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Okay, so while I was picking out a tune on the guitar last night, the movie "Event Horizon" came on the SciFi Channel. I usually avoid the stuff on this channel, as it's either bad horror flicks or cheesy sci-fi flicks made for the channel (I'm sorry, I can't get into the new "Battlestar Galactica"), but the production values on this movie were pretty high, and hey, Larry Fishburne! And Sam Neill. How bad could it be?

Yeah, you guessed it -- it got bad fast. Just like SO MANY science fiction movies, they relied on the theme of alien possession/madness that got started with "2001" and hasn't stopped since. Lame. Either the crew (it's always a crew, damn that "Star Trek"!) gets taken over by an invisible alien entity or the machines turn on the humans.

No wonder most people think SF is crap -- look at the movies that come out that are mostly miserable attempts at storytelling.

So as research, I started a list of recent SF flicks to watch, starting with "Event Horizon." I want to see where these movies go wrong (and also see what they do RIGHT).

I'm looking for space-based stuff, not Earth-based. So forget "Sphere" and "The Abyss" and "The Thing" (is all movie SF mixed with horror?). And no "space fantasy" like "Star Wars" or "Trek" or the freaking "Ice Pirates"!

Surely we SF writers can do better.

Here's my list of the good, bad, and ugly:

"Event Horizon
"Mission to Mars"
"Red Planet"
"2001" and "2010"
"Pitch Black" (the early stuff's in space)
"Earth 2" (the early stuff, when it comes out on DVD)
all five "Aliens" movies
"Apollo 13"

Along with the movies being set somewhere in space, I'm also interested in stuff from the last 25 years or so. Sorry, but many of the "classic" SF movies are just so damn dated-looking I can't watch 'em (though "2001" holds up pretty well, except for the space stewardesses!). I'd like to take some of the cool aspects from these movies and zig where these (mostly bad) movies zagged.

Surely there are more recent, space-based SF movies out there on DVD. Anyone know of some more? Thanks, and later...


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Previous Entry :: Next Entry Mood: inspired Read/Post Comments (22) Share on Facebook		2005-04-01 5:54 AM Fun, Sometimes Painful Research Okay, so while I was picking out a tune on the guitar last night, the movie "Event Horizon" came on the SciFi Channel. I usually avoid the stuff on this channel, as it's either bad horror flicks or cheesy sci-fi flicks made for the channel (I'm sorry, I can't get into the new "Battlestar Galactica"), but the production values on this movie were pretty high, and hey, Larry Fishburne! And Sam Neill. How bad could it be? Yeah, you guessed it -- it got bad fast. Just like SO MANY science fiction movies, they relied on the theme of alien possession/madness that got started with "2001" and hasn't stopped since. Lame. Either the crew (it's always a crew, damn that "Star Trek"!) gets taken over by an invisible alien entity or the machines turn on the humans. No wonder most people think SF is crap -- look at the movies that come out that are mostly miserable attempts at storytelling. So as research, I started a list of recent SF flicks to watch, starting with "Event Horizon." I want to see where these movies go wrong (and also see what they do RIGHT). I'm looking for space-based stuff, not Earth-based. So forget "Sphere" and "The Abyss" and "The Thing" (is all movie SF mixed with horror?). And no "space fantasy" like "Star Wars" or "Trek" or the freaking "Ice Pirates"! Surely we SF writers can do better. Here's my list of the good, bad, and ugly: "Event Horizon "Mission to Mars" "Red Planet" "2001" and "2010" "Pitch Black" (the early stuff's in space) "Earth 2" (the early stuff, when it comes out on DVD) all five "Aliens" movies "Apollo 13" Along with the movies being set somewhere in space, I'm also interested in stuff from the last 25 years or so. Sorry, but many of the "classic" SF movies are just so damn dated-looking I can't watch 'em (though "2001" holds up pretty well, except for the space stewardesses!). I'd like to take some of the cool aspects from these movies and zig where these (mostly bad) movies zagged. Surely there are more recent, space-based SF movies out there on DVD. Anyone know of some more? Thanks, and later... Read/Post Comments (22) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top