What is the most crappy scifi ever?

I was so hoping Darth Vader would murder Jar Jar Binks in Episode 3. Had this occurred, I would have almost forgiven Lucas all his sins.
 
Chronick of Ruddick and the other one thats very dark, both stick in my mind.

Well, Riddick didn't do it so much for me, however Pitch Black is about one of my favourites. And the major reasons it sticks to most who saw it is the great interaction between visuals and soundtrack (one of the best soundtracks I ever heard in a movie! I'm a musican, and that perfect symbiosis of greatness, atmosphere, forbodance and GROOVE just ate me up! I allmost cried, wishing I could ever write a piece of music so ingenious... oh well.), as well as character developement. (About every character develops contrary to what you'd expect in the beginning).

Chronicles of Riddick had quite a nice design and the bad-ass main character as well as some elements of the original soundtrack, allthough they replaced most of it with something more "epical" with much less style, and it had the nice Idea to take characters to another Genre, which is something no movie before ever attempted as far as I know. Alas they wen't a bit too stereotypical and fantasyical (yes, that ain't a word, I know...). Putting it all in a kind of "Blade Runnerish" atmosphere might have worked better. But Nowadays "epic" seems a necessary property of any action flick :@
 
Well, Riddick didn't do it so much for me, however Pitch Black is about one of my favourites. And the major reasons it sticks to most who saw it is the great interaction between visuals and soundtrack (one of the best soundtracks I ever heard in a movie! I'm a musican, and that perfect symbiosis of greatness, atmosphere, forbodance and GROOVE just ate me up! I allmost cried, wishing I could ever write a piece of music so ingenious... oh well.), as well as character developement. (About every character develops contrary to what you'd expect in the beginning).

Chronicles of Riddick had quite a nice design and the bad-ass main character as well as some elements of the original soundtrack, allthough they replaced most of it with something more "epical" with much less style, and it had the nice Idea to take characters to another Genre, which is something no movie before ever attempted as far as I know. Alas they wen't a bit too stereotypical and fantasyical (yes, that ain't a word, I know...). Putting it all in a kind of "Blade Runnerish" atmosphere might have worked better. But Nowadays "epic" seems a necessary property of any action flick :@

Pitch Black was the movie I thought about(thanks for refreshing my memory), it has a good theme, and in one sense, perhaps somewhere you wouldn't want to be!
I'm not sure about Vin Diesell, if he is a good actor, or maybe in some dodgy movies.

N.
 
Well, Vin Diesel is not the greatest actor, but after watching his performance in Saving Private Ryan I figure he is not all bad, either. I think that's the only film I've seen him in where he's not playing a stock "action hero", which is all Schwarzennegar was good at.
 
I forgot he was in Saving Private Ryan, maybe that indicates his ability, he did have a laid back and ironic attitude.

N.
 
I nominate the 1957 film, "The Giant Claw". The plot involves the invasion of Earth by a giant anti-matter shielded turkey buzzard from outer space. Every moment of every scene reeks to perfection. I love it!
 
I like pretty much anything related to PK Dick, so as well as the obvious Blade Runner, I still liked Total Recall (even if Arnie was an...odd choice of main character), and even Minority Report. Anyone seen A Scanner Darkly? Not a patch on the book but done in an interesting medium, and it stays quite close to the story. However, Keanu Reeves is in it.

Which actually reminds me of something else - no ones mentioned the Matrix. Love that film, and although the latter two were complete disappointments, the first is still a great mix of philosophy, action and spectacle.

Star Wars is one that I can't help loving. The story lines basic, but has a fantastic twist (although sadly I knew what it was long before I even saw the first film!), its easy watching and has its fair share of funny or exciting moments. Brilliant villain. Ewoks were a low point. The prequels were a big disappointment, but Episode 3 was a step back in the right direction, although Kenobi's line of "he killed the younglings" was unbearably cringeworthy.

2001 is brilliant, although the first time I watched it I only knew what was going on thanks to having read the book first. The way the silence and slow movement of space are used to crank up the tension though is masterful. Speaking of Clarke, the Rama series (books) was interesting from a realism viewpoint, as well as a view of human reaction to an alien visitor, and captured the feeling of exploration very well. The sequals were seemingly more character driven and different, leaving the original premise somewhat perhaps, but I still found them enjoyable.

As for bad, there was something in the mix of pseudo-seriousness and absurdity with Armageddon that just peeved me. Cannot stand it.

Well, it seems I'm just completely off topic because I've dedicated around 9/10ths of my post to the stuff I like and the rest to the bad. In my defence, I just like Sci Fi. Solaris I liked, War of the Worlds (new one!!) I could bear, I Robot, even Event Horizon, which seems universally hated here! No accounting for taste I suppose.

Oh, and a big thumbs up to Futurama and Red Dwarf too.

EDIT - Oh, I just remembered - Dune. Didn't know what was going on in that film, and I found the acting really irritating. I really should get onto reading the book, but I can't say I was encouraged.

Oh! How could I forget hitchhikers? One of my favourite series of books of all time, and I barely liked the film. Almost all the humour had gone, or at least presented in the wrong way (to my mind, anyway).
 
Anyone seen A Scanner Darkly? Not a patch on the book but done in an interesting medium, and it stays quite close to the story. However, Keanu Reeves is in it.

