Sci-fi / Fantasy films

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For fans of sci-fi/fantasy films, do you like the current types of films being released.

What are some things you liked about earlier generations of sci-fi/fantasy films which are no longer done in films today

What are some things in modern sci-fi/fantasy films which you like or dislike.

If you had to revamp or revolutionise films in these genres, what would you change and why.

What are some of your all time favorite sci-fi/fantasy films.
 
Carrie said:
For fans of sci-fi/fantasy films, do you like the current types of films being released.

What are some things you liked about earlier generations of sci-fi/fantasy films which are no longer done in films today

What are some things in modern sci-fi/fantasy films which you like or dislike.

If you had to revamp or revolutionise films in these genres, what would you change and why.

What are some of your all time favorite sci-fi/fantasy films.
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my chief complaint is that they rely so heavily on impressing viewers with special effects that they ignore the finer parts of the movie.
character development is a big deal to me, and in many of the sci fi films this is put by the wayside. i'm also tired of the creatures depicted as aliens. yawn central. monsters in space - indeed.
as for fantasy, this is a bit better. still, relying on special effects over solid directing and character development.
 
JGirl said:
my chief complaint is that they rely so heavily on impressing viewers with special effects that they ignore the finer parts of the movie.
character development is a big deal to me, and in many of the sci fi films this is put by the wayside. i'm also tired of the creatures depicted as aliens. yawn central. monsters in space - indeed.
as for fantasy, this is a bit better. still, relying on special effects over solid directing and character development.
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I always enjoyed fantasy films where the main character went on a personal journey of growth and discovery, where they'd meet different people and learn something along the way. I like special effects but not when it's overdone and takes away from the overall story. I like when it's neatly integrated in the story line and adds to the story rather than becomes the entire focus of the film. This is why the Eye of Sauron in LOTR or the gollum were so successful because they were characters in the story, and not the entire point of the story. The Eye was an awesome visual effect.

tumblr_ljfk65tKLi1qgeyd8o1_500.gif
 
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I often watch science fiction, but not as devoted as my nerd friends. Concerning fantasy: doesn't interest me that much, though I have seen major productions such as Lord of the Rings. I think what I don't like about fantasy films is that it is so imagined and unreal. At least with science fiction (I'm not talking about Star Wars, but the classic ones such as 1984 or Brave New World) there's still the aspect of politics and technology.

And I think that is what I like about the old sci-fi: that they deal with the politics of technology. Nowadays, it's more about gadgets and visual effects. I'd also draw a line between film sci-fi and television sci-fi. The latter is absolutely horrible.

I have some ideas for science fiction. One thing I'd like to experiment with is science fiction in a setting such as Lars von Trier's "Dogville" or perhaps an "away team" in a "Waiting for Godot" setting.
 
Carrie said:
For fans of sci-fi/fantasy films, do you like the current types of films being released.
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The sci-fi films done for the big screen often leave out plot and character development in favor of special effects. oth - the fantasy films are spectacularly rich with plot/characterisation and the special effects add to overall enjoyment for me. Case in point: Avatar. While many would say it is a Sci-Fi story - I maintain that ultimately it was Fantasy because so much emphasis was placed upon the Spiritual connection with all life on the planet.
Sci-Fi tends towards cold and metallic.

What are some things you liked about earlier generations of sci-fi/fantasy films which are no longer done in films today
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Back then the lack of special effects caused the shows to have more plot (even though it was hard to believe).


What are some of your all time favorite sci-fi/fantasy films.
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LOTR [duh...I'm sure you couldn't guess :tongue:]

The Fifth Element ...."What is this Love? How do I know it's real? I love you Leelou"....[saves the world...kiss...the end].

Sigh.... I'm a sucker for a good story where love saves the world. Gosh I'm such a nerd....:lol:
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I love them all, at least the first time I watch them. Cheesy, poorly written...blah blah blah. I am always willing to watch them....but they have to be somewhat appealing to me before I buy them. However, I don't fall into becoming any sort of rabid fan. I love LOTR but never saw any of them on the big screen.

I also love horror movies. Same deal as above.

Edit: One of my early favorite Sci-Fi movies was Logan's Run. Outside the really well know Sci-Fi/Fantasy movies I really liked Battle Beyond the Stars, The Last Starfigher, Legend, Willow
 
Stormy1 said:
I love them all, at least the first time I watch them. Cheesy, poorly written...blah blah blah. I am always willing to watch them....but they have to be somewhat appealing to me before I buy them. However, I don't fall into becoming any sort of rabid fan. I love LOTR but never saw any of them on the big screen.

