Top Ten moments in sci-fi...

But I can't really comment on the list fairly, as I've never seen Blake's 7, Dr Who, or Thunderbirds (do I lose my Geek Membership now?)

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No, just an excuse to increase your geek quota by buying a DVD player and TV that plays Region 2 PAL. (Or learn how to use the region setting software on your PC.)

I keep waiting for Blake's 7 to come out in Region 1 dvd format. I thought it would, eventually.

I keep waiting for Blake's 7 to come out in Region 1 dvd format. I thought it would, eventually.

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Is any US channel showing Blake's 7 at the moment?

Not that I know of. Possibly a local PBS station somewhere, but I'd doubt even that. When I was in college, I caught 2 or 3 episodes of "Blake's 7" and then read whatever I could about it in the decades that followed.

I'll buy the damned thing on VHS if I have to, it really sounds like a different and interesting sci-fi series.

But I'd hate to buy it on VHS just to see it came out in Region 1 the next year in DVD format.

I agree with Marcus that one of the most defining moments for me would be the destruction of the Enterprise in STIII. I grew up watching it as well and when I saw it in the theater, there was a lump in my throat and my eyes were watering. It was like saying good bye to a friend.

A few others that I would consider:

The first chest-burst in Alien
When Donovan tears away the skin of the Visitor to reveal the lizard beneath in V

Im trying to think of a moment in Blade Runner as well, but its difficult since I havent seen it in some time.

Very good choices, all of them that I can recognize at least. I hate that I don't have instant access to information about episodes. For example, which episode is "The Inner Light" of ST: TNG?

Close Encounters? I suppose it is the math geek in me, but I have actually teared up during the music exchange/language lessons scene leading up to the "oh, shit, have you ever had chickenpox.. (or whatetever)" scene leading up to the end of that movie. As odd as it may seem, I suspect it is a lot closer to a real "first encounter" than what most science fiction conceives of.

Very good choices, all of them that I can recognize at least. I hate that I don't have instant access to information about episodes. For example, which episode is "The Inner Light" of ST: TNG?

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The one in which Picard lives an entire lifetime in an alien planet. It's considered the best ep of TNG... in my opinion it 's pretty boring.

Here we go with the rating game again. Considered the best by whom?

I do like that episode a lot, and not just becuase it features honey buns so heavily. But I think the episode with Riva the diplomat is probably my favorite Next Generation story.

Not that I know of. Possibly a local PBS station somewhere, but I'd doubt even that. When I was in college, I caught 2 or 3 episodes of "Blake's 7" and then read whatever I could about it in the decades that followed.

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Which makes me wonder why BBC America is not showing it. BBC2 repeated Blake's 7 a couple of years ago.

My cable package doesn't include the BBC in America channel. I don't think it's available at all through cable, but I should check. Half of my Netflix rentals lately have been movies or television episodes from Britian.

I keep waiting for Blake's 7 to come out in Region 1 dvd format. I thought it would, eventually.

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Is any US channel showing Blake's 7 at the moment?

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Like I (kinda, sorta) implied above, B7 was shown on various PBS stations back in the early to mid 1980's when I was a college student and didn't have a TV for a few years.

Since then, I have *never* noticed it on *any* American TV, including cable and including BBC America (which is on the list of channels that I get because I upgraded to digital cable; people in my area who stayed with the less expensive analog cable don't have access to it).

It is possible that it has aired on *some* local PBS station *somewhere* in the US *sometime* during the intervening years, but not where I am (unless they hid it in 3:00 AM time slot and I didn't notice).

At one point there was an announcement that a R1 NTHC DVD set was going to come out. It was to have been out about a year ago, I think. It got stopped. Apparently it has something to with BBC Worldwide owning the shows, but the heirs of the creator owning the *name* "Blake's 7"; and not being able to release anything until *everybody* agrees to sign off on whatever agreements are required. There are multiple reasons rumored as to why the heirs might be holding this up.

Apparently it has something to with BBC Worldwide owning the shows, but the heirs of the creator owning the *name* "Blake's 7"; and not being able to release anything until *everybody* agrees to sign off on whatever agreements are required.

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The good old estate of Terry Nation again I believe. They are the ones behind the Daleks as well.

