[Closed] Recent Sci-Fi films you have enjoyed/endured

Oops should of gone in chat.

Rogue 1

(despite its flaws) was a good scifi film in the star wars universe

*slightly* older ?!?!? 😉

I'd say the the only recent sci-fi that I liked was 'The Expanse' on Netflix

Shit actually Ex Machina was properly amazing! 🙂

@ shermer75 - Hey some on here remember silent films and have not moved on from Ragtime 🙄 so anything from the nineties is pretty modern.

Liking the ninja edit 😉

'Logan' last week was pretty brutal; themes of ageing, loss, loyalty and duty made it a very tough watch for me given a current slow burning medical condition (not mine). as much a Western as SF.

Looking forward to seeing Arrival, and starting to get VERY excited about War For the Planet of the Apes. Caesar is the most rounded human character I've seen on the screen in years. The trailer gives me goose bumps.

Logan

Train to busan.

Arrival, i do not know felt a bit meh...

As recommended on here, Primer (not really recent but most people have never heard of it). you'll need to watch it at least twice though..

Oh yeah, Train to Busan! Seen it three times, and I've been trying to get everyone I know to watch it. Who would've suspected a subtitled South Korean zombie movie set on a train could be so good..?

Midnight special
Another earth
Safety not guaranteed

Midnight Special and Moon..........both very good.

Watched Warcraft last night by the bloke who did Moon (Bowie Jr.)

It's 2 hours of cartoon nonsense without a resolution. Don't bother.

Nemesis sed> Primer

His other film, [i]Upstream Color[/i] (sic), had a lot going for it, almost worked but the good bits were very good.

Sounds like you go for the cerebral sci fi films like me OP. Here's some of my favourite oldies;

2001 (slow burner but still one of the best sci fi films ever made)

Solaris (the original Russian film by Andrei Tarkovsky)

Stalker (again by Andrei Tarkovsky)

Akira (Japanese animation, watched the new Blu Ray version this week and it blew me away how this hasn't aged at all considering its nearly years old).

Blade Runner (probably seen it many times but the Final Cut Blu Ray picture looks stunning).

Pi (Darren Aranovsky, I think it was either his first film or one of them)

Eraserhead (David Lynch at his finest)

Videodrome (David Cronenberg's critique of mass media)

While we're on the subject of Cronenberg, Shinya Tsukamoto's Tetsuo: The Iron Man has always been one of my favourites. An oldie but a goodie.

passengers is worth a watch, not fantastic but your Mrs will most likely enjoy it

Check out the Alien covenant and blade runner 2049 trailers..
Both directed by Ridley Scott.

Spectral on Netflix. It was a bit like aliens on earth. 8/10 good but room for improvement.

"Chappie"

Watched passengers yesterday. Good effects / cgi but a bit meh.

Moon is really good.

Ex machina great.

Primer is great but put the phone down and concentrate.

Children of men I liked alot

Looper was good fun although flawed

I quite liked sunshine too

Plus all the obvious ones... Alien / aliens, blade runner etc etc

Is Chappie good? It has just popped up on Netflix

Chappie struck me as a violent take on Short Circuit. Short Circuit 3 -Johnny 5's SA adventure! It's worth watching just for the bit where Chappie is car jacking people. Very funny in a dark way. Not great overall but a good film.

Agree with the recommendations for Ex Machina, Children of Men and Midnight Special, both were really god films IMO

Spectral

B movie Saturday morning special at best

Chappie is Ok, though District 9 is better (same director) another one of his worth a watch is Elysium.

[url= http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472033/ ]9[/url], always leaves me with dust in my eyes 😳

Predestination I think is still the best I've seen in recent years.

Really enjoyed Moon.

Tried 'Midnight Special' twice now (and failed as many times to retain engagement beyond half-way). Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

For a good laugh I found 'Edge of Tomorrow' a right enjoyable romp.

'Robot and Frank' is a quiet classic. Watch it.

Not cerebral in ANY way, but Fury Road is a fantastic piece of sci-fi filmmaking.

Chappie is best enjoyed appreciating it only has 32% on RT but should still be seen.

10 Cloverfield Lane is worth a watch, a few wtf moments.

Watched Arrival on flight yesterday. It was OK. Not much more than OK though.

Then again, I also watched Suicide Squad which was dire. I do have a habit of choosing bad films on flights!

ooh forgot about Robot and Frank and Predestination. Both great under the radar classics.

I also watched Suicide Squad which was dire

If it was on a flight, it probably had half of it missing.

Coincidentally, I watched SS yesterday too. I wasn't expecting much, but it greatly exceeded my expectations. It's flawed, sure, the pacing's all over the place especially in the first half, and they should've got an actor in to play The Joker. I watched some extended cut or other, and it could probably have done with about half an hour lopping out of it. I can't imagine an "aeroplane edit" would've been much fun, you'd have had all the lengthy exposition scenes and most of the good bits hacked out.

That said, it was a lot of fun. Margot Robbie stole every scene she was in, the effects were great, and the plot was... well, two-dimensional but passable. For a brain-out action movie it really wasn't as bad as some people made out.

