Often, the best science fiction and fantasy movies are not the ones with enormous budgets. They’re the mid-budgeted movies. For example, Dredd choked in theaters but it turned up on a surprising number of critic’s top-ten lists. The smaller movies are often the ones that take risks, that do something different… and here are five coming up we’re looking forward to.
Dark Skies, February 22nd
Legion and Priest are both heavily underrated movies. Legion in particular is a surprisingly good siege story with some memorable (and hilarious) moments. Scott Stewart’s next movie seems to be a mix of Poltergeist and Signs, and it also seems to be, you know, scary. And if nothing else, it’s got Keri Russell headbutting a window. That’ll make an awesome GIF.
The Purge, May 31st
Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey star in a movie where overpopulation has a novel solution: There’s a twelve hour period, every year, where absolutely nothing is illegal, including murder. That’s got a nice 1960s SF vibe, similar to a few stories Harry Harrison wrote. OK, so putting kids at risk is a cheap ploy, but this has the potential to be a lot of fun, and possibly even thoughtful.
Riddick, September 6th
Pitch Black was a solid Aliens ripoff, different enough to stand out from the legions of movies cribbing from that classic. The Chronicles of Riddick, on the other hand, is a gloriously crazy pulp SF classic that’s basically “Conan In Space”, especially when you check out the Director’s Cut. This is really the most likely to be great: For Vin Diesel and David Twohy, the writer and director, it’s a labor of love they struggled to finish.
Seventh Son, October
Jeff Bridges plays a witch-hunter.
Admit it, there is nothing in that sentence you don’t want to see. The fact that Julianne Moore plays the evil witch is really just icing on the cake.
Gravity, no release date set
Alfonso Cuaron, director of the only truly great Harry Potter movie and Children Of Men, directed this. It stars Sandra Bullock as an astronaut drifting in space, trying to get back to the International Space Station.
It might be boring, but that’s one hell of a set-up, right there.
Any we missed? Let us know in the comments!
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Lena Headey?
Eventually I will stop doing that.
I’m so excited to hear Riddick is getting a release date. I’ve been waiting on that damn movie for what seems like forever.
I have to admit, I’m rooting for it. David Twohy is always somebody I’ll check out in theaters, and the second one getting butchered for theaters sucked.
I’ve been a big Vin Diesel fan since xXx. I always wanted his career as an action hero to take off.. but then he made the Babysitter and I can’t say I ever saw anything else he did. Riddick could be cool if it’s more like the video game and less like the Chronicles of.
I absolutely adored Escape From Butcher Bay but I still haven’t gotten around to playing the sequel. Chronicles of Riddick wasn’t so bad but it definitely wasn’t anything like the first. I feel the change in mood, pacing, and universe was a lot like the change between Alien (which was a horror movie at it’s core) and Aliens (which turned into an action movie).
“Legion and Priest are both heavily underrated movies”
Generally not a good idea to completely invalidate your movie opinion in the first line of an article. Legion is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen and I actually went in planning on liking it. Priest I only half-watched but it seemed like more of the same.
They are not classics, but for what they are, they’re a hell of a lot of fun.
I have to say I agree with Cheezits. Maybe you’re just a hardcore Paul Bettany fan?
Look, you want a defense of them as classics of cinema, I can’t do that. They’re not. Not even close.
Put it to you this way: You can tell they’re not “product”. These are movies Scott Stewart wanted to make. And you can see that in a movie.
Reread my comment and it came off a little harsher than I cared to be. That said, Riddick is the example of what you’re saying as “fun” Sci-fi. Legion and Priest are wayyyyy to idiotically self-serious in tone to come off as “fun”
I freely admit, I did not take either movie seriously going in.
Look, I’m not saying it has anything to do with the 7 wheatgrass tablets I just swallowed, but I have to pee.
Better get on that. I read somewhere your kidneys could explode.
I’ll admit that Legion was a lot more fun than I expected, but Priest is just awful.
Purge and The Seventh Son have my attention.
“Priest” is undeniably a silly movie, but what can I say, the trash-cinema lover in me had a blast. Granted I’m the guy who owns a copy of “Birdemic” on Blu-Ray and also saw it in theaters…
And that’s fine. I like Blade 3.
