Well Sir, you are not alone: the film has it's followers. I am not among them. We shall simply have to agree to disagree. The book wasn't bad...silicon1138 wrote:really have to disagree about Logans Run. It was a GREAT story. Another major plus was having Jenny Agutter in it!
The soundtrack is worthy of mention too - some really excellent synth work.
The TV series was horrible, but the film was not.
The old school sci-fi recommendation thread
-
oblique strategies
- Posts: 3606
- Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:57 pm
- Location: Another Green World
-
silicon1138
- Posts: 219
- Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2003 10:02 pm
- Location: paris
- Contact:
Jenny Agutter - Yum!
silicon1138 wrote:really have to disagree about Logans Run. It was a GREAT story. Another major plus was having Jenny Agutter in it!
The soundtrack is worthy of mention too - some really excellent synth work.
The TV series was horrible, but the film was not.
Jenny Agutter - Yum!
-
oblique strategies
- Posts: 3606
- Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:57 pm
- Location: Another Green World
Here be those flicks:Pitch Black wrote:
Look, just watch anything that's name-checked in the opening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, mkay?
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Flash Gordon
The Invisible Man
King Kong
It Came From Outer Space
Dr. X
Forbidden Planet
Tarantula
Day Of The Triffids
Night Of The Demon (A.K.A. Curse Of The Demon)
When Worlds Collide
-
STRATEGY_510
- Posts: 825
- Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2006 10:48 pm
- Location: Oakland, Killafoolya
silicon1138 wrote:TXH-1138 - 1971 (George Lucas Sci-Fi, pre Star Wars, and MIND BLOWINGLY GOOD)
Planet of The Apes - 1968
Silent Running - 1972
Soylent Green - 1973
Solaris - 172 (original and new versions are geat)
This Island Earth - 1955
Logans Run - 1976
Fail Safe - 1964 (not so much sci-fi, but brilliant)
THX-1138 - I think Mind-blowingly good is a bit of a stretch..FYI, they filmed this in two different tunnels. One is right down the street from me, the other is 2-3 miles away. The walls have never been as clean since.
Of the above, I like Logan's Run the best, too bad the Brian Singer remake was canned (or maybe not, based on Superman Returns - ugggh)
STRATEGY
-
Idonotlikebroccoli
- Posts: 1205
- Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 12:29 pm
- Location: Norway
Recommended sci-fi movies that I've seen
Older:
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
- Planet of the Apes (1968)
- 2001 (1969)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
- The Star Wars series (except episode I and II)
Newer:
- Gattaca (1997)
- Minority Report (2002)
- Sunshine (2007)
- Battlefield Earth (2000) (a lot of people hate this movie, but I'd say it's slightly underrated. It's at least 4/10 imo)
Horrible shit wtfbbq gaaah sci-fi:
- Equilibrium (2002) (seriously, what the hell?)
Older:
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
- Planet of the Apes (1968)
- 2001 (1969)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
- The Star Wars series (except episode I and II)
Newer:
- Gattaca (1997)
- Minority Report (2002)
- Sunshine (2007)
- Battlefield Earth (2000) (a lot of people hate this movie, but I'd say it's slightly underrated. It's at least 4/10 imo)
Horrible shit wtfbbq gaaah sci-fi:
- Equilibrium (2002) (seriously, what the hell?)
-
oblique strategies
- Posts: 3606
- Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:57 pm
- Location: Another Green World
A truly great film. Absolutely beautiful, & completely unique. Kubrick rules.Idonotlikebroccoli wrote:Recommended sci-fi movies that I've seen
- 2001 (1969)
Really good film.Idonotlikebroccoli wrote: - Gattaca (1997)
Hilarious movie! I love it. Reminds me of Ed Wood (of Plan 9 From Outer Space). If you watch it as a comedy it's super fun. Not to detract from Mr. Broccoli's genuine appreciation for it as a decent sci-fi flick; just offering another way for people to understand that this flick is cool, damn it! And I panned Logan's Run!!! I know, I'm hopelessIdonotlikebroccoli wrote: - Battlefield Earth (2000) (a lot of people hate this movie, but I'd say it's slightly underrated. It's at least 4/10 imo)
-
Idonotlikebroccoli
- Posts: 1205
- Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 12:29 pm
- Location: Norway
-
Pitch Black
- Posts: 6722
- Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2002 2:18 am
- Location: New Zealand
- Contact:
oblique strategies wrote:Invasion of The Body Snatchers 1956
-Pretty scary stuff. Wonderfully directed by Don Siegal (Dirty Harry). The small town looked just like the town I grew up in, which added another level of fear. The 1978 remake ain't bad either -a very scary treatment. This version is set in San Francisco, the city I moved to when I moved out of the small town I grew up in! So, another personal element that added to the experience for me.
