Fave Sci-fi Films 1990–2004
| ++ | must-see |
| + | good but flawed |
| OK | interesting but not for everybody |
| - | very flawed, some redeeming features |
The Truman Show
1998
++ cool paranoid
La cité des enfants perdus
1995
++ beautifully surreal french
Being John Malkovich
1999
++
Galaxy Quest
1999
++ spoof
Men in Black
1997
++ spoof
The Iron Giant
1999
+ v. good animated
Total Recall
1990
+ paranoid action; regrettable ending
Aeon Flux
1999-2001 series
+ animated ultra-violence
The Matrix
1999
OK Sci-fi drama
Pitch Black
2000
OK for low-budget scary
Minority Report
2002
OK action, paranoid
The Cell
2000
OK violent psycho scifi
Dark City
1998
OK political/psycho
Donnie Darko
2001
OK time-travel, psycho
The Fifth Element
1997
- Fantastic ideas, senery mixed with questionable plot and endless stupid fight scenes
Serenity
Universal 2005
| Nathan Fillion | Captain Malcolm Reynolds |
| Summer Glau | River Tam |
| Adam Baldwin | Jayne |
| Gina Torres | Zoë |
| Alan Tudyk | Wash |
| Sean Maher | Simon |
| Jewel Staite | Kaylee |
| Ron Glass Detective Harris in “Barney Miller” | Book |
| Morena Baccarin | Inarah |
| David Krumholtz | Mr. Universe |
| Chiwetel Ejiofor | The Operative |
| Writer/Director | Joss Whedon |
Based on the short-run Fox TV series Firefly, aired in 2002. I saw several episodes, and loved them, but never met another person who had seen one.
Date 2500
More space ships than you can shake a blaster at.
This is a very beautiful portrayal of futuristic worlds. The character development is superb, and the characters are great. The dialog is a blast, done in a variety of dialects, from a Westernesque twang of the outer planets to the sophisticated silk of the inner planets. Then the special effects... We don’t often see space scenes so carefully crafted in such movies. The starkness of light and shadow (absent in Star Wars. e.g.).
I have one main plot complaint. The mystery girl “River” is a profound psychic: OK, that’s standard SF fare. But she’s also a super kung-fu fighting machine who beats up whole battalions of heavily armed soldiers. Why not give her a whole whack more magical powers? I think the character would have been far more believable with just the single special power, thank you. Even that one was unnecessary for the plot: the bad guys want her, primarily, it turns out, for a bit of knowledge she might have. She didn’t need to be a super-girl to have that. Oh well. Not my movie.