Huber Syndrome - Episode 20: My Sci-Fi Origins

The Thing all day long. The feeling of isolation, suspense and some of the best use of practical effects in a movie.

Justin Little

Great picks Mike. I miss those eighties effects and style. The Thing is still my favourite.

Was it Burger King or Wendys?! Get your story straight! If you don't address this grievous oversight on Talking Syndrome, I fear I will be left with no choice but to rescind my patronage and never again return to the cruel realm of lies that is the internet.

Gan Khef

1992 Peter Jackson's Dead Alive!!! Holy cow, what a strange film! "I kick ass for the lord!!"

Brian Cecchinato

Interesting list of movies Huber went with for the episode. Very much the psychological side of things. For me when I think of my sci fi origins, I always think of the movie Twelve Monkeys. It always used to be on one of the national tv stations back home and I used to love it because of the way it treated time travel. Definitely still one of my favourite sci-fi movies. But one of many, I really like Minority Report, Moon and Sunshine. I’ve rematched these movies a bunch of times. Also District 9 is a great pick for the syndrome. And again, if we're talking sci-fi, I have to mention SOMA again! So so good. (Also left this message in the forums)

Tim O'Keeffe

Wow dude! I didn't know you went to SF State. I just graduated from there a year ago!

I'm severely disappointed with the selection of movies, Huber. Aliens is a must-watch, sure, but where's the "real" sci-fi? No Blade Runner, Dune or other classics like 2001, Fahrenheit 451. Even newer titles didn't get any love like Moon or Interstellar. No oddballs like Equlibrium, Death Machine, Enemy Mine or Quiet Earth? Man, way too much horror in your sci-fi.

I think my "sci fi origin story" just began with Star Wars. My older brother was obsessed with the original trilogy, so I saw it a lot in my younger years. My dad watched a little bit of Star Trek, too, but not as often. My parents were very protective when it came to entertainment for their kids, so I really only saw the more popular movies (as long as they weren't rated R, haha); Men in Black, E.T., Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Back to the Future, etc. But yeah, Star Wars all the way. I didn't even see Alien or Aliens until earlier this year, and they are of course, just pure perfection. I'm not one for body horror, but you've made me curious about seeing some of the movies you mentioned. P.S. My friend showed me District 9 a little while ago, and oh goodness. SO amazing.

Oblivion kicks's ass. I love that film. Too many wrote if off because of whatever reason. Huber have you ever seen the 1995 film, SCREAMERS starring Peter Weller? It's a very low budget sci-fi flick but highly entertaining. I also recommend the 1990 Sci-fi film HARDWARE by Richard Stanley, it's totally messed up and gorgeous and atmospheric. Check it out!

Jason Walstrom

How random! Lol why did it have a God of war 3 demo???

I should probably preface this by saying, I've never been much of a movies person and even when it comes to tv, I watch very little. This is true now more than ever, most of my entertainment that’s not gaming, now tends to be gaming related eg. a podcast or show or stream. I do love Hubers passion for this stuff though and from the little I do watch I tend to prefer the 80’s/early 90’s stuff, it’s funny you mentioned the CG stuff because I think it was around the time when CG became prominent for special effects etc., that I pretty much bailed on watching action oriented movies altogether. I could always spot the CG so easily and it just took me out of it. Sci-fi itself has always a tricky one for me, in games I tend to be able to just go along with stuff a bit more but even here, sometimes I struggle with getting into sci-fi. I find it hard to explain why exactly, sometimes I can get past it and sometimes I just can’t. Please don’t anyone see this as me “bashing” movies or sci-fi. I’m not, it’s just my own experience with it and yes, I’m well aware I’m a weirdo. :D

BeatenDownBrian

Yeah I figured your Syfy movies would have a horror slant. I am a Sci-Fi fanatic from Star Trek to Star Wars, to 2001 to the Martian, I love love love sci-fi. That being said, if we are talking about horror/suspense sci-fi, for my taste, I really like both Event Horizon and Sunshine. Extremely similar movies and some of the best suspense sci-fi outside of the Alien franchise. Mortal Kombat and Event Horizon are my favorite Paul WS Anderson movies, and there's a scene with some eyes that freaks me out everytime I see it in Event Horizon.... that's all I'll say. Danny Boyle aka "the legend", made a similar movie in Sunshine, but it caught me because I went in thinking that the movie was going to be completely different. Awesome set of movies.

My Sci-Fi origins was a summer back in the mid 80:s. I was around 4-5 years old and my dad was having paternity leave staying home with me and I made him watch Star Wars: A New Hope every morning for breakfast for what must have been two months straight. Safe to say it's still one of my favorite movies of all time. One or two years later I found my brothers comic adaptation of Alien. Scarred and fascinated with dark Sci-Fi horror for life. I hold Alien as the best movie ever made. Aliens is also good, but the first one is cinematic perfection. The third important piece of influence came from the manga and anime series Space Adventure Cobra. My first contact was with parts of the anime which my dad copied for me from a rental VHS when I was in grade school. Shortly after the manga got published as a monthly comic here in Sweden, which led to a life long addiction of anime and manga. And as a side note, I'm a bit surprised that you didn't mentioned Carpenter's The Thing, Huber. But maybe it was for you as for me that you saw it too late in life to count it as "origin".

Cottelito

My origins was more with TV series like Star Trek, Stargate SG1, X-Files. Never really thought too much about movies in my Sci-Fi life.