The Five Most Underrated Sci-Fi Masterpieces (Act II)

From that list I’d vote for Time Bandits, Tron and Andromeda Strain (the original) just because I love those. Time Bandits I love, it dragged a bit in parts, but it had the imagination. Tron just for the pure technical wizardry of the time (even though it pales in comparison to CG effects today).

Predator almost made the cut, but honestly it was basically Alien in a jungle, with Arnold in the Ripley spot. It’s good yes, but Alien was much better. And Alien3? I don’t think it deserves to be on that list, it was way too predictable. The first time I saw it, which was in my early teens, I predicted who was going to die long before they bit it.

Dark City was the first movie that I thought YES! After that Gattaca, and as I posted in the Decade post Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. having trouble picking a 4 and 5 though

Since you already tagged 3 of the movies in your post, i guess i nominate Hitchhikers (my pick from the last debate) and Dark City. How can Primer/Solaris’02 be on this list and your Top Ten Decade list? I would think the two “lists” are NOT mutually exclusive.

I discounted your Best of The Decade list when you put A.I. on it. Let alone at the top. Ugh. And I’m still writing in Serenity.

Serenity
Gattaca
Sunshine
Dark City
Primer

SERENITY

Dr. WHO

Butterfly Effect

Lev is correct.

Also, Sunshine? Really? I haven’t seen it but the concept of space-madness is so overdone I wasn’t terribly motivated.

The Fountain
Primer
Solaris (2002)
Sunshine

:)

how about

Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)

It seems that Cameron lifted the “Skynet” idea from this film. It has big brother, cold war fear, and crazy computers all rolled into a fantastic movie that I don’t know of anyone who has seen it, other than myself!

@timatotoro

You go! Thank you for mentioning Colossus: The Forbin Project!

I’d nominate TRON and I know I’m dating myself when I also mention Forbidden Planet and Fantastic Voyage as well.

I’d even put in a nod for the original War Of The Worlds (1953)

The Fountain left me spellbound and dazed (and I mean that in a good way).

I’m surprised no one has mentioned Event Horizon – funny part for me with regards to it is I haven’t sat through and watched the whole movie, although everyone I talk to says it is intense, creepy etc..

Andromeda Strain = True Classic!

So wait a sec – with Serenity, a movie that made $40 million at the global box office (http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=serenity.htm), how can it be underrated? I guess that was my concern: Isn’t it sort of halfway known? Revered across a wide cross-section of sci-fi fans? My issue there was: Is it underrated?

Thanks for sticking with it Kemper; I actually have a sense that we agree more about some of this stuff than disagree!

Here’s a vote for The Hidden. (appears to be the only one so far, so it MUST be the most underrated!)

Equilibrium? Nobody?

And yes, The Fountain. I cried like a baby afterwards.

1. primer
2. chronicles of riddick
3. gattaca
4. the hidden
5. solaris (1972)

stalker is one of my favorite films but i didn’t include it because i can’t really see how it could be considered underrated. it is widely held to be tarkosky’s best film.

i liked dark city and existenz very much when released but feel they haven’t held up as well under more recent viewings, particularly the latter. have not yet seen the dark city director’s cut.

i will admit that chronicles of riddick is not widely loved. but with repeated viewings this film has really grown on me.

i was initially disappointed by several aspects of hitchhiker’s guide aka h2g2 (mainly mos def) but am warming to it of late.

time bandits for me fits more comfortably into the fantasy/adventure category.

i’m quite overdue for a re-viewing of alien3 but am not expecting my mostly negative feelings about this film to move too much to the left or right.

i liked sunshine, but not a top 5 pick for me.

i didn’t care at all for firefly, but serenity was tolerable.

i don’t share your enthusiasm for the fountain, but will probably give it another try at some point.

it’s not sci-fi, but tarsem singh’s ‘the fall’ is spellbinding if you’ve not seen it.

Love this list….

