A lot of films classified as Sci-Fi are little more than cop thrillers set in space. Then there is an entire sub-genre that is a cross breed between science fiction and horror. What I'd like to know is what science fiction films have really made you think over the years? Ones that had real thought provoking concepts that were worth exploring not exploiting.
Anything come to mind?
Even if the film was handled poorly, was the concept worth exploring, I.E. Logan's Run which explores the concept of controling population by killing everyone when they turn 30. Soylent Green explores eliminating the food shortages by turing cannibal. The Planet of the Apes movies look at what could happen if you elevated apes to man-servants and they continued to evolve, etc...
Sci-Fi That Makes You Think
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cinemalover
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Not a genre that I've delved deeply into, but here are the first that come to mind (excluding FRANKENSTEIN and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN):
A.I.: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
THE FLY (1958 & 1986)
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
THE NUTTY PROFESSOR
THE THING
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (you said "really made you think", not "really made you think and understand")
VIDEODROME
X: THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES
A.I.: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
THE FLY (1958 & 1986)
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
THE NUTTY PROFESSOR
THE THING
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (you said "really made you think", not "really made you think and understand")
VIDEODROME
X: THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
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Mr. Arkadin
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Don Siegel's original 1956 version of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS for me, is the most thought-provoking of all science fiction films. It creates a brilliantly strong case for the preservation of the spirit of individualism in contemporary society at any cost. Jack Arnold's THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (1957) beautifully illustrates the tenuous and exasperatingly unfathomable relationship between Man and the Cosmos; the final ten minutes of this film are absolutely fantastic! Another Jack Arnold film, IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953), from a story by Ray Bradbury, provides us with a challenging view of what lies beyond our own meager scope here on Earth. The 1954 science fiction shocker THEM!, apart from being one of the most exciting films of the decade, is also a grim reminder of the potentially calamitous events which can transpire as a result of nuclear energy. A prime example of the "cold war" heating up!
With regard to Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968), the only thing I found myself thinking about was how in the world I was going to escape from the theater.
With regard to Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968), the only thing I found myself thinking about was how in the world I was going to escape from the theater.
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klondike
Ignoring for the moment that hardcore Frank Herbert fans threatened to put a price on David Lynch's head:
D U N E (1984)
[ The weird/funny thing about all that hew & cry from the true-blue readership? Herbert himself had final script approval, and was widely quoted after the movie's release as being extremely pleased with the finished product! ]
D U N E (1984)
[ The weird/funny thing about all that hew & cry from the true-blue readership? Herbert himself had final script approval, and was widely quoted after the movie's release as being extremely pleased with the finished product! ]
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jdb1
I'll add I Married a Monster From Outer Space, which tells of one member of an invading force who discovers that he likes Earth and its people, and has to rethink his reasons for being here. He, in effect, discovers his own humanity (or maybe humanoid-ness). It's a theme that was reworked continually by Gene Roddenberry.
I realize I'm always hawking this and you're all probably tired of hearing about it, but the premise of Stargate almost forces you to consider the possibilities: Someone landed on earth and found the ancient Egyptians. Some stayed, most left, of those that stayed some helped civilization, others wanted to wipe humanity out and take over the planet. I know that part sounds nuts, but of the ones who helped - how did those ancients build those pyramids to last until today? how did they think, in advance of parks, sewer systems, streets, walkways, individual housing, etc. - not to mention the law and order of the cities? How did all those ideas come to them? It's not as if someone traveled from one place to another and carried the word, especially since the Egyptians were the first known civilization.
Just a matter of making you think.
Anne
Just a matter of making you think.
Anne
Anne
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cinemalover
- Posts: 1594
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- Location: Seattle, Washington
A nice collection of thought-provoking films.
Since Anne tossed in a TV entry in Stargate (which of course was first a movie), I'll add Star Trek to the mix (also a series of movies, obviously).
As a child watching Trek on the tube it, certainly raised many questions in my young and impressionable mind, and no, my number one question was not what it would be like to make out with the green-skinned chick!
Since Anne tossed in a TV entry in Stargate (which of course was first a movie), I'll add Star Trek to the mix (also a series of movies, obviously).
As a child watching Trek on the tube it, certainly raised many questions in my young and impressionable mind, and no, my number one question was not what it would be like to make out with the green-skinned chick!
Chris
The only bad movie is no movie at all.
The only bad movie is no movie at all.
Chris:
Everyone knows Star Trek but few know Star Gate - the difference was that the Star Trek movies evolved from the TV series, but the Star Gate series evolved from the movie. I've seen the movie countless times, and every episode at the very least 3 times, but it was in the series that Daniel formulated his ideas of visitors who assisted in learning.
No matter what anyone thinks, there was a 2 hour special made about how many things were suggested as sci-fi in the Star Trek series, yet now 40-50 years later are actual fact. Remember "On screen Uhuru"? For graduation, I bought a thing-y for my grandson to put on top of his computer so he can see his friends while he talks to them! How many people have telephones they can hit a button and get the weather report? Or show a friend what they're seeeing miles away? etc., etc., etc.