I've seen it. What a strange film... is the book as good as the film was?

And what's wrong with Reeves?

War of the Worlds (new one!!) I could bear,

Having seen both the old and the new one, I can't decide which one is better... Nah, I think I like the old one. Seriously, aliens coming down in lightning? And if the aliens already put the machines there, why didn't they just take over the Earth back then?
 
I've seen it. What a strange film... is the book as good as the film was?

And what's wrong with Reeves?



Having seen both the old and the new one, I can't decide which one is better... Nah, I think I like the old one. Seriously, aliens coming down in lightning? And if the aliens already put the machines there, why didn't they just take over the Earth back then?

If you think the films weird, wait till you read the book. I preferred the book, but thats not so strange, its always hard to capture what makes a book great in film, and I thought they did a good job. I was semi kidding about Reeves, except his voice never actually fluctuates in pitch so it can be a little disturbing at times.

War of the Worlds doesn't exactly scream "I'm realistic!", I know, but I find anything involving aliens and a fight to save the planet exciting. Even if Tom Cruise doesn't end up dying. Giant Tripods? Yes please.
 
With all the cornball scifi movies to chose from ........ one mans trash is another mans treasure. Going strictly by movies alone, Two of the CHEESIEST ever ( in my book anyway ) would be "DarkStar" and "Battle Beyond the Stars". ( with JohnBoy Walton in the lead role .... )

Honorable mention for wasted celluloid must also be given to "RobotJox" and those horrid 3d films from the 80's ......

It the TV catagory, the best I've seen was "From the Earth to the Moon" , the mini-series done on HBO. Even though it's not science fiction, it gives a great perspective into a lot of events that occured during our success and accidents along the way of getting to the moon.

For all the Trek bashers out there, stop and think about the Communicators and Tricorders the next time you use your cell phone or your Blackberry.

Some SciFi isn't all fantasy, it's just technology we haven't figured out how to build yet.
:beach:
 
About Dune, there are two movies based on this book, the one from the 80's and a more recent one done by the SciFi Channel, which I believe is the better film. It doesn't have as much mysterious nonsense and seems easier to follow.

I have a soft spot for Star Trek. Some of it is good SciFi, although it's very heavy on handwavium. And some of the stories are good stories about people. The original cast will always be the real Trek. And if it wasn't for Star Trek, I probably wouldn't care at all about SF, so call it "sci fi for beginners".
 
I gotta agree With the DUNE mini-series done by the SciFi chanell. I got intrested in the books after the 80's movie and the newer mini series does seem to follow the story line a lot closer than the 1st movie, even if Frank Herbert did have a hand in it's making.
 
I gotta agree With the DUNE mini-series done by the SciFi chanell. I got intrested in the books after the 80's movie and the newer mini series does seem to follow the story line a lot closer than the 1st movie, even if Frank Herbert did have a hand in it's making.

Apparently I'm in the minority here. Please don't get out the pitchforks and torches but I really liked the old Dune movie. In fact it is one of the only occasions in which I enjoyed the movie more than the book. Now let me qualify that, I saw the movie first, really enjoyed it and then read the book. I thought the book was a tough read, I really had to slog my way thru it. Of course this was back when I was in high school. If I were to give Herbert another try now, my opinion would probably be very different. And while I agree that the SciFi Channel mini-series did follow the book much more closely, I just didn't fire my imagination the way the old movie did.
 
That's true. But you have to take into account the difference in the cast and production crew as well. Sting was a great choice for the Neih-Baron. He had the part locked tight. I love the part where the Baron-Harkonen gets eaten by the giant sand worm. LOL

"Chomp chomp chew chomp ........ ugh ! Paatthoooowy ! Looks like people but tastes like a Harkonen."
 
That's true. But you have to take into account the difference in the cast and production crew as well. Sting was a great choice for the Neih-Baron. He had the part locked tight. I love the part where the Baron-Harkonen gets eaten by the giant sand worm. LOL

"Chomp chomp chew chomp ........ ugh ! Paatthoooowy ! Looks like people but tastes like a Harkonen."

That movie did have a great cast, Max von Sydow, the skipper form Das Boot as Duke Leto, I even enjoyed Kyle Maclachlan (but hell I liked Twin Peaks too so maybe I'm an unreliable source).

EDIT: Oooh I forgot, Patrick Stewart :)
 
I paid $7.50 to watch Pitch Black at the movies in stadium seating on a 3-story screen. Sorry for those who liked it, but I think that is on the list of "worst money I've spent at the movies." I'm not the biggest fan of Vin Diesel, but forget him. I thought the acting and the writing both stunk in this movie. I almost fell asleep. Honestly. Sure, the action heated up toward the end when the eclipse was about to happen, but other than that, I was sorely disappointed. I will probably never watch that movie (at least not the whole movie) again. It was on TBS or USA or something not long ago. I watch about 20 minutes of it and had to change the channel. Sorry if this is a favorite of anyone's, but I honestly just don't like it.

However, Chronicles of Riddick holds a special fascination with me that I cannot explain. I have watched it 3 times so far and make it a point to watch it whenever it is on TNT, TBS, etc. I think it definitely has a better story line than PB.
 
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