Minor SF films

[Mark Steels Stockbroker]

A couple I've bought on DVD cheaply and plan to watch soon... tell me if they're not worth it:

Europa Rising
The Thirteenth Floor
Timecrimes

and others.

[Paaaaul]

Timecrimes is great. The Thirteenth Floor is good.
I've not seen Europa Report or The Others.

[Mollusc In Country]

Yes, Timecrimes is fantastic; almost exactly what I look for in a sci-fi film. Haven't seen the other two, though.

[Spoon of Ploff]

Another thumbs up for  Timecrimes from me.

Loved Europa Report a lot more than I expected given it's 'found footage' vibe.

[Dannyhood91]

Primer is a good shout.

[Blumf]

The Thirteenth Floor is good, kinda got steam-rolled by The Matrix at the time. Not mind blowing or anything but a nice thriller.

Cypher is worth a punt, kinda aims at a PKD vibe.

[Puce Moment]

Europa Report was a really decent low-budget SF with a great cast.

I was so pleased that they were using

Spoiler alert

light as a possible sentient being

[close]

and then they kind of fucked it for me with that ending.

[Bad Ambassador]

Phase IV, if you like movies about ants.

[Shit Good Nose]

La planete sauvage is an amazing French-Czech animation. 

Liquid Sky - real under-the-rader low budget stuff, but striking with it.

John Carpenter's Dark Star deserves a mention of course, not only for comedy space hippies, but also being proto Alien.

Escape From New York as well.

Big fan of Outland, and actually prefer it to High noon.  And, whilst we're on Peter Hyams, I've always been a fan of 2010.  Granted it's no 2001, but as unnecessary delayed sequels go it's pretty fucking good.

Cult fave Buckaroo Banzai.  Never as good as you'd hope, mind.

Freaked - one of my favourites.

Is Predator 2 considered as minor?  I think it's genuinely brilliant, despite the fact I'm Too Old For This Shit would clearly never be able to beat a Predator in real life.

THX 1138 - I still think it's George Lucas' best sci-fi film (as director at least).

[SavageHedgehog]

Is Predator 2 considered as minor?  I think it's genuinely brilliant, despite the fact I'm Too Old For This Shit would clearly never be able to beat a Predator in real life.

Stephen Hopkins is an underrated director (which is not to say any of his films are great, just that I think he's clearly very talented), but I've always found it to be utterly redundant narratively. Half of the film is Glover going around trying to find out about this "mysterious" creature we already pretty much know about from the first film. Everything from Gary Busey dressing up in a protective Martin Fry cosplay outfit on is great fun though.

Loved The Thirteenth Floor when I saw it about a dozen years ago, don't remember it that extensively though.

[biggytitbo]

Saturn 3 is much better than its reputation suggests - very good creepy atmosphere on that, if you can stomach Kirk Douglas' buttocks.

[Puce Moment]

Anyone seen Sound of My Voice (2011)? Written and starring Britt Marling of Another Earth 'fame' which is a pretty pedigree mind-boggling low-budget indie SF film along with Primer.

It's quite the curiosity, and pretty predictable, and also seems like a bit of a precursor to The Invitation (in very loose terms). But I quite liked it. Also, the lead actor reminds me of Kittens which made the whole thing more amusing.

[BlodwynPig]

The Quiet Earth immediately springs to mind. A quite simple but very effective film that I guess has cult following on here?

[monolith]

Trancers. Ignore the low score on IMDB, it's fucking amazing.

[Dr Rock]

Is Battle Beyond The Stars considered minor? Because it's one of the best films ever made.

Possibly not strictly science-fiction is it? Just Magnificent Seven in space.

Enemy Mine. (Just The Defiant Ones in space).

[Spoon of Ploff]

Sound of My Voice is awesome, and I'm way too old to be typing awesome into a sentence like this. Britt Marling  was standout... I'd certainly

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join

[close]

her

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cult

[close]

any day... but maybe without the

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self induced vomit sessions

[close]

.

S'more fantasy but I really enjoyed Ink which has Christopher Soren Kelly in't...where he has a huge co

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n

[close]

k. He's also in the upcoming (hopefully) minor SF flick Somnio. Premise looks standard but that's the thing with low budget projects, they can get nice and creative to compensate.

[Alberon]

Is Battle Beyond The Stars considered minor? Because it's one of the best films ever made.

Possibly not strictly science-fiction is it? Just Magnificent Seven in space.

Enemy Mine. (Just The Defiant Ones in space).

Saw both of those on the big screen. 'Battle' is science fiction, it might have nicked the plot from Seven Samurai (and an actor and the character he played in Magnificent Seven) but it is solidly sci-fi.

Oh, and Trancers is great.

Another small film from the Eighties I like was 'Android' co-starring Klaus Kinski.

The smaller, cheaper SF films always tend to be the more interesting one. The more expensive the film the less intelligent it has to be to turn a profit.

Something with a micro-budget, but a very arresting style is 'Pi' by Darren Aronofsky. His later film 'The Fountain' is interesting too.

I'm not sure if it's science-fiction, but I'm currently halfway through a Belgian-Canadian film made in English called Mr. Nobody. Starring Jared Leto and written and directed by Jaco Van Dormael.

The last fully mortal human is dying and he remembers critical points of his life. Except he recalls contradictary events, he remembers staying in the UK with his father when his parents divorce and he remembers moving to Canada with his mother, for example.

I've never heard of it before and I only found it as I watched Dormael's latest film 'Le Tout Nouveau Testament' (The Brand New Testament)[nb]A satirical fantasy about God's daughter who escapes from the small apartment she shares with God and his wife in Brussels and sets about writing a new testament.[/nb] after it got an interesting review in the latest issue of SFX.

