The 1990s science fiction movie poll

fifth element and johnny mnemonic tie. I called it. waterworld a distant third

Some good ones on here but a pretty grim list overall. Starship Troopers probably.

but uh... Naked Lunch? what is sci-fi about that?

I thought starship troopers was the sequel to naked lunch

12 Monkeys
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Johnny Mnemonic

^^^these are my favorites, although i've watched and enjoyed a ton of stuff on that list.

stargate = huge guilty pleasure.

what kind of fucking crack are you guys smoking

see you at the party richter

alien: resurrection is a fun alien movie.

what's the most '90s on here? pi?

It is! Also winona ryder. and the room full of disfigured mutant ripleys!!

ron perlman & dominique pinon!

lawnmower man is most 90s surely

xp yeah maybe ryder content is key here

I think JM is the most 90s of the bunch honestly! Smack in the middle of the decade, all up in Japan and shit, and would you look at this soundtrack: http://www.amazon.com/Johnny-Mnemonic-Various-Artists/dp/B000002AZF

ha, quien es mas '90s, stabbing westward or:

1. Pi (Symbol)r2 - Clint Mansell
2. P.E.T.R.O.L. - Orbital
3. Kalpol Intro - Autechre
4. Bucephalus Bouncing Ball - Aphex Twin
5. Watching Windows - Roni Size
6. Angel - Massive Attack
7. We Got The Gun - Clint Mansell
8. No Man's Land - David Holmes
9. Anthem - Gus Gus
10. Drippy - Banco De Gaia
11. Third from the Sun - Psilonaut
12. A Low Frequency Inversion Field - Spacetime Continuum
13. 2Pi (Symbol)r - Clint Mansell

(not a rhetorical question)

ha i misunderstood what tom was responding to, there.

alan rickman in 'galaxy quest' is grebt... a mobius-strip of a performance, even.

for the love of mike, Jordan, I cringed thru Johnny Mnemonic once, and I'd give that version of Keanu a tongue bath.

shortlist:

City Of Lost Children
eXistenZ
Mars Attacks!
The Iron Giant

i haven't seen johnny mnemonic since '96 probably, except for a little bit on tv. i have no objective sense of whether it's at all decent, just fond nostalgia.

Not quite the Hackers soundtrack.

Pi is the only one that has a character die from trying to do maths that is too hard.

i mean it has dolph lundgren AND henry rollins AND ice-t.

SPEAKING OF ICE-T WHERE IS TANK GIRL?

people all enjoy eXistenZ as OTT camp right? EXISTENZ IS PAUSED!!! *plop*

oh dude where IS tank girl? oh man did I fuck up

anybody who wants to say that a movie with mutant kangaroo ice-t in it doesn't qualify as science fiction can suck it, btw

just getting that out of the way ahead of time

eXistenZ is so fucking terrible, but i love the other three morbius choices

xp: I don't do camp. Tank Girl (saw for free) man be even worse than Mnemonic. Ice-T did plenty o' shit except for that Walter Hill movie.

The Iron Giant is one of the few great US films of the '90s, but is it SF, hmmmmmmmmmm.

JJ, "New ports are kinda tight," it may be a gay thing

did anyone see New Rose Hotel? it is approx. 10000000x worse than Johnny Mnemonic. it has christopher walken, willem defoe, and naked asia argento yet manages to be completely unwatchable.

it's kinda funny to watch walken basically improvise the script and pull out his stock lines from other movies, though.

So tempted to vote for one of these:
Demolition Man
Freejack
Judge Dredd

but I was predictable and went for Starship Troopers. Is The Postman as bad as they say?

Morbz' list is actually pretty OTM

(altho should I be surprised Morbz is no fan of Starship Troopers?)

should I be surprised both of you look down your nose at fun

nyah nyah

in what world is Starship Troopers not fun

or Mars Attacks! Best death by yodeling scene ever!

The only one of these that I saw and enjoyed is Dark City.

Galaxy Quest!

http://www.geocities.com/missipyle/pics/gq9.jpg

Easiest choice ever. So funny from beginning to end.

man galaxy quest has such an amazing cast

oh shit daryl mitchell is a paraplegic now?!? jeez

i voted TOTAL RECALL on a whim

Galaxy Quest is great but I dunno if anyone would love it who isn't overly familiar with Star Trek

but i also like galaxy quest, 12 monkeys, the fifth element and city of lost children

i've seen cube more times than i'd like to admit.

people all enjoy eXistenZ as OTT camp right?

I'm not sure I'd say it was camp, but definitely an OTT romp. Unless that's your only requirement for camp, in which case THAT'S COOL, BRO. It was on my shortlist, but I voted for City of Lost Children, as I figured it might not get much top vote love.

eXistenZ is not camp.

at least not in the way that, say, Mommie Dearest or Showgirls is camp

i voted TOTAL RECALL because it's awesome.

That's a sad selection of films.

it isn't really! I'm more impressed by it than I expected to be when I started compiling

I am too... but its still bad, especially compared to the 80s

UM SHOULDN'T THE MATRIX (1999) BE ON HEAR.

Iron Giant is my favorite on this list but I don't think it's exactly appropriate.

Oh haha The Matrix is in the "T"s. Sorry.!

Matrix is terrible

matrix is awesome and any other opinion is wilful contrarianism.

eXistenz's greatness lies in the fact that it's a movie set in a videogame and the acting and plotting are as clunky as a typcial videogame cutscene.

cube is dull.

fifth element the most entertaining,

the matrix is great, it's the sequels that are complete shit.

exactly.

fifth element is way too camp and irritating.

^^^ willful contrarianism

GIS multipass flickr OMG

fifth element. surprised not to see more love for it here.

just compared to everything else on the list Fifth Element stands out for me, i don't see how it's irritating, it was a great movie to watch at the cinema.

none of the other movies listed rate more than 8/10 for me personally.