Caption at the start made a big thing about it being the full version. Cathay are fairly liberal with their films, I've even seen boobage!

Pacing was poor. Barely developed characters, trying to squeeze then all in. Introduction of a character mid way was as bad as the "Star Trek Character With Only a Surname" in terms of obviousness. Margot was indeed good, but a bit overdone eventually.

Introduction of a character mid way was as bad as the "Star Trek Character With Only a Surname" in terms of obviousness.

Yeah, that grated with me too TBF. "Who the hell is that, where's he come from? ... Oh." Would've had a hell of lot more of an impact if they'd done his backstory too, rather than just killing off Dave from Accounts.

Margot was indeed good, but a bit overdone eventually.

Anyway, not recent, but often missed - Equilibrium.

Vaguely sci-fi, but Humans was fantastic. Black mirror, also, if you've not seen them.

I watched Edge of Tomorrow on a long haul recently,

Really enjoyed it, a fun way to pass 100 minutes although the ending let it down.

It was a movie I would never of normally bothered with.

Chappie is good, questions consciousness, the soul, and has Hugh Jackman sporting a mullet. Also has that freaky looking female singer from Die Antwerp playing an interesting role.
Hard-core Henry is worth a watch for fans of fps games.
Lobster was a bit daft really.

I watched Edge of Tomorrow on a long haul recently,

I quite liked that too. It's essentially Groundhog Day in Space, but it makes a pretty good fist of it.

Watched 'Doctor Strange' last night and thought Benedict comebag was quite good, there again I will watch pretty much anything.

Is Stakeland sci-fi or dystopian fantasy? Either way it's a good low budget apocalyptic road movie.

Just watched

Earth v the Flying Saucers

Quite good for, I think 1958.

Arrival. Saw it at the local Odeon. It's not often you get an entire public cinema audience pay silent attention from the beginning to the end of a film.

Absolutely brilliant. Minimum of "alien invasion things going bang". Maximum thoughtfulness with central concept.

Just how DO you communicate with giant split-fingered hands that write in ink blots?

Renting streaming available next weekend. 😀

If you liked Arrival, you may well enjoy the [url= http://droppdf.com/v/CtgRV ]short story on which it was based.[/url]

(PDF link)

Source Code - Duncan Jones' film before Moon, good until the end.

Yes, Source Code is a decent film.

shermer75 - Member
Shit actually Ex Machina was properly amazing!

Do watch the modern remake of West World if you liked Ex Machina.

Do watch the modern remake of West World if you liked Ex Machina.

Box set is lined up for my return flights! I need to stay awake for a long time, hoping for good things.

Westworld is excellent. All 10 in one sitting, you're a brave man.

Automata was worth a watch.

Every other scifi I've seen lately is already in this thread...

<edit> ...except Zero Theorum. Quite good, but you'd better like Gilliam's style (Brazil particularly, Dr Parnassus mostly), otherwise it'd be a pain to watch.

Just read the first page and scrolled forward to recommend Westworld but see I've been beaten to it.

One of the best things I've seen in a while.

Suggestions noted thank you.

Passengers was also suggested by a friend so that will definitely get a watch.

Will read the short story when I get chance.

Yeah 10 Cloverfield Lane was not bad.

Chappie not a euphemism/dwarf pron or Charlie Chaplin biopic.

Black Swan, not Sci-Fi. Who knew a simplistic man could tolerate ballet! Although the main themes could be applied to other vocations I suppose.

Metroplois (1927) is always quoted as influential and Videodrome as mentioned both of which I've not yet seen.

Forbidden Planet (1956) long before I was born has always been a favourite of mine, the Theremin not so much!

Oh and the cheesy Saturn 3 (1980) with that big laughably slow lumbering robot you could just push over or run rings round. Could probably stand a grit-o-vision re-make shudders 😆

Your comments on Saturn 3 just reminded me of silent running, the 70s Disney movie, with Huey, Duey and Luey...

Anyone mentioned Monsters (the sci-fi) movie about the alien ship that lands on the Mexican border ?
I liked that, there was suspense until the last 15mins and it built tension through out.

And I've recently bought Arrival as it's now released on DVD, I've watched it again a couple of times and now I wish that the last 20mins were more spaced out, the sequences of recalling memories not yet made was a bit slammed together and rushed..

ExMachina has been mentioned on many sci-fi movie threads, it's a particularly good film that will become more cult as time goes on.
One of the best scenes :

Is Stakeland sci-fi or dystopian fantasy? Either way it's a good low budget apocalyptic road movie.

Not sci-fi, but a good film, nonetheless.

Anyone mentioned Monsters (the sci-fi) movie about the alien ship that lands on the Mexican border ?

I almost didn't recognise the film from your description there. I assume you mean the one where a couple have to travel across the quarantine zone? Excellent film.

Yes that's the one. Sadly being called "monsters" places it alongside kids movies and cartoon and such.

It's well worth downloading ..

Black Swan, not Sci-Fi. Who knew a simplistic man could tolerate ballet! Although the main themes could be applied to other vocations I suppose.

See also The Wrestler.

