SCIENCE FICTION, TRIPLE FEATURE

People often avoid older films (myself included) due to their reputation of being boring or having a low audio-visual quality by today’s standards. This means that often a lot of incredible movies get ignored or overlooked. So, I have decided to list three classic sci-fi films that have stood the test of time and should get you started.

Poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is a true masterpiece of the sci-fi horror genre. An intriguing and strange introduction twined with a powerful audio presence keeps the viewer interested, even though little happens for the majority of the first half of the film. The star of 2001 is undoubtedly HAL, a murderous artificial intelligence, who’s onscreen performance is restricted to a basic panel with a single red glowing camera lens as an eye, supporting this is the voice acting of Douglas Rain playing HAL, which is simply is chilling. Though it is rather long and can get very surreal, it is a definite must-watch.

Poster for The Time Machine

A rather surprising film for me, H.G Wells’ the Time Machine (1960) was a film I picked up to get a 2 for 1 offer in HMV. However, upon watching it, I realised it was a hidden gem; with an immediate start, an intriguing main character and innovative plot for the time. We see main character, H.G Wells travel into the distant year 802,701 where he finds humans have evolved into two distinct and strange species, the Eloi and Morlocks. It is without a doubt, the quintessential classic time travel film, if you haven’t already, watch, this, film

Poster for Metropolis

The grandfather of sci-fi, Metropolis (1927) is a truly surreal and strange experience to watch and is widely considered to be the first great science fiction film. It shows a dystopian world with a suffering working class controlled by the rich upper class, and the struggle to break that divide. The film itself is silent with backing music and on-screen text to show dialogue and some plot elements. Sadly, as much as quarter of the original film is lost to time, so some sections of the plot do not make complete sense. It is, for these reasons, a difficult film to watch, however if you are able to get past the surface issues, you will discover a cinematic masterpiece that has influenced all aspects of the science fiction genre.

In viewing these films, you will see three distinct styles of classic sci-fi, with the immediate horror depicted in 2001, the strange trip through time depicted in The Time Machine and the surreal class struggles within Metropolis. They should provide a decent backbone of any classic science fiction library.

Other notable films in the genre to look at would include Forbidden Planet, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Them!, A Clockwork Orange, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Logan’s Run, Soilent Green and It Came From Outer-Space. Any of these will help in expanding your enjoyment of the genre due to their high quality, even by today’s standards.