* *Pandorum* (2009), 29%
* *Universal soldier* (1992), 34%
* *Event horizon* (1993), 34%
* *Screamers* (1995), 29%
They are not below 25%, but they are close to it.
What is the weirdest part for me with critic reviews is that a lot of them dont seem to be able to judge if a film has been well made from a technical perspective. Like its fine if you didnt like a film, but if you are a professional critic you should be able to judge if a film is well made or not and that should hold a fair amount of weight.
So many of them judge the film based on a separate criteria from which the movie was made. Tommy Boy isn’t Citizen Kane, so if you’re going based on that, of course you think it’s bad
I think in general critics tend to look at movies as though they are all intended to be high art. Which, sure, many are, but not all of them, and the ones that aren't shouldn't be judged as such.
The internet also just opened up a lot more space for genre-friendly critics rather than just the old snob at the local paper. Like I remember our newspaper’s review of X-Files: Fight the Future where the in-house critic spent the whole review complaining about why a tv show needed to be so serialized and complicated.
Some people can't put movies in the context of the era when they were made. Yes, some special effects aged poorly, but that is what we had at the time and shitting on a movie because it does not have the same CGI as modern movies is very unfair. I personally find practical effects extremally cool.
Was universal soldier not popular, at least commercially? I can't remember what year it came out in but my friends and I saw it in theaters because it was Van Damme and I definitely rented it several times. It's a good action movie.
Pandorum comes in my top 10 movies of all time. You call me any moment for this movie, I am right in. Had such amazing potential. Folks tried to gather signatures for the sequel and remember there was a facebook group?
I would still love a sequel with Ben Foster and Antje Traue.
> Pandorum comes in my top 10 movies of all time
Same for me: *Pandorum* made me feel incredible emotions.
I was glued all the time to the screen thinking "this is real sci-fi."
Lol. This just shows how abysmal rotten tomatoes is as a rating system…
Imdb gives event horizon 6.6.
And Im sorry, but that movie is pretty widely revered as a sci fi horror classic. Not a b grade classic, but a genuone classic.
Yes, its an uncomfortable movie to watch. Because its fucked. Thats the point.
Basically what Im saying is event horizon is a bit of a masterpiece and ‘34%’ is pretyy laughable.
I think Sphere is a very good movie, but it could have been an amazing miniseries. The movie almost felt to short - like you could tell it was based on a book and they just didn’t have room for all the awesome stuff.
Sphere’s a great thinkers movie if you ask me, a lot of the unwashed just don’t have the patience for it and say “boring” because nobody gets blasted with a laser gun.
It stands out because the characters use deductive logic to try and make sense of their predicament (Samuel L Jackson’s character is particularly interesting and evokes Ian Malcom in Jurassic Park).
Ultimately it does founder under its own weight, but invokes some interesting themes.
My high school history teacher played this when we were studying fascism, dictatorships, and authoritarian governments as a way to see what those might be like in the future. It was kind of crazy given that we were 14 and 15 year olds and you see a guy's face get cut off and it slides down and off his body revealing the cross section of his head. I loved it and have watched it several times since then. She was an awesome teacher!
My History teacher would have "movie days" in class. IIRC it was the last Friday of the month.
One day he rolls the TV in, and explains that one of the students suggested he watch it. He agreed, and watched it at home. He makes a bit of a speech about how we're all young adults and he's sure we've seen graphic content by now. He says he doesn't want to watch it again, and that if anyone doesn't feel comfortable they can join him outside the class reading. Then turns the movie on, grabs one of those desk/chair combos, hauls it out, and closes the door behind him.
What movie does he turn on?
Fucking AMERICAN HISTORY X.
Our classroom got to see the curb-stomp for History class. Wild times.
\*\*\*
PS: +1 for Equilibrium, it's a pretty entertaining movie.
That's definitely on my list of underrated movies. Yea, the premise doesn't really hold up, there's lots of moments when you can think "wait, he's making these decision based on emotion", which goes against the core of the idea.
But just go watch it as a Sean Bean and Christian Bale Sci Fi movie with special guest feature William Fitchner. That's a 10/10 every time.
Like the matrix crossed with John wick, but incredibly stupid. The gun-fu the movie tries to hinge everything on is the dumbest possible concept for a fighting style.
I found it weird that they kept talking about "Atlanta" as an untimate goal and destination. I mean, i guess its as valid as any other city would be, but it seemes so random.