These two are as good now as they were back then..

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Contact was ace and I reckon Arrival has Some similarities.

An old favourite of mine is Starship Troopers. Nuts film.

Couldn't see if it had been recommended as yet but I've been enjoying watching Helix on Netflix of late. it's roughly based on John Carpenters The Thing. This review from IMBD summed it up quite well.

Helix is a strange show. The show is both deadly serious and deliciously satiric, as exemplified by the title sequence where blood drips to the tune of elevator music. At times this unique mixture works; at others it becomes farcical. Helix is about a virus that breaks out in a mysterious science facility located deep in the Arctic. The virus causes humans to become violent zombies; a group of scientists (our protagonists) are sent to control the situation.

The show's modus operandi is to gradually reveal layer after layer of conspiracy and intrigue behind the virus, all while people die in variously horrible ways. The acting is relatively poor; the characters are fairly uninteresting; the plot-twists can be somewhat ludicrous. And yet, the show's macabre sense of humor and wonderfully absurd plot are appealing. How many shows gleefully display the explosion of rats in a microwave oven? Moreover, the facility isolated in the Arctic provides a perfect stage for violence and horror. As an enjoyable late-night diversion, Helix succeeds.

I'd dismissed the remake of ghost in the shell due to the casting of Scarlett Johanssen as Major Kusanagi but it's looking pretty good from the trailers though I'm going to wait for the reviews before going to watch it.

Disco_stu, I've been watching a few of the Tested vids on Youtube and they've shown the costumes design and costumes being made at Weta. regardless of who is in the film the design looks absolutely amazing. I can't wait to see the finished product

Bit more old school/obscure... but try:

Silent Running (Bruce Dern)
Zardoz (Sean Connery)
Starman (Jeff Bridges)
Saturn 3 (Kirk Douglas)

Question: do zombie movies count as sci-fi?

Watched 'Elysium' again last night with Mrs

So good, in a comic-strip fashion. The baddie was so bad that when his (spoiler) got (spoilered) off, I actually shouted for joy but then of course (spoiled)

Followed it up with another Matt Damon special - 'The Adjustment Bureau'. Suppose would categorise it a rom-com-sci-fantasy (?)

An enjoyable romp anyway. Surprisingly good chemistry between the leads. We both agreed that Ms Blunt was 'annoying'. Albeit in sometimes differing ways 😈 🙂

Surprised that District 9 hasn't been mentioned.

The Martian is great, the book (apart from the ending) is even better.

The Martian is shit.

Europa Report is pretty good in a fairly low-budget way.

The Martian is shit.

A scathing (if economical) [s]mini[/s]micro-review, or Tourettes? 😉

I really enjoyed it. Splodeytaters and all.

Quite enjoyed The Martian.

Didn't watch Westworld. Got drunk and watched The Accountant (Better than expected), Eddie the Eagle (fairly enjoyable fluff) and The Huntsman (dross!)

Don't get me wrong, Damon is usually watchable and the story is very good (hence great book reviews I suppose) but the shower of shit movie completely detached itself from the theme of sheer isolation and desperation and became a (shit) disco soundtracked Hollywood tug fest. Major pacing issues.
It was basically Cast Away in Space - yet Ridley Scott took no cues as to how to deliver such a time scape

Mention of a tv series of John Wyndam's 'Chocky', which I'd never heard of, on the radio the other day made me hunt down a copy of it (as yet unwatched), but at the same time I picked up Village of the Damned- I'd remembered it was good, but I'd forgotten [i]how[/i] good. Quite chilling.

Just started re-watching Fringe as well- John Noble is cracking as Walter Bishop. If you've not seen it before, well worth watching, especially after the first season when it hits its stride with parallel universes and alternate timelines.

Is anyone watching Legion ? The FX channel show being run on Fox? Bloody crazy yet captivating.

[url= http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5114356/ ]IMDB[/url]

Recent movies I've enjoyed: Arrival and Ex Machina were both excellent

TV: The Expanse (its a bit meh) there's the bones of an interesting story in it somewhere

Westworld is mostly excellent, really well made with an interesting premise about humanity, consiousness and pre-destination

Ascension is a good bit of fun, only six episodes but worth a watch.

Fortitude is as mad as a box of frogs but well made and has a good cast, contains some of the most disturbing images you are likely to see though

Under the skin is reasonably good for low budget weirdness

Roger Corman's Death Race 2050.

Far better than the remake rubbish.

Chocky......not heard of that in a good while. Would be great to see it reworked. The original is quite eerie and from what I remember it was on when I got home from school. I could be wrong here though that was about 30 years ago.

I think we did District 9 in another thread on the same topic (this topic seems to come around every month or so)

District 9 is an excellent piece of work, in replacing apartheid SA with Aliens was an excellent idea. It should be one of the greats in my book.

Under the skin is reasonably good for low budget weirdness

It's in my top ten films period. It's utter genius.

Guardians of the Galaxy .
I know it's not recent ,but no love for
"the chronicles of riddick"?!
Btw I loved Chocky ,there was a sequel Chocky's children , but I missed that...
And plus 1 for "contact".