For 1000 points: You are George Lucas of Modesto, California?
-
oblique strategies
- Posts: 3606
- Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:57 pm
- Location: Another Green World
Nostalgic value is the best! I was really fortunate in that I was allowed to watch a ton of horror & sci-fi movies when I was growing up. There are a lot of movies that I love to this day because I saw them when I was a kid. I saw most of the 1950's monster movies back then, so they have a special spot in my heart.Idonotlikebroccoli wrote:I first watched it when I was 12, so I'm left with both the impression from that time, and it has nostalgic value
There are certain ages that are ideal for being exposed to certain things, & if this happy collision occurs, then you're really in for a treat. I remember when I discovered H.P. Lovecraft. I think if I had discovered him much later I would not have taken it to heart the way I did.
Last edited by oblique strategies on Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
oblique strategies
- Posts: 3606
- Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:57 pm
- Location: Another Green World
Pitch Black wrote:oblique strategies wrote:Invasion of The Body Snatchers 1956
-Pretty scary stuff. Wonderfully directed by Don Siegal (Dirty Harry). The small town looked just like the town I grew up in, which added another level of fear. The 1978 remake ain't bad either -a very scary treatment. This version is set in San Francisco, the city I moved to when I moved out of the small town I grew up in! So, another personal element that added to the experience for me.
For 1000 points: You are George Lucas of Modesto, California?
Shhhhhhhhh!
-
oblique strategies
- Posts: 3606
- Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:57 pm
- Location: Another Green World
OK, later 1950’s B monster movies presented in chron-O-logical order:
“The study of 1950s sf is absolutely fascinating. For America the post-War boom offered an amazing sense of optimism, that the universe could be conquered by human hand, as stated by Destination Moon (1950) which started the 1950s sf boom off. But almost immediately afterwards this optimism folded inward amid fears of the Bomb, Communism and the sense of a nameless threat that could shatter the fragility of ordinary American life. Almost as soon as Destination Moon came out, visions of travel to other planets collapsed into a self-absorbed stare into the abyss. Overwhelmingly all ventures out into the universe encountered either a mirror of atomic devastation (Rocketship X-M, This Island Earth), or a universe that was too much for humanity to handle (Conquest of Space), worlds where civilization would be destroyed by its own hubris (Forbidden Planet), or quite simply out-and-out hostility (It! The Terror from Beyond Space and The Angry Red Planet).”
It Conquered The World –Roger Corman (i.e. GOD), 1956
-“This is an essential item in the Roger Corman cult. The film happily taps into most of the exploitable themes around in sf cinema at the time – the alien invader theme, the alien body snatchers theme, and of course the very topical interest of satellites as a result of the Sputnik launch.” Featuring one of the great 50’s monster maker Paul Blaisdel’s most memorable creations. Plus added bonus of stalwart Peter Graves & squinty-eyed Lee Van Cleef (The Bad in ‘The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly).
Day The World Ended –Roger Corman (i.e. THE DEVIL), 1956
-Corman’s take on the post-nuclear holocaust stories like “Five”. Pretty good too, with the ever-excellent Paul Birch & manly leading man Richard Denning. Plus a great performance by Mike “Touch” Conners as a cheap hood; & boy, is he a baddie! Another great Paul Blaisdel monster, & a soundtrack with a Theremin!
X The Unknown – Leslie Norman, 1956
-British take on The Blob storyline, with the monster nothing more than radioactive mud. Only problem is that it can move, & it is hungry. Excellent tension, & good, bleak cinematography. What’s a serious movie doing in this list?
Incredible Shrinking Man -Jack Arnold, 1957
-What, another serious movie? This one is truly a classic. Screenplay by Richard Matheson, based on his novel The Shrinking Man. Really startling & disturbing images that will stick with you as a man simply shrinks, & shrinks, & shrinks… Maturely handled in all regards. This is the real deal.
Kronos –Kurt Neumann, 1957
-Unusual & intelligent treatment of an alien invasion. Kronos isn’t an alien per se; it’s a giant machine that keeps growing while it stomps across the countryside, draining earth of all its energy. Featuring our old pals Jeff Morrow (“This Island Earth”) & Morris Ankrum (every other damn sci-fi movie from the 50’s!) Cool…
The “I Was A Teen Age…” monster movie trilogy!
