thought provoking, heart touching sci fi movies

Yeah a defined class of sci fi instead of the whole genre.

What are your picks\recommendations\etc for sci fi movies that have moved you deeply, have expanded your mind tank?
Of course, there is sometimes a thin line between sci fi and spiritual themes.
Plus, sci fi doesn't just have to be about aliens, spaceships etc, it can be about future scientific themes on earth.

Here's a short list of sci fi movies that have permanently impacted me.

The day the earth stood still - the original version of course
THX - 1138
2001 a space oddyssy
The Matrix
Silent running
Dark Star
Akira
Powder
Solaris. Have not seen the original but would like to.
(Also would like to see Slaughter House 5, heard much about it but have never seen it.)
K Pax
Blade runner
The Abyss
Avatar...of course
12 Monkeys
Brazil
Ghost in the shell
Donnie darko
Contact
Metropolis - fritz lang 1930s original
Children of men
Planet of the apes - original
Altered states
Phenomenon
Tron

Another movie i have not yet seen...Starman.

Aeon Flux
The Fifth Element
TiMER

Hi AC,a good thread....

Try watching 'Never Let Me Go'.I'm not sure whether you would call it a sci fi but it's set in an alternate late 20th century so I suppose you could.Made in 2010 it stars Keira Knightley,Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield.It begins innocuously enough but becomes very disturbing.

I won't say any more in case you've not seen it

PS...that's an excellent list,the Planet of the Apes for sure.

The Time Machine (original)
Logan's Run
The Thing (1982)
Alien
War of the Worlds (original)...really scared me as a kid

[BlueSky]

'Phenomenon' was one of my favorites too!

I'd like to mention a movie, although not sci-fi but very thought provoking that you all might like.
It is called "Incendies".
It is subtitled but after a few minutes you won't even notice you are reading it.

James

Tnx, will keep an eye out for
Never let me go
Incendies

Ah yes, the original TimeMachine, very haunting themes.
And subtitles are not a problem.
I do enjoy foreign films as other cultures offer a whole different view of reality.
A definate thread of it's own.

Off topic but worth a rant. There was this B&W film that gave me the gibblies.
All I can recall is how scared i felt, the lounge room i was in and one scene which was a deserted city, newly deserted because of the aliens.
Can't recall if the people were wiped out of they just fled.
There was one person, a chick if i recall, running, trying to hide from a robot.
One of those weird chase scenes because even though the chick is running for her life,
the robot walks very slowly but is still menacing, as if she will never be able to hide even in a vast city.
It's the only scene i recall.
And it's definately not a mix up of images from The day the earth stood still.
I distinctely recall comparing the movies back then that they both had huge robots in them, but the one i can't recall, the city scene was very bright, whereas The day th earth stood still was mostly dark, even the daytime scenes were dark.

Hmm can't seem to place the film you mentioned AC,it can be frustrating can't it

Just remembered though...'The Forbidden Planet'.That very scary invisible entity,you could see its footprints appearing in the sand as it approached the landed spacecraft.

The Incredible Shrinking Man.

Does 'The Birds' qualify as a sci fi or is it a horror?

Well, frustrating if one chooses to be frustrated by it.
I suspect it was a B grade movie so it won't be on any shelfs, though a few hours of internets searching might find it, but it's not on the list of priorities.

Ah yes Forbidden Planet, I lked the whole idea of monsters(demons) manifesting from the Id of a conscious being.
I aways interpret Id as inner dimension.

Even though the movie was about space and other civilizations, the main theme was the power and unknown attributes of the mind.

Shrinking man. of course, any interaction he had with the spider was gibblies material, but there was also the concept of disappearing into a subatomic realm, yet not be dead.

Birds, horror/suspense, not sci fi.

Oh....Villiage of the damned(original)

And if alternate\future realities are on the list then I will include
Children of Men - a virus makes all humans infertile.
The city of lost children(french) I quite like the french take on sci fi.

District 9 - very unique take on the genre
Moon(indie movie with sam rockwell)

Moon was a movie of very deep questions, and the warning of a formidably dangerous but opportune reality.

It will happen, some day. We have already identified 62 genes that impact the aging process in humans, and countless others that impact various diseases. At some point, someone WILL have to try them out.

Inevitably designer people WILL happen. Having begun deciphering the genetic code, the steps to do so are just an engineering problem, but the possible implications of this are staggeringly sobering, for individuals and the future of the entire Human race.

Quite right Humm, and well shared.
But only if society continues to be under the yoke of greed\corporations.
Having full knowledge of genetics and the ability to do stuff with this knowledge doesn't automatically mean people will do stupid things with it.

Even though the world is ripe with greedy fearful insecure behaviour doesn't mean we will stay this way.
Though I see we do walk at the cliff's edge concerning human extinction.
But hey, if it's our time to go because we never learned form our mistakes, then so be it, though I'm not going to sit around and do nothing about it.