Board 8 > Gauntlet Crew Ranks Science Fiction Films I

(+) Yeah! (+)

Im impressed a few of the older movies are still hanging in there. This group usually beats up on those first.

Except for Sean Connery in Space going out criminally early, this list has gone pretty well so far.
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wow I thought of all movies Hitchhiker's Guide would probably be Travis' favorite.

also I'm surprised to see Body Snatchers drop this low. I thought I might actually be on the bottom half of the rankers for that one
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Maybe if the dolphins followed up with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse hed have been more into Hitchhikers.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r03V9OEJlgg" data-time="
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I will say that a lot of you seem to note the British humor aspect in Hitchhiker's, while I didn't really notice it. I think that it, obviously, isn't the most British movie on this list by any stretch. I think as scarlet mentioned, this movie assumes you are a big fan of the source material and know stuff already. I think that's why most everyone felt it felt a bit rushed or poorly explained at times. The biggest shortcoming was definitely that for me; it seemed to have such an interesting universe to explain but it just didn't have the time to do it in. I stand by my thoughts that it'd have been better adapted as a TV series.
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It was!
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Oh?
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Hoh?
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#31 - Westworld (1973)
Genny - 7
JONA - 16
Charon - 19
Johnbobb - 20
Wickle - 24
Snake - 25
Scarlet - 29
Karo - 32
KBM - 34
Inviso - 36
Stifled - 38
Total: 282

"I really like the concept of Westworld, and I wish they could've expanded on it because I would've been happy to see a movie on MedievalWorld. Nah I'm probably not gonna binge any Netflix shows sorry. Way too much on my plate at the moment. At a grand a day the price is way too unrealistic but unlike say Total Recall I could totally buy people wanting to vacation at these places." ~Genny

"The premise and ideas are what make me rank this movie this high. The characters are likable, and the environment is cool. I liked seeing the different perspectives of the people who are going there to vacation, with one being a newbie and one whos already experienced, as well as the perspectives of the people behind the scenes. The Gunslinger has a great presence and sense of menace, which is helped by the effect they do with his eyes. One has to wonder why hes given all those fancy abilities if hes meant to lose though. Maybe to make visitors feel awesome when they won? The movie does a great job conveying the fear of this premise going wrong. " ~JONA

"Watching this I realized that maybe it was Yul Brynner that was the original unstoppable killing machine and not Arnold. Despite his short stature and modest appearance, he gives a terrifying performance as the unnamed Gunslinger who keeps coming back for more. The idea behind this movie is an interesting one, and we had a debate where we'd most like to take our vacation to. While it can, at times, be a little cheesy (which is perfectly portrayed by the goofy western ending theme song followed by a much more powerful, epic number) I have to say I was thoroughly entertained by it." ~Charon

"There's something weird about going back and watching a 45-year-old movie after already watching its moden TV adaptation. One of the biggest appeals of Westworld is its great concept, but it was impossible to go into this movie with that concept still feeling surprising. That being said, it's a REALLY cool concept, and just as importantly, it's executed well. I'm not gonna remember the names of any of these characters in a week, but Westworld isn't a movie about characters. It's just a quick look into an exciting but also terrifying "future" (sort of in the way that Back to the Future takes place in the "future")." ~Johnbobb

"And then the owners were arrested and put in jail for life for causing mass murder because they would not agree to shut down the system, and the amusement park is permanently shut down. The end. It had some interesting things, but it was kind of slow with pretty eh characters." ~Wickle

"This melding of two distinct genres, western and sci-fi, should not work as well it does, but its an incredibly tense thriller that even manages to raise some interesting questions on the nature of technology along with whats alive and what isnt. Yul Brynner is menacing as the Robot Gunslinger, and the film crosses over into horror territory much like future films like The Terminator would." ~Snake
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"What It Is: Seasons 1 and 2 of an HBO TV show condensed into a feature film.

Why It Matters: Westworld clearly had a major effect on many movies, and several of the concepts in the movie would be used elsewhere. You can see it in Jurassic Park or in The Terminator, or you can see certain ideas ruminated upon much more in movies about artificial intelligence. For its time, it was very innovative.

