don.provan%CMU-CS-A@sri-unix.UUCP (01/09/84)
haven't we gone over movies before? anyway: THX1138 - this is my by far and away favorite, even eclipsing 2001. (but then, 2001 pales after the 15th viewing...) i must admit that i'm a big fan of degenerative societies, but i'm sure i would have been just as impressed with this movie even if i weren't. Collosus, the Forbin Project - don't write this one off because of the terrible novel it is based on. the plot's about the same, but the trash like the wimpy Forbin and the conniving president was discarded. if you've only seen it on TV, you haven't really seen it. (on the other hand, if you didn't like it on TV, you probably won't like it in a theatre.) Dark Star - an excellent film, the only comic SF movie i know of (unless you want to consider "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" (not quite SF) or "Plan 9 from Outer Space" (not intentionally comic)).
okie@ihuxs.UUCP (B.K. Cobb) (01/12/84)
If we're throwing about favorite (as opposed to "best", a tag I find hard to use as it's all so subjective anyway) SF movies, let me throw in a few of mine, with notes... "The Andromeda Strain" A nice, tense little movie, one I try to catch often (and it usually pops up on Saturday afternoon/evening movies a lot). It's more intellectual than visceral, so it's a nice change of pace. "The Day the Earth Stood Still" I like it because after all these years, it *still* stands up to most of the SF movies made recently. Believeable and enjoyable. "Forbidden Planet" Yes, yes, I know, it's *everyone's* classic. I just think it's the best representative of that era of SF film, certainly the most fun (especially if you watch for Anne in the buff [yes, I know it's a skin suit...]). "The Other Side of the Sun" I don't know *why* I like this one, I just do. I haven't seen it that much, but it's a nice piece of work. I like the (albeit somewhat hokey) premise, and the model work ain't bad, either. "2001" It's big, it's visual, it's mysterious -- 'nuff said. That's enough for now. Keep those choices comin' in, folks! BKCobb AT&T BELL LABS Naperville, IL ihnp4!ihuxs!okie
cej@ll1.UUCP (Chuck Jones) (01/13/84)
Dark Star is a GREAT movie, but in the book the scenes between Sgt. Pinback and the "smart" bombs are more involved, and MUCH better. (As with most, the movie doesn't quit measure up to the book.) And if I hadn't read THX-1138 before I saw the movie I would NEVER have been able to follow it at ALL. In fact, I watched it the first time with a friend who had never heard of it, and I was busy the whole time explaining what was going on. (I've also heard that it was G. Lucas's thesis project, or some such.) Chuck Jones ...we13!ll1!cej AT&T Communications
RAOUL%JPL-VAX@sri-unix.UUCP (01/20/84)
From: Alvin Wong <RAOUL@JPL-VAX>
I see most of the sf movies I liked already listed here except for two :
"The Quaestor Tapes" - This was a made for TV pilot about an android designed
to "save" the human race by influencing world events.
The android, Quaestor, due to incomplete programming,
searches for the purpose of his existence and eventually
finds it. The movie did not score high enough ratings
to earn a series though I personally thought the actor
who played Quaestor made a very good android. Too bad.
"Silent Running" - Basically a film to save the ecology. The Earth has
been so urbanized that a place for the natural fauna
and flora no longer exists. They are placed in dome
structures connected to orbiting space ships. The
effects were good. The acting was so so but I liked
it overall.
Al Wong
------@RUTGERS.ARPA:callaghan%pseudo.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (02/14/85)
From: callaghan%pseudo.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (Gaylene Callaghan DTN:523-4523) Doesn't anyone remember A BOY AND HIS DOG? Come on now!! Gaylene
@RUTGERS.ARPA:callaghan%pseudo.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (02/14/85)
From: callaghan%pseudo.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (Gaylene Callaghan DTN:523-4523) In all this reminiscing, does anyone remember ZARDOZ or WIZARDS? (two of my all time favorites) Does anyone know where or if I can get them on tape? Also, I don't quite remember who wrote either one. Didn't Sean Connery star in ZARDOZ? (I could of sworn it was his gorgeous body I saw) Gaylene
@RUTGERS.ARPA,@MIT-MC:INGRIA@MIT-OZ (02/18/85)
From: INGRIA%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA
Date: Wednesday, 13 February 1985 16:08-EST
From: callaghan%pseudo.DEC at decwrl.ARPA (Gaylene Callaghan, DTN:523-4523)
To: SF-LOVERS at MIT-MC
Re: SF movies
In all this reminiscing, does anyone remember ZARDOZ or WIZARDS?
(two of my all time favorites) Does anyone know where or if I can
get them on tape? Also, I don't quite remember who wrote either one.
Didn't Sean Connery star in ZARDOZ? (I could of sworn it was his
gorgeous body I saw)
Gaylene
Yes, that was Connery, playing Zed. Charlotte Rampling also starred
in it. I don't know if it's available on tape; it does occasionally
come on TV in these parts (Boston/Cambridge)---mangled brutally.
