Best Science Fiction, And Why?

[BBTfan]

speaking of zombie movies, be sure to check out The Return of the Living Dead. Several in the series. Great stuff!

[gaqo]

What about Brazil? De Niro as a terrorist plumber, Sam Lowry's mother and her face lifts, Michael Palin as a torturer, and a strange giant Japanese warrior!

[gaqo]

I think it's obvious that sci fi is becoming reality!

[gaqo]

I listened to an interesting R3 programme yesterday, entitled 'Womb on Legs? Science Fiction and the Control of Reproduction' by Sarah Dillon. She puts forward the idea that sci-fi helps us to relate to the real world. It also allows us to imagine new worlds and possibilities. As the writer William Gibson puts it, sci-fi is 'the selective amplification of the observed present'. The programme is intelligent, thought provoking and witty!   http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03g2wkp

[djsurrey]

I'm really surprised no one has mentioned Heinlein yet. The "Future History" series is simply amazing, when the time frame in which it was written is considered. His novels,especially the so called juveniles, are very entertaining. You would be wise to stay away from his later stuff, he fell into the trap of trying to tie his disparate series all together. Asimov fell into the same trap.

Willo, gaqo (well, others also may enjoy it)you both would probably enjoy Harllan Ellison. His stories tend to have that certain twist or a skewed point of view to them. His two stories "A Boy and His Dog" and "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" are simply great.

 

When I was in my teens I read a lot of Heinlein. The stand out titles I still recall were

• Stranger in a Strange Land,
• The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
• Door into Summer
• Tunnel in the Sky

I remember also liking The Star Beast.

 

I don't really know how I'd feel about those titles now.  Eventually I read so much Heinlein that I knew the formula's he used in his writing too well. Then I moved on to Arthur C Clarke. I found his books engaging but often by the time I had finished the book I was wondering why I bothered with it.

 

Then I discovered Isaac Asimov.  My favorites were the Foundation Series and Robot Series.  I found the Asimov books as engaging as the Heinlein books but somewhat more thought provoking too. On the other hand a number of years ago I tried to read one of his more recent books that tied the series together and I found no more magic in it. I thing someone else pointed out it was not as good as the early books.

 

More recently I kind of lost interest in reading science fiction. I guess I just find reading about actual science discoveries and developments more rewarding. Then there is the issue of attempting to stay current in my own field which requires a great deal of reading.

 

Of the older Science Fiction movies I think my favorite was Silent Running. I was very young in 1971 and I just loved the programmable drones. In the movie the protagonist is able to program a drone to do surgery on himself. The concept filled me with wonder as a youngster.  This was made years before Star Wars.

 

Snippets of the movie now really look so 70's.

 

Edited November 12, 2013 by djsurrey

[Guest I'm not dead Cheryl]

everytime I put on my earphones I remember Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451

 

 

"And in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her unsleeping mind."

 

and then I feel strange

Edited November 12, 2013 by Sursonica

[Geniocrat]

It's often debatable what classes as Science Fiction. Some people say that Lost is science fiction... I don't usually invest my time in long-running series, but I did with Lost, and I loved it. Must have a re-watch soon... 

 

I recently saw 2001: A Space Odyssey and was awestruck by the sophistication of the special effects for 1969! Then again, Stanley Kubrick's films are always visually sharp.

 

I've recently developed a fondness for Doctor Who also, but only the newer series. The non-classic monsters can be a little disappointing though; there was an episode that took clear influence from The Shining (called The God Complex in case you're unfamiliar) and it was intriguing until the monster was revealed. As for the older episodes, I saw a few episodes with Tom Baker and liked him, but thought the show was a bit... slow.

 

The story has recently become a bit disjointed here and there with the arrival (and impending departure) of Matt Smith - I like him, but I can't wait to see who is next in line to be the Doctor.

Transformers, Star Trek, Star Wars, Robocop, Terminator,  Justice League, Hulk, Spiderman, X-Men,

 

If JJ Abrams is doing both Star Wars and Star Trek he needs to do a Borg crossover into the Federation and the Republic.

[Chiany]

Farscape when it comes to tv series.

Alien/hitchhikers guide when it comes to movies.

[Geniocrat]

What was Farscape about ?

 

It looked like a ST:DS9 ripoff.  Or am I wrong ?