What I Think: There are too many moments of downtime for this movie to reach the upper echelons of this list, but the concept is phenomenal, the performances of Governor Rob Richie and Ramesses II are pitch perfect, and I definitely walked away from that film wanting to learn more about what would happen in a world with this basic concept. I think said concept alone is enough to make this film worth watching. You either do it first or you do it best, I always say, and Westworld definitely does it first. And, additionally, it also does it pretty damn well. It has that great 1970s movie vibe which is only really dragged down by its penchant to sort of reach back and play really slowly like a 60s film from time to time, but that is also a little bit of a science fiction miscue you find in most of the genre films from the decade." ~scarlet

"In the future, there is this highly advanced theme park that mimics various past eras such as the wild west via the use of lifelike robots. Though the guns everyone has will not fire when pointed at another human being, it is not explained how they keep the guests safe with fucking bullets ricocheting all over the place.
The plot is paper thin and mostly exists only to show off how the theme park works up until the point when the inevitable robot rebellion finally begins. Even then, the payout is somewhat disappointing as the remaining third of the movie is mostly spent on a yawn-inducing 'chase' scene through all three worlds featuring the protagonist and a second-rate terminator.
It is Jurassic Park without any dinosaurs. It is a western without any stakes. Ultimately, it is a movie without any point." ~Karo

"The King of Siam pursues Thanos' dad (Barbra Streisand's husband) through a weird theme park, inspiring a much better TV show 45 years later. Michael Crichton's original film certainly does have its moments, and many of them do come courtesy of Yul Brynner and James Brolin's performances, which are very strong. But the tone of this movie is all over the place, and it manages to feel like it has filler scenes even at 88 minutes long. The Medievalworld scenes in particular just took me out of the movie with their unfunny slapstick and bad Disneyland walkthrough aesthetic. There's certainly a good core idea here, and that idea was pulled off to much greater effect in both Jurassic Park and HBO's Westworld adaptation. Crichton's not a terrible filmmaker, and he does manage some pretty good cinematography on his obviously shoestring budget. I just wished the film had had more focus, and maybe some more interesting side characters. Better as a historical curiosity than as an actual contiguous film. (Sidebar: the Gunslinger's pixelated POV shots in this are adorable. The fact that it's the first instance of computer animation in a major feature is super neat, though.)" ~KBM
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"Westworld is a tough movie to rank, because in its own right, its not the most amazing film Ive ever seen. Its passable enough, with a decently crafted world that was at least good enough to eventually adapt into an Emmy-winning (I know for Thandie Newton, but possibly others, too?) television series. But its a very rough movie around the edges. The first hour is just two guys dicking around a Western town, only for this jarring tonal shift that leaves the main character running from a gunslinger for the rest of the movie. The characters themselves arekinda flat, but its a movie about killer robots, so I cant really blame it too much. Really, Westworld deserves praise not for what it is, but for what it inspires. You can definitely see hints of Westworld in The Terminator, Alien, Predator, and Jurassic Park, all of which are amazing classics in their own right. So for that, Westworld is owed a debt of gratitude for being the giant shoulders that brilliant directors later stood upon." ~Inviso

"The beginning was very misleading because it was good. The commercial with random people commenting on their experiences was a fun build up to what should have been a good movie. But it wasnt. Lets start with the boring sacks of meat that we got stuck with as main characters. Hearing them talking about Westworld to hype it up nearly put me to sleep. But hey, its just airplane chatter right? Itll get better right? No. I can see why HBO wanted to remake this. Capitalizing on how bad this is was childs play. The one episode I have seen of the show so far was ten times better than this movie. It has so many problems. First of all, do you remember how the movie is called Westworld? Well you would think that it would focus on Westworld right? No, lets check out the Medieval World and focus time on a character that doesnt matter to the plot at all. So since we are taking a look at Medieval World, you would think they would also show us the Roman World too since they mentioned they had three parks, right? No. What ends up happening is we watch the two useless chode main characters dick around the Westworld park and do dumb shit, then we watch the fat guy do dumb shit in the Medieval World. Now we all know the robots are gonna go crazy. And since its called Westworld, the first kill of the movie is gonna be there right? Nope! Lets kill the fat guy who is worthless to the plot first in a lengthy scene and then completely destroy the emotional weight of the robots revolting and killing one of the two leads instead. Not that I cared if the leads died or not, but their problems are supposed to be the most important part of this story. WESTWORLD is supposed to be the main setting. But instead the most important twist of the movie happens in the Medieval World. That makes absolutely no sense and it makes me angry. Not to mention this movie also suffers from lengthy exposition segments from the scientists that dont matter at all to the viewer! This is just bad storytelling and I would have gladly put this in last place. But my bottom two are somehow worse. This has honestly been a fantastic list of movies to watch overall, but the bottom three are just unforgivably bad.

