Modern science fiction.

Bipolar Joe

I've been on a bit of a science fiction kick lately, and I'm looking for more. Most seem to be action movies pretending to not be (but that might just be my definition). Stuff like Moon, TiMER, Primer, etc. seem to be few and far between, add anything more outer-spacey and it becomes an action movie. Anyone able to recommend anything?

Galvasean

Give Danny Boyle's Sunshine a go (the DVD comes with an audio commentary by Brian Cox no less!). It's about a voyage to save the sun with some neat concepts.
Source Code is from the director of Moon. It involves time travel (of a sort). It's gotten mixed reviews but definitely worth a look if you want something a tad different.
Event Horizon is also a favourite of mine. It's a really creepy horror set on a derelict space vessel. Then give Cube a go if you enjoyed the sci-horror.
I'd also recommend Epoch, a low budget B-movie that punches well above its weight in terms of science fiction ideas.

Technocentral

There's very few anymore, 60s to the 80s were the heyday, lots of great TV sci fi though, checkout Battlestar Galactica (pretty much an allegory of the US war on Iraq), Caprica and Firefly. If you have US Netflix every episode of them plus every episode of all the Star Treks are on it.

Sindri

1. Children of Men. If you haven't seen it, it's one of the best Sci Fi flicks of all time.
   
   
2. 28 Days Later. This is Danny Boyle's second best work. I presume you've also seen this.
   
   
3. Vanilla Sky. A Hollywood remake of a film that was originally a Spanish movie. Penelope Cruz reprised her role for it. A good film. Deals with repression and fantasy. A very good twist at the end of it.
   
   
4. Sunshine. A decent movie. A bit forced and incoherent, also a bit pretentious, but very enjoyable.
   
   
5. The Road. This is also, I think, a classic. Just very simple but very touching, everything in it works, it's one of those films that will be watched for years. It's based on a book by Cormac McCarthy who also wrote 'No Country For Old Men'.
   
   
6. The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. I presume you've seen this too. Well worth a watch, the book is better but the film is done very well. It's very funny and interesting.
   
   
7. The Iron Giant. Happens to be one of my favourites. It's just a remarkable movie, film making at it's finest. If you haven't seen it, it should be top of your to do list.
   
   
8. 2009: Lost Memories A Korean film. Set in an alternate universe where Imperial Japan has retained it's conquests because it sided with the Allies.
   
   
9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
   
   
10. Voices of a Distant Star.
    
    
11. Code 46. A somewhat depressing movie with Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton. Set in a dystopian future where access to cities/civilization is restricted and sexual relations are prohibited if you happen to have a close gentetic relationship, or if there is an even genetic ratio.
    
    
12. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.
    
    
13. The Fountain. Aronofsky directed this. It's very beautiful but strained somewhat. Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz star. It's set over 3 time periods. The Spainish Inquisition, modern times and 500 years into the future. Jackman tries desperately to find a cure for death. Well worth a watch. Very very beautiful.
    
    
14. Real Steel. Enjoyable if you go with it. Robots are now the superstars of boxing and Hugh Jackman plays a failed boxer who fights and trains robots, but he must do this as he gets to know his son. Spielberg produced it, but it's still pretty bad. If you want mindless entertainment then it's not too bad. Evangeline Lilly plays the love interest.
    
    
15. Avalon.
    
    
16. Pi. Aronofsky's first film and his best. Filmed in black and white it's about a genius mathematician, who writes a remarkable equation that lots of people want. It's superb and well worth a watch. The second last scene is brilliant. This is definitely one you'll like.
    
    
17. The Truman Show.
    
    
18. Brazil. A fantastic film by a Pyhton, Terry Gilliam. It's very long but it's fantastic. One of the best Sci Fi's movies around.
    
    
19. The American Astronaut A low budget, independent Sci Fi musical (not many of them) shot in black and white.I highly recommend it. It's absolute genius. You will love it. It's just brilliant!:)

I hope these are what you're looking for Bipolar Joe, they're very good and should keep you occupied.:)

Mickeroo

Pretty good list there Sindri but one glaring omission. District 9, I think it stands along Sunshine and Children of Men as the best out and out sci films of the las ten years or more. And just because its got some great action sequences OP does not make it any less of a sci-fi. Its a brilliant social commentary!

I would also consider Rise of the Planet of the Apes to be a decent enough sci-fi, for the first hour anyway. It kind of suffers the same problem as Sunshine in that the first hour is really good science fiction and the last act is more conventional blockbuster.

livinsane

Mickeroo wrote: »

District 9, I think it stands along Sunshine and Children of Men as the best out and out sci films of the las ten years or more.

