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The war movie thread is very enjoyable. I think a Sci-Fi flick thread would also be fun. My first thought is "The Day the Earth Stood Still" will always remain one of the all time classics.

But there are two movies that came out in the early fifties that were light years ahead of their time as far as visual effects. The first is "Forbidden Planet" with Walter Pidgeon and Anne Francis. Robby the Robot made his debut in that movie. Robby went on the become a regular cast member in "Lost in Space." Today you could put Robby next to 3CPO in a Star Wars episode and he'd fit in.

Next was "War of the Worlds" with Gene Berry. That flick had the best alien ships when compared to the rest of the movies.

The worst Sci-Fi TV series had to be "Land of the Giants" and "Buck Rogers" although Erin Grey looked stunning in her flightsuit.

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Gunner

Forbidden Planet is probably the best of all the 50's SF movies. Actually Robbie was not the same robot in Lost in Space, similar but not the same.

Dr Who was the SF stable diet for me during the seventies and when we came back from the country to Perth on holidays I watched and enjoyed Space 1999 and UFO. Bug eyed monsters and crappy SFX.

Blakes Seven anyone? Typical BBC stuff with strong character development and stories balanced with poor SFX.

Living in the country during the seventies meant only one TV station. The Government run ABC, so our choices were limited.

I was in my early teens when Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers blazed onto the screens and although the episodes are full of repetitive SFX and the bad guys barely believeable, they are still fun to watch even today.

Star Trek would dominate any SF thread so here is my opinion. The Trek series closest to my heart is the Original series. The plot lines were good (although 60's era atitudes and mores prevailed). NextGen degenerated into technobabble laden shows with stupid plots. The esxception being the amusing Q episodes and the sinister Borg storylines.

Voyager's Kes annoyed me immensely. the Kazon were a laugh and the appearance of Seven of Nine in her figure hugging outfits was lovely to look at. Voyager and DS9 still suffered the same technobabble laden stories with constant time travel issues that plagued Next Gen.

Enterprise suffered massive continuity issues but had some genuinely great episodes. Naturally T'Pol looked great in her most unVulcan catsuit.

I blame Berman and Braga, who reportedly hated the Original series and almost attempted to re-write the whole Trekverse.

Now I still enjoy Trek and have all but DS9 on DVD :thumbsup:

Space Above and Beyond held promise but degenerated into an angst ridden pile of bulldust. I am not even replacing my VHS copies!

Stargate? FANTASTIC!! with the spinoff series Atlantis appearing to be just as popular. Episodes are well crafted and the scope of adventure almost limitless. RDA has done well.

IMHO, Babylon 5 stands out as the beacon of SF on TV. Again the 5 year story arc was a risk and it nearly was cancelled at the end of season 4. However JMS bought to life a future with characters not so different from today, gritty, agenda ridden and multi-faceted. The technology was realistic and believable (the Earth Alliance had to spin portions of their starships to produce gravity, while the much highly advanced Minbari had gravitic drives capable of creating artificial gravity). Best of all, NO technobabble!!

In 1978 I saw Star Wars. I will never forget the wedge shaped Star Destroyer appearing on the screen. My thought was..."How big is this ship??". I was 12 years old and SF became firmly entenched into my heart and dreams.

Plenty more TV shows, who can forget Hercules???

Sorry about the long post

:D

MikeJ

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madmike - Your long post was very interesting. You mentioned UFO, if that's the one that was about Blue Book, I also got a kick out of it.

The original Star Wars shall always hold a special spot in my heart. It was the last social activity I had with my father before he passed away. I was already divorced from my first wife and brought my girlfriend (the future Mrs. Gunner #2) home on leave to meet the folks. My mom took her to some ladies club function and the old man and I decided to take in a movie.

Remember, the old man was a spit and polish retired 3 star and in the vernacular of the times said "that was a heavy flick" Tickled me pink. Afterward we had a sandwich in the mall and decided to see the movie again, so I saw Star Wars twice in the same day.

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madmike - Your long post was very interesting. You mentioned UFO, if that's the one that was about Blue Book, I also got a kick out of it.

The original Star Wars shall always hold a special spot in my heart. It was the last social activity I had with my father before he passed away. I was already divorced from my first wife and brought my girlfriend (the future Mrs. Gunner #2) home on leave to meet the folks. My mom took her to some ladies club function and the old man and I decided to take in a movie.

Remember, the old man was a spit and polish retired 3 star and in the vernacular of the times said "that was a heavy flick" Tickled me pink. Afterward we had a sandwich in the mall and decided to see the movie again, so I saw Star Wars twice in the same day.

Gunner

I understand how SW became so special, seeing it with your Dad and he enjoyed it enough to see it twice!