Traviss Opinion: Travis was very interested in the horses and cowboy costumes at first. He even hopped up on the couch to watch it with me. But he got bored quickly. He asked if we could watch Bleach instead. I wish we could. =(" ~Stifled
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The Outlander Game Part X: Wackwickle

Wickle - 111
Stifled - 106
Snake - 86
Genny - 85
JONA - 85
KBM - 74
Inviso - 64
Johnbobb - 64
Scarlet - 64
Charon - 60
Karo - 57

If you keep sitting at the top of the list, I'm going to find it harder and harder to pun things, Wickle! Two sets of ties would make things interesting if the gap wasn't so big between the top two and everything else, but time will tell if that holds.
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I'm at the bottom for now, but I dont expect that to last forever
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You are only stuck there by 3 points right now so it's definitely not an insurmountable hole to get out of.
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No. NOOOOOOOOOO!!
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I mean my bottom three are all alive and kicking
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GenesisSaga posted...

No. NOOOOOOOOOO!!

Okay this is the most tragic post I've ever seen in a ranking topic :(
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Stifled ranked both Westworld and Hitchhiker's at 36?
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Only one more movie I didnt like remains! Excellent work, everyone.
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Hint: A second place drops
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I dont THINK my number 2 would go out here...
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I'm... "pretty" sure it's not my #2, but given you guys have tanked two of my top ten in Logan's Run and Westworld I'm honestly unsure what else you're capable of

Westworld is an amazing concept that wasn't executed poorly like others on this list so I find it hard to fathom getting such lukewarm reception.

Guess: They Live!? It's gotta be scarlet right? Jason told me who your favorite wrestler is...
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Jason was wrong.
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That doesn't mean it isn't my #2, but he was wrong.
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I can continue to hope it's my 40.
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All I know is if it's my #2 and my 40 lives, then I'm probably just pulling an Ermine and nopeing the fuck out of this topic.
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Thank you for participating. It's good to know you put camaraderie above meaningless arbitrary numbers and believe friendships and communication aren't defined by people's opinions on 90 minute chunks of strangers reading lines off of paper in sequential order.
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is wickle's the only 40 that hasn't come up yet?
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Johnbobb posted...

is wickle's the only 40 that hasn't come up yet?

mine is still there
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side note: 7 of my bottom 10 were in the actual bottom 10

of the three that are left, 1 I expect to see soon, 1 I think I'm in the minority for, and 1 I think will have a few top spots and a bunch of low spots
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It's just harder to talk in this list, I've already had one fit thrown... for good measure as it did spawn some level of conversation, this one... I don't think will when I blow my head over it. Other lower movies don't matter to me being well liked, they're personal opinions and so be that. And I do get where my 40 comes from in just... having its upward voters. I figured it'd have the high things for specific members... but... generally being high and me being... Well.

Apparently being the only person who actually gives a shit that you literally can't know fully what's going on in a movie because of it being 100% in a foreign language really does frustrate me further and further.

Obviously don't click spoiler unless you know my 40, obviously. That means not even if you have suspicions on what it is.
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There were subtitles, Wickle. I had the same problem. Was watching halfway and had no idea what was going on, then gave up on my crappy stream and found the default option with subs.
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I say what I said in my previous post because
#30 - The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
Wickle - 2
Inviso - 9
Charon - 22
KBM - 25
Karo - 28
Genny - 29
JONA - 29
Johnbobb - 31
Snake - 34
Stifled - 34
Scarlet - 35
Total: 278

"Just a very excellent film, the acting was well for its time and story was pretty good. Still not really sure why Gorts main directive was not to revive his alien master, but to destroy the world if his master dies, when reviving his master is actually a command." ~Wickle