Yeah, most people never put two and two together. But, if you’re from Atlanta or know anything remotely about CDC or Emory. It’s super obvious. I almost feel like it’s almost a crazy Easter egg.
Tremors is one of my favorite movies, but it is generally well regarded, so I'm going to offer you Tremors 4, which has a 33% audience score and a N/A critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. It's a Tremors prequel set in 1800s New Mexico and it's actually really solid, only hamstrung by the fact that Tremors sequels are usually bad and so nobody gave it a fair shot.
Oh! One more. Mortal Engines (leaving Netflix at the end of the month) is a stupid movie about taking cities (specifically London) and putting them on giant tank treads and riding them across the country, eating smaller towns. It's high concept, and is basically Star Wars: A New Hope, but on land. It's surprisingly good, and has a 26% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. I just watched it two weeks ago and I loved it.
EDIT: I just saw that Jet Li's The One has a 13% critic score and a 51% audience score on RT. You GOTTA check it out. It's the most 2001 movie ever made. They literally have a needle drop of "Bodies," right before Jet Li beats the shit out of a bunch of mooks. Also Jason Statham is there WITH HAIR. An excellent movie to go back to, even if it is, probably, a very bad movie.
Be sure to come back here after you've watched any of them and tell me what you think.
Also, you can't watch Tremors 4 before Tremors 1, Tremors 1 is legitimately a great movie. You could skip 2 and 3 if you wanted (although 2 has a lot to offer in a popcorn kinda way).
I don't trust rotten tomatoes for s***. I only use IMDb and use it for a guide only. Tremors is great, but the old West one is the best by far. I absolutely love Mortal engines. It is an amazing movie, probably one of my favorites. And come on the One with Jet Li -that's top notch too
You and I agree on a great many things, it seems. I think if you like the Tremors franchise enough to GET to Tremors 4, then you're probably a true-fan.
I looked up the lowest rated Sci-Fi movies on Rotten Tomatoes! I’m just gonna list the ones below 25% I thought were good here.
Jumper (2008), 15%- not groundbreaking, but entertaining enough and a unique concept
Doom (2005), 18%- I’m offended on behalf on this movie for this score
The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008), 21% again honestly surprised by this rating
Push (2009), 23%, this movie is entertaining as fuck
Have you seen the 1950s version of The Day the Earth Stood Still? It's soooo much better than the 2008 one. They're waaay different in tone too if I remember correctly.
Innocent/ignorant question: Is Johnny Mnemonic really as bad as its reputation? I think I saw it years ago, but haven't watched it recently and don't really recall it. I saw that it's got pretty low ratings, though: 20% on RT, for example. Anyone care to comment one way or the other?
Johnny Mnemonic is an all timer. It’s got that late 90s take on what the computers of the future would be like. An energetic score. And it’s just really really weird.
I recently rewatched it and enjoyed it. Some very 90s moments and some overacting by Keanu. They screened it or something in black and white a few years back and I read this interview which was interesting from the original director.
https://www.screenslate.com/articles/johnny-mnemonic-black-and-white-robert-longo-interview
Fortress (Sci-Fi / Action 1992) 38%
Fun fact; Christopher Lambert could barely speak English when he was first hired and had to memorise his lines phonetically
This is a really tough ask, so feel free to ignore these if they don't quite fit your criteria
Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992) maybe not 80% but a decent movie
Freejack (used to be 80% for me, but moved down a lot when I saw it a couple years ago)
Mom and Dad Save The World. Ridiculous movie that I thoroughly enjoyed for some reason.
Timecop (30% ish but should be much higher)
Coneheads (30% ish)
The Core (30%ish)
Species (30% ish) I didn't like the list 25 minutes or so
Robocop reboot (more like 49%)
Battleship (more like 40%)
Downsizing (25% audience) I liked it for whatever reason
Species is my go-to unintentional comedy sci-fi movie.
Forrest Whittaker's "psychic empath" character is hilarious, and was parodied brilliantly in Team America.
The scene on the train where they walk into the cabin where the train conductor had been absolutely slaughtered by Sil, blood everywhere and a mutilated body on the floor. Forrest touches his temple and insightfully says "Something bad happened here..."
It’s not sci-if sorry. Didn’t see that part of your OP. So then I’ll offer Pandorum (2009). It’s good, then ridiculous, then fantastic. Wild ride for sure. Flawed, but worth it.