Where did the SW magic go? My enthrallment becane to wane somewhat after Jedi, sorry, cute teddy bears defeating elite troops just does not seem right. Now if Lucas had gone down the Wookiee road like he originally was....

:thumbsup:

MikeJ

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I don't remember Robby being a regular cast member in LIS. I think he appears in a show or two, but the Robinson's robot, which was in every show, was quite different.

Are you sure? Seems to me the Robinson's robot had those three little gyroscope things whirling around in his head like Robby did. But the memory ain't what it used to be and that three and a half tons of weed I smoked over the years before I took the pledge didn't help any either.

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I don't remember Robby being a regular cast member in LIS.  I think he appears in a show or two, but the Robinson's robot, which was in every show, was quite different.

Are you sure? Seems to me the Robinson's robot had those three little gyroscope things whirling around in his head like Robby did. But the memory ain't what it used to be and that three and a half tons of weed I smoked over the years before I took the pledge didn't help any either.

The LIS robot had a Apache Longbow-like tranparent top (That would move up and down slightly when he was excited, arroused, aggitated, etc), unlike Robby's dome. LIS 'bot also had accordion legs with tracks while Robby had Michelin-Man legs with feet. LIS arms accordioned into his cylindrical upper body and ended with hooks, Robby had the Michelin-Man arms and fingers, sort of.

Lost In Space

b9.jpg

Robby (Forbidden Planet)

robby.jpg

Edited by f14peter
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Gee, too many Sci-Fi movies to list, but here goes, and in no particular order . . .

ALIENS Space Marines v alien, gotta love it. Even the woman/child thing didn't drag it down. Not the pure Sci-Fi of Scott's ALIEN, Cameron did what he does best, which apparently he didn't do in TITANIC.

any GODZILLA except the US company release. Sure, you know it's a guy in a rubber suit thrashing a miniature balsawood city being attacked by miniature tanks and cheesy little planes, but what's not to love?

THE OMEGA MAN. Okay, the final shot of Heston's character in the fountain was a bit pretentious, but one man living alone in a city fighting off blue zombies, that's the stuff of legend.

THEM! Radiation-spawned giant ants . . . need I say more?

THE DEADLY MANTIS Similar to THEM! Where else are you going to see a lecherous giant insect leering at the heroine, and the hero pilot change aircraft four or five times while in flight.

PREDATOR Actually a pretty well made movie, all things considered. Gave birth to one of the all-time immortal lines in cinema . . . "GET TO DA CHOPPAAA!!!!!"

STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN Best of all the ST movies and Montalban's pecs were nearly as big as Shanter's ego. Kirsty Ally at her finest looking (Is it my imagination or is every Vulcan woman except T'Pau a stone fox?) and instead of the first movie where we spent over two hours waiting for Kirk to become . . . well, Kirk, he was his old reliable self right off the bat.

ROLLERBALL The original with Jimmy Caan. "jonathon . . . Jonathon . . . Jonathon! . . . JONATHON!!!!!"

Many more, I'm getting typer's-cramp.

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Okay - Okay, you guys win, Robby wasn't in LIS. I guess I took the pledge none to soon. But ya gotta admit that Robby would still fit well in today's fare. Gentlemen thanks for posting those picks, very nostalgic.

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The worst series have to be BLACK SCORPION and GALACTICA 1980

The worst movies had to be: ULTIMATE WARRIOR: 2000 (thoroughly forgetable) and (I can't remember the title, it was that bad) with Adrian Paul as a vampire cop in some future land that resembled East Germany.

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Too many to pick just I favorite!

Just cool sci-fi:

1.The Matrix

2.Bladerunner

3.Highlander

Hard-core Sci-fi (spaceships and stuff):

1.Star Wars

2.Star Trek II Wrath of Khan

3.Aliens

Contact/Encounter movies:

1.The Abyss

2.Close Encounters

Over the top/funny:

1.Starship Troopers

2.Tremors

3.Independence Day

4.The Fifth Element

5.Galaxy Quest

6.Mars Attacks

7.Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai across the eighth Dimension

I'm sure I missed a few... ;)

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THE OMEGA MAN. Okay, the final shot of Heston's character in the fountain was a bit pretentious, but one man living alone in a city fighting off blue zombies, that's the stuff of legend.

An interesting choice of words in the last sentence... ;)

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Let's be honest-the matter of the best sci-fi, whether it be television or the movies, is a highly debatable matter. I have told my students for years that at least the first Star Wars movie is not science fiction, it is a fairy tale told with sci-fi trappings (black knight vs white knight, a beautiful princess, a farm boy who achieves heroism, etc). But bad sci-fi- that's another tale.

