OOC: Your favorite space-based books/movies/etc?

[Fraze]

NOTE: If you don't think a thread like this should be here, tell me and I will delete it.

Considering that this is the Spacefleet guild, I'm sure everyone here is, to a certain extent, a lover of sci-fi. It seems to me that this would be an ideal place to discuss various fandoms, and possibly introduce ourselves and others to new ones.

As for me...well, I grew up with Star Trek and Star Wars. My minor claim to fame is that my uncle worked on the special effects for A New Hope, and won an Oscar for them. We have a piece of the Death Star trench hanging in our guest bedroom.
As for Star Wars, I really prefer the original movies to the new ones. To me, the story in the first three was much more interesting, and there was a great deal more cultural impact from those than from the new ones.
For Star Trek...admittedly, I never really watched the original series. Of the others, though, DS9 was my favorite. It seems like people either loved or hated DS9. Personally, I found the character development to be much greater, and the overarching plotline much more interesting, than in any of the other series.

But, admittedly, I never really got beyond the shows/movies for each of those. I didn't read the backstories and fanfictions, I don't speak Klingon or Jawa.

For me, as some of you have probably realized by now, my favorite sci-fi/space adventure series is, by a long shot, the Hyperion cantos, a series of four books by Dan Simmons. There is an incredible depth of story to them. The four books are, in order, Hyperion, Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, and Rise of Endymion.
The first book begins on a backwater, Earth-like world called Hyperion. In a remote part of Hyperion, there are several structures known as the Time Tombs. The Time Tombs are surrounded by a field that causes them to move backward through time. A creature called the Shrike resides near the Time Tombs. The Shrike is a 3 meter tall mechanical demon of sorts, covered in spikes, blades, and razor wire. It communicates only through death. A cult has sprung up around the Shrike, and every so often this cult will send pilgrims to see the Shrike. Each pilgrim brings one wish, and--according to Shrike Cult dogma--the Shrike will grant one pilgrim's wish, and harvest the rest (read the books to see what I mean by "harvest). The first two books follow the last of these pilgrimages. There are seven pilgrims making the voyage: Lenar Hoyt, a young and distraught Catholic priest; Fehdman Kassad, a renowned FORCE colonel; Brawne Lamia, a private investigator; Sol Weintraub, a scholar whose daughter (now only several days old) is aging backward; Het Masteen, captain of a treeship (just what it sounds like--a space ship that is actually an enormous tree); the Consul (you'll have to read the books to see if he ever gets a name); and my favorite, Martin Silenus, a foulmouthed poet over 600 years old, trying to finish his epic poem about the downfall of mankind. In the first book, each pilgrim tells the story of how he or she came to be on this voyage.
I could go on for hours, and only begin an outline of the plot of these books. The pilgrimage, though fundamental to the story, is only the beginning. The Hyperion cantos spans literally dozens of worlds and hundreds (or, arguably, hundreds of thousands) of years, a plot so detailed that I've read the series through twice and I'm amazed how much I still have to discover. Interstellar war, the role of technology in human life, the implications of artificial intelligence, the nature and power of love, the nature of God, the role of religion, and the proliferation of life throughout the universe all play a part in this epic. There are questions and mysteries brought up that won't be explained for hundreds of pages or more--there are even one or two things in the very first book that are not explained until close to the end of the final one, and a few other mysteries that are not completely explained at all.

Note that the Hyperion series is NOT a light read. It's not a simple but enjoyable piece of fluff that you can read, finish, and forget about. I finished the series completely over two years ago, read it through again over last summer, and I'm still working through a number of things. In fact, I think I'll have to read the series many more times before I can understand everything. Also, the plot can sometimes move rather slowly. Quite a bit of the text does not serve to advance the plot, but deepens the reader's understanding of the world the books take place in. Some people might take this as a negative thing, but this was one of the things I enjoyed about the books--Simmons obviously had an incredible amount of information about the Hyperion universe in his head, and we only see a small amount of it.
Also, were these books made into movies (which, in truth, is something that I hope will never happen), they would most definitely get an R rating, if not something stronger. There is quite a bit of profane language, and some rather explicit adult situations in some parts of the books. For this reason, I probably wouldn't suggest them for younger readers.