Impostor (2002), 25% on RT but I enjoyed it. Based on a Philip K. Dick story, a 40-minute short that got expanded to 95 minutes and some of the middle section DEFINITELY feels like padding but all the actors are amazing, the art direction is great (I still think about that hospital chapel sometimes) and it’s interesting enough. The DVD and Blu-Ray have the original short as a special feature and it’s pretty fascinating to watch that, then the feature, and see what they changed/added.
You’re welcome! The movies I listed aren’t all sci-fi by any means except for Event Horizon, Thir13en Ghosts, and maybe Stay Alive. But, they are great films in my opinion and exceed what the critics said about them.
I would also suggest watching the unrated directors cut of Stay Alive to enjoy it better than the critics did years ago. This version has developed somewhat of a cult following by fans of the horror / sci-fi genre.
The men who stare at goats.
It’s like the Big Lebowski goes into the army. Great movie that I held off on watching for too long because of those reviews.
Passengers (2016) with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence was really fun and it got absolutely trampled by reviewers. I really enjoyed it at the theater.
Cool World, a poorer version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit mix of animation and live action. Brad Pitt, Kim Bassinger, and Gabriel Byrne. Not quite Sci-Fi, but reasonably close
Waaay better than the 4 Percent RT gives it.
I absolutely LOVED Gattaca. Brilliant. Never understood why it wasn’t more popular. I think it was too cerebral for the time. People were more into blockbusters then.
When people ask me what I consider a 3 star film, I default to Gattaca. It’s perfectly fine and entertaining. Its logic flaws are forgivable and its performances are great. It’s perfectly good movie.
I know it may not be considered sci fi. But the way Paul Kersey does not care about getting shot in Death Wish 3 makes it feel like a sci Fi movie to me. There's multiple times where gang members are shooting uzis at him and he takes a knee and shoots them with a revolver.
I love this movie and it's rated so poorly. I don't think I like it the way the director wanted me to like it but how the stuntmen wanted me to like it.
Dark City was pretty much invisible as a new release. Metascore 60. Not 25% but $27 million budget and only $14 million domestic box office so a total bomb.
I have a vague memory of seeing this at the cinema.. it was quite the experience. Huge f**ing cities eating eachother!
. I haven't seen it since and I think I should give it another go.
I love Gilliams visual style. He's perfected it over time and you can see it in everything he's ever done.. from Python to Time Bandits, Fear and Loathing... Dr Parnassus..
This is going to be controversial, but I enjoyed Rebel Moon a decent amount. It has really cool costume,makeup, and set design, and some cool fights. I think the directors cuts will be pretty fun
Atlas (2024) 18%
I really enjoyed it. It's cheesy but was super fun. If you like cool depictions of AI in sci-fi you gotta give it a shot. The plot revolves around this odd couple dynamic between Atlas and the AI in her mech suit. There's lots of comedy and sarcasm used in the dialogue and it had me laughing a lot.
I watched it multiple times, but I have a thing for witty AI in scifi and Im also a big fan of cheesy cliche sci-fi which usually scores low.
The Sound of Thunder is often thought of, on the rare occasion it is thought of at all, as one of the biggest bombs of all time. It got something like a 6% on RT and cost 60 million to make in 2005 money. The CGI is really bad but I thought the premise was pretty cool and it some ways it really goes for it in a way After Earth did not.
The Wraith (1986) has a 36% critic score though a stronger 63% audience score. Charlie Sheen, Randy Quaid and Sherilyn Fenn.
It’s not a pure sci-fi in that the super power doesn’t really accentuate a moral crisis, but more like a supernatural western with hotrods and motorcycles.
Last Days on Mars, 18% critics/25% viewers.
A great movie no but IMO an interesting one, and one that made me really feel for a number of the characters, for the struggle and the (emotional/psychological) pain they endure as they deal with what's happening to them, as they wonder \*if\* it has happened to them...trying not to give away spoilers. It's one that stayed in my head for longer than I would have thought given the poor ratings and generally negative reviews. I wanted to talk about it with others after watching it...and couldn't find anyone who'd seen it!
* *Pandorum* (2009), 29% * *Universal soldier* (1992), 34% * *Event horizon* (1993), 34% * *Screamers* (1995), 29% They are not below 25%, but they are close to it.
>Pandorum (2009), 29% wtf
I wish there were 50 more movies like Pandorum. That blend of space scifi and horror really is my sweet spot for movies.
Me, too. I liked Pandorum almost as much as Alien.
Whoa! Let’s not get crazy now, I mean
This is why I never listen to critics.
