Sure, the Star Wars and Star Trek movies are two of the best sci-fi classics ever made, but they’re grounded in futuristic realism and not 1950s mystical senses. The first appearance of “Star Trek” as episodes TV was great science fiction, but the movies that were released in later years developed as futuristic realism outside of the true classical sense of science fiction. I enjoyed watching “Independence Day” but was excited for “Mars Attacks” which came out shortly after “Independence Day”. He was puzzled as to why “Mars Attacks” was not released before “Independence Day” because he knew “Independence Day” was going to be a huge hit. I thought “Mars Attacks” was going to be a big hit too, but it fell through after the release of “Independence Day”. I guess maybe the makers of “Mars Attacks” thought it would work well after “Independence Day” got everyone into sci-fi fever, but that wasn’t the case.
My favorite sci-fi movies of all time are “Mars Attacks” and “Star Ship Troopers.” They both have that real sci-fi feel in the classic sci-fi sense. In fact, I’m under the impression that the idea for Mars Attacks was taken from the original Star Ship Troopers post. I haven’t researched this yet, but I did see some of the original “Mars Attacks” cards and some had insect armies on them.
In 1996 the movie “Mars Attacks” was released based on the “Mars Attacks” trading cards made in 1962. The movie is “Great!”. The movie “Mars Attacks” captured the true sense of science fiction with great special effects and characters. The movie “Mars Attacks” never gave that sense of a story that is or could be reality like “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” did. The true meaning of this type of fiction for me is that representation of something that can never be real. The invasion of earth by tiny figures with huge brains carrying ray guns displayed for all future thoughts of what a Martian would look like if Martians were real. In the past, the Martians were known as human figures with two antennae protruding from the top back of their heads, but with the release of “Mars Attacks”, the Martians are now seen as small figures with huge brains and ugly faces. Have you ever got mad at congress and want to see them destroyed? Watch this movie “Mars Attacks” and towards the end some little Martians pretend to be negotiating peace with a fully seated congress and all of a sudden they pull out their ray guns and vaporize that mess of human beings. In the end, the humans discover the weak point of the Martians and destroy them, which is always the case, but the movie “Mars Attacks” is well worth watching. I can watch it many times and never get bored.
“Star Ship Troopers” was a great movie. I really got into the movies and a sense of classic science fiction washed over me. Huge armies of bugs controlled by a brain bug that allowed itself to be captured only to gather information for an Olympic-sized bug in the third movie. The characters really fit the image of the movie and their mix with the plot of bugs to destroy human life was outstanding. The uniforms of the soldiers, at least the commanders, were like 1940’s with futuristic armor that the bugs would drive a nail through the leg. Guns had magazines and were reloaded with new magazines from time to time, but those magazines fired so many rounds I thought rifles made their own bullets. But then I came to the conclusion that the magazines could be power packs and the rifles fired charges of hot plasma. Soldier movies, in my personal opinion, were great movies in the classic alien fiction sense and the classic fiction sense is what I really like. Not 1930s or 1940s alien fiction, but alien fiction produced in the 1950s and 1960s era. I watched the original 1966 Star Trek episodes. see them again.
I also liked the 2005 alien fiction film “War of the Worlds,” which is based on Martians assembling three-legged heat-ray-equipped fighting machines from the 1890s in a modern setting.
Sharknado is popular in certain circles of wildlife-watching fiction and I watched the first movie but saw it as cheesy diversion.
Superhero comic fiction is great too. Batman movies take first prize for best superhero portrayals. I also liked the Spiderman movies, but the two main actors who play Spiderman and his girlfriend didn’t appeal to me. It was the villains in the Spiderman movies that were the hits. I also really liked the “Ironman” movies. The “Ironman” movies were well done both in the choice of actor and in the plot. Thor wasn’t bad either.
The animated film “The Flintstones” was excellent except for the mistake of casting Rosie O’Donnell as Betty. Betty was a slim, pretty woman like Wilma. Betty is not a chubby, mouthy woman like Rosie O’Donnell is. Rosie O’Donnell’s mistake aside, “The Flintstones” was a fantastic animated fiction film. “Casper The Friendly Ghost” was an absolutely excellent cartoon fiction movie. I really enjoyed the special effects and the plot.
Monster fiction is also great if the monsters are played well. I don’t like zombie movies although I did see one that wasn’t bad. There is a large circle of zombie lovers out there, probably the gothic crowd.
I’ve seen plenty of sci-fi movies of all kinds that were built well and played well in their kind of sci-fi sense. The movies “Mars Attacks” and “Star Ship Troopers” are by far my favorites and are well acted.
Are there insect planets somewhere in the universe? A huge flying saucer hovering over a city and launching a mega beam of energy into our future? Huge three-legged machines rising out of the ground with a slimy green being operating them? Not out of the royal realm 1000 years from now.
The difference is “futuristic realism” versus “mystical” science fiction. What is your favorite type of science fiction?
