*looks at book-/dvdshelf*
Good thread. I'm a sci-fi nut. I'll leave the personal comments to a minimum, because I have a lot and you probably don't care much of what I think anyway(if you recognize some of these, don't hesitate to also comment on them). Also, this is a heavily shortened list, because I'm a lazy person.
Books:
Altered Carbon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altered_Carbon):
A Sci-fi(cyberpunk) detective noir. One of my favourite sci-fi books of all time. It's gritty, and dark and all that goodness. And it raises some interesting ethical questions about how far man can go and still be called man. And if a man dies, and his consciousness is downloaded to a new body, is he still the same manor is he a copy? It's a trilogy, Altered Carbon is followed by Broken Angels (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_Angels) and Woken Furies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woken_Furies)
Singularity Sky (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularity_Sky):
Humanity is controlled by a being that calls itself the Eschaton. It's an awesome story.
"I am the Eschaton. I am not your God.
I am descended from you, and exist in your future.
Thou shalt not violate causality within my historic light cone. Or else."
Need I say more? It's sequel is Iron Sunrise (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Sunrise)
Burning Chrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Chrome_%28short_story_collection%29) and Neuromancer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromancer):
One could say he's the father of cyberpunk. It's a little hard to read at some points. But I enjoyed 'em nonetheless.
TV series:
Battlestar Galactica (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407362/):
One of my favourite series of all time. I liked nearly everything about it. My only complaint against it was that I could not play games while watching it, because the story is so intense that missing it annoyed me. Also, the space battles were awesome. They have no fancy energy shield and lazors. They have machine guns, nukes and hull strength. Win.
There's a spin-off called Caprica, and I'm not gonna link to it, because it's shite. Avoid it. There's another spinoff planned called Battlestar Galactica: Blood&Chrome (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1704292/). I hope it's gonna be awesome.
Stargate SG-1 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118480/):
Yeah yeah. It's light-hearted and funny. You just don't have to take it that seriously. Followed by Stargate: Atlantis (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374455/)(is alright, not as good as the original one, but whatever) and Stargate: Universe (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1286039/)(Was actually fairly good at some points, but it did seem to copy a lot from Battlestar Galactica, which is fine)
Babylon 5 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105946/):
One of the greatest sci-fi TV series around. Grew up watching it. And have rewatched it a few times since.
Movies:
Huh. Where to begin? Classics, I guess.
Johnny Mnemonic (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113481/):
An awesome cyberpunk movie in the same spirit as Blade Runner.
Blade Runner (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083658/):
Basically the first cyberpunk movie in my eyes. Basically created the style that cyberpunk is visualized in modern media. Harrison Ford in the main role hunting down clones. It's cool.
The Chronicles of Riddick (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296572/):
One of my favourite sci-fi films of the past decade. Vin Diesel does a great job portraying a ruthless killing machine in a dystopian setting. Quite cool. Has a prequel called Pitch Black (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134847/), it's not as good, but if you like Riddick as a character, it's worth watching.
Babylon A.D. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364970/):
See above. (You know, except the part about Pitch Black).
Twelve Monkeys (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114746/):
A movie with Bruce Willis trying to change the past and by doing so save 5 billion humans from dying of disease. A good movie by any standard I'd say.
The Fifth Element: (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119116/)
A movie with Bruce Willis trying to save the world yet again.
World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1217613/):
If you ignore the Marine core/USA propaganda, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It was nothing like I expected. It's quite a good movie, way better than your standard world invasion/apocalypse movies. Also, is nearly believable, and the aliens act almost smart which is something you don't often see. It is foremost an action movie, but it's a good action movie and the way the story unfolds in the beginning is fairly well done, I think.
District 9 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/):
Apartheid in South Africa. Except this time with crab people and humans. Strongly recommend if you're looking for a slightly different take on the sci-fi genre.
Matrix (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/):
You guys know it, I know it. Good enough.
Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472566/):
A finnish parody were the two universes of Babylon 5 and Star Trek meet. Captain Pirk is thrown back to the past and notices that history doesn't play out as it should, so he decides to become emperor and lead mankind to glory. Torrenting it last I checked is completely legal, but makes sure you have the english subtitles. The makers of this film are currently working on another film called:
Iron Sky (http://www.ironsky.net/site/)(Not released yet, release is April 2012):
A movie about chocolate chip cookies who escape to the moon. Then they come back in 2018. Sounds awesome, right? Here's some trailers:
Trailer I (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KEueJnsu80)
Trailer II (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeAfoiN5SDw)
Trailer III (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNDaOFQ6g2I&feature=player_embedded)
Honestly, this movie seems awesome, and I can't wait.
