Popular SF Movies You Don't Get

[palitoy]

I think we all have movies we don't understand why people rave about them, here are my three:

Blade Runner- I love it's style and I realize it changed the shape of SF movies (not to mention music videos) for a long time but I can never get into this film. I find the performances stiff and I the movie a little plodding. I've watched every cut imaginable too.

Buckeroo Banzai- I know people who foam at the mouth when talking about this film. It feels like a movie I'm supposed to really like but I have no connection to it for some reason.

The Matrix- I felt like the only person in the world who found this movie a big pile of style over substance. I get why people liked it but I wanted to walk out by the final act.

[Mikey]

Hmmm,
Including the 3 above for mostly the same reasons .....

TRON ... I don't mind the fantasy part of it but I thought it was rather boring.

The Thing (remake) ... It wasn't bad but I always thought it was over-rated.

Escape From New York ... see The Thing (remake)

The Last Starfighter ... I just don't like it

T-2 + ... I like the Terminator ... wish they would have left it as a once-off movie.

[david_b]

Yes.., Blade Runner's one of those films I 'tried' to like, but just couldn't get into it. Same with ROTJ.

Well, I 'got' ROTJ.., just heavily disappointed.

david_b

[palitoy]

ROTJ has some good parts to it, there is just too much of a tonal change for my tastes. The over use of muppety creatures smacked of a merchandising ploy to me, even at 13.

Its the third best SW movie but it's not on par IMO with the first two.

[HardyGirl]

Tron
The Last Starfighter
The Dark Crystal

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I'll agree with the Matrix, Buckeroo Banzai, and the Last Starfighter for sure. The Matrix was pseudo-Taoism; just brainy enough to make folks feel enlightened but not brainy enough to really BE enlightened. Buckeroo Banzai SHOULD have been awesome, but I think it was too forced, and The Last Starfighter was pure preteen wank. I really liked Tron, Bladerunner and Escape From New York; but yeah, I wouldn't call 'em great flicks. 'Cept maybe Bladerunner, 'cos you CAN rate moves as pre/post Bladerunner by how they're filmed, etc. T-2 was an eyeball massage, hence the popularity. And something folks could say "look! It's state of the art!" so I understand it's popularity, even if I disagree.

I got some near misses:

-District 9: It was interesting, but I’ve seen it before. (Wouldn’t it be interesting if the downtrodden, misunderstood aliens really WERE evil in one of these films?)

-Predator: It was okay, but the Arnie parts took away from things. So.... the gun cuts one guy in half, blows another guy’s arm off, but gives Arnie a red mark? *sigh*

-The Abyss: It was a bad movie, but for some reason in the last 10 years or so it’s become a classic; AND a reference point.

-The Dark Knight: It played out exactly as I expected, the characters were pretty typical, and it bothered me how many of the people who hated “The Batman” cartoon loved it considering how much it borrowed from it.

Don C.

[Cmonster]

-The Abyss: It was a bad movie, but for some reason in the last 10 years or so it’s become a classic; AND a reference point.

Wow...

SC

[Mikey]

For me the Abyss was ok as a once off, but if I never seen it again I wouldn't miss it.

Another one for me is Galaxy Quest.
Seems i'm the only Sci Fi geek that don't care for it.

[Nostalgiabuff]

no Mike, I did not care for that one either. thought it was actually pretty boring.
.
another one is the 5th Element. the movie was just too weird for me.

[jwyblejr]

I got some near misses:

-District 9: It was interesting, but I’ve seen it before. (Wouldn’t it be interesting if the downtrodden, misunderstood aliens really WERE evil in one of these films?)

-Predator: It was okay, but the Arnie parts took away from things. So.... the gun cuts one guy in half, blows another guy’s arm off, but gives Arnie a red mark? *sigh*

-The Abyss: It was a bad movie, but for some reason in the last 10 years or so it’s become a classic; AND a reference point.

-The Dark Knight: It played out exactly as I expected, the characters were pretty typical, and it bothered me how many of the people who hated “The Batman” cartoon loved it considering how much it borrowed from it.

Don C.

I'll agree with you on Predator. I always felt like I was watching two movies. Predator 2 was worse. I was always expecting Mel Gibson to show up. It felt like they were trying to channel Lethal Weapon.

[samurainoir]

Have the Roland Emmerich films really stood the test of time? I remember liking them at the time as Big Summer Popcorn movies, but for the life of me, I can't really remember anything about them and have no desire to revisit them.

Universal Soldier, Stargate, ID4, Day After Tomorrow. I'm not even going to mention the "G" word.

[samurainoir]

I'll add Species as well. On paper it has everything I would enjoy in an exploitation film like this, but they just couldn't get it together and deliver. You've got a great cast, sexy femme fatale, classic B-Movie hook (she'll shag you to death), HR Giger design... how do you mess this up?

[BlackKnight]

Blade Runner.
I have Watched this Thing like atleast 15 times,... and Always Fall asleep..., I find it so Damn Boring.

Any Star Trek Movie, But Wrath , STNG The Borg 1, and the New Star Trek Film ..., I dislike all of the rest of them .

Dune ... , I just can't watch this Nonsense.

[Mikey]

Just thought of a few more movies ......

THX 1138 ... This movie is more boring than watching paint dry

Slaughterhouse Five ... see THX

Dark Star ... Seen about 1/2 hour of it and fell asleep

The Man Who Fell to Earth ... Only thing worth watching is Candy Clarke nude.

Altered States ... boring

The Ice Pirates ... never thought it was as funny as most people do

Repo Man ... boring

Starman ... kind of boring

Short Circuit ... boring

[Nostalgiabuff]

I could not even get half way through THX 1138. too much of an artsy movie for me.

Black Hole is another one that although overall is a good movie it is really slow moving and hard to watch