Thursday, November 6, 2014

10 Outer Space Movies I Love (But Maybe Not Everyone Else Does)

by Patrick Bromley
In space, no one can hear you question my taste.

With the release of Interstellar this week (most polarizing movie of the year? Or MOST polarizing movie of the year?), it seems like a good time to talk about some of my favorite outer space movies that a lot of people might not like -- you know, like Interstellar. I hesitate to call these movies "underrated," because I'm not sure I can make a case for some of them as being objectively good. I can only make the case that I really like them.

Obviously, these aren't the best outer space movies, because who wants to read a list that's all "Star Wars this" and "Right Stuff that?" Most of us can agree on those. The movies on this list could all use a little extra love.
1. The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) Sure, everybody likes Pitch Black. It's a cool movie. Last year's Riddick was generally well-received, too. The bastard stepchild of the Riddick series is 2004's Chronicles of Riddick, writer/director David Twohy's bloated, self-serious attempt at turning his lean, tight little franchise into something epic. Rather than just focusing on Vin Diesel's Riddick, the sequel introduces several new and overqualified cast members (including Colm Feore, Karl Urban, Thandi Newton and DAME JUDI DENCH) and a lot of ridiculous teen-fantasy shit like NECROMONGERS and CREMATORIA and ELEMENTALS and THE UNDERVERSE. It's more than a little silly, made even sillier by how deadly seriously the movie attempts to treat it. But even at the time of its release, I liked how much Twohy had tried to establish an entire universe (complete with different planets and races and religions) in a two-hour span and the movie contains a few cool set pieces. Mark Ahn and I have bonded over our inexplicable ability to rewatch this movie whenever it's on.
2. Galaxy Quest (1999) This is a cheat because everyone loves Galaxy Quest. Unfairly overlooked when it was originally released, the movie has proven to have incredible legs. That's because great storytelling is timeless, and in addition to having great characters and funny jokes, Galaxy Quest is truly great storytelling. It was even voted one of the best Star Trek movies ever made last year despite not actually being a Star Trek movie (even though it's totally a Star Trek movie). By Grabthar's hammer, check out our podcast on the movie.
3. Supernova (2000) Arguably the most controversial inclusion on this list. Supernova is a mess for which I can barely defend my affection. How big a mess is it? Even the filmmakers took their name off it. The movie began life as a Walter Hill film; he quit and Jack Sholder (he of "I didn't know my Nightmare on Elm Street sequel was gay" fame) came in to do reshoots. When even that didn't do the trick, fucking Francis Ford Coppola came in to recut the movie in some hopes of salvaging it. The movie was ultimately dumped to theaters in January (the black hole of release windows) with direction credited to the pseudonymous name Thomas Lee. For some reason, I still kind of like the movie. Maybe it's the cast, which includes James Spader, Angela Bassett, Robin Tunney, Lou Diamond Phillips and Robert Forster. Or maybe it's the trippy production design, or the fact that it turns into a really stupid stalk-and-slash monster movie by the end (like Event Horizon before it and Sunshine after). Supernova is getting a Blu-ray release courtesy of Scream Factory next year; maybe then it will be reassessed and everyone will stop looking at me funny.
4. The Last Starfighter (1984) Between its kid-plays-arcade-games premise and its use of VERY early CGI effects, there are some people who might think Nick Castle's sci-fi adventure The Last Starfighter hasn't dated well. Those people are nuts. This is a sweet and sincere teenage fantasy in which being a geek makes you heroic and playing video games makes Catherine Mary Stewart love you. If I had known this any sooner I would have never put down the Atari (I also would have had to buy an Atari). The score is great, the cast is strong and the movie is so much fun. Few things make me happier than the last few minutes of The Last Starfighter.
5. Jason X (2002) Until two years ago, I didn't really care for Jason X, the tenth movie in the Friday the 13th franchise. Then I watched it again for a #ScaryMovieMonth column and realized I had been wrong about it. I was hung up on the humor and thinking more of it needed to be winking and self-aware (because Scream), but revisiting it I realized that the humor was used just right (though Todd Farmer, who wrote the screenplay and plays a supporting role in the film, might not agree; I believe his script was changed in some big ways prior to shooting -- he was writing Aliens and not the goofy thing this ended up being). Not everything works, but a lot of it does. It may seem ridiculous to move the series to space, but no more ridiculous than bringing back Jason Voorhees for the ninth time (the real reason they did it was so as to not fuck up continuity for the then-still-in-development Freddy vs. Jason). The movie succeeds in injecting a little energy and fun back into the franchise.
6. Predators (2010) When Robert Rodriguez first announced he was producing Predators, the first proper Predator movie since Predator 2 in 1991 (because I don't acknowledge those Alien vs. movies), it was made to sound like the Aliens of the Predator series (even the title is a direct copy) Predators is not that movie. For starters, there are, like, five or fewer Predators in the movie. For another, it lacks the non-stop action movie intensity of James Cameron's great sequel. There's plenty about the movie that feels like a missed opportunity -- the characters are all pretty generic (unlike the original Predator, in which they are all clearly defined badasses) and the actual Predator fights/death scenes are mostly lame -- but I dig the overall vibe of the movie and director Nimrod Antal's McTiernanesque approach to directing the action. The movie somehow manages to not be as good as it could have been while still being better than it probably ought to be.
7. Dune (1984) I cannot defend my affection for David Lynch's adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune, still considered by many to be the best science fiction novel ever written. I have tried to read the book on more than one occasion. Clearly I need to keep trying. I know that the movie ruins the book and that it basically makes no sense. I also don't give a shit. I like letting Dune wash over me as the ultimate ambitious failure -- a movie that never really stood a chance of working but which we must be appreciate for existing at all. It's such an odd mix of pieces that came together because the stars aligned, and while the resulting film doesn't work in a traditional sense I'd be lying if I said I don't love watching everyone try. There were plenty of outer space movies made in the '80s, but few of them are this weird and unique.
8. Saturn 3 (1980) I only recently saw Saturn 3, a science fiction B-movie starring Kirk Douglas, Harvey Keitel and Farrah Fawcett and directed by the guy who made Singing in the Rain, for the first time earlier this year thanks to Scream Factory's Blu-ray. It's...different. A homicidal robot wants to kill Kirk Douglas and fuck Farrah Fawcett (join the club, robot) because murderous Harvey Keitel links it with his brain. RIGHT? It's sci-fi horror on a smaller scale with elaborate production design that looks cheap and tacky. Naturally, I love it.
9. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) Yes, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is one of the best science fiction movies ever made. No duh. It's immediate follow-up, released just two years later and directly following the events of the previous film, is often lumped into the "bad Trek" category, mostly because it's not nearly as good as Khan (nothing is) and because it fits the reductive narrative that all the odd-numbered Star Trek movies are bad. Don't get me wrong; Search for Spock has a ton of problems, chief among them that it exists entirely to undercut the single most significant even in all of Star Trek history (also Kirk's reaction to David's fate...and David's fate period). As a continuation of Khan, though, there's a lot of cool stuff: the Genesis planet is a big ball of nightmare, the stealing the ship stuff is cool and Christopher Lloyd makes for an entertainingly hateful Klingon. The movie works better if you watch it immediately after Khan; on its own, I'm not sure it can support itself.
10. Avatar (2009) You didn't really think I was going to leave it off, did you?

