One of the big accomplishments for me in this challenge so far was finally finishing the 52-episode "Armored Trooper Votoms" (1983), which I'd started watching in previous challenges. I don't know why, but I can't continue with one series from start to finish. I have to break up the viewing, no matter how good the series is. And Votoms is one of the best anime space series I've ever seen. Tons of action, imaginative plotting, lots of twists and turns, a real epic feel, and intricate design. It's about Chirico, a space soldier involved in some kind of civil war between future space colonies, who goes AWOL and gets involved with a beautiful android "prototype" meant for some nefarious purpose and it leads to flight through space and a hidden destiny involving an ancient god on a distant planet. I love the fluidity of the made-for-TV animation and the beautiful explosions. It reminded me of 1950s and '60s war comics, as if a top-notch comic artist did every frame. Here are some shots:

If you own it, today would be a good day to watch The Princess Bride, due to the passing of Gary Marshall.

I just finished Gorgo, on Con TV. There is just something about the older movies that seems to be missing in many newer films.

I'm cheating... rather than type it up myself here's the wikipedia information on "The One Ring":
So... Sauron made the other rings with the *intention* that they be worn and thus bring their wearers under his full control. The One Ring was made *by* him for *him* to wear to control the other rings, which had been given to various Kings. He wore it constantly. Isildur couldn't wear it that way as its power was too corrupting. After all, it was *part* of Sauron. So he kept it on a chain around his neck, only wearing it at certain opportune times. It was during one of those times when, on his journey home, Orcs attacked and he lost the ring in a attempt to escape. Actually the Ring "lost" him... on purpose.

I just finished 'The Batman' episode of Superman: Red Son Motion Comics, that I bought last year on Amazon Instant Video, and I have to say, Batman in the Red Son universe is much darker. He thinks nothing of using lethal terrorist attacks in order to get his agenda completed.

Interesting read. I still say there could have been a better vehicle for the powers! Though, it does make a difference if you can control the powers (invisibility for instance) while wearing it. If you can choose to use it or not rather than the act of putting it on triggering the ring.

I finished season 2 of Black Mirror and started rewatching Game of Thrones. Fun to see the early maneuvering knowing where it's all leading to.

I just used my first Wild Card. I watched a show called America's Zombie Army on AHC, which dealt with the secret testing the US Government did on Army soldiers, such as trying to create super soldiers, and MK Ultra.

Just got home from the rebooted Star Trek IMAX movie marathon, culminating with the new one! It was a lot of fun!

I went to see a documentary called LIFE, ANIMATED and I'm hoping it will count for this challenge. If not, I'll use it as a Wild Card. It's about an autistic boy who relentlessly watched classic Disney animated films on tape from early childhood on and eventually learned to communicate through dialogue from films like THE LITTLE MERMAID, ALADDIN, PETER PAN, et al. It makes extensive use of clips from 14 Disney fantasy movies and also offers newly created animated scenes illustrating fantasy stories devised by the boy who's the subject of the documentary.

Does it count?

Thanks.

Science Fiction Theatre is interesting, but so far it doesn't contain as much "Sci-Fi" as I'd been expecting. It's looking to be more of a Twilight Zone type program often relying on a twist ending to bring home the Sci-Fi portion of the half hour. I can see kids of those years eating it up simply because of the explanations grounded in science that precede each episode, even *if* it's one that's not plausibly explained with the science. I know I'd have watched it at age ~8-13 (1963-68) had it been syndicated in my area and would have enjoyed *most* episodes. Overall it's a entertaining program but not one I see my grandkids liking, at least not until they're much older and can better appreciate the historical aspects of the program. I've been as entertained by the stars appearing in episodes as anything else. One I watched last night had Edmund Gwenn (aka Santa Clause) as a scientist grooming bees to produce a special Royal Honey. Another had Barbara Hale (whose character annoyed me greatly) and Hugh Beaumont. And another with Basil Rathbone.

I actually just posted about this in the animation challenge a bit ago. If you're planning on joining that challenge you can count it ahead of time as it is not going to be in wide release that I can tell.

I don't really think this fits the fantasy/sci-fi challenge though. While he does watch fantasy films, the focus of the documentary is on the boy. I'll meet you halfway though and say you can list it in your watch list but not work for the check list.

I just read an article about this and really would like a chance to see it but unfortunately the nearest place showing it is 2 hours away and is tomorrow. Just not going to work out. I hope it does get a wide amount of support though!

Just read this. Thought it might be of interest to pull through the remainder of the challenge:

The 50 Best Sci-Fi Films Of The 21st Century So Far

Hope someone didn't already post this.

^Wouldn't such a lengthy list this early in the 21st century pretty much be all of them that have been released?

I'm not gonna look at the list yet. I'm just going to post what I think the best sci-fi films of this century--that I've seen--would be:

LUCY (U.S.-France)
TRANSFORMERS (U.S.)
TRANSFORMERS 3: DARK OF THE MOON (U.S.)

CJ7 (Hong Kong)

STEAMBOY (Japan)
GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE (Japan)
THE ANIMATRIX (Japan)
HIGHLANDER: THE SEARCH FOR VENGEANCE (Japan)
SUMMER WARS (Japan)
+ all 16 Pokémon movies released in this century so far (Japan)

GODZILLA TOKYO SOS (Japan)
GODZILLA FINAL WARS (Japan)
CUTIE HONEY (Japan)
THE SINKING OF JAPAN (Japan)
+ various sentai movies including: GOKAIGER GOSEIGER SUPER SENTAI 199 HERO GREAT BATTLE (Japan)

I'm willing to bet only one of these is on that list: LUCY. And maybe TRANSFORMERS.

