Scifi Summer Movie Project

Way back at the beginning of the summer I posted a list of scifi movies that I either needed to see, or see again. Let’s see how I’ve been doing.

• Gattaca: Nope
• Blade Runner**: Nope
• Digitally scragged Return of the Jedi (I was so fed up with Lucas after his “improvement” of episode IV and V that I never went to see VI): Nope
• Akira: Nope
• The Last Mimzy: Yes, but it was a bit disappointing. It was an excellent tale, with good CGI, but it seemed a bit hollow from a science fiction perspective. Much ado was made about the kid brother being “the engineer” and then…nothing. Also (spoiler……) if all the future Earth peoples needed was a bit of DNA, why didn’t the Mimsy go and swap it’s furry hand through the kid’s mouth while she was sleeping?
• The Animatrix: Nope
• Time Bandits**: Nope
• King Kong (the original): Nope
• The Day the Earth Stood Still**: Nope
• THX 1138: Finally saw this. It was exceptionally strange to watch, not only because it is a strange movie, but because I’m a huge star wars fan, and a lot of the same sound and visual effects that Lucas uses in episodes 4-6 are present in this film. Was very deja vu-ish.
• Soylent Green (is people!): Amusing and campy. I’m still wondering why Charlton Heston’s character had a huge apartment that he shared with one person while there were people living on his stairway.
• The Terminal Man: Nope
• Robocop** (I saw this at a very impressionable age and it gave me nightmares. I’d probably enjoy it more, now): Nope
• Bicentennial Man (we briefly saw the filming of this as we drove on 101 Hwy 1 in CA): Nope
• The Thirteenth Floor: Excellent movie. Based off the same book Simulacra and Simulations as the Matrix was.
• Red Planet: Nope
• 28 Days Later: Nope
• The Butterfly Effect: Nope
• Thunderbirds: Nope
• Children of Men (after I finish the book): Nope, and haven’t finished the book, either.
• The Fountain: Nope
• Ultraviolet: Yes, but I was heartily disappointed. I didn’t ever read this comic, and I think you needed to in order to appreciate the film.

I don’t think I’m going to finish the list by the end of summer, but the year is still young!

*There may be some films on this list that don’t qualify as “science fiction” in some fans’ minds. That’s ok. Make your own list! And keep in mind this is not some Top 10 or Top 100 list, an exercise I find is a bit meaningless on the hugely interactive web because no two people will ever agree on the contents of those lists.

**Seen it at least once. Barely recall the plot

***Astute readers will note that most of this is a chronological/alphabetical list taken piecemeal from wikipedia