I shall stick to television here. No argument on such pap as Buck Rogers (and absolutely no argument about Erin Gray). But does anyone recall Space:1999 or UFO? Both were the brainchildren of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, of Thunderbirds fame. They both featured highly touted special effects and supposadly adult plotlines. What we recieved were special effects straight out of Thunderbirds- ie obvious miniatures- and frankly I thought the puppets did a better job in regards to acting.

Battlestar Galactica (the original)-mostly subsisted of reworked old movie plots. But it and it's child, Galactica 1980, did feature it's semi-precious gems-BG had it's pilot (listed as Saga Of A Star World on the Sci-Fi Channel), The Living Legend (with Lloyd Bridges as an overly aggressive CO) and The Hand Of God (the last regular episode), where the beleagured ragtag fleet turns and fights instead of running with it's collective tail between it's legs. BG 1980 had one almost decent episode-The Return Of Starbuck, which told of what happened to Dirk Benedict's charactor.

Does anyone besides myself recall Hard Time On Planet Earth and Otherworld, both summer replacement series better left long forgotten?

As to a sci-fi classic- a few year back, one of my students produced (using his own video tapes and the school's equipment) a five-minute film entitled Star Trek VS Star Wars. It featured clips from several ST:TNG episodes and the first three Star Wars films. It started with the NG crew "detecting a ship of previously unknown configuration" that turned out to be a SW Star Destroyer, which immediately obliterated the Enterprise! Many of the other students thought it was a "hack job", I gave him 25 points for extra credit (the most allowed).

Felinoid

Edited by Felinoid
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I have told my students for years that at least the first Star Wars movie is not science fiction, it is a fairy tale told with sci-fi trappings (black knight vs white knight, a beautiful princess, a farm boy who achieves heroism, etc).

When Star Trek first aired (long before the PC) I thought the hand held communicators were really neat, but so far in the future that I'll never live long enough to see it invented, pure Sci-Fi.

Today everytime I flip open my cell phone I'm tempted to say "Beam me up Scotty"

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Did you know that the original Battlestar Galactica was based on the Mormonism?

Read This

I really like the new series. It is the most mature Sci-fi I've seen in a long time. I'm glad they got a few "real" actors to help this series and give it some professionalism. The character development is getting better with each episode and there are soooo many interesting plot lines to develop.

I will always be a Star Wars fan first and foremost. Call it a fairy tale if you want... I think it was some great sci-fi. The ships, the creatures, the vision of different worlds... I loved it. I even bought Star Wars Chronicles for $70. And I will think nothing of paying $200 for the new FMMF.

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MUD - Thank you, that was a good read. I too like the new Galactica and agree that its nice to have an adult Sci-Fi series. Maybe thats why its on so late (10pm) in my area. I've been wondering why the blonde Cylon seems to be so obsessed with God.

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I've always thought the job of TV or film critic to be totally pointless. At the end of the day the only opinion that really counts is your own. There will of course be some shows/films that lots of us like and some that only a few like but at the end of the day as long as you the individual like something, who cares what anyone else thinks. :thumbsup:

Now thats that rubbish out of the way, heres some of my faves. :(

1. Star Wars saga (yes all of them including TPM)

2. Terminator I,II,III

3. Star Trek (personal faves Wrath of Khan and Nemesis)

4. Alien/Aliens

5. Matrix trilogy

:wacko:

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18-05-05

Guys:

No man of a certain age who was/is interested in sci-fi can ever forget Erin Grey in that jumpsuit.

I kinda like Enterprise and am really miffed it was cancelled, but when the studio reduced it's sfx budget, what else could be expected.. the writing was on the wall.

I like the original Battlestar too and am desperatley hoping they do a revamp of the Lolyd Bridges episode at some stage ( afterall, where will Galactica get replacement ordance/fighters/pilots when their own run out???

And Baltar is an absolute howl!!!

Never a big fan of Farscape, but from what I have seen, I'd take Chyna any day!

And then there's Rommie...crap show, sexy women.

However, I am surprised no has mentioned Odessey 5 yet. Here was a show that had legs and it pulled just as it, too, was getting really interesting.

I can barely remember UFO, but hte Angel Interceptors....hubba hubba!!

As for films...weeelllll, Predator (Take me!Take me!), Aliens ( Hudson!!We are leaving!!), Robocop (you're FIRED!), the original War of the Worlds ( anyone remember the tv series???), Earth v. the Flying Saucers and Mystery Theatre 3000!!

Liam

ps, Can't forget Lynda Carter...man, that woman made me realise that girls AREN'T all icky and stupid..... those legs...................... :thumbsup:

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