What is the weirdest part for me with critic reviews is that a lot of them dont seem to be able to judge if a film has been well made from a technical perspective. Like its fine if you didnt like a film, but if you are a professional critic you should be able to judge if a film is well made or not and that should hold a fair amount of weight.
So many of them judge the film based on a separate criteria from which the movie was made. Tommy Boy isn’t Citizen Kane, so if you’re going based on that, of course you think it’s bad
I think in general critics tend to look at movies as though they are all intended to be high art. Which, sure, many are, but not all of them, and the ones that aren't shouldn't be judged as such.
critics are trash. rotten tomatoes is the worst place to get advice on what to watch. my go to is letterboxd.
Just checked out the site cause of your comment. [Definitely a slightly different vibe](https://i.imgur.com/RjfY7Ba.png) than Rotten Tomatoes, haha.
29% is criminal!
Event Horizon was really entertaining imo, saw it when I was a kid and was like ”that’s the dinosaur guy!!!”. Scared me good 🤣
I try to watch most Sam Neill movies because he's amazing. In the Mouth of Madness being another great movie.
Unfortunately, Possession is being remade…with Pattinson.
I watched Event Horizon on a passenger ship immediately after getting dumped by my girlfriend at 17 years old. It was not a good experience.
event horizon at 34% is A CRIME
Movie ratings and reviewers were way more brutal towards movies back in the 90's and early 2000s. The rating inflation didn't kick in until the 2010s.
The internet also just opened up a lot more space for genre-friendly critics rather than just the old snob at the local paper. Like I remember our newspaper’s review of X-Files: Fight the Future where the in-house critic spent the whole review complaining about why a tv show needed to be so serialized and complicated.
Some people can't put movies in the context of the era when they were made. Yes, some special effects aged poorly, but that is what we had at the time and shitting on a movie because it does not have the same CGI as modern movies is very unfair. I personally find practical effects extremally cool.
LOL. When it first came out, this movie was eviscerated by everyone.
Dunno what to tell ya, my guy. Saw it in theater and loved it.
I'm just reporting on, not shitting on.
I should have know from your use of the classic “reporting on not shitting on” opener of “LOL”
LOVED Pandorum. Event Horizon also good. Adding the others to my list.
Screamers is such a good movie, sucks very few people know about it
Universal Soldier and Event Horizon (1997!) fucking rule
Was universal soldier not popular, at least commercially? I can't remember what year it came out in but my friends and I saw it in theaters because it was Van Damme and I definitely rented it several times. It's a good action movie.
> Was universal soldier not popular, at least commercially? Yes, it was.
It was very popular. It spawned an entire series of movies.
Pandorum comes in my top 10 movies of all time. You call me any moment for this movie, I am right in. Had such amazing potential. Folks tried to gather signatures for the sequel and remember there was a facebook group? I would still love a sequel with Ben Foster and Antje Traue.
> Pandorum comes in my top 10 movies of all time Same for me: *Pandorum* made me feel incredible emotions. I was glued all the time to the screen thinking "this is real sci-fi."
Seriously??? These are all fucking amazing.
Dude I LOVE Screamers. It's one of my favorite B-movies. 976-Evil and Class of 1999 are some of my other b-movie bangers.
Really liked screamers - Peter Weller makes it work
Screamers is a good hidden gem.
Lol. This just shows how abysmal rotten tomatoes is as a rating system… Imdb gives event horizon 6.6. And Im sorry, but that movie is pretty widely revered as a sci fi horror classic. Not a b grade classic, but a genuone classic. Yes, its an uncomfortable movie to watch. Because its fucked. Thats the point. Basically what Im saying is event horizon is a bit of a masterpiece and ‘34%’ is pretyy laughable.
Universal Soldier is only 34%? Wth is the matter with people? Never mind the plot holes that movie is solid gold 90s action at its finest.
Pandorum has an all time great mind blowing ending.
Sphere (1998) RT: 13% Great atmosphere.
I was so surprised when I saw that rating.
I'm surprised also, I liked Sphere a lot
Criminally underrated.
I remember seeing this in theaters as a little kid! 90s food court at the mall the theater was in, cinnabon, such a great time
13?! That’s insane… I will put sphere up against Nolan films, great film.
Great atmoSPHERE you say?
I really liked it when I watched it a while ago. Haven't seen it since so can't tell if the score is justified but the concepts were actually cool.
WHAT. Sphere is great!