[mothman]

Even Carpenter fans would agree it's a long way from his best, but I do have a great love for Ghosts Of Mars.

[monolith]

Forgot to add, the main guy in Trancers is called Jack Deth.

Jack Deth.

If you weren't sold before then that should do it.

[Absorb the anus burn]

Here are some minor British SF gems....

X The Unknown (evil energy force on a Scottish island)

The Trollenberg Terror (evil cloud killing people on a mountain)

The Four Sided Triangle (love quadrangle dealing with cloning)

Inseminoid (Alien rip off with unexpected cast - Judy Geeson, Stephanie Beacham, Victoria Tennant)

The Damned (biker gangs and radioactive children in Weymouth)

[Shaky]

Sound of My Voice is awesome, and I'm way too old to be typing awesome into a sentence like this. Britt Marling  was standout... I'd certainly

Spoiler alert

join

[close]

her

Spoiler alert

cult

[close]

any day... but maybe without the

Spoiler alert

self induced vomit sessions

[close]

.

I found this to be less than the sum of it's parts, having really enjoyed Another Earth. A few too many loose elements in the mix but it was intriguing and the atmosphere well sustained before petering out towards the end.

It's the kind of film were reactions can vary greatly, admittedly, so would also recommend.

[Puce Moment]

I think that is a fair assessment. With these slightly twisty, SF puzzle films you can never really tell what others will make of it. Primer is a film that I like a lot but those that I have recommended it to have been completely polarised. I would say the same with Triangle. I have had people come back to me with their minds blown and others have pretty much said "why did you recommend this ludicrous shit?" Session 9 is an even better example. I fucking rave about that film and people just seem to really hate it.

I am watching I Origins at the moment (another appearance of Marling) and it conforms to that trope of not really being sure what is going to happen (but having a couple of decent ideas), some clunky dialogue, a loose indie vibe, and a low-budget feel.

Edit: http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2014/20-great-lo-fi-sci-fi-films-you-need-to-watch/

[Shaky]

I am watching I Origins at the moment (another appearance of Marling) and it conforms to that trope of not really being sure what is going to happen (but having a couple of decent ideas), some clunky dialogue, a loose indie vibe, and a low-budget feel.

Yeah, been meaning to give that a go to complete the Marling-a-thon but I've heard very mixed things (mostly to do with the script and execution, as you say, rather than the performances).

[Puce Moment]

Yeah, it's actually a bit shit. The film takes an age to get going, and it never really resolves its own mythology/logic.

[Shit Good Nose]

Enemy Mine. (Just The Defiant Ones in space).

Always thought of it more as Hell In the Pacific in space.  But I've always been quite fond of it too.

The Quiet Earth immediately springs to mind. A quite simple but very effective film that I guess has cult following on here?

On that note, As Time Goes By, another low budget piece with Bruno Lawrence.  Shown on BBC2 in the late 80s, never seen it anywhere since and I don't think it's available to buy.  Anywhere.

[BlodwynPig]

On that note, As Time Goes By, another low budget piece with Bruno Lawrence.  Shown on BBC2 in the late 80s, never seen it anywhere since and I don't think it's available to buy.  Anywhere.

fill your boots ;)

http://www.classicmoviestore.co.uk/as-time-goes-by-dvd-set-p-682.html?gclid=CIzgkqXf2c4CFdRAGwodmKQEOg

[phantom_power]

Anyone seen Sound of My Voice (2011)? Written and starring Britt Marling of Another Earth 'fame' which is a pretty pedigree mind-boggling low-budget indie SF film along with Primer.

It's quite the curiosity, and pretty predictable, and also seems like a bit of a precursor to The Invitation (in very loose terms). But I quite liked it. Also, the lead actor reminds me of Kittens which made the whole thing more amusing.

I loved it. I found it quite boring at first but got more and more intrigued and entranced as it went on until I was pretty much in tears at the end.

Miracle Mile is always one I mention in this sort of thread. An odd 80s film about the end of the world

Static is another cult 80s film, about a man who claims to have made a radio that can pick up reception from Heaven

Primer obviously but I would also include Upstream Colour as sci-fi, another amazing Shane Carruth film

I would also include The One I Love but to call it sci-fi is a mild spoiler

Safety Not Guaranteed also stars Mark Duplass and is a good low-key sci-fi film

[Shit Good Nose]

fill your boots ;)

http://www.classicmoviestore.co.uk/as-time-goes-by-dvd-set-p-682.html?gclid=CIzgkqXf2c4CFdRAGwodmKQEOg

[Paaaaul]

I watched this recently. It's excellent.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I'm not sure if it's science-fiction, but I'm currently halfway through a Belgian-Canadian film made in English called Mr. Nobody. Starring Jared Leto and written and directed by Jaco Van Dormael.

The last fully mortal human is dying and he remembers critical points of his life. Except he recalls contradictary events, he remembers staying in the UK with his father when his parents divorce and he remembers moving to Canada with his mother, for example.

I've never heard of it before and I only found it as I watched Dormael's latest film 'Le Tout Nouveau Testament' (The Brand New Testament)[nb]A satirical fantasy about God's daughter who escapes from the small apartment she shares with God and his wife in Brussels and sets about writing a new testament.[/nb] after it got an interesting review in the latest issue of SFX.

I absolutely adored Mr Nobody, but then I'm a little bit in love with Jaco Van Dormael, if you liked the above two you should definitely check out Toto Les Heros and The Eighth Day.