ADDENDUM: Okay I looked at the list. None of mine are there. I've seen only 12 of the films listed. The only one on that list that I would have included on my list is BATTLE ROYALE, which is the only Japanese film on their list. I didn't include it in mine because I don't think of it as sci-fi, but it's listed that way on IMDB, so I would add it to my list.

Wow, I must be really good at keeping on top of recent sci-fi ... the only ones of this list I haven't seen are:

Remainder (#50)
2046 (#49)
The Clone Returns Home (#25)
Holy Motors (#10)

Well, maybe you can count Hard to be a God (#38) too. I started watching it on Netflix and bailed after about 30 minutes Holy Motors sounds interesting. Anyone else recommend a viewing?

I see it has sci-fi as a genre, so I think I'm going to watch Hardcore Henry tonight. My viewing has slacked off this week due to a medical procedure a couple of days ago (and medication has made it hard for me to concentrate). But this sounds like a movie that doesn't need a lot of mental processing to handle

Hmmm... I've seen 21 of the films on the list and own a couple more I've not yet watched. Outside of those, roughly half are films I've never heard of (but I don't watch "live" TV or keep up with current films - at all). Most of the ones on that list I've seen I wouldn't put on "my" top 50 SF films of the century list with a few I'd put on my "least favorite SF films this century" list. Just shows that all such lists are highly subjective. I still like looking at such lists though as sometimes you find a hidden gem.

I've seen 23. There are a handful I've been meaning to catch up with, and many I've never heard of.

I didn't count, but I saw more than I expected to after going through the first page... Interesting list.

Yes, I'm the person that assumed they'd put a film from 2000 (the 20th century) into a list about 21st century and I was not disappointed. If I did something like that in programming, I would rightfully be shot. People laugh about the Y2K bug because nothing major happened but they're also forgetting and the software updates that were going on to fix it. We have another one coming up in 2038.

It's weird seeing something like Primer on the list and then remember how long it's been since I've seen it and what my living situation was at the time, compared to now. Overall, I don't think the list is that great. Avatar doesn't make the cut but the latest Star Wars film, which is just a rehashing of the first one, does. Unlike Avatar, Star Wars didn't actually make people have to see therapists for depression because of a make believe planet. That clearly shows an impact on people.

If I remember right, it was in theaters for a long time. The last movie I remember being in theaters a super long time was Batman (Keaton). That was in theaters so long that it was still playing when it was released on VHS.

I'm ashamed that I did not notice that! And I know better!!

Yeah... we spent *months* making sure our systems would roll over properly. By 2038 I'll have been retired for some time (I hope) and won't necessarily care...
But, IMHO, Avatar wasn't that great either and is very derivative lifting almost *everything* from other works. Films like Dances With Wolves, Ferngully, The Last Samurai, and others. Poul Anderson's 1957 short story, "Call Me Joe," has a main character who is paralyzed, (like Avatar’s Jake Sully) and remotely controls an alien body by using his mind. Arkady and Boris Strugatsy's Noon Universe series is set in the 22nd century on a forested world called Pandora that’s inhabited by a sentient native species known as the Nave. At least the new Star Wars film stole from itself (which still doesn't make it that good a film or deserving to be on such a list). Oh... wait... the original Star Wars "borrowed" from lots of sources too...
That actually happened? Over a film? One that's obviously CGI and make believe? Wow... I just don't know what to think about that one.

The list is just fine. Unless you made a list yourself, it's unavoidable that you won't agree with everything. I'm super-impressed that I've seen 46/50 (and liked most that I've seen). Gives the reviews of the movies I haven't seen a lot more weight, for me personally. I think it's a nice mix of obvious mainstream with some smaller titles thrown in. And they did list a bunch of movies at the end that they left off the list, but felt they could've been in there too: Cloud Atlas, The Road, Pacific Rim, Avatar, Europa Report, I Origins, Source Code, Super 8, Chronicle, Safety Not Guaranteed, Lucy, Grabbers, 10 Cloverfield Lane (among others).

If anything, If someone thought most the movies on this list suck ... well, they're entitled to their opinion but that would indicate to me that their idea of a good movie differs so drastically from my own that any reviews or movie comments from them are essentially useless to me

Finally saw (all of) HIGHLANDER (in the right order), and enjoyed it. But it really doesn't make much coherent sense, does it..?!

Reading around about it to try and grasp some of the confusing points or fill in plot holes, I was met with a considerable amount of dislike for Highlander II, and given that it's on Hulu as well, started watching it.

Now, it's not great. But already the bizarre plot has answered two of the most gaping and nonsensical parts of the first. Namely: why and how does Sir Sean* know all this baffling nonsense at all; and to what end are they all seemingly compelled to fight? Daft answers, maybe, but at least it's addressed them already!

(Plus, I remember reading years ago that people were unhappy that a dead character was resurrected for the sequel... there's still time for that, but so far it's just been flashbacks. Which seems fine.)

I was expecting more Queen, too. Especially the number of times someone says 'it's a kind of magic'... The Internet says there was/is no Soundtrack - did Queen quash it by releasing their songs on their own album, was the film's underwhelming reception to blame or is that just an odd oversight..?


*Nevermind why someone would cast a Very Scottish person as a person in Scotland... who isn't Scottish. Or just where the purportedly-coached Spanish accent is on display. Or why a many-thousand-year-old Egyptian should have a Spanish accent anyway..

While browsing the Dish Guide for something to watch, I saw The Martian was on HBO 2, so I thought I'd give it a try. I honestly didn't know if I'd like it or not, but I found it to be a very enjoyable movie. Plus I found out duct tape is still the fix all, even in the future, LOL.

Duct tape and roaches will survive us all.

that list is crap based on putting Solaris remake rather than the original!