The 1990s science fiction movie poll

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!

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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:

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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.