Thats a fair point but in the case of both 1984 an Brazil there some similarities thought thee is no Big Brother and no thought police per se in Brazil.
Best fantasy/sci-fi films
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Thats a fair point but in the case of both 1984 an Brazil there some similarities thought thee is no Big Brother and no thought police per se in Brazil.
hitmouse
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You may be correct. It is just that every other critic and commentator since the film was released seems to see parallels with 1984.
AlexH
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I enjoyed Predestination but would give that title to Primer or Timecrimes, which combined probably far less people saw than Predestination.
Star-child
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Fantasy: The Dark Crystal.
SF: Tron.
SF: Tron.
The Dark Crystal a great film and defiantly unique . I wonder how the Prequel tv series will compare?
I saw Tron when it first came out and was awe of it . As for the sequel Tron Legacy , I like that film as well., I wish they done a sequel or two to it.
Conan the Barbarian 1982 I have soft spot for this particular film. A very entertaining film.
I saw Tron when it first came out and was awe of it . As for the sequel Tron Legacy , I like that film as well., I wish they done a sequel or two to it.
Conan the Barbarian 1982 I have soft spot for this particular film. A very entertaining film.
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Al Jackson
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The Dark Crystal a great film and defiantly unique . I wonder how the Prequel tv series will compare?
I saw Tron when it first came out and was awe of it . As for the sequel Tron Legacy , I like that film as well., I wish they done a sequel or two to it.
Conan the Barbarian 1982 I have soft spot for this particular film. A very entertaining film.
I was not happy with the sequel to Conan the Barbarian, the original was not a dump down of Robert E Howard, it was a sassy ADULT sword and sorcery fantasy with an edge to it. I can't think of another fantasy like it. I don't know if Milius was offered the sequel or did not want to make it. One could say LToR is adult but PG13 , I don't know of another R rated fantasy like the 1982 film.
Star-child
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Fantasy: Ravenous
olive
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Yes! Very underrated movie.
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I don't think there is anyone that was happy with Conan the Destroyer.
Overread
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Many of mine have already been mentioned and its surprising how many I didn't think of until I read them and suggested here. However I'm shocked that there's one which you've all (far as I can see) missed.
DRAGONHEART - Surely this film deserves a place for several elements. Firstly its a bit like Jurassic Park for dragons in that its the first time we get a CGI dragon and film where the dragon is more than a guy in a costume filmed mostly in dark caves to hide the fact that its a guy in a costume; or stop motion or an enlarged iguana. Secondly its one of the few where one of the lead characters isn't human, an element often missing in a lot of movie-based fantasy I find. That the lead is a dragon, not even remotely bipedal, I think makes it stand above a good many others. Plus its your classic sword and dragon type adventuring tale.
Sadly its 3 sequels never got the same budget nor managed to quite live up to the first film, although I must be honest and say I've only seen one fully (the second) and a bit of the 3rd. I need to properly see the last two as they might make a recovery.
Other suggestions:
Ray Harryhausen - yes he's not a film, but so many of his films deserve to be in a top Fantasy list. The various adventures of Sinbad to the Greek tales his stop motion brought to life skeletons and ogors and giants and sabrecats in a way that honestly was not beaten until Jurassic Park and CGI effects and large scale animatronics took off.
Studio Ghibli - ok another "not a film" but only because there's so many fantastic works to their name. From heartwarming adventures like Castle in the Sky to mysterious tales of the far future in Nausicaa. They've even done a touch of Borrowing and some Earthsea too - both re-imagined in their own view. There's a very natural and wild beauty to a lot of their work and its also refreshing to get myths and ideas influenced from so far outside of the western tropes that we are used too.
Sci-Fi
The Forbidden Planet.
The Matrix Trilogy. Many would say just the first film, I personally never disliked the second and third, although I do think that the story telling leaves some gaping gaps in its tale that the viewer has to fill in. The Animatrix mini-series does start to fill in some of the gaps and gives some ideas that one can work with which will fill in some blanks; but it requires the viewer to put a lot of the story together to complete the picture.
The Neverending Story
DRAGONHEART - Surely this film deserves a place for several elements. Firstly its a bit like Jurassic Park for dragons in that its the first time we get a CGI dragon and film where the dragon is more than a guy in a costume filmed mostly in dark caves to hide the fact that its a guy in a costume; or stop motion or an enlarged iguana. Secondly its one of the few where one of the lead characters isn't human, an element often missing in a lot of movie-based fantasy I find. That the lead is a dragon, not even remotely bipedal, I think makes it stand above a good many others. Plus its your classic sword and dragon type adventuring tale.
