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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jul 12, 2014 15:29:45 GMT -5
No Aliens? Aw man.  Aliens really wowed me at 13-15 or so whenever I watched it on Fox slightly edited. But owning all four movies, it is the least watched by me. My oldest son likes it a lot. I did finally like watching the missing events left out of the theatrical version of newts family and all. But if I watch an action Alien movie, I find AvP more entertaining. It's not a bad movie it just looses more and more of its "wow" with multiple viewings. Whereas Alien and Alien 3 continue to stay solid for me. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 12, 2014 15:36:02 GMT -5
Funny story for ya.. when I was in 8th grade, we had to write a story for English class... any story. Being a nerd-y Star Wars fan, I wrote Sci Fi. I pretty much wrote a three page version of the 1st Terminator movie... took me 20 minutes to convince the teacher I'd never seen it so I didn't fail.
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Post by Pharozonk on Jul 12, 2014 15:44:40 GMT -5
Funny story for ya.. when I was in 8th grade, we had to write a story for English class... any story. Being a nerd-y Star Wars fan, I wrote Sci Fi. I pretty much wrote a three page version of the 1st Terminator movie... took me 20 minutes to convince the teacher I'd never seen it so I didn't fail. Heh, I remember when I plagiarized a story I read in an issue of Archie for a Halloween themed story back in the 3rd grade. Luckily for me, my teacher probably had never read that story.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2014 15:54:30 GMT -5
Funny story for ya.. when I was in 8th grade, we had to write a story for English class... any story. Being a nerd-y Star Wars fan, I wrote Sci Fi. I pretty much wrote a three page version of the 1st Terminator movie... took me 20 minutes to convince the teacher I'd never seen it so I didn't fail. You'll be hearing from Harlan Ellison's lawyers within a week. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2014 16:02:42 GMT -5
I plagiarized Elfquest in English class in 6th and 7th grade.
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Post by coke & comics on Jul 13, 2014 22:22:21 GMT -5
94. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Wise, 1979)
Wise is a director with an impressive resume, ranging from science fiction films like Andromeda Strain to films like Sound of Music at the opposite end of the spectrum. This is a particularly flawed outing for him, but the flaws are often attributed to production problems and deadline issues.
The main problem with the film is that it comes off resembling a poor man's 2001, as several scenes, the pacing, and the very themes bring to mind the Kubrick masterpiece, which it can't live up to.
For all that, this is a generally beautiful film which successfully brings Star Trek to the big screen. Ten years after the series, we see the old heroes come out of retirement for one last adventure together.
An exploration to understand an unknown form of life is a perfect Star Trek story, and a perfect science fiction story. The focus is on the exploration, the discovery, and finally the consequences. Just as a good science fiction film should be.
An artificial form of life fails to recognize humans as being alive, and the struggle to understand leads to a human undergoing a journey of transformation, to find the next step of evolution for both human and machine.
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This will be the only Star Trek film on this list, though all were considered. (Obviously the terrible films--Nemesis and Into Darkness--were dismissed quickly).
The problem with the films for this list is that there seems to be an inverse correlation between how idea-focused the movie is and how good the movie is. The best films just aren't that science fictiony.
Wrath of Khan is the best film, but its strength really comes from the battle of wills in the epic space battle between Kirk and Khan. The sci/fi ideas take a backseat.
The Voyage Home is a fine film, but it's more of a buddy comedy. The focus is on the relationship between Kirk and Spock, and the comedy inherent in the crew being back in the present.
I enjoy First Contact, but it is again more of an action film.
Conversely, the Final Frontier is rooted in a big idea, the search for God, as Insurrection is rooted in the ethical conflict between displacing a colony and curing disease. Both more science fictiony, but both also the most flawed as films.