"Once again, Im extremely impressed by an older movies ability to wow me with its story. So many times in alien invasion movies (this isnt an invasion, but Im lumping it under that genre), the viewer is given a human stand-in through whom we can experience the emotions of the films events. But in this case, the main character is the ALIEN. And suddenly, the viewpoint shifts, because WE know that for all intents and purpose, Klaatu wants to HELP the Earth. Yet EVERY person he encounters is either overly fearful without even considering the idea that he might be operating in a positive fashion. Really, this makes the whole movie feel like a long Twilight Zone episode, where humanity is laid bare as easily-frightened idiots. But that just makes the whole watching experience all the more interesting." ~Inviso

"The Day the Earth Stood Still: Imagine this, an older movie that has an intelligent lead character and the messages all come across in a way that modern day society doesn't loathe. Done? Well, this movie already did that. I was impressed with the themes presented here and with Klaatu; he's very likable and just seems like a genuinely good person. It's hard to believe that a film was made like this in the 1950's, because it didn't really have anything that was a true comparison to it at the time. To me, it's a beacon amongst these older films because of the aspirations that the plot has; be peaceful and love one another, lest you might find something you don't want to find." ~charon

"This is one of the few '50s sci-fi movies that seems genuinely self-aware and actually seems to represent a desire to move the genre in a more progressive direction. This is a very interesting, entertaining, and still-relevant sci-fi parable about the inherently violent nature of humanity, and the dangers of xenophobia (featuring some anti-McCarthyist undertones that date the film, but not in a negative sense). Some of the acting is a bit hokey, and at times the script becomes a bit too preachy and the allegory laid on too thick. But by and large, The Day the Earth Stood Still deserves its enduring reputation. The material that comes across a bit too blunt nowadays would probably have ended up a lot more overbearing in the hands of a lesser director than Robert Wise. As far as this ending up in the bottom half of my list, well, we'll just chalk that up to personal taste, because a lot of the middle of this list is both very similar in its high quality and difficult to compare because certain decade gaps changed the genre so dramatically." ~KBM
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"A well-mannered extraterrestrial comes to earth in his flying saucer, and the xenophobic inhabitants of 1950's America of course immediately freak out over the Evil Spaceman from Uranus.
The movie is a brilliant riff on cold war era paranoia, and demonstrates the utter stupidity of prejudice with the contrast between the gentle and polite alien and the monster the ignorant masses see him as. It is very strange to see such a viewpoint in a movie this old, and considering recent events the values at hand could be applied to the present day as well.
Unfortunately, the film is dreadfully boring whenever Klatu is not around, and only marginally interesting when he actually is present. It should be commended for its message, but the reality of the situation is the sci-fi genre was generally kind of crap in the old days of cinema and this movie isnt much different." ~Karo

"The Day The Earth Stood Still finally answers the question of where that quote came from. Does Starman from Earthbound take inspiration from the robot in this film as well? These are the questions that need answering. It's a solid older film, but I don't have anything to discuss about it. " ~Genny

"Klaatu absolutely carries this movie, although the kid character wasnt bad. The message of the movie is forced but its well done here, especially with how Klattu delivers his message at the end of the movie. Most of the movie isnt too exciting but not enough to maintain some interest throughout the movie." ~JONA

"This falls into the category of movies I can respect more than I can enjoy. The idea of a Christ-figure alien disguising himself as a human to attempt to save humanity from other aliens only to be killed by the humans in his attempt to do so is definitely clever. Still, it's not exactly captivating. The performances outside of Klatuu aren't standout. I recognize its importance to alien films but I don't have much desire to watch it again." ~Johnbobb
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"Klaatu and Gort are one of my favorite pairs in sci-fi, especially the design on Gort being one of my favorites. However, the film dates itself with a bit of a ham-fisted commentary on nuclear proliferation, but does manage to hit the right marks when it comes to humans attacking what they dont know, which is classic cold war paranoia. Overall, the film is classic sci-fi to a T, but only feels average compared to the overall quality of the list. " ~Snake

"I was really into this until the alien took off his suit and it was a regular dude the entire time. I thought that decision was lazy and boring and only served to try and sell the romance angle. Interestingly enough, they didnt really get together. There was just an unspoken bond between them. But still! Lazy technique. The alien blending in really served no purpose for his mission. And the only good thing to come out of it was his relationship with the boy. That kid was funny and had some memorable lines. I did also enjoy the race against time to try to make the meeting, but it was seemingly all for naught. He made his speech, but I dont feel like he accomplished anything. When the whole movie is kind of a wash by the end, that will bug me 9 times out of 10. I will say, however, that the commentary was very biting, especially for the time. It hits home even more in current times.

