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Author Topic: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?  (Read 19489 times)
Deus Siddis
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #60 on: May 14, 2005, 12:54:01 am »

"Ant btw Deus_Siddis, does your anti rainbow crusade have something to do with the black hole, below Conthia, on my website?"

Nope.


"And Deus_Siddis you said: "Void is allowed to give his honest opinions on things". . .while I am not, right?"

Of course not, Zanthius. You may give your opinions, just as easily as I shoot them down.

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VOiD
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #61 on: May 14, 2005, 01:08:27 am »

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Void, are you living inside of that black hole, as he seems to be generating light to you?

Well, technically it was just a manner of speaking. I imagine living inside a black hole would be rather dull. No light to read books at bedtime, among other drawbacks.


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And Deus_Siddis you said: "Void is allowed to give his honest opinions on things"...

while I am not, right? Smiley

The entire soul shards thread would have been much easier on all of us if only you had followed this rule from the beginning. Smiley


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If you pick an old movie you have a lot more years of accumulated material to pick from. Visual quality may be worse on older movies, but they're a very refreshing alternative to the formula used in movies today. Different pace, different design and different moral cookies.

I agree. As an ardent moviegoer (I go to the movies upwards of 25-30 times a year, and watch a deal of movies on dvd), I find contemporary movies more and more dull, and I'm rarely surprised any more. I find it good to watch movies from another culture (checking out contemporary, i don't know, Iranian cinema, for instance) or another time, in order to be surprised and/or provoked. These movies were made for an entirely different audience, or course, but that only makes it more interesting. It took a long time, for instance, before I realised that a blue tinted picture in silents meant night; for the average moviegoer of the 1910s and -20s, this would have been self-evident. With an open mind (not too open, mind you; a great many open minds ought to be closed down for repairs), a lot of older movies can be appreciated as much as - sometimes more than - modern movies. Star Wars isn't necessary a better movie than Metropolis, although it is much more accessible to a modern viewer. But in the end of course, it all boils down to a matter of opinion.


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Allthough it is true that a lot of people choose to like "old classical things", instead of "modern popular things", believing that this will give them what they concider to be "a more unique personality", and a "taste of higher quality".

I see your point, and I suppose this is the type of person Achmed is trying to peg me down as.
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #62 on: May 14, 2005, 02:36:50 am »

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matter of opinion? isnt this getting a little old now? what about universal truths and mathematics?

Hate to burst your bubble, pal, but the so-called universal truths and the exactness of mathematics only work up to a certain point. After that, it's just, well, a matter of opinion. Or theories, anyway.


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do you really think aeons of monkey-work has generated anything of interest?

Yes. And so do you. You've read Gurdjieff, no?


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hey, if I wanted to listen to ordinary bullshit talking, I could just as well listen to the people at the street, discussing trivial political opinions, as watching a movie.

Then I suggest you do just that.


Anyway, back on topic: I see that the first two Alien movies have been mentioned. What do y'all think of numbers three and four? I think both have their merits, but also a lot of flaws. The atmosphere in Alien 3 is great, methinks.
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Deus Siddis
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #63 on: May 14, 2005, 03:28:25 am »

"What do y'all think of numbers three and four? I think both have their merits, but also a lot of flaws. The atmosphere in Alien 3 is great, methinks."

Oh goody, one of my favorite sagas!


Alien: Scott's first major film. It is probably considered the best of the four by most and is one of the best movies of all time. I think it is the 2nd most fear inducing film (The Thing, 1982 version gets 1st). I also think it's Scott's best film, with it's great lighting and SFX, two things that must be perfect for a film of this genre. I can think of no flaws in Alien. Excellent.

Aliens: Cameron takes over and gives a moderately hotter sequel. It has a slightly different feel from the first, but it still holds up as an excellent movie in its own right. Cameron's obsession with action and vehicles makes this film the ancestor of many a great movie/game. But, it still has the same dark atmosphere, eerie classical music and overall format as the first one. Excellent.

Alien 3: New director who's name I can't even remember. Pretty soon, this becomes the film that no one can remember. This one completely loses focus and feels like somekind of b horror flick. Everything that was in the originals is lost. To make things worse, the film can't even stand on its own. It trys really hard to be as dark as it can, but there is no flow and no direction. Basically, religious criminals get eaten one by one as they scamper around with pointy sticks. Bad.

Alien Resurrection: New director, again. This movie isn't able to match the first two, but it does easily top 3. It returns to a more futuristic setting like the originals, though it doesn't feel quite as serious. It's a little weird, but it does an okay job of creating a good scifi-action flick. Good.
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Deus Siddis
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #64 on: May 14, 2005, 03:36:42 am »

"Ah, I understand now, you are actually trying to help me generate fighting action - as a magnetical attraction to young earthlings!"