(it was like a technicolour bladerunner flick)

i voted eXistenZ, it's funny as balls.

and deeeeep man.

+ cronenberg's last good film

i mean it has dolph lundgren AND henry rollins AND ice-t.

And it was directed by Robert Longo... The only way it could be more 90s was if Barbara Kruger did the posters.

I've seen everything on this list, but if I had to vote it would be one of these:

The Arrival
12 Monkeys
Dark City
Gattaca
Mimic
Starship Troopers
Strange Days

And if Spaced Invaders is going to be on here, then "Meet the Applegates" should be too.

I would vote for Rocketeer if it was one of the choices.

I was expecting the 90s poll to be thin, but wow. I'm torn between the iron giant and the fucking lawnmower man. maybe total recall. or maybe I'll cast a protest vote for godzilla.

I haven't seen a bunch of reputedly decent films on this list; gattaca, 12 monkeys, ghost in the shell, city of lost children, dark city. estimating what I've seen in the polls list breaks down like:

70's = saw 90% of the movies
80's = saw 75% of the movies
90's = saw < 50% of the movies

haha I debated that one for a minute, xpost to elvis

How about The Truman Show?

that actually happened though I thought

Also, if we're going to include animation then "Memories" should be a choice too.

broke it down to:
City Of Lost Children
Ghost In The Shell
Starship Troopers
The Iron Giant

i love a third of the list

No one's even mentioned Men In Black yet. I didn't even see this until a year or two ago, but found it immensely entertaining

I'll have to make a trip or two to the video store this weekend before I vote.

Men in Black is the shit!! I'm voting for that.

Overall, these are so bad compared to the movies in the 80s science fiction poll.

more GO's:
Akira
Batman Returns (he's a scientist)
CLASS OF 1999
THE FACULTY lulz

lotsa diminishing return sequels without peers equal to their precedents

xpost

Iron Giant. Which I feel may be the sleeper here.

totally missed the 80s poll somehow. also thought Akira came out in 90/91 sorree

starship troopers

lol @ old people bitching about how the 1980s were so much better for science fiction

soon you'll be able to talk about how much this decade sucked!! it's right around the corner!! get excited

this decade did suck!

and continues to do so

lol @ old people bitching about how the 1980s were so much better for science fiction

Ahh, they don't make science fiction movies like that, anymore.

Iron Giant doesn't really belong here as much as it belongs in a, I don't know, truly incredible family films of all time thread.

I still voted for it though and now 12 Monkeys isn't returning my calls.

also LOL @ Tom including BICENTENIAL MAN in the list.

I don't remember DEEP IMPACT but the title makes it sound like a TREMEMDOUS PORNO.

The 80s was better for sci-fi than the 90s, and I am not old.

Dark City
eXistenZ
Johnny Mnemonic
Fifth Element
Iron Giant

Did we do a 70s scifi movie poll yet because I am ITCHING to vote for ZARDOZ in SOMETHING.

The film here that is prperly bordeline is Pi, by the way.

xpost - there was totally a 70s one. Don't think anyone's done the 60s yet, however.

"properly borderline"

Dark City

head says yes to 80s list being better, but then that list still had a runaway (ah Runaway, starring Tom Selleck, could've made it) winner, and an adult sci-fi winner at that. fifth element and starship troopers (most likely to win here, if not kids flick Iron Giant) are jokier and teenier, post-modern thing i guess.

i watched city of the lost children again recently and it is still so creepy.

terminator 2 not on here, though i wouldn't have voted for it anyways

Twelve Monkeys
Total Recall
Dark City
Pi
T2
Predator 2
Demolition Man
Ghost in the Shell

more or less in that order

Tempted to vote for Strange Days, but will probably vote for The Iron Giant instead.

T2 is better than half of these

Strange Days wasn't bad.

i think i remember strange days but i think i am conflating it with the television miniseries "wild palms" for some reason

i actually just have a vague blur memory of liam neeson and halle berry running around in times square and some kind of video helmet

erm, Ralph Fiennes

haha, and, erm, Angela Bassett

apparently all white people AND all black people look alike to me

the 90s was actually a good decade for sci-fi miniseries actually. maybe.

the 90s was? the 90s were

total recall
12 monkeys
13th floor
dark city

need to see johnny mnemonic.

city of lost children was pretty tight but kind of bummed me out IIRC.

I can't believe people are non-jokingly saying they liked Johnny Mnemonic.

this poll belongs to Verhoeven

Starship Troopers and Total Recall <3<3<3

the two Verhoevens vs. 12 Monkeys vs. Escape from L.A. (which isn't great but has one of the best endings ever)

I can't believe people are non-jokingly saying they liked Johnny Mnemonic.

that's because you live on planet boring and we live on planet awesome. it's expected.

seriously

I saw it with my friend on opening day and we were the only people in the theater.

I WANT MY SHIRTS LAUNDERED

i want a 10,000 dollar hooker!

man, i need to do some serious catching up on some flicks

How about The Truman Show?

-- Eazy, Friday, March 28, 2008 12:37 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Link

that actually happened though I thought

-- El Tomboto, Friday, March 28, 2008 12:38 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Link

rofl

Man, looking back at it The Matrix really seems like the culmination of a decade's worth of failed attempts by Hollywood to profitably exploit the 90's internet/virtual reality/video game/Silicon Valley/Doom/cyberpunk/hacker zeitgeist.

"so all we have to do is add kung fu and stoner philosophy to the mix and THEN they'll actually come to see the movie! we can even use Keanu again"

(That said, the first Matrix was pretty bitchin')

A friend once said of Sphere that it was more like two spheres, pressed together, that you sit on.

i liked the book. the movie is so ugly-looking and boring.

TWO WEEKS

Flatliners freaked me out proper.

altho should I be surprised Morbz is no fan of Starship Troopers?