Traviss Opinion: When the alien was revived, Travis asked me if he was taking a nap. He also really liked the spaceship. " ~stifled

"What It Is: Keanu Reeves - strike that - Michael Rennie and Gort come to Earth and choose to deliver a particularly ominous message.

Why It Matters: Another great time capsule piece, this movie is recognized as another great representation of the mindset of a Cold War America. Wrestling with understanding the unknown, The Day the Earth Stood Still is easily one of the most pivotal science fiction films. It would go on to influence countless films in the decades to follow.

What I Think: TDTESS has a lot of things I like but nothing I particularly love. That is, aside from a fantastic ending sequence. And on a list where I'm bursting at the seams to talk about what I love in almost every movie, this one sits at a dull simmer for me. I feel like I have to apologize for only somewhat liking this movie rather than loving it like I do for most of this list, but sometimes a ranking doesn't represent the quality of how much someone actually likes something. In the end, this was a progenitor to so many great science fiction films, and honestly if I was ranking these on my normal scale, I would have it higher than this. There are some ham-fisted messages about paranoia, yet I had no real issue with how they were conveyed. That said, they started to become a detriment to the film itself when every interaction started to become repetitive. Of course, some of the message is ingrained in that significant repetition, so even that particular criticism about the movie isn't overly negative for me.
Like I said, it's a good movie. But, purely on my enjoyment and entertainment, I can't rate this particularly well." ~scarlet
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that was the one I expected to see soon!

I actually didn't enjoy ranking it that low, because it's still a good movie

It's just a good movie on a mostly great list
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down to just four of the old movies left... (and probably soon to be three)
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The Outlander Game Part XI: The Day The Outlier Stood Still

Wickle - 139
Stifled - 110
Snake - 90
Genny - 86
JONA - 86
Inviso - 85
KBM - 79
Scarlet - 69
Charon - 68
Johnbobb - 65
Karo - 59

No real changes of note, and only minor fluctuations in the middle of the list.
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Hint: Only one top ten and two additional top twenties on this one.
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yeah thats gotta be soylent green
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Espeon posted...

There were subtitles, Wickle. I had the same problem. Was watching halfway and had no idea what was going on, then gave up on my crappy stream and found the default option with subs.

Alright, I see. Just a bad find on my part. Sorry for drama.

As of this movie, it does remind me that more people loved this list more than I, and we have many "wish I could have ranked this higher" comments. But it's just the enjoyment of it for everyone.
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For me, this is a rare list where some of my all-time favorite movies crop up, so low rankers are really not low rankers. Hell, put this list against the last list and I think there's one movie on that list that could crack Top 35 for me.

I doubt we ever get lists for, like, crime thrillers or whatever, so it's just a totally different level for me.
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I have the problem where I just don't know most of my all-time favorite movies, some lists I define maybe what starts to look like it, take a movie or two from some different animation vs anime, take maybe a sci-fi, a sports... so on and so forth. I don't know if a single genre will be like "yeah this has like a top 10 and 3 top 50 movies for me" on it. But that's just me of course, it's a lot more interesting to see just what "my genre" will be.
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I just happen to know where a lot of my favorite movies tend to fall because they are pretty representational of what I like in any medium - rapid-fire dialogue, multiple threads of plot, great scores. Then you have certain beats of plot that resonate super-well with me. I think a prime example would be characters who do their jobs extremely well and yet have little to no immediate understanding of how to function outside of their careers. I love stories that feature that sort of dichotomy between competence and cleverness and a lack of experience and wisdom. It just happens that those types of movies never fall into, say, animation. That's of course not to say that I don't love a lot of animated movies, but you'll never see a high 90s score from me on those movies.
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The Day The Earth Stood Still is definitely one of the better older movies, but like others mentioned it does get a bit preachy and there's not enough action to really distract you from that. I enjoyed it, but I too can't say I really loved it. In glad you feel the way you do about it Wickle!