"The 1950s was the decade when teenagers suddenly found out what it meant to be misunderstood. The voice of the generation was of course James Dean. Around the same time producer Herman Cohen managed to get a hold of a survey that showed that 25% of all cinema attendees were between the ages of 15 and 25. Seeking to tap into this market, Cohen then came up with a contender for one of the great exploitation titles – I Was a Teenage Werewolf."
I Was A Teenage Werewolf –Gene Fowler Jr., 1957
-Michael Landon’s first big role! “The film rips into the expectations of parents and middle-class values with a surly vengeance.” Gotta love that. Grrrrrrrrr!
I Was A Teenage Frankenstein –Herbert L. Strock, 1957
-Great dialog: Dr. Frankenstein to his creation “I know you have a civil tongue in your head, I sewed it there,” and the exclamation of joy, “He’s crying – the tear ducts work.”
Blood Of Dracula –Herbert L. Strock, 1957
-This really should have been titled I Was A Teenage Vampire, particularly since Dracula does not put in an appearance. Instead you get the awesome Sandra Harrison in some really crazy makeup. “The film also interestingly introduces a proto-feminist theme – the woman scientist is acting out of a driven need to assert herself in a male dominated world and prove men wrong.” Add some not too well hidden lesbian under currents, & you’ve got a winner. But wait, there’s more! “Blood of Dracula even stops at one point for a bizarre rock‘n’roll number choreographed with girls dancing with pillows.”
This is just too massively excellent for words. It will haunt you…
Invasion Of The Saucer Men –Edward L. Cahn, 1957
-Comedy sci-fi with Frank Gorshin who would later play The Riddler on TVs Batman. Pretty sub-par, but by now we’ve lost all perspective, right? Another outlandish Paul Blaisdel monster saves it from the dust bin & puts it right over the top. In the end, the alien invaders blow up real good!
The Blob –Irvin S. Yeaworthy Jr., 1958
-Bullitt star Steve McQueen’s first starring role in a feature film! With the kids holding a drag race –going backwards! Rebellious! Classic monster movie, with some genuine uneasiness in the beginning when the unfortunate old man finds the blob.
Angry Red Planet –Ib Melchior (whatta name!), 1959
Psychedelic baby, psychedelic. The Mars scenes are filmed in Cinemagic –a bizarro semi-solarized whatchamacallit that really cooks! Add some extremely outlandish monsters (giant Bat-Rat-Spider anyone?), & you’ve got a real treat.
Attack Of The Giant Leeches –Bernard L. Kowalski, 1959
Infinitely entertaining, great music, no good swamp trash, bomb shell Yvette Vickers, giant leeches, underwater caves, what’s not to like?
Epilog:
One of the cool things about these 1950’s monster movies is that you’d see some of the same actors in basically the same roles in a number of different films. This gave these people a mythological significance. I think every boy who watched these movies wanted to grow up to be a scientist! The scientists were always the voice of reason, of tolerance, of exploration, & ultimately of acceptance of “the other”.
As I write this I am surrounded by my “scientific equipment”: lots of knobs & blinking lights, switches & dials. I even have a white lab coat in my closet. Dreams can come true.
All quotes from The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
http://www.moria.co.nz/
“The study of 1950s sf is absolutely fascinating. For America the post-War boom offered an amazing sense of optimism, that the universe could be conquered by human hand, as stated by Destination Moon (1950) which started the 1950s sf boom off. But almost immediately afterwards this optimism folded inward amid fears of the Bomb, Communism and the sense of a nameless threat that could shatter the fragility of ordinary American life. Almost as soon as Destination Moon came out, visions of travel to other planets collapsed into a self-absorbed stare into the abyss. Overwhelmingly all ventures out into the universe encountered either a mirror of atomic devastation (Rocketship X-M, This Island Earth), or a universe that was too much for humanity to handle (Conquest of Space), worlds where civilization would be destroyed by its own hubris (Forbidden Planet), or quite simply out-and-out hostility (It! The Terror from Beyond Space and The Angry Red Planet).”
It Conquered The World –Roger Corman (i.e. GOD), 1956
-“This is an essential item in the Roger Corman cult. The film happily taps into most of the exploitable themes around in sf cinema at the time – the alien invader theme, the alien body snatchers theme, and of course the very topical interest of satellites as a result of the Sputnik launch.” Featuring one of the great 50’s monster maker Paul Blaisdel’s most memorable creations. Plus added bonus of stalwart Peter Graves & squinty-eyed Lee Van Cleef (The Bad in ‘The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly).