[Omni]

((Just in case you don't know Fraze, deleting the first post on a tread won't delete the whole thread, just the first post))

Well, as Fraze guessed, I am a lover of sci-fi. It's one of my two favorite genres, my other favorite being fantasy (which may seem kinda odd, since they're opposites, in a sense). The sci-fi TV series that I've watched are Stargate and Star Trek (though I've seen considerably more of -Gate than -Trek. We have almost all of the released Stargate DVDs, but only a few Star Trek Videos, and I'm not sure what the TV schedule is for Star Trek, though I come to watch it when I can hear it playing in the TV room). Sci-fi movies that I've seen, and liked, include: The original Star Wars trilogy; the Star Gate movie; the 5th element; I, Robot, Short Circuit, Firewall, and Final Fantasy the Spirits Within (which combines my two favorite genres ). My dad has seen a sci-fi movie called Solaris, which he recommends for people with insomnia, hence I haven't watched it.

I've also played a few Sci-fi video games. I've played most of the Metroid series, trying to get the few games I don't have. And I've also recently got into MegaMan, which I only have played one game of so far, but I plan to get others. (Oh, and to clear a confusing bit about that game [because I know it confused me] the normal-looking kid and the kid in armor who you see in game covers/screenshots are NOT the same character. The kid with the headband, named Lan, IS a normal kid, and the kid with the armor, MegaMan, is a program)

I haven't read many sci-fi books yet. The only one I've read so far is a Star Trek book.

While I find the alien species and other planets fine and dandy, most of what I like about sci-fi is the technology and its uses, especially computers. As with all other genres, I like characters that are complex and/or have good backstory, though with sci-fi I particularly like characters that are well connected with technology, i.e. my favorite characters from the Star Trek series are Data and Seven (and I also really like MegaMan ). Yes, this is one big reason why a have a cyborg with artificially-induced amnesia for my Spacefleet persona.

[Bacon]

I'm not sure it should be deleted, but I also don't think this quite belongs. Although I will say I am a big fan of the three Stars (Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate). In fact, I've put some hidden references in a few of my posts, and some more obvious ones, mostly to Star Wars. I'm also a fan of Douglas Adams'(of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame) books.

BTW, unlike your post suggests, the official Star Wars fan language is Mando'a, not Jawaese, that's the languages of the Mandalorians and Jawas respectively.

If you aren't familiar with Star Wars EU(Expanded Universe; non-movie stuff), you probably aren't familiar with Mandalorians, though. Mando'a and the word "Mandalorian" are never used on-screen for any of the movies. Basically Jango Fett and Boba Fett are Mandalorians, a human sub-culture native to the planet Mandalore, and they're pretty awesome.

If you've ever played the Sci-Fi RTS/CTF(yeah that's right, real-time strategy:capture the flag. THat's basically all it is) game Arena Wars, my player logo on it is currently the Mandalorian Mythasaur Skull logo, which I got off of Wookiepedia.

Speaking of Wookiepedia, that's a good resource if you're looking for any info on anything in Star Wars canon. Just search for Jedi on Wikipedia, then follow the link on the bottom of the screen to "Jedi on Wookiepedia". It's a pretty cool site, with a hundred times the data as the official StarWars.com databanks.

omniscia said:

). My dad has seen a sci-fi movie called Solaris, which he recommends for people with insomnia, hence I haven't watched it.

One thing about Solaris: My father said "I never saw a George Clooney movie I didn't like." as justification to rent it. He doesn't say that anymore. That's why I've never said that about Harrison Ford.

