Last Great Sci-Fi Film?

YES Pitch Black was definitely under appreciated. Moon I thought was great, but that's because Sam Rockwell did such a great job, and not so much a space-horror flick but a psychological "thriller" set in space.

One of my personal favourites... PITCH BLACK. Its a very underappreciated flim, and was shot with a very small budget. Stylistically, I think its a very beautifully shot movie... and as the title may indicate, 3/4 of the movie are very dark scenes... but I think it works. If you have never seen it, give it a look... Dont knock it because it stars Vin Diesel! (One of his very first movies btw).

It's very good question..quality space-based sci fi movies are few and far between. I always have high hopes for new ones that look good, but usually get disappointed. As Phil says, Pitch Black [i]was[/i] pretty good, Moon was ok, Sunshine, ok, Solaris was a bore. I liked Serenity and the last Trek re-boot, but then you're getting out of the realm of sci fi/horror. None of the above have the quality of ALIEN/ALIENS

I liked SUNSHINE. Not a perfect film by any stretch of the imagination, but it did for me what I like sci-fi to do.

I watched Battleship last night, really enjoyed it. It reminded you a bit of transformers but not as slow and personally thought it was better. Considering it was based on a game from guessing co ordinates they done well to put a decent storyline to it. Also i said it before with AvP, if they had put anywhere near the budget that they did with Battleship $200million we would of got a smilar result if not better and not hacked a great movie franchise to pieces before it had begun. A real shame but a big thumbs up for Battleship

Pulserilfe - surely you're kidding?

With what part? But NO

also on topic, the budget required to make convincing sci-fi is on the large side, so has to appeal to a large demographic. The "Shakespeare in space" that most people, myself included, on this forum want (and by that I mean realistic character and script driven movies) do not have the potential market that a large budget requires. So we have to feed off the scraps like Sunshine and Moon (neither of which are that good imo)

- Equilibrium - Terminator 4 - Apollo18

Pulserifle - just that Battleship was good. It looks appalling - although I have not seen it - just really thought it would be awful. Maybe I should give it a try?

did they say " YOU SUNK MY BATTLE SHIP!" whats next, connect 4 the movie? i gotcha... diagonally!!! i liked the new star trek movie too, but im a trekkie hehe. my only complaint is no sexy androids... hopefully they will fix that problem in the sequel.

Moon was good considering it was made for £2-3 millon while Sunshine for all the hype it got was poor.

Yeah m8, battleship for being based on a game actually turned out quite good. With its big budget its been done like the transformers format but less kidish. So if you like like a lot of action, cgi its worth a watch. Although i was quite happy, the 1st trailer I got to see was Prometheus :)

remember, the OP set a very narrow genre here: sci fi, space-based, and horror. Don't think Equilibrium, T4 or Battleship fit that criteria Didn't see it, but read that Apollo 18 was awful. Battleship looks like another cgi crap-fest from the trailer (in the tradition of Skyline)

Skyline was rubbish! Apollo 18 was about alien rocks and Jim just because there is cgi you think prometheus will be rubbish too? Please try to keep an open mind and not write things off before you have seen them or don't like how something is done, cause you making assumptions and thats just silly.

Has anyone watched 'Cargo'? It's a German sci-fi based off world. I was pleasantly suprised by it. I enjoyed moon immensely considering the budget.

@Pulserifle no, I'm all for good cgi when it's used well in service of a good story. I'm just saying my *impression* of Battleship (plus what reviews I've read) from the trailer is that it's all about the Alien bombs blowing up cities. I hope I'm wrong - I will check it out when it comes out on B-ray.

Ah np m8 /hug Yeah i had said in my post before yours, if you liked action and cgi it was worth a watch. I didn't expect big things from it but came out happy.

The last horror sci if film was Apollo 18 which was not very good, it was ok

The last great sci-fi movies were Moon, Sunshine, Children of Men and District 9. I know that some of them dont fit exactly in the topics author description but I thought that they are worth to be remembered. Besides the limitations I also liked The Thing Prequel. Cheers mates ;)

Any of you like Event Horizon?

2 others i had wanted to see that let me down were Supernova, were Giger walked away from and it turned into a complete balls up and Pandorum, another Paul Anderson master piece ... not. There stories at the start sounded good but by the time they got to the cinema had changed so much they bombed.

Oh yes I forgot that one. Event Horizon is good sci-fi horror film.

i need to watch it again pulse. i watched it once before but i was REALLY drunk so i don't really remember it. i heard it was interesting.

Probably A.I. for me, although Pitch Black was good.

Event Horizon - yes, I was trying to think of the name..it started out okay and promising, but fell short at the end IMO. I was really hoping for something better, but it definitely has its moments.