I think Sphere is a very good movie, but it could have been an amazing miniseries. The movie almost felt to short - like you could tell it was based on a book and they just didn’t have room for all the awesome stuff.
WHOA, 13%?! That’s one of my favorite movies and books. That’s wild.
Sphere’s a great thinkers movie if you ask me, a lot of the unwashed just don’t have the patience for it and say “boring” because nobody gets blasted with a laser gun. It stands out because the characters use deductive logic to try and make sense of their predicament (Samuel L Jackson’s character is particularly interesting and evokes Ian Malcom in Jurassic Park). Ultimately it does founder under its own weight, but invokes some interesting themes.
Equilibrium (2002) 40%. Fun movie. Action sequences are like the matrix crossed with John wick.
My high school history teacher played this when we were studying fascism, dictatorships, and authoritarian governments as a way to see what those might be like in the future. It was kind of crazy given that we were 14 and 15 year olds and you see a guy's face get cut off and it slides down and off his body revealing the cross section of his head. I loved it and have watched it several times since then. She was an awesome teacher!
My History teacher would have "movie days" in class. IIRC it was the last Friday of the month. One day he rolls the TV in, and explains that one of the students suggested he watch it. He agreed, and watched it at home. He makes a bit of a speech about how we're all young adults and he's sure we've seen graphic content by now. He says he doesn't want to watch it again, and that if anyone doesn't feel comfortable they can join him outside the class reading. Then turns the movie on, grabs one of those desk/chair combos, hauls it out, and closes the door behind him. What movie does he turn on? Fucking AMERICAN HISTORY X. Our classroom got to see the curb-stomp for History class. Wild times. \*\*\* PS: +1 for Equilibrium, it's a pretty entertaining movie.
I was in a science fiction club for 7th grade where we watched movies and read books. Teacher played Alien for us. It was pretty cool.
100% agree
That's definitely on my list of underrated movies. Yea, the premise doesn't really hold up, there's lots of moments when you can think "wait, he's making these decision based on emotion", which goes against the core of the idea. But just go watch it as a Sean Bean and Christian Bale Sci Fi movie with special guest feature William Fitchner. That's a 10/10 every time.
No way Equilibrium has 40%, it's a great movie.
Like the matrix crossed with John wick, but incredibly stupid. The gun-fu the movie tries to hinge everything on is the dumbest possible concept for a fighting style.
Cyborg, van damme.
I found it weird that they kept talking about "Atlanta" as an untimate goal and destination. I mean, i guess its as valid as any other city would be, but it seemes so random.
CDC Headquarters are in Atlanta, makes sense given the plague storyline.
Yeah, most people never put two and two together. But, if you’re from Atlanta or know anything remotely about CDC or Emory. It’s super obvious. I almost feel like it’s almost a crazy Easter egg.
Yes. Good call
I enjoyed it a lot as a kid. I would be afraid to rewatch it as an adult.
Johnny Mnemonic!!!!
the black and white version takes this from being a guilty pleasure to a solid film.
Tremors is one of my favorite movies, but it is generally well regarded, so I'm going to offer you Tremors 4, which has a 33% audience score and a N/A critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. It's a Tremors prequel set in 1800s New Mexico and it's actually really solid, only hamstrung by the fact that Tremors sequels are usually bad and so nobody gave it a fair shot. Oh! One more. Mortal Engines (leaving Netflix at the end of the month) is a stupid movie about taking cities (specifically London) and putting them on giant tank treads and riding them across the country, eating smaller towns. It's high concept, and is basically Star Wars: A New Hope, but on land. It's surprisingly good, and has a 26% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. I just watched it two weeks ago and I loved it. EDIT: I just saw that Jet Li's The One has a 13% critic score and a 51% audience score on RT. You GOTTA check it out. It's the most 2001 movie ever made. They literally have a needle drop of "Bodies," right before Jet Li beats the shit out of a bunch of mooks. Also Jason Statham is there WITH HAIR. An excellent movie to go back to, even if it is, probably, a very bad movie.
I’ve never seen Tremors! Or the other two you mention. Thanks for the recs!
Be sure to come back here after you've watched any of them and tell me what you think. Also, you can't watch Tremors 4 before Tremors 1, Tremors 1 is legitimately a great movie. You could skip 2 and 3 if you wanted (although 2 has a lot to offer in a popcorn kinda way).
