The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

So I just finished watching an obscure 60's science fiction thriller called Seconds, directed by John Frankenheimer. I thought it was brilliant, though very surreal. Very 1984.
I also noticed that it was based on an even more obscure novel of the same name (author - David Ely). Just wondering if anyone else here had seen the film or read the book/what did they think? Might be worth a nomination when we come back round to the 60's.

Seconds and David Ely are hard to find on Goodreads. Here is the ISBN: 9780062264923

It get a rather mediocre rating on Goodreads and isn't even listed on www.WorldsWithoutEnd.com. Could be one of those unusual instances where the movie is better than the book.

The book is not that obscure maybe, anyway it's translated in dutch, I found a copy of the book in my storage. Would like to read it. Good idea to nominate it when we're at the 60's again.

Looking the books up on amazon, if you have a kindle you can buy it for $3.39 and the book is not too expensive either.

I'd quite like to see the film, I like surreal films. In fact while reading about this, it made me thing of another surreal film, World on a Wire by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Turns out this was based on the book Simulacron 3 by Daniel F. Galouye. Another potential nomination for the 1960's.

Thanks, Jo. I've added that to my rental list. Sounds very ahead of its time!

Jo - just watched the first half of World On A Wire this evening and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it's spread across 2 discs so I need to wait to see the rest.
If the matrix didn't get inspiration from this then it's one heck of a coincidence. He even leaves the virtual world via a phone booth!

Joel wrote: "Jo - just watched the first half of World On A Wire this evening and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it's spread across 2 discs so I need to wait to see the rest.
If the matrix didn't get inspir..."

I'm glad you're enjoying it. I saw it at the cinema the other year and was really impressed. It's so iconic I can believe it influenced the matrix although i've not read the book so maybe it comes from there.

I recently finished World On A Wire and very much enjoyed it, though I thought the first part was much stronger.

I've picked up a copy of "The Thirteenth Floor" which is another adaptation of Similicron 3. It also came out in 1999, but was a bit overshadowed by the success of the Matrix. It has acquired a bit of a cult following though. Hopefully it will be good!

I agree the first part was stronger but it's just such a great film. I've not heard of the thirteenth floor but it seems my local mediateque has a copy so I should be able to borrow it at some point if it's any good. I'm still trying to track down Seconds as they don't seem to have a copy.

I rented my copy of Seconds from lovefilm (amazon). I think it's a relatively new release for region 2.

Thanks Joel i'll see if it's available in Belgium, I wanted to watch Man in the High Castle via amazon but it wasn't available here. We do have an equivalent of Love film though so maybe that might work.

Just finished watching The 13th Floor. I enjoyed it, but it's easy to see why The Matrix took off instead. It's quite gripping to start with, but then once you connect it up with similar plot points from World On A Wire, it soon just feels like a lesser version.

Watching it reminded me of yet another matrix-esque film... Have you ever seen Dark City? That actually came out a year before The Matrix, and is well worth a watch. I'd definitely recommend it (the directors cut, if you can get a hold of it).

Don't know that one either but it's available at the mediateque so another one for me to watch, thanks for the recommendations. I can't remember watching anything particularly good recently so i'm looking forward to these.

I watched Dark City tonight, really good. Dark and sinister and fast paced. Richard O'Brien was particularly good. Thanks for the recommendation!

No problem! Glad you enjoyed it :)

Do you know which version you watched? There's both a theatrical and directors cut.

I watched the director's cut. I haven't looked up yet if there was much change from the original release.

Ah, good! It's the better version :) it doesn't really alter the story much. It just cleans up some effects and adds in a subplot.

I've watched the thirteenth floor as well now. Good as well, although I preferred Dark City. It's not as stylized as World on a Wire but still very watchable. Having now watched two completely different versions of the same book I think I should probably try to track down a copy and see how it compares.

Filmwise, i'm planning to work my way through the ones of these i've not seen although I do have to question why troll hunter is on the list as scifi.

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls076709099/

I wouldn't say The Thirteenth Floor is a particularly good film, but certainly enjoyable. I liked how the world below was a different era (i.e. 30s), and I also thought the bartender was a good character. The actor did a good job of playing the two contrasting personas.
I'm definitely going to give the book a go at some point.

From that list I've seen:

Stalker, Metropolis, Solaris, Akira, Nausicaa, World on a wire, City of lost children, The host, Delicatessen and Fantastic planet.

I'd say they are all worth watching except for Nausicaa, which is terrible -some other films by that director are very good though. Delicatessen is a very good film, but it's definitely not sci-fi.

If you don't mind animation then I would also recommend ghost in the Shell (inspired the matrix), Paprika (inspired inception), Jin-Roh (alternate history war romance), memories (trilogy of short science-fiction films) and a short series called Now and Then, Here and There (don't be fooled by the first couple of episodes, it's really quite dark!).

The director of the Host also recently made a science-fiction movie called Snow Piercer, starring John hurt and Chris Evans. It's an odd film; a 1984 style dystopia set on a train. It's flawed, but well worth a watch.

Thank you for sharing! I'll have to check out the ones I haven't seen.

I do like animation so I will certainly check those out thanks. Animé is very popular in Belgium so the mediateque has a huge selection.

I watched The Host last night, it's a fun film not sure it's one of the top films ever but still quite well done but I am a fan of the directors films. I saw the Snow piercer the other year I liked it, the idea was a clever one.

From the list, if you've not seen Battle Royale it's really worth watching but it really is very violent and dark, so be warned. I'm sure the idea for the Hunger Games came from there.