The Undiscovered Country does the best at striking a balance between keeping ideas in the center and being a solidly crafted film, but I decdied there just wasn't room for it.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2014 10:59:00 GMT -5
According to Amazon,the only versions of 1984 currently available are burned-on-demand DVD-R or Korean imports. I was really surprised when it showed up as available from Netflix, especially since you'd think out-of-print discs would be really serious theft targets. That's the second time that's happened for me within the last couple of months, though, with the double disc of An Angel for Satan/The Long Hair of Death filling that role previously, assuming that Amazon's listings are accurate representations. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2014 14:33:44 GMT -5
Star Trek is another one I haven't watched in decades, since my uncle bought it on Laserdisc I suspect. I didn't like it as a kid, but it would be worth another look.
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Post by Jesse on Jul 14, 2014 15:14:06 GMT -5
I rewatched the '79 Star Trek movie a few years ago and though it held up nicely.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2014 17:29:40 GMT -5
Courtesy of Netflix, I've got the first Terminator arriving this week (the BluRay was a "Very Long Wait," but lo & behold the regular ol' disc was readily available) as well as the recent Under the Skin. Those should be ... different from each other.
Also something called Goodbye World, described in the synposis thus: "After the world's energy grid suddenly fails, some longtime friends find their way to a self-sufficient compound in Northern California. As their sanctuary comes under threat from desperate outsiders, the group's unity begins to dissolve." I'm admittedly a sucker for after-the-holocaust scenarios of just about all stripes.
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Post by coke & comics on Jul 14, 2014 17:53:30 GMT -5
I quite look forward to Under the Skin. It's supposed to be excellent.
And quite... revealing.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2014 6:29:22 GMT -5
I quite look forward to Under the Skin. It's supposed to be excellent. And quite... revealing. I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about, sir. |
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Post by MDG on Jul 15, 2014 10:49:34 GMT -5
I rewatched the '79 Star Trek movie a few years ago and though it held up nicely. I haven't seen it since opening night and wonder how I'd like it now. Back then, I thought it was pretty damn slow. I remember feeling bad for the family-owned theater that outbid the chain to show it in the area--thought they'd take a real bath on it. It was a pretty big deal at the time though. I don't remember a huge wait to get in but a local TV station interviewed some of us on the way out. In general, I've realized that the less a SF movie is dependent on effects, the more I like it: Slaughterhouse Five, Andromeda Strain... One fairly recent one is TimeCrimes. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 15, 2014 11:13:56 GMT -5
I remember being a bit disappointed with the Star Trek movie when it came out.I recall the long,long scene of the camera panning over the Enterprise in slow motion giving you plenty of time for a candy counter run.And with all this super-science on display,you'd think Kirk would be sporting a better toupee.Besides which,the bald woman got alot of fan attention
When I watched the DVD version with some deleted scenes re-inserted it seemed to improve the plot
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,197 
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Post by Confessor on Jul 15, 2014 11:41:58 GMT -5
I really love Star Trek: The Motion Picture a lot and I did even as a kid. It is a bit slow, but I actually think that's one of its strengths. It feels epic; it feels grandiose and operatic; it feels like we're witnessing something of monumental importance, which sits nicely alongside the big philosophical questions the film offers up for the viewer to consider. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn is another solid movie, but I agree with coke & comics when he says that it's the character conflict that drives that movie, rather than the sci-fi philosophy or the technological wonder.
In truth, I like most of the Star Trek movies featuring the original cast. The first four are all hugely enjoyable movies for different reasons, even though The Voyage Home is clearly played for laughs. The Undiscovered Country is another strong entry and really, it's only The Final Frontier (you know, the one where they meet God and shoot him between the eyes with a photon torpedo) and the Next Gen/original cast crossover Generations that are below par (I'm not interested in any of the Next Gen films or the recent reboot).
Also, while we're on the subject of The Final Frontier, I've always felt that there was something simultaneously inappropriate, ridiculous and titillating about Uhura's naked moonlit fan dance. I want to hate that scene but I can't because, you know...it's Uhura. In the moonlight. Nekkid.
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