[Kengplant]

Where's all the Stargate love?! Oh well, I guess me and Urchin will have to supply the bulk of it
We aren't CRAZY fans that know every tiny detail and write fanfics and could probably speak/understand/at the very least remember the lines in goa'uld besides "cree" (and no, we will never be able to remember how to spell either of those words), but we occasionally go into quoting sprees of the stuff in english ^_^

DUNE! I can't get enough! I know the Bene Gesserit litany against fear by heart I especially liked Brian Herberts prequal series of the Butlerian Jihad based off of Frank Herbert's notes. Erasmus was the most awsome villan ever, (next to Vader of course). There's something beyond amusing about a robot standing around on his own in the middle of the room slowly saying different swear words, paying attention to each sound, trying to figure out why humans find them so offensive. At the same time he had a twisted curiosity about humans and was always 'experimenting' with them. It was a character I found really easy to love to hate. There's just so much good suff in Dune. I LOVE it! The Spice must flow!

Star wars. ... Nuff said.

I've never really been a big Trekkie, but my favourite one was Next Gen. It's the one I grew up with. <3 Data. In Voyager I like the Dr. He's probably the greatest hologram of all time.

BattleStar Galactica. The unpredictable show of, "Oh shoot, I missed an episode, I'm completly lost now o.0" I love how intense it is. A real nail biter. The characters are easy to love, or hate, or sympathize with. Very well done show, and the effects are so purtiful

Eureka. Great little show about a town full of geniuses. Sarah is my favourite character. She's the sheriff's house . ... err, I mean, his fallout bunker. To quote/paraphrase a short interaction between Sheriff Carter and Sarah:
Carter (trying to get sarah to open the door and let him inside): "Are you mad at me?"
Sarah:"I am not programed for that emotion.
...
But it is polite to call when you are going to be late for dinner."
C: "I'm gonna kill Fargo.
...
...
Look, Sarah, I'm sorry, it was very inconsiderate of me. I promise, it won't happen again."
*door opens*

[Omni]

Okay, so I forgot to put a lot of my liking of Stargate into my last post. My family likes to watch an episode or two of it together once in awhile, and after that I tend to find myself quoting my favorite lines, and re-watching my favorite episodes.

SPOILER: Click to show

Actress: I have a problem with scene 29, where I'm out of phase and can walk though walls.
A writer: Hence the term 'out of phase'.
Actress: So how come I'm not falling through the floor?
(the two writers pause awkwardly, glance at eachother, then look at the actress again)
A writer: We'll get back to you on that one.

The character with the glasses and Amnesia, I forget his name: Aliens eat apples?
Prop guy: Why not? They speak English.

I don't know much Goa'ould either. The most I can say is probably 'Jaffa! Cree Chapa'ai! Kek Tauri!' and then there's the word 'kaloosh', which I do not know of any way to put it into that command.

My favorite character in Stargate SG1 is probably Carter. She's smart, and I like it when she uses science-y terms and Jack gets lost.


The Doctor! I can't believe I forgot about the Doctor! He's another computer-y character I like.

"Just once I'd like to be called something besides 'Doctor', or 'Hey! You!'"

[Bacon]

Oh, right, Doctor Who!! I like the ninth incarnation of the Doctor. Although... truth be told, that's all I've seen.

I can't speak Goa'uld at all, although I could fake an accent and ad lib something like "Krokugga! Chee rakko!" or something.

I can't do a Mandalorian accent.(most Mandalorians that have spoken lines in any media have a New Zealand accent, because Temuera Morrison is from New Zealand.)

edit: [glow=red,2,300]TRON![/glow] How I could forget the grandfather of the modern CGI movie?!

[zarikrahia]

I'm from New Zealand. =3 Go Kiwis!

My thing with the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre started when I was 7. I wrote a story called 'MicroChip Imagine' and really got into it. The clones, believe it or not, came from that story of 7 years ago. Except their handler was Umbra Kelleson, a character who's still floating around in the back of my subconcious somewhere.

[Fraze]

seduphe said:

BTW, unlike your post suggests, the official Star Wars fan language is Mando'a, not Jawaese, that's the languages of the Mandalorians and Jawas respectively.

Actually, I just picked a random species out of the air, but thanks for the information.

