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Best Science Fiction movie of the 90s?

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demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
I think it's pretty fucking retarded to apply the same standards as to what constitutes as "science fiction" in literature to movies. When someone says "a science fiction movie", you fucking well know they're talking about a movie with a fictional, made-up story that does not represent some aspect of reality, fact, or history. Speaking of which, Dan posted the definition of "fiction" as "imaginative creation or a pretense that does not represent actuality but has been invented.", bolding the "pretense" part, but conveniently ignoring the "does not represent actuality" part. Well guess what, genius, the story portrayed an "actuality", and it did it about as accurately and as faithfully as possible (save perhaps for some plot-filler moments, although those are the least science-related aspects of the story and have little to nothing to do with the story of the Apollo 13 flight, if you want to nit-pick).

If you're going to do something as absurd as label Apollo 13 as "science fiction", then what the fuck would you consider science non-fiction? Why even make the "fiction" distinction at all?
 
Though not originally produced in the '90s, the superior form of the film wasn't released until '93...

0790729628.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
 

ManaByte

Rage Bait Youtuber
MightyHedgehog said:
Though not originally produced in the '90s, the superior form of the film wasn't released until '93...

0790729628.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Bah not even Scott really likes the "Director's Cut" anymore, which is why he was going to do a new cut for the new DVD release before the movie was dragged through legal hell and the DVD will probably never see the light of day.
 

ManaByte

Rage Bait Youtuber
MightyHedgehog said:
What more can he do to it?

Apparently the new cut was going to restore the narration and a couple more scenes, but it'll never happen because there were some nightmarish legal issues surrounding the special edition DVD that Scott Free DVD was working on (exact details weren't made public) and Scott Free DVD basically said it'll probably never see the light of day.
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
demon said:
I think it's pretty fucking retarded to apply the same standards as to what constitutes as "science fiction" in literature to movies. When someone says "a science fiction movie", you fucking well know they're talking about a movie with a fictional, made-up story that does not represent some aspect of reality, fact, or history. Speaking of which, Dan posted the definition of "fiction" as "imaginative creation or a pretense that does not represent actuality but has been invented.", bolding the "pretense" part, but conveniently ignoring the "does not represent actuality" part. Well guess what, genius, the story portrayed an "actuality", and it did it about as accurately and as faithfully as possible (save perhaps for some plot-filler moments, although those are the least science-related aspects of the story and have little to nothing to do with the story of the Apollo 13 flight, if you want to nit-pick).
It's not reality. It has been invented. Unless all of that dialogue and every aspect is absolutely true to life, there isn't even an argument, let alone tackling the issue of it being a total recreation. It's historical fiction. A basis on real events doesn't make something non-fiction.

Which of the following is non-fiction:
Ron Howard's Apollo 13
or
Apollo 13: The Real Story

If you say both, you're an idiot.
 

VALIS

Member
Bregor said:
If every movie was a work of fiction, then there would be no need to classify them as fiction or non-fiction.

The events that were represented in the movie Apollo 13 truly occurred, they were not invented. Thus it is non-fiction. This is a simple point that apparently everyone except you understands.

Did you miss Dan's post, #38? Dramatic recreations are fiction. Period. I've never heard of a non-fiction movie, that's like telling me there's a non-ficiton novel. You could have biographies or documentaries, which usually combine non-fiction and dramatic recreations, but those are not movies, hence the reason why people call them documentaries or biographies in the first place. Apollo 13 is a work of art, not of explaination. By default this makes it ficiton. It doesn't simply explain the events of the Apollo 13, it re-creates them and takes its own liberties here and there.

Answer me this. Was Titanic fiction or non-fiction? Just because Apollo 13 was more faithful to the source material than Titanic doesn't make it non-fiction. It's the SAME THING! A dramatic re-creation of acutal events. Titanic just took more liberties with the events it was based on.


(And BTW, no one else liked Contact?)
 