Well, yes and no. . .more no than yes. A magnet has two poles. One is attracting human warriors to the fight against you. The other pole is repulsing you from this place. You can try and resist, but if you do so for too long, your own fabric will be repulsed from itself. Kind of a bad thing for you. If only you were an Uhl. . . Cry
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #65 on: May 14, 2005, 04:24:51 am »

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Aliens: Cameron takes over and gives a moderately hotter sequel. It has a slightly different feel from the first, but it still holds up as an excellent movie in its own right. Cameron's obsession with action and vehicles makes this film the ancestor of many a great movie/game. But, it still has the same dark atmosphere, eerie classical music and overall format as the first one. Excellent.

I agree with your views on the first Alien, but have to say that I don't think Aliens is all that great. The action, although spectacular and noteworthy in its own right, feels a little too over-blown in comparison to the opening movie, and ends up ruining a bit of the atmosphere. The fact that there are hordes of aliens running around, all of which are, apparently, very simple to kill, makes them somewhat less menacing in my eyes.

EDIT: It sounds as if I'm dissing Aliens here. That wasn not my intention. It is a great film, I just don't think it fits in the Alien series.


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Alien 3: New director who's name I can't even remember. Pretty soon, this becomes the film that no one can remember. This one completely loses focus and feels like somekind of b horror flick. Everything that was in the originals is lost. To make things worse, the film can't even stand on its own. It trys really hard to be as dark as it can, but there is no flow and no direction. Basically, religious criminals get eaten one by one as they scamper around with pointy sticks. Bad.

The "new director" you mention is one David Fincher, who later went on to greater stuff, like Seven, The Game, Fight Club and Panic Room. I think it's appropriately dark, considering it's set in a penal colony. But I agree, it does lack a lot of overall focus.

EDIT: Just found out from IMdB that David Fincher did visual effects for Return of the Jedi, Neverending Story and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom! Not only that, but he acted in Being John Malkovich! Cheesy


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Alien Resurrection: New director, again. This movie isn't able to match the first two, but it does easily top 3. It returns to a more futuristic setting like the originals, though it doesn't feel quite as serious. It's a little weird, but it does an okay job of creating a good scifi-action flick. Good.

Nice to see someone else enjoying this movie, I keep getting picked at for liking it. I especially like the cast, and the elegant directing style. You're right, though, it doesn't really feel as serious as the first three, but I guess it's hard to top a series that includes one of the greatest horror movies and one of the greatest action movies.

It must be said that Aliens followed roughly the same storyline as its predecessor, expanding the universe and adding depth to some of the characters. Alien 3 took off on a quite unrelated note, and killed off many characters, while the fourth installment introduced mostly new characters, a new alien-human hybrid, and killed off most of them, too. While I don't know if there are plans afoot for another sequel, I think Ripley would be quite pissed off to just keep on running into deep shit all the time. Particularly considering she's died once already. Smiley
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #66 on: May 14, 2005, 06:33:23 am »

Argh- what has happened to the starbase cafe? Every thread is turning into soul shards!
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Deus Siddis
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #67 on: May 14, 2005, 09:35:03 am »

"The fact that there are hordes of aliens running around, all of which are, apparently, very simple to kill, makes them somewhat less menacing in my eyes."

They are just the same, but now they're en masse so they are more aggressive, the action is taking place planetside so mechanical damage weapons can safely by used without the acid burns letting out the atmosphere, and there are more humans with better weapons.


"EDIT: It sounds as if I'm dissing Aliens here. That wasn not my intention. It is a great film, I just don't think it fits in the Alien series."

Indeed, it is a great film AND it doesn't fit in the series, hehe. The funny thing about the alien series is that nothing fits! Alien and Aliens are both good movies, both are set in the same universe, and yet they are so extremely different. It's weird, but I love them both.


"But I agree, it does lack a lot of overall focus."

Not just that, but Alien 3 is SO different from the rest that it really just doesn't work at all. It doesn't feel like they are in the future, more in a cave with rusty blades fighting a monster. If they had just changed the alien into a new creature, they would not have had any intellectual property issues. It would have been a new film, altogether. Even the alien is different, it should be a biped.


"EDIT: Just found out from IMdB that David Fincher did visual effects for Return of the Jedi, Neverending Story and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom!"

Well, I hope he stays an Art director, because he sucks at the rest.


"Nice to see someone else enjoying this movie, I keep getting picked at for liking it."

Because Resurrection doesn't make any major blunders, and because every movie in the series is so different anyway, it doesn't get shot down by me. It can't stack up as high as the first two, but it holds up.


"I especially like the cast, and the elegant directing style."

There were somethings which could have been directed differently, but overall it worked. Cast wasn't bad either, though I wonder how many of the props and costumes mysteriously disappeared from the set. . .


"While I don't know if there are plans afoot for another sequel. . ."