Anyway, I hope that anyone interested in sci-fi finds atleast something in that list that they haven't seen before. Everyone of those is worthy of watching or reading.
...
Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472566/):
A finnish parody were the two universes of Babylon 5 and Star Trek meet. Captain Pirk is thrown back to the past and notices that history doesn't play out as it should, so he decides to become emperor and lead mankind to glory. ...
:P Thats my favorite, too. It was a insider tip of the finnish members at the bge board.
Anyway i could offer Sillage a francobelgian comic series.
It is about Nävis, the only human midst of a giant alien fleet. Well, i think she is a clone in reality.
I dont know how many volumes they have in french but in germanyland there are currently 12 issues available.
Ooh, thank you for the recommendation, [ptx]. Haven't seen Immortal.
Christo: Fukov is hilarious. Can't wait for Iron Sky. They have like 100 times higher budget this time.
Bjord, I can list you a few more off the top of my head:
Movies:
A Scanner Darkly (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405296/):
It's a kind of trippy movie set in a near future where a superdrug is running rampant and a third of the population is addicted to it. It's a little weird when you start watching it, but I think it was good.
Equilibrium (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238380/):
A movie set in a dystopian world after WW3 where they've developed a drug that represses emotions in people and it's a crime not to take it. Has Sean Bean and that Batman guy in it.
Then there are the two Stallone movies:
Judge Dredd (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113492/):
A movie where Sylvester is a cop/judge and is accused wrongly of a crime so he kills everyone in his near vicinity to clear his name.
Demolition Man (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106697/)
A movie where Sylvester is a cop/judge and is accused wrongly of a crime so he kills everyone in his near vicinity to clear his name.
And for some more light-hearted stuff:
Galaxy Quest (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0177789/):
A parody of Star Trek.
Spaceballs (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094012/):
A parody of Star Wars.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Then the only anime series I've watched:
Cowboy Bebop (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213338/):
It's anime, but it's not that bad and eventually any sci-fi geek will run out of any actual sci-fi and might have to venture to the other side to find some more.
Then there's of course Star Trek in all its variations. And a book called:
Learning the World (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_the_World):
Too lazy to comment on it much, but it's interesting. Not that action-packed. Loved reading it.
And yes Xant, Black Man(or Thirteen for you NA types. Still makes me giggle) is next on my reading list.
Andromeda was so bad... But I should give it another whirl. I saw the first 10minutes. First I saw Hercules in space and started laughing, then a rubber ant in the control of the ship and quit.
There are lots of great Sci-Fi films and books. I'll mention a couple (blurbs are cut and paste from wikipedia):
Films:
Forbidden Planet:
Early in the 23rd century, the United Planets Cruiser C57-D has been sent to the planet Altair IV, 16 light-years from the Earth. Its mission is to discover the fate of an expedition sent 20 years earlier to establish a colony on the planet....
Great 1956 film based in part on Shakespeare's Tempest.
Solaris (Russian version directed by Andrei Tarkovsky 1972).
The film is a meditative psychological drama occurring mostly aboard a space station orbiting the fictional planet Solaris. The scientific mission has stalled, because the scientist crew have fallen to emotional crises. Psychologist Kris Kelvin travels to the Solaris space station, to learn and evaluate the situationyet soon hallucinates like the others....
I've never seen the American version and probably never will...how could they remake a masterpiece?
Books:
Hitckhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books:
Several of the funniest books I've ever read.
Iain M Bank's Culture novels:
The Culture is characterized by being a post-scarcity society (meaning that its advanced technologies provide practically limitless material wealth and comforts for everyone for free, having all but abolished the concept of possessions), by having overcome almost all physical constraints on life (including disease and death) and by being an almost totally egalitarian, stable society without the use of any form of force or compulsion, except where necessary to protect others.
Minds, powerful artificial intelligences, have an important role to play in this society. They administer this affluence for the benefit of all. As one commentator has said,
In vesting all power in his individualistic, sometime eccentric, but always benign, AI Minds, Banks knew what he was doing; this is the only way a liberal anarchy could be achieved, by taking what is best in humans and placing it beyond corruption, which means out of human control. The danger involved in this imaginative step, though, is clear; one of the problems with the Culture novels as novels is that the central characters, the Minds, are too powerful and, to put it bluntly, too good.