I can't recommend District 9 enough. Only film in years that I went to see twice in the cinema. It went in to my top 5 movies the second it was over. The thing that struck me most is how believable the whole film is despite the sci fi elements.

the whole year inn

for tv shows id recommend red dwarf,good comedy/si-fi show.also some good picks there def worth watching!

Birneybau

"The Fountain" is actually on Rte1 at 00:55 tonight.

Dave0301

Primer, been out a few years and it's been ages since I seen this, but if I remember right it's pretty decent.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390384/

Bipolar Joe

Seen a fair few of these, but for some reason never got around to watching others and I've never even heard of Code 46. Thanks, dudes, keep 'em coming!

stakey

Some great sci fi movies have been released in the last 10-15 years, Sindri mentioned a good few of them but of those not on that list I'd rate the following:

Donnie Darko - A great psychological sci-fi with a time travel backdrop, great soundtrack and excellent cast.

Dark City - Blew me away when I watched it first, don't want to go into detail, wouldn't want to ruin it

Gattaca - Genetics, sci-fi and film noir. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Pitch Black - Just about the only decent thing Vin Diesel has ever been in, don't let that put you off. It's a fantastic sci-fi thriller.

Serenity (as well as Firefly on TV) - This film was _sadly_ the sending off for the characters on Firefly but it's a damn good sending off.

Solaris (2002) - You'll find many differing opinions on this 'remake' but as a fan of the original 1972 film and an even bigger fan of Stanisław Lem's original novel I give this an all round thumbs up.

mikemac1

stakey wrote: »

Gattaca - Genetics, sci-fi and film noir. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Love this film
The Michael Nyman soundtrack is worth getting too

Nichololas

Most of the major recent sci-fi movies have already been mentioned so I'll just round out the list a bit.

Timecrimes - Spanish made time-travel flick. Not as hard sci-fi as Primer but better than most of its ilk.

Triangle - Similar to Timecrimes but with more of a horror bent.

Paprika - An anime (if you're into that), but one of my favourites. Great visuals, if you liked Inception and Ghost in the Shell this is probably for you.

Kin-dza-dza - Putting this down because it's hardly ever mentioned. Russian language sci-fi made in the late 80s. Absolutely bizarre, monty-pythonesque sci-fi that is also an effective social-commentary / satire of the U.S.S.R before the fall of the iron curtain. Definitely one of my favourite sci-fis ever but pretty hard to get hold of a solid copy.

Also, throwing in a few thumbs-up for Dark City (better than but overshadowed by the Matrix), Children of Men and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

e:

Pandorum - Horror/Action/Sci-fi (in that order), comes somewhere between Sunshine and Event Horizon.

Reg'stoy

Im surprised no one has mentioned Moon yet. While not strictly 'sci-fi' for some, but for me one of the best sci-fi films of the last few years is Wall-E.

Galvasean

Reg'stoy wrote: »

Im surprised no one has mentioned Moon yet.

The OP did.

Reg'stoy

Galvasean wrote: »

The OP did.

oops:o

Cardinal Richelieu

The Fountain while looking beautiful is a load of horse manure IMHO. I still feel robbed of the time I wasted on watching it.

The Japanese movie Cyborg She is well worth a watch as is the South Korean mind control movie Haunters.

Kiith

No love for Pandorum? I actually really enjoyed it. Had been a while since i'd come across a good sci-fi horror. District 9 is also fantastic.

CricketDude

The man from earth.
Probably the lowest budget sci-fi movie ever, but its excellent.

pinksoir

I put it in the under the radar thread, but Strange Days with Ralph Fiennes, written by James Cameron and directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Cannot recommend it enough. Watch it now! Everyone should watch it.

mikhail

Kiith wrote: »

No love for Pandorum? I actually really enjoyed it. Had been a while since i'd come across a good sci-fi horror.

I'm sad too so I found it about as entertaining as getting an arrow through the neck and then finding a gas bill attached to it. But then, I don't really like Event Horizon, so I'm possibly just picky when it comes to SF horror.

Sindri

CricketDude wrote: »

The man from earth.
Probably the lowest budget sci-fi movie ever, but its excellent.

I knew I'd forgotten something from my list. Absolute quality movie, isn't it , I loved it.


This here, while cyber punk, is still pretty decent. They are all Shozin Fukui films. The Wikipedia articles below will suffice for descriptions of the films as they do not give away too much, just make you curious.

1. Rubber's Lover.
   
   
2. 964 Pinocchio.
   
