Sci-Fi

  • Jack Arnold – The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

    1951-1960Amos Vogel: Film as a Subversive ArtJack ArnoldSci-FiThrillerUSA

    SYNOPSIS: While out on the ocean with his wife, Scott Carey’s boat drifts through a strange mist that leave a metallic residue covering his body. He thinks nothing of it at the time but within a few weeks he begins to notice that he is losing weight. A visit to the doctor also confirms that he is getting shorter. As he gets smaller and smaller, doctors determine that his exposure to insecticides followed by what must have been a radioactive mist has caused a genetic mutation. They manage to stop his shrinking, but only temporarily. Eventually, he is small to the point where encounters with the household cat and later a spider become potentially deadly situations.Read More »

  • David Lynch – Dune [Extended Edition] (1984)

    1981-1990David LynchDramaSci-FiUSA

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    SEVERAL of the characters in ”Dune” are psychic, which puts them in the unique position of being able to understand what goes on in the movie. The plot of ”Dune” is perilously overloaded, as is virtually everything else about it. As the first king-sized, Italian-produced science-fiction epic, ”Dune” is an ornate affair, awash in the kind of marble, mosaics, wood paneling, leather tufting and gilt trim more suitable to moguls’ offices than to far-flung planets in the year 10191. Not all of the overkill is narrative or decorative. Even the villain, a flying, pustule-covered creature, has more facial sores than he absolutely needs.Read More »

  • Shane Carruth – Primer (2004)

    2001-2010Sci-FiShane CarruthThrillerUSA

    Four friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there’s something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they’ve built, wrestle over their new invention.Read More »

  • Ishirô Honda – Gojira AKA Godzilla (1954)

    1951-1960AsianIshirô HondaJapanKaiju-eigaSci-Fi

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    Quote:
    One of the longest-running series in film history began with Ishiro Honda’s grim, black-and-white allegory for the devastation wrought on Japan by the atomic bomb. As his visual metaphor, Honda uses a 400-foot tall mutant dinosaur called Gojira, awakened from the depths of the sea as a rampaging nuclear nightmare, complete with glowing dorsal fins and fiery, radioactive breath. Crushing ships, villages, and buildings in his wake, Gojira marches toward Tokyo, bringing all of the country’s worst nightmares back until an evil more terrible bomb — capable of sucking all the oxygen from the sea — returns the monster to its watery grave. The original film is chilling, despite some rather unconvincing man-in-a-suit special effects, and brimming with explicitly-stated anti-American sentiment. All of that was removed for the U.S. release directed by Terry Morse. It was replaced with bad dubbing and tedious added footage starring Raymond Burr. The resulting edit was just another monster movie, but was still popular enough to assure future Toho Studios monster films a wide American release. Gojira No Gyakushu (1955) was next in the series.Read More »

  • Kanji Nakajima – Hako aka Box (2003)

    Arthouse2001-2010JapanKanji NakajimaSci-Fi

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    Quote:
    The scene of the story is laid in a tranquil village in some future world, where high technology is integrated with its nostalgic scenery.
    Under “the exhausted tree”, a machine is built, which supports the life of the tree.
    There lives “an old craftsman” who fixes it. “The Box” made by him is rambling along the old railroad, taking the memories of the people and the events in the village in it. In his quiet life, The old craftsman is worried about The Box, saying ” I have not fulfilled his wish yet”.
    Then, the monotonous and peaceful scene in the village has begun to change slowly after the old craftsman’s death – the tree fallen down, The Box broken.
    The mourning for The Box, however, will open up a new prospect.
    What is the wish of The Box which is now appearing ?Read More »

  • Terry Gilliam – Brazil (1985)

    Comedy1981-1990Sci-FiTerry GilliamUnited Kingdom

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    SYNOPSIS
    Brazil constitutes Terry Gilliam’s enormously ambitious follow-up to his 1981 Time Bandits. It also represents the second installment in a trilogy of Gilliam films on imagination versus reality, that began with Bandits and ended in 1989 with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. To create this wild, visually audacious satire, Gilliam combines dystopian elements from Orwell, Huxley and Kafka (plus a central character who mirrors Walter Mitty) with his own trademark, Monty Python-esque, jet black British humor and his gift for extraordinary visual invention. The results are thoroughly unprecedented in the cinema.Read More »

  • Juliusz Machulski – Seksmisja AKA Sexmission (1984)

    1981-1990ComedyJuliusz MachulskiPolandSci-Fi

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    Synopsis:

    Two scientists are chosen as guinea pigs for a time experiment: they are placed in hibernation and should be brought back to life after three years. In the meantime, however, the World War III breaks out and life have been wiped out of the surface of the Earth. When they wake up, it turns out that not only 50 years have passed but also that they are the only living specimens of the male sex in a new, underground society composed exclusively of women. Max used to be woman-chaser so he finds himself in heaven. Albert, on the other hand, forgot all about love and sex as a serious scientist, but is willing to learn. So are the Amazons, who after a kiss turn into pliant kittens. The Council of Women is going to decide their fate, so they are trying to win more time. Eventually they make it to the surface, helped by beautiful Lamia. On the surface it turns out that there is life there and somebody has been living a decent life…Read More »

  • Hal Hartley – The Girl From Monday (2005)

    2001-2010ArthouseHal HartleyQueer Cinema(s)Sci-FiUSA

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    Independent auteur Hal Hartley wrote and directed this satirical exercise in what he calls “fake science fiction.” In the near future, following a violent overthrow of the American government, the United States has come under the rule of the MMM, a Multi-Media Monopoly which runs the country as a business. Every citizen now has a personal bar code, which is used to monitor his or her consumption of practically everything, including sex, now that aphrodisiacs have become the nation’s biggest consumer product. Jack (Bill Sage) and Cecile (Sabrina Lloyd) are two MMM executives who are vying for the same level of advancement within the organization, while William (Leo Fitzpatrick) is a member of the Partisans, a cadre of anti-MMM activists who are attempting to bring down the corporation’s rule, though they are regarded as both dangerous and powerless by MMM’s leaders. In the midst of this situation comes a beautiful woman from the planet Monday (Tatiana Abracos), who knows about Jack’s little secret — he’s a fellow alien hiding out on Earth. The woman has come to Earth to bring Jack back to planet Monday, but given the currently miserable state of Jack’s life, he’s more interested in having a relationship with her than heading back home. The Girl From Monday has its world premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. — Mark DemingRead More »

  • Vojtech Jasný – Wir (1981)

    1981-1990Czech RepublicSci-FiVojtech Jasný

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    Description

    One of the most famous rare TV films ever, the copy is very good.
    I think Samyatin’s novel Wir on which this film is based is well known enough among sci-fi fans as the predecessor and inspiration for Brave New World and 1984. In 1981 ZDF adapted this film with Dieter Laser and Sabine von Maydell in the main roles and some clever effects despite obvious budget limitations. I’m as puzzled as all other fans why this film was apparently never shown again, maybe rights issues?
    Anyway here it is back for the eyes of the public.Read More »

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