I appreciated what it was trying to do, but after the first hour seeing bad actor-models torn apart by insects just loses its novelty. But I did like the scene where Casper von Dien gets whipped.

eXistenZ is not camp...at least not in the way that, say, Mommie Dearest or Showgirls is camp

which is, comedy-substitute for people who don't particularly like actual comedy (like the admirable Eric H).

T2 would've had my vote. Might throw 12 Monkeys a bone although I've only seen it once.

the endings SUCKS

Dark City is probably the #1 'woah this is far better than i thought it was gonna be' here.

i voted TOTAL RECALL because it's awesome.

-- Alba, Thursday, 27 March 2008 23:03 (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

I saw Strange Days for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It is too long. Fiennes is pretty great in it though.

i remember the first time i saw huge posters for Total Recall on the platform of Tottenham Court Road tube station. brilliant design, got a real 'wow wtf is that' sense of excitement from them.

which is, comedy-substitute for people who don't particularly like actual comedy (like the admirable Eric H).

If you don't think Female Trouble is funny, we really have nothing to talk about.

i always confuse species and mimic.

maybe Tremors should've been in - it's meant to be good isn't it?

xp: EH, I like me some comedy-substitute too, prime Waters included! (and FT is my fave, a masterpiece; it's terrifically funny but in a non-comedy-crafted way)

Tremors is on the 80s list.

has anyone actually rewatched dark city since it came out? i haven't, but i remember thinking it was kind of lame in the theatre.

I only find out that Alex Proyas is a contender for cinematic genius here

honestly i haven't re-watched either dark city OR the 13th floor, and i bet they would both suck. dark city was "atmospheric."

i watched it on dvd and i was into it. although some parts crossover from noir into goth, i think.

doesn't ebert do the commentary?

I only find out that Alex Proyas is a contender for cinematic genius here

Dude you're totally neglecting the troo genius -- screenwriter David Goyer, who went on to the BLADE trilogy!

i can't believe i have never seen johnny mnemonic. now i kind of want to!

i think i am voting for 12 monkeys.

X-Files is Fight the Future, not the entire television series, right?

isn't johnny mnemonic mostly set in NEWARK? I'm from Newark. Don't make any ponderous, horribly written dystopic movies about Newark.

Dark City: great set-up, shite final act. Gets points for trying though. It tosses very similar ideas about that the Matrix would a few years later.

i know i shouldnt but for some reason i need to vote for EVENT HORIZON

I can't believe people are non-jokingly saying they liked Johnny Mnemonic and Dark City and Strange Days and '90s sci-fi ect ect.

Contact, obv., but what do you mean 'fiction'?

yeah actually, fucking contact ruled. i must've missed it on the list the first time around.

i always confuse species and mimic.

-- Jordan, Friday, March 28, 2008 3:34 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

one has TITS

the scifi aspect of Conatct was Foster & McBongos being into each other

contact was a dope movie

i liked it but i didn't like it.

McBongos!

Contact = gripping cheeseball

how is Dark City bad anyway? i can't remember anything that wrong with it

i liked it but i didn't like mathew mcdingus

it's a bit dull

I'm forgainst it.

yeah, that and the horrible forrest gump-style news footage parts.

if it's not on teevee, it didn't happen

lol @ old people bitching about how the 1980s were so much better for science fiction

got nothing to do with being old. I think the 80s were a nadir of cinema in general. 70s and 90s were much more interesting, just not when it comes to sci-fi.

species is a really weird cheesy movie but i like it.

species was a favorite of all my male high school friends

it really is the perfect straight teenage male movie

monsters and tits=win-win

Was that the one where a naked woman space monster kills people or something?

yes.

it's also got forest whitaker as a useless psychic

haha yes he "feels things strongly"

also marg helgenberger as a horny scientist<3

Forest Whitaker is kinda like Samuel Jackson, he's been in every possible sort of movie imaginable.

I always heard about his memorable role in The Crying Game, but never got around to seeing it until last night. Wow, he can play female astonishingly well.

Speaking of useless psychics, where is PHENOMENON with John Travolta?

And Forest Whitaker (!)

Contact is the Gone With The Wind of radio telescope movies. Parts of it I like quite a bit, but there's way too much science vs. religion hectoring in the way and idiot stunt casting with Rob Lowe and McConaughey as something other than an excitable stoner.

Anyway, in the radio telescope sweepstakes The Arrival is way superior to Contact even with Charlie Sheen as the lead.

Contact is the Gone With The Wind of radio telescope movies.

lol

McConaughey as something other than an excitable stoner

you sure?

i have seen all of these except for the arrival and virus and only saw abt 15 min of virtuosity. which is kind of sad b/c i wld like to be able to watch more new 90s sci-fi movies. i will go to the 80s thread.

I've seen all but a handful of these and while I do give high props to a few like Starship Troopers (Verhoeven rules) and Fifth Element (Milla + Moebius=awesome), the only movie that really stands out on this list as bringing something new and lasting to the table is Ghost in the Shell. That gets my vote.

The Matrix is garbage. I promise that's not "willful contrarianism" either. It's simply the honest in-theater reaction of a lifelong scifi devotee who does not believe recycled materials are more palatable after they've been shellacked, mirror-shaded, trench-coated, or karate-kicked. I see nothing redeeming about it.

BTW, The Phantom Menace is from 1999 and is better than 3/4 of that list...

Doh, it's on there. Nevermind!

:)

Screamers is really underrated.

ban nate carson

BTW, The Phantom Menace is from 1999 and is better than 3/4 of that list...

-- Nate Carson, Saturday, March 29, 2008 7:15 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Link

^^^ bonkers.

paedo

that is like totally certifiable though for real

recycled materials ARE more palatable after they've been shellacked, mirror-shaded, trench-coated, or karate-kicked.

probably still go 12 monkeys though.