LOL, yeah, taste is subjective. I’m never going to pick on anybody for liking a movie. Way too many critics think they’re the God of Taste, and it gets tiring.
While we’re outing forbidden sci-fi love, I’ll admit I have Rollerball on DVD
Let it all out, Gimpy. You’re amongst friends.
Gimpy, original or remake? Because they’re both special, in their own terrible way.
The original Korean comics that Priest is based on are actually pretty awesome. Basically no relation between the two, though. The comics have this really cool gothic horror, western atmosphere to it that I really enjoyed. They’ve been printed in English and I would recommend you guys check it out. Don’t have to actually buy them, just spend a couple of weekend afternoons reading them in Barnes & Noble, and just put them back on the shelves when you’re done.
Dan, The remake starring Chris Klein-da Looks Like Keanu Reeves. I love the original just as much, I just haven’t seen it for sale.
Yeah Seventh Son sounds super.
My original draft was just “Jeff Bridges plays a witch-hunter.” Because is there anything ELSE you need to know?
Nice little Lebowski reunion there.
I shed a little tear every time I’m reminded that Dredd bombed, because that movie seriously almost knocked me out of my chair.
Well, there is hope: If the home video release does well, we might see it come back. It’s out tomorrow.
Jesus, that movie was awesome. One of the best straight up action movies I’ve seen in years. You want to do an homage to ultra violent ’80s action movies, that’s how you do it. Fuck the Expendables.
Dredd was awesome. Interesting FX too.
Just checked IMDB and Duncan Jones doesn’t have anything other than an Ian Fleming Biopic scheduled for 2013 and that makes me sad.
Neil Marshall stuck doing TV isn’t great news either. Man, what the hell happened? He was in the running to direct studio tentpoles at one point.
If it gets us more “Blackwater” I’ll take it
True, “Game of Thrones” is a prestige gig, but once you start directing TV you tend to stay there.
Is Neil Marshall, Dog Soldiers and Descent guy? Those were awesome.
I loves me some Riddick.
But David Twohy redefines batshit insane and is simultaneously the creepiest MF ever. So he’s got that going for him.
Oh, he’s nuttier than a sack of rabid squirrels, but the man can make a movie.
Omg, I so love this dude cant wait to se this movie!!! #RadioBase #MikeMobb!
Shit this just reminded me of a sci-fi flick that came out in Europe but wasn’t released in the US until a few months ago. It was about a warrior in like the middle ages who had to go fight an ancient evil. Anyone remember what it was called?
I know that’s the most stereotypical plot and there are hundreds of films with it but there was someone famous in it and it actually looked really good. Oh wait it was like Solomon or something.
Solomon Kane.
Worth seeing?
Yeah, quite a lot of fun. Surprised it didn’t get a US theatrical release. Not perfect but certainly solid.
I really hope Riddick is good. Pitch Black was just awesome
Those sound pretty good, though I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch Lena Headly with out screaming “Die Cersie! You Bitch!” at the screen. Game of Throne ruined Batman Begins for me too, “Ahh! Its Joffrey! Kill him Batman!”.
So, true story. I went to see Django Unchained in a packed theater the day after Christmas. The audience was fairly diverse, and we watched most trailers with only the usual murmurs(“hey that looks cool” “man that’s gonna suck”). Then the trailer for Dark Skies came on and, probably about 15 seconds in, the theater had erupted in laughter. It kept getting worse. The movie looks like someone is trying to remake the happening. By the part where dude’s sitting there with his mouth wide open, I was in tears. This movie looks hilariously bad, and I haven’t seen that kind of theater reaction to a trailer since the previews for Devil, when everyone booed the second they showed good old Night Shammy’s name.
Also, I hate Ethan Hawke, but still desire to see all those other films. And will definitely be at Dark Skies midnight premiere(if it gets one), obviously drunk.
elysium from Neill Blomkamp looks pretty awesome should have a big budget too
Shane Carruth, Writer/Director/Actor of the 2004 “time travel movie for people who have actually traveled through time” film, Primer, will release his second feature film: Upstream Color. Sci Fi? Who freakin knows, the trailer makes my brain bleed from obscurity.