Either way, I hope they drop this Alien Vs. Predator crap. Blasphemy. It really is just a horrible bastardization. They would have been better off just making a starcraft movie. It could show Kerrigan's transformation into evil on the lava world of char, similar to another transformation into evil on another lava world in another universe that we'll be seeing soon.
« Last Edit: May 14, 2005, 09:43:45 am by Deus_Siddis » Logged
Deus Siddis
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #68 on: May 14, 2005, 10:10:38 am »

"Argh- what has happened to the starbase cafe? Every thread is turning into soul shards!"

It be the end of days, lad. Ya can't be goin' o'er the cliff, wiffout seein' what lie below. Aye, thar be no a'turnin' back from here. Dark be what lie o'head o' we.

Just as the his plants in brazil grow more and more sparse, Zanthius' posts grow more and more dense. Soon they will hover over this territory, like the grim cloud of despair over cemetery road's dead end.

But there is still hope, for we can unite against the invasion of Zanthius! We can counter him at every corner, flood his home thread with pointless posts, or simply agree to all 100% ignore him for the rest of eternity.

Sons of UQM, of SC2, my brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the Post!
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #69 on: May 14, 2005, 11:42:50 am »

"Just as the his plants in brazil grow more and more sparse, Zanthius' posts grow more and more dense. Soon they will hover over this territory, like the grim cloud of despair over cemetery road's dead end."

then he will move to the UQM board itself.

"A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day"
umm...yes it is.
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #70 on: May 14, 2005, 01:04:25 pm »

Woah... I think he's serious.
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #71 on: May 14, 2005, 06:49:03 pm »

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Anyway, back on topic: I see that the first two Alien movies have been mentioned. What do y'all think of numbers three and four? I think both have their merits, but also a lot of flaws. The atmosphere in Alien 3 is great, methinks.


Maybe someone mentioned this, but Alien 3 was supposed to be set on this wooden deathstar construction with monks and stuff, really wierd.

I think Alien 3 was a bit too plain. Just some guys getting decimated in the usual claustrophobic setting. It also kills off characters before the movie barely started, which seems like taking the cheap way out. Bam, everything they fought for in the second movie nullified just like that.

I would've liked a movie where they put emphasis on the alien... uh morphology, ie. the fact that they steal the shape of their host. I think that was one of the most interesting points of Alien 3. Imagine the aliens infesting a zoo! Giraff aliens! Snake aliens! Penguin aliens! What a menagerie!

I think Ripley had played ot her role as a protagontist with the second Alien movie. Cameron sort of mentions this in an interview too. She went back and faced/defeated her nightmare.

In Alien you're presented with this super rare and very mystical alien and derelict ship+pilot. I'd like it to stay that way. Explaining it, or worse, over-explaining it, well... it kills what alien is about.


I always thought the queen would have some sort of defense for being tossed out into space, like curling into a cocoon thing to save vital parts. I'd use that for a third movie, along with different morphs and lots of panties.
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #72 on: May 14, 2005, 07:27:19 pm »

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If that is the way you feel, it is fine with me.

Can the admin here please delete my user, and the post called "Soul Shard". I will never come back again to bother you more.

eh???
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #73 on: May 15, 2005, 07:59:08 pm »

Interesting development in the Zan saga here. I was just about to ask if we could stay on topic more than 50% of the time and limit some of these posts to the Soul Shards thread, when the main culprit apparently packs up and leaves. Amazing.


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"The fact that there are hordes of aliens running around, all of which are, apparently, very simple to kill, makes them somewhat less menacing in my eyes."

They are just the same, but now they're en masse so they are more aggressive, the action is taking place planetside so mechanical damage weapons can safely by used without the acid burns letting out the atmosphere, and there are more humans with better weapons.

Yes, but that's exactly what I mean with "less menacing". In the first film there is one alien, and while the crew tries out multiple ways to kill it they are picked out, one by one. Whereas in Aliens, the, um, aliens are nothing more than adversaries in battle. The horror element is lost as it becomes a shooting exercise.


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Well, I hope he [Fincher] stays an Art director, because he sucks at the rest.

Really? I thought Fight Club, Panic Room and especially Seven were all very good movies. But tastes differ.


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Penguin aliens!

If you're anxious to see penguin bad guys in a movie, I suggest you take a look at Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers. Magnificent animated film.


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... blah blah blah and lots of panties.

Aye. Panties saves any movie.


On an entirely on-topic note, I can't believe I forgot to mention Hellboy! Although set in the present day, there are plenty of science fiction elements in the story. Plus, it's based on one of my very favourite comics! Woo!
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Deus Siddis
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Re: What's your favorite SciFi movie of all time?
« Reply #74 on: May 15, 2005, 10:39:13 pm »

"Interesting development in the Zan saga here. I was just about to ask if we could stay on topic more than 50% of the time and limit some of these posts to the Soul Shards thread,"

Yea, and I was just about to cannibalize the speech from Independence Day.


"If you're anxious to see penguin bad guys in a movie, I suggest you take a look at Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers. Magnificent animated film."

A Grand Day Out was funny too.
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