1st off just have to comment on the first 2 films mentioned. A.I. -> until I hit this forum I thought I was the ONLY person whom felt this way about this film...IT IS A FREAKING MASTERPIECE IMO THAT WENT OVER THE HEAD OF ALMOST EVERYONE WHO SAW IT. AHEAD OF IT'S TIME EVEN FOR THE EARLY 2000'S. WAY AHEAD OF IT'S TIME...FOR THE WORLD WAS NOT READY TO HAVE AN OPEN MIND AND IT STILL ISN'T...BUT I MUST PREFACE EVERYTHING I SAY ABOUT THAT FILM BY EXPLAINING THAT I LOVE MY MOTHER DEEPLY...AS WITH MOST MOMS SHE IS A VERY SPECIAL WOMAN. Pitch Black-> Great Idea this movie had and that was it...because it contained the single worst acting i have ever seen in any science fiction movie...was almost impossible to watch because of just how absolutely beyond terrible the acting was in it. Pitch Black does not belong on any list with any credibility of "good movies"never mind "great" ones.

I'm surprised 4th Kind hasn't been mentioned. Its not exactly sci-fi in the same terms as ALIEN, but still a great flick.

AI was based on Brian Aldiss book "Super Toys lasts all Summer Long" and was to be directed by the genius of Kubrick, but in the meantime he died as we all know and Spielberg finished what Kubrick had began. The movie was good but could have been better if Kubrick had the chance to do it. Pitch Black was visually apealing with a decent plot and acting and very good pace. Overall a good movie.

Well Spart, given that the OP was asking what RECENT Sci-Fi there is that is BASED IS SPACE & has a HORROR element to it, the list of any possible movies from the last 10 full years that would fit that bill is EXTREMELY SMALL. And quite frankly, I love Pitch Black. Its one of my "guilty pleasure" list of flicks. This movie has a beautiful scope to it. The cinematograpy is fanstastic for the budget it had. Great unexpected ending too! For any that have never see it, it is WELL WORTH THE LOOK if you are a sci-fi fan.

My word. Isn't, "The last GOOD Sci-Fi Film, "like" Prometheus, based in Space - specifically with a Horror component", going to be a very, [i]very[/i] short list?.. Love it. Strictly by these terms: Meeting all of your very strict requirements, I believe, is my actual nomination, [the relatively light "horror" made up for by the sheer depth of the story]: "Forbidden Planet", 1956. I give a Special Mention to a film that is quite outstanding, but the story is Earthbound: "I Married a Monster from Outer Space", 1958.

Kubrick actually[i] insisted[/i] that Spielberg direct "A.I.".....and he almost certainly did so, in the self-knowledge that he couldn't pull off the pathos necessary to keep that movie from being a total and complete downer. Kubrick didn't have much faith in humanity.....and the meaning of that term is the central issue of the movie. I've heard folks complain that it's full of "Spielbergian schmaltz," but I think those people are mistaking pathos for sentimentality.

Every single movie in Kubricks career was a masterpiece. I dont know if he asked Spielberg to direct AI and the reasons behind that request if that really happened. What I know based on Kubricks work and the love and connection that he had for the Aldiss story, is that a masterpiece never came to life, instead what was delivered to us was a good movie with the spielbergs brand of quality, but not enough to raise the bar to a genius level.

I love Pitch Black!

............PITCH BLK ............................. That was sick

moon was eerie, though not horror. Pitch Black might be the last good one. Sunshine was shit on a stick bad.

i know I am in the minority, and I agree and even said the I liked the story which was great but the ACTING...?...holy cow how anyone can say that the acting in that film was any better than TERRIBLE would be beyond my understanding. Pitch Black was original, but got ruined IMO by deplorable if you can even call it that presentation and delivery of it's scripted dialogue.

as for my pick I would have to agree with [b]EVENT HORIZON[/b] and I would also say that AVATAR was beyond Great...it changed film making forever as anyone who makes movies will tell you. because of it, because of THAT film, NO ONE ever used the same cameras to make films in Hollywood from the day it was released onward. No one ever will...because Of Cameron and That Film...despite what anyone thought of it.

wait - how about Hellraiser: Bloodline! Umm, maybe not ;) @allinamberclad: you bring up a good point, it is a narrow genre and Scott practically reinvented it (aside from all the 50's schlock, Forbidden Planet and a few other excluded). And there really hasn't been another one as good in that genre since

Sparty - that's a pretty broad statement. You mean Woody Allen used different cameras in his next film because of Cameron? What exactly did he (or WETA) invent that changed everything?