The general purpose sci-fi movie thread

[Frankie's Market]

Movies that used a time transit portal or general storyline:

• Back to the Future (and its sequels)
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Somewhere in Time - don't look at that penny!!!!!!!
• Star Trek First Contact
• The Time Machine (both versions)

Star Trek Generations would certainly have to be added to that list. In fact, out of all the Star Trek adventures, it had the most convoluted story dealing with time travel and alternate realities.

One very underrated movie that falls in this time portal vein is Frequency. Imagine talking to someone from 30 years ago via ham radio and altering the timeline in the process. And if you happen to be a New York Mets fan, I can almost guarantee that you'll love this movie.

[helen]

Inter-dimensional: I'm not sure about all of these but

• Dune
• The Fifth Element
• Stargate
• Contact

The portals used in the movies above transit space not other dimensions, like Sliders or some episodes of Stargate SG-1.

[mel]

OK... yes, I love The Final Countdown. Wasn't top of mind because I don't have the DVD. I always wanted to see an alternate ending to this where the USS Nimitz actually do change history... of course that would have been a scifi story in and of itself. Great one.

As for the interdimensional ones, well, yeah I guess they folded space or whatever to get to another part faster like in Dune. I can't think of any that went to another dimension except for perhaps, the Twilight Zone TV series with Rod Serling.

And FM, yes, I agree I missed Star Trek Generations. Forgot that Kirk and Picard went into a different dimension.

Are there any other movies fitting into these?

[MyopicJoe]

I always wanted to see an alternate ending to this where the USS Nimitz actually do change history... of course that would have been a scifi story in and of itself. Great one.

I loved that movie as a kid, Mel. I haven't re-watched it as an adult, but I probably would still enjoy it.

I wonder how effective the Nimitz really would have been, if she had stayed. So let's geek out a bit and play armchair admirals.


1) Preventing the Pearl Harbor attack

IIRC they spotted the Japanese attack as it was inbound to Pearl Harbor?

It seems very inefficient to throw ~48 jet fighters w/ missiles against 353 propeller planes. Like trying to kill flies with a sledge hammer. Maybe they wouldn't need to destroy all the planes. Shoot a few down and freak the rest out, making them waste fuel and drop their bombs early. I suppose it would depend on the discipline of the Japanese pilots. I wonder if the sonic boom of a jet fighter would be enough to shake WW2 planes out of the sky.

Another option would be to warn Pearl Harbor, but it's doubtful commanders there would believe radio transmissions from an unknown source. So perhaps the Nimitz would send a message which couldn't be ignored: break the sound barrier over Pearl Harbor and drop bombs on an empty field or in the water next to the battle ships. Strafe the water with machine guns. Hopefully they'd get the hint and be ready for the Japanese attack.


2) Ending WW2 earlier

Our military doesn't have stand alone weapons, we have weapon systems. It's not just a carrier, but a carrier strike group. Without a supply infrastructure to support the carrier, the Nimitz would be combat ineffective.

The Nimitz is nuclear, so she's good to go. Fuel for her jet fighters is more problematic. No clue if her birds can guzzle anything produced during WW2. They could save fuel and keep most of the planes grounded, relying instead on WW2 carriers for air cover. In fact, the most useful weapon on the Nimitz is probably her radar and AWACs planes who can find enemy ships over the horizon (I think).

I guess the main purpose of the Nimitz in WW2 would be to nuke Tokyo and Berlin? Hopefully they'd have the spare parts on board to keep the lady floating long enough. At least they had duct tape back in WW2

[helen]

Actually it was a group of 24 jets, a mixture of F-14 Tomcats which are capable of engaging 6 targets at a time and the A-6 Intruder, which I suspect was to go after the carrier themselves.

I am thinking that the Nimitz strike group would not have attacked the Japanese directly first but rather position themselves between Oahu and the Japanese strike group.

As far as the Nimitz trying to warn Pearl Harbor about the attack, they tried it but that didn't work.

For the fuel for the jets, it's mostly kerosene which would be available during the 1940's. Granted they couldn't simply fuel up the jets right away but given a decent sample of aviation fuel and some time the oil industry of the 1940's would have been able to supply additional fuel for the jets.

Weapons for the jets might be a problem. Cannon shells would pose little or no problems. Free fall bombs could be adapted on the A-6 and A-7. Don't know about the air to air missiles. The electronics for them or to make them didn't exist then.

[MyopicJoe]

Oh so in the movie they had a flight of 24 jets in the air? For some reason I only recall 2, but I'm probably remembering a different scene. It's been ages since I've seen the movie.

I guess if they could find the Japanese carriers before they launched their planes, then game over. I still have the vague sense the planes were in the air towards the end of the movie.

I don't even remember them trying to warning Pearl Harbor. Was it the Nimitz trying to warn them, or was it one of the F-14 pilots?

Good point about the oil industry adapting to make the required jet fuel. I get so used to consumer technology changing every 2 years, I forget how much of our military still uses old stuff. I suppose the thing missing from the jet fuel would be all the additives?

I guess the electronics would be the weak link. Heck, I bet they'd stress out about light bulbs burning out.

Food for thought. Thanks Helen.

[helen]

My mistake, the Nimitz strike group had 16 jets not 24, it was 4 groups of 4 jets each. The movie showed them launching all 16 jets but that scene cut short when broadcast on TV. But you do see all 16 jets flying at least twice during the movie.

They tried to warn Pearl Harbor when the Senator they rescued demanded to them to contact Pearl Harbor but the radio person on Pearl Harbor didn't believe their call.