   
3. S-94. A short film about two women, the only two survivors of a global pandemic, set in Tokyo. While a low budget Indie it is still for some reason chilling. Would make a very good feature length film. But as a short it does the business. Very creepy and the twist at the end is just incredibly macabre and depressing, but brilliantly so. Only about 30 minutes in length.

OldeCinemaSoz

seeing as the bridgewater didn't bother their
frackin' behind screening another earth i'm really
looking forward to catching up with this one when
it hit's disc...

L'prof

I loved Timecrimes myself, Spanish film on time travel.

OldeCinemaSoz

L'prof wrote: »

I loved Timecrimes myself, Spanish film on time travel.

i thought triangle was far more interesting...

the baghead included.

L'prof

OldeCinemaSoz wrote: »

i thought triangle was far more interesting...

the baghead included.

Enjoyed that too, but still preferred Timecrimes I think.

Spoonman75

"Galaxy Quest" is a great Science Fiction/Parody film. It was released in 1999 and was probably passed over for "The Phantom Menace" for a lot of people but it's genuinely funny. Sam Rockwell steals the show imo. Patrick Stewart originally refused to see it as he thought it was an irreverent parody of "Star Trek", but Jonathan Frakes phoned him and talked him into seeing it and he loved it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_Quest

stampydmonkey

Spaceballs..

No seriously, district 9 as mentioned is top notch. Other films, Appollo 18 is worth a look, as for sci fi comedy, maybe Paul, attack the block, megamind..all decent enough

Goldstein

Have to echo previously mentioned high regard for Los cronocrímenes (Timecrimes) - it's an instant classic and an absolute must see. That, Triangle and Primer form a kind of holy trinity of top-tier sci-fi time travel flicks. I don't think I could choose as I enjoyed each of them so much and all for very different reasons...luckily I don't have to choose.

To throw out a few not mentioned yet:

The Thirteenth Floor
Another take on the layered reality buzz we were treated to at the end of the 90s with Dark City, The Matrix, eXistenZ etc. Whilst it's not as famous as the first, as critically acclaimed as the second or as umm unconventional as the third, it's a subtler creature that's nonetheless brimming with its own interesting ideas and perspectives.

One Point O
This one's a bit out there so - marmite film warning! A grimey, claustrophobic, eccentric and unconventional dystopian where we spend a lot of time getting to know our coder protanonist's cooky neighbours as he tries to unravel the reason behind mystery packages that keep showing up on his doorstep. It's very steampunky and doesn't show its cards very easily but it is rewarding once you figure out what's really going on. I'm very fond of it now but will admit I didn't have one iota where it was going the first time around.

Monsters
This one surprised the hell out of me when I first saw it. After seeing the trailer, I was expecting another War of the Worlds blahfest (barb there intended only for Spielberg's wayward adaptation). Never have I been glader of a misleading trailer because what I got was a thoughtful, personal and genuine science fiction film focused solely and unapologetically on our two central characters (A photographer and his boss's daughter) as they're caught up in the aftermath of an invasion. Considering its budget was under $1 million, it's a superb accomplishment boasting a truly breathtaking finale that's one of the most masterful scenes the genre has produced in recent years.

nungesser

the TV show "Firefly" is cool and they got together after the show was cancelled and made a movie called "Serenity" well worth watching

Hatgirl

Just echoing the recommendations for Source Code, Children of Men, Cube, 28 Days Later, Gattaca, District 9, Firefly/Serenity, Pitch Black and Galaxy Quest.

I have a great affection for the films Innerspace and Tremors, but you would need to be in the mood for some pure Eighties cheesey comedy :-D

RichieC

Cargo

krudler

Hatgirl wrote: »

Just echoing the recommendations for Source Code, Children of Men, Cube, 28 Days Later, Gattaca, District 9, Firefly/Serenity, Pitch Black and Galaxy Quest.

I have a great affection for the films Innerspace and Tremors, but you would need to be in the mood for some pure Eighties cheesey comedy :-D

Innerspace is awesome! really hope they never remake it. one of my favourite 80's movies, whatever happened to Joe Dante, he made some fantastic movies in the 80's and early 90's and then just kinda vanished.

the music for Innerspace is all kinds of awesome too, really miss Jerry Goldsmith sci fi scores

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycx3YNcFlyY

OldeCinemaSoz

Goldstein wrote: »

Have to echo previously mentioned high regard for Los cronocrímenes (Timecrimes) - it's an instant classic and an absolute must see. That, Triangle and Primer form a kind of holy trinity of top-tier sci-fi time travel flick.

Have you seen TIME AFTER TIME?