I want to talk about science-fiction movies today. There are some incredible and epic sci-fi movies, like Star Wars, Star Trek, Alien, Blade Runner, The Matrix, and so much more, that will be remembered for generations, but I feel like there’s a whole lot of amazing science-fiction films out there that are not taken into consideration because they don’t have mind-blowing special effects or because they were not huge blockbusters. These little gems flew under most people’s radar and that’s a great shame. Five of such movies will be discussed bellow. Smart, innovative, prophetic sometimes, they deserve to be watched.
Primer
Released in 2004, this low-budget movie is probably one of the smartest, most complex, mind-boggling time-travel films that have been made. Intended to be seen, then seen again to be thoroughly understood, Primer is about 2 friends, both engineers, who have managed to create a machine that can freeze objects from the effects of gravity. They soon realize that the objects were frozen from the effects of time as well. Using this construct, they built themselves time travel machines to get richer with stock exchanges. Of course, things get freaky when unexpected interference messes up their timelines. This brilliant film was shot over a span of 5 weeks, with a budget of 7 000$, and a crew of 5 people. Shane Carruth, who plays one of the main characters, is the film’s writer, director, producer, cinematographer, editor and music composer. Primer went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Sundance film festival. Despite that, most people have never heard of it.
Ex-Machina
This beautifully made film about artificial intelligence by Alex Garland is both fascinating and frightening. A programmer wins a contest for a one-week visit to the isolated home of his billionaire boss and creator of the world’s most powerful search engine. As it turns out, this stay is to test his boss’ new project, humanoids equipped with artificial intelligence. The young programmer is to spend time with Ava to determine whether she is genuinely capable of thought and consciousness despite knowing she is artificial. As the days go by, he grows more uncomfortable at the isolated location, not knowing his strange boss’ intentions and who to trust or what to believe.
Safety not guaranteed
A journalist and his 2 interns investigate a weird classified ad that reads: “Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. P.O. Box 91 Ocean View, WA 99393. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before”. The person behind the ad is Kenneth Calloway, a paranoid man who wants to go back to the year 2001 to prevent his then girlfriend from being killed. Darius, one of the journalist’s interns, gains his trust and becomes a candidate to follow him in his mission. Though not perfect, this 2012 sci-fi romantic comedy is funny, quirky, original, endearing and films like that are not made anymore.
Colossal
This film starring Anne Hathaway and Andy Sudeikis was not what I expected it to be, and it was awesome. Gloria, an unemployed young writer returns to her hometown after her fed up boyfriend breaks up with her and kicks her out of his apartment. Upon her return, she reconnects with her childhood friend Oscar who now owns a bar. After a while, she discovers that she is inexplicably linked to a giant monster who is wreaking havoc halfway across the world. The film makes us believe it will go towards some romantic comedy clichés before leading us in a whole other path. The ending is a bit disappointing but the film as a whole is refreshingly different and very entertaining.
Idiocracy
Far from being a perfect movie, Idiocracy should be seen as a brilliant sketch scifi comedy rather than a film as a whole. Though tanked by its own studio, the film, thanks to DVD viewership, became a cult classic. I want to mention it here because still a lot of people haven’t heard of it yet and it is a great shame. Funny then and prophetic now, Idiocracy is a time travel comedy about an average man who participated in a secret government experiment on hibernation and accidentally wakes up 500 years in the future. Society in the dystopian universe he wakes up in has degraded to a point where he, a man of average, if not below-average intelligence in the 2oth century, became the smartest man in the world. Hyper-commercialism, illiteracy, anti-intellectualism and just plain apathy has become the norm, and as a result, the world is falling apart. Idiocracy contains some brilliant flashes of comedic genius, and its actors are plain and simply incredible. Terry Crews as the president of the United States is hilarious. Though a laugh-out-loud comedy then, the movie has foreseen so many things back then that, sadly, it’s practically become a documentary. This is one of my favorite comedies of all time, despite all its flaws. A must for everyone. I included one of my favorite scenes from the movie, below.
If you haven’t seen any of the 5 mentioned above, please do and you will not be disappointed!