Pi was fucking shit and you all know it.

I saw Æon (<3 my ligz) Flux last night and it was kinda meh but I think it would have dated so poorly if had been made.... say 6 months after the Matrix was released.

I'm not going to rep for Waterworld being great or anything but the first act of the movie (up through the escape from the city under seige I think) is fucking great and justified the budget if the rest of the movie was as cool. The moment where the ramp is put in place for the water skiers to JUMP THE CITY WALL is a whoalolwtfomg.

Why do I dislike Contact so much? (Every movie is see Jodie Foster in lowers my opinon of her so much).

Also, I think Goldeneye was a sci-fi movie and should be here.

it wasn't and tough bananas

http://www.confusednation.com/images/boris.jpg

WHAT

I wonder if IMDB "plot keywords" has "villain defeated by freezing"

These four are unbeatable:

Dark City (Ya Ebert did commentary on DVD, it was the exact movie that I got a DVD player for)
Ghost In The Shell
Cube
The Iron Giant

Fun and stupid:
Star Trek: First Contact
City Of Lost Children (that choker the girl had on made me feel icky feelings)
Alien: Resurrection
Strange Days

I just want to say that Star Trek: Insurrection was execrable.

What happened to the Dark City director's cut, btw?

if im the only one who votes eXistenZ im taking ilx down w/my worldwide spambot zombie computer network

The Phantom Menace is from 1999 and is better than 3/4 of that list

1/6 of that movie is 2/3 better than 1/8 of that list.

although starship troopers 5th element 12 monkeys city of lost children total recall and mars attacks are all fine films in their own right

waterworld is really bad but it was actually pretty amazing to look at on the big screen. it totally loses any impact it might have had when viewed on tv, though.

guys i love starship troopers too but it's massively blunt entertainment.

no, cheech & chong is massively blunt entertainment.

starship troopers is just awesome.

or by blunt do you mean emily, because she's not in that movie

The universal love of Matrix and hatred of Phantom Menace are popular trends that I just can't go along with. Sorry if I sounded bitter about it. I'm not.

:)

it totally loses any impact it might have had when viewed on tv, though.

perhaps you mean it's not the same on tv if you've seen it on the big screen. the experience of someone who sees something on tv for the first time might not be shared by the person who saw it on the big screen first.

Waterworld sucked ffs.

i am speaking broadly, here

i said it was a bad movie!

the visuals looked nice on the big screen was all i said, sheesh

http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/4696/terminator2judgmentdayplp7.jpg

The best action film and the best sci fi film of the 90s in one, and it's not even on the list!

I don't like T2 either. Ha.

No Hackers no Credibility. WEll, it's not science fiction proper, but still it would win!

WEll, it's not science fiction proper, but still it would win!

No it wouldn't. Sneakers would place ahead of it.

I want to vote for Southland Tales, which went 10 years back in time and now qualifies for the 1990s science fiction poll.

Which shit Star Trek flick has Picard & Worf singing Gilbert & Sullivan to distract a rogue Data? I've seen that scene at least 3 times while channel surfing this past month, and woo boy Frakes is a motherfucker.

see you at the party richter

DG otm, although somehow I can't quite make myself put my chips on Total Recall. It would come down to these

Alien Resurrection
City Of Lost Children
Jurassic Park
Men in Black
Pi
The Matrix
Total Recall

...as the ones I've seen the most or which have made the firmest impressions on my imagination. Unfortunately, even with that being said, I've fallen asleep twice trying to watch City Of Lost Children, MIB viewings drop to 1 if you don't count it was on TBS while I was bored at work, I'm not sure I would enjoy Pi as much if I saw it again, and I am not willing to put a vote in for The Matrix because I basically resent the whole enterprise, etc etc...

Let's face it, Jurassic Park is the awesomest thing on here, but its sci-fi cred seems shaky at best...a vote for it is like breaking the picket line, because if it's here, T2 should be here, and if we're counting that kind of movie, T2 is the best science fiction movie of the 1990s. So, uh, I guess I'm voting for Total Recall, mainly because I once sampled "Get your ass to Mars!" for a hot club traxkk.

so many great movies, too hard to choose.

pi
city of the lost children
dark city
12 monkeys
jurassic park (i had terrible fucking dinosaur-invading-my-city nightmares afterwards)

haven't seen galaxy quest but it must be worth it for featuring sam rockwell - dude is awesome in everything he does.

pi, another movie I've never understood the love for.

pi's ok. it's still darren aronofsky's best movie, sadly.

the fountain is one the emptiest pieces of shit i've ever seen

Pi is very concept-heavy, but I think it's a great film. Also, I like how - despite all the (pseudo)scientific stuff - it's ultimately about obsession and coming to terms with it.

hmm think i'll watch it again this week, been ages and i've only seen it once. I'll give it another go.

And I agree that it's still Aronofsky's best film. The Fountain had lots of promise, but ultimately its high-minded themes sorta swallowed the humanity of the story, unlike in Pi. Gotta give props for him though for even trying to integrate that sort of stuff into a mainstream film.

(x-post)

pi is a comedy

What do you mean?

Pi is okay - definitely his "best" fwiw. A number of annoying things about tho, especially the copout ending.

I mean it's funny, xp

Gattaca very very very very very very much better than any other film on list.

It's arguably the most sci-fi, in that the plot and concept are very closely bound together. Maybe eXistenZ could challenge it in this respect.

I like eXistenZ too, but it suffers from lame obvious twist ending syndrome.

Gattaca is terrible and boring - what do you think was so great about it?

I don't think it's boring. It's cleverly plotted and and very tense in places.

Jude Law is all I liked about it (plus Gore Vidal cameo)

I think it's good and fascinating - what do you think was so bad about it?

Now that we've gotten the so-vague-you-can-barely-even-call-them-generalities out of the way, I have to admit it's been years since I've seen it, but here goes.