[Amneiger]

The first thing I think of when somebody says "science fiction" to me is cyberpunk. >> I remember trying to read Neuromancer when I was eight or something. The only words I understood at that time were "coffin" and "hotel," which lead to this image of a coffin wrapped in yellow plastic that was sitting in a hotel room with a person sleeping in the coffin. . And Deus Ex is set on a cyberpunk earth with only a few references to this mining operation on the moon.


That said, the most recent piece of space-based sci-fi I've seen is open source versions of Bungie's old Marathon series from before they made Halo. The Myst series almost qualifies, except that's inter-universe travel instead of interplanetary travel.

[Kengplant]

seduphe said:

I think what they(the writers of Stargate) should do is have the Wraith inavoidably come to Earth, just as the Ori get there. Both of them'd be like: "?!?! Attack!!!" and the Wraith'd be like: "We had no idea the Earth humans were so much more advanced than the Atlanteans!!" and the Ori'd be like: "The book of Origin didn't say anything about this!!"


EDIT: And McKay and Zelenka'd come through the SGC Stargate all like "We got teh 1337 uber-zpm!!! w00t! Gets uz a cohpper ta atarntica!!!"

And Sam'd be like: "Why are you two talking like that?!"

And McKay's like: "Teh Wairth chat-space vuris! Code named o_01337!! Bekket's wurking on a cyurre. Plz gets teh uber-zpm ta atartinca!"

And Sam's like: "? Iz it contagous? Lyk ohno I got'd it to!"

>_>




<_<




>_>




>*< BRICKED!!!

ROFL!!! Love the chat-virus XD, but I can't tell you how many times me and Urchin have gone imagining how awsome it would be if the Ori and Wraith got to earth at the same time. We can't decide who would win. I think the wraith would because a lot of 'ancient' technology was actually more advanced than the ori stuff despite their common roots, and the wraith totally pwned the ancients due to superior numbers. My sis thinks the Ori would win because they have priors and stuff. Overall the ori would probably start with the upper hand until the wraith up the anti and swarm them with more than they can handel.

(quoted from the rankings thread and moved here cause it's a more appropriate location)

[Bacon]

Ah, good point.

[Shrimpy]

Huh... A dead thread... Oh well. ^^

Star Wars is pretty much my roots in the sci-fi universe. I practically grew up on Star Wars IV, V, and VI, and I still think they were the best out of the series. (I, II, and III were sappy. XP) I've never read the original books, but I've read a few others and thought they felt a little too fanfiction-y. I've played a few of the PC/video games, and I love the piloting ones (I've developed a reputation for dissappearing from my opponents view/radar in those ;D). So, pretty much, Star Wars was my introduction to sci-fi.

Nothing much else in the "spacey" catagory interested me for a while. . .then my mom brought home the first season of Star Trek - The Next Generation. She loves the series, and thought that my younger siblings and I might enjoy it, too. At first I was a little sceptical and in a biased "nothing could be better than Star Wars" mood. After a few episodes, I was interested. After the first season, I couldn't get enough. I became a devout Mini-Trekkie like my mother before me. I have since watched all seven seasons and all the movies, and have grown very fond of Data. (Brent Spiner - best actor evah.) Now the phrase "space time continuum" is used at least once a day in my family's conversations. ^^
I haven't seen Deep Space 9 or Voyager, but I'm seriously considering watching DS9. Must locate the first season...

I haven't watched many sci-fi movies that aren't related to either Star Trek or Star Wars. I've seen Minority Report (creepy) and that's about it. Actually, that is it. x3

[Strife]

It's hard to pinpoint where exactly my sci-fi craze began. Even though Star Wars was one of the first sci-fi movies I remember watching, I can't say that it got me into science fiction. That would be too easy. ^^;

When it comes to sci-fi, i'm more into the animated stuff - movies like Titan A.E. and cartoon series like Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command, Mega Man, and Sonic The Hedgehog (the SatAM version). And of course, video games like Doom, Starcraft, Ratchet and Clank, and a whole bunch of others. And i'm a big fan of the Mega Man games - I've played the entire classic series and some of the Megaman X series.