I also love horror movies. Same deal as above.

Edit: One of my early favorite Sci-Fi movies was Logan's Run. Outside the really well know Sci-Fi/Fantasy movies I really liked Battle Beyond the Stars, The Last Starfigher, Legend, Willow
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I've not seen Battle Beyond the Stars. Will have to look into it.

Definitely loved The Last Starfighter, Legend, and Willow. I'd add Labyrinth to the list as well. Watched it just the other day.
Oh...and The Princess Bride was fantastic as well when it came out!
 
Are you kidding! Hello! My name is Enigo Montoya...you killed my father! Prepare to die!

Yes and Labyrinth!

Battle Beyond the Stars had the actor who played JohnBoy Walton in it.
 
JGirl said:
my chief complaint is that they rely so heavily on impressing viewers with special effects that they ignore the finer parts of the movie.
character development is a big deal to me, and in many of the sci fi films this is put by the wayside. i'm also tired of the creatures depicted as aliens. yawn central. monsters in space - indeed.
as for fantasy, this is a bit better. still, relying on special effects over solid directing and character development.
Click to expand...

I can think of a good number of sci-fi films from relatively recently that don't qualify. Moon, Primer, Timecrimes, Gattaca (1997, not as recent), off the top of my head, are all dialogue-driven and have little to no special effects (EDIT: I take that back, Timecrimes has very little dialogue; it's more visual). Besides, action and effects obviously don't preclude character development and story (e.g. District 9 was great on both levels). Most of those types don't get as big releases though, and you don't see as many of them made, which I guess reflects the interests of the general public. Hardcore sci-fi, such as all of the above, still seems a relatively small, niche genre.
 
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Fantasy films: Who needs plot and character when you have Arnold?

[video=youtube;1wPjZc2x-yE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wPjZc2x-yE[/video]
 
Carrie said:
What are some of your all time favorite sci-fi/fantasy films.
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  • Let the Right One In
  • Children of Men
  • Aliens 1-2
  • Sleeper
  • Star Trek (2009)
  • Star Trek - Wrath of Khan
  • Terminator 1-2
  • Predator 1
  • Star Wars 4-6
  • Lord of the Rings
  • Planet of the Apes (the old films)
  • The Dark Knight
  • Blade Runner
  • Moon
  • The Matrix
  • Gattaca
 
turquoise said:
I can think of a good number of sci-fi films from relatively recently that don't qualify. Moon, Primer, Timecrimes, Gattaca (1997, not as recent), off the top of my head, are all dialogue-driven and have little to no special effects (EDIT: I take that back, Timecrimes has very little dialogue; it's more visual). Besides, action and effects obviously don't preclude character development and story (e.g. District 9 was great on both levels). Most of those types don't get as big releases though, and you don't see as many of them made, which I guess reflects the interests of the general public. Hardcore sci-fi, such as all of the above, still seems a relatively small, niche genre.
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true gattaca was a great sci fi, the others i don't know about
you have to admit that you named a small handful out of hundreds and hundreds that are released.
also dialogue driven does not guarantee a good movie either. depends on the content of dialogue i guess.
 
I like the books more than the movies usually. I wouldn't know how they have changed in a general sense of quality, because I've only seen the older ones that are supposedly good.
Some of the recent ones that I liked were Serenity, Minority Report(recent?), The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and Solaris. There haven't been many fantasy movies besides animes that I've liked, whenever they were done, imho they tend to be pretty cheesy, though I love fantasy books.

As far as TV shows though, I think there have been some of the best in the last 10 years... Battlestar Galactica, A Game of Thrones, and Firefly.
 
I really hate the reliance on CGI in modern SciFi films... so much so that I actually got up and walked out on Avatar and haven't bothered watching it since. Other than that, I tend to like most SciFi films be they action, horror or drama. I will admit though, I have a soft spot for the first two over Dramas - Blade Runner, for instance, just didn't do anything for me.