I remember the acting being really good, and the characters' motivations being clear and believable. I thought Vidal was especially decent, considering he's not even usually considered an actor. I really like the whole look of the thing - it was nice and indefinite about when and where the story took place, but could plausibly have been an alternate present or past or future. The premise is plausible enough and speaks to extremely common thoughts: genetic futzing is just the next level up from plastic surgery and playing Mozart to your baby to make it smarter. Plus Uma Thurman is hot.

ecks pee

re: Gattaca - honestly I remember very little of substance about it (beyond not liking it) as I only saw it once about 5 years ago. I do like Jude Law, but I remember not being particularly engaged by the conflicts central to the plot, it seemed more lanquid than tense. Not sure if it had anything more nuanced or interesting to say than "genetic engineering = bad/old fashioned hard work and grit = good", which is sorta "meh" as far as sci-fi morals go.

i agree

I wouldn't say that Galaxy Quest is the best SciFi film on the list, but it's easily the most entertaining flick on it. Great replay value, many classic moments, and Sigourney's blonde wig.

Are we going to do an 00s scifi movie poll? Because I'm voting for PRIMER in that one.

00s winner = Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

we should. can always do it again in three years.

Good one, Shakey. I dunno if I can come up with anything better.

children of men could probably take it, if it counts.

idiocracy

cloverfield!

ooh yeah Children of Men would def. be near the top

Children of Men, definately.

http://images.cafepress.com/product/71607441v4_240x240_Front_Color-AshGrey.jpg

City of Lost Children
Dark City
Gattaca
Starship Troopers
Matrix
Total Recall

had to go with Ghost in the Shell, though. I watched it about 800 times in middle school.

I also agree that Gattaca is way better than a lot of folks gave it credit. It's one of those movies that probably should have failed, but it was so slick/elegant that it pulled off a minor (understated) miracle.

It came down to "Naked Lunch" and "Total Recall" for me - but I voted for "Total Recall" since it seems more sci-fi.

voting 'Postman' because i was an extra in it.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Gattaca is on Five US tonight folks

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

How many folks who voted Total Recall have read the 10 page story it's based on?

2

everyone who voted is now REQUIRED to watch their vote again within the next week

you may apologize at any time

Men in Black with 3 too many votes.

you with apparently one too many chickens to admit what the fuck you voted for

Starship Troopers 13

uh, pardon?

what a fantastically boring way to make your point

http://i28.tinypic.com/vq5cic.gif

more movies should be directed by crazed, pervy dutchmen

el tomboto why you so sparky?

Escape from la - 1 too many votes.

and shit i forgot to watch Gattaca

Starship Troopers is great as one-off satirical joke (Verhoeven gets a big budget to make a war film, but he actually makes it into an over-the-top satire of Hollywood war films), but it doesn't really have that much depth. I guess you could argue that the lack of depth is exactly what makes it a satire, but as much as I appreciate Verhoeven for actually pull that shit off, I don't think it's the best sci-fi film of the decade.

"pulling that shit off"

ste, my tough love inspires the best in folks. I mean it ought not to need a repost but on the other hand it deserves one:
http://i28.tinypic.com/vq5cic.gif

and really that's all kerm. thank you, kerm. whether I agree or not.

Total Recall is on ITV1 Saturday night, 10.30pm

wtf are you people thinking, Total Recall is awful

I imagine there's a lot of "THREE TITTAYZ!" votes in there.

no way its all about Kuato and "Two Weeks" AND the three titties

I saw it in the theatre with my good friend ellis dee and it was pretty flipped out. oooopen yooour miiiind.... oooopen yooour miiiind....

http://www.latexmaskcentral.com/images/Archives/Kuato_3100thumb.jpg

however I have to believe there are better movies on this list, I just haven't sen them...

If I'm not me ... who the hell am I?

Men in Black with 3 too many votes.

-- Sparkle Motion, Friday, April 4, 2008 2:01 AM (9 hours ago)

^^ straight bullshit, this movie is brilliant. exact same themes as the matrix but with 1mx more clarity and daring.

ps i don't think i voted in this

i voted for event horizon and it didnt show up!!!!!!!!!!!!

That top 3 was the only possible top 3.

Statistics says you wrong.

don't blame me, I voted for Demolition Man

it warms my heart that so many movies got votes. kinda wish someone had repped for stargate, though.

Stargate should've been more like The Mummy in space

cronenberg was attached to total recall for a long time

Stargate is a bunch of racist claptrap

how so?

FIRST CONTACT deserved a vote

feminized black male villain, primarily. but all the Egyptian gods = evil bloodsuckers really irritates me in general and could be interpreted as classic European Judeo-Christianity vs. them evil heathen Africans malarkey.

x-post

or maybe I've just listened to too many Sun Ra and X-Clan records

> maybe I've just listened to too many Sun Ra and X-Clan records

Can't be done.

you're talking about 300, right?

xp

I didn't see 300 - altho I'm plenty familiar with Frank Miller's deeply embedded racism from his comics

you with apparently one too many chickens to admit what the fuck you voted for

While it's true that only cowards cut and run, I merely forgot to admit that I neglected to vote in this poll. I didn't really like any of the movies on it that much, save Starship Troopers & Galaxy Quest.

Though I guess I'd vote for Starship, I more or less agree with Tuomas' take on the movie... so I'm continuing to abstain. Except to say that MIB was lousy and I assume the sequel was lousier.

several movies on this list don't live up to the promise of their premise. I enjoyed the first 45 minutes or so of the matrix until it devolved into dopey gunplay. total recall would've been better without the nasty schwarznegger/verhoeven aftertaste. the island of dr moreau had a lot of potential - brando's perf in that is the right kind of bonkers, but the production problems are evident in the final film.

several movies on this list don't live up to the promise of their premise.