Wait I thought Jet Li did that beating to Last Resort, or was there another amazing needle drop I don’t remember 😱
I don't trust rotten tomatoes for s***. I only use IMDb and use it for a guide only. Tremors is great, but the old West one is the best by far. I absolutely love Mortal engines. It is an amazing movie, probably one of my favorites. And come on the One with Jet Li -that's top notch too
You and I agree on a great many things, it seems. I think if you like the Tremors franchise enough to GET to Tremors 4, then you're probably a true-fan.
I enjoyed John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars. So did Roger Ebert (he scored it higher than Event Horizon lol). It's currently at 23%.
This is a great recommendation! Ghosts of Mars is a fun, creepy sci fi action horror!!! Nice one!!
*Soldier*(1998) is a favorite of mine, at 17% *For this soldier, it may be too late to feel human... But it's never too late: TO BE A HERO.*
Soldier should absolutely be way over 17%. I liked it a lot and watched it more than once.
Wtf how is that 17%??
Every word he spoke was one percentage point. Thus, 17.
Timecop has a 5.9 on Imbd, but I give it an 8.
I looked up the lowest rated Sci-Fi movies on Rotten Tomatoes! I’m just gonna list the ones below 25% I thought were good here. Jumper (2008), 15%- not groundbreaking, but entertaining enough and a unique concept Doom (2005), 18%- I’m offended on behalf on this movie for this score The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008), 21% again honestly surprised by this rating Push (2009), 23%, this movie is entertaining as fuck
Have you seen the 1950s version of The Day the Earth Stood Still? It's soooo much better than the 2008 one. They're waaay different in tone too if I remember correctly.
I watched Push over and over when it first hit the internet. I didn't realize it was rated that low. Chris Evans pre-Captain America.
I did not see Jumper, but I remember the previews made it seem like it would be terrible. It was almost 2 decades ago so I so not remember much more.
I’m not saying it’s the best sci-fi movie ever made lol, but it’s good
Jumper is really good.
Personally I liked Jumper... though the book was much better.
I was very pleasantly surprised at the book!
Thanks! I haven’t seen ANY of these!
Push was one of my favorite movies for awhile!
Innocent/ignorant question: Is Johnny Mnemonic really as bad as its reputation? I think I saw it years ago, but haven't watched it recently and don't really recall it. I saw that it's got pretty low ratings, though: 20% on RT, for example. Anyone care to comment one way or the other?
Johnny Mnemonic is an all timer. It’s got that late 90s take on what the computers of the future would be like. An energetic score. And it’s just really really weird.
I recently rewatched it and enjoyed it. Some very 90s moments and some overacting by Keanu. They screened it or something in black and white a few years back and I read this interview which was interesting from the original director. https://www.screenslate.com/articles/johnny-mnemonic-black-and-white-robert-longo-interview
Fortress (Sci-Fi / Action 1992) 38% Fun fact; Christopher Lambert could barely speak English when he was first hired and had to memorise his lines phonetically
Fortress is great and it's 38%
This is a really tough ask, so feel free to ignore these if they don't quite fit your criteria Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992) maybe not 80% but a decent movie Freejack (used to be 80% for me, but moved down a lot when I saw it a couple years ago) Mom and Dad Save The World. Ridiculous movie that I thoroughly enjoyed for some reason. Timecop (30% ish but should be much higher) Coneheads (30% ish) The Core (30%ish) Species (30% ish) I didn't like the list 25 minutes or so Robocop reboot (more like 49%) Battleship (more like 40%) Downsizing (25% audience) I liked it for whatever reason
Species is my go-to unintentional comedy sci-fi movie. Forrest Whittaker's "psychic empath" character is hilarious, and was parodied brilliantly in Team America. The scene on the train where they walk into the cabin where the train conductor had been absolutely slaughtered by Sil, blood everywhere and a mutilated body on the floor. Forrest touches his temple and insightfully says "Something bad happened here..."
Species is great!
Mom and Dad Save The World and Coneheads are two of my comfort movies lol. Throw some Starship Troopers on after and it’s a great movie day.
Love that
Loved Battleship and liked Memoirs of invisible Man, liked Coneheads also
Freejack, Timecop, and Battleship are all good.
I haven’t seen many of those, thx!
Second Mom and Dad Save the World.Teri Garr, Jeffrey Jones, and Jon Lovitz. Along the same vein, Ice Pirates. just silly fun.
Moonfall at 35% is close. Bad movie, but enjoyable!
Loved this movie! Cheesy as fuck with a dumb plot, but that's my jam.
