Guilty-pleasure Sci-fi Movies
Guilty-pleasure Sci-fi Movies
I was reading this list of the 50 greatest sci-fi movies of the last 50 years, and it was all fairly predictable. There’s only a couple that I’d disagree with, but there were a few that would have made the list in place of them if I were compiling it myself, and I realised my additions were less mainstream or less critically acclaimed than were on there.
What guilty-pleasure sci-fi movies would you recommend?
For starters, ones I’ve watched a bunch of times would be:
Dredd (2012)
Pandorum (2009)
Lockout (2012)
Monsters (2010)
I keep reading that Event Horizon is supposed to be a flawed movie. I disagree, and quite like it. “Go in blind”, as in don’t read up on the plot, if you plan on seeing it, though.
It’s great, and Sam Neill is a superb antagonist. It ruined every other film of his I’ve watched since though, because all I can picture is him as a manifestation of insanity.
He’s surprisingly adept at that.
The last quarter of the movie has a weird tone shift that I don’t want to get too deep into here.
No spoilers ;)
Guilty:
- Ready Player One
- Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel
- Godzilla vs Kong
- Resident Evil
- Transformers (first Michael Bay one)
- Ghostbusters Afterlife
- Dune 1984
- Armageddon
- The Day After Tomorrow
- Johnny Mnemonic
- Equilibrium
Not That Guilty:
- Ghostbusters 2016
- Pacific Rim
- Bumblebee
- Tron: Legacy
- Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey
- Bill & Ted Face the Music
- Robocop
- Alien Romulus
- The Terminator
- Terminator Dark Fate
- Star Trek 2009
- Star Wars Rogue One
- Solo: a Star Wars Story
- Minority Report
- Upgrade
- Short Circuit
- V for Vendetta
- Dredd
- Hot Tub Time Machine
I Will Defend These To My Grave As Masterpieces
- Interstellar
- Independence Day
- Tron
- Back to the Future trilogy
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- The Matrix
- The Fifth Element
- Terminator 2
- The Abyss
- Arrival
- Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049
- Ghostbusters OG
- Inception
- The Martian
- Mad Max Fury Road
- Edge of Tomorrow
- Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
- Dune 2021
- Alien and Aliens
- Star Wars original trilogy
- Total Recall
- Event Horizon
- Wall-E
- The Rocketeer
Where would the movie The Cell end up on this list?
Honestly I only saw it once. Might watch it again as a guilty pleasure though.
Rocketeer was so good. I’m amazed Disney hasn’t rebooted it as a TV series.
It’s one of the most underrated movies of all time in my opinion. It’s just a gem and it’s incredible fun for all ages.
Starship Troopers??
I’d say that’s universally loved tbh, plus it also makes the top 50 in the Kotaku link above, but otherwise, yes!
Yeah, I didn't even read what you were saying...just saw Sci-Fi and blurted it out. Lol
In no particular order...
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Hulk (2003)
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Dark City (1998) (Pro tip: Start the movie, but mute it until Kiefer Sutherland comes in and looks at his watch, just a minute or so into the film).
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Armitage III: Poly-Matrix (1995)
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Virtuosity (1995)
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Jupiter Ascending (2015)
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Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
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Super Mario Bros. (1993)
These are ones that I have true fondness for, but if I had to really get down to it, I would have to admit are kind of terrible.
I could list a handful of others like Transformers: The Movie, Heavy Metal, Willow, or Highlander that I would mark down as "Pulpy, arguably even a bit trashy, but absolutely fantastic and not at all guilty pleasures."
Dark City is a great shout. The director’s cut loses the voiceover at the start, and is definitely the version to watch.
Excellent mention of the og Mario brothers. Dark city too. Well done!
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I’m gonna add Riddick (2013) to my list too. Pitch Black is obviously better and more well regarded so not really a guilty pleasure, but Riddick is another great underdog imo.
Another one for the list: Cube (1997). Low budget sci-fi horror-ish movie that I remember being pretty polarising.
I love Cube! But don't forget about Cube 2: Hypercube, or the (admittedly weaker) prequel, Cube: Zero. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cube_(film_series)
For me would have to be:
Johnny Mnemonic
District 9
Mars Attacks
Natural City
Pacific Rim
*Edit to add 12 Monkeys
This is the first time hearing of Natural City. Seeing it with all those other movies, though, makes me wanna find it because it has to be good to fit with the others.
(Btw, you need to hit two line breaks to get new lines)
Thanks for the reminder, the markdown on mobile caches me sideways if I’m not paying attention (which is more often than not)
+1 for Johnny Mnemonic
Not familiar with natural city.
District 9, Mars Attacks, and Pacific Rim are masterpieces and I will hear no criticisms.
I was running a video rental store at the time and discovered it as one of our new release foreign titles.
So this is fantasy, but we're all friends here right? I honestly don't recall if I watched two or three, but I admit I kind of enjoyed the first entries in the "Mythica" series. Imagine LOTR ambitions on a Clerks budget, with a commitment to a very soft PG-13. IIRC, the production company is based out of Utah. The supposed "highlight" is that each one features a perfunctory cameo from a very bored Kevin Sorbo. Don't worry though, Mister Jeebus Creep always leaves after one or two scenes. They're quite awful by almost any measure, but I dunno. Something about the sheer balls to do a full-on high-fantasy franchise with absolutely zero money was compelling. It was also an early mover in the trend of unashamedly setting your D&D gang to film.