Since the ending involves some nudity and a (brief) childbirth scene,
the entire ending is CUT, making the TV version trail off
unintelligibly. ZARDOZ was directed, if I remember correctly, by John
Boorman. There is a novelization (also credited to Boorman, I
believe), which I have seen but not read.
Many critics panned ZARDOZ unmercifully when it came out. One
reviewer suggested that they had taken it too seriously and that it
should be approached with tongue firmly in cheek. And I think this is
true. Even though the film deals with a serious subject---will
immortality and a danger-free environment prove self-defeating---it's
a bit difficult to take a movie completely seriously when its central
conceit is
***SPOILER-WARNING***
borrowed from the ``ignore the man behind the curtain'' line from the
Wizard of Oz (i.e. wiZARD of OZ).
-30-
Bob
``Meditate upon this at second level.''jay@smu.UUCP (02/19/85)
Yes, it was Sean, but it's been centuries. All I can remember was the typical Sean and a scene in the mirrored room with the two girls. That's pretty good considering I saw it as a transmission bounce from another part of the state.
jay@smu.UUCP (02/19/85)
Great movie. I saw it a long time ago in Dallas actually replayed in a theater. It feels like a made-for-tv movie, but it's still good. The thing I loved most of course was the ending. Absolutely Perfect Scene!! *** SPOILER *** The hero is escaping and this girl wants to come along. You wonder if you should have a happy-all's-well ending. Then the boy and his dog leave their camp after a nice dinner. Guess who was the dinner? Would someone please expand this ending to it's full glory?
leeper@ahuta.UUCP (m.leeper) (02/21/85)
REFERENCES: <624@topaz.ARPA> From @RUTGERS.ARPA:callaghan%pseudo.DEC@decwrl.ARPA Wed Dec 31 19:00:00 1969 > >Doesn't anyone remember A BOY AND HIS DOG? Come on now!! > >Gaylene > > Sure, I remember it. The scenes above ground were decent. Then it turned into a pretentious bore. This *thing* won the hugo based on Harlan Ellison's name, but if it has been written by Otto Schwartz it would be really forgotten by now. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!ahuta!leeper
wombat@ccvaxa.UUCP (02/23/85)
/**** ccvaxa:net.sf-lovers / leeper@ahuta / 11:19 pm Feb 20, 1985 ****/ >Doesn't anyone remember A BOY AND HIS DOG? Come on now!! >Gaylene > Sure, I remember it. The scenes above ground were decent. Then it turned into a pretentious bore. This *thing* won the hugo based on Harlan Ellison's name, but if it has been written by Otto Schwartz it would be really forgotten by now. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!ahuta!leeper /* ---------- */ Oh, I don't know. Even Michael Moorcock's name couldn't rescue *The Last Days of Man on Earth* (based on *Breakfast in the Ruins*). Now that was an absolutely awful movie. "When you are about to die, a wombat is better than no company at all." Roger Zelazney, *Doorways in the Sand* Wombat ihnp4!uiucdcs!ccvaxa!wombat
yrdbrd@bmcg.UUCP (Larry J. Huntley) (02/28/85)
In article <> jay@smu.UUCP writes: > >Great movie. I saw it a long time ago in Dallas actually replayed in a >theater. It feels like a made-for-tv movie, but it's still good. The thing >I loved most of course was the ending. Absolutely Perfect Scene!! > >*** SPOILER *** > >The hero is escaping and this girl wants to come along. You wonder if you >should have a happy-all's-well ending. Then the boy and his dog leave their >camp after a nice dinner. Guess who was the dinner? >Would someone please expand this ending to it's full glory? Would someone please expand this *article* to its full NAME so that I can decipher which great SF Movie is being discussed here? 'brd -- Larry J. Huntley Burroughs -(B)- Corporation Advanced Systems Group MS-703 10850 Via Frontera San Diego, CA 92128 - Non Circum Copulae - (619) 485-4544 ----
joel@peora.UUCP (Joel Upchurch) (03/08/85)
> In article <> jay@smu.UUCP writes: > > > >Great movie. I saw it a long time ago in Dallas actually replayed in a > >theater. It feels like a made-for-tv movie, but it's still good. The thing > >I loved most of course was the ending. Absolutely Perfect Scene!! > > > >*** SPOILER *** > > > >The hero is escaping and this girl wants to come along. You wonder if you > >should have a happy-all's-well ending. Then the boy and his dog leave their > >camp after a nice dinner. Guess who was the dinner? > >Would someone please expand this ending to it's full glory? > > Would someone please expand this *article* to its full NAME so that I can > decipher which great SF Movie is being discussed here? The name of the movie was A BOY AND HIS DOG which was made from a Harlan Ellision novella of the same name which won a Nebula award or Hugo I think.
