Initial Disscussion thread for a B5TV "Top 25 Sci-Fi Moments"

[Mindwalker]

Blame hyp for the idea

This thread will be for initial discussion of what moments should be included and why. When the debate dies down we will have a vote and make our own list!

Rules:

Lets try to restrict it to within the past 30 years

Television, made-for-tv-movies and feture films only please

Please include links (When possible and legal) and explanations as to why you think a item should be included on the list.

(I can make a thread for "Top 25 Sci-Fi Books" if there is enough demand or if someone else wishes to do it)

 

[Alluveal]

I love the idea. How many should we all put down? And should we list them in order? Or just let the most voted-for be at the top at the end?

 

[Recoil]

Well before we get started, we need to be clear on what we are talking about?

Moments? Or shows/movies?

Because the list that was referenced may have said "Top Sci-Fi Moments" but they didn't list moments, they listed entire Movies, and TV Shows (not even single episodes, but the entire show). So the article was very incorrect in what it stated.

So are we doing top Moments (like saying when Darth Vader tells Luke he is his father) or are we doing shows (like saying Star Wars the Empire Strikes Back)?

 

[Mindwalker]

I like the idea of just moments.

We can do a top 25 tv shows/movies/etc later.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

I like the idea of just moments.

We can do a top 25 tv shows/movies/etc later.

Yes, Blatty's speech is high on my list, arguably first. There are so many B5 moments, I wouldn't know where to start!
In Silent Running, when Bruce Dern decides what he must do...
In Dark Star, teaching the bomb philosophy...
In the original Frankenstein, bringing the monster to life...
In the original King Kong, the scene where King Kong first appears...

Well, we did the ten best moments in sci fi a couple of years back, and I'm a lazy bum, so I'll quote myself from then. The first citation is from Blade Runner, when Roy Blatty is dying, and tells what he has seen and done in his life. I guess that is the only one on my list that is new enough to qualify. There are newer sci fi films I like a lot, but I can't point to a particular moment in them, it's the whole film.

 

[hypatia]

Of course I'll mention Babylon 5, and I'll try to think of more later.

The B5 moment, for me, is the last part of the episode where Sinclair goes back in time, walks out and says something to the effect of "I am Valen. I bring this place to you as a gift. Come, we have much to do..."

 

[GKarsEye]

My submission: the moment in Robocop where the evil CEO guy is demonstrating his new robot cop (the full robot, not the title character), demands id from some nameless kiss-ass vp volunteer, and through some glich continues to demand it even after the guy gives it to him, then proceeds to gun him down with excessive force.

The pointless brutality, coupled with the humor de-humanisation of a person and symbolic disposable nature of people in the business world perfectly encapsulate the irony, comedy, social commentary, and brilliant entertainment value of Robocop, the best sci-fi-as-social-commentary vehicle in the past 25 yrs.

 

[Boxie]

This one sits just outside of the thirty-year mark so I hope that's okay:

"Soylent Green is P E O P L E!".....

I'm pretty sure it was the way he said it that made it so memorable for me... That "Moses" can sure deliver a line, can't he?

 

[Chilli]

"I am Locutus of Borg."

 

[Alluveal]

Do we consider comic shows/movies to be sci-fi? Curious....

 

[Recoil]

I know this one is cliche, but Kirk letting Edith Keeler die in "City on the Edge of Forever" was one of the best Sci-Fi moments ever IMO. Really showed that scifi could tell a lot of different stories...and it was one of the best character episodes of TOS.

 

[hypatia]

Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but isn't the original series of Star Trek just a bit too old for the "30 year" limit?

 

[hypatia]

O.K., I know that "Contact" wasn't the most well-received movie at the box office when it came out. But I do like the ending dialog that one of the characters has with James Wood's character. I wish I could quote it, but the best I can do is a rough stab:

"I found something interesting about the tape."

(James Wood's character): "Yes?"

"The static on the tape isn't what interest me."

(JW's character, slowly and cautiously):"Yes?"

"That's not what I find interesting. What I find interesting is that there were exactly 52 minutes of it" [I know that number is wrong, too.]

(JW's character): "Yes... that is interesting, isn't it?"

And it's left to the reader/moviegoer to decide just what may or may not have happened. But the main man fighting and its credibility seems to find some credibility in it, after all.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

You can often find quotes on the IMDb, and this one is there. Scan down a bit past half-way.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118884/quotes

I like Contact, and agree that is a good moment from it. The authorities have been trying to make the public think that nothing happened to her, that it was all in her head, since she had only been "gone" a few seconds. The missing 18 hours proves that they are wrong, and are knowingly trying to prove a lie, to keep the truth to themselves.

 

[Ranger1]

there is a big problem with leaving it to the last thirty years and that is we can't have THE three greatest Sci-Fi moments ever, the already mentioned scene from city on the edge of forever, but also Robot Maria sparking to life in Metropolis, and the entirety of Plan 9 From Outer Space, for its wonderful shittiness alone. from the last 30 years however i would possibly go with either the last 5 minutes of Z'ha'dum, or the battle from exodus Pt2 in the all new BSG. both of them for sheer...(i don't know how to put this into words but i'll try) "nofuckingwayness", BSG is maybe still a little too new, but 10 years from now there are moments from season 3 that will be utter classics, only moments though.

 

[Recoil]

Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but isn't the original series of Star Trek just a bit too old for the "30 year" limit?

Hrmmmm. Guess it is.

 

[GKarsEye]

Contact is such a great movie, except for Mathew McPrettyBoy's horrible horrible acting.

 

[hypatia]

You can often find quotes on the IMDb, and this one is there. Scan down a bit past half-way.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118884/quotes

I like Contact, and agree that is a good moment from it. The authorities have been trying to make the public think that nothing happened to her, that it was all in her head, since she had only been "gone" a few seconds. The missing 18 hours proves that they are wrong, and are knowingly trying to prove a lie, to keep the truth to themselves.

I had no idea IMDB had such thorough, and long, quotes. I thought they only gave bits of quote. Thanks for the info.

Rachel Constantine: I assume you read the confidential findings report from the investigating committee.
Michael Kitz: I flipped through it.
Rachel Constantine: I was especially interested in the section on Arroway's video unit. The one that recorded the static?
Michael Kitz: Continue.
Rachel Constantine: The fact that it recorded static isn't what interests me.
Michael Kitz: [pauses] Continue.
Rachel Constantine: What interests me is that it recorded approximately eighteen hours of it.
Michael Kitz: That is interesting, isn't it?

 

[KoshFan]

Well, I could go with the obligatory "I am your father" moment, but I think there are a couple of better ones:

"Let us do it now, while it's still asleep." (Also in the running: "Jump -- jump now!" and "This is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari...")

"Whoever wrote this episode is a bad writer!"

"I'm going to need guns. Lots and lots of guns."

"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."

Be the first on your block to correctly identify them all!

 

[Recoil]

Well, I could go with the obligatory "I am your father" moment, but I think there are a couple of better ones:

"Let us do it now, while it's still asleep." (Also in the running: "Jump -- jump now!" and "This is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari...") - B5 WWE II

"Whoever wrote this episode is a bad writer!" - Galaxy Quest

"I'm going to need guns. Lots and lots of guns." - Got me there...

"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." - Firefly (Our Mrs Reynolds)

Be the first on your block to correctly identify them all!