MEJHarrison

So every year at work we have a big charity auction. And our department (IS) always takes donations from employees and puts together a basket to place in the auction. Last year was a trip to the beach and fun things to do at the beach. This year we're putting together a movie basket and going with a sci-fi theme.

I expect we'll have about $250-$350 to work with here. So what DVDs would you suggest? What non-DVD items would you add? A few year back we did a classic movie collection basket. About 15 DVDs, some candy, wine, popcorn set, etc. What would go well with a sci-fi theme?

bboisvert

When is the auction? Because starting on April 2, there will be food items out there with a Star Wars theme. "Dark Side" (dark chocolate) M&Ms, etc. A few packages of those would probably be appropriate. Maybe Little Debbie "Star Crunch" snacks? Astro pops?

For movies, it should be easy enough to put together a decent collection of titles... a lot of fantastic films are dirt-cheap out there (Forbidden Planet, Blade Runner, Logan's Run, Dark City, Day the Earth Stood Still, a bunch of others). You could pretty easily put together a collection of 30-ish great films, plus snacks in that price range. I suspect that would do pretty well at auction.

talemyn

I like that idea . . . you could even stretch it into a "The Evolution Of Sci-Fi" theme. Start with the Kino release of Metropolis (or Le Voyage Dans La Lune, but I don't think it's out on DVD) and build from there. Include "important" films in the history of Sci-Fi:

Star Wars - for obvious reasons
Star Trek - but just one episode or movie (like The Cage or the original movie), given it's impact as a Sci-Fi TV series, in particular.
The Black Hole - the last and most impressive of "old school" special effects.
Tron - for it's pioneering role in the area of CG
2001: A Space Odyssey - for it's role as a great film tha also happens to be Sci-Fi
Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within - as possibly the most astounding leaps in the use of CG in a movie.

Plus a number of other movies of importance in the role of Sci-Fi (for many various reasons): Terminator, E.T. - The Extraterrestrial, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, War Of The Worlds, THX-1138, Sleeper, Blade Runner, Alien (or Aliens), The Clockwork Orange, The Road Warrior, Dune, Brazil, Jurassic Park, Flash Gordon . . .

Check here for some more ideas and commentary -----> http://www.filmsite.org/sci-fifilms.html


BTW . . . great idea. x 2

MEJHarrison

Well, the auction is in mid-March. We're off to a late start this year which is why we're doing a movie basket again. Collect money, go shopping, you're done. Trying to contact resturants and motels last year took forever.

I don't know if we should go for Star Wars or not. It's a great idea, but if we get a bunch of really popular movies, I'm afraid people won't bid because they already own half the titles. And if we go the other direction and pick really obscure titles, people won't recoginize anything and won't want that either. So it's a fine line to walk here. We have to have something big like Star Wars just to grab attention, but it can't be all big name titles.

The other complication is I'd like to make sure we buy a lot of stuff I don't already own. After all, I get to bid on this too!

talemyn

Just make this one particular auction item an eBay auction, mention it here and you'll make a fortune for the charity.

Except, of course, that we're all cheap.

marty888

Some non-contemporary quality titles might include:

VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (the original)
THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE
QUATERMASS AND THE PIT
COCOON
EXPLORERS
THE HIDDEN
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH
THE LAST STARFIGHTER
SILENT RUNNING
WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE

On a lighter note, you might want to include some of these "sci-fi" treats:

EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY
KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE
SLEEPER
INNERSPACE

Giles

I recommend:

Invaders from Mars
The Iron Giant (Special Edition)

oh and this would be a fun addition:

http://www.smithsonianstore.com/prod...7455&dptid=502

talemyn

Ooooh . . . almost forgot The Fantastic Voyage (which is also packaged with Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea).

Giles

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!!!!! (the original puppet films not the recent Hollywood remake).

taa455

Don't forget Planet of the Apes

taa455

And Journey to the Center of the Earth

Giles

and, more:

Enemy Mine
Starman
Wings of Honneamise
From A Distant Star

Platipus

The Final Countdown

Various Sci-fi films on DVD from the 50s-60s:
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
Earth vs Flying Saucers
Forbidden Planet
The Thing From Another World
The Time Machine
War of the Worlds
The Brain that Wouldn't Die
Black Scorpion
Conquest of Space

Giles

sorry I'm having a stream of thought here, so I am just adding them as they fly out of my head:

Fantastic Planet
Spaceballs
Planet of the Vampires
Outland
The Deadly Spawn
Qalaxy Quest
Flash Gordon (1980)
Barbarella
Peter Jackson's - Bad Taste
Strange Invaders (recommended)

taa455

Here are some recommendations from this thread:
The one and only Essential DVD Recommendations by Genre