ecl@ahutb.UUCP (e.c.leeper) (03/09/85)
REFERENCES: <624@topaz.UUCP> <> <1620@bmcg.UUCP>, <238@peora.UUCP> In article <238@peora.UUCP> joel@peora.UUCP writes: > > In article <> jay@smu.UUCP writes: > > > > > >Great movie. I saw it a long time ago in Dallas actually replayed in a > > >theater. It feels like a made-for-tv movie, but it's still good. The thing > > >I loved most of course was the ending. Absolutely Perfect Scene!! > > > > > >*** SPOILER *** > > > > > >The hero is escaping and this girl wants to come along. You wonder if you > > >should have a happy-all's-well ending. Then the boy and his dog leave their > > >camp after a nice dinner. Guess who was the dinner? > > >Would someone please expand this ending to it's full glory? > > > > Would someone please expand this *article* to its full NAME so that I can > > decipher which great SF Movie is being discussed here? > > The name of the movie was A BOY AND HIS DOG which was made from a > Harlan Ellision novella of the same name which won a Nebula award > or Hugo I think. No, no, no! It was MINDKILLER by Spider Robinson! :-) (Oh, excuse me, did I step into the wrong room here?) Evelyn C. Leeper Note temporary kluge for new address => ...{ihnp4, houxm, hocsj}!ahuta!ahutb!ecl
boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN) (12/20/85)
> From: sun!chuq (Chuq Von Rospach) >> From: Dave Godwin <godwin@ICSE.UCI.EDU> >> In my humble opinion, never in sf has there been a case of good book >> being made into good movie, just good book into celluloid drivel. This will >> almost certainly be another case. ( No, I don't mean 2001; it came sort of >> with the movie, not before. ) I am getting very tired of watching good work >> trashed for the screen. > > Well, this seems like a good time to flame back. How about "A Boy and > His Dog" (hugo, 1976) or "Dr. Strangelove" (hugo, 1965) or "Secret of > NIMH" (1983?). You should NEVER use the word never, since it just > prompts people to find exceptions... (Hmm, I smell a straight line in > there somewhere...). If I thought about it, I could probably come up > with a few more, but three is enough to throw out a 'never' argument... Want more? How about FRANKENSTEIN/THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (both versions), THE THING (both versions), SOMEWHERE IN TIME, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE TIME MACHINE, WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, THE WIZARD OF OZ (!!!!), THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, 1984 (both versions), ON THE BEACH, CHARLY, 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, PLANET OF THE APES (yes, I thought the first Apes film was good), DEATHWATCH, FAIL SAFE, FAHRENHEIT 451, THE POWER, ALTERED STATES, BLADE RUNNER? Is this enough, or shall I go on? And to add that which started this discussion, I saw a preview of ENEMY MINE the other night, and while it has some problems, and isn't as good as the Longyear novelette, I still thought it was quite good. > 2001, by the way, is truly a special case. Not only is it a film done at the > same time as the novel, but I also nominate it as the only SF film that was > BETTER than the book was. Anyone else want to add new nominations? Two I thought were clearly better than the book were CARRIE and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. SOMEWHERE IN TIME was better than its source (Matheson's BID TIME RETURN), too, in my opinion. And since Phil Dick isn't my cup of tea, I'd add BLADE RUNNER to the list. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...} !decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.DEC.COM <"Filmography is my pastime">
wenn@gandalf.cs.cmu.edu (John Wenn) (12/21/85)
Another sf (well, really fantasy) film that is at least as good as its source is the recent release "The Company of Wolves". This film was based on the Angela Carter short story. Angela Carter also co-wrote the screen play. This was a SHORT story (about 15 pages?). Both the film and the story play all sorts of games (many freudian) with the Little Red Riding Hood legend. The mood of both is very dreamy and etherial. This is also the closest adaption of a writen work to a film I've ever seen. The film follows the story virtually verbatium, except the film adds an outer layer of story dealing with a 20th century girl. This is an advantage of adapting a short story to a film instead of a novel. You'll always leave SOMETHING out of a filmed novel. The story can be found in the collection "The Bloody Chamber". The other stories also deal with the re-interpretation of common myths (Little Red Riding Hood is done several times). While this was not a GREAT film (or story), it was certainly well done and entertaining. /john -------------------------------- "Well, it's an idea, and even a bad idea is better than none," said Master Li. "Error can point the way to truth, while empty-headedness can only lead to more empty-headedness or to a career in politics." from Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart (a fun book)
boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN) (12/27/85)
> From: ISM780!dianeh (Diane Holt) [Responding to a posting of mine.] > CHARLY *better* than Flowers_for_Algernon??? Yuk! The film wasn't bad, if > you *don't* compare it to the book -- but once you do... > > PLANET OF THE APES was an abomination compared to the book. It's a typical > Hollywood product -- "Hey, this sounds great...apes running the world and > having humans as slaves...yeah, and we can tie in a Third World War at the > same time...Great!" The book was subtle and intriguing and had *nothing* to > do with our blowing ourselves up. Read it sometime. Where in my posting did I claim that either of these films was *better* than the book it's derived from?? The original comment that I was responding to claimed that no good movie was ever made from a good book. I listed examples that, in my opinion, showed otherwise. PLANET OF THE APES was a good novel. PLANET OF THE APES was a good movie. Whether either is better than the other is irrelevant to the discussion at hand. Please read what I have to say before flaming. As for CHARLY, I beg to differ. The film was not as good as the *short story* "Flowers for Algernon", but I still think it's better than the novel version. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...} !decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.DEC.COM