Gonna leave They Live! alone for a bit and guess

Metropolis next
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It helps that I don't know enough about the topics discussed that I didn't find anything 'dated.' Like at least one person discussed. I just also give a lot more leeway to older films than many others do, but I end up doing so in a much stranger way than Scarlet or KBM do, who are other major forgivers to older films.
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#29 - Soylent Green (1973)
Inviso - 6
JONA - 12
Karo - 15
Johnbobb - 25
Wickle - 25
Scarlet - 27
Snake - 31
Stifled - 31
Genny - 32
Charon - 36
KBM - 38
Total: 277

"The first thing that stands out to me about this movie is just how strong the world-building is. Its a dystopian society with a massive incoming disparity between the super-rich and even the worlds middle class, like Thorn. And what makes it feel all the more depressing is that this isnt one of those dystopian movies where the subservient class has a ragtag band of rebels trying to rise up from their station in life. Noall the fucked up stuff in this movie is just accepted, like theres no other way around it. Charleton Heston is a great lovable rogue in this film (and I love how his method of police investigation involves robbing a dead, rich guys apartment and sleeping with his ex). It inspired emotionmore than I wouldve expected from this kind of film; the scene with Sauls euthanasia was heartbreaking. And even the famous spoiler, while amazing, didnt overshadow how well the rest of the movie was laid out. This was just REALLY good all around." ~Inviso

"I like myself a detective story and while the mystery is already known due to the movies famous line and while the detective story could be better, the investigation is still very intriguing to follow. Charlton Heston makes for a great lead, its got a cool, gritty tone and the movie does a great job conveying how much of a shithole the world is." ~JONA

"In a dystopian near future, the world is polluted and overcrowded and everyone eats nutrient bars made with a very special ingredient.
A detective investigating a murder ends up ends up getting involved in a very dark secret involving the worlds food supply. As this officer is a douche who casually robs, beats, or has sex with most of the people he interacts with, honestly one has to wonder how he kept his job so long.
It is a bit too preachy, and really needed to be set a bit further in the future what with just how bad everything had gotten in such a short time. But it is a brilliant satire of human depravity that manages to be engaging, and the surprise ending still has an impact despite there probably not being a person left on earth that hasnt heard the famous quote." ~Karo

"I initially always sort of wrote this one off as a movie I never really needed to see since the twist is such common knowledge at this point. While it's not really surprising given the plot is pretty old news and post-apocalyptic futures are a dime a dozen now, it does still have impact. In particular, the riot scoops are beyond horrifying and the euthanaisia scene is painfully sad. I have a handful of issues with the film, it's still an intriguing and mostly enjoyable movie." ~Johnbobb

"I still dont really like how Shirl is not an -non name like the other furniture, granted, maybe thats her real name and her furniture name she uses when shes actually in business is Lindanon. I usually avoid spoilers in my write-ups, or I mark them, but if you know anything about this movie you probably already know the spoiler that Soylent Red is mackerel. Okay, enough with those inside jokes. Similar to most older movies, its not an innovating cast, we literally get a girl who just starts fucking the cop that literally robbed her after the man she spent a few years with died. Literally stole the beef the merchant got for her specifically. Sol was a great character though." ~Wickle
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"What It Is: People.

Why It Matters: This movie's iconic ending has passed out of its time and into the lexicon of the greatest film endings of all time, right there with Keyser Soze, Dead People, and Gwen's Head in a Box. That alone would land a spot on this list, but the rest of the film was extremely indicative of the late-60s and early-70s push to study the hopeless dystopian potential that hid within the issues pressing modern society. The concept of overpopulation is summed up in a time capsule here that allows us to really understand a generation that came before.