The jets were in the air and where in sight the Japanese strike group heading to Oahu when the time portal returned and the Captain recalled their strike group.

[MyopicJoe]

They tried to warn Pearl Harbor when the Senator they rescued demanded to them to contact Pearl Harbor

Oooh that guy. The idiot. Heh, I still remember what he looks like, I was so angry with him. The thing I can't forget is Kirk Douglas's cleft chin

[zff]

Wow, it's great to see that other people have enjoyed this movie as much as I did.

I loved that movie as a kid, Mel. I haven't re-watched it as an adult, but I probably would still enjoy it.

Joe, I also saw it as a kid (at one of the Waikiki twins), and I saw it recently as an adult. I STILL loved it. I still say it's the best time travel movies ever.

[helen]

The short film Presto that is shown with WALL-E is about a magician who has 2 hats that are endpoints of a spacial portal. You stick an object inside one hat and it appears on the other hat and it can do it both directions at the same time.

It was a kind of funny piece since the magician has a rabbit that rebels because he wasn't being fed.

[zff]

Presto was entertaining, but my favorite Pixar short has to be Lifted. It was shown before Ratatouille. It's the one where the big alien is testing the little alien's proficiency at abducting humans.

[alohabear]

If you never saw the 1973 animated French/Cech classic Fantastic Planet you missed a great film. A great film that is was way ahead of it's time. I first saw this as a child at the Palace Theater in Hilo....strangeness was appealing at the time.

[zff]

We've probably all watched some good little-known sci-fi in the last almost 2 years, so I'm reviving this thread.

I recently watched "Moon", starring Sam Rockwell. It's slow paced, thinking person's sci-fi. I enjoyed it.



If you plan to see this movie, I would very strongly suggest you NOT watch the trailers online. They give away the big WTF moment in the movie.

[Ron Whitfield]

Does 'Oprah' count?

[Kaonohi]

Maybe time for a SCI-FI community group?

Any volunteers?

[helen]

Alien invasions coming to Earth seems to be a theme for late 2010 and early 2011. There are at least 4 movies that will be released in 2011 that touches on this subject directly plus another 8 movies that might hint on it.

[zff]

Another year, another revival of this thread......


I recently saw a German sci-fi movie called Cargo.




I liked it. The story starts off great and sets up an intriguing mystery, but it sort of ends flat. It's still a good movie, though, and if you can get your hands on it, it's worth seeing.


Another one I really enjoyed is Troll Hunter.



It's not quite sci-fi, but I don't think it's too far off. Again, a foreign movie (Norwegian, this time) and again, very enjoyable. This one is a little easier to find and the better of the two anyway.

[Kaonohi]

It's interesting, what is considered Sci-Fi and what is not. I told a friend of mine (a SF writer) that I didn't believe alternate history stories were SF, but rather fantasy, as there was no 'science' component. He argued that it really was Sci-Fi because of the involvement of different time lines and divergent universes - all quantum stuff.

I have enjoyed numerous SF movies, and I read SF short stories on a daily basis. However, nothing has touched me as deeply as "Blade Runner," based loosely on P.K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" I staggered out of Kailua's Wallace Theatre in 1982 wondering what I had just seen (in a positive way), and it is the ONE thing of which I can consider myself a 'fan.' I recognize the original release had numerous flaws, but the overall message just bowled me over.

[helen]

For me if the story takes place in alternate reality that in of itself doesn't make it science fiction. Now if there was travel between 2 or more realities than perhaps it gets to be science fiction.

How that travel is done, that is another matter, if using a blue flying Maui style pidgen talking dragon, that's fantasy. If using a 19th century locomotive, that's steampunk. For a military themed story perhaps the use of Nimitz class carrier whos reactor has scrammed might fit the need. And to include the space opera theme into this it might be a ship powered by the all powerful Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator might work provided a certain grey colored lifeform doesn't interfere with you.

[lensperson]

I am surprised that "2001" , Stanley Kubricks film has
not been mentioned here.

[helen]

2001: A Space Odyssey got mention as an item in someone's list in this thread.

I might be one of the few people who thinks that the movie lacks dialouge, I can understand not being there during the Dawn of Man part, but the other parts of movie could have used more speaking time.

Right now this movie is on TCM, HAL has just killed Frank and the other three crew members in hibernation but this is the strange part, if the HAL 9000 was known as a computer that doesn't make errors then why is there an indicator light on a panel that says "Computer Malfunction"?

[GeckoGeek]

if the HAL 9000 was known as a computer that doesn't make errors then why is there an indicator light on a panel that says "Computer Malfunction"?

Uhhhh, plot device?

[helen]

Nope, that is a plot hole, not a plot device. Of course 2001 had other plot holes, like instead of sending a manned mission to Jupiter, they could have sent a smaller unmanned probe, since the powers to be on the USA side thought the HAL 9000 could have done the mission without the aid of the crew.

Anyway TCM also aired the sequel 2010 after 2001 tonight.

[lensperson]

The film "2001" was designed to be seen in a theater .
The experience of attending a movie was special at that time.
The audio was quiet to allow attendees to get used to being
relaxed in a calm place with the enchanting smell of popcorn in the
air.
The pacing of the film is slow and deliberate by design.
I've watched this film dozens of times and it's never the same twice.

[lensperson]

Another interesting film is "The Lathe of Heaven".
Starring Bruce Davison ,it's about a this dude that dreams up a new
reality every time he sleeps.
When he wakes up his dreams are true.
Getting scared, he tries to avoid sleep.
Watch the film.