The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951 Director: Robert Wise, Writer: Hugh Blustein Cast: Patricia Neal, Michael Rennie, Hugh Marlowe, Billie Gray.
An alien lands his ship on a baseball field in Washington D.C. where he promptly gets shot, goes undercover to understand us, is discovered, gets shot again and is revived by a towering robot to delivers an important message to humanity.
One of my all time favorite. A film whose message is still relevant. Wise's direction and the music score played on a Thermin give the film a somber atmosphere.
Wavelength 1983 Writer/Director: Mike Gray. Cast: Robert Carradine, Cherie Currie, Keenan Wynn.
A young couple stumble upon a secret base in the desert of Southern California where the military are keeping aliens in hibernation and decide to liberate them.
No over blown drama, costly special effects or a big cast, instead, Wavelength is a quiet, riveting story. There is a simple, honest realism that makes it work. I'm still mystified why this isn't a cult classic.
Silent Running 1972 Director: Douglas Trumbull Writer: Michael Cimino, Deric Washburn. Cast: Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin.
In a future where all flora is extinct on Earth, an astronaut is given orders to destroy the last of Earth's botany, kept in a greenhouse aboard a spacecraft. He decides otherwise with the help of some handy drone robots.
The message of this film rings truer than ever. Dern's character is not that likeable but more so than his fellow crew, who deserve what they get.
Director Douglas Trumbull and other SFX masters John Dykstra and Richard Yuricich worked on "Star Wars" because of the state-of-the-arts special effects they did for this film, effects that still hold up almost 50 years later. The use of amputees as the drones is very clever.
The Andromeda Strain 1971 Director: Robert Wise Screenplay: Nelson Gidding based on the novel by Michael Crichton. Cast: Arthur Hill, James Olson, David Wayne, Kate Reid, Paula Kelly.
When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico, are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. In a secret military lab, scientist try to isolate an alien bacteria found in the satellite and figure out why two residents weren't killed by it.
The film is visually perfect without fancy special effects. The production design is stunning. The story remains faithful to the novel, the acting is superb and the climax thrilling. This is how a sci-fi movie is done.
2001 A Space Odyssey 1968 Director: Stanley Kubrick Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke. Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Douglas Rain.
After discovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, mankind sets off on a quest to find its origins with help from intelligent supercomputer HAL who turns on the crew when they decide to shut him down.
Much has been written about 2001. It is first class filmmaking on so many levels. Visuals effects (by Douglas Trumbull) story, direction and acting. The soundtrack alone is amazing.
The Ice Pirates 1984 Director: Stewart Raffill Screenplay: S Raffill, Standford Sherman. Cast: Robert Urich, Mary Crosby, Michael Roberts, Anjelica Huston, John Matuszak, Ron Perlman.
In space water is the most valuable substance. Two pirates are captured, sold to a princess, and recruited to help her find her father who disappeared when he found information dangerous to the rulers.
A wacky space opera with sword fights, explosions, and fighting robots galore. It has cheap effects, raunchy humor and a silly plot. Great for rainy night watching with some popcorn and beer.
Galaxy Quest 1999 Director: Dean Parisot Screenplay: David Howard. Cast: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Darryl Mitchell, Enrico Colantoni, Justin Long.
The alumni cast of a sci fi television series have to play their roles for real when an alien race needs their help to defend Earth and the alien race from a reptilian warlord.
This is a near perfect spoof a genre in dire need of lampooning. Star Trek is the unspoken but clear target along with a cast that plays along with the joke. God this is one funny film.
Battle Beyond the Stars 1980 Director: Jimmy Murakami and (uncredited) Roger Corman. Screenplay: John Sayles. Cast: Richard Thomas, George Peppard, Robert Vaughn, John Saxon, Darlanne Fluegel, Sybil Danning.
A young farmer sets out to recruit mercenaries to defend his peaceful planet, which is under threat of invasion by the evil tyrant Sador and his armada of aggressors.
This film sounds good on paper. Great director (Corman) well known cast and screenplay by successful screenwriter and director John Sayles. James Cameron (yes that Cameron) worked on production along with his future wife and co producer Gale Ann Hurd. James Horner who did the score.
It ends up being a low budget homage to Star Wars and the Magnificent Seven which was based on The Seven Samurai. Peppard sends up the tough guy roles he was known for, Robert Vaughn is basically the same character he was in Magnificent Seven, lifting whole chunks of dialogue as well. John Saxon made a career as the bad guy and Richard Thomas was breaking away from his Waltons character John Boy. Not a comedy per se but has lots of unintentional humor that makes it an entertaining bit of froth.
3 comments:
-I have seen The Day the Earth Stood Stil (came out the year I was born), Silent Running, and 2001. I especially liked Silent Running for its environmental message but The Day the Earth Stood Still has to be my all-time favorite. I've only seen it on the small screen but would definitely go to see it in the theatre.
You've mentioned two that I hadn't heard of, thanks! My personal favorite is not on your list. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The 1954 Disney version. I've seen it in the theater and it holds up well. You can watch it on the Internet Archive.
Any clues where we might go to watch these films today?
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