Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Thanks for the names.

Unless there's anything else to add, I think the checklist is more or less done.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Completely agreed. Some of the shots just make me shiver.

I would have loved if Babylon 5 had Star Trek type quality to it. But maybe that's part of what makes it so great.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I am also thinking of re-watching Babylon 5 since I never finished it. However, I also want to continue my quest to re-watch Star Trek: TNG and possibly Battlestar Galactica. There are too many excellent shows to watch and so very little time. I have to really get a hold on my thesis in July, and that will cut into my free time.

One of my goals is to watch some films that I've been putting off such as the first two Terminator films and the Alien franchise. Also, I'm finally going to watch Blade Runner.

I'm terribly excited about this challenge. I have been reading Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars this week and am ready to watch some good sci-fi!

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

And also clarify how many TV episodes, at what lengths, we need to complete a single entry.

Thanks.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Someone hasn't read the rules for the last five years.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Thanks. I just like it to be spelled out anew for each Challenge.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I was thinking about Milla Jovovich but hadn't come up with any more names to make a substantial post

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Anyone know what they might start with for the challenge? Not positive yet, but I am thinking that I may start with The Time Tunnel.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I have a bunch of sci-fi shows I'd like to watch but they're stuff I want to watch with my family and they're gone for the challenge, which somewhat limits me to movies. For me, it's easier to get burned out trying to do a day of movies compared to tv. Then I find myself spending an hour or two doing something after a movie, while also being stumped on what I want to watch next. In turn, I get depressed that I wasted so much time trying to decide that if I had just picked something at random, I would have been almost done with it.

That's me in pretty much any challenge.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

thats me every damn night before bed ill spend looking through either my dvd collection or my netflix que way to long that when i finally decide what to watch I fall asleep.


im starting my challenge off with a 24 hr challenge or as close to one as i can to knock out some movies before going back to work. Im gonna try to marathon the lotr movies and aliens

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

This is me a lot of times too! I'll stare at my movies and go, I should watch this...nooo, I'll save that one. How about this? No, so and so wanted to watch that too, ok, how about this? Well...

And it'll be about an hour before I finally just pick one. I also feel guilty sometimes watching something I've already seen before when I have so many I haven't watched yet. So part of that time is convincing myself it's ok to watch my old favorite rather than something new.

But I think I've already decided what I'm watching first. I've read horrible reviews on it, but I picked up Witches of Oz not to long ago. I'm a huge Oz fan (I even just went to the Oz museum in Kansas two weeks ago) so I'm hoping I can find something redeemable in it.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Doing a "double qualifier" by watching S1 of Ancient Aliens. It'll finish off the Historical Appreciation while starting the Sci-Fi/Fantasy. I've not seen any episodes yet and am hoping for lots of cheese! :D

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Hey, don't talk about our ancestors from the stars that way.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Once again, I am going to TRY to partake in this challenge. Got lots of classic Star Trek, Doctor Who, The Prisoner episodes that I want to check out.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I'm doing that too but I'm dreading that it'll end up being the most boring thing in the world. It's been on for awhile, so maybe it's crazy enough to be fun.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I'm trying to finish Season 2 of Voyager in the next couple days so I can start S3 for the Challenge.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I think I'm going to start off with Doctor Who: The Movie. I'm pretty sure I've only seen it once.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Disease movies countable?

Warning Sign
Contagion
I Am Legend
The Crazies
Outbreak

?

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Did you check imdb.com to see if they had a sci-fi or fantasy tag? I always check there and then allmovie.com for genres. If I still think it might qualify, I'll search a few other places just to see if anyplace else labels them sci-fi or fantasy, like amazon, wikipedia, or just a google search of something like "The Crazies sci-fi" and see what kind of results I get. If I have to do anymore searching than that to try and qualify something, I figure I'm beginning to stretch things and then I'll find something more obvious to watch.

The first 3 have sci-fi tags at imdb. Outbreak has a sci-fi tag at allmovie. The Crazies(original), is listed as sci-fi at wikipedia but the remake is listed as horror. Since it's a remake, I'd say that's good enough to count as sci-fi.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

The "cheese" comment was a aimed at the learned experts (especially Erich von Däniken) in the program, *not* the ancestral star folk. :)

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I'm hoping the pseudoscience sections will be entertaining enough in spite of probably having seen most, if not all, of the episodes in various forms since von Däniken put forth his <s>fabrications</s> theories back in the 70s. It doesn't hurt that Paul Mavis gave it a fairly positive review here on DVD Talk. Based on the reviews of his I've read he and I tend to like the same programs so his review is somewhat encouraging towards the likeability of the series.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I checked out the episode summaries over at wikipedia and they do sound like they might be fun and completely unlike the few UFO shows I've caught on the Discovery Channel. I used to read UFO/Bigfoot/Loch Ness Monster type books from grade school through high school and remember reading Erich's book a few times. I remember being surprised finding that one book on Mothman after reading a few books that talked about him a bit.