1. Gattaca – this is an amazing film! I use it for movie class and hold a discussion afterwards to probe the themes involved, especially the lead of overcoming whatever limitations those around you try to put on you

2. Dark City – again, the theme of limitations and how you can learn to create your own life without them appeals to me

3. Equilibrium – write in candidate that has great themes and yet also a great sense of style, pacing and movement…

4. Blade Runner – is this too “big” to be “underappreciated”? It wasn’t that big when it came out, but has gained stature over the years…

5. Stalker – I’m a huge Tarkovsky fan, so let’s throw one of his in there…

@ Steven James Snyder – About Serenity, I’d dispute that minor box office success equals it being half-way known. A cult following, granted. But I’m going by the number of blank stares you’ll get if you mention it to a crowd of anyone but hardcore nerdlingers. If you say ‘Firefly’ or ‘Serenity’ to most people, or even casual geeks, they usually don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.

Yes, Serenity made a minor splash at the box office thanks to the Browncoats, but it’s never really remembered or discussed outside of certain geek circles. Exhibit A, despite good reviews, some tickets and DVDs sold, and a willing creator and crew to do more (from what I’ve read), there are no plans to make another one. Even Aliens Vs. Predators got a sequel.

That makes it an underrated movie, in my opinion. And since you think A.I. was the best sci-fi movie of the decade, I’m obviously right and you’re wrong. (Sorry. I do enjoy playing the obnoxious fanboy. But seriously, A.I.??)

I’d probably go with Gattaca out of those listed there. I am a fan of several others (Dark City, Sunshine, eXistenZ and Andromeda Strain).

Another underrated one comes to mind for me – Closet Land. I realize two people and one room is minimalism in the extreme but it’s got a definite Orwellian feel. Anyone else like that one?

I just discovered this website through a CNN link, what a wonderful surprise. When I saw so many of my unknown favorites, I had to post:
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
eXistenZ
Dark City
Silent Running
Altered States

What about “Village Of The Damned” (1960 of course)? Such a subtle smart film if a touch dated. The idea of alien invasion in such a slow quiet way. I would love to see this remade because there are many possibilities left to be explored in this film. How about David Cronenberg doing it? Just a fantasy.

1. The Fountain – it’s simply unacceptable to make a list of underrated films and not include this
2. Dark City – a spectacular film that doesn’t come to theaters nearly enough
3. eXistenZ
4. Sunshine – which I just recently saw and kinda loved

Not sure about the last. Time Bandits is sitting on my coffee table just waiting to be watched so we shall see.

Once again no love for “Pitch Black”. I’m starting to think the editors actually never watched this film, not many people did. Think Conan the Barbarian in space; Arnold is to Conan as Vin Diesel is to Riddick—Really, you’ll be surprised. I think the entire fanboy crowd really missed one here.

Picking Sunshine would probably infuriate me… that story was just offensive.

I loved The Fountain, and Riddick.

SERENITY.

Looker (1981) I saw that film on HBO like a dozen times many many years ago.

oh and The Quiet Earth (1985). Terrifying!

1. Solaris (1972)
2. Stalker (can you tell I like Tarkovsky?)
3. Silent Running
4. Andromeda Strain

A few of my underrated films are:

Donnie Darko – Think of it from a quantum point of view
Repo Man – Just plain cool
Eraserhead – Bizarre and mesmerizing.
Jacob’s Ladder – Some might argue it’s not really Sci-Fi
THEM! – An older flick, B&W, but what a story.

I’m tired of special effects over story. No story is truly great if you don’t care about the characters. For a long time I wouldn’t accept Alien 3 at all. Everyone dead but Ripley after all that? NO! It just couldn’t be, no more than the shock of Butch and Sundance being killed in the end. I finally accepted Alien 3, and was a little disappointed. Blade Runner was based on a short story by, I think, Harlan Ellison called “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” The short story was better.

From that list, I’ve not yet seen a few of the titles (but I plan to), but from the titles listed, I’d say those that belong in the top 5 list are:
1. Silent Running
2. Dark City
3. Gattaca
4. The Fountain.

I’m surprised that Soylent Green wasn’t included in the Top 20. I also think that A Boy and His Dog should be in the Top 20. So should Blade Runner.

I hated Hitchhiker’s Guide and I hated Solaris, and I felt Andromeda Strain was mere populist entertainment. I don’t think any of those three belong on the list of 20.