The novels of the Culture cycle, therefore, mostly deal with people at the fringes of the Culture: diplomats, spies, or mercenaries; those who interact with other civilizations, and who do the Culture's dirty work in moving those societies closer to the Culture ideal, sometimes by force.
Renly Baratheon
In the books he's described as a fit pretty boy who all the women love but there's references/hints to possibly being homosexual.
In the TV series he's suddenly a thin small whiny person - even though he grows a small set in the later episodes - plus they've really gone overboard in terms of his hinted homosexuality, the character is VERY different from the book.
The battle of the Green Fork
(North Army vs Main Lannister Army)
In the books Robert Stark splits his army, one is commanded by Lord Roose Bolton who sets out to surprise-attack the Lannister army at night, however when they go into battle he realizes that the Lannister army is well prepared and organized, upon learning the battle is lost and he orderly retreats with the army. He has still succeeded given he kept the main Lannister army busy.
In the TV series Robert sends 2000 men on a suicide mission (who would agree to that as a foot soldier?!) to stall the Lannister army. We're also cheated of the actual battle instead Teh Imp is knocked out and poof battle over.
Battle of the Whispering Wood
(This is where Robert captures Jaime Lannister)
In the TV series we don't even see/learn of anything except the return in the end and one remark about Jaime cutting down a lot of men, that's all.
In the books Robert's cavalry and men slaughters Jaime's army, they lure Jaime and his men out by having a small force carry Tully banners and faking a raid on the camp for then to retreat, afterwards Robert's cavalry and men swarms in from all sides, when Jaime realizes he lost he tries and cut his way through to Robert to face him in single combat but he's stopped shortly before, he managed to get so close that he slew a couple of Robert's personal guards though. The men in his camp also tries to perform a shieldwall if I remember the battle correctly but it fails. Basically his camp is totally taken by surprise.
-----
There might also be another battle cop-out but we can't be sure until Season 2 starts, but if 1 season = 1 book then there's a 3rd battle cop-out.
Otherwise there's also a few other changes, such as swordsman skills in a few of the characters but nothing story-wrecking.
Now all of the above wouldn't bother me at all had they kept more true to the actual books, I can understand that showing battles of course can be expensive, but when there's time to show naked people 24/7 with almost zero relevance to the actual books or storylines, or people sitting in a damn bath tub for 20 minutes, in my opinion that time could have been spent better.
Back on track with an old dilemma.
Which Star Trek series are da best?
Original series, next generation, deep space nine, voyager or enterprise?
Personally I think that best episodes were second half of DS9.
Agreed with that notion, last half of episodes of DS9 are made of win.
However, I cannot with a clear conscience neglect the fact that Voyager is way more epic in many ways. They kick Borg ass, beam up random shit without precaution, crossed the Warp 10 barrier and became some amphibian retard lizard(Also, Paris and Janeway incidentally had some lizardlings too :lol:), ventured into chaotic space and back out, beamed some more random shit up and kicked some more borg ass. The list goes on.
I recommend you start out with Voyager and let the new-born trekkie inside you feed off of nerdy cravings. Nourish it with factoids and references, my friend. Then move on to the Motion Pictures if you haven't already. Basically, all the old Star Trek movies. I strongly recommend the first three films. Then if you don't wish to spoil your love for Star Trek, leave out on the fourth one. However, if you decide to watch it then bear in mind some ridiculous story line. Excellent acting from Leonard Nimoy however, and some epic dialogue between Spock and Kirk.
But I do not think there's anything Star Trek that has managed to out-trek the first movie. It is simply made of dreams, I need not add further detail.
Regarding Iron Sky, chocolate chip cookie flying saucers (project bell) and chocolate chip cookies on the moon... Check out these project camelot interviews:
1) chocolate chip cookie bell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGKYo5jJAkg
2) What is happening on the moon and in the US Army: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4FA_42qjV0&feature=channel_video_title
Obviously you should discard it as utter BS......................or not?
DOESNT FIT!! DOESNT FIT!!
WAH WAH WAH BULLSHIT ALARM ON, FULL ALERT!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fUHnExxlIU&feature=related
PS: What is informational?
BBC Horizon 2012 Playing God
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi5jgboGswA&hd=1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi5jgboGswA&hd=1)