Sadly its 3 sequels never got the same budget nor managed to quite live up to the first film, although I must be honest and say I've only seen one fully (the second) and a bit of the 3rd. I need to properly see the last two as they might make a recovery.
Other suggestions:
Ray Harryhausen - yes he's not a film, but so many of his films deserve to be in a top Fantasy list. The various adventures of Sinbad to the Greek tales his stop motion brought to life skeletons and ogors and giants and sabrecats in a way that honestly was not beaten until Jurassic Park and CGI effects and large scale animatronics took off.
Studio Ghibli - ok another "not a film" but only because there's so many fantastic works to their name. From heartwarming adventures like Castle in the Sky to mysterious tales of the far future in Nausicaa. They've even done a touch of Borrowing and some Earthsea too - both re-imagined in their own view. There's a very natural and wild beauty to a lot of their work and its also refreshing to get myths and ideas influenced from so far outside of the western tropes that we are used too.
Sci-Fi
The Forbidden Planet.
The Matrix Trilogy. Many would say just the first film, I personally never disliked the second and third, although I do think that the story telling leaves some gaping gaps in its tale that the viewer has to fill in. The Animatrix mini-series does start to fill in some of the gaps and gives some ideas that one can work with which will fill in some blanks; but it requires the viewer to put a lot of the story together to complete the picture.
The Neverending Story
Laughingbuddha
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For me 2001: A Space Odyssey is hands down one of the best movies ever, not only Sci-Fi, but in general. As for modern (and by that I mean movies from new millenium) I noticed that no one mentioned 2009 movie Moon, which is definitely worth mentioning.
olive
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E: Were you going to write 'the best movie ever made' and then just decided otherwise? Just curious.
Laughingbuddha
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Sorry about my English. It tend to go rusty without the practice (((
What I mean is that the 2001 is not just the best Sci-Fi movie ever made, its the one of the best movies ever made.
What I mean is that the 2001 is not just the best Sci-Fi movie ever made, its the one of the best movies ever made.
olive
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It has nothing to do with your English. I've just, viciously been hoping that somebody would say something close to that, that's all.
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Al Jackson
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Yeah 2001 is only true blue solid through and through science fiction film I know of that is totally in the spirit of modern prose science fiction. Hard science with a transcendental Big Thinks story. Well... Kubrick did consider doing Childhood's End which is how Clarke got into the game of making the film. I know of prose science fiction that would be it's equal IF someone could adapt it but I don't think it will ever be done , example, Ursula K. Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness... a faithful adaptation of that would take a genius and a dumb quirk of luck to get the money...……………. Clarke's Childhood's End was done by the SyFy channel , and it is a respectful adaptation, but they hyped some elements and added a soap-opera to the middle part so it came off as a bit muddled. … If someone did The Stars My Destination, as Bester wrote it, it would be a baroque space opera the likes of which no one has ever seen …. it has something like 7 screenplays written for it but nothing has ever happened.
I did like the Syfy Channels miniseries adaptation of Childhood'd End . Id would like to have seen Kubrick take on Childhoods End , it would have been grand and If remember correctly, didn't. Ray Bradbury do a screenplay for proposed Childs end movie in the late 1970's? I remember seeing concept artwork for it in one the science fiction Magazines , Im thinking it was Starlog magazine. I seem to recall that Bradley was at one point, alos working on sequel story for The Day The Earth Stood Still which never got done.
The Stars My Destination at and The Demolished Man have both been optioned a number of times but for one reason or a anther, never seem to get made.
Star-child
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As SF? They do invent the steam engine.
The best dragon movie ever has not been represented: Dragonslayer.
Al Jackson
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Never heard of a screenplay by Bradbury for Childhood's End... Bradbury is a funny story.. above all things he wanted to be a screen writer, his early efforts Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (think was story only) and It Came From Outer Space (story and screenplay, screenplay not used, tho the backbone story is odd in having essentially indifferent alien invaders) , doing a great job with Moby Dick , Moby Dick and Something Wicked This Way Comes are the only long form film screenplays I know, Bradbury did a ton of TV many teleplays....
When I was at the 1965 Westercon where Bradbury read the first 25 pages of the screenplay he was writing for Alan Pakul and Robert Mulligan for The Martian Chronicles , to star Gregory Peck, it sounded great to me … but nothing came of it. Later Bradbury's friend Richard Matheson wrote a TV miniseries which really didn't work... I think Bradbury's screenplay was better.
