Cerebral Sci Fi Films

Magical Realist

Magical Realist

Valued Senior Member
https://www.gamespot.com/.../13-brainy.../2900-3477/...

Here's 13 candidates for cerebral sci-fi films for you to explore. I watched Jonathan Glazer's "Under The Skin" last night and was thoroughly entranced. I've seen "Primer" and want to watch that director Shane Carruth's "Upstream Color" next. I also somehow missed "Annihilation" when it was out. I would add to this list such mindwarping flicks as "Naked Lunch", "Dark City", "Pi", "Sunshine", "A Scanner Darkly", "Solaris", "Vanilla Sky", "Crash" (Cronenburg), "Cube", "Eraserhead", "The Lobster", and "The Adjustment Bureau." Have any other suggestions? What were some of your favorites?
 
Cerebral sci-fi? Soooo many, but certainly some good choices there, MR. :)
Others I would include off the top of my head....

The two Blade Runners
Arrival
Gattaca
Interstellar
2001 and 2010
Ghost in the Shell (anime)
Dune (all)
Cypher
Brazil
Dante 01
City of Lost Children
Predestination
Ad Astra

Heck, there's also ones like The Illustrated Man you could chuck into the mix as well.

Some of the above are on the more mainstream side of things, but they're cerebral nonetheless.
But there are soooo many, and the list not exhaustive. :)
 
Magical Realist said:
[...] Have any other suggestions? [...]
Click to expand...

Oddly enough, I liked the 1984 version of "1984". Especially compared to the first 1956 film covertly funded by the CIA. I've yet to see the Finnish-Russian black-comedy slash drama released in 2023.

Michael Radford's film captured that retro-future atmosphere of the book (projected from the 1940s) in a particularly grimy way. It even improved some of the plot elements, like Winston discovering the text of make-believe Goldstein's subversive manuscript hidden between the stuck-together pages of some ordinary Party dogma book. In the novel (if severely faded memory serves right), I believe O'Brien casually handed a bare-faced "The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism" to Winston without any camouflage or disguise whatsoever, which seemed a tad unrealistic. That was, of course, during the phase when O'Brien was merely pretending to be treasonous.
_
 
Last edited:
Alita Battle Angel
I robot
Millennium man

Some really thought provoking themes in there.

Forbidden planet
War of the worlds -Tom Cruise
The day the earth stood still - Original and remake are brilliant
Logan's run
Terminator

Some of my favourites, end of civilization stuff
 
The Day the Earth Stood Still - 1951 - I saw it at age 12 on the first tv we ever owned and it was the first SF story I ever encountered. A good foundation, I think. (The remake was OK, but didn't make an impression)
THX 1138 - 1971 I hated it, but it stuck.
AI - A bit too much cinematography, but still a good premise.
Short Circuit - OK, it's cute, but people who enjoy cute robots need to think, too!
Simone
Outbreak
 
Sarkus said:
Cerebral sci-fi? Soooo many, but certainly some good choices there, MR. :)
Others I would include off the top of my head....

The two Blade Runners
Arrival
Gattaca
Interstellar
2001 and 2010
Ghost in the Shell (anime)
Dune (all)
Cypher
Brazil
Dante 01
City of Lost Children
Predestination
Ad Astra

Heck, there's also ones like The Illustrated Man you could chuck into the mix as well.

Some of the above are on the more mainstream side of things, but they're cerebral nonetheless.
But there are soooo many, and the list not exhaustive. :)
Click to expand...
Some fantastic stuff in there. Humans considering his own existence and future.
Brazil was horrific, Michael Palin a big brother dentist torturer??
That is bad as it gets!
 
Jeeves said:
The Day the Earth Stood Still - 1951 - I saw it at age 12 on the first tv we ever owned and it was the first SF story I ever encountered. A good foundation, I think. (The remake was OK, but didn't make an impression)
THX 1138 - 1971 I hated it, but it stuck.
AI - A bit too much cinematography, but still a good premise.
Short Circuit - OK, it's cute, but people who enjoy cute robots need to think, too!
Simone
Outbreak
Click to expand...
What about "Forbidden Planet?" That gave me nightmares as a kid.
 
Pinball1970 said:
What about "Forbidden Planet?" That gave me nightmares as a kid.
Click to expand...
I saw it much, much too late, as an adult. The first Sci-fi movie I saw on the big screen (and in the the 50's, movie screens were big) was War of the Worlds. The studios were revelling in Technicolor and special effects. Now that was scary!!
 
Jeeves said:
I saw it much, much too late, as an adult. The first Sci-fi movie I saw on the big screen (and in the the 50's, movie screens were big) was War of the Worlds. The studios were revelling in Technicolor and special effects. Now that was scary!!
Click to expand...
I bet it was. First film I saw was "Snow white" 1970. Truly terrifying YET enthralling and beautiful to me as a 3 year old. I fell in love with the cinema experience in that moment.
Totally dark cinema yet filled with people so I was not scared (with mum too) snacks! A lady with a torch walking round with popcorn and stuff, this is amazing!

Anyway I don't want to derail the thread so I will stop there.
 
wegs said:
YW! It’s really out there but I opened my mind, and was grateful to give it a chance. It’s a love story, too.
Click to expand...
Have you seen some of those others? Solaris? That was horrible, it broke me. When you combine extreme sadness and grief with horror it just soups it up.

Arrival did the same to me. Cried like a baby.
 
Pinball1970 said:
Have you seen some of those others? Solaris? That was horrible, it broke me. When you combine extreme sadness and grief with horror it just soups it up.

Arrival did the same to me. Cried like a baby.
Click to expand...
I haven’t seen it but I’ll check it out! I judge a movie on if it can get me to cry or not. lol So, I’m adding it to my list. I didn’t like Arrival, even though it was moving. :confused:
 
We tried to watch the second Avatar, but quit after 20 minutes. Recycled people started showing up. W.T.F.?
Has anyone mentioned The Martian?
 
Last edited:
wegs said:
Pinball1970 said:
Have you seen some of those others? Solaris? That was horrible, it broke me. When you combine extreme sadness and grief with horror it just soups it up. [...]
Click to expand...

I haven’t seen it but I’ll check it out! I judge a movie on if it can get me to cry or not. lol So, I’m adding it to my list. [...]
Click to expand...

Stanislaw Lem disliked both the 1972 and the 2002 film adaptations of his novel, deeming that they missed the point of the latter. He sarcastically called them "Love in Outer Space" rather than "Solaris".

He actually collaborated with Tarkovsky on the first movie, but the studio hated the resulting screenplay and radically changed it. Thus in turn alienating Lem and incurring his loathing.
_
 
C C said:
Stanislaw Lem disliked both the 1972 and the 2002 film adaptations of his novel, deeming that they missed the point of the latter. He sarcastically called them "Love in Outer Space" rather than "Solaris".

He actually collaborated with Tarkovsky on the first movie, but the studio hated the resulting screenplay and radically changed it. Thus in turn alienating Lem and incurring his loathing.
_
Click to expand...

Arguably, Eduard Artemyev is the hero of that film anyway. And the dude that played that rippin take on Bach's BWV 639. I don't know what Lem was expecting--had he even watched any of Tarkovsky's previous films beforehand? The guy likes to take it sllloooowwwwww and is not big on exposition.
 
  • Like
Reactions: C C
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top