I looked up Terry Nation on IMDB and was suprised to find that he wrote a number of the opening gambits of 'MacGyver'

Yea, I remember when McGyver was in First Run Primetime, I noticed Terry Nation's name in the credits, and it threw me for a loop.

His estate also is responsible for Paul Darrow (Avon from Blake's 7) departing from the Blake's 7 revival project, are they not?

Glacophane said:

Im trying to think of a moment in Blade Runner as well, but its difficult since I havent seen it in some time.

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The 'death speech' by Roy Batty where he laments all the things that he has seen will be forever lost. One of the best parts of the movie.

What phoenix said.

Numbers 9, 7, 5 and 3 I have not seen.

No Thunderbirds, none at all, not EVER????

Shocked...

To be honest, it put it around 7 or 8, but the title sequence just fires my iner-child neurons into a frenzy, and it has done with people since the 60s.

The Inner Light is a great episode, my favourite Trek, as its a nice summary to me of what the show was about, its ideals and it's message about exploration and space. That'd make it into my list too.

I'd also probably choose the space battle in ROTJ, as I just love it when big spaceships destroy each other.

A few others that I would consider:

I'm trying to think of a moment in Blade Runner as well, but its difficult since I havent seen it in some time.

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The scene between Rutger Hauer (Roy Batty) and Harrison Ford (Rick Deckard) as Roy Batty dies.

As for Trek moments, I would nominate Spock not letting Kirk save Edith Keeler's life in City on the Edge of Forever.

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As it turned out, it was actually Kirk that kept McCoy from saving her. A great episode with no tidy solution. It's also peculiar in the fact that Kirk utters, "Let's get the Hell out of here" before they transport off the planet. That language was not common on television at the time.

Here's my similar list of all time biggies (in no particular order):

City on the Edge of Forever

SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!

2001 is made; turns sci-fi into art.

The opening shot of Star Wars. When that Stardestroyer took 15 seconds to pass into the screen, the audience roared with approval. It was the cinematic equivalent of Jerry McGuire's "You had me at hello."

Planet of the Apes ending (or the whole damn movie. I love it. The remake is an abomination)

Alien - yep, the Chest Burster.

Babylon 5 completes 5 year milestone.

Twilight Zone - To Serve Man (and several others, but that one is just such a hoot)

The Matrix - Combine science fiction and Chinese action flicks in medium saucepan. Stir in groundbreaking cinematic effects. Let simmer 2 hours. Enjoy!

Silent Running - Douglas Trumball's cautionary ecological tale featuring the Valley Forge, one of a few ships carrying the last of the Earth's forests. NOTE: film stock of the ships was used in 1978's Battlestar Galactica and the ships were recreated again for the new Galactica.

Dark Star - the low-budget, hippie-surfer-astronaut flick that gave us the beach ball monster, the talking bomb and the frozen captain. Started the careers of Dan O'Bannon and John Carpenter.

As for Trek moments, I would nominate Spock not letting Kirk save Edith Keeler's life in City on the Edge of Forever.

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As it turned out, it was actually Kirk that kept McCoy from saving her.

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As I recall, Spock stopping Kirk was the way that Ellison originally wrote it, and he considered Roddenberry et al to have wrecked his story.

As for Trek moments, I would nominate Spock not letting Kirk save Edith Keeler's life in City on the Edge of Forever.

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As it turned out, it was actually Kirk that kept McCoy from saving her.

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As I recall, Spock stopping Kirk was the way that Ellison originally wrote it, and he considered Roddenberry et al to have wrecked his story.

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I've never read Harlan's version, though I know things about it. Let's just say, it's just like Harlan to raise a shitstorm about things, but I have to agree with Roddenberry's changes on this one.

It's really not difficult to imagine Spock stopping Kirk. This scenario pits Spock's total logic against Kirk's purely emotional state. As I recall, Kirk utters something along the line of "I would have let it all be destroyed for her."

IMHO, it's much more tragic that Kirk actually has to kill Keeler through his interference with McCoy. Here Kirk is destroying her to save everything. It's a hard decision, but this is James T. Kirk we're talking about. Then McCoy pushes in the knife with his horrified "Do you realize what you've done?"

It also makes more sense storywise since it was McCoy who DID save her and alter the timeline in the first place (at least in the tv version)