What I Think: I like this film a lot. It has a certain sloggy quality mixed with a roughness that was extremely prevalent in science fiction of the time, but I bought the world and I bought its inhabitants. There are some questionable bits of dialogue that really bugged me from time to time, but this is the sort of movie that sets itself up perfectly for a mini-series on HBO. If you watch this movie, you'll feel all of the plot beats and likely visualize exactly what I mean. This is a great proof of concept for something that could be one of the greatest pieces of Hollywood ever, provided the right director came along. As for the issues explored in this movie, it still is hauntingly prophetic of problems we could very well eventually face in the decades to come. The idea of overpopulation leading to mass starvation is not only frightening, but it's real. We've already faced it in India once before, and only by the grace of scientific gains did we avert it then... but the next crisis is going to be water, and we're woefully unprepared for that. Soylent Green is the sort of film that serves as a potential harbinger for mass casualities in a war against our own planet if we don't heed the clarion calls of films like this one." ~scarlet

"The ending twist is right up there with I see dead people, rosebud, and I am your father. It was spoiled for me way before I ever saw it, and it still gives me the chills to hear it for myself. Thats how you end a movie! Otherwise, its a pretty good police noir type story set in a super crapsack world that exemplifies some deplorable and depressing conditions that are a reflection of the times. " ~Snake

"You know that song Power to the People by John Lennon? Well since watching this, I cant help but plug a new line of Soylent Green is people! into it. But yeah, Soylent Green, wow. It was a weird one. It had some really cool stuff like the crowd control trucks and some wild futuristic tech. But then it also focused very little on the title substance for like half the movie. Until Heston actually started investigating Soylent Green, the movie was more like a food tasting and shower simulator. I enjoyed the world building in the first half, but it was honestly just fluff as far as the plot was concerned. It almost felt like episodes of a TV series in how disjointed it felt. Like the murder mystery was a two part episode and then they went into the Soylent Green arc. Kind of a strange format. But I actually did quite enjoy it so hey.

Traviss Opinion: Travis liked the MGM Lion. He said yay scary lion! But as for the movie itself, it was a pass. He mostly just wanted to play catch with me. " ~Stifled
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"Soylent Green is people! Oh my gosh who would've guessed? Well, everybody and their mama probably. Like Planet of the Apes, this movie's most iconic scenes have been parodied to the point where nothing about it will shock you anymore. I'm sure once upon a time that was the revelation of a lifetime, but now it's just incredibly campy. Also both movies star the same lead actor so I guess the dude got typecast a bit. This is a strange future to predict. Did someone really believe that in 4 years the population of NYC was going to be over quadruple what it is currently back when this movie was made in the 70s or was it a hyperbolic conjecture to emphasize a point? Even if the population grew unchecked like that living in such close proximity to one another would surely cause some sort of plague to spread through mankind and bring the census back down to earth... right? And rising heat and humidity would cause the polar ice caps to melt, thereby expanding the ocean instead of drying it out. The science here is so weird... " ~Genny

"So what is it with some of these pre-80's films thinking that in the future we'd all wear these very strange "uniforms" that consist of a baseball cap and attire that puts you in mind of the postal service? The view of the future is disturbing, but not altogether believable either. Having never seen this movie but knowing what Soylent Green is composed of could have impacted my feelings on it, but I don't really think so. Thorn's interaction with the female characters here are, as usual, peculiar for a watch in today's culture. I liked Edward G. Robinson here I guess? Could have used more of him." ~charon

"This movie is just kind of a slog to sit through. I love a good bleak dystopia movie as much as anyone, but Soylent Green is not only unpleasant to think about, it's also thoroughly unpleasant to look at. That gross green filter on all the exterior shots just makes it look like your screen is fucked up or someone dropped the film stock in radioactive waste or something. This ties into the boring direction. There's a lot of people sitting around talking or slowly meandering from scene to scene with very little actually going on reminiscent of George Lucas' directing techniques, actually. The lead character is also probably the least likeable Charlton Heston character I've seen in a movie, acting even more obnoxiously alpha than usual for him.

Where I will give this movie some credit is in its famous third act. The slow-burn reveal of the twist ending is played pretty perfectly, and I have to admit I got a little choked up at Edward G. Robinson's suicide booth scene (even if some of the effects were a little iffy). I'm glad I've finally seen this, so that I can say I've seen it, but it's not one I see myself revisiting any time soon. Oh, and the women are called furniture. Subtle." ~KBM
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The Outlander Game Part XII: Gimme the Soylent Green Light

Wickle - 143
Stifled - 112
Inviso - 108
JONA - 103
Snake - 92
Genny - 89
KBM - 88
Charon - 75
Karo - 73
Scarlet - 71
Johnbobb - 69

In a ranking written by people about people, one person finally found his way out of the bottom spot and started a possible ascent on this list. But will the competition eat him up?
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