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Ask HN: Interesting sci-fi movies BY TOPIC?
My favorite, ML-based movie recommendation website is (temporarily?) down.
The main reason I like SF (movies) is they explore intriguing ideas. HN has had a number of threads about favorite SF movies, but they tend to repeat the same movies. And some topics are very repetitive, for instance it's hard to find a time-travel movie which does not show the grandfather paradox.
In this post, we can take advantage of threaded nature of HN and create a list of most interesting SF movies by topic.
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Rules:
1. Top-level comments are for topics ONLY. I suggest not to upvote any of them, my intent is not karma fishing.
2. Only mention individual movies in comments of 2nd level and later. (index 1 when starting from index 0)
3. For each movie, try to write a single sentence describing why this movie shows an interesting angle.
EDIT: go ahead and create a category if a movie focuses on a different theme!
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: Future society
- b0rsuk 7y agoBrazil (1985) An opressive bureaucratic dystopia. 1984 seer through the bottom of a beer bottle. Directed by one of the Monty Pythons.
- b0rsuk 7y agoThe Clockwork Orange (1971) An interesting movie about society and the nature of morality
- aguyfromnb 7y agoSnowpiercer https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706620/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706620/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 Ecological dystopia...on a train. Has some plot holes, but original story with great action sequences.
- b0rsuk 7y agoIdiocracy (2005) What could go wrong over 500 years if you keep making stuff user-friendly? It's an American movie, but Americans may find it insulting. The female half of the protagonists got a very disappointing role.
- b0rsuk 7y agoDemolition Man (1993) A police officer and an escaped criminal are unfrozen in a cheerful future dystopia. Mostly a classic action movie but with some interesting future flavor and a few good situational jokes.
- b0rsuk 7y agoRollerball (1975) Proto-cyberpunk. Future world ruled by corporations. A cerebral slow-burner with no special effects, but some interesting questions. Motorcycle action done the hard way.
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: Artificial Intelligence
- b0rsuk 7y agoHer (2013) No guns, teleportation or colorful explosions, but a really in-depth exploration of (disembodied) artificial intelligence.
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: Robotics
- b0rsuk 7y agoVirus (1999) An American tugboat crew finds an abandoned Russian research vessel. Very good special effects and overall a pretty unique movie, but poor execution. I guess it doesn't stand the test of time but I liked the oppressive atmosphere when I was young. Watch this if you liked System Shock.
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: Parallel Universes
- b0rsuk 7y agoRick&Morty (cartoon serries) Not a movie, but does a really good job exploring consequences of alternate universes.
- rygxqpbsngav 7y agoFringe (TV Series)
- b0rsuk 7y agoCoherence (2013) Low budget, with partially improvised dialogs, but pretty creepy and with believable human reactions.
- b0rsuk 7y agoEdge of Tomorrow (2014) A high-budget, playful action movie exploring the respawn mechanic and video-game logic as a military advantage.
- fetus8 7y agoThe Endless (2017): As kids, they escaped a UFO death cult. Now, two adult brothers seek answers after an old videotape surfaces and brings them back to where they began. Bizarre little indie film, worth sitting through.
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: (Alternate) Evolution
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: Deep Sea Exploration
- b0rsuk 7y agoThe Abyss (1989) An adventure in the depths
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: What Is Reality
- b0rsuk 7y agoDark City (1999) An overlooked, but very enjoyable movie in the style of The Matrix. WARNING! The theater version was shoe-horned into an action movie format, including a very spoiler-heavy narration at the start. Either watch the Director's Cut, or mute sound and fast forward to when the title screen.
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: Memories (Identity)
- b0rsuk 7y agoBlade Runner (1982) A classic movie about artificial humans (replicants).
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: Time Travel
- rygxqpbsngav 7y agoPredestination
- b0rsuk 7y agoLes Visiteurs (1993) (Guests) A comedy about a medieval knight and his squire traveling into modern times.
- edanm 7y agoPrimer (2004)
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: Space Travel
- b0rsuk 7y ago2001: A Space Odyssey This is what this movie is primarily about, although it has an iconic second act (AI) and a terrible last act. One of most realistic depictions of space travel to date.
- fetus8 7y agoInterstellar (2014): A team of explorers travel through a wormhole in space in an attempt to ensure humanity's survival.
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: Alien Life
- aguyfromnb 7y agoContact https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118884/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118884/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2 Not sure where to put it, so I'll stick it here. Deals with the politics behind alien contact, which seems even more relevant in today's political climate.
- b0rsuk 7y agoPredator (1987) What if an alien life form hunted humans for sport?
- fetus8 7y agoColor Out of Space (2019): A secluded farm is struck by a strange meteorite which has apocalyptic consequences for the family living there and possibly the world.
- b0rsuk 7y agoDistrict 9 (2009) Set in South Africa. Aliens come not as invaders or exploitable natives, but as confused refugees. Lots of action and spectacular special effects.
- MilnerRoute 7y ago"Arrival." In a realistic world, if an alien ship did arrive on earth, what would happen if we tried to communicate with it?
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: Post-Apocalyptic
- b0rsuk 7y agoMad Max 2: The Road Warrior May be old-fashioned for some, but it's a captivating, action-packed wasteland vision.
- b0rsuk 7y agoTurbo Kid (2015) Warning: some sadistic gore. The person playing the android had a ton of fun. A classic wasteland affair but with some pacing issues.
- b0rsuk 7y agoA Boy And His Dog (1975) Very good for a shoestring budget movie. One of main influences for Fallout and Wasteland. A bit politically incorrect and you may find it offensive.
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: Alternate History
- b0rsuk 7y agoTopic: Environmentalist / Ecology
- b0rsuk 7y agoSilent Running (1972) A space ark. A major stylistic influence on ones like Star Wars and Alien.
- fetus8 7y agoAnnihilation (2018): A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply. Could fall into a few different categories but...
- b0rsuk 7y agoTopic: Genetic Engineering
- b0rsuk 7y agoJurassic Park (1993) Dinosaurs restored back to life from DNA.
- b0rsuk 7y agoTopic: Cyborgs / Body Augmentation
- b0rsuk 7y agoTOPIC: Colonization
- gwid0n 7y agoI'd suggest to look at Letterboxd lists, ie.: https://letterboxd.com/illusorium/list/the-cyborg-is-taking-over/ https://letterboxd.com/illusorium/list/the-cyborg-is-taking-... https://letterboxd.com/sofaraway/list/parallel-universes/ https://letterboxd.com/sofaraway/list/parallel-universes/ You can search for your own topics of interest. If you want movie recommendations, it seems more sensible to browse through the site for movie buffs, not the one for engineers.
- b0rsuk 7y agoIt's a good site, thanks. I posted here precisely because I wanted /your/ recommedations. There are some super smart people around here, and HN is my main source of thought-provoking articles. I mostly use a website with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Item-item_collaborative_filtering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Item-item_collaborative_filter...