I don't know if we're excluding animated features, but I like Light Years also known as The Metal Men vs. Gandahar.
Favorite "Obscure" Sci-Fi Movies?
- Thread starter Vger23
- Start date
For anyone under 45, I'd still argue that Forbidden Planet is, "obscure." Agree with many already mentioned. Noticed that no one mentioned the 1927 film, Metropolis which was their envionsed future of the year 2026.
The original, The Day the Earth Stood Still, while not technically -'obscure - is a sci-fi classic.
Someone mentioned, Quiet Earth. Love that film.
Less obscure but more a precursor to the modern zombie craze is 28 Days Later the British version, albeit not sci-fi.
A nod to The Black Hole. Pity no one - especially Disney who made the original-hasn't tried to do a re-make of that film. Stunning vissuals for when it was made.
Does, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, qualify? Another classic but obscure film for modern audiences to revisit.
Also not mentioned, The Andromeda Strain, great early 70's flick about alien substance that could kill us all.
The original, The Day the Earth Stood Still, while not technically -'obscure - is a sci-fi classic.
Someone mentioned, Quiet Earth. Love that film.
Less obscure but more a precursor to the modern zombie craze is 28 Days Later the British version, albeit not sci-fi.
A nod to The Black Hole. Pity no one - especially Disney who made the original-hasn't tried to do a re-make of that film. Stunning vissuals for when it was made.
Does, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, qualify? Another classic but obscure film for modern audiences to revisit.
Also not mentioned, The Andromeda Strain, great early 70's flick about alien substance that could kill us all.
It's coming!
Awesome. One last mention, while not 'obscure,' I'd wager not many people have seen or remember this film - the 1980's Christopher Walken film, Brainstorm - about a machine that can record our thoughts.
"Obscure" depends a lot on context. "The Trouble with Tribbles" is obscure if you don't care about Star Trek or science fiction. (A point driven home to me at Easter dinner yesterday.)
And when it comes to old movies and movie stars, it very much depends on one's interests. The average person still knows who Humphrey Bogart or Marilyn Monroe are (I hope), but only serious movie buffs still remember, say, Tyrone Power or Carole Lombard. And I can testify from experience that kids these days don't know who "The Flintstones" are.
So are the "The Flintstones" obscure these days? Personally, I'd reserve that word for things that were never a big deal or regarded as classics. To me, "obscure" is a movie that may have been overlooked or forgotten--even by people who care about such things.
Heck, when it comes to baseball, pretty much everybody except Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle are "obscure" to me . . . because I don't know anything about sports!
And when it comes to old movies and movie stars, it very much depends on one's interests. The average person still knows who Humphrey Bogart or Marilyn Monroe are (I hope), but only serious movie buffs still remember, say, Tyrone Power or Carole Lombard. And I can testify from experience that kids these days don't know who "The Flintstones" are.
So are the "The Flintstones" obscure these days? Personally, I'd reserve that word for things that were never a big deal or regarded as classics. To me, "obscure" is a movie that may have been overlooked or forgotten--even by people who care about such things.
Heck, when it comes to baseball, pretty much everybody except Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle are "obscure" to me . . . because I don't know anything about sports!
You go to hell!
Natalie Wood's last movie, as I recall.
I'm almost afraid to ask: Is Natalie Wood considered "obscure" these days?
I know from previous discussions here that opinion of QE is split, some of us love it dearly and some are bored to tears by it.
...and being a Kiwi film it's certainly obscure in these parts.
Especially on this board.
Here's a list:
Demon Seed (1977)
Ever Since the World Ended (2001)
Exit Humanity (2011)
Extraterrestrial (2011)
Frequently Asked Questions about Time Travel (2009)
Hell comes to Frogtown (1987)
In The Year 2889 (1967)
Je T'aime, Je T'aime (1968)
Mindwarp (1992)
Monsters (2010)
Night of the Comet (1984)
The One I Love (2014)
One Point 0 (2004)
Pontypool (2008)
Quintet (1979)
Shivers (1975)
The Signal (2014)
Space Station 76 (2014)
Unknown Island (1948)
Demon Seed (1977)
Ever Since the World Ended (2001)
Exit Humanity (2011)
Extraterrestrial (2011)
Frequently Asked Questions about Time Travel (2009)
Hell comes to Frogtown (1987)
In The Year 2889 (1967)
Je T'aime, Je T'aime (1968)
Mindwarp (1992)
Monsters (2010)
Night of the Comet (1984)
The One I Love (2014)
One Point 0 (2004)
Pontypool (2008)
Quintet (1979)
Shivers (1975)
The Signal (2014)
Space Station 76 (2014)
Unknown Island (1948)
I agree with many of the above. My additions:
Crack in the World -Search for geothermal energy results in, well...
Krull- Horner's best score and Ken Marshall's worst performance. Oh, well. At least we get Lysette Anthony in fancy gowns.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea- The 1961 movie. Pure cheese about global warming (and lots of it) but far superior to the later TV show (IMHO). co-stars Michael Ansara as a religious nut and his then-wife Barbara Eden before Jeanie.
