The Day the Earth Stood Still

[7/4]

Let us not forget the great "Beatles reunion" hoax of the late 1970s involving the rock group Klaatu...  oh my God, weren't they Canadian?!  I guess they were the poor man's ELO... 

I had hopes that no one else remembered this silliness...

Another CIA job.

[BruceH]

As a long-time fan of science fiction (books), I've always thought the genre uncomfortable in movies because it's so much an imagination thing. That feeling of venturing into the unknown just isn't there in most movies. Except "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and to a lesser extent "Forbidden Planet".

Science fiction (at its best) is a literature of ideas. It's hard to SHOW or DRAMATIZE ideas. So many movies labled as science fiction are all about mindless action. For instance, Philip K. Dick, the current favorite sf writer of Hollywood (who'd have thunk it?)-----he was the ultimate explorer of paranoia, but his stories somehow become all about chase scenes and explosions on the big screen. Instead of giving us a sense of wonder, sf movies these days want to pummel us with special effects, take us on an amusement park thrill ride, which isn't the same thing.

Sorry for belaboring the obvious.

[tooter]

Science fiction (at its best) is a literature of ideas. It's hard to SHOW or DRAMATIZE ideas. So many movies labled as science fiction are all about mindless action. For instance, Philip K. Dick, the current favorite sf writer of Hollywood (who'd have thunk it?)-----he was the ultimate explorer of paranoia, but his stories somehow become all about chase scenes and explosions on the big screen. Instead of giving us a sense of wonder, sf movies these days want to pummel us with special effects, take us on an amusement park thrill ride, which isn't the same thing.

Sorry for belaboring the obvious.

Belaboring the obvious - maybe, but there's a lot of people confuse science fiction, the real thing, with "sci-fi" (I hate the term and always have done - "science fiction" or "SF" are the terms I use) as shown on TV, mostly. There have been some TV series and single attempts which have made some effort in the right direction but few and far between. The genre will never be the same, however - you can't go home again!

[BruceH]

"sci-fi" (I hate the term and always have done - "science fiction" or "SF" are the terms I use)

You and me both, friend! To me, the ugly term "sci-fi" denotes stinking crap like Independece Day and Supernova. Yuck.

[RainyDay]

Are any of you youngsters old enough to remember the television series Science Fiction Theater? It was a combination of science, psychological, and sometimes a tad spooky. It had one of the those dramatic 50's theme songs with lots of horns. My dad and I loved this show. Nick at Night or the SciFi Channel ran it late night on the weekends a few years ago. Good stuff.

http://home.earthlink.net/~joesarno/tvscif...encetheater.htm

[Joe]

It doesn't get much more paranoiac than I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE.

And it doesn't get much more mystical in its ruminations than THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN.

Edited June 3, 2004 by Joe

[Jazzmoose]

The Incredible Shrinking Man was so full of itself that I wanted to hate it, but must admit I like it...

[A Lark Ascending]

Not exactly sci-fi and from the latter days of the Cold War but around 1984 a drama went out on UK TV called 'Threads' - an imaginary account of a political crisis between the USSR and USA that escalated to full scale nuclear war. The film showed the situation via the city of Sheffield and dwelt on the nuclear winter that followed.

It terrified me in 1984 and was finally rebroadcast a few months back. Despite the low budget Dr. Who like special effects it chilled me once more. It took a good 48 hours before the haunting of it wore off.

I'd quite forgotten how threatening those times were - Afghanistan, the boycotted Olympics, 'Protect and Survive' (the much ridiculed UK advice on civil defence), Reagan/Thatcher brinksmanship.

[BruceH]

Not exactly sci-fi and from the latter days of the Cold War but around 1984 a drama went out on UK TV called 'Threads' - an imaginary account of a political crisis between the USSR and USA that escalated to full scale nuclear war. The film showed the situation via the city of Sheffield and dwelt on the nuclear winter that followed.

It terrified me in 1984 and was finally rebroadcast a few months back. Despite the low budget Dr. Who like special effects it chilled me once more. It took a good 48 hours before the haunting of it wore off.

I'd quite forgotten how threatening those times were - Afghanistan, the boycotted Olympics, 'Protect and Survive' (the much ridiculed UK advice on civil defence), Reagan/Thatcher brinksmanship.

Gulp! That sounds scary as hell!