For better known (and actually sci-fi) guilty pleasures, I thought Jupiter Ascending was kinda stupid fun. Also, apparently I'm supposed to be ashamed of liking The Last Jedi, but with the possible exception of Andor it's my favorite SW of the Disney era; perhaps a different shade of meaning on "guilty" there. Finally, as a kid I was also into The Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr, which does count once you watch a few episodes, and I never quite forgave the X-Files for being more successful.
Absolutely no judgement here! It’s all personal preference.
That said, Last Jedi over Rogue One is a bold call ;)
I like Rogue One a lot, but I can't quite love it. To me, it's a 6/10 war movie in lovely Star Wars cosplay and with ample fan service that runs maybe 2:1 on the side of the fun versus the cringey. In its favor, I am an absolute sucker for a well-storyboarded space battle, a weakness in almost every other SW media since ROTJ.
TLJ hit me in the exact right spot with what I felt like it was trying to set up, and once you make the initial mistake of resetting the galaxy ala TFA, I thought it was a reasonable, compelling, and occasionally touching set of next steps.
Elysium was great. I think I spent most of my time watching Ready Player One the same way I did with Deadpool & Wolverine - pointing at the screen going “Look, that’s x from y!”
Haha I saw the title and thought "Pandorum" but you've got that covered. It's not very /good/ but it scratches all my sci-fi itches and I love the way it looks and sounds
I watched it again with my kids the other day, hoping they’d enjoy it like I did. Towards the end, but far enough away for it not to be obvious, my youngest said
Tap for spoiler
“I bet the ship’s underwater”
which was disappointing in that she guessed one of the twists, but at least it shows she was paying attention!
Strange Days
Dark City
13th Floor
Moon
Cube
Animatrix
Heavy Metal
Dude Where's My Car
Cowboys Vs Aliens
Paprika
Patlabor II
Strange Days is like an alternate universe where the miniDisc became the dominant format.
Silent Running (1972)
I never understood guilt pleasures. If you enjoy something why are you feeling guilty?
It’s just a phrase, you don’t literally have to feel guilty.
watch Crippled Masters. then you'll understand
Roland Emmerich's movies are more disaster than sci-fi predominantly, but I enjoy them even though they are of very questionable quality, especially 2012.
I liked Shin Kamen Rider even though the acting leaves something to be desired and the plot is kind of obtuse, plus the CGI is kind of cheesy.
The American Digimon movie (2000) is kind of a mess in terms of editing and the third part sucks, but I really enjoy the voice acting and the first two parts are solid if a bit rushed. Also the Barenaked Ladies needle drop is iconic.
Terminator 3: The Coming Storm (a fan edit of Rise of the Machines)
Upgrade (2018)My list would be way too long to type on my phone, but I'm glad no one said Chappie.
The Arrival with Charlie Sheen. I do enjoy watching my DVD copy of this one.
The Iron Giant are War games are also a popular one for me.
R.O.T.O.R. is my ultimate guilty pleasure.
Oh and there is this movie Pulse (1988) OMG that movie is amazing lol
Ok I'll stop.
I’d never heard of The Arrival. I’ve just read that Sheen’s character is called Zane Zaminsky which immediately gives me an idea of the quality of the movie, and guarantees I’ll watch it.
Pulse was an odd one. The only thing I remember about it is the shower scene, for reasons other than I would typically remember a shower scene.
The Arrival is really pretty good popcorn flick. There is a sequel, but eh not worth it.
I'm with you on TLJ vs. Rogue One.
TLJ was trying to accomplish something really interesting with the Saga. The scene where Luke explains the nature of the Force is top-tier Star Wars, possibly the best discussion of the subject in the entire series with the exception of Yoda in Empire. The interplay between Rey and Kylo is fascinating, and the "You're no one, but not to me. Come with me. Please." scene is also one of my favorites in the entire series. It's got pacing issues, and Canto Bight is deeply annoying, but almost every other criticism is fairly superficial and could have been fixed by another script revision and more judicious editing.
Rogue One is... fine, I guess. It exists to plug a plot hole that didn't need plugging. It's got 7/5 too many characters; none of them are terrible, in fact they're all fairly interesting, but we spend so much time juggling them all that I'd have been happier if they'd cut a couple. They bring in heavy fucking hitter actors like Mads Mikkelsen, Forest Whitaker, and Ben Mendelsohn, give them interesting characters to play, criminally underuse them, and then summarily kill them all off without further comment. There's basically nothing in Rogue One that isn't done better in Saving Private Ryan
The dog fight in orbit was dope, the Death Star partial fire sequences were cool, Vader killing a bunch of guys was... kinda cool I guess but you shouldn't really hang an entire movie on one sequence.
It did give us Andor, though, and for that it deserves some credit.
I nominate “Until The End Of The World”. The movie is quite a mess, but it gives a good peek into what people thought the near future would be like at the time.
I especially enjoy its use of “computer agents” which were supposed to be the next big thing. Basically you would send your query or task to run overnight, or to a more powerful computer in the cloud, and it would return the results later that day. Home computers and PDAs weren’t fast enough to return instant results for large jobs, and Google didn’t exist yet (but WAIS did).
Why are these guilty pleasures? I unironically LOVE all the movies I recognize and can't wait to check out the one I don't recognize. These movies are fucking tits. Fight me.
Edit: except for the guy that said the 2016 version of Ghostbusters. No. Just no.