this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2024
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Science Fiction

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Lemmy World Rules

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The 15 Best Hard Sci-Fi Movies That Define the Genre (movieweb.com)
submitted 10 months ago by AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world to c/sciencefiction@lemmy.world
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We took a trip through decades of the genre and came up with a list of the most important and best hard science fiction movies of all time. They are the essence and the foundations of the book of sci-fi rules that's still being written as we, the audience, become much more self-aware of our relationship with technology, the future, and whatever those two will bring.

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[–] kalkulat@lemmy.world 21 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (7 children)

Hard to define 'hard', a few more I liked: (no ranking)

  • The Time Machine (both the Pal and the Wells films; quite different)

  • Dark City (1998, Pryas)

  • Forbidden Planet (1956, Wilcox)

  • The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951, Wise)

  • Fifth Element (hilarious, Besson, 1997)

  • Alien (Scott, 1979)

  • 13th Floor (Rusnak, 1999)

  • Stargate (1994, Emerich)

  • Steamboy (2004, Otomo)

Movies made from famed series I'd REALLY LIKE to see:

  • Ringworld (Niven, a crime noone's DARED to try).

  • Some setting of Riverworld. (Farmer)

  • ANY of Neal Stephenson's SF books, esp. Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, Diamond Age, Anathem.

(Not even the BBC? I mean, who expected Doctor Who to get THIS far?!)

[–] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Dark City is an amazing movie!

[–] kalkulat@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

One of the rare examples of sci-fi mixed with a skillfully unfolded mystery. Even when you know 'the answer', there are plenty of 'how did they do that' film-making mysteries.

I forgot to mention his entirely 'I, Robot', VG 2004 film ... maybe because robots don't don't seem so science-fictionish these days...

[–] Pancito@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

They sold parts of the filming set to the first matrix movie by the way!

[–] caseyweederman@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Ringworld has an adaptation! It's one of the most popular video games.

[–] Kiernian@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What? Where? What's it called?

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I have no idea what they’re talking about. The only Niven “Known Space” Ringworld games are all DOS based from decades ago.

However, Halo and Outer Wilds have both taken shots at ringworlds, but they are not Known Space universe.

[–] caseyweederman@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 months ago

Yeah I was talking about Halo.
I read Ringworld after playing Halo, thinking "haha I'll check out this thing that looks like it influenced this game that I enjoyed" but then it turns out Bungie just lifted a bunch of stuff wholesale.

[–] Valmond@lemmy.mindoki.com 2 points 10 months ago

They did Johnny Mnemonic from Stephenson, low budget I guess. Imagine Cryptonomicon 💖.

Jonathan Stross Laundry files could be so good too (and so botched I guess).

[–] richieadler@lemmy.myserv.one 2 points 10 months ago

There's too much kinky sex in Ringworld to be accepted by puritanical audiences.

[–] Hegar@kbin.social 2 points 10 months ago

I would love a lush tv series version of diamond age that really lingers on the setting.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

Your list is far better.

I loved Niven’s books, one of my favorite sci-fi authors. However, he might be a hot potato for studios, he is an outspoken libertarian and may not be the best to put in front of a camera with many studios keeping a close eye on stars' public persona and statements.

Plus, I don’t know how you’re gonna make films about Luis Wu fucking his way around the Ringworld with various aliens. Really gonna have to sanitize the story a bit, or all of Niven’s aliens are going to have to be transformed to Star Trek aliens, basically humans with some weird shit on their nose and forehead.

[–] GraniteM@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

All of the aliens that Wu is fucking on the Ringworld essentially are Star Trek style aliens.

Spoilers for decades old scifi: >!Star Trek aliens are almost all humanoid because a humanoid progenitor species seeded the galaxy with DNA that would eventually give rise to humanoid life. Ringworld is even more direct than that: it was originally peopled by the humanoid Pak, but they left a bunch of gaps in the ecology and stopped maintaining the ecosystem, so humanoids evolved to fill the empty ecological niches. Hence, humanoid otter-people, bison-people, and jackal-people, all of whom can fuck each other.!<

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

So...a film furries might like.

[–] brianorca@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Don't forget all the aliens in Ringworld, besides Nessus and Chmee, are basically humans with weird changes.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

he had some proclivities that are indefensible.

Could you elaborate?