Anne
Everyone knows Star Trek but few know Star Gate - the difference was that the Star Trek movies evolved from the TV series, but the Star Gate series evolved from the movie. I've seen the movie countless times, and every episode at the very least 3 times, but it was in the series that Daniel formulated his ideas of visitors who assisted in learning.
No matter what anyone thinks, there was a 2 hour special made about how many things were suggested as sci-fi in the Star Trek series, yet now 40-50 years later are actual fact. Remember "On screen Uhuru"? For graduation, I bought a thing-y for my grandson to put on top of his computer so he can see his friends while he talks to them! How many people have telephones they can hit a button and get the weather report? Or show a friend what they're seeeing miles away? etc., etc., etc.
Anne
Anne
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One reason why a lot of science fiction fans and writers bear a grudge against "Star Wars" is that they feel (rightly or wrongly) that George Lucas took science fiction back to the pre-WWII "Gernsback Era" of simplistic adventure and ignored how (printed) science fiction was developing.
Recently, I watched an Italian film "The Tenth Victim," which starred Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress. It was high Sixties style, probably influenced to a degree by James Bond. It ended horribly, one of the lousiest endings of any movie ever, so it is no classic. However, as I watched it, I was struck by how closely the movie adhered to the style of Robert Sheckley, who wrote the short story the film was based on. There were all kinds of little satirical touches, such as the hero hiding his parents in his apartment so they wouldn't have to go to mandatory old folks homes, that caught the essence of Sheckley's satirical style.
I found myself getting mad that these Italians had cared enough about Sheckley to try to get him right, when Hollywood couldn't care less about getting Asimov right for "I, Robot" or Matheson for "I am Legend." It probably isn't accidental that most of the films mentioned on this thread are decades old. I guess most current science fiction films are cop movies in space. "Robocop" was a shoot'em up, but it had a nice satiric feel. But even it is over 20 years old now.
Recently, I watched an Italian film "The Tenth Victim," which starred Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress. It was high Sixties style, probably influenced to a degree by James Bond. It ended horribly, one of the lousiest endings of any movie ever, so it is no classic. However, as I watched it, I was struck by how closely the movie adhered to the style of Robert Sheckley, who wrote the short story the film was based on. There were all kinds of little satirical touches, such as the hero hiding his parents in his apartment so they wouldn't have to go to mandatory old folks homes, that caught the essence of Sheckley's satirical style.
I found myself getting mad that these Italians had cared enough about Sheckley to try to get him right, when Hollywood couldn't care less about getting Asimov right for "I, Robot" or Matheson for "I am Legend." It probably isn't accidental that most of the films mentioned on this thread are decades old. I guess most current science fiction films are cop movies in space. "Robocop" was a shoot'em up, but it had a nice satiric feel. But even it is over 20 years old now.
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klondike
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Metry_Road
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The only contemporary SciFi movies to give me any food for thought are, ‘Children Of Men’. The vision of absolute and total social collapse is quite terrifying. I cannot imagine living under such conditions. And, ‘V For Vendetta’ which was somewhat spoiled for me by its simplistic and biased political posturing.
I agree with Bryce. I too am waiting for ‘Rendezvous With Rama’. Even with Morgan Freeman getting behind the project, nothing seems to be happening. The same can be said of ‘Enders Game’, which has been in pre-pre-production for at least ten years. Other classic SciFi book-to-screen adaptations that have been listed at IMDB as ‘In Production’ and then disappeared from sight include Alfred Bester’s ‘The Stars My Destination’ and ‘The Demolished Man’. Asimov’s ubiquitous ‘Foundation Trilogy’. Joe Haldeman’s ‘The Forever War’, and Dick’s ‘The Man In The High Castle’. Needless to say, these books do not fit the standard SciFi movie formula of video game shoot-em-ups like ‘The Matrix’ or space operas like the Star Wars movies.
The Half dozen or so movies based on Philip K. Dick’s novels used only the bare bones of his stories, leaving out all the alienation, angst, loneliness and confusion that were the real point of his stories. ‘Blade Runner’ I suppose comes closest to the real Dick. Wasn’t Sean Young stunningly beautiful in this movie? Sean Young, Vangelis’ love theme, sigh…. Sorry, I was daydreaming there.
But SciFi movies will always fail to live up to our expectations because our imaginations are bigger than anything that can be filmed (this may sound like gibberish, but I assure you there’s a point in there somewhere).
Ann mentions ‘Stargate’ (the movie, not the TV series). I like this film a lot, but only the first twenty minutes. In the first twenty minutes or so the possibilities are infinite, the story could go absolutely anywhere. Very stimulating to the imagination. But, once they pass through the Stargate, the movie is over for me.
