Creating An Epic Virtual Science Fiction Movie Festival!

I would consider the first adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin's "Lathe of Heaven". When you consider the source material, production values and casting, it ticks many of the boxes that interesting films tend to have.

The shopping mall works for Logan’s Run. It’s supposed to be a sealed city with nowhere else to go at least as far as the majority of the inhabitants know. The problem is it doesn’t explore the set up or evolve the characters. You have this atmospheric world sketched out and then they run from one crisis into the next until the end.

The shopping mall future usually has a sinister background going on like real malls lol. For a film fest I'd do seperate "punk" series: cyberpunk, steampunk, solar punk etc. Then have a punk concert to close out the festival!😊

In addition to your festival I'd suggest, Czech animation - Fantastic Planet (1973), German - The Spiders I: The Golden Sea (1919) by Fritz Lang - just for the video link-up scene, Finnish - Iron Sky (2012), Russian - Kin Dza Dza (1986), Kenyan - Pumzi (2009), or Just Imagine (1930).

I’m on board with the idea of a science fiction movie festival and with your proposed selections, at least the ones I’ve seen. My one preferred change would be to lose Logan’s Run and replace it with an animated feature, perhaps The Iron Giant, Wall-E or Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Thanks for giving Luna a post-credit cameo. Happy to see she appears well.

I really miss film festivals. When I lived in Vancouver, The Ridge theatre put on all kinds of festivals and mini festivals. In Victoria, The Roxy Theatre or the university's Cinecenta also sponsored many festivals. In this time of Homogenous streaming services, the pleasure of discovering older or more esoteric films in a movie house setting is mostly an experience of the past.

"The Girl With All The Gifts". That one came out of nowhere for me; a zombie movie with Glenn Close? Streamed it to kill some time one day and was pleasantly rewarded. There's nothing better than watching a film with zero expectations which turns out to be more than worth the watch. Went to see a 25th anniversary showing of "The Mummy" today, grabbed a bite to eat, then went back to the theater for an "Alien" 45th anniversary showing. Good day today.

How about one themed on Mars? The Angry Red Planet, Robinson Crusoe On Mars (a favourite of mine), Total Recall, Capricorn One, Mission To Mars, Red Planet, John Carter, Ghosts Of Mars, The Martian. Among the above you have stories that range from fantasy, thriller through horror, conspiracy theory to mostly scientifically accurate with the last on the list.

Great collection. Most of them I've seen and enjoyed and there were a couple that were completely new to me. Here's a few I'm might humbly suggest for a future sci-fi movie festival. "Coherence" 2013, "The Quiet Earth" 1985, "Upgrade" 2018, "The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey" 1988, "Hardware" 1990, "Andromeda Strain" 1971, "The Hellstrom Chronicle" 1971, "The Cabin in the Woods" 2011, "Village of the Damned" 1960.

I've GOT to see 'Girl With All the Gifts'! Can't tell you how many folks have recommended it to me!

This was great! I’d come to this festival if I could. You chose a number of SF films that I really like, plus a couple that I’d bypassed but you’ve raised my interest in. Thank goodness you didn’t include any Star Wars. I’ve done this type of thing in my head before, but not for a long time. I’d love to see you do a SFFF II. The couple of festivals I’ve been to were packed with 50s films (apart from THX1138, which you may pick next time), which tend to get overused for this type of thing. Some that I’d pick to include: Soylent Green, Fantastic Voyage, Dark City, The Invisible Man, Gattaca, Planet of the Apes (original version). I could go on, but I want to hear other ideas. Great post, Terry!

Silent Running for me!

I’m ready to book my flights! I agree with everything you’ve said about this collection! In the early 1970’s, some of my college buddies and I put together a semester-long weekly 1950’s science fiction series. A new movie every Wednesday night. Of course, it included “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” but also “The Thing From Another World,” “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “Invaders from Mars,” “Destination Moon,” “When Worlds Collide,” “War of the Worlds,” “The Conquest of Space,” and “The Time Machine.” I guess it was more of a George Pal festival than anything else. My defense would be that the SciFi movie universe was much smaller back then.

Excellent selection, I'd go to that festival.

I really enjoyed putting together three Zombie Festivals at my place. It's great fun to do.

Loved this edition. Putting together imaginary film festivals about films of imagination is great fun. I may make and comment-in my own list later/under deadline right now (or write now, as is the case!) Thanks. Very cool.

The mall look in Logan's Run is something that would be hard to work around since it's an indoor supposed utopian domed city. My issue is the robot Box, using the amazing voice of Roscoe Lee Browne, but Box looks like it was made out of disco ball parts, aluminum foil and clothes dryer vent hoses. Super 70's cheese design. If they got Tobor out of retirement, it might have been better. I like your selection of movies Terry, for my sci-fi movie fest picks - The Omega Man, Brazil, The Last Starfighter, Phase IV, Time After Time.

My own festival? Would have to include The Thing from Another World, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Soylent Green, Beneath the Planet of the Apes ("The only good human is a dead human!"), The Omega Man (of course!), Westworld baby!, Plan 9 from Outer Space("You're all a bunch of idiots!"), Liquid Sky, Metropolis, Flash Gordon serials, Enemy Mine and Zardoz!

Thanks for including Logan's Run! My favorite movie ot all time. Zardoz would have been a good contrast to it. Only 3/4 years apart and radically different styles.

Great picks, nice variety. If I could choose: I 'd go with lesser known or obscure films that deserve to be seen. How about Dark Star, Silent Running, A Boy and His Dog, Gattaca, Dark City, Cube, Alphaville, Fahrenheit 451, Enemy Mine, Time After Time, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and The City of Lost Children which I just saw for the first time. Please do more on sci-fi and other genres.