ManaByte

Rage Bait Youtuber
VALIS said:
Did you miss Dan's post, #38? Dramatic recreations are fiction. Period. I've never heard of a non-fiction movie, that's like telling me there's a non-ficiton novel. You could have biographies or documentaries, which usually combine non-fiction and dramatic recreations, but those are not movies, hence the reason why people call them documentaries or biographies in the first place. Apollo 13 is a work of art, not of explaination. By default this makes it ficiton. It doesn't simply explain the events of the Apollo 13, it re-creates them and takes its own liberties here and there.

Answer me this. Was Titanic fiction or non-fiction? Just because Apollo 13 was more faithful to the source material than Titanic doesn't make it non-fiction. It's the SAME THING! A dramatic re-creation of acutal events. Titanic just took more liberties with the events it was based on.


(And BTW, no one else liked Contact?)

NO ONE IS SAYING APOLLO 13 ISN'T FICTION. HOWEVER APOLLO 13 IS NOT SCIENCE FICTION
 

VALIS

Member
demon said:
If you're going to do something as absurd as label Apollo 13 as "science fiction", then what the fuck would you consider science non-fiction?

Science non-fiction:

0767025520.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
B000055ZOB.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

B0002I839K.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
B00004T342.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
ManaByte said:
NO ONE IS SAYING APOLLO 13 ISN'T FICTION. HOWEVER APOLLO 13 IS NOT SCIENCE FICTION
Several people in this thread flatout stated "Apollo 13 is non-fiction."
 

VALIS

Member
ManaByte said:
NO ONE IS SAYING APOLLO 13 ISN'T FICTION.


You're kidding me, right? Catch up with the thread. Plenty of people have been arguing it's non-fiction because it's based on real events. As I said already, if you don't want to consider it science fiction, whatever.
 

Lathentar

Looking for Pants
ManaByte said:
NO ONE IS SAYING APOLLO 13 ISN'T FICTION. HOWEVER APOLLO 13 IS NOT SCIENCE FICTION
In my opinion. The fiction part of science fiction is about the technology. If the technology is fictional then it's science fiction.

Edit: Even though I still think Apollo 13 is non-fiction.
 

Kuramu

Member
the only sci-fi i thought was very good was 12 Monkeys. The rest i would watch wishing sci-fi didn't suck so much lately, despite it being my fav genre theoretically. I certainly don't get all the Stargate love. When will we get another gem like Alien again?
 

Shinobi

Member
VALIS said:
You could have biographies or documentaries, which usually combine non-fiction and dramatic recreations, but those are not movies, hence the reason why people call them documentaries or biographies in the first place.

Then why is "Hoop Dreams" called a movie by numerous websites? Was the basketball fake?
 

kablooey

Member
I'll go with T2 as well. It's the obvious choice, though if none of the Matrix sequels came out, I might've said The Matrix.

As for the Apollo 13 fiction vs. non-fiction debate, I'll have to agree that it's a fictional movie. The dialogue wasn't exactly what it was in real-life, and neither were any of the other minor details, even if it was based on a true story. Whether it's "science-fiction" or not, I'm not so sure. The term "sci-fi" has certain connotations and associations, which Apollo 13 doesn't really fit, but I think if you wanted to get extremely technical, it should qualify.
 

Raven.

Banned
ManaByte said:
Maybe he's Amish and just escaped the farm and discovered the internet?

"What? Peoples cannot fly in the outer space! This be science fiction! I'm going to go milk the bull now."
:lol

If apollo 13's scifi than basically every movie's scifi( some form of technology's present in virtually every one of them.).
 

Kuramu

Member
as to the science fiction debate....

1st, if a recreation of actual events is indeed considered fiction, then there needs to be a new classification. If i were to tell you what happened to me yesterday, and paraphrased some things, e.g. the dialogue, would that make my story fiction as well?

2nd, even if, it would be no more "science" fiction than a movie about a sinking ship or speeding bus. A story whose setting is airless space doesn't involve any more science than air filled space or a liquid. Maybe "Speed" was science fiction too.
 

