Yeah, it was pretty cool.
And it was definitely "obscure"
Favorite "Obscure" Sci-Fi Movies?
- Thread starter Vger23
- Start date
And it was definitely "obscure"
Some of my obscure favorites:
The Magnetic Monster (1953)
Kronos (1957)
The Monolith Monsters (1957)
The above three all have the same basic premise: a menace threatening the Earth that's neither man nor beast nor intelligent alien, but rather a mindless thing that just keeps growing . . . and growing . . . and growing.
Fiend Without a Face (1958)
It's the one with the stop-motion animated brains that jump on your neck and suck your brain out.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
Not just one of the better British sci-fi movies, but one of the best newspaper dramas as well.
Creation of the Humanoids (1962)
Sure, it's talky and extremely low-budget, but it's a movie with intelligent and interesting ideas -- perhaps the first SF film about robots to deal with the question "What does it mean to be human?"
Planeta Bur (Planet of Storms) (1962)
The original Russian film about an expedition to Venus which supplied most of the footage for Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968).
The Magnetic Monster (1953)
Kronos (1957)
The Monolith Monsters (1957)
The above three all have the same basic premise: a menace threatening the Earth that's neither man nor beast nor intelligent alien, but rather a mindless thing that just keeps growing . . . and growing . . . and growing.
Fiend Without a Face (1958)
It's the one with the stop-motion animated brains that jump on your neck and suck your brain out.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
Not just one of the better British sci-fi movies, but one of the best newspaper dramas as well.
Creation of the Humanoids (1962)
Sure, it's talky and extremely low-budget, but it's a movie with intelligent and interesting ideas -- perhaps the first SF film about robots to deal with the question "What does it mean to be human?"
Planeta Bur (Planet of Storms) (1962)
The original Russian film about an expedition to Venus which supplied most of the footage for Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968).
Strange Invaders from the early 1980's with Paul LeMat, Nancy Allen and also featuring a younger Louise Fletcher and Wallace Shawn ("Inconceivable!" guy from Princess Bride, Toy Story). It was a movie I watched frequently on cable. It's basically about a tabloid journalist and professor coming across an alien expedition/occupation of a small rural town being covered up by the government. It's a little spooky but not exactly horror and the aliens aren't exactly benevolent, but they're not exactly evil or engaged in planning world domination or anything like that either- basically just studying the planet and its inhabitants and trying to keep a lid on their presence. There a couple of interesting plot turns and a (basically) "happy ending". Recommended mainly for B-movie lovers.
Depends how we're defining "obscure" but...
This Island Earth
Fiend Without A Face
Dark Star
Solaris
The Man Who Fell To Earth
Capricorn One
Outland
Lifeforce (OK, that's more of a guilty pleasure!)
Strange Invaders
Dark City
The Heroic Trio
This Island Earth
Fiend Without A Face
Dark Star
Solaris
The Man Who Fell To Earth
Capricorn One
Outland
Lifeforce (OK, that's more of a guilty pleasure!)
Strange Invaders
Dark City
The Heroic Trio
Vger23 said:
There's the false one!
And then the Enterprise rose out of the water, sparing V'ger23 from a horrible demise at the hands of ....well...they aren't Nibiru.
Some other okeeday movies that might be considered "obscure"...
Moontrap (Walter Koenig, Bruce Campbell)
Split Second (Rutger Hauer, Kim Cattrall)
Very nice!
Also, I forgot completely about Moontrap. I've never seen that...I may need to hunt it down.
As a kid, I had a special fondness for The Stuff and Dungeonmaster.
I've watched each more times than is healthy.
I've watched each more times than is healthy.
Is that the giant caterpillar one? I also liked The Monolith Monsters and Kronos. Oh, another is Five Million Years to Earth, an adaptation of Quatermass and the Pit. The Quatermass serials were pretty much unknown in the U.S. at the time.
On the right medication, Zardoz is pretty enjoyable.
"The gun is good. The penis is evil."
I quite enjoy Moon 44, which is an early Roland Emmerich attempt. Much smaller budget, but shows some of the promise of the action packed, mindless crap that was to come.
Nice sets.
Some good foreign sci-fi:
Cargo - Swiss movie about interstellar travel.
Dante 01 - French film, directed by Marc Caro. Sadly, not quite completed, but shows his signature style.
Renaissance Paris 2024 - A stark all black and white (solid colours) animation, in a neo noir style. English cast includes Daniel Craig.
The Clone Returns Home - Very introspective Japanese film.
Some good dumb American stuff:
The Hidden. Classic 80s action sci-fi body possession cheese.
Dark Angel (I Come In Peace) - Crazy tough alien comes to earth to harvest endorphins from humans.
Nice sets.
Some good foreign sci-fi:
Cargo - Swiss movie about interstellar travel.
Dante 01 - French film, directed by Marc Caro. Sadly, not quite completed, but shows his signature style.