That's probably true of most of these movies, if not most movies in general. I had the same experience with Total Recall-- even as a dopey teenager I wondered what happened to the cool story they had been developing as Michael Ironsides' arms were being ripped off.

nasty schwarznegger/verhoeven aftertaste

does not compute

feminized black male villain, primarily. but all the Egyptian gods = evil bloodsuckers really irritates me in general and could be interpreted as classic European Judeo-Christianity vs. them evil heathen Africans malarkey.

generally sympathetic to this kind of view but the movie is a little trickier than that -- the aliens lose in the end but their version of history is presented as true. they did kick off human civilization, after all; european christendom is a descendent of alien-egyptian bloodsuckery. awz!!

Who's the other bro that voted for Jurassic Park?

I don't know why, but moreso than films on the 80s and 70s sci-fi polls the good ideas in these films come off as squandered

xpost

Johnny Mnemonic 2
Screamers 2
Star Trek: Generations 2
Strange Days 1
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 1
Species II 1
Demolition Man 1
Escape From L.A. 1

You guys, you crack me up! Every time!

Does nobody else vote for what they've watched the most?

I did

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

this is totally a good movie! def better than a bunch of the other ST films.

nasty schwarznegger/verhoeven aftertaste

does not compute

I dunno, it's the testosterone laden "dude, it's so cool to shoot people! funny even!" vibe. sci-fi movies are more interesting to me when they're not so deadset on being action films.

then there's this note on wikipedia

On the commentary both Verhoeven and Schwarzenegger himself share commentary; at every point Schwarzenegger disagrees with Verhoeven on the meaning of the ending. Schwartzenegger takes the view that the film is reality; Verhoeven that it is a dream.

I might like total recall more if it didn't continually reinforce schwarzenegger's take on the ending.

You wanted Douglas McQuaid to pay for an implanted vacation where he sat around calmly contemplating reality?

that's what i'd do, probably. that and get laid, a lot.

yeah, STVI is awesome. kirk getting it done in prison: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NakVKX3sfE

Does nobody else vote for what they've watched the most?

most watchable doesn't always mean best. I've seen the road warrior way more times than 2001 but I wouldn't say it's the better movie.

that said, I wouldn't want to see most of the movies on this list a second time, except in a "did the matrix really suck as badly as I remember? cause all these people are soooo into it."

You wanted Douglas McQuaid to pay for an implanted vacation where he sat around calmly contemplating reality?

call me crazy but if cronenberg had directed it the movie might be slightly different

I dunno, it's the testosterone laden "dude, it's so cool to shoot people! funny even!" vibe. sci-fi movies are more interesting to me when they're not so deadset on being action films.

I hear where you're coming from, but I think Total Recall balances the over-the-top action and the sci-fi mindfuck stuff way better than most movies.

I would've loved to see the Cronenberg version, though.

"there's an old vulcan saying: only Nixon could go to China"

x-post

supposedly cronenberg did like 13 drafts of the total recall screenplay and de laurentis shot down every one

did the matrix really suck as badly as I remember?

yes

"not everyone keeps their genitals in the same place, captain."

most watchable doesn't always mean best.

Sure, sure. But for a 90s sci-fi movie poll? The good ideas come off as squandered because you stayed away through the whole thing.

Total Recall does not seem particularly better than The Matrix

I've seen the road warrior way more times than 2001 but I wouldn't say it's the better movie.

i would!

Total Recall does not seem particularly better than The Matrix

-- blueski, Friday, April 4, 2008 6:08 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

so rong

I somehow feel better about my vote for Total Recall now that it won. I mean, it bears repeating once again: "SEE YOU AT THE PARTY RICHTER!"

"Take the thing outta the case - an stick it up your nose"

eXistenZ did nothing that wasn't covered better in Videodrome, apart from the restaurant bit. Also nerdz :(

SEE YOU AT THE PARTY RICHTER

FALLHOPCHEWUS

Man, I finally saw Tank Girl a while back and it's seriously one of the worst movies of its kind I've ever seen. Can't imagine anyone would have voted for it if it was on here. I mean, this is ILX but still, what a labored, jumpy, over-long, hokey boring mess.

"not everyone keeps their genitals in the same place, captain."

― Jordan, Friday, April 4, 2008 6:04 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lolled so hard at this circa age 9.

Man, I finally saw Tank Girl a while back and it's seriously one of the worst movies of its kind I've ever seen. Can't imagine anyone would have voted for it if it was on here. I mean, this is ILX but still, what a labored, jumpy, over-long, hokey boring mess.

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, September 16, 2012 11:52 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I can now make basically the same post about "Lost In Space," which unquestionably earned its exclusion from this poll. Holy shit. Probably worse than Tank Gir. It's similarly leaden, admittedly minus the "attitude," but with reallllly annoying kid characters, horrible CGI, a needlessly drawn-out plot, sets and costumes that all look the same, and Gary Oldman in unrepentant ham mode plus more bad CGI to turn him into Evil Future Gary Oldman. Matt LeBlanc's enormous jackets do more acting than he does, Heather Graham and Mimi Rogers do nothing at all, and there's a fucking glowing CGI monkey that looks like a reject from the Honeycomb commercials. Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Heather Graham and Mimi Rogers do nothing at all

would watch this tbh

You say this now...

i think i saw that movie when i was like 10

twelve. as a twelve year old primed to like that sort of thing even if it was awful, i liked it, i guess

Let me amend: Heather Graham has a terrrrrrrible romance with Matt LeBlanc wherein he keeps being Bozo Macho Guy hitting on her over and over and she's not interested....then at the end, they kiss! Mimi Rogers I think talks to William Hurt a few times, tells the kids to be careful, and gets one "you go girl!" speech.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6hgSmco4R9M/SYuDsnzguVI/AAAAAAAAARs/kNyS9M5wQQE/22_SpiderSmith_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800

Monster Smith: Poor, poor boy. Did you think that I would let you go? After all that I have become? Look at me. I am no mere man.