GaimeGuy

Volunteer Deputy Campaign Director, Obama for America '16
wait, nm. I take back everything I said.

#1, 2, and 3 are the Star Wars SE movies and their theatrical rereleases. :D
 

kablooey

Member
Kuramu said:
as to the science fiction debate....

1st, if a recreation of actual events is indeed considered fiction, then there needs to be a new classification. If i were to tell you what happened to me yesterday, and paraphrased some things, e.g. the dialogue, would that make my story fiction as well?

There already is a classification of it. It's called "Historical Fiction", which is what I'd classify Apollo 13 as.
 

Crow

Member
#1 Matrix (most original movie of the 90's)
#2 Gattaca (masterpiece)
#3 Stargate (awesome concept)
#4 Fifth Element (colour , humour and Bruce going all diehard = win)
 

Zaptruder

Banned
Hey VALIS, you're not clever you smart ass hypocrite. Get the fuck out of this thread with your, historical, basis on fact dramatic recreation, that can be with a huge stretch placed in the Sci-Fi category.

It's pretty clear the intent on this thread is to cover Sci-Fi of a more fantasy bent; things of impossibility, rather than dramatic improbability.
 
God, Independence Day was such a terrible film.

"Welcome to Earf!"

"The aliens are wiping us out like a giant chess game!"

"Where are you going, Mr. President?"
"I'm a combat fighter; I BELONG in the air!"

"We'll upload the virus with my Powerbook!"
 

Boogie

Member
Prince of Space said:
God, Independence Day was such a terrible film.

"Welcome to Earf!"

"The aliens are wiping us out like a giant chess game!"

"Where are you going, Mr. President?"
"I'm a combat fighter; I BELONG in the air!"

"We'll upload the virus with my Powerbook!"

Hey! Only two of those quotes are actually in the film! :p
 

VALIS

Member
Zaptruder said:
Hey VALIS, you're not clever you smart ass hypocrite. Get the fuck out of this thread with your, historical, basis on fact dramatic recreation, that can be with a huge stretch placed in the Sci-Fi category.

It's pretty clear the intent on this thread is to cover Sci-Fi of a more fantasy bent; things of impossibility, rather than dramatic improbability.

What the fuck are you talking about? Hypocrite? Listen, chuckles, I listed a few of my favorite sci-fi films of the 90's, which is what the topic asked for. Then people took issue with one of them being science fiction and/or fiction, which is what we debated about. It's not like I listed a whole bunch of obviously non-SF films, daring people to challenge me on it. Don't see what your panties are all in a twist for, so fuck you.
 

Patrick Klepek

furiously molesting tim burton
Man, ID4 gets way too much hate. That was one of the best popcorn flicks of the 90s right there, and all of you are just taking a massive shit on it. Sad, sad, sad.

That said, Jurassic Park > ID4
 

calder

Member
I just need to say it again - ID4 is not only the most disappointing movie I've ever seen it's easily one of the 10 worst movies I've ever been subjected to in a theatre.
 

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
I can actually sit through ID4 and quasi-enjoy it, but I do agree that it is a pretty bad movie, and to say it's one of the greatest sci-fi movies of the 90s is a display of horrifyingly bad taste.

Also, I'm surprised it took so long for Jurassic Park to be mentioned. That was one of the most memorable cinematic experiences from the 90s IMO.
 

Prine

Banned
JP counts as Sci Fi? If so then

t2>JP>matrix

And fuck y'all ID4 haters, i was 13 when i watched that movie and was blown away. I can still watch that over and over (which reminds me, gotta buy it on DVD). Better then crap like starship troopers. Now thats a horrible film

Oh, Tremors fucking rocked too.
 
Independence Day is, to this day, only one of two movies I've seen twice in a movie theater. It was that awesome back when I was 10.
 

J2 Cool

Member
Think he confused it for a Jurassic Park screen. Anyway, my list still stands. I noted JP as a sci-fi, but having seen it on tv a couple weeks back, it doesn't squeeze out T2, Matrix, or Iron Giant.
 
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