Colossus: The Forbin Project

TRON

ZARDOZ

Serenity

Frankly, SF stopped being Scientific Fiction (what if we could …..)and became Speculative Fiction (if this goes on ……. back when Heinlein was stil getting his stuff bowdlerized by Boy’s Life. But in the last decade, we’re just going back to so much “watch the prety effects” that I would hesitate putting anything less than 20 to 25 years old on the list.

How about Enemy Mine?

Every time I talk about this movie, I feel no one has seen it, but Sunshine was such a good movie. I was a HUGE fan even though it just missed out on being perfect.

1. Sunshine
2. Gattaca
3. Tron
4. Predator
5. Serenity

There are some great movies on the list, but I would hardly call some of them under appreciated. Many were first run and grossed millions. On my site, I have the definitive list of the ten most underrated SF movies of all time. Have a look at http://www.oldsfbooks.com/dvd.html

Dark City.. stunning… I want to see a sequel!

Silent Running… the spec. effects appeared in a Encyclopedia Britannic Science yearbook

Pretator… ok, first they are kings of the jungle with all their guns; then they are crushed by better guns; so arnold conquers superior tech by going primitive… and then survives a nuke!

Time Bandits… loved Clytemnestra’s sly stare

A.I. was not on your list,Steven, so i’ll go with Tron…

The Fountain – A truly beautiful film.

Time Bandits – Loved it since I saw it when I was 8.

Exiztenz- A grade A mind-tripper

Solaris – Great acting and Soderbergh direction. Left an impression on me after I saw it, especially the ending.

Serenity – Have to include it in the “under-rated” category, definitely. Highly entertaining film.

Please do not include Gattaca. I don’t understand all the hub-bub over this film. It’s decent, nothing more.

‘Frequency’: A real sleeper. Most people who’ve seen it absolutely love it, but hardly anyone has actually seen it. The only way it wouldn’t deserve to be on this list is if we determine that the sci-fi element isn’t prominent enough.

‘Serenity’: Speaking of sleepers. I realize that it has a devoted cult following, but I strongly believe that it deserves a wider audience.

Maybe i show my age, but i was a kid when “Solvent Green” came out in the early 70′s. It was a movie about the near future where global food and energy shortages create tough choices. That movie really stuck with me as a believable possible undesirable future. Charlton Heston was the star riding high after Planet of the Apes fame at the time, though he later turned into a drip. So if you havent seen it, it could be worth 90 minutes of your time.

Very nice list, they all popped out at me when I looked at them.
@pulpsguy: You go on about how you list of underrated movies on your site (spam) is better because they are all really underrated. I go there and you’ve got Starship Troopers on the list? Google the definition for the word ‘hypocrite’.
@Everyone else: He definitely said underrated. That means a good movie that didn’t do very well for whatever reason. Its so ghetto internet when you come on the comments of a post like this and start screaming about how you can’t believe Star Wars or whatever your favourite movie was, isn’t on the list. If it did well, then it wasn’t underrated and will not get on the list.

@psaltseller: LOL at Zardoz. That movie is one of the worst ever, yet I can’t stop watching it. Mostly because Charlotte Rampling is in it. But also because there is something quite compelling about it.

Regarding my choice of Starship Troopers above- the box office gross was considerably less for this movie than Alien3, for example. In the end, what is underappreciated is a matter of opinion to some degree because it is weighed against your perception of the value of a movie. So (Johnlancia please take note) differing opinions are not a moral failing like hypocrisy but a matter of viewpoint, and certainly not an excuse for namecalling. And my site is not spam- it has been well respected in the SF community for over 15 years. For those who would like to see a different set of underrated movies (just an opinion based on 200 inputs over the last 5 years try http://www.oldsfbooks.com/dvd.html

How the hell is Predator and Tron underrated? Both are cult classics backed up merchandizing, crossovers, tie-ins, and what not. Everybody knows what a predator and a Tron guy look like.

Underrated means just that – underrated; either dismissed for being thought as being of low value or overlooked by the general public but deserving of better ratings and attention. Just because those movies might have come out before you were born doesn’t make them underrated.

Someone mentioned Forbidden Planet, Fantastic Journey, and the original War of the Worlds – seriously? Those are Classics! They are not underrated in anyway The Simpsons have parodied Fantastic Journey in one of their Halloween specials.

I would nominate Robinson Crusoe on Mars and Six-String Samurai