Day The World Ended –Roger Corman (i.e. THE DEVIL), 1956
-Corman’s take on the post-nuclear holocaust stories like “Five”. Pretty good too, with the ever-excellent Paul Birch & manly leading man Richard Denning. Plus a great performance by Mike “Touch” Conners as a cheap hood; & boy, is he a baddie! Another great Paul Blaisdel monster, & a soundtrack with a Theremin!
X The Unknown – Leslie Norman, 1956
-British take on The Blob storyline, with the monster nothing more than radioactive mud. Only problem is that it can move, & it is hungry. Excellent tension, & good, bleak cinematography. What’s a serious movie doing in this list?
Incredible Shrinking Man -Jack Arnold, 1957
-What, another serious movie? This one is truly a classic. Screenplay by Richard Matheson, based on his novel The Shrinking Man. Really startling & disturbing images that will stick with you as a man simply shrinks, & shrinks, & shrinks… Maturely handled in all regards. This is the real deal.
Kronos –Kurt Neumann, 1957
-Unusual & intelligent treatment of an alien invasion. Kronos isn’t an alien per se; it’s a giant machine that keeps growing while it stomps across the countryside, draining earth of all its energy. Featuring our old pals Jeff Morrow (“This Island Earth”) & Morris Ankrum (every other damn sci-fi movie from the 50’s!) Cool…
The “I Was A Teen Age…” monster movie trilogy!
"The 1950s was the decade when teenagers suddenly found out what it meant to be misunderstood. The voice of the generation was of course James Dean. Around the same time producer Herman Cohen managed to get a hold of a survey that showed that 25% of all cinema attendees were between the ages of 15 and 25. Seeking to tap into this market, Cohen then came up with a contender for one of the great exploitation titles – I Was a Teenage Werewolf."
I Was A Teenage Werewolf –Gene Fowler Jr., 1957
-Michael Landon’s first big role! “The film rips into the expectations of parents and middle-class values with a surly vengeance.” Gotta love that. Grrrrrrrrr!
I Was A Teenage Frankenstein –Herbert L. Strock, 1957
-Great dialog: Dr. Frankenstein to his creation “I know you have a civil tongue in your head, I sewed it there,” and the exclamation of joy, “He’s crying – the tear ducts work.”
Blood Of Dracula –Herbert L. Strock, 1957
-This really should have been titled I Was A Teenage Vampire, particularly since Dracula does not put in an appearance. Instead you get the awesome Sandra Harrison in some really crazy makeup. “The film also interestingly introduces a proto-feminist theme – the woman scientist is acting out of a driven need to assert herself in a male dominated world and prove men wrong.” Add some not too well hidden lesbian under currents, & you’ve got a winner. But wait, there’s more! “Blood of Dracula even stops at one point for a bizarre rock‘n’roll number choreographed with girls dancing with pillows.”
This is just too massively excellent for words. It will haunt you…
Invasion Of The Saucer Men –Edward L. Cahn, 1957
-Comedy sci-fi with Frank Gorshin who would later play The Riddler on TVs Batman. Pretty sub-par, but by now we’ve lost all perspective, right? Another outlandish Paul Blaisdel monster saves it from the dust bin & puts it right over the top. In the end, the alien invaders blow up real good!
The Blob –Irvin S. Yeaworthy Jr., 1958
-Bullitt star Steve McQueen’s first starring role in a feature film! With the kids holding a drag race –going backwards! Rebellious! Classic monster movie, with some genuine uneasiness in the beginning when the unfortunate old man finds the blob.
Angry Red Planet –Ib Melchior (whatta name!), 1959
Psychedelic baby, psychedelic. The Mars scenes are filmed in Cinemagic –a bizarro semi-solarized whatchamacallit that really cooks! Add some extremely outlandish monsters (giant Bat-Rat-Spider anyone?), & you’ve got a real treat.
Attack Of The Giant Leeches –Bernard L. Kowalski, 1959
Infinitely entertaining, great music, no good swamp trash, bomb shell Yvette Vickers, giant leeches, underwater caves, what’s not to like?
Epilog:
One of the cool things about these 1950’s monster movies is that you’d see some of the same actors in basically the same roles in a number of different films. This gave these people a mythological significance. I think every boy who watched these movies wanted to grow up to be a scientist! The scientists were always the voice of reason, of tolerance, of exploration, & ultimately of acceptance of “the other”.
As I write this I am surrounded by my “scientific equipment”: lots of knobs & blinking lights, switches & dials. I even have a white lab coat in my closet. Dreams can come true.
All quotes from The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
http://www.moria.co.nz/