Battle Beneath the Earth- The evil Chinese tunnel beneath US cities to plant A-bombs. The Chinese are all played by american actors with bowl haircuts and makeup. Very insulting and probably why it's impossible to find.
Solar Crisis- Not good, not bad. Very late career Charlton Heston cash grab.
At the Earth's Core- It is what it says, but with Carolyn Monro. How can you go wrong?
Until the End of the World- It gets more sci-fi as it goes along. Wim Wenders ultimate road trip film. Superb.
It does astound me how so many great films (Metropolis, Forbidden Planet) can be considered obscure but I know fewer and fewer people who have seen them.
Crack in the World -Search for geothermal energy results in, well...
Krull- Horner's best score and Ken Marshall's worst performance. Oh, well. At least we get Lysette Anthony in fancy gowns.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea- The 1961 movie. Pure cheese about global warming (and lots of it) but far superior to the later TV show (IMHO). co-stars Michael Ansara as a religious nut and his then-wife Barbara Eden before Jeanie.
Battle Beneath the Earth- The evil Chinese tunnel beneath US cities to plant A-bombs. The Chinese are all played by american actors with bowl haircuts and makeup. Very insulting and probably why it's impossible to find.
Solar Crisis- Not good, not bad. Very late career Charlton Heston cash grab.
At the Earth's Core- It is what it says, but with Carolyn Monro. How can you go wrong?
Until the End of the World- It gets more sci-fi as it goes along. Wim Wenders ultimate road trip film. Superb.
It does astound me how so many great films (Metropolis, Forbidden Planet) can be considered obscure but I know fewer and fewer people who have seen them.
To be fair, as I read through this thread I planned to include "Metropolis" even before I read your posts.
In a different vein, I also liked the 1980's movie "Enemy Mine"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRUdNhYoP_U
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRUdNhYoP_U[/yt]
Even the younger generation would probably know the name "Planet of the Apes", but I prefer the original with Charlton Heston. I can still hear his cry of anguish when he found the half sunken Statue of Liberty.
Going for the truer (?) meaning of obscure... I would throw out two quite different films.
One... "Robinson Crusoe on Mars"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyn-xqmMt_g
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyn-xqmMt_g[/yt]
and second... "Colossus: The Forbin Project"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t46Kjy-IJpY
Damn, that one STILL scares me!
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t46Kjy-IJpY[/yt]
Electroma is good. Daft Punk made it, it has two robots driving through the American west. There is no dialogue and every single person is wearing a helmet identical to the Daft Punk helmets.
Thought I'd better give more than just titles. Since I'm lazy, I'll just give you trailers, though.
YouTube| The Green Slime (1968) trailer
YouTube| Robot Jox Trailer
YouTube| Titan A.E. (2000) HD trailer
YouTube| The Fountain [Trailer] HD
YouTube| Heavy Metal - Original 1981 Red Band Trailer
YouTube| Battle Royale Trailer
YouTube| eXistenZ (1999) - Trailer
YouTube| Rene Laloux: Les Maîtres Du Temps [Time Masters] Trailer English/Subs
Also, I remembered this little no-budget gem:
YouTube| Hunter Prey - Trailer [2010]
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.
Speaking about Moontrap, I believe there is a sequel in the works Moontrap: Target Earth.
This post-apocalyptic adventure is so terribly bad, that it's actually pretty good! But it has an all-star 80's cast, including the charming & very beautiful Kitty Aldridge who makes this movie for me, as she steals every scene she's in ...
She's a bounty hunter who's partner is Mark Hamill. They are bringing in Bob Peck who stars as an android wanted for murder. Bill Paxton's sort of this Han Solo-type character, only his "Falcon" is a ricketty glider-plane. He ends up befriending the android and Kitty cannot help but fall prey to his Bill Paxtonish charm ...
Damn man, what was that for?
Does 'Explorers' count as obscure? I loved this film as a kid but nobody else I knew later on seemed to have even heard of it. Of course the internet is a much bigger sample set and I have since seen people talk about this fondly.
Anyway, great cast including a very young Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix cast totally and refreshingly against type supported by the likes of James Cromwell, the always great Dick Miller and Robert Picardo who manages to come in and steal the whole film in the last 15 minutes. In short: probably the best Steven Spielberg film ever directed by Joe Dante.
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsgnASvxyyo[/yt]
Anyway, great cast including a very young Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix cast totally and refreshingly against type supported by the likes of James Cromwell, the always great Dick Miller and Robert Picardo who manages to come in and steal the whole film in the last 15 minutes. In short: probably the best Steven Spielberg film ever directed by Joe Dante.
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsgnASvxyyo[/yt]
How could I forget Robinson Crusoe on Mars! What a great pic.
I forgot to add: Millenium. The term "so bad it's good" originated with this. But, I dated a girl who LOVED it, so I happily watched it many times. ugh
Things To Come - Truly a marvel for the time it was made. Maybe the first film to portray post-apocalyptic ruin.
I forgot to add: Millenium. The term "so bad it's good" originated with this. But, I dated a girl who LOVED it, so I happily watched it many times. ugh
Things To Come - Truly a marvel for the time it was made. Maybe the first film to portray post-apocalyptic ruin.