[He takes off the clothes covering him to reveal a spider/human figure]

Monster Smith: I am a god. Within these eggsacks lives a monster race of spiders. We shall descend upon helpless Earth. An entire planet on which to rule. An entire planet on which to feed! Time to die, "son."

Older Will: I'm not your son!

i imagine i was like: cool, a monster race of spiders

Solitary posts that effortlessly define the spirit of being 12.

i think i'm still 12 tbh

i love tank girl except for the last ~20 minutes but lol yeah lost in space

the space teenage girl's space diary

alarmingly, she may have invented vlogging

i feel like there aren't any good SF movies that aren't primarily some other kind of movie

i... bypassed his primary operating system... and... accessed his subroutines!

WHY IS THIS IN MY MIND

http://images.wikia.com/lostinspace/images/c/ce/LIS_Penny_Robinson.jpg

and that little girl grew up to be...

http://rossmaurramblings.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/that-is-so-fetch.png

!

was pretty into her ragged space hair at 11 not gonna lie

you were hit by.... SPACE PUNK

seriously though, every single thing about the space kids in the movie just made me wish i was watching SpyKids instead

would watch a movie called Space Kids

reminds me I need to finish Solar Babies at some point

would probably have voted jurassic park btw but there is a lot of good stuff here. total recall a deserving #1. starship troopers is better in theory than practice but i love the bland perky soap actors and WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE? the iron giant is sorta breathtaking. i hated the shit out of pi in high school but haven't seen it since. (i do not remember it being the kind of movie i am likely to appreciate more at 25 than 15.) glad that System, wise+tasteful as ever, put dark city above the matrix even tho they ostensibly tied.

dark city gains mad retroactive points for not having any sequels

demolition man is awkward but this line is ~important~ to me: "do you really long for chaos and disharmony? your fascination with the vulgar 20th century seems to be affecting your judgment!"

the majority of movies that are bad on this list are still so much more fun than they would have been a decade later

And yet so much less fun than they would have been a decade earlier, or maybe that's just me. There's something about 90s production values and Hollywood script-tinkering that really dulls up a lot of these for me, can't put my finger on it but everything just feels lamer.

talking mainly about the 1- and 0-vote movies here, though

possibly- thinking that maybe they dont't even get made in the 00's, idk why

cuz they're not set in the marvel universe

imagine a chris nolan demolition man zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

well we'd know exactly what the seashells are for

10/10

marvel universe movies are so boring imo. they're 'entertaining' and spectacle-wise they're a step forward in some ways but conceptually i think they're a couple steps backwards.

Agreed, they're well-executed stories with no scope for exploration or question

Yeah, they're fun yarns but that's it. This is why the Fantastic Four films (admittedly not Marvel Studios productions as I understand things) are such a huge letdown and waste of time - they're the main "sci-fi" superhero franchise and would have been a great venue for brain-bending journeys into the outer reaches of the technical imaginary. Instead they were mostly people throwing CGI rocks around if I remember correctly.

That's what's so depressing about the Star Trek reboots, they seem to have decided that any plot more sophisticated than "sole megalomaniacal humanoid character out for REVENGE" won't have enough scope for crowd pleasing CGI explosions.

lost in space has some cool designwork on the spaceship and robot iirc. i dont remember anything else about it

feel like i would vote for existenz right now

feel like defending the marvel universe movies but also i don't really give that much of one, so

Lost in Space is one of the few movies that I will never tire of expressing my hate for

It came around that special age where I realized that most of the big flashy movies i was getting excited for were terrible.

aw, Contact with 0

it's definitely got the best message of all these films, even if it's a little too vehemently anti-religion.

anyway, The Matrix is obviously the best one here. Starship Troopers isn't remotely sci-fi, it's an action parody

Jurassic Park also very great

isnt remotely sci-fi, eh

in its content maybe but not its form

Just because it's intentionally over-the-top doesn't prevent it from being sci-fi.

ya, there is nothing remotely sci-fi about a movie that tells the story of an intergalactic war with space bugs

how did it even get on this list... must have been some filing mistake with the 90s action parody poll

lol

leaving it in here and leaving out terminator 2 is wilful inconsistency but I guess that's threadstarter's prerogative

now that must actually be some kind of mistake

tombot despises terminator 2 iirc

In movies sci-fi isn't a form the way horror or comedy or drama are. Content is what makes sci-fi sci-fi.

For example Alien is a sci-fi movie in content but a horror movie in form, Blade Runner is sort of a neo-noir,
Wall-E is sci-fi played as an animated family adventure movie. Most successful sci-fi movies are action adventure in form.

I guess.

anyway, poor Contact, eh?

I guess.

nice work lb *high fives as i skate past u*

lol

IF I MAY, to my understanding science-fiction speculates hard abt possible scientific advances/discoveries and the implications of these. Starship Troopers speculates hard abt militarism and propaganda, which are very much part of the world as we know it. This probably makes someone like Philip K Dick as much a writer of contemporary dramas as of science-fiction. Haven't gotten this all worked out obviously and you're just as valid claiming that space-bugs = sci-fi

science-fiction speculates hard abt possible scientific advances/discoveries and the implications of these.

no this is just what 'hard scifi' is

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_science_fiction

tbf tbf I think it's arrogant to say what's 'scientifically possible' given we don't know shit about our universe & possibly never will

except caek obvs

well... all of a life is a 'fiction' if u think abt it.

they shd just be called science movies rly

also all sci-fi is about 'now' if u think about it

2001 a space odyssey is a period piece!

http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/pta-disband.gif

The Island of Doctor Moreau: Somehow, weirdly, better than I expected? Brando in IDGAF mode is basically hilarious (and at times seems to be channeling Ian McDiarmid's Emperor!), Kilmer trying to act like a guy going crazy comes off as appealingly goofy, and it's always kind of a pleasant surprise to watch one of these 90s sci-fi movies where, whatever else might be going wrong, at least the sets and costumes and props are made of stuff. Thing doesn't look cheap anyhow.