Of course, I love the real stuff too. Star Wars, Men In Black, Aeon Flux, The Fifth Element, The Matrix, Ultraviolet, War of the Worlds, every single Star Trek series, and so on. Heck, i've even read a few sci-fi books and novels such as The First Men In the Moon and Ender's Game. The list goes on and on. xD;

[Fraze]

shrimpy said:

Huh... A dead thread... Oh well. ^^

Star Wars is pretty much my roots in the sci-fi universe. I practically grew up on Star Wars IV, V, and VI, and I still think they were the best out of the series. (I, II, and III were sappy. XP) I've never read the original books, but I've read a few others and thought they felt a little too fanfiction-y. I've played a few of the PC/video games, and I love the piloting ones (I've developed a reputation for dissappearing from my opponents view/radar in those ;D). So, pretty much, Star Wars was my introduction to sci-fi.

Nothing much else in the "spacey" catagory interested me for a while. . .then my mom brought home the first season of Star Trek - The Next Generation. She loves the series, and thought that my younger siblings and I might enjoy it, too. At first I was a little sceptical and in a biased "nothing could be better than Star Wars" mood. After a few episodes, I was interested. After the first season, I couldn't get enough. I became a devout Mini-Trekkie like my mother before me. I have since watched all seven seasons and all the movies, and have grown very fond of Data. (Brent Spiner - best actor evah.) Now the phrase "space time continuum" is used at least once a day in my family's conversations. ^^
I haven't seen Deep Space 9 or Voyager, but I'm seriously considering watching DS9. Must locate the first season...

I haven't watched many sci-fi movies that aren't related to either Star Trek or Star Wars. I've seen Minority Report (creepy) and that's about it. Actually, that is it. x3

You should definitely see those other Star Trek series. You can skip Enterprise, though. It was...bleh.

If you're like most people, DS9 will probably end up becoming either your favorite or your least favorite of the Star Trek series.

strife said:

It's hard to pinpoint where exactly my sci-fi craze began. Even though Star Wars was one of the first sci-fi movies I remember watching, I can't say that it got me into science fiction. That would be too easy. ^^;

When it comes to sci-fi, i'm more into the animated stuff - movies like Titan A.E. and cartoon series like Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command, Mega Man, and Sonic The Hedgehog (the SatAM version). And of course, video games like Doom, Starcraft, Ratchet and Clank, and a whole bunch of others. And i'm a big fan of the Mega Man games - I've played the entire classic series and some of the Megaman X series.

Of course, I love the real stuff too. Star Wars, Men In Black, Aeon Flux, The Fifth Element, The Matrix, Ultraviolet, War of the Worlds, every single Star Trek series, and so on. Heck, i've even read a few sci-fi books and novels such as The First Men In the Moon and Ender's Game. The list goes on and on. xD;

Ooh--if you like the animated stuff, might I suggest a movie called Wizards? It's not space-based, and it's not entirely sci-fi--there are some fantasy elements in it. But it's a very good movie in my opinion.
Even though it's animated, it's definitely not a children's movie. It was made in 1977, and set in a post-apocalyptic Earth. Most of the world is a desolate wasteland called Scortch, but there are still a few places where good creatures--fairies, elves, etc.--live.
At some point, a woman gave birth to twins. Your classic good and evil twins--one, Avatar, became a respected wizard in his little enclave of elves. The other, Blackwolf, went on to become the evil ruler of Scortch. Avatar goes on a journey to kill Blackwolf, taking with him Weehawk (elf warrior with anger management issues), Elinore (female elf warrior in a too-revealing outfit) and Necron 99 (a servant of Blackwolf who Avatar captured and renamed Peace).
It's a very heavily political movie, but you wouldn't really think so at first, just because it's animated.
You might have a little trouble finding the movie, but it shouldn't be too hard.

[Kengplant]

Speaking of post-apocalytic-animated movies, <3 the Animatrix. They have some amazing stuff in there, the short about the runner has some crazy creepy animation going for it. My favourite is the one with the kids and the 'haunted house'.