Best Regards
Metry Road
I agree with Bryce. I too am waiting for ‘Rendezvous With Rama’. Even with Morgan Freeman getting behind the project, nothing seems to be happening. The same can be said of ‘Enders Game’, which has been in pre-pre-production for at least ten years. Other classic SciFi book-to-screen adaptations that have been listed at IMDB as ‘In Production’ and then disappeared from sight include Alfred Bester’s ‘The Stars My Destination’ and ‘The Demolished Man’. Asimov’s ubiquitous ‘Foundation Trilogy’. Joe Haldeman’s ‘The Forever War’, and Dick’s ‘The Man In The High Castle’. Needless to say, these books do not fit the standard SciFi movie formula of video game shoot-em-ups like ‘The Matrix’ or space operas like the Star Wars movies.
The Half dozen or so movies based on Philip K. Dick’s novels used only the bare bones of his stories, leaving out all the alienation, angst, loneliness and confusion that were the real point of his stories. ‘Blade Runner’ I suppose comes closest to the real Dick. Wasn’t Sean Young stunningly beautiful in this movie? Sean Young, Vangelis’ love theme, sigh…. Sorry, I was daydreaming there.
But SciFi movies will always fail to live up to our expectations because our imaginations are bigger than anything that can be filmed (this may sound like gibberish, but I assure you there’s a point in there somewhere).
Ann mentions ‘Stargate’ (the movie, not the TV series). I like this film a lot, but only the first twenty minutes. In the first twenty minutes or so the possibilities are infinite, the story could go absolutely anywhere. Very stimulating to the imagination. But, once they pass through the Stargate, the movie is over for me.
Best Regards
Metry Road
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klondike
You're allowed, MR; because, along with so many other reasons, I, too, have taken that hypnotic, poetically ruined, sunset-tinged barge ride, bearing no ticket beyond that desperate, willing thumping of the heart . . .Metry_Road wrote: ‘Blade Runner’ I suppose comes closest to the real Dick. Wasn’t Sean Young stunningly beautiful in this movie? Sean Young, Vangelis’ love theme, sigh…. Sorry, I was daydreaming there.
Metry Road
Blade Runner is a motion picture whose comprehension quite often transcends the need for spoken language, and flashes like dry, summer lightning across slow, deep water.
If Ridley Scott (dare I hope we share ancestry?) had made no single, other film, this work would yet elevate him to a craftsmanship beyond Master status.
Happy to see that, for the most part, 2001 is given a bit of respect over here(it was high on the list in the WORST movie thread). As far as thought provoking SciFi, 2001 pretty much takes the cake. Made in 1968, I think the computer HAL is becoming more and more of a reality. The admittedly (especially on home video) “too long” ending at least saves one the ticket price to the Pink Floyd laser light show (and with a few beers--I’d recommend Goose Island’s IPA--it may even make sense).
When I was seven, I convinced my mother to take me to see Beneath the Planet of the Apes. The mutants removing their “faces” really had an impact, as did the blowing up of the earth. Gave me incredible nightmares, and certainly was thought provoking.
As a teenager, hands down the two most thought provoking SciFi films would have to be Barbarella and especially One Million Years B.C.
Aside from many films previously mentioned (including Brazil, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Videodrome, ExistenZ, and especially Blade Runner--if you’ve ever walked the streets of Tokyo at night you’d see Blade Runner is pretty much a reality), a few other films for me would include:
Dark City
Starship Troopers/RoboCop (love him or hate him, Verhoeven makes you think)
1984
I’m probably the only guy on the planet over 40 who has never, ever, seen an episode of Star Trek , in any of its incarnations (I did see Wrath of Khan, though. And I loved William Shatner in Big Bad Mama and Boston Legal). But as far a SciFi TV shows, I did very much enjoy FireFly and the subsequent film, Serenity, and still find myself thinking about all of the Asian influences (ala Blade Runner).
When I was seven, I convinced my mother to take me to see Beneath the Planet of the Apes. The mutants removing their “faces” really had an impact, as did the blowing up of the earth. Gave me incredible nightmares, and certainly was thought provoking.
As a teenager, hands down the two most thought provoking SciFi films would have to be Barbarella and especially One Million Years B.C.
Aside from many films previously mentioned (including Brazil, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Videodrome, ExistenZ, and especially Blade Runner--if you’ve ever walked the streets of Tokyo at night you’d see Blade Runner is pretty much a reality), a few other films for me would include:
Dark City
Starship Troopers/RoboCop (love him or hate him, Verhoeven makes you think)
1984
I’m probably the only guy on the planet over 40 who has never, ever, seen an episode of Star Trek , in any of its incarnations (I did see Wrath of Khan, though. And I loved William Shatner in Big Bad Mama and Boston Legal). But as far a SciFi TV shows, I did very much enjoy FireFly and the subsequent film, Serenity, and still find myself thinking about all of the Asian influences (ala Blade Runner).
"Let's be independent together." Dr. Hermey DDS