The biggest problems have to do with the underworked plot and Thewlis's character, who for half the movie has no one to talk to and no clear immediate goals he's working towards. Probably also needed a more fundamental reconsideration at the level of, who really cares about human-animal hybrids (GWB aside)? Just not a really fundamental fear in 1996. They should have pushed the body-horror angle, maybe had one throwaway character who we get to know, who then wakes up and looks down and finds that Brando has replaced their hands with lobster claws, or something. It could be more like Saw. Once it gets to the rebelling-monsters stuff, we're in Planet of the Apes territory and it's just hard to get that worked up about it.

But, come on:

http://media.sfx.co.uk/files/2012/02/Fashion-moreau.png

Is he wearing a Flava Flav clock y/n?

no, but movie would be improved measurably by reworking brando as the hype-man for his little person buddy

http://www.standbyformindcontrol.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/moreau.jpg?9d7bd4

Also just rewatched Waterworld, which I can't say has gotten any better or any worse. Now that the budget is no longer some unprecedented absurdity it plays a little better, though you still just see money washing around in every shot - so many sets, so many explosions, so much stuff. I liked that about it really. Costner's character is still a hateful, alien bastard to whom it's impossible to relate - I think I admire that more now, since it's so clearly not driven by any kind of commercial instinct or Screenwriting 101 rules. Lavish career suicide. Everyone else is just kind of ...there. Dennis Hopper chews his lines up but he's just the tip of the goofiness iceberg in a movie that never really explains how this flooded world works. Sorta seems like Hopper's gang of Mad Max jet-ski bandits would have pretty much killed everybody off by now. So I guess as a "science fiction movie" it's basically a failure, but it's pretty good-looking I'd say.

omg y'all strange days is so horrible, just watched, kind of stunned at how long and stupid and self-congratulatory and gratuitous it was. just ugly and unpleasant and gesturing at all kinds of areas where it could Say Something, but not saying it.

oh wait there's a whole thread for that, nevermind

this week's dud: The Lawnmower Man. yikes, the CGI... but really the problem is the hodgepodge plot, a mangle of Dreamscape, Flowers For Algernon, a Tron type deal I guess, needlessly cluttered up by the religious angle and the evil military guys. Was this awesome if you saw it when it came out and you were 12?

no

Freejack 0

Had to actually see these results just now to remember that I actually saw this movie. In the theatre.

saw /johnny mnemonic/ and /virtuosity/ as a double feature the other night, part of anthology film archives's "1995: the year the internet broke" series. the context, and the crowd, massively improved johnny m, which is still a mess but a pretty lovable one. at least it's trying to cram in as many crazy ideas and characters as possible, even if it's at the expense of having a satisfying studio-movie narrative. Virtuosity is terrible, mostly enjoyably so but there's some half-baked prison violence and police brutality stuff near the beginning that kinda takes it away from being just a sloshy good-time bad movie. crowe and washington are giving it 100% at least.

i was pretty harsh on /strange days/ upthread. i've been convinced it's a way more interesting film than i gave it credit for and really should give it a rewatch.

Demolition Man 1

I think this might have been me

i was pretty harsh on /strange days/ upthread. i've been convinced it's a way more interesting film than i gave it credit for and really should give it a rewatch.

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 8 March 2020 19:59 (four weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

you werent, you shouldn't be, it isnt, you shouldnt

this week's dud: The Lawnmower Man. yikes, the CGI... but really the problem is the hodgepodge plot, a mangle of Dreamscape, Flowers For Algernon, a Tron type deal I guess, needlessly cluttered up by the religious angle and the evil military guys. Was this awesome if you saw it when it came out and you were 12?

LOL, I was actually 12 when this came out and, no, it definitely wasn't awesome.

wow, i've forgotten most of the stuff about that movie that i mentioned in that post.

good decision

omg y'all strange days is so horrible, just watched, kind of stunned at how long and stupid and self-congratulatory and gratuitous it was. just ugly and unpleasant and gesturing at all kinds of areas where it could Say Something, but not saying it.

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, February 18, 2015 11:23 PM (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink

i like strange days a lot but hard for me to say any aspect of this post is wrong

I don’t think I’d vote for it on a best sci-fi poll, but Galaxy Quest is easily the best film on this list in terms of quality.

not sure there's an "easily the best" option under any heading meself tbh, several movies here i love and think are really strong efforts

Considered watching 12 Monkeys the other day (don't think I've seen it since its theatrical release), remembered the plot, revised my consideration.

I do not care about 90% of these but Galaxy Quest is grebt.

A TS: Postman vs. Waterworld might be interesting. But for me it would come down to Olivia Williams vs. Jeanne Tripplehorn, and that would be sad because they are both dear to me. Terrible movies, of course.

so many bad opinions itt

mh, are you saying that you liked Waterworld?

sorry for the monday morning negativity

there are also so many good opinions itt

Galaxy Quest is indeed great

Strange Days is terrible, just like p much every other Kat Bigelow movie

I saw Lawnmower Man *in the theater*. It is also awful.

I think at the time i was still mildly curious about the potential of this newfangled CGI stuff

If you've seen the (yes, completely awful) film The Lawnmower Man but have yet to read the Stephen King short story 'The Lawnmower Man', I would suggest that you do so ASAP. Never has Hollywood more faithfully adapted an existing work. It's almost eerie.

I saw most of these when they came out, and for the most part, not since then. I have to go with my memory of how psyched I was upon exiting the theater I'd vote for Jurassic Park, though I'm baffled as to why T2 is not on the list.