man. Actually Liquid Sky was out first and bears little similarity to Repo Man, other than it has a punk rock attitude.

Repo Man is great.

The Quiet Earth is also great.

These are just a couple of the great sci-fi flicks that people overlook.

[Ned]

Zkribbler, I still like the Gregory Peck version more. Really moved me when I first saw it.

If one wants to get into TV series, then Sephen King's The Stand has to be considered.