Some classics I love:

Aliens (2, hence the plural)
Terminator 1 and 2
Gattaca
Event Horizon
Sphere
The Abyss (Yeah, I see the James Cameron trend myself)
Westworld
Star Trek 2
Star Wars (originals)
Titan A.E. - Yes, it is animated though....
Jurassic Park

Some newer ones I also enjoyed:

Pandorum
Matrix
Serenity
Cloverfield
Moon... which I absolutely love as one of the best SciFi movies made in the last 20 years... and has almost no special effects!
Star Trek - the new one
 
I think modern scifi/fantasy has improved tremendously on visual effect what makes the film so much more beautiful and believable AS LONG AS THEY DON'T OVERSHADOW THE STORY/CHARACTERS.

the earliest trilogy of star wars has a good story line and I really like the characters, the evolution that Luke has gone through throughout the three films, the confrontation with Vader. It was all very realistic and catching. But it may have been spectacular at that time, nowadays it is not very impressing and a bit dull to watch
the latest trilogy of star wars are extremely spectacular to the point that almost half of the characters are drawn. In these films special effects are concidered to be more important than the plot. The last film where Anakin becomes Vader could have been so beautiful, catching. But instead it didn't touch me, poor acting.

LOTR on the other hand, for me, has a very good balance between story and special effects. The effects blend in with the story. And even though a lot of the film is drawn as well, in LOTR's the drawings (for instance Gollum) blend in perfectly with the real characters and makes it all very real and easy to sympathize

my favorite scifi/fantasy films:
LOTR
avatar
harry potter
star wars 5 and 6
the matrix
 
one sci fi movie that i really enjoyed is called Millenium, with cheryl ladd and kris kristofferson. it's a movie from the 80s and before you say omg cheryl ladd and kris kristofferson??? i want to say it was a really good movie! suspenseful and well acted and it had me stumped almost all the way through
the only downfall is that it is an 80s movie, and is very 80s. lol
here's the original trailer
[video=youtube_share;dU5oQs2FYJk]http://youtu.be/dU5oQs2FYJk[/video]
 
Morgain said:
I think modern scifi/fantasy has improved tremendously on visual effect what makes the film so much more beautiful and believable AS LONG AS THEY DON'T OVERSHADOW THE STORY/CHARACTERS.

the earliest trilogy of star wars has a good story line and I really like the characters, the evolution that Luke has gone through throughout the three films, the confrontation with Vader. It was all very realistic and catching. But it may have been spectacular at that time, nowadays it is not very impressing and a bit dull to watch
the latest trilogy of star wars are extremely spectacular to the point that almost half of the characters are drawn. In these films special effects are concidered to be more important than the plot. The last film where Anakin becomes Vader could have been so beautiful, catching. But instead it didn't touch me, poor acting.

LOTR on the other hand, for me, has a very good balance between story and special effects. The effects blend in with the story. And even though a lot of the film is drawn as well, in LOTR's the drawings (for instance Gollum) blend in perfectly with the real characters and makes it all very real and easy to sympathize

my favorite scifi/fantasy films:
LOTR
avatar
harry potter
star wars 5 and 6
the matrix
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I'd beg to differ:

[video=youtube_share;XKSQmYUaIyE]http://youtu.be/XKSQmYUaIyE[/video]

[video=youtube_share;d1_JBMrrYw8]http://youtu.be/d1_JBMrrYw8[/video]

Movies are by the same director, 23 years apart from one another, but I found 100% more satisfaction in the real-life people, models and effects Aliens showed us rather than the CGI edited-to-death effects Avatar had on the screen. Some scale-models, pyrotechnics, and lighting effects do more for me than computer animation, any day of the week!
 
Lerxst said:
I'd beg to differ:
Movies are by the same director, 23 years apart from one another, but I found 100% more satisfaction in the real-life people, models and effects Aliens showed us rather than the CGI edited-to-death effects Avatar had on the screen. Some scale-models, pyrotechnics, and lighting effects do more for me than computer animation, any day of the week!
Click to expand...

I really don't like aliens since that is a empty horror/triller movy with no valuable conversations, now depth in the storyline, nothing but creating fear.
I find 100% more satisfaction in the story, depth of the emotions of Avatar. Pandora was created with a lot of depth, everything fits. For me Avatar is a spiritual movy rather tan a Scifi movy. That is what I mean.

As long as the special effects are dedicated to and inferior to the story, the movy is great
 
Morgain said:
I really don't like aliens since that is a empty horror/triller movy with no valuable conversations, now depth in the storyline, nothing but creating fear.
I find 100% more satisfaction in the story, depth of the emotions of Avatar. Pandora was created with a lot of depth, everything fits. For me Avatar is a spiritual movy rather tan a Scifi movy. That is what I mean.

As long as the special effects are dedicated to and inferior to the story, the movy is great
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In that case, watch Dances with Wolves. No special effects and the exact same story (admitted even by Cameron himself). :D
 
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