Jason Joel Thompson wrote:
> 1. The Empire Strikes Back
>
> Ok, I'm cheating here. Star Wars did it first. But this is where Lucas
> really got it right. No other single movie has as successfully
transported
> us to a universe so epic, so mythical, and so tremendously rich of story
and
> milieu. ATATs storming the surface of Hoth, Luke in the caves of Dagobah
> (creepy,) The Imperial pursuit into the asteroid field, Cloud City-- and
> were you aware that Darth Vader is Luke's father?! Dude, The Matrix has
> got -nothing- on this baby.
This movie bored me when I first saw it; somehow it missed something for me,
and still does. Star Wars 1 (3?) is the thing.
I also loved Star Wars 4 (is that 1?), you know, the most recent one. I do
have a facination for the purile, and the special effects made me drool all
over my shirt.
>
>
> 2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
>
> Again, a sequel, but we all know the first one sucked. Why's this on my
> list?
>
> a.) Two words: STAR TREK. This is one of the big grand daddys of the
genre.
> 'Nuff said.
> b.) Epic Cinematic Storytelling. This one turns the screws on you right
at
> the start and doesn't let up. Ricardo is totally and cunningly over the
> top-- one of the finest super-villains of all time. The space-ship
battles
> in this one *still* look good. (Go figure. Makes you realize that CG
still
> has a long ways to go.) The score in this movie kicks ass-- epic
> gladiatorial space combat opera. The action is -smart-, they keep
throwing
> in little twists to keep you on your toes. Things crawl into people's
ears!
> Spock dies!
>
How about First Contact? That one blew me away (space suits in Star
Trek?!?!). Actually, it was a really awesome space horror movie (similar
genre as Alien, but with better cleaners?), intertwined with a
worse-than-mediocre adventures-on-earth-of-the-past story.
Reminds me of Contact, an incredibly gripping sci-fi locked in battle with a
ham fisted "people" story with all the subtlety of a house brick (the brick
wins in the end). Don't get me wrong, I like a good people story, but not
when it's written by a sci-fi author.
> If you haven't seen this one in a while, do yourself a favor, grab the DVD
> and turn the volume up.
>
>
> 3a.) Brazil.
>
> Okay, this one's personal preference: it clearly didn't have big-time
impact
> on the genre. In fact, it probably doesn't even qualify as Sci-Fi action.
> But this is a brilliant, brilliant movie and one of my all time favorites
of
> all time favoriteness.
Yep, a good one. I really like brazil. Pacing was a little sloooow though.
>
> 3b.) The Matrix
>
> Seldom has a movie so clearly captured, redefined and cinemized the action
> sensibilities of its era. This flick -oozes- savvy style. The
> cinematography! John Gaeta should be made President. The script is not
> particularly brilliant, but lord, the implementation...! Here's the flick
> that makes green filters, flo-motion, mirrored surfaces, black leather and
> cell phones impossibly cool. It will likely be remembered as the defining
> Virtual Reality flick, and it will be endlessly copied. But why, oh why,
> are they making a sequel to this movie?!
>
I tried to write a list of what I hated about this movie... it's too much,
too intertwined. It was like a geek convention got together and brainstormed
a list of the coolest stuff they'd like to see in a movie. This list was
then handed to the special effects department of an ad agency, who got to
work. At some late stage a director was employed to chop this mishmash
together into one movie, the basic goal being to add some superficial flow
from each otherwise unrelated concept to the next.
It would have been excellent if used for a music video. As a movie... nah.
>
>
> Runners Up:
>
> Blade Runner -- Wow. This is one of the best looking and sounding movies
of
> all time. Probably will be for the foreseeable future. Repeat: wow.
> Alien -- The first, best, creepiest, most atmospheric monsters-in-space
> movie ever.
A bit dull. Every sci fi fan who ever existed seems to love this movie, so I
don't know why I don't. I've rented the director's cut a few times and
watched it over... it's so embarrassing; it just doesn't grab me (although I
am a huge Rutger Hauer fan).
> T2 -- This movie kicks ass; who needs a plot when you've got Arnie and
> unrelenting action?
I thought the plot was ok; better than the Matrix, anyway. I was pretty
happy with how it followed on from T1. Did I miss some big problems?
The Guns 'n' Roses references do seem a little dated now.
> Back to the Future -- I LOVED this movie. I still do. Come on dude, it's
> got a time traveling DeLorean.
urrghh
> Highlander -- Is this Sci-Fi? A *classic.*
Yup, liked it.
> Clockwork Orange -- This one got in my head.
Never seen it; must do so.
>
OK, I'll have to do better than the first list I made.
Aliens: I disagree that this is a flashy followup to a substantial movie. I
think they both stand alone as good movies. Alien was a horror movie,
however, not action (hence my omission of it); Aliens is the best
sci-fi-action movie (if there is such a category) that I can think of. Get
the director's cut, btw, it's makes sense.
Die-hard: On reflection, it's not sci-fi at all, is it? I want to be Hans
Gruber (without losing)... I loved this movie.
Didn't someone mention Mad Max in another post? Big thumbs up from me! Of
course, Waterworld craps all over it (hoo hoo hoo!)
Has anyone been watching/watched the series "Farscape" recently? Very cool!
Switch off brain, enjoy strangely coloured women (Kirk would go beresk).
It's full of Aussie soap stars in cameo roles, which is fairly weird.
If you can ever find it, get "Hell comes to Frog Town", starring Rowdy Roddy
Piper. Straight to video, made sometime in the 80s. Now THAT is a movie!
... I've even got an URL:
http://www.iol.ie/~pbalfe/films/hellfrog.htm
Emlyn
Eat Lead, Froggies!
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:50:39 MDT