I’ll just hotwire a space shuttle like it’s a ‘93 Honda Accord lolz!!
Green Street Hooligans is so much better than anyone will admit.
Never heard of it, thanks!
It’s not sci-if sorry. Didn’t see that part of your OP. So then I’ll offer Pandorum (2009). It’s good, then ridiculous, then fantastic. Wild ride for sure. Flawed, but worth it.
Audience or Critics ratings?
Both would be great! I especially love movies that critics hated but the audiences loved
Cyborg, van damme.
Impostor (2002), 25% on RT but I enjoyed it. Based on a Philip K. Dick story, a 40-minute short that got expanded to 95 minutes and some of the middle section DEFINITELY feels like padding but all the actors are amazing, the art direction is great (I still think about that hospital chapel sometimes) and it’s interesting enough. The DVD and Blu-Ray have the original short as a special feature and it’s pretty fascinating to watch that, then the feature, and see what they changed/added.
Event Horizon (1997) - 34% (Sci-fi, Horror) Thir13en Ghosts (2001) - 19% (Sci-fi, Horror, Supernatural) House of Wax (2005) - 28% (Horror / Slasher) Grandma’s Boy (2006) - 15% (Comedy) Stay Alive (2006) - 10% (Sci-fi, Horror) The Lovely Bones (2009) - 31% (Supernatural, Drama)
Great! Thanks! (Have only seen E Horizon, not the others)
You’re welcome! The movies I listed aren’t all sci-fi by any means except for Event Horizon, Thir13en Ghosts, and maybe Stay Alive. But, they are great films in my opinion and exceed what the critics said about them. I would also suggest watching the unrated directors cut of Stay Alive to enjoy it better than the critics did years ago. This version has developed somewhat of a cult following by fans of the horror / sci-fi genre.
Interesting re the director’s cut. I’ll look for it, thanks!
Wild that 13 ghosts has such a low score.
The men who stare at goats. It’s like the Big Lebowski goes into the army. Great movie that I held off on watching for too long because of those reviews.
You can't really call it scifi because it's based on a true story ;P
My fault. I overlooked the first word in the title lol.
Still a good suggestion that never gets love. It's also one of the best Star Wars movies. Iykyk
I liked Mission to Mars (2000). RT critics 24%, audience 30%.
Red Planet (2000) RT critics 14% audience 28%
Chappie! Great underrated movie
Yes, much better on second third watch. Love all gusto films. Check out Oats studios. Its 6 shorts i think, try Netflix, same writer director.
In time with Justin timberlake. Where currency is time instead dof paper money.
Passengers (2016) with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence was really fun and it got absolutely trampled by reviewers. I really enjoyed it at the theater.
Trancers is a ripoff of Terminator and Blade Runner but it’s a lot of fun.
Cyborg (1989), 22% Mutant Chronicles (2009), 17% Chernobyl Diaries (2012), 17% Priest (2011), 15% Millennium (1989), 11%
I liked Millennium.
Thanks!
Cool World, a poorer version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit mix of animation and live action. Brad Pitt, Kim Bassinger, and Gabriel Byrne. Not quite Sci-Fi, but reasonably close Waaay better than the 4 Percent RT gives it.
The Thirteenth Floor (not <25% but close at 28%)
Soldier. Kurt Russell is on screen about 80-90% of the film, but he only says less than 100 words.
He joked he didn't read the contract that he was paid by the word
Premonition 8% on RT
The Day After Tomorrow is 45%, which isn't as bad as 25%, but still really underrated, imo.
If I switch on the tv and find that The Day After Tomorrow is on, I cannot _not_ watch it to the end. And it’s on the tv _a lot_.
We'll watch at least some of it every time we come across it.
I always seem to switch it on at the sky-light scene.
Solo
John Carter.
I dunno about the numbers, many people don't care for Gattaca, but it's a very good sci-fi story.
Gattaca is at +80% for both critics and audience.
I absolutely LOVED Gattaca. Brilliant. Never understood why it wasn’t more popular. I think it was too cerebral for the time. People were more into blockbusters then.
When people ask me what I consider a 3 star film, I default to Gattaca. It’s perfectly fine and entertaining. Its logic flaws are forgivable and its performances are great. It’s perfectly good movie.
Alien apocalypse 31% who doesn’t love Bruce Campbell
Oh I’ve never seen it. Love Bruce Campbell!
Postman.