20 comments:

  1. Hell, I'll defend Dune as a good movie. Sure, it can be long and full of itself but it's never boring. And that Navigator scene with them swimming through an ocean of spice to jump the heighliner through space is pretty damn beautiful just on it's own.

    "10. Avatar (2009) You didn't really think I was going to leave it off, did you?"

    We had hope, yes.

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  2. Lol. Ive still not come around on Avatar. Smurfs in Space ;)

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  3. Search for Spock was released in '84, two years after Wrath of Khan.

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  4. Agree with RIddick, Last Starfighter and Dune. "Sunshine" is the first that comes to my mind. I love that film and I run into more people that really don't like it. The 5.1 sound is incredible for that movie, btw.

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    1. Who doesn't love Sunshine?? Blasphemy. I never include it on these lists because I assume everyone loves it.

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    2. I have heard many people who take issue with where the film goes. I personally love that it brings in an evil entity attacking the ship to the story. Great atmosphere and tension throughout as well.

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    3. The sound design in Sunshine IS fantastic!

      I had problems with it the first time I saw it. The main problem was my wife loudly and derisively mocking the turn at the end, which sucked me out of the movie. More recently, I was much more impressed with all the character development, those kick-ass space shots and even the ending (I watched it alone) . Danny Boyle's work is just all around good, in my books.

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  5. Interesting and cool list.

    Also nice to see some love for "The Last Starfighter". I could not get enough of that film when I was a kid. I still really dig it and even have a t-shirt with the "Star League" crest on it.

    I also now realize I need to catch up on the Riddick series; having only seen the first film.

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  6. I just realized reading comments that this was a PB article and not one of Doug's list - the lack of references to spaceboobs should've been a tip-off!

    Firstly - yes to Sunshine! I don't care that it shits the bed towards the end (not including the actual end which I like) - so much of it is so great it gets a full-on "love" from me!

    2,5,6,7,9 and 10 - also yes! I recognize all of Avatar's faults (especially with its stars) but I do love it, dammit. The others I haven't seen but clearly I should!

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  7. Great List! Guess I'll have to add Supernova and Chronicles of Riddick to the queue now...

    My personal addition would be Ghosts of Mars. I can't defend it, but I really like it.

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  8. You need never apologize for your Dune love. The look of the film alone is enough to give it a place of honor. Also, you have to hand it to a movie that starts with no less than FOUR exposition dumps, each in a different style (Virginia Madsen's talking head, the motion graphics of the Guild report, the dialogue between the Emperor and the Navigator, and the voiceover on Planet Caladan).

    I know Star Trek III is a mess, but I love it just the same. Stealing the Enterprise might be my favorite set piece of the whole film franchise. Also, Uhura kicks ass!

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  9. Dune is fantastic. Don't ever allow anyone to say otherwise. Someone walks up to you and says, "I'm a moron and don't like Dune," you murder them. There's just nothing else quite like it.

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    1. This is precisely the license to murder I've been looking for!

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  10. FTM is for lovers of Chronicles of Riddick!

    This list reminds me of lots of Sunday nights with the TV on during college.

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  11. Barbarella changed my whole perception of Jane Fonda, who was in the Ted Turner era [era] by the time I came of age. The movie is indefensibly bad, but I still kinda like it.

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  12. Avatar was one of the greatest movie going experiences I have ever had. It completely messed me up. On the way home, I just started balling. I felt like I was in a different world and at the end, I was yanked out of that world. I know the movie has a lot of flaws(acting, writing...other things) but it doesn't take away how I felt that night. I haven't really watched it since and I don't know if I will. I'm going to keep it as a perfect memory and leave it at that...and Serenity is the best outer space movie ever made.

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    1. You're not going to be able to keep Avatar as a perfect memory when the 5 sequels come out! (is it up to 5 yet?)

      :P

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  13. Loved The Last Starfighter when I was a kid. Haven't seen it in a long time though. I think I'll have to watch it again to see how it holds up.

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  14. Ok you win. Ive had Jason X on my mind since reading this and im wondering if I was wrong. Not in the right frame of mind. I will revisit this week. First and only time I watched it it did not go down well with me. I'll be back

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