Renaissance Paris 2024 - A stark all black and white (solid colours) animation, in a neo noir style. English cast includes Daniel Craig.
The Clone Returns Home - Very introspective Japanese film.
Some good dumb American stuff:
The Hidden. Classic 80s action sci-fi body possession cheese.
Dark Angel (I Come In Peace) - Crazy tough alien comes to earth to harvest endorphins from humans.
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Phase IV: A largely forgotten, somewhat slow but quite interesting 70s film about super intelligent ants.
The 90s Gamera Trilogy (Guardian of the Universe, Attack of Legion, Revenge of Iris) - Not as well known as the Godzilla series outside of Japan (or even in Japan these days, outside of fan circles) but superior to most entries in it outside of the '54 original. Gamera 3 is especially good.
I'll second The Monster That Challenged the World and Fiend Without a Face, and add The Trollenberg Terror AKA The Crawling Eye, which is let down by a rather weak ending but is pretty good overall.
The 90s Gamera Trilogy (Guardian of the Universe, Attack of Legion, Revenge of Iris) - Not as well known as the Godzilla series outside of Japan (or even in Japan these days, outside of fan circles) but superior to most entries in it outside of the '54 original. Gamera 3 is especially good.
I'll second The Monster That Challenged the World and Fiend Without a Face, and add The Trollenberg Terror AKA The Crawling Eye, which is let down by a rather weak ending but is pretty good overall.
Edge of Tomorrow
Equilibrium
Equilibrium
Can we have a definition for "obscure"? Because I really don't believe that any movie lesser know than Star Wars or Interstellar is "obscure"....
Ikarie XB-1 (the forerunner to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey).
Code 46, because Samantha Morton.
I don't know if Cloud Atlas qualifies as "obscure," but it's a great movie and it sure didn't light up the box office.
I don't know if Never Let Me Go is really "obscure" either, but it's probably not as known as it should be among sci-fi fans (it's a Kazuo Ishiguro adaptation and for some reason has High Kulchah cachet thereby that keeps it off SF movie lists).
I feel like the original film Stargate has been obscured over the years behind the TV franchise and multiple spin-offs it spawned, but it's pretty awesome Jules Verne-style adventure in its own right.
The Lathe of Heaven. Someday someone's going to hit on giving some of LeGuin's classics the genuine big-budget, big-screen treatment and will make All Teh Money.
The Butterfly Effect. A time-travel movie starring Asthon Kutcher wasn't exactly an easy sell for me but I was pleasantly surprised by it.
I agree witih the earlier mentions of "Planet of Storms." And "Silent Running." And "Solaris" (both versions, esp. the Clooney version). And "Paprika." And "Equilibrium."
I haven't seen The Clone Returns Home yet but it looks really interesting.
Code 46, because Samantha Morton.
I don't know if Cloud Atlas qualifies as "obscure," but it's a great movie and it sure didn't light up the box office.
I don't know if Never Let Me Go is really "obscure" either, but it's probably not as known as it should be among sci-fi fans (it's a Kazuo Ishiguro adaptation and for some reason has High Kulchah cachet thereby that keeps it off SF movie lists).
I feel like the original film Stargate has been obscured over the years behind the TV franchise and multiple spin-offs it spawned, but it's pretty awesome Jules Verne-style adventure in its own right.
The Lathe of Heaven. Someday someone's going to hit on giving some of LeGuin's classics the genuine big-budget, big-screen treatment and will make All Teh Money.
The Butterfly Effect. A time-travel movie starring Asthon Kutcher wasn't exactly an easy sell for me but I was pleasantly surprised by it.
I agree witih the earlier mentions of "Planet of Storms." And "Silent Running." And "Solaris" (both versions, esp. the Clooney version). And "Paprika." And "Equilibrium."
I haven't seen The Clone Returns Home yet but it looks really interesting.
((((((((((((POOF))))))))))
obscure
əbˈskjʊə/
adjective
1.
not discovered or known about; uncertain.
"his origins and parentage are obscure"
synonyms: unclear, uncertain, unknown, in doubt, doubtful, dubious, mysterious, hazy, vague, indeterminate, concealed, hidden
"he was born about 1650 though his origins and parentage remain obscure"
Source: dictionary.com
I had the same reaction. Is Forbidden Planet really considered "obscure" these days? I thought it was regarded as a classic instead.
It's like reading that Casablanca or King Kong are obscure.
EDIT: I see that the "obscure" thing has already been hashed out at length. But, yes, I have to agree with another poster that "old" does not necessarily equal obscure.
Granted, it's possible for once-major movies to fall into obscurity. LOGAN'S RUN, for example, was a big deal back in the day, but it can be argued that it's profile has declined a bit over the years. As I like to joke, I'm old enough to remember when LOGAN costumes were still fashionable at conventions. Not so much anymore . . . .
Meanwhile, I'll throw in a vote for Frequency, a cool time-travel movie from a few years back that didn't get the attention it deserved.
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