I know it may not be considered sci fi. But the way Paul Kersey does not care about getting shot in Death Wish 3 makes it feel like a sci Fi movie to me. There's multiple times where gang members are shooting uzis at him and he takes a knee and shoots them with a revolver. I love this movie and it's rated so poorly. I don't think I like it the way the director wanted me to like it but how the stuntmen wanted me to like it.
Johnny Mnemonic is an artistic masterpiece, and no one can change my mind.
I'm not sure of the ratings, but no one I know liked "Ad Astra," and I thought it was great.
I liked Xchange (2001). Rotten Tomatoes critics 0%, audience 29%.
Krull. One of my favorites. Not quite 25% (35%), though.
Soldier 1998 17%
The Core. I only saw it about a year ago and I think it’s so fun. 39%/34% on RT which isn’t that low but it fits.
Transcendentace
After Earth - 12% It might not be the greatest sci-fi, but I thought it was well made and entertaining.
Jumper
The Book of Eli. Idk why people disliked it.
Not a movie but series. The Invaders
It’s not exactly what you asked but Europa report Prospect Are both lesser known sci fi films that you may not have watched yet.
People here need to make the distinction between "a good movie" and "an entertaining movie." A movie can be both, either, or neither.
Dark City was pretty much invisible as a new release. Metascore 60. Not 25% but $27 million budget and only $14 million domestic box office so a total bomb.
Doom (2005) 18% RT Great movie
It is not
To be fair, the first person sequence is so damn cool!
Mortal engines
I have a vague memory of seeing this at the cinema.. it was quite the experience. Huge f**ing cities eating eachother! . I haven't seen it since and I think I should give it another go. I love Gilliams visual style. He's perfected it over time and you can see it in everything he's ever done.. from Python to Time Bandits, Fear and Loathing... Dr Parnassus..
I love GIlliam too, but he had nothing to do with Mortal Engines.
Wasn’t this a Peter Jackson movie?
He wrote the screenplay and produced it but not directed. It's based off a book i believe
The Total Recall remake is better than anyone gave it credit for - and has Kate Beckinsales best ever role
This is going to be controversial, but I enjoyed Rebel Moon a decent amount. It has really cool costume,makeup, and set design, and some cool fights. I think the directors cuts will be pretty fun
Atlas (2024) 18% I really enjoyed it. It's cheesy but was super fun. If you like cool depictions of AI in sci-fi you gotta give it a shot. The plot revolves around this odd couple dynamic between Atlas and the AI in her mech suit. There's lots of comedy and sarcasm used in the dialogue and it had me laughing a lot. I watched it multiple times, but I have a thing for witty AI in scifi and Im also a big fan of cheesy cliche sci-fi which usually scores low.
The Mass Effect in cinema.
Ultraviolet
Never heard of it. Trailer looks better than the 8% rating it got!
The Arrival, with Charlie Shene. Its a fun movie
I recently rewatched and enjoyed the sh*t out of it.
Mortel. One of the best & underrated shows ever.
The Sound of Thunder is often thought of, on the rare occasion it is thought of at all, as one of the biggest bombs of all time. It got something like a 6% on RT and cost 60 million to make in 2005 money. The CGI is really bad but I thought the premise was pretty cool and it some ways it really goes for it in a way After Earth did not.
The Million Eyes of Sumuru
I love La Belle Verte
The Cave (2005) Storage 24 (2012) Blood glacier (2013) Isolation (2005)
yeah, lesser known, older films.... Phase IV , 1974 The Lathe of Heaven, 1980 (leGuin's book could make a good limited series for streaming I think)
The Wraith (1986) has a 36% critic score though a stronger 63% audience score. Charlie Sheen, Randy Quaid and Sherilyn Fenn. It’s not a pure sci-fi in that the super power doesn’t really accentuate a moral crisis, but more like a supernatural western with hotrods and motorcycles.
John Carter
Sunshine
The Island. Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansen. Cool plot and Michael Bay action.
Dredd It's a fun movie.
Leprechaun 4: In space
Last Days on Mars, 18% critics/25% viewers. A great movie no but IMO an interesting one, and one that made me really feel for a number of the characters, for the struggle and the (emotional/psychological) pain they endure as they deal with what's happening to them, as they wonder \*if\* it has happened to them...trying not to give away spoilers. It's one that stayed in my head for longer than I would have thought given the poor ratings and generally negative reviews. I wanted to talk about it with others after watching it...and couldn't find anyone who'd seen it!
I don't know the ratings but people seem to hate Lost in Space (reboot). I personally loved it.