Does anyone else remember commercials years ago when Time Life had their book series, Mysteries of the Unknown, which had UFOs and other related stuff? You got the first book, really cheap, or free but then every month, or whatever, they'd send you a new book? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4zBYh2PUyk

They released a book containing a bunch of the books in the series that's pretty good and cheap http://www.amazon.com/Mysteries-Unkn...of+the+unknown I picked one up a few years ago and it was pretty good and covered a decent amount of topics.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Something Weird Video just let me know they want to be a sponsor. Once details are worked out, I'll list the additional prizes.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

i broke down and started watching fringe season 1 since iv had em for awhile and have yet to watch.

im weak

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I thought I'd post this list of Netflix Sci-fi Blu-ray rentals. Illustrating how sparse their collection of catalog titles is, here they all are, through the 70's*:

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

How have I never heard of Circle of Iron before?

Full Moon is having a 4th of July sale next week, giving out gift cards based on your order total. There's a bunch of qualifying titles for this challenge as well as the horror challenge, for anyone interested.

http://fullmoonhorror.com/2012/06/26...ee-gift-cards/

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

If you ever see it, you'll be sorry you heard of it.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

IMDb lists it as sci-fi, so I would say it counts without a wild card. It's definitely a horror flick, but it has enough sci-fi elements that it would not be out of place in this challenge.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Yeah it was pretty meh. But a bit of alcohol smoothes the edges.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I'd say it's a good example of a wild card but if imdb lists it as sci-fi, it counts. I watched it a couple of horror challenges back and thought it was pretty good. If I knew it was that good, I wouldn't have let it sit unwatched on my shelf for almost a decade.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I didn't think it was that bad. Greatest movie ever? No. But watchable. I was thinking about giving it a rewatch when I saw it on the list here, actually.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

The script deserved a director who understood the material and a star with some talent, charisma and a martial arts background. This film had neither. (By star, I mean the actor in the leading role, Jeff Cooper, who was a surfer by trade.)

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Are we talking about the same Circle of Iron? I always think of David Carradine as the star of it. As someone who does not have a single graceful bone in her body, I love how he just flows when he does his martial art moves. I first saw him in Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and from there, hunted down movies he was in to watch. So, to me, him being in it makes it worth watching. Like I said earlier, I'm in no way making this out to be a great movie, but even in it's badness there is something that makes it watchable to me.

Anyone have any opinions on Battle Royale? I just got a copy from the library just in time for this challenge, and was wondering how good it actually is. I'm not a huge fan of gore, but read the book and wanted to see how the movie stacked up.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

It's good and there's not much gore to speak of; plenty of blood though.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I'm just got my copy from Amazon and am planning to read it soon. I'm about done with Red Mars and need to finish A Game of Thrones which I started rereading a couple of months ago and keep getting distracted.

On the non-reading side, I'm really excited to start this challenge. Hoping to get through some television seasons!

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

RE: CIRCLE OF IRON - I remember the lackluster Jeff Cooper having the main role and David Carradine being in a supporting role. But I confess I haven't seen it since it first came out--33 years ago!

RE: BATTLE ROYALE - it opened here in New York last month in its belated theatrical premiere. I went to see it. It was the extended director's cut. I prefer the shorter cut which came out in 2000, which I've only seen on VHS.
I like the film a lot, although I liked it better when I originally saw it. It's definitely an important film, esp. in the context of its director's career, and as a critique of the extraordinary social, cultural and academic pressures placed on the youth of Japan. The director made the film as a response--some 55 years after the fact--to the way his generation (those too young to fight, but old enough to work) was treated by the military government during the war. He was 15 when the war ended.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Hmm, interesting. I hadn't heard that before. I know of the book because of the big "Hunger Games" controversy and when I bowed down to peer pressure and read that, I wanted to read Battle Royale as well to at least be able to weigh in on the topic. Battle Royale is a lot more complicated, I think, in many ways than Hunger Games. BR has a lot more violence for the sake of violence, partly because there are more kids to get rid of, but partly with how the children react as well. I can easily see the social commentary that the author was using but about 1/3 of the way through the book, I did get a little tired of all the killing. It definitely shares some themes with Hunger Games and while I don't know if I believe its author that she had never heard of BR before she submitted the book, there are a lot of other books with that same idea in it out there and she wrote her take on it.

But anyway, it'll be interesting to see how the movie plays out compared to the book and I think it qualifies for the alternate history category which I was having trouble thinking of a movie I wanted to watch for.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

The flowing certainly stops dead when he speaks though - he always sounds like he's bored and/or stoned, which may very well be the case. I consider David Carradine as a more affable Chuck Norris, in terms of unchanging and indifferent line delivery.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

For those looking for viewing material, The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) has dropped back to $9.99.

Re: 5th Annual Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Less than 24 hours till the sci fi challenge starts and I am getting really excited. I may have dabbled a little in sci fi here and there to wet my appetite, but I have been holding off on sci fi for the most part till the challenge starts. Then it is on.