Science Fiction/Fantasy
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968 - Remastered version)
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Special Edition (1984)
Alien: 20th Anniversary Edition (1979 - Horror - Also Available in Box Set)
Aliens: Special Edition (1986 - Horror - Also Available in Box Set)
Blade Runner Uber Set (1982 - should be a 3-disc set due in late 2002, or 2003)
Brazil: Criterion Collection (1985 - how an SE is done)
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: Special Edition (1977)
Contact Special Edition (1997)
Dark City Platinum Series (1998)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 - Not yet released)
Edward Scissorhands: 10th Anniversary Edition (1990 - Romance)
The Fifth Element Superbit Collection (1997)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within: Special Edition (2001 - CG Animated)
Forbidden Planet (1956 - Classic)
Gattaca (1997 - Also in Superbit)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Special Widescreen Edition (2001 - Children/Family)
Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring: Special Edition (2001 - also Extended Director's Cut)
The Matrix (1999)
Men in Black Deluxe Edition (1997)
Pitch Black (Special Edition/ Unrated Version) (2000)
Predator (1987 - Action)
Robocop Criterion Collection (1987 - Action - New Release coming soon)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Director's Edition (1979 - also other Director's Editions as available)
Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace Special Edition (1999)
Stargate Special Edition (1994 - buy the 2-pack with Moon 44 for cheap)
Starship Troopers 2-disc Special Edition (1997 - Also a good 1-disc version)
Total Recall: Limited Edition (1990)
Tron: 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition (1982)

Breakfast with Girls

Hmm... some that I might go with for a good mix. A lot of these can be bought at a B&M for $5.88-$9.99, although there are obviously some more expensive ones. I've starred a couple that might not occur to people at first but that I would definitely include.

Metropolis: Restored Authorized Edition
The Time Machine (1960)
War of the Worlds (1953)
Blade Runner: The Director's Cut
T2: Extreme DVD
The Iron Giant: Special Edition
Jurassic Park: Collector's Edition
* Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries (2003)
Donnie Darko (the original, not the director's cut)
Dark City
Mars Attacks!
Galaxy Quest
Alien: The Director's Cut
Aliens: Collector's Edition
Planet of the Apes: 35th Anniversary Edition
Back to the Future - The Complete Trilogy
* Gattaca
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - The Director's Edition
Stargate: Ultimate Edition

Giles

must we throw the Fantasy genre into the mix here?, come on, that list is so generic.

Platipus

Cube
The Man Who Haunted Himself
The Philadelphia Experiment
Stepford Wives (Original)

bboisvert

As a real-world example of how cool you can make this basket, I just put together the following order at DeepDiscountDVD:

A.I. Artificial Intelligence
The Abyss
Barbarella
Blade Runner: Director's Cut
Body Snatchers
Contact
Cube
Dark City
Enemy Mine
Fahrenheit 451
Invaders From Mars / The Crawling Eye (2-pack)
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)
Logan's Run
Mad Max
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Minority Report
Puppet Masters
Road Warrior
Robocop
Plan 9 From Outer Space / Robot Monster (2-pack)
Signs (Vista Series Special Edition)
Silent Running
Starman
The Terminator
Total Recall
Tremors
Zardoz


That's 30 DVDs... not all 5-star classics, but all of them are really fun. Grand total = $243.99 shipped. (And you might even be able to do better by splitting this up amongst other stores.)

Take that and add a Star Wars DVD (maybe the upcoming Clone Wars cartoon disc?) and a Star Trek DVD (I'd recommend the 2-disc Motion Picture edition... great set). Plus some 'space' themed snacks. Plus a fun toy or two. And then you have a really kick-ass basket for under $300 easily.

Doctor Who

My picks:
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE/ ROBOT MONSTER
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
ENEMY MINE
FREEJACK
DARK CITY
LOGAN'S RUN
BATTLEFIELD EARTH (nice comedy)
BLADE RUNNER
VIDEODROME: CRITERION COLLECTION
BRAZIL (Criterion or Universal)
INVADERS FROM MARS (either original or remake)
TRON: 20TH ANNIVERSARY
THE DOCTOR WHO COLLECTION (the Anchor Bay set of the Peter Cushing Dr. Who films)
THE OMEGA MAN
SOYLENT GREEN
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH
MAN'S BEST FRIEND
ESCAPE 2000 (aka TURKEY SHOOT)
DEAD END DRIVE-IN
REPO MAN
ZARDOZ
THE ABYSS: SPECIAL EDITION
PIRANHA
INNERSPACE

Mike Lowrey

Hmmm, can't believe no one has mentioned Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

I'd also add Chronicles of Riddick to that list above.

Other newer titles could include:
The 6th Day
Terminator 2
Terminator 3
Red Planet
I, Robot

MEJHarrison

Thanks for all the advice. There's a ton of great ideas here. Now we just have to collect our money and see what we have to work with.

Kris81

I'd advise picking all mainstream titles with maybe 1-2 rare ones.. chances are no one's going to spend that much money on titles most people haven't heard of before..


6th sense, t1, t2, etc are all good

Drexl

For a non-DVD item to go with it, the lightsaber remote control would be nice if it doesn't take up too much of the budget.

ms.crab

One of those Potato Head : Darth Tators would look cute in there.