What are you tired of seeing in Sci-Fi movies?

Discussion in 'Science Fiction' started by Uberwatch, Feb 1, 2015.

  1. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    And in the Dune universe, no matter where you go in the universe they are all humans (or once human but got a bit mutated). :p
     
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  2. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Military conflicts that are named while they are in progress to the tune of: The (whatever) Wars.

    And it's always plural. Why? It's rarely ever a follow-up war or the next in line. No. It's usually the first engagement of that particular kvetch. The action itself may get a military designation (Operation Overworked Too-Epic Sounding Name) but we don't name wars The (whatever) Wars. That's not a real naming convention we follow, and we certainly don't do it while the war is happening.
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2020
  3. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    "Badly lit blue metallic surfaces"—stolen shamelessly from Oxymaroon. Actually though I must admit to loving the blue-lit metal surfaces if they're well-lit. Like in a Cameron movie.
     
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  4. J.D. Ray

    J.D. Ray Member Supporter Contributor

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    That’s actually a “feature” of the universe. There was some discussion in the novel, IIRC, that humans were the only life humans had ever encountered.
     
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  5. Aaron Smith

    Aaron Smith Banned Contributor

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    FTL travel.
     
  6. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    But it also takes place in a planet (Arrakis) that should not have any free breathable oxygen. There was an oxygenation event in the past on the planet, and it was green prior to the Fremen bringing the sandtrout and Shai Hulud, but enough time has passed in the epic scale of Herbert's DUNEiverse, that the free oxygen should have binded out by now.
     
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  7. Mumble Bee

    Mumble Bee Keep writing. Contributor

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    The marginalized 'nerdy guy' who suddenly obtains power. I know it almost immediately resonates with the fan-base, but enough is enough.
     
  8. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    And his near-obligatory arch nemesis, the ex-special forces dude in aviator sunglasses with a resume that mentions every war you've ever heard of (or haven't) who turns out to be:

    A) Unaccountably incompetent
    B) The very source of all douchebaggery. As Akasha is to vampires, so too is he to d-bags.
    C) Utterly unhinged, psychotic, taking enough hard drugs to drop a horse and laughing it off as "In the Gulf War we ate these like Tic Tacs."
    D) All of the above.
     
  9. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Unless the chemical process that produced the spice also released oxygen. The sandworms are described as a chemical factory.
     
  10. Friedrich Kugelschreiber

    Friedrich Kugelschreiber marshmallow Contributor

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    Isn't there mention of a diaspora from Earth in the novel? I got the impression that the humans on all of the planets had originally come from Earth.
     
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  11. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    It's strongly implied. The Atreides are supposed to be the descendants of a mythical Greek hero, I forget which one.
     
  12. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    um... the korean war, the vietnam war and the war on terror were named while in progress
     
  13. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    When humans acquire an uber-advanced piece of alien tech and somehow reverse engineer it within a short space of time, and start making their own versions (Stargate, I'm looking at you).

    If aliens capable of FTL travel arrived here, their technology would be so far advanced of us that it would seem like magic. It's be like giving a Neanderthal an iPad.
     
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  14. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    There would have to be a shitton of them to keep free oxygen at anything remotely like what is needed for human respiration in a body of atmosphere as large as Arakis would possess and there simply aren't. Impossible desert planets are a staple of Science Fiction, though, so I'm not really losing sleep over it. I'm guessing they are all just metaphorical representations of our dreams of Mars.
     
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  15. Accelerator231

    Accelerator231 Contributor Contributor

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    Oh yes, this.

    Reverse engineering is no joke, and that's when you're on the same planet, the same species, the same language, mostly the same measurements (curse you america/jk), and having access to the same knowledge and technological base. Imagine trying to reverse engineer a computer that's in trinary and where none of the data ports can be plugged in, or built for a species that lives in a far less oxygenated environment (I'm sorry, but everything is oxidised to dust), or when its in an entirely different language (I'm sorry, what does this button do?) or with different biologies (The controls are meant for beings with tentacles and can see in ultraviolet).

    That's not ignoring crazy shit like magitech, psionic tech, or anti-gravity. And you only got, what, a few examples? What happens when you break something and your fancy alien tech doesn't work anymore?
     
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  16. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    in SG the humans have got help from the Asgard who are significantly more technologically advanced
     
  17. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    But in Independence Day they figured it out all on their lonesome. Of course, they had Really Smart People like Jeff Goldblum on their side. That always helps. He was a scientist in The Fly and Jurassic Park, I guess it rubbed off on him for all future roles.
     
  18. Friedrich Kugelschreiber

    Friedrich Kugelschreiber marshmallow Contributor

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    Didn't this happen in Ender's Game with the ansible? I never thought about how difficult it might be to reverse engineer stuff. I took it in the spirit of Sophocles' "Ode to Man," but I guess there would be difficulties.
     
  19. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Try it sometime. Take a part a blender and build your own. Then try a cell phone.
     
  20. Friedrich Kugelschreiber

    Friedrich Kugelschreiber marshmallow Contributor

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    I have no mechanical aptitude which is why I always swallow the high-tech sci-fi stuff :-D
     
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  21. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Me too. Cause I want to ENJOY a movie, not pick it to pieces. How do you people live with yourselves??!! :supermad: (more importantly, how does anyone in the room live with you while you're tearing the movie apart??!!)
     
  22. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    That said, I just realize, I pick movies apart for other reasons quite frequently.
     
  23. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    Dude, I can't even operate Apple products. Where's the other mouse button? How do I save this file? What's the final velocity of a MacBook when thrown out a fifth floor window?
     
  24. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Two buttons? How Victorian. :whistle: Left-click = one finger. Right-click = two fingers. It knows how many fingers are touching it. :bigoops:
    Two fingers> Save
    From five stories, the same as everything else with similar drag.

    ;)
     
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  25. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    Ah, but if you're picking it to pieces in the first place then the movie has already failed because you're more than likely not enjoying it.

    Or to put it another way, if I was enjoying the movie I wouldn't be picking it to pieces.
     

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