Sci-Fi Films (...lesser known and off the beaten track...)

soundmotor

super modified
colossus_logo_7854.png


Collossus, the Forbin Project

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064177/

This one actually startled me. I'd never seen it until recently but knew of it. Saw the DVD at the library and picked it up. Watched it, then watched it again with my wife and she too was amazed. AI run amok summarizes and it is truly a prescient film. At the time it was released I'd bet only the sci-fi nerdcore had any reasonable appreciation for its implications but now, it looks like prophecy. Yes there is some 70s hamminess but it's brief and in the beginning. Once gotten past it does not return and the overlying tone of the film is superb and frightening. It is also a showcase of computer state-of-the-art hardware as well as video-conferencing gear. If you have any interest in that area you will likely appreciate the film on another level.

So that's mine, what's yours?

Post any lesser known, vintage, modern, or foreign sci-fi films you think are worth seeing.
 
I'll buy into "Children of Men" - very apocalyptic film when women no longer get pregnant!

or maybe "Mr Nobody" ... its a 2009 film with Jared Leto but ... strange!

Or 1991's "Until the End of the World" - great cast & strangely done ...

or my Fave ... WOOPER!

 
Sci-fi movies are my forte, so I've got a long list. I'll share a few of the lost and often-overlooked gems (IMO). Some of these may or may not be on Sci-Fi fans' radar, but I'm looking mostly from more of a mainstream perspective.

Vicious Lips (Campy 80's film about an all female band in space)
Lost In Space (Largely forgotten and panned big budget 90's movie but I enjoy it)
Reign Of Fire (Another largely forgotten big budget movie with Matthew Mcconaughey and Christian Bale fighting dragons)
Snowpiercer (This movie seems to be popular on Netflix, but since it was a foreign production it didn't gain too much traction in the mainstream - it's one of Chris Evans' best performances I thought)
Barbarella (Gotta love 60's Jane Fonda)
Evilution (David Duchovny and Julianne Moore fighting aliens with shampoo = campy fun)
Frequency (son Jim Cavieziel and father Dennis Quaid are linked through a ham radio present and past and try to prevent the father's death)
Frequencies (People are bonded or prevented from bonding through frequencies they emit - very emotionally gripping)
Eva (A foreign film similar to Ex Machina, but perhaps more emotionally gripping as the main character's daughter is a robot)
Virus (Another overlooked 90's bigger budget movie - Jamie Curtis and her crew run into a Russian ship overrun with a virus that creates deadly machines)
Event Horizon (Seems to be pretty popular on Netflix, but overlooked elsewhere - I thought it was very scary the first time through)
Pandorum (I think this was overlooked as well when it was new, but it really delves into the potential psychological tolls of space travel and has an awesome twist)
Heavy Metal (Excellent 80's animation film based on the magazine - with an awesome soundtrack)
The 6th Day (Schwarzenegger gets cloned - "He's smoking my stogies!")
Ragnarok (Foreign film about an archeologist that unearths a giant monster)
Terminal Invasion (Bruce Campbell at his campy best - protecting an airport terminal from aliens that take human form)

I could go on, but that's already a lot. :thumbsup:
 
"The Cell" (2000, stars J. Lo, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D`onofrio)

Now, this strange little number meets all my definitions for "freaky movie".... J. Lo is a child psychologist, persuaded by FBI Agent Vaughn to take part in an experimental reality-altering program, to possibly locate the hidden victim of a comatose serial killer.

 
I'll buy into "Children of Men" - very apocalyptic film when women no longer get pregnant!

or maybe "Mr Nobody" ... its a 2009 film with Jared Leto but ... strange!

Or 1991's "Until the End of the World" - great cast & strangely done ...

or my Fave ... WOOPER!

That was awesome! I love RC. :D

Oh, and to continue the thread, if you love well-written Science Fiction (let's not sully it by calling it Sci-Fi, like the cable channel), then 2009's Moon is probably one of the best SF movies I've seen in decades.
 
Or 1991's "Until the End of the World" - great cast & strangely done ...

I saw that a long time ago and likely on VHS when it first hit the rental market. My recollection is that I liked it. It's been in my Roku search alert for a long time, there are actually 3-4 versions of it. I may see if I can get one via inter-library loan. I'd say it is near the top of my list to see again. For some reason I always group it with Strange Days even though they have little similarity except outlining a future that clearly did not happen. Both films portray the "future" of 1999.
 
Haven't seen Colossus for a long time, thanks for that OP.

Silent Running -
ca. 1979? Greenhouse ship becomes the last refuge of Earth life.
THX-1138 - a Kubrick classic I believe...not obscure when I was growing up, but now, who knows.
 
"A Boy and His Dog"

This one is a great example of how to pull of a low/no-budget film successfully. It still has one of the best lines ever -

"Let's get another Michael out of the warehouse. This time make sure the engineering department wipes that smile off his face."
 
Haven't seen Colossus for a long time, thanks for that OP.

Silent Running -
ca. 1979? Greenhouse ship becomes the last refuge of Earth life.
THX-1138 - a Kubrick classic I believe...not obscure when I was growing up, but now, who knows.

Silent Running is '72 or '73 and a great one. It's one of Dern's best roles. IIRC THX-1138 unfortunately got reimagined by Lucas with a lot of new CGI content.

Some parts are better but others clearly worse. It also looks too clean now. I'd like to find an original un-messed with version.
 
"Forbidden Zone" is a hoot.... maybe not quite Sci-Fi, but more like a bizarre blend of David Lynch, John Waters, and Betty Boop on acid....
(cool Danny Elfman soundtrack, too)

 
I haven't seen several of these in a long time- Thanks for the thread! When I was in high school in N. California in 1970 a fellow student had played an extra in THX 1138, I remember seeing it in the theater then.
 
Hmmm, off the beaten track sci-fi ? Let's see :-

Space Hunter - Adventures In The Forbidden Zone


Krull -


Battle Beyond The Stars -


Disneys' The Black Hole -


I would also list some excellent TV series such as Blakes' Seven, Battle of the Planets, Space Sentinels, Space Ghost and probably lots of others I've forgotten about....
 
Back
Top Bottom