5 Unfairly Derided Action Sci-Fi Flicks

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Recently Ryan Britt at TOR.com took a look at 5 Unfairly Derided Action Sci-Fi Flicks.   Here they are with a bit of what Britt had to say and, for what they’re worth, my thoughts on each.

  • The Island

Britt: Seemingly a rip-off of Logan’s Run and The Running Man, the movie tells the story of a couple of runaway clones who are searching for their counterparts.

Zablo:  I saw The Island and it was okay.  I don’t remember too much about The Island , which probably gives you an indication of how good it really was.

  • The Chronicles of Riddick

Britt: I think most fans would agree Pitch Black is a pretty solid sci-fi thriller, but most of us don’t really know what to make of Riddick. Does this character even belong in a movie like this? In the first film, it was all sneaking around in the dark dealing with scary stuff, and then the next movie was this big Dune meets Lord of the Rings visual epic.

Zablo: Britt is exactly right.  Chronicles was 180 degrees away from Pitch Black.  Fans weren’t expecting the dramatic change and Chronicles threw them.  Over the years my fondness of Chronicles has grown.  I like it more with each new viewing.  [But I am glad that the third Riddick movie is going to be more like Pitch Black than Chronicles.]

  • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Britt: Though Lucas and Spielberg talk a mean game about how Star Wars and Indiana Jones pay homage to Flash Gordon-style serials of a bygone era, Kerry Conran actually did it for real. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow shouldn’t be viewed as a contemporary action film, but instead as a kind of alternate universe where these sorts of movies never stopped getting made.

Zablo: I saw Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow on the big screen.  I really dug it.  I didn’t think it was the greatest thing ever, but it was fun.  It was good enough to earn a spot in my movie library.  After reading Britt’s take on the film, I think it’s time to pull Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow down for a viewing!

  • Equilibrium

Britt: The movie also seems pretty low budget which, unlike the Matrix, means its not trying to impress you. With Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Sean Bean, and yes, Taye Diggs, you’ve got an action movie cast at least as good as the far inferior Terminator: Salvation.

Zablo: I disagree with Britt.  I think that Kurt Wimmer was trying to impress us and for most of us, he succeeded.  (And I’d have that opinion even if I didn’t get to attend a special showing with Kurt Wimmer.)    Sure, the budget was not huge, but look at the talent he scored.  What would it cost today to make a movie with Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Sean Bean, and yes, Taye Diggs?

  • Superman Returns

Britt: This is the big one. Seemingly everyone thinks this movie was absolutely terrible, including the studio, as they are totally uninterested in bringing anybody back for the new impending reboot project, Man of Steel...  Brandon Routh is actually not bad as Supe at all (and he really demonstrated his versatility in Scott Pilgrim last year!) Kevin Spacey is great as Lex Luthor…

Zablo: I agree with “seemingly everyone”.  Superman Returns was really bad.  It did have a couple of cool scenes and I liked Routh but Spacey [and I am a fan] wasn’t right for Luthor and the overall movie was just bad.

Other Action Sci-Fi Movies that could have been included in the article:  Cyborg [Jean-Claude Van Damme], Omega Man